Here’s a quick rundown of what’s got bloggers and content management system (CMS) folks amped up:

Custom Post Types

At this point, WordPress has two default types of content, posts and pages. (You can read posts on this blog and you can view extra pages through the navigation bar at the top of the page. Other themes may have different link placement.) In version 3.0, you can create custom post types with their own attributes for things like press pages, client testimonials, portfolio display, podcasts, video libraries, you name it. WordPress users are not forced into jury rigging posts or pages to fit their needs.

Menu Management

WordPress 3.0 takes control over navigation menus to a whole new level. Using the drag and drop user interface, you can create menus with internal links, external links, category or tag pages, or whatever you choose. Then you can use and manage these menus as a widget in the link management screen.

Custom Taxonomies

The ability to create taxonomies enhances WordPress’ standing as a true CMS. By default, you have the ability to create categories and tags within your site, but now you can add additional layers of meta data, and even make them hierarchical. For example, on this blog, there are over-arching subject categories for each post and more specific tags. Each of these allows readers and search engines to find topics of interest more easily. With version 3.0, I could choose to create another taxonomy for rowing and label posts with names such as sculling, sweeps, coaching, coxswainship, etc. and provide deeper layers of categorization and searchability. I’ve worked on websites with single-layer taxonomies as well as websites with multi-relational and hierarchical taxonomies, and this feature excites the web geek in me.

Multi-site

WordPress 3.0 now allows the management of multiple websites (with different domains and/or sub-domains). The former WordPress multi-user tool has been integrated into the newest version. An average blogger will probably not need this feature because you need to know a bit of code and how to configure server settings, however, for those who run blogging networks, news sites or companies with many employees with branded blogs, this feature is likely to raise an eyebrow or two.

Shortlinks

As Twitter and Facebook become more important, the need to shorten your URLs also becomes more important. With the wp.me URL shortener, you don’t have to rely on other URL shorteners such as TinyURL or bit.ly and can keep your branding intact. That’s right, you can shorten your URL and keep your own domain name. The WordPress blog has more on that feature.

Author Templates

Now everyone gets personal branding! Despite how you feel about personal branding (and I love Doc Searls’ insights here), you can create individual author templates, which are great for multi-author blogs such as this one or if you want to apply different styles or layouts to author pages.

Select Username and Password During WordPress Instillation

Anyone installing a new WordPress blog before 3.0 had their master account default to “admin” as the user name and a password was auto-generated. Now you can create your own user name during install and provide a little more security.

Other New Stuff

If you’re interested in the entire list of new features, upgrades and changes, check out the Codex page for WordPress 3.0.

©2012 Blog de Puree. All Rights Reserved.

I was impressed with D.J.’s last blog post. His use of yachtsmen vernacular and the emotion of a captain that exuded from his post was really fantastic.

“That the sea looks like a pancake from your window doesn’t mean squat!! Even as I was depositing him [The yacht's owner] into the tender to go ashore he asked me if I was sure. “It doesn’t look so bad.” I assured him that outside it wouldn’t be pretty and that it would only be getting worse. He left and we had a washing machine ride home, surfing some large swells. Always a strange sensation and humbling when a fifty-eight ton yacht’s engines are rendered null and a swell that’s moving faster than you picks you up and pushes you forward. Great for gas mileage, not so good for the nerves.”

His last post (part of it quoted above) brought to mind two of my favorite nautical authors, C.S. Forester (Horatio Hornblower series) and Patrick O’Brian (Aubrey-Maturin series) because his use of authentic boatsman language accurately helped to paint a vivid picture of his experience. Forester’s and O’Brian’s books are laden with juicy parlance from the heyday of the age of sail and the prime of the British Navy, and a nautical enthusiast can sink one’s teeth into it.

Personally, I think he should keep all this in a journal and write a book some day. I think that yachting enthusiasts worldwide would enjoy following the story of Captain D.J.

©2012 Blog de Puree. All Rights Reserved.

According to TechCrunch, this type of application only exists in academic and enterprise content management systems, not for the blogosphere. Demos are available now for WordPress, Typepad and Blogger in a Firefox browser.

I haven’t tried Zemanta yet, but I immediately thought of a similar software company that my father-in-law started called 3DWriter for schools and students. The concept is similar in that it enables linking text to relevant websites and Internet sources. Much like many current systems, the act of linking is a manual process, however, and one needs to highlight text, find the relevant link, click the link icon and insert the URL. Just like I do on this blog.

Zemanta has taken this to a new level; it automatically culls the information for you, saving the manual legwork of finding the information yourself. As an oft-lazy blogger, I’m excited to see how it develops because linking is a great way to enhance the richness of information available for a blog post and it adds to one’s search engine optimization.

As for 3DWriter, at $249 a pop to license it for an entire school (Compared to the obscene prices for Microsoft academic licensing), it’s an absolute steal for a product that students can use to create robust reports and term papers that utilize basic Web technology and concepts while developing their writing skills. It also develops research competency using the Internet. Combine that with a teacher that knows how to bring technology into the classroom and you have a powerful and affordable teaching tool.

©2012 Blog de Puree. All Rights Reserved.

Until about a month ago, we’ve been relying solely on written copy in our User Guide, community forums and other scattered areas on the website. Typically—and as often predicted by Internet user studies—many visitors would not take the time to read online documentation and would veer towards the forums for one-on-one or one-one-many help requests, and community connection. (The fact that many members would seek advice from other members and directly from moderators rather than reading the manual is also an interesting point to note.)

The videos help to answer some of the most basic and frequently asked questions such as what’s Helium all about, how do I write on Helium, how do I rate on Helium, how do I earn money on Helium and how does the Marketplace program work. We’re still awaiting initial user statistics, but I suspect that each flash video will appeal to members who are inclined towards visual learning tools and quick answers, rather than reading guides or waiting for questions to be answered in our forums.

The videos reside on a few key pages, as well as within advertising blocks that appear throughout the site. This should ensure that they get enough exposure to visitors.

I’m excited because it’s also a first successful step in demonstrating our ability to use alternative multimedia learning tools that we can leverage in places like tutorial pages that are specific to certain types of members, visitors or business partners. For example, let’s say we want to create a page that teaches Helium writers how to optimize their titles and articles for web search while still providing an easy-to-read and professional work of long-lasting knowledge to the community, a video might be a better way to go. A picture is worth a thousand words, right? It could be reasonable to assume that a video would be worth more.

These videos are also a great marketing tool. What better way to educate the time-strapped publisher about what Helium is all about than with a quick video that’s just under two minutes. By showing, rather than explaining, the ease of how Helium can be used as a cost-effective and time-saving publishing resource, I hope that it will bring potential business partners knocking on our door asking for more information.

Here’s a video that briefly provides instruction about how to rate articles on Helium.

Click here to view the embedded video.

©2012 Blog de Puree. All Rights Reserved.

I’ve been there almost a year and I love going to work each day to be a part of the excitement and passion that our members bring to the site. They keep us busier than one-armed paper hangers.

One topic that we’re constantly dealing with, obviously, is how writers can make as much money as possible through their writing on the site. It’s no secret that members who do make a decent amount of money put in a lot of work. They have hundreds of articles and are constantly working with the staff and other members to improve their writing. They make me feel a little like being a well thought of professor (I hope) on a virtual college campus–hundreds of students milling about in a constant frenzied state of academic activity all focused on  becoming better writers.

One of our top writers, who goes by the pen name Thingywhatsit, recently wrote this great article about being a member and making money on Helium, on another website she writes for, Thisisby.us. (And the inbound links don’t hurt either.) It’s a great summary of what it’s like to be a member on the site and the tools we have available. If anyone is looking for a great synopsis of what it’s like to be a member and how to maximize your monetary experience, I strongly recommend reading her article.

©2012 Blog de Puree. All Rights Reserved.

Naturally, I was saddened by the news. But as a writer, I felt guilty for wondering what his secret to success was as thousands mourned his passing. It’s common for all writers to spend a lot of time and thought on how others got published, and what they did to become famous writers. No matter how inappropriate the timing. Most may not admit that, but deep down, it’s true.

Today, I found a tidbit that answered this very question and it was from Mr. Vonnegut himself; it was from his book Bagombo Snuff Box. A blog called they must need bears was kind enough to list Vonnegut’s short story tips and I’ve taken the liberty of copying them here.

1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.
2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
4. Every sentence must do one of two things — reveal character or advance the action.*
5. Start as close to the end as possible.
6. Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them — in order that the reader may see what they are made of.
7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.
8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.

©2012 Blog de Puree. All Rights Reserved.

The column, Words on Birds by Steve Grinley, was entitled “Names for birds add to description.” I tried to access it on the the newspaper’s Web site because I thought that linking to it would make a great blog entry, but that column was actually gated as part of the “Plus Edition package.” I went elsewhere online and found the same information at birding.about.com, as well as a couple of other online reference sites, and thought I’d share the information with any birders who came across this blog.

• Birds in general – A flock of birds, a dissimulation of birds, volery of birds
• Bitterns – A siege of bitterns, a sedge of bitterns
• Chickens – A peep of chickens
• Choughs – A chattering of choughs
• Coots – A cover of coots, a raft of coots
• Cormorants – A flight of cormorants
• Cranes – A sedge of cranes
• Crows – A congress of crows, a murder of crows
• Curlews – A herd of curlews
• Doves – A dule of doves, a flight of doves, a dole of doves, a cote of coves, a piteousness of doves
• Ducks – A paddling of ducks, a raft of ducks, a team of ducks, a dopping of ducks
• Dunlin – A fling of dunlin
• Eagles – A convocation of eagles
• Eggs – A clutch of eggs
• Falcons – A cast of falcons
• Finches – A charm of finches, a trembling of finches
• Flamingos – A flamboyance of flamingos
• Geese – A gaggle of geese, a skein of geese
• Goldfinches – A charm of goldfinches
• Goshawks – A flight of goshawks
• Grouse – A brace of grouse, a covey of grouse
• Guillemots – A bazaar of guillemots
• Gulls – A colony of gulls
• Hawks – A cast of hawks, a kettle of hawks, a cast of hawks
• Hens (chickens) – A brood of hens
• Herons – A siege of herons
• Hummingbirds – A charm of hummingbirds, a troubling of hummingbirds, a hover of hummingbirds
• Jays – A band of jays, party of jays
• Kingfishers – A concentration of kingfishers
• Lapwings – A deceit of lapwings
• Larks – An exaltation of larks
• Loons – A raft of loons
• Magpies – A tiding of magpies
• Mallards – A sord of mallards, a flush of mallards, a puddling of mallards
• Nightingales – A watch of nightingales
• Owls – A parliament of owls, a wisdom of owls
• Parrots – A company of parrots
• Partridges – A covey of partridges
• Peacocks – An ostentation of peacocks, a muster of peacocks
• Penguins – A colony of penguins, huddles of penguins, a pride of penguins
• Pheasants – A bouquet of pheasants, a covey of pheasants, a nye of pheasants, a nide of pheasants, a nest of pheasants
• Quail – A bevy of quail, a covey of quail
• Pelicans – A squadron of pelicans
• Plovers – A congregation of plovers, a wing of plovers, a leash of plovers
• Ravens – A conspiracy of ravens, an unkindness of ravens, a constable of ravens
• Rooks – A building of rooks, a parliament of rooks
• Snipe – A walk of snipe, a wisp of snipe
• Sparrows – A host of sparrows, a quarrel of sparrows
• Starlings – A murmuration of starlings
• Storks – A mustering of storks
• Swallows – A flight of swallows
• Swans – A ballet of swans, a bevy of swans, a herd of swans, a whiteness of swans
• Teal – A spring of teal
• Tufted Titmice – A banditry of titmice **
• Turtledoves – A pitying of turtledoves
• Turkeys – A rafter of turkeys, a muster of turkeys
• Waterfowl – A plump of waterfowl
• Waxwings – An ear-full or a museum of Waxwings *
• Woodcock – A fall of Woodcock
• Woodpeckers – A descent of woodpeckers

The next time you’re writing about what kind of bird groups you’ve seen, use these terms. If anything, they will spice up your descriptions.

* Added on June 19, 2008 after spotting an ear-full of Cedar Waxwings in Newburyport, Mass.
** Added on September 28, 2008.

©2012 Blog de Puree. All Rights Reserved.