BlogmyQuery – BMQ

There are probably a good amount of Noupe readers who would think little to nothing of paying money for a high quality WordPress theme if it was exactly what they were looking for. When compared to spending thousands of dollars on a unique design, a $40 investment in a premium theme for your website design is relatively painless. The number of premium WordPress theme stores and marketplaces has increased considerably over the last two years. Thankfully, many developers are still releasing quality designs for free.

Today we will be showing you 50 great WordPress themes that were released in 2011 for free. A few of the themes listed are the free version of a premium theme. Upgrading to the premium version usually gives you priority support and/or more features.

We hope you enjoy the list :)

1. News

A clean design from DevPress that could be used for a blog, news or magazine website. The home page has a beautiful featured slider for showcasing your important articles or videos.

Info & Download | Demo

2. Swatch

A free business and portfolio design that was developed to celebrate the release of the 100th theme from WooThemes. Features a custom homepage, featured slider, custom widgets, custom typography and multiple colour schemes.

Info & Download | Demo

3. Wootique

A free ecommerce design that was released in conjunction with the launch of the WooCommerce WordPress Plugin (which is a modified version of Jigoshop, the free ecommerce plugin we reviewed in Extending the Functionality of WordPress). With a featured slider, custom home page and custom widgets; Wootique is a great example of what can be achieved with Wootique.

Info & Download | Demo

4. Fungus

A Colourful blogging design that has social media links integrated in the sidebar and support for post image thumbnails.

Info & Download | Demo

5. WordPress Anniversary Theme

Released at the beginning of 2011 by Matt Mullenweg and ‘The WordPress Crew’, the anniversary theme has a traditional blog structure with a prominent header image.

Info & Download | Demo

6. BlueBubble

A simply minimal design that would be suitable for a blog or a portfolio. Includes an advanced option panel, 8 different colour schemes and social media integration.

Info & Download | Demo

7. Fotofolio Landscape

Designed for artists and photographers, Fotofolio Landscape automatically resizes uploaded images to fit the surrounding area and includes a useful slideshow option.

Info & Download | Demo

8. Big Square

A clean minimal design that is suitable for photo blogs. Perfect for travel blogs, personal blogs, portfolios and photography websites.

Info & Download | Demo

9. Balita

A brand new eCommerce designed for Smashing Magazine that was created to help sell children’s toys and related products. It was designed using HTML5 and CSS3 and features a beautiful home page slider, custom shopping cart and Facebook integration.

Info & Download | Demo

10. Parallax

A simplistic portfolio design that features a large homepage slider and a useful portfolio template page.

Info & Download | Demo

11. AutoFocus 2.0 Lite

Designed for photographers, AutoFocus lite is a simple HTML5 powered design that has a grid design and clean typography.

Info & Download | Demo

12. WordPress Diary Theme

A retro style design that was designed in HTML5 and CSS3. It uses Google web fonts, has built-in pagination and an AJAX powered contact form. Uploaded photos are displayed beautifully using lightbox.

Info & Download | Demo

13. Splendio

Based on the Twenty Ten theme, this is a feature rich colourful blogging theme from Smashing Magazine. One of the few free designs that also comes with the original layered photoshop psd files.

Info & Download | Demo

14. Gynix Tema

A business design which places featured articles on the home page. The theme could easily be used for a blog as well.

Info & Download | Demo

15. Triton Lite

Triton Lite is a self-proclaimed ‘All In One’ design that features a beautiful home page slider, shortcodes for styling content and 3 built in widget areas.

Info & Download | Demo

16. Shuttershot

A portfolio design with a difference, Shuttershot shows photos in full screen in the background of the design. Even when a visitor views a blog page or page the background continues to change. A unique idea that has thankully been implemented well.

Info & Download | Demo

17. Bonpress

A colourful blogging theme that supports custom widgets. It includes custom widgets for social media services and comes in 4 colour schemes (blue, black, pink, orange).

Info & Download | Demo

18. MyPhoto

The first photography theme from WP Explorer is a minimal effort that uses Javascript to highlight photos when a user hovers over them. It’s clean and fast loading, making it a good choice for a photo website.

Info & Download | Demo

19. Shadows

A minimal blogging design that was created for WordPress 3.0+. It supports post thumbnails and includes built in pagination and an author information box on blog pages.

Info & Download | Demo

20. MyCorp

A business theme that features a home page slider, custom post types and custom fonts.

Info & Download | Demo

21. GazpoMag

Featuring post image thumbnail support, social media integration and a beautiful home page slider. GazpoMag is a great option for an online magazine.

Info & Download | Demo

21. Lefty

A fun blogging design that doesn’t take itself too seriously. The home page has a featured post image slider and you can use custom fonts using Google fonts.

Info & Download | Demo

22. theSevenFive

A social media theme that is powered entirely by custom widgets. Through the options page you can style the colour of the background, fonts, links and borders.

Info & Download | Demo

23. Side Blog

A great looking blogging theme that uses post image thumbnails in the index and in the recent posts section on the sidebar.

Info & Download | Demo

24. PolarMedia

A multimedia friendly design that would be suitable for a blog, news website or online magazine.

Info & Download | Demo

25. Blissful Blog

A simple yet elegant WordPress theme that was created specifically for wedding related websites.

Info & Download | Demo

26. Melville

Inspired by classic literature, Melville is a clean minimal theme that has beautiful typography.

Info & Download | Demo

27. PhotoClick

One of the few one-column themes that was released in 2011. It comes in two colour schemes and includes short codes and custom widgets.

Info & Download | Demo

28. Minimatica

A fantastic looking minimal theme that has a beautiful image slider on the home page. This feature rich theme is perfect for blogs, portfolios or video websites.

Info & Download | Demo

29. Min

This is an extremely simple, clean and to the point theme. It has two widgetized footer areas to handle navigation or anything else you feel like sticking in there.

Info & Download | Demo

30. Ari

A beautiful 3 column blogging theme that comes in a light and dark version. It uses Google fonts and has great social media integration.

Info & Download | Demo

31. Grid

A fantastic fast loading minimal design that uses a 4 column grid layout to display posts. Perfect for a portfolio or blog.

Info & Download | Demo

32. Amphion Lite

A blogging design that comes with 2 theme skins, 2 custom widgets, 2 short codes and 2 WordPress menus. Featured articles are displayed prominently on the home page in an image slider.

Info & Download | Demo

33. Grid Portfolio

A beautiful minimal theme that was designed for illustrators, photographers and graphic designers. There are several custom home page layouts to choose from with most displaying posts in a grid layout.

Info & Download | Demo

34. Scherzo

A simple, clean and minimal design which features a widget ready sidebar, custom header image and custom background.

Info & Download | Demo

35. Showcase

A portfolio design that could also be used for a corporate website or blog.

Info & Download | Demo

36. WP Creativix

A nice corporate design that also features a basic portfolio template (which has jQuery lightbox support).

Info & Download | Demo

37. Spectacular

Another fantastic design from Smashing Magazine, Spectacular includes short codes for styling content. An elegant theme that is perfect for blogs.

Info & Download | Demo

38. Steira

A boxy minimal blogging theme from the Automattic team.

Info & Download | Demo

39. Platform

Designed in HTML5, Platform is a drag and drop framework that makes creating your ideal site a breeze. One of the best free blogging themes released in 2011.

Info & Download | Demo

40. Retro Fitted

A fun retro style blogging theme that comes with several widget areas.

Info & Download | Demo

41. Ambrosia

An HTML blogging design that is optimised for viewing on mobile devices. It features 4 widget areas, two custom menus and an option to stick posts.

Info & Download | Demo

42. HTML5Press

Created using HTML5 and CSS3, the theme lets you choose from over 40 Google fonts. It includes a featured posts slider, post image support, post format support and 6 colour schemes (pink, blue, green, red, orange, and bluish purple).

Info & Download | Demo

43. Portfolio Press

Another theme that was designed using HTML5, Portfolio Press is a good option for a simple portfolio blog.

Info & Download | Demo

44. Liquorice

A beautiful vintage design that uses Google fonts.

Info & Download | Demo

45. Delicate

A clean minimal blogging design that was created using the NattyWP framework.

Info & Download | Demo

46. PressWork

An HTML5 WordPress Framework for designers, developers & publishers. The user friendly front page editor allows you to move things around and modify your website in a live environment.

Info & Download | Demo

47. Tungstenation

A good choice for a business or portfolio website. The home page features a beautiful jQuery slider. It also features post image thumbnails, social media integration, built in page navigation, custom font integration and much more.

Info & Download | Demo

48. SixHours

A great looking minimal blogging theme from Caroline Moore.

Info & Download | Demo

49. Busby

A clean blogging theme that was built using the UpThemes Theme Framework. It includes social media integration in the header and a featured post slider on the home page.

Info & Download | Demo

50. Blog-O-Folio

Last but not least is Blog-O-Folio, a great looking blog and portfolio design from Noupe. Features portfolio integration, built in advertisement options and an email subscription form.

Info & Download | Demo

Do you know of a great WordPress design that was released for free in 2011 that didn’t make the list? If so, we encourage you to share it with fellow readers in the comment area.

(rb)

Anyone who has had their website hacked or inadvertently changed something they shouldn’t have on their websites database, will know the importance of backing up your live websites on a regular basis. The steps involved in backing up and restoring a WordPress database using PHPMyAdmin is no different from any other MySQL powered website.

There are alternatives to manually backing up and restoring your database in this way. In this article we will be showing you how you can backup and restore your WordPress database using the built-in import and export tool, using PHPMyAdmin, using CPanel and using a host of WordPress plugins and services.

If your chosen method of backup only backs up your websites database, your site could still be somewhat vulnerable. It is advisable to backup your website files manually as well so that you have a backup of uploaded files such as images, videos etc and any non-WordPress related files that are important (there are solutions for backing up files only).

Backing Up And Restoring Content Using WordPress

WordPress has a built in import (restore) and export (backup) system for transferring content from one location to another. It backs up posts, pages, comments, custom fields, categories, and tags. Unfortunately, things like attachment files aren’t backed up.

The export function can be found at http://www.yoursite.com/wp-admin/export.php. You will have the option of backing up all content or just posts or pages here. You also have the option of backing up any additional custom post formats you have installed e.g. forums, coupons, job-listings etc (quite a large percentage of good WordPress plugins use custom post formats to store data so you may have custom post formats and not even know it). The data is exported in XML format.

To restore your content, either on the same website or a different location, you need to use the import function. This can be found at http://www.yoursite.com/wp-admin/import.php.

WordPress lets you import content from a number of different blogging platforms such as Blogger and Live Journal and WordPress related products such as bbPress too.

There is a good chance that you don’t have the WordPress importer installed on your website so you will probably have to install it (should only take a few seconds).

The import function is very straight forward. All you have to do is upload your exported XML file and click on the ‘Upload file and import’ button. This screen also highlights one of the limitations of the WordPress export and import functions; the file size limit of 2mb. Thankfully, there are steps you can take to increase this limit so that you can upload your file correctly.

After you have uploaded your backed up database you will have the option of assigning posts to an existing user or creating a brand new account for those posts. This is a useful feature when merging the content from two blogs or websites together.

In this screen you can also import file attachments. The backup file you exported earlier saves the location of all of your uploaded files so if the site you backed up is still live on the internet you have the option of importing these attachments to the new location. This is handy if you are moving servers but it isn’t a practical solution for importing attachments from a backed up file if the old website is no longer live.

Finally, WordPress shows you a list of the entries that were imported onto your new website. If the content already exists, it won’t be transferred to your new site, therefore you don’t have to worry about ending up with two copies of your posts or pages if you accidentally upload the file again.

The WordPress import and export function is a user friendly method of backing up, that WordPress beginners are sure to find useful.

Backing Up And Restoring Your Files And Database Via cPanel

One of the most popular hosting platforms used online is cPanel. You should see an icon for backups on your cPanel home page (it’s exact location depends on the version of cPanel you are using and the theme your host has chosen).

To download a database you simply go to ‘Download a MySQL Database Backup’ and choose the database you want to backup. The file will be downloaded as a *.gz file. You can restore your database from this area too (you just need to upload your *.gz file).

You can also download and restore a home directory backup from this area (again, a *.gz file is used). This will backup all of your website files including your core WordPress files, uploads, plugins, themes and non-WordPress related files.

It’s a quick and easy method of transferring WordPress files and the WordPress database from one location to another. Though you do need cPanel to be installed on both locations (or at least be using a hosting platform that supports this type of importing).

Backing Up Your Database Via PHPMyAdmin

PHPMyAdmin is the most common way of administrating MySQL databases. You can access PhpMyAdmin directly through your hosting area (e.g. cPanel) though a great way to backup or modify your database through PhpMyAdmin is by installing the Portable phpMyAdmin plugin which allows you to use the tool through your WordPress admin area.

Once you are logged into PHPMyAdmin, you need to choose the database you want to backup, from the top left hand side (check your WordPress wp-config.php file if you are not 100% sure which one it is).

You then need to click on the export tab, which can be found in the navigation menu at the top. Some versions of PHPMyAdmin have a quick backup option that simply asks which format you want to back your database up in. It’s generally best to backup with the options like they are shown below.

Advanced options are usually available. The most important thing is to make sure that all of the database tables are selected before you click to backup (otherwise you run the risk of backing up one table rather than your whole database). You should also make sure that you click the option which says that it will ‘create a table if it does not exist’ (usually separated into two options to be checked). By default, the correct settings are usually selected but it’s important to make sure before you move to the next step.

Lastly, you may be asked how you want to compress your database. You can select none, zipped, gzipped and bzipped. It doesn’t matter much what you choose as PHPMyAdmin can unzip all of these formats when importing.

The steps for importing a database are very similar. Again, you need to login to PHPMyAdmin and make sure you choose the correct database. Then you need to click on the import tab at the top of the page.

All you need to do now is upload your exported file and click on the go button, ensuring that you chose SQL as your format.

When Moving Your WordPress Website

If you are moving your WordPress website to a new server all you have to do is:

• Backup your files and upload them to the new host.
• Export your database and import it to your new host.
• Ensure that your wp-config.php has the correct login information so that WordPress can access the database.

If your website is changing URL’s you have to make sure that your database has the correct information or WordPress will keep forwarding your website to the old URL.

The smartest way to do this is to change your WordPress address (URL) and Site address (URL) to your new URL before backing up (you do this at http://www.yoursite.com/wp-admin/options-general.php). For example, you would login to your site at http://www.yoursite.com/wp-admin/, change both URLs from http://www.yoursite.com/ to http://www.mynewsite.com and then start the backup process.

If you fail to take these steps, don’t worry. All you have to do is login to PHPMyAdmin and look for the wp_options table and click browse.

You should now see your site address (URL) in the first row. The option_name is siteurl. You simply need to click on the edit link and update this from your old URL to your new one.

The home address (URL), which is the first URL you see at http://www.yoursite.com/wp-admin/options-general.php, can be found on row 39 under option_name home. Simply click the edit link and then update the entry with your new URL. This whole process is relatively painless though it is much easier if you simply update the URLs on your old website before you back up.

Recommended Automated Backup Solutions

There are lots of plugins and services available for WordPress that make the process of backing up and restoring a database quicker and easier. In this section we would like to show you what we consider to be the best back up solutions available for WordPress.

VaultPress – From $15 per month per site

Launched at the end of 2010, VaultPress is the premium backup service from WordPress developers Automattic. In less than a year it has established itself as the benchmark for backing up WordPress.

Once the plugin has been installed VaultPress will take a snapshot of your website. The backup includes your database, plugins, themes and uploads.

VaultPress is constantly working. If you check the activity tab through the VaultPress area on your website you will see several updates every hour.

You can access your main dashboard at VaultPress through the VaultPress page on your own site. You can see a list of all of your websites that are being backed up by VaultPress with a note of when they were last backed up.

From the backup page you can download a full backup of your website or just your database, plugins, themes or uploads.

Older backups can be downloaded too. VaultPress doesn’t just keep backups for a few days; backups are kept from the very first day you started using the service. For VaultPress users who signed up at launch that means that they can download any post, page, theme, plugin or upload since November 2010. This pretty much guarantees that nothing will ever be lost from your website.

Vitality is a measure of how active your site has been over the last month or so. The score essentially informs you how much content has been added to your site during that time; be it posts, pages, comments or uploads.

The basic plan retails for $15 per month per site. The premium package costs $40 per month per site and gives you additional features such as domain and hosting migration assistance, theme and plugin scanning and security scanning. The enterprise plan was created for large businesses who want performance auditing and consultative security. That costs a whopping $350 per month per site.

With constant backups dating back from the day you first started using the service, VaultPress is one of the best backup solutions available for WordPress.

Link: VaultPress

BackupBuddy – From $75

Developed by iThemes., BackupBuddy is a fantastic backup solution that lets you backup your site to your own server, to Amazon S3, to Rackspace Cloud, Dropbox, FTP or email.

It backs up your database, themes, plugins and uploads. You can even backup non-WordPress tables. You can schedule backups as frequently as you wish, exclude certain directories from backups and limit the number of local backups so your server doesn’t get too full.

BackupBuddy has a user friendly restore and migrate feature too. All you have to do is upload your file and then enter some details (such as your database information).

BackupBuddy Restore Feature from WebDesign.com on Vimeo.

A license for two websites retails for $75. 10 websites will cost you $100 whereas an unlimited license costs $150. Unlike VaultPress, BackupBuddy backs up your database to your own server or external services such as Dropbox (most of which are very affordable). This makes it a very reliable and affordable backup solution after the initial outlay (see the BackupBuddy VS VaultPress comparison table for a direct comparison of prices with VaultPress).

Link: BackupBuddy

ManageWP – Currently Free

ManageWP is a service that lets you administrate all of your WordPress websites from the one area. Last month they upgraded their service with support for automatic backups to external FTP, Amazon S3 and Dropbox.

You can schedule backups on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. The number of backups you want to keep can be set and you can choose to delete older backups from your server.

To backup via FTP, Amazon or Dropbox you simply need to enter information the alternative backup destination.

ManageWP is currently in beta development and is therefore free to everyone. From November 2011 the service will cost only $5 per month for 10 websites and $50 per month for 500 websites. With DropBox offering the first 2GB of data for free and Amazon S3 having a very competitive pricing plan; ManageWP is an affordable way of backing up your WordPress website.

Link: ManageWP

WordPress Smart Backup – $20

A WordPress plugin that lets you schedule backups to your server or to your Amazon S3 account. Files can be zipped in order to save space in your accounts.

All past backups and future backups are shown on the backup manager page. Backups on your server can be deleted directly through the admin area. You can also restore your database or files by simply clicking on the restore button.

Backups can be scheduled on a daily basis if necessary and old backups can be deleted when necessary. You can receive updates whether your files were backed up successfully or not.

A regular license for WordPress Smart Backup costs only $20. Although not as advanced as VaultPress or BackupBuddy, it’s a useful plugin for scheduling backups on a regular basis.

Link: WordPress Smart Backup

CodeGuard – From Free

A user friendly service that backs your website up on a regular basis and checks your files for known malware. Your first website on the service is free. All you have to do is enter your website address and the FTP login details and your account will be setup.

The first backup takes between 48 and 72 hours but once it’s setup backups can be scheduled on a daily basis.

You can also receive updates if any of your files change. Backups can be restored at the touch of a button too.

The entry plan for CodeGuard is free and gives you 1GB of storage for one website. The basic plan offers the same storage for $10 per month however lets you backup an unlimited number of websites. The pro plan offers unlimited storage and costs 20% of your hosting costs. A strange way to price a service but it makes sense when you think about it’s a good estimate of their costs.

One of the best solutions available if your website files and database take up less than 1GB though you should perhaps re-evaluate your situation if you need more storage space.

Link: CodeGuard

30 Free WordPress Backup Plugin Alternatives

The official WordPress plugin directory is home to many backup plugins for WordPress. All of these plugins are free to download so you want to consider them if you are not keen on spending money on your backup solution or if the solutions mentioned above just don’t suit your needs.

• MyRepono WordPress Backup Plugin – Automate an unlimited number of backups using the MyRepono backup service.
• WordPess EZ Backup – Backs up files and databases to your website server.
• WP Online Backup – Backup your website to your desktop or email. You can also backup up to 100mb of files on Backup Technology’s servers.
• WordPress Backup To Dropbox – Automatically backs up your files and database to your DropBox account.
• Xcloner Backup And Restore – Backup and restore your website using the Xcloner application.
• WP DB Backup – A simple plugin that backs up your database to your website server.
• The Codetree Backup – Allows you to backup your database, themes, plugins and uploads to your server or via the MyCodeTree server.
• Snapshot Backup – Creates a backup of your database and all of your files and uploads it to the FTP destination of your choice.
• Backup And Move – Allows you to create a backup of your WordPress database and restore it on a different location at the touch of a button.
• Bei Fen – The predecessor of WordPress Smart Backup, Bei Fen allows you to schedule backups to your server for your database and all of your files.
• WordPress SQL Backup – Lets you backup your database and your wp-contents directory.
• SME Storage Multi Cloud Files Plug In – Backup your website to one of 10 storage clouds including Amazon S3, RackSpace Cloud Files, Box.net, Microsoft SkyDrive, Microsoft Live Mesh, Google Docs, DropBox, Mezeo, FTP, and any WebDav enable cloud
• Automatic WordPress Backup – Backup your important files to the Amazon S3 storage service.
• WP S3 Backups – An alternative Amazon S3 backup plugin.
• Ezpz One Click Backup – Automatically backs up your website to any FTP server.
• iDrive For WordPress – Backs up your whole WordPress website to your iDrive online account.
• Backup WordPress – Schedule daily backups of your database and files to your server. You can exclude specific files and folders from backups if you wish.
• WP InstantBackup – Backup your database and files via FTP or email.
• BackupWP – Your database and files can be backed up to your server or to an external cloud storage service such as DropBox, Amazon S3 or Google storage.
• My EasyBackup – Easily backup, restore and migrate your database. Backups are stored on your server and can be placed outside the WordPress installation so that no one else can link to it.
• PressBackup – Backup your website through Amazon S3 or PressBackup.
• Sypex Dumper 2 For WordPress – A plugin that lets you create and restore your MySQL database.
• Updraft – Backup your website to cloud services such as Amazon S3 or Rackspace Cloud. You can also backup to an FTP destination or via email.
• Duplicator – Transfer an entire site from one location to another in 3 easy steps.
• OP Archive – A one-click backup solution that backs up your files and database to your server.
• Drop In Dropbox – Backs up your files to your Dropbox account.
• WP Time Machine – Backup your files and database to Dropbox, Amazon S3 or via FTP.
• WordPress Move – Helps you migrate your WordPress website to a new server.
• WP Migrate DB – A useful plugin when you are moving to a new host. The plugin backs up your database and does a find and replace on your old URLS so you don’t have to do it manually via PHPMyAdmin.
• WP Export – Export your database as a CSV file.

Overview

What backup solution you use for your WordPress website depends on your own situation. It depends on your budget, your experience administrating FTP applications and databases and how important your website is to you.

The one thing you shouldn’t do is disregard the importance of backing up your website. There’s always a chance of someone hacking your website and you never know when something could become corrupted in your files or database. So don’t be afraid to pay for a good backup solution if the free alternatives are not practical (which is usually the case once your website reaches a certain size).

What method of backing up do you use for your WordPress website? Please let us know in the comments area.

(rb)

One of the most important tasks for any online business is the thorough analysis of their traffic. It helps them understand why they have or hadn’t had success within a given period and helps them plan for the future. It’s not just a matter of counting how many page impressions or unique visitors your business has had in the last month (though these are important metrics).

Web Analytics, as it is known, is the measurement and analysis of every factor that contributes to your websites success. It allows you to track your visitor activity and show where visitors are coming from, what keywords and search terms they used to find your website, how long they stayed on your website, what page they exited your website from, what links they clicked, what pages are getting the most traffic and much more. It also shows where they come from, what browser or device they used to visit your website and what language they speak. Other sources such as leads, email campaign responses, heat maps etc can be tracked too.

All of this data can be used to analyse where your sign ups, sales and affiliate conversions are coming from. It helps expose areas of your website that need addressed and plays a major part in planning future projects and strategies.

Today we will be showing you a large collection of free and premium web analytics scripts and services that you can use to track your traffic, monitor your goals and plan your next move. Before we do so, let’s look at how web analytics software works.

How Web Analytics Work

There are two main methods of collecting data on a websites traffic. The first method is called ‘Logfile Analysis’. This is when software such as Webalizer is installed on your server to analyse your servers log files. Most starter to medium sized hosting packages usually have Webalizer, AWStats and/or Analog installed, all of which can be viewed via your hosting admin area (usually cPanel).

The second method of tracking involves placing a piece of Javascript code on each page. When a page is viewed on someones browser the inserted tracking code sends data to another server to analyse the collected data. This is known as ‘Page Tagging’. Page tagging is one of the most popular ways of tracking data on the internet. The service is usually hosted by a third party so all you have to do is add the tracking to your site (usually into the header or footer). There are self-hosted page tagging scripts available too.

Page Tagging Vs Logfile Analysis

As logfile analysis takes place on your own server, it is the cheapest and most convenient way of tracking traffic for many businesses. It is apparently more reliable for tracking search engine traffic too as many Javascript based trackers don’t load when a search engine spider loads a page.

One of the major drawbacks of using logfile based analytical data is caching. On average caching is responsible for around one third of page impressions. If a visitor loads a page from their cache then it is not recorded by the server in the log files. This is one reason why page tagging has become more popular over the last 10 years.

With page tagging, a visitor is counted every time the tracking code is loaded, therefore traffic should be more accurate. There are some metrics that page tagging can track too that logfile analysis can’t do (visitors screen sizes etc).

Confusing Traffic Reports

Due to the different ways that different scripts and services analyse traffic, there can be discrepancies when the statistics from 2 or more web analytics programs are compared for the same website, particularly the number of page impressions and page visits.

Another confusing web analytics problem when tracking unique visitors is referred to as ‘The Hotel Problem’; a term that was coined by Rufus Evison to refer to the issue of monthly unique visitors not equalling the sum of unique visitors for each day of that month.

The problem is explained by considering a hotel with 2 rooms:

	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Total
Room A	John	John	Jane	2 Unique Users
Room B	Mark	Jane	Mark	2 Unique Users
Total	2	2	2	?

In the example above, there was only 3 unique visitors over the course of 3 days however the stats show 2 unique visitors for Room A and two unique visitors for Room B. If you count the number of visits per day, the total number of visits is shown as 6. Web analytics report this problem correctly which is why the sum of daily unique visitors for a given month does not match the total.

More confusion arises because stats show that new visitors and repeat visitors does not equal the total visitors. The confusion comes around because of how the visitor is tracked. For example, consider a person who visits your website and then returns on the same day. Are they a new visitor or a repeat visitor? They’re both; however for that day the web analytics software would correctly track one unique visitor.

You shouldn’t concern yourself too much about these issues though you should have a brief understanding of how web analytics software services work as it will help you when you start planning ahead.

Let’s move forward and look at the most popular web analytics scripts and services on the web :)

Free Web Analytics Scripts & Services

The list of web analytics programs has been split into two main categories: Free and Premium. Programs are then categorised again according to the type of program they are such as log analysers and hosted services.

Below you will find a list of useful web analytics that won’t cost a penny!

Log Analysers

The following scripts analyse data by analysing the data collected on your server. As such, they need to be installed directly on your server.

1. Webalizer

A fast, free log analyser that produces reports in HTML format. Arguably the most popular log analyser available for website owners.

2. AWStats

A useful log analyser that can analyse log files from all major servers. Collects a lot of data that similar scripts don’t such as visitor location and search engine robots.

3. JAWStats

Works in conjunction with AWStats to provide an enhanced interface when viewing stats.

4. Analog

A basic log analsyer that hasn’t been updated in several years. It provides some useful traffic data but seems very outdated and isn’t very user friendly. Some of you may prefer this simple approach to data reporting.

5. W3Perl

A perl based log analyser that can be accessed via a command line or via the web. Reports can be produced in HTML or PDF format.

Self Hosted Page Tracking Scripts

The following scripts have to be installed on your website in order to collect data about your traffic.

6. Grape

A basic program that shows visits, referrers and the operating system of your visitors.

7. SlimStat

A simple stats program that is optimised for viewing on iPhones.

8. FireStats

A basic stats program that is free for non-commercial usage.

9. Open Web Analytics

A beautiful stats program that collects data on geo-location, page details and visitors actions. It also shows a heatmap for your site.

10. Piwik

A program that aims to be an open source alternative to Google Analytics. Collects a lot of useful data which is displayed in a user-friendly interface.

11. TraceWatch

A realtime web stats program that is fast loading and multi-language friendly. One of its best features is Path Analysis; an interesting report that shows you exactly what pages each visitor viewed on your site and in what order. This allows you to analyse how visitors are navigating around your website.

12. CrawlTrack

A stats program that collects a lot of data about your search engine presence.

Hosted Page Tracking Services

The following services are free. To start collecting data all you need to do is sign up and insert the appropriate tracking code into the header or footer of your website. Many services also have a premium version if you want additional features.

13. Google Analytics

The industry standard for web analytics. It boasts a lot of great features such as alerts, goal tracking and integration with Google Adwords. The services 50 website limit should be sufficient for most website owners.

14. Yahoo Web Analaytics

A customisable web analytics service that features advanced PPC management, click path analysis, custom reports and more.

15. Site Meter

One of the oldest hosted web analytics services online, SiteMeter looks a little dated compared to alternatives that are available though it does show interesting stats such as who’s online right now and traffic prediction.

16. GoStats

A basic web analytics service that shows the number of visits over set periods.

17. W3Counter

A great looking service that provides over 30 free web analytical reports such as visitor locations, screen resolutions and click overlay.

18. StatCounter

A simple stats service that features keyword analysis, returning visit information and the ability to magnify users to find out more about them.

19. Clicky Web Analytics

Produces easy to read reports online. The service is also optimised for use on iPhone and other mobile devices.

20. Woopra

A stats service that has gained popularity for it’s easy to use interface and unique features such as a live map of your online visitors.

21. ShinyStat

A basic stats service that shows you information about your website visitors.

22. Blog Tracker

A simple stats service that was designed specifically for blogs. There is no reason why you couldn’t use the service on other types of websites though.

23. Koego

Targeted towards blogs, Koego provides over 40 free reports. It also tracks activity of your Twitter and FriendFeed accounts.

24. TraceMyIp

Don’t be put off by the outdated grey design, TraceMyIp is actually a pretty useful stats service that provides a lot of useful stats.

25. HiStats

A free service that provides lots of interesting reports such as users online, referring websites, geo-location and much more.

Checking Your Competition

26. Alexa

Whilst not always the most reliable way of monitoring traffic on smaller websites, it’s still a useful way of comparing your own website to your competition.

Click Tracking

27. MouseFlow

A great free service that shows click heatmaps, movement heatmaps and link analytics.

Premium Web Analytics Scripts & Services

All of the scripts and services listed in this section charge on a monthly basis to use their service or a large fee upfront to download and use their script. Many services, particularly those who offer packages under one hundred dollars, offer a free trial for up to 30 days before you commit to a recurring payment.

Log Analysers

28. Deep Log Analyzer – $199.95

An advanced logfile analyser that provides over 40 reports. The program costs $199.95 and allows you to use the script on an unlimited number of domains.

29. WebLog Expert – $99+

A premium logfile analyser that produces traffic statistics and click overlay reports. A standard license retails for $99 however a lite version exists with a reduced number of features.

Self Hosted Page Tracking Scripts

30. Urchin – $9,995

The feature rich software that Google Analytics is based on. A standard license retails for a whopping $9,995 and is valid for 1,000 domains.

Hosted Page Tracking Services

31. Sawmill – $99+ per month

A powerful analytical application for serious businesses. For one website (profile), the lite version retails for $99, the professional version for $199 and the enterprise edition for $699.

32. NextStat – $9.95+ per month

A professional real time analytics service. Prices start from $9.95 per month for 20,000 page views with additional website programs costing an additional $5 per month.

33. OpenTracker – €19.95+ per month

Advanced real time visitor monitoring and search term analysis. Prices start at €19.95 per month for up to 100,000 page views.

34. HitsLink – $9.95+ per month

A professional web analytics service that is used by many large internet companies. The professional account retails for $9.95 per month and the enterprise account costs $14.95 per month. The platinum account costs $499.95 per month and includes one million page views. Each additional one million page views costs another $100 per month.

35. ReInvgorate – $10+ per month

A professional web analytics service that allows you to stream traffic information on your desktop. It also shows heatmaps so you can see where users clicked are clicking on your website. Up to 500,000 page views for $10 per month.

36. Extreme Tracking – €5+ per month

A basic stats service that has a bafflig pricing plan. A free tracker is available but it’s only allowed on one page. For up to 100,000 page impressions per month they charge 5 euros every month. For over 900,000 impressions per month they charge around 150 eurors per month (the prices depend on whether you pay monthly, quarterly or yearly).

37. VisiStat – $49.95+ per month

A professional web analytics service that can track your email, PPC and other marketing campaigns. Prices start from $49.95 per month.

38. FoxMetrics – $9.95+ per month

An event driven analytical service that has a lot of great features such as conversion funnels and grouping website visitors into logical groups. Plans start from $9.95 per month.

39. KissMetrics – $29+ per month

Their bootstrap starter package costs $29 per month for up to 100,000 events. Up to 500,000 events costs $79 per month with more expensive packages available for bigger businesses.

40. LuckyOrange – $7+ per month

A professional service that offers a live dashboard, heat mapping, online polls and much more. Packages start at the very affordable $7 per month for up to 1 million page impressions.

41. OneStat – $125+ per year (just over $10 per month)

A professional service that is used by a lot of major companies throughout the world. Their entry ‘OneStat Pro’ package starts at $125 per year though more expensive packages are available that offer more features. A free stats service is also available.

42. Mint – $30 per website

An extensive web analytics program that has a user friendly interface. The service costs $30 per website.

43. ChartBeat – $9.95+ per month

A premium service that shows real time data. Alerts can be sent to your mobile or email inbox and the service is optimised for use on the iPhone. Plans start at $9.95 per month for 5 websites and 1,000 concurrents (1,000 concurrents means 1,000 people are viewing your website at a given time).

44. Performancing Metrics – $FREE+ per month

A premium blog analytics service with unique features such as Feedburner integration and stats via RSS feeds. The service is free up to 3,000 page views per day with 10,000 page views and 30,000 page views costing $6.99 and $9.99 respectively. A super pro and custom packages are also available.

45. RealtimeStats – $9.95 per month

Realtime analytics for web, social media, mobile and eCommerce traffic. It costs $9.95 per month for traffic reporting and an additional $10 per month for eCommerce tracking.

46. GoSquared – $9.95+ per month

A useful service that shows what is being viewed on your website right now. Whilst the first 10,000 page impressions are free, the standard package is $9.95 per month and allows up to 150,000 page impressions over 3 websites. 500,000 page impressions costs $24.95 per month and 1,000,000 page impressions costs $49.95 per month. An extreme package is available which allows up to 2,500,000 page impressions.

47. Bango Mobile Analytics – $49 per month

A premium solution that tracks mobile traffic and mobile marketing campaigns. The standard package retails for $49 per month though an advanced package exists for $499 per month.

Checking Your Competition

48. Compete – $199+ per month

The leading service for monitoring your own website against the competition. The starter package costs $199 per month. More expensive packages show more data such as demographic metrics and incoming and outgoing traffic.

Overview

Tracking your websites performance is one of the most important aspects of running a successful website. Granted, checking your stats too much can be counter productive if that means spending less time working on other aspects of your business. Though there is no denying that the more information you have at your disposal, the better position you will be in to analyse your success and move forward.

What services you use depends on what type of business you run and what you are looking to achieve in the future. If a free stats service does everything you need then there is no need to pay for analytics. However, don’t be afraid to spend money on a good service if it means getting the edge over your competitors. Bear in mind though, a company that charges for their analtics service doesn’t guarantee that their service is any better than free alternatives are available so make sure you take advantage of 14 day and 30 day trials before entering your credit card details.

We hope you have found this brief explanation of web analytics and collection of great free and premium traffic services useful. If you know of any other great services that haven’t been covered in this article, please feel free to share them in the comment area.

(rb)

By now most everyone online has heard of Wikipedia; the online encyclopedia that boasts millions of articles in dozens of languages. It revolutionised the way content was delivered online and popularised the word ‘Wiki‘. According to Google, it is the 6th most popular website in the world.

What you may not know is that Wikipedia is powered by wiki software called MediaWiki. In fact, all projects of the Wikimedia Foundation use MediaWiki such as Wiktionary, Wikiquote and Wikibooks.

What is MediaWiki?

MediaWiki is a free open source script that was released on January 25 2002 under the GNU General Public License. When Wikipedia was released in January 2001 it was originally based on UseModWiki software. However in the Summer of 2001 a German Wikipedia editor called Magnus Manske began working on a replacement as UseModWiki was proving to be too limiting.

Written in PHP with all the information being stored in a MySQL database, the improved Wiki software would eventually power Wikipedia from July 2002 onwards and would become known as MediaWiki.

The download file is only 14mb in size yet the platform can support websites with terabytes of content and huge amounts of traffic. It’s easy to use, easy to edit, allows reverting to previous revisions in case of spamming and is multimedia friendly. Caching is supported too.

The software has over 700 configuration settings and over 1,800 extensions as well making it a very flexible platform for publishing content online.

12 Popular Websites That Use MediaWiki

You may have visited a website that was powered by MediaWiki already without knowing it.

Below is a list of 11 popular websites that publish content using the MediaWiki software. As you will see, the majority of websites that use MediaWiki don’t modify the design of the script beyond uploading their own logo.

1. Wikipedia

The first website to use MediaWiki and by far the most popular website using the script. As previously mentioned, Wikipedia redefined how information was published online.

2. Wikiquote

A project of the Wikimedia Foundation, WikiQuote is where you find famous quotations from famous people, films and literature.

3. Conservapedia

An encyclopedia that does not allow bias or distortion of the truth in it’s articles.

4. Metapedia

Focuses on culture, art, science, philosophy and politics.

5. WikiTravel

One of the most popular travel websites on the web.

6. WikiCars

One of the largest guides to cars on the internet.

7. Wikihow

The largest collection of ‘How To’ articles on the web.

8. WikiSummaries

Over 3,000 free summaries of books.

10. Wikia

A for-profit website that was built using MediaWiki. It’s the home of some of the most popular wikis on the web such as the Star Trek information site Memory Alpha, the Lost encyclopedia Lostpedia,
Unclopedia, Lyric Wiki and World of Warcraft Wiki.

11. Game Programming Wiki

A resource for game developers that provides tutorials and code for programming video games.

12. The TV IV

The site is a virtual compendium of television knowledge that anyone can edit.

30 Free MediaWiki Templates

As we have seen, most MediaWiki users don’t customise their design beyond the aforementioned logo change. The default skin for versions after 1.6 of MediaWiki is called Vector. It’s a plain design but very functional.

If you are looking to set your wiki out from the crowd, you may want to customise your site by uploading one of the many skins available for the script.

1. Fratman

Info & Download

2. BlueWiki

Info & Download

3. KindofBlue

Info & Download

4. Rounded Blue

Download

5. Rounded Sassy

Download

6. Misty Look

Info & Download

7. Andy’s MediaWiki Skin

Info & Download

8. SnaggleTooth

Info & Download |

9. ItrMenuPlus

Info & Download

10. Cavendish

Download

11. Wolfbane

Info & Download

12. WPtouch

Info & Download

13. Pixeled

Info & Download

14. WoW Wikia

Info

15. WordPress TwentyTen

Info & Download

16. The Erudite MW

Info & Download

17. GuMax

Info & Download

18. ycgu_max

Info & Download

19. Clean

Info & Download

20. Clean and Blue

Info & Download

21. SnapHouston

Info & Download

22. Cosmo Chips

Info & Download

23. BookJive

Info & Download

24. Drupal

Info & Download

25. Enhanced Relief

Info & Download

26. FlaternalRefief

Info & Download

27. Cheops

Info & Download

28. Dusk

Info & Download

29. VbGore

Info & Download

30. Tech

Info & Download

Useful MediaWiki Links & Resources

Some links you may find useful if you decide to use MediaWiki.

• MediaWiki Home Page
• Download MediaWiki
• MediaWiki FAQ
• MediaWiki Technical Manual
• Upgrading MediaWiki
• MediaWiki Users – A discussion community for MediaWiki owners.
• SiteGround – Has a range of MediaWiki related tutorials.

Overview

There is a lot of wiki software available for free online, however MediaWiki stands head and shoulders above the rest for it’s ease of use, functionality and flexibility.

Don’t take our word for it. Give It A Try and if it doesn’t do what you need it to do you can always try another wiki script.

(rb)

There are successful bloggers who exclusively write all of the content on their blogs however the vast majority of the top blogs on the web have a number of writers producing content for them on a regular basis. When you manage a multi author blog you spend less of your time writing articles and more time reviewing articles, scheduling articles and managing authors.

Today we would like to show you 25 WordPress plugins that will help you run a multi-author site quicker and more efficiently. The list includes plugins that help you manage your staff and plugins that make the posting process better for you and for your authors. It’s important for authors to get credit for the work that they do therefore several author profile plugins that let you increase an authors presence on your articles have also been included in the list.

*As always, all plugins have been tested for the purpose of this article.

Managing Authors

The following plugins will help you manage and communicate with your staff more efficiently.

1. Adminimize

Adminimize is a powerful free plugin that lets you control who has power over every aspect of your website. You can deactivate every possible option you can think of and control what admin, editors, authors, contributors and subscribers can do. The plugin automatically recognises any new user groups you have created too.

In short, it gives you complete control over what every user on your site can and cannot do. It works well with a number of other popular plugins too and is updated fairly regularly.

2. User Role Editor

A large percentage of blog owners won’t need the extended functionality that Adminimize provides. WordPress does not allow contributors to upload images so it’s a useful way of adding this functionality easily (if not, it’s a pain for guest posters to add images to posts).

In short, User Role Editor allows you to control exactly what each user group can and cannot do.

3. Members

Like User Role Editor, the Members WordPress plugin features a useful role manager that allows you to modify what certain user groups can and cannot do.

The plugin lets you control who can see content using shortcodes. By using this feature you can post secret messages to authors and staff or create private informational pages for them (everyone else will see a blank page).

4. Dashboard Notepad

What sets Dashboard Notepad apart from other notepad plugins is the ability to configure who can read the notes and who can edit them. It’s a useful way of communicating with your staff and leaving notes for yourself for future articles.

5. Private Messages For WordPress

If you are looking for a more direct way of liaising with your staff, you may want to consider Private Messages For WordPress. The plugin allows user groups the ability of messaging each other. You can set the number of messages each user group is allowed in their inbox. By setting the number of messages for a given user group to -1 you can remove their ability to send messages. Therefore, to create a private messaging option for editors only, you just have to remove the option for authors, contributors and subscribers.

6. Admin Message Board

Adds a private discussion area that all admins can view and add to. For some strange reason the plugin mimics Twitter and restricts messages to 140 characters or less.

7. Pre Publish Reminder

A useful plugin that lets you add notes for authors on the sidebar or below the post area. For example, you could remind them of formatting rules or remind them to always add a featured image. Handy if you have staff members who keep forgetting important elements of your posting rules.

8. Blog Metrics

Yoasts Blog Metrics makes it easy to monitor exactly what sort of contribution each author is making to your website. The plugins shows the average number of posts per month, average number of words per post, average number of comments and average number of words in the comments. It’s a useful way of gauging the value of each of your authors.

Managing Posts

The following plugins improve the procedure of posting in some way for you and/or your staff.

9. Co Authors Plus

A simple yet useful little plugin that lets you assign more than one author to a post or page. Handy for blog owners who publish a lot of collaborative posts.

10. WP CMS Post Control

Lets you remove certain controls of the post editor area from certain user groups. For example, for contributors you can remove the ability to set the post slug or featured image for any articles they submit.

11. WP Document Revisions

A collaborative document and file system that multi-author blogs should find useful. Users can create and modify documents through the admin area and leave notes for others to advise them what they have updated in the article.

This could be particularly useful if you are working on an eBook or preparing fresh content for a new area of your site. Could also be used as a FAQ or Wiki system for staff.

12. Audit Trail

Audit Trail allows you to track the actions of your all users (including admin). It shows you when a user last logged in, their IP address and the article they were working on. The ‘Trail’ allows you to see who has been working online via your site on a given day and see exactly what they did.

13. Editorial Calendar

Editorial Calendar makes scheduling articles a breeze with its easy to use drag and drop interface. The plugin creates a new calendar page therefore you can still use the traditional posts index page when you want.

14. Future Posts Calendar

Adds a simple calendar into the top of your post editor sidebar that shows dates of upcoming articles. You can also add the calendar to your WordPress admin dashboard.

15. Auto Schedule Posts

If the publication date of your articles isn’t that important for your website (e.g. a dating website may not be concerned about whether an article publishes today or three weeks from now), then you should find Auto Schedule Posts incredibly useful.

The plugin lets you set certain parameters about when you want your articles to publish every week. It will then schedule articles for any days that don’t already have a post scheduled.

16. Insights

Adds a productive box underneath your post editor that allows you to search the web for blogs, images, videos, news, Wikipedia articles and more. Authors can then insert or link to the items they find. If your authors are writing articles for you every day they should find the plugin saves them a lot of time.

Author Profiles

Authors are a vital part of every blogs success, therefore it’s only fair that they get some credit for their work. Noupe, for example, clearly displays the authors name at the top of an article and includes a bio box at the bottom of every article too.

The following plugins will give your authors more exposure and let your readers get to know them better.

17. WP Biographia

Arguably the best looking author bio plugin available for WordPress, WP Biographia gives you complete control over what is shown in the bio area and adds Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ profile fields to every users profile. You can choose whether the box is shown on posts, pages, archives and/or the home page and you can customise the colour scheme and border too.

Without a doubt the plugins best feature is the ability to display author bios in the RSS feed. 99% of blogs don’t include a link to the authors posts or website through their RSS feed therefore the guest poster loses a lot of potential traffic from RSS readers. WP Biographia corrects this by displaying a beautiful looking bio at the end of every post in the RSS feed.

18. Top Authors

A highly configurable top authors widget that lets you list your most frequent authors using their username, avatar or both. You can exclude admin and authors without posts if required.

19. Post Avatar

Let authors choose from a pre-defined list of images for their profile avatar. Images can be inserted automatically or manually into posts.

20. User Photo

Allow a user to assign a photo to their profile for use in posts and comments. You can set the dimensions for the photo and the JPEG compression level via the admin area.

21. Post Author

Adds an author information box above or below your content. Post revisions can be shown and an avatar can be added to the bio box too.

22. Cool Author Box

A simple plugin that automatically adds a cool looking author bio box underneath your posts and pages.

23. Author Exposed

Once installed an author box will appear when someone clicks on the link of an author. The box shows the authors name, email address and website. It also links to their Gravatar image, and shows a short bio for the author with links to the author’s other posts.

Advertising

Two WordPress plugins for those of you who want to share advertising revenue with your authors:

24. Author Advertising Plugin

Lets you set aside a percentage of advertising space to be shared amongst authors on your website. It supports any advertising program such as Google Adsense, Yahoo Publisher etc. Authors need to input their publisher ID in order to take part in the program (you can determine what user groups can take part in the program).

In order to install the plugin properly you will need to create the table manually via phpMyAdmin (the code is provided via the admin area).

25. WordPress Multiple Author Ad management

Allows authors to have control over the advertisements that are displayed on their own posts. Custom banners, text links, PayPal donations and Google Adsense are all supported.

Overview

If you don’t set things up correctly for your authors, you may find yourself in a position where you are spending more time managing authors and correcting their mistakes than you would if you wrote the articles yourself. By automating as many aspects of the moderating process and making things easier for your staff you can save both you and them a lot of time.

(rb)