Building a Web 2.0 website can be easily accomplished using freely available tools and without extra expense. All you need is a desire and a little “know how”. I do hope you have a desire to create your very own web 20 site using the power of Wordpress blog platform since you are reading this and I’ll provide the “How To”.

But before moving on I think we need to clearly define what is it that we will build together. You and me have to have a clear understanding on end results and make sure that we are shooting for same goal before going into details …

Update!! - New Guide with more updated information superceeds this post! You can read it here. 

Web 2.0 site – what defines it? There are many definitions on this one but the most prominent is – content submitted and controlled by users. It can take many forms but what we will create as end result will be a Wordpress blog that allows following User Controls:

1. Comments System. Perhaps one of the most crucial aspects is to create a very flexible comments system that will allow users share their thoughts on your story or article, subscribe to comments via RSS feed, and be notified when new comments posted to the article of their choosing via email. To help us accomplish all of the tasks above and some more, we will install following plugins:

• Get Recent Comments - This plugin displays excerpts of the most recent comments and /or trackbacks that have been posted to the articles in your blog. Great tool to encourage your visitors to make their own comments.
• Live Comment Preview – allow people have a preview of the comments on your site.
• Subscribe To Comments - Allows readers to receive notifications of new comments that are posted to an entry. It can be used on a post or page and an excellent addition to keep people coming back to your blog, assuming your post is worth it …

2. Rating System – is a must for any Web 20 site. Giving your visitors a chance to share their opinion on your work in a quick manner will greatly enhance their experience and make them coming back for more.

• WP-Post Ratings - Adds an AJAX rating system for your WordPress blog’s post/page and a simple click creates a star rating visual that people love. A must have for any web 2.0 site and very easy to install.
• Popularity Contest - This will enable ranking of your posts by popularity; using the behavior of your visitors to determine each post’s popularity. You set a value (or use the default value) for every post view, comment, etc. and the popularity of your posts is calculated based on those values.

3. Sharing and Subscription System – this one might not be so obvious but integrating social bookmarking is something you don’t want to skip on. Generates incredible amounts of free, targeted traffic based on word of mouth. You simply can’t buy a better publicity for your blog!

• Submit It – a plugin that allows addition of all the most permanent social bookmarks in one convenient location.
• WP-Email – a simple way to allow people to email your post with security verification to prevent Spam.
• What Would Seth Godin Do – this one is a workhorse to get people to subscribe to your RSS feeds.

4. Tag and Ping System – your blog is dead without this one. All your great content will amount to a small accomplishment, unless you have a quick and convenient way to let World Wide Web know about your brand new Web 20 Wordpress blog.

• Ultimate Tag Warrior – gives you ability to add tags in multiple locations, including within the post or page itself and automatically creates proper technorati tag links.
• Tagalize It – a great addition that works alone side with UTW and makes your work easier.
• Smart Update Pinger – install this one to be able to auto ping appropriate services but only when your post is published. This will help you prevent being banned for to many pings.

So there you have it. Using a collection of plugins listed above you can easily build your very own Web 2.0 site using Wordpress and for FREE

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