Twenty- five Seven

What makes WordPress a better blogging platform?

February 18, 2015
English: The logo of the blogging software WordPress. Deutsch: WordPress Logo 中文: WordPress Logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Well, finally after months of soul searching I’ve come to the conclusion that WordPress is a better blogging platform. There are several blogging platforms out there in the blogosphere , the commonest being WordPress and Blogger. From my limited exposure to the internet I chanced upon Blogger after my original blogging platform MSN closed down. I was quite happy with it till I discovered other blogs that looked better, loaded faster and seemed to get far more traffic than mine. That set me looking for greener pastures.

Choose what works for you.

Now before I go on and on about how great WordPress is, let me advise you to choose whatever works best for you. Perhaps those of you who are the real IT geeks as opposed to people like me, you may find it more challenging and satisfying to develop your own or discover your own blogging platform.

But if you are like me, an accidental but passionate blogger with little time to actually go down to the nuts& bolts, I would suggest you just jump into the big blue ocean of WordPress

Why WordPress?

A lot has been said about the features of WordPress :
- Hundreds of themes – easier to choose the theme that suits you, your personality and your blog.
- Lots of PlugIns – help in generating better-produced blogs.
- Option of upgrading to self-hosted blogs – prevents the heartache of purchasing a third party domain and then getting lost in the process of setting things up.
- Ease of uploading videos etc
All these features really mean nothing to the novice blogger who generally jumps in and then learns how to swim. But once you are in the pool, it is nice to know that there is help on hand to prevent you from drowning. This is where WordPress really scores – there is a strong team out there to help you with your queries.

But what really helped me come to this decision was none other than Co-Schedule a plugin that actually helps increase blog traffic. I was completely unaware of this awesome tool till a mailer from them arrived in my inbox one day. Always on the look out for improving my blog’s performance, I tried out Co-Schedule and found that it gave some real life tips on other aspects of blogging for free! But Co-Schedule works only with WordPress, so if you really need some constant nurturing, go for WordPress.

This is my post for WriteTribe ProBlogger Challenge
A perfect Valentine Destination

February 15, 2015
Valimiki was sleeping in his bed, enjoying the best sleep he’d had for a long while when the warm rays of the sun woke him up. Stretching out his arms and legs, he gently rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and looked around pleased with himself. It seemed to be a great day after all and he should grab it before it faded into another sunset. This was perhaps the perfect day for him to get the attention of the new girl Tina, who had just moved into the neighbourhood.

“Wake up, sleepy head, ” he admonished himself, ” This is no time to lie in bed,” and he quickly washed his face and combed down his hair.

“Mmm, ” he said looking at himself in the mirror, ” Irresistibly handsome, ” he assured himself and was about to let himself out of the house when he remembered his granny telling him:

“Val, don’t you forget girls love attention especially on Valentine’s Day. They love being spoilt and pampered so don’t think that just because you’re a good looking guy and you ask a girl to be your Valentine, she’ll fall for you. You have to plan everything. “

Eureka! That’s what it was thought Valmiki suddenly. That explains why I’m alone all these Valentine’s Days! And he also remembered that to have the perfect date, one should also plan the perfect destination . Where could they possibly go? Everywhere there seemed to be too many people and too many prying eyes. Suddenly, it came to him – what about the top of the building under construction? That had to be the best view in town – one from where you could see the whole city and the sea beyond.

Hmmm. That’s it, thought Val, now all I need is the perfect gift and he went around the house looking for something suitably perfect.

It didn’t take him very long and half an hour later, a pleased as punch Val went up to Tina’s door. He knocked politely as he’d been taught and waited patiently for it to open. The minutes passed by slowly as he heard the pad-pad of steps approaching. It opened a crack and there was Tina standing there just as he’d imagined her to be, shyly behind Shanta, the housemaid who’d opened the door.

“Oh my! How sweet! You’ve got a gentleman caller,” she said, letting Valmiki in.

Tina stared hostilely at Val and after the initial face- off, agreed to go out with him.Val was thrilled his plan was working and the two of them set off down the road.

Five minutes later, the two cats purred with contentment as they made themselves comfortable on the cold concrete floor as they settled down to share the piece of mackerel he’d got for their perfect Valentine’s Day.

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.

I’m also linking this to Write Tribe ProBlogger Challenge
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20 gifts women actually want for Valentine’s Day(businessinsider.com)
Another Friday Mumbai

February 13, 2015

This week I can honestly say Thank God It’s Friday simply because I’ve had a week of sniffling and snuffling. Honestly this cold wave that has gripped my city is annoying to say the least – because it is not cold enough to warrant a sweater nor hot enough to wear a sleeveless cotton shirt!And this is confusing all the viruses who don’t know whether to hang on or say goodbye. I’m so hoping that with the weekend, the sun gets back to its normal hot and hot routine.

I was walking home the other day and came across a brilliant sun setting between two buildings that I just had to share

I find it fascinating how the same scene looks so different in a different frame. The picture on the left taken as a zoomed in sun between two buildings looks quite different from the one on the right, the same scene taken without the zoom. How come the sky colours look so different?
One has a rosy glow about it while the other looks grey and gloomy.

I suddenly found the sky filled with birds swirling madly above my head so I took this photo but it hasn’t come out as dramatic as I imagined. They look more like dust particles caught up in my lens!

And then I found myself looking up at this palm umbrella, unfurled right above me!

Enjoy more skies from around the world: Click here

I’m also linking this to Write Tribe ProBlogger Challenge