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Blogging Best Practices – Getting Started with Blogging – Part 2

May 21, 2013 by pinaldave

Abstract of my Pluralsight Course Building a Successful Blog Module – Getting Started with Blogging.

Choosing a Blog Host

If you’ve recently decided to start blogging, the very first thing you have to decide on is which hosting service to use.  There are many blog hosts: Blogger, WordPress, Typepad, to name just a few.  With so many options, how can you choose?

There are a few criteria to keep in mind when choosing a blog host. What is the purpose of this blog?  If it a personal website, you don’t need anything too technical or one that is uniquely designed for you.  However, if you are starting a blog for a business, you will want to make your blog look unique and stand out from the crowd – and you don’t want to run into trademark issues later.

Customizability and technical abilities are also something to think about.  If you want your blog to have the perfect shade of blue and a special font, you will want a blog host with those options – but if you don’t feel comfortable coding in HTML, make sure your blog host takes care of those technical details for you!  Your budget will play into these considerations.  Many blog hosts are completely free – but these are often the kind of “cookie cutter” blogs that all look identical.  If you want something tailored to you, you can expect a monthly fee.

Choosing a Domain Name

Choosing a domain name is no easy task.  Some people might say its the hardest part of starting a blog or website (and I do not recommend thinking up a name and then choosing what to blog about).  However, if the millions upon billions of websites already on the internet are any indication, you will be able to think of a domain name.  Here are some general rules to stick with:

Use keywords.  Search engines use keywords to find your site and bring it up during searches.  These keywords are generally found in the content of your site – but these search programs check your domain name, too!  Use a “.com” address at all costs.  If your only option with a certain name is to choose .net or .biz, scrap the name and start over.  These suffixes scream “I don’t know what I’m doing!”

Make it easy for your readers to find you again – make your domain name obvious.  It should be easy to spell, because 90% of individuals are terrible spellers, and avoid unnecessary additions at all costs.  These additions include “z” instead of “s”, hyphens (cool-website-look-here.com is terrible!), numbers instead of letters (especially the letter 0, which is easily confused with “o”), and slang or purposely misspelled words.

Design Elements

Lets talk about the real details of blog design.

As I mentioned, a dark background and light font almost never looks good.  Start off with basic colors at first, and then branch out.  A good rule of thumb is that your blog should have no more than three colors, and they should blend well together.  A white background, black text, and a bright color for headlines, titles, etc will look very nice and can easily be customized down the road.

Be just as careful when choosing a font.  When you’re designing your blog, the thought of using Times New Roman or Arial might seem so boring you just want to scream.  But those fonts are universal for a reason – they are easy to read.  If your font is so unique that it is distracting, your content is not what people will remember.  Unless you are writing a blog about funny fonts, stick with something simple.

Be sure to leave a decent amount of space between posts, or add a divider between posts so that readers won’t get confused.  This kind of ritual will actually make readers feel more comfortable – it is a steady, comforting presence.  Menus and links will help keep your blog organized and navigable.  They can reassure readers that your blog has a strong history of posts, and is not just another newcomer that will be here today but gone tomorrow.

Well, there are few more interesting tips as well, which I have discussed in depth in my Pluralsight Course.

Comments – Yea or Nay?

Most blog hosts allow commenting on individual posts or the blog as a whole.  Some will also provide the option to allow comments at all.  If you have ever stumbled into a nasty blog fight, it might give you pause to allow this kind of risk on your own blog, but there are so many benefits to allowing comments.  First of all, it allows you to build a community of like-minded individuals.  Commenters will interact with your material as well as each other.

Of course, the downside of comments is the spam.  It can be mean commenters, people trying to stir up trouble, or just your average spammer trying to get their links clicked.  Because spam is such a widespread problem, any blog host that allows comments will also have a way to deal with the spam.  It can mean screening all comments, or simply keeping on top of comments and deleting the spam.

If you’re still curious about blogs and blogging, check out my course on Pluralsight!

Reference:  Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com)

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Posted in Best Practices, Blogging, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology | Leave a Comment »

Blogging Best Practices – Concepts, Ideas and Motives – Part 1

May 20, 2013 by pinaldave

Abstract of my Pluralsight Course Building a Successful Blog Module – Getting Started with Blogging.

Thinking about starting a blog? Confused about the entire idea of blogging?  I have created a course on Pluralsight relating to this very issue.  Let’s start with the easy questions: what is the difference between a blog and a website?  Websites are static sites with a single purpose.  A blog is a type of website – one that is dynamic and always changing when you post and update.  Websites and blogs are similar because they are both addresses on the internet, and a way to connect to the public.

Website or Blogs

Websites and blogs have different purposes, uses, and audiences.  Websites are good for businesses or individuals with a product to sell.  They act as a store front – they welcome the public, and stay the same over time so that their products are easy to find.  Blogs are more dynamic.  You can update a blog every day, or multiple times a week, to keep in touch with your audience.  This is like having a conversation with interested parties, and form a network or community of like-minded individuals.

Deciding to blog can be a difficult decision – there are many pros and cons.  Blogs can be a challenge to set-up, and require maintenance.  But for me, the pros far outweigh the cons!  You get to talk about something you love, meet people with similar interests, and be in charge of your own “brand.”

Different Types of Blogs

There are a huge variety of blogs, and many different types of bloggers.  Blogs fall into a few main categories: technology, personal, photography, automobile, and corporate.  I consider technology blogs to be anyone, professional or amateur, who talks about technology – hardware, software, highly specialized, or very general.

Personal blogs are the kind that are about people’s personal interests.  This can be children, religion, crafting, or even just day-to-day updates.  Photography blogs can cover a wide variety (even personal and technology), but tend to be mainly high quality photographs taken by professional who want to share their work, or amateurs who are trying to get better and would like feedback.

Automobile blogs can cover any sort of vehicle or interest.  They are often highly technical about one specific type of car, truck, boat, or sport.  Corporate blogs are professional blogs, run by companies.  They often have multiple authors, and are updated multiple times a day – or at least when breaking news about the company or product becomes available.

As many different types of blogs as there are, there are an equal number of types of bloggers.   I like to divide them into four easy categories (often with a lot of cross-over).

Different Types of Blogger

Professional: these are bloggers who blog for a living.  Maybe they work for a company and run the corporate blog.  Maybe they created their own personal blog that became extremely popular and generates a lot of income.  No matter how they got there, they are extremely successful and have found the magic button for becoming great bloggers.

Amateurs: this obviously covers most blogs.  These people blog for the sake of blogging, because they love a topic or want to share their expertise.  Everybody starts an amateur, and can progress to any of these other types of bloggers.

Artists: these bloggers can be amateurs or professionals.  They might be photographers, or simply good at painting a picture with their words.

Multi-author blogs: any type of blog can be a multi-author blog.  Some blogs start out with more than one author, because they want multiple opinions, an individual can’t keep up with the amount of writing required, or because a group of friends has a similar interest and wants to start a blog.  More commonly, a blog explodes in popularity and needs a team of writers to keep up with the traffic.

If you’re still curious about blogs and blogging, check out my course on Pluralsight!

Reference:  Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com)

Posted in Best Practices, Blogging, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology | Leave a Comment »

Blogging Best Practices – Pluralsight Online Course Based on My Experience

May 19, 2013 by pinaldave

I have been blogging for more than 6.5 years and I have so far written over 2500 articles on this blog and every blog has been journey itself. Over six years I have not missed any single blog and no matter what happens I keep on blogging every day, month after month and year after year. This demonstrates how much I love to blog and engage with all of you. I honestly love all of you and respect a lot when you engage with me on this blog.

During this journey, one of the most common suggestion I received was that I should write about how to build a successful blog. I have been delaying to write this subject for a long time, the reason was simple – I still see that I have a long way to go before I call myself successful.

Short Life Span

However, every single day I see new blogs coming up and some of them are so good that I immediately subscribe to them. Today when I go back to the my subscription list, I see out of the big list there are very few blogs are active. Some of the blogs are deserted and some of them are just dead. There are few blogs so good that I really wish the author was still engaged on the blog and writing the interesting content everyday.

Due to any reason I see not all great blog continuing their journey. The most common reason I see is that blog author has lost motivation to write due to lack of interest or getting busy in their other daily activities. Here is my question to you – if we can clean our teeth everyday, why can’t we blog everyday?

Recent Motivation

In the month of February I attended Pluralsight Author Summit. On the very last day at the event, I went to Snow Basin for skiing. Well, I do not know skiing but it is indeed fun to hang around with friends. During the  event, Pluralsight CEO Aaron Skonnard suggested that I should write a blog about how to build a successful blog as it many would be interested in reading about the secret behind building such a large audience and interesting stories. I absolutely see reason and logic behind what Aaron suggested and I decided to build a video course over this subject.

Building a Successful Blog

Here is the link to Pluralsight Course Building a Successful Blog. There are a total of six modules in this course. I have carefully build each module keeping beginners and experts both in mind. Each module attempts to answers questions for beginners as well as expert in this field. Blogging is such a wide area that it is hard to know everything for everybody. During my journey of over six years I believe there are so many lessons that I have just learned in my recent years. My goal is that I give everything I know to the community and later community can build their own successful blog on the lessons and learning I have shared to them.

Here are modules of the Pluralsight Course Building a Successful Blog

  • Introduction
  • Blogging Concepts, Ideas and Motives
  • Getting Started with Blogging
  • Writing an Interesting Blog
  • Blogging Rules, Ethics and Etiquette
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Checklist for Building successful Blog

In the next week, I will be discussing writing one blog post for each of the subject to touch base about them. I will give a quick insight about the content which I have covered in the course. I will be linking each of the above topics as blog posts are published on the blog.

If you’re still curious about blogs and blogging, check out my course on Pluralsight!

Reference:  Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com)

Posted in Best Practices, Blogging, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology | Leave a Comment »

SQL SERVER – Weekly Series – Memory Lane – #029

May 18, 2013 by pinaldave

Here is the list of selected articles of SQLAuthority.com across all these years. Instead of just listing all the articles I have selected a few of my most favorite articles and have listed them here with additional notes below it. Let me know which one of the following is your favorite article from memory lane.

2007

List all the database
A Simple script which list all the database from the server.

Function to Parse AlphaNumeric Characters from String
Following function keeps only Alphanumeric characters in string and removes all the other character from the string. This is a very handy function when working with Alphanumeric String only. I have used this many times.

Query to Find First and Last Day of Current Month
The blog contains the query, which will run respective on today’s date. It will return Last Day of Previous Month, First Day of Current Month, Today, Last Day of Previous Month and First Day of Next Month respective to current month.

Binary Sequence Generator – Truth Table Generator
Run script from the blog in the query editor to generate truth table with its decimal value and binary sequence. The truth table is 512 rows long. This can be extended or reduced by adding or removing cross joins respectively.

Disable Index – Enable Index – ALTER Index
A straight to script blog where I demonstrate how to enable and disable index.

2008

SQL SERVER – Comparison : Similarity and Difference #TempTable vs @TempVariable – Part 2
There is lots of confusing going on about difference between TempTable and TempVariable. In this blog I take another attempt about how to find difference between TempTable and TempVariable.

SQL SERVER Database Administrator Job Description
I have received quite a lot of requests to update it or post something similar. Writing SQL Articles are easier than writing Job description for DBA. I have read many job description and job posting at Best SQL Jobs and found the following job description.

2009

This year, I have attended my very first TechEd and presented very first session ever. Here is a photo with my wife Nupur at this event.

How to Drop Temp Table – Check Existence of Temp Table
A quick direct to script blog post.

2010

Understanding ALTER INDEX ALL REBUILD with Disabled Clustered Index
The difference between ALTER INDEX ALL REBUILD and ALTER INDEX REBUILD along with the disabled clustered index. Instead of writing a big theory, we will go over the demo right away. Here are the steps that we intend to follow.

1) Create Clustered and Non-clustered Index
2) Disable Clustered and Non-clustered Index
3) Enable – a) All Indexes, b) Clustered Index

Find Most Expensive Queries Using DMV
I was asked in recent query tuning consultation project, if I can share my script which I use to figure out which is the most expensive queries are running on SQL Server. This script is very basic and very simple, there are many different versions are available online.

List All the DMV and DMF on Server
“How many DMVs and DVFs are there in SQL Server 2008?” – this question was asked to me in one of the recent SQL Server Trainings. The answer is very simple in this blog post.

2011

Import CSV File into Database Table Using SSIS
It is a very frequent request to upload CSV file to database or Import CSV file into a database. I have previously written an article how one can do this using T-SQL over here  Import CSV File Into SQL Server Using Bulk Insert. One of the request which I quite often encounter is how I can do the same using SSIS package and automate it. Today we will understand the same using images.

Restart Remote Computer – Shutdown Remote Computer
Here is a quick trick which I use almost everyday. I have more than one computer at my desk and I manage multiple instances from a single monitor. Some of my computers are in a different location and I have to physically walk there. In this blog post, I demonstrated a quick method where I can use CMD prompt to restart and shutdown remote computer.

2012

Columnstore Index and sys.dm_db_index_usage_stats
Regular SQL Server DMV does not give information for usage stats for columnstore indexes and for that one has to use different DMV. In this blog post I explain the same in detail with DMV script. I also describe my journey how I come across this DMV.

Get Schema Name from Object ID using OBJECT_SCHEMA_NAME
Sometime a simple solution have even simpler solutions but we often do not practice it as we do not see the value in it or find it useful. Well, today’s blog post is also about something which I have seen not practiced much in codes. We are so much comfortable with an alternative usage that we do not feel like switching how we query the data.

SQL in Sixty Seconds – 5 Videos from Joes 2 Pros Series
Here are the five videos which Rick and I have built for Joes 2 Pros series.

Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com)

Posted in Memory Lane, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology | Leave a Comment »

SQL SERVER – Solution to Puzzle – REPLICATE over 8000 Characters

May 17, 2013 by pinaldave

Earlier this week, I asked a puzzle about how REPLICATE works with 8000 and over 8000 characters. I strongly suggest to read the original blog post where I have described the problem in detail SQL SERVER Puzzle – REPLICATE over 8000 Characters.

Just quick to summarize the puzzle. Here is the quick recap of the same.

Now let us run following script.

DECLARE @FirstString VARCHAR(MAX)
DECLARE @SecondString VARCHAR(MAX)
DECLARE @ThirdString VARCHAR(MAX)
SET @FirstString = REPLICATE('A',4000)
SELECT LEN(@FirstString) LenFirstString;
SET @SecondString = REPLICATE('B',8000)
SELECT LEN(@SecondString) LenSecondString;
SET @ThirdString = REPLICATE('C',11000)
SELECT LEN(@ThirdString) LenThirdString;

The script above will return following result:

Quiz 1:

Pay attention to the last resultant and you will notice that the length of the @ThirdString is only 8000. WHY?

Answer 1:

The reason for the same is that if the first parameter of the REPLICATE function is not of type varchar(max) or nvarchar(max), REPLICATE truncates the return value at 8,000 bytes. To return values greater than 8,000 bytes, the first parameter must be explicitly cast to the appropriate varchar(max) or nvarchar(max).

Quiz 2:

What changes I should do in the REPLICATE function so it will give the appropriate result in the case of @ThirdString. In our case, it should return the value of 11000 and not 8000.

Answer 2:

To return the result as 11000, one has to just CAST or CONVERT the first parameters to VARCHAR(MAX) or NVARCHAR(MAX). Here is the example of the same.

DECLARE @ThirdString VARCHAR(MAX)
SET @ThirdString = REPLICATE(CONVERT(VARCHAR(MAX),'C'),11000)
SELECT LEN(@ThirdString) LenThirdString;

Now let us see the result set.

DB Optimizer

One last thing: Do not forget to download DB Optimizer XE3.5 Pro. It is my favorite tool for performance tuning.

If you notice that this was not very difficult puzzle but it was interesting for sure. There are so many valid answers that it will be not possible to name every single person. I strongly encourage all of you to go over the original blog post and read all the comments. Though all the comments are very similar there are so many new information there that I will say wealth of information just right there in the comments area.

Reference:  Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com)

Posted in PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Function, SQL Puzzle, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology | Leave a Comment »

SQLAuthority News – 2500 Blog Posts, 2 Million Views per month, 62 Million Total Views

May 16, 2013 by pinaldave

Today, I am very happy as the journey I started almost 6.5 years ago has very important milestone. I have stopped blogging about my milestone for a long time as I believe that was just taking up the space in my blog and was not providing any useful information. However, today is a special day. This is my 2500th blog post and now the next 2500th blog post will come after many years.

When I started this blog I had no idea that I will be blogging after more than 6 years and I will ever reach to 2500th blog post. It was all just started as my personal bookmark. I was expecting that I will be a single reader of this blog and had no idea for a long time that even other people can read my blog as well. Once the very first comment appeared everything was just new world for me.

I never thought I would be able to engage with so many people from all over the world. I initially thought my blog will be majorly read by Indians as India has largest population but I am delighted to see that there is a balance among continents. As of today, this blog is the most read in USA and second place is India. Thank you readers from all over the world to support me  in spreading the knowledge.

Click to Enlarge

Another interesting and important detail is that I have been receiving over 2,000,000 views per month consistently every month. I never thought so many IT Professional would be reading this blog. When I see this 2 million number, I wonder often about readers.

If you are my blog reader, I would like to know you, would you please tell me who you are and why do you visit this blog? I encourage all you to leave a comment in the comments section. On this 2500th blog post, I will select random 10 readers and will send them surprise educational gift.

Online Course on how to Build a Successful Blog

I am often asked what are the best practices to build a successful blog. I have built a video course on the topic of How to build a successful blog. 

Watch the teaser of this course.

Here are few of the topics which I am covering in the course:

  • Blogging – Concepts, Ideas And Motives
  • Getting Started With Blogging
  • Writing An Interesting Blog
  • Blogging Rules, Ethics And Etiquette
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Checklist For Building Successful Blog

Reference:  Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com)

Posted in About Me, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQLAuthority News, T SQL | Tagged | 99 Comments »

SQL SERVER – SQL Puzzle of SET ANSI_NULL – Win USD 50 worth Amazon Gift Cards and Bubble Copter R/C

May 15, 2013 by pinaldave

We all love puzzles and here is interesting puzzle which you can play with me and win Amazon Gift Cards and Bubble Copter R/C. The contest for Amazon Gift Card is open worldwide, however, Bubble Copter winner will be chosen from USA only.

First run following script:

SET ANSI_NULLS ON;
-- Query1
SELECT 'SQLAuthority' AS Statement11
WHERE 'Authority' IN ('S','Q', 'L', 'Authority', NULL);
-- Query 2
SELECT 'SQLAuthority' AS Statement12
WHERE 'Authority' NOT IN ('S','Q', 'L', NULL);

You will get following result:

You can clearly see that in the first case we are getting different results. Here are the questions you need to answer to win the Amazon Gift Cards and Bubble Copter R/C.

There are two steps to take participate in the contest:

Step 1: Answer the Question

Question: Why do Query 1 return results but Query 2 does not return any result?

Answer this question in comments area along with the question in Step2.

Step 2: Identify File Size

Question: What is the size of the DevArt Schema Compare installation file in KB? Please leave a note in the comment area.

Please note the size of the file should be KB and not in MB. You can download the file from here.

Giveaway:

  • 2 lucky winners will get USD 25 worth Amazon Gift Card (Open worldwide, Total giveaway value USD 250)
  • One lucky winner from USA will get  Bubble Copter R/C (Shipping from USA to other countries is not possible)

Rules and Conditions:

  • Contest open till May 25 12:00 GMT. 
  • Please leave your answer in the comment area in following format:
    • Answer to Q1:
    • Answer to Q2:
  • Please note that winner will be selected after May 25th by random selection and will be posted as a comment to this blog.
  • The answers will be kept hidden till the winner will be announced to have fair competition.

Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com)

Posted in PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Puzzle, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQLAuthority News, T SQL, Technology | Tagged | 6 Comments »

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