Articles tagged as “tweaks”

Here is a list of all articles tagged as “tweaks”. If you enjoy the high-quality content that I provide here at Perishable Press, you may want to subscribe to our main content feed to stay current.

Associate Any File with Notepad in Five Seconds

In my article, Associate Extensionless Files with Notepad, I explain how to navigate the labyrinthine maze of Windows dialogue menus to assign Microsoft’s Notepad text editor as the opening application for files without extensions. In this post, I’ll show you how to associate any file type with any program (including Notepad) in less than five seconds. Ready? Don’t blink, you’ll miss it.. ;) Modify any file extension association in five seconds Open the Windows command prompt and enter the following command: assoc .extension=fileType It’s that easy. What is happening here? Let’s break it down, just for fun: assoc — Windows file-association command .extension — ...

3 Ways to Exclude Content from WordPress Feeds

This may surprise you, but I post quite a bit of content that never appears in the site’s main feed. It is my impression that a vast majority of subscribers are interested in web/graphic-design and development-related topics, and are really much less interested (if at all) in the miscellaneous odds and ends that wind up in the ever-expanding Perishable Press database. In the past, the process of excluding content from the main feed typically involved changing the post-date to something at least a year or so in the past. The thinking was that I ...

WordPress Core Hacks Used at Perishable Press

One of the necessary evils associated with creating a highly customized WordPress-powered site involves the inevitable necessity to hack the WordPress core. WordPress is built for mass-consumption and tends to cater to the largest audience possible, making it necessary to bend and poke around the corners to get WordPress to function in a more specific or specialized capacity. Of course, there is a major downside to tweaking core WordPress files: upgrading. The overambitious WordPress peeps are constantly rolling out upgrade after upgrade, many of which are required security fixes, patches, or whatever. The point is that editing the WordPress core on your current version of WordPress requires that you edit each and ...

Stop WordPress from Leaking PageRank to Admin Pages

During the most recent Perishable Press redesign, I noticed that several of my WordPress admin pages had been assigned significant levels of PageRank. Not good. After some investigation, I realized that my ancient robots.txt rules were insufficient in preventing Google from indexing various WordPress admin pages. Specifically, the following pages have been indexed and subsequently assigned PageRank: WP Admin Login Page WP Lost Password Page WP Registration Page WP Admin Dashboard Needless to say, it is important to stop WordPress from leaking PageRank to admin pages. Instead of wasting our hard-earned link-equity on non-ranking pages, let’s redirect it to more important pages and posts. In order to accomplish ...

Random Fixinz for Hotmail via Outlook Express

Note: The methods described in this post apply to older versions of Internet Explorer (<6) and Outlook Express (<6), and are provided here for reference purposes only. Fix the "Unable to poll for new messages" error Here is an error message that some Outlook Express users receive when sending or receiving email, or after creating a new email account: Unable to poll for new messages on your HTTP server. Account: 'Hotmail' Server: 'http://services.msn.com/svcs/hotmail/httpmail.asp' Protocol: HTTPMail Server Response: 'End tag 'D:response' does not match the start tag 'D:prop'. Port: 0 Secure(SSL): No Error Number: 0xC00CE56D This problem most likely is caused by Internet Explorer’s cookie management behavior. To fix the problem, add http://www.hotmail.com/ to IE’s allowed cookie list as follows: Open Internet ...

Rename the Recycle Bin in WinXP

To rename the Recycle Bin in Windows XP, create a new text.txt file in your favorite directory and add the following lines: REGEDIT4 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\ShellFolder] "Attributes"=hex:50,01,00,20"CallForAttributes"=dword:00000000 Next, rename the file extension from ".txt" to ".reg" -- the other part of the file name may be whatever you prefer (e.g., RecycleBin.reg). Then, double-click the file to have Windows import it into the Registry. Now go right-click your Recycle Bin and use the new option to Rename it. To remove renaming functionality for the Recycle Bin, replicate the same file you created initially, and replace the last line (i.e., the third line) with the following: "Attributes"=hex:40,01,00,20"CallForAttributes"=dword:00000000 Again, double-click the file to import it into the Registry.

Perishable Press Unresolved Error Log

This post is hereby dedicated to the official logging of all unresolved and/or unexplained errors encountered during development or implementation of various plugins, extensions, themes, scripts, and/or anything else that results in bizarre and mysterious errors, bugs, or other anomalies. Further, we will also post any potential solutions, fixes, workarounds, or explanations for any errors logged in this post. This information is provided for reference purposes only -- please share any related information you may have concerning any of the errors described in this error log. Please use the comment form below or simply contact us directly. Thanks. 1. Firebug extension » conflict with Firefox 1.5 [ January 9th, 2007 ] Unexplained conflict ...

Delete index.dat on Windows 98SE

This brief tutorial on removing (and replacing) the "index.dat" file applies to any Windows OS running on MS-DOS. Although I haven’t researched this officially, it appears that all Windows versions released prior to Windows 2000 are running on the 16-bit MS-DOS kernel. Conversely, Win2000 and WinXP operate on a 32-bit kernel and thus do not utilize MS-DOS. Thus, this method focuses on removing the index.dat from machines running Windows 95, 98, and 98SE. As you may be aware, Internet Explorer utilizes a file called "index.dat". The index.dat file serves a log that documents every domain visited through Internet Explorer. Deleting or modifying this file through Windows is impossible because Windows is ...

Path to Outlook Express Files on WinXP

Trying to backup your Outlook Express .dbx files on Windows XP may prove difficult if you can’t find them. Well, fret no more, my friend. Here is the generalized path to the Outlook Express folder, which contains all of the .dbx files for a particular user. Copy, paste, and shortcut: C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\{12345678-1234-ABCD-EFGH-1234567890AB}\Microsoft\Outlook Express * [username] = each user will should have their set of .dbx files. * {12345678-1234-ABCD-EFGH-1234567890AB} = represents a unique alphanumeric string.

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. Please note that everyone’s site is configured differently. These are the tricks that helped us to speed up publishing, but they may not have the same effect for everyone. The following methods were executed for ...

Theme Edits for IE7

This post is a working repository of code edits and other changes made to Perishable Press themes in order for them to function properly in Internet Explorer 7 (IE7).. Jupiter Theme *:first-child+html div.comwrap { overflow: visible; } Lithium Theme *:first-child+html div.comwrap { overflow: visible; } Casket Theme Removed html selector from first ruleset.

Extreme Makeover for Gravatars in WordPress

Strategic Methods for Improving Gravatar Functionality in WordPress Gravatars have become a popular way of adding spice to the "comments" page of many WordPress-powered sites. So popular, in fact, that the gravatar server is often overloaded, bogged down with millions of gravatar requests every second. This immense server load effects user pages everywhere, resulting in slow loading times, unresolved server requests, and missing gravatars. Such broken presentations appear unprofessional, tarnish reputations, and may provoke confusion. This article provides essential solutions for an extreme gravatar makeover.. Gravatar Plugins WordPress users currently enjoy two plugin options for enabling gravatars on their website: Skippy’s Gravatars plugin and ...

Delete Unwanted Context Menu Items in WinXP

Within the right-click context menu is the option to create "New" file items. While the list of available documents within the "New" submenu often contains several useful file types, such as .txt or .zip, it also contains lots of unnecessary entries. To clean up the "New" right-click context menu, open the Registry Editor, regedit.exe, and Find all instances of "ShellNew". Examine the search results. Every ShellNew branch belongs to a specific type of file. As each ShellNew branch corresponds to an entry in the "New" right-click context menu, delete the ShellNew branch for each "New" file type that you would like to remove. And that, as they say, is that.

Folder Background Images in WinXP

This brief tutorial explains how to add a background image to any folder in Windows XP. First, make sure all hidden files are visible on your system. Then, open the folder for which you wish to add a background image. Within the folder, right-click and select Properties » Customize tab » Customize. There, choose any icon, click Apply and OK. That process should have created a "desktop.ini" file. Open that file with a text editor and add these lines of code: [ExtShellFolderViews] {BE098140-A513-11D0-A3A4-00C04FD706EC}={BE098140-A513-11D0-A3A4-00C04FD706EC} [{BE098140-A513-11D0-A3A4-00C04FD706EC}] IconArea_Image=C:\path\folder\background.jpg To customize this according to your needs, edit the path in the last line to reflect to the location of the image you wish to use as the background image for that folder. ...

Customize WordPress Quicktags

Note: This condensed tutorial assumes you are working with WordPress 2+ and are familiar with editing .php and/or .js files. WordPress quicktags1 provide shortcuts for adding certain bits of code to your posts. The default set of quicktags includes some handy shortcut buttons for tags such as , , and , as well as a few others. While the default set of quicktag buttons is occasionally useful, a quick bit of quicktag customization can easily transform your personal set of quicktag buttons into a deadly arsenal of time-saving code shortcuts. First, open the quicktags.js file, usually located in the wp-includes/js directory. Next, scroll down to around line #40 and look for the following ...

Hacking Firefox Extensions

Firefox extensions enable users to customize Firefox with additional features. Generally, Firefox extensions are free, open-source, and easily downloaded as .xpi files. This article explains how to hack Firefox extensions of the .xpi variety. There are many reasons why someone would want to hack a Firefox extension -- examples include: editing code, debugging errors, and learning extensions. This hack method requires a web browser, zip utility, and text editor. Step 1: Secure an extension By default, the Firefox browser will cache and attempt to install any "extension.xpi" file it encounters. Once Firefox installs the plugin, it becomes much more complicated to hack. Therefore, it is best to save an offline copy of the ...

WordPress Core File Edits at Perishable Press

Update: After upgrading Perishable Press in 2007, many of the hacks listed on this page are no longer applicable. Please refer to our new WordPress Core Edits for current information. Otherwise, this article remains online for reference purposes only. The folks developing WordPress are continually rolling out “upgrades”. While it is generally a good idea to stay current, it can also be a bit of a pain if you have made any changes to the WordPress core files. Our recommendation? Keep a log such as this one that either includes all edits or links to posts describing them. ...

Associate Extensionless Files with Notepad in WinXP

There are several files that appear not to have extensions in Windows XP. Perhaps the best known example is the HOSTS file. Files such as the HOSTS file that appear to be "extensionless" actually contain an invisible period "." -- or dot -- at the end the file name. It is this invisible dot that will enable us to select a specific program with which to open files with no extensions. As web developers, we are constantly checking and consulting server-generated error_log files. Like the HOSTS file, the error_log files appear to have no associated extension. In Windows XP, opening extensionless files requires opening the "Open with..." dialogue box and scrolling through ...

Lightbox + FancyTooltips Bug Fix

For those of us enjoying the stylish functionality of Lightbox or any of its many incarnations, images "magically" overlay the window and unfold, revealing navigational buttons, image count, and of course the image titles. For those of us enjoying the stylish functionality of FancyTooltips or any of its many incarnations, title and alt attributes manifest as stylish displays of CSS brilliance. However, for those of us employing both features, there is a potential JavaScript conflict. This conflict makes it impossible for Lightbox to display the contents of title attributes associated with images. Thus, if you are ...

Passing Quotation Marks via wp_link_pages

According to the WordPress Codex 1, it is possible to pass quotation marks via the parameters of the function, wp_link_pages(). This would enable users to assign a particular css class or id to the function output, thereby providing greater design and behavioral control over that particular object. But alas, as reported several times in the WordPress Codex 2, wp_link_pages() is unable to pass quotes without causing errors. To fix this, we open template-functions-post.php and find wp_link_pages(), which is located around line #121 (for WP 2.0.2). The fix is easy, simply edit the in the following lines: $r['before'] = '' . __('Pages:'); $r['after'] = ''; For example, if you wanted to wrap the function output with a ...

Reversing WordPress Page Navigation Order

This article explains how to reverse the order of WordPress page navigation links. To reverse the default (backward) order of page navigation in WordPress, open the file template-functions-links.php (in WP 2.0) or link-template.php (in WP 2.1/2.2) and scroll down to the last function, posts_nav_link() 1. Next, find the last if statement and switch the order of the following two lines: previous_posts_link($prelabel); [ ignore this line ] next_posts_link($nxtlabel, $max_page); Next, within the first line of the same function (beginning with function posts_nav_link), switch the order of the variables $prelabel='« Previous Page' and $nxtlabel='Next Page »'. Finally, within the loop, make sure you are calling the function with the usual parameters in place. Something ...

Gizoogle Gonna Break it Down

Gangsta lean. Gangsta tuff. Da Gizoogle Search Engine & Translator delivahz da roofless bidniss fo' da previous post: Osseus Website Yo Multimedia artist extraordizzle Kenneth Paul Schrag — betta known as Osseus ta his fellow DLa posse — is currently in tha process of updat'n his personal design portfolio website (Flash required) aww nah. Ken's aww nah. work is diverse, wit online samples cover'n both graphic design n illustration. We finally met up wit Ken n Yasuko several months ago before they Japanese tizzle. They call me tha black folks president. ...

Title Attributes for WordPress Post Navigation

Improve accessibility by adding title attributes to your WordPress userspace. Note: This article applies specifically to WordPress 2.0.2, but may be generalized to any WP 2.0+ version. By default, WordPress navigation links omit the title attributes for both page and post views. Title attributes for links provide additional information that can improve the accessibility of your website. This is especially true when images or text symbols exclusively are used for navigation. To add title attributes to WordPress page-view links (e.g., links for index, archive, and category views), open the file wp-includes/template-functions-links.php and find the functions previous_posts_link (line #494) and next_posts_link (line #459). Within each function, replace the following line: echo '">'. preg_replace('/&([^#])(?![a-z]{1,8};)/', '&$1', $label) .''; ..with this: echo ...

WordPress RDF Source Makeover

Beautiful Source-Code Output, Part 1: Whip your WordPress RDF Code into Submission Update: This article applies specifically to WordPress 2.0.2, but may be generalized to any WP 2.0+ version. I love looking at beautiful source-code output. However WordPress tends to spit code out in random chunks, often leaving spaces, line breaks, and tabs littered throughout the source output. This messes things up. Lists don’t look like lists and logically written code often appears scattered along the page carelessly. Often, this is the result of poorly written PHP, which can be manipulated to write beautifully aligned code that looks as good as it works. For the first article in this series, we will bring order ...