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Oct 26
Reference & Tutorials, Technology
No Comments
I use the LiveValidation Javascript library to handle most of my client-side form validation features. With it, fields are validated as the user types and instant feedback provides the user with specific instruction on how to correct errors – BEFORE they get to the server and database. The documentation for the library (see link above) is complete and provides lots of examples. More
Jul 25
Company News, Technology
Comments Off
I’ve just recently completed the first version of a Volunteer management plugin for WordPress. The plugin provides AJAX-driven administration pages for Categories/Events, Volunteer Tasks, and Global Settings – as well as an AJAX-driven shortcode for the Volunteer Registration Form, which can be embedded in your content.
The plugin will generate and send email confirmation of all Volunteer Registrations and provides a listing for committee or event managers, with volunteer names, phone numbers, and email contact information.
If you have to manage multiple volunteer projects with multiple tasks, this Volunteer plugin can simplify your life.
The plugin is currently only available to DCP Partners clients, so please contact us for information on our services and how we can help you with your WordPress system needs.
Jan 12
Reference & Tutorials, Technology
No Comments
WordPress plugins offer a great way to extend the functionality of your ‘standard’ WordPress implementation. Often the plugin author includes a CSS file that provides the style attributes for the content elements that the plugin creates. However, many authors do not provide a way to change the style of the elements, without having to change the plugin’s CSS file. This works fine – however, any changes will be lost when the plugin is upgraded and the bundled CSS file is replaced.
My solution for this problem is to place CSS changes in a separate ”style-override.css” file in the Theme’s directory – including all of the selectors and attributes that I’d like to change. CSS works on the ‘last one in wins’ rule – so the last definition of a given rule will over-ride any previous definitions.
You can load this ‘style-override.css’ file at the end of the page, over-riding any previous definitions, by using the following code in your functions.php:
//load the style-override.css file at the very end of the document
//allowing CSS for plugins to be altered and protected against overwrite by upgrade
add_action(‘wp_footer’, ‘loadOverrideCSS’);
function loadOverrideCSS() { ?>
<!– load style-override.css file –>
<link rel=’stylesheet’ type=’text/css’ media=’screen’ href=’<?php echo get_bloginfo(‘stylesheet_directory’); ?>/style-override.css’ />
<?php }
//pcLoadOverrideCSS()
This will use the ‘wp_footer’ hook, which is one of the last things executed by WordPress when generating the content page.
Dec 19
Company News, Reference & Tutorials, Technology
3.3, Wordpress No Comments
Based on the reviews I’ve been reading, I’m going to hold-off spending a lot of time with the new WordPress 3.3. Like with most bleeding-edge software updates, there are going to be performance and quality issues with the initial releases that I’d prefer others spend time finding and resolving. My clients’ sites are working fine and the new features implemented in WP 3.3 are largely cosmetic – adding little in the way of functionality. It will take several weeks/months for plugin developers to complete their upgrades for the new system, where needed, and the WordPress team a similar amount of time to get all of the bugs resolved. We’ll revisit WP 3.3 next quarter and evaluate the benefit of jumping on the bandwagon.
In the mean time, enjoy the solid performance of your present system and know that we’re keeping a close eye on the progress of this new version of the WordPress core.
Mar 09
Company News, Technology
collaboration, training, WordCamp, Wordpress No Comments
I’ve just completed registration for WordCamp O.C. – which will be held at Chapman University in Orange, CA on May 14th. WordCamp is a day-long gathering of WordPress designers, developers, integrators, bloggers, and devotees – where ideas, methods, and all sorts of creative things are discussed. I attended the WordCamp in LA last fall, which proved to be invaluable for me.
If you’re in SoCal and have any interest in developing on the WordPress open-source CMS platform – you should try to attend. Time to get your geek on.
Feb 25
Company News, Technology
CMS, content management, Drupal, Joomla, Open Source, Pods, Wordpress No Comments
It wasn’t all that long ago that I looked at WordPress as a service for those that had lots of spare time on their hands and whiled-away the hours transcribing their every thought into their blogs. I suspect that same opinion was held by ‘serious’ content management system (CMS) users and developers. When I re-launched the DCP news-site about 5 years ago, we used Joomla – which was (and still is) one of the better-supported CMSs around.
While Joomla, Drupal and others are still fine CMSs – which we develop around and support (to varying degrees) … WordPress has become my de-facto standard when developing new CMS sites. This is especially true when my client is more interested in running their business and less interested in managing their CMS. Recent advances in the WordPress foundation have made it easier for developers to extend and ‘hook’ into the core of the system … resulting in an explosion of new plugins that provide enhancements to the WordPress core feature-set. The add-on functionality that the “Pods” plugin provides in the way of customized database applications opens the door to sophisticated WordPress-based applications. (More on the upcoming Pods 2.0 here)
WordPress 3.1 was released this week and, while I’ve been running the release candidates from RC3 forward, I’m excited about the possibilities I see for this system. We’re able to produce high-quality, easy-to-use, easier-to-maintain solutions for our clients in less time – resulting in better productivity and value for everyone.
If you’re interested in upgrading your present static website to a client-driven CMS-based site – let’s talk about your application. We’re finding that there are few things we can’t do with this platform.
Jan 10
Company News, Technology
ASP.NET, CMS, content management, IIS, Microsoft Comments Off
While the vast majority of my time is spent in the LINUX and OS/X world, I recognize that there’s a huge number of sites that use Microsoft IIS and ASP.NET for their web delivery platform. One of the things I’ve found missing for the IIS/ASP.NET environment has been a flexible, cost-effective, and reliable Content Management System (CMS) … with the emphasis on COST-EFFECTIVE. Many of these systems have placed themselves out of the reach of most small businesses.
I believe we’ve found an application that fills that hole and provides a strong, flexible package that can serve the needs of those users that *must* use IIS/ASP.NET (for one reason or another). We’re evaluating the package now and will let you know more about it here, once we’re satisfied.
Stay tuned ….
Oct 28
Company News, Technology
barcode, Microsoft, QR code, quick response code, Tag Reader No Comments
One of the more interesting things I’ve seen from Microsoft recently is the Microsoft Tag technology – which they claim will “Connect Real Life and the Digital World”. Its actually a pretty cool type of ‘bar code’ that can be easily read by your mobile phone – from a computer display, hard copy, photo, or any other medium-resolution display device. Once you’ve downloaded the (free) Tag Reader application to your mobile device – simply point the phone’s camera at the tag and you’ll have instant access to the website, text file, or vCard (contact information) associated with the tag.
While the technology is quite young and its impossible to predict how ubiquitous these tags will become …. the concept is interesting and the cost is nearly nothing to implement
. I’ve recently implemented a tag for a client which we hope will drive traffic to a new mobile portal for their organization’s site. There isn’t enough data yet to know if its working – but we’ll keep a close eye on the stats to see if this is something to pursue further.
You can download the Microsoft Tag Reader application by browsing to http://gettag.mobi on your mobile phone browser. Its available for most ‘smart’ phones for free. Once you’ve downloaded and installed the app – give our Pacific Crest Mobile tag a try. I’ll be interested in your feedback.
Sep 11
Company News, Technology
No Comments
I’ve just returned from WordCamp L.A. – which was a day-long conference for WordPress developers, administrators, and users. It was a great opportunity to network with a wide audience of WordPress professionals – all focused on getting the most out of this powerful content management system.
We learned quite a few new tricks … all of-which I’m itching to try out in the sandbox server. The most exciting news from the conference is that WordPress is very-much alive – with lots of active development going on and a strong developer community that is finding ways to collaborate and make the WP foundation even more powerful.
This isn’t your grandfather’s WordPress people!
Jul 08
If you’re iPhone 3G user like me that hasn’t jumped on the opportunity to upgrade your iPhone to the latest model, but have taken advantage of the free iOS4 upgrade …. you’ve probably noticed that your performance has taken a serious hit. There are a couple of things you can do that may help keep things running:
I did this bit of housekeeping and found that my 3G iPhone performed much better with iOS4.