cdcstudios.com | portfolio v8.1

So noticing that Matt Mullenweg blogged that there was a release candidate for WordPress 2.5 up I decided to try an upgrade to see what the fuss was all about.

From the official WordPress blog:

A customizable dashboard, multi-file upload, built-in galleries, one-click plugin upgrades, tag management, built-in Gravatars, full text feeds, and faster load times sound interesting? Then WordPress 2.5 might be the release for you. It's been in the oven for a while, and we're finally ready to open the doors a bit to give you a taste.

Pretty big list, but how easy the upgrade? Easy as ever. I did a quick backup at lunch (while sitting in the Roxy no less) including a database backup then deleted the site. Next I opened up Transmit (thanks to Verso for introducing that tasty little app to me). and uploaded the shiny new WordPress 2.5 and then ran the upgrader. It finished in record time (about 5 seconds less than the last upgrade script I did) which was my first nice reaction. Logging in and seeing the new dashboard was fantastic. Nice neatly divided boxes compartmentalizing each different section. Seeing the stats graph integrated into the dashboard is a masterful idea. The only real wish I had is that they were rearrangeable using AJAX and some css (might be a nice plugin if I can find the time before someone else beats me to it. Speaking of plugins I did finally have to stop using Tiger admin plugin I’ve been using for a couple years. I will definitely miss having the navigation bar on the side instead of the top. Also a nice new feature to play with is the fullscreen editing mode. No other distractions on the page. Just a big huge word fillable area.

So after testing all the rest of my plugins I didn’t see any other problems. I did notice that Gravatar’s had an upgrade notice on the plugins page. I clicked the upgrade now link and after quickly typing in my server info it upgraded perfectly. Ironically I just noticed that I no longer need that plugin since the functionality has been written into the core code. Excellent!

Next up is an attempt at using the new media manager and gallery tool (now added to the neatly upgraded TinyMCE toolbar in the write window). I’m using some old artwork as well as an unused rough draft of the redesign of this site since it was handy.

Pretty easy to add. Select the files you want, click upload and then using some nice ajaxy goodness you can edit the description of each photo and alter the title.

All in all this is an amazing upgrade and quite a nice bit of work both under the hood and on the front. It’s nice that so much from the old “shuttle” concept has finally made it into the code. Looking forward to continuing to experiment with the theme design as well as figuring out what other surprises I might find as I explore the tasty goodness of wordpress’ php.

So I’ve hit a point where I’m happy with the background for the site. It’s about as close to what was in my head as I could get given the amount of spare design time I’m allowed at home (word to the wise: babies (especially those that can walk/run/climb) do not let daddies work on their computers).

I’ve still got a bunch more work to do (cleaning up the widgets, tweaking here and there, bringing the iphone theme to be more in line with the main theme (based upon n-design studio’s excellent iTheme) and putting the big ass links list I had back up. I’d thought there was a plugin to help manage large link lists but I seem to have lost the link (alliteration much?). Anyhow enjoy the new site and now that I can more easily update the themes I cando things like release more plugins and new wallpapers.
In other news, just a few days till Ignite Portland hits and I’m quite excited to hear all of the presenters, plus hopefully meet more awesome folks to talk tech with.

In totally unrelated news I’m currently turning into an Obama fan, partially because the cynical part of me is intrigued and partially because Randall Munroe of xkcd fame is endorsing him and Randall is the awesome.

Now I’m off to enjoy my xbox 360 and play some Burnout :)

Taking the site offline this week to upgrade to wordpress 2.1 as well as to migrate over to my new server space :D Happy day!

So I posted recently about how I’d been burning the midnight oil (and much of the midday, morning and afternoon as well).

Well after an extraordinarily long bit of coding, writing xhtml and burrowing about in css I’ve completed everything leading up to the open beta portion of testing. (Only about an hour over my midnight deadline, yay me!).

Anyhow if you’re familiar with wordpress then dreamflicks will be a piece of cake. If you’re not familiar with wordpress then head on over to Dreamflicks.com and sign up for an account and enjoy a clean, standards compliant blogging platform. On a nifty note unlike some of the other free blogging platforms out there with dreamflicks you can actually earn yourself a bit of money via the easy to configure google adsense widget I’ve installed.

All in all I really enjoyed working on a project for myself that in turn will be fun for everyone who wants to use it.

Enjoy it

Signup here

So I’ve been burning the midnight candle oil at both ends or some other pithy statement. The goal is for a Dec 1st launch of a project I’ve been preparing in deep secrecy (not really) for the last few months. I’ve always loved blogging (although I do hate the word) and also have a deep abiding love for film, be it silent films, noir or even the glories of martial art explosive extravaganzas. With that in mind I’ve decided to launch dreamflicks.com

Dreamflicks.com will be using the WPMU (WordPress Multi-User) framework and while I’m still accepting beta testers the main site and full functionality isn’t enabled yet.
If you’d like to test the site out and get an early start on a blog feel free to ask me. Other wise follow the link below and then signup for the launch notification.

Dreamflicks.com blogs for movie lovers

So Zoe had been getting frustrated with the inability to use plugins on wordpress.com and asked me to set her up a blog here locally. We went through 20 or 30 themes before finding a few she liked. Finding something with the right mixture of clean layout and good color scheme is far easier to figure out with a client then it is with a significant other. Clients occasionally will trust the opinion of the expert. Significant other’s though, want it their way or there will be difficulties.

Anyways I digress. Using the huge number of themes auto installed by Dreamhost‘s One-click Install as a starting point we scoured a few WordPress theme sites until we could decide on the right style.

I’d taken the liberty of making up a new banner for her myspace profile that was a much smaller version of what we wanted for the header image and also underscored our relocation to the greener side of the mountains. This is a much happier place for us both even with the cold and rain Portland’s had the last week and I think the new look shows it:

Once that was finished it let us pick a theme called ‘Fast-Track‘ then changed enough of it to suit her green fixations as well as make a few adjustments so it plays nice with the plugins she needed. After that I exported her WordPress.com posts/comments etc and popped them into the site automagically created by Dreamhost. Happiness in just under 4 hours.

Here’s the link to check it out:Zoe’s Rants & Randomness

All in all it was a pleasant way to spend the evening. Let us know what you think.

So just like last time I did the reboot, I find that every time I arrive at a “final” idea for the graphics I swiftly change over to something else. I suppose second guessing myself in an ever spiraling and timewasting distraction. Just like the last time though I assume when I have 3-4 days left I’ll go into a nightmarish frenzy of css, php and html coding before finishing everything up with 5-7 hours left before midnight.
It’s funny how when I’m working for clients other than myself I have no issue with completeing deadlines weeks in advance, everything flowing smoothly and surely towards the inevitable moment I cry eureka and am finished. When working for myself I can’t help but get frustrated by my own pickiness as a developer, designer and as is often said; I’m my own worst critic.

I’d post up a few of the elements that are mostly finalized but instead I’ll just dual purposely post a quick list of things I’m going to be adding to the redesign (partially to force me to do them and partially to help me remember them as I code):

• Lightbox the design page
• Single story on the front page everything else in the blog section
• Convert the sidebar blogroll into a Digg feed
• Feedburner the rss feeds
• Clean the snot out of the unweildy mess the CSS has become in the year and a half since I launched this look.
• Prepare the forthcoming soon to launch “sales section” where you’ll be able to purchase photoshop brushes, icons and whatever other sexy graphical goodies I’ve made or will make in the future.

Not altogether the most verbose difficult to imagine list that should be a snap to complete in two weeks. Will it happen? I’ll give it a definitive Yup! for now, but perhaps I’ll be singing a painfully different tune come October 31st.