Tag: wordpress

Street Spirit (Fade Out) Jetpack Youtube test post

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UPDATE: In answer to my own question posed at the bottom of this post, I have decided to deactivate the JetPack shortcode option. That’s why things might look a bit odd on this post.

As I mentioned yesterday, I (with no little assistance from The (long-suffering) Guru) am playing with some of the settings behind the scenes of 6000 miles… 

I’ve installed the JetPack plugin which comes highly recommended and now I’m trying to ensure some degree of compatibility, specifically with reference to the media (flickr, youtube, vimeo and soundcloud) stuff, on posts.

Currently, historical posts featuring:

  • Soundcloud – seem to be working, despite an initial conflict.
  • Youtube – will only work if I keep the existing plugin activated.
  • Vimeo – are dead.
  • Flickr – are also dead.

Work in progress, then.

Allegedly, now that JetPack is up and running, I should just be able to drop a YouTube url in here and it should display it. Streamlinetastic.
So let’s see what happens when we lob in a bit of Radiohead.

And there we go, but a bit small, no? Let’s try adding some dimensions:

 

Much better. The only awkward bit being the fact that the coding required to make it the correct size is actually more laborious than the current plugin I’m using for this purpose.

So now the big decision: to move the media over onto JetPack’s tidier, less bulky, all-in-one solution or to stick with what I’ve got?

Next Sunday’s Breakfast

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On a whim (and with whatever spare ingredients I could find at the time: bread, eggs, bacon), I made some Baked Eggs in Bacon Wraps for breakfast this morning. The culinary experience that followed was such that I feel safe in advising you to try the same next weekend.

I got my recipe from food.com. Seriously, when you’re looking for some information about food, who else would you choose to trust that the people who own the food.com domain? They must know their onions. Literally. The people at onions.com say so.

Here is that recipe, reproduced with my hints and tips for your delectation:

    1. Preheat oven 375 degrees. That’s 190 degrees Celsius, Gas Mark 5.
    2. In medium frying pan fry bacon to soft transparent stage. See through bacon FTW!
    3. Drain on paper towels.
    4. Line each slice around the side of each muffin cup. Ends may overlap.
    5. Break egg directly in the center of each muffin cup. 12 cup muffin pan. Do you know the muffin man?
    6. Lightly salt and pepper. Kids don’t like pepper. “Too burny!”
    7. Cook 15 to 20 minutes. 13 was enough for mine.
    8. Watch for whites and yolks to begin to set. Unexciting. 
    9. Take out with small spatula on a serving plate. The serving plate got in the way of my small spatula, so I took my small spatula off the serving plate and just used it as a solo small spatula.
    10. Serve with fork and knife. Or go wild and include a spoon.
    11. If you want the tops to be basted,after ten minutes of cooking, baste each egg once with 1/2 teaspoon of water. I don’t like bastard eggs.
    12. You can fry bacon the night before and drain and refrigerate for morning. Don’t do this. You will eat the bacon the night before. Rookie error. 

I have no idea why WordPress has decided to add letters instead of numbers. Here on the back end that list is in numbers. Click ‘Preview’ and suddenly it’s all CAPITAL LETTERS. I don’t like it when computers decided to do things like that. It’s like they think they know best. And they don’t.

yes we do.

Right. That does it. Try and stop me hitting ‘Publish’, you electronic git.

(Obviously, If you’re reading this, I won.)

Eighty

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Let’s slow things down a little. 120 is fine for normal daily run-of-the-mill decisions, but it’s not always good to rush into big things. Like major changes to the appearance of your beloved blog.

While you guys have been examining my front end in minute detail, The Guru has been tinkering around behind my scenes, as it were. And The Guru, being The Guru, has come up with (as in designed himself) a new theme for this blog, which he has graciously called SixThousandMiles and which he is now not-ever-so-gently prodding me toward using.

I’m still a little unsure. Not because the theme is anything less than wonderful, because it isn’t. It’s lovely. But just because the idea of change scares me. I’m only human, after all.
The silly thing about this is that the new theme is not drastically different from the old (current) one. There’s no garish pink, no flowers and (best of all) no garish, pink flowers.
But it is a bit different. Sure, there are one or two things which need ironing out – and when the changeover occurs, we may find others – but the only real reason for my reluctance to change is… well… my reluctance to change.

So – here goes. I’m going to flick the switch… soon.

EDIT: Switch flicked. Sidebar gone. Oops!
EDIT 2: Guru steps in. Sidebar returns.

Just messing around

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I’m playing and experimenting with various themes and plugins for WordPress. That’s why each time you visit the site, it looks slightly different and (probably) a bit crap too.

Length has never really been a problem for me, but I am very concerned about the lack of width. My passages seem to be a little constricted and there’s nothing worse than a constricted passage.  Sadly, it seems that your WordPress theme must either have loads of trashy artwork on it or just be very dull indeed. Thus, I’m despearately trying to find a widthy compromise between simplicity and excitement. 

With 1,625 themes to choose from, maybe I’m just being a bit fussy. But I know that my readers demand nothing but the highest standards from 6000 miles… and I hate to disappoint.

Bear with me. I’ll get it sorted soon. I have to. The boy is due to wake from his daytime slumbers at any moment and then we will have a whole lot of lego to play with and a vast array of teddies to arrange. The fun never stops.

Sticky: Let me explain.

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I’ve eluded to the fact that last month I had issues with my hosting company and that, with a great deal of help and support from The Guru*, I moved 6000 miles over onto WordPress for “a while”. Well, I’ve decided to stay.

Writing my own pages in straightforward html was fun. I enjoyed the challenge and I enjoyed having a site design that no-one else had, or could ever have. I don’t know how many readers know (or knew), but the ballacorkish.net/6000 site was coded entirely by me and each post was coded and written using MS Notepad. Sometimes it showed, but mostly, I’m proud to say, it didn’t. 

Moving to WP will allow me to concentrate more on what I’m writing and less on getting it published. A new dawn for 6000 miles. The challenge of coding and tweaking will still be there – just with php, not html – and not as desperately as before.

Please bear with me. It’ll almost certainly be worth it**.

* I already owe him several beers.
** Terms and conditions apply.