CloudFlare is a free(mium) service that was recommended to me by our own James. He had heard about it in conversations with some folks over dinner and wanted us to try it out. While this blog has gotten loaded over the years with JavaScript from various sources and code cruft of years, it has also gotten quite slow as a result. It is not the server (though Spam storms never help) and MySql running on the same server does not help. I had added caching thanks to WP Super Cache and had tweaked most of the settings to be tolerable on the server. I had even tried a CDN at one point but backed out because it turned out to be such a touchy beast.

The free CloudFlare product, which is what we use on here, is substantial enough to depend upon and is easy to set up. I might upgrade to their paid version once I am more comfortable with the results and have let it bake for a month or two. Signup was easy and it really took just under a few minutes to setup this blog. We have been running it for about three days now, with positive results and zero downtime. Let us go over some the details.

It takes just a few minutes to add your site to CloudFlare.com. Add it in, watch a video while it figures out all the details of your DNS, and then turn around and make the name server changes it asks you to make. There are instructions included on the page and it tries to help you make the best choices. It is worth noting that only self hosted WordPress blogs are capable of using CloudFlare. Since the actual change needs to happen at the registrar and name server level, TTL reduction will not help propagate it faster. While Go Daddy seemed to push the changes through quickly for us, it can take up to 48 hours for everything to work properly.

CloudFlare.com

Once the name server changes are made, you just sit back and watch. The free service from CloudFlare performs a bunch of automated magic, including using location aware technology to redirect your visitors to the right cache of your content. I know that the content is still live and interactive, but the seamless nature of the change makes this so easy and attractive. It speeds up your site using a variety of caching technologies and a CDN, including automatically minifying your scripts, reducing extra items in your HTML. It eventually reduces the amount of bandwidth you consume on your server and the number of requests actually hitting your server.

• It works with static and dynamic content. Direct access is no sweat since a subdomain is created that goes directly to your site! For all of you using virtual hosts, let me calm your fears. CloudFlare works fine with virtual hosts.
• It is always online, even buffeting traffic surges and reducing downtimes. (I have a concern about this. I turned off the MySql server by mistake and the blog displayed a DB error. I assume that if my server is down due to spam storm, the same thing will happen. I will have to investigate that.)
• Reduces slowdown effect of third party tools and scripts such as FaceBook, Google AdSense or Analytics and Twitter. We have a lot of those!
• Protects against network threats such as spammers, uses previously reported information for protection. This is fantastic, if it works.
• Provides visitor analytics that are better than those based on JavaScript. I see a huge difference between thee results and those provided by StatCounter.
• Provides a host of other third party plugins that can easily be installed. I use a couple of them.

Some recommendations for WordPress users:

• There is a WordPress Plugin, use it to be safe. http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/cloudflare/ Once it is installed, there is a setup page (which is not linked from the plugin page, fix?) that asks you to put in an API key and then lets you optimize your database.
• Continue to use Akismet and any other Caching plugin you have. Instructions are everywhere. Be sure to mark spammers etc. All of it helps the ecosystem.
• Be patient. In my case, the changes were up within an hour. It might take longer for you.
• If all else fails, switch your name servers back and ask for help.

When most people hear about Akismet, they often think about WordPress, but Akismet is actually available for over twenty additional systems and platforms, including Movable Type, Drupal, phpBB, PunBB, and libraries for PHP, Python, and .NET.

If you’re running, or planning to run, a social network or online publishing service, the Akismet team wants you to know that they can not only protect you from direct spam, but from parasite spam as well, as long as you can give them a way to contact you.

Akismet’s pattern and volume monitoring abilities make direct spam easy to filter, but ever since the dawn of forums, spammers have opened accounts for the sole purpose hosting their spam on your site. Thanks to Akismet’s pattern monitoring, the Akismet team can easily track the source of these parasite spammers and notify the site’s owner, but there’s little they can do if they can’t get in touch with you. Since contact forms can break without warning, the Akismet team recommends that you provide a traditional abuse@yourdomain email address. If you don’t want to make this email address public, at least contact Akismet and have it placed on file.

Are you using Akismet on your social network or online publishing service? With so many options available, why not try it today? Parasite spam can hit almost any site driven by user content, so don’t forget to offer your contact information to the Akismet team.

New Features (and Some Comments)

• Landscape mode with extra wide keyboard
  
  This is probably the most desired feature for this application simply because it is physically painful to type a full length blog post in the iPhone portrait keyboard. I am glad that the portrait keyboard restriction is now a thing of the past!
• Link creation help
  
  
  I wasn’t sure where this feature was hiding at first, but I soon found the trick to invoking this feature. Basically anytime you are writing, you can type something that resembles a link (for example “www.” or “http”) to invoke a little prompt that asks you if you want to create a link. Answering yes will bring up another prompt asking you to fill in the URL. I think this is slick interface although some people might find it a bit annoying. It would be nice to merge these two dialogs into one dialog and also have the option to turn this feature off.
• Support for editing and creating pages
  
  There’s not much to say here. Previously you weren’t able to create/edit pages. Now you can. Note that this feature is only available for WordPress.org 2.7+ or WordPress.com blogs.
• Comment moderation
  
  This is one of my other favorite enhancements because I usually spend more time moderating comments than writing blog posts. To be able to do this on-the-go without having to continually login and deal with browser cookies is quite convenient. Note that this feature is only available for WordPress.org 2.7+ or WordPress.com blogs.
• Asynchronous publishing
  There weren’t any visible changes for this feature, but I assume asynchronous is better than what was in the earlier version.
• Photo resizing options
  
  When this feature is enabled, all photos attached to the post will be resized to be no larger than 640×480 to save space and publishing time. It’s a nice feature to have, but I don’t think I will be using it personally.

Bug in Version 1.2

I know that you are thinking, “already?” right? Indeed, the WordPress for iPhone App team has confirmed the existence of a photo bug in this version.  They are assuring us that the fix will be pushed out as soon as possible.  It’s best for you to wait on the upgrade if you post photos with the WordPress for iPhone application. If not, then you should definitely upgrade and enjoy these great new features! Version 1.21 is out with this bug fixed.  Go grab it now!

Go grab it!

You can get the WordPress for iPhone (and iPod touch) app for free at the iTunes App store.

Mac OS X Status Bar integeration

WordPress Notifier for Mac OSX.: This is a freeware tool that sits in your Mac OS X status bar and displays the current unapproved comment count on your WordPress blog. WordPress notifier works with WordPress 2.7 and above and works for blogs on WordPress.com. The screenshots look pretty cool!

What was most useful for me in that post was a link to another post on the Google Webmaster Portal that helps you create better 404 pages using an experimental widget. Now I am sure there are ways to incorporate a Custom Search within the 404 without using the widget but I stuck with it because the output looked useful. Quick Online Tips had a post on the Google Custom 404 widget a couple of months ago that also talks about this widget.

This link to a fictitious “hotmail” page is an example of the output that our 404.php (in the theme folder) at weblogtoolscollection.com generates. We still need to fix the footer and the sidebars but it works for now.

From the main page for TypePad AntiSpam, here are the salient features:

• Free for everyone, regardless of how many comments you receive
• Adapts to changing spam tactics
• Retains quality comments
• Already built in to the TypePad blogging service
• Plugins for Movable Type 3 & 4
• Plugins for WordPress 2.5
• Open Source
• 100% Akismet API compatible

The product is being tested by quite a few bloggers and has already received positive feedback for effectiveness from big names such as Michael Arrington of TechCrunch. But I hope that the initial successes are not short lived.

The plugin(s) and the core engine that runs the service are both Open Source (GPL v2) and though Six Apart is not sharing all of the rules and logic that run their implementation of the TypePad AntiSpam engine, they are willing to share the core engine code in order to facilitate others in developing similar services with their own sets of rules and logic. Worthy of note is the fact that the TypePad API is completely compatible with the Akismet API (which is incredibly simple to use, BTW) and any plugins that make use of the Akismet API, will be able to transparently use TypePad AntiSpam as well.

What is “Hot” about TypePad AntiSpam?

• It is Open Source: The API and the core engine being OSS provides a lot more flexibility and gives developers a lot of insight into the product. Innovations are the likely result.
• It is free: Free is always good, but can have its shortcomings.
• Simple API: Kudos for building interoperability into the service. We have a common enemy.
• Written in Perl: I am not a Perl snob but have written enough OO Perl to know the benefits. Akismet fought with language barriers and scalability for quite a while.
• Extensible: Developers can write plugins for the service that will provide added functionality, rules and logic that could make the service better and more versatile.

What is “or Not” about TypePad AntiSpam?

• The Engine is Open Source: This poses a serious set of problems for the Spam Mitigation service providers. Akismet can keep spammers guessing because a select few people know how it really works. The rules and logic are not the only secrets but the whole ball of wax is closed to prying eyes.
  It might become easier for spammers to figure out ways around the TypePad AntiSpam service and they could start tainting information to suit their purposes. OSS in this case can be a double edged sword.
• We might see in spammers posing as anti spam services just like we have anti virus and anti spyware services mushrooming over the web.
• While a well funded corporation can keep up with the scalability needs of floods of Ham Vs Spam, smaller services will find it hard to manage and still be effective. Free anti spam services can easily die under the load and reduce trust amongst users.
• Too many sites offering the same service will water down the effectiveness of the intelligent rules that depend on real spam data to target spam. Akismet, GMail and other services that rely on their users’ feedback to fine tune their Spam targets, depend on the large amount of positive and negative re-enforcement to increase their effectiveness. Though this is speculation on my part, my understanding of intelligent, knowledge based systems is the reason behind this guess.
• Though the engine is Open Source, there seems to be no plans to incorporate advances developed by end users directly into the codebase. This might change with adoption and maturity of the product but at first glance, it seems to be lacking foresight.
• Since their API is compatible with Akismet (which is a good thing), this might encourage plugin developers to try and overlap spam services in order to increase the effectiveness of their anti spam plugins. However, doubling up on spam checking will not only increase comment posting latency, it could potentially make their plugins less potent in recognizing spam.

TypePad AntiSpam is a step in the right direction. Six Apart is providing tools to fight a common enemy and is offering up the tools with the right attitude. Some of their choices are suspect in my eyes as more competition for Akismet and Automattic than in support of their real belief in community service and benevolence. Nonetheless, it is a step in the right direction and they should be applauded for their efforts. I sure hope that the weaknesses that they have built into their product does not reduce its effectiveness in the long run and they can help the blogging community reduce the scourge of Spam.

There are some caveats to this process which are outlined in the requirements:

There are many ways of embedding slideshows to your website. This tutorial is based on a WordPress 2.5 installation (with some files customized and of course all files updated that were critical in WP2.5 concerning security issues!). Moreover you need to BUY a plugin that was originally developed for “Joomla!”, which is an open source Content Management System (CMS). The plugin is called “frontpage slideshow version 1.6? (FPSS) and it was transformed by its creators into a so called “static version” that fits into ALL websites that are PHP-based.

After going through the tutorial, you’ll notice that you need to change the slideshow file manually in order to update the content the links within the slideshow point to. This seems like a mundane approach. I believe this can be done via custom fields but I’d like to know what other ways this effect can be accomplished without having to purchase anything and without having to manually update the slideshow?

*NOTE* Tobi of the perfectsurf website left a note in the comments regarding this post:

No need to buy the FPSS anymore. I made a new plugin out of Jason Schuller’s FCG plugin, I called it FCS (Featured Category Slideshow) You find everythin at perfectsurf.de/category/fcs (by now, take the first post)

Install is relatively simple, though it involves more than just uploading one file. The plugin adds a small button to the post page and provides a search and embed interface for the various multimedia elements including a tab for webcam capture and embed. I would imagine a natural extension of this plugin in the form of enabling video comments for blogs like Seesmic and a screencast capture tool would be a very nice addition for the future. Read more reviews and opinions on the new plugin on Techmeme.

Disclosure: Weblog Tools Videos is built on the Magnify.net service

Asides from having one of the simplest looking websites on the net, Yougler is a newly launched service which aims to provide bloggers the ability to establish a professional looking profile along with other perks. Using Yougler which is pronounced (Yoo-Guh-Ler) users can create profiles that bloggers can link to for spam free contact information. One of the long standing problems that bloggers have faced is the way in which end user’s can communicate with the blog author. Usually, this would consist of typing out your email address as so ( blabla at blabla.com). Replacing @ with at was a very inexpensive way of defeating the spam bots which would scrape the content of websites looking for printed email addresses but this method creates a few caveats. The first, user’s need to manually type out your email address which is far less convenient than clicking a link. The second, the look of the email address doesn’t look very professional.

Creating A Profile

There are two types of profiles you can create. The White Pages Profile is for those who want a presence on the Internet, more or less to be found within search results. The other is the Blog or Blogger Profile which is tailored specifically for blogs or bloggers. This is the profile you would want to use if you want an easy way for your readers to contact you which I’ll explain in a minute.

For the purpose of this article, we’ll focus on the blogger profile.

After typing in your information, you’ll be greeted with a CAPTCHA image which is used to prevent automated bots from creating Yougler accounts. I’m sure those profiles would be rather interesting to see. After the CAPTCHA process is complete, Yougler sends you a confirmation email which you’ll have to confirm in order to activate your account. Once your account is activated, it’s time to download and then install the Yougler WordPress Plugin.

The WordPress Plugin

The plugin provides an easy way to provide a contact link which is attached to the top of a post and then at the bottom of the post. The link forwards people to your Yougler Profile Page where readers can get a gist as to who you are via your profile and then, send mail-forwarded mail. Providing a means of communication in this way is supposed to keep communication between the blog author and his or her readers easy while at the same time, blocking unwanted spam.

Installing the plugin:

1. Download the Yougler plugin to your desktop. Upload the entire Yougler plugin folder to your WordPress plugins directory under wp-content/plugins/.
2. Activate your plugin under the WordPress Plugins tab.
3. Click options, click Yougler, set “add signature and Yougler link at end of post to yes.” Enter whatever signature you would like to add to the end of your posts in the box provided or you may leave this blank. Click update and you are done.
4. The Yougler Plugin will now create a link to your Yougler Profile page at the end of all your posts. The link name will be your “Display name publicly as:” setting under the User’s tab in WordPress. Yougler will display the author’s name and url on each post so if a blog has multiple bloggers this should not be an issue.Your Yougler page will provide a form mail page for your readers to contact you. On your Yougler page you can also tell your readers a little about yourself or your blog. You can also add a picture (and maybe some more things in the future).

Here is a screenshot that showcases a Yougler configured plugin in WordPress. Click the image to see the full size.

After the plugin is configured, each post will contain a link to your Yougler Profile page at the end of your posts. The link name will be your “Publicly displayed as name” which is configured under the User’s tab in WordPress. Your Yougler page contains an avatar, a small bio section and a form for people to contact you. Aside from that, readers can insert their own Yougler Profile URLS in their comments so others can contact them as well without worrying about spam.

Yougler is free at the moment and it looks like it will continue to be free. The site/service is still in it’s early stages of development which is why Pete is taking comments and suggestions via his own profile link Yougler.com/pete.

Overall, I think what Yougler is doing is a novel idea. However, as far as the spam communication goes, I think the same affect could be accomplished by publishing your email address in the form of a picture that when clicked on, opens up your preferred email client. Also worthy of noting is that, if you were to browse someones About Me page on their blog and that page had a contact me button or form on that page, would there then be any reason for you to use this service?

I think the true strength of this service is for multi author blogs where the about me section is usually limited to the information about the blogging network or the domain and not the actual blogging authors.

If you happen to use this service, I’d be very interested in knowing what your experience is like. I’d also like to know how you have implemented this service into your blog/blogs.

I chose the TechCrunch stats because they are much more interesting to monitor but as you can tell, I installed the widget on this blog on the first day I found it and unlike other tools, it is still displayed on this blog. I like it since it is unobtrusive and quite enlightening if not somewhat entertaining. The new features and the growing popularity seems to have affected performance of their statistics page a little but I am hoping that is temporary as their revenue grows and they are able to add more resources towards this project. The performance hit has had no effect on the display of the widget. [EDIT] Of course, I jinxed their server(s) and they are down at the moment with no display of the tracker.

In completely unrelated news, WordPress 2.2.1 was released today and the upgrades include important security fixes and some bug fixes. The nicely polished upgrade is well worth it.

Web 2.0 free button maker: After the success of the Stripe Generator and the Ajax Loading Gif Generator, here is a Web 2.0 Button Maker that lets you upload your own icon and build gel buttons for your site or blog. I agree with Mashable that the script is not very Web 2.0 ish itself since you have to “Apply Changes” every time you make a change but it is fun nonetheless. I tried building a PNG with the flame logo of weblogtoolscollection.com but I was spending so much time on it, I just gave up and made something simple.

It turns out that we like “generators” on WeblogToolsCollection.com!