Pandemic Diary: WordPress, The Only Social Media That Keeps Me Sane and Well-Fed

I credited WordPress for the first yoga client I had 6 years ago. So this man – who happened to be an expatriate working in Indonesia as a CEO of an airline – coldemailed me because he found my blog and decided to let me come to his apartment so I could teach him.

In 2014, I almost graduated from the yoga school I was attending. Yeah, almost.

I honestly told him I wasn’t certified… yet. In months, I would have been though.

But he said it was no big deal.

I was excited but also terrified at the same time.

I was more than ready to get paid but I wasn’t fully prepared for the challenges I was about to face in my first classes.

But my self doubt was proven wrong.

He felt refreshed after my private yoga session.

He confessed he desperately needed yoga to rejuvenate his ailing body after injuries and fatigue because of his demanding job. But he found it hard to go to the gym because his time was not that flexible. Having a private sesh was the only option. But again, not many yoga teachers in Jakarta could fluently communicate in English so he took the risk to let me teach him because he read my blog which was fully written in English back then.

Aside from my yoga career, my writing career also took off thanks to WordPress.

Amazing it was to see how WordPress has brought me to the point of where I am now in my writing career, too. (Well, I luckily have two main careers that keep me well-fed.)

Seriously.

I listed my portfolio here on this very blog so whenever people need my list of past ‘masterpieces’ I can easily share the link and they can read it anytime on the screen. Simple. No email and attachments. Links of online CV and portfolio are real solutions.

I may not make zillions of dollars but with WordPress I can make enough money to sustain myself for all these years.

And in these mentally challenging times, WordPress has provided a digital space for me to create a worthwhile stream of written content that is easily accessible for later research.

Twitter and Instagram might be giving me the same digital space to write but they are for microbloggers, instead of macrobloggers who prefer writing longer than just caption or tweets. with hashtags.

But is WordPress a social media platform?

I think so because I find connections here. And the connections are more meaningful and worthwhile here. Less cyber bullying. Less trolling. At least to the extent of my knowledge and experience so far.

Will I write more here in 2021?

Definitely yes. Because I think Matt Mullenweg is cooler than Mark Zuckerberg or Donald Trump. (*/)

A blogger, entrepreneur and social activist, Matt looked so young in 2006 WordCamp in San Fransisco, Calif. (Credit: Wikimedia)

Live Blogging for Dummies

Live blogging could be distraction to some. Take Steve Jobs as an example. He once made all of the journalists in the room covering the launch of the product ‎put their laptops down, and even better, switch them off. Poor Jobs. He annoyed the journos without remorse. You cannot blame people for doing their job, Jobs!

So apparently live blogging is pretty much a hit maker especially when a hugely impactful event is in progress. Like the last live blog I was writing on that news site I work for. I was on fire writing about the verdict of Prabowo Subianto law suit. As we all know, he sued his opponents, accusing Jokowi and Jusuf Kalla of being tricky and slimy to win over him and Hatta Rajasa. He seemed to do it only to prove he is a loser once again. Another shame he brought for himself. The staunch supporters of Prabowo-Hatta rallied outside the Constitution Court and caused some physical clashes but luckily no one got killed in the process. The army on duty had been instructed to be less agressive (because perhaps Prabowo used to be part of them‎ and is still so no, though informally).

I was NOT there, to be blunt. I was only sitting at my desk, listening to some live streams broadcast on the web. Everyone was curious on what was going on and what was about to happen after the rally. I also summarized longer pieces of news spread on Twitter timeline of some news sites.

Basically this is what I do when I have to live blog indoor. I prepare a web page where I could write a line or two at first, and then as the time goes by, I will add more details chronologically. Mention hours and minutes to give impression you’re continously updating. So when they refresh your page, they can find something new to read, whether it be texts or photos or videos.

Here are some of my insights on live blogging based on my experience.

Focus, focus, focus!
You undoubtedly need to enhance you focus. It’s like listening exams, you listen to sources and process, summarize and publish the information and thoughts almost instantly. Without too long delay, or your readers will be disappointed. It’s very easy when you are in the middle of the quiet room. But when you have to cover outdoor events and liveblog about it, there’s extra mental work to do for you. Never forget to ask a friend or two to be with you to watch your belongings in case you need to use the bathroom for a minute or so. You cannot leave your laptop just like that in an open space where strangers‎ are anywhere to see. That holds true when you already get the right strategic spot to comfortably see and observe a live event and never want to relinquish it to other journos.

Make sure you’re near ‎unused power outlets

‎I cannot stress more on the importance of securing a spot near power outlets.

Make sure the connection works smoothly
After electricity supply is solved, you need to ensure your connection works at the desired speed. Never rely on one modem or one cellular operator. At least, provide two. Otherwise, you’ll cry a river when your favorite operator’s‎ service turn out to suck a lot there.

Get ready with your smartphone
Live blogging could be similar to live tweeting but of course you have to write longer, because you simply CAN. ‎Be more accurate as a reporter than a Twitter user.

And if you are an avid user of WordPress mobile application, you may use the app to live blog. Just add more details on one single blog post with time stamps for each update, with the latest right up there near the title. The app would be such a great tool when you cannot sit there to type on your laptop.

I haven’t given an outdoor live blogging a try. But my hunch is it is going to be a lot more challenging as you will have to deal with more distraction than live blogging indoor.

That said, happy live blogging!

Trik Blogging via BlackBerry Tanpa Install Aplikasi WordPress

blackberry (Photo credit: arrayexception)

BlackBerry, ponsel ‘relatif pintar’ yang kerap menjadi bulan-bulanan pengguna smartphone lain ternyata bisa membuat blogger jadi lebih produktif. Alasannya tentu adalah tombol qwerty-nya yang masih terlalu nyaman untuk digadaikan dengan layar sentuh.

Jika Anda suka blogging di platform WordPress (baik wordpress.com yang gratis dan praktis atau wordpress.org yang juga gratis tetapi memerlukan lebih banyak pengetahuan teknis saat instalasi dan pemeliharaan) dan memiliki sebuah ponsel BlackBerry, jangan sia-siakan BlackBerry hanya untuk bertukar pesan di BlackBerry Messenger saja. Dan jika Anda termasuk orang yang seperti saya (tidak terlalu suka ribet dengan upgrade sistem operasi BlackBerry yang justru kadang membuatnya bermasalah), tak perlu menginstal aplikasi WordPress di BlackBerry Anda. Setahu saya makin minim aplikasi, makin minim risiko ngadat. Dan saya juga tidak mengupgrade sistem operasi setelah tahu risiko yang harus dibayar jika upgrade tidak berakhir mulus dan berbagai gangguan menjengkelkan lainnya.

Akan tetapi ada satu fitur sederhana yang terlupakan banyak blogger WordPress. Fitur itu adalah “post by email”, yaitu mengunggah tulisan cukup melalui email. Dan karena BlackBerry memiliki email sebagai fungsi dasarnya, tentu kita bisa menggunakannya jika kondisi tidak memungkinkan untuk membuka laptop di tengah jalan atau diburu waktu atau sekadar ingin menulis di blog kesayangan tetapi tak ada koneksi internet yang stabil di musim hujan seperti sekarang.

Your BlackBerry is your savior, bloggers!

Simak saja prosedur berikut untuk mengaktifkan fitur simpel “post by email” ini di akun WordPress.com Anda (jadi ini BUKAN untuk akun blog yang menggunakan software blogging WordPress.org dengan hosting sendiri. Saya belum tahu ada kemiripan atau tidak dengan prosedur aktivasi fitur tersebut di sana).

Langkah 1: login ke wordpress.com dan masuk ke dasbor, temukan tab “Setting” dan klik

Langkah 2: temukan tab “Writing” dan klik

Langkah 3: temukan tab “post by email” dan klik

Langkah 4: akan ditemukan kalimat
“You can publish posts using emails with the post by email feature. To enable this visit your My Blogs page and create a secret address” (Anda bisa mengunggah artikel via email dengan fitur ini. Untuk mengaktifkannya, kunjungi laman web ‘My Blogs’ dan buat alamat email rahasia). Jadi logikanya, kita harus membuat alamat email rahasia yang kita bisa jadikan perantara dan hanya kita yang bisa mengetahuinya agar akses unggahan ke blog kita tidak dimiliki sembarang orang. Alamat email ini dihasilkan secara acak dan agak sukar diprediksi karena memang hakikatnya agar tidak mudah ditemukan orang yang tidak berhak mendapat akses.

Langkah 5: temukan nama blog (jika blog Anda di 1 akun wordpress ada lebih dari satu), dan klik.

Langkah 6: aktifkan fitur “post by email” dengan 1 klik kiri, dan muncul nama email rahasia, catat (saran saya buat entri tersendiri di kontak BlackBerry, misalnya “my blog”). Jika tidak suka dengan alamat email rahasia pemberian WordPress itu, klik “regenerate” sampai menemukan yang lebih cocok.

Langkah 7: cobalah mengetik satu tulisan di email pada BlackBerry, jika ada gambar dan video yang mau ditayangkan bersama tulisan, lampirkan saja seperti attachment file biasa. Tentu harus sadar dengan kemampuan perangkat, artinya jika Blackberry hanya bisa 2G, jangan dipaksa mengunggah video yang ukurannya besar sekali. Alamatkan tulisan ke email rahasia yang sudah dicatat tadi sebagai, misalnya, “my blog” di daftar kontak Anda.

Sebenarnya ada lagi cara untuk mengelompokkan artikel yang diunggah berdasar kategori dan memberikan tags pada artikel, tetapi caranya agak rumit dan tidaklah sekrusial esensi dari tulisan/ konten Anda. Kategori dan tag bisa dilakukan setelah menemukan PC atau laptop atau sambungan Internet yang lebih stabil.

Untuk Anda yang ingin blogging lebih dinamis via BlackBerry, ini adalah salah satu solusi. Selamat mencoba!

Next Post

WordPress.com releases such a useful extension to get notified even when not logged in the dashboard. That means I can do more blogging with more ease. Cool!

WordPress.com News

Want to receive WordPress.com notifications instantly, even when you’re not on WordPress.com?

Add the new WordPress.com extension for Chrome and as soon as you get a new follower or a new like on one of your posts, a notification will appear in your browser:

Simply click the icon to view your latest WordPress.com notifications:

Start following new blogs without visiting WordPress.com

The Chrome extension also makes it easy to follow sites from your WordPress.com account by displaying a Follow button whenever you’re browsing a site that has an RSS feed.

Clicking the Follow button will add new posts from the website to your reader, and send you an email each time an update is published. (You can change your default email settings if you like.)

When you visit a WordPress.com site, you’ll notice that the extension icon will turn blue, but keep in mind that you can follow blogs…

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KIVA at Pesta Blogger 2010

Anyone can sign up for KIVA and trasfer the money via Paypal.

As I read the events list, a KIVArepresentative named Cissy Deluca was scheduled to be presenting. But when two men entered the room, I started thinking whether Cissy is one of the gentlemen’s name. It turned out that Cissy couldn’t make it and Jerry Harter – another KIVA representative – took the opportunity  to deliver the presentation and answer questions.The presentation started 4-5 minutes late only to let more people come into the room and take more seats. Compared to Mozilla, KIVA and its social entrepreneurship theme sounded ‘from another galaxy’.

The first time Jerry spoke to the audience, he asked whether it was necessary for him to use the microphone during the presentation. Considering how loud the next room had become (either another room’s speaker spoke too enthusiastically or the wall isn’t thick enough to block the noise), I strongly suggested that Jerry used the microphone throughout the session. His soft voice would certainly be lost without the assistance of microphone.