websitedesignby.com

Wordpress Website Development Work Flow: wp-config.php

Ross — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 12:59:00 +0000

When I am working on a website I have a local development version that I program and test locally. When an update is implemented, it is tested locally before it is copied to the live server. Wordpress sites are treated no differently. Here is how you can make the wp-config.php portable to work in your live and local environment. Simply replace the variables below with the actual information for your web site and you will be have a wp-config.php that can happily thrive in both environments.

I defined an additional constant ‘LIVE’ that I can refer to elsewhere in my code to determine if I am on the live server or not.

wp-config.php

if($_SERVER['HTTP_HOST']==’livedomain.com’ || $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST']==’www.livedomain.com’){

define(‘DB_NAME’, ‘db_name_live’); // The name of the database
define(‘DB_USER’, ‘mysql_username_live’); // Your MySQL username
define(‘DB_PASSWORD’, ‘mysql_password_live’); // …and password
define(‘DB_HOST’, ‘localhost’); // db host
define(‘DB_CHARSET’, ‘utf8′);
define(‘DB_COLLATE’, ”);
define(‘AUTH_KEY’, ‘put your unique phrase here’);
define(‘SECURE_AUTH_KEY’, ‘put your unique phrase here’);
define(‘LOGGED_IN_KEY’, ‘put your unique phrase here’);
define(‘LIVE’, true);

}else{

define(‘DB_NAME’, ‘name_of_db_local’); // The name of the database
define(‘DB_USER’, ‘mysql_username_local’); // Your MySQL username
define(‘DB_PASSWORD’, ‘mysql_password_local’); // …and password
define(‘DB_HOST’, ‘localhost’); // db host
define(‘DB_CHARSET’, ‘utf8′);
define(‘DB_COLLATE’, ”);
define(‘AUTH_KEY’, ‘put your unique phrase here’);
define(‘SECURE_AUTH_KEY’, ‘put your unique phrase here’);
define(‘LOGGED_IN_KEY’, ‘put your unique phrase here’);
define(‘LIVE’, false);

}

// You can have multiple installations in one database if you give each a unique prefix
$table_prefix = ‘wp_’; // Only numbers, letters, and underscores please!

// Change this to localize WordPress. A corresponding MO file for the
// chosen language must be installed to wp-content/languages.
// For example, install de.mo to wp-content/languages and set WPLANG to ‘de’
// to enable German language support.
define (‘WPLANG’, ”);

/* That’s all, stop editing! Happy blogging. */

if ( !defined(‘ABSPATH’) )
define(‘ABSPATH’, dirname(__FILE__) . ‘/’);
require_once(ABSPATH . ‘wp-settings.php’);
?>

MySQL Queries

Another thing to be conscious of when moving between a live and local server environment with Wordpress are couple of records in the wp_options table of the database. The siteurl and liveurl records will be different in your local environment and live environment. If you copy your database from one to the other, just run the appropriate query below (with the liveurl and localurl variables changed to your actual data) depending on if you are copying from local to live or live to local.

Live to Local Query

Run query on local database.

UPDATE wp_options SET option_value=’http://localurl.com’ WHERE option_name=’siteurl’ ;

UPDATE wp_options SET option_value=’http://localurl.com’ WHERE option_name=’home’

Local to Live Query

Run query on live database.

UPDATE wp_options SET option_value=’http://liveurl.com‘ WHERE option_name=’siteurl’ ;

UPDATE wp_options SET option_value=’http://liveurl.com’ WHERE option_name=’home’

If you have any questions or suggestions, your comments are welcome below.

What is this Wave you speak of?

Ross — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 12:27:59 +0000

If you do a lot of Emailing back in forth as I often do, you may want to try Google Wave. Google Wave is still an invitation-only beta (Gmail was an invitation-only beta from 2004-2007 years before being released to the public), so you will need an invite to start using it. I have about 10 invites left, so you can drop me a note and I will send you one if you are interested in trying it and promise to post something nice in my wave. Google Wave is hard to describe as I am quite a wave newbie myself. It is an amalgamation of Email, chat, bulletin board, shared document and a live meeting.

Since wave is currently the bleeding edge of technology, you will need a couple things besides an invite to make your web browser Wave ready. First of all I recommend using Firefox, so if you don’t have that web browser go ahead and install it. Next go install gears. Ok you should be all set! Now go visit my wave and try it out.

You will probably need to watch some of the videos and read the instructions at wave.google.com/about.html. If you have other resources and links, please share them in my wave. I am still a little perplexed by it all myself, but see some potential here. Who knows, maybe this thing will be really useful when it gets out of beta in 2013.

Thanks blog.zenika.com for sorting out the details.

A Girl From Jersey

Ross — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 20:39:33 +0000

This site was custom developed for ‘A Girl From Jersey’ creations: unique coastal gifts available for wholesale to retailers.

The Problem

When Joanne initially approached me, she had a basic site that a friend had created using WordPress. She did not feel the site was a true representation of the quality of her work and did not have the level of professionalism she wanted to portray her business. It was also difficult for her to maintain as she only had a few pages of content but needed the ability to upload multiple photos into various categories and themes. The way the site was set up was not optimized for the photo gallery type setup she needed. I figured I could give her WordPress template a makeover and install a photo gallery plug-in. After researching plug-ins for galleries I did not find the perfect one I was looking for. Specifically we to be able to upload products and associate multiple categories and themes to each photo. On the front end we wanted visitors to be able to browse a category and have the photos separated and sorted by theme and when browsing a theme, separated and sorted by category. Seemed simple enough, however I never found what we were looking for.

The Solution

In thinking about the design and needing to move forward with the project I decided to build the content management system myself.

The Result

Dear Ross,

Thank you so much for all of your efforts on my new website. The process has been enjoyable from start to finish. I’ve been able to express my present and future needs to you, which you have taken and turned into a beautiful website that meets my current needs and can expand as my business does. I don’t know which I appreciate more: the website that is visible to all visitors or the part that only I see. As an artist/manufacturer, I get paid for the produts I sell, not for the number of hours I put into maintaining my website. So the easier it is for me to upload photos of new work, the sooner I can get back to painting. And the behind-the-scenes tools you have given me to maintain my site do just that. They are wonderful!!! I didn’t need to take classes, buy special software or enter into a 2-yr commitment; you’ve made updating my site as easy as sending an email with an attachment!! I look forward to using your services in the future as my business grows and will gladly recommend you. It has been a pleasure! Thank you!

Joanne Murphy

Adobe Flash CS5 is Coming…

Ross — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 12:11:56 +0000

I am looking forward to the launch of Adobe CS5. Although I have never been an early adopter of major software releases, preferring to read others feedback and take my time to understand the benefit of new features before shelling out hundreds of dollars, this release has my attention.

Adobe Flash CS5
I just got through watching a sneak peak of Flash CS5 at gotoAndLearn.com and it looks like Adobe is hitting the suite spot when it comes to what developers are looking for.

Text handling and fonts have always been a weak point when working in Flash. I am impressed with the features in CS5 that address text flow, better multi-lingual character support and the new font palette.

Flash has established itself as the most popular video streaming platform on the web today. Being able to scrub the video on the stage and add ActionScript cuepoints will be extremely useful timesavers.

Flash’s real power lies in it’s powerful ActionScript programming language that gives developers the freedom to shape the user experience without limits. Code snippets and a host of new features make it easier for programmers to control Flash using ActionScript. The XML-based source files are interesting too. From what I can tell at this early stage it looks like Flash is opening up their traditionally closed, complied SWF files for developers to be able to edit it’s properties and library items on the fly. Not only will this help with using version control, but also unlocks some interesting possibilities with custom content management systems.

The most hype about this release is centered around it’s wide distribution feature. In a nutshell, Adobe wants to allow a project created in Flash to be deployable across any platform (web, desktop, mobile, tablet). Ahead of this release Apple has announced it will not support applications developed using 3rd party (Adobe) software on the operating system running their widely popular iPhones, iTouches and iPads. This latest plot twist in the friction between Apple and Adobe definitely puts a crimp into this feature. However even without the Apple devices this feature will make it easier for developers to port their applications created in Flash to other popular mobile devices running Google’s Android, Windows and others.

I am much more excited about the release of Adobe’s CS5 than I was for the launch of the iPad. This one looks like it might actually be worthy of the hype.

Big Boy EXPO photos

Ross — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:11:51 +0000

I posted photos from the Big Boy EXPO in Estero, Florida on Flickr and FaceBook.

View them on FaceBook

View them on Flickr

Big Boy Show – Germain Arena 2/14, 2/15 2010

Ross — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 11:38:43 +0000

I think everyone involved would agree the show was major a success this year. It was a pleasure participating this year and meeting so many of you at the show. I really was impressed at the number of activities and attractions, the amount of visitors and the quality of the exhibitors. If I didn’t get a chance to talk to you at the show please drop me a line and we can talk about your experience at the show. See you in Charlotte in September and back at Germain in October!

PayPal – Authorize.net – Google Checkout

Ross — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:46:17 +0000

There are multiple options when accepting payment online. This post will focus on 3 of the most popular payment methods: PayPal, Authorize.net, Google Checkout and the possibilities that exist for using all 3.

PayPal offers 3 methods to use their service to accept payment online: Express Checkout, Website Payments Standard and Website Payments Pro.

PayPal Express Checkout

PayPal Express Checkout allows visitors to pay using their PayPal account. The visitor must have a PayPal account to use Express checkout. This option will be chosen by a visitor who is comfortable using PayPal versus entering their credit card information. If you have Website Payments Pro or Website Payments Standard integrated it is required to offer Express Checkout as a payment option. PayPal Express Checkout may also be offered in addition to Authorize.net, Google Checkout or any other merchant service you may use.

PayPal Website Payments Standard

When a customer pays using website Payments Standard they temporarily leave your web site and go to PayPal to enter their credit card information. This process is relatively painless but may not be ideal depending on your situation. The benefits of using PayPal Website Payments Standard include: easy set up, no monthly fee and a SSL (Secure Socket Layer) is not required on your site since the actual shopping cart and checkout page is hosted on PayPal and not your web site.

PayPal Website Payments Pro

PayPal Website Payments Pro is PayPal’s merchant service that allows you to accept credit cards directly on your site. The funds from the transaction will go to your PayPal account. As with most merchant accounts there is a monthly fee associated with Website Payments Pro (currently $30.). PayPal Express Checkout must be included as a payment option with PayPal Website Payments Pro.

Authorize.net provides a payment gateway for you to accept credit cards directly on your web site. The benefits of Authorize.net include low cost and direct integration using a trusted merchant service provider. Authorize.net can be used to process credit cards in addition to offering PayPal Express Checkout and Google Checkout.

There are a variety of ways to integrate with Authorize.net. Typically Web Site Design By, LLC will integrate Authorize.net directly with a shopping cart or custom checkout application on your web site. We are an an Authorized.net affiliate reseller. Please use the button below to start your application process. Start now by creating a login.

Google provides another payment option for shoppers who prefer to checkout using Google Checkout. Visitors must have a Google Checkout Account or register for one to pay using Google Checkout. With Google Checkout, Google simply stores the visitors credit card information and transfers the funds to your bank. There is a fee associated with each transaction. Google Checkout can be implemented in addition to PayPal and Authorize.net.

Tell us about your specific plans for accepting payments online and we will help you implement the best possible solution.

Authorize.net

Ross — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 11:46:15 +0000

I have been using authorize.net as a merchant service provider for many years. They provide a payment gateway that enables you to authorize, settle, and manage credit card and electronic check payments. Their payment gateway can be integrated into your web site to accept payment online, or you can use their virtual terminal to process credit cards manually.

Are you ready to get started with your authorize.net application process?

If you would like more information about authorize.net or accepting credit cards on your web site please contact us.

Big Boy EXPO – 2009

Ross — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:42:08 +0000

This was a re-design of an existing web site for the Big Boy Show. In addition to a new look and feel, we selected a better domain name for branding built the site on drupal, a robust content management system for easy updates and future expansion.

Dear Ross,

Thank you for updating the Big Boy EXPO web site. I love the new layout and the ability to easily update the images and copy whenever necessary. My clients are excited about the new design for the fact that I can incorporate images of the latest exhibits featured at the show, and the Vimeo gives visitors the opportunity to view the many activities that we offer for their entertainment.

Marlene Rivello
President
Big Boy EXPOS, Inc.

View Project

NatureSong 2009 Redesign

Ross — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 23:32:31 +0000

naturesong.net was redesigned in 2009 to address some issues with the shopping cart, integrate a reseller login so resellers can log in and purchase CDs at a discount and NET 30 payment terms and generally update the look and feel of the site.

The shopping cart and content management system is completely custom. I decided to create a custom system for this site because I had a clear vision of how it should work. The owner, Bill Leverick, wanted to be able to easily update the CDs available for sale. I knew there were off-the-shelf shopping carts and content management systems I could probably have used or customized. Because these products had an ‘audio sample’ component to them that we needed to attach and be able to associate audio files with multiple products, I decided to build it myself. The site integrates PayPal Website Payments Pro for it’s merchant service provider and the UPS API to get shipping information from UPS in real-time for orders with quantities above 2 CDs. The AJAX overlay for each product uses the jQuery framework to handle the JavaScript effects.

In retrospect I am happy with my decision to go completely custom with this site. It allowed me to develop exactly what the client was looking for without excess functionality that he didn’t want or need and might have confused the process. It also allowed me to address his fine-tuning requests quickly and not have to compromise because of an off-the-shelf software limitation.

Here is a quote from the owner:

Ross,
I just logged on to check out the new NatureSong site that you activated today. I am very pleased not only with the graphics, but with the built in ability for me to make necessary changes to the products. You have done a great job and I would heartily recommend you to anyone. Please feel free to use this site and my other web site, Cape Cod & New England Gift Show as examples of your work.
Thanks,
Bill Leverick

View Project

The original site I developed in 1998 can be seen here.