Looks Can Kill

Auto updating WordPress on your local server

hello — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 13:35:34 +0000

If you’ve ever had WordPress (WP) installed on a local server and tried to use the auto upgrade feature, you’ll probably be familiar with this screen that asks you to input your FTP details:

This can be super frustrating when all you want to do is get the latest version of WP, install a new plugin, or just get rid of the annoying “there’s a new version” messages!

The reason you’re being asked for these details is because on your system, the OWNER of your WP installation is not the same as the USER that is currently running Apache.

To fix this problem, we need to give ownership of your WordPress directory to the user that is running Apache.

Step 1: find out the user that is currently running Apache

Create a file in the root directory of your WP installation called whoami.php
Within this file, add the following PHP code:
Now visit that file via your browser (for example type localhost/wordpress/whoami.php into your browser
Make a note of the username that appears

Step 2: Give that user ownership of your WordPress directory

Open your terminal window, and navigate to parent WP directory (for this example we’ll assume that it’s called WordPress: cd /Library/WebServer/Documents/
Now use the following command to change the ownership: sudo chown -R username: Wordpress

That’s it – you should now be able to auto-upgrade your WordPress installation, or auto-install a plugin without being asked for FTP details.

Enjoy!

Browser Specific Stylesheets

hello — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 10:35:39 +0000

Different browsers display our code differently. We often find ourselves tweaking the display using hacks specific to particular browsers. However, once there are multiple hacks in a style sheet it becomes messy. It can also be tricky, when using a single style sheet, to ensure that one hack doesn’t break the layout in another browser.

Enter Conditional Stylesheets!

An alternative way to approach inconsistency between browsers is to give them their own stylesheet, which is only called when that browser is being used.

At the moment the inconsistencies are most often found when comparing more standards compliant browsers like Firefox and Chrome with Internet Explorer (IE). Each version of IE has its own little discrepancies in how it interprets HTML and CSS.

So, how do we implement a Browser Specific Stylesheet to target IE7 (for e.g.)?

1. Create an IE7 only stylesheet in your CSS folder. Why not name it ie7.css?

2. Between the tags, insert a link to the IE7 stylesheet that you have created:

3. Wrap the link in a comment tag, so that it will be invisible to all but IE7:

What about other browsers I want to target?

For other versions of IE, and to include ranges (like “IE7 and above”), check out How To Create An IE-Only Stylesheet on http://css-tricks.com
If you want to have Safari, Firefox or Chrome etc. specific styles, take a look at Browser CSS Hacks by Paul Irish

Invalid GET Data from Feedburner

hello — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 11:44:12 +0000

I was receiving feed updates from simplechurch.eu via Google Reader. Whenever I clicked on the title of the post, I would find myself staring at a white page with the text:
Invalid GET Data
While the feed was generated by an ExpressionEngine RSS template file, and combined with other feeds using Yahoo! Pipes, the distribution of the feed was being handled by Feedburner.

So I searched around a little and found this quick solution to this problem. Here’s how I fixed it, step by step:

Log into your Feedburner Account
Click on the feed you wish to fix
On the first page (Analyze) click Configure Stats
Beneath Track Clicks As A Traffic Source In Google Analytics click Customize…
In the box labeled Campaign you should see: Feed: ${feedUri} (${feedName})
Remove the round brackets, so that it reads: Feed: ${feedUri} ${feedName}
Click Close and then Save. Your feed should now work.

Setting up Google Apps (Gmail) on Media Temple’s Grid-Service (gs)

hello — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:23:29 +0000

Love the features and benefits of Gmail, but want your own custom email address? Google Apps make this possible. Here’s a little tutorial on setting up Gmail as the Mailbox for your Media Temple Grid-Service account (don’t forget to replace ‘yourdomainname.com’ with your actual domain name!)

Visit Google Apps and sign up for an account

Click here and fill out the documentation relating to your domain name.

Change the MX Records for your domain to point to Google’s mail server

Log in at http://ac.mediatemple.net
Click on the domain you wish to edit
Click Edit Zone File
Create 5 MX records with the following values:
- 1 ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM.
- 5 ALT1.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM.
- 5 ALT2.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM.
- 10 ASPMX2.GOOGLEMAIL.COM.
- 10 ASPMX3.GOOGLEMAIL.COM.
Click Save

Create a mail.yourdomainname.com folder in your domains folder.

Our next goal is to make sure that when a user visits mail.yourdomainname.com your Google Mail page is displayed.

In your FTP client browse to your domains folder.
Create a new folder called mail.yourdomainname.com
Within that folder create another folder called html

Create a .htaccess file with a 301 redirect.

When someone types in mail.yourdomainname.com we want them to be redirected to http://google.com/a/yourdomainname.com. The file we use to do this is called a .htaccessfile.

Create a file within your html folder (created in the last step) and name it .htaccess
Open the .htaccess file in your FTP client and add the following line: redirect 301 / http://mail.google.com/a/yourdomainname.com/
Save the file

Now you can navigate to mail.yourdomainname.com and manage your email.

Norm Murray & Associates

hello — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 17:31:57 +0000

Graphic Design, Logo/Identity, xHTML, CSS, WordPress

Site for a management consultancy. Launched in 2008.

Make Things Fair

hello — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 17:26:18 +0000

Graphic Design, Logo/Identity, xHTML, CSS, WordPress

This blog addresses issues of human trafficking and consumerism, profiling good and bad brands and highlighting world issues.

Hope Church, Cardiff

hello — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 13:42:18 +0000

Graphic Design, Logo/Identity, xHTML, CSS, ExpressionEngine

The website of Hope Church Cardiff, a community of faith in Wales’ capital city. The site is intended to act as an online connecting point for the community, incorporating a blog, diary, podcast and interesting links for members and visitors to check out.

This site was launched on the 26th April.

simplechurch.eu

hello — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 20:51:52 +0000

Graphic Design, Logo/Identity, xHTML, CSS, ExpressionEngine

simplechurch.eu is a network of networks, a hub for those involved with movements of simple churches throughout Europe. LCK were commissioned to design the site from the bottom up, to provide a design which was simple, user friendly, and which allowed for content scalability.

This site will be launched in May 2009.

All Nations, Southern Africa

hello — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 17:07:17 +0000

Graphic Design, xHTML, CSS, ExpressionEngine

All Nations are an NGO working among the poorest members of society in Cape Town, South Africa. They are develop life changing communities of faith, assist entrepreneurs and train leaders.

This site was designed and developed by Looks Can Kill.