Archive for the 'Website' Category

Well seeing I have just updated to the latest Wordpress from the old 2.6.x version I thought I better make a post since it’s been a while from my last one!

The upgrade was a disaster because all my plug-ins seemed to break and the theme just didn’t work, I have kind of built a custom theme as I have went along but being me I didn’t document any of the changes in code I had done and didn’t have a clue what was causing the errors in the theme. I ended up just opting to start a fresh, I logged into WHM and terminated my whole account after backing up everything and created a new one, linked all the domains up and set-up the email and filtering things, hence why your emails may have been bounced back the past few days. I downloaded the latest version of the theme, K2 RC7 and set about making it look like the old ones, things like browser identification in the comments were the hardest bits as the theme has both an AJAX and normal version and both needed patched. It’s all seemed to go well after that and the plug-ins were fine once all updated and configured properly.

One thing I was quite unhappy about was the loading time of my blog, I think this was due to everything getting generated when you loaded the page. I have installed and set-up WP-Cache and this has made a massive difference to page loading times so I thoroughly recommend this to anyone having loading problems. It can be tricky and Apache went a bit wonky with the modified .htaccess file and was throwing out 500 Internal Server Error pages but with some tweaking these were resolved.

In real life, not much has been happening, I have finished up at school and am now on holiday until September when I will start my university course if all goes according to plan. So hoping to get overtime at work as I might as-well be earning money than sitting in the house. Went TV shopping today to replace my 32″ Thomson CRT in the living room since it’s picture has started to go wonky, about time we moved over to HDTV downstairs. Went and had a look at Comet to see what sets were available and I managed to talk my parents into one of the brand new Samsung 40″ LED TV’s, the picture was absolutely amazing in the shop. Were picking ours up on Tuesday so will write a little review once it’s all unpacked and set-up.

The title kind of says it all, I am all booked up to go to Ibiza next July with Jamie, this was a secret arrangement as Jamie’s ticket to go was for his eighteenth birthday but unfortunately due to all the flying regulations now he has to sign all the paperwork himself meaning I had to tell him a month before his birthday but I am certain he is still happy!

Managed to get a good deal at the travel agents, one week all inclusive to San Antonio Bay, Ibiza, the all inclusive will be good as it allows us to save all the money for going out at night to the notorious night clubs as we will be spending no money at the hotel during the day. The woman at Thomas Cook also chucked in free travel insurance for both of us as it was a birthday!

Hopefully have a great time, and while were on the subject might as well say Happy Early 18th Birthday Jamie!

Now onto other less exciting things, I have updated the theme slightly and removed some harsh whiteness away which should be easier on the eyes, contact form seems to be working again but please don’t be angry if you don’t get a reply as it’s still temperamental, simply send an email to pr(at)declan(dot)biz as it goes to the same address anyway.

Also bought myself a new iPod Nano 4G, I choose the Blue 8GB version, to say it’s thin is an understatement, almost too thin and feels quite fragile but the Apple’s build quality is still great, got some new earphones to go with it, the V-Moda Vibe in Chrome (pictured above), these are not as good as the ER-6i’s I have but make good on the go earphones and cut out all the in-ear fuss the ER-6i causes.

One more thing, (Steve’s favourite sentence), the date has finally been announced for the new Apple laptops. Thank god, have been waiting for the new MacBook since forever, Aluminium enclosures sure look sexy, I have the money waiting and will order as soon as they become available, as my mum is at University doing a degree in Nursing I will be able to take advantage of the Back To School offer, firstly as it’s HE I will get 14% off the purchase price of the laptop, plus a £95 rebate towards any iPod (looking to upgrade to a 16GB) and a £60 rebate towards a printer, not to mention the free 3 year Apple Care warranty.

After several days of down hill service from Vexxhost I have finally given up and moved hosts, this has been one of the quickest and easiest transfers I have done and love the speed of the new server, hopefully once the DNS changes are complete you too will enjoy the new faster blog.

I will be making a post pretty soon about my new network and server to let you all know how installation went and what’s actually being performed in-house.

Until then enjoy the new fast speeds of the server at A Small Orange.