Working at Home on the Internet » Reviews

Insert Images Doesn’t Work in WordPress 2.8.4

Joe Hauckes — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 11:02:15 +0000

Have you updated your WordPress to version 2.8.4 yet?

Don’t!

I upgraded my MCBS Consulting blog to the newest version and it seems to be causing problems with any placement of Pictures in posts. With version 2.8.3 & prior, if I inserted an image to align left, it would align left along side the text. Same thing if I put in on the right. No problems.

It is also causing problems with Incoming Links. The error mentions a bad call from SimplePie. Since I am using that to call the recent posts with excerpts, it may not be a problem for others. Especially if you are not using the Simple Pie plugin.

However, the Insert Images is a big problem, not only for me, but anyone who likes to use Pictures to enhance a post to add a little visual something for their readers.

I don’t plan on Upgrading any of my other Blogs until either I or they figure out what the problem is with Version 2.8.4

How about you? Have you run into this problem with the Upgrade? Do you have any fixes?

If I come across anything regarding the problem, rest assured, I will let you know. FYI, this Blog is still on 2.8.3, so Insert Images still works here.

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Do You Get “Bright Light Syndrome” from Your Computer Screen?

Joe Hauckes — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:14:49 +0000

If you’re like me, you work long hours on your computer. More often than not, the work could very well take you into the wee hours of the night.

That’s when you notice how Bright your computer screen can be, especially if you are working outside on the patio or deck with almost no outside lights on. Hurts your eyes and when you turn your head away from the screen, you can’t see a thing.

I came across something called F.lux the other day that will automatically Dim the monitor at dusk to alleviate the ‘Bright Light Syndrome” that almost killed Gizmo. It also Brightens your screen to full settings at dawn (not that you get up THAT early) without touching anything. There is also a nifty little click box in case you have some color sensitive work to do at night.

It’s Free, simple to download and install on Windows or Linux (sorry MAC users). Just set it and forget it.

I downloaded it last week and really find that it helps with eye irritation due to staring at a bright screen at night. How about you? Have you tried it yet? Does it help save your night vision?

Update: There is a MAC version now, it must be a pretty useful tool!

Source: Techie Buzz

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Tried IE8 – Too Many Blanks for Me

Joe Hauckes — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 19:29:03 +0000

I took a poll last week for opinions about Google’s Chrome browser. The results were split, 2 really liked it, one hated it and the last one said they would just rather stay with their current browser. Frankly, even though I didn’t vote in the poll, I agreed that I tried it and didn’t like it much either, too many things that didn’t work the way I like.

That being said, I thought I would try the newest browser version of Internet Explorer. IE8.

Internet Explorer 8 IS a lot faster than IE7. Comparable to the Google Chrome in speed. BUT…

Even though it does most of the things I do like with IE7 (like support previous RSS subscriptions) it also has a major drawback in my opinion. It doesn’t show captions.

When you are browsing a site that has, lets say, a picture that has a caption when you do a hover (when you put the cursor over the pic) you get an enlarged Blank Box. What good is that?

Another problem within the same vein is that if you click on a Drawdown Menu, such as the one I have on all by blogs for Archives and Categories or lists of any type on other sites, you also get a Big Blank Box. Also a problem.

Needless to say, I am Not a Happy Camper. I really have liked IE in all the iterations, until now. There are too many blanks for me for it to be usable. So, IE8 has been UNinstalled and I am back to using IE7. (And for all you FireFox pundits, I don’t like the way it renders MOST pages I visit, so I don’t use it either except for testing purposes.)

No poll, but I would like to hear your opinions on IE8, Chrome or any other Browser that works for you.

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What Every Business Should Work Towards… A Satisfied Customer

Joe Hauckes — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 11:40:17 +0000

This is Coolest, Bestest, Most Greatest thing Any Business (Home Based or otherwise) can get from a Client!

An Unsolicited and Very Thoughtful Thank You from a Satisfied Client…

Joe, I want to thank you for such a terrific an professional way that you handled my web site problems. You are a pleasure to work with and I will certainly use your expertise again. Deb Bixler/www.DebBixler.com

Would You Like to Add Your Testimonial About MCBS?

Talk about a very pleasant surprise in my e-mail yesterday morning. This is Why I Do What I Do. Help people with their problems and work with them until they are satisfied that their Blog/Website/Computer is working the way they want and need it to perform. And now this… Ever hear the proverb “Have your Cake and Eat it Too“.

That’s about how I feel at this point. Happy that I did a job I was satisfied with and well enough for a Client like Deb to take the time and effort and go out of her way to do something like this for me and my business on her own.

TOO COOL!

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A Short Story on Professionalism

Joe Hauckes — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 11:10:32 +0000

A Short Story

I tried a new plugin, Better Comments Manager by Keith Dsouza and I couldn’t get it to work. At ALL… on either this Blog or on My Computer Back in Service.

So, I checked to make sure that the file was downloaded properly and unzipped correctly. I created a new folder on the server and Re-Uploaded all the files that were included in the original download.

It still wouldn’t work for me. It seems to work for most others, if comments on his post are any indication. There were some exceptions of course, but only a couple.

I’m not sure why, maybe it was intuition, but I logged into one of the Blogs using FireFox and tried it again. It worked with no problems. So, I tried it on this Blog using FireFox and it worked perfectly. But it still wouldn’t work when I used Internet Explorer.

I have written before about how things work differently on various Browsers and the importance of CrossChecking. It seems that Plugins are no different in dealing with different browsers.

The Solution

I sent an eMail off to Keith to let him know about the problems I was having using IE7 and explained politely that there are a lot of IE users out there and that they may not be able to use his plugin as well. Therefore, he was probably not reaching a big portion of his intended end users.

Within 2 days I got a return eMail from Keith with a link to a new download that contained all the necessary fixes. I am quite sure he didn’t write the fix just for me, but it does show how professional he is when it comes to his work. He made sure that something he wrote, that has his name on it, performs at or above the expectations of the end user.

Epilogue

Better Comments Manager works as promised.

Responding to comments individually or en mass is simplified through the Admin Page of your WordPress Blog (In IE And FF).

I would highly recommend it to anyone who has any comments to answer, especially if you have numerous comments on a particular post. There is a feature included that will show you ALL the comments on a post so you can respond accordingly.

Keith is just starting to write some plugins for WordPress after changing over from the Joomla platform. (He wrote quite a few add-ons for them too).

If he shows as much dedication to his projects in the future as he has for BCM, then you can be assured that his plugins, or anything else he shares, will work as promised.

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