setup TextEdit to save HTML files

: : for TextEdit on mac : :

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from Chris Thomson on Quora ...

There isn't any way to set the default extension for files in TextEdit -- you'll always have to type .html at the end of the filename manually. I'd highly recommend using an alternative text editor for editing any sort of code files (see What is the best text editor for writing HTML and CSS?), but if you must use TextEdit, here's a few tips to make it as painless as possible to save HTML, CSS, and other code files constantly:

• Set the default filetype to plain text. You cannot save code files when you're in Rich Text format. Open up TextEdit, and go to the TextEdit menu and select Preferences, then change the Format option to Plain Text. If you ever need to save a file as rich text, you can change that on a per-document basis using the Format menu.
• Tell TextEdit not to automatically add the .txt extension to plain text files. In TextEdit preferences, go to the Open and Save tab, and uncheck the Add ".txt" extension to plain text files option.

add a blog post

: : for squarespace v7 : :

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adding content to a blog page

The following article from the Squarespace (v7) knowledge base explains how to:

1. Add or Open a Blog Page
2. Add a Post
3. Add Content
4. Add Categories and Tags (Optional)
5. Enable/Disable Comments (Optional)
6. Add Thumbnail Images (Optional)
7. Add an Excerpt (Optional)
8. Add a Location (Optional)
9. Push Content to Social Media (Optional)
10. Save
11. Manage Blog Posts (Optional)

Read the article here »

how do I configure a post to publish in the future?

You can also schedule a post to publish in the future (or backdate it).

Read the article here »

optimising posts/pages in your wordpress site

: : for WordPress using Yoast SEO : :

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optimising individual posts

Use the snippet preview added by the WordPress SEO plugin:



This preview will automatically take the values you’ve already filled in in your blog post and apply them to your template, but you can also override the title completely using the title field just below it:



The input will show a warning below it if your title is becoming too long. The title length is not a fixed amount of characters but rather limited to the length of the display in the search results.

For titles the following things are important:

• They should always contain your brand, preferably at the end, so people may recognise you in consecutive searches.
• They should always contain the keyword you think is most important for the current post or page, which we’ll call the focus keyword from now on. The focus keyword should preferably be at the beginning of the title.
• The rest of the title should entice people to click.

optimise your descriptions

Now that we’ve got proper titles, we should start to focus on meta descriptions. The meta description can be used by search engines to show in the snippet, it’s the black piece of text shown beneath the URL. The meta description is usually only used when it contains the keyword the searcher was searching for.

Some plugins, most specifically the All in One SEO plugin, use so called “automated descriptions”. They use the first sentence of a post to fill the meta description by default. That’s not very smart. That first sentence might be an introductory sentence which has hardly anything to do with the subject.

Thus, the only well written description is a hand written one, and if you’re thinking of auto generating the meta description, you might as well not do anything and let the search engine control the snippet… If you don’t use the meta description, the search engine will find the keyword searched for in your document, and automatically pick a string around that, which gives you a bolded word or two in the results page.

Auto generating a snippet is a “shortcut”, and there are no real shortcuts in (WordPress) SEO (none that work anyway).

So, use the meta description field you find in the WordPress SEO plugin to write a meta description. Make sure it entices the reader to click through and make sure that it contains the focus keyword of your post or page at least once.

You’ll notice we do not mention meta keywords. We don’t use them and neither should you, for an explanation, read this article by Joost: meta keywords and why I don’t use them.

This is an excerpt from the WordPress SEO Tutorial which you can read here »

getting started with squarespace v7

: : for squarespace v7 : :

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The best place to get started with Squarespace v7 is here: Getting Started and then Using Squarespace 7

But if you're keen to jump straight in with adding content, I highly recommend you read through these guys first:

• Content
• Building a Page
• Using Clickthrough URLs
• Adding Pages to your Navigation
• Content Blocks
• Moving Blocks
• Resizing Blocks
• Resizing an Image
• Using the Quote Block
• Using the Line Block
• Scheduling Blog Posts

And there's a whole bunch of videos here

Can't find what you're looking for?  Ask for help here: help.squarespace.com

Configuring an e-mail program (Outlook Express, Apple Mail, Thunderbird, etc)

: : for ICDHost Control Panel : :

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If you up your mail as IMAP, you can access your mail from just about any device.  To set up your device, follow this link:

https://www2.suresupport.com/faq.php/34

then click the link of the appropriate device/email reader.  For example, if you have an iPhone 4, you'll probably want to click on "Apple iPhone & Apple iPod with iOS 7".

The next screen will list 4 different options - POP3, POP3 & SMTP over SSL, IMAP or IMAP & SMTP over SSL.  Select whichever is most appropriate.

You'll need some if not all the following details:

• your email address
• your password
• your domain name
• your server name

All these details are available in your Welcome email (except your password).

Follow the instructions step by step!  It may seem daunting, but if you follow each step (there are lots of pretty pictures!) you'll have your email set up in no time.

custom thumbnails for youtube videos

: : for youtube : :

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Looks like custom thumbnails are back!

To upload a custom thumbnail for an existing video:

1. Go to your channel Video Manager.
2. Locate a video and click the Edit button.
3. Click the Custom thumbnail button and upload a thumbnail.
4. Once the thumbnail is uploaded, don't forget to click the "Save Changes" button.

Custom thumbnail best practices
Size

Your custom thumbnail image should be as large as possible, as the image will also be used as the preview image in the embedded player. We recommend your custom thumbnails:

• Have a resolution of 1280x720 (with minimum width of 640 pixels).
• Be uploaded in image formats such as .JPG, .GIF, .BMP, or .PNG. 
• Remain under the 2MB limit. 
• Try to use a 16:9 aspect ratio as it's the most used in YouTube players and previews.

Read the full support article here »

reconnect your facebook account to twitterfeed

: : for twitterfeed : :

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Twitterfeed is a great tool for autoposting your blog to Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

For reasons unknown to me, Facebook kills its feed every few months, so if you're using Twitterfeed to autopost to Facebook, you'll need to reconnect every now and then.

It's easy enough to reconnect, just follow these steps:

1. Login to Twitterfeed
2. Click on ‘Edit feed’ next to the social platform icons in the dashboard
3. Click on ‘Continue to Step 2’
4. Click on ‘Facebook’ under Active Services
5. Click the "Connect with Facebook" link, and you will be redirected to Facebook. Facebook automatically does this with the currently logged in Facebook account (if not, it will prompt to login), so if you want to connect a different account, you’ll need to log out of Facebook first.
6. Once you're back at Twitterfeed (which may be immediate, if you previously authenticated), there may be a list of Pages underneath the blue button - if you want to post to a Page instead of your personal account, select the Page to post to. If you want to post to your personal account ignore this step.
7. Click the "Update Service" button, in order to save the new Facebook connection settings.

If everything goes well, the connection will display an expiry date, eg, [expires 2013-10-29 06:10:32] in about two months time.  Set yourself a calendar/task reminder a week prior to the date and don't forget to reconnect your account!

If you have any trouble, contact Twitterfeed directly by clicking here.