Every blogger is faced with situations that don’t allow them to publish as frequently as normal. Could be a slump. Maybe they’re too busy. Or…wait for it…they could be taking a vacation!

When there’s some planned time away from the computer lots of bloggers will set the publish date on stories in advance, so the stories go live automatically – but that’s not always the case.

My last post was Tuesday, February 27th – probably the longest gap ever. The reason: I was moving. A new house means lots and lots and lots of boxes. It took me 2 days to crawl out from under the boxes, let alone squeeze my arse out from behind the dryer that I had to install.

But I’m back! And along with a host of other major changes in my life (to be discussed soon, I promise) I’m hopping back into the blog saddle.

Thinking about the blog saddle a bit more, here are 6 steps to help:

1. Read More. Now is a great time to catch up on some reading – be it your feeds, or, dare I say it, an actual book. I spent a few days reading some magazines and the newspaper, letting new ideas and thoughts percolate in the back of my head.
2. Take Some More Time Off. Sounds strange – you’ve already been out of blogging for awhile – but take some more time off anyway. Don’t rush it. If you jump back in desperate to publish something the result won’t be as good as you want. So don’t panic; get back into the swing of things by taking just a little more time off to prepare.
3. Think About a Series of Posts. While you’re taking just a little bit more time off you should think about writing a series of posts. A series is a great way to get back into things because you’re preparing a few posts in a row and thinking longer term. Instead of trying to get back on the saddle with just one post, you’re now thinking about a real story arc that can help re-build momentum.
4. Write What You Always Wanted To But Never Did. Every blogger has a post or two in his/her mind that’s been sitting there for ages. Now is the time to finally spit it out. If you don’t, you might lose it and never find the right opportunity again. Maybe it’s a controversial post, or something a bit out of synch with what you normally write…that’s fine! Give it a shot. Grab your readers’ attention back quickly and suck ‘em in.
5. Keep It Simple. No matter what you do, keep it simple. The worst thing you could do is blurt out a million different ideas in a hundred posts in a very fast period of time. You’ll overwhelm your audience. And as Darren Rowse points out in a recent survey he did, most people unsubscribe from a blog because of too many posts. Shock and awe isn’t really suited to blogging, especially when you first get back into it.
6. Give Me Something Unique. Don’t come back into blogging with a link post, or something that might be considered “content filler.” Give me something unique, interesting, thought provoking, funny. Your first post back has to really resonate with people, who may already have forgotten you were there. Hey, people are fickle! So keep it simple but don’t be chintzy. (Granted, a post about how to get back into blogging might not be the most unique; so I may be breaking my own rule!)

Getting back into the blog saddle isn’t easy. You may be a bit unmotivated, distracted, tired, overwhelmed, bored…Even if you’re absolutely raring to go it’s not always obvious how to jump back in. Ultimately you just do it. You won’t be wholly judged on that first post, so don’t throw yourself into a frenzy about it. Write something, make it as good as you can, and plan the next few posts as quickly as possible. You don’t want to tease people with one post only to disappear right after.

The most important thing is to find your groove again, and as soon as possible. I know my groove is packed away in a box somewhere…if only I had labeled these boxes better! Kitchen, bathroom, dining room, blog groove…

Photo by Rexys Lightgarden.

The best blog posts contain only one idea.

It doesn’t matter whether the posts are short or long, five words or five thousand words, people appreciate the singularity and focus of blog posts that are only about one thing.

Just one.

Not two.

One.

This is one of our biggest challenges. Many bloggers are ramblers, and we write like we talk. After all, it’s rare to have a meeting or conversation about one thing. But the problem with the multi-idea blog post is that most people who read blogs are scanners.

Ramblers and scanners don’t mix.

Scanners don’t read in-depth and don’t want to see a post that bounces between ideas. They want one idea. Clear. Obvious.

And ideally, you need to get to the point as quickly as possible. So not only are you limited to one idea per blog post, but you better get that idea out there in the very first sentence.

The best blog posts are about one thing. The more laser-focused the blog post, the better. If you look at your blog post and it’s got two or more ideas in it, you know what you’ve got? Two or more blog posts. Break it up, focus on one thing at a time and you’ll be writing better blog posts.

Picking the best WordPress theme for your blog or website is hard. There are hundreds of themes available and more popping up every single day.

Not all WordPress themes are created equal. And while most are decent and manageable, there are some things you should watch out for and be wary of before selecting a theme.

1. Messy Code. Messy code doesn’t mean the theme is broken or won’t work, but it makes it harder to change things. Even small tweaks could have disastrous effects. Messy code also makes it harder to find things and understand how the code is affecting the design. So you’ll run into situations where it’s simply not obvious how to change something. Clean code is usually nicely aligned and documented. Here’s an example:
   

   /* Begin Content Classes */
   .featuredpost {
   margin: 0 0 30px 0;
   padding: 10px 20px 20px;
   background: #f5f5f5;
   border: 1px solid #ddd;
   }

2. Too Restrictive. Some themes were just not meant to play with. A theme that’s too restrictive won’t let you easily make changes. This is most likely a result of poor coding, which will be very difficult to overcome, and not worth the effort of fixing up (just find another theme.) If you’re planning to make significant changes to a theme, test those changes out quickly, on-the-fly, to see if the theme is too restrictive or not.
3. Too Many or Too Few Files. When you go to edit your WordPress theme it lists the editable files on the right-hand side. Some themes will have an overwhelming number of files, which means it’s harder to change your theme and make sure the changes follow through across the blog. It’s also downright confusing. I’ve seen this a few times with K2 Themes; the list of editable files is so long you’re not sure where to start!

   Too few files means that you might not be able to get the right diversity of design, style and layout that you want. For example, the Painted Desert theme only has a few editable files. It’s quite a nice looking theme and fairly unique amongst others that you’ll see, but if you want to make significant changes it gets complicated.

   A good “group” of files to have (in order to maintain flexibility but not go over the top) include Stylesheet, Main Index Template, Single Post, Page Template, Archives, Sidebar, Search Results. There are others too (like Footer) which are handy but not necessary to do most of what you’ll need to.

4. No Further Updates. There are many themes out there in various stages of release that will never get any further love from the original designers/developers. That’s OK, they’re giving the stuff away for free, and everyone’s busy, but if it looks like a theme hasn’t been updated in a very long time, or the owner has openly said s/he won’t be updating it anymore, consider your use of that theme carefully.
5. No Support. You might find the most perfect theme out there for your blog, but if there’s no support provided (in the form of forums, active comments on blog threads, an email address of the original designer, etc.) you may want to think twice. If you’re a sophisticated WordPress user or you don’t expect to make a lot of changes, go for it, but lots of themes have small, little bugs you might encounter, or you might need help making advanced changes. Even a small support network or active user group of the theme can be extremely helpful.

The great thing about WordPress is that you can always change themes, but it’s always best to start off on the right foot. And once you’ve picked a theme and invested some time in it, you won’t want to start all over again with something new.