These quick tips aren’t going to get a post all to themselves, but they are worth sharing, nonetheless.

As I add more quick tips to this page, I’ll keep you informed.

#1 – PLUGINS: It’s easy to load and update plugins right in the WordPress Dashboard, but it’s a good idea to also have copies of all your plugins on your own storage. There may come a time when you need to go directly to your server and reload a plugin and having it readily available will save you a ton of time. In order to load directly to the server, the plugin has to be unzipped, so that’s why you want to have the plugin on your own storage. If you do decide to start this practice, don’t forget to update the plugins on your hard drive/removable drives when WordPress instructs you to update the plugins through the Dashboard.

#2 – PERMALINKS: By default, when you first load and begin to use WordPress, every link WordPress creates on your behalf begins with your URL and  then ends with a unique code, which doesn’t tell anyone what the actual page is about. Not only does this hose your search engine optimization, it leaves your potential visitors guessing and could cost you readers and/or subscribers. One of the first things you want to do, after a fresh install of WordPress, is go to Settings > Permalinks and change the structure of your links to at least include the title of your post/page. The choice for Day and Name is my personal favorite.

#3 – AFTER THE DEADLINE PLUGIN: If you’re looking for something more robust that WordPress’ built-in spell-checker, the After the Deadline plugin is for you. According to the plugin site:

After the Deadline helps you write better and spend less time editing. Click the proofread button in the visual or HTML editor toolbar to check spelling, style, and grammar.

My Question of the Day: Children say the darndest things! Imagine your little one has been attending preschool for several weeks now. S/he has learned so many new things and comes home to share all the adventures s/he is having with his/her teachers and classmates. One day, your precious little one comes home and tells you about a conversation s/he had with another classmate. Your baby boy/girl innocently describes a vulgar sexual act that his/her classmate witnessed and relayed to your child. When your little bundle of joy finishes telling you the story, s/he asks you just exactly what is this vulgar sexual act about which s/he has recently learned. What do you do?

(please note: s/he is an abbreviation for she and/or he)

(this question was submitted by @JoshDamage; thanks!)

My 2 Cents: My mother said when we were little we spoke perfect, standard English, and then she sent us to school with other children, and words like “ain’t” creeped into our vocabularies.

I would first tell my child that the subject is inappropriate and that s/he shouldn’t speak of it again. I would also suggest (not demand) that my child find some other child(ren) with which to play and/or talk. I wouldn’t demand my child not interact with this particular classmate, because the other child is as much, if not more, of a victim as my child.

I would definitely bring this to the attention of the staff at the preschool. This child might be in danger in a household where s/he has learned to talk about a vulgar sexual act well enough to relay that information to other children. It’s quite possible that this poor little one is being sexual abused, and someone must intervene if that’s the case.

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Take a few moments to check out the tweets from Twitter on this subject:

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JoshDamage I ask my child where they learned the words. I then complain to the school

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The commentary doesn’t have to end!

Please feel free to continue to add your comments below.

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