I recently had a very short contract gig working for a company that creates websites using Drupal.  While that doesn’t sound very interesting or even hard, to make it more so of both, these guys used Views for every

thing.  Which I just don’t get.

If you are a programming, why would you use views?  It is adding a layer of abstraction between the logic and database in an interpreted language with a framework that is already bloated beyond all recognition.  I know when I write plugins for Wordpress, I want the plugin to be quick, precise, and add the least amount of overhead possible.  Views just seem to be a way to do all the opposites of those, just for the hell of it.

If you are not very technically inclined, I understand.  Using views is a lot like using MS Access.  You can create fairly complex queries yourself, without having to get someone that actually understands it involved.  And that is the trade off.  You can do it yourself, and eat the extra overhead, or pay/hire/bribe/cajole someone else into doing it for you, specialized, and thus, in theory at least, more efficiently.

These folks claimed to be programmers though, so I just don’t get it.  Why are you depending on someone else’s plugin, that extends functionality that is inefficient and clumsy, can’t do everything, and still requires custom code to be written or even more plugins to be added.  Where exactly does that circular line stop?

The Drupal “framework” and I use that term loosely since it is really a CMS that can just be extended, has enough problems and bloat in it, why exactly are views worth adding more?  Again, assuming you know SQL and PHP on even a basic level.

It just doesnt make any sense.  Query writers and views are one thing if you are working directly with the database, (e.g. phpMyAdmin or TOAD), but adding it as a layer to a “custom” application that you will be supporting when you claim to be capable of actual programming!!??  Please explain that one to me.

To be fair, I dont use Drupal much, I like WP much better.  The OO approach is much more appealing than the very Perl-esque (read: old) way of doing things Drupal does with its modules. But I still don’t get what the big deal is about Views.

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As I have gotten more and more involved in the WordPress world, I have released a couple of plugins, working on several more, and have already learned a few things.

One, it is always a good idea to release early, and release often, except where Wordpress release system is invloved.  The system is based on SubVersion, which has been great getting to learn, but it lulls you into making some assumptions.  The problem with this system, is the moment you upload code to the repository, it releases publicly.  While that is fine if it is a small plugin and your first release should be public, it is not a good thing for larger projects that are going to require a lot of testing and iterations to get it ready for an actual public release.  Wordpress does disclaimer their system, saying it is not a hosting service just a listing service.  Which begs the question, “Why are you using SVN?”.  Probably because it is familiar to most people that will be contributing code.

With all that in mind, I have moved my development versions over to Google Code.  It is a hosting service, is faster than Sourceforge, and I like the interface a lot better; it is a lot more clean and easy to understand.  All my WordPress plugins will be there, under the project SuiteX, and eventually the other projects I have going, like LadderX will move over there as well.

This doesnt really affect any of you much, except for questions/concerns/bugs/requests, I ask that you go over to the Issue Tracker on Google and post there.  It will keep everything a bit more organized, than random comments on this website or on the WordPress forums which do a horrible job of notification or even categorization.

Per the usual, if you have questions, please just ask.

          

Ok, so we all know that we should write “valid”* HTML, and yet, less than 5% of websites validate for one reason or another.  Now this statistic can be a bit misleading as a comment from a user that didn’t use valid markup could invalidate the website, so granted, there is some play with the stats (per the usual), but let’s again assume that number is close.

Why?  Why do we not write perfect HTML?  Surely with the free validator on the authority’s website there is no excuse to write code that wont validate against the standard.

The answer there is simple, if and when all the major browsers (Firefox, Safari, IE, Opera, Chrome) all render a page according to the standard, then I will finally start caring about the validation of my websites.  Until then, I will continue to write code that works across the board, and just not care if it is “valid”.

To be real though, most of the browsers work pretty well, however the 800lb gorilla in the room, IE, does not.  Microsoft continually changes the standards by which they will render a page, like promising CSS 2 support in IE7 then bailing on that promise 6 months before release.  And let us not forget the horribly pathetic Javascript rendering engine, JScript, that the rest of us just ignore because it can’t be trusted to behave reliably.

So, like even on this website, we find ourselves writing “valid” code, and at the same time having to redefine valid to mean “Code that works in all the browsers”, not “Code that the W3C says is valid even though it looks like crap in IE6″.  Just to maintain a semblance of order and sanity, we use the handy IE CSS hacks where IE on Windows will actually arbitrarly execute code depending on the version of the IE browser being used.  Does that sound like an admission of guilt on the part of MS to anyone else?  OK Bill, repeat after me, “I know my browser sucks, so, instead of fixing it which would severely hamper my marketing and legal budgets, I will just allow hacks in order to ensure you nerdy web guys can still make pretty pages”.  There, was that so hard!?

So, someone feel free to run the validate against any of my websites.  Don’t bother sending me the results because I don’t care.  The sites work, the code looks good, documented, and is maintainable, so, what exactly was the complaint?

*valid code is extremely subjective, but let’s assume here I mean W3C “valid” code.

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Search Engine Optimization (SEO) really isnt a new concept although the buzzword is fairly new.  It is basically the process of ensuring your site has on it that which search engines (e.g. Google) index, hence making your search engine rankings higher and presumably driving more traffic to your website.  I still remember doing this in the mid-90’s when we had a huge number of search engines ranging from Hotbot to Alta Vista to AOL that mattered and each one needed to be submitted to and then your site massaged in order to get anything resembling a decent ranking.

Times have changed, the index bots are much more sophisticated than 10+ years ago, and are far less likely to be fooled by the tricks (like using keywords hidden in your background by using the same color for both).

I often get asked, “How can I improve my search results?”.  I usually try to resist rolling my eyes for two reasons: 1) the sheer amount of resources out there covering this topic are just overwhelming and 2) it isnt that hard!  So, to those hosting with me and everyone else reading this, here are a few short tips on how to get your site SEOized!

Content, Content, Content
The more content you have, and I dont mean junk, I mean actual meaningful content, the higher your rank.  So sharpen your pencils and start writing.

New Content, New Images, New Stuff
Daily blog posts or news releases will really help you get noticed by the bots.  But again, dont post junk, otherwise your ranking will drop due to noone visiting.

Network
You must network your site.  Join a few groups, post on them, use WordPress or similar software, embrace RSS, use MySpace or Facebook and link to your site.  These will only drive traffic to your site, increase the relevancy of your keywords and get you the rankings you want.

Use decent HTML/CSS
I say decent, since I still think the entire validation thing is a scam (I will post more on that later).  Your page should work in all major browsers, use alt tags in your images, name your pages something relevant, and avoid a lot of Flash or Images (for now) since they still aren’t fully indexed.    Do not use an image for text blocks, it will not index!

See, not hard.  Enjoy adding quality content, dont overuse images or the other spiffy technologies (Silverlight, Flash, etc…) and have fun watching your traffic come to you for a change.

          

Per the usual, just posting that the PHPX License has changed very slightly due to some recent lack of understanding of basic OSS principles.  Just clearing up the area about warranties.  Yes, Rebel and GMORG, I am aware this has been in production for almost a decade without issue, however, everyday is new and brings new things.

As usual, the current license applies to all new downloads, changes, forks, etc.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

          

I think sometimes I have too much free time, but it is nothing compared to this guy. This rates up there with the homemade Battlemech, but still pretty cool.
Backyard Monorail