This has been a very interesting week and the past weekend was also quite unique. I had the opportunity to do a lot of introspection, meditation, thinking, being, and learning. I was at a Sikh retreat on the weekend and then coming back I’ve been meeting with clients and working on new business ideas the past few days. Before leaving for the retreat, I was feeling a heavy emotional burden after the Burma cyclone and China earthquake and Crisis in Somalia - I was started to get restless about the plight of poor people around the world and the inaction of world governments. At the retreat I was exposed to a lot of new information and it is taking me a few days to digest it, especially the situation of poor farmers in Punjab, who have been committing suicide over the unbearable burden of high-interest loans and the demands for payment from relentless and intimidating lenders. I’m trying to spend some time to learn more about the microcredit concept for which Muhammed Yunus won a Nobel Peace Prize recently, and thinking if that could be applied in Punjab. Since 1947, the government of India has depleted Punjab of its resources without giving support to residents in the state, causing the Punjab economy to devolve from one of the most productive in South Asia to a struggling economy.

Coming back, I’ve been talking to people about new website and business projects. It was very difficult, though, to get my mind away from the Punjab farmers and thinking about their widows and orphaned children. So I really didn’t know what to blog about - I have new things going on for WordPress and internet marketing but my mind isn’t totally into it so my blogging might be off and on over the next week.

For those of you who use StumbleUpon regularly, do you encounter a situation where a website is very nice, very well made, or has a very good purpose, BUT does not inspire or interest you in any way?

Perhaps it’s some very well done art or photography, or a worthy local cause in a foreign country, or something which you support but don’t necessarily want to see more sites about.

Do you thumb it up or down? You don’t want to thumb it down because it’s not something poor quality. But you don’t want to thumb it up because you don’t see it as relevant to your interests and don’t want more sites like that showing up.

Maybe I’m misunderstanding the way StumbleUpon works and the influence of thumbs up/down, but sometimes the little voice in my head says, “Go ahead! Just thumb it down. No one will notice. This highly efficient humanitarian charity isn’t even on your continent!”

My Answer:
Well, it is not only the content management system or blogging platform that will bring you traffic. However, WordPress will make your posts have better links, and with the tagging and category links it will probably give you better ranking in the search engines. Also, everytime you post, WP will send notifications (pings) to search engines and blog trackers, which will notify them you have new content and give better ranking to your “fresh” content. If you have better ranking for terms that are searched often in the search engines, you will get more traffic. WP alone is not going to drive people to your site - the content of your site will do that - but if you’re asking me “is WordPress the best tool for me to use to make a search engine optimized site?” I would say yes. Definitely.

There are many factors in bringing your site traffic and keeping the traffic. This includes having great search engine ranking, having links to your site from reputable websites, having unique content that is valuable to your visitors, and creating a social buzz about your site through social media and bookmarking channels. WP can help you with these to various extents, but none of it is automated (at least not yet!). You need to get the links, make and promote the unique content, join and be active on the social networks, etc.

—-
Thanks to Taylor for the question.

Related: 11 Most Important WordPress Plugins to Build Traffic [FinancialJesus.com]

Dot So Fast
My e-mail address is kulpreet [dot] singh [at] gmail [dot] com. So today, when I received an e-mail sent to kulpreetsingh [at] gmail [dot] com, I was surprised and thought the e-mail was sent in error. It turns out, when you register for an e-mail account with Google, the alphabetic characters in your username matter, not the dots. If you have dots in your username, you will still receive e-mail for the same username without dots. At least, that’s what this Gmail help page says.

Dot Be Gone
The reason I’m posting this is because I had always told people to e-mail me at the address with the dot, and then regretted it because it’s just annoying to mention the dot. So now I can just tell people to e-mail me without the dot. I have to admit I am still a little suspicious because I thought somebody else already had my e-mail without the dot, but I guess not.

Keep the Dot
One thing to keep in mind is, even though your e-mail address without the dot will work, if you originally signed up with the dot, that will remain your username when you login to your e-mail.

Dot’s all folks.

Hi Everyone,

You’ve probably noticed that in the new WordPress 2.5 series Admin Panel, the navigation menu items (Write, Manage, Design, Comments) are split from the option / settings menus (Settings, Plugins, Users). Personally I don’t like it separated, but I haven’t yet had time to fix it.

What I’ve done in the meanwhile is make the sizes same of the links on the left and the links on the right. The way to do this is:

In your wp-admin/wp-admin.css file, replace:

#wphead a, #dashmenu a, #adminmenu a, #submenu a, #sidemenu a {
text-decoration: none;
}

with

#wphead a, #dashmenu a {
text-decoration: none; }

#adminmenu a, #submenu a, #sidemenu a {
text-decoration: none;
font-size: 12pt;
}

That’s it - now the links on the left and right will be the same size. I like it better because I check the “Settings” and “Plugins” almost as often as I write a post or manage comments.

Also if you want to make the sub-navigation links (the ones in the white, below the navigation links) a different size, like maybe 11pt, use this:

#wphead a, #dashmenu a, #adminmenu a, #submenu a {
text-decoration: none; }

#submenu a {
font-size: 11pt; }

#sidemenu a {
text-decoration: none;
font-size: 12pt; }

-k.s.

Very glad to read in Business Week today that Facebook is planning to do an overhaul of the profile designs so as to reduce clutter and improve user experience. Most people have very long profile pages, and some have a variety of applications that can be distracting and annoying. Business Week predicts in this article that some of the profile content will be split into tabs. I think this would be cool as it would give individuals’ profile pages the feel of a personal website. In fact what would be great is if you could add one or two custom tabs of your own (of course these should be limited so as to avoid the ugliness of MySpace profiles).

Now… if only Facebook could pay attention to my wish list :)

Hi Everyone,

For the past roughly 8 years, I’ve been signing off many of my e-mails with “stay in high spirits” or “stay in rising spirits.” This is inspired by a concept in the Sikh community called “Chardee Kalaa.”

I will explain it to the best of my ability. The words Chardee and Kalaa are from the Punjabi language, and together they form a phrase which is a state of being.

Chardee means rising, but it can also mean growing, unrelenting, blossoming, becoming whole, increasing, and elevating.

Kalaa has various meanings. Kalaa means an art, and an artist is called a Kalaa-kaar (art-doer). In addition, in Sanskrit, Kalaa-vanth means the moon (beauty-having). Kalaa therefore also refers to beauty, or unique personality.

I have a few definitions of Chardee Kalaa.

The first is the art of being in perpetual elevation. This means to always be in a state of growth, evolution, and increasing love and faith for the Truth, the Creator and Creation.

2nd: the art of becoming whole. This means to be like the moon when it is going from nothingness to becoming a full moon. The moon reflects the light of the Sun, and a truly enlightened soul reflects the light of the Truth.

3rd: having an unrelenting, blossoming personality. This means to be always in a state of faith, to not give up on righteousness, and at the same time to approach challenges with patience and love.

4th: the art of rising. This means to consistently be in spiritual growth, and to not waver or be lazy in your spiritual path. To elevate yourself, little by little, consistently, every day, to eventually become one with the Truth and the Creator who is the Truth.

I think all of these definitions work together to form the personality of an individual that is truly in “Chardee Kalaa” and this state of being relies on faith, love, courage, patience, discipline, grace, steadiness, perseverance, and optimism based on trust in the Will of God.

It’s easy to say it as a sign-off, but practicing this state of being is a real journey and there are some fortunate people who can remain in this state of being. At the end of every congregational prayer in the Sikh community worldwide, the following phrase is recited, which I think sums up this state of being:

Naanak Naam Chardee Kalaa
Thayray Bhaane Sarbat Da Bhalla

Through the teachings & blessings of Guru Nanak, through the Name of God, may we remain in Chardee Kalaa.
By Your Will, Dear Creator God, may you ensure the Wellbeing of All.

alright that’s all for now :)

-k.s.

—-

Update:

This topic continued on Cre8asiteForums with some interesting comments from the members there.

Greetings!

I’m delaying this week’s “Hunt” for a week. Last week’s was very interesting and has had me thinking for the last few days about the potential of blogging on one domain, different domains, and more. I will post a review of the information given by everyone in a few days.

stay in rising spirits,

-k.s.

Hi Everyone,

— read the updates below —

If you’re using WordPress 2.5.1, and you don’t like the Categories box being underneath the post write box, and you want the box back in the sidebar, this is for you!

Screenshot:

—-

Before you start, backup your wp-admin/edit-form-advanced.php file.

After backing it up, locate the file and open it in your code/text editor and follow these steps:

Step 1) Find and delete this:

<div id="categorydiv" class="postbox <?php echo postbox_classes('categorydiv', 'post'); ?>">
<h3><?php _e('Categories') ?></h3>
<div class="inside">
 
<div id="category-adder" class="wp-hidden-children">
	<h4><a id="category-add-toggle" href="#category-add" class="hide-if-no-js" tabindex="3"><?php _e( '+ Add New Category' ); ?></a></h4>
	<p id="category-add" class="wp-hidden-child">
		<input type="text" name="newcat" id="newcat" class="form-required form-input-tip" value="<?php _e( 'New category name' ); ?>" tabindex="3" />
		<?php wp_dropdown_categories( array( 'hide_empty' => 0, 'name' => 'newcat_parent', 'orderby' => 'name', 'hierarchical' => 1, 'show_option_none' => __('Parent category'), 'tab_index' => 3 ) ); ?>
		<input type="button" id="category-add-sumbit" class="add:categorychecklist:categorydiv button" value="<?php _e( 'Add' ); ?>" tabindex="3" />
		<?php wp_nonce_field( 'add-category', '_ajax_nonce', false ); ?>
		<span id="category-ajax-response"></span>
	</p>
</div>
 
<ul id="category-tabs">
	<li class="ui-tabs-selected"><a href="#categories-all" tabindex="3"><?php _e( 'All Categories' ); ?></a></li>
	<li class="wp-no-js-hidden"><a href="#categories-pop" tabindex="3"><?php _e( 'Most Used' ); ?></a></li>
</ul>
 
<div id="categories-all" class="ui-tabs-panel">
	<ul id="categorychecklist" class="list:category categorychecklist form-no-clear">
		<?php dropdown_categories(); ?>
	</ul>
</div>
 
<div id="categories-pop" class="ui-tabs-panel" style="display: none;">
	<ul id="categorychecklist-pop" class="categorychecklist form-no-clear" >
		<?php wp_popular_terms_checklist('category'); ?>
	</ul>
</div>
 
</div>
</div>

Step 2) Find and delete this:

<div class="side-info">
<h5><?php _e('Related') ?></h5>
 
<ul>
<?php if ($post_ID): ?>
<li><a href="edit.php?p=<?php echo $post_ID ?>"><?php _e('See Comments on this Post') ?></a></li>
<?php endif; ?>
<li><a href="edit-comments.php"><?php _e('Manage All Comments') ?></a></li>
<li><a href="edit.php"><?php _e('Manage All Posts') ?></a></li>
<li><a href="categories.php"><?php _e('Manage All Categories') ?></a></li>
<li><a href="edit-tags.php"><?php _e('Manage All Tags') ?></a></li>
<li><a href="edit.php?post_status=draft"><?php _e('View Drafts'); ?></a></li>
<?php do_action('post_relatedlinks_list'); ?>
</ul>
</div>

Step 3) Find this (Don’t delete it - just find it):

<span id="autosave"></span>
</p>

Step 4) Paste this underneath:

<div class="side-info" style="margin-left: -15px;  ">
 
<div id="categorydiv" class="postbox <?php echo postbox_classes('categorydiv', 'post'); ?>" style="width: 260px;">
<h3>Categories</h3>
<div class="inside">
 
<div id="category-adder" class="wp-hidden-children" style="margin-left: -5px; ">
<h4>	<a id="category-add-toggle" href="#category-add" class="hide-if-no-js" tabindex="3"><?php _e( '+ Add New Category' ); ?></a></h4>
	<p id="category-add" class="wp-hidden-child" style="width: 250px; " >
		<input type="text" name="newcat" id="newcat" class="form-required form-input-tip" value="<?php _e( 'New category name' ); ?>" tabindex="3" style="width: 150px; " /><br />
		<?php wp_dropdown_categories( array( 'hide_empty' => 0, 'name' => 'newcat_parent', 'orderby' => 'name', 'hierarchical' => 1, 'show_option_none' => __('Parent category'), 'tab_index' => 3 ) ); ?>
		<input type="button" id="category-add-sumbit" class="add:categorychecklist:categorydiv button" value="<?php _e( 'Add' ); ?>" tabindex="3"  />
		<?php wp_nonce_field( 'add-category', '_ajax_nonce', false ); ?>
		<span id="category-ajax-response"></span>
	</p>
</div>
 
<ul id="category-tabs" style="width: 2px; ">
 
</ul>
 
<div id="categories-all" class="ui-tabs-panel"  style="height: 400px; margin: 2px; ">
	<ul id="categorychecklist" class="list:category categorychecklist form-no-clear">
		<?php dropdown_categories(); ?>
	</ul>
</div>
 
 
 
</div>
</div>
</div>

Step 5) Save (make sure your old copy was backed up).

Step 6) Login to your WP Admin and go to “Write > Post” and check it out. If you like it let me know that it worked. If not, I cannot provide support but you can still contact me at info [at] kulpreetsingh [dot] com.

Disclaimer:
This has been tested on WP 2.5.1. I am not responsible for your WP installation or for this fix. Please backup your edit-form-advanced.php file and restore it if this doesn’t work.

—-

Update:

Screencast by Rebecca Bollwitt (Miss604) on how to do the above:

—-

Update 2:

It turns out there’s a plugin that does this as well! Probably easier to manage for the non-coding population, especially because it will / should extend regardless of your version updates. It is a little different from my method, but the concept is the same. The website’s in Turkish but the plugin page is in English: http://beyn.org/sidecat/

—-

Update 3:

Peter Keung took this fix and the plugin above and made a new plugin. Thank you Peter! You can download it here: http://www.theblog.ca/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/sidecat_reloaded.txt

Hi Everyone,

For those of you living in BC, imagine the population of Ladner or Tswassen or Port Moody completely vanish. In Burma, more than 22,500 people are confirmed dead by the military regime, but tens of thousands more are missing. There are estimates from other agencies of much larger numbers. I have been looking for agencies we can get in touch with that will provide emergency medical assistance, food, etc. to the victims and have lower administrative costs. If you know of any in particular, please post them in the comments.

The only thing that’s kind of annoying me (about the Burma government, not the agencies) is that so many agencies have on their websites “we are now mapping, planning, strategizing, etc. etc.” What I think that means is that the relief agencies don’t have the access they need, due to the government and army restrictions, so they can’t get to the victims as soon as they could in another situation. I hope that’s not the case.

UNITED SIKHS is an international UN-affiliated non-profit organization that is working to provide relief to the victims. You can learn more about their efforts and support them on their website.

You can also check out Direct Relief. They seem to be a very efficient relief organization:

-k.s.