I’m posting this on behalf of a client’s blog that I manage with WordPress. In a nutshell, posts can be scheduled, but then they’re never published. What’s more, they’re completely gone from view in the Dashboard > Edit Posts section. Yet a preview of the posts can be seen if the link is plugged into the browser. Upon further inspection the posts are, of course, still present in the database.

This issue happens with every author on the blog, and going through a variety of troubleshooting steps (checking file permissions, making sure .htaccess is set up correctly, checking on plugins, etc.) has done nothing. So… suggestions? Help — I’m getting kind of desperate!

Fortunately for me, I don’t have to. I use Cute FTP Pro, and its Site Manager (the tab where you create & save logins for your life insurance blogs and whatever other blogs you might have) retains all information added to it. Best of all, it can be backed up and then imported and restored on a different computer! Here’s how to back up and transfer the Site Manager:

1. Launch Cute FTP Pro
2. Navigate to Help > Backup registration & personal data
3. Follow the prompts to save the backup in the location of your choice
4. On your other computer, Launch Cute FTP Pro
5. Navigate to Tools > Site Manager > Import FTP Sites and follow the prompts to bring in the backup

And that’s it! This works like a charm, and it is SUCH a time-saver, let me tell you.

My new laptop wouldn’t be complete without a snazzy bag to match, right? Besides, the one I’ve had for the past three years and three months is just too bulky and heavy. It’s a briefcase style laptop bag, which means that there are more compartments and pockets than I’ll ever wind up using. So, I downgraded. Or upgraded, depending on how you look at it.

So, the new bag? It’s a Yak Pak Deluxe Courier Messenger. However, mine does not look like the ones shown on the yakpack.com website. My messenger bag features a black, pinstriped exterior with a bright orange interior. I love it! ?

it looks a lot like this — only with gray pinstripes!

Psst… this particular bag is advertised as accommodating 15? laptops, but it holds my 17.3? laptop perfectly!

Ping.fm allows you to send one update out to multiple sources. You can send in your status update or message to ping.fm via the web, MSN, a spiffy Firefox plugin, and even your cell phone. Ping.fm in turn will distribute that update to whatever websites and apps you configure with it. Some of the sites you can update include Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, AIM and MSN (yes, the clients), Friendster, Plurked, BrightKite, LinkedIn and Identi.ca, just to name a few.

Ping.fm is a great social networking and exposure-gaining tool, for obvious reasons.

Escape codes (or escape entities) are special combinations of letters, numbers and symbols that generate browser-reserved characters. For instance, the left angle bracket or less than sign (that would be this: <) cannot be used in HTML and XHTML processors and documents because it is reserved for code markup.

If you ever share some of your HTML, XHTML or Javascript code on your blog or in blog comments, you’ll appreciate being able to use escape codes and have your code render properly, rather than be executed by the website or browser that the code is displayed on.

Some of the commonly used escape codes include the following:

Right angle bracket (greater than sign): >
Left angle bracket (less than sign): <
Copyright symbol: ©
Ampersand: &

If you’re working on a new website design or simply want to blog about a spiffy piece of markup code, you’ll need these particular escape codes and probably a few others. However, they can be a pain to look up on the fly, so let me share with you the goodness that is escapecodes.info. At a glance you’ll be able to pinpoint the exact symbol you are looking for, and then view the escape code for that particular symbol by hovering your mouse over it!

Many of us are bloggers, but we’re also photographers. Or, at the very least, we enjoy dabbling in photography. I for one am practically joined at the hip with my Nikon D40x. I hesitate to label myself as a photographer, because my photography skills are entry-level, at best, but I certainly give it my all.

Anyway, The Photographic Dictionary is pretty damn cool. From A to Z, it lists words that can be used to define your potential photographs. You can take it in the literal sense (such as apple), or in the figurative or passionate sense (magic, questionable, vivid). How you interpret the supplied words is up to you. And believe me, there are at least a six words listed for each letter, so there’s sure to be at least one or two that will jump out at you.

And hey, even if you’re not an aspiring photographer, perhaps TPD will inspire you to blog!

If you are using a WordPress driven blog, then you should know all about WordPress themes. Themes are what provide the visual look for your blog. Themes are pre-packaged template files that provide all of the pages and CSS styling you will need to create a beautifully themed website.

wordpress.org has many themes listed, but you might also want to check out the following websites for some great and free premium WordPress themes:

• scribblescratch.com
• blogohblog.com
• designdisease.com
• woothemes.com

(Note: some of these premium WordPress themes are provided to you for free on the condition that you will leave in any advertising links in the footer, such as Leptovox.)

Smashing Magazine is a great source if you’re looking for information on everything related to blogging, web design, internet marking, and online advertising and media.

While Smashing Magazine may not be able to provide you with life insurance rates, you’ll certainly find a lot of information on blogging, including design tips, articles related to CSS styling and typography, and plenty of free WordPress goodies!

Admit it: you want to know how good your website is, how popular it is, how it stacks up against the rest. Well now with a visit at just one website, you can figure it all out.

Introducing popuri.us. Plug in your website’s URL, hit Get info, and find out your Google PageRank, Alexa Rank, Complete Rank, backlinks, del.icio.us bookmarks and more!

tagspage.com is a great way to drive some spontaneous traffic to your website! The site, which, by the way, has a Google PR of 7, offers its visitors a quick way to list their website for free, with the use of a corresponding tag (obviously, the choice of tag is up to you).

If you want your tag to appear on the very first page of the website, or on a page with other, similar tags, then there is a fee — a rather affordable that starts at $3 per character (just keep your tag relatively short!).