Don’t Mind the Dust
After WAY too long I have finally updated my WP version to the current one for the site. I'm also in a mode of revamping and kicking-off a new run with this site. Hang-on while I get the creative juices flowing.
Archive for the Web and Tech Helps Category
Rule of Thumb: Three or More for Categories
Realizing I probably had too many categories for my posts, well over a hundred, I decided it was time to trim the number down a bit. But what would be the criteria? Certainly dropping-off the single post references made sense. How does one then quantify what constitutes enough for a category? I've landed on the number three. Categories or tags are connect-the-dot labels that group content from multiple posts together. It stands to reason that if there are three or more related posts, a category
Checklist for Setting Up a WordPress Website
ul.checklist { list-style-image: url(/wp-content/uploads/Image/checkmark.png); } Setting up WordPress websites has become a regular part of my work. Much more than just for blogs, the platform is ideal for rapidly launching sites. In fact, nine out of ten WP sites I launch are non-blogging sites. I thought for my sake and for others who are looking for a checklist for what needs to be done to setup a WordPress website, I'd punch out a basic checklist for the process. This may get quite l
Google Analytics Report Generating
I've been called "Master of the Obvious" more than once in my life. In my drive to economize time at work I did a little research on the best way to automate reporting from Google Analytics. I found a way to loose myself of the woeful process of exporting data from Google Analytics and compiling reports into an Excel spreadsheet. While this provides a very customized view of information in one document for the executives, it's a real time waster. Yesterday I clicked on the "email
Six Steps to Super-Charge Photoshop Selection with Quick Mask
While Photoshop is absolutely packed with bells and whistles, there are a few key tools to unlocking its full potential. The Quick Mask feature in Photoshop is one of them. Quick Mask is essentially a selection tool on steroids. It allows one to select down to the pixel a given area of a photo. While there are many uses for selection to alter color, sharpness and other effects, a very common use is to knock-out a background around an object. Step 1. Select the background WIth the shift
Evolution of a Website
In an ideal world there would never be any do-overs. One thing I've learned from being a web developer in a corporation is that this is no ideal world. When the scope of a project or marketing campaign changes so must the web. TechTourSite.com was originally a very small microsite of just a few pages with limited capabilities. I inherited the site from my predecessor a couple of years ago and it has been fascinating to see the scope of this initiative grow each year. Last year the s
Putting a Project to Bed
Going live with a website is always a fun process. This past weekend we launched a site I've been working on for a good bit. As I've referenced in a recent post, it was built upon WordPress. The site is onedayacademy.com, a school for homeschoolers in Austin, Texas. Some of the nice features of the site include: A dynamic course schedule that pulls data from a .csv file. This allows the content managers to edit in Excel and then upload replacing the current version. This custom applic
How Well Does WordPress Measure Up?
After nearing completion on a mid-size WordPress site, it seems an appropriate time to ask some questions about the scalability of WordPress. How far can you push the puppy before it yelps. This post is a follow-up to the previous posts: WordPress, Much More than Blogging Software Powerful WordPress Include Hacks The site, which will be launched in the next couple of weeks, has several hundred pages going several levels deep. It is definitely a good example of how far one can exte
Funny Ad: Don’t GIVE UP ON VISTA
I thought this was one of the most humorous and compelling ads I've seen in quite a while. I ran across it on CNN.com. Mr. Mac asks Mr. Windows what's up with the sign to which Mr. Windows answers he is trying to fix the bad press Vista has been receiving. He then begins to punch the red button that lights up "GIVE UP" and then "ON VISTA". He keeps pounding the button with a malfunctioning "GIVE UP ON VISTA." While I've not made the switch to Vista or Mac but just stuck with XP even when adding
Powerful WordPress Include Hacks
Customizing WordPress to function as a full-blown Content Managed System is really not that difficult. If one takes a little time and does some research you can extend it in some pretty nifty directions. One simple and powerful function is to use an if statement to test a condition for a specific page and then include a file if it is true. This enables you to post a graphic or have a block of text show-up in locations on the page that are not defined explicitly within a sidebar for instance.