WAMP not working
This conflict has already been well documented but if you don’t know that Skype is the culprit, it’s pretty hard to find in a Google Search. I’ve decided to post here and include a few key words that might help some people trying to search out the answer.
The WAMP taskbar icon on my machine recently went half yellow and Apache didn’t appear to be working. When I visited localhost, all I got was “this page can not be displayed”. The culprit: Skype. Both applications use port 80 so Apache won’t run if you have Skype automatically loading on start-up.
To fix this problem, close Skype and restart your WAMP services. You can then re-open Skype.
Wedding Website
Our wedding website is now live. It’s a simple hand-coded design providing only the essentials.
As we move closer to the date I hope to introduce some new features that include Twitter & Flickr integration and the use of media queries to display mobile-friendly versions.
CBeebies is live!
It seems since arriving in London I’ve dropped off the grid a little bit. I was lucky to land a role at the BBC while in transit so have been working pretty solidly since.
Today I’m excited to be able to announce what it is I’ve been doing, as the relaunch of CBeebies goes live. The site, CBeebies.com is an underwater themed website for children aged 0-6. It’s available in 5 regions and 3 languages – English, Polish and Spanish.
The redevelopment has been a joint project between BBCWW and London agency Airlock. The site is built using the amazing Symphony CMS and uses a bunch of cool stuff like Geo IP redirecting and some kick-ass CSS.
Since February I’ve been involved in the development of project scope and design feedback. More recently I’ve been re-purposing Flash & HTML content for inclusion into the CMS.
A massive thanks goes out to Airlock and everyone involved in this project.
Backpacking Journalist
I’ve just finished a custom WordPress theme for Chloe, Backpacking Journalist.
Chloe was flexible in her requirements which gave me the opportunity to play with some new CSS3 features – adding text shadows and a few rounded corners.
The logo uses the wonderful Lobster font and the theme was created from the WP Candy base WordPress theme which I highly recommend.
There will probably be a few changes to come as Chloe adds more content to the site but so far I’m quite happy with this bright and sunny, simple travel theme.
6 Essential WordPress Plugins
I’ve got a few sites running on WordPress now and use most of the same plugins. Here are the plugins I consider the ‘base plugins’ for every blog I start:
1. Google XML Sitemaps
What it does:
Generates an xml sitemap and submits it to Ask.com, Google, Bing and Yahoo.
Why you should use it:
It’s essential for your SEO that you have a sitemap. This plugin ensures that search engines have up to date data without you having to lift a finger.
Google XML Sitemap by Arne Brachhold
2. All in One SEO Pack
What it does:
Rewrites your URLs to include actual words instead of post numbers, Rewrites page titles, Inserts keywords and page descriptions…
Why you should use it:
To ensure that your website is optimized for search engines. Simple.
All in One SEO Pack by Michael Torbert
3. IntenseDebate
What is does:
Allows advanced commenting options – control the way your comments are displayed and moderated. Intense Debate also allows people to comment using their Facebook or Twitter accounts.
Why you should use it:
I’m more likely to comment on a blog when I don’t have to fill out a big form or register – […]
Changing Simplenews to Export Subscribers to CSV in PHP
I’m currently using the Simplenews Drupal module for creating and sending newsletters. My client requested that the subscriber export function be changed to export all subscriber details to CSV. As the export option already retrieves all subscriber emails and generates a comma seperated string, exporting to CSV only requires a few extra lines of php.
After the following piece of code:
// Build form field containing exported emails.
// The field will be included in the form where at the ['emails'] place holder.
if (isset($mails)) {
$exported_mails = implode(", ", $mails);
}
else {
$exported_mails = t('No addresses were found.');
}
Add the following:
header("Content-type: application/csv");
header("Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=subscribers.csv");
print $exported_mails;
exit;
Easy!