YKYW - Nursing Student Blog

I finally signed up at MyBlogLog and set up my sites. Now I just need to decide if I want to put the “Recent Readers” bar on my site. Since a lot of people who read my blog are real life friends, I’m not sure that adding the “Recent Readers” bar would add any value to my site. (Do any of you have a MyBlogLog account?) But, I like gadgets, so I’ll probably install it, at least for a bit, the next time I’m messing around with my blog template.

While I was reading about MyBlogLog, I came across a tutorial from Stark over at FuzzyFuture about adding MyBlogLog images to comments for Wordpress blogs.

I briefly toyed with the idea, but decided against it in the end. Gravatar offers more flexibility and are easy to implement. They also offer the commenter a greater incentive to leave a comment on my site. If the reader has to use the URL field to specify their MyBlogLog account, then they don’t have the opportunity to gain a link to their blog. While some may feel that the link to MyBlogLog can lead people to their blog, I’ve discovered that a shorter path is a better path. Our attention span is just too short to force people through a maze to finally find our home page.

Also, as someone who writes on multiple blogs, it is important to have flexibility. When I am surfing poker blogs, and want to comment, I want to have the ability to send people to my poker blog. If the blog falls under any other category, then I point to this, my personal blog.

In the end, it’s about preference. As a Gemini, I like having choices! But, for me, the choice remains Gravatar for individual images associated with comments.

**Update** Doh. I didn’t realize how it really worked. I thought I had to enter the url to my member profile (like this: http://www.mybloglog.com/buzz/members/Jaxia) instead of just putting the URL that I registered on the site. Hmm. It’s more compelling now, but I’m still interested to see how many people have Gravatar accounts compared to MyBlogLog accounts.

I’ve been messing around with redesigning my sites so that I can use widgets. While looking around at the widgets out there, I couldn’t find one that would let me put buttons (or chicklets) in the sidebar. So, I decided to write my own — Jax Buttons! (Creative title, isn’t it?) You can see a working example of it over at my sandbox.

Instructions
———-

- Unzip the file.
- Upload images to a folder on your server, such as /wp-images or /images.
- If you are not from Texas and would like to include your state,
upload a file named state.gif to your images directory.
- Open jaxbuttons.php and change $icons_baseurl=”http://www.yourwebiste.net/images”
to the website URL where your images are stored. Do NOT include trailing slash (/).
- Save changes.
- Upload jaxbuttons.php to your /wp-content/plugins directory.
- Activate plugin.
- Add the widget to an active sidebar and configure the options.
- Be sure NOT to include the http:// in the URLs.
- Save changes and you’re done!

I’m sure there are more buttons out there that should be included. Please let me know if you have any suggestions, or issues.
http://www.youknowyouwanna.net;/downloads/jaxbuttons.zip;Jax Buttons v0.5;

I finally found a forum that I like and want to use for my blog.  I wanted a solution that would integrate with WordPress.  I tried bbPress for awhile, but it is still too new.  This is a great, simple solution!

In order to comment, all you need to do is register an account.  It also has the added bonus of saving time when posting comments on entries, because once you log in, you won’t have to enter your user name and password every time.

So, stop by and say hello!  Let me know what you think!

PS - If you don’t see the email within a few minutes, then check your spam folder.  It’s probably there

I upgraded my software to Wordpress 2.0 last night, so if anything is wompyjawed, let me know.  I’m also working to install a photo gallery, but I didn’t get it finished.  Right now, I’m installing Gallery2 but we’ll see how it goes.  My quote plugin still appears to be working, too!  It had been awhile since I’d messed with my site, so it was actually a lot of fun.

It makes me wonder if I will miss being a geek.

Wait, there’s no way I could ever stop being a geek.  It doesn’t matter what I’m getting paid to do.

Whew.  I feel better now.

Are you getting a bunch of emails from me lately? I installed a nifty little plugin that sends an email notification for any follow up comments. Personally, when I comment on a blog, I hate to try to remember where I commented. Then I have to check randomly to see if anyone else had anything interesting to say and it turns into a pain…

Since I like to be notified, I have the option turned ON by default. If you comment on an entry but don’t care to be notified via email when I respond or anyone else comments, then be sure to uncheck the box at the bottom of the comment form. You can always managed your subscriptions at any time by going to the subscription manager and making changes.

If you have any feedback, I’d love to hear it! Thanks for reading

Speaking of this weekend, there should be new pictures early next week! But, I need a gallery software. Any suggestions? I’ve checked the Wordpress site, but there are so many! Which ones work best?

Hmm, better question: Which one is easiest to use?

I started a new project yesterday. The idea is good in my head, but I’m not sure what will come of it. Part of my project involves installing my own blogging software. I decided on WordPress. My host supports mysql and php, so I thought it would work well. The problem?

I don’t know mysql or php.

I guess since I used to work for Ol Bill, I’ve worked almost exclusively with MS products. I got stuck during the friggin install. Now, I KNOW what I named the db, and I know what I named the user. The only variable is the host name. I’m not a programmer though. My job in the past was to make sure the dad gum db didn’t go down – that’s it. Host name? Localhost of course. This remote shared server crap really put a kink in my feather. Hopefully, I’ll hear from them today with more information on the host name.

Thank goodness SK rescued me. We went to visit her nieces last night. Kidlets are always good for a smile. I also borrowed a few poker books from her brother-in-law. Oh! Which reminds me! While we were getting ready to sit down to dinner, he called SK’s dad my father-in-law. The look on his face as he caught himself was priceless!

I have class tonight, so even if I find out the host name, I won’t really be able to mess with it until this weekend. In the meantime, I’m off to Google my brains out. Mysql, here I come!