Free tools and services such as XAMPP and DynDNS are an absolute blessing for me particularly when I need to develop my web apps and test them under development mode. Last year, I successfully set my home web server running on XAMPPLite to be accessible via DynDNS so that I could demo a website I developed. Recently, I assisted a friend of mine in setting up another server, but it wasn’t quite as smooth sailing.

I remembered that I only succeeded in setting up my server previously after much scouring in the Web. God knows how many times I tried and re-tried the instructions at DynDNS, even resetting my modem router and network settings of my computer just to be sure.

After combining what I’ve read in the Interwebs and testing the setting out, did I finally manage to get everything up and working. Port forwarding is one of the important things to do, but the way I do it is so much unlike most instructions I read on the web sites.

Using my new HTC Desire HD smartphone (yeah, I FINALLY have an Android phone, yippee!), I made a few screenshots of my web server port forward settings.  If your Internet connection uses dynamic IP, and you use DHCP to assign IP addresses in your local area network, then I hope you find this useful.

Here’s how they look like on my D-Link modem router:-

DynDNS web server port forward + XAMPP VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

(okay, am I the only one who thinks this Windows Live Writer is fricking funny AND cool?! … oh, alright… here’s the screenshots one by one…)

On my DHCP server setting, I made sure that the computer running XAMPP is using a static local network IP. You can also manually set this up in the Network Settings of the computer you’re using as your web server.

I also configured my dynamic DNS to my account at DynDNS. This way, I won’t need to download the DynDNS update client whenever my Internet connection changes its IP address.

For Filters, I set all inbound Internet access to port 80 (the default web server port) to be forwarded to any port on my web server. I made sure to enable this setting, too. This is where the Virtual Server setting is suppose to help (notice the Virtual Server button on the navigation?), but for the life of me I couldn’t get the port forwarding to work using Virtual Server.

I set my web server local IP address in the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone). Okay, don’t ask my why I do this because I don’t know how quite to explain this to you other than the fact that… my gut feeling tells me to. DMZ is something that I learned while working with the system and network people back while I was in an IT company. In any case, you might just want to skip this one.

Last, but definitely not least, I changed my modem router’s WebPort from the default 80 to 8080. This MUST be done so that your modem router’s login page does not clash with your web server. From now onwards, whenever I want to access my modem router, I will have to type http://192.168.1.1:8080 before I am logged into the webadmin of my router.

Now that those settings are done, you just need to save the settings of your router and restart. You might want to restart your web server, too, just in case. Then, to confirm whether you can truly access your web server online, YOU MUST USE A DIFFERENT INTERNET CONNECTION THAN THE ONE USED BY YOUR WEB SERVER. Otherwise, you’ll get a false positive on the access (meaning, you tried and you find you can access it, when in fact other people outside of your network can’t).

No related posts.

The attack of the insomnia has hit again, so I’m taking this advantage to update the Top Commentators Widget (which is now in 1.5-beta and downloadable via WordPress Extend if you wanna try it out — this blog is currently running it) as well as a couple of my favourite niche sites.

One niche site I own, Cross Stitch For Free, displays the archives of its posts together with its respective thumbnails. These thumbnails are generated automatically by the Ordered Thumbnails plugin, which scans the post for any image and uses the first image it finds as the default thumbnail.

Since WP 2.9, thumbnails are built into the core, which means that I don’t have to rely on any plugin in order to generate it. All I had to do was add a few codes in my functions.php and archive.php, and that supposedly should do the trick.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t as simple as that. But it ain’t too complicated, either.

I followed the exact same steps as told in the WordPress Codex, which was to add the add_theme_support()theme function in the functions.php file, and the_post_thumbnail() in the archive.php file (making sure the function is within the Loop). But nothing showed.

After an hour or so researching the Web, I was finally able to guess why. I needed to edit each post, then go toAdd an Image > Gallery or Media Library if the image isn’t attached to that particular post, Show the image to expand its options, and, most importantly, click Use as featured image. And I needed to do this for every single post I want a thumbnail to appear in.

I suppose it’s fine if you don’t have that many posts in your blog as in my case, but if you already have hundreds, then best of luck to you. I believe there may be a few WP plugins out there that may help solve this problem, but I didn’t bother trying it out. My niche blog only has close to 70 pages, and I’m already finding it tedious to manually set them one by one. You can see the difference yourself; view the first few pages of the archives and then see how the last two pages of the post archive look like without the thumbnail featured image being set (scroll to the end of the page and find the last two page numbers you see).

In any case, it’s always good to utilise the core hooks of WordPress rather than relying on plugins, if you’re comfortable hardcoding your blog templates. They’re faster, more reliable, and safer.

Related posts:

1. WordPress Top Commentators Widget v.1.4
2. Urgent update: Top Commentators Widget v.1.4.1 beta

A quick heads-up on the latest TCW update, in line with the release of WordPress 3.1. This update also addressed the comment hijacking issue that, while wonderfully suggested and fixed by Stuff by Sarah quite a while ago (and implemented by yours truly on v.0.999a) , were not fully effective in blocking the comment spammers. Basically it’s a small rewrite of the database query, that’s all. This means that v.1.4.2 won’t affect your >=TCW 1.4 settings in any way.

Nevertheless, Top Commentators Widget v.2.0 update, to coincide with the next WordPress update (whether major or minor), will again affect your setup.

1. The form control, i.e. what you see in the Widgets section, will be re-arranged to simplify it.
2. Further modification on the look of your Number of Comments will be enabled.
3. Styling of the list for CSS purposes will be improved.
4. Addition of DIV on top of Numbered and Ordered.

I like WP 3.1. Do you?

Related posts:

1. Urgent update: Top Commentators Widget v.1.4.1 beta
2. WordPress Top Commentators Widget v.1.4

IMPORTANT: If you have customized the styles in any way on this widget, be aware that this update may break them!

Fingers crossed, this version of TCW (downloadable in WP.org’s plugin repository) should address all of the problems encountered in v.1.4 as mentioned in the comments of my previous post (especially those disappearing settings / changes in form not committing). I honestly THANK YOU for your comments – you have no idea how I appreciate all those bug reports you all have given.

The widget has gone through a heck of a major rewrite between v.1.4 and this one, so what does this really mean for your blog?

1. This version and any future updates of the Top Commentators Widget will no longer be compatible with WordPress installs prior to version 2.8. Sorry, folks, it’s just to inconvenient to make it backward compatible.
2. TCW is finally using the widgets API available since WP 2.8, which means that 1.4.1 beta now supports multiple instances of the Top Commentators in your blog!
3. Due to the support for multi-instances of this widget, the ID and CLASS styles may be called differently. You may not notice much difference especially if you’re only using a single instance of the Top Commentators widget in your blog, but you need to be aware of this in any case.

If you don’t feel at all comfortable with the changes in v.1.4 and this one, the older versions of this widget is still available at the WP.org repository; just find the link at the sidebar named “Older version” and grab the version that fits your blog.

Version 1.4 is so unstable, that I’ve decided to label this update as a beta. However, please feel brave enough to at least install this version in your sandbox and let me know how it goes in your blog. Please please please let me know, working or not, I would really like to know.

The TCW may be deactivated from your Widgets list due to the new API calls it makes. Therefore, once upgraded, please make sure you revisit your Widgets page and re-do your settings, then Save them.

I’d better give my back a rest. This slipped disc injury is scarily painful; I hope I’ll gain full mobility soon. My home and my kids are a wreck without me.

Related posts:

1. WordPress Top Commentators Widget v.1.4

If you have issues with the latest update (v.1.4), keep those feedback coming; please add them in the comments section below. I am currently working on the fix as of this moment.

The latest version is up at WP.org’s plugin repository. As mentioned in the README file:

1. Added the Award option which will display image or icon of a medal/badge once a commentator reaches a certain number of comments determined by blog owner.
2. Modified the form to allow default values to be entered automatically when initialized (i.e. widget’s Save button is pressed).
3. Added support for setting default Gravatars to 404, Mystery Man, Identicons, MonsterIDs or Wavatars.
4. Repaired the query statement for filtering e-mails.

Thanks to Konsti for the award/gaming suggestion. For now it only takes into account a single range. Hopefully in the future the widget can scan based on how active a commentator is, then award these users based on different levels of comments contributed.

Change number 2 is mainly for those who’ve complained that the top commentators wasn’t showing even after the widget is installed. Remember to go to the Widgets option, add the TCW in, and click the Save button to initialize its values. The widget won’t display anything if you do not press the Save button and get those default values entered into your WordPress options database.

A year ago, user iferg requested that the TCW supports other default Gravatars like Identicons, MonsterIDs and Wavatars. I finally had a chance to read up on this, and added that option into this widget.

Last, but not least, user ostin654 contributed a fix to the e-mail filtering bug, so I really appreciate that!

If you would like me to keep updating this WordPress plugin, I would like to ask just one thing from you – if you have a bug and/or a fix to report, or if you have modified the codes in any way that would benefit the TCW users, please share it with us. I’ll be sure to credit you and add those modifications in the next update. This would be the best way to continue making Top Commentators Widget useful and fun to use.

Please skip the rest of my post below; these are just notes to self so that I’ll remember how to update the TCW repo next time.

For new projects

1. Create a new folder in your computer.
2. Download and install TortoiseSVN.
3. Right-click on the new folder and select SVN Checkout.
4. Set the WP.org repository URL and WP.org login info.

To edit code

Change the stuff under the Trunk folder within the new folder you created.

To update code

Right-click on the new folder or the Trunk folder itself, and select SVN Commit to check the files in. Add in the message “Version #.#” in the message section.

To tag code

1. Create a new folder within the Tags folder, naming it with the same version number as your current HEAD/trunk.
2. Copy all files in Trunk and paste it in the Tags folder with the version number.
3. Right-click on the Tags folder and select SVN Commit.
4. Add in the message “Tagging version #.#” in the message section for housekeeping purposes.

No related posts.

Now that I own a smartphone with broadband capabilities, blogging from anywhere and at anytime should be a cinch.

Shouldn’t it?

And yet, this is the second time that I’ve missed my blogging deadline for the PostAWeek challenge.

So here I am, sitting and having my favorite lunch of toast and milk tea (with fried noodles and fish cakes to go), putting my best effort to contemplate where I have gone wrong.

Toast and Tea for lunch

I can give you a million and one reasons why I can’t keep up. Work, home, kids, the Top Commentators widget, distraction, lack of focus, etc. But they are all just excuses.

One thing I clearly am with this challenge is feeling frustrated. I checked my Google Analytics recently and found that my blog readership and bounce rate did not improve; in fact, it got worse.

What?! Even after the hoopla I made about PostADay / PostAWeek, and tweeting about it and joining the Facebook PostADay community? I would think things would be a little different.

Then I remembered my post on how my lack of blog updates led to better visitor retention. And, also the fact that blogging through this WordPress app for Windows Phone is ridiculously tougher than my geek self would like to admit, is making me think twice about my strategy.

So now what? Do I focus on organic traffic by just posting sporadically, or do I post often to feed my blogging interest in the expense of worsening search engine results?

I’ll think about this later.

BTW, here are some blog posts from WebGrrrl.net readers who are taking on the PostAWeek 2011 challenge:

• My history with Unix by LaViaP The Geek

Posted from WordPress for Windows Phone

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I’m guilty of doing vanity searches of myself on occasion, purely out of curiosity. So far none of the results returned anything dramatic.

A few other people I personally know aren’t so fortunate. One person who’s close to me had a court order information in the top 3 results for the person’s name in Google. For Sabahans, you should be wary of any news coming out of The New Sabah Times (one of the most read dailies this side of Borneo). This paper is notorious for putting people’s bankruptcy notices and home foreclosures online. Imagine your long lost friend or your former schoolmate trying to find you on the Internet and then ended up seeing those type of info about you. Embarrassing, to say the least.

So what do you do if you want to hide those incriminating evidence out of the search engines? You do SEO. The easiest way to go by this is to register yourself using your full name in as many social networking sites as possible, and the more popular those social networks are, the better. That should help bury those little secrets way into the nether regions of your search result (gosh this sounds so dirty).

But the best way, really, to keep searches about you clean, is to not do any real life mistake as you possibly can. I’m not telling you to be Jesus or anything. I’m just saying that whatever that you wish to type online, make sure that it wouldn’t haunt you back or make a fool out of yourself (unless that’s what you’re aiming for, looking like a fool).

Seriousness aside, check out my first ever smartphone, the HTC HD7. I accidentally got this, because my better half couldn’t use it to run Meta Trader (I told him to get an Android phone, like Samsung Galaxy… in case I “accidentally” inherit that if MT doesn’t work on that as well). Loving the HTC phone, hating the Windows 7 Phone OS. At least let me use a customized MP3 song of my choice for my ringtone, for crap’s sake!

I’m jailbreaking this thing.

Posted from WordPress for Windows Phone

No related posts.

I am way behind schedule on the TCW update, I know (and thanks for reminding me, Konsti!). Yes, I’m actually done with the changes – 3 of them, in fact – and I am ready to put it up into TCW WordPress.org’s Extend at latest by tomorrow.

I got to be honest here. My delays are almost always (99.99% of the time) caused by two things – one: finding the time to do some coding, and two (a more embarrassing fact): I have little to zero clue how to use Subversion.

I know, right?! How could I, after more than three years developing TCW, still not get a handle of using it? More shameful is the fact that I’m a programmer by trade. Boo me.

It was suppose to be easy, this check-out, edit, commit, check-in thing. There’s a myriad of how-to posts specifically on using TortoiseSVN for WordPress.org. And I’m a programmer, for heaven’s sake! I should know code versioning!

The truth is, I’m a solo programmer and I don’t have to share my code with anyone. So all I needed to do was to create a new folder and dump my latest codes in there. That’s my versioning. Even if I did need to use versioning, it ‘ssuppose to be as easy as using Google Code.

So why is it that every time I tried to commit using Subversion, it Just Didn’t Work ™? I didn’t see the change in trunk to the latest version number. My changelog sometimes reflected the change in WP server, then suddenly I didn’t see it anymore. Went through the steps again, from1 to 10 (or 11, or 20… I lost count of the many how-to I followed).

After nothing seemed to work, I went off the beaten path, and tinkered those options out of frustration. Then suddenly, Eureka! It’s there in WP.org, my latest version of TCW in all its glory! My heart sings Hallelujah as I typed down what I’ve done the best I could, hopeful that whatever I’ve typed would become my next blog post on my stagnant WebGrrrl blog.

But alas. This problem feels like a nasty cycle of procrastination and/or forgetfulness and/or carelessness. Take your pick.

You’ve read my previous post on how “active” I was these past couple of years. So tonight, I shall once again go through the process of committing my latest Top Commentators widget update, typing those steps again into a draft post, crossing my fingers and hope that this time, that post won’t disappear into thin air and I’ll not only have the latest TCW up for you, but also my next Post Of The Week ready for primetime viewing.

BTW, here are some blog posts from WebGrrrl.net readers who are taking on the PostAWeek 2011 challenge:

• Like giving up on sex! by LaViaP The Geek

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As I’m typing this post, I am sitting drinking milk tea and munching on crunchy toasted bread in my favourite cheap cafe. I have learned early on that it is a hopeless endeavour to try and blog at home. My kids would jump onto (and on) my lap, expecting me to open PlayHouseDisneyChannel-Asia.com (an address which even my 2-year old could memorize), play their favourite music video (right now they’re into Korean artists, either Wonder Girls’ “Tell Me” or 2PM’s “10 Points Out Of 10″), or something else, like going to the loo, getting them a glass of water, opening the packets of their favourite crackers, dinner, lunch, snacks… you know, the whole parental duties and other things that either make you sigh or pull your hair out.

Drinking tea and eating toast in this particular cafe actually helps me focus. Within two hours, I was able to finish three 1,000-word articles. And now I’m in the middle of finishing this blog post.

When I’m focused, it takes me another 15 to 30 minutes before my creative vibes kick in. The hustle and bustle of this cafe only adds to the excitement of completing my writing assignments (did you know that JK Rowling also prefers the cafe when writing her Harry Potter books? Coincidence? I think not! SHOW OFF!)

Now, programming is another thing, for some weird reason. My environment needs to be very quiet and office-like before I can totally commit to my coding. This is why my home office has to be very de-cluttered and bare-bones; I prefer just my netbook and wireless mouse in front of me — I don’t even need a PC. My WiFI printer/scanner/copier would be another thing sitting at the corner of the office. But even when no one is at home, my home office is one very distracting place. It’s too convenient for me to get a quick snack, or to run off to do my laundry (a one minute load-into-the-washer thing often turns into a 15-minute dry-hanging and folding of clothes to top it up), or do the dishes, or quickly make dinner 6 hours in advance. Or maybe just an hour of Oprah. Then an hour to catch up on House. Add another hour of Lie To Me.

You see that?

I really don’t know whether this is the state of mind I condition myself into, or that the environment is what shaped my mindset.

Distraction and focus is the main theme here, I guess. Whichever affects either or both of these will determine whether I can blog or write or finish whatever’s in my to-do list that day.

Do you have your favourite place to blog? Does blogging at home work for you?

BTW, here are some blog posts from WebGrrrl.net readers who are taking on the PostAWeek 2011 challenge:

• 1 ring to rule them all! by LaViaP The Geek

No related posts.

I know that the original challenge is intended for WordPress.com users, but, hey, it doesn’t hurt to join in the fun.

I’ve done a 30-day blog challenge before, so I know how difficult it can be for some of us to keep up. It’s not so much because we’re out of ideas, but rather the fact that we’re pretty much swarmed with so many other commitments in our life that they force you to put your blogging efforts in the back burner.

WebGrrrl.net is a perfect example of that. 2010 has been almost non-existent in terms of posts in this blog. As a comparison:

• 2006: 9 posts
• 2007: 88 posts
• 2008: 114 posts
• 2009: 37 posts
• 2010: 11 posts

Pathetic, isn’t it? As a result, my blog traffic suffered.

OK, so maybe I lied, a little — the traffic wasn’t that bad up until a month or two ago (proof of my SEO prowess *snorts*).

But that’s not the point.

The point is, I need to get my behind off the ground and actually blog again, if I were to live up to my lame tagline (no offence to Asimov).

Therefore, I’m taking the WordPress PostADay challenge, albeit in a slightly modified form. You do notice in that challenge that there’s a weekly version of it called PostAWeek? That’s the one I’m taking. Instead of one post a day, I’ll do a weekly post, type each one in 250 words or more, then tag each post as “postaweek2011″.

You should join me. It’s good for your blog’s SEO, and for sharpening your writing/typing skills.

Or how about this — let me give you an incentive. If you decide to join the WordPress weekly challenge with me, do what I do (post weekly, tag it, write in 250 words or more). Then, comment in my latest weekly post, add your latest weekly post URL in the comment form, and I’ll link back to your article in my next post. Instant PR3 backlink for you!

Deal? Then start typing!

Oh, and have a great 2011!

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