I'm in the process of trying to figure out the signature on every post thing... I'm using blogger, but publishing to my own domain so I have to use the old classic, which doens't have all the new cool layout and widget automatic thingies...

I have been using "Link Within" for a few weeks and have gotten a little boost in my traffic since.

Kimberly, What do the SEO plugins do? I wonder if there is something comparable for Blogger.

Connie, you would have to ask that. :) I don't know much about the technical aspect, but my SEO plugin allows me to use an alternate title for my post (one that is better suited to search engines).  It also allows me to include meta tags for each of my posts and customize the little excerpt that Google puts beneath the search results.  

Thanks for starting this discussion, Kimberly!  I'm going to share it and get as many people as possible to chime in.

I have been trying to use the YARPP plugin, but there's something up with my website directory being writable or not, so I need to contact my webmaster.  Connie, I like the way LinkWithin looks on your posts.

Which signature plugin do you use, Kimberly?  I notice that your sig is on your page AND in your email updates that I get.  I'm currently using the Subscribe_Remind plugin, and just modified the code in there to display my sig and changed the wording of the reminder.  But that whole thing does not show up in my email updates... ?

Thanks for the backup database plugin.  I had looked that up and was amazed at how many options there were, but you just never know which one works well.

This is really helpful to me because I am trying to automate as much of my posting as possible, so I can simply focus on content (text and pics) and then search optimization (after I get more content on my site!).

Kimberly, you just made my day! I'm on Wordpress. LOVE the Organize Series plugin. As soon as I read that I clicked over to my blog and installed it. My blog is all stories about women since their divorce and I post each story in segments to keep the postings short. I'm having a technical difficulty with it though - I see the table when I view the post from the writing dashboard but I don't see it when I visit the site. Any ideas?

Other plugins I use:
- Akismet of course to filter out the spam and it does a great job. I do check my spam though since it occasionally catches a valid comment.
- Better Plugin Compatibility - this displays the Wordpress version, a plugin is compatible with on the list of installed plugins. You need to check compatibility before installing Wordpress upgrades. You also need to check the plugin compatibility with the Wordpress version before you install.
- No self pings - this eliminates pingbacks when you link to other posts on your blog.
- Sideposts widget - this is what I use to create my Product Review section on my front page.
- Twitter Tools - automatically tweets a post when it's published - love that but I'm having trouble getting it to use hashtags. I think it would also include a twitter feed to the front page but I'm not currently doing that.
- Wordpress Database Backup - I have the backup file emailed to me each day and as soon as today's arrives, I just delete yesterdays.

Mandy - The "organize series" doesn't show up at all or doesn't show up when you're on a multiple page post?  The "organize series" plugin only displays on signal post pages.  (I'm sure there is a HTML fix for that, but I'm not that code savvy).

If it's not showing up at all, I will not be any help to you, sorry. 

I'm going to have to check out some of the plugins you suggested.  Thanks.

Do you Word Press ladies know this:  If you switch to Wordpress can you keep you same url?  I have smockityfrocks.com and I would hate to make a move, but I keep hearing wonderful things about Word Press.  That url issue is the only reason I am hesitating.

I'm pretty sure that you can keep your domain name (you purchased it, right?) when you move to wordpress (self-hosted).  Wordpress, self-hosted requires your own domain name, so when it gets to that point you should just be able to enter your info without a problem.

When I moved to WP it was a snap, however since your blog is older (read bigger) you may want to look into the max that the auto import will work with.  I know "Like a Warm Cup of Coffee" needed to delete some of her posts to squeak in under the size limit.  Don't let it scare you away, I think that you will love WP and it will be very worth it. There also may be an easy work around, but I'm not savvy enough to know about it.  :)

Connie - yes, you can keep your same URL and all your content will be transferred over as well if you go self-hosted wordpress.  I did that about a year ago....and wish I had done it sooner.

Mandy - I am really interested in that side post plugin that you describe.  I have been looking for something like that for promotional posts that don't fit into my regular blog.  Can you tell me more and where to find what you are doing on your blog?  It is obviously very seamless because I can't figure out where it is!  Of course, I am technically challenged.

WP Thread Comment is one of my favorite plugins. It allows me to reply directly to commenters in my post comments and they're instantly notified.