WordPress Feedburner HTAccess Redirect for Default (Non-Permalink) Feed URLs
Published Monday, October 13, 2008 @ 8:03 am • 1 Response
![[ ~{*}~ ]](http://perishablepress.com/press/wp-content/images/2008/misc-chunks/default-feedburner.gif)
Recently, a client wanted to deliver her blog feed through Feedburner to take advantage of its excellent statistical features. Establishing a Feedburner-delivered feed requires three things: a valid feed URL, a Feedburner account, and a redirect method. For permalink-enabled WordPress feed URLs, configuring the required redirect is straightforward: either install the Feedburner Feedsmith plugin or use an optimized HTAccess technique. Unfortunately, for sites without permalinks enabled, the Feedsmith plugin is effectively useless, and virtually all of the HTAccess methods currently available on the Web are designed for permalink-enabled configurations. In this article, we will modify our existing HTAccess technique to work with default WordPress feed URLs.
Notes on the 2008 Redesign: User Feedback
Published Sunday, October 12, 2008 @ 8:48 am • 9 Responses
First of all, thank you to everyone who provided screenshots, feedback, and ideas for the new design. Your help is highly valued and greatly appreciated. From what I am hearing, the redesign seems to have been well-received, with many readers and visitors taking the time to leave a comment, send a screenshot, or email a message. As hoped, people seem to enjoy the vibrant colors, the translucent panels, and the fancy sliding menus.
Other people have pointed out the site’s oversize width. On screens that are 1024 pixels (or less) in width, the design triggers the hideous horizontal scrollbar. Using a 1024-pixel width was a conscious decision based on sound statistical information and a desire to maximize screen area. Based on my statistics, approximately 85% of visitors view the site through a monitor that is greater than 1024 pixels in width:
I Need Linux!
Published Wednesday, October 8, 2008 @ 1:14 am • 13 Responses
Thanks to a complete (and I mean complete) collection of screenshots graciously sent in by Brent Terrazas, I have been enlightened as to my need for Linux. Looking over the screenshots, I see a great deal of variation — more so than any of the Mac or PC browsers at my disposal — in terms of how designs are rendered on various Linux-driven browsers. The obsessive-compulsive designer in me suddenly sees an incredible need for my own Linux setup — not only for design-testing and cross-browser compatibility purposes, but also because I have always wanted to learn the ways of the Jedi..
Perishable Press Quintessential Screenshot Gallery
Published Tuesday, October 7, 2008 @ 7:49 am • 15 Responses
One of my goals for the new Perishable Press redesign was to achieve cross-browser, pixel-perfect precision [ 1 ]. Of course, due to many variables (platform, operating system, browser, extensions, fonts, etc.), it is virtually impossible to achieve complete 100% perfection, but I am certainly interested in examining the design on as many different configurations as possible. Thus, last week after launching the new design, I made an open call for screenshots. Graciously, many of you responded with some great screenshots. Thanks to you, I was able to see Perishable Press “in the wild” on many operating systems and browsers to which I simply don’t have access. Sure, I could have just went to browsershots.com or some similar service, but as Rick Beckman correctly pointed out, it is much more fun to get everyone involved in the process. So without further ado, here is the Perishable Press Quintessential Screenshot Gallery:
Redirecting Subdirectories to the Root Directory via HTAccess
Published Monday, October 6, 2008 @ 8:08 am • 15 Responses
One of the most useful techniques in my HTAccess toolbox involves URL redirection using Apache’s RedirectMatch directive. With RedirectMatch, you get the powerful regex pattern matching available in the mod_alias module combined with the simplicity and effectiveness of the Redirect directive. This hybrid functionality makes RedirectMatch the ideal method for highly specific redirection. In this tutorial, we will explore the application of RedirectMatch as it applies to one of the most difficult redirect scenarios: redirecting all requests for a specific subdirectory (or any subordinate directory or file) to the root (or any parent) directory. We will explore how to accomplish this redirect using PHP in a subsequent article.
IE6 Support Spectrum
Published Sunday, October 5, 2008 @ 9:19 am • 6 Responses
I know, I know, not another post about IE6! I actually typed this up a couple of weeks ago while immersed in my site redesign project. I had recently decided that I would no longer support that terrible browser, and this tangential post just kind of “fell out.” I wasn’t sure whether or not to post it, but I recently decided to purge my draft stash by posting everything for your reading pleasure. Thus, you may see a few turds in the next few weeks, but hopefully this isn’t one of them. In any case, here is my final post on IE6, at least for awhile..
Will Link for Screenshots
Published Wednesday, October 1, 2008 @ 5:38 pm • 19 Responses
Quick announcement that I will be posting an article featuring a diverse screenshot gallery of the new design. To accomplish this, I need screenshots from as many different operating systems and browsers as possible. Currently, I have access to the following browsers:
Perishable Press Redesign 2008
Published Wednesday, October 1, 2008 @ 4:51 pm • 32 Responses
New design in effect at Perishable Press. With this 17th incarnation of the site, I drew heavily upon psychedelic influences, spiked it with the essence of the previous dark minimalist theme, and mixed in a healthy dose of cutting-edge JavaScript and PHP functionality.
How to Deal with IE 6 after Dropping Support
Published Monday, September 22, 2008 @ 8:47 am • 28 Responses
As announced at IE Death march, I recently dropped support for Internet Explorer 6. As newer versions of Firefox, Opera, and Safari (and others) continue to improve consistency and provide better support for standards-based techniques, having to carry IE 6 along for the ride — for any reason — is painful. Thanks to the techniques described in this article, I am free to completely ignore (figuratively and literally) IE 6 when developing and designing websites. Now that I have dropped support for IE 6, I feel liberated, free of the constraints that once enslaved my time, energy, and resources. Working on my new design, I have already saved countless hours that would have been wasted on IE 6. If you are still chained to an old copy IE 6, I highly recommend kicking it to the curb and experiencing the freedom for yourself. All it takes is a few lines of code and the decision to go there.
Perishable Interviewed at ImJustCreative
Published Sunday, September 21, 2008 @ 9:46 am • 2 Responses
Graham Smith of ImJustCreative.com recently interviewed me on a wide variety of topics, including everything from blogging and web design to theme development and social media. The interview is presented as more of a dialogue between Graham and myself, and will be presented as a three-part series. Check out the first part of the interview here.
WordPress Basics — Series Summary
Published Monday, September 15, 2008 @ 11:33 am • 0 Responses
One of my first article series, the WordPress Basics series walks beginning users through some of the most rudimentary but essential WordPress tasks. From logging into the WordPress Admin and creating posts to setting post options and uploading images, the WordPress Basics series takes absolute newbies from zero to published in less than an hour.
- WordPress Basics: Login to Admin
- WordPress Basics: Publishing Posts
- WordPress Basics: Saving and Editing Posts
- WordPress Basics: Setting the Date, Author, and other Post Options
- WordPress Basics: Uploading and Displaying Images
Once you feel comfortable working with the WordPress Admin, I invite you to explore the many other useful WordPress articles here at Perishable Press:
And, to stay current with future WordPress content from Perishable Press, I encourage you to subscribe to the Perishable Press RSS feed.
Blacklist Candidate Series Summary
Published Monday, September 15, 2008 @ 10:23 am • 0 Responses
Presenting the Perishable Press Blacklist Candidate Series!
An ongoing series of articles on the fine art of malicious exploit detection and prevention. Learn about preventing the sneaky mischievous and deceptive practices of some of the worst spammers, scrapers, crackers, and other scumbags on the Internet.
- Blacklist Candidate Number 2008-05-31
- Blacklist Candidate Number 2008-04-27
- Blacklist Candidate Number 2008-03-09
- Blacklist Candidate Number 2008-02-10
- Blacklist Candidate Number 2008-01-02
Stay tuned for more exciting adventures in the Blacklist Candidate series!
Series Summary: Minimalist Web Design Showcase
Published Monday, September 15, 2008 @ 10:07 am • 0 Responses
Here at Perishable Press, I love to write about minimalism, simplicity, and usability in user-interface and web design. I have always enjoyed the minimalist aesthetic, as my Perishable Theme plainly illustrates. Fortunately, many designers and developers have embraced the minimalist concept, and continue to produce and promote minimalist design principles in their designs. As often as my schedule allows, I like to take the time to explore and share some of my favorite minimalist designs, and so far have managed to post the following in-depth reviews:
These minimalist site reviews examine the structure, functionality, and appearance of sites that utilize simplicity and elegance in their design. These articles also feature “mini” interviews with the site’s designer/owner, and provide good insight into the thought and purpose of their respective designs. I invite you to explore the growing collection of my “Minimalist Web Design Showcase” series, and look forward to hearing your feedback concerning the various ideas and methods covered in the material.
And, as always, if you have yet to Perishable Press, please do so for upcoming minimalist reviews and other Web design goodness.
Evil Incarnate, but Easily Blocked
Published Monday, September 15, 2008 @ 8:17 am • 6 Responses
As my readers know, I spend a lot of time digging through error logs, preventing attacks, and reporting results. Occasionally, some moron will pull a stunt that deserves exposure, public humiliation, and banishment. There is certainly no lack of this type of nonsense, as many of you are well-aware.
3G Blacklist
Even so, I have to admit that I am very happy with my latest strategy against crackers, spammers, and other scumbags, namely, the 3G Blacklist. Since implementing this effective HTAccess security method, I have seen a dramatic decrease in the overall volume of malicious activity recorded in my Apache, PHP, and 404 error logs. Thankfully, the 3G Blacklist has kept things pretty quiet around here, at least as far as malicious activity is concerned. In fact, it has been awhile since I’ve seen anything worthy of sharing with you — until now.
Beware of Margins or Padding when Using the min-width Hack for IE
Published Sunday, September 14, 2008 @ 7:01 am • 11 Responses
While we all watch as Internet Explorer 6 dies a slow, painful death, many unfortunate designers and developers continue to find themselves dealing with IE6’s lack of support for simple things like minimum and maximum widths. Fortunately, there are solutions to this problem, primarily in the form of CSS expressions such as this:
/* set the minimum width for IE 6 */
#target_element {
width: expression((document.body.clientWidth < 335)? "333px" : "auto"); /* min-width for IE6 */
min-width: 333px; /* min-width for all standards-compliant browsers */
}Although ugly, invalid, and resource-intensive, this technique works well at setting min-width properties for IE6. But beware! There is a catch. Chris Herdt recently wrote in with an important discovery:
…inclusion of any padding or margin on the element that has the fix applied will cause IE6 to crash…