Category Archives: Blogging

Blacknight are the business

Posted on by October 7, 2009

So the dust seems to have settled on a rather tricky day yesterday.

It started with a cautionary email to warn me that Head Rambles was receiving a lot of traffic and that this was interfering with other sites on the shared webspace.  I had been meaning to move it to its own area anyway so this came as no surprise.

Head Rambles is effectively hosted on three servers – mail, web and database.  The move was simply a matter of moving the files on the web server to a new area.

Simple?

No.

Copying across the files should have worked, as all references to the database should retain their integrity, which they did.  However, Word Press and its ancillary plug-ins isn’t quite so flexible.  It transpired that there were quite a few references in the database tables to absolute paths.

A typical entry in a record could be something along the lines of the following:

/usr/local/pxm/vhosts/115124/webspace/httpdocs/headrambles/wp-content/

However, moving the site files from webspace 115124 to webspace 120566 could have implications for the site, as the record would then have to read

/usr/local/pxm/vhosts/120566/webspace/httpdocs/headrambles/wp-content/

That aside, the site should have functioned normally, with maybe a loss of functionality in a couple of plug-ins.

It didn’t.

For some reason, the site refused to function in its new home.  It was slow, to put it mildly, and while I was desperately trying to find the cause of this, I got another mail from the people in Blacknight. 

I must point out here, that I had been trying to sort the problem out on my own.  Blacknight had obviously been monitoring both Twitter (where there were a few caustic comments about the site being down) and the site itself, as they then stepped in and moved the whole site to a new server.

Anyway, the site ran perfectly in its new location (apart from the few changes that had to be made to the database), and we never did discover the cause of the original problem.

I cannot sing the prises of Blacknight highly enough.  They saw a problem.  They solved it.  As they are a large company, they presumably have a fairly healthy workload, yet they dropped all to help a client in trouble, even though I had not wanted to bother them.

So – a huge thanks to Niall, Nils and especially Paul.  And of course to Michele for running the best hosting company in the business.

Feeeed me

Posted on by July 16, 2009

Sadly, this site has become somewhat neglected of late.

This is due to a number of factors.  The old health hasn’t been the best and I am still involved in trying to wind up my company.  I thought the latter would be a straightforward matter of informing my clients, and then putting a lock on the door.  Life isn’t that simple, apparently.

The main site at Head Rambles is doing quite well at the moment.  In these stringent times, it is becoming more and more of a lifeline to support the ailing income, so it has to be nurtured with great care and attention.

One aspect of blogs [like Grandad, I hate that word with a vengeance] that has me baffled is the RSS business.

After nearly three years fo running Head Rambles and nine years of running my own web based business, you would think I would be up to speed on all aspects, but I’m not.

What confuses me is the concept of Reach vs Subscribers.

Yesterday, for example, HR had 472 subscribers.  That should be self-evident in its meaning and I assume it to indicate that 472 people have subscribed to the feed from the site?  Maybe I’m wrong?

The one that confuses me though is ‘Reach’.  Yesterday, HR had a ‘reach’ of 131.  What the hell does that mean?  Is it that of the 472 subscribers, 131 actually used the link?  Does it mean that 341 didn’t click the link, because they were out shopping or were dead or something?

graph1

This is a graph of Subscribers and Reach over a period of time.  As you can see, there are points where Reach [the blue line] has dropped almost through the floor.  What the hell happened at those points?

Also, Subscribers seems to have a life of its own.  I would assume that if ‘Subscribers’ is what I think it is, then it would vary plus or minus a few per day, as people joined or left.  Yet there are occasions where it can drop by as much as 100 in a single day and recover a few days later.  What is going on there?

Any ideas would be welcome……

Writing a blog – customising

Posted on by June 21, 2009

If you have installed WordPress, you are presented with couple of themes.  They are not particularly exciting, and most people want something that looks a little more individual.

There are literally thousands of free themes out there.  If you are running the latest version of WordPress (and I hope you are) then downloading these themes to your site is simplicity itself.  You can have a preview of the new theme and if you like what you see, you can activate it.

However, this is still not enough for most people.  They want something that is individual to themselves, whether it is a personalised header graphic or an entirely new colour scheme.

Customising a WordPress theme can be quite simple.  The only requirement is that you should have a rudimentary knowledge of HTML and CSS.

My own personal method of creating a scheme that I like is to browse the Web for a theme that has all the rudiments that I require.  I will then set about customising it.

In the majority of cases, themes follow a similar pattern in that the basic files are common to most themes.

The main files which require moderation are usually

  • header.php
  • Footer.php
  • sidebar.php
  • style.css

These are found in the folder wp-content/themes/yourtheme where ‘yourtheme’ is the name of the theme you are modifying.

Probably the most important of these is the file ‘style.css’.

Say for example, you wish to change the banner on the site.

The simplest method is to right-click on the current image.  It is usually a background image so you select ‘View Background Image’ or ‘Save Background Image’, depending on your browser.  One way or another, this will give you the name of the file – usually something like ‘banner.jpg’ or ‘header.jpg’.

Having retrieved the name, (you needn’t save the file or anything else), you then search through ‘style.css’ until you find a mention of that file.

For example, the top image on this site is ‘header-bg.jpg’ and it is located in the ‘images’ directory.  If I search through the ‘style.css’ file (which is pretty large) I find the following:

#head {position:relative; width:990px; height:250px; margin:0 auto; text-align:left; background: url(images/top-right-bg-repeat.jpg) 90px 0px repeat-x;}
.crack {position:absolute; left:0px; top:0px; width:990px; height:51px; background: url(images/crack.jpg) 627px 0px no-repeat;}
.header {width:627px; height:250px; background: url(images/header-bg.jpg) no-repeat;}
.logo {position:absolute; left:0px; top:115px; width:627px;}
.logo h1 {font: bold 26px/120% Georgia; color:#602600; padding:0 0 10px 20px; margin-right:16px;}

I can therefore change that line to use a different file, though it should be noted that the alternative image must have dimensions of 627 pixels wide and 250 pixel high, otherwise there may be problems.

Essentially any image in the scheme can be changed this way.  Of course another method is to just rename your new file to that of the existing one, and then overwrite it (So I would rename my personal file as ‘header-bg.jpg’ and overwrite the existing file).

Colours are slightly harder to change.

Colours in CSS files are invariably written in the form #112233.  This is in the format Red-Green-Blue so that the 11 refers to the level of red (on a scale of 0 to 255), 22 refers to green and 33 to blue.  However, it uses what’s called hexadecimal notation which means that 255 becomes FF.  Without going into too much detail, counting in Hexadecimal follows the following pattern:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F, 10, 11 …..  19, 1A, 1B … 1F, 20 …

In other words, F in Hexadecimal is 16 in denary (decimal), and 10 (in H) is 17.

So your colour should always consist of six characters ranging from 0 to 9 and A to F.

As an example of the two limits, Black is #000000, and White is #FFFFFF.

Examples of that notation will crop up throughout your ‘style.css’ and any of these can be changed to provide your desired colours.  The biggest problem is determining a) the code for the number you require, and b) which bit of code refers to the colour you wish to change.  Sometimes it can be obvious – in the code extract above, the font in the header (logo) is set to #602600, so changing this will change the colour of the words “The Other Fellow”.

Customising a theme initially can be a case of trial and error, but if you become familiar with a particular theme, you will soon learn which elements are which and what colour refers to what.

Initially it can be a case of pot luck, but with a bit of practice, you should soon be able to tweak your theme to the style you wish.

Good luck!

Writing a blog – where?

Posted on by May 3, 2009

If you wish to set up a blog, the simplest solution is to make yourself a free one.

There are many sites out there that offer free blog hosting, such as WordPress or Blogger.  A Google search for ‘free blog hosting’ currently brings up over 28 million results, though the majority of those aren’t necessarily quite what you are looking for.

I have a personal fondness for WordPress.  It is the software that I use, and is obviously the software used on WordPress.com, so the latter would be my personal recommendation. 

Signing up is easy.  Probably the most difficult part is thinking up a name for your blog.  If you have sniffed around the blogging world at all ( and I presume you have?) you will be aware that names are virtually limitless in their range.  A lot depends, of course on the nature of your blog.  If you are writing to promote your company for example, then the name should reflect the company name.  Basically it is just a matter of common sense and personal taste.

Once you have chosen your name, it is simply a matter of entering that name and a couple of other simple items, such as a password of your choice and your email address, and you are off.  It is that simple.

So why isn’t every blog in the world on WordPress or one of the others?  The answer is that a heck of a lot of them are.  The bigger free hosts offer plenty facilities to customise your site, whether it is the look or the functionality.

Many however opt to go down the paid route. 

Why should anyone want to pay for a blog, if you can get one for nothing?

While the free hosts provide a lot of facilities, they are limited.  You may want a design that isn’t available of the free platforms or you may require some functionality that requires some simple tweaking.  Having tried both, I would not go back to free hosting as I like the limitless possibilities that self-hosting provides.  I am my own master, and if I want to do something quirky to my site, I can do it.

So how much does paid hosting cost?

The answer to that is of course down to you.  It is not as expensive these days as many would think.  A quick search on the Internet brings up providers who will provide hosting for between €50 and €80 a year.

One thing you need to note is that if you go down the self hosted route, you will need a domain name ( www.whatever.com )  which is usually obtainable through the hosting provider.  .COM domains are extremely simple to obtain, so the drawback is that most of the good names are already gone, but with a bit of imagination, you should be able to find an available one.  That can all be explained and arranged by your provider.

One disadvantage to self hosting is that you may have to get your hands dirty and do some software installation.  Some hosts provide the software pre-installed, and others don’t.  Installation is usually a pretty straightforward job anyway and help is easy to find, either from your hoster or from countless forums.

So what are you waiting for?

Come on in – the water is lovely.

Writing a blog – Why?

Posted on by April 28, 2009

I have been approached quite a few times by people who would like to start a blog.

Of course there are many blogs out there giving advice on this subject, so why should I be any better qualified to give advice than the next person?  I suppose the short answer to that is that I’m not.  However, I have been running a blog for a couple of years now that not only won a couple of prestigious awards, provides me with a nice income stream but has also landed me a little book deal.  So maybe I am better qualified?  I don’t know.  It’s up to you.

So you want to write a blog?

First of all, you have to ask yourself what kind of blog do you want?

There are many forms of blog out there.

The personal blog.

This is more or less an online diary, where you can write freeform on just about any topic that takes your fancy.  This is probably the easiest form to write, but because of that you are up against very stiff competition.

The business blog.

This is one where you can showcase your business.  You can provide a friendlier approach than is possible through a standard website.  However, this type of writing requires fairly constant updating, or else it gives the impression that your business is stagnant too.  If done properly, it is a great way of reaching your clients [or new clients?] on a much mre personal level.

The art blog.

The art blog can showcase photography, paintings or even music.  Why not?  This is ideal for the amateur or the professional alike.  Your talent can be put on line for the world to see, and who knows?  You could be the world’s next big discovery!

The specialist blog.

This is written by someone with an interest in some particular hobby or skill.  It can cover a multitude, such as your favourite football team, cookery, knitting, beekeeping or whatever takes your fancy.  The only suggestion I would make is that you should be passionate enough about your subject to devote a lot of time to it.

There are many other types of blog out there, but the above covers the bulk.

Having a subject to write about is not enough though.  You must like writing.  That may seem obvious, but it is very easy to become bored with the whole process and give up after the first couple of weeks. 

The next question you have to ask yourself is why you want to blog at all.

If you see it as a way to make money, then forget it.  Blogs rarely make much money, and then only when they are popular and have already broken into the mainstream.  The passion for writing must come first, and money is just the possible bonus in the future.

If you are starting because you have been told it is the right thing to do, or because your friends do it, then you are probably doomed to failure.  You must have the desire to dedicate yourself to it.  The passion must come before the blog.

Having said that, starting a blog is easy.  Starting a successful blog is a little more difficult, but don’t let that put you off.

To summarise –

  • Do you enjoy writing?
  • Do you have something to say?
  • Is it going to be of interest to other people?
  • Are you prepared to keep it up possibly for a very long time?

If the answer to all the above is ‘yes’ then there is no reason why you shouldn’t write a successful blog that isn’t doomed to failure in the backwaters of the Internet.

I will write about setting one up next time around.