Our recent quest to find a publisher has finally paid off. After spending a few weeks checking out different publishers and myriad publishing options, Chris Coyier and I have decided to go the DIY-route and publish the book ourselves as a PDF. The book is titled “Digging into WordPress,” and is due out late Summer or early Fall of this year. It’s going to be packed full of juicy WordPress goodness and I hope that you check it out when it’s released.
In the meantime, while we are busy working behind the scenes to make the book the best it can be, we have launched an accompanying DiW website that focuses on WordPress, the book, and how to take your WordPress-powered sites to the next level. Here is a screenshot of the site, which is located at DiggingIntoWordPress.com:
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Now that my recent site overhaul project is nearly complete, I thought it would be useful to share my carefully developed “plan of attack.” The following seven-step strategy is designed to facilitate the entire renovation by logically ordering events and breaking down complex tasks. Upon execution, the following plan is designed to improve overall site functionality, presentation and structure, while factoring in several critical parameters:
- Modular time organization — due to my hectic schedule, it is necessary to break large projects down into manageable chunks.
- Separation of main site from test site — I need a clear distinction between Perishable Press and my many test blogs, pages, and projects.
- Separation of main content from tangential content — distinguishing between main content and other material (e.g., private content, FTP files, etc.) is critical.
- Facilitation of future WordPress upgrades — keeping up with WordPress is important. Before the site overhaul, upgrading was nearly impossible. In fact, the primary thrust of this site makeover is aimed at making it easier to stay current with WordPress.
Thus far, adhering to this plan has helped to eliminate confusion by simplifying an otherwise convoluted project. With this plan firmly in mind, stepping through the entire process happened in a clear, nearly mechanical fashion. Without a doubt, being prepared provided an expediency and thoroughness that would have otherwise remained elusive. Is this the “perfect” plan for renovating a rather large, preexisting site? Probably not. Will you learn something about preparing for and executing WordPress and other site upgrades by reading it? Probably. I suppose, in any case, that even if readers find the proceeding plan all but useless, posting it online is great for prosperity and may even serve useful as future reference material. So, without further ado, here is an outline of the activity recently unfolding behind the scenes here at Perishable Press.
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![[ Image: 'Manoid' - Kaleidoscopic Anatomical Abstraction by EightyEightTeeth ]](http://perishablepress.com/press/wp-content/images/2007/misc-chunks/eightyeight.jpg)
[ Detail of 88teeth’s revamped “Manoid” ] Longtime friend and fellow-DLa member ThaneC recently has updated his personal/portfolio site, eightyeightteeth.com. ThaneC’s site has been completely redesigned and reorganized, featuring easy navigation and generous presentation of core content. Every page is overflowing with creative juice — thumbnail galleries of artistic works, digital photos, and custom wallpapers are a pleasure to browse. Full-size versions of each creative piece “pop-up” upon command. ThaneC’s unpretentious wit and artistic sincerity furnish each page with insightful commentary and inside information concerning each delicious offering. Designed according to the principles of modern web design, ThaneC’s site now employs the efficiency and flexibility of HTML and CSS, rounded out with a touch of unobtrusive JavaScript to make it all sweet.
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Dead Letter Art (DLa) is an esoteric underground art collective. The collective consists of eight core members that have known each other since high school, and have been creating and sharing their art for well over fifteen years. Sharing many common interests and influences, the DLa collective explores diverse artistic media, both individually and collectively. Their vast media expertise includes everything from drawing and painting to website development and multimedia production. Further, the group also embraces the fine art of desktop publishing, employing their periodically printed zine, Dead Letter Art, with their recently redesigned website, deadletterart.com, as their vehicle of choice for sharing, discussing, and exploring their highly creative, collective universe.
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Chilled-out Web Design As promised, the official website for Monzilla Media is released January 2nd, 2007. Several weeks went into the development of the site, which is designed to provide a concise overview of current events and projects. The online presence of Monzilla Media opens up a new realm of possibilities, with business now marketed worldwide via the internet. Monzilla Media specializes in providing highly customized web design with a sharp focus on standards, usability, and accessibility.
Check out Monzilla Media »
The AddMySite (AMS) plugin for WordPress makes it easy for your visitors to add your site to all of their favorite social-bookmarking services. With a few clicks, users may easily bookmark or add your site to any number of popular social bookmarking services, which are concisely presented via drop-down menu or as a customizable list. One file. Simple installation. Easy to use. Clean output and XHTML strict.
New! — Widgetized AMS version 0.88 now available! The new widgetized version of AddMySite makes it easier than ever to add your site and feed to 40 sites! AMS version 0.88 features 25 social-bookmarking sites to which visitors may add your site. Even better, the new version of AMS also enables visitors to add your site’s syndicated feed to 15 feed-related/aggregator sites. That’s 40 ways to expand your online empire!
Super-easy installation instructions
- Upload plugin to plugins directory and activate.
- Drag and drop the AMS widget into your sidebar.
- Enjoy! ;)
Demonstration
To see AddMySite (AMS) in action, look here (located near the middle of the page).
[ version 0.88 (widgetized) | ~5KB | .zip | 2013 downloads ]
Previous versions of AMS
For many months, visitors to Perishable Press encountered the highly customized Jupiter! theme. Utilizing sIFR, Prototype, Lightbox, and several other bandwidth-heavy scripts, the Jupiter! theme weighs in at well over 400KB/page when saved as an offline copy. The Jupiter! theme also employs every plugin used here at Perishable Press, resulting in even slower performance for broadband users, and utterly painful experiences for those on modem/dial-up.
Recently, we decided to give Jupiter! a facelift and dump the heavy baggage. The idea was to create a theme aesthetically similar to Jupiter!, focusing on speed and usability without sacrificing essential functionality. The result is Lithium, the eleventh WordPress theme from Perishable Press & Monzilla Media. Lithium is lightweight, accessible, user-friendly, XHTML-strict, and provides helpful features such as tags, keywords, gravatars, as well as comment enhancements and autodiscovery feeds. Best of all, Lithium provides the same overall "look and feel" as Jupiter!, but with better, brighter colors and sharper, sexier details.
Nonetheless, there are yet simpler, more refined themes in the works for Perishable Press. By the time you read this, in fact, the Lithium theme may no longer appear as the site's "default" theme. So, for the record, here are links to Jupiter!, Lithium, and a selection of all Press themes.
A new Dead Letter Art website is in the works and coming soon. The new site enhances previous content with dynamic features and improved organization. The new site has also been updated to include more archived content, including ancient issues and special projects. Additionally, some keen Ajax functionality kicks the “fun” up a notch. Anticipated release date: September 1, 2006. Check out the old, sickly green website here (update 9/2011: green site has been removed).
Update: [ 02/01/07 ] — The new Dead Letter Art website is now in full effect! Check it out at deadletterart.com. Browse the infamous DLa Archives, chat live with the crew in the DLa Forum, or even leave a comment in the Guestbook. — You’ll be glad you did..
The Native Sun Botanicals website is now online. Native Sun Botanicals (NSB) specified a precise “look and feel” for their site, which is currently a “brochure” site that conveys some basic product information. As a botanical manufacturer/supplier, NSB strives to present a clean, refreshing image that is sophisticated yet simple. The site is designed to be standards-based, accessible, and optimized for search engines. As NSB develops its product line, the site will expand to incorporate database-driven, dynamic content. In the meantime, several key site elements will be added, such as business and contact information. Monzilla Media is providing complete website development, maintenance, and representation for Native Sun Botanicals, and looks forward to a mutually prosperous future.
The Dead Letter Art website is temporarily back online. This is the once infamous, vomit-green version of the website we’re talking about here. One of the first serious attempts at website design, the green DLa site offers slice-based rollover action, table-based markup, and seriously grotesque aesthetics. However hideous the site, its content showcases some of the finest highlights from the Dead Letter Art experience.
Nonetheless, the site is back online for a hopefully brief three-week tour. This may indeed be your last chance to relive some of that ol’ vomit-green magic. So come on, feel the love…
Osseus Website Multimedia artist extraordinaire, Kenneth Paul Schrag — better known as Osseus to his fellow DLa comrades — is currently in the process of updating his personal design portfolio website (Flash required). Ken’s work is diverse, with online samples covering both graphic design and illustration.
We finally met up with Ken and Yasuko several months ago before their Japanese trip. We shared coffee in the Desert Oasis and shared recent experiences and creative happenings. Ken and Yasuko have been busy working as Graphic Designers in the Seattle area, and have big plans to start a potentially lucrative design-based service business. Beyond this, they have worked several interesting freelance jobs ranging from modeling & sculpture to illustration & design.
In related news, the possible release of DLa #20 — The Elusive Texture Issue — has resurfaced, with potential to catalyze the swift development and re-establishment of the Dead Letter Art empire. Website plans are in the works, and several DLa-related graphic-design projects have been discussed. Especially inspiring are ideas involving letter press and archaic printing methods. Stay tuned..
Monzilla Media After working more than nine months developing Perishable Press into a valuable online resource, which houses a growing library of notes, examples, and ideas related to the creative universe of Perishable, we feel well-prepared to press ahead with the next phase of our secret plans. About a year ago, we purchased the domain, monzilla.biz, after deciding on a business name and refocusing our goals. Since that time, we have been sharpening skills and preparing for business. Now, as of May 1st, 2006, we are officially working on the Monzilla Media business website. Once established, Monzilla Media will serve as the business end of our creative endeavours, and shall be advertised locally as well as online. Monzilla will focus primarily on website design, however providing other services such as graphic design and photography may prove beneficial. In business, Monzilla Media will continue to strive toward perfection — pimping bold CSS & clean XHTML — creating beautiful, user-friendly websites that are accessible, standards-compliant, and functionally dynamic. It is our intention to focus on personal and small-business sites that deliver satisfaction while remaining affordable. We’ll tackle the big biz stuff down the road… For now, look forward to the impending release of monzilla.biz, the official website of Monzilla Media.
Bold Taste, Clean Finish »
This website is the product of over three months of code, design, redesign, and eyedrops. It takes advantage of WordPress 2.0, which has been functioning flawlessly. The Monzilla website (and all subsequent sites) will also employ WP 2.0, or whichever version is the most current at the time of design.
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At last we are witnessing the completion of a WordPress theme that should endure at least the next year. If I find myself redesigning the Perishable Press website yet again sometime during 2006, then I should just walk away from it all. The Information skin has plenty of features to keep me busy and lots of nooks and crannies for some serious chillz.
Update (02/07/06): Okay, so maybe I should just walk away from all of this WP business. Here it is, 2006, and I am once again redesigning the Perishable Press website. The last redesign (i.e., the Information theme) employed JavaScript, style-switchers, many plugins, and a heavily hacked WP 1.5 engine. Needless to say, although the Information theme was indeed XHTML-strict and theoretically universal, IE6 choked on it, dial-up modems choked on it, and it would have eventually collapsed upon itself due to its immense, convoluted structure. As much as I loved its look and feel, I had to junk it in order to simplify, streamline, and get serious about future developments. So, I completely erased the old site and replaced it with this fresh, new version, which runs on WP 2.0, doesn’t require JavaScript, and is extremely universal and bandwidth friendly. Plus it validates on all fronts and boasts simplicity and elegance over tricks and gimmicks. How long before the next redesign? God only knows.
Several months since it began, the Perishable Press is finally being fleshed out with posts, feeds, and images. Now that the site is (95%) built, we are experiencing the joys of blogging, tweaking, and fine-tuning details. So if the site looks good but seems a little short on content, just give us time — there is much planned for the future. I am grateful for this website, and look forward to using it to its fullest potential.
