Daniel Greene

Tag: tutorials

How-to’s, demonstrations, guides, step-by-step, walk you through and show you how to do.

  • Blog 2014: Adding affiliate links to earn money

    I just found out that WordPress.com, the advertising-averse blogging platform that hosts this site, allows bloggers to earn revenue by posting affiliate links. What?!? I wish I’d known this years ago! I’m this nice guy who, for years, has had links on this blog to Amazon for books I contributed to — just to make it easier for people to find them — even though I wasn’t getting royalties for purchases or commissions for referrals. All this time, I could have been earning at least a few pennies from Amazon for the business I was sending their way. Who knew?

    This affiliate links looks exactly the same as the link I created before; the only difference is I might earn some $$ for it.
    This affiliate links looks exactly the same as the link I created before; the only difference is I might earn some $$ for it.

    Well, since I’m this nice guy who spreads the word for the greater good, I’m telling the WordPress.com community about this opportunity in case I wasn’t the only one in the dark. Basically, WordPress.com says it’s okay to post affiliate links to goods you like and think your readers might like, as long as you’re a real blogger who writes original content and doesn’t just use your blog to sell stuff.[1] I’ve always been an honest blogger with loads of original content; now I know I can turn my “free advertising” into commissions each time a reader follows one of my product links and chooses to purchase the product. Yay!

    There are several affiliate programs out there, but in case you’re interested here’s a link to Amazon.com’s Affiliate Program I just joined. They pay 4% on every purchase readers make from your affiliate links. Hey, even if it only gets a blogger a few dollars a year, it doesn’t hurt.

    References

    [1] WordPress.com Support > Policies & Safety > Affiliate Links

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  • Weird Al’s “Word Crimes” – Better than Schoolhouse Rock!

  • Blog 2014: Adding social media links

    Blog 2014: Adding social media links

    Where I learned how to add social media buttons, and where I found them

    Today, I added custom social media links to my secondary menu, which appears on the left sidebar in the Twenty-Fourteen WordPress theme I’m using now. I did this because Twenty-Fourteen doesn’t have social links in the theme, and I wanted them near the top of my blog layout. To learn how to add them, I started by reading the WordPress Support article “Add Social Media Buttons to Your Sidebar or Footer.” When I did a Google Image search of ‘free social media icons’, as suggested in the support article, I found my favorite icon set at GraphicsFuel: 20 Popular Social Media Icons (PSD & PNG). Thank you, GraphicsFuel!

    What code I used

    I used the HTML shown on the support article, but I amended it with a bit of CSS to put some padding (space) to the right and bottom of the buttons so they didn’t look stuck together. While I was at it, I took the width and height properties out of the HTML and put them into the CSS where they belong (since they are style, not structure). Here is a sample of the style code I added to the img element for my customization:

    style="width:35px;height:35px;padding-right:5px;padding-bottom:5px;"

    How it looks today

    Of course things will change with time as I change themes or widgets, but here is what my blog looks like as of this writing, with the new social media button links I added to the left sidebar:

    A screenshot of the front page of my blog on July 7, 2014
    A screenshot of the front page of my blog on July 7, 2014

    Why I wrote this

    I always like to share what I learn with others who might benefit, and I like to give credit where it’s due. I hope you find it helpful. Please let me know.

  • There is no ass to Rick — and four other symbols you mispronounce

    As an interpreter, I go to many places where people call typographical symbols by the wrong names. It irks me, but I can’t say anything about it while I’m interpreting, so please hear me now as I correct some common errors.

    @
    This is an at sign, a.k.a. at symbol or simply at when spoken in an email address. It is not an ampersand.
    &
    This is an ampersand.
    /
    This is a slash. It is not a backslash.
    \
    This is a backslash.
    *
    This is an asterisk. If you don’t pronounce the s before the k, you risk offending Rick.

    This is Rick. Unfortunately for him, there is no asterick.

  • Slideshows of Interpreting Vague Language Workshop Series

    Slideshows of Interpreting Vague Language Workshop Series

    These are the slideshows from the series of three Interpreting Vague Language (VL) workshops I taught in July. I’m sharing these for people who are interested in vague language and how I teach  it.

    I recommend taking these three parts together as a Friday night, all day Saturday workshop. Please email me@danielgreene.com or call me at 623-252-5171 if you are interested in hosting. Thanks!