I finally made the switch from PC to Mac. My previous machine was an old Sony Vaio purchased in 2005. It was top of the line then, and actually worked great until about a year ago, when it inevitably began dying a slow, complicated death. The time to finally buy a new computer was fast approaching..

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Okay so it’s been awhile. That’s a good thing because it means I’m busy. But it also sucks because life moves too fast to blog about everything that happens. Especially with web design: you get started blogging about your discoveries, and then you find yourself learning and doing too much to post or tweet about even just the big stuff.

But now I have some time to write and share some of the awesome and insane things that have happened since my boring 2009 personal update. So much has happened since then but I will try to stay focused because I value your time.

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I recently did some time in Microsoft Excel, preparing large CSV files for import into WordPress. Each of these CSV files contained data for 1000 WordPress users. Here is a screenshot showing the structure of the file:

Conceptually, the idea is simple: import the data to create actual users for a WordPress-powered site. The trick is to clean the data as much as possible to ensure valid username and password information. Once the data is good, importing is easy using a plugin.

Here is a step-by-step tutorial that combines WordPress and Excel techniques to register users en masse from a CSV file.

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Just a note to let everyone know about the new printed editions of Digging into WordPress 3.0. This is the latest version of DiW, featuring revamped core content, new graphics, popouts and asides, as well as a new chapter devoted entirely to WordPress 3.0. It’s certainly packed with WordPress goodness, with nearly 450 pages of practical, hands-on tips, tricks, and information. The PDF is awesome, but seeing it all printed up in full color on quality paper and heavy, glossy card-stock cover is enough to make you drool:

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It’s here! Digging into WordPress Version 3.0 is packed with goodness, including a new chapter on WP3, updated core content, and a super-sleek new cover.

DiW3 cover by Chris Coyier

Updated Core Material

Much has changed with WordPress since our previous book update (v2), so for version 3.0 we went through the book and updated/removed outdated core content. Everything is now hot-wired and fine-tuned to the latest version of WordPress, with new popouts and fresh links throughout the book. Here’s a shot from one of the updated core pages (a flow-chart for page templates – more graphic wizardry from Chris!):

New Chapter on WordPress 3.0

WordPress 3.0 is better than ever. Released on June 17th 2010, WP3.0 features tons of new functionality and CMS capabilities. So much good stuff, that we added an entire chapter covering all the best new WP3.0 features:

• New default theme
• Custom Admin usernames
• How to customize your background
• How to setup and use WP MultiSite
• Custom taxonomies, menus, and post types

Plus other great stuff like how to use the built-in shortlink feature, author templates, comment-form template-tags, and more. It’s 20+ pages of new WP3.0 content.

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This Fall, I celebrate five years of blogging. I have written tons of web development stuff at Perishable Press, lots of helpful WordPress stuff at Digging into WordPress, some philosophical stuff at mindfeed.org, creative/artistic stuff at Dead Letter Art, jQuery stuff at jQuery Mix, and some business-related web-design stuff at Monzilla Media. Plus a bunch of interviews, guest posts, and other blogging projects. So yeah, lots of blogging and writing during the past five years. And they just flew by.

Despite what the haters may say, there are some tangible benefits to blogging. As I write, I continue to learn a great deal – not just about the fine art of writing, but also about the nature of the audience, social media, and the Web in general. There’s a lot to it, more than you may realize. Looking back during my recent hiatus, I enjoyed the opportunity to reflect on the past and contemplate lessons learned, future goals, and what it all means. Here are some of my thoughts, strategies, and lessons learned after five years of blogging..

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For the upcoming Digging into WordPress update for WordPress 3.0, I have been working with WordPress’ multisite functionality. Prior to version 3.0, WordPress came in two flavors: “original” and “multisite” (MU). Most designers probably work with regular, one-blog installations of “regular” WordPress. The htaccess rules for all single-blog installations of WordPress haven’t changed. They are the same for WordPress 3.0 as they are for all previous versions.

But now that multisite has merged with regular-flavored WordPress, we can stick with single-blog installs (which is how things are setup by default), or we can activate multisite functionality and create an unlimited network of sites. The process is still new and there are bugs that need to be worked out, but eventually it will be a widely used WordPress feature. That said, the htaccess rules used for WordPress Multisite may change as the software continues to evolve.

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Jeff Morris recently demonstrated a potential issue with the way WordPress handles multipaged posts and comments. The issue involves WordPress’ inability to discern between multipaged posts and comments that actually exist and those that do not. By redirecting requests for nonexistent numbered pages to the original post, WordPress creates an infinite amount of duplicate content for your site. In this article, we explain the issue, discuss the implications, and provide an easy, working solution.

Understanding the “infinite duplicate content” issue

Using the <!--nextpage--> tag, WordPress makes it easy to split your post content into multiple pages, and also makes it easy to paginate the display of your comment threads. For both paged posts and paged comments, WordPress appends the page number to the permalink. So for example, if we have a post split into 3 pages, WordPress will generate the following set of completely valid permalinks (based on name-only permalink structure):

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The updated book is looking better than ever! A little over 3.5 months after Digging into WordPress v1, Chris and I have updated the book, the site, and everything else for DiW Version 2. Both PDF and printed-version of the book now include two new chapters and two free themes. We have a new “Bonus Tricks” chapter with some awesome theme techniques, and another chapter on “WordPress Updates” that explains how to use all the latest WordPress features. Along the way, we also discuss the two free themes that are bundled exclusively with DiW Version 2. We even updated the printed version of the book, which is now available.

Free Lifetime Updates: If you have already bought the book, you should already have gotten an email with a download link for the new version, which also contains the new bundled themes.

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I have been doing some non-design-related work recently and have not been saturated with anything even computer-related for the past several weeks. Mostly I have been just enjoying life, but also drawing quite a bit and going around taking photos of old, decrepit homesteads and factories. Needless to say, it’s been a much-needed respite from the usual crunch and grind.

Taking a few steps back like this from the Web — even for such a short period of time — is remarkably refreshing, and has given me time to contemplate all this web-stuff that keeps us all so busy. When you’re right down in it, focused like a laser and cranking the days away, time sort of loses meaning, as every moment is purely an opportunity to get something done.

Looking more at the overall shape of things gives you a better perspective of how all the little pieces fit into place. When we’re focused strongly on a particular set of goals, it’s necessary to filter out as much extraneous information as possible. This helps in the short term, but it’s good to step back once in awhile and “let in” as much depth and perspective as possible.

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Congrats to Oliver Edwards for winning the randomly selected book giveaway! Oliver Edwards will receive a complimentary printed edition of Digging into WordPress along with the digital PDF version. Thank you to random.org for the true random number generator.

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I have a free print version of Digging into WordPress to give away to one lucky winner. To qualify for the giveaway, simply leave a comment on this post stating your absolute favorite thing about WordPress. The winner will receive a free printed copy of DiW shipped to their door, plus a lifetime subscription to the PDF version of the book. I will announce the randomly chosen winner next week. – Good luck! :)

Nearly six weeks after releasing the electronic version of Digging into WordPress, Chris and I are proud to announce that the printed version is now available.

Beautiful custom design with full-color printing on every page

Beautiful custom design..

Make no mistake, this is a beautiful, custom-designed book that makes it fun and easy to soak in the wisdom and advance your WordPress skills. Every detail has been carefully crafted — from the landscape page-orientation and color-coded chapters to the lay-flat spiral binding and large, easy-to-read text — this book is truly a pleasure to experience.

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A few months ago, many WordPress sites were attacked with some extremely malicious code. While searching for a good solution, I discovered the following gem of a plugin in the pastebin repository:

<?php /* Plugin Name: Block Bad Queries */

if (strlen($_SERVER['REQUEST_URI']) > 255 || 
	strpos($_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'], "eval(") || 
	strpos($_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'], "base64")) {
		@header("HTTP/1.1 414 Request-URI Too Long");
		@header("Status: 414 Request-URI Too Long");
		@header("Connection: Close");
		@exit;
} ?>

This script checks for excessively long request strings (i.e., greater than 255 characters), as well as the presence of either “eval(” or “base64” in the request URI. These sorts of nefarious requests were implicated in the September 2009 WordPress attacks.

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One of the most popular articles here at Perishable Press is my January 2005 post, Stupid htaccess Tricks. In that article, I bring together an extensive collection of awesome copy-&-paste HTAccess code snippets. Four years later, people continue to tell me how much they enjoy and use the content as a bookmarked reference for many of their HTAccess needs. The article was even published in a book on Joomla! Security.

This is very inspiring to me, so I have decided to create a similar post for all of the useful WordPress code snippets, tips and tricks that I have collected while working on Digging into WordPress, the new book by co-author Chris Coyier and myself that really “digs in” to all of the awesome ways to get the most out of WordPress. While writing the DiW book, I collected hundreds of incredibly useful WordPress tips and tricks. After packing the book with as many of these techniques as possible, I decided to share the “best of the rest” here at Perishable Press.

If you are one of the millions of people who use WordPress, this article will help you improve the appearance, functionality, and performance of your WordPress-powered websites. Each of these “stupid WordPress tricks” is presented as clearly and succinctly as possible, including as many notes, instructions, and pointers as needed for successful implementation. Of course, keep in mind that we are only scratching the surface here. For a much more complete resource that is packed with tons of tasty techniques, you need to get Digging into WordPress.

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After nearly a year of production, Chris Coyier and I are stoked to announce our new book: Digging into WordPress! It’s nine jam-packed chapters (400 pages!) stuffed with everything you need to take your WordPress skills to the next level and really get the most out of WordPress. We take you through everything — from setting up for success and creating the perfect theme to optimizing performance and tightening security, Digging into WordPress delivers the goods. You’ll learn how to harness the full potential of WordPress with all of the tips, tricks, and code you need to make it happen.

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Might as well face it, Twitter is here to stay. Not that it’s all that bad, just used to be a lot more laid-back and enjoyable. These days it seems to have been taken over by the lowest common-denominator, mostly high-school twits or useless commercial propaganda. Even so, I still enjoy tweeting the occasional profound thought once in awhile, and even like to play around with various types of “advanced” Twitter functionality. You know, cool stuff like including “Tweet This!” links with short URLs, showing off my number of Twitter followers, displaying the number of tweets for each post, and even backing up my marvelous tweets quickly and easily. As you might have guessed, these are the kind of stupid Twitter tricks that you will find in this article. So kick back, relax, and enjoy these twitterific techniques that will make you go tweet.

“Tweet This!” short links for posts

I like to include an easy way for readers to “tweet” my posts, but the URLs are generally way over Twitter’s 140-character limit. Fortunately, we can use PHP’s handy file_get_contents function to grab short versions of our URLs from a free minifying service like TinyURL.

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