Archive for the ‘Tutorials’ Category
Customizing your CheckOutMyInk.com Profile: Changing Backgrounds
Posted by KMFNJ | Filed under Tutorials
Disclaimer: I don't run CheckOutMyInk.com and these methods of customization are NOT guaranteed to work, especially as the site grows - the owners may decide to disable this functionality at any time, so USE AT YOUR OWN RISK! I assume no responsibility for any consequences of using these methods to alter your profile, and by using these methods, you agree not to hold me responsible. So anyway... Have fun! 
CheckOutMyInk.com is an up-and-coming tattoo social networking website where members can upload pictures of their tattoos and artists can get recognition for the awesome work they do. You can check out my profile if you're interested.
I wasn't satisfied with the profile section, so I started messing with the CSS to reformat the layout of the page. A few other people have asked me how I did it, so that is what this post is all about: to help you customize your profile. This may or may not turn into a "series" of tutorials, depending on the response.
Get an OpenID!
Posted by KMFNJ | Filed under Toolbox, Tutorials, WordPress
Okay - so you're into a bunch of different blogs/websites/services, but you don't wanna register a zillion accounts just so you can be a part of these communities - I know, I've practically built my house on that hill.And the "too-many-accounts" argument is all well and good for most folks, but the reason why side of the problem is that communities need a way to identify you in order to track user data, give you access to files and (let's face it) help combat spam. Is there any hope for this situation? Of course there is -- OpenID!
IE 6 Standalone PNG Transparency
Posted by KMFNJ | Filed under Toolbox, Tutorials
As a web designer and developer, I have multiple versions of Internet Explorer (both 6 and 7) installed simultaneously on my computer.Information on the various methods for doing this has been documented in several places, already. But today I came across a problem with the method that involves installing IE 7 over your old IE 6 installation: you lose the filters that allowed PNG transparency functionality in IE 6.
HTTPS 403.4 Javascript Redirector for IIS 5.0, 6.0
Posted by KMFNJ | Filed under Toolbox, Tutorials
My friend Eric Thompson who works with me at OCS Corp created an awesome lil' piece of javascript for use as a custom 403.4 error when you want to FORCE someone to use HTTPS protocol in IIS.
Extracting PDF Fonts
Posted by KMFNJ | Filed under Toolbox, Tutorials
A very interesting article outlines the basic concepts for extracting fonts from PDF files, though I do feel I should point out, as stated in the article:"...in many (and probably most) cases it won't be either legal or moral to extract a font from a PDF and then use it without paying a licensing fee"
Technorati Tags: typography, extraction, hacking
Why You Shouldn’t Check Your POP3 Email Too Frequently
Posted by KMFNJ | Filed under Tutorials
By "too frequently" I mean checking less than every 5 minutes or so. This may or may not be so much a problem these days, but it is something I've run into at work recently, so I thought it was worth mentioning.Checking your email account every minute or less causes massive traffic on your ISP's servers and degrades quality of service, not only for you but for other users as well.
This can also cause problems such as duplicate emails because if the POP3 check doesn't finish within a minute, you've already got another one scheduled right on top of it that may end up duplicating what wasn't completed in the prior session.
Editing the Send Receive value in Outlook:
I "borrowed" these images from: http://www.1planhost.com/support/s_mailpolling.asp
If anyone over there has a problem with that, you can send me an email and I'll gladly remove.
To edit the time that Outlook automatically checks the server for new messages, please do the following:
In Outlook, click Tools, then Options...
A new window will open. Click the "Mail Setup" tab at the top. Then click the "Send/Receive" button as pictured below
Next, edit the "Schedule an automatic send/receive every" value to be 5 or more minutes (I actually recommend TEN MINUTES)
Technorati Tags: outlook, email, bestpractice
sIFR and Adblock Plus
Posted by KMFNJ | Filed under Toolbox, Tutorials
AdBlock Plus is a great extension Mozilla FireFox browser (among others) which enables users to block annoying/unwanted ads on specific (or even wildcard) websites. sIFR is a GREAT tool to incorporate custom fonts into the headings of web pages - awesome for taking that custom look and feel of your website one step further. The problem arises when a user with AdBlock visits a website using sIFR to display custom fonts. Since many ads on the 'net are Flash based, and sIFR relies on Flash to display the custom font headings, AdBlock thinks the custom headings are "ads" and displays and ugly tab that can totally disrupt formatting. There is, however, a workaround for this which I found on the official sIFR wiki.
/* Hide Adblock Object tab: the text should show up just fine,
not poorly with a tab laid over it. Conveniently, the object
tab is always in a div, so we hide all divs directly inside
the replaced element.*/
.sIFR-replaced > div { display: none !important;}
Yay! No more AdBlock display issues!
WordPress Smilies
Posted by KMFNJ | Filed under Toolbox, Tutorials
This is really really not that important, but... all the same, I guess it is to some. (...and I guess I just proved to myself that I'm one of them.) Basically, I was screwing with WordPress' smiley's functionality and took some of the sweet icons I got from Icon Buffet's Free Delivery Service, picked out which ones I wanted to swap out and renamed them according to what WP would expect. Then I uploaded them into my /wp-includes/images/smilies/ directory. There's not an exact replacement for each one yet, but the results so far ain't too shabby...
