WordPress 2.0.3 to WordPress 2.0.4

Saturday, August 5, 2006 @ 1:30 am by Sofie Hofmann

I just finished upgrading Sehdi.com Blog, Weggis.net and Pagtatap.org Updates from WordPress 2.0.3 to WordPress 2.0.4. The latest stable release of WordPress is now available, the WordPress 2.0.4. You can download it from WordPress.org.

If you need to install WordPress, just follow the installation instructions available at WordPress Codex section. If you’re just going to upgrade, then follow the upgrading instructions.

It’s very simple to upgrade, make sure to backup your files and your MySQL database first, then delete the old files except the wp-content folder, .htaccess, if you have any, and wp-config.php. Upload, via FTP, the files that you extracted in your computer.

Just don’t forget to deactivate all the WordPress Plugins before you upload the files. This is just to make sure that you won’t have a broken installation after upgrading. Some plugins may not work with WordPress 2.0.4.

Anyway, just to add, I also updated Weggis.net site and Simply Sofie Blog at SofieHofmann.com.

MySQL,Site Update,WordPress

Pagtatap.org Site Updates

Friday, July 28, 2006 @ 5:18 pm by Sofie Hofmann

I just finished updating Pagtatap.org site. I finally finished resizing the pictures and uploaded them at the site. Photos of the activities of Pagtatap Foundation taken in April especially during the Tugbong Festival in Pandan, Antique, Philippines are now available online.

It took me 1 1/2 days to finish resizing and reducing the pictures. You can view the photos at the Activities section of Pagtatap.org site particularly at the 2006 Activities section. I started working on the pictures on Wednesday, July 26, 2006 and finished them the next day but didn’t upload the pictures right away as I wanted to do something more at the site.

When I was finished with the pictures, I created a new section at the site of Pagtatap.org. Instead of News only, we now have the News and Updates section. I used WordPress here and integrated the other pages with it. The old pages are still the same, only the Updates section is using WordPress.

It took me 1 1/2 days too, since yesterday afternoon until today, to design a theme for Pagtatap.org site, which was actually just patterned after the original design of the site, as well as configuring a few things like the login and register pages just like what I did with Sehdi.com Blog, SofieHofmann.com Blog and Weggis.net site.

Pandan,Philippines,Site Update,Web Design,WordPress

Site Updates at GreenCross.ch and Weggis.net

Monday, July 24, 2006 @ 11:49 pm by Sofie Hofmann

This morning, I updated the “Publications” pages of Green Cross Switzerland. The new issue, particularly the August issue, of the newsletter of Green Cross Switzerland is now available in German (Nachrichten 03/2006 – PDF 153 KB) and French (Les Nouvelles 03/2006 – PDF 162 KB) languages.

Then I finally finished resizing the remaining pictures I took during the Weggis Rose Festival 2006. I uploaded more photos at Weggis.net, the presentation of the Rose Queen 2006 together with the Rose Princesses on July 09, 2006 at the Weggis Pavilion.

I also updated my blog at Simply Sofie SofieHofmann.com. We had a week vacation, played golf and went to Zermatt to see the Matterhorn, the most popular mountain in Switzerland. I will upload some of the photos later.

Site Update,Switzerland,Weggis

Weggis Rose Festival 2006 Photos

Wednesday, July 12, 2006 @ 3:28 pm by Sofie Hofmann

I just updated Weggis.net site. Weggis had its Rose Festival on July 7-9, 2006. Rose Festival, called “Rosenfest” in German, is a yearly event in Weggis normally being held during the first weekend of July. Photos during the Rose Festival 2006 in Weggis are now online. You can view the photos at Weggis.net Rose Festival 2006 Photos.

Photos of the Rose Princesses and the Rose Queen 2006 are not yet available but I will try to upload them later.

Picture Post,Site Update,Switzerland,Weggis

New Weggis.net, WordPress, WP Widgets

Thursday, July 6, 2006 @ 2:43 pm by Sofie Hofmann

Finally, I was able to revise Weggis.net Web site. The look is not really different from the old web design. I just improved it a little bit. I changed all the pages from HTML to XHTML and PHP but then realized that I’d better integrate it with WordPress.

I integrated my own coded XHTML and PHP pages with WordPress. I redirected HTML pages to the new pages. Weggis.net is now more interactive. I just designed my own theme based on the original site.

I installed the latest version of WordPress 2.0.3 and also used WordPress Widgets. The Widgets make the sidebar easy to tweak. If what you want is not included in the original zip file, just download that particular Widget Plugin, upload it at the Plugins folder and activate it. Once activated, you’ll see the Sidebar Widgets along with the Themes, Theme Editor at the Site Admin Presentation. If the Widget Plugin is not activated, then you will not see any change at the Site Admin Presentation.

I started revising it last week, exactly seven days ago. So I was quite busy for the past few days. But even before that, I was already quite busy then. I was busy revising my other websites and doing the donation pages of Green Cross Switzerland.

Speaking of Green Cross Switzerland, we haven’t finalized the donation pages yet. I’m still waiting for the English, Italian and French translations as the pages were done in German language.

Yesterday, I updated Green Cross Switzerland Media pages regarding the 1st National Nuclear Dialogue in Moscow on July 3-4, 2006. The Nuclear and Disarmament Experts emphasize the importance of the demilitarization of the materials and weapons of mass destruction.

The National Nuclear Dialogue was held 10 days before the 2006 G8 Summit in St. Petersburg, Russia where efforts of the G8 led “Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction” will be highly prioritized.

Read the reports in German and French languages at the website of Green Cross Switzerland for more information.

For a Cause,HTML,PHP,Site Update,Web Design,Weggis,WordPress,XHTML

PHP, MySQL, HTML, External Hard Disk Drive

Friday, June 30, 2006 @ 11:57 pm by Sofie Hofmann

I’ve been too busy lately. Few days ago, I revised the PHP codes of my personal site Simply Sofie at SofieHofmann.com. It’s better now and easier to update. I also updated some data.

I didn’t really appreciate PHP before because of MySQL. I just hated the idea that I always have to back-up my database and if ever I forget to do it, and then something happened (i.e. lost database), then I will be left with nothing and have to do it all over again.

I am not a programmer just a simple hobby web designer but if I would like to be more effective, I need to know PHP. So I learned PHP through reading tutorials on the net.

One way or another, I have learn to love PHP and MySQL but I will never forget HTML. If you would like to start designing a website, I will always recommend to start with HTML. Until now, I write my codes using notepad. I still use HTML/XHTML combined with PHP and MySQL.

Since I have to download a lot all the time, considering that I also take a lot of pictures, I’m now running out of space in my hard disk drive. I still have a lot of pending hobby projects and I couldn’t really clean up my computer because I need to back up my data first.

Finally, my husband bought a 300 GB external hard disk drive today. He bought it for me. I was really so happy when I saw it. I can finally transfer my other data and erase some unnecessary files. What a relief!

General,HTML,MySQL,PHP,Picture Post,Site Update,XHTML

SwissPinoy.com

Friday, June 23, 2006 @ 5:52 pm by Sofie Hofmann

This morning, I received an email from Dani Kuettel who created the SwissPinoy.com website. I visited the site and found it very interesting. I checked the domain name and learned that it was registered on April 30, 2006.

According to Dani Kuettel:

I created a web site at www.SwissPinoy.com to improve my technical skills and learn more about Filipinos in Switzerland. The idea behind SwissPinoy.com is simply to list everything about Filipinos in Switzerland and Swiss in the Philippines.

I feel honored that my personal blog, Simply Sofie – Heart and Wisdom + Smiles and Laughters at SofieHofmann.com is listed at the main page of the site through blog feed. As of today, it is listed at the main page together with X-Pat Files – Online Chronicles of a Filipino Expat in Switzerland, and Carissa )i( – Que viva la locura! Step into my organized chaos.

He wrote because he discovered that I have another blog, my web design blog, this Sehdi.com Blog, where once in a while, I write about some technical topics on the net. He asked me if someday, I could provide him the rss feed merging all my blogs into one feed. He thought that my technical blog would give readers a nice different view of Pinoys in Switzerland. Unfortunately, I have no intention to do that at the moment although it’s one of my plans, I just couldn’t do it right now nor next month. I still have some pending hobby projects.

SwissPinoy.com is still quite new but it is really such a good project. It’s a sort of a directory about Filipinos in Switzerland as well as Swiss in the Philippines. It will serve as a means for others to know more about the Filipinos in Switzerland.

General,Philippines,Switzerland

Yahoo! Messenger Update

Thursday, June 22, 2006 @ 11:49 pm by Sofie Hofmann

This is an update. I uninstalled the new version of Yahoo! Messenger with Voice just to find out, if what I really wrote last night about Yahoo! Messenger, XHTML, PHP, WordPress, YM, Yahoo! 360, was accurate, having no option not to include the Yahoo! Toolbar and Yahoo! Browser Services during the installation.

I found out that you actually have the option not to include the Yahoo! Toolbar and Yahoo! Browser Services during the installation. I just overlooked it. You can actually choose between “Typical Install” and “Custom Install”.

If you accept the “Typical Install”, Yahoo! Messenger with Voice is not the only one which will be installed but it will also install the Yahoo! Toolbar and Yahoo! Browser Services and you don’t really know what you’re going to have. Well, I saw it and it’s not really bad but I prefer not to have the Yahoo! Toolbar and Yahoo! Browser Services. I also have some apprehension, I don’t know what other softwares have been installed when I used the “Typical Install”. Just a thought!

If you don’t want to use the “Typical Install” you can use “Custom Install” where you are given the option what to install especially if you don’t want the Yahoo! Toolbar and Yahoo! Browser Services.

What if you did what I did, used the “Typical Install”? Then, you just uninstall the Yahoo! Toolbar, the links are in my previous entry. But after I uninstalled the Yahoo! Toolbar, I opted to uninstall the Yahoo! Messenger with Voice for the reason that I already stated above.

If you want to uninstall the Yahoo! Messenger with Voice, well, the process is just like the one on how to uninstall Yahoo! Toolbar, Option 2, by going to the Control Panel.

Instead of writing how to do it, I’d rather give you the links at the Yahoo! Messenger Help.

Uninstalling Yahoo! Messenger

Uninstalling Yahoo! Messenger from Windows

Well, that’s all and again, good luck!

General,Yahoo

XHTML, PHP, WordPress, YM, Yahoo! 360

Wednesday, June 21, 2006 @ 6:28 pm by Sofie Hofmann

Today, I changed the codes of my web design site, Sehdi.com – Sofie Estolloso Hofmann Designs International, from XHTML to PHP. I enhanced the index page with rotating images of my web designs with URL links and added the Latest Blog Posts, and so if you are regularly visiting my site, you will know right away if I updated my blog. I redirected the HTML pages to PHP pages using .htaccess. Then, I upgraded my sehdi.com blog from WordPress 1.5 to WordPress 2.0.3. Everything seems to be working fine.

That’s what good about WordPress, it’s not difficult to understand so you can configure it easily.

Yesterday, I revised the PHP codes of the donation pages of Green Cross Switzerland. I just need the translation of the German version to English, French and Italian languages, then everything will be in place and Green Cross Switzerland will finally be able to receive donations online through its site.

On other matters, Yahoo improved its Yahoo! Messenger with Voice.

According to Yahoo! 360 Team:

Yahoo! Messenger & Yahoo! 360° Working Together

The new version of Yahoo! Messenger has a great new feature called “plug-ins.”

Plug-ins are free, mini-applications that can be easily added to Yahoo! Messenger with Voice so that Messenger becomes more personal and interactive for you.

There’s a Yahoo! 360° plug-in on Messenger that lets you do some pretty cool stuff. You can read updates from your friends, see if you have new blog comments, and even write a blast or a blog entry – all from within Yahoo! Messenger.

Last night, I downloaded and installed the new beta version of Yahoo! Messenger with Voice (BETA) (8.0.0.505) with MyYahoo Module (7.5.0.1).

The new version is ok except for the Yahoo! Toolbar and Yahoo! Browser Services which are no longer optional if you want to install it or not. But you can uninstall the Yahoo! Toolbar if you don’t like it at all. (Updated on June 22, 2006 at 11:49 pm regarding the phrase that I just erased, see my next blog entry)

How do you uninstall it? It’s easy, just locate the “Edit” button, which appears like a pencil, click it and you will see “Uninstall” almost at the bottom. Just click it and the Yahoo! Toolbar is gone.

For more information, read the following at the Yahoo! Toolbar Help.

How do I remove Yahoo! Toolbar for Internet Explorer?

How do I remove Yahoo! Toolbar for Mozilla Firefox?

If you decide to install the new version of Yahoo! Messenger with Voice but don’t want the Yahoo! Toolbar, you just uninstall the toolbar after installing the new YM beta version.

That’s all and good luck!

General,HTML,PHP,Site Update,Web Design,WordPress,XHTML,Yahoo

Blog? What then is a blog?

Wednesday, June 14, 2006 @ 5:38 pm by Sofie Hofmann

A blog is also a website and a sort of an online journal or online diary where you can write and express your thoughts. You can write your personal experiences, stories and opinions, even your ramblings and rantings, that is if you like people to know about it. You can write news, reviews, commentaries and recommendations too.

Blog is a shortcut of “weblog”. A “weblog” is a coined word of “web” and “log”. The writer or author is called a “blogger”. Writing or authoring a “blog” is called “blogging”. The articles written are called “blog posts”, “posts”, “blog entries” or entries”.

What I wrote is according to what I have read.

According to Dictionary.com:

Main Entry: blog
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: an online diary; a personal chronological log of thoughts published on a Web page; also called Weblog, Web log
Example: Typically updated daily, blogs often reflect the personality of the author.
Etymology: shortened form of Weblog
Usage: blog, blogged, blogging v, blogger n

Read more…

According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

A weblog, which is usually shortened to blog, is a website where regular entries are made (such as in a journal or diary) and presented in reverse chronological order. Blogs often offer commentary or news on a particular subject, such as food, politics, or local news; some function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. Most blogs are primarily textual although many focus on photographs, videos or audio.

Read more…

And this is what Alex King wrote about “Blog” which I found very informative.

If you would like to have a blog, you need to read more in Wikipedia on how blogs are made, on how to create and maintain a blog. You can use a blog software like WordPress, Blogger, and Live Journal among others.

General