Websites and Blogs upgraded to WordPress 2.0.6

Friday, January 12, 2007 @ 10:58 pm by Sofie Hofmann

It was just before Christmas when I upgraded Simply Sofie Blog and Pandan.gov.ph News section from WordPress 2.0.4 to WordPress 2.0.5. Then, I upgraded the other sites just after New Year, on January 05, 2005. I know it was kind of late already since WordPress 2.0.5 was released on October 27, 2006.

The last website that I upgraded on January 05, 2006 was Pagtatap.org. I finally finished converting the whole site from simple PHP pages to WordPress CMS. I used to have simple PHP pages with Pagtatap.org integrated with the Updates section using WordPress. The theme design was patterned after the original web design of Pagtatap.org. I just redesigned it a little bit.

Just when I finished uploading Pagtatap.org files using FTP and then logged on to WordPress to check if everything was ok, I saw that just 2 hours before that, WordPress.org released the new WordPress 2.0.6 version.

I immediately downloaded the new version and upgraded Pagtatap.org. As I was still checking and finalizing Pagtatap.org, I was only able to upload and upgrade the other websites after 3 days. Sehdi.com, Weggis.net, SofieHofmann.com Blog, Pandan.ph, and Pandan.gov.ph News were all upgraded to WordPress 2.0.6 on the same day. Upgrading takes about 3 to 5 minutes only, it’s really that easy. I won’t write here anymore, on how to install and upgrade WordPress as I have written about it several times. You can read my other posts if you like to know more about it.

Just when I upgraded everything to WordPress 2.0.6, I read too that WordPress will have a major release soon. You can read Matt Mullenweg‘s blog entry, Ideas and Kvetch, at WordPress.org.

It’s just so crazy, upgrading all the time for the month of January. Well, that’s one good thing about WordPress, even if WordPress releases a new version within a month, it’s not really a hassle because it’s not so complicated to upgrade from one version to a newer one.

Other Updates:
I just finished updating Green Cross Switzerland and Swiss Big Game Fishing sites.

Site Update,Web Design,WordPress

WordPress Upgrades, WordPress Plugins, Site Updates

Thursday, December 21, 2006 @ 11:59 pm by Sofie Hofmann

I upgraded Simply Sofie Blog and the News section of the Official Website of the Muncipality of Pandan, Antique, Philippines from WordPress 2.0.4 to WordPress 2.0.5. It was an easy upgrade though. I just made a backup of the MySQL database, deactivated the WordPress Plugins, and then deleted the folders and its files except the wp-content folder, and the .htaccess. Afterwards, I uploaded the unzipped WordPress 2.0.5, default is wordpress of course, but in my case, I normally rename it.

With regards to the wp-config file, I deleted that file too, and just uploaded the new one with the same database name, username and password. If you are going to delete that file, make sure you remember the database name, username and password. But I suggest, not to delete it, just like the .htaccess, so you don’t have to upload that file again. There is always a tendency that you might overwrite the file, so always remember to make a backup of your wp-config file before you upload the other files. Make a habit too of making a copy of your wp-content files.

I know WordPress 2.0.5 was released 55 days ago and upgrading from WordPress 2.0.4 to WordPress 2.0.5 would only take a few minutes, but I was not able to do it. Why did I upgrade them now? Well, I installed the Counterize II Plugin version 2.04, that’s why. It seems like it has a problem with WordPress 2.0.4 but I didn’t bother anymore to analyze it. I know that it works with WordPress 2.0.5, so I just upgraded Simply Sofie Blog and Pandan.gov.ph News. The timing was just right.

Few weeks ago, I also installed Peter’s Custom Anti-Spam Plugin version 2.6. I’m already using Akismet, but it seems like it’s not enough. I have been getting a lot of spams, hundreds of them, but eversince I installed Peter’s Custom Anti-Spam, I don’t get those spams anymore, unless the spammers really visit my site and fill out the form from the site.

I’m not just installing these plugins in one site but in almost all my sites. Take note, these plugins should be regularly checked as well if they have new versions or not. Another plugin, the WP-PostViews Plugin has a new version, so I uploaded WP-PostViews 1.02 to replace WP-PostViews 1.00.

This is actually what I don’t like about all these software programs and plugins, we always have to upgrade. Well, that’s part of the web designer’s life. Anyway, when there’s something new, we learn too.

Lastly, I updated the site of Swiss Big Game Fishing. I added at least seven pictures at the “Fangerfolge” pages. I also updated the media pages of Green Cross Switzerland. The press releases are both in German and French Languages.

MySQL,Site Update,WordPress

Sehdi.com converted to WordPress as CMS

Saturday, December 9, 2006 @ 11:55 pm by Sofie Hofmann

I finally converted www.sehdi.com from simple PHP to WordPress as CMS (Content Management System), specifically using the new released version WordPress 2.0.5. It could have been an easy conversion but I was making sure that everything should be in order including my codes before I publish the new converted site.

It took me five days to finish the whole thing. For one thing, even if no one sees the codes, MySQL database, and folders, except me of course, I make sure that they’re not messy. Another important factor is the CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), naturally, I revised the CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) too.

I did not install another WordPress for the whole site but integrated it with the existing blog. I just wrote a few codes and everything went fine. It almost looks the same as the original web design.

Another update, I already upgraded www.weggis.net from WordPress 2.0.4 to WordPress 2.0.5.

That’s it! I’m into converting sites from simple PHP to WordPress as CMS at the moment.

For those who are linking my blog from your website or blog using the RSS feed, please update your link from https://www.sehdi.com/blog/feed to https://www.sehdi.com/feed. Although https://www.sehdi.com is not really my blog rather https://www.sehdi.com/blog, but since sehdi.com is now using WordPress as CMS and blog was added as a page, blog updates will only appear if you update your RSS feed. It’s because of the conversion.

Thanks!

Update: No need to do anything about the RSS feed, I managed to make both https://www.sehdi.com/feed and https://www.sehdi.com/blog/feed work.

CSS,PHP,Site Update,Web Design,WordPress

Pandan.ph upgraded to WordPress 2.0.5

Thursday, November 30, 2006 @ 11:50 pm by Sofie Hofmann

I upgraded Pandan.ph Pandan Antique Philippines from WordPress 2.0.4 to WordPress 2.0.5 just after WordPress.org released its new version. I was just not able to update my blog right away. I was so busy because my mother and niece visited us here in Switzerland. Naturally, we were busy going around Switzerland.

Although I was busy then, I was still able to update some sites that I’m maintaining. I updated Green Cross Switzerland several times regarding its media, publications, parliament, history, and members pages. I updated Swiss Big Game Fishing regarding its new products.

I updated few other pages of my own sites but since I’ve been doing that often anyway, I will not just write about it. It’s more about updating codes.

I’ll be very busy again updating codes and upgrading other sites from WordPress 2.0.4 to WordPress 2.0.5 and I’m planning to convert my other sites from simple PHP to WordPress using it as CMS.

Site Update,WordPress

WordPress as CMS for Pandan.ph

Saturday, October 21, 2006 @ 9:11 pm by Sofie Hofmann

I decided to use WordPress as CMS (Content Management System) for my sites. I already started using it as a CMS at Weggis.net. Weggis theme is based on the original design of Weggis.net when it was not using WordPress, PHP and XHTML yet. I also made several code updates at the other pages using PHP.

I also revised Weggis.net search capability. Weggis.net search is not only searching posts or entries in categories (normally the updates) but other pages as well.

Since several search engines have already indexed Weggis.net, especially google, I also placed google search at Weggis.net as another option to search the site. I also implemented this in my other sites.

Then, I revised Pandan.ph once again. This time though, WordPress is not only being used for the News and Gallery Pages. I used WordPress, specifically WordPress 2.0.4 version, as CMS for the whole site.

I just revised the codes so the web design is still the same. This WordPress theme is based on the original design of Pandan.ph when it was also not using WordPress, PHP and XHTML yet.

I also installed a new guestbook using WordPress Paged Comments Plugin. I removed the comments capability for the gallery, news and other pages. Instead of commenting at the news page and its subpages, people can only now leave their messages at the guestbook.

I removed the CGI script used for my contact page and used WordPress comment capability instead with Akismet Plugin so that comment spams could be caught and de-spammed. Comments that were de-spammed will be submitted to Akismet as mistakes so it can learn and get better.

To use Akismet, I needed Akismet WordPress.com API Key, so I opened an account with WordPress.com but then opted not to get a username only but registered a blog too, sofiehofmann.wordpress.com. I could not use my own theme though. I have an idea what to write there but still thinking of other possibilities.

Anyway, if you look at Pandan.ph, as if, there are no changes at Pandan.ph, but on my part, with regards to coding, it was such a lot of work. I could have written something about it everyday but opted not to do it. I was just too busy.

Other updates: Publications and Media pages of Green Cross Switzerland have been updated.

Google,PHP,Site Update,Web Design,WordPress,XHTML

Pandan.gov.ph News improved

Thursday, September 21, 2006 @ 10:50 pm by Sofie Hofmann

It’s been more than a month since I converted Pandan.gov.ph from HTML to XHTML and PHP. I wrote about it on August 15, 2006, Simply Sofie Blog WP Upgrade, Pandan.gov.ph HTML to PHP. For the past few days, I’ve been also working on the News section of the site.

The News page of Pandan.gov.ph, the Official Website of the Municipality of Pandan, Antique, Philippines, is using WordPress 2.0.4. Now, that the site uses XHTML tags and PHP, and since WordPress uses PHP too, I used WordPress as a CMS (Content Management System) for the News section for easy updating purposes. I designed a theme patterned after the original design of the site, spending a lot of time creating CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). The News page is the only section which is using WordPress at the moment. I’m still thinking if I should use WordPress for the other pages. Well, for a start, I removed the Events menu and transferred it under News section.

The News section has several news updates too. Read the latest news update, 2006 International Green Apple Awards Winner. Bugang River Tour has been chosen as a winner in the International Green Apple Environment Awards for Environmental Best Practice.

For other pages, I need to make a template for each section so the subsections will reflect and not just the normal sidebar. It’s a lot of work, and so, for the meantime, I’m shelving that idea. If ever I decide to really do it, then I just have to do it slowly.

I also updated the Services section, added Engineering Services on how to apply for a building permit with links to building permit forms and documents for downloading. The forms and documents are also linked at the Downloads section. At the Downloads section, aside from the forms and documents, several resolutions were uploaded and they can be downloaded as well.

I made several changes at the site, and hope to be able to do more improvements later.

CSS,HTML,PHP,Site Update,Web Design,WordPress,XHTML

Green Cross Donation Pages uploaded

Wednesday, September 13, 2006 @ 9:16 pm by Sofie Hofmann

Finally, the donation pages of Green Cross Switzerland site are finished. The pages were uploaded and they’re now online at Green Cross contact page, also available in German, French and Italian languages. It was not an easy job since it required a lot of thinking, actually a little bit of programming because I used PHP for those particular pages.

I’m not a programmer but I was able to do such anyway. I’m so happy. I again accomplished something.

The last time I wrote about it was on June 08, 2006, Green Cross Donation Page. Then, I waited for the feedback of the Executive Director of Green Cross Switzerland. She was probably so busy that she was only able to write me last week and asked for some more that need to be included. So, once again, I revised the pages.

I was not able to do the revision right away because I needed a script and I have to think what to do with the pages. On Monday she wrote me again, but this time, for some updates at the “publications” pages. I updated the pages for some banners that can be downloaded from the site. The banners can be used at the other sites for advertising purposes. Then, of course, I expected it already, she asked me about the donation pages.

I was working on it but can’t seem to think of the script. Then on Tuesday, I finally found the solution to my problem. I tried it and it worked. I informed her and showed the pages to her. Just few more changes and I finally finished the pages. I was communicating with her through email yesterday and today for the whole afternoon because I really wanted those pages done.

Now, I can at least rest and relax, just for the meantime. I haven’t finished revising the other websites yet. I need more revisions to be done in the next few days, or in the next few weeks, or it could even take months.

For a Cause,PHP,Site Update

Site Updates and the newly revised Pandan.ph

Monday, August 28, 2006 @ 2:23 pm by Sofie Hofmann

I revised the site Pandan.ph Pandan Antique Philippines. It took me weeks to finish it as I could not make up my mind what to do with the Gallery and News sections. The design is still the same. I just changed the HTML tags to XHTML using simple PHP at the same time. I removed some pages and used .htaccess to redirect them.

I finally ended up installing WordPress for News Updates and Photo Gallery making Pandan.ph finally more interactive. I checked the CSS and XHTML and they passed the validation. I checked them with Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera and Netscape, and everything seems fine.

Ok now, I would like to mention that Pandan.ph Portal was hacked, not the Pandan.ph itself. I was not checking it for several days and when I was checking google for any pandan related sites, I saw that the hacked pages were indexed. I didn’t panic, I just accessed phpMyAdmin, and uploaded my MySQL database. No sweat, in just about 2-3 minutes everything was restored. I just forgot to back up the counter, so the number of visits was the old one.

I use phpnuke for Pandan.Ph Portal, quite an old version, so to say, and because of some bugs, the hackers got into it. That’s why it’s important to upgrade all the time. This is also the reason why, I’m not very fond of using CMS such as this one because I always have to upgrade. Very important?! Don’t ever forget to back up your files and database. If you are not upgrading, it could happen that the hackers could destroy all what you have in your site just like what happened to Pandan.ph Portal. And, if you have no back up, then all that you have worked for will just be gone like dust in the air. Poof!

I was actually just testing phpnuke and I will not probably upgrade it anymore. There’s too many files and it takes long to upload. For one thing, Pandan.ph Portal was an experiment but I will not remove it because a lot of search engines have indexed those pages already. I just have to check it often that it will not happen again. If ever it will happen again, I guess I just have to uninstall it then.

That’s what I like about WordPress, easy to install, easy to upgrade, easy to upload, easy to manage, and easy to create a theme for it. Everything is just easy with WordPress!

Other updates!

I updated the site of Lux International AG, particularly the Lux worldwide pages. I added the countries Poland, Slovakia and South America. I also updated the Lux Partners page, changing it from Lux Group Worldwide into Lux International Partnership Alliance.

I updated the site of Green Cross Switzerland, particularly the Publications pages. I uploaded the Annual Report for the year 2005 of Green Cross Switzerland, in PDF files, both in German (Jahresbericht) and French (Rapport annuell). Kindly check them out at the Green Cross Switzerland site if you like to read the report.

Ok, that’s all for now. Have a wonderful day everyone!

CSS,HTML,PHP,Site Update,WordPress,XHTML

Simply Sofie Blog WP Upgrade, Pandan.gov.ph HTML to PHP

Tuesday, August 15, 2006 @ 11:31 pm by Sofie Hofmann

I updated the sites, Weggis.net, SofieHofmann.com, and Pandan.gov.ph, the Official Website of the Municipality of Pandan, Antique, Philippines.

Photos of the Hoechifest 2006 are now available at Weggis.net. Hoechifest is a private small grill party of those families residing at the Höchi area in Weggis, Switzerland.

I finally upgraded Simply Sofie Blog at SofieHofmann.com. I upgraded from WordPress 2.0.2 to WordPress 2.0.4. Read the upgrading instructions at WordPress.org.

I also revised the codes of the website of the Municipality of Pandan, Antique, Philippines at Pandan.gov.ph. I finally converted the pages from HTML to PHP, but of course, still using XHTML tags. There is one page though that is not valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional because of the external links.

That’s the problem if you are using Content Management System (CMS). Most of them are not XHTML valid. I’m not fond of using CMS but then I found WordPress. With WordPress, you can really check the themes if the CSS or XHTML used are valid or not. If not, then you’ll just have to correct them yourself.

Well, I don’t have to correct the other themes as I’m using my own themes, and I see to it that the CSS and XHTML I used are valid. I’m using WordPress in some of my sites but not all. With regards to the other websites, I am also planning to revise them.

CSS,HTML,PHP,Site Update,WordPress,XHTML

Yahoo! Video, Google Video, YouTube, Grouper

Friday, August 11, 2006 @ 2:26 pm by Sofie Hofmann

Have you been vlogging? Did you think I made a mistake in spelling that out? Nah! Vlogging stands for video blogging! Vlogging is quite common now a days. You have a lot choices if you want to vlog, for example, Yahoo! Video, Google Video, YouTube and Grouper.

On May 31, 2006, according to Yahoo! search blog, Yahoo! rolled out the new Yahoo! Video, an upgrade from its video search service that introduces more ways to find and share video programming. Now, it includes the ability to upload your videos directly to Yahoo! at Yahoo! Video. Read more at Yahoo! Video team blog.

On October 31, 2005, according to Google, its Google Video was growing so fast that they thought a blog is the best way to showcase some of the great videos that catch their attention. Read more at Google VideoBlog or at the Google Video Discussion Board.

Founded in February 2005, YouTube is probably the most popular one, but Grouper is also becoming known as it is the one which was first introduced at Friendster if you want to upload as well as watch a video in your Friendster account. Lately, Friendster added YouTube too if you want to view a video from Friendster. YouTube originally started as a personal video sharing service, and has grown into an entertainment destination with people watching more than 70 million videos on the site daily. Check out YouTube Blog to keep up to date on all the latest YouTube developments.

Grouper started in 2004 as a Microsoft Windows based application that allowed users to share their personal media within private groups but with the release of the 2.0 version of the Grouper client in December 2005, the focus was refined to sharing video over the web. Read more about Grouper at Wikipedia and Grouper Networks Blog.

I tried uploading a video at Grouper but I deleted it. I used Yahoo! Video and Google Video if I want to feature my own videos in my blogs. I feature videos from YouTube once in a while. I use all of them just to see the difference between these video sharing services.

Of course, each has the features play, stop and volume. What are the other features if the video is being featured from your website? See these pages, Swimming Competition 2006 Announcement (Google Video) and Storm in Weggis (Yahoo! Video) at Weggis.net and Travel to the Philippines (YouTube) at SofieHofmann.com. See and try to compare them.

Let us say, you featured the videos from your blog or website, the size of Yahoo! Video and YouTube is the same, the width is 425 and the height is 350 while Google Video has 400 in width and 326 in height. They will accept videos of any length and size but they will be resized. Naturally if the width of the main column of your blog is less than 425, you might want to consider using Google Video instead of Yahoo! Video or YouTube. You have to consider that if you have a side menu instead of a top menu in your blog, then using YouTube and Yahoo! Video may destroy the look of your blog. You have the option though of just linking the video from your blog instead of featuring it.

If you want to view the video in its original size from your blog, you can do it with Yahoo! Video unlike Google and YouTube, there’s none, only from the main site of Google and YouTube. Google can be viewed in its original size, double size, fit to window, full screen, only if you manipulate it from the main site of Google Video. Whatever you specified from the main Google Video site, that’s the size that will appear on your blog.

If you want to go the main site of each one, Yahoo! Video has a link after you view the video unlike YouTube, once you click the whole screen, you will be automatically redirected to the main site of YouTube. Google Video has a link at the bottom right, but you need to click the logo first and once you see “Go to Google Video”, then you can go to the main site if you click it.

If you want to share the video to your friends directly from the site where the video was featured, YouTube has a share feature through email, and Yahoo! Video can be shared through IM and email. Google Video can be shared from the main Google Video site just like YouTube and Yahoo! Video.

With regards to the time, if the viewer wants to know how long is the video, you will not see it at Yahoo! Video unlike Google Video and YouTube. The viewer will only know how long is the Yahoo! Video after the viewer finished watching the video. But of course, if you are the one who featured the site, you already have an idea how long is the video because it is specified at the main sites of Yahoo! Video, Google Video, YouTube and Grouper, wherever you took the video that you would like to be featured in your site.

How big should the file be? With Google Video, you can upload videos as many as you like even more than 100MB. There are different ways though in uploading videos less than 100MB and more than 100MB. Read “How do I upload videos?” with Google Video. You can upload videos as many as you want with Yahoo! Video but each file needs to be less than 100MB. YouTube has a limit of 100MB and 10 minutes in length per video but there is no length limit for Director accounts.

In what format should the video be? Google Video accept many popular formats, such as AVI, ASF, QuickTime, Windows Media and MPEG formats. Files with file extensions like .avi, .asf, .mov, .wmv, .mpg, .mpeg, .mp4, .ra, .ram, and .mod are all acceptable but currently do not accept Flash files. Read Google Video’s technical requirements and quality guidelines for more information. Yahoo! Video supports the following file types like Windows Media, ASF, QuickTime, MPEG-1 and MPEG-2. YouTube accepts video files in the .avi, .mov, and .mpg file formats. I uploaded a .wmv at YouTube and it was accepted too.

What if you want to keep your video a private one? Yes, you have the option to keep it private or make it available to the public, check it out once you uploaded the video.

Ok, it’s getting long, enough for today. Anyway, these are just some of the features that I would like to mention. If you think that what I didn’t write here are good to mention too, you can write them here. You’re all welcome to do that. Read their FAQs or Help section too. Well, until then and have fun vlogging! Have fun viewing the videos!

Google,Grouper,Videos,Yahoo,YouTube