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WordPress 2.5 is officially here!

March 29, 2008 By Daisy Leave a Comment

WordPressI admit it. I’ve been running a few sites off various iterations of the WordPress svn since before RC1. It’s been interesting to watch some things come and go and come again.

In the next couple of days I will be installing the official release onto as many sites as I can, assuming it won’t break any of the plugins being used.

I was having trouble with the new flash uploader and had pretty much resigned myself to using a plugin for images but Lisa Sabin-Wilson posted a solution to the problem. My guess had been that it was related my using a portable version of Firefox. I wasn’t even close. Instead it has to do with Mod-Security settings on my web server. Thanks for posting that tidbit Lisa! It saved me a bunch of time and frustration.

Once the installation process is over it will be time to train everyone to find their stuff. The new interface is great, in my opinion, but everyone is already familiar with the old way so I expect a little grumbling.

Filed Under: WordPress News Tagged With: release, upgrade, uploading

(Anti)Social Networking

March 27, 2008 By Daisy 5 Comments

I’ve never been a really huge follower of the “Social Networking” craze. Truth be told, I’m not really a social person. I like to keep my head down. My husband half-jokes that if I didn’t have him and the kids I’d be a recluse that never saw a real person and I’d spend all my waking hours in front of a computer.

As I try to build a career out of my work on the web I need to get to know people. I’m really trying, now, to get involved in some of the networking opportunities available through “Web 2.0″ sites. I’ve set up accounts on several sites but I’m still working out how to implement them into my daily life in a way that is useful. I’m just not a chatty person. I will NEVER tweet every move I make on twitter. But if I can use Twitter as a way to keep people informed about useful information then that can work.

Here are some places you *might* find me as I get this all sorted out.

I am sure I’ve signed up for others but they are slipping my mind at the moment. I don’t guarantee I’ll keep up with most of these and some may prove pointless for my purposes. Time will tell!

Filed Under: Miscellaneous, web 2.0 Tagged With: marketing, networking, social networking, web 2.0

Firefox – Loaded

March 26, 2008 By Daisy Leave a Comment

I’ve been using the Firefox web browser almost exclusively for a few years. Initially I found that I needed to have IE ready to launch in order to see the seemingly large number of sites that had created websites that wouldn’t display unless you had one of the browsers for which the site had been optimized. This is not the case today. Most of the websites that I visit have “seen the light.” Ok, so they might not be producing XHTML compliant code or css based design but things are certainly better than they once were.

Firefox has amazing potential to be whatever someone wants it to be through the use of plugins. I am a sucker for extensibility. I love taking a solid core and making it behave just the way that I want. I am still amazed, at times, that so many individuals will not only create applications to do a staggering array of things, but also offer them up to the whole world to use and, in the case of open source, modify.

I recently went on a plugin rampage in Firefox. I figured I’d share some of what I am now using. There are some social networking plugins. I can access most of what I need at any moment with just a few clicks or hot keys. What I can’t get right into Firefox I have found iGoogle widgets to suit my needs. Some of the plugins I’m using at the moment will be removed and others will be added, but here’s my current list of 31 plugins: generated by the Extension List Dumper plugin, actually… [Read more...]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: addons, browser, extensibility, Firefox, mozilla

The Usability of "Web 2.0"

March 20, 2008 By Daisy Leave a Comment

I would say that I take most shifts in the way web technology operates in stride. The current wave of AJAX and other similar recent additions to the web developers arsenal which are increasingly used in the development of web based applications has caused me to shift slightly toward looking for web based tools rather than desktop applications to meet my needs. Things just seem to be less clunky than they once were. I have also noticed, however, that not everyone can take the change as easily as I have. My In-laws, for example, rely on me to provide most of their technical support. This includes teaching them (repeatedly) to use the various techno-gadgets that they seem to get from my family for all types of occasions(most recently we swapped the regular digital cable box for a HD DVR.) Despite the need for constant tutoring I would consider them both to be well above average in navigating their computers, considering they are in their 70s.

The other day I was watching my mother-in-law as she attempted to reserve a hotel room online. Normally she does this over the phone but she has gradually shifted to researching online. I applaud her for this! I observed that she tries to operate websites just like she would a desktop application. Every click must be a double-click! This, naturally causes a multitude of problems. The thing that surprised me in this particular instance was how much, supposedly, improved site features threw her off. As with most large websites, the developers want to “improve the user experience.” In the case of the website she was using this included having property information pop up when hovering over a hotel’s name in a list of search results. She was expecting to click(double of course) on a link that would bring her to a new page. Instead, she became disoriented when something that she did not specifically request was suddenly forced into her view. At a couple of points I took over the mouse and did some navigation to get her to where she needed to be and then she was able to complete the transaction. The things that were designed to make using that website easier had the opposite affect on my mother-in-law.

My question is this. Should we be taking the older generations into account when developing website navigation? Or should we expect them to keep up with things that change at an alarming rate, in a world in which they can just barely understand? A website that seems perfectly user friendly to me (and even to my very young children) can send those expecting things to be the way things were before straight over the edge.

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Tagged With: web 2.0

A quick introduction

March 18, 2008 By Daisy Leave a Comment

I really wanted to start this site off with a really great design that I created myself. The problem is, that while I know the mechanics of theme development, the design part gets me every time. When Performancing.com posted their latest theme, which I found to be pleasing, I decided that I’d rather spend my time writing rather than fussing over a design that I would never be able to get “quite right.” I’m not a designer, I don’t really want to be a designer. This site will, eventually, get a facelift. Until then, I much prefer the backend work of incorporating functionality to WordPress driven websites. I can’t say that I’ve coded plugins but I have “tweaked” quite a few. Mostly, though, I am a hunter. I enjoy the challenge of going and finding an existing solution to a specific need or problem. If I have to tweak a solution a bit to fit my needs then I do that.

This brings me to the point of this site. I intend for DaisyOlsen.com to be a place where I post things that I find interesting and relevant to my intended goal of turning WordPress consulting into a profession. This might include WordPress news, short tutorials based on my current work, and general musings about the WordPress community. Non WordPress related items may show up from time to time. I often do other project based work involving a variety of desktop applications, mostly of the Microsoft Office variety. I know that I would not be able to do the work that I do if it were not for the generous writings of other bloggers. I hope that I will be able to do my share to document tips and tricks as I happen across them in my daily work.

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Tagged With: 1, blogging, Design, introduction, Microsoft Office, Plugin, Template, Theme