January 2007 Archive

Redoable 1.1 is here!

Redoable 1.2 has just been released. Head to the Redoable homepage to find out whats new and to make sure you download the latest copy. enjoy.

Drum roll please Mr. Music, Redoable 1.1 is here! Ok, there a few reasons why it was delayed longer than first anticipated. The main reason was that I decided to hold off until WordPress 2.1 had been released so that I could make sure that it was compatible. In the last week I’ve spent a fair amount of time checking that everything works ok in both 2.0.x and 2.1. If you come across anything that you think isn’t working correclty just let me know.

The other major reasons were the number of bug fixes and new features that have been included in this release. Some of the new features include Livesearch now works, choice of two different single post layouts, and a preview of the dynamic style feature which allows you to change between dark and light colour schemes from the admin area.

On top of the extra features, support has also been added for several new plugins. More details about the features of Redoable 1.1 are included below. Also included is some information about upgrading and/or installing Redoable on your blog. If you’re ready to go you can download Redoable 1.1 now.

Download Redoable 1.1 Now!
Downloaded 11693 times

Redoable 1.2 has just been released. Head to the Redoable homepage to find out whats new and to make sure you download the latest copy. enjoy.

For further details about Redoable visit the Redoable homepage

Keep reading for further details of the new features, bug fixes and plugin support that have been included in Redoable 1.1.

» Continue reading “Redoable 1.1 is here!”

Article 29 Jan 2007 75 comments
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Ultimate Category Cloud 2.0 Released!

No this isn’t a fandangle Web 2.0 thingamy…oh, yeah it is actually. Bring the bloggy goodness of a “coloured and weighted” cloud of your categories. You can add either a ‘weighted’ cloud, ie. the more posts in a category the bigger the text link, or a ‘coloured’ cloud, ie. the more posts the lighter in colour the text link becomes. But thats not all, should you want to you can turn both options on for the full Web 2.0 effect of a weighted and coloured cloud.

UCC has been re-written since version 1 and is now compatible witht the recently released WordPress 2.1. You can see a living example of the ‘coloured’ cloud in action in my sidebar on the right, and an example of the ‘weighted and coloured’ cloud can be found on my Archives page.

For further details and installation instructions visit my Plugins page

Download Ultimate Category Cloud 2.0 Now!
Downloaded 3331 times

Article 29 Jan 2007 8 comments
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Upgrading to WordPress 2.1

Just a note to let you know that I am upgrading to WordPress 2.1 at the moment, so if anything appears messed up, thats probably why…fingers crossed it all goes smooth.

Hooray! Everything went relatively smooth, with the exception of a couple of plugins where the new versions wouldn’t work. Everything seems to be ok, but if you find anything thats seems incorrect just let me know.

You might also notice that I’m now running Redoable 1.1 (ok, yes I’ve been running it for a while, but I’m now running the final version), and it should be available in the next day or two. I will also be releasing version 2.0 of my Ultimate Category Cloud plugin, which has ben re-written to work with WordPress 2.1.

Article 29 Jan 2007 3 comments
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WordPress 2.1 and Redoable

So it’s finally here WordPress 2.1 has been released upon the blogging world. With is come many new features, and enhancments that will hopefully improve the WordPress experience. A few of the new/updated features include, autosaving of posts, new tabbed editor so you can eaisly flip between WYSIWYG and code modes, spell checking, more AJAX bits to reduce the number of page reloads. A full run-down of 2.1 feaures can be found here.

Some of the changes to 2.1 will undoubtably affect existing plugins and themes. Some of the added developer benefits include, a javascript loader which makes it easier for plugins to include rich functionality and tons of new hooks and APIs. So its time to check to make sure all of your favourite plugins are up-to-date, and that they are WordPress 2.1 compatible.

Speaking of compatibilty, thats about the only thing left to do as far as Redoable 1.1 is concerned. I’ve now got the release version of 2.1 running locally, and I will spend the next little while testing Redoable. I’ve already found that the changes to how the Blogrll/links are categorised will require some small changes. There are a few things that I have been unable to fix for this release, mainly because I can’t replicate the problem, making it very hard to solve, but I’ll cover that in the next few days when I release Redoable 1.1.

Article 23 Jan 2007 5 comments
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2007 TeamVodafone Livery Concept

Here is another livery concept that I’ve been working on for a while in my spare time. Finally took the time tonight to finish it off. It’s a concept for TeamVodafone (formerly Team Betta Electrical), who will reveal their actual 2007 Livery at their team launch in Sydney early next week.

2007 TeamVodafone Livery Concept
Image 18 Jan 2007 3 comments
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Habari: next generation blogging

There is a brand new blogging platform thats just starting to poke its head above the horizon. Habari which is the Swahili word for ‘news’, is being built from the ground up by some well known names in the blogosphere. This is how its described on the Habari Google code site:

Habari represents a fresh start to the idea of blogging. The system is fast, easy to use, and easy to modify. New users should have no problem using and enjoying Habari. Advanced users should have no problem tweaking Habari to do exactly what they need it to do.

Habari relies on PHP5 with PHP Data Objects (PDO), and your choice of SQL database (MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite). Habari is strongly object oriented, and implements the full suite of the Atom Publishing Protocol. User-created plugins make Habari do nearly anything imaginable, and a robust theme system permits the use of several popular templating solutions.

The first mention of Habari, at leas the first I saw about it, was by Chris J Davis early in the new year when he announced that his blog was now powered by Habari. They have also set up the beginnings of a wiki as well as a couple of Google groups for those who are keen on being involved in the project in anyway. The source is currently available via svn for those who want to give it whirl, simple installation instructions can be found in the wiki. I setup up a copy on my dev server this afternoon, only took a couple of minutes.

Obviously there is still alot of development to go, but if you think you might have something to offer then have a look at joining the Google groups. Thats what I did, and I hope that I can contribute in some way to the development, even if its just small thing like bug testing etc.

One of the running discussion is regarding a logo for Habari. Several people have put forward there own suggestions, and I just could resist, I had to try something for myself. This is the first thing that came to mind while looking at some of the other suggestions.

Habari logo concept 1

Initially I really liked this idea, but the more I looked at it the more I could see other logos within it. For example, the speech bubbles inside the letter ‘a’, is very much like the old Vodafone logo. And while unintentional, the black and white version of the logo is similar in idea to the WordPress logo. Habari really needs something a little more unique. This was my second shot which I whipped up this afternoon. There are a few variations.

Habari logo concept 2

Trying to move away from the “letter inside a circle”, but still using the letter ‘h’. I also tried to think of some sort of generic icon/logo that could be used instead. The only one that I was really happy with was the ‘asteriks’ which I added a touch of colour too…very Web 2.0…I also played around with a few font faces for logos. This combination was my favourite.

Habari logo concept 3

So maybe you’re tired of your current blogging platformand looking to try something fresh and exciting, or maybe you are just curious, as I was, and want to know more about this exciting new project. Check out the Habari site for more info.

Article 16 Jan 2007 2 comments
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Plugins I use — Part 2

Here are some details on a couple more of the plugins that I use on this blog.

Brian’s Latest Comments

This is a plugin that seems to be inuse in many blogs, and it powers the ‘latest comments’ module on my site. What it does is pretty simple, it outputs a list of posts that have been commented on recently, tells you how many comment in total there on the post and lists the last five people who commented. The commenteres names link to their respective comments. Its a useful little plugin to show vivistors where the recent action might have been since their last visit. You can get it from here.

WP-PostRatings

Want to give readers the ability to tell you what they think of your posts, without them leaving a comment. WP-PostRatings allows readers to rate your posts out of five with this neat plugin. It allows you to add rating stars (other alternatives such as a simple bar are also available in the options) to posts and pages. The ratings are applied using a touch of AJAX so no page reloading is required. You get a log of stats in you admin panel to see an overall view of who’s been rating what. You can get it here.

WP-PostViews

This plugin is also from GaMerZ (who also released WP-PostRatings), and gives you a simple way of tracking how many views each of your posts and pages gets. Its certainly not a replacment for tools such as Google Analytics, but if you just want something to keep track of, and display post/page views then this plugin is a must. You can get it here.

Article 15 Jan 2007 3 comments
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Support forum is online

I’ve just finished setting up some simple support forums for Redoable 1.0 as well as for my two plugins, Rechuked Buttons 1.0 and Ultimate Cloud Category 1.0-beta. So if you have any questions about these be sure to use the new support forums. If you find a bug, let me know. If you want to see an extra feature, let me know. If you’d like you’re favourite plugin to be supported, let me know. I’m open to suggestions, comments, and even constructive criticism.

Goto the Support forums

The Redoable Support Forums are powered by Vanilla 1.0.3, which is a relatively new open source, standards compliant discussion forum. It takes a slightly different approach to the more widely used vBulletin and phpbb forums, but it perfect for a small scale application like my support forums. Well worth a look.

Sidenote 13 Jan 2007
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