So, I’ve eventually decided to get up to speed with the whole blog thing. Is this a good idea in the last year of writing a PhD? Meh… Who knows?
What is likely to be turning up here:
- Occasional silly pictures that I make
- Stuff about animation, and using Macromedia Flash in particular
- Maybe some things about trying to write a thesis
- Things that might be of interest about the background workings of this kind of site
- Anything I think might be interesting to anyone else
- Anything I fancy, because I can.
So, current top things that have been of interest to me: this blog! It’s using WordPress 1.5, and frankly was very easy to set up… I mean, it was seriously easy to get going. Put up a database, tell the config where to find it, then upload the files… And that’s pretty much it! I’m using a customised version of the Tridarkness template, which I’ve obviously altered to make it match the format of the rest of my site. You’d need a bit of CSS knowledge to fiddle with the templates, but there are loads around if you don’t fancy making your own.
I’m interested to hear what anyone else thinks should be on here, so login and drop me a comment. I should probably mention now, all comments will be moderated before appearing on this site, so keep it clean and use your common sense about whether I’ll put it up! If I end up getting loads of comments then I will eventually start only approving the best comments, but I seriously doubt that’s going to be a problem for a while!
For anyone out there interested in new things happening with Flash, check out some of the new features that will be turning up in 8ball and Maelstrom, the next versions of Macromedia’s Flash authoring software and Flash player. Frankly, it’s amazing. I can’t wait to get my hands on it! It really looks like the web is finally catching up with animator’s wish-lists.
Don’t forget, if you want to ask questions and have a discussion then the forums are still the best place to reach me, there’s a link on the right under ‘links’->
See you around!
Welcome to WordPress! I’ve spent the last 2 months working on a theme (in between coursework). Should have just used this, it’s lovely.
What’s with having to login? Is it an anti-spam measure, or are you just looking for some control over silly comments?
Yep, the login is an anti-spam measure. It helps me keep a track of things if I’ve got everyone’s details. It might be a bit over-cautious, but I’m playing it safe for the moment.
There are loads of lovely templates out there, and CSS can be a pig to get your head around sometimes. I built the Matazone site from scratch, but it was always going to be a lot easier to adapt a pre-existing template for this blog.
Oooh – pretty please can we have an RSS feed of the blog so that I can add it to the rest of my daily blog intake?
Your wish is my command!
*dresses up as Genie, crosses arms, scrunches up eyes, nods head*
I quite like these genie pantaloons…
I’ve been playing around with Kubrick for a while, which I think is the default template for WordPress now. Finally got my own sorted out, though it’s not quite finished and up. I had to learn so much CSS in order to do it. It’s been really good for me actually.
AndyMay: If you use Firefox as your web browser then you’ll get an RSS button in the corner of anything feedable…I can see one right now. I’ve already subscribed in fact.
I hope link tags work in your comments, or that’ll be an unreadable mess. I understand if you’ve got them off to hinder spammers.
ah, that reminds me what else I was going to say actually. As far as anti-spam measures go, I’ve heard so much praise about WordPress 1.5. WordPress in general’s had a goo reputation for stopping spam, but I know that since I upgraded to 1.5 I’ve not had a single piece.
I figure I’ll stick to the safe side and keep people registering. It’s an easy process and it’s only a one-off, and makes sure that I’m 100% of spam.
There’s a whole big blah about RSS I’ve just added to the blog, so that should make things easier as well as the RSS feed links to make it more prominent.
Hey GM, those pop-up boxes for the links on your site are pretty cool. Are thay a plugin?
I was surprised how fast it was to register actually. No hassle for anyone who wants to comment.
The link box thingummyjiggers aren’t WP specific, they’re just a little bit of JScript and CSS. They need transparenct support to show off their full glory, but they still work in Internet Explorer (they’re just dull and opaque).
The relevant files can all be found at http://www.kryogenix.org/code/browser/nicetitle/, I’ve made some little modifications to mine, you just need to fiddle around with the CSS if you want to personalise them a little. Can’t quite remember how much of a change I’ve made to be honest, I may well have changed some things and then changed them back. Either way, my version of the CSS is at http://www.greymullet.co.uk/nicetitle.css
Thanks! I’ll look into that when I’ve got a chance! 🙂