Before starting a new week on WordPress.com, be sure to check out the features that made a splash on Hot Off the Press last week:
- We released our first-ever transparency report, and kept you up to date on the Heartbleed security vulnerability.
- If you were looking for quick tips on better blogging, or more information on quoting in style with post formats, you were in luck.
- Have you taken a look at Fictive, our newest theme? For more theme inspisration, check out these gorgeous sites using Spun, another recent addition.
Pro tip of the week: Inviting a guest blogger to write a post takes only seconds, and can be a great way to increase your blog’s visibility. From your dashboard, just go to Users → Invite New and generate your invitation. If you’re not sure which user role to assign your guest, check out this support page.
Coming up this week
Stay tuned for more exciting announcements and features this week, including:
- Tips on how to tag your posts better to increase your traffic,
- A celebration of Earth Day with a roundup of nature and enviromment blogs,
- And more…
WordPress.com News 
Helpful post, also your recent 3 tips feature was great. I have a new tag line and have changed my theme to Hemingway Re-written, which I think looks wonderful. I agree guest blogging is a good thing to try, I have dabbled in this area and plan to do more this year..
Sent from my BlackBerry smartphone from Virgin Media
Guest blogging sounds great! I think once I have my blog more established I will look into it
I think the Writr theme looks pretty much the same as Fictive.
Thanks for the helpful post. Maybe I missed it, but where are ‘the great blogs to discover’ as mentioned in the title of the post?
The photo blog featured in this post is highly recommended for photography lovers. That said, you’re right that previous Monday Morning Edition posts linked to more suggested blogs to visit, and future ones will, too. In the meantime, you can always visit Freshly Pressed for the best editors’ picks of the day.
Thx for the kind reply!
WordPress you are amazing! Thank you for all you do for us!
Thanks Ben. A quick question – how do you get the photo to go across the whole of the screen? Mine rarely do!
Hello!
The width and general appearance of your site’s header varies greatly by theme. While most themes allow for a custom header image, its specific size depends on the theme you’re using. Browsing the Theme Showcase, you’re bound to find a theme whose look fits your needs; then, just make sure the size of the header image you upload conforms to the specs listed on each individual theme’s Showcase page.
Ha! Monday morning edition…our timelines must be very different as I’ve just got the email for this in my evening time! I so love WP. Do you folks have anything on your blog about allowing comments on pages and how to do it? Be awesome if someone could let me know, thanks 🙂
Hello! You can find all the information on enabling and disabling comments on posts and pages in this support page.
Oh, nice one, Ben. Appreciated 🙂
Dear Ben, I love writing my little ‘Bliss’ (blog is not quite ladylike), I also enjoy reading other b…’s but dear Ben, I do struggle with the technology. I look at all the instructions and it is like trying to understand Chinese when you are not Chinese and don’t speak the language. I have entered some of the challenges but I don’t think I managed to send them where they could be seen!
I shall keep persevering as I have some dear ladies and an occasional gentleman who seem to enjoy my little musings.
I do hope you enjoyed your Easter.
Kind Regards
Celia
Hi Celia,
Have you tried our step-by-step tutorial to get your blog off the ground, learn.wordpress.com? It’s a great place to start.
As for the challenges, sharing your entries with others is as simple as dropping your post’s URL (whatever’s in your browser’s address bar) directly into a comment on the challenge post (this will automatically generate a link). Or, if you’re feeling a bit more confident, you could create a pingback leading to your post.