Layman's take on travel, technology & everything | Doesn't need to have a super brain, Just do your bit
Category: Technology
With the advent of various programming technologies and their broad support toward a lot of stuffs, our needs have escalated over the years, making computers and similar automatic devices our friend, relative, and teacher and guides many times. The need for integrating our daily use devices to these machines has become more and more important. Finding the various fields
of application for the use of these revolutionary machines is not a new era of research, but even now it has much potential to attract the programmers for making it more functional for simplifying their daily life tasks.
Although I have been through the importance of simple HTML formats in Blogging, but still I was sticking to Microsoft Office Word 2007, due to laziness only, you could say. But finally a mail into my mailbox from Devils Workshop, introduced me to the post Blogger of the month, which warned me with words
“We recommend using online wordpress post editor or windows live editor. Never use Microsoft word!”
Really I didn’t thought that someone will be this much seriously asking for not using Word. As earlier I already wrote in my article about Blogging, that Windows Live Editor was a better option because of one reason that its free. Microsoft sure had adhered user’s requirement that Blogger will require a minimal yet sophisticated platform with the core necessity that it must be free for sure 🙂 When it was released, I tried it right then and liked its interface and all those things, but one basic thing was missing and that was justification of text (although now I was not sure that it was really not there then or I missed something), but now I am happy to see that its right there and working perfectly as I got the latest build 14.0.8089.726.
Also, I got to see easy options for embedding videos like from YouTube. I really feel that I should have started using Windows Live Editor sometimes earlier.
The current post is going to be the first official post from Windows Live Editor on My Blog. So, I suggest to other bloggers like me, who might be still sticking to Microsoft Word! (or may be I am was the only dumb out there)
My issue was related to relative path and absolute path, which I came to know later on (Sometime just defining the problem in current copy book terms make the problem half solved). All of the URLs of the same site were seemed to hard coded to be consisting of local IP of the same site, which was an issue, if I was planning to put the same over some public IP for being accessed from outside (as currently we are not planning to own some domain name or web hosting service, so only public IP based access was sufficient).
After exercising a number of options, finally the trick came out to be a simple one. I was to update option_value entry in wp-options table of WordPress MySQL database, where siteurl was mentioned as http://%5BMY_LOCAL_IP%5D/wordpress while it was needed to be /wordpress
I know its kind of stupid, but I am not that into Website deployment or could say missed the basics completely. But anyway, all is resolved now. In next, I was to convert all my manual entered links in the same format. I will keep the same thing in my mind for future reference.
In the next step, I am about to put the latest version of the same theme for the run. Have to check first that how many settings its gonna to change and how much manual work it will require after updating. Wish me Good Luck!
A friend asked me how I started blogging few days back. All of sudden, it ignited a lot of memories from past. Memories of how this all started, memories of how I tried to matured with, memories of my stupidity once and memories of really many remarkable things of my life. But still in place of giving credits of this article to those memories, I would like give the credits to my favourite blogger Deep Ganatra. (I know, he might be a bit surprised if know about it as we kind of didn’t mixed well, when it was the last time and I was arrogant and kiddish kind of or could say, was in Evil Techniques of Blog Promotions.). So, It’s kind of dedicated to him and to let him know that I admire him (even if weren’t reading him in past too much, will read from now on).
Before having the blog on WordPress.com itself, I was just experimenting with FreeWebs.com with the experimental site. In those days, I was naive enough about these blogging and even writing things. I was used to write my diaries and poetries in those days, but wasn’t much aware about blogging in those days. I was reading in Allahabad University and it was kind of outdated enough to know about such stuffs. Friends anchoring me into technology world were Ram Kinkar Pandey, Manoj Narayan Tripathi and internet provided by MNNIT, Allahabad (Younger Brother’s Hostel).
The first reason to come up with a blog was Indian Idol 2 and the day for the first article was 22nd March 2006. Just one day before of the same, I came to meet an amazing online friend from other country. This friendship lasted for next two years and still back there with many good memories with it.
Writing; it was started in just fun as I was working for IIIT-Allahabad in those days, was having good speed internet all day long, much of spare time, I took Indian Idol as a subject and over time, as people started to hit me, I started hitting back and I come to know that it was in me somewhere. Those days and now, I am still learning a thing or two everyday about blogging and this online world, though life gone on a much busy track with lots of responsibility of work life and personal life.
Now, coming toward the same point, from where I started; Deep Ganatra. If I keep some target in my mind about my blogging, then it would be him. Recently, I have been in some details with his blog and got to feel a few similarities between us. May be we are different phases of time/ maturity/ life, but I should look into his words for some guidance. After all, now days, I am loosing things kind of anchoring.
First thing, I am reading from him is about SEO and other comments were like over lengthy CV etc. Still I should say, I am not following all of them :P, but I think, I am starting kind of makeup stuff between. I regard him like a big brother.
If I write, then I could write much on this topic, but making myself stopped here keeping someone’s comments in mind.
This time the target was to work out a complete website out of WordPress and although I had seen many websites based on WordPress, but I was not been into details ever and neither in any more touch with all HTML, CSS etc now days. More than the information itself, it was all about imagination. Even if, I was having sort of a view about what I am trying to make, the challenge was to map the same with the restrictive environment of WordPress.
I am not expecting anyone to learn from this article that “How to make A Website out of WordPress” by this website, as my approach was kind of naïve and nursery kid’s learning, but still for someone starter like me, it might be a good idea to know things easily rather than searching and going through many themes and templates etc.
The requirement was a stylish enough, but simple, lightweight and corporate kind of looking view. A header having customized pictures, customized favicon for the site, a marquee logo, header with pages names, few pages of course, a three column theme holding static messages at left side and dynamic messages on right side and along with all these requirements, one was required to keep it looking clean enough means no sign of wordpress itself.
I guess anyone would require the same from any novice website in a free cost without need of web designing experts. Don’t know, my approach served all the requirement or not, but for the starter, I found a particular theme named atahualpa came out to be a life saviour. I am not going to describe that how it works and how to make it work in your ways, but trust me, it works like a charm. I managed to match most of the requirements of mine and I don’t feel that I could not add more and more customizations in it on my own in easy ways. Have a look over my implementation template as of now.
First look at WebsiteSuggestions page on Website
First level menus on the header are actual pages, from which I deliberately have hided posts page. All the second level menus are actually categories and in this way, I found a way to provide many departments a blog of their own. Moreover, by hiding some of the categories, I succeeded in keeping MD’s page and Exe. MD’s page in background (although still there are categories only, but I am not allowing all post pages here). The next task remained is to restrict particular authors to fixed categories only. Let’s see, what I could do.
The top has a marquee logo here and left and right portion is having messages through Text Widgets. Header images as you know are self changing with our control over them. I guess enough hints till here for how to go for one of your own wordpress hosting.
Although till now, I am not able to find the version to suit the web version WordPress.com for some obvious reasons neither did I am finished with the complete design of the site as I am hardly getting any time out of work for the same, but I guess soon I will be back with the complete details and fully working site based on WordPress.
Edited on 16th October 2009: Finally I found a plugin named Role Scoper, which was claiming to have the similar functionality means restriction over users etc. Got it installed on my server, although yet to figure out about its working and more will come out, when users will start using it actually. But I hope, I got a way to accomplish the final remaining task.
One more remaining target is handling Dynamic updates in more managed way means Widgets like Company Headlines or News in same marquee style but getting their entries from some MySQL or some XML file. Although Environment of WordPress is very much restrictive, but I guess, I could find a way around it as well.
Next Article:
My next article might be around Windows Deployment Services Server. Not posting right now as I am struggling enough with it and sometimes its frustrating. That’s why I wish to come out with a clean walkthrough for the same implementation for rest of the world.
Finally today added another addition into my computer resources. I was running out of disk space now days due to loads of movies and software’s even when I had a huge storage amount 1TB, so finally I bought an External Hard Disk of 1TB (based on USB only). Product is FreeAgent Drive from Seagate and the cost of Rs. 5600/-, if I was buying in cash, which I obviously was doing to get it in cheaper.
It was not bad pricing as the last one, which I bought for the Laptop was of 500 GB, but of almost the same cost. So, I guess, I got a good deal.
Now, my next objective was to first shift all the entertainment stuffs like movies etc. into external and then hosting a number of Virtual Machine for fresh series of experiments with technology. I guess you must be thinking that no wonder some of my friends call me a freak.
Due to illness, I was out of office, but worked a little over few things related to WordPress at home. One worry resolved now that how to sync two blog one at remote location and one at local hosting. It came out easy in the way that you have to take the backup of updated one and then to import the same to the other one. I was worried about duplicated entries, but the import process itself, skips the duplicate entries, comments, pages etc and in this way make the sync go smooth.
I also worked a little over Wiki Hosting. Managed to put a local installation through manual DB creation, user creation, local settings etc, but still struggling with making it easy to work with like WordPress. I had read that it could be configured to create pages through Microsoft Word or Windows Live for a Wiki, but not able to do the same till now. Anyway, it was a late night try. Will give one more eve over it. Also have managed the Dummies Book over it, expecting it to be helpful.
Yesterday means 12th August 2009; I took a project from office side to install WordPress locally. Something which was included in my To-Do list from long, but it was just like I was not getting time and chance.
In place of going through the way of Geeks, I chosen to be low and go through Xampp means an unsecure and Layman way to deal with Apache, MySql and PHP at once. In fact, not even dealing, but just bypassing most of the tedious work.
The output was just as great as WordPress itself been for me from years. I really rediscovered many little things about it. While the web version was a bit restricted view of the full functionalities lying beneath, I really got into a world, which was truly amazing.
Next step was trying Export and Import, which I was about to try one year back, but didn’t used then. It went almost effortlessly easy and I was able to import whole of my blog in a matter of few minutes only. The whole download size was only 1.2 MB for all my 90 articles. There were really many options unrevealed now, which could be available, only if you are hosting it yourself.
I am going to explore its features more and more as I get time.
Nitish Kumar's Blog 