Splash of Style...Macs, Photography, Design, and other Passions

WordPress Automatically Redirects Revised Post Slugs

April 21, 2007 by debbie T | WordPress

This may be old news to some, but I accidentally noticed it after I recently updated one of my other blogs to 2.1.

WordPress has added a new feature to automatically redirect revised post URIs to the new page.

For example, if an article’s post slug was saved as “wordpress-redirects-new-post-titles” and weeks later, I decide that I want to change it to “wordpress-automatically-redirects-new-post-titles”, the old url will automatically be redirected to the new.

Try it!

One of my older articles original post URI is …/thunderbird-adding-a-new-address-book/

and I just edited the post slug so the new file name is …/thunderbird-adding-new-address-book/

So, even if you click on the old name, the post will automatically be redirected to the new name.

It doesn’t seem to be included in the list of changes for WordPress 2.1, but I found an article from the author of the original plug-in.

Note: this option does not appear to work with changes to actual permalink structure (Admin>Options>Permalinks). It would be a great idea for smaller sites, but if the site is large, and hundreds of links have to be redirected, I think it would put a strain on the server, wouldn’t it?

New Website for Expression Engine

April 21, 2007 by debbie T | Expression Engine

I was slightly behind on my web site software updates & site news for WordPress, TextPattern, and Expression Engine, so this weekend, I decided to catch up a bit.

Much to my surprise, when I checked the web site for pmachine.com, I was redirected to a brand new site called EllisLab.

pMachine is now EllisLab!!!

Along with the new Ellis Lab web site, three related web sites were also launched:

Additional related web posts:

Expression Engine Version 1.5 Released

September 10, 2006 by debbie T | Expression Engine

I just (painlessly) updated to Expression Engine 1.5. Looks good so far, but I haven’t really had a chance to check out all the new additions and changes. Most prominently, they added a Simple Commerce module. Pretty nifty!

Related Web URLs

Lullabot Drupal Podcasts

July 19, 2006 by debbie T | Content Management • Podcasting

Drupal has always been very intimidating to me, but I have heard many raves, so I always felt like I was missing out on something.

I don’t know why I haven’t heard about the Lullabot Drupal podcasts, since they were first available in January, but I am now subscribed to both their audio and video podcasts.

TechCheatSheets.com

July 16, 2006 by debbie T | CSS • Internet • Web Development • WordPress • XHTML

I love cheat sheets! Found a great resource at Tech Cheat Sheets.

Besides various cheatsheets for php, css, and html, you can also find WordPress Themes and Microformats cheatsheets.

I just used their easy submit form to send the URL for the Expression Engine Quick Reference cheat sheet.

The WordPress Podcast

July 15, 2006 by debbie T | Podcasting • WordPress

Besides the newly released WordPress Visual QuickStart Guide book by Maria Langer and Miraz Jordan, I was happy to hear about a new WordPress Podcast as well.

WordPress is really an awesome blogging, CMS and I can’t wait to learn more complex features. I guess I consider myself an intermediate user, but there is so much more to learn. I ordered the Wordpress book from bookpool.com and it should be here on Tuesday.

Subscribe to Comments in a Wordpress Blog

June 12, 2006 by debbie T | WordPress

If you are using Wordpress as your blogging or CMS software, then you might allow your visitors to post comments. Comments are an effective way to receive feedback from your visitors. The downside is unless your visitors regularly check back to the article, they will not be notified of any subsequent comments, along with your personal response to their comment.

This is where the Wordpress Subscribe to Comments plugin can help. When a visitor posts a comment, they just put a check in the box to “nofify” and they will receive all future comments posted.

The plugin is easy to install.

I have been using this plugin (back when it was first programmed by ScrippyGoddess) and it has always worked very well. I think it is a great way to promote communication using the Wordpress comment system!

And don’t forget to use Akismet to help control your comment spam!

Cron Jobs & Backing Up Database Data

June 7, 2006 by debbie T | Content Management • Linux Corner • Web Development

I have been backing up my mySQL databases manually through phpMyAdmin, and although it is an simple, straightforward way to backup, I really wanted to find a more reliable, automated backup system for my database data.

After a remind on an email list, I decided to learn a little more about Cron Jobs. First I googled “cron job backup database” and found an interesting script for backing up Wordpress.

Wordpress backup with Cron

From that page, I also found a more robust MySQL backup script:

AutoMySQLBackup from SourceForge.net

I read the basic instructions, then downloaded the .sh file. I thought the file was fairly easy to configure; make sure to scroll down the page for detailed instructions.

It looked like a simple enough process, but I did have a little trouble. My Notes:

This looks like a really useful script, and it will make my backups so much simpler and less time consuming!

Update: This morning, I received an email letting me know that the 3AM backup was successful; I checked the backup folder on my hosting account, and found a backup file for Thursday.

Updated My Wordpress Theme

May 30, 2006 by debbie T | WordPress

When I initially started Splash of Style, Wordpress only utilized one template - the index.php file. When Wordpress 1.5 was released, a new template theme system was offered, which gave Wordpress so much more versatility.

When I upgraded the site to version 1.5, I kept using one template file; I was still fairly new to Wordpress, and I didn’t want to mess up the site.

Since I now have a lot more experience with Wordpress themes, today I decided to be brave and convert the site over to the new theme system. It was a little messy at first, with a few php errors, and missing images. But eventually, it came together. I even experimented a little with a custom search page.

If anyone notices anything funky or out of sorts, PLEASE contact me. I tried to look at every possible scenario on the site, but I am sure there is something I missed.

Wordpress Akismet Spam Control

May 18, 2006 by debbie T | WordPress

My blog is not the most popular web site by any means, but I still get my share of comment spam. Fortunately, I don’t have to deal with tedious chore of manually deleting any unwanted comments, I leave that to the handy dandy Akismet plugin.

I have been using Akismet for many months, and it is effortless. There is nothing to do but…

Simple but very capable. I don’t think there is a more effective comment spam blocker for Wordpress or for that matter, any other blogging CMS software.