WordPress 2.6 Is Out… But I’d Recommend Some Procrastination

THOSE DILIGENT developers in the WordPress community have gone and released the latest iteration of WordPress (V2.6) almost a month earlier than planned, but I wouldn’t be rushing to upgrade just yet if I was you. Read more

Yet Another Speed Bump, But Almost There…

I’VE HIT ANOTHER SPEED BUMP on the way to releasing the new version of my website folks; sorry for the – hopefully – last delay.

I was just about to release the new look and theme when the sodding developers released a new version of the base WordPress theme I’ve been extending, with enough changes to the base files that I need to now retrofit all the changes I’d been making in order to get the best usage from the theme itself.

All I can do is promise you that the new look is a major departure and I guess I should drop a few hints at this point about what you can expect.

For starters – you might have noticed I’m using consistent image sizes for recent posts, and that’s because I’m going for more of a magazine look to the new website, meaning a fixed width layout with consistent image sizes and thumnails for a more professional look.

I’ll also be featuring embedded videos of choice and providing some additional functionality for readers too. I plan to launch within a week (assuming I can retrofit the changes successfully) and then look to make more gradual changes over time, as the starting ones are so fundamental. Read more

Site Redesign Update

THIS IS JUST A QUICK UPDATE on the state of things in respect of the site migation and redesign. I have a cool new theme in the works with some funky new features and a completely redesigned front page almost ready to roll.

I have rethought the categories and content layout completely and am in the progress of mapping this onto the new design. I know there are still some bugs and issues with the current version of WordPress, so I am going to try to sync my site migration to a new hoster and the updating of the presentation layer with the release of the patched version of WP, which I understand is a couple of weeks away.

Sorry for the mess folks, it has taken a lot of work behind the scenes to deal with the issues and work on a compeltely new look and feel, but I think you will love it once it is up and running. More as it happens…

Decision Made, Redesign & Migration Underway

OK. I’M OFFICIALLY PISSED OFF with the issues I’ve encountered since trying to update my site to the latest revision of WordPress and I’m overdue a site redesign anyway so I’ve taken the decision to move my hosting and site to a new hoster, under a Linux hosting plan, and at the same time I’m doing a complete site redesign and content reorganisation.

To put it simply I’m ripping the shit outta things here and will have it all up and running sometime soon under a completely new design with better categories, tagging, navigation and options. It’s going to be a lot of work, but I hope it will be worth it in the long run.

Right now my site pages are not displaying correctly (in WordPress terms these are the static pages versus the dynamic posts), so most of my navigation links to things like the privacy statement or my disclaimer etc. don’t work because of a bug in the upgrade.

I’m reworking all my categories, links, URLS and content from the ground up on this site first, then I intend to migrate all the content to the new setup, so please be patient while I screw with things at this end for a few days until it’s right. Then I guess I will either migrate to the new site first, get it all up and running then then upgrade the design of Avalon5, or else I’ll do the design first and then migrate into it.

Oh well – it’s never dull around here is it?

Technical Issues

SORRY FOR THE MESS folks, but we’re experiencing some technical issues at the mo. To kick things off I had to go through a process of elimination to resolve some LCP synchronisation issues with my broadband (which eventually turned out to be dodgy cabling producing lousy Signal to Noise (SNR) ratios) and this took a few days to correct and stabilise.

At least now I’ve got a decent connection going which should enable me to take advantage of the ADSL2+ upgrades due in my areas later this year.

Then to make things worse – in a fit of what I can only assume was temporary insanity – I upgraded to the latest version of WordPress on my site instead of waiting a few weeks after the initial release for everyone else (read: guinea pigs) to test it on my behalf.

I can only blame it on the drugs; I’ve been sick as a pig all weekend and doped up to the tits on various kinds of good stuff trying to get over it.

Anyhoo – bottom line is that I’ve still got some technical issues I’m trying to resolve with this latest upgrade, most notably the fact that none of my ‘pages’ of content are displaying correctly. Posts are ok, but pages do not load, even though they are all there in the database as normal.

So folks, if you notice anything else out of whack please do let me know and I’ll try to get everything back in working order ASAP.

I Have Seen The Future: Content Aware Image Resizing

THIS IS POSSIBLY the coolest thing I’ve seen in a long time, certainly one of the most impressive pieces of technology I’ve seen lately. Many thanks to Mick for bringing this one to my attention. It’s the brainchild of a Dr. Ariel Shamir and I think it just might make him rich in the process.

The concept is “Content Aware Image Resizing” which I could ramble on about for a few paragraphs but basically just go watch the video demo of this new technology and be amazed. Honestly – you will be completely gobsmacked when you see the power of this new approach to image manipulation. If you want the full tech briefing check out this PDF document on the topic; it should satisfy the nerdiest of needs!

The implications are endless, but even from a WordPress perspective I wonder if there is the potential to incorporate such functionality into how images are handled by default, thereby making fluid themes really fluid (as distinct from now when image sizes remain constant while the text on the page moves as you resize your window).

Either way, even if this new technology cannot be adapted for WP sites, it will hopefully end up in Photoshop or all the usual players because it’s just too damn sweet to be ignored. In particular – stick with the video to the end folks – you will love the ‘eraser’ functionality.

I seriously hope the dude behind this idea has his patents sorted out because this is one nuclear hot idea.

WordPress V2.3 Upgrade

I’VE UPGRADED the site to the latest iteration of WordPress, Version 2.3 and refreshed a lot of the plugins and code around the place too.

This release is a  major milestone in the WordPress roadmap, so there may yet be some kinks and issues to be worked out, but I tested out the upgrade on my local test site first and eventually decided to go ahead with the full upgrade anyway.

If you’re a WordPress fan – like myself – or just a user, you really should go download the latest version and upgrade, however make sure you get this Upgrade Preflight Check plugin first. It will scan your setup and see if there are likely to be any issues with the upgrade. It’s not foolproof, but it’s a nice tool to check out your probable issues in advance.

Take note that there have been some database changes since the previous version so it really is worth checking out things before you upgrade. In fairness though my upgrade took approximately 5 minutes to complete, so you can’t ask for more than that now can you?

You can download WordPress V2.3 here or indeed go check out the WordPress Support forums here for more information.

 New features in Version 2.3 include:-

• Native Tagging Support
• A Built-In Update Notification System for WordPress and Plugins (something I’ve been asking for since V1.5)
• Canonical URLs
• More Advanced WYSIWYG Editor Functionality
• Hundreds Of Other Bug Fixes / Minor Enhancements

Anyhoo, as ever, if you notice any issues, weirdness or problems around the place please contact me and let me know; I’ll sort them out as soon as possible.