It is common knowledge among blog enthusiasts that the first thing you should put in mind when having a blog is usability. If a blog is visitor-friendly, expect hundreds or even thousands of visitors just because of that fact. Content in itself is useless if your visitors can’t fully enjoy and/or use it.

For this simple reason, we tend to add custom navigation panels, use clean and simple themes and utilize a multitude of plugins and add-ons that cater to this need. More often than not we get too busy with all the complexities in blog management that we forget the simplest details. Content sharing. Making sure people can easily share your content is one of the things the blog owner should not forget to prioritize.

And something a lot of bloggers overlook is…. a print friendly website. Sure, it might be a little “old-school” but the reality is this, most people want something they can actually read on paper. Plus, adding one on your WordPress blog is as simple as installing a plugin.

To make it even easier for you, here is a compilation of the 7 best plugins to optimize your blog for print.

1) PrintFriendly (WordPress version 1.5 or higher)
Printfriendly is one of the many plugin out there that will make your life easier just because it can. Co-authored by Joost De Valk, creator of many SEO plugins out there, PrintFriendly puts usability and customization first for the visitor. Not only does it provide print support capability for your blog, it also gives your visitor the capability to convert your post into a customized PDF file.

URL: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/printfriendly/

2) PrintWhatYouLike (WordPress version 1.5 or higher)
It works like most top-tier print functionality plugins out there. You can edit the post and even unedit it to get the original post format. It also allows you to print in a pdf format. One good thing about this plugin is that it allows you to decide where you can place the “print” button on your blog.

URL: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/printwhatyoulike/

3) Cleanprint (WordPress version 2.0.2 to 3.0.1)
Cleanprint is considered on the most flexible and user-friendly plugins for print functionality. Aside from the usual print and pdf capability, it also gives users the capability to forward the blog post to different email services from the page itself.

Editing can be done on a pop up editor with your basic editing tools. The best thing about Cleanprint is its capability to let users print the post in a “magazine” style format that includes both the header and the logo. Albeit compatibility issues with some WordPress themes, Cleanprint still stands as one of the more popular print functionality plugins out there. You can also choose where to place the print button (either top or bottom of a post).

URL: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/cleanprint-lt/

4) WP Print (WordPress2.8 or higher up to 3.5.1)
A flexible plugin that lets the blog owner specify different print styles through the use of dedicated CSS files. You will be given the choice to embed the print option through a PHP call (for advanced users) or a short code (for amateurs and beginners). You can also exclude certain parts of a post through the use of a special short code. This plugin almost has no problem with compatibility with most WordPress themes.

URL: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-print/

5) Print Me! (WordPress 3.8 or higher up to 3.4.2)
As the name suggests, Print Me! gives your user the choice to print the entire content in a printer-friendly format. Placing it on your blog is as easy as placing a shortcode. The short code can also be embedded in different custom post types with no known hitches. For advanced users, the plugin can be embedded just about anywhere in your blog through a PHP function.

URL:
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/print-me/

6)
Print Button Shortcode (WordPress 2.9 or higher up to 3.4.2)
For people who want easy and nonsensical print functionality then Print Button Shortcode is the best one there is. Just insert the [print-button] shortcode wherever you want in your content and the print button will appear and do your visitor’s bidding. Customization goes as far as being able to print only div elements by inserting the said div elements within the shortcode. This is great for people who just want certain regions of their pages to be printable.

URL: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/print-button-shortcode/

7) WP Print Friendly (WordPress 3.1 or higher up to 3.5.1)
WP Print Friendly is all about unique features. This plugin allows you to configure different print templates for pages, posts and other custom posts. This allows you to provide optimized printing templates for your visitors for different parts of your site.

URL: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-print-friendly/

Did you already optimize your blog for printers? Share your experience and favorite plugins in the comments below!

Guest Post by:

Rogier van Evans of Inktweb.nl, an online store selling cartridges, toners and other printing supplies. A big lover of technology, start-ups and debating on Android vs Apple.

A man can fail many times, but he isn’t a failure until he begins to blame somebody else. –John Burroughs

There is going to be a little ranting and raving going on here. I’ve had a question which has continued to baffle and perplex my apparently simple mind to the point that I’m finished trying to answer it. It’s one of those questions where you can’ figure it out, so you stop thinking about it all together in hopes that it will eventually come to you. But my question has not been answered, either by accident or with deep intent purpose in mind. That question being: At what point in American history did our Society lose the belief behind personal responsibility and dealing with the consequences for one’s own actions?

It would just seem that throughout history, people of every race and creed were of a different cut and grade than they are nowadays. John Brown the abolitionist, who was hung for stealing weapons and setting slaves free said, “I would rather die on the scaffold for God’s eternal truth than in any other way.” Socrates willingly quaffed his own poison as was the norm of the time after being found guilty for corrupting the youth and impiety. Essentially a philosopher being killed for philosophizing on subject’s people didn’t care for. Joan of Arc, a young 19-year old girl trying to free her French Brethren from the heal of English Rule, was found guilty by the English for insubordination and heterodoxy and burned at the stake for heresy. She believed god directly spoke to her, and as such, knew she was going to be burned at the stake. An odd premonition, just one of many she actually had.

At any rate, these people and countless others throughout history have come to some conclusion, and whether right or wrong, good or bad, held true to their convictions till the bitter end. Now of course the same could be said of tyrannical dictators and other evils, but sadly, they don’t even play the blame game.

Sadly, it seems many of us have grown into the privileged and bratty type, where the only game worth playing is the blame game. How often do we see this? Where someone completes an act, than because the consequences are too stiff and stark to face, they quickly shift blame elsewhere. The biggest problem is that the incidents are not isolated, but resonate throughout our entire social system. Let’s give a few examples as to what we’re speaking of here and how cowardly and criminal all of these actions are.

CEO’s of top Companies being fired and given the most ridiculous severance packages

This is only a problem for large publicly traded companies, but a serious problem nonetheless. How many stories have we all heard of a CEO doing a completely terrible job of managing, costing the company countless millions, using company funds for personal expenses, and the list goes on and on. Only in the end to be rewarded for their indolence and stupidity with grandiose severance packages. Now when a company is owned by a collection of people, those people have to elect others to speak on their behalf, which is generally what makes up a board of directors. Then these board members hire the best and brightest to run and manage a company. Problem is, many of the same people sit on many of the same boards for many of the same companies.

You can easily see why this would be a somewhat conflicting issue. Meanwhile, the actual owners of the companies, the stock holders, are just assuming that their business is being run in a smart and ethical manner. But what is ethical about someone failing at their job, and then being compensated for being fired? Those multi-million dollar severance packages should in the least go back into the company to try and make op for the error of hiring the dunce to begin with.

Government bailouts for too-big-to-fail banks and businesses                

No business under a free market system is ever, or will ever, be too-big-to-fail. Where ever there is a demand that can be met, there will be people to supply it so long as it’s possible to supply. With that said, what business is too big to fail? Any answer would work. What business that is considered too big to fail could go under and not have hundreds of people waiting on the sideline for their chance to enter the market? Beyond the idea that any business is too big to fail, what business does the government have in entering the private market and helping companies in trouble? Also not to mention how the funds provided to these companies were often times misused, unneeded, and at no point should be a concern of a government.

Why would we support something that is failing, rather than try and support something that has yet to have a chance to get started. Free enterprise is the mainstay of this country, and there is nothing free about it when the government steps in and supports a certain section. It is absolutely revolting to think we rewarded bankers for not doing their job correctly, that the American people were on the hook for the gambles made and lost, and the government oddly supports monopolies of the type so much that they would even admit… they are too big to fail. It’s a frightening idea for a democracy with a free market system.

James Holmes, The Batman Movie Shooter

If you have not been following up on the story of mass murderer James Holmes from Colorado, all you really need to know is he’s pleading insanity. Crazy right? A man who devised an extremely well thought out plan on how to harm as many people as possible is claiming hes insane, and should not pay with his life for the crimes he committed. Even if he was insane, and was sane enough for just a moment to say he was outside of his mind when he did what he did, how could you live knowing the monster that dwells deep inside you? I myself would beg to be put down if I truly thought I was insane enough to unknowingly do what was done. But what he did was planned and methodical, which should show anyone he was at least sane enough to make a plan. But yet, now that he has to face the consequences of what he did, he’s turned from a stone cold killer into a victim…. The victim of his own mind. It’s awful, despicable, detestful, and there is no shortage of words to describe how terrible he is.

Let’s compare him to old Carl Panzram, a man who fully took responsibility for what he did. Before being put to death, he was quoted as saying the following, “In my lifetime I have murdered 21 human beings, I have committed thousands of burglaries, robberies, larcenies, arsons and last but not least I have committed sodomy on more than 1,000 male human beings. For all these things, I am not in the least bit sorry.” Then he went on to tell the executioner, “Hurry it up you Hoosier bastard! I could hang a dozen men while you’re screwing around.” Now this is certainly not intended to praise him for his actions, or being proud of what he had done. Merely to show that the man did what he did, and as terrible as it was, was fully willing to admit to his wrong doings and bear the burden of the consequences.

In The End

In the end, I’m willing to argue that people are just becoming weaker in their characteristics. Whether you want to call them cowards, yellow bellied, overly sensitive, or whatever. The point is, people make excuses and play the blame game like it’s their job far too frequently nowadays. Form politics to law, sports and school, and pretty much every aspect of our social environment, nearly no one can take responsibility for their actions. And for the life of me… I can’t understand why.

Featured images:

•  License: Royalty Free or iStock source: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/713337

The author of this article is Damien S. Wilhelmi. If you enjoyed this piece you can follow me on Twitter @JakabokBotch. The law can be a tricky course to navigate, and if you don’t care to shirk responsibility for your actions and need to hire a proper Boulder DUI Attorney, do the right thing and find one.

There will come a time when your child will want to go online. You have been surfing the net for years and you know it’s sometimes like the Wild West. Can you remember everything you did wrong and all the trouble you got into? You don’t want your child to have the same experiences, so it’s important that you do a few things to protect them. We’re going to look at the ways you can magically turn the computer into a safe toy they can play with every day.

Ban adults sites

The Internet is one of the most dangerous places in the world for children and one of the reasons for this is the huge number of adult sites available. If you don’t set the right parental controls it is easy for anyone to accidentally land on something they shouldn’t be viewing. Luckily there are some great pieces of software that allows you to block anything you don’t want your children to see.

Watch what they do

It’s easy for a child to delete the history and you won’t have any idea what they get up to when you’re not around. It’s important that you install keylogger software because it allows you to spy on them and there is nothing they can do about it. You should maybe warn them what you’re going to do first and if they do try to access something they shouldn’t be looking at you can speak to them about it.

Non-administrator account

Don’t give them any administrator privileges because if they end up playing about with anything important they can cause some real damage. The only way you can prevent this from happening is by setting them up with their own private account that you can still access. They won’t mind anyway and they’ll be pretty pleased they have an account to themselves.

Monitor their email

If your child is old enough to use email it doesn’t mean they are old enough to stop you from seeing what they are doing. You need to know who they are communicating with because there are a lot of bad people out there. They will also get sent strange emails telling them they have won one billion dollars and you have to delete the emails before they can click on any links.

Check privacy settings

You’ve probably seen horror stories about privacy settings on the news. Google and Facebook are just two of the companies that make the headlines on a regular basis. Go into all of their accounts and make sure they are set up so everyone in the world can’t view them. They should all be restricted and it means only their friends will have access to any private information.

Don’t download anything

There is always going to be a danger when anything is downloaded onto your computer. You only need to open the wrong file and your entire system will be littered with viruses. You won’t even know where to start when you try to get rid of them. The only solution has got to be banning your child from downloading anything without your prior approval.

Creative passwords

It’s you that will have to set up passwords for any sites your child uses. That is because you will be able to pick much stronger ones, plus you will need to know them anyway. If you want to make life easier for everyone involved you can just put all of them into a password manager application and both you are your child will just need to remember one.

Featured images:

•  License: Royalty-Free or iStock source: http://pixabay.com/static/uploads/photo/2012/04/13/13/08/access-32333_150.png
•  License: Royalty-Free or iStock source: http://pixabay.com/static/uploads/photo/2012/04/10/22/37/computer-26691_150.png
•  License: Royalty-Free or iStock source: http://pixabay.com/static/uploads/photo/2013/04/02/06/31/at-99378_150.jpg

The author of this post Sheldon Lewis is an IT expert at Webwatcher. Being a father, he is naturally concerned about his children, especially when it comes to his child’s online activities. He has taken some useful measures to safeguard his child from the rogue elements in the online world and has listed those measures in this article.