When I first heard that the 3^rd version of WordPress was going to have the option to run the site like WordPressMU use to, I was very excited. I’ve had some experience with networking blogs on one of my first URL’s, Sheley.org had WordPressMU on it for a while. It’s where my original Brandon Sheley blog started, as well as, a blog for wife and a baby site for the family. I also ran dozens of WordPress sites to show off the free WP styles I was giving away at the time. I eventually shut that script down and went straight to WP for those sites, merged some info together and dropped WPMU altogether.

I wanted to start a network back up but had to make sure I had a good URL. I picked up AlienSoup.com from a forum purchase and merged all their forums and members into General-Forums. This is a 10 year old domain and it’s defiantly brand-able, I’m going to give it a new life as a free blogging platform. We already have a few forum members that have picked up their own personal URL and I see some are already getting indexed. I’m going to do everything I can to get all new blogs indexed, the AlienSoup domain already have 10 years of backlinks, I will of course be adding to those in the next few months. I’ve already added a few of my favorite plug-ins, you’re more then welcome to add whatever ones you like through your control panel. I’m going to be scouting some nice themes to add soon, I believe you can also add your own styles through the control panel as well. It’s a pretty nice setup to be honest, I’ve always been a big fan of WordPress and what you can do with it. I’m looking forward to building this network and watching it develop.

If you know of a great plug-in for 3.x that works particularly well with the network feature, please comment and let me know. One of the things I’d like to do is be able to get one RSS feed of all the forums and sites so I could promote that to help get every new post indexed. Another thing I’ll be looking deeply in is social media, I have a working retweet button on all the blogs, I’d like to get a Facebook “like” badge also. I have the wp-greet box enabled on all blogs, this will help with return traffic.

This will be a long project and I don’t expect it to take off overnight, but it’s something I’m not going to give up on. It will be a success sooner rather than later.

My thoughts on vBulletin and IP.Board.

If you know anything about me, you’ll know that I ran a vBulletin powered forum for many years and just recently sold it. I’ll try to outline a few of the reasons why I “switched to the dark side” and setup an Invision Powered Services forum. The number one reason I would have even considered sticking with vBulletin is the vBSEO product. IPB does have SEO mods but they just don’t seem to match up to the power that vBSEO brings to the vBulletin platform. With that being said, I made a thread on the IPB support forums titled “How to SEO our IPB forum” I’ve picked up a few tips which I’ve implemented on my IPBSetup forum, but there has to be a few more options I haven’t found yet.

I didn’t have a problem at first with the buyout of Jelsoft to internet brands, but after seeing all the old developers leave and the drastic changes that have taken place; I see why people were getting so upset over it. I like how Invision actually uses their CMS for their homepage, vBulletin just has some generic html pages up which do look good, but it’s not showcasing the ability of their suit when they are pushing hard for sales. I had a chance to do some early beta testing on vBulletin and boy did it have a lot of bugs. I know it was in beta but I would of thought some of the major issues would be been fixed in development, it seems they just want to push something out and make it appear as if they care about the end forum user. I think they are really just interested in their own network (iNet) but I could be wrong and I hope I am because I still have a lot of friends that use vBulletin for their forums.

One thing I really like about IPB and wish vBulletin would consider adding this to their lineup is the search box in the admin control panel of IPB. You know how on yahoo if you start typing something you’ll get a dropdown box with suggestions? You’ll find the same thing in the IPB admincp area; it’s been very helpful for me since I don’t know my way around IPB yet.

I don’t think it will be long and IPB will be the #1 forum software for professionals, especially the way iNET is running Jelsoft. I do wish everyone the best, I still love vBulletin but IPB is climbing up with every chance I get to mess around and figure things out. My next big purchase is going to be IP.Content and I’ll have a tightly integrated CMS that will match my forum. This is something I had always wanted from vBulletin and even with the new vBCMS, it just doesn’t fulfill my needs like IP.Content will.

What are some things you like about vBulletin over IPB or IPB over vBulletin? I look forward to your comments. This is a dofollow blog, so search engines will spider your links.

I’ll go over what it really takes to be a successful forum owner and how you should go about building your empire in the following weeks. I have a few people that I’ve already mentioned this blog post to, and they are very interested in being showcased. If you’ve built a successful forum and would like me to do a blog post on you, please contact me via email and I’ll consider adding you to the list.
Some of the topics I’ll highlight will be.

• How you can easily build backlinks and traffic to your forum.
• What you should consider when building your community (members point of view)
• What topics/threads should you start up on your forum?
• Should you use a CMS?
• Types of sites you can build to support your forum.
• What forum script I would suggest.
• Check out the competition.

I’m looking forward to writing these reviews, I’ve had the privilege of watching these forums grow up while I ran vBulletinSetup and I’m honored to have known these admins.

Here is my first article in the series. (I’ll update this list as the articles get published)

• How to run a successful state niche forum

If a room in your home needs a boost of color and character, consider placing paintings on the walls. This will make a big impact on the overall character of the room especially when consistent with the room’s style. Here are some tips for decorating a room with paintings:

Choose the right colors. The paintings you select should be complementary to the wall color, furniture and carpet of the rooms you are decorating. You’ll want the paintings to tie in with the mood of the rooms and the rest of your décor.

Choose wall art that you like, not one just because it’s part of the latest décor craze. If you’re working with a room that doesn’t have much color, choose a painting that fits with the theme you’d like the room to have. If you want a peaceful setting, choose calmer colors. If you want to create a lot of energy, use paintings with brighter, bolder colors.

Choose the right style. There are a variety of styles of paintings including contemporary, modern and traditional. Choose a style that best fits you and the room. Use your own tastes when selecting the painting to create a room reflective of your personality and personal style. If you use more than one painting in each room, choose complementary styles.

Choose the right size painting for your wall. Large paintings in small rooms are overwhelming and can make the room look smaller. Lean toward small and average sized paintings for smaller rooms. In a room with a lot of wall space go for larger paintings because smaller paintings can be engulfed and overlooked on a large wall. You can also choose a number of smaller paintings to arrange together on a large wall.

Arrange your paintings. There are several ways you can hang painting according to the room you’re decorating. If you want to create a gallery feel, give each painting plenty of space on the wall. If you choose to hang another painting next to it, such as in a hallway setting, give ample amount of space between each painting. You can also place a painting above a sofa. When doing this hang the painting at either eye level or at least six to 12 inches above the sofa. Another way you can arrange your wall art is to do a cluster arrangement where you tightly group a small number of paintings to display together. This creates a focal point in the room. The arrangement you use depends on the room, the size of the paintings and of course your personal preference.

Tips for Organizing Your Music Files

You may be like many other computer savvy music fans with hundreds of music files jammed onto one hard drive. These files can come from a number of places – perhaps you’ve downloaded songs, got some from a friend or ripped them from a CD. What if these music files are in a variety of places on your computer? Ever have trouble finding a specific song you wanted to listen to? You need to organize your music files and create your own music library. You’ll not only be able to find your song of choice easily, but you’ll be able to streamline your music collection.

Here some tips for organizing your music files. Depending on your collection it could take you a couple of hours or half the day to sort through the madness.

Use a large hard drive. What’s the point in having all that great music on your hard drive if it’s not large enough to handle the load? Make sure you have a large enough hard drive depending on your music collection. If you have a massive collection, consider a separate hard drive just for your music. A large hard drive will come in handy if you anticipate downloading more music in the future.

Create separate folders. If you have a lot of music by a certain artist or group, you can create a special folder just for those files. Create subfolders to group a variety of songs within one genre such as country, classical, R&B and alternative music. For a few miscellaneous songs, create a random folder. As you download or receive a new song, place the file in the appropriate folder. Don’t let the files pile up on your desktop or in inappropriate folders. You’ll have to go through the tedious process of weeding out misplaced files.

Weed out old files. There may be a few music files you no longer listen to or didn’t like in the first place. Why take up unnecessary space on your hard drive? Delete these files. This frees up room for future downloads.

Sort music by file type. After you’ve placed all the music in their proper files, sort them by file type. You’ll want all of your music to be in one format so convert accordingly.

Tag your files. This step will take the longest in your organization process. MP3 files have a tag that shows the title, album, artist and year of the song. You can download a tagging utility and go through each file.

Purchase music management software. There is a variety of software you can use to manage your music files. Some include music players, CD burning features and tag renaming.

Make your playlists. After you’ve gotten your music files in the appropriate folders, create several good playlists. Your lists can be based on each genre or you can mix it up. It’s up to you. The more playlists you create the easier it will be for you to find the music you love. You can create a playlist in programs such as Windows, iTunes, Creative Labs MP3 player and Creative MediaSource.

Reasons to Join a Destination Club

The rich and famous take wonderful luxury vacations. Why shouldn’t you? Destination clubs, also known as vacation clubs, are a great way to spend your vacation time in a variety of upscale locations. For a membership deposit and annual fee this increasingly popular vacation concept offers you access to a number of luxury homes in attractive resort areas. Here are some reasons you should consider joining a destination club.

1. Destination Clubs offer variety. Members pay an annual fee to the club to have access to a number of properties within its portfolio of destinations. Consider joining a destination club if you like traveling to a variety of locations during the year. One option some people choose is to purchase a second home as a vacation home. This is limiting because you have to return to that home vacation after vacation. As a destination club member you may be enticed to visit a place you wouldn’t otherwise consider. By having access to these properties you can expand your travel comfort zone and try something new. And you’ll do it in style.

2. Destination Clubs provide luxury. For those willing to pay the cost, club properties offer the finest amenities and services for its members. If you can’t afford a million dollar property, the price you spend on a destination club membership will at least afford you some quality vacation time in one. Many of the luxury homes offer a variety of architectural styles and features only found in the finest of homes. Some properties include yachts and sailboats to further enhance your vacation stay.

3. Destination Clubs offer convenience. The great thing about destination clubs is that they promote availability anytime and anywhere. Because there are fewer members in destination clubs, there is more availability in comparison to timeshares. This makes it easier to plan your vacation. Another convenient feature is that many clubs handle your travel accommodations for you by making flight reservations, arranging travel insurance and booking vehicles for you during your stay if requested. You can also have your dinner reservations and other arrangements handled by concierge. Some properties add further convenience by including food and beverages for you during your stay.

4. Destination Clubs make it easy to plan. For most travelers it’s easier to choose a vacation destination if there are a number of options from which to choose. Destination clubs offer those options with a portfolio of locations. As a member of a destination club you’ll be able to thumb through a listing of luxury homes just waiting for you to visit. You can choose a destination based on your hobbies as some offer golf, fly fishing or ample opportunity to relax on the beach. And with the services available to you as a member you can receive the assistance you need to plan your ideal trip.

5. Destination Clubs offer attractive destinations. Whether you’re looking for a club with properties in your region, country or another continent, destination club memberships place its members in some of the most scenic of vacation areas. You’ll learn about new places and see new things.