I gushed about WordPress a few posts ago because it got me up so quickly on the web within the powerful clutches of a full-blown and free content management system. I have learned tons in two weeks, but unfortunately that limited knowledge only made me realize there’s megatons still to learn.  So after two weeks, I have entered stage two in the evolution of my blog and web site.

That means investigating the more advanced features of WordPress as well figuring out how to use it with other applications. I’ve even entered WordPress Support, Forums and watched WordPress.tv videos which are quite good in terms of instruction. I did not my find answers to my questions so I’ll ask them here and make a few observations in this post. My goals are twofold: to make my web site better and to drive more traffic to it.

My central question is where do I insert HTML within WordPress when I want to add a new feature. For example, I wanted to add the Technorati “Fave my Blog” button which comes with code that makes that happen  (I claimed my blog on Technorati this morning will supposedly lead more people to my ramblings). Technorati provided the code, but that’s where the guidance ended.

I also wanted to to drop in a Technorati URL that pings it every time I update my blog. I had been doing these so-called pingbacks manually which is tedious and time-consuming. Any tedious and repetitive web work that can be automated should be.

Well, I have no clue as to 1) find the place where I should drop the HTML or URL within WordPress, and 2) once should I find it, where precisely should I put it.  So I searched the forums asking “How do I insert code for Technorati Fave button?”  I found several others  trying to do the same thing and mostly pulling their hair out because there was no easy explanation available.

I wondered if I could pull this off in the Widgets options which liven up your pages with elements and modules for such things as Delicious, a calendar and recent posts. But these are  automated check off items that add said modules or elements to your WordPress pages. There also is something call the CSS editor which is recommended for advanced WordPress users. I hardly fall into that group.

The CSS editor also raises the money question: it costs four bleepin’ cents a day to use. I was wondering when free would no longer rule, but the folks behind WordPress and many other web applications have been more than generous with their knowledge and expertise. Even the mother of social networks Facebook has been free although it’s now trying to sell advertising.

As for pinging blogs when I update, I found something called ping-o-matic, but near as I can tell, you have to use it after every update although it’s a tad easier than manually doing pingbacks within the WordPress editor. I never did get to insert that URL.

HEEEEEEEELP!