Splash of Style...Macs, Photography, Design, and other Passions

WordPress 2 Keyboard Shortcuts Using Firefox 2

June 9, 2007 by debbie T | Firefox Browser • Mac Software • WordPress

I recently upgraded to Firefox 2 on my Mac PowerBook. All seemed well, but I did keep an instance of Firefox 1.5 in my Applications folder just in case.

When posting in WordPress 2 using the simple text editor, I had been utilizing keyboard shortcuts for various html codes, such as the <a>anchor link</a> – which was Ctrl+Command+a.

Since upgrading to Firefox 2, the keyboard shortcuts did not work. They did work normally in Safari.

I searched online for answers, but no one else seemed to be having this issue. Finally, by trial and error, I realized that the keyboard shortcut was now fn+ctrl+a. I have no idea why it changed, but I am glad to have this feature again!

New Book – Textpattern Solutions

June 9, 2007 by debbie T | Textpattern

Friends of Ed has recently released a new book on the CMS (Content Management Systems) Textpattern.

Textpattern Solutions

I have always been fond of Textpattern, but I just couldn’t get my brain around their template system. I like editing my template code offline in my own text editor. It can be difficult to do this using Textpattern. I wonder if this book will make it easier to understand. Hmm, something to check out I think.

Check out the official Textpattern Solutions book web site.

WordPress Automatically Redirects Revised Post Slugs

April 21, 2007 by debbie T | WordPress

This may be old news to some, but I accidentally noticed it after I recently updated one of my other blogs to 2.1.

WordPress has added a new feature to automatically redirect revised post URIs to the new page.

For example, if an article’s post slug was saved as “wordpress-redirects-new-post-titles” and weeks later, I decide that I want to change it to “wordpress-automatically-redirects-new-post-titles”, the old url will automatically be redirected to the new.

Try it!

One of my older articles original post URI is
…/thunderbird-adding-a-new-address-book/

and I just edited the post slug so the new file name is
…/thunderbird-adding-new-address-book/

So, even if you click on the old name, the post will automatically be redirected to the new name.

It doesn’t seem to be included in the list of changes for WordPress 2.1, but I found an article from the author of the original plug-in.

Note: this option does not appear to work with changes to actual permalink structure (Admin>Options>Permalinks). It would be a great idea for smaller sites, but if the site is large, and hundreds of links have to be redirected, I think it would put a strain on the server, wouldn’t it?

New Website for Expression Engine

April 21, 2007 by debbie T | Expression Engine

I was slightly behind on my web site software updates & site news for WordPress, TextPattern, and Expression Engine, so this weekend, I decided to catch up a bit.

Much to my surprise, when I checked the web site for pmachine.com, I was redirected to a brand new site called EllisLab.

pMachine is now EllisLab!!!

Along with the new Ellis Lab web site, three related web sites were also launched:

Additional related web posts:

Configuring a Linksys Router

April 13, 2007 by debbie T | Computers • Internet • Web Design • Wireless • WordPress

(updated 2008-11-9)

My friend Jenn is having a tough time properly configuring her Linksys wireless router, so I told her I would write a tutorial. (waving to Jenn!) Hopefully this will help her, and anyone else in need. I suggest printing this tutorial to follow along easier.

First off, let me state that I am not a security expert, so please take everything in this tutorial with a grain of salt. ;) My router is a Linksys WRT54G wireless router, and I am using Comcast for broadband internet access. If someone is using DSL or a different router model, then settings might be slightly different.

For lots more information on wireless security, I recommend the podcast “Security Now” with Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte. Along with the audio podcast, there are also text transcripts for each show. For specific wifi discussion, locate podcasts from 2005 – episodes 10 through 13.

Let’s get started

Read the Rest of the Article

Expression Engine Version 1.5 Released

September 10, 2006 by debbie T | Expression Engine

I just (painlessly) updated to Expression Engine 1.5. Looks good so far, but I haven’t really had a chance to check out all the new additions and changes. Most prominently, they added a Simple Commerce module. Pretty nifty!

Related Web URLs

Lullabot Drupal Podcasts

July 19, 2006 by debbie T | Content Management • Podcasting

Drupal has always been very intimidating to me, but I have heard many raves, so I always felt like I was missing out on something.

I don’t know why I haven’t heard about the Lullabot Drupal podcasts, since they were first available in January, but I am now subscribed to both their audio and video podcasts.

TechCheatSheets.com

July 16, 2006 by debbie T | CSS • Internet • Web Development • WordPress • XHTML

I love cheat sheets! Found a great resource at Tech Cheat Sheets.

Besides various cheatsheets for php, css, and html, you can also find WordPress Themes and Microformats cheatsheets.

I just used their easy submit form to send the URL for the Expression Engine Quick Reference cheat sheet.

The WordPress Podcast

July 15, 2006 by debbie T | Podcasting • WordPress

Besides the newly released WordPress Visual QuickStart Guide book by Maria Langer and Miraz Jordan, I was happy to hear about a new WordPress Podcast as well.

WordPress is really an awesome blogging, CMS and I can’t wait to learn more complex features. I guess I consider myself an intermediate user, but there is so much more to learn. I ordered the WordPress book from bookpool.com and it should be here on Tuesday.

Subscribe to Comments in a WordPress Blog

June 12, 2006 by debbie T | WordPress

If you are using WordPress as your blogging or CMS software, then you might allow your visitors to post comments. Comments are an effective way to receive feedback from your visitors. The downside is unless your visitors regularly check back to the article, they will not be notified of any subsequent comments, along with your personal response to their comment.

This is where the WordPress Subscribe to Comments plugin can help. When a visitor posts a comment, they just put a check in the box to “nofify” and they will receive all future comments posted.

The plugin is easy to install.

* Upload a couple of files to the appropriate directories on your web account.
* Activate the plugin in your WordPress Admin
* Copy and paste the code where you want the notification checkbox to display on your page.
* If you want to utilize the optional form to allow notification for any visitor, whether they post a comment or not, then paste in the code outside the comment form tags.
* Important: Please read the plugin’s “readme” files for more specific details.

I have been using this plugin (back when it was first programmed by ScrippyGoddess) and it has always worked very well. I think it is a great way to promote communication using the WordPress comment system!

And don’t forget to use Akismet to help control your comment spam!