Gleek Retreat Enhance Your Blog Posts with Photos

 Enhance Your Blog Posts with Photos…The Right Way

Kris Cainhttp://LittleTechGirl.com@[email protected]

Keep your readers…

Start with great photos Don’t steal! Use great tools Resize your photos Protecting your work Using Flickr plugins for Wordpress Inserting photos the right way Fun mobile photo apps

Start With Great Photos/Graphics

Cell phone snapshots are not always ok (unless it’s an emergency!)

Invest in a REAL camera› DSLR or…› Great point and shoot

Use FREE Clipart› http://clker.com› http://free-clipart.net/

Make Your Pics Web Friendly Sign up for Flickr

› Flickr FREE (great for most bloggers)› Flickr Pro ($24.95/year)

RESIZE, RESIZE, RESIZE› Make photos no more than 540px wide› Fav Resize Tool: Mihov Image Resize› Resize in Wordpress Media Tool

Add Alternate Text & tags for SEO Give Photo Credit (tag with photographer

or site name where the photo was found)

Spice Up Your Photos

Learn Photoshop (CS5 or SE)- Photoshop actions & brushes

Use Photoshop Lightroom - Export Plugins will watermark, resource, and upload all at once Add a tasteful watermark Add borders Use effects

WaterMarks & Effects(to give photos personality and make them your own)

Clean Up Your Blog

In the Wordpress Dashboard, click on MediaLibrary

- Look for Unattached Photos and remove them- Be careful of items in the sidebar!

Check Sidebar widgets and buttons for out of date items

Fun Useful FREE Photo Tools

Mihov Image Resizer› (http://www.mihov.com/eng/ir.html)

Instagram for iPhone› (http://instagr.am/)

PS Express (Mobile Photoshop for iOS)› (http://

www.photoshop.com/products/mobile/express/ios)

Flickr Uploader› (http://www.flickr.com/tools/uploadr/)

Random Blog Graphic Tips

Optimize Your Header (No more than 200 – 300 px high)

Don’t overload your sidebar - Other blog buttons

- Affiliate Links Too many photos and graphics slows

down blog loading with affects PR.

Wordpress Plugins

NextGen Gallery Wordpress Plugin (http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/nextgen-gallery/)

Flickr Gallery: Uses a simple shortcode to embed a whole set from Flickr into your post or page. (http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/flickr-gallery/)

WP-Flickr: Displays a gallery of your Flickr Stream below posts for easy access to inserting photos. (http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-flickr/)

Gallery 2.3 by Menalto (standalone)› Use the Wpg2 plugin to embed in WP (

http://gallery.menalto.com)

Thank you!Find me at…

http://LittleTechGirl.com

http://facebook.com/littletechgirlcom

http://chitownmoms.net

@[email protected]