Mission: Communicate

Add some Wow to your WordPress Website with Four Amazing Firefox Extensions

Tim Griffin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:45:19 +0000

Table of Contents

WordPress Helper
MeasureIt
Firebug
Scribefire

The tool of choice recommended for every new WordPress website owner is Firefox. If you have a Windows machine – get Firefox! If you are on a Mac – get Firefox! This is the browser of choice for website owners and developers around the world. Why you might wonder? In a word: performance. There are hundreds of extensions that make your online life easier to navigate. Here are four extensions that make managing your WordPress website all the more enjoyable.

Extension 1: WordPress Helper

Back to the Top

WordPress Helper Dashboard Links

Developer Link: Oliver Schlöbe

Download Link: WordPress Helper Addon

What it Offers: Fast access to your WordPress dashboard, quick-links to most helpful WordPress documentation, commenting profiles to automate insertion of your name – website and email when commenting on blogs, and notification of latest version releases.

When to Use it: This extension is a must have for anyone publishing content with the WordPress publishing platform. Instead of sprinkling various bookmarks on your browser toolbar let this smart addon do the work for you. Once installed there is a quick link button in the lower right corner of your browser window. When clicked you have a smart menu that allows you to jump to the dashboard, publish new post, manage blog comments or simply jump to your homepage.

Control-click (Mac) or Right-click on any page and you will see a new WordPress helper menu. In this menu is a comprehensive list of bookmarks that will take to you tips, newbie help pages, css + WordPress tips and more. You can even add your own links for quick reference to help pages when you need them. A super plugin and worth the $1.99 donation that Oliver is requesting Way to produce a useful tool.

Extension 2: MeasureIt

Back to the Top

MeasureIt Precise Height and Width in Pixels

Developer Link: Kevin Freitas

Download Link: MeasureIt Firefox Addon

What it Offers: The ability to quickly measure in pixels any area within the browser screen.

When to Use it: Every time you need to know the width or height of a section, area or image on your website. Extremely helpful in discovering the optimal width for images in your main post/page area or in your sidebar or footer widgets areas. Such a quick and easy to use tool that you’ll forget what it was like to not have it before.

Nice!!

Extension 3: Firebug

Back to the Top

Firebug Web Development Tools

Developer Link: GetFirebug

Download Link: Firebug Addon

What it Offers: This extension has been one of the primary reasons people building their own websites switch to the use of Firefox as their primary browser. Arguably the most useful browser tool for web development. You will likely never use all the features this tool offers – but there are a few that are indispensable.

When to Use it: Have you ever wanted to change the text styling on your website? Have you ever been curious how styles are controlled on your WordPress theme? If you have ever wondered anything like this then Firebug is your next best friend. With a simple control-click (right-click) you have a new option “Inspect Element”. Once you click that a world of options opens up for you. Want a quick start tutorial to get you started on useful ways to manipulate the css on your website? Krista Rella has a superb video showing you what to do next. Get it. Love it. Work it.

Extension 4: ScribeFire

Back to the Top

Scribefire Blogging Extension

Developer Link: Christopher Finke

Download: Scribefire Addon

What it Offers:

ScribeFire is an extension for the Mozilla Firefox Web Browser that integrates with your browser to let you easily post to your blog: you can drag and drop formatted text from pages you are browsing, take notes, and post to your blog. Scribefire

When to Use it: If you like taking notes, browsing the web and collecting resources to add to your blog this is a beautiful tool. Not only can you drag and drop text/content from the page you are on, but you can save your research as notes. Choose to change a note to an actual post at any time in the future.

Are there more blog editors the likes of this? There indeed are. Both standalone and as browser addons. Here is the WordPress Codex list of editors. (I’ve secretly enjoyed the use of Ecto blog editor on a number of my blogs)

Building Your Website With WordPress – Why and How it Works

Tim Griffin — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 01:56:49 +0000

Table of Contents

Methods to Build Websites
Goals for a Website
Attract an Audience
Answer FAQ’s
Natural Promotion
Take Pride in Results
Achieve Success

When you set out to build yourself a website you have a few goals in mind. You may have sketched some of those goals out, read a book about how the Web 2.0 and soon to be 3.0 method of communication has changed our world (you probably did not read a book – but have participated online and want to be more deeply involved with the change). Regardless, you have goals and are now beginning to consider the methods available to you.

Common Methods

Hire a professional to design the site for you (perhaps not something you’re ready for – i.e. lots of content, outline of online strategy, $ etc.)
Find a website hosting package that includes a website builder (hard to find one that does not offer outdated and cookie cutter designs with very little “function”)
Dabble with “free” online websites (often includes tacky adds and the same outdated cookie cutter presentation)
other…

There are a number of methods available and soon you may find yourself lost in the sea of features, web space and hype. I’ve been there, tried it; tried it again and searched relentlessly for a solution that would allow me to build a site with substance, flair and function. Months and months of trying various services, methods and madness. Have you been there?

Then, along comes WordPress. (cheer, shout, jump up and down!!!)

Ok, so let’s look at the big picture: You want a website and you plan to accomplish some significant goals with that website!

Earth Shaking Goals for Every Website Owner:

Back to the Top

Attract people to your online content with a stylish and professional design
Answer frequently asked questions about you, your business or your expertise in one place – your website. (The 5 “W’s)
Interact with visitors in meaningful ways (this can be as simple as getting a phone call from a website visitor, or facilitating a commenting system on your site to interact with your website audience – or any other interactive of online communication)
Be proud of what you’ve given the world and yourself as a result of building a site that people love, use and recommend.
Become a multi-millionaire, alter the course of history and issue in world peace 30 days after launching your new site. (ok… hold on, let’s keep it in perspective.)

How WordPress Helps You Build a Site and Accomplish Your Goals

Back to the Top

A. Attracts an Audience:

RSS Explained by CommonCraft

When you publish content online through a WordPress powered website the content is “pushed” to the internet. In other words, the publishing software has a built in broadcasting system that yells to search engines and blog networks, “Fresh content has been served – ‘Come and Get it!’” Now, your new content is discoverable and making it’s way into the online reader streams. As people browse, search and find your content in these arenas – people are directed to your website.

All WordPress websites publish an RSS feed making it all the more inviting for people to repeatedly access your content – every time you publish new articles on your site. What is RSS? Here is a super video by CommonCraft illustrating the RSS thing.

Instead of being static like early websites, your powered by WordPress website is a dynamic resource – slipping into main content streams of the present communication era. Now that is FUNCTION!

Is it Attractive? Without a doubt!
WordPress started out with the aim to be aesthetically pleasing while ensuring that the content on any given website is front and center. Content with Style. That could well be the motto of the WordPress team, although here is how they articulate it:

WordPress is a state-of-the-art publishing platform with a focus on aesthetics, web standards, and usability.

Now that is priceless! In fact, the WordPress platform has effectively achieved these goals and now thousands of coders, designers and end users. Thousands of fresh themes are developed around the world and you are guaranteed to find a design that you can customize and fill out with your content, purchase a premier yet affordable theme or hire a designer to create a customized WordPress layout for you to apply to your website.

B. Answer the 5 W’s & so much more:

Back to the Top
Now here is where strategy starts to get down to the brass tacks – the reason for wanting a website in the first place. This is where the beauty of WordPress as a content management system begins to shine. Navigation and Structure as applied to your content. Do you have an area of passion, expertise and experience the world needs to see and make the most of? Outline what it is you have to offer into topics or categories; then outline a few key standalone pieces of content and you are ready for WordPress. Here is a for instance:

Topics I plan on writing articles about
- Tips and trends
- Industry Secrets
- News and Updates
- etc…
Stand-alone Pages
- About Me
- Services
- Showcase
- Contact

Check out the Content Sitemap Tutorial on WordPress.tv:

C. Interact with visitors = natural publicity:

Back to the Top
Your website powered by WordPress will give you optional tools such as allowing online commenting/conversations that anyone can and will read; extend core function through plugins allowing you to send new article notifications to twitter, invite individuals to post a link to your article through their personal social networks. Promoting your article by submitting it to network blogs and communities built around your area of expertise/service is a natural thing to do when you have a website that allows you to blog. (Check out Jared Thompsons article aimed at encouraging designers who blog to promote their content.) Don’t miss the talk of TED regarding the change that social networking has issued into our present reality.

D. Something worth taking pride in:

Back to the Top
Doing this with WordPress is actually a natural thing! The community of designers, technicians and users form a very enthusiastic entity. Just start looking around and you can see that people like the results of their unique style and content given legs with the WordPress application. Need to see some inspiration to get started? Don’t miss the featured showcase on WordPress.org. Got an effective and/or unique website running on WordPress Consider submitting your site to that showcase!

E. Discovering new levels of success – achieve your goals and make history:

Back to the Top
One of the first things you begin to learn as the owner of a WordPress powered website is that content fits into specific publishing areas of website architecture. As you learn the basics of pages, child-pages, posts, categories and tags you have the opportunity to play with and refine the way your content is presented. The system is designed to make publishing simple, while helping your readers more effectively navigate your content driven website. Maybe you are already a highly organized communicator, or maybe you will like how WordPress makes you look more like that Either way, the ability to publish, refine and test your ideas online is a benefit that has significant potential for improving personal success.

What have you found to be the single-most important feature or aspect of WordPress that allows you to produce something valuable and effective?

How P2 Changed Automattic — Matt Mullenweg

Tim Griffin — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 01:43:33 +0000

How P2 Changed Automattic — Matt Mullenweg.

Did you ever think a theme could change the way you experience life on a daily basis? Here is a story about how P2 – a “live update” theme for the WordPress publishing platform has done that for a whole group of people. This theme demonstrates how a specific feature set was offered through a theme (basically an application running on the WordPress platform). Possible uses for this type of theme: what would you dream up outside of an office or workgroup type setting? Interesting!

Today there was plenty of discussion regarding what kind of functionality should be expected from a plugin vs. the function of a specific theme. As the development of specialized themes such as P2 continue to emerge, it is interesting to see the lines blur between plugin and theme.

What are your thoughts? Here are some of the discussion points made in this conversation up to this point:
@michaeltorbert: Themes should be swappable without losing functionality.If they do too much it is a drawback not a plus RT @carlhancock
@wptavern: @carlhancock I think themes and plugins should work together in harmony. But that happens in a perfect world. We don’t live in that world
@carlhankock: @bradleypotter @wptavern major functionality shouldn’t be married to a theme which is the point of plugins.

Personally I believe there is a balance between finding stable functionality in popular or up and coming plugins, while a Theme developer may indeed be required to opt to build a Theme that offers exclusive functionality such as the P2 theme. Certainly there are pros and cons… but in the end the people who use the theme and plugins cast their vote; some items get integrated into core functionality, theme functions get spun off into standalone plugins while others develop frameworks with child themes. Interesting no?

Here’s the question: Should themes have plugin functionality built into them? Cast your vote over at WPTavern.

Professional Sprinkler Systems – New Website

Tim Griffin — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 06:01:02 +0000

John French of Portland, OR now has a website improving the visibility of his professional sprinkler services. Year round his clients enjoy the dependability of a sprinkler systems that are efficient, routinely optimized and personally guaranteed by John. He’s a stickler for high quality and personable service.

He needed a website to reflect his values and promote the value that his clients have come to love. And that is what you can now see here and over at his ProfessionalSprinklerSystems.com Portland Oregon website

Rekindling Life – New Website Launched

Tim Griffin — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 00:36:42 +0000

Paul Singh is life coach. He needed an effective online presence to incorporate event registration, easy access to contact information and a professional style to match the services he and his team offer. The resulting website can be viewed directly at RekindlingLife.com.

Crucial elements of the design:

Install rotating website header – custom designed with text, image and logo
Tabbed key information section on homepage
Custom webpage layout – coordinated with logo design
Incorporate event registration process through Eventbrite
Publish PDF brochures and posters on the website

Back Up Your WordPress Website

Tim Griffin — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 18:00:56 +0000

January is a perfect month for establishing a routine of backing up the important digital pieces of life – pieces like the websites and blogs you manage. Back it up – once, twice, three times, in three different locations and/or types (CD, Hard drive, Website/network). With WordPress 2.9 having just come out prior to Christmas it is also clear reminder that backing up your WordPress website is an essential skill to possess. Where to start?

1. Understand the Objective

If the upgrade of your WordPress site should fail due to server config/timeout, spotty network connection or various other conditions what would you fall back on? Did you back it up??

2. Define what you will precisely have after backing up

Compressed backup of both files and MySQL data on web server

A WordPress website consists of a variety of file types: php, images, css and other media that you have uploaded or added to your core WordPress install. The first piece of your resulting backup will be either a compressed file or a folder with all these file types together together.
sql files on hard drive

Part two of the WordPress website is the data – your actual post and page content, theme and associated settings of your install – including timezone, widgets and all the other options you have setup in the Dashboard of your site. A backup of this type comes from the MySQL database. The backup will be a single .sql or .zip file containing all the website data.

Once the backup is created, you have what you need to do a “restore” should the need arise – 1. All the files & 2. All the data. The subject of restoring your website involves replacing the files and data on the server with the backup. A little about this process a little further on.

3. Performing the Backup

Option 1 – Web Hosting Control Panel

Various hosting environments provide a system for backing up the files and data on your web server. Here is the simple step by step process available for websites hosted on the Mission: Communicate Hosting service.

Login to your Dashboard
Navigate to the “Backup” page of your control panel
Select the backup icon on second row
Select the “MySQL 5″ and “files” options for the backup
Select the type of backup you need
Select “Backup” and wait. The server is now backing up the files and data – which can be downloaded via FTP
The backup takes some time - progress will be displayed here

Tip – follow the “FAQ” link within the backup control panel. Many more details specific to this function of backing up are available here – you can download the files directly by FTP connection through your browser – or through your favorite FTP client.

Note: Now you can proceed to upgrading your WordPress website utilizing the automatic upgrade option. Before doing so – be sure to update any and all plugins you have installed and active on your website! This will ensure that any updates available have been applied – and out of date plugins are the first place to look if you have problems upgrading your WordPress website!

WordPress Upgrade Process in a nutshell:

Backup Website (Files and Data)
Upgrade all plugins with updates available
Proceed to Automatic Update
Test, ensure plugins that need to be active are active
Enjoy your newly updated WordPress powered website!

Backing up is a general function that all hosting solutions provide in one form or another. Backing up instructions for a couple other popular website control panels:
Backing up with Cpanel

Backing up with Plesk

If nothing else you would be able to make a complete backup of the files by downloading them through FTP. The database should be accessible through phpMyAdmin – through which the database can be both exported and imported.

Restoring Your Backup

This in theory is simple: overwrite the files on your server with the files you have downloaded. Follow the specific instructions on your hosting control panel if they are provided. An overview is available here:

Upload and overwrite files on your server with the backup of your files
Import the MySQL backup through phpMyAdmin

For further details and instructions see the WordPress Backups page on the WordPress Codex. Optionally you can install a helpful plugin that creates a backup of your data to be downloaded or emailed to you.

WordPress 2.9 Media, Lights and Action

Tim Griffin — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:19:46 +0000

The long awaited 2.9 Carmen is officially out and roaming the streets with some powerful features that are sure to please any owner of a WordPress powered website.

Check out the intro video here, get your site up to date and enjoy the fact that WordPress keeps getting better and better!

When People Get Lost – Helpful “Error 404 – Page Not Found” tips

Tim Griffin — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:00:55 +0000

Regardless of whether your goals is to educate or entertain, there is bound to be a time when someone hits a “404 Error” on your website. Perhaps they typed a link in the address bar incorrectly, maybe someone linked to your best page with a space or hyphen where it didn’t belong. 404 – It happens.

You do however have a significant measure of control over WHAT happens WHEN a 404 is experienced. A moment of frustration can be turned into a laugh, a smile of appreciation or perhaps even inspiring an action/exploration that the reader had not considered. The choice of how the 404 error is handled on your domain is up to you.

A quick search and you can find dozens of great examples of how to treat your website visitors right in this scenario:

These will give a a good start on the hunt for inspirational 404 error options and links to other ideas and tutorials on what is next.

What You Need To Do:

Part of the reason for writing this up is personal. I wanted to do something about the 404 and was looking for methods that could achieve helpful results. With a WordPress powered website there are several options.

Option 1) Create or edit your 404.php template.

Update this file with your own custom message, links and imagery. A good WordPress theme comes with this template already coded – simply waiting for your custom code. What to do if your theme does not have a 404.php template? Change to a better template or, read up on the codex regarding the 404.php file and create your own. The basic 404 template can be as simple as the default theme 404.php file:



  
    Error 404 - Not Found

You can duplicate this 404.php template in your default theme and upload it to your current theme. This is a good option if the page.php template of your site has the header/content/sidebar/footer in the same order as the default theme. If not, duplicate the page.php of your current theme and use the above to guide you in the process of removing the_loop and unnecessary php from the 404 template. (theall the php code except the call for the header, footer and sidebar if theses calls exist in your present page.php template).

Joost offers a very insightful guide to 404 including the above method here.

Option 2) Install the Smart 404 WordPress Plugin.

Installation of this plugin requires editing your 404 template file “404.php” and results in a “Smart” presentation of related/helpful options for your visitors. Here is the authors’ description:

When a page cannot be found, Smart 404 will use the current URL to attempt to find a matching page, and redirect to it automatically. Smart 404 also supplies template tags which provide a list of suggestions, for use on a 404.php template page if a matching post can’t be immediately discovered.

Michaels’ plugin and instruction for setting up the Smart 404 can be found here.

Option 3) “Widgetize” Your 404 template.

Registering a new widget and updating your WordPress “404.php” template allows you to present a custom message when a person hits your 404 Error page through managing a 404 widget in your WordPress dashboard. In this way you can leave the boringly predictable default “404 Not Found” statement. You could get smart, helpful or just plain fun with a custom message on your 404 page. Justin Tadlock has written an easy to understand article to help you accomplish a widgetized 404 page.

What You Need To Know:

Serving your readers with helpful information – the kind they are looking for is the point. There are several technical aspects to doing this well and others have written some excellent rundowns for taking your 404 settings to a level that allows you analyze and track what people are finding – or TRYING to find on your site. Be sure to read Joost’s article covering some “Must Know” details about how the 404 works, what is required and how to analyze what is happening with your 404 errors pages.

Helpful 404 Page References:

Send a PDF using your WordPress website and email list

Tim Griffin — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:48:39 +0000

A large number of people access email using one version of outlook or another. That is great – except when a friend repeatedly sends large attachments to your address. How can you become more effective in sending documents by email?

In an earlier tip the idea of sending images without bogging down others’ email inbox was explained. The same method can be applied for handling the need to send documents – PDF, DOC, and others. The WordPress media manager can make this a breeze and give you the confidence that more people are happy receiving your email.

1. Convert your Document to a PDF

By doing this you increase the number of your recipients who will be able to quickly open and read your content. How to do this?

Mac:

In the Print dialogue, choose the “PDF/Save as PDF” option. (this is a standard option with all present day macs)
Save the file with a name that has no spaces (the name of the file will be in the url of the link – no spaces lead to less 404 not found experience)
Done

Windows:

Download and install the CutePDF tool for windows
Print your document – selecting the CUTE PDF Printer instead of your default machine
When prompted – save the document as a PDF with no spaces in the name (the name of the file will be in the url of the link – no spaces lead to less 404 not found experience)

2. Upload PDF to your WordPress media manager

Note: You can upload using the “Media/Add new” option in the main navigation of your WordPress dashboard or use the media upload dialogue above the post/page editor.

Copy and insert a link in your email

This link – as pointed out by the green arrow above is the ticket to giving recipients the option to download and view your document. Now that you have that copied to your clipboard compose a new email and insert the link. A few quick tips on this:

avoid scaring or boring people with having to look at the “http://www. … …pdf”. Write a few meaningful words, select that text and use the insert link button in your editor. The text then becomes the active link.
Give people a clear idea of what they get when they click. Spell it out for theme i.e. “Download this 3.3MB PDF document”
A Few Tutorials for inserting links in email: Outlook, gMail, Apple Mail, Yahoo mail

Once mastered this is a very simple route for successful email and much happier recipients. Not only will more of your email make it past the spam filters more effectively, generally there will be less cringing and more clicking to get at your carefully prepared document.

Don’t have WordPress? Favor uploading documents elsewhere? Do tell what service you prefer to use when sending PDF or other documents!

Noemi Photograhy – Updated Blog Design

Tim Griffin — Tue, 26 May 2009 01:10:54 +0000

Noemi takes pictures. Lots of them!!
When you visit her blog you will quickly notice that Minnesota has a photographer who is professional, loves people and has an interactive fan base! She offers courses on photography and loves to help others begin to discover the joy of capturing life one picture at a time.

View the latest on Noemi’s Blog:

PPA Workshop in Minneapolis, MN
Turning 34.
Canon vs. Nikon

Noemi needed to update her photoblog design to reflect a more “Noemi” and “photo” experience. As a photographer who specializes in making the ordinary extraordinary Noemi wanted to take her site to a new level. Priorities included:

showcasing more of her professional photography
rotate recent photos in the header of the blog
twitter updates at the top of the site
event registration/payment processing
improved blog and site navigation

What did Noemi have to say about her new design?

I am so excited to finally unveil the NEW BLOG I’ve been working on for the last few months! It’s so pretty and clean and classy and artsy and has tons of BIG PICTURES! It should be up before the end of the month. I hope you are wow-ed!
(read full quote on her blog)

A few before and after blog screenshots:

To experience the beauty of the new photography blog design “NoemiPhotography.com/blog“

Scrapper’s Guide on WordPress

Tim Griffin — Fri, 15 May 2009 04:30:28 +0000

Linda and her creative team write volumes of high quality tutorials on how to create scrapbooks with your digital pictures. As of this date Google has approximately 21,900 pages indexed on the ScrappersGuide.com website. Now that is a web SITE!! From public pages to premium content, a gallery and forum there are significant amounts of material and community involvement over at Scrappers Guide.
Here is a look at what is happening on the WordPress site presently:

Up until recently all the public pages were built as static html pages using Dreamweaver. This is not a bad thing – but a static website has limitations that a dynamic content management system such as WordPress can help you overcome.

Linda now has the ability to make site-wide changes with a single input. She also has taken advantage of the fact that multiple authors can create new content for review and then publication. The day the new WordPress powered site went live there was a buzz of comments from numerous enthusiasts who have become familiar with the quality tutorials published by the Scrapper’s Guide creative content team.

Quality content just in from Scrappers Guide:

Timeless Classics Kit
Botanist Exclusive Kit
Spring Breeze Kit
Summer Splash Kit

Work Performed:

Content Architecture Consulting
WordPress Installation and Optimization
Custom Theme Development
Tailored WordPress FAQ Plugin
Coaching/Training for Creative Team to get started with managing content in WordPress

Additional Notes:
This site makes extensive use of the Widget Logic WordPress plugin – allowing for custom sidebar content that is specific to pages, categories and posts in certain categories on the website. The conversion from HTML to WordPress took place over 7 months and is ongoing as the team works through the original pages and reworks them into the new. (Redirection by John Godley is an essential resource for moving old pages to new urls). Overall the site is more user friendly as the WordPress pages are more Search engine optimized, galleries of images and product are more interactive and comments are enabled for ongoing discussion of content. The Thesis Framework for WordPress was selected as the base design to build the custom ScrappersGuide.com website layout. Page layouts include a single column, left column only, pages/posts with right side shopping cart (utilizing the robust E-junkie option for selling CD’s and downloads), standard three column posts and more. Check it out!

Disappearing Widgets – A Solution in WordPress 2.7

Tim Griffin — Tue, 12 May 2009 07:28:50 +0000

Problem: Something is wrong – I added a new widget to those already in place – and when I selected to “save changes”, one or more of the widgets disappears! What happened? What did I do wrong? Can it be fixed?

For me, this problem surfaced on a WordPress 2.7 install when changing the site url from a “non-www “to a “www” url in the general settings. Apparently, this gave a signal to our WordPress install that the theme I was using was a newly selected theme. And because widgets are not transferred from one theme to the next theme automatically, (different themes are coded with widgetized areas and sidebars in unique ways for instance), the widgets were now acting in a strange and unpredictable way – as an apparent result of my changing the url of the site. Others have reported similar issue for various reasons. What a relief to find that there is a solution.

Save My Widgets!

In the scenario I was in today, we had over 20 widgets, specific logic for most of them (Widget Logic plugin), widget-specific css, html, forms, etc., and the site was live. HELP!!

So, if you feel like screaming because widgets are disappearing left and right. STOP! Don’t wait for another one to vanish into thin air. The sun will still rise tomorrow… smile at the fact that a widget got to you… well it may not be a laughing matter? Laugh anyway ;-D

After digging for answers here are the steps that worked for me:

Backup your WordPress database (never hurts!)
Download and install Justin Tadlock’s “Widget Reset” plugin. (Don’t run it yet – just install)
In Firefox open a new tab and navigate to each Widget Section in your WordPress dashboard, i.e. sidebar-1, sidebar-2, etc., etc.
In a separate tab run the reset process (see the readme in the plugin)

At this point all widget data is erased and a complete clean slate is ready for widgets to be created – without being dropped at random. Here is what saved the bacon for me with loads of data in widgets that I did no care to lose:

Visit each tab you opened earlier with the previously existing widget content still in place and choose to “save changes”

We lost three widgets before we went through the above process. And in the end, only three – which were rebuilt through the help of text files and screen shots. I am told this will not be as much an issue in 2.8. I am curious to see the change and how widgets are handled. What changes will be required for a theme to be 2.8 ready?

In the mean time I will sleep a little better having reaped the benefits of the WordPress community, Justin’s plugin, a backup of sorts and Firefox. Did I miss an easier solution? Let me know!

All Things Good | Best of WordPress

Tim Griffin — Fri, 08 May 2009 06:24:14 +0000

I’m on the hunt for all things good WordPress. If you are looking for the best plugins, the best WP tutorials, the best themes… where would you go? Here is one address I’ve added to my book for safe keeping and frequent usage:

wpazo | The best WordPress stuff.

Ian Stewart (developer of the Thematic Framework for WordPress) announced the launch this site – WPAZO, May 7, ‘09 on twitter. It was immediately added to my list of ‘must have’ resources. One things I noticed immediately was a number of tutorials for extending and making use of new features in the yet to be released 2.8 version of WordPress. Plenty of room for growth and apparently Ian is looking for people to submit links to more of the best stuff out there. Good Stuff

There are plenty of good collections out there besides the usual codex and forums over at wordpress.org. Which collections do you consider the best and find that you actually use on a frequent basis? How would you rate this latest arrival: WPAZO?

A Better Blog – Day 1 with 9100 Other Bloggers

Tim Griffin — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 12:16:42 +0000

Today marks the first day of writing a better blog. And believe me, this is as good a time as any for this blog to take on some serious “better-ment” for this blog.

The assignment for today focused on the 100-150 words that describe what it is you blog about; an elevator pitch for your blog. Once decided upon what it is then keep it in front of you. Incorporate it into your tagline, your conversations, business card, etc. Shape it, then let it shape all your communication as you move forward from there.

Why this is important to me:

My interests are so broad – containing my interests in a singular statement helps me categorize the various interests
My passion is focused – and yet easily buried by my various commitments. Perhaps the commitments need refining to more accurately reflect person strengths
You will be able to more quickly find useful reading as this site becomes more focused.
A narrower definition of content is more able to ”hit the mark“. You’ll know if you’ve landed on a site that can do what you need it to do.

Another application of less = more. Or stated another way, more focus = less waste of effort, time, and money. Who could have thought that could all be contained in the “elevator pitch” of your blog? Are you taking the 31 days to a better blog? Sign up here and give a shout out below. See you there!

(Note: what would you say the elevator pitch of this site is? How easy did you personally find Darren’s first assignment?)

Hidden Tool – Minimize The WordPress Admin Menu

Tim Griffin — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:39:55 +0000

There are frequently moments when you feel the need for space. Editing or creating content in the WordPress dashboard can often present those moments for myself. Need some more space? No worries – there is a not-so-hidden function that give you just what you are looking for.

In the upper right hand side find the small &laquo« directly under the dashboard link. Once clicked you’ve got nearly two more inches of screen space. This link eluded many people – for almost the whole existence of WordPress 2.7. So if you are one of those individuals- don’t sweat – you are not alone!

Notice the clickable button under the Dashboard link. That's the secret!

That’s the before. And now the after:

Once minimized - Enjoy the extra room now available!

Did this option escape you? How does it feel to have a bit more room?

Rob Wrote His Book

Tim Griffin — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 04:06:31 +0000

Rob Severson wrote a book. He’s been coaching himself and others in the journey of life, peace and provision for a good number of years. Now he’s gone public, persevered in the process of becoming an author and published his contribution for all to see.

Rob’s site needed additional function so he could sell his book through the website. His first question when he called to discuss this next new development was, “Have you written a book? Do you want to?” He then went on to describe what it is like to accomplish a goal like this – he jumps into the coaching, encouraging role effortlessly – even in the process of requesting specific developments on his website.

Here is what was done to go live with his book on his own site:

Latest goodness from Rob:

Can we be more successful if we are other’s centered?
Do you really want to be a risk taker?
Shouldn’t you come out of college happy?

Craft a Clean Layout where the book content is described
Install and configure a shopping cart with pricing based on number of books purchased
Update each page of his site with a “Check out My New Book” link
Optimize all the above for search engine and real people interaction
Include a hidden/protected page for Rob to place special priced orders for non-profit and interested groups he’s connected with

The new layout and order pages make use of the WordPress publishing platform, xhtml and css. Google cached the new pages almost immediately and more importantly his traffic went up 56% the first month. Here’s to hoping for much more action on Rob’s site!

What do you like about this approach to selling a book online? Head over to Rob’s site and congratulate him – tell him what you like about his online contribution!

Painless Upgrade to WordPress 2.6.5

Tim Griffin — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 03:58:53 +0000

Logging into your WordPress website today will give you the familiar notice that the next update of WordPress is available and to – Please Update!.

Here is what the dev team over at WordPress.org says regarding fixes and a security update:

The security issue is an XSS exploit discovered by Jeremias Reith that fortunately only affects IP-based virtual servers running on Apache 2.x. If you are interested only in the security fix, copy wp-includes/feed.php and wp-includes/version.php from the 2.6.5 release package.

2.6.5 contains three other small fixes in addition to the XSS fix. The first prevents accidentally saving post meta information to a revision. The second prevents XML-RPC from fetching incorrect post types. The third adds some user ID sanitization during bulk delete requests. For a list of changed files, consult the full changeset between 2.6.3 and 2.6.5.

Note that we are skipping version 2.6.4 and jumping from 2.6.3 to 2.6.5 to avoid confusion with a fake 2.6.4 release that made the rounds. There is not and never will be a version 2.6.4.

The team over at Blogs About explain the security exploit: only affects IP-based virtual servers running on Apache 2.x.

Bottom line: need to upgrade WordPress.
Approach 1: Download the entire WordPress 2.6.5 version and follow the normal upgrade instructions
Approach 2: Find the changed files and only replace these files. (full changeset) This is the diff from 2.6.3 to 2.6.5. A very time efficient approach and having this list of files allows you to move quickly through a large number of installs.

Here are the files compressed and available for your downloading pleasure.WordPress 2.6.3 to 2.6.5 diff

Other files are available – just give a shout out in the response form if you’re looking for either of the following:
2.6.2 to 2.6.3 diff
2.6.1 to 2.6.2 diff

Gotta love WordPress!

Released to the Public: WordPress 2.6

Tim Griffin — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 23:33:32 +0000

As with each release this version of the ever improving website Content Management System – WordPress is exactly that. More mileage for the effort on puts into creating and publishing your content.

Version 2.6 “Tyner,” has been named for jazz pianist McCoy Tyner. The developers blog has more on that topic.

A brief and somewhat techie video gives you a window into the 2.6 soul. If you have more questions after watching this just comment below and I’ll give a go at answering those questions.

A brief translation/personal take on a few items worth noting:

Post Revisions

Yes – this feature allows you to go beyond having a single draft and select earlier edits, compare differences and return to an earlier version of your content. This enhancement comes along with a built in ‘autosave’ so your content is not dropped or lost along the way. Tip: remember to title your post first thing. Only makes it easier to find that draft later!

This system is probably most useful for a multi-author blog. Do you need/want to be able to see revisions? It could be handy depending on how often and how particular you are when crafting content.

Press This – A True Bloggers Shortcut

Do you publish frequently? When reading other websites do you get hit with the urge to blog immediately? Definitely give the “Press This” shortcut link a go. Click and drag the “Press This” link in the edit post screen (located on the right side) to your FireFox Bookmarks Toolbar folder. (or other convenient favorite links folder).

Features of this tool include the ability to include text, photos and embed videos from the site you are visiting directly onto a new blog post at your WordPress site. Referred to as a “bookmarklet” – a link which begins a conversation with your website as soon as you click.

Photo Captions

Nothing more to be said here except – try it out! Fill in the new “caption” box when uploading/inserting an image. (Not seeing any images when clicking the media button? Be sure to click on the additional tabs – i.e. Gallery or Media Library to view all images currently uploaded in your site.

Plugin and Comment Bubbles

New bubbles show up when there are comments waiting for your viewing or when a plugin is ready for an update. When they appear there is an instinctive “Pop Me!!” effect. Combined with this powerful urge is the ability to immediately respond. Comments can be marked, accepted, blocked or edited. Plugins – developed correctly – can be immediately updated when they are available. Unused plugins can be deleted from the system so you never need look at them again – way cool!

One more enhancement to comment on:

Google Gears = The Need for Speed

In the upper right of your 2.6 dashboard you will see a link for “Turbo”. Once selected you are walked through the process of installing Google gears for your browser and asked if you would like to allow your site permission to use these gears. What is it? Google Gears? It is basically an advanced caching system allowing you to run the dashboard and all its processes with minimal need for the remote server. Programmed into the gears is ability to detect when to update the server with new information and when to update your local files with new. Theoretically the whole WordPress application can be boosted in speed and performance.

When installing the gears on your pc you will also be asked if you want to have your pc send feedback automatically to google for the developers behind the turbo gears. It is entirely up to you Need more to read on the subject? Here you go.

There is more to be discovered and enjoyed with the Tyner version. WordPress as a Content Management System continues to impress and gain momentum as one of the most useful, flexible and fun publishing systems to work with. Keep it up team!

Technorati Tags: blogging, blog, socialnetwork, tyner, web services, web2.0, webdev, wordpress

Upping Your Image With Gravatar

Tim Griffin — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 03:37:30 +0000

Around the net you’ve probably spun a few of your comments at various blogs, news sites and other such places you consider worth your time. There are various reasons for doing this – fun, asking and getting answers to questions, letting people know you were there, inviting others to read what you have written on the topic…

As you’ve done so you notice that some people have a signature image – a smart looking graphic that personalizes their comments. If you have not yet discovered gravatar this is the time. Chris here takes a few minutes to explain a fun way to up your image with your WordPress (and other systems too).

Highlights:

online image editor/cropping/zooming
multiple email addresses
super simple administration

Bottom line – update your image in one place and every comment you’ve ever left on gravatar enabled websites gets the facelift – immediately!

Technorati Tags: blogging, community, socialnetwork, web services, web2.0, wordpress

Keep Blogging: The Internet Has Not Crashed

Tim Griffin — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 06:49:53 +0000

Nigerian banking is now kaput. People are ctrl+alt+del themselves. Heroic struggle to rebuild Flickr album… yeah a few recent comments say it sufficiently:

this is hilarious! i love it!

Love it.

i would love this to happen!

Regardless of the fact that “time capsules” of our frivolous action on the internet are being permanently archived on machines we do not know by people we will never meet there are some good reasons to continue on… if I could just think of them.

Ahh. Ok, so here is the first

1. Your writing will be worth reading well after you forget you wrote

Your blog archive becomes a valuable resource for you and people who are trying to understand what your business/group/project/product/mission is all about. If what you write is good – then I think such an archive itself is good.

A good friend was bemoning the fact that he had not written since last november and was finding the process of including a picture with a post to be to difficult. When I checked the stats for his non-profit website it was no surprise to me that the most visited section of his site was the blog – AND more visitors were spending time reading content from last April than even the more recent items.

A simple illustration came with a quick look at the stats here and one of the shortest posts on the site is the most visited – perhaps most useful? The title: WordPress Customization Guide a quick post linking to a guide which is still of value today – to myself and aparently others!

What is the thing you find most difficult about process of blogging? Among all the easy to use tools available todate the photo manipulation and inclusion continues to be the most cumbersome for most. For others it is the challenge of defining the purpose of their blog. The answer for photos is simpler than the second challenge. Both can be handled with style and a mind bent on being a resource for the person you are writing for.

Mission: Communicate

Add some Wow to your WordPress Website with Four Amazing Firefox Extensions

Extension 1: WordPress Helper

Extension 2: MeasureIt

Extension 3: Firebug

Extension 4: ScribeFire

More content you may find helpful:Firefox: getting started with my preferred browser Back Up Your WordPress Website Released to the Public: WordPress 2.6

Building Your Website With WordPress – Why and How it Works

Common Methods

Earth Shaking Goals for Every Website Owner:

How WordPress Helps You Build a Site and Accomplish Your Goals

A. Attracts an Audience:

B. Answer the 5 W’s & so much more:

C. Interact with visitors = natural publicity:

D. Something worth taking pride in:

E. Discovering new levels of success – achieve your goals and make history:

More content you may find helpful:Add some Wow to your WordPress Website with Four Amazing Firefox Extensions Back Up Your WordPress Website Wordpress RC3 – Nearly ready for Christmas

How P2 Changed Automattic — Matt Mullenweg

More content you may find helpful:Disappearing Widgets – A Solution in WordPress 2.7 Scrapper’s Guide on WordPress Dear TypePad user, from a WordPress enthusiast

Professional Sprinkler Systems – New Website

More content you may find helpful:Scrapper’s Guide on WordPress Rekindling Life – New Website Launched Lutheran Braille Workers – New Website

Rekindling Life – New Website Launched

More content you may find helpful:Lutheran Braille Workers – New Website Noemi Photograhy – Updated Blog Design Scrapper’s Guide on WordPress

Back Up Your WordPress Website

1. Understand the Objective

2. Define what you will precisely have after backing up

3. Performing the Backup

Option 1 – Web Hosting Control Panel

Restoring Your Backup

More content you may find helpful:Static HTML vs. Dynamic WordPress Powered Websites Painless Upgrade to WordPress 2.6.5

WordPress 2.9 Media, Lights and Action

More content you may find helpful:Dear TypePad user, from a WordPress enthusiast Scrapper’s Guide on WordPress Building Your Website With WordPress – Why and How it Works

When People Get Lost – Helpful “Error 404 – Page Not Found” tips

What You Need To Do:

Option 1) Create or edit your 404.php template.

Error 404 - Not Found

Option 2) Install the Smart 404 WordPress Plugin.

Option 3) “Widgetize” Your 404 template.

What You Need To Know:

Helpful 404 Page References:

More content you may find helpful:more on Custom Error Pages Back Up Your WordPress Website Send a PDF using your WordPress website and email list

Send a PDF using your WordPress website and email list

1. Convert your Document to a PDF

2. Upload PDF to your WordPress media manager

Copy and insert a link in your email

More content you may find helpful:Create PDF free and very easy Send Photos Email and spare your friends’ the extra weight More Effective Email – Tip #1 RE: Attachments

Noemi Photograhy – Updated Blog Design

More content you may find helpful:Rekindling Life – New Website Launched A Better Blog – Day 1 with 9100 Other Bloggers Scrapper’s Guide on WordPress

Scrapper’s Guide on WordPress

More content you may find helpful:WordPress Customization Guide Rekindling Life – New Website Launched Rob Wrote His Book

Disappearing Widgets – A Solution in WordPress 2.7

More content you may find helpful:Back Up Your WordPress Website Scrapper’s Guide on WordPress Firefox: getting started with my preferred browser

All Things Good | Best of WordPress

More content you may find helpful:Hidden Tool – Minimize The WordPress Admin Menu Dear TypePad user, from a WordPress enthusiast Send a PDF using your WordPress website and email list

A Better Blog – Day 1 with 9100 Other Bloggers

More content you may find helpful:Noemi Photograhy – Updated Blog Design Static HTML vs. Dynamic WordPress Powered Websites

Hidden Tool – Minimize The WordPress Admin Menu

More content you may find helpful:Disappearing Widgets – A Solution in WordPress 2.7 Back Up Your WordPress Website Add some Wow to your WordPress Website with Four Amazing Firefox Extensions

Rob Wrote His Book

More content you may find helpful:Scrapper’s Guide on WordPress Lutheran Braille Workers – New Website Rekindling Life – New Website Launched

Painless Upgrade to WordPress 2.6.5

More content you may find helpful:Back Up Your WordPress Website Static HTML vs. Dynamic WordPress Powered Websites Released to the Public: WordPress 2.6

Released to the Public: WordPress 2.6

Post Revisions

Press This – A True Bloggers Shortcut

Photo Captions

Plugin and Comment Bubbles

Google Gears = The Need for Speed

More content you may find helpful:Painless Upgrade to WordPress 2.6.5 All Things Good | Best of WordPress WordPress Customization Guide

Upping Your Image With Gravatar

More content you may find helpful:Static HTML vs. Dynamic WordPress Powered Websites Send Photos Email and spare your friends’ the extra weight

Keep Blogging: The Internet Has Not Crashed

1. Your writing will be worth reading well after you forget you wrote

More content you may find helpful:WordPress Customization Guide one week of PowerPoint training A Better Blog – Day 1 with 9100 Other Bloggers

More content you may find helpful:
Firefox: getting started with my preferred browser

Back Up Your WordPress Website

Released to the Public: WordPress 2.6

More content you may find helpful:
Add some Wow to your WordPress Website with Four Amazing Firefox Extensions

Back Up Your WordPress Website

Wordpress RC3 – Nearly ready for Christmas

More content you may find helpful:
Disappearing Widgets – A Solution in WordPress 2.7

Scrapper’s Guide on WordPress

Dear TypePad user, from a WordPress enthusiast

More content you may find helpful:
Scrapper’s Guide on WordPress

Rekindling Life – New Website Launched

Lutheran Braille Workers – New Website

More content you may find helpful:
Lutheran Braille Workers – New Website

Noemi Photograhy – Updated Blog Design

Scrapper’s Guide on WordPress

More content you may find helpful:
Static HTML vs. Dynamic WordPress Powered Websites

Painless Upgrade to WordPress 2.6.5

More content you may find helpful:
Dear TypePad user, from a WordPress enthusiast

Scrapper’s Guide on WordPress

Building Your Website With WordPress – Why and How it Works

More content you may find helpful:
more on Custom Error Pages

Back Up Your WordPress Website

Send a PDF using your WordPress website and email list

More content you may find helpful:
Create PDF free and very easy

Send Photos Email and spare your friends’ the extra weight

More Effective Email – Tip #1 RE: Attachments

More content you may find helpful:
Rekindling Life – New Website Launched

A Better Blog – Day 1 with 9100 Other Bloggers

Scrapper’s Guide on WordPress

More content you may find helpful:
WordPress Customization Guide

Rekindling Life – New Website Launched

Rob Wrote His Book

More content you may find helpful:
Back Up Your WordPress Website

Scrapper’s Guide on WordPress

Firefox: getting started with my preferred browser

More content you may find helpful:
Hidden Tool – Minimize The WordPress Admin Menu

Dear TypePad user, from a WordPress enthusiast

Send a PDF using your WordPress website and email list

More content you may find helpful:
Noemi Photograhy – Updated Blog Design

Static HTML vs. Dynamic WordPress Powered Websites

More content you may find helpful:
Disappearing Widgets – A Solution in WordPress 2.7

Back Up Your WordPress Website

Add some Wow to your WordPress Website with Four Amazing Firefox Extensions

More content you may find helpful:
Scrapper’s Guide on WordPress

Lutheran Braille Workers – New Website

Rekindling Life – New Website Launched

More content you may find helpful:
Back Up Your WordPress Website

Static HTML vs. Dynamic WordPress Powered Websites

Released to the Public: WordPress 2.6

More content you may find helpful:
Painless Upgrade to WordPress 2.6.5

All Things Good | Best of WordPress

WordPress Customization Guide

More content you may find helpful:
Static HTML vs. Dynamic WordPress Powered Websites

Send Photos Email and spare your friends’ the extra weight

More content you may find helpful:
WordPress Customization Guide

one week of PowerPoint training

A Better Blog – Day 1 with 9100 Other Bloggers