Post number 500 to the blog went by without me noticing it, but I feel it’s worth making note of, as I did when I passed four hundred posts back in October of 2014. For the most part, I’ve been able to keep up a weekly post schedule since then, a fact of which I am fairly proud. It’s been a fun journey for me.
(more…)Category: Blog
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New theme
For some time, I’ve been unhappy with the theme I have been using, and started looking for something that does not actively remove focus from the content. This is the result. The theme is called “Alchem”, and I’m very happy with how it looks. In particular, I like how it helps me differentiate between views, as well as the functionality it brings to the table, such as infinite scroll, and related posts.
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WordPress: Set an expiry date on a post
From time to time, you may want to have a post expire at a preset date. Maybe you’re running a campaign, maybe you’ve got a survey going, or maybe you simply know that a specific post will stop to be relevant at a specific date. Whatever the reason, you want it to disappear, at a preset date. But how?
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WordPress: Make a post sticky
As you may have noticed, there has been a sticky post at the top of the page for the last two weeks or so. A reader actually emailed me and asked how I accomplished that. As it turns out, making a post sticky in WordPress is very easy to do.
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Link without improving the link target’s search engine ranking
You’ve done your research, and you are ready to publish an article which leaves the object of the article little or no honor. In order to prove your point, you need to link to a website run by the object of your article. You stop, and feel uneasy, as doing so will improve their search engine ranking.
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Your logical fallacy is…
Perhaps one of the most useful tools for someone who engages in arguments online (I know, I really shouldn’t feed the troll, but it is funny!), your logical fallacy has a list of twenty-four more or less common logical fallacies found in public discourse, with clear, logical and convincing definitions and examples.
This is a great tool for two purposes. One is identifying when others commit them, and may be a good way of pointing it out (though you may want to see that you don’t use it as a suppression technique). The other, to me more useful, purpose, is to use it as a guide to things to avoid, in order to better your own part in public discourse.
Whichever way you choose to use it; enjoy! -
Cookie notification bar
Last week, I wrote about why I now have a cookie notification bar in the top of the blog. What I didn’t tell you was how I did it.
One of the things I really like about WordPress, is the fact that there are a myriad of plugins to do just about anything. So, too with this. In fact, a search at WordPress.org/plugins for “Cookie” returns over four hundred results. Out of all of these, I chose one called UK Cookie Consent. The reason I chose that one, is that I found it unobtrusive and user friendly, while remaining compliant with the current legislation.
When it is installed, the plugin automatically creates a page called Cookie Policy on your WordPress blog. If you, like me, don’t want it displayed in the top bar, you can make it a child page of just about any other page you want. The plugin updates the link to point correctly. You can of course also edit the page, and add information, like the information I have added about external cookies. -
A new outlook on life
Having played with the idea for some time now, I finally decided it was time to switch out my old theme for this one. Though there was nothing wrong with the old theme, per se, I had grown tired of it, and opted to swap to this one. The old theme, NewBlue by Blog Design Studio has served me well since I first started using it. That, however, is almost four years ago, and I wanted the site to look differently.
For now, I will use Twenty Twelve, by the WordPress team. If anyone has any suggestions for a new theme that might suit the site, feel free to drop me a line or two in the comments. -
Don’t break the chain, part 2
Back in September, I wrote about a post at one of the blogs I follow, which extolled the virtues of just doing whatever it is you want to get better at, and keep doing. I also recommended an app called “Don’t break the chain!”, which I had been using for a while. This follow-up comes because I have actually stopped using that app, and replaced it with another…
I had been less than happy with two aspects of “Don’t break the chain!”; first, I felt the feedback it offered was not enough, and didn’t really help encourage me at all. Secondly, I felt I lacked a possibility to track more than one task. In comes Lift.do. Coupled with a website of the same name, Lift.do offers a community of users, and allows you to track as many tasks as you wish. The interface is simple and intuitive, and works very well. In addition, there are no ads.
There you have it; a simple way to keep motivated, along with a community to help. -
Don’t break the chain!
For anyone who has been following this blog since I started it, it should come as no surprise to learn that I have had long periods of not posting. I was simply not motivated to write, and even though I kept jotting down ideas for posts, they just never made it onto the blog. That all changed in the end of May, when one of the Norwegian tech blogs I follow posted an entry called “Bare skriv!” or “Just write!” in English. It tells the story about Brad Isaacs, who met Jerry Seinfeld, and asked him to give a pointer or two to a young, struggling comedian.
According to the story, Jerry Seinfeld responded that, in order to become a better comedian, you need to write better jokes. In order to write better jokes, you need to write every day. He then told Isaacs about a method he used to motivate himself. He would get a big wall calendar that had the whole year on it, and for every day that he wrote, he got to mark the day with a big red X.
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