Month: October 2008

Blog Fudzing 2: About Stats, Backups, Themes and Theme Switcher


The inside of a switch

Some progress, some thoughts and some experiences with WordPress to share with you:

XAMMP
XAMMP is an open source program under which you can run a PHP mysql server on your own computer and test WordPress (and other web applications that generate dynamic web pages).

Stats
I have been tracking my stats in two ways: All over I use a paid for stats program. Not only for this blog, but for all sites I manage. It is versatile and useful.
For this Blog I used a dedicated WordPress stats plug in, until my service provider banned me, because the plug in caused a hung mysql process….

In addition the plug in caused an enormous overhead in this blog’s mysql database.

In May, 2008, I installed Woopra. With Woopra the necessity for the old stats plug in slowly, but gradually faded out.

Backups
Earlier, when I tried to emulate a disaster by backing up the database and loading it in a WordPress version running under XAMPP on my local computer, I had the problem that in XAMPP the maximum size of a mysql database is 16 MB. With the dedicated stats plug in I easily had 250 MB in the database and I couldn’t find a proper way around this. For a long period I luckily could rely upon the safety and stability of my internet provider. With over 450 posts now, that can be a bit of too much trust…Now I have decided to rely only on my Woopra stats and overall stats program and discontinue the use of the dedicated stats plug in.

If you backup a Blog operating under WordPress, you not only have to back up your database, but also your uploaded media files and your pages (assuming you have created pages).

The DB Backup plug in for WordPress does only the DB part and not the rest.

However, with the current version of WordPress, version 2.6.2, it is reasonably easy to export all posts of a blog and all uploaded media content (in my case thus far only photos) as an XML file via the WordPress Dashboard. Same file can be easily imported into another blog.

This is also a better option for me than simply downloading the WordPress database via the PHP mysql interface, because then all links are links to the site and not links to my local hard disk.

The only problem I encountered with exporting posts via creation of an XML file is that not all pages, not all links and not all categories are exported properly, or imported properly into the version of this Blog that I have created under XAMPP. However my main goal of putting all posts and uploaded media in a “safe” place could be reached now. For one reason or another I seem not be able to detect the media directory on the server of my internet provider….

Themes and Theme Switcher
Now I am able to fulfill an old wish: To have a theme switcher installed to play around with themes and to enable readers to choose their own favorite theme.

Recently I started to test out various new plug ins and WordPress theme templates and adjusting them to my wishes.

I have some specific wishes for themes:

  1. I want a two column lay out with the sidebar on my right side. With the sidebar on my left side I (and my readers) would always have to cross the reading field of the posts.
  2. I believe a two column layout is simpler to look at, simpler to maintain and nice for the eye.
  3. The posts must be readable. So the size of the characters must be sufficient. In addition there must be a reasonable distinguishable difference in color between character and character background. Therefore I hate themes, although trendy, with dark background colors. Moreover the difference in size of characters of headings and main text must be proportionate.
  4. Websites have to be easily navigable. I want to be able to browse posts from a certain period and posts of certain categories. I like to see how many posts there are per period and per category.

Why change a good theme?

I believe the Misty theme does and did a good job in this respect. It actually still is my favorite.

However, as an avid photographer I would like to have a bit more space in the posts to show photos.

In reviewing many themes I have now come up to 8 or 9 themes I like.

Next to now the latest version of the Misty theme (3.6.2) I have now up and running the WordPress Default theme, the Intense theme and the Newspaper theme. I still have to ad some widgets to the last two mentioned.

I noticed that the newest Misty theme doesn’t have the problem anymore that when you look at a page cached in the Google search engine, you only see the header and not the body of the post. This is especially important if people are searching photo’s. Without the body of the post You’ll have no clue as to what the post is about and you’re clicking away. I tend to believe I get now more traffic from Google searches now.

More to follow soon, but in the meantime you can look for yourself and switch theme via the side bar.

Whether you like it or don’t like it, please give me some feedback.

"Royally" Fed Up with RandstadRail


RandstadRail. Photo by Dennis Holtkamp

RandstadRail is a light rail initiative to have quick public transport between the two cities The Hague and Rotterdam. The idea is RandstadRail can use both the tram rail and the train rail network. The only problem is that they are much wider and heavier than ordinary trams. A fact that the The Hague Municipality played down heavily when we organized a protest when the City planned to have RandstadRail driving through our very narrow part of the Laan Meerdervoort in The Hague. Then they claimed our protests were mere NIMBY (“Not In My Back Yard”) protests.

My main complaint is that our part of the long Laan Van Meerdervoort is too narrow for Randstadrail.
What happened yesterday evening proved me right again:


RandstadRail crashes two taxis in one

A TV crew was shooting an interview with a foreign Prince in our small luxe hotel, Haagsche Suites, for a BBC series to be broad casted in spring 2009.
After the shooting I had ordered two taxis, one for the Prince and one for the crew. We had just loaded the crew’s gear, cameras, lighting equipment and tripods in the first taxi. We were saying good bye to the party on the sidewalk. All of a sudden we heard two enormous bangs: RandstadRail had crashed into the second taxi with such speed that the second taxi was smacked at least 5 meter further against taxi number one.


The poor driver of the second taxi in dire need of a replacement car.

I am very glad nobody was standing between the two taxis when it happened and luckily there were no personal injuries. This is not the first time this happens in front of our hotel. A couple of weeks ago RandstadRail crashed a car with a whole family inside it….not sure they didn’t have any whiplash injury then.

Now I really can say I am “Royally” Fed up with RandstadRail!

Blog Fudzing

You may see me experimenting with several themes here. Occasionally things don’t seem to work. Sorry for that. I tend to believe it is my service provider who doesit…..

High Five (6): Green Honeymoon, Killer Waves, Frank Loyd Wright tour, Time Management and Ultra Boutique Hotels

Gorilla High Five

Happy Hotelier’s High Five (5):

  1. Top 10 Most Dangerous Waves in the World by Rhys Stacker of Matador Trips. I’m not a surfer myself, but the photos are fantastic!
  2. The Mistress of Taliesin a wonderful story in Last Exit Magazine about a guided tour to the home built by Frank Lloyd Wright for his mistress who as a ghost still haunts you.
  3. Globorati | Top 10 Ultra Boutique Hotels

Read more about Happy Hotelier’s High Five.

If you want to draw my attention to a post, please use the Contact Page or give me a message at Twitter

 

5 tips becomes less as the links disappear.

Happy Hotelier's 10 Most Popular Posts of September 2008

Frontal Naked

I managed to add a Plugin that provides popular posts in the sidebar. I don’t know, but maybe, because I installed the Plugin only somewhere half September, or maybe because the Plugin uses a completely different algorithm as Woopra, but the result for September is totally different for both. Interesting to see that according to Woopra during the last two weeks of September some very old posts got new attention.
As I have installed Woopra now for “quite some time” (since May, 2008) I also checked my 5 “All time” most popular posts for the period May – September 2008, but they don’t differ much from the list below.

Here are my 10 most popular posts of September 2008:

  1. Hilarious: Judge in The Hague fines Blogger for ranting about Dutch Telecom Company Call Center Employee. I have no explanation why this is so popular again.
  2. 10 Questions for (5): Miss Expatria. Well she made the cut …almost, as she had hoped for in August already.
  3. Too Sexy to Fly?
  4. Yotel Goes to Amsterdam Airport (Schiphol) and Yotel Gatwick first Guest Reviews are in. This one is clear to me as The Amsterdam Yotel opened its doors on September 30, 2008. Consequently it is a great Google hit.
  5. Dutch Design # 12: The New Heineken 5 L DraughtKeg. Also clear as I got some new trackbacks.
  6. Istanbul: Cool Four Seasons at The Bosphorus takes Reservations. Recently opened and now getting more attention.
  7. 10 Questions (6) for: Esme Vos of Mapplr. Maybe because the Chicago Sun featured this post via Blogburst
  8. T-List Update: 200 Travel / Hospitality Blogs Listed and Ranked . Strangely enough the later updates didn’t get as much attention…while I still feel a bit guilty that I have put this project on the back burner thus far.
  9. Toronto: Lolita’s Lust. Hey! FilmGirl where are you?
  10. Mary Slim: A very slender Vessel as Motor Yacht. This must have to do with me signaling the current trend of more and more luxury yachts to be designed to look like warships.