Jason Unger

Welcome to My Lifestream

Posted by junger - 12/08/08 at 10:12:56 am

In a world of facebook, YouTube, Twitter and the rest, it's increasingly likely that you'll be living your online life on someone else's Web site.

So if you're looking to keep in touch with the people in each of these communities, you need to get involved.

But at what expense? Are you becoming someone else's user-generated content?

The new blog design (RSS readers click through), Agregado from the amazing folks at Smashing Magazine, looks to balance those two worlds: your blog and the greater online community.

On the homepage, you'll see my Twitter, del.icio.us and flickr updates, with links to stories from the Online Savings Blog and I Share Funny Stuff. On every other page of the site, you'll see my latest Twitter status.

It's appropriately called my 'lifestream' — and it's open to anyone who visits the blog. Now, you don't have to subscribe to my Friendfeed or check out my facebook News Feed to see what's going on.

Thanks for being a friend.

5 Unique Ways to Use WordPress (Not as a Blog)

Posted by junger - 08/28/08 at 10:08:36 pm

WordPress is easily the most intuitive, user-friendly blogging software available today.

But did you know you can use it for other types of sites?

Here are five unique ways to use WordPress besides as a blog.

A Content Management System

Like most Web sites that use a content management system, WordPress allows you to create static pages outside of the reverse-chronology setup of blogs.

Whether you're creating a page of resources, links, or non-date specific information, pages are the best option for timeless content on your site.

But what about your site's home page? WordPress allows you to set any page as your site's main page. In WordPress 2.5 and above:

• Log in to your dashboard
• Click on "Settings" and "Reading"
• Under "Front page displays," select "A static page" and choose the page you'd like to use

Using WordPress as a CMS is increasingly popular, especially because it doesn't require tech-savvy users.

A Job Board

If you're looking to start a job board using WordPress, it can be done.

Sorel Mihai, one of my favorite theme designers, has created JobPress, a WordPress Job Board.

JobPress allows for both free and paid listings, depending on your preference. Charging for listings is easy (view the settings page) and integrated with PayPal.

Other features include:

• Job categories
• RSS feeds for listings
• Categorization by part-time, full-time and freelance.

Check out more about JobPress here.

A Storefront

Yes, you can sell products using WordPress.

Check out the Market Theme. It's a great-looking, minimalist theme that focuses on highlighting the products you have to sell and helps you sell them.

Features include:

• Support for PayPal and Google Checkout
• Affiliate support, if you have no products to sell
• Compatibility with WordPress MU

Check out more about the Market Theme here.

A Portfolio

If you need a place to show off your work, WordPress makes a great portfolio.

Two great Portfolio themes are Sharpfolio, a free download from WEBRevolutionary, and Sorel Mihai's Portfolio theme.

These two themes work a bit differently — Sharpfolio works more like a "typical" WordPress site, while Portfolio has a custom settings page.

A Classifieds Site

DailyWP's Sorel Mihai comes through again with Classipress, a complete package for managing a classified ads site.

While there are some third-party plugins that attempt to do what Classipress offers, none of them do it right. Classipress requires no additional plugins, so everything works perfectly together.

Check out more about Classipress here.

Daily Online Feed Added

Posted by junger - 11/28/06 at 08:11:18 pm

Thanks to the seemingly limitless powers of WordPress — okay, maybe not limitless — my daily blog from CEPro.com, the Daily Online, is now available via jasonunger.com.

Continue reading Daily Online Feed Added…

5 Steps to a Professional Blog Site

Posted by junger - 08/05/06 at 11:08:06 pm

I consider myself an "ideas man." I often come up with great ideas but don't necessarily know the best way to execute on them. That, of course, is why you bring aboard people who do know how to execute: whether it's developing a business plan or bringing a product to market.

One product I can execute quickly and professionally is a Web site or blog. In fact, putting together this blog took no more than an hour or two of my time — and less than $15.

So how do you do it?

Continue reading 5 Steps to a Professional Blog Site…

How Do I Deal With Massive Commment Spam?

Posted by junger - 08/02/06 at 12:08:29 pm

Ever since my recent slashdotting, redditing and other high-profile pickups, I've been getting comment spam up to the wazoo.

I know that there has to be some sort of mechanism out there to either block or prevent or do a better job of filtering out spam, but how?

Continue reading How Do I Deal With Massive Commment Spam?…