Today I am going to share with you this experiment I have been working during the last couple of days. I found a very interesting Wordpress plugin called TDO Mini Forms, this plugin turns your blog into a bookmarking website, discussion form, contact manager and make it easier to accept guest posts by allowing you to add highly customizable forms and integrate these forms into your Wordpress Theme.
The amazing thing about using this plugin is the URL field of it’s form, it will allow your websites members to add their own original post links, which means they will get a backlink each time they submit a new link to the website, and it’s a DoFollow link as well and you decided which anchor text to add simply by submitting a title, and all this works from the front end of your Wordpress blog.
Setting up and Redesigning Babel Talk link submitter
Let’s say that I was interested enough to create a complete new blog on an old domain of mine called Babel Talk, and run the TDO Mini Forms plugin on it to check how it will work, I also used Thesis Theme (learn more about the new version Thesis 1.7)and dress it up with one of the Free Thesis Skins, it’s the Fresh Company free skin, of course I have played a little with it’s CSS file trying to give a unique and a simple look to exactly match what I need, and Cool thing! Now it looks like a bookmark website! Of maybe it’s better to call it a link submitter.
The Login and profile links on Babel Talk sidebar
During working on Babel Talk, I realized that members would prefer NOT to see and/or use the back-end login form and deal with it, so I used Theme My Login plugin that create a nice sidebar widget and allow members to register right from the front-end and get their automatically generated password by email, so members will deal with the back-end only when they need to update their information and bio.
How Babel Talk will drive traffic to your links
First of all, let me list below some of what I think you can get by submitting a link to Babel Talk:
- Free backlink to your article
- Promotion to your article in FriendFeed
- More traffic by getting more retweets
I am imagining that submiting Babel Talk feed to my FriendFeed and some other feed networks that will aggregate all links and spread them out there for different audience through my accounts, and as I said before all the links are for the original articles, and this means who ever click on them will not even visit Babel Talk at all or even know it exists, and this explain why Topsy plugin can show high amount of tweets for each link, it’s simply because Topsy grabs information from the original links, and this means whenever someone retweet the link will be retweeting the original link as well.
I appreciate if you give Babel Talk a visit and see how it look, and submit some of your posts, this will help on testing it, I am carouse to know how it will work for you.
What TDO Mini Forms plugin can do?
TDO Mini Forms plugin has so many features and options, basically it allows you to add highly customizable forms and integrate it into your Wordpress Theme and allows non-registered users and/or subscribers (also configurable) to submit and edit posts and pages. New posts are kept in “draft” until an admin can publish them (also configurable). Likewise edits can be kept be automatically kept as revisions until an admin approves them. It can optionally use Akismet to check if submissions and contributions are spam. TDO Mini Forms can be used to create “outside-the-box” uses for Wordpress, from Contact Managers, Ad Managers, Collaborate Image Sites, Submit Links, etc.
Other ways to use TDO Mini Forms plugin
This plugin is really awesome, and I hope it’s support will grow as it’s sill very new born plugin as you can see the latest Version is 0.13.7 and it’s amazing that you can use it in different ways:
For gust posting:
You can setup the plugin and create the form to allow your guest posters to submit their posts from the front-end for your approval. It’s exactly the way it works on Babel Talk but without submitting external links field, in this case posts will be stored in your Wordpress database with internal link to the guest post, maybe this will change the process of submitting posts and make it more easier, and also it’s a good idea if you want to start a new guest posting blog.
Discussion forum:
It can turn your blog to a simple discussion forum, you will need a special theme in this case, check the discussion forum demo on the plugin website.
Contact Manager:
This is what I found out, you can use this plugin with some other plugins to create a simple contact manager, check the contact manager demo.
Websites using TDO Mini Forms
There is some other examples for websites running TDO Mini Forms plugin, and it’s working, I actually submitted a link to WebDesign News and it send me good ammount of traffic for couble of days while I was creating Babel Talk, and the good thing is it has a PageRank of 4.
- WebDesign News an aggregator of useful blog articles, tutorials and how-to guides to help you learn new skills and stay current.
- Indilean – Indie Music Blog, Lyrics, Meaning, for post song lyrics here to help fans find your stuff online and stimulate discussion.
Watch This video
This video from Cadamie Land of Indilean explains what you can do using the TDO Mini Forms plugin
Conclusion
Wordpress was basically created for blogging and bloggers, but it could be used for other websites purposes and in so many other ways by extending it’s features and change the way it works using plugins, som times I think that Wordpress can do anything you want it to do for you., it’s actually an amazing CMS platform. It’s also used by big companies to create their websites widely these days.
A few Questions for our Readers
I hope you enjoy this post, and looking forward for some discussion in the comments, I just want to ask for opinion about TDO Mini Forms plugin, and if you think a website like Babel Talk can make it get a good rank if almost all links on it is going to be external? should I DoFollow all links to Tag and Category archives in order to index them by search engines?
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
(3 comments) February 13, 2010 at 3:57 pm
Hello Hesham, I’ve tried to figure out what the problem is that you might be having, with TDO Mini Forms frezing, and I hate to say I’m just not sure! I am using an older version of WordPress but I would assume the product is useable with the latest release. You should ask your question on the forums here: http://thedeadone.net/forum/ the creator is very responsive and supportive
Cadamie Land´s last blog ..Double Life
[Reply]
(51 comments) February 12, 2010 at 11:16 am
This sure is a great post bro! But i was thinking… can you write a post about how to make social sites with Drupal like you have done in MMO Social network?
Pubudu Kodikara´s last blog ..How To Turn Off Windows Indexing Service
[Reply]
Hesham
@FamousBloggers
(1007 comments) Reply:
February 12th, 2010 at 2:58 pm
Ah! I wish I can do that soon, it’s not that easy to create a social network, specially with Drupal! I remember a few years back I was struggling to use Drupal, created a few websites for testing and I didn’t feel comfortable because it’s kind of complicated as you have to do lots of steps and take care of each little detail of your website!
I will try to write about this on the first chance I can, but this is not a promise
[Reply]
Pubudu Kodikara
@TechHamlet
(51 comments) Reply:
February 12th, 2010 at 8:13 pm
Pubudu Kodikara´s last blog ..How To Turn Off Windows Indexing Service
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(3 comments) February 10, 2010 at 1:08 am
Thanks for the mention! TDO Mini Forms has been working great for my site and the best part is, it has an “edit this story” feature that stimulates further revisions much like a wiki. I created a video tutorial for TDO Mini Forms to help people get started, it’s on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2Hu-lH9gME
Rock!
Cadamie Land´s last blog ..Double Life
[Reply]
Hesham
@FamousBloggers
(1007 comments) Reply:
February 10th, 2010 at 2:25 am
Of course I sow the video before, it’s awesome! I thought to publish it here on the post, Can I? Thanks Cadamie for the visit, your website rocks and I visit it some times to enjoy the music, it’s bookmarked
[Reply]
Cadamie Land
@indilean
(3 comments) Reply:
February 10th, 2010 at 10:45 am
Hey Hesham,
Definitely! Go ahead and share the video, thanks for asking. I got another message this morning about using TDO Mini Forms and a “freezing” problem, I plan on responding but have back to back meetings so it might come later.
Again, great post and thanks for the props on mine.
Cadamie Land´s last blog ..Double Life
[Reply]
Hesham
@FamousBloggers
(1007 comments) Reply:
February 10th, 2010 at 3:16 pm
The video is added to the post, it’s a great add!
take your time, I will be waiting for your reply!
[Reply]
Very cool Hesham, I just picked up a couple plugins to check out.
Dennis Edell´s last blog ..Here We Go! Theme Construction Part 1 – Your Participation Is Wanted-Needed!
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Hesham
@FamousBloggers
(1007 comments) Reply:
February 9th, 2010 at 9:23 pm
There is lots of new plugins developed everyday, I think we should give some time to check what’s new, it’s a good inspiration.
[Reply]
(7 comments) February 9, 2010 at 12:48 am
I think this a great idea, I think if its setup correctly, proper marketing, and the feeds feeding out to place like twitter, friendfeed, cliqset, and other social media sites, it might work. Actually would’t mind trying it out, even helping out if you need the help.
The things that annoy me about most bookmarking sites is it takes me to bookmark site. The way you set it would work well.
element321 @ evolutionary desings´s last blog ..Weekly Link Love
[Reply]
Hesham
@FamousBloggers
(1007 comments) Reply:
February 9th, 2010 at 2:49 am
Sure it is, I just need to be sure that tag pages are indexed, this domain has a PageRank of (1) , and it’s 2 years old and this is why I used it rather than buying a new fresh domain, It’s an open invitation to spread your links through my feeds
You can do a great help by submitting some of your posts and maybe mention it once on your blog, I will appreciate that.
I can not hide the fact that I got more traffic than I imagine from “WebDesign News”, you must give it a try if you have any post talking about design! (this is a traffic tip
[Reply]
element321 from evolutionary desings
@element321
(7 comments) Reply:
February 9th, 2010 at 9:30 am
Just created an account on there and submitted a link. Did not show up in the list. Does it have to be approved first?
element321 @ evolutionary desings´s last blog ..Blogging Tips #3 – Blogging Resources
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Hesham
@FamousBloggers
(1007 comments) Reply:
February 9th, 2010 at 9:22 pm
It shows now, I have upgraded your account, and yes I set it to approve everything not to get some spammy stuff and have to remove them.
[Reply]
element321
@element321
(21 comments) Reply:
February 10th, 2010 at 12:29 am
Hesham,
This works! I am already getting traffic from it. Not a lot but enough that it helps.
element321´s last blog ..links for 2010-02-09
[Reply]
Hesham
@FamousBloggers
(1007 comments) Reply:
February 10th, 2010 at 12:43 am
LOL! I told you
Don’t forget to add killer titles and don’t over submit to it, it will work for you if you keep using it wisely!
[Reply]
element321
@element321
(21 comments) Reply:
February 10th, 2010 at 1:35 am
So what kind of traffic are you seeing on the site now?
element321´s last blog ..links for 2010-02-09
[Reply]
Hesham
@FamousBloggers
(1007 comments) Reply:
February 10th, 2010 at 2:16 am
I am talking about 31 visits yesterday
[Reply]
(27 comments) February 9, 2010 at 12:42 am
Any website can rank as long as it gets some links in too. So as long as it gets good links in, it doesn’t matter if it has thousand more going out. I think (blog) directories and other link sites prove this already.
For tag-/category indexing, I personally choose to index one of those, the one that makes more sense. Personally, I nearly always index category-pages and noindex tags (and I do this with Robots Meta -plugin).
Antti Kokkonen´s last blog ..Give it Away for Free
[Reply]
Hesham
@FamousBloggers
(1007 comments) Reply:
February 9th, 2010 at 2:10 am
Perfect, you have answered my questions .. and not only that, but you have told exactly what I was thinking of!
And yes! one of those only to be indexed (tag/category), and while I was cheeking one website using the same technique and linking to so many websites, but it index the tag-pages, I think for a normal blog it’s better to index category-pages, but in my case I will go for indexing the tag-pages, I think this will increase the number of indexed pages!
One thing I should tell you about this Babel Talk website Antti, it’s not able to have a site map to be submitted to Google webmasters tools! because the links are not on the same domain
there must be something I am missing or a way to discover to get it the site map to be submitted!
[Reply]
Antti Kokkonen
@Zemalf
(27 comments) Reply:
February 9th, 2010 at 2:54 am
Yup, indexing tags would be my choice on site like that too, just to get more pages indexed just like you said…
The problem with Google Webmaster tools is odd, but I haven’t done a site like Babel Talk, but I think it has something to do with the overall setup and how the plugin “generate” the content. I hope you get it sorted.
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I am concerned with WordPress’ treatment of guests, and that is the main reason up until now we have been avoiding that platform.
Hopefully things have changed.
What we have noticed in the past:
-Some versions of WorldPress have a white page bug
-WordPress seems to want to issue new passwords for every new blog the commenter wishes to leave a comment on. I am referring to blogs where registration is necessary. What this does is force WordPress commenters to keep a whole library of WordPress passwords.
-Akismet is sometimes used as a censoring device by WordPress clients. That is, instead of just deleting a comment the philosophy of which does not agree with the blog owner, the owner reports the person to Akismet, and then, the commenter cannot leave comments on the majority of WorldPress blogs. (is white paged).
We find this terribly counterproductive.
Akismet was meant to filter spam, and what it is effectively doing is filtering ideas.
Unless we can be assured that there aren’t a whole army of folks out there having bad feelings about being mistreated in the past by Akismet and WordPress, we are having trouble making a decision to go with WordPress, regardless of how attractive the platform might be otherwise. (And, make no mistake, we find WordPress very professional and desirable.)
Any comments regarding these concerns would be very much appreciated.
Stetson
[Reply]
Hesham
@FamousBloggers
(1007 comments) Reply:
February 8th, 2010 at 10:57 pm
MMmm! I am not sure about the “white page bug” and probably you didn’t check Wordpress since long time, there is a wide rang of big companies got their websites developed on WordPress platform, and there are over 18 million WordPress publishers out there!
For example Ford Motor and Volkswagen, also CNN’s Political Ticker, BBC,Time, Digg, … etc, I mean check the Wordpress VIP page! and in addition to that I personally have used Wordpress to create website for our clients in a company I was working before.
It’s interesting to see these companies using Wordpress, if they are using it then it’s another approve of the Power of Wordpress, can do it, then you can do it!
[Reply]
(4 comments) February 8, 2010 at 6:23 pm
Nice tip Hesham! I always hand-code my forms for full customization, but this looks like a fabulous plugin for those not familiar with html/css.
BTW: I love how you designed your Babel Talk site!
Keller Hawthorne´s last blog ..Win My New Premium WordPress Theme – Fresh Journal – Or Get $10 OFF!
[Reply]
Hesham
@FamousBloggers
(1007 comments) Reply:
February 8th, 2010 at 7:32 pm
Indeed! and I also like the idea of using this plugin on guest blogging blogs, the guest poster don’t even need to contact the blog owner, just sign up for an account and save his post for review! pretty cool!
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(14 comments) February 8, 2010 at 6:05 pm
How is the server load with this plugin?
Ari Herzog´s last blog ..Share 1 Online Marketing Tip and Win 250 Free Business Cards via PrintRunner
[Reply]
Hesham
@FamousBloggers
(1007 comments) Reply:
February 8th, 2010 at 6:58 pm
It seems to be working fine, but I really can not answer this question as I don’t have members or high traffic yet! but you can think about it as a very normal blog like any other blog, the plugin allows you to add a form on the front-end for your users to submit their links.I see it’s working fine on other websites.
Do you think there will be a load on the server when more users are using the form to submit their links?
[Reply]
Ari Herzog
@ariherzog
(14 comments) Reply:
February 8th, 2010 at 9:13 pm
Beats me, I ask my server guys such questions. Something to be aware of, anyway.
Ari Herzog´s last blog ..Showcase Sunday: How RescueTime Tracks Your Online Productivity
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