Since it's National Novel Writing Month, I'm going to bring you daily doses of writerly fun every day this month. First up: sources of inspiration. Today, it's The Prompt Machine. "A wants B, but can’t have it because of C." I have my main plot pretty well sorted out (for now), … [Read more...] about The Prompt Machine
Beginning WordPress 3 available for Nook
Beginning WordPress 3 is now available in Nook format. Enjoy! … [Read more...] about Beginning WordPress 3 available for Nook
Open letter to Apple on changing the rotation lock to a mute switch
Dear Apple, I was horrified to read this morning that the upcoming OS update for the iPad will change the rotation lock to a (partial) mute switch. This is a TERRIBLE change. I bought the iPad to use primarily as a versatile ebook reader, and I use the rotation lock every single … [Read more...] about Open letter to Apple on changing the rotation lock to a mute switch
Food for remodeling
After six years of griping about our kitchen cabinets and countertops, we're finally replacing them. The kitchen has gone through this progression over the last couple of weeks: … [Read more...] about Food for remodeling
Beginning WordPress 3 for Kindle; upcoming events
Beginning WordPress 3 is now available in Kindle format! And it's 56% off at the moment. Enjoy! And thanks for your patience. Apress has had a PDF ebook available since the book was published in late June, but since it was available only through their site, it was somewhat hard … [Read more...] about Beginning WordPress 3 for Kindle; upcoming events
WordPress Hidden Gems: Places to Get Help
You probably know about the support forum at wordpress.org. It's the first place to go when you need to find an answer to a question or to see if other people are experiencing the same weird problem you've encountered. Of course, there's also the Codex, and, as of 3.0, the Help … [Read more...] about WordPress Hidden Gems: Places to Get Help
WordPress Hidden Gems: Debug Mode
If you accidentally introduce a syntax or fatal error in one of your template files, you’ll probably see the dreaded white screen of death when you visit your home page. In some cases, even the admin screens will go blank. The best way to figure out what happened is to check your … [Read more...] about WordPress Hidden Gems: Debug Mode
WordPress Hidden Gems: Child Themes
Child themes are modifications of other themes. They have their own directories and you upload them just like a separate theme, but they depend on their parent themes, and they won’t work if the parent is not installed. All your modifications to the original theme will take place … [Read more...] about WordPress Hidden Gems: Child Themes
WordPress Hidden Gems: JavaScript Libraries
WordPress includes a number of JavaScript libraries because it uses those libraries in the administration screens. They’re available for you to use in your themes and plugins as well. The libraries include jQuery, Prototype, Scriptaculous, and SWFUpload. See the wp_enqueue_script … [Read more...] about WordPress Hidden Gems: JavaScript Libraries
WordPress Hidden Gems: Hiding wp-config.php
Your configuration file contains your database username and password, so it’s important to keep this file secure. If you are installing WordPress in your web root directory (such as public_html), you can move your wp-config.php file to the parent directory -- one that isn’t … [Read more...] about WordPress Hidden Gems: Hiding wp-config.php
