Get notified of new articles from the blogs you follow on myScoop

In an attempt to increase the functionality and referral amounts of myScoop, and to create somewhat of a community for bloggers to increase interactivity amongst different blogs, I have just finished coding and installing a new module for myScoop that sends users a notification email on new articles from the blogs that they have followed on myScoop.

In an attempt to increase the functionality and referral amounts of myScoop, and to create somewhat of a community for bloggers to increase interactivity amongst different blogs, I have just finished coding and installing a new module for myScoop that sends users a notification email on new articles from the blogs that they have followed on myScoop.

Previously, there was no use for the “follow” function, but after much thought and consideration I have decided to implement this module. You will, of course have the ability to “opt out” of receiving future emails of this nature and I fully understand that some of you do not appreciate these emails, but in the hopes of creating a more intertwined blogging community, I feel this can be really helpful.
The email you’ll be receiving will look similar to this:

articles-of-blogs-you-follow

Obviously this will change depending on how many blogs you are following. As you can see, it is grouped per blog, then the articles are sorted by date, from newest to oldest. A maximum of 5 articles are shown per blog. Hovering over the article will bring up the article’s excerpt and clicking on the article will direct you through the myScoop shortened URI which will help in recording statistics, and also give your article the chance to make it to the “popular article” list on the home page of myScoop.

What I am stuck on, and what I need YOUR help on, is how frequently should this report be run? Definitely not daily as this could create a lot of irritation and spam, but I was thinking more along the lines of every 3 days. Your input on this is important so please feel free to leave a comment below with your thoughts.

Afrigator buys itself back

Justin Hartman recently announced via the 27dinner function that Afrigator is buying its shares back from MIH. It would seem as if the original shareholders will be in full control once again, which is good news considering there will be no more “corporate” policies governing what to do, when to do and how to do. This opens up a host of avenues for the well established blog aggregator and I’m sure there is plenty of excitement surrounding this topic.

Justin Hartman recently announced via the 27dinner function that the original shareholders of Afrigator are buying their shares back from MIH. It would seem as if the original team will be in full control once again, which is good news considering there will be no more “corporate” policies governing what to do, when to do and how to do. This opens up a host of avenues for the well established blog aggregator and I’m sure there is plenty of excitement surrounding this topic.

Well done to the guys at Afrigator and good luck.

6 Essential WordPress Plugins

WordPress is arguably one of the most powerful and easy to use content management systems out on the free market today, which gives host to a huge array of downloadable plugins to improve the interactivity of your blog and overall satisfaction of your readers. Although keep in mind, some of the most powerful and useful plugins are those that your readers will never even get to see.

WordPress is arguably one of the most powerful and easy to use content management systems out on the free market today, which gives host to a huge array of downloadable plugins to improve the interactivity of your blog and overall satisfaction of your readers. Although keep in mind, some of the most powerful and useful plugins are those that your readers will never even get to see.

I have listed 6 of the most essential plugins that I feel no blog should be without.

Akismet
This is THE most essential plugin you will ever require. This extremely handy plugin eliminates 99.9% of spam comments that your blog will undoubtedly receive. Akismet comes standard with every WordPress installation but to make use of its features you need to register an account at WordPress.com and insert your API key into the Akismet control panel.

Google Analytics
This plugin is one of the easiest plugins to handle and does the simple yet essential task of inserting your Google Analytics code into every one of your pages and articles on your blog.
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/google-analytics-for-wordpress/

XML Sitemaps
I would have to say this is one of the most essential plugins you could carry in your handy blogging toolbox. This automatically generates an updated and optimised sitemap and pings Google and all other relevant search engines of the changes made. This keeps the search engines coming back to your site to update their information.
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/google-sitemap-generator/

Wibiya
This is one of my favourite WordPress plugins. Wibiya is a toolbar that sits firmly at the bottom of your blog that boasts functionality such a search function for your blog, Twitter integration, Facebook integration, games, translation, and the ability to display notifications to your users. To get this amazing WordPress plugin you need to request an invitation from Wibiya themselves by simply going to their website and filling in a few details. I got my invitation in less than 24 hours and it took me a couple of minutes to set it up.
http://www.wibiya.com/

Gravatar
People like seeing pictures of themselves when they post a comment to an article. An excellent and popular way of doing this is by using Gravatar. It connects to the following avatar websites: Gravatars, OpenAvatar, Wavatar, Identicon, monsterID and MyBlogLog.
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-gravatar/

Platinum SEO Pack
Nothing beats a seasoned SEO consultant when it comes to optimising your site, but the Platinum SEO pack does an excellent job. Install this plugin to ensure your blog stays ahead of the pack in the search engine results pages.
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/platinum-seo-pack/