Backstory

The reasons for the switch are given in that article, but I do want to note that yesterday, Chris Pearson, developer of Thesis, changed the Thesis license to a split license, along the lines of Headway’s. In Chris’s words, “the PHP is [licensed under] GPLv2, and the CSS, JS, and images are proprietary.”

I couldn’t be happier that this issue is behind us. There’s no questioning that Chris and his team have done a lot to improve upon the WordPress framework that Matt Mullenweg and his team have developed. I love a happy ending, and I hope we’ve seen one.

All that said, I had only a twinge of “buyer’s remorse” when I realized, had I waited a day or so, I could have kept on using Thesis without being concerned about licensing issues. Instead, I determined to focus on the present and the future, rather than the past.

Headway

For the better part of the past three days, then, I’ve been redesigning the site with Headway. I’m not sure the learning curve is any steeper with Headway than with Thesis, but it’s a decidedly different environment. At this point, I would be hard-pressed to say which is easier, or better. Both provide extreme flexibility in site design, and each time I tweak something, I learn something. I doubt I could code a “Hello, world” print statement on my own, but through copy/paste and (lots of) trial and error, I can generally accomplish what I want.

So far, all the comments I’ve received have been positive. I think a lot of that has to do with the much cleaner look—that is, the plain white background—of the post area. Before, I had a gradient background there, and coupled with a small font size, readability was hardly optimal. With Headway, I’ve incorporated a larger font size with the solid background.

As for the gradient, you can see it just about everywhere else on the site right now, thanks to this fantastic post on CSS3.¹ Before, my gradient was a .png image that was set as a background graphic. It was unwieldy and also slowed page-loading as the image was redrawn over and over. (Oh, if you’re viewing the site in Internet Explorer, you only see solid backgrounds; sorry. Chrome, Firefox, and Safari users should see them just fine.)

For the most part, I think I’m done with the major renovation. I’m sure I’ll find a few things to continue tweaking, but I’m very happy with how the site looks now. However, if you have any questions about Headway (or Thesis, or WordPress), or suggestions on how to make the site look even better, hit the conversation button below!

Making Headway is a post from: Kestrel's Aerie

Over the past several days, I became convinced, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Thesis incorporates nontrivial code from WordPress. As such, it is considered a derivative work under the Gnu Public License (GPL). Without that code copied from WordPress, I was (and am) willing to accept that Thesis is not derivative, and therefore not subject to the GPL. However, such has been demonstrated not to be the case.

Thus, until I decide upon, install, and tweak a replacement theme (probably another premium theme, but one with a GPL), I’m afraid you’re stuck with the default WordPress 2010 theme. I’ll see about replacing the banner, however. *grin*

Any suggestions would be welcomed in the comments; however, I really don’t care to debate GPL issues: There is plenty of that going on elsewhere on the web (check the #thesiswp hashtag in Twitter if you need more).

ADDENDUM

Decided to go with Headway Theme, which is (of course) compliant satisfies Automattic’s desire for compliance with WordPress’s GPL.¹ So, there’ll be some growing pains as I set it up and play around with it.

Why Headway? It appears to be the most like Thesis, with the degree of flexibility in design tweaking I want. That’s pretty much it.

So Long, Thesis; Hello, …. What? is a post from: Kestrel's Aerie

The big sticking point appears to be the Thesis license, which is not GPL, and which prohibits promulgating Thesis to other sites without paying extra for the privilege.There are some strong arguments on both sides (and since this IS the Interwebs, a lot of emotion founded on idiocy (or vice versa)), but I’m starting to consider alternatives—including the (very, very slight) possibility of moving to Movable Type. Let’s just say the principals and their supporters on both sides could stand to temper some of their public comments.

There are other premium themes, but once you pay for them, there are no similar restrictions on using the theme on other websites. To illustrate (with considerable simplification): If I wanted to create a Thesis theme for a friend’s site, I would have to pay $77 to upgrade to the developer version of Thesis, then pay an additional fee ($35 or thereabouts) to put Thesis on her domain (no restriction my own individual domain). However, with other premium themes, I pay a one-time license fee, then I’m free to distribute the theme(s) to as many sites as I desire.

Now, why a premium theme in the first place? Most of them are designed from the get-go to maximize SEO (not something I particularly care about, but of course commercial sites do). They are also (generally) fairly easy to modify: That’s how I got my theme to look almost identical to the theme I had on my site before I got Thesis. They generally provide a simple way to hook into WordPress’s functions so you can insert content before and after sidebars, for example. Or in the case of Thesis, have a “multimedia box” (which is where I stick the code for the static ads on my site), that can provide loads of flexibility.

Since I’m an inveterate tinkerer, but not a creator, Thesis (or similar themes) give me the ability to play around a lot, without being a “real coder.” I’ve found that every free theme I’ve used has either been very poorly (read: improperly) coded, or is just too difficult to modify, or both.

For the time being (however long or short that is), I’m going to stick with what I have. However, if I become convinced that Thesis does run counter to Automattic’s implementation of GPL, I will abandon it in favor of a compliant theme. Or, if I really get fed up with the rhetoric on both sides, I may just toss WordPress altogether.

Full Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Thesis, and as such, if someone buys Thesis through one of the links on my site, I do receive a payment. So far, I’ve received exactly one such affiliate payment. Thus, my livelihood is in no way or degree dependent on that affiliate relationship. (In fact, what I’ve received may pay for a different premium theme if I decide to go that route—as long as I pick a relatively cheap one.)

WordPress versus Thesis: My Take is a post from: Kestrel's Aerie

Today’s post will help you overcome that issue by first, redirecting any traffic from your Blogger blog to your current blog or website (whether it’s WordPress, self-hosted, TypePad, or even (heaven forfend!) Facebook or Myspace!), and then, help you change your Blogspot identity to reflect your “real” (or at least current) virtual self.

I wish I could say I figured all this information out on my own, but that wouldn’t be accurate, by half. In fact, I was reading an article by the always-excellent Daniel Scocco ( @danielscocco) at Daily Blog Tips regarding selling a Blogspot blog.¹ The part that really got my attention, though, was a link to an article at WebUpd8 that describes how to redirect your Blogspot blog to another domain name.

For the complete process, including how to redirect individual posts on your old Blogspot blog, read the article at WebUpd8. I’m just going to cover two shorter points on redirecting from the main blog, and how to update your Blogger.com name to reflect a more current identity.

Redirect Blogger to New Domain

First, navigate to http://blogger.com and be sure you are logged in. You should now be at the Dashboard, which looks like this:

Blogger Dashboard

Click the View Blog link, then click Customize in the upper right. You should now be on the Edit Layout page:

Blogger—Edit Layout

Select “Edit HTML” (circled in red). You’ll be taken to a page containing the template code for your site. If you’ve never played around with this file (or anything like it), don’t be intimidated. If you can copy and paste, success is assured!

First, find the <head> tag. It should be about 6 lines from the top, and indented one space:

Locate the <head> tag

Place your cursor immediately after the tag (as mine is in the shot above) and hit your Enter key once. This will create a new, blank line in your template. Copy the following, and paste it into that blank line:

<meta content='4;url=http://yournewblog.com/' http-equiv='refresh'/> 

In the line above, “4″ is the number of seconds before the redirect occurs; you can change this to any number greater than zero, but 4 works very well. Now, change “yournewblog.com” to your actual domain name. In my case, that would become “kestrelsaerie.us”. Don’t include the quotation marks, and don’t remove the trailing slash. If your blog is at mydomain.com/blog/, then be sure you add /blog/ (or whatever the actual home page URL is).

If this is all you want to do, you can click the “Save Template” button, and you’re done! However, if you still have posts on your Blogspot blog that you’d like to have redirected to your current blog, go to the article at WebUpd8 and follow the additional instructions there to redirect individual posts.

Optional: Tell People They’re Being Redirected

In this step, you can put up a notice on your Blogspot blog that your readers are being directed, or anything else you may want to communicate. Here’s how:

Open your Blogspot template editor again, using the process described in the preceding section. This time, you’re going to find the <body> tag, which is fairly close to the end of the file. I found it by hitting Cmd-F (Ctrl-F in Windows) and typing “<body>” in the Find window. Once again, place your cursor after the tag and hit Enter to create a new blank line. Then copy and paste the following into that space:

<div style='position: absolute; top: 30px; left: 30px; border: solid 2px #333; color: #000; background-color: yellow; padding: 5px; width: 400px; z-index: 5; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;'>
<p><strong>My blog has moved!</strong></p>
<p>You will be automatically redirected to the new address. If that does not occur, visit<br/> <a href='http://yournewblog.com/'> <strong>http://yournewblog.com</strong></a> <br/> and update your bookmarks.</p>
</div> 

Once again, replace “yournewblog.com” with your blog’s actual URL in both places. You can also alter the text between <p></p> tags to anything you like. Then remember to “Save Template.” I left mine as is; here’s a shot of what it looks like:

"You are being redirected"

Optional: Update Your Blogspot Name and Icon

Previously, my Blogger name was “Kestrel,” and of course, that’s how my posts are signed here. However, as I comment on many blogs that aren’t WoW-related, I’d prefer not to use my WoW persona. And the whole purpose of this exercise, for me, was to allow me to comment on Blogspot blogs with the least fuss and muss, to use my real name, and to link to this blog as easily as possible. Therefore, I have changed my Blogger ID from Kestrel to Steve Hall (yes, for those of you not astute enough to have already figured it out, or didn’t care, that is my real name! *grin*).

To do this yourself, once again navigate to your Blogger dashboard. This time, click the Edit Profile link.

Blogger: Edit User Profile. Note that your display name can be the same as your user name!

Previously, my Display Name was Kestrel. I’ve changed it to Steve Hall. As noted on the screenshot, I could have simply left it as Steve, if I didn’t want to use my full name.

Finally, if you want to change your photo, click the “Remove Image” link. You’ll then be prompted for a new photo. Clicking the “Edit Photo” link on the Dashboard will bring you to the same spot on the Edit Profile page, incidentally.

And that’s all there is to it! Of course, there is a minor drawback (for me): If I comment on a WoW blog, I’d prefer to use “Kestrel” as my username, simply because I’m better known by that moniker in WoW circles. But, that’s why I have the unmistakable “Kestrel’s Aerie” icon.

Hopefully, I’ve shown you how to have your non-Blogspot cake, and eat it too. I know this isn’t a perfect solution, but for me, finding that I am commenting on so many more Blogspot blogs of late, it satisfies my laziness gene a bit more.

How to Redirect Blogger to Your WordPress Blog and Update Your Blogger Identity is a post from: Kestrel's Aerie

I quickly located and downloaded Audacity for OS X (Windows version also available at the same link). I then hunted around for a plugin to present the audio in the blog. Tami suggested PodPress, which is very common, and is one she uses. My search result also turned up Podcasting, and after checking it out a bit, I decided to give it a try.¹ I was also swayed in part by the 4.5-star rating given Podcasting, compared to 3-stars for PodPress

Installation is very straightforward, and if you actually intend to publish podcasts to iTunes, Podcasting makes it very simple through its configuration screen. (Incidentally, Podcasting will also handle video files as well as audio.)

To include the player in your post, you simply upload the audio file (MP3 format), then call it with 

Pretty straightforward, no? So expect to see that little audio player appear in future posts, as time and circumstance (and the nature of the article) permit.

Kestrel’s Aerie: Now With Audio! is a post from: Kestrel's Aerie

Intense Debate required more compromises than I want to make.

Special thanks to TJ for taking the time and the interest to detail the issues that cropped up (and which were not apparent to me, as the site admin), so I could make an informed decision on whether to keep or remove ID.

So Long, Intense Debate is a post from: Kestrel's Aerie

EDIT: I was extremely remiss in failing to credit this article at Gingerwench.com, where ComLuv for Intense Debate was tested and refined. Seeing ID at work, together with CommentLuv, and seeing how seamlessly they worked together was a further impetus to install ID here at the Aerie. Thanks, Ginger, and again, my apologies for the oversight!

Another benefit of Intense Debate is the ability to register with ID (even if you aren’t a blogger) and follow other commenters you enjoy, regardless of where they comment. For bloggers, we can moderate (if necessary) and reply to comments directly from email: No need to log into the WordPress dashboard!

Obviously, I’m excited about the possibilities ID presents, not only for the Aerie, but for enhancing the community aspect of the blogoverse. But I’m also interested in your perceptions: Is ID too intrusive? What about the comment rating system? (I’m not a huge fan, to be honest.) Any other thoughts about Intense Debate?

Intense Debate Now Active! is a post from: Kestrel's Aerie

• Just upgraded to WordPress 2.8.5. Reminder: All WordPress upgrades include security updates. UPGRADE NOW!
• Does the thought of upgrading #WordPress scare the bejesus out of you? Then install WordPress Automatic Updater: http://bit.ly/4cWIZV

Not a lot to add to these two tweets. If you use software that accesses the Internet, and there is an upgrade or update, the chances are extremely high it includes one or more security fixes or enhancements. Don’t hesitate to upgrade.

I’ve mentioned WPAU a couple times before. While the built-in updater is fine for a lot of people, I find it more confusing than helpful. WPAU presents a very logical, very easy step-by-step process that has been fail-safe for me. The key is to carefully read the minimal instructions. Can’t get any easier!

• Finding it hard to see a difference between new #Mac Magic Mouse and a touchpad. And, it’s fugly. D/N seem ergonomic at all.

I admit it: I’m a mouse geek. I have a Logitech MX Revolution for non-gaming, and a Razer Naga for WoW. Both have LOTS of buttons. I have also used a trackpad, and I really like the idea of Apple’s new buttonless trackpad on its newest laptops to be a great idea. But combining a trackpad with a mouse (as it seems the Magic Mouse does)? Hmm…not so much.

• 10 months into 2009, the most overused and uninformative noun in tech this year is "netbook." Have yet to see one with netting of any kind.

What, exactly, does "netbook" mean? In Twitter, we’re restricted to 140 characters. In "Real Life" we have no such restriction. How about "small form-factor notebook computer"? And if you don’t like that verbiage (go ahead, click the link!), explain to me why my 14.5" MacBook Pro isn’t a "netbook." And I swear, if I see "green netbook" I’m going to puke.

• Media bias? The # of Win7 stories I’m seeing today is way less than SnowLeopard stories 24 hrs before its release last month. I’m just sayin

It strikes me that 24 hours before the release of OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard in September, there was a flood of stories about the new Mac OS. Today, Lifehacker has a few, but most other tech blogs/sites (that aren’t Windows/Microsoft-specific, of course) have very, very few. This strikes me as odd, to say the least, given that Win7 is Amazon UK’s biggest preordered item ever.

• After tomorrow, I will brook no bitching about Vista. Instead, I will say "buy a Mac, b/c you’re not smart enough to upgrade to Win7."

Seriously. Win7 fixes just about every single valid complaint I’ve ever hear or read about Windows Vista, and does so elegantly. Here is a very telling reply I received to this tweet, which just about says it all: @runycatWhat’s hilarious is that Windows 7 really feels like OSX when it first came out. In other words, I like it. 

I’ve upgraded PCs (desktop and laptop) with the Win7 release candidate, and I’ve installed it in a virtual machine under OS X. Piece of cake. Flawless. The new OS looks and feels great. It’s as big a step as the move from Windows 2.x to 3.1 or from 3.1 to WinXP. The best part? The hardware required to effectively run Win7 is almost the same as for WinXP. In other words, you don’t need the huge hardware upgrades you needed to get from XP to Vista!

So if you can’t bring yourself to like Win7, get a Mac. 

• WAY TOO MUCH crap on "Which version of Win7 is best for you?" For 99.9 percent of you, it’s Home Premium. Empahsis on HOME.
  

I can’t count the number of new or re-released articles I’ve seen, with all their confusing or "simplified" charts, on "Which version of Windows 7 is right for you?" While I contend there are still too many versions of Win7 available (gotta love Apple’s single flavor of OS X: It may be vanilla, but it’s rich vanilla!), for home users, gamers, and anyone not in a corporate environment, Windows 7 Home Premium is what you need.

Even if you’re a geek, the chances are Professional or Ultimate offer no additional features you’ll use, because you probably don’t have a server-based network, and BitLocker is overkill, not to mention the fact that you don’t need 128¹ language versions. In addition, most of us don’t have more than 16GB of RAM. Small business? Then yes, Pro or Ultimate may be a better solution. But folks, it’s called "Home Premium" for a reason!

Do you have a 64-bit CPU? Then install the 64-bit version. Just do it! I can also give you 80 or 100 more reasons to stick with Home Premium. They’re called "dollars."

So those are my thoughts today, the day after Apple announces major new lineup changes, the day WordPress announces an upgrade, and the day before Windows 7 takes over the (PC) world. What are your thoughts? Am I a clueless n00b or a tech savant? Or somewhere in between? Let me know in the comments!

What I’m Tweeting: Win7 and Other Topics is a post from: Kestrel's Aerie

I can hear you thinking, "Kes, what the hell are you on about, birdman?" (Incidentally, you may be surprised to know I have no particular affinity for birds, or even birds of prey. I’m just sayin’.)

Okay, so here’s my thought: You’ve seen me talk about Thesis premium WordPress theme; you’ve seen the ads on my site and in my RSS feed. Guess what? I haven’t received a single affiliate remuneration from those (not that I really expected any, but again, I’m just sayin’).

When I purchased Thesis, I opted for the "single-blog" option. The alternative is the "developer option" which, for (I think) twice the cost, one can install Thesis on an unlimited number of websites, and you are also allowed to remove the Thesis link from the blog’s footer. (I’ve replaced it in my theme with an ad: that’s a legitimate change.)

So here’s my thought: What if I upgraded my license to the Dev version, and held a contest to design a personalized blog theme for one, two or even three lucky winners (using Thesis, of course). There would be a few terms and conditions, but nothing too onerous (like, I wouldn’t want your first-born (or second or third!) child). Would any of my Dear Readers be interested in such a thing? Let me know!

Tell Me What You Think is a post from: Kestrel's Aerie

Just to double-check things, I reloaded my site…and there was nothing but a blank page. And then I remembered: I never updated my wp-config file with my new database name, user, and password! Ooops. So I got that all done, but lots of stuff was still missing. I FTP’d my /wp-contents and /wp-includes folders again, and it appears I finally have stuff where it belongs. So what follows this paragraph is what I originally posted Saturday afternoon, and what you probably saw in your feed readers earlier. Needless to say, I gave myself a bit of a start, but I’m glad I figured out what I didn’t do. And that’s just one more argument in favor of a good, step-by-step written checklist.

Twitter followers may have seen me looking for suggestions for a web host early in the day, then later last night, for a step-by-step guide to successfully moving a website; as I remember it, I ran into a couple minor snags when I moved from GoDaddy to HostICan. I did find one, but really, it wasn’t needed. (And thanks, @Lassirra, for the link. ) Interestingly, the most important step is not included in any of the guides I found.

Step 1: Do your research before you commit to a new host. 

I laid out for myself some basic requirements, based on my current file sizes, bandwidth, and projected needs. Then I added a fudge factor, and set the following as my minimum needs: 1 GB storage, 20 GB monthly bandwidth, 5+ domains, 20+ subdomains and parked domains, to allow for future expansion. I also wanted all this at a reasonable price. I ended up reading scores of reviews at http://webhostingstuff.com/ (WHS). Fairly quickly, I limited my search to "5-star" hosting sites, and made sure none of the reviews complained about CPU-cycle throttling by the host, which was my single, deal-killing complaint with HostICan. (I also submitted my own review of HostICan identifying that issue: I’m willing to put my mouth where my money is!)

After evaluating every single suggestion I received, I narrowed the list down to two: ICD Soft and Arvixe. There were three factors that tipped my decision in favor of Arvixe: First, price: ICDSoft was $6/month, while, with a discount due to the referral from WHS, Arvixe was $3/month (both for 2-year committments). Second, Arvixe is the third-highest rated hosting service listed at WHS; and third–and most importantly–Arvixe guaranteed 6 domains available to my account level, while I couldn’t find anything at ICD to indicate more than one domain. A minor factor is the fact that if I transferred my domain registrar to Arvixe, I would get free domain name renewals as long as I maintained a web hosting account with them. Now, that’s only five or six dollars a year, if that (I think it was $3 at GoDaddy), but it’s a nice perk.

The only minor hiccup in the whole process was that I forgot to unlock my domain at GoDaddy so Arvixe could transfer it. Oops! Once I responded to the email from Arvixe (after unlocking my domain at GoDaddy), it was a matter of minutes before the domain was transferred and my site was pointed to the new nameservers.

Previously, I’d downloaded my site to my computer; once my account was set up, I simply FTP’d it back to the new server. I also backed up my WordPress database via WP DB Backup, and after I had created a new MySQL database at Arvixe, I simply exported the SQL file from my desktop to the new database. [Edit: I really don't understand why what I uploaded on Saturday didn't "take," and why I had to upload it again at midnight, but all's well that ends!]

As far as I can tell, everything is where it’s supposed to be, but if anyone notices any glitches, please let me know through my contact form or through a comment here.

Oh, and performance? I logged out of the site, cleared my Firefox cache, and returned to the Aerie. I think the front page loaded in about 4 seconds, compared to around 10 seconds with my previous host. Yeah…that fast!

New Webhost, One Small Problem is a post from: Kestrel's Aerie