Just went through the mill as I attempted to upgrade one of the sites I manage to WordPress 3.0. Basically, it started as I was upgrading some plugins. They would just stop in mid-upgrade and never finished. Then, I lost a NextGen Gallery completely, and I was pissed! AND THEN, the same sort of stall in mid-upgrade happened while I was trying to upgrade to 3.0.  This was followed by a “fatal error” that kicked me out of the website for longer than I actually want to  admit.  I guess the best word to describe my emotions at that moment is “conniption”.  I just couldn’t believe what was happening just as the result of doing an upgrade to WordPress. 

After calling in to technical support at GoDaddy it was suggested to me that I “Google the fatal error” and see what information I might find.  In other words, they were of NO HELP.   And after searching in the WordPress forum I finally found some info that actually did help.  I ended up having to install the update WordPress manually (Beware you don’t overwrite your WP-content files!)  with my FTP program FileZilla and then I had to delete the NextGen Gallery files from the server and reinstall it. 

Ugghhh… it was ugly.  But I did manage to fix it.  And after reading through some of the forum I found that it’s suggested that you install a “Memory Bump” plugin before you automatically upgrade to WordPress 3.0.   Apparently, your 2.9+ version of WordPress may need a little extra juice to properly manage the automatic install than is currently available.  Nice to find out after the fact, I have to say.  Not! 

Anyhoo… hope any of you who are dutifully upgrading to the new 3.0 are able to get this info before hand, because it sure wasn’t fun watching the automatic installs just crap out in the middle of the upgrade and ultimately result in a fatal error.  Check the link in the paragraph above for the Memory Bump plugin you need. 

Here’s to happier waves, web surfers!

The truth is that writing does not come easily to many people.  It is actually a stressful endeavor for many.  Writing in a blog is something that is practically foreign to those who do not like to write, let alone writing the other pages of pertinent content in a website.  So, after giving it some thought— with consideration of how I can type almost as fast as I think— I concluded that it is definitely best that I offer this writing service to clients for several reasons. 

The first reason that comes to my mind is to alleviate my own concerns for getting these sites completed and up to full running speed.  Your site’s gotta have some “meat” (as a friend recently commented to me).  And it has become pretty clear to me that a lot of people struggle over what to write, how to write it, and perhaps even whether to write at all for their sites.  And instead of viewing this as such a problem, it became a clear opportunity for me. 

I have no trouble tapping away at the keyboard, and I literally can type just about as fast as I talk.  So, I just have a little chat with myself as I write just about anything.  It’s no problem for me, and I believe I can knock out some of this work for people that will not only alleviate stress from their lives but will also help crank their websites up a few knotches to where there is actually some great content on their sites for viewers to feel grateful they’ve found. 

I mean, that’s what folks are going to the site for in the first place, right?  People who go to websites want to be able to “read more”.  They want to be able to investigate deeper.  They want to have complimentary links at their fingertips that add to the quality of their inquiry.  And when they get to a good website they want to spend some time there. 

For a business, isn’t that what you want for your website?  You want folks to come in and stay a while.  You want them to check out what you’re offering.  You want them to recognize how they have arrived at the right place and that now they have reached a place where they can really get something done.  These people are looking for information for a reason, aren’t they?  They are looking to get something done.  And ideally, it’s your service they are going to employ. 

Anyhoo… content, content, content.  That’s what I’m seeing as a significant hurdle for folks who are new to having websites.  They’re just not accustomed to all this darned writing!  So, lo and behold, here I am: a scribe for hire. 

I can get the content up to snuff in the beginning to make the site a legitimate destination for those who are seeking info.  And as the stories develop I can keep the clients’ blogs active and the content updated.  All just ‘cuz I am a writer. 

I really think that’s what this particular development is all about.  And as always, more later…

Also wanted to mention how grateful I am to those who have given me the chance to either build or re-work a site for them.  It’s giving me great insights into how to work with a variety of clients especially with regard to how we can achieve the best functionality and look for several different categories of businesses and interests.  Thanks again! 

More coming later…

Interesting time today working with installing shopping carts.  I had a tough time with the WordPress ecommerce plugin since it didn’t seem to want to allow me to edit products without blanking out the screen.  It was kinda frustrating, to tell the truth.  I think the resolution is probably not that dramatic, but after searching for an hour or so on how to fix it I threw in the towel and went for another option instead. 

I chose the WordPress Paypal Shopping cart instead, and so far it seems to work just how I was hoping.  The significant customizations options of the ecommerce site were really appealing with regard to shipping and calculating tax, etc., but it just kept giving me errors.  And obviously that won’t work.  Oh, well.

Tomorrow I’ll be learning about adding the shopping cart functions to the NextGen Gallery.  It’s a cool feature that enables you to build a grid pattern of your products, along with a slide show of larger images, and connect each product to an “add to cart” button.  Pretty cool.  I’ll be loading it into an “In Stock” page tomorrow, so we’ll see how it goes. 

Hope you’re finding your resolutions and getting your sites to obey, sit and roll over.    Ha ha! 

We all know it’s a partnership, right?  A partnership with code, that is…

-BB

I have had trouble with these showing up in the past and have seen a lot of complicated solutions floated around for how to fix the problem.  I added two of them to two sites tonight and after I changed the names of the files in the root directory they showed up right away. 

Just passing on the findings.  Hope it helps someone out there. 

Peace,

-BB

Hello everyone,

I built a site for a real estate listing in San Francisco over this past weekend.  You can view it here:

http://3129missionstunit3.com 

I feel happy about how the site came out.  I feel it genuinely represents the vibrance of the city and utilizes photos that are legitimate views from the property to highlight the homepage header and background.  Clients are happy and I am happy— so it’s a win-win!!! 

I’ll be managing this one for at least the coming 30 days.  So check back for updates. 

Best wishes,

-BB

Today, I set up the Sites, Content Management, and Consultation image buttons at the bottom of the pages.  I like how it adds to the maneuverability around the site, and how it provides a certain continuity to the pages that describe the services.  Still have a lot more content to add, but it’s coming along well, I think. 

After I finish adding the majority of content I want to be included, the next step will be to spruce-up some of the text with better graphics.  This will make for a much more visually-pleasing appearance and will also enable viewers to scan over the pages and grasp general concepts quickly, I hope. 

I also was interested to see how the view of the website looks on a wide screen today.  It definitely shows more of the gray-scale photograph than the narrower aspect screen does.  But considering how wide screens are still fairly new I think it’s best to maintain the view for the narrower screen for now.  Always interesting to see how it looks on different screens though.  I’d like to see it on several different phone screens now too.  These all impact the perception of the site, so I think it’s important to check the site on whatever different screens you can.  You never know what you might see that could either encourage a revision or reinforce the choice of some aspects of the site. 

It’s an interesting process.  Little things come up that require problem-solving ingenuity.  But, that’s where the wisdom of experience comes from.  That’s what developing skills is all about.

I continue to build this site with the expressed hope that it can grow into a great resource for all of us who are diving into this web development arena.  I’m pretty much just giving it away at this point.  So what can I say?  I’m doing it for the love of intrigue and exploration right now. 

I’ve enjoyed working with the header image and background image recently.  I took the header image and edited it in Microsoft Picture editor to bring it into a gray scale.  I then entered into the background and found that I liked the echo effect. 

It’s a sincere challenge to my creative side to work on these sites, but I have to say that is one of the very best parts.  I know that as I grow in knowledge and experience building for the huge variety of uses for these sites my appreciation for the medium will only grow.  Regularly, I see all sorts of ideas for sites as I just walk through town on any given day.   Just today I was at a restaurant that has good food, but that seemed like it needed some consultation (on a number of levels, frankly).  With each business and with each person I see something that, more and more, is translating to some sort of web application. 

I know that many folks cannot see themselves in a website right now.  I know that many find it hard to operate their existing sites and find it aggravating to have to “deal” with it.  And I KNOW that having someone who can really rock it out for them is a great service that will enable those clients to concentrate on whatever it is that represents THEIR business or passion or whatever. 

Not everyone wants to spend a lot of time exploring what amazing things the web can offer.  Not everyone wants to spend time rocking out their site.  But I DO.  I do like to see how this medium can be developed.  It truly amazes me.  So, I guess it’s as sincere a prayer as can be that I hope I can work out this service for all sorts of clients who appreciate my explorations and my attentiveness.  I’ve learned a whole bunch since I first started playing around with WordPress in 2008.  And there’s so much more to explore.  Amazing.

On Friday, December 17, 2009 I received a call from a good friend of mine explaining that our mutual friend Pedro had been in a car accident and had sustained a serious head injury.  I visited Pedro in the Neuro Critical Care Unit at Doctors Medical Center in Modesto the next day, and while I was a little in shock to see my friend lying there in a medically-induced coma I was very happy that he was alive.  He was “stable”, the doctors said.  And he was “fighting”, which they said was a very good sign. 

We all remained hopeful as we tried to comfort his partner Vincent, who was very concerned to say the least.  After leaving the next day and searching my mind for what I could do that can maybe help these good friends during this time it crossed my mind that I should build a website for Pedro as a way for friends and family to keep updated on his progress and so they have pertinent addresses and phone numbers, etc. 

So, I built this site:  www.pedrotoday.com 

I built this site for a friend and his family of people who care for him, and it crosses my mind how my friend is one of many millions of patients around the world whose families could use a website to enable those in the family circle to keep up on the progress of their loved one. 

Just another great way to use this medium of a blog website.  So I thought I would write a post about it here. 

Best wishes to all the patients and their families out there right now.  It’s as trying an experience as exists to have one’s health compromised in any way, and so often it brings friends and families together in support like nothing else possibly could. 

I just hope the site I created, and those I will create in the future, will always demonstrate hope for the patient’s speedy recovery.  It’s obviously what we all wish. 

-BB

I began my exploration of blogs in 2008 first by reading The Huffington Post.  I was quite interested in the concept, how they relied upon the writings of so many who were not necessarily journalists but who wrote particularly well on a variety of subjects.  I was also amazed by how regularly the stories were updated and how the words in the articles consistently hyper-linked to the writer’s resources for information.  To me, it just seemed to bolster the credibility of the stories I read significantly.  I really liked it, and I really liked the bold departure it represented from the typical main stream media (or MSM, as they say in blogs.) 

As my appetite for blogs grew I found myself enjoying the exploration, just following links from one article to the next.  And in most blogs there are lists of links to other blogs recommended by the blog you’re viewing.  It leads to a long and deep path if you’re up for it. 

All in all, I recommend the search.  It’s an amazing journey, and you never know in what direction your own interests will lead.  Huffington Post is a good one to start with.  Just scroll down to the bottom of its home page to see the recommended links of quite a number of other blog sites. 

More recommendations later.  Thanks for reading this post! 

-BB