Columbia MO Blogs

Everything is Free!

Scott Wendling — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 20:43:03 +0000

I’ve made some changes to CoMO Blogs the past few months. I’ve added tons of great plugins, extra features, premium themes and all blogs are free. If there are any plugins, themes, or features you would like to see that are not currently available let me know and I will get them implemented.

In addition to all of the plugins and current themes CoMO Blogs has become a member of WooThemes so all of those themes are at your disposal. If you see one in the woo gallery that is not currently installed on CoMO Blogs just use the contact form to let me know. Feel free to leave any comments about suggestions or improvements to the service.

If you don’t already have your free Columbia blog you can sign up for free!

How to Create a Blog Post

Scott Wendling — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:38:19 +0000

Log in to your blog.
1. Go to yourdomain.com if you are using your own domain name or yoursitename.comoblogs.com if you are not using your own domain name.
2. Scroll to the bottom of the screen and click “Login” (your page may look different depending on theme but you should always be able to find a login option).[singlepic id=10 w=320 h=240 float=]
Click the post tab.[singlepic id=14 w=320 h=240 float=]
Click “Add New” [singlepic id=5 w=320 h=240 float=]
1. Give your post a title.
2. Add content to your post such as text, pictures, links, etc.
3. Enter tags (key words used in your post) separated by commas, then push *Tag*
4. Check the categories that the post applies to. If there are none then push “Add New Category”[singlepic id=7 w=320 h=240 float=]
If you are using an embed code from another website then you must click the “HTML” tab of your content box and paste the code into that part.[singlepic id=9 w=320 h=240 float=]
Click Publish[singlepic id=16 w=320 h=240 float=]

First Spam Attack

Scott Wendling — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 17:48:10 +0000

Last night CoMO Blogs underwent it’s first large scale spam attack. This is not a good thing because it can dilute the real blogs and it also takes usable blog names away from real bloggers.

The CoMO Blog team instantly responded by adding further spam checking protection that will monitor ip addresses and some other checks against the standard bot spam protocols.

We installed the wordpress anti spam tool.

This is an example of the level of immediate quality support you can get through CoMO Blogs.

Columbia Missouri Blogs Progressing

Scott Wendling — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 19:55:25 +0000

I have been constantly working on CoMO Blogs for the past two weeks. My goal for the site is to provide people of Columbia, Missouri a local option for premium blogging and affordable websites. Speaking with small businesses about using the internet for marketing has taught me one thing: most small business owners don’t understand internet marketing or what they need in a site.

The only thing the small biz owner knows is they need to be on the web. At this point they either go to a web development company, a marketing company, or look online for a cheap solution. The problem is web development companies are designed to create killer web applications that tend to be highly customized to the users need, marketing companies come up with beautiful websites but usually aren’t designed to be found. Being found on the internet is the most important thing, it doesn’t matter how pretty your site is people need to find it first. There is absolutely nothing wrong with web development companies and in fact I have used Delta Systems in the past and would recommend them to anyone that needs some custom coding. Marketing companies are equally useful because they help you create the image you would like to communicate to others. Marketing companies can actually assist you with your CoMO Blogs website.

Columbia, MO Blogs currently has over 105 themes with more planned for the future. These themes all have different advantages and can be customized in various ways. Some allow you to change out the header to easily change the branding while others allow you to modify colors, background, and font types. There are even 3 themes designed to be used specifically as a full blown website that are highly customizable. If you aren’t satisfied with any of the themes we offer then as a premium CoMO Blog supporter you can hire someone like to create a theme and we will load it and give you exclusive access to it.

How much does it cost to be a premium member? I’m glad you asked. We offer monthly, quarterly, and yearly pay options that range from $5 per month to $42 per year. You can have a website for $42 per year which is cheaper than anything you will find at a web development company or marketing company. It is probably cheaper than a lot of the existing “cheap website” companies as well but they aren’t even worth looking at. You don’t even have to have a domain name. You can utilize the existing domain which would be something like yourcompanyname.comoblogs.com. You can also use your own domain and redirect it to the site. Future developments include full domain mapping but rest assured your site can be found.

While you can simply sign up for a blog, become a supporter, and instantly have access to all of the benefits some people are more comfortable having the website created for them. If you prefer this route then for an additional fee we will work with you to set things up and show you how to easily modify your content in the future.

One final note, all websites and blogs can be searched from the CoMOBlogs.com homepage with Google integration. This will give Columbia citizens an easy place to search for local businesses.

This is a labor of love and an ongoing development. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions I would be happy to hear them.