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Quick info Slideshow Gallery Automatic Thumbnails Custom Admin Panel Preview Download (259 Kb) Add to Del.icio.us Add to digg Add to FURL Add to reddit Add to Technorati Add to Yahoo My Web Add to Ma.gnolia Add to Stumble Upon Add to Google Bookmarks Add to Squidoo Add to BlinkBits Add to Blogmarks Add to Bloglines Add to Netscape Add to Ask Add to Live-MSN Add to Sphinn Add to FaceBook

Quick info Drop Down Menu Inbuilt Admin Panel Feedburner Integration Preview Download (228 Kb) Add to Del.icio.us Add to digg Add to FURL Add to reddit Add to Technorati Add to Yahoo My Web Add to Ma.gnolia Add to Stumble Upon Add to Google Bookmarks Add to Squidoo Add to BlinkBits Add to Blogmarks Add to Bloglines Add to Netscape Add to Ask Add to Live-MSN Add to Sphinn Add to FaceBook

Quick info Drop Down Menu Based on CSS3 Custom Admin Panel Preview Download (251 Kb) Add to Del.icio.us Add to digg Add to FURL Add to reddit Add to Technorati Add to Yahoo My Web Add to Ma.gnolia Add to Stumble Upon Add to Google Bookmarks Add to Squidoo Add to BlinkBits Add to Blogmarks Add to Bloglines Add to Netscape Add to Ask Add to Live-MSN Add to Sphinn Add to FaceBook

Quick info Ready for Adverts Slideshow Gallery Custom Admin Panel Preview Download (259 Kb) Add to Del.icio.us Add to digg Add to FURL Add to reddit Add to Technorati Add to Yahoo My Web Add to Ma.gnolia Add to Stumble Upon Add to Google Bookmarks Add to Squidoo Add to BlinkBits Add to Blogmarks Add to Bloglines Add to Netscape Add to Ask Add to Live-MSN Add to Sphinn Add to FaceBook

Quick info Inbuilt Admin Panel jQuery Toggle Posts Automatic Thumbnails Preview Download (188 Kb) Add to Del.icio.us Add to digg Add to FURL Add to reddit Add to Technorati Add to Yahoo My Web Add to Ma.gnolia Add to Stumble Upon Add to Google Bookmarks Add to Squidoo Add to BlinkBits Add to Blogmarks Add to Bloglines Add to Netscape Add to Ask Add to Live-MSN Add to Sphinn Add to FaceBook

Quick info Drop down Menu Ads Ready Inbuilt Admin Panel Preview Download (256 Kb) Add to Del.icio.us Add to digg Add to FURL Add to reddit Add to Technorati Add to Yahoo My Web Add to Ma.gnolia Add to Stumble Upon Add to Google Bookmarks Add to Squidoo Add to BlinkBits Add to Blogmarks Add to Bloglines Add to Netscape Add to Ask Add to Live-MSN Add to Sphinn Add to FaceBook

Quick info 3 Columns Custom Admin Panel Slideshow Gallery Preview Download (448 Kb) Add to Del.icio.us Add to digg Add to FURL Add to reddit Add to Technorati Add to Yahoo My Web Add to Ma.gnolia Add to Stumble Upon Add to Google Bookmarks Add to Squidoo Add to BlinkBits Add to Blogmarks Add to Bloglines Add to Netscape Add to Ask Add to Live-MSN Add to Sphinn Add to FaceBook

Quick info 2 Columns Inbuilt Social Bookmarks Built on CSS3 Preview Download (338 Kb) Add to Del.icio.us Add to digg Add to FURL Add to reddit Add to Technorati Add to Yahoo My Web Add to Ma.gnolia Add to Stumble Upon Add to Google Bookmarks Add to Squidoo Add to BlinkBits Add to Blogmarks Add to Bloglines Add to Netscape Add to Ask Add to Live-MSN Add to Sphinn Add to FaceBook

Update: The contest is now over, and the winners have been chosen.

I left a little hint at the end of my last post, and to some this may not be a surprise to you, but to any Theme Lab is three years old today! It’s exactly three years after the first post here.

In the past year, lots was accomplished. Most notably, a new design, along with several new free theme releases and various coding tutorials and tips.

I wanted to celebrate the third birthday with a giveaway, so I contacted a select few of the leaders in the commercial WordPress product arena to donate three of each of their respective flagship product.

Giveaway Inspiration

My inspiration for this giveaway is pretty much all thanks to a tweet from @bradleypotter.

Note: Genesis 1.2.1 was released yesterday. Contest winners will receive the latest version.

So I thought, those prizes would be perfect for a giveaway. And there should be three of each, since it’s Theme Lab’s third birthday, it would only be fitting. But I didn’t stop there.

The Prizes

Three lucky winners will win each of the following:

• A copy of the Genesis Theme Framework from StudioPress – $59.95 value
• A copy of the Genesis Buddy child theme from PremiumBPThemes.com – $24.95 value
• A personal license of the BackupBuddy plugin from PluginBuddy – $45 value
• A single site support license to Gravity Forms – $39 value*
• A PDF copy of the Digging into WordPress book – $27 value

*This is actually a $39 coupon which could be used towards a Gravity Forms multi-site or dev license as well.

Check out the screencast below for a more in-depth overview of the various prizes.

And as promised, here’s my BackupBuddy WordPress plugin review.

How To Enter

I said in the video the giveaway would be like the previous giveaways here. I have since decided to use Tweetaways so you don’t have to leave a comment here to enter the contest.

• Make a tweet with the phrase “Rocking for 3 years” and “@themelab”
• More happy birthday wishes are welcomed, but not required.

Note: You have to use the exact phrase “Rocking for 3 years” because it’s how Tweetaways keeps track of the entries. And also make sure to put “@themelab” somewhere in your message. This is the bare minimum of an acceptable entry.

On Thursday, July 1, 2010 at 12:00 PM EST this content will be closed to new entries, and I’ll pick three winners (besides me) at random.

It would help if you followed me (@themelab) so we can communicate via direct message if you’re one of the three winners.

Conclusion

Time has really flown by. I’m using Tweetaways for the contest so in the comments, feel free to sound off with feedback of Theme Lab over the past few years. What do you think of the content? What do you think could be improved? I’d love to hear about it.

Related posts:

1. Three-For-All Giveaway Winners Chosen
2. BackupBuddy Contest Winners Announced
3. Theme Lab is 2 Years Old – Another Year In Review

I installed the TweetMeme WordPress plugin the other day, and I’m pleased with the results.

Not only was it really easy to install and configure, but I’ve noticed several people actually using the button to retweet my posts. You can see it in action in the top right corner of this post.

In this WordPress plugin review, I’ll go over installing the TweetMeme plugin and give an overview of the options. And there’s a screencast too! All after the jump.

How to Install TweetMeme for WordPress

You can install TweetMeme for WordPress just like any other plugin. Also since it’s available in the WordPress.org plugin repository, you have the option of installing it automatically via your WordPress admin panel.

After installing and activating, you should see a new “TweetMeme” menu in the sidebar of your WordPress dashboard. The settings page should look something like this.

TweetMeme Plugin Settings

Check out the screencast below.

• Display: I set all of these except on pages, since I really don’t see a need to have a retweet button on my pages (like Contact, About, etc.).
• Position: For both normal and RSS position, I have it set to display before. This basically places the button at the top of the post where most people will see it.
• Styling: I use float: right; margin-left: 10px; to display it on the right side of my posts. The opposite would be float: left; margin-right: 10px;
• Type: I use the normal-sized widget, mostly because I think the compact one is too small.
• Source: Set this to your own Twitter account. Mine is @themelab if you didn’t already know.

Everything else is pretty much up to your preferences, like your URL shortener of choice (mine is bit.ly).

Advanced TweetMeme Plugin Usage

If you want to manually place the TweetMeme button in your theme, you have to first select “Manual” under the display settings so it doesn’t automatically display anywhere. Then insert the following code within the loop.

<?php if (function_exists('tweetmeme')) echo tweetmeme();?>

Remember the function_exists part is so there’s no fatal error in the event that the TweetMeme plugin is disabled for whatever reason.

Conclusion

If you want more retweets, you have to make it easy for your visitors to do so. The TweetMeme button a recognizable way to encourage this. I wish I set it up a lot earlier since I’m already noticing an increase in my retweets all thanks to this simple button.

By the way, something big is happening in three days. Long time followers of the blog might have a slight idea of what might be going on.

Related posts:

1. Want More Retweets? Use the Official Tweet Button
2. WordPress Theme Tweaker Plugin Review
3. How to install a WordPress plugin