Within about 15 minutes this morning, I upgraded three different WordPress websites from 2.7 to 2.8. And the updates would have gone much faster if I hadn’t taken the time to first update all the plugins!
I am simply in awe of the WordPress team. The built in upgrade function is just fantastic.
But do as I say, and not as I do: backup your website and your database BEFORE running the 2.8 upgrade, just in case…
I’ve never had a problem with browsers, specifically IE, loading favicons created for my client sites. But this week I had one site where the favicon would load in every browser EXCEPT Internet Explorer.
Normally, I create favicon images in Adobe Photoshop, at 16×16 pixels, and use Save for Web & Devices… to create a GIF named favicon.gif
I rename favicon.gif to favicon.ico and upload.
This week, I downloaded and used successfully an Adobe Photoshop plugin called ICOFormat from Telegraphics.com
I’m a big fan of one-trick ponies, and this is a good one. It does one thing and it does it well.
I opened the previous favicon I had created then selected File –> Save as… and selected the ICO (Windows Icon) format option. Posted the revised file and suddenly IE was loading the favicon.
Occasionally in Mac OS, I’ll get an e-mail with a .dat file extension. .dat is pretty generic, but typically this is from an older Microsoft e-mail program bundling the message and one or more attachments into the .dat. The Microsoft program knows what’s there, but the Mac doesn’t.
In the event I receive a .dat file, I fire up TNEF’s Enough, a freeware application from JoshJacob.com
Save the .dat file out of the e-mail, then drag and drop it on top of TNEF’s Enough. This great little utility makes extracting attachments from .dat files quick and easy.
When it somes to Joomla 1.5, sometimes having to create a feedback form is overkill, when all you really need is for a Contact to do a graceful redirect to a thank you page upon submission.
This hack requires modifying a core component, so be sure to save a copy of your original 🙂
The file to edit is:
/components/com_contact/controller.php
Create your redirect page and have the URL for the redirect handy.
Look for the following code at line 193 in Joomla 1.5.10 (this is the version I was working on this week):
$msg = JText::_( 'Thank you for your e-mail');
$link = JRoute::_('index.php?option=com_contact&view=contact&id='.$contact->slug.'&catid='.$contact->catslug, false);
$this->setRedirect($link, $msg);
And replace it with this code:
$link = JRoute::_('redirect url goes here');
$this->setRedirect($link);
Replace the text redirect url goes here with the URL of your redirect page. Save and upload the revised controller.php file.
I’ve been using Gmail Notifier for a couple weeks now, and it is growing on me. The default value for checking for new mail is something like 4 minutes, much too long when I’m in the middle of a busy day and have people counting on me to be on top of my e-mail.
You can change the interval using this little trick: hold down the Command (aka Apple or propeller) key and the Option key, then select Preferences… from the Gmail Notifier menu in the menu bar.
A new window will pop up. Enter the values shown:
Click Set, then close the window.
I’ve been doing a lot of random research lately, looking for ways to get things done and to extend the functionality of the various systems I work with daily.
I’m a big fan of Delicious, but the very nature of the Internet means these resources I have bookmarked for later reference are just as likely to disappear tomorrow — this has happened to me more than once. And I hate having to search for something I know used to exist before that random website did a redesign or went offline.
So for my own future reference as much as anything, I’m going to start a Hacks series of blog posts. Now, when I see a hack I like and use successfully, I’m going to blog it for future reference and credit the original source. Most of these tricks and tips will be for Joomla, WordPress, SugarCRM, Mac OS applications, the Adobe Creative Suite, or something along those lines.
So enjoy. Hopefully these tidbits will be of help to someone besides myself.
