CompuSkills Blog

These instructions are for Wordpress themes.

Download your chosen theme. You will probably have to unzip it.

Unzip the files to the Wordpress themes folder on your blog’s server.

This will probably be in the htdocs folder, if your server uses Apache, and called something like:
…….\htdocs\wordpress\wp-content\themes

Now go into your admin account for Wordpress.

Pick Presentation, as shown.

Then choose Theme editor, as shown here and you should see the name of the unzipped new theme, with a preview.

Click on it to choose the new theme you want.

At the top of the page you should see a message to say that the new theme has been activated. Click on “view site” to see it in operation.

This is a general post to let people who are using Harmony and WhyDontYou themes that for a variety of reasons we are no suspending further development on these until further notice. This does not mean we will not respond to user requests, but that we are not going to carry on further adjustments without user requests. Normally we would wait until version 1.0 had been released for this, but in this case we feel is appropriate to do it now.

If you are a user of one of these themes and you have any bugs or problems which you would like solved, then please let us know and we will try to fix it as soon as possible and, as always, normally free of charge.

[tags]Web Design, Compuskills, Frequently Asked Questions, FAQ, Themes[/tags]

We are in the process of producing themes both for customers and for general release. Unless directed otherwise, all themes we produce will be released for free.

Currently we are also looking at porting a lot of the Open Source Web Design themes to WordPress. These will also be released for free under the Creative Commons licence.

Last, but not least, we are always willing to either tailor a theme for your site or create a specific bespoke design to suit your needs. If you are looking for a wordpress theme, please let us know.

[tags]Frequently Asked Questions, WordPress, Themes, Web Design, OSWD, Open Source Web Design, Theme Design.[/tags]

After quite a wait, Wordpress 2.2 is now available for download and install.

While we think this is a good thing, Compuskills are currently advising customers who have a WP 2.1.3 installation to hold off for a little while before doing the update. If you give it a few days, people will have the chance to check out the new code, hopefully also identifying potential problems and pitfalls.

Unless your system is really “not critical” and you dont mind the risk of potentially considerable downtime, do not update straight away. If you do choose to update (now or at a later date), please ensure you make a full back up of your system - just in case. If you have any problems with this, please contact us and we will assist you.
[tags]Wordpress, Blog Software, Software, Compuskills, WordPress Upgrade[/tags]

What is a server-side language? Server side languages carry out operations on the remote web server, usually in response to requests sent by the user’s computer. Server side operations can access data or functions that aren’t available to the user. For example, server side languages can serve up dynamic content from a database or can process orders in an e-commerce application. Server side languages that are commonly used on the web include PHP and ASP, although there are lots more (most of these are currently more minority languages).

Here are Compuskills, for a variety of reasons, we use PHP as the server side language of choice - unless a client specification requests a different system.

Technorati Tags: Server Side, PHP, ASP, FAQ, Frequently Asked Questions, Software, e-commerce, Compuskills

What is usability? Everyone agrees that web pages should be easy to use. However, defining usability is something of a battleground. There seem to be as many definitions as there are usability gurus. Some generally useful ideas from the mass of usability material include: Don’t make users scroll sideways to get crucial information. Don’t put information more than thee clicks away. Don’t use mystery navigation, such as navigation that relies on icons. Test your pages to death on a range of people who don’t know what to expect.

Wherever possible avoid features that don’t work in all browsers. (This is a lot harder than you might think, given the wide array of browers out there now and how each of them has an almost random interpretation of the “standards.)

Technorati Tags: standards web design Compuskills web standards usability

What is Javascript? Firstly, Javascript has little in common with Java, which is a full-scale programming language. Javascript is a scripting language, mainly used to add functionality to web pages, through actions performed on the user’s computer (client-side) Javascript can carry out actions that aren’t possible using standard HTML. These actions include opening pop-up windows, setting cookies and validating user input on forms before they are submitted.

Technorati Tags:Javascript AJAX Web 2.0 Accessibility Client Side Scripts Client Side Scripting

Who sets the standards for HTML? The W3 (World Wide Web Consortium). The consortium was created 1994, to achieve agreement on core principles and components of the web standards.

Technorati Tags: Web Design HTML XHTML Internet FAQ Frequently Asked Questions W3 World Wide Web Consortium

Should I use Web 2.0 technologies and techniques?

As always, the answer depends on what your web site does.

If it’s a hobby site, it’s up to you how far you want to enhance the user’s experience.

If it’s an educational or cultural site, experimental sites are always welcome, even expected. However, you will probably have to be confident that your pages are going to be accessible to every user.

For a commercial site - make sure it works and doesn’t show off your web team’s coding skills at the expense of meeting your customers’ needs.

Technorati Tags: Web Design HTML XHTML Internet Web 2.0 Web Code FAQ Frequently Asked Questions

On the heels of the previous list we have added the following IPs to the blacklist:

• 61.55.135.167
• 209.67.219.74
• 72.21.42.139
• 66.90.101.223
• 66.63.170.194
• 66.90.103.243
• 62.212.81.166
• 208.113.151.29
• 69.16.212.134
• 64.27.0.166
• 72.232.65.154
• 72.232.207.26
• 82.138.6.154
• 69.30.192.191
• 64.72.127.155
• 205.196.208.26

As you can see, there has been a bit of an increase in the volume of spam comment messages trying to get themselves posted. Such is life.

Tags: IP Address, Blacklist, Comment Spam, Blog Spam, Spam, Technology, Software, Blogging