Spring Sale! Save 30% on all books w/ code: PLANET24
Web Dev + WordPress + Security
Post Archive
959 posts

Automatic Language Translation Methods

As you may have noticed, Perishable Press recently added automatic language translation to each of our articles. The free, automatic translations are available as a series of image links (via corresponding country flag icons) next to each article’s individual post view. We have found that providing this free service is important as many of our visitors come from countries other than the United States, and therefore may be unable to read our articles as presented in the English language. Continue reading »

Chunks 101: Introduction to Chunkology

We are continually on the prowl for fresh chunks — whether it’s business or pleasure, day or night, scanning the immediate environment for tasty visual gems is a constant delight. Perhaps you find yourself lulling over tacky magazines at the dentist’s office, when suddenly — out of the corner of your eye — you notice it: a small triangular decal attached to the side of the waiting-room television warning people about something with an absolutely ridiculous icon to reinforce its […] Continue reading »

Wild Bill Recommends: Top-Shelf Linkage

“Generative artifacts, graffiti archaeology, and interactive chaos, anyone?” — Wild Bill recommends these highly addictive, interactive websites for your personal entertainment, enjoyment, and enrichment. Please to enjoy them, and thank you for your generous attention. Continue reading »

Feed Tester

Note to WordPress 2.0.5 users: Everything was working fine on this site before upgrading to WP 2.0.5. After upgrading, apparently, our feeds stopped validating and the BDP RSS Aggregator plugin refused to update our own feeds. After several hours investigating the situation, we determined that the Live Comment Preview plugin was interfering with our feeds validating, while the upgraded WordPress (2.0.5) was responsible for problems with the BDP plugin. Continue reading »

Auto-Focus Form Elements with JavaScript

After digging through the WordPress source code, I stumbled upon this very useful JavaScript method for auto-focusing form elements upon page load. Here is the JavaScript code (place within the document head): Continue reading »

Roll your own Apache Rewrite Log

Roll your own Apache Rewrite log! Rocking your own rewrite log is super-helpful for testing .htaccess rewrite rules, WordPress Permalinks, and much more. All you need is Apache 2.2 (or previous), mod_rewrite enabled (very common on most servers), and access to your server configuration file, http.conf. Continue reading »

Launch Multiple Programs with One Click

Speed up your workflow by launching your favorite programs in one click using batch (.bat) files. Continue reading »

Time Test

This post exists entirely for the sake of tweaking time functionality in Apache, PHP, SQL, and WordPress.. Continue reading »

Triple Loop for WordPress

Two of the themes developed by Perishable Press, Apathy and Information, depend on three WordPress loops to operate as intended. For each of these themes, the three loops consist of two “side” loops and one main loop. The side loops each display posts from one specific category, while the main loop displays posts from every category not specified in the side loops. Continue reading »

WordPress on Crack: Tips for Faster Post Publishing

Apparently, article posting is painfully slow on 2-ish versions of WordPress. Indeed, we finally got tired of waiting several minutes every time we published, saved, or edited a post. After a bit of research, reading through countless complaints and suggested remedies, several key methods began to emerge. And, after taking the time to implement them, we have definitely enjoyed an substantial decrease in time required to publish, save, or edit posts. Continue reading »

Block Spam by Denying Access to No-Referrer Requests

What we have here is an excellent method for preventing a great deal of blog spam. With a few strategic lines placed in your .htaccess file, you can prevent spambots from dropping spam bombs by denying access to all requests that do not originate from your domain. Continue reading »

Add RSS Feed Link Icons to WordPress Category Listings

This brief tutorial explains two methods for adding RSS feed link icons to category listings. Let’s say that you have a list of category links, where each link targets a specific category view. Now let’s say that, next to each category link, you would like to provide a icon that links to that particular category’s syndicated feed. So, rather than cluttering up your page with two sets of category links — one for category views and another for category feeds […] Continue reading »

Counterfeit Slifer Yu-Gi-Oh Card

Authentic Slifer Card Recently, my son traded three common Yu-Gi-Oh cards for the coveted Slifer god card. He was very excited, thinking he worked the deal of a lifetime. Indeed, Slifer cards sell for around $35.00 apiece, depending on the dealer. Nonetheless, trading three worthless cards for a Slifer god card seemed like a phenomenal deal.. What we discovered next nearly dropped us to the floor — the Slifer card was a counterfeit! Within moments of checking it out, Mom […] Continue reading »

minimalist Theme

The minimalist theme is crisp and clean. Featuring a three-column satellite menu-page to reduce clutter and streamline usability, the minimalist theme is designed to present site content with sophistication and elegance. The minimalist theme is XHTML 1.1 strict, employs nearly valid CSS (ha!), and features browser-safe colors and universal fonts all delivered via concise, two-column liquid layout. Mindfully detailed and carefully prepared, the minimalist theme provides plenty of room for customization and expansion. One of my favorite theme designs. Continue reading »

Preloading Images with CSS and JavaScript

Fast-loading pages reduce errors, conserve bandwidth, and please visitors. One way to decrease loading times and enhance performance involves maximizing image display efficiency. Your mantra for achieving image efficiency should be “reuse, optimize, and preload.”. While each of these methods plays an important role, this article will focus on methods for preloading images. Consult your server error logs to identify web pages that may require image help. Note: preloading images does not reduce bandwidth! It only decreases apparent load time, […] Continue reading »

Perishable Press Upgrade to WordPress 2.0.5

Perishable Press is now running WordPress 2.0.5. Everything went very well as we upgraded directly from version 2.0.2. Please report any errors or unusual/unexpected behavior (concerning this site). Your help is appreciated as we get things updated and running smooth. So thank you in advance for your time :)   Continue reading »

Welcome
Perishable Press is operated by Jeff Starr, a professional web developer and book author with two decades of experience. Here you will find posts about web development, WordPress, security, and more »
SAC Pro: Unlimited chats.
Thoughts
I live right next door to the absolute loudest car in town. And the owner loves to drive it.
8G Firewall now out of beta testing, ready for use on production sites.
It's all about that ad revenue baby.
Note to self: encrypting 500 GB of data on my iMac takes around 8 hours.
Getting back into things after a bit of a break. Currently 7° F outside. Chillz.
2024 is going to make 2020 look like a vacation. Prepare accordingly.
First snow of the year :)
Newsletter
Get news, updates, deals & tips via email.
Email kept private. Easy unsubscribe anytime.