The Thesis theme has a bunch of image options, I just wanted to see how it looks with no modification.
Move along, nothing to see here
WordPress 2.9 and a switch to Thesis 1.6 theme
If there are actually any readers out there (I know we have some) you might have noticed that BS had a bit of a bumpy road over the past week. What happened? To put it bluntly, I blew the shit up!
To be more technical, I upgraded from WP 2.8.6 to 2.9. While trying out the new update all plugins function, the whole deal froze up. After about 4 hours, I pulled the plug. Actually, I closed the tab, but you get the idea.
I spoke with WordPress Matt, who took the time to look into my concern from the WP side of things. The absolutely awesome support team at Bluefur, the Canadian server that BS is hosted on, finally figured things out and showed me the error of my ways.
I have a bunch of projects on the go these days and have been thinking about switching them all to DIY themes, Thesis theme. There are a bunch of reasons, ranging from a solid reputation within the WP world to user friendly design features, SEO framework and plugin friendliness. All of these things combine to make a theme that is more than just a skin that I can manage myself, eliminating some of my reliance on my IT guru. This will give me the flexibility to test different advertising models on my own time frame, rather than waiting until someone else has the time to get to it.
For now, I have loaded the Thesis theme and activated it. Right now, things look pretty plain but I’m just killing time on Christmas Eve afternoon as we are actually ready for a change. Over the coming days, I’ll report on the ease with which I turn BS into something a bit more attractive. First up, I’ll have to do something with those stock images at top right. The basic layout seems to be a 3 into 4 column view. It looks a bit messy to me right now, but has given me some ideas. I’m not sure if I like the Fidgetr plugin stuck in the middle like that, but it does add a splash of colour.
See you in a few days as I start fiddling!
Merry Christmas
May your tree be bright, your fireplace cheery and your beer be cold!
Header
It just occurred to me that I should swap out that stock blocks image next to the blog title.
Except that I can’t be bothered to choose or make a weenie little image and load it onto the server.
Am I lazy or just properly prioritizing the importance of the many tasks?
Testing: WordPress e-commerce plugin
Since I’ve begun publishing full time, I’ve had all sorts of unusual requests for my time. Usually they revolve around some sort of marketing or PR type need the person or their company have. I guess now that I’ve built a bit of a reputation as an online publisher, folks have come to the conclusion that I know everything about the web. Some even seem to think that I miraculously became a developer.
Right!
Most of these inquiries actually tend to be fairly simple stuff and I do have the answer. Thanks to the more recent changes to WordPress, I actually am able to do a bunch of stuff myself and even make it look pretty good. I’m about to upgrade all of my blogs to the Thesis template so I really can do some groovy stuff on my own and maybe even for the odd client here & there.
Most recently I was approached by a friend whose company won a fairly important award at the SEMA show this year. They have the North American rights to an incredible new automotive product and are looking for some help with their web presence and on PR. They thought I was a natural choice to augment their team. It occurred to me that I could probably fulfill their needs by creating a WP site with the e-commerce plugin so I started playing around with the free version.
The freebie plugin is actually a teaser unit. Easy to install, one can be up and running quite literally in 5 minutes. If you have a peek down the right sidebar, you’ll see the heading Test Cart. Below it is a link to Visit The Shop which will take you to a simple page of fictitious products, complete with photos, prices, sale prices and complete descriptions. You will notice the ads are arranged vertically. This is part of the catch of the teaser. The Gold Cart version is needed to create a more visually pleasing grid format or I gather pretty much any other format you can dream up. Even the freebie is so easy to use that it stands to reason that the Gold Cart version would be awesome.
The individual blogger version is only $40 and they have a number of other plugin options to make your store more Web 2.0 friendly. If you need to create more than 1 site, the developer version is $195. Really a good value when you consider that when combined with a template like Thesis or Atahualpa (the one currently in use here) an educated WP user like me can look like a pro.
So here lies my conundrum.
Once these auto industry leaders have discovered that I actually want to be paid for my time, they admit that they actually have a site that has been almost completed by a developer. They were actually looking for a full time IT guy but thought I might have the solutions to some of their web marketing problems.
As Curt Cobain said: Rape me!!!!
Oh look – an e-mail from them asking if I would be interested in guiding their web presence.
Posted in Wordpress
Tagged auto industry, curt cobain, dipshit, e-commerce plugin, pimped out, plugins
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Bad ass chili
This arrived in my inbox today from an unknown author. I can relate to this poor soul on so many levels!
*I went to Home Depot recently, while not being altogether sure that course of action was a wise one. You see, the previous evening I had prepared and consumed a massive quantity of my patented ‘you’re definitely going to s**t yourself’ road-kill chilli. Tasty stuff, albeit hot to the point of being painful, which comes with a written guarantee from me that if you eat it, the next day both of your butt cheeks WILL fall off.*
*Here’s the thing. I had awakened that morning, and even after two cups of coffee (and all of you know what I mean) nothing happened. No ‘Watson’s Movement #2′. Despite habanera peppers swimming their way through my intestinal tract, I was unable to create the usual morning symphony referred to by my dear wife as ‘thunder and lightning’.*
*Knowing that a time of reckoning HAD to come, yet not sure of just when, I bravely set off for Home Depot, my quest being paint and supplies to refinish the dining room. Upon entering the store at first all seemed normal. I selected a cart and began pushing it about dropping items in for purchase. It wasn’t until I was at the opposite end of the store from the restrooms that the pain hit me.*
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Posted in Shit
Tagged break wind, chili, fart, gaseous emission, hershey squirts, pass gas, pepper farts, shart, skid mark
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Fly, be free!
A classic shot of Jackie Stewart and Graham Hill in full flight. Wouldn’t it be great if F1 cars could be like this again. Without all the fire and death of course.
Posted in Cars
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Playing around with YAPB plugin
Testing with some nice fall colours.
I shoulda known
Finding staff has never been easy. Finding staff for anything car related may be tougher than most, as our industry tends to attract flakes. Add in the fact that I’m looking for someone with a bit of industry experience to sell advertising to dealers and you have a recipe for a multi layered pastry.
I had set up an interview with a young guy this morning. He had relevant experience, both in dealerships and with outside sales. He is young. He goes to school part time, so he has lots of free, flexible time. Sounds perfect. Except….
His first e-mail was signed as Tony, while the actual e-mail was from Nick. I asked. His response?
Anatoly or Nick is my russian names, here i go by Tony, sorry for confusion
The spelling and grammar are his errors, not mine. I shoulda known.
We set up a meeting for coffee this morning at 10. He pulled a no show. I sent him a text, no response. I called & his phone is off. I left a message. When he was 35 minutes late, I gave up and left. At least I had a nice coffee.
The positive aspect here is that I had deliberately set the meeting at a Starbucks close to home. I’m setting the ground rules here. If a candidate balks at the location, then they are not the right person. If a candidate agrees to a time and place but then pulls a no show, they are obviously the wrong person. If they would pull a no show on a potential employer, what would they do to a potential client?
I shoulda known!
Coop’s Positive Ape Index has a new home
Long time virtual friend of The Garage, Coop, has moved his personal blog from Blogger to WordPress thanks to the overly sensitive censorship police. While Coop is very much an automotive fanatic, his more recent work has more to do with the devilish side of his work and less to do with cars so I’m posting this here in BS rather than over in The Garage. Positive Ape Index is a great collection of Coop’s photography, artwork and titties. Along the way, I’m sure we’ll continue to see visits to SoCal rodding events and his annual pilgrimage to the La Carrera Panamericana where he acts as Co-Piloto.
Do yourself a favor, bookmark Positive Ape Index and then visit CoopStuff and spend some dough!