Tag Archives: Site News

RSS Woe

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Ok, I thought I’d solved the problem of getting my most recent Mastodon posts onto my sidebar, but maybe not? They are there, but they don’t seem to be updating. I’ve verified that the RSS feed is updating (by way of a feed reader), but no joy over here at the blog. I’m not in a mood to deal with it at the moment. I’ll ignore it for now and check back later. Maybe it takes longer than two hours for a new post to appear there (which is insane, but whatever).

Addendum (20 min later): I didn’t ignore it, because it’s not possible for me to ignore a problem that needs solving. Anyway, problem solved. By default, WordPress caches RSS feeds for 12 hours. Added a line to the function file to shorten that stupidly long wait. Seems to be working.

Site Stuff

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Managed to move the search bar from the header to the sidebar, and figured out how to see a page’s source code on the iPad. The only problem that really needs solving at the moment is the vast amount of white space in the header. I’ve tried everything to make that space only a bit larger than the actual title of the page, and yet no changes ever show. I can’t find which thing it is that needs changing, and it’s excruciatingly frustrating.

I’m going to leave it for now … again … and try again another day. I’m not in the greatest headspace at the moment, and tomorrow is recycling day, so there are boxes to be cut to pieces.

Current Blog Problem

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Current website problem I’m trying to solve is how to get the most recent 3-5 posts I’ve made on Mastodon onto my sidebar. Found a plug-in that gets me part of the way there. It does grab my feed and I can use a shortcode to place it anywhere I want (currently have it on a page), but there’s no built in way ti limit how many posts show. Also, I don’t know how to fix that myself. Once upon a time, I probably did know how, but not today. Guess I’ll just keep poking at it over time, or maybe I’ll contact the guy who wrote the plugin.

I’ve now stared at it for long enough that my vision is blurry and I have a headache, so time for lunch and maybe a little nap.

Addendum: Found a better way to solve the problem. This better way also has the potential to solve another problem. Am now tired of working on this stuff.

Addendum to the Addendum: Ok, that problem solved. Going to stop working on all of this now, because the rest of the problems can wait. Nap required immediately.

Today’s Agenda

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The list of things I’d like to get done today is painfully long. Topmost on said list is cleaning out the fridge to make room for the food I shall be preparing for tomorrow’s day of face stuffing. I also need to get the kitchen ready and do any prep work I can to make things easier on myself. The turkey is already cooked, or smoked really, as is the pie (baked, not smoked), so all I really need to put together tomorrow is green bean casserole (from scratch, beans cooked today), scalloped potatoes, and stuffing. I didn’t really want to do all this cooking, but that’s just the way things worked out. Such is life.

Also on today’s list is continuing to sort through my art supplies to weed out pens and whatnot that no longer work. Whatever is left will likely get donated to the local art supply thrift store, because aside from pencils, the only pens I ever need in my life are Pigma Microns. I love them so much! Oh, and a few Sharpies, black only. In fact, just black ink everything. I never use the colored inks, and it’s a waste for me to buy them.

Today’s stretch goal is to keep trying to sort out how to easily create and maintain a weekly newsletter. This shouldn’t be as hard as it has been, but not having an actual computer has made it somewhat more difficult. Ok, a LOT more difficult, especially the “making it cute and pretty” part. That and the fact I’ve found no service to use which I trust with my and my friends’ data. I’ve got a couple options to consider, and I’d like to do that today.

Also on the list is tying the blog into the Fediverse, so folks on Mastodon and its offshoots can just follow the blog (if they want) instead of following my personal account. I’d thought I might post links to my blog posts over there, but eh, I don’t think I’ll be doing a lot of posting on my account. There are a number of things in the Fediverse that just rub me the wrong way. Perhaps at some point I’ll snap and make a post about these things, but today is not that day.

So … quite the busy day I have planned. The weather is still gloomy and moist, though it isn’t actively raining today. Yet. This is naturally leading to a complete and total lack of motivation to do anything at all but sit in my recliner playing video games or watching YouTube (while cuddling with cats, of course). Since I’m currently caffeinated, I better hop up and get the fridge organizing done. Of all the tasks on today’s list, it’s actually the most important. There’s simply no room to put large containers of food, and there really needs to be. All the cooking in the world does me no good, if I can’t cram the stuff into the fridge for later consuming!

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

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The problem at hand:

How best to inform interested parties (friends, family, associates) scattered across the internet that I have babbled at length on my blog … in a way that irritates neither them nor myself, as well as not requiring an onerous amount of labor on my part.

Possible solutions:

1. Crossposting links to blog posts on Facebook/Twitter/Mastodon without actually having to put my eyeballs on Facebook/Twitter/Mastodon.

Twitter works fine and was how I’d actually always used that account. In light of current events over there though, not inclined to provide it any content. Facebook has become even more of a hellscape since I was last there, and now they don’t allow any posting to feeds from anywhere other than Facebook. My jury is still out on the usefulness of Mastodon.

2. Letting people sign up and subscribe to my WordPress install.

I don’t want anyone’s email address or other personal data in my database. Then I feel responsible to care for it and keep it safe. I mean, I do keep my database safe, but stuff can happen, and if it does, I’d rather it only be me that suffers for it. Also, I sometimes lost a LOT of times a day, and it could begin to feel spammy in people’s inboxes to get an email every time I post.

3. A newsletter.

This had been my very first thought on the matter, but I tossed it aside for three reasons: could be a lot of work for me, might require me to store other people’s personal data, felt too old school internet and like not a thing that’s done anymore by normal human beings.

End result:

I spent entirely too many hours last week exploring these three options, as well as a slew of others, and after asking around amongst the folks who have requested being informed of updates at my blog, it looks like my first thought was the correct one. A newsletter it is! Probably a weekly one, though with me that may be quite variable. I’ve never done a newsletter for myself before, but I have helped other people set them up. The biggest problem for me will likely be remembering to do it.

The first problem though is finding a service to use that’s reasonably easy for me and subscribers to use while also being worthy of trust. I already have a shortlist, due to having helped others with this before, so it shouldn’t take long for me to sort out the details. Guess that’s what I’ll work on this week.

But now I’m tired of thinking about internet stuff. I spent all day yesterday working on blog problems, and I’d like to spend at least some of my weekend having fun and being extremely lazy. So I’m off to thaw something for dinner and play some video games. Also cuddling with cats. We’re having nasty winter weather, and the cats are extra cuddly today. Bring on the pile of furry, purring pillows!