I’ve done some work on this weblog, as well in my Photo Log.
In this weblog, I’ve done some coding so that when I write a post, fully typed out links are autolinked as hyperlinks to open in new windows, and the same for anyone who posts a comment — just type out from http through to the end, with no text touching either side of the URL, and post. The system will hyperlink it for you! Nice.
This solves the problem of “knowing how to hyperlink” for those that don’t, as well as saving typing for me, and for those that do know how to encode properly. Also it solves the pop-up window problem of links opening in that little window, instead of it’s own new window. Most links that are in posts here, or in comments, would be off-site links, not always would someone want to gravitate away from this site when clicking on a link here, so this is the default behavior (overridable by some browsers)
On my Photo Log I’ve changed the previous and next behaviour on the indiviual archive pages. You can find them via the main page — by clicking on any thumbnail image you’ll go to it’s individual page … on that page then you’ll find the previous and next navigation at the top of the page, with images and the title of that images post underneath for each. Navigation is by date entered on the site.
In the future I can also code for previous/next in category … but I’m not doing that yet.
I’m toying with how to overhaul the Photo Log. I’m certain I want to, but certainly uncertain about how to go about it, at this time 🙂
I have pictures to load up to it, but I’m just not getting to it. I hope to get to it soon. I have pictures to scan, and other to get ready for the web. We just got a new battery system tonight, for the digital camera, so hopefully that will enable me to use that device better. I do have three photos of Victoria on Christmas Day, as we were about to leave for the theatre to see Peter Pan. She’s in a red dress and her “new” coat. Cute. They’ll be the first new ones I’ll load, tomorrow maybe.
4 responses to “Changes on Weblog and Photo Log”
Oh you’re awesome!!! Those photos are the spittin’ image of our rooster!! He’s such a silly little thing! What a personality!! I always thought chickens were just senseless animals but they really are quite entertaining!! BTW…how does your photo log work? I’d really like to start one. Is it a separate program or did you just type it up yourself??
Rebekah, your welcome about your rooster pics. Handsome guy, I knew I’d seen him elsewhere online when I saw that picture. 🙂
I don’t know enough about chickens, and as folks who’ve been doing chicken stuff for 20 years or more say “There’s something new to learn about them everyday”. Amen.
Chickens are full of personality, spunk and smarts. Except, for instance, White Leghorns. As I’ve called them egg laying machines. And nasty little things … a good phrase on an email list lately was that they are “Ill-tempered egg laying machines” with “even less brains than most hens”. I love my Wyandottes!
My photolog as this weblog, are done using Movable Type … which I consider a lot of fun to use, and one of the top products out there.
I’ve hand-coded web pages for most of my online time … and then when starting blogging in 2002– I started with Blogger, since I only had web space through my ISP.
About a year ago I had someone from church offer me space on their web server, so I have a few different domains now, and all the cool stuff that “real web servers” have … MYSQL, PHP, PERL, etc.
So I turned my Blogger blogs into Movable Type blogs. Moveable Type is free for personal use. It’s something that you load onto your web space and run as a .cgi program. It’s more complex than blogger and really nice to use.
There are a myriad of ways to use it, I’m fairly tame in what I do. My Photolog is code in a template, written by someone else, super tweaked by me … and I’m ready to change it some more.
I use PHP heavily, more and more. Like on this main weblog page, my “Latest from the photo log” is a php include … in my photo log I have an archive template set up with 9 pictures … and whenever I post a new picture in the photolog, Movable Type publishes a new version of that archive template and that’s what my weblog uses to fill that space. I don’t have to do anything to change those photos once I’ve set it up initially.
This is just one kind of thing you can do with Movable Type. I use MT for my church’s web site, but it’s stagnant for now, I’m trying to work out some new design for it these past few days.
If you know how to code web pages, and can learn new stuff fairly well, MT is a great tool to use, if you have the space to put it online.
I also use it on my computer on our “intranet” I have server software installed, so I can play with stuff without putting it online for others to access, and also use a private weblog for husband/wife etc, without it being “out there”.
http://www.movabletype.org
MovableType’s website, where you can learn more about it.
For my photolog I use Photoshop to crop the pictures and size them and make thumbnails, I upload them via FTP and then write them up in posts. One way to do many photos is to use the import format … just having the right format in a text document … easier than using the posting interface. This is true for the way my photolog is currently done. There are other ways, which all of them are so attractive to me, it was hard to finally do just one thing, but I’m warping into doing other things inside of this way … I’ll stop now, before I go on longer and longer … 🙂 Which reminds me, I was going to get smilies going on my site here, and I forgot today. 🙁 Soon!
I loaded some new photos today, I’m mid-way nearly in a hen series of seven, but have to stop and go out. So I’ll finish them later!
Hen photos from 12/24/03 are all loaded now.
🙂