Kiwi

(EDITGravatar’s are working. See the comments. I expect EVERYBODY to have one by tomorrow! ;))

I’m sorry to say that while I’m in overhaul mode there are going to be a ton of geeky posts/rants/plugs. Getting everything to fall into place has been a DREAM because of the user support I’ve received thus far. But before I get too ahead of myself…

The new look for the site is based on at “theme” called kiwi. I say “theme” because it really is SO MUCH MORE than that. It’s an entire backbone. The stock theme has numerous hacks that come with it but it’s still mindboggelingly easy to install and get set up. Upload files, activate plugin, activate theme, BAM YOU ARE DONE. When it worked flawlessly the first time I was confused. I hit refresh a few times expecting SOMETHING to error or die or SOMETHING!

Since then I’ve been tweaking the code and css to customize it to my liking. It’s 99% PHP which I thought would be a bit challenging but I’m amazed at how quickly I’m starting to grasp it. This, is mainly because of the amazing help found on the forum. My prior experience with tech forums has been deplorable (SEE: WordPress Forum). Kiwi’s forum is so fantastic that I’ve found the answer to EVERY question I’ve had by a simple search and the answers are straight forward, polite and not littered with egotistical BS. It’s been… ENJOYABLE.

There is still so much more to do and I’m looking forward to all of it. A short list:

1) Adding gravatar to the comments. Do you commenters have an account? Would you get one?
2) Getting all the pages set up. Content people. It’s all being renewed, rewritten and recoded. It’s going to take ahwile. As they get done the links will appear in the top navigation of the page.
3) Index. The index needs more work. It’s a little too cluttered for my taste but I’m trying different things to see what I want to keep and what I want to get rid of.
4) flickr badge. I’m contemplating getting rid of the gallery. It’s taking up a TON of space and I can put it all on flickr at no cost to me and really, I don’t think all those pictures are getting viewed. Well, I KNOW they aren’t. I need to stop uploading EVERY SINGLE PICTURE and just get up the GOOD ones.
5) Get some stock banners made. For instance this one will be used whenever I make a post about kiwi. I can have another for posts about Cassidy. Etc. Of course I’ll be adding specific pics for specific posts. This is one of my favorite features of the entire site and I plan on using it. A lot.
6) Get date stamps on posts. Plus other slight customization.
7) Go to bed and sleep. I have to be at work at 6:00AM.
8) STOP THE LIST

Once all of this is done I’ll get a color scheme up and put “final touches” up. The gray and orange is nice but I have something softer in mind. I just don’t want to focus on that till the content is where I think it should be at.

So much to do. So much fun.

12 thoughts on “Kiwi

  1. Also, PHP is great. I remember in 99 PERL was where it was at, that was the language you HAD to know…and somehow PHP snuck in under the radar and took over! VIVA OPENSOURCE.

  2. I like it! by asking us if we have a account. do you mean are we registered on your site? cause i registered when you first set that up. and i love the flikr thats cool

  3. No the log on is for gravatar. It’s a cool little application. Everytime you comment it will have a little picture next to it that you choose.

    You don’t have to log in at all. When you enter your email the application will ping gravatar, recognize your email and post the pic for ya. 🙂 It’s cool. Maybe I’ll add it now.

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