My Switch to the Genesis Framework

April 25, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Image of illustration showing explanation of a Genesis Framework

If you’ve been to my website in the past, you may have noticed that I’ve drastically changed the look. It’s long overdue, primarily because I wanted to switch to a responsive design. But I was also getting restless with the design and wanted to try hand-designing a WordPress theme so that I have more control in the future.

So I switched to the Genesis Framework. It’s my first foray into WordPress frameworks. What’s a framework? Here’s how WordPress explains what it calls a “base/starter theme” framework, the kind that Genesis uses:
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What’s All the Fuss About Responsive Websites?

March 25, 2013 by Leave a Comment
iPad image of medievalart.org responsive website

Responsive web design is quickly becoming the standard for all web design. What’s “responsive web design?” It’s a term to indicate that a website scales properly, generally no matter the size of the device being used to view it.

If you want to see a responsive site in action, head over to one of the more recent sites I built—medievalart.org—and resize your browser down to the smallest size (or view it on your iPhone, smartphone, or other mobile device). When you do, elements of the site collapse on top of each other, making it much easier to read on a small device.
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Akismet Comment Spam Protection

October 5, 2011 by Leave a Comment
akismet-spam-comment-protection

Over the course of the next ten or so weeks, I’ll list the essential WordPress plugins to install when you first start to build your WordPress website (or what I install if I build yours). Akismet (pronounced “a-kĭz-mĭt”) is the first one. It’s also one of the best comment spam protection plugins available.
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Essential WordPress Plugins

September 29, 2011 by Leave a Comment
wall outlets

Whenever I install and build a website for an attorney, I always include in my work what I call the “essential WordPress plugins.” But what is essential? For me, it’s what every WordPress site needs after you configure your theme. When I worked for the Minnesota State Bar Association, I wrote a post for the Practice Blawg that outlined my thoughts on WordPress installations and the “essential” plugins, which at the time included:
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Adding an Avatar to Your Profile

August 15, 2011 by Leave a Comment
gravatar-logo

Gravatar

Call this WordPress 101, but it’s often something overlooked or misunderstood by most of my clients. One of the easiest things you can do to add your image to your web site’s profile is to register your email and photo with the service called gravatar. What’s gravatar? It’s a free service that helps you publish your avatar, the image that appears for you when you participate in blogs or sites, especially WordPress sites. For example, my avatar generally looks like the photo at right, and it’s what appears for me when I sign in to WordPress or comment on a blog with my personal email address.

You can do the same with your own WordPress site by registering with gravatar, and I typically ask clients to do this to assure that their profile pictures appear in their sites correctly. It’s probably the easiest way to include a professional-looking photo next to your author bio.

Registering on Gravatar

Using Gravatar is extremely easy. Just sign in or register here. Once logged in, upload a photo of yourself, typically a headshot such as the one I have in this post, and then link that photo to the email address you use for your WordPress site. In my example, I have three different email addresses: one that is personal (called my primary), one for Lawyerist, and one for gregoryluce.com. Thus, the Manage Gravatars screen for me looks like this (click to enlarge):

Most people, especially attorneys, will have only one gravatar for their sites. But, if you like to separate your personal profile from professional, you may want to establish two different gravatars, one for each email address. In any event, once you register them, most author biographies on well-designed WordPress sites will include your gravatar image. You don’t typically have to do anything else. Plus, when you comment on other sites, your gravatar will also typically appear next to your comment. Easy peasy.

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What’s New in WordPress 3.2

July 8, 2011 by Leave a Comment
wordpress-128x128

WordPress released its newest version of its software this past week, bringing the version up to 3.2. If you have not updated yet, you should do so now. While I know some folks wait a bit before upgrading to newer versions of WordPress, I’ve rarely had troubles from WordPress in upgrading. If I did, it was a quick fix that did not otherwise disrupt my site. I’m now upgrading all client sites who have managed hosting through gregoryluce.com.

Changes to the Admin Interface

For most users, the biggest change is how the dashboard looks, with changes in the default font as well as some CSS shifts to move things around to make more space. Before 3.2, the default dashboard looked like this (click to enlarge any images):

Old WordPress Dashboard

After upgrading to 3.2, the change in the interface is a bit jarring:

I’m not a huge fan of the change and hate that there is no padding now on the left hand side of the page. It makes me feel off center. But, I can live with it (or, if I can’t live with it later, there are already plug-ins available to revert back to the old style). The other big change for regular users is a better design of the “full screen” editing mode. While there was a full screen mode in prior versions, it was only for folks who used the Visual editor (as opposed to the HTML editor). Now, full screen has been added for both Visual and HTML editors, plus it’s been redesigned to be much easier to use. To use it in WordPress 3.2, just look for the full screen icon and click on it. Both buttons are highlighted below.

Button for the Full Screen in Visual Editor

Full Screen Button in the HTML Editor

For Geekier Folks (or for Self-Hosters)

Finally, for the geekier users (primarily WordPress site developers), WordPress has upped the MySQL and PHP versions required for self-hosting on WordPress. If you self host (as opposed to using WordPress.com), then you’ll need to make sure your hosting service provides at least MySQL 5.0.15 and PHP 5.2.4. A quick email to your hosting provider should get you that answer quickly (or it should be prominent on the providers support or help pages).

The Rest of the Stuff

The WordPress folks highlight about 400 other changes in 3.2, most of those performance based changes and minor fixes. Other than what I’ve already highlighted, the other semi-major changes are a refined admin bar (the gray bar you seen when you are signed into your site) and a new default theme “Twenty Eleven.” WordPress, however, has a list of all the changes in WordPress 3.2. here.

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Why I Left the Bar

June 15, 2011 by Leave a Comment
one-bird-square

For those in Minnesota or elsewhere who know me, you may be wondering why I left a pretty awesome position at the Minnesota State Bar Association, where I oversaw the development of a lot of online services for members and blogged a lot about it at the Practice Blawg. Two words: it’s personal.

Seriously, it’s for personal reasons, and while “for personal reasons” frequently seems to be the statement given in less than amicable employment partings, it’s the genuine reason. And the parting was very amicable (I continue to do some projects for the bar).

Basically, I wanted complete control over my time, which meant figuring out how to spend at least the next fifteen years hanging out more with my family and my kids (until they are both in or finished with college). I also go to Italy for a month every two years, something hard to do with a 9 to 5 gig. So, I restructured things, am taking a bit of a flying leap, and have now jumped ship.

Where have I landed? Well, for one, I’m doing some limited freelance and consulting work with lawyers on website development and document automation. Thus, my revamped website. But, in bigger news, I’m now one of the three dudes who own Lawyerist, the legal marketing and technology blog (I call Lawyerist’s Sam Glover and Aaron Street the “two dudes.”). I’m digging into work there now and heading up further development of Lawyerist LAB, otherwise known as the Lawyering Advisory Board. I’ve got my hands back on content creation and just helped produce and release the Top Tech Upgrades LAB Report. More stuff is in the works.

I’m starting over in some ways, but starting fairly strong and active. Thanks for those who have been asking about my whereabouts. I’m still hanging around and messing about.

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I’ve Got a New Site

June 14, 2011 by Leave a Comment
platform-pro-pagelines

I finally convinced myself to try a new design and theme and went with Platform Pro, a great theme that is more like a framework than a straightforward theme. You are seeing it now and may actually see an unbuilt page or two sitting around while I finish the new site.

It’s not that I didn’t love iA3, the previous theme I used. It’s a fantastic minimalist theme. But I wanted something with a bit more options and flexibility without having to dig into the code too much. As a huge fan of WooThemes and Elegant Themes, I putzed around with themes from each but ended up going with Platform Pro, which is the theme I also use for my faux legal news site Turnip News.

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Nothing Says Italy Like the McItaly

September 27, 2010 by Leave a Comment
mcitalylarge

I was in Italy earlier this year and my kids would often request McDonald’s, which was down the street from our apartment. Despite being a former employee of McDonald’s (employee of the month in fact), I’m not a fan. But when the kids are homesick, it’s a quick pick-us-up. So, we picked us up some McD’s and I learned how to order various items in Italian. Though we didn’t try it, I cracked up when I saw one of our paper placemats advertising the “McItaly.” As the placemat says, Il Gusto McDonald’s Parla Italiano, loosely translated as “the taste of McDonald’s speaks Italian.” Yeah, whatever. In any event, I loved the placemat so much I took it, folded it up, and brought it home. Now it’s been scanned and here for your consumption.

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Firenze 2010

October 31, 2009 by Leave a Comment

I am traveling with my wife, two kids, and 20 students to Florence in January 2010, as the ‘backup’ to my wife’s St. Olaf interim course in art history. She teaches the course every two years and is an old hand, having also lived in Florence in the past and having studied much of its art and political culture. I’m looking forward to the trip, though it will be challenging taking care of the two kids in a city that has little play space and a lot of museums.

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