Using WordPress as Forum Software

WordPress as a Forum
I was looking around the web and noticed most forum software does not index well with the search engines.  Then I started thinking that WordPress does SEO (search engine optimization) great and will ping many different services.  This makes WordPress great for spiders.

So I started searching the web for people who had built WordPress into a forum.  And sure enough I came across this posting.  The Dead One has do all the work and shared his results.  Thanks Dead One!

Check out the demo or the forums to see it in action!

It was exactly what I was looking for.  WordPress hacked into a forum with a custom theme.

I’m installing it today on a couple of sites to test out and modify.  Has anyone else built something like this?  Post us your thoughts.

TDO Forum Wordpress Theme (v3) [thedeadone.net]

Downloads: TDO Forum Wordpress Theme (v3)

This theme turns your Wordpress blog into a Forum!

Download it now!

This graphically simple theme turns your Wordpress Blog into a Forum. Categories are treated as individual Forums and a Post (with it’s comments) is treated as a Topic (aka thread). It has a number of powerful features built in such as listing posts on the front page, not by latest date, but by last commented on date. See the full list of features after the cut (or just below).

Version 3 is tested for compatibility with Wordpress 2.5 and the display of individual topics is tweaked to be more forum like

Check out the demo or the forums to see it in action!
Features

* Simple layout easy to modify and customize
* Lists posts by date of last comment (instead of published date) (included as a page template)
* Unread topics are highlighted and can be used to filter posts list (included as a page template)
* A hierarchical Forum list (included as a page template)
* AJAX Comment Preview (can be turned off)
* Comment QuickTags (can be turned off)
* Gravatars for posters and commenter’s (can be turned off)
* Forum-looking Layout
* Pages and Categories can be used as Tabs (configurable)
* RSS 2.0 Feed of forum posts (can optionally be included in the theme or replace the main post RSS feed link)
* Posts can be made “sticky”
* Can set different URLs to create posts for different categories
* Hide categories from the forum list
* Theme Options page within Wordpress Admin UI
* Custom Posting Template
* And all for free!

Technorati Tags: wordpress, forum, theme

Google Keyword Tool: Niche Market Research for Free, Article Series

Google Keyword Tool - Article 1

This is the first article in a series of posts on how to use Google Keyword Research tool.

Google had just opened up more features on their keyword research tool.

Here is a snapshot of the keyword “learning”.

Now you can get the searches per day which helps you to understand how popular a term is. In the next few weeks we will be releasing a series of articles on how to use the tool to:

1. Research a New Niche Market
2. Estimate the Value of a Niche Market
3. Sorting the Keywords for Maximum results in your Internet Niche
4. Exporting Keyword Results to Excel for Detailed Market Analysis
5. and whatever else we can think of

For now take a look at this great article from Get Elastic on
The New Google Keyword Tool: How To Apply Keyword Research to Your Site

Prototype This: New Innovation Show on Discovery Channel

This is a great new show for inventors, innovators, and anyone interested in creating new products!

Prototype This: New Discovery Channel Innovations Show | Steve Casey

Prototype This
Discovery Channel has just put a new TV series together for Inventors and Innovators call “Prototype This”.

I think this is great to show inventors how to get started with new ideas and take them through the innovations process.

Everyone should take the time to watch this show and teach others how to invent and innovate.

Make your calendars for Wednesday nights and don’t miss this show!

INNOVATION NEWS

Futuristic Innovations Are Born On New Discovery Channel Series

(NAPSI)-We’ve all been there at one point or another-stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic, horns honking, palms sweating, blood pressure rising. With the increasing amount of time Americans spend in their cars each day, road rage is a phenomenon we’ve all been affected by.