Memcached was developed by the authors of LiveJournal, and can be used in many ways to optimise a website. My method is to simply cache an entire page’s HTML the first time it is viewed.

Now this isn’t a traditional plugin, so bear with me. The processing script is called memcache.php, and its content is as follows:

  // note that if you change this variable, the cache restarts!
  $memcache_sectext=md5('mysite'.date('YMd'));
  $memcached=false;

  // display a 'reset this page in cache' link at bottom of page?
  $allowreset=true;

  if (function_exists('memcache_connect')) {
    $memcached=true;
    $memcache=@memcache_connect('127.0.0.1',11211) OR $memcached=false;
  } else {
    $memcached=false;
  }

  function getCache($var_name) {
    global $memcached,$memcache,$memcache_sectext;
    if ($memcached)
      $var_value=$memcache->get($memcache_sectext.'_'.$var_name);
    else
      $var_value='';
    return $var_value;
  }
  function setCache($var_name,$var_value) {
    global $memcached,$memcache,$memcache_sectext;
    if ($memcached)
      $memcache->set($memcache_sectext.'_'.$var_name,$var_value);
  }

  $domain=$_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'];
  $uri=$_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'];

  if ((isset($_GET['recache'])) AND ($allowreset)) {
    setCache($_GET['recache'],'');
    header('location: '.$_GET['recache']);
    exit;
  }

  $html=getCache($uri);
  if ($html!=='caching') {
    if (strlen($html)>100) {
      echo $html;
      if ($allowreset) echo '<p align="center">This page was retrieved'
        .' from our cache. <a href="/memcache.php?recache='
        .urlencode($uri).'" ref="nofollow">Recompile this page</a>.</p>';
      exit;
    } else {
      setCache($uri,'caching');
      $html=file_get_contents('http://'.$domain.$uri);
      if (strlen($html)>100) {
        setCache($uri,$html);
        echo $html;
        if ($allowreset) echo '<p align="center">This page was retrieved'
          .' from our cache. <a href="/memcache.php?recache='
          .urlencode($uri).'" ref="nofollow">Recompile this page</a>.</p>';
        exit;
      } else {
        setCache($uri,'');
      }
    }
  }

I include this file in /index.php, like this:

define('WP_USE_THEMES', true);

include('memcache.php');

/** Loads the WordPress Environment and Template */
require('./wp-blog-header.php');

Any page that is viewed via index.php (that’s posts, category listings, the home page etc.) will be cached and served automatically by memcache.php. Really simple, isn’t it? The cache is reset every day, as to introduce any new content that is dynamic.

It is worth noting that if a cached copy of the requested page is available and served, that WordPress doesn’t even make a connection to the database – NO queries are executed. There is no method faster than this.

The downsides to this method:

1. When you make a new post or edit an existing post, the changes won’t show up until the next day. To help resolve this, I added an option to reset individual pages in the cache. You can turn the option on and off with the variable $allowreset at the top of the script. The option to reset a page appears at the very end of the page. (I’d recommend disallowing /memcache.php to your robots.txt file too!)
2. Every page in the cache appears like it would to a guest. Users cannot log in with this method – YET.

I may turn this into an actual plugin, but for now there’s no demand. If you have any comments or suggestions, my ears are wide open!

NOTE: If you were to receive a burst of traffic due to being digg’d or something, I have no doubt that this implementation of Memcached in WordPress would allow your server to take care of it with no problems.

The ‘Computer Help’ category tends to be the only category that produces clicks, and so I have decided to only display ads on that category, as the ads offer no additional value to the user nor myself in other categories.

I’m going to be studying my Analytics data more closely to see if I can work out how to remove potentially useless impressions from pages depending on factors such as country, browser type, length of document. I recommend you all do the same, to avoid or remove smart pricing.

Ling responded to Everton with a snap of reality, reminding him that she shifts millions of pounds worth of cars every year, and people enjoy her site. In reality, she is quite successful, and if I were to choose a website to sell cars I probably wouldn’t be as daring as she is.

Which leads me to my question – does having standards make you a snob? At what cost do we adhere to standards?

Back in 2002, when I started BloopDiary.com, the site had a colourful appearances like crayons. It grew popular very quickly. Now days, it is somewhat bland in appearance. When it was colourful, it stood out from the other sites. I almost miss my awful colour scheme!

And look at other sites, such as PlentyOfFish.com, a hugely successful website with a layout that a 5 year old could design.

What Ling’s site, my site and Plenty Of Fish all have in common is one thing – the value they offer to the people that visit. Somewhere we get lost in design, and forget about what really matters. To be honest, when I’m looking for something on the web, I could care less about what the website looks like, as long as I can use it and it gives me what I want. I definitely don’t search Google and then drool over how a page looks.

I think we need to step out of our boxes for a while, and look in as a visitor before our collective ego explodes.

While I like the name Eye On Silicon, there are several downsides to it. One is the negative word Eye – sometimes AdSense assumes this is a keyword and posts advertisements offering contact lenses which is definitely off topic. Back in the days of web desing, I registered a domain called Ideologics, both .co.uk and .com.

The name Ideologics doesn’t bring forth any imaginative advertisements, it’s about as neutral as one can get. It’s also much older than the Eye On Silicon domain – by approximately 6 years – and will likely help with SEO. That’s a theory that will be put to the test as I keep an eye on my statistics.

Stay tuned.

I started Eye On Silicon as a small tech blog on my Ideologics website early 2008. I decided that it needed its own home, and promptly bought eyeonsilicon.com. Shortly afterwards I bought the .co.uk domain so I could invade the UK search engine.

After reading blogs for weeks on end about bloggers becoming rich from their writing, I thought I could do the same. Unlike some, I didn’t enter the blogosphere with high hopes of thousands of dollars every month – I openly accepted that it would take many many months before I saw a cent. Starting with such low expectations has helped me dedicate myself.

I blog for many reasons:

• Blogging is an outlet that allows me to run my thoughts and practice my trade.
• I have more than £20,000 worth of debt – I want to pay it off.
• Blogging has a sort of ‘exciting new’ feel to it. In some ways, it’s like pioneering.
• I want a passive income that will allow me to achieve other goals in my life – such as exploring the the US from the south to the north.

I discipline myself, and spend at least an hour a day writing. I make goals and try to attain them.

Why do you blog?

Remove hyperlinks

If you remove hyperlinks, you remove options. By removing options, you put more focus on the ads. When search traffic arrives at your blog, they’re looking for something – an advertisement can be a valuable resource, for the split second they spend scanning, making that advertisement one of very few options increases the chance of a click significantly.

Don’t use text link services such as Infolinks

Services such as Infolinks browse the page and underline keywords. When the cursor is moved over a keyword, a small pop-up appears with an advertisement. There can be as many as 20 of these on a page – if you’re not earning much from the clicks, remove the links to earn more from AdSense.

Space out your layout

By spacing out your layout, you push options further apart. Things stand out more, and less appears ‘above the fold’. You can manipulate this so that the few options appearing above the fold include Google AdSense.

Here’s a rundown:

• When you’re reading a post, the PostLove widget will display the most popular posts from the categories specified in that post.
• When you’re browsing a category’s index, the PostLove widget will display that category’s most popular posts.

It’ll be interesting to see how this serves my traffic.

The changes haven’t been published yet as I’m still testing them.

Ironically, the first post in this category is all about categories.

Excerpt:

Because of the way they are misused all over the Web, categories have grown to become something that we regard in a purely user-centric light. We think of them as navigational tools and guides for users, but in reality, categories are a powerful tool that bloggers can use to exercise precise control over content in a dynamic environment.

Unfortunately, the true power of categorized content has been masked by the one size fits all implementation you see everywhere on the Web—the proverbial long, ugly list of category links now appearing on a blog near you.

As luck would have it, that awful category list also turns out to be a very poor presentational strategy for your site… But why?

Read What Every Blogger Needs To Know About Categories at Pearsonified.com.

Executable PHP Widget
Like the Text widget, Executable PHP Widget allows you to enter custom text to the sidebar using a widget. However, what the Text widget lacks is what the Executable PHP Widget makes up for – PHP capability. With this plug-in you can use PHP without editing your source files.

AdSense
A simple but extremely helpful plug-in if you want to insert AdSense in the middle of your posts. Using an <!–adsense–> tag, you can place your advertisement wherever you see fit.

ShareThis
At the end of every post should be an option for the reader to publicise the post further. ShareThis gives the reader a wealth of options – including emailing the post to a friend.

WP Greet Box
If someone arrives via a search engine, or DIGG, greeting them could make them a subscriber. WP Greet Box does just that – it welcomes new readers to your site, and asks them to consider subscribing. All the messages are customisable depending on where readers arrive from.

Clean Archives Reloaded
The calendar isn’t all that helpful. A page full of every post on your site sorted chronologically is. Clean Archives Reloaded helps you achieve that. (Look at out Archives page for an example)

BONUS: Don’t forget our own plug-in, PostLove, that displays your most popular posts for your visitors to read.

Scared that people won’t click the ads if you put them in a visible spot? Don’t be. Here’s some myths I’d like to dispel:

1. “PEOPLE WON’T CLICK MY ADS BECAUSE THEY KNOW IT EARNS ME MONEY!”
   Ok, perhaps this one is true for some really stubborn asses out there. But for the majority of the internet population, clicking an ad has nothing to do with you – it is all about what they want. If there was an ad with ‘CLAIM YOUR $1000 HERE’, chances are people would click it out of curiousity. On the same principal but with less extremity, if an advertisement has what the reader wants – the reader might click.
2. “ADVERTISEMENTS MAKE MY BLOG LOOK UGLY!”
   Yes, they do – if you’re entering your blog as an art piece. Otherwise, they are a part of life that people generally accept. If people really don’t want to see them, there are tools they can use to block them.
3. “THE ONLY WAY TO GET CLICKS ON ADS IS TO MAKE MY CONTENT USELESS!”
   Yes, it’ll get you clicks. But no, it’s not the only way. Advertisement should compliment your content, they shouldn’t be your content.

With that said and done, positioning your advertisements strategically is easy. Here’s a list of good positions for ads:

1. At the very top of the page, right beneath the browser’s toolbars. If a visitor plans on leaving your site, there’s a good chance they’ll come across the ad as a last glance.
2. Placing a floating square advertisement inside your content is widely accepted as a good earner. When people start reading, the advertisement is visible as they scroll down the page and is in the perfect location in regards to what they’re focusing on – your content!
3. An advertisement at the very end of your post gives the reader an opportunity to click while deciding what they’re going to do next.
4. A skyscraper on the side menu is visible as a reader scrolls your content.
5. A link unit above your content, but below the header works well.
6. Try to place link units wherever the reader’s focus will go.

Following on from point 6: Eyetrack III. See what readers see when they look at your blog. Understanding a reader’s movements can help you catch them at the right time.

Tune in tomorrow for some more tips.