WordPress 2.9.1 HTTP error

VN:F [1.7.2_963]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

After upgrading to Wordpress 2.9.1, I encountered a problem when using the media file uploader. Any attempts to upload an image would return an HTTP error:

WordPress Media File uploader

WordPress Media File uploader

There are many solutions out there, but unfortunately none of the ones listed worked for me. I did find a very simple fix however. Read More »

Bookmark and Share
Posted in Web Development | Tagged , | Leave a comment

A solution to Blogger’s Search Box gadget not working

VN:F [1.7.2_963]
Rating: 5.0/5 (1 vote cast)

Update: It has been brought to my attention the following solution is buggy and may not return full results. I will update this post when a working solution is found.

There is currently a problem with Blogger’s Search Box gadget. For many users, searching with this widget will return No Results even though the search terms are present in the blog posts.

blogger_search_box_gadget

This Search Box widget is useful for several reasons. The main reason is that many users would like to place the search box in other areas of their blog. Some people have also disabled the Blogger Navbar which contains a working search box, perhaps because it appears on top of the entire blog and may pose as a design issue for some.

Here is my very simple solution if Blogger’s search function is not working for you. Read More »

Bookmark and Share
Posted in Internet, Web Development | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Prevent Blogger from resizing images

VN:F [1.7.2_963]
Rating: 5.0/5 (1 vote cast)

Images that are uploaded in Blogger are stored at Google’s Picasa Web Albums at its original file size and dimensions. If you login to Picasa with your Blogger account, then lo and behold, you shall see your original images!

blogger_images_picasa

Interestingly enough, the image code that Blogger inserts into your blog post are modified. Instead of linking (Blogger automatically links the images to itself) and displaying your original image file, Blogger links to a scaled-down, resized version instead. I believe only images wider than 800px are affected by this protocol.

Displaying/linking to full-sized images is pretty simple since we know that our original image files are stored on the server – we just need to access them! I have 2 solutions on how to display full-sized images in Blogger. Read More »

Bookmark and Share
Posted in Internet, Web Development | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Browsing a single website with multiple logins

VN:F [1.7.2_963]
Rating: 5.0/5 (1 vote cast)

Ever wanted to browse a website with multiple logins simultaneously? Perhaps you have two Gmail accounts whose inboxes you’d like to monitor at the same time. Or maybe you want to surf several Facebook accounts without having to log off one before being able to sign in another.

Here’s a simple 2-step tutorial on how to use multiple accounts for a single website using the Firefox web browser. Read More »

Bookmark and Share
Posted in Internet | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Blog updates and et cetera

VN:F [1.7.2_963]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

Time to make this blog more personal so I’ll talk and empty my mind here a bit for is this not where random lies?! Read More »

Bookmark and Share
Posted in Personal, Site Updates | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

OnLive’s cloud gaming service

VN:F [1.7.2_963]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

OnLive was just announced a few days ago and is already taking the gaming industry by storm. The game service has been in development for 7 years before this announcement, and silently too which is remarkable considering its potential. OnLive basically takes advantage of cloud gaming technology so that gamers can play high-end games such as Crysis on nearly any computer (PC or Mac) and TV. If you want to learn more about the “future of video games,” check out this OnLive News site!

Bookmark and Share
Posted in Video Games | Tagged , | 1 Comment

‘Link’ feature in media players

VN:F [1.7.2_963]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

A playlist in Windows Media Player

A playlist in Windows Media Player

Most media players like Windows Media Player and Winamp allow you to assemble a custom playlist. In WMP, you can quickly compile a list by right-clicking a bunch of song names and selecting Add to Now Playing.

I frequently turn on the Shuffle option when listening to playlists. But sometimes I don’t want it totally randomized. I’d like it if some songs were grouped together – if song 1 was played, I’d like to hear song 2 and song 3 played right after. Then after this group is played, the rest of the songs would continue to be shuffled until another group is played.

So how do we group songs in a playlist? I believe that media players can create a feature similar to the Link option found in Adobe Photoshop. Read More »

Bookmark and Share
Posted in Rant | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Improving web usability: Page numbering systems

VN:F [1.7.2_963]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

Many websites today fail at providing a simple way for users to find information quickly and easily on their websites. A user will typically leave in frustration if it is difficult for them to find that specific article they read a week ago or maybe even last night if the website is updated frequently. This can cause a decrease in the average time a user browses the website or even a decline in visitor loyalty (the amount of times a past user revisits the website).

In this series (hopefully I write more than one article on this topic), I will cover several ways this problem can be rectified that does not require a whole site overhaul. One of these ways is to provide an easier-to-use page numbering system. In the following, I will provide a few examples of both good and bad page number systems and a very simple solution to rectify the usability problem. Read More »

Bookmark and Share
Posted in Web Development | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

phpBB and Google AdSense

VN:F [1.7.2_963]
Rating: 5.0/5 (1 vote cast)

I’ve been using the brand-new phpBB forum software for the past few days now and I must admit I am very impressed. But that’s a post for another time! For now, I’ll discuss the optimal placement of Google ads within phpBB’s templates, the easiest method to do so, and most importantly, how to achieve all this legally under Google’s TOS.

Read More »

Bookmark and Share
Posted in Monetization, Web Development | Tagged , , , | 31 Comments

Using 2 or more different sidebars in WordPress

VN:F [1.7.2_963]
Rating: 5.0/5 (1 vote cast)

I purchased a PHP book over 6 years ago and I only got through the first 20-30 pages before putting it down and letting it gather dust. After six long years, I finally faced a problem big enough for me to actually write a piece of code:

How to display two or more different Wordpress sidebars (the column on the right) depending on the page a user is currently viewing?
Read More »

Bookmark and Share
Posted in Web Development | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments