WordPress 3.0, the thirteenth major release of WordPress and the culmination of half a year of work by 218 contributors, is now available for download (or upgrade within your dashboard). Major new features in this release include a sexy new default theme called Twenty Ten. Theme developers have new APIs that allow them to easily implement custom backgrounds, headers, shortlinks, menus (no more file editing), post types, and taxonomies. (Twenty Ten theme shows all of that off.) Developers and network admins will appreciate the long-awaited merge of MU and WordPress, creating the new multi-site functionality which makes it possible to run one blog or ten million from the same installation. As a user, you will love the new lighter interface, the contextual help on every screen, the 1,217 bug fixes and feature enhancements, bulk updates so you can upgrade 15 plugins at once with a single click, and blah blah blah just watch the video.

If your website at OrangeCat runs on WordPress, you can upgrade immediately using the upgrade button in your admin dashboard. If you’d rather have us install the latest version and upgrade your database for you, just file a ticket at Orange Cat Support and tell us which website you’d like upgraded to WordPress 3.0.

IMPORTANT – Please note that some older themes that haven’t been updates may not support all of the features of WordPress 3.0. We haven’t run into any major conflicts with older themes, but be sure to back up your database and files before upgrading in case the older version needs to be restored.

TimBidwell.com is positioned to promote Tim’s Accounting, Bookkeeping and Payroll Services business located at 120 E. Main Street in Danville, KY

Tim wanted a simple site that visitors could use to find about his business services. The site’s five pages include basic information about the business, contact info, a Frequently Asked Questions page and more.

The site is built on the WordPress 2.9.2 platform and will be update on a regular basis. Automated backup and Google sitemapping software is installed so the site is secure and updated with the search engines on a continuing basis.

Orange Cat Productions features web development on the WordPress and Joomla! platforms to save our clients time and money on their website needs.

As with all websites developed by Orange Cat, additional security software was added to protect content.

Visit the Tim Bidwell, Inc. website and let us know what you think.

The Sutton’s Restaurant website was created in conjunction with the businesses move to it’s new Lexington location at 110 North Locust Hill Dr in front of the Kroger Marketplace off Richmond Road.

The site is built on the flexible Joomla! Content Management System. Several plugins were used to enhance functionality and provide a better experience for users of the site and improved search engine ranking.

Orange Cat Productions features web development on the WordPress and Joomla! platforms to save our clients time and money on initial development, updates and maintenance.

The site includes menus, happy hour information, contact, reservations info, carry out and delivery, entertainment and more.

Visit the NEW Sutton’s Restaurant website and let us know what you think.

Available at PremierLimoKY.com, this new website is running on the new WordPress 3.0 platform and was built in just under a week. The theme is a customized version of the new “TwentyTen” theme that comes with WordPress 3.0.

It currently features nine pages and gives vital information about the company’s services.

Mike and Clint Curtis of Premier Limousine contacted us to build a simple website. After conferring with them, it was decided to give the website more breadth for purposes of Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Premier Limo supplied all copy and images and we built the website, took care of SEO and the “look and feel” of the site.

Visit the Premier Limo website and let us know what you think.

Having a blog or a traditional website to send them to from time to time to retrieve information would be advantageous to have, but it is not necessary to get your email marketing campaign up and running.

According to the Direct Marketing Association, a properly executed email marketing campaign had an average ROI (Return-on-Investment) of $45.65 for every $1.00 spent. That’s a phenomenal return!

So how do your implement an email marketing campaign that will do that for your business?

Here’s how to start:

Email “Preferred Customer” Lists
When someone is in your store, it is the perfect time to ask for their email address. Hopefully, you have had a friendly encounter and their resistance to giving you the information is lessened. Get the email address any way you can. On a form, a card, whatever. And – this is very important – make sure to explain that they will receive a confirmation email with a link that they will have to click on to get their benefits. Also, give them some instructions to take home to be sure they receive your email.

You then copy those names and email addresses into your email campaign application, and mail to them on a regular basis. Once a month is probably too few and several times per week is probably too much, unless you have a special reason for doing so.

Choosing the correct email application for your needs is crucial. We can help you choose the right one and install and configure it for you.

Don’t have the time or the technical expertise to set up and maintain an email program and mailing list? Need someone to format your emails and make sure they get sent? Need help with sign up and customer takeaway materials?

Orange Cat can take care of all your email marketing needs. Call us today at 859-544-9005 and we’ll take over from there.

One deals with keeping your WordPress installation and all of it’s plugins up-to-date and the other shows how you can increase the security of your WordPress blog by replacing the default “admin” user with a more secure one.

There is no better way for a local business to begin to dominate it’s local market than by using WordPress as it’s primary Internet outlet. And we’ve devised some great ways for you to use it.

And you don’t need to know a thing about WordPress, blogging or email marketing to take full advantage of it’s search engine magnetism to boost your business.

To keep up with what’s going on with these changes and get some great local marketing tips, sign up for Updates via Email at BobStovall.com.

WordPress is ideally suited for so many online business applications that we have no doubt we’ll be busy keeping up.

So, if we are going to specialize in WordPress development, we are going to use WordPress in even more places than we have in the past. This website is now powered by WordPress and the OrangeCat.net website will be changed over in the coming days.

If you really want to light a fire under your online marketing, ask us what WordPress can do for you. Call Bob @ 859-544-9005 for a free initial consultation.