Looks like our theme was broken and so I have reverted the website back to the default theme. I will be changing it shortly, so please look past the generic style.
WordPress 3.2.1 Update broke the Arras Theme
– August 1, 2011Posted in: website
wordpress Archive
1
Why Drupal Views make so little sense
– October 14, 2010Posted in: programming, thoughts
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
- Image via Wikipedia
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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4
SEO…It really isn't hard
– October 4, 2010Posted in: website
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.
0
How to fix WP ECommerce
– August 30, 2010Posted in: programming, writings
On front end pages with no ecommerce functionality, this plugin adds over 220+ database queries. The more I messed with the code trying to make it behave, the more I understood just how horribly written this plugin is.
Now, as someone that has been doing development long enough to know, there are times that code just gets away from the development team and becomes a mess unto itself. It happens, especially in the OSS world where code reviews are few if ever. But, as I read the forums for this thing, the developers are just fooling themselves thinking the code is in good shape.
Here are a few basic suggestions:
1) Check to see if the page needs to execute the plugin. If it doesnt, dont do it. There is no reason to increase the number of queries by an order of magantuide when I am on a page that has no WP Ecommerce functionality.
2) Clean up the queries. For example:
SELECT `id` FROM `wp_product_list` WHERE `active` IN(’1′)
should be
SELECT `id` FROM `wp_product_list` WHERE `active` = 1
It is more effiecent.
3) Index the tables! The query above doesnt use an index. That is right folks, the field “active” in product_list is not indexed. This is easy and simple.
4) Use arrays or some other data structure for complex data. Dont use the same basic query over and over again. Example:
0
New Look for this.rand()
– January 19, 2010Posted in: programming, website
Well, it has been a while since I did a new look for our homepage, so here it is. What do ya think? This is a theme instead of the usual totally custom method I do, but I like it. It is a very magazine type of look, but it gets a lot more content on the front page, and uses the sidebars better. So it should drive a little more traffic, and be easier to use for those that do show up.
0
WP Plugins move to Google Code
– December 30, 2008Posted in: website
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.
