News Archive for June 2008
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
I Quit Mambo
Written by Kodi Wolf at 8:25 PM
Yes, I've finally given up on Mambo. I was willing to hang in there and stick with it, I really was... Right up until I upgraded the version I was using so that it would work in Internet Explorer on Windows Vista and it deleted half the edits I'd made and changed enough files and code around that I would have had to go digging for weeks to redo all my edits. So, I said, "Fuck it," and decided to create all that they were offering from scratch.
So far, it seems to be working pretty well (and at the very least, way better than Mambo). I've learned enough CSS to do most of what my Mambo template was doing, as well as finding a free poll script, which was actually one of the main reasons I was interested in Mambo in the first place.
One of the other reasons was to have a blog, which I've now moved to Blogger.com (owned by Google). Their system lets me host it on my own domain, but they keep the code on their site. I just started this today and I've already wrapped the blog in my site's template, customized the blog to look pretty much the way I want it to, and I've even transferred the posts from Mambo. Now, that's how it should be. The only issue I've run into is that sometimes when I try to post, it seems to hang, and the hanging can last for quite a while before it gets back to being just a few seconds. The only thing I can think of is that there's a lot of traffic or something.
Well, I think I've done enough for today.
Oh, quick update to the last post: It wasn't the flu I had, it was bronchitis, and my doctor said it was very good that I came in and got checked out because it could have turned into pneumonia really easily.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Felix Lump Update
Written by Kodi Wolf at 3:13 PM
Felix's lump has apparently disappeared. I keep trying to feel for it, but I can't find it. We'd originally scheduled surgery for her because it didn't seem to be getting any smaller after a couple months, but when we took her and Akasha into the vet for their yearly shots, the vet said she thought it was smaller, so we cancelled the surgery and decided to wait, and now the lump is gone. The vet said she thought it might have been an abscess that got walled in by the body's natural defenses or something and couldn't drain, so her poking at it might have let it be reabsorbed into Felix's body.
But anyway, I'm very relieved my cat doesn't have to have surgery.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Site (Re)Creation Update
Written by Kodi Wolf at 5:15 AM
The site is coming along nicely. I think I'm finally out of the testing/template creation phase, so I've moved the site out of the test directory and into what I hope will be its permanent home in /WOLFsector/. Now, I can start creating pages that will have the correct links.
One of the new bells and whistles I've added is a Google Custom Search box. I've managed to style it so it looks good on the site and it seems to be working pretty well. It finds pages on my site, anyway.
Now, other than figuring out the subscription software I have yet to install, it's mostly just a matter of (re)transferring my pages to the new design. Hopefully, this will be the last time for a long time. At least I have all the files I converted for Mambo, so I should just be able to go back and "find and replace" the relevant code and reconvert it back to what it was before (Mambo preferred 'div' tags to 'p' tags, so that's the main thing I want to change).
I have run into a new problem, though, and I'm not sure what's causing it. I'm using a JavaScript script to offer the ability to change style sheets, in case what I've designed doesn't work for people. It was working fine, but after I moved the site, it defaulted to no style sheet, instead of loading the default. I've been over the code, the links, etc., but I haven't been able to figure it out. Once you click on one of the links to set the style sheet, it works fine, but I really don't like the idea of new visitors being presented with a non-styled site until they figure out they can choose a style.
Oh well. I'm tired. I'll work on it tomorrow (or rather later tonight; my schedule is currently 'fall asleep around noon, wake up around 8pm'). It'll continue to shift until I'm back on a day schedule, at which point, if the weather is good (not rainy), I'll be able to finish painting the upper kitchen cabinet doors and start back on the house renovations. Which also means the site will probably take a backseat again, unless my wife can convince me to take breaks like I'm supposed to. Then again, working at the computer isn't exactly a break. :)
Style Switcher Update
Written by Kodi Wolf at 7:22 AM
Okay, so I didn't go to bed. I went searching for a fix and found a PHP-based style switcher on A List Apart. It took some fiddling to figure out how to make it work, but it seems to be doing great now. It also means I don't have to rely on JavaScript for this particular feature anymore, since some people have JavaScript turned off in their browsers for security reasons.
Well, I'm going to try to stop messing with the site and go lay down. I'm trashed.