This has most commonly been used in the page.php file of the WordPress themes only, but can certainly be applied to any page that you would like the ability to set the h1 tag (or some cases, if you prefer, the h2 tag). Remember, it is recommended to set the default theme h2 tags displaying the header of the pages to H1 for an SEO advantage.

This documentation will demonstrate applying this hack to page.php in your theme, but can easily be understood from that point on doing the same to your template pages, index.php, single.php, etc.

Step by Step:
1. You will need to be using an installed version of WordPress at least 2.x or greater as this method uses the “Custom Fields” you will find toward the bottom of the page in the admin area as you create or edit pages or posts.

2. In your favorite editor for editing your theme pages, or using the Theme Editor under the Presentation tab of the WordPress admin area, open pages.php for editing.

3. In the default theme of WordPress or the theme you are using, you will see a section toward the top of the file that looks exactly like or similar to this:

It’s this line – <h2><?php the_title(); ?></h2> that you will be changing. It may not look exactly the same, but will almost always be enclosed in h2 tags.

You will want to replace the contents inside those tags, but it is highly recommended that if they currently say <h2></h2> to change those to h1.

4. Replace that line with the following:

So your file should now look similar to this:

5. Save the file and upload it to your theme folder or save the file in the theme editor.

6. Now you can edit or create new pages and use the custom fields to change the heading of the page without changing the actual title of the page.

7. To do this, as an example, let’s create a new page named “Test”.

8. Publish the page, then view it from your WordPress site.

9. You can see that not only the title in the browser, in the menu, and the heading of the page says “Test”.

10. Now back to the admin area, edit the page “Test”.
11. Scroll to the bottom of the editing area until you see “Custom Fields”.
12. You may have to click on the “+” sign to the right to see the area for editing these fields.

13. Here you will need to add “changeH1” to the key text box for the first time. Be sure that changeH1 is spelled exactly the same and the “H” is capitalized.

14. After you have done this the first time, you will be able to select the changeH1 from the drop-down box under the word Key instead. It is only necessary to add the key once with a value, and from that point, it will remain in the drop-down list to be selected easier.

15. Now change the header by typing a new one in the Value text box to the right. Let’s just test it out by typing “This is my new heading text”. Then click “Add Custom Field”.

16. Save and continue, or save the page now.

17. Go back to your site and refresh to see the change.

18. Now you can edit any page to display a different heading just by setting the “changeH1” key in the drop-down list and typing in the heading you want in value. Don’t forget to click “Add Custom Field”.

19. If you have already set a heading in a page using this method, you can also go back to editing the page, and change the value in the box just above where you set it originally. After making the change click on “update”.

Putting pictures in WordPress posts and pages is easy, but not exactly intuitive. This is a fast tutorial to show you how it’s done with minimum effort.

I added a new user, then logged in to post as that new user, and here’s what I saw at the “Write” screen -

Unfortunately, this option then prevents those “Contributors” from being able to add photos to a post, which is a shame.. After hitting the “Submit for Review button, I logged out, then back in as the Admin, and I see that there is a post pending for review – Nice

There was also no email notification to me as the Admin that a contributor had posted, but I guess you can’t have everything.

If anyone knows how to allow for photo uploads or add email notifications, please let me know here…

Apparently, a recent addition to WordPress (maybe 2.3?) added a button on the WordPress text editor that allows you to paste information directly from Microsoft Word, and instantly strips out all the formatting. I’m exactly not sure how long it’s been there, but it works very well.

First you have to open the advanced toolbar options to see the new button button -

This expands the menu to a second level where you will immediately see the option for Microsoft Word pasting.

Hitting that button opens another small window, where you can paste from Word to your hearts content.

Nice!

At a recent presentation I gave about using WordPress, I was adding a slide about the ping list, and decided to count them. I was surprised to see that there were only 46, but that’s what I put in the slide.

Apparently, at some point over the last couple of dozen installations, I dropped off a batch from my list, and even my own blog was running short.

Going back through my files and folders, and even some old blogs, I’ve now recompiled my ping list, and removed the duplicates, and I’m posting them here for your viewing pleasure.

To add to your ping list –

• login to WordPress admin
• go to the options tab
• go to the writing sub tab
• scroll further down than you probably ever have before
• paste into the field

There’s an old thread here at Digitalpoint with some detailed info for better pinging too, but I disagree with the detractors there. My own experience has shown me that it’s NOT a wasted or duplicated effort, I prefer these “manual” pings over Pingomatic, and that the no ping waiting plugin is was very cool. (sorry, the domain is gone!)

That’s it. Feel free to copy and paste my list below, with no reciprocal link required, no thanks necessary, and no paypal donation sent to scott (at) pdxtc.com

(I would however appreciate any comments added here if you notice anything missing…)

http://1470.net/api/ping

http://a2b.cc/setloc/bp.a2b

http://api.feedster.com/ping

http://api.feedster.com/ping.php

http://api.moreover.com/ping

http://api.moreover.com/RPC2

http://api.my.yahoo.com/RPC2

http://api.my.yahoo.com/rss/ping

http://bblog.com/ping.php

http://bitacoles.net/notificacio.php

http://bitacoles.net/ping.php

http://bitacoras.net/ping

http://bitacoras.net/ping/

http://blo.gs/ping.php

http://blog.goo.ne.jp/XMLRPC

http://blogbot.dk/io/xml-rpc.php

http://blogdb.jp/xmlrpc

http://blogdigger.com/RPC2

http://blogmatcher.com/u.php

http://blogoole.com/ping/

http://blogoon.net/ping/

http://blogpeople.net/servlet/weblogUpdates

http://blogroots.com/tb_populi.blog?id=1

http://blogsearch.google.com/ping

http://blogsearch.google.com/ping/RPC2

http://blogshares.com/rpc.php

http://blogsnow.com/ping

http://blogstreet.com/xrbin/xmlrp…

http://blogstreet.com/xrbin/xmlrpc.cgi

http://blogupdate.org/ping/

http://blogupdate.org/sverige/ping/

http://bulkfeeds.net

http://bulkfeeds.net/rpc

http://catapings.com/ping.php

http://coreblog.org/ping/

http://effbot.org/rpc/ping.cgi

http://feedsky.com/api/RPC2

http://holycowdude.com/rpc/ping/

http://imblogs.net/ping/

http://lasermemory.com/lsrpc/

http://mod-pubsub.org/kn_apps/blogchatt

http://mod-pubsub.org/kn_apps/blogchatter/ping.php

http://mod-pubsub.org/ping.php

http://newsisfree.com/RPCCloud

http://newsisfree.com/xmlrpctest.php

http://packetmonster.net/xmlrpc.php

http://ping.amagle.com/

http://ping.bitacoras.com

http://ping.blo.gs/

http://ping.blogg.de/

http://ping.bloggers.jp/rpc/

http://ping.blogmura.jp/rpc/

http://ping.blogoon.net/

http://ping.cocolog-nifty.com/xmlrpc

http://ping.exblog.jp/xmlrpc

http://ping.fakapster.com/rpc

http://ping.feedburner.com

http://ping.feeds.yahoo.com/RPC2/

http://ping.myblog.jp

http://ping.rootblog.com/rpc.php

http://ping.syndic8.com/xmlrpc.php

http://ping.weblogalot.com/rpc.php

http://ping.weblogs.se/

http://pinger.blogflux.com/rpc

http://pinger.blogflux.com/rpc/

http://pingoat.com/

http://pingoat.com/goat/RPC2

http://pingqueue.com/rpc/

http://popdex.com/addsite.php

http://rcs.datashed.net/RPC2

http://rcs.datashed.net/RPC2 euro.weblogs.com

http://rcs.datashed.net/RPC2/

http://rpc.blogbuzzmachine.com/RPC2

http://rpc.blogrolling.com/pinger/

http://rpc.britblog.com

http://rpc.britblog.com/

http://rpc.icerocket.com:10080

http://rpc.icerocket.com:10080/

http://rpc.newsgator.com/

http://rpc.pingomatic.com

http://rpc.pingomatic.com/

http://rpc.tailrank.com/feedburner/RPC2

http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping

http://rpc.weblogs.com/RPC2

http://rpc.wpkeys.com

http://rpc.wpkeys.com/

http://services.newsgator.com/ngws/xmlrpcping.aspx

http://signup.alerts.msn.com/alerts-PREP/submitPingExtended.doz

http://snipsnap.org/RPC2

http://syndic8.com/xmlrpc.php

http://thingamablog.sourceforge.net/ping.php

http://topicexchange.com/RPC2

http://trackback.bakeinu.jp/bakeping.php

http://weblogalot.com/Ping/

http://weblogues.com/ping/

http://weblogues.com/RPC

http://weblogues.com/RPC/

http://xmlrpc.blogg.de

http://xmlrpc.blogg.de/

http://xping.pubsub.com/ping/

http://zing.zingfast.com

https://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZFinance.woa/wa/pingPodcast

*** update May 2010***

In the 2 1/2 years since I wrote this post, ping services have grown, and while I’ve never seen anyone get banned for over-0pinging, I’ve heard about it, and reducing redundant pings is a good thing.

Therefore, I recommend you read the May 28 2010 commenters article below -

which recommends using two other WordPress plugins that will eliminate pinging after an edit and another that will eliminate duplicates from your ping list

However, most people don’t even bother to update the default comment invitation lines that appear in their WordPress blog, because it’s just not something you think about.

If you scroll down below you’ll see that I’ve customized the comment message on this blog, and it’s really easy to do.

First, login to your WordPress admin, then go to presentation – theme editor.

Click on your single.php file over on the right.

Before you do a bunch of work to scroll to the bottom and make sure that you’re not seeing this message: “If this file were writable, you could edit it”

If you see that, then you need to adjust your permissions (FTP – CHMOD) on those files.

Once you are viewing single.php, then using Firefox or IE, (Ctrl-F), you can open a search box and with the WordPress file editor, you will usually find this line “You can follow any comments”. I say usually because these files are in the theme, and most designers will not edit that message.

That will put you smack dab in the middle of your code for editing that text to say what you want. You can also use linebreaks and limited HTML tags, like bolds and breaks to format it however you like. Cool, huh?

Disclaimer:
ALWAYS make a backup of your work, even just in an open Notepad file. That way, if it screws up your formatting somehow you can paste it right back.

If you’re on an Apache host, you most likely have mod rewrite, and you most likely already have an htaccess file, in my experience.

The first thing you need to do is make sure that your htaccess file is writable, and this can be done with your FTP software or your file manager inside your web hosting control.

Many web hosts block the visibility of your htaccess, so be sure to choose to show hidden files inside your FTP software or inside your web hosting control panel.

Make note of the original settings, then set the htaccess to 777, which should enable the WordPress admin control panel to do the rest.

Login to your WordPress admin control panel – options – permalinks

From there go to the custom option, and paste the following into the field -

/%category%/%postname%/

That will give you your category and post title for the end of your URL. I’ve been experimenting lately with just using /%postname%/ too, and if your blog is very niche, and you don’t want to to categorize your URLs, there’s no reason you can’t do that.

At that point, you should see this message appear the top -

You’re done!

Check your post for friendly URL’s and change your .htaccess back the way it was, and you’re good to go.

*disclaimer – We will not accept any liability if you do it incorrectly and it does not work, or you get hacked because you leave something writable, or you basically screw thiongs up. Just set your permalinks back to default, and all will be fine.

Once you have an established URL structure, a change can cause you to not only lose search engine visibility, but all of your PageRank will drop to zero, and all of your inbound links will no longer work. That can’t be good!

Additionally, if all of the page names in the search engines index cease to exist, then anyone that ever clicks on one of your Serps would be taken to a 404 error. That’s bad!

Sometimes there’s a lot of legitimate reason to want to change, usually because they were set up in correctly in the first place. The proper way to make change would be to implement real one redirects for every single URL that’s changing. This can be quite the daunting task.

Luckily there is a plug-in available to make this process painless. It’s called Dean’s Permalinks Migration, and here’s a three-minute video to show you how it works…

As a quick lesson in SEO, I’ll point out that on the homepage I’ve added text links to the purchase page,  using different anchor text five times.

Because I don’t have a lot of content on this site yet, I’ve chosen to place four primary search phrases there, made them bold, and then linked all four to my shopping cart page.

The fifth link, near the bottom of the homepage is nofollowed, so that I’m not wasting any link juice following text for which I don’t care to rank. Make sense?

Future posts will go into the plug-ins being used, but first I have to get the privacy and contact pages up, (which of course will be nofollowed). Stay tuned…