AyushSaran.com

CROSS POSTED FROM http://www.dedestruct.com/customizing-the-wordpress-login-screen-pt-2/2007/07/

 
This Blog is closing, please direct all links / comments to www.dedestruct.com

 

Improving on the previous customize the wordpress login screen - Pt 1. The original method I proposed involved over-writing the core wordpress admin images with custom ones. This would replace the default admin page but the hack was temporary and resets when the core files are overwritten during an upgrade.

The solution is to use the Wordpress Custom Login Plugin from Ben over at BinaryMoon.

De-constructing the plugin

• <?php
•  
• function bm_custom_login() {
• echo '<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="' . get_settings('siteurl') . '/wp-content/plugins/bm-custom-login/bm-custom-login.css" />';
• }
•  
• add_action('login_head', 'bm_custom_login');
•  
• ?>

For those interested in how the plugin works. Ben uses a wordpress hook ‘login-head’ to call out his own css stylesheet.
The backgrounds set in his css stylesheet override the default image paths set in the wp-admin stylesheet.
If you are interested in building your own plugins a comprehensive list of wordpress hooks can be found at the codex.

To help you out here is a basic PSD with the re-created Logo, Glow, Gradient and rounded corners seen on the default login screen.

To see download files visit the new home of this blog at www.dedestruct.com

The ‘Customize Login Screen’ has been my most popular post so far, and id love to see what screens you guy make.
You can post your screenshots over at the Flickr - Custom wordpress login Group

CROSS POSTED FROM http://www.dedestruct.com/google-adsense-targeting-for-relevant-ads/2007/07/

Another Reminder - This blog is closing, please direct any comments/links to dedestruct.com

If the ads served up by Google Adsense on your blog/website arent relevant to your content its usually because other content on the page is throwing off the density and Adsense cannot decide whats most relevant on the page.

To fix this you can use Google Section Targeting with the use of <!– google_ad_section_start –> and <!- -google_ad_section_end –> to tell Adsense what content to consider for relevant ads.

You can manually add this into your template, but plugins are easier to manage so here is the Google AdSense Targeting plugin from Il Filosofo. It automatically adds the tags around your post content and templates.

Some Handy Tips

via Tech Addict
1. Don’t cheat Google by targetting wrong content (doing so will result in Google banning).
2. Always include user comments in the Tags.

3. If you do not see results quickly, give it few days for the adsense bot to crawl your blog.
4. If your Google earnings drop for the first few days, experiment for some time. 
5. Always include the Title of post within the tags.

Ive been tracking my Freelance work through the web service SidejobTrack. Its completely free and allows for Multiple simultaneous projects and clients.
They have a clean Web 2.0 style Interface. Features include Time Tracking, Data Export(xml) and Custom Invoicing.

While this servers my purpose for time-tracking and custom Invoice Templates, it leaves a lot missing on the Project Management Side.
The current market leader in that field is 37Signal’s Basecamp. I’ve used Basecamp with a few companies before and its near-perfect. It handles Tasks, Milestones, Notes, Messages, Writeboards etc… basically a full featured Project Manager.
 
Here’s the catch
 
Its Expensive. Its not just ‘not cheap’, its downright expensive. The basic pricing plans limit projects and for my needs i would have to get the $49/mo plan, although I could manage in the $24/mo plan with a 15 active project limit. But even then, monthly fees add up. At the end of the year id be paying a minimum of $288.

 
So I’ve been searching for ‘Basecamp Alternatives’.
 

http://www.php-collab.org
http://www.dotproject.net
http://www.quickbase.com
http://www.intranets.com
http://www.grovesite.com
http://www.copperproject.com
http://www.taskspro.com/
http://www.creative-manager.com/
http://www.activecollab.com
http://www.infowit.com

 
And the ‘Basecamp Killer’ is
 

Active Collab - Its a basecamp clone created by Ilija Studen, a developer from Serbia. Built in Php/MySQL it started off playing catch-up with Basecamp, but with the soon-to-be-released v1.0(currently at 0.7.1) They look like they may offer some features Basecamp still doesnt provide. Im eagerly awaiting the v1.0.
Did I mention it’s open-source and FREE!!
 
(Found: Techcrunch had done a feature on them in June06 )

Dadepo Aderemi on why he choose JQuery over MooTools for his JS Framework

Compared to mootools, Jquery’s Selectors makes accessing the Dom such a breeze. Borrowing syntax from CSS and Xpath you can burrow all the way down or climb all the way up the DOM with a succinct amount of code.

http://geekabyte.blogspot.com/2007/06/ditching-mootools-for-jquery.html

For those unfamiliar with the Activity Window in Safari, read

MacWorld: Secrets of Safari’s Activity window

If you try to load a page and it stalls out with “loading,� for instance, the Activity window will show you exactly which item is causing the problem—just click the disclosure triangle next to the page in question, and you’ll see entries for every item on the page, and (if those items are loaded) their size or (if they’re not loaded) a message showing their status.

And Here is the Firefox alternative

http://livehttpheaders.mozdev.org/

Ive recently set-up a kvm at home to switch between my palette windows monitor and my MacbookPro on the dual 19″ LCD.

I had a hard time looking for a kvm that supported my Logitech mx5000 Bluetooth Keybd/Mou Combo. Then i came across Synergy KM

http://synergy2.sourceforge.net/

Synergy is a Keyboard Manager that allows you to share a keyboard+mouse over networked computers without the need for switching or hardware.

Once your mouse leaves the edge of one screen to another it instantly switches the input to the next computer.

There is a great tutorial over at SimpleHelp on setting up Synergy for Windows
Simplehelp how to share a keyboard and mouse with multiple computers/

This means you can just get the cheaper PS/2 KVM to manage your monitors instead of springing for the more expensive USB ones

This is a simple video tutorial that introduces the process of defining goals and conversions in Google Analytics, great tool for webmasters.

[via ConversationMarketing]

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