New Host, New Look, Fresh Install

I’ve spent quite a bit of time trying to move this site over to a new host and have finally done it. Although, it’s missing things like some comments and doesn’t display the correct amount of comments either.

The reason I had so many troubles is that the database had duplicate stuff in it, somehow. So when I tried to import to a new database, it would display an error. Eventually I was able to use the import feature in WordPress, but still leaving out quite a bit because it would time out.

Since I do not want a lot of downtime, I’m just going to be happy that the site is live on the new host and with a new look, only because I had problems getting the old one to work correctly with the features that were enabled on it. I’m running less plugins now. I could have spent time fixing the old one, but I don’t have the time!

Anyway, I apologize for the lack of posting I’ve been doing, and promise to start posting some more content on here.

If you find anything that looks odd or isn’t working, please let me know. I kind of just threw everything up in a hurry and still have a few things to change.

For those of you who are still subscribed after all this time, thank you!

A Minimalist Look for Soft Tech Reviews

For a long time, I have wanted a more clean and simple look that loads fast. Although I have cable internet access, websites sometimes still load slowly for me. Part of that has to do with plugins and graphics, the web host and sometimes just the connection. Not everyone that visits this site has broadband. I wanted to make it faster to view the site for the people who are still stuck on dialup. (I can only imagine what browsing the internet is like for them today.)

I used Corporate Sandbox as a base, which is based on Sandbox. I also used some elements from the new Twitter design. I even used a couple features from Fresh News. The feed icons come from DryIcons.

For the most part, it’s done. I may have a few things to correct. Let me know if you see anything broken.

Off the topic, I apologize for the lack of posts recently. I have been so busy with work.

BuySellAds and Free Advertising for RSS Subscribers

I had found out about BuySellAds through one blog and was curious so I checked them out. BuySellAds allows you to buy or sell ads, obviously. What I like is that advertisers can purchase an ad through them and then it will appear, just like how it works with Text Link Ads, except that BuySellAds use images, which you can select what size you want them to be.

It was a little harder with customizing to get it to work right, but I managed. It was one of those ‘It works in Firefox, but not IE7′ issues. Took me a couple hours to finally get it just right (at least in IE7 and Firefox). I’ll leave it up to anyone using other browsers to point out if anything looks wrong. Just a small note: it isn’t BuySellAds’ code that caused the problem, it was some CSS not working right with the layout in IE7.

I do like how they don’t just show your Google Page Rank or Alexa Rank; they show more information, such as Yahoo Inbound Links, Technorati Rank and more. This allows people who have lost their Google Page Rank to at least appear popular in other areas (assuming they actually are).

I added two spots on the side which both currently say “Advertise Here”. If you click on one, it will take you right to the page to purchase an ad. I hope they will fill up.

Also, I am currently offering free advertising to one random RSS subscriber. Just pay attention to the bottom of each post in your reader and one will mention free advertising with a code. Just follow all instructions if you’re interested. Good luck!

Theme/Blog Update

I decided to move away from the magazine layout and go back to the blog layout. I also decided to choose a different theme for this and I like it. I still like the old one, just wanted something new and different to go along with the new WordPress.

I’m still making sure there are no errors and changing things here and there, but you shouldn’t notice too much. I think the blog also loads faster than it did before.

I apologize for the lack of posts, but I’ve been really busy with work and it’s hard to make time to come up with new content to write about when most of the time I’m learning new things for work. I will not give up on this blog. Subscribe to the feed if you want to be notified when I write a new post, which shouldn’t be too long from now.

If you have any suggestions or comments, please let me know by leaving a comment.

WordPress 2.5

I just upgraded to WordPress 2.5 and it went smoothly. There weren’t any problems and all of the plugins appear to work fine.

I’ve seen some of what WordPress 2.5 would look like before trying it out. It looks so much better; it’s clean and easy on the eyes. Some may not agree with me when I say that this version is a little easier to use than previous ones. It just seems like I can login and find what I need to find right away, whether it’s writing a new post, viewing spam comments or changing the settings.

There are some newer features with this version. The most changed is probably the Dashboard. When first logging in, the Dashboard displays useful information such as new comments and incoming links.

I like that the more useful information is at the top and the WordPress Development Blog and Other WordPress News are at the bottom. If I wanted, I could also change those two to display other RSS feeds.

I also like how the Manage Posts screen looks now. It is much easier to read. I like the font size used, doesn’t feel like I’m looking at something for the blind, although I do have poor eyesight.

I don’t like that all of the options that were off to the side in the Write Post screen were moved to the bottom of the page. Why should I scroll when it would be faster to change options on the right side of the post? I think those options would be better where they were in previous versions.

Overall though, I like WordPress 2.5. Anyone else have something you don’t like about WordPress 2.5?

Read more about the WordPress 2.5 features at the WordPress Development Blog.