Goodreads on WordPress

My last post on this subject was about the apparent demise of Now Reading Reloaded plugin that I have been using to keep a track of my reading. It has been a great way to keep track. I means I don’t forget what I have read and saves me buying a book twice which I have done. The advantage was that all the data was stored on my blog.

I have decided to use Goodreads as a replacement. The obvious disadvantage is that the data is stored elsewhere. However the advantages are many, I can use my iPhone to  scan books to my Goodreads account and I have a widget that displays what I have read.  Continue reading “Goodreads on WordPress”

Blogging Along

I have just spent some time tidying up categories and tags on the site. The site was first started in January 2008, I know this as I left the first post that WordPress created on installation. That was like cleaning up and finding something that you have bought and forgotten about.

I have to confess that I have found the ideas that lurk behind tags and categories. I am slowly getting to grips with it. This post was prompted by an article on WPbeginner.com called “How to Merge and Bulk Edit Categories and Tags in WordPress”Continue reading “Blogging Along”

Think about it ….Reading

I just finished reading some writers tips from the excellent blog Brain Pickings in particular the 10 tips from Zadie Smith. I then looked back at my last post Book Reading and was struck by how silly the title is.  Book reading is stating the bleeding obvious. What else do you do with books. I know that some buy them by meter because they look nice and some use them to flatten things but reading is right up there.

There is still a joy in reading that creates an inner world that is as unique to reader  as it is to the writer.  Any way the point was that my post title seemed silly, but I wont change it will jut remind me.

 

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Book Reading

I really have three main things that I use the blog for posting some of my photos, writing about woodworking and recording the books that I read. I also add some things about the site and technology.

I have for some time been using a plugin called Now Reading its been great and there is a widget that shows what I have read plan to read and so on. However the plugin hasn’t been updated since WordPress version 2.7. The developer has also lost interest. Continue reading “Book Reading”

Some unexpected site changes

WordPress
WordPress (Photo credit: Adriano Gasparri)

I hadn’t intended to change the site theme but I had no choice. The previous theme is incompatible with the new version of WordPress 3.5. I was unable to add media and some other functions were also disabled  A search of the WordPress forums suggested turning off all the plugins etc but this didn’t help either.

One post suggested trying one  of the default themes. I opted for 2011. Problem solved.  Added some custom headers and the usual gang of plugins and voila I’m back in business..

I love the Jetpack gallery plugin and I have now added another page called Photos. now for shortcodes…….

Windows 8 and apps

Yet another way to blog! Windows 8 brings a new range of Apps. So here we are inside the WordPress Win 8 App. The app is very plain but clear not trying to look like something from the real world. No skeumorphics here. I cant see anywhere to add tags and categories which I use to organise the blog. I have posted now from more gadgets and platforms than I can remember. The only platform that I haven’t tried is android but I am thinking about a Nexus 7 tablet so that may happen. I am waiting for the 3G version to be released downunder.

I have added a `photo but I cant see it in this App, much less do any editing. This may be something for a future release. I cant help comparing the App to the Apple one. Its clearly not as well developed and I think a bit basic. Never the less another environment to play in.

Messing with Windows Live Writer

I can’t help but mess with new things on computers and the web. I don’t try everything and there are some things that leave me cold. This is being written on a laptop running Windows 8, also the preview version of Office 2013, cant believe that they left the thirteen in the name. I thought that all Americans were superstitious! All this and I have just downloaded Windows Live essentials for even more excitement.

I have to say that it looks great and was a breeze to connect to my self hosted blog that almost nobody reads. The writing environment has the same look as the blog. During the set up Live Writer downloaded the theme details or that how I understand it. The spell check works well I imagine that it taps in to the dictionaries that are on the system. It wouldn’t be a blog post without a photo so I have included one! I was able to crop and fiddle with the photo from within Live Writer so that was good.  I even managed a little tilt! Certainly easier than from within the WordPress dashboard.

I do like it not sure if I will abandon using the dashboard though. Seeing the post as it will look while typing is great. There is also a preview tab that gives you the writer a view of the final post. At the very least a bit of fun.

photo

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My trouble in the world of WordPress

WordPress

I have been a little frustrated with WordPress of late ,three issues have been bugging me. Updating only has only been possible after disabling plugins as a message appears about memory allocation. I followed advice from the WordPress forums and edited files increasing the memory allocation but only with partial success. I must confess that my knowledge of what is “under the hood” is limited. Regardless I have tried to find a solution.

The next hiccup was the WordPress iOS application this stopped working. More cryptic error messages and I gave up. My hope lay in the new release of the App, which sadly didn’t happen. The problem here was even more of a mystery than the previous problem.

The last issue was a plugin called WPtouch Pro, the folks at Bravenewcode couldn’t figure it out. This was another case of a memory allocation error!

I continued off and on trying to find an answer, this was ultimately found in the WordPress forums.  After all theses months the answer lay on the web hosting service. I contacted them and had the amount of memory allocated to PHP increased. Voila WordPress iOS works on my iPhone and an iPad. moe importantly the plugin WPTouch also works! My faith restored.

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Technology Overload

WordPress has just hit version 3.4 it’s called Green. It is named after a jazz guitarist. The site does seem to load faster which is one of the many documented improvements.

I was hoping that this update would fix the issues that I am having with the WordPress iOS application. Still have memory problems when I upgrade. I resolve this by disabling plugins during the upgrade process. The positive side of this is that I am using less plugins.

Still really like WordPress but the little things often make the ride less pleasant.

Fatal Memory

Having problems with a “fatal memory allocation” error. Haven’t been able to access the blog for several weeks. The culprit seems to be a plugin called WPTouch. This hasn’t been a problem up to now with this plugin. Although the error has occurred before when upgrading WordPress.

There doesn’t seem to bea definitive answer to the problem

The logo of the blogging software WordPress. D...
The logo of the blogging software WordPress. Deutsch: WordPress Logo ??: WordPress Logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

although PHP and or the hosting service usually get the blame.

I tried to upload the post from iPhone but this failed as well.  So a cut and paste, an  email and another cut paste and here we are.

Another frustration maybe I can get back to my usual run of posts.

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