If you don’t familiar with the term “Release candidate”, it refers to a version with potential to be a final product, ready to release with all features have been designed, coded and tested. So that means if you do want to use Wordpress 2.7, it is almost safe to start using it now

I’ve just tested it on my local machine and it looks really good. The dashboard is pretty nice and the icon on the sidebar menu seems to be so cool and fantastic

Download WordPress 2.7 Release Candidate 1 now!

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The giveaway is closed on November 30th, 2008 11:55pm UTC (12 hours more since this post is published). On December 05th, I’ll use Random.org to randomize the comments, take a screen shot and post it here. I will contact you if you won so be sure to enter your email correctly when leaving a comment

Note: The winners will have 3 days to reply to my email. If the prize(s) aren’t claimed within 3 days, I’ll re-draw the comments again and give the prize(s) to another lucky reader(s).

Anyway, if you’re yet to enter the contest, please do it now. There’s a good chance of winning a PSD to XHTML page to bring a new look for your blog

Stay tuned!

Did you miss any of these related posts?

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DEMO | DOWNLOAD

Features included :

• Two columns with left sidebar
• Hand-drawn design
• Built-in RSS feed
• Built-in search box
• Nice navigation tab
• Google Adsense ready (468×60 banner)

Install Blogger Notes blogger template

Step 1. Blog’s Name

I included the psd file in the download package named logo.psd. You can open it by Photoshop then edit it as you like

Step 2. Top Navigation

Press Ctrl+F to find these lines
<ul>
<li><a expr:href='data:blog.homepageUrl'>Home</a></li>
<li><a href='http://blogger.com'>Blogger</a></li>
<li><a href='http://themelib.com'>ThemeLib</a></li>
</ul>

Change them or keep them intact if you want

Step 3. About section

This template has an useful About section where you can put some information about you, about your site … Looking for the About Author widget at the footer and edit it to anything you like

Step 4. RSS feed link (optional)

Again, this is an optional task.

<h2><a expr:href='data:blog.homepageUrl + "feeds/posts/default"'>Subscribe RSS</a></h2>

You can use the default RSS feed but if you want more controls, use Feedburner instead.

I hope you enjoy this theme and please don’t forget to leave comments as they are precious!

Happy thanksgiving day

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Since they’re only some small changes, you don’t need to download the entire WordPress program, just grab the following files and copy them over your 2.6.3 installation.

• wp-includes/post.php
• wp-includes/version.php
• wp-includes/feed.php
• wp-admin/users.php
• xmlrpc.php

Well, Wordpress 2.7 is still not yet available

Did you miss any of these related posts?

• WordPress 2.7 Release Candidate 1
• Wordpress 2.7 Project Icons - Vote Now!
• WordPress 2.7 Beta 1 Is Out
• WordPress 2.6.3 Available for Download
• Yahoo! Buzz is now open for everybody!

What is the prize ?

The prizes are 3 PSD to XHTML/CSS pages for 3 lucky subscribers. Each PSD to XHTML/CSS conversion costs 139$, which makes this is a $417 giveaway

The Sponsor

Fecoding is our sponsor for this giveaway. At Fecoding, they offer PSD to XHTML service, that means you just need to send them a PSD, or any other popular image extension (PNG, AI, etc.) file, and they will convert it into valid XHTML code.

How do I participate ?

All you have to do is subscribe to my feed via RSS reader or Email then leave a comment here tell me that you’ve done it. If you want to increase your chance on winning, you can subscribe to multiple emails or subscribe to both RSS and Email

All existing Email subscribers will double their chance on winning this contest. You also need to leave comment here too

Notes

• The giveaway ends on November 30th and the result will be announced on December 05th.
• The winners will be determined randomly using the random list generator at Random.org.
• Be sure to enter your email correctly so we can contact you after the giveaway has ended.

Did you miss any of these related posts?

• The first contest on ThemeLib
• Last Chance to Enter the ThemeLib Giveaway
• Last chance to enter the first contest of ThemeLib
• And the winners of the first contest are …

On 23rd November, I’ll be rewarding some prizes to readers who subscribe to my blog by RSS or Email. Yes, RSS readers are counted but I will check it if you won. Don’t try to cheat me lol More information about this giveaway? Ok, the prizes is worth $417 and three subscribers will get them. Is it a good reason for you to subscribe? Subscribe via email before the contest is started will double your chance on winning the prizes Good luck

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To customize your inbox, go to the Themes tab under Settings and you’ll be able to choose from 30 themes. Here is my favorite one

As usual, Gmail themes are not yet available for all Gmail users, they will be rolled out in phases. If you don’t see them yet, check back soon. There are also some minor updates on the default theme to make it crisper and cleaner with color improvements here and there.

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I don’t want to ramble on why your blog isn’t considered one of the “Elite 100,” but I’d like to address some points and pose some questions that you should consider in order to expand your blog’s traffic and ultimately your placement against other blogs in your niche.

#1. You need to contact other bloggers

who may be interested in a partnership with your blog. By doing this, you’ll nearly multiply your traffic multiple times over, depending on the number of visitors that each of these sites receive. In other words, you’ll be better off linking your blogs together, rather than standing alone.

#2. Your aren’t targeting the right crowd

If you look at your analytics and demographics, make sure that your visitors are coming from the “target” area - a group of people who have their own blogs or websites - who will likely spread word about your site, linking to it and sharing your resource to their readers.

#3. Your site/content isn’t old enough

Time is the leading reason that blogs don’t grow to their full potential. You need to be able to be in it for the long-term, not to quickly generate an income from. Until your site is at least half a year old, you should be focusing on building your site’s content and overall feature set.

#4. Is your site’s content truly unique?

As long as your content is unique, your visitors should view it as that. People whose content isn’t unique shouldn’t be rewarded for the “work” of copying others’ content for their own gains.

#5. Have you proven your knowledge

to your visitors and readers? One of the main ways to become accredited for your work is to express your supreme knowledge on your blog. You shouldn’t hesitate when answering any question that arises - you should have a level of confidence, yet not at the level of arrogance.

#6. Do you connect with your readers

or avoid any interaction? Blogging is all about the contacting - in more ways than one. Without any replies to your readers’ comments and emails, they’ll likely view you as narrow-minded, thus thinking that you don’t take blogging as seriously as you should be.

#7. Your theme says a lot about yourself

The layout of your site, including your theme, determines how successful you can be, as well as how others view your content. Choose one that leaves a lasting impact on your readers - design one yourself, customize another free theme, or hire a designer to help you brand your business. After you have established your brand, there is no reason why your site won’t become a status symbol and model for other blogs to follow.

Conclusion

While these are some quick suggestions to ensure that your blog is “valued” and rated at what it should be, the general premise behind this was to raise the question of whether your blog does deliver what readers are asking for

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Step 1. Log-in to your EntreCard dashboard

Step 2. Click on “More Stats” link, you will be taken to a page contains lots of useful information such as number of cards that were dropped on your blog each day, number of clicks through to your site from Entrecard, number of cards that you dropped on other peoples sites, … Scroll down a bit to the middle of page then you will see a RSS feed for “Top Card Droppers”, right click on it and choose option “Copy Link Location” to copy the link to clipboard.

Step 3. Login to your Blogger account

Step 4. Click on the “Layout” link

Step 5. Make sure you are in tab “Page Elements”

Step 6. Choose a place where you want to put your widgets on, then click “Add a Gadget”. When a pop-up window is opened, choose a Feed gadget (its location is in the middle of the pop-up window)

Step 7. Press Ctrl+V to paste the link you put to clipboard at Step #2

Step 8. Change title, options if you want

Step 9. Click Save and DONE

Conclusion

This widget give a much more long-term benefit to those that are featured. They will remain featured for as long as they drop their card every day while those that miss a day or more will slowly find themselves moving further down the list. This encourages everyone to drop as often as possible to get themselves featured on your site or to keep their current position.

I think this widget is better than Recent Entrecard Droppers widget because those that are visiting your website regularly are receiving the greatest benefits for doing so while those that only drop occasional will not featured as much.

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For each of the icon sets, you can see the set itself, the designer’s introduction, and some feedback from the Wordpress lead developers. After you’ve reviewed all five, place your vote for the set you think has the visual style that is the most suitable for WordPress 2.7. This will be followed by additional votes on specific icons, so if you like the specific image used in one set but like the style of another, you can vote to change the metaphor for a given icon. You’ll also be able to leave general feedback throughout the voting process.

Well, I did quickly through the icon survey and voted for my favourite icon set (the first one). How about you? What icon set did you vote for?

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