The WordPress Flash Game Site Tutorial – Tools

Natetronn — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 03:12:45 +0000

Okay, so your going to need some tools for the job here. There are some mandatory tools that you will need and some optional tools that you may or may not need. I will try my best to separate each part of this tutorial based on the tools, that way you can skip certain ones that you might already have a grasp on and go ahead to specific parts that you were looking for. For some more advanced users please bare with me as some of the newer folks might need to get caught up, remember, you were new way back when too.

Tool’s you will need:

This is a jump list along with quick download links:

WordPress

I have decided to use WordPress because frankly it’s a great tool for the job. If you have never used WordPress before don’t worry, I will show you how to install it and explain some of the ends and outs. Enough to get you going for this tutorial. You will be using WordPress 2.7.1 because it is the stable version as I write this tut. Please download a copy from WordPress.org.

eGamer Theme

Egamer is a great theme that you will be using to make your Flash Game site look Kick Awesome! Not only will you have access to this great theme but you will also have access to over 20 more great themes for any future projects. How does that sound? The best part about it is the fact that you get access to all those great WordPress themes for only $19.95. I mean that is a smoking good deal if you ask me.

Head over there now and pick up your copy before we start!

GD Star Rating Plugin

We will be using GD Star Rating Plugin to give “voice” to your users. Game players can rate the games and help to determine which games are worth playing and which ones are not. We will also be adding an additional comment system which will be converted so players can leave tips and tricks, plus the tips and tricks will be rate-able too.

This is a free plugin and the developer takes donations which will in-turn keep this great plugin survive. So if you start actually making money with your WordPress game site, please consider donating.

Also, while your over there at GDSR take notice; they are using the same Fresh News theme you see here at Natetronn. Looks really good too!

Domain Name

You will need to name your site and buy a matching domain name of course if you don’t already have one picked out. The great folks over at DreamHost have hooked me up with a sweet promo code to give you. To claim your free domain name for life please use promo code GAMES during checkout.

Hosting Account

I use DreamHost and will be using them for this tutorial so everything will for sure work with them. Please use the code GAMES during checkout.

I also have an account with HostGator and they are great too. It’s probably safe to say that either hosts will be fine for this tutorial though, they use cPanel where as DreamHost has their own control panel. If you need help setting up a hosting account feel free to call me. If you happen to have your own host and you are having problems with anything by all means hit me up and I will try to help you out.

Mochiads Account

Mochiads is a great place to get more than 7500 flash games for free. Yes you heard me right 7500+. How does that sound? I mean you have to have games for a flash game site right? On top of more games then anyone could ever play, they put a quick ad in the very beginning of the game. This ad is payed for by sponsoring advertisers who pays Mochiads to have it there. Then when that ad (inside the game) is displayed from your site you make a little money. Even the game developers make money so that’s pretty cool. And of course your users get free games to play. It’s a win, win, win, win, win!

Banner Ad Networks

You are probably going to want to put up some banner ads on your site. This is another good way to generate an income and to pay for your time and expenses. The eGamer theme comes ready with some built in locations exactly for banner ads, plus we will be adding some more of our own to various places on the site.

There are quite a few ad networks out there so I will mention a few to get you started. Plus I will recommend advertisers to sign up with and I will show you how and where to place these ads on the site.

Please note that you might want to wait until your site is up and running before you apply for all the ad networks. I have been declined by some of the larger advertisers due to low traffic and me being impatient so, not every thing I list will you get accepted into but, don’t worry, there are plenty of advertisers and plenty of ad networks out there.

Below are few ideas for you too think about for the future. I will show you a few banner ads from some advertisers who sell products or services related to video games. Though, ultimately you have to choose which advertiser’s banners and programs fit your site and your user’s habits. It might take some time to figure out so, trial and error is your best bet and a good way to learn. These networks are for sure available in the US. If you are from another country feel free to call me and I will do my best to find you a network that accepts your country.

Commission Junction Account:

Linkshare Account:

Google Adsense Account:

FileZilla FTP

I will be using FileZilla to upload and download files back and forth from the hosting account and my computer. You can use this program too, or if you have your own FTP app by all means use that. FileZilla is open source so feel free to download it.

I have created a FileZilla Video Tutorial for those who would like to learn how to use this FTP program.

Notepad++

I will be using Notepad++ for any coding. This is another open source software so feel free to download it otherwise, use your favorite text editor or even WordPad from Windows.

7-ZIP

I will be using 7-Zip to unzip the WordPress files, game files, plugin files and anything else in a zipped or rar folder. This is also open source software. You can use your own too though if you wish.

Tool Updates Go Here

I know for sure I will be updating this page as I go. So please refer back to it often for updates. I have jumped ahead a bit on some of them and have forgot others so please bare with me as I get things straightened out. Thank you!

Natetronn Announcement – Flash Game Of The Week

Natetronn — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 20:54:30 +0000

Instead of writing my usual post I spent yesterday (all day till 1 in the morning) working out the best way to bring you a weekly flash game so you can have a little fun. You can play at night, on the weekends or even at work (don’t worry I won’t narc.)

I have figured out a few semi-good ways to give you access to a junk load of games though, who really knows if some 20,000 odd games are worth having on Natetronn. I mean, it will take a life time to play that many games and probably allot aren’t worth your time anyway.

So I have to try to come up with a system to judge which games should be worthy and which ones not. For right now I am going to start with a game a week based off of my best judgment.

I also have been debating on whether or not I should make it a separate site (with a whole new concept and name) or add it strait into a sub domain like games.natetronn.com or natetronn.com/games/ and if I do add it to natetronn should it still have the natetronn theme? I don’t really know yet (decisions decisions.)

I am also debating on which day will be game day, I think Thursday or Friday is what I am going with until I have requests otherwise.

I am going to keep things pretty simple to start with. Just the title, description, tags, game controls, comments, categories and maybe a star rating system. And the game itself of course.

I have some kinks to work out with setup and what not but, I think I will add 25 featured games by the end of this week if possible to kick start things off in the right direction.

So I will get back to the decision making here and you just wait to see what happens or if you want to get involved too, then by all means, feel free to chime in with your thoughts. What ever happens you are going to have some fresh flash games here (or there) to play with very soon!

Natetronn » Star Rating