When Digg asks you to add the content in your RSS feed, it means for you to add it in your next post. So you will need to create a new post (doesn’t have to be about that service). It can be any post, and you need to add the code at the bottom of the post. For example, if your key is:

6ca1386293854e5d835d3f430df34700

then you will add:

<!–6ca1386293854e5d835d3f430df34700–>

The reason why you add the extra elements before and after is so this code is not shown to your users, but it is still added in the RSS feed. Once you add this code, you will have to wait for about 20 – 30 minutes for your feed to update (specially if you are using Feedburner).

The code can go anywhere, preferably at the bottom. Once your account is verified, you can remove the code from your post. If you are adding it in Digg this week, be sure to try it multiple times and let the page load fully before you click anything. Digg is very buggy as it is new. While you are on digg, don’t forget to follow WPBeginner on Digg.

How to Add Verification Codes to Your WordPress RSS Feed is a post from: WPBeginner which is not allowed to be copied on other sites.

Related posts:

1. How to Make Separate RSS Feed for Each Category in WordPress
2. How to Make a Separate RSS Feed for Each Custom Post Type in WordPress
3. How to Display Any RSS Feed on Your WordPress Blog

Videos add a new life to your blog posts. There are tons of things that can easily be explained a 2 minute video versus a 1500 words post. In older versions of WordPress (Prior to 2.9), you were required to use the embed code from the video site, or use a plugin to embed the videos properly. Introducing in WordPress 2.9, the oEmbed feature has made it extremely easy to embed videos in your WordPress Blog posts. In this article, we will share how to easily embed third-party videos in WordPress blog posts.

How to Embed Videos in WordPress Blog Posts

All you need to do is paste the video URL into the content area. All you need to make sure is that the URL is in it’s own line and not clickable (hyperlinked). For example:

Here is how you can add Post Thumbnails in WordPress:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID

Wasn’t that super easy.

What are the White-Listed Providers?

• YouTube
• Vimeo
• DailyMotion
• blip.tv
• Flickr (both videos and images)
• Viddler
• Hulu
• Qik
• Revision3
• Scribd
• Photobucket
• PollDaddy
• Google Video
• WordPress.tv (only VideoPress-type videos for the time being)
• SmugMug (WordPress 3.0+)
• FunnyOrDie.com (WordPress 3.0+)

If you upload your videos or other media on one of these sites, then WordPress will automatically embed. Otherwise, you would have to post the embed code manually.

Why can’t I upload the videos to my WordPress?

Well you can, but we do not recommend you to do so. Most smaller blogs are on shared-hosting accounts and videos take a lot of server resource. If your video got tons of traffic, your site is more likely to crash. Second, you are missing out the traffic from Youtube users. We recommend that you pick a third party site such as Youtube, Blip.tv etc to upload your videos. Benefits: You save your server resources, and you get new users from youtube or another site.

Don’t forget to follow our YouTube and Blip.tv Channels.

How to Easily Embed Videos in WordPress Blog Posts is a post from: WPBeginner which is not allowed to be copied on other sites.

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1. Embed Custom CSS in Your Single Posts with Custom Fields
2. Installing WordPress on a Local Server Environment
3. How to Create a Separate Page for Blog Posts in WordPress

Installing a WordPress Child Theme

Installing a Child Theme is almost the same as installing any other WordPress theme. The only difference is that you need both the parent theme, and the child theme uploaded to your WordPress theme directory. First lets upload our Parent Theme:

Uploading the Parent Theme

Lets use Genesis framework as our parent theme. First, you will need to download the framework in .zip format. Now you can either use FTP to upload the files to your /wp-content/themes/ directory, or you can use the WordPress upload method.

FTP Method:

• Extract Genesis Zip folder
• Upload the ‘genesis‘ folder into your theme directory, so it looks like this: /wp-content/themes/genesis/

If you don’t know much about FTP, then use the WordPress upload method. Login to your WP-admin Panel, and click on Appearance » Themes. Then click on the “Install Themes” tab, and click Upload (Just as shown below in the screenshot)

Select the .zip file that you downloaded, and click Install Now.

Note: Do NOT activate the parent theme once uploaded.

Uploading the Child Theme

Lets use the Persevero Theme as our Child Theme in this example because it is created for the Genesis framework which is our parent theme in this example. First, you will need to download the theme in .zip format. Now you can either use FTP to upload the files to your /wp-content/themes/ directory, or you can use the WordPress upload method.

FTP Method:

• Extract Genesis Zip folder
• Upload the ‘persevero’ folder into your theme directory, so it looks like this: /wp-content/themes/persevero/

If you don’t know much about FTP, then use the WordPress upload method. Login to your WP-admin Panel, and click on Appearance » Themes. Then click on the “Install Themes” tab, and click Upload (Just as shown below in the screenshot)

Select the .zip file that you downloaded, and click Install Now.

Activating the Child Theme

Once you have uploaded both the parent and the child theme, now you can go ahead and activate the Child Theme. You can do so by going to Appearance » Themes and activating the Child theme which is Persevero in this case.

Other Tips

Because Twenty Ten is the default WordPress theme, it comes with every WordPress Installation. So if you want to use a child theme for Twenty Ten like our Speaky Theme, then you can skip the step of Uploading the parent theme, and move right along with the second step.

How to Install a WordPress Child Theme is a post from: WPBeginner which is not allowed to be copied on other sites.

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1. Persevero – Free Genesis Child Theme by WPBeginner
2. Step by Step Guide to Install a WordPress Plugin for Beginners
3. How to Create a WordPress Child Theme (Video)

Why FeedBurner is Important for Bloggers?

FeedBurner is a free service that is loaded with options that you do not get with the default WordPress feed. Some of the features include:

• Statistics about your RSS Subscribers so you can analyze and optimize your blog posts.
• Give your users multiple options to subscribe such as Email, and other feed-readers (Netvibes, Google etc).
• Social Proof (Subscriber count)
• Option to customize your feeds such as modify post headings, branding and more.
• Option to ping various feed-reading services once you publish your posts.
• Integrate Google Adsense to monetize your RSS feeds.
• And more…

Just with the short list of features, you can see that it is a must have for all blogs. Now we can move onto setting up the FeedBurner Account.

Setting up Your FeedBurner for WordPress feeds

First you will need to have a Google account (any gmail account will work). Visit the feedburner service page to begin this process.

In the first step, you will type the link to your WordPress Blog Feed. If you have SEO Friendly WordPress URL Structure, then your feed link should be like yourdomain.com/feed/

In step 2, you will choose the title of your Feed and the address of your feed. It is advised to keep the title of your feed the same as your blog. It is best to keep your feed address short and memorable.

Technically your feeds are created, so you don’t need to follow the steps any more. Click on the Skip directly to Feed Management.

You will see a page with a link to tons of blogging platforms. Ignore all that as we will revisit them later in this article. Just cilck on the optimize tab that you see in the image below.

In step 5, we will work on optimizing your WordPress Blog Feed. You need to make sure that you haev Browser Friendly option activated, Smart Feed activated, and FeedFlare activated. You can activate other services if you want, but these 3 services are a must have. BrowserFriendly makes subscribing much simpler. SmartFeed ensures maximum compatibility with all feed reader applications. FeedFlare builds interactivity into posts by adding email this and other sharing options.

In step 6, we will take a look at all the publicize options for the feed. You need to allow Email Subscriptions on your site because there are users who prefer to get email updates rather than using Google reader. Pingshot must be activated because it notifies services when you post. Feedcount widget lets you show off your subscriber count. It is one of the best social proof methods. Awareness API comes handy if you are trying to list yourself on sites like BuySellAds because they can extract your subscriber count easily. There other snazzy options like Headline Animator, BuzzBoost that you can activate if you like.

Monetizing your feed is another good features of FeedBurner except it only allows you to use Google Adsense. So sign up with Google Adsense and follow their direction.

Once you have done all the above steps, you can click on the Analyze tab. Most likely you will see a screen like the one below because the stats are not recorded. Give it up to 24 hours and you will start seeing numbers there. Use the subscriber count, clicks and other useful data to improve your blog. See what your users like and don’t like with this stas, and then focus on the type of posts that your users like and enjoy.

Integrate FeedBurner into WordPress

Even though you have setup your feed with FeedBurner in the steps above, but you have not yet really integrated it with WordPress yet. First thing you want to do is stop diluting your feed and make it one. You need to create a redirect, so when users try to visit yourdomain.com/feed/ they are redirected to your feedburner feed page. This way you can keep track of the subscribers on your blog.

There is a plugin called FeedBurner FeedSmith which lets you create this redirect easily. You can also redirect your feeds using .htaccess file, but we will not be sharing that method because it is not something we recommend for beginners.

Most WordPress Themes are now coming with FeedBurner integration such as Headway Theme, Standard Theme, and others. If your theme is not compatible, then use the plugin above.

Add the Email Subscribe Box on your site

First visit Publicize » Email Subscriptions then copy and paste the code they give you in the template file that you like (mostly sidebar.php). Remember to customize the look of your email form, you would need to have prior knowledge of HTML and CSS.

If your blog does not have FeedBurner feeds, then get it right now.

Step by Step Guide to Setup FeedBurner for WordPress is a post from: WPBeginner which is not allowed to be copied on other sites.

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1. Display Feedburner Subscriber Count as Text in WordPress
2. How to Redirect WordPress Feeds to FeedBurner without a Plugin
3. Step by Step Guide to Install a WordPress Plugin for Beginners

Why is Google Analytics Important for Bloggers?

Google analytics allow you to keep track of:

Who visits your site

This part of analytics answer what is the geographical location of your audience, which browser did the user use to visit your site and many other important information such as: screen resolution, JavaScript support, Flash support, language and more.

This data is extremely useful, and it can help in numerous ways. When getting a custom design, you can use the user data to make sure that your site will be compatible with your audience. If most of your users does not have Flash support, then you should avoid adding flash element to your site. If most of your users are on 1280 screen resolutions, then make sure that your design is compatible with that resolution or smaller.

What they do when they are on your website

You can track where the user is going on your website. How long do they stay on your website, and what is the bounce rate (the percent of users exit your site on the first visit) on your site. By using this information: you can decrease the bounce rate and increase the depth of pageviews.

When they visit your website

By looking at the hottest hours in the day for your site, you can pick the time when you publish your post. If that time zone is not compatible with yours, then you can schedule your post to meet that hour.

Where did they arrive on your website from

This section of the analytics show you where did the user came from: Search Engines, Direct Links, Referral links from another site. It shows you what percentage of your visitors came from each of these sources. Google analytics also gives you the break down of each of these categories. If it is the search engine category, then it shows you which search engine got you the most traffic, google, yahoo, bing etc. It will also show you the most used search terms by visitors, so you can improve your ranking for that keyword (Check out our Must See SEO Guide for All WordPress Bloggers). The break down of referral sites show you which sites you need to work with the most. If your top referral source is twitter, then you need to have exclusive twitter content to make your twitter audience feel special. If your top referral source is an external website, then you might want to consider having a partnership with that website (link exchanges or something else).

How they interact with your site’s content

Google analytics show how your users interacted with your site’s content. It shows you what percent of the user clicked on which link on your site and much more. By seeing the user interactivity, you can work your content around your users.

By seeing the answers to the questions above, you can focus on the strategies that work for your site and eliminate the strategies that don’t work.

How to Signup with Google Analytics

First you would need to create a Google Analytics account. To do this, visit Google Analytics Signup Page.

You will see a screen like the one below. If you already have a gmail account, then use that to sign-in with. If you do not have a gmail account, then you would have to create an account for yourself.

Once you sign-in with your gmail account, you will be prompted to a screen like the one below. This is where you will signup for google analytics with your gmail account.

The third step would be to enter your site information. The fields are pretty self explanatory. You enter your Website’s URL, Account name (it can be anything that you like), Time zone country, and the time zone.

Step 4 requires you to enter your contact information.

Step 5 would require you to agree with their terms.

Step 6 is where you will receive the code to paste in your site. This is the important part of the signup. Copy and paste this code in a notepad or a HTML editor and keep this screen open.

How to Install Google Analytics in WordPress

There are 3 ways to install Google analytics in WordPress. Direct paste, functions.php, and plugins.

Direct Paste Method

Copy the code that you received in Step 6, and paste it in your theme’s footer.php right above the </body> tag.

Functions.php Method

Add the following code in your theme’s functions.php file and don’t forget to paste your Google Analytics code from Step 6 here.

<?php
add_action('wp_footer', 'add_googleanalytics');
function add_googleanalytics() { ?>
// Paste your Google Analytics code from Step 6 here
<?php } ?>

Plugins Method

There are tons of plugins available to add Google Analytics to your site. The two that we recommend are:

Google Analytics for WordPress by Joost de Valk
Google Analyticator by Ronald Heft

Once you have installed Google Analytics in your site, you can go back to the screen from Step 6 and click Save and Finish. Then you will be taken to the overview of your site’s analytics.

You can see the status have an exclamation work. This just means that Google hasn’t realized that you have added the code to your site. It takes Google upto 12 – 24 hours to start providing you with the awesome site stats that you need.

This is a must have for every blog, so get it now. If you have any questions then feel free to ask in the comments. If you like this article, then please share it with your friends on twitter and facebook.

Note: This is only for Self-Hosted WordPress.org blogs. Free WordPress.com sites cannot use Google Analytics. Maybe it’s time to upgrade from free WordPress.com to Self-Hosted WordPress? Consider using our Free WordPress Blog Setup program.

How to Install Google Analytics in WordPress is a post from: WPBeginner which is not allowed to be copied on other sites.

Related posts:

1. How to Install WordPress on Your Site
2. How to Install and Setup W3 Total Cache for Beginners
3. Free WordPress Setup Request Form

What are WordPress Security Keys?

WordPress Security Keys is a set of random variables that improve encryption of information stored in the user’s cookies. There are a total of four security keys: AUTH_KEY, SECURE_AUTH_KEY, LOGGED_IN_KEY, and NONCE_KEY

Why use WordPress Security Keys?

These security keys makes it harder to crack your password. A non-encrypted password like “username” or “wordpress” can be easily broken, but a random, unpredictable, encrypted password such as “88a7da62429ba6ad3cb3c76a09641fc” takes years to come up with the right combination. You should use WordPress Security keys to increase security of your WordPress powered blogs or websites.

How to use WordPress Security Keys on my site?

Self-hosted WordPress blogs does not have the Security Keys defined. You would need to add these yourself. It is a very simple and easy process, that you should be able to do as long as you know how to use FTP.

First, you would need to get your own unique Secret Key. WordPress has a random generator that can give you these secret keys. We recommend that you use that rather than inventing your own.

Second step is to modify your wp-config.php (file). You will find this file located in your WordPress root folder (the same folder where your wp-content and other folders are stored). In your wp-config.php file on line 45, you should see something like this:

Simply take your security key that we grabbed in step 1 and paste them accordingly in the following lines.

Save your wp-config.php file, and you are done. If you were logged into your WordPress admin panel, then you will be asked to log back in again.

Other Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Do I have to remember my Security Keys?

No, you do not have to remember the security key. You have to paste it once in the wp-config.php file and that is it.

What, Why, and Hows of WordPress Security Keys is a post from: WPBeginner which is not allowed to be copied on other sites.

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Install a Plugin using WordPress Admin Panel Search Option

This is by far the easiest way of installing a WordPress plugin. The only downside of this option is that a plugin must be in the WordPress plugin directory. Only free plugins that follow GPL and all WordPress guidelines are in this directory.

First go to your WordPress Admin Panel and click on Plugins » Add New

You will see the screen like the one in above screenshot. Type in the plugin name or function, like we did. Then you will see a bunch of listing like the example below:

You will pick the plugin that is best for you. Since in our search, we were looking for Google XML Sitemap which happens to be the first plugin, we will click the Install link. A lightbox will pop with the plugin information like the example below:

Here you see the description, installation method, and other related information about the plugin. If this is the plugin that you want, then click on the red Install Now button. Once you click that button, the plugin will be installed, and you will see something like below:

Make sure that you click on Activate the plugin, now you have installed the WordPress plugin. You would have to configure the settings to fit your needs. These settings will vary for each plugin therefore we will not be covering that in this post.

Install a Plugin using Upload Method in WordPress Admin Panel

If the plugin you want is not in the WordPress Plugin directory for some reason either because it was a paid plugin, or a non-GPL plugin, then this option is the choice for beginners.

First you would need to download the plugin from the source (which will be a zip file), then go to your WordPress admin panel. Click on Plugin » Add New. Then click on the Upload Tab.

You will see a screen like the one above. Browse the file and upload it (zip files only). You will be taken to the activate a plugin page just like this one:

Make sure that you click on Activate the plugin, now you have installed the WordPress plugin. You would have to configure the settings to fit your needs. These settings will vary for each plugin therefore we will not be covering that in this post.

Install a Plugin using FTP Manager

If you are very new to web and have no idea what an FTP Manager is, then this option is not for you. The FTP manager method is the least friendly for beginners out of the three method that we shared in this post. You would need to access your host through the FTP manager. Access the path (/wp-content/plugins/) And upload files there.

The above screenshot is of a FTP software known as Ipswitch WSFTP Pro. You can simply drag and drop plugin files. You must make sure that you upload the unzipped folder. Once you have uploaded, then you would need to click on the Plugins tag in your WordPress admin panel.

You will see the plugin you just uploaded. Click on the Activate button and you are done.

We hope that this guide was helpful. This was created using the screenshots of version WordPress 2.9.2. Since WordPress is constantly evolving, we will try our best to keep this guide up to date. If you notice that there is something missing feel free to let us know.

Step by Step Guide to Install a WordPress Plugin for Beginners is a post from: WPBeginner which is not allowed to be copied on other sites.

Related posts:

1. How to Install and Setup WP Super Cache for Beginners
2. Step by Step Guide to Setup FeedBurner for WordPress
3. How to Install WordPress on Your Site

We took the results from Darren’s Poll about What Blog Platform Do You Use? and displayed it in our infographic to present a more convincing argument. As of now, there are a total of 3476 bloggers who participated in this poll, and you can see the results in our Infograph.

WordPress.org got the majority of the votes and WordPress.com was on third place in user choice. If you need help distinguishing between the two platforms see our infograph about Self Hosted WordPress vs. Free WordPress.com.

Our pick in the Best Platform is ofcourse WordPress.org, and we have mentioned a few reasons why you should use WordPress. But if the reasons in the infographic is not enough for you, then you should check out our fully detailed post about Why You Should Use WordPress.

Feel free to post a comment below about which platform do you use, and why you use it.

Once again, all thanks goes to Darren Rowse of Problogger for letting us use his data to create this interactive graphic for our users.

Which Blogging Platform Should You Use? (Infographic) is a post from: WPBeginner which is not allowed to be copied on other sites.

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1. Self Hosted WordPress.org vs. Free WordPress.com [Infograph]
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3. Ultimate Guide to Upgrade WordPress for Beginners [Infograph]

This plugin makes a copy of your web page on the server and by doing so it speeds up page load time and reduces the resource consumption. It is essential that you have this plugin just incase if your site hits the Front Page of a social media network such as digg or stumbleupon, without this plugin, your server will most likely crash.

What we will be doing in this tutorial?

In this tutorial, we will show you how to install WP Super Cache Plugin. Then we will walk you through the process of setting it up which will include updating the .htaccess files and selecting the right settings. Many beginners are afraid to install this plugin because it is a some what complicated setup. But we assure you that after reading this guide, you will feel very comfortable installing this plugin on more than one site.

1. Installing WP Super Cache

We will use the built-in plugin installer to install the plugin. So you should login to your WP-Admin Panel. Click on the Plugin Tabs » Add New. Then type the plugin name “WP Super Cache”.

You will see the results. It will most likely be the first plugin on the list. It is created by Donncha O Caoimh. Click on the Install link. You will see a screen like below. Click on Install Plugin and then Activate the Plugin.

2. Setup Permalinks

A custom url or permalink structure is required for this plugin to work correctly. We recommend that you change your permalinks anyways to make it more SEO Friendly. Follow our tutorial – SEO Friendly URL Structure for WordPress.

3. Turn WP Super Cache On

You will need to visit Settings » WP Super Cache page, and turn it on.

4. Update .htaccess

After you turn WP Super Cache on as shown in Step 3, you need to scroll down on the WP Super Cache option page screen until you see the Mod Rewrite Rules Section. It looks like this:

Then scroll down a little bit more and click on Update Now

You will be able to update this only if your web host has correct folder/file permissions setup. If you are using any of our recommended web hosts for WordPress, then you should be able to do this without any problem.

Once you have finished all these 4 steps, WP Super Cache is setup completely for your site.

If you have any other issues or need additional help feel free to post your questions in the comments below. But before you do that make sure that you have read through the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about this plugin.

How to Install and Setup WP Super Cache for Beginners is a post from: WPBeginner which is not allowed to be copied on other sites.

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1. How to Install and Setup W3 Total Cache for Beginners
2. Step by Step Guide to Install a WordPress Plugin for Beginners
3. How to Install WordPress on Your Site

We hoped you like the infograph. If you liked it, make sure you share it on Twitter, Facebook, or any other site that you like (ofcourse with a credits link back to WPBeginner – preferably this article).

Self Hosted WordPress.org vs. Free WordPress.com [Infograph] is a post from: WPBeginner which is not allowed to be copied on other sites.

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1. Which Blogging Platform Should You Use? (Infographic)
2. Ultimate Guide to Upgrade WordPress for Beginners [Infograph]
3. Speaky, A Free Twenty Ten Child Theme for WordPress