I’ve written before my situation with the dual host providers .. well .. upon renewal of Host Service Provider #1 last June/July .. I was ready to walk away .. until they “pulled .. me .. back .. in” (imagine some impersonation there).

What that resulted, was half price, double space, more features (somehow) .. and a Migration to perform the upgrade.

The account went into effect immediately .. although, it wasn’t until I started USING the extra space that I actually had to pass along an email asking WTF because I wasn’t allotted the space at that time. Today the actual moving and migration took place.

Now – the following sites are not accessible:

PetLvr.com/blog/
1800HART.com/blog/
1800HART.com/picks/
HARTandYVONNE.com/blog/
CorydonClock.com/blog/

Surpisingly .. PapillonLvr.com/blog/ and callHART.com/crazy .. both appear to be accessible .. which are also on that same server. Weird.

I’m 99.9999% sure it’s a permission problem.

I’m hoping to get these sites up and running shortly.

I apologize for any inconveniences .. although nobody accessing those blogs will ever read that. A couple of the above RSS Feeds seems to be accessible .. but, the blog-by-email function has not been setup.

How I Modify My WordPress Templates

I began blogging on wordpress when version 1.2 was out. By version 1.5 I considered myself being quite proficient in modifying my templates here – despite that I do not know any PHP programming.

I know that you can modify the template directly in the Presentation area of your dashboard – but, I have never done so.

It’s much easier for me to load up my WS_FTP_LE program. First, this software is preset to launch directly to my …/wordpress/wp-content/themes/specific-theme/ folder .. When I first login .. I make a new folder (called “backup-yyyymmdd”) and copy all the online files into there – just in case. My ftp program is set to use simple Notepad as my html editor of choice. I used to have EditPad .. but, got fed up of the safety backups it was doing on its own.

EditPad is better in that it does read all .PHP files normally. Notepad, sometimes does not. But – that’s only because it was placed on the host provider using Binary transfer protocols .. (what you should use for pictures) .. so, if for some reason a file is not at first readable .. just transfer it over again in ASCII mode.

So .. I pretty much know where to edit the files, although sometimes it’s time consuming creating new templates. I try to add extra memo tags in there to describe what’s being added by me. I’m comfortable doing things this way. If I make a mistake, or if my template halts or does not display or load – I just reload the safety backup version and start over.

I never liked doing the modifications directly in the Presentation on the dashboard, for the above reason – you forget to backup your files! Also, before 1.5.2 (I believe) .. You had to remember to make your directories readable (CHMOD) it a certain way. Since that version, it didn’t matter and the permalinks seemed to accept changes. That was the way it was .. “IN THE GOOD OLE DAYS”

SO NOW WHAT’S GOING ON OUT THERE IN TEMPLATE LAND?

There’s a new breed of templates being created and updated and modified for the newer version 2.0+ versions .. The stylesheet and options that I might have added or deleted or modified while I was in the file editing my template “blog” stuff anyway .. can now be directly modified inside WordPress as a separate menu in the Presentation area.

I’ve just set up two sites using the following design – It’s going to work out well for me. What I liked about it? In this new template presentation options .. you can select from about 6 different headers, or add your own; change the stylesheet a little, and opt for admin stuff, meta stuff, links, categories, etc to be printed or not printed .. and finally whether your sidebar goes on the left or right.

Anyway .. I like that – as a user of FREE TEMPLATES … I’m glad to promote your link at the bottom of my templates when I choose to use your design and template .. and like where this is going for users like myself.

Good Job and thanks to BinaryMoon.co.uk who created their “REGULUS” theme .. the link is for version 2.12 but, it’s version 2.13 that is downloaded. It’s neat. Try it. And, come back here in a in 14 days and I will give you the URL of several sites that are using this template, for your perusal. (or, just ask me privately for the URL)

And yes .. yes .. yes … I know I could probably use some Network Redesign to give us some unique look or be innovative .. but, I’m too poor *sniffles* to afford all of you high-class designers ~~

www.binarymoon.co.uk/2006/04/regulus-wordpress-theme-version-212/

* D’oh! Sunday night after writing the previous “quickie” about me having network problems .. see Quickies – September 10, 2006
.. I suddenly realized what the problem was, and why it wasn’t working .. and fixed it. I thought I would just add it here, in case of other people having similar problems find themselves in the same situation…

IF YOU ARE USING ZONE ALARM … Check your FIREWALL tab .. and then the ZONE … it should say “TRUSTED” .. not “INTERNET” … No wonder I was only getting access to the shared DSL connection … one of of the computers .. that zone was switched to “Internet” instead of “Trusted” ..

Problem solved.

* My protege started today … and we’re working on a few new projects that should be up and running by the end of this month. It started with some lessons in basic protocols of blogging (as I’ve picked up and learned over the last 15-1/2 months of blogging). It’s interesting to pass along some information and the other person retains and utilizes it .. If I were smart I’d probably jot it down somewhere so I can pass along this knowledge or repeat it on another blog in a text format, or even in E-Book format .. Hmmm.. I’m too much of a multi-tasker as it is. Already I see I was going to fast trying to teach everything you need to know in one day. Good news though .. we’ve registered several new domains today and setup a few new blogs and working on some of the concepts behind the scenes with a fresh pot of coffee.

* ROCK STAR SUPERNOVA .. // took a break tonight to watch Big Brother All-Stars Final and Rock Star Supernova // wouldn’t it be cool if ANOTHER CANADIAN won the 2nd one too? 😀 My wife and I voted about 20 times each tonight. Good Luck LUKAS! Although, right from the first performance .. I really thought MAGNI was the perfect choice for the band.

This will be an irregular feature here … posting some periodic thoughts about our network blogs in general, or specific .. and thoughts about blogging and stuff seen around the blogosphere

Quickies:

* I wish our network code was in the sidebar of all the blogs in our network code .. and that reminds me .. there’s a bunch of new blogs to be added to the code itself. If all the sites have the proper code, anybody can click the SiteMeter stats graphic in the network code itself to see how we are doing .. uniques, page views, etc ..

* I probably spent waaaaay too much time on the directory listing at 62-151 Media Group and let the public decide the categories .. but – heck – it’s my directory … have to respect both options. I think I set-up all of our network blogs in related categories as in our sidebar, and delete the rest .. and see if the public recreates or no

* Wow. Do I suck at FORUM maintenance. On my PetLvr forum I had over 250 spam guest comments, and on the Battling Forums it was even worse. I’ve had this “MOD” toolkit that can ban and delete users etc .. but it was only this week that I finally figured out a better way to stop this comment spam in the forums .. so far so good! I’ve still got about 160 Battling Spam comments left to delete as at Saturday Midnite.

* PS: This is how I hopefully will be stopping the comment spam in my phpBB forums … (1) no Guest posts and (2) activation of membership by valid email. Got a forum and have no clue what that means or how to do that? Drop me a line and I’ll tell ya.

* I have commissioned somebody to develop and create a new logo for the PetLvr blog and if possible, can be modified with the other “LVR” blog series of blogs and make them all seem like a theme … Should be interesting! And, depending on the logo .. could be a new design version #4.0 be in the works for the PetLvr blog? I may be switching presentation themes for 15 minutes at a time during random hours of the day looking. Ditto on the background.

* Next week I will have a new ‘person’ here at HART-Empire Network assisting me in the development and marketing of a few new projects and blogs … and hopefully blogging on the ones that I’ve been slack on!

* I am in recouping mode. The summer of 2006 was the worst summer for me personally for managing my time. Sadly, it had a high cost that we now have a cottage to go to … the passing of my wife’s mother. Happily, we had a great time out there and enjoyed it to the max! Unfortunately, taking off 3-4 days off per week plus a 14 day holiday to a place without internet access has .. well, I’ll have to write about it soon in the 1800HART blog.

* I must have spent about 6 hours this week trying to get my two computers networked properly. Maybe someone can help me? My DELL (XP) has broadband DSL … My COMPAQ shares this internet connection. I can’t see either hard drives anymore from the other .. Once I was able to. Now I cannot – and the more times I keep trying to “fix” this problem the more times I think I am making a bigger hole to jump in. Then, I get back to the beginning where I can just share the internet connection. I need to copy files from my DELL to my COMPAQ and vice versa for safety backups! Plus .. with this new person starting Monday on the Compaq .. I have to transfer over some installation .zip files and programs to aid in the blogging and site preparation and developments etc.

You might have noticed that this site is monetized with ads. For your information, you may now advertise on this site in the form of Text Link Ads. I should note that the link in the previous sentence is an affiliate link, and if you do sign up for the first time through this link, I may earn a small commission. I should also note that if you are a new client, you can receive $100.00 worth of FREE Text Link Ads by entering “starting kit” into the promotion code at their checkout. That means you can basically spend maybe $125 worth of advertising this month – and only pay $25! (You don’t have to spend it here – don’t worry!)

But if you do want to spend it here .. I am currently offering eight (8) spots for text link ads per month, and they will appear on every page in our sidebar, under the SPONSORS section. At this moment, there are seven (7) available spots.

Our site is currently available at Text-Link-Ads at this URL ..

This is my plan: About the second monday of every month I will be providing “THANK-YOU” post, like this one, to all the advertisers as at month-end date. That’s a permanent link in our blog, under a new category heading which I call .. “Sponsor Appreciation”. I know it’s hard out there trying to figure out where to spend your advertising dollars .. and well .. THANKS for considering the HART-Empire Network last month.

Please Support Our Sponsor From August 2006

Cool Baby Stuff

Thank-You Sponsor!

For those of you still with us this month … see you in our Next Month’s Sponsor Appreciation post!

We have just opened up for public submissions additions to our *NEW* and *FREE* Directory Listing … sponsored by our newest addition to the HART-Empire Network … 62-151 Media Group.

All submissions are manually accepted and approved by a human being [by me .. HART (1-800-HART)], to avoid spam and splogs from appearing in the list.

We will be placing links in most of our sidebars, and invite anybody with a blog or website to come and include their site in our Free-For-All Directory Listing.

I should note that if you are using (the much superior i.m.o.) Internet Explorer v7 browser .. you will see the following in the sidebars..

Sadly to say .. if you are NOT using Internet Explorer and using FireFox browser .. you probably just see this instead ..

However, regardless of your view .. if you click on either graphic or the text link below .. you will be transported to our new Directory Listing!

62-151 Media Group – Directory Listing