Author: mccormicky

Make your Twitter badge validate

If there is anything I hate more than unreturned emails it’s doodads that make my pages fail validation.3rd on my list are people who breathe audibly and 4th are people who eat audibly. Once I fell asleep while 2 of my pals were eating pizza and their chomping and slurping noises made me sick to my stomach…while I was sleeping!

Less is more

I am trying to rely less on plugins. After the recent upgrade and ensuing bruhaha over beloved plugins that didn’t work with 2.5, I am loathe to add new ones to my “have to have” list if I can help it. Many times a plugin is a labor of love and the author will work hard on getting it to work with the latest version of WordPress.

But the plugins that kinda sorta worked but that you loved probably won’t be.Then there are the plugins that haven’t worked since version 2.2.1. There are folks stuck on an old version of WordPress because they can’t bear to give up one little plugin (which was probably remade better by someone else,anyway).

It’s just a plugin

These folks are missing the point,I think. Plugins are meant to enhance your blog or site–not be the focus of it. If you are not upgrading because of a plugin or two of course that is your choice.But if you look around you’ll find a replacement. I researched a list of plugins I need for a client’s site and and found their WP 2.5 compatible doppelgangers,no sweat. If only that client would return my emails and give me the go ahead I can upgrade his site from 2.1., I’d be happier.

Old school

So I chose to use the html & javascript badge instead from Twitter. Only thing is, it has an “unfinished” <ul></ul> in the block of code and no ampersand in the javascript url. That amounts to 4 errors but it’s easy enough to fix.
I just mixed the block of code up until it validated and worked (kind of important,no?).
And anyway if you are using this in a text widget you don’t need the <h2 class=”twitter-title”>
so snip that right out and use the title space in the text widget instead.
*edited because the ampersand got parsed,duh*

The Twitter Badge

<div id=”twitter_div”>
<h2 class=”twitter-title”> Twitter Updates </h2>
<ul id=”twitter_update_list” </ul> </div>
<script type=”text/javascript” src=”http://twitter.com/javascripts/blogger.js”></script>
<script type=”text/javascript” src=”http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/ »»
MY_TWITTER.json?callback=twitterCallback2&count=5″></script></div>

Url was too long, »» shows the line break.

This is one culprit:
<ul id=”twitter_update_list” </ul> </div>
I added an empty set of li tags: <li></li> and put them inside the ul tags.
This is the other culprit. I added an ampersand:
MY_TWITTER.json?callback=twitterCallback2&count=5

A Twitter Badge that validates

<div id=”twitter_div”>
<ul id=”twitter_update_list”> <li></li> </ul> </div>
<script type=”text/javascript” src=”http://twitter.com/javascripts/blogger.js”></script>
<script type=”text/javascript” src=”http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/ »»
MY_TWITTER.json?callback=twitterCallback2&count=5″></script></div>

MY_TWITTER should be replaced with your Twitter username.

I don’t use Twitter enough to put a badge in my sidebar, I edited the block to be valid for my friend’s site.

WordPress 2.5 gallery needs work.

First let me say that I’m not knocking WordPress.
Here are some failings of the new gallery for WordPress 2.5.
The new function is terrific but it needs some work.
This is what I have found so far.

Style tags are inserted by the gallery shortcode into the post or page itself.This is very much not allowed, pages and posts with gallery shortcode will not validate because of this.
Clicking on archives in the sidebar or where ever you put your archives will show the gallery css as the excerpt of the post with a gallery in it, as well as the captions for each image.
The detailed list html is incorrectly nested in the post or page, post or page fails validation.
Alt text only gets inserted on single images.the gallery shortcode skips this, page/post fails validation.

Viewing source reveals this hidden comment:
See gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php.
Are we to check this file out so that we can see if we re-code ourselves? Fat chance!
Good news, there is a plugin to fix this.
Check the forums for updates on this issue and the plugin.

An idea to sell my thrift store finds online

I have always been a great thrift store shopper.
I don’t mind dust, mold and the odd smell of old clothes at all if it means turning up a Glidden bowl for a dollar. (I’ve researched online and this bowl circa maybe 1950 is worth around 36 to 55 dollars.)

I’m very lucky to have so close to me an “open air” thrift store. Open air because they sell directly out of the back of a moving van and on a piece of sidewalk. A chain link fence serves as a makeshift clothing rack.

If one wanted to spend much time musing over the morbid details of how they might have acquired these goods (I think it is when an old dear dies) it might spoil it. Especially the bags of clothes… ignominiously jumbled together in 40 gallon black trash bags. But that is how I found a genuine Pashmina. I thought seriously of the person that owned it and what became of them and it wasn’t with a light heart that I added it to my collection. But it was of obvious quality and I had to nab it.

My love of ceramics began when I was about 11 and tried to learn how to throw pots on a potting wheel. We had a real live potter staying with us and she gave lessons to a bunch of neighborhood kids for free. But there was limited clay and time and only one wheel and the endeavor was too short lived to make me a child prodigy in the art of pottery making.

I began to collect vases in my 20’s all of which eventually got broken; the saddest breakage case was an large, baby blue Abingdon vase. Until my junk guys showed up last year I hadn’t been able to find a decent stick of pottery at a decent price for ages. So my collection stagnated at just a few bowls and odds and ends.

Shows like Antique Roadshow and Cash in the Attic make everyone know the value of what they’ve got and it’s impossible to nab a real find in actual thrift stores which is why I love my neighborhood junk guys. I think they do know what they’ve got but their boss has already overseen the initial haul and what ends up in Brooklyn in the back of a truck has been deemed second rate-not quite worthy of antique dealers.So it’s no skin off their noses to let me have gem after gem for a fraction of what they’re really worth.

Because they haven’t got walls, open air means weather permitting, this past week is the 1st time I’ve seen them in months. It might be a blessing that they hide out all winter otherwise I would have an overflowing collection on every table and counter in my house. One can only indulge in collecting for so long before one has to start thinking about storage.
My idea to sell my finds online solves this problem, if folks want to buy them of course.
But you never know until you try.
JunkShop@mccormicky.yawn coming soon!

How to use the gallery in WP 2.5

2 posts ago I sort of skimmed this topic and while I got just one response I figured my post was vague enough for a do over.

That post wasn’t intended to be a How-To post but more of a heads up. I had not found any reasonable documentation of how to use image.php,myself. Matt Mullenweg showed us how to use the uploader but didn’t mention image.php. But I did find out that it is very easy to use. Easy is your good friend.
So if you are confused about how it works and what the heck image.php does and how it all comes together to show a gallery similar to Matt’s. I think I can help some people and confuse a few others. Just kidding.
Just a tidbit: image.php is like attachment.php.More on that later.

Caveat:Matt’s main photo page has fancy pagination- a whole other deal- and not a weapon in my arsenal, sorry.***It’s Gallery2***

My how-to will deal with image.php and how it acts to display the gallery.
Continue reading How to use the gallery in WP 2.5