I was reading Joost de Valk’s post, On the GPL, Themes, Plugins & Free. Matt Mullenweg had mentioned during WordCamp Chicago 2009 about how WordPress was going to be putting a separate section recognizing people who did commercially supported GPL themes. I for one, though I have never been very verbal about it, have always had done this for my own themes that I made for clients.

Recently, I blogged about How To Appreciate Your Web Developers where I try to spread the message that it is important to support your web developers and how to do it. This can be tied with the topic for WordPress GPL themes and plugins. I like this idea about the themes, but I have to agree with people like Joost de Valk and Justin Parks that plugin developers should be included. These special plugins give that extra oomph to make your site pop. I remember my first plugin donation was to Alex King for WP-Grins and that was a couple years ago. I now make free emoticon smilies for people to use and most people probably have used his plugin.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you even think there should be a section to recognize GPL supported themes or plugins? Have you ever donated to a WordPress plugin developer?

You can now have your site seen with a friendly user- interface with the plugin WordPress Mobile Edition. The creator of this nifty plugin is Crowd Favorite.

According to the FAQ for the plugin, when using this plugin, it does support touch phones like the iPhone and even supports your pages.

To install, you only have to upload a plugin and a then a theme that is compatible. Here is a live version of WordPress Mobile Edition in action.

The only thing that is pointed out that may be a bit disappointing is the fact that users do not have a login interface with this. Perhaps in the future, Crowd Favorite might come up with one? Just a thought I might throw out there. This is a great way to extend your blog’s accessibility. There are other WordPress plugins that are listed under the mobile tag in the WordPress plugin repository to check out just in case you want to see more that are available.

Do you use a plugin to make your site accessible on cell phones?

What is the purpose of an RSS feed? That is one of many questions I get from people on a daily basis. I decided I would share. First, you have to understand what it is before I go onto explaining how you can use your RSS feed to your advantage.

According to Wikipedia, an RSS feed is:

RSS (most commonly translated as “Really Simple Syndication”) is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format.

The format is really simple (exactly part of its definition.) In fact, you can view my own rss feed here at Blondish.net and see for yourself. You will be able to subscribe to these feeds too. One way you can subscribe is to plug the feeds you into your Google Reader. You can simply click on the title of the feed on one side and it appears in a window for your to reading convenience.

However, here are a few things to help you with your blog when harnessing the power of RSS feeds:

• You can use your social networking places and spread the news about your blog and ask those who like your blog to subscribe to your feed. The feed is something that your reader can choose to come back and not forget about after some time.
• You can make money with your RSS feed. There are programs out there that will allow you to add text links or advertisements to your feed so you can make a little money.
• You can hold subscription drives. RSS feeds are free to subscribe to. In fact, Chris Brogan holds them on occasion, and encourages others to hold them too. These subscription drives could pull in more readers who are curious about your content. You can also take this time to ask your audience on what they would like to see on your site so they may come back again and again.
• You can encourage your readers to make comments on your blog through your feed too! This is a great way to keep your blog’s conversation rolling!

The great thing about the feeds are that all you have to do is blog and it will be published not just to your website, but your feed page too. It can drive traffic to your site on days you did not do much to promote your blog, and possibly bring back old viewers you have not seen in some time.

Do you have an RSS feed? If so, what do you do to harness its power? If not, have you ever considered putting one on your site?