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May 1 2012

Frustrated by spam comments left on your blog?

Posted by Katy | Categories:
Recently, my blog got a lot of attention. At first I was excited to see the large number of comments left on my blog posts. But as I read through them, I noticed they all contained links to websites that were off-topic. Spammers! They go to your blog and leave compliments and then post links to other websites that have nothing to do with your topic.
 
What to do?
It is frustrating for many bloggers when spammers leave mulitple comments on their  blog posts. Some have turned off commenting all together. There is another option. In blogs built with Drupal, you can require that all comments be approved before they are posted live.
 
So I have changed the settings in Permissions so that all comments must be approved before they get posted to the site. If a spammer leaves a complimentary comment with a spam link, I take out the spam link and leave the compliments. As the blog editor I have the job of editing comments and making sure they are on topic.

I encourage my readers to leave comments, add your opinion and other information that will add value to my articles and blog posts. You are welcome to post a link to your own website in your signature. All comments must be approved before they are posted live.
Apr 30 2012

Grow Your Business with a Mobile-Friendly Website

Posted by Katy | Categories:
Today, there are over 110 million smartphone users searching the Web for topnotch businesses like yours.

Is your website mobile-friendly?
 
Convert mobile users into buyers with our business website packages. Each one features a professional website design that will display correctly on hand-held devices like smartphones, iPads and tablets.

The future is in mobile websites. Make sure your business is online and smartphone friendly.      
 
Get started today!  Call 604.729.4227
Contact Katy@SeascapeWebDesign.com to learn more!
Apr 29 2012

How to customize "Submitted by" text in Drupal 7

Posted by Katy | Categories:
In Drupal 6, you could modify the theme function called theme_node_submitted. But this function has been removed in Drupal 7. This is how I customized the "Submitted by" text using Advanced Theming technique involving adding the theme_preprocess_node function.
Apr 22 2012

What is a mobile-friendly website?

Posted by Katy | Categories:
What is a mobile-friendly website?

A mobile-friendly website is one that displays correctly on hand-held devices such as smartphones, iPhones, iPads, and tablets. It also has these features:
  1. Loads fast – bloated sites cost more money to access
  2. Easy to read – mobile phone screens are 1/5th the size of desktop computers
  3. Easy to navigate – menus have limited space on mobile devices
  4. Minimal scrolling - not just vertically but also horizontally
  5. Avoids using Flash – because Apple products do not support Flash
 
Did you know?
“When Google looks at how to decide which ads to feature in its Google AdWords program, it will consider how well a site is tailored for mobile devices, things like whether it works well for touch, is made for smaller screens, has shorter load times and avoids Flash.”  (Source: http://gigaom.com/2011/09/21/google-pushes-advertisers-to-optimize-sites-for-mobile/)
Apr 12 2012

I like building websites using Drupal 7

Posted by Katy | Categories:
I like building websites using Drupal 7. Now that it’s very secure and has many contributed modules available, I feel better about using it now that it's been out for over one year to build complex websites. Download Drupal 7 here
 
I like the improved admin interface although it took me awhile to get used to it. I turn off the admin overlay, it takes too long to load for my taste. I like to set up shortcuts to add content types as it saves a few clicks. It’s much easier to download and install new themes and modules, just click to upload the compressed file.
 
I recommend the Sky theme for Drupal 7. It’s a great starter theme. It looks great out of the box. Most starter themes have no styling to start with. http://www.drupal.org/project/sky
Nov 20 2011

How to Use Quickstart and Drush to install Drupal 7 website

Posted by Katy | Categories:
How to create a Drupal 7 website with one simple command

In this tutorial, we will cover how to download, setup the database, and install a Drupal 7 website - all with one simple Drush command. This is available in the Quickstart environment only.
 
1. Getting Started with Drush in the QuickStart environment
Here are some simple Drush commands to get you started using Drush.
 
Nov 20 2011

Using Drush to Install Drupal 7

Posted by Katy | Categories:
You can follow these simple directions and use Drush to easily install your new Drupal 7 website. These commands work well on a Linux operating system. If you are using Quickstart, there are some built in commands to make this process even simpler. See Using Quickstart and Drush to Install Drupal 7.
 
Let’s download the latest version of Drupal 7
 
Nov 19 2011

Updating your Drupal 6 website using Drush

Posted by Katy | Categories:
I got the sample Drupal 6 website working on Quickstart. Now I want to update the modules and core using Drush.

My next step is to update all the Drupal 6 modules and Drupal core from 6.20 to 6.22. I changed directories to example6-dev and ran the command "drush update". I got the message asking if I really want to do this. Be sure to backup robots.txt and .htaccess files which will be over written. So I created a backups folder in example6_dev and made backup copies of robots.txt and .htaccess.
Nov 19 2011

How to Install Quickstart - Drupal Development Environment for Windows PC

Posted by Katy | Categories:
Today I installed Quickstart – a development environment for Drupal which includes a PHP development environment, Drush, Git and other useful tools to facilitate building Drupal websites. It works for Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems. Here's a quick introduction on installing Quickstart on your PC.
 
I’ve heard so much about Drush, the command line shell used to speed up mundane Drupal tasks such as downloading and installing modules. I remember that when I first started learning how to use Drupal, much of my learning time was taken up with downloading and installing the newly updated modules. Then I learned how to turn off the update notifications and decided to update at regular intervals.
 
Nov 14 2011

Top 3 Reasons to Upgrade your Shopping Cart from Drupal 5 to Drupal 6

Posted by Katy | Categories:
I recently spoke with a client who has an e-commerce website built with Drupal 5 and Ubercart. I sat down to write the top 3 reasons to upgrade your website from Drupal 5 to Drupal 6. Since Ubercart for Drupal 7 is in Release Candidate3 status, it's not ready for production use.
 
1. Many of the features you are asking for come built in with Drupal 6
- one step account sign up
- auto fill of billing address at the checkout