Category Archives: Technical/Site Issues

Technical/Site Issues

Site Troubles

2 Comments

Thanks to the wonderful Ms. Place of one of my favorite blogs, Jane Austen’s World, I discovered that a plugin (WP Super Cache) I installed was wreaking havoc on my site.  The problem is that I ignored one of Donncha’s directives — that fancy permalinks are a requirement for the plugin — so it’s my own fault; however, as I don’t really need the plugin (as far as I know, I’ve never had my site submitted to /. , Digg, or Reddit), I decided to just disable and delete.  I wasn’t able to reproduce one error reported — that permalinks and archives were redirecting to the index page — and I suspect that is because I was logged in and was not seeing a Super Cached page.  I think Ms. Place was seeing a Super Cached page that served up that error with permalinks (my fault for not listening to Donncha) because I don’t think she has commented here before, or at any rate, she has not commented regularly.  In addition, my RSS feeds were broken, or at least were not updating properly, and when I left test comments, I was unable to see the published comment. I also use some plugins that Donncha explicitly said don’t play nicely with WP Super Cache, so what I have learned is to listen to Donncha!

If you are so inclined, I would appreciate it very much if you could test to see if you are having problems with any of the permalinks or archives, RSS feeds updating in your feed reader (if you subscribe), and commenting.  Keep in mind comments are moderated based on the Spam Karma plugin.  Your karma has to reach a certain level before they post automatically — some of you all are already there.

I apologize for the inconvenience.  Also, those of you who follow me on my Feedburner feed, I am going to stop sending you my del.icio.us links now that I have an RSS feed for them in the sidebar.  I hope this won’t be an inconvenience — it is possible to subscribe to my del.icio.us feed if you find them useful.  I’m going to attempt to redirect my other feeds to my Feedburner feed — crossing my fingers that I don’t break my site.  Again.

Technical/Site Issues

Subscribing

Update: You can now subscribe to receive posts via e-mail, but if you were previously subscribed, you will have to resubscribe using this new service.



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I am sorry, but I am going to have to discontinue the option of subscribing to new posts via e-mail. Unfortunately, this plugin was causing 500 errors in my database, which those of you who are not technically inclined probably don’t care about.  It looks as though the plugin requires a larger sleep time between queries than my host will allow, or at least that’s my suspicion, and because it isn’t feasible for me to change hosts right now, I will have to disable the plugin, which means if you subscribed to receive e-mails whenever I write a new post, you will no longer receive those e-mails.  However, I would like to invite you to discover the joy that is RSS, if you haven’t already.  If you click on my Subscribe link at the top, you will be able to subscribe to my RSS feed via your favorite feed reader.  I suggest Google Reader, but I liked Bloglines well enough before I switched.  In addition, you can get updates via MyYahoo or iGoogle.

Once again, I apologize for the inconvenience, and thanks for reading my blog.

Technical/Site Issues

How I Built This Site

I received an e-mail from Ashley, but my e-mails in response are bouncing back to me, so I decided to answer her question here.

I use WordPress to power almost all of this site.  This main page, huffenglish.com, is my blog.  I use wikis for a few pages on which I discuss general teaching ideas, and I built some others (notably the webquests and scavenger hunts) using HTML, but it’s all WordPress-powered.  When I started the site, I was using Movable Type, and the main page for a short time was not this blog, but was built using a stylesheet from Movable Type.  If you mean where is it hosted, I use Bluehost.  I haven’t had the kind of major issues with them as I had with my last host, Maxipoint, but I can’t give a glowing recommendation either.  If you have questions about how I created a particular page, feel free to ask.

Technical/Site Issues

To-Do List

1 Comment

I am having some trouble with my computer, so until I can get it checked out, I have to share with my husband.  We don’t have a history of being able to share very well!  We’ll see how it works out.  Unfortunately, if my hunch about the computer is right, it won’t be a cheap repair.

That said, my to-do list for tomorrow is to catch up in Write Beside Them, and when it’s my turn on the computer, I’ll try to post all my thoughts on the discussions at the wiki.

One benefit of having more restricted access to a computer is that I won’t be as distracted by the computer, so perhaps I can get more reading done.  However, if the computer can’t be fixed, I’ll need to purchase one for my IT program because there is no way we will be able to share if I have to do school work.  Ugh.

Anyway, if posting is even more spotty than it already is, well, you know why.

Technical/Site Issues

Tweaks and Changes

Please let me know if you have any problems navigating the Web site. I have updated my theme to a newer version and added a sitemap. Also, I changed some things around and added a new picture on the About page.

I put a Goodreads widget in the sidebar and removed my LibraryThing widget. I don’t actually use my LibraryThing profile because free users are limited to 200 books; however, Goodreads allows users to add as many books as they like. Feel free to add me as a friend if you have a Goodreads account.

I’m still having the 500 Error problem when I post. I am not sure what it is, but I’m wondering if it’s related to my theme. I have several other blogs that use some of the same plugins, and I don’t have the same issues. If anyone else is using the Cutline theme from WordPress and has noticed these problems, please let me know.

I need to get caught up on Write Beside Them so I can be a useful contributor at the wiki. Tomorrow!

Blogging, Technical/Site Issues

Gravatar

5 Comments

I have enabled Gravatars in the comments. If you don’t have one, you can get one by following the link I provided. Gravatar stands for “Globally Recognized Avatar.” Your Gravatar will be associated with your e-mail address and will appear on every site that allows Gravatars when you leave comments. For instance, Education Wonks uses Haloscan, a commenting system that allows Gravatars. If you don’t have a Gravatar, a generic image will appear next to your comments on websites that allow Gravatars.

If you would like to see what Gravatars look like, just scroll down to a post with some comments. If you select a post on which I commented, you’ll see my Simpsonized image next to my comment.

Technical/Site Issues

Pingbacks and Commenting Issues

I am tired of splogs co-opting a small portion of my content and generating a link to their site through a pingback or trackback. I cannot find a recently updated plugin that will allow me to monitor pingbacks before they are posted, and Akismet and Spam Karma don’t seem to be much help. Therefore, I will not be accepting pingbacks until further notice.

Also, I am not receiving e-mails when comments are posted. WordPress has changed some coding, and I am not the only person having this problem, but I also cannot figure out how to fix it without breaking my site, so if it takes some time before I reply to a comment, please understand that I might not have seen it yet.