Tomthumb script not working on Heartinternet Servers

After my last blog Slider Images not Showing on Responsive Creative Wordpress Theme  I've realised that this may because of a wider issue that is due to the Tomthumb script not working on Heart Internet servers.  ( although I'm not 100% sure of this fact )  . 

My issue this time is with the Gallery I'm using on the theme Midway Responsive and the specific issue is with the thumbnails showing .

This theme uses timthumb.php  to do the reduction; I also tried the plugin 'thumbGen' but that produced no success either.

No I noticed that in the 'uploads' folder I already had different sized images made of the images I was trying to show.  So I've written a function to call up one of those smaller sizes and will change the width inside the 'img' tag. 

here's my changes

OPEN

wp-content/themes/midway/template-gallery.php

FIND

echo themex_thumbnail($post->ID,460,intval($height));

REPLACE WITH

echo lrip_gallery_thumbnail($post->ID);

SAVE


OPEN

wp-content/themes/midway/framework/functions.php




AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE BEFORE THE ? >  ADD


// Gallery Thumbnail issue ( heart related ) hack

function lrip_gallery_thumbnail($ID){
    global $blog_id;
    $src = wp_get_attachment_url( get_post_thumbnail_id($ID) );
// going to explode using .jpg and fix on a new ending
    $img_url_array = explode('.jpg', $src);
    $img_url = $img_url_array[0].'-300x225.jpg';
    return $img_url;
}


SAVE AND UPLOAD

Slider images not showing on Midway Responsive Travel Wordpress Theme

After installing this theme and setting up some Slides I couldn't see the images. 

This is to do with the site currently being on a temporary server ; ie the domain is web111.1920/~mysite.co.uk


Please take a look at this blog http://elementdesignllc.com/2012/01/how-to-fix-timthumb-using-a-virtual-directory-url-contains-tildes/
The following hack is so that you can get these images to work on your testing server.
Also fix below means the images will need to imported in at the correct size.

 As always before trying this hack make sure you've saved everything before hand.


OPEN

wp-content/themes/midway/module-slider.php

FIND

$out='<img alt="'.get_the_title().'" src="'.themex_thumbnail($post->ID,$width).'" />';
                  
REPLACE WITH

$out='<img alt="'.get_the_title().'" src="'.littleripples_thumbnail($post->ID,$width).'" />';



SAVE & UPLOAD


OPEN

wp-content/themes/midway/framework/functions.php



FIND

//Custom Dropdown Menu
function themex_dropdown_menu($menu_slug) {


ABOVE THIS ADD THE CODE

//Hack to get the slideshow working by littleripples.com
function littleripples_thumbnail($ID, $w = 0, $h = 0){
    global $blog_id;
    $src = wp_get_attachment_url( get_post_thumbnail_id($ID) );

    if (isset($blog_id) && $blog_id > 0) {
        $imageParts = explode('/files/', $src);
        if (isset($imageParts[1])) {
            $src = '/blogs.dir/' . $blog_id . '/files/' . $imageParts[1];
        }
    }

    $url = $src;
        return $url;
}






SAVE AND UPLOAD

To provide intergrate Website video assistance into your website.

The Mission:  To provide integrate Website video assistance into your website.



So here's the issue 'we have a website that has accumulated clutter and we would like to provide some assistance to our users.

Strangely enough good examples on how to integrate video help seem to be in short supply.  I think the favoured way to help clients on their websites is to provide live assistance .  Check out the 'live Chat' facility on World of Camping http://www.worldofcamping.co.uk/ 

However an online catalogue of video depending on the page customers are on would provide 2 clear advantages in my opinion, which is

1. There's no need to pay someone to be waiting for someone to visit the website.
2. A video would provide a human face to the website and enhance the bond between customer and company.

And although I can't find many examples of use of a video expert through a website it doesn't mean its something that shouldn't be done. 

Here's a couple of easily added solutions. That will be usable on most devices. 

> a pull out bar.  ( like on this template http://themeforest.net/item/milan-beauty-wordpress-cms-theme/full_screen_preview/2527089 )

> a banner or box that expands using Lightbox or similar when clicked on.


> the other way would be to have a large video player on each page.  Making the video main focus of the website; rather that just an assistant.
http://www.wp101.com/blog/



Research .  websites that extensively use video

http://www.wix.com/support/main/flash/stats-seo

http://video.mitef.org/

Searches I made to try and find suitable information


website assistance examples

Video website assistance

website help videos

get help button video dropdown
expandable help videos

training videos intergrated into website

Websites that nicely intergrate video into the website.


video training intergrated into the website.

How to increase the length of the tool tip description in Milan Wordpress Theme

OPEN

wp-content/themes/milan/index.php

FIND ( on line 128 ish )



I changed this to




but increase the number to whatever length you want.

Coloured lines not showing under menus on Wordpress Milan Theme

After a installling the Wordpress Theme and activating a menu I did not have the colours under the menu like on the demo.

My hack for this is as follows.

wp-content/themes/milan/css/jqueryslidemenu.css

and added the following

 #jqueryslidemenu #menu-item-111{
border-bottom:3px solid #f95240;
}

#jqueryslidemenu .menu2{
border-bottom:3px solid  #1f9fba;
}

#jqueryslidemenu #menu-item-110{
border-bottom:3px solid #1f9fba;
}

#jqueryslidemenu #menu-item-110{
border-bottom:3px solid  #9bbb1c;
}

#jqueryslidemenu .menu-item-109{
border-bottom:3px solid  #ffa401;
}

#jqueryslidemenu #menu-item-108{
border-bottom:3px solid  #ca3636;
}

the menu item numbers may be different for you.  Check your Source code.

Setting up your Gmail Account to have multiple 'sent from' Address

>  once in Gmail navigate to the 'Settings Gear' and click on 'settings'

> on the top menu that starts with 'General'  click on the 'Accounts and Import' tab.

> then click on 'Add another email address you own'  

>  then you'll need to add you email address you want to be able to send from .
* and choose whether you'll be sending as an alias

After you reply to the confirmation email , you'll be done. :)

Wordpress Milan Theme - how to add image grayscale to the frontpage

In the Milan Theme I'd like my images a little larger.  On investigation they resize the image to width 192 and height 160

To make this change

OPEN wp-content/themes/milan/index.php

FIND

$width="192";       
$height="160";

I REPLACED this for

        $width="187";       
        $height="319";

Pinterest Pinboard Widget not showing images because of https

After installing the Plugin Pinterest Pinboard Widget  on my Wordpress 3.5 website; I noticed that the images from Pinterest weren't showing.

I also noticed that the image address started with 'https'  if I changed this to 'http'  then there was no problem. 

So here's the fix that I used.

OPEN

wp-content/plugins/pinterest-pinboard-widget/pinterest-pinboard-widget.php

FIND


$image = $pin['image'];

around line 140






// hack to display http://  instead on https:  in image url
                    list($http, $therest) = explode(":", $image);
                    $image = 'http://'.$therest;

// end hack to display http://


SAVE

Adding Ecommerce to my Wordpress Website

I'm currently looking at adding an Ecommerce solution to a website .  Here's whats included for around £500 

What's included  and what's not included in this installation. 


Payments
_________

Paypal Standard Gateway -  Credit Cards can be taken through this gateway also.


Shipping
_________

Flat Rate and/or free shipping -  Shipping by weight or size is not included


Cash on Delivery can also be added


Share
_____

Sharedaddy and ShareThis - Let your customers share your products with their friends
ShareYourCart

Products
_________

I will put up and test a couple of products and send over help videos so that more

products can be added yourselves.

Included.

> images  - as many as you wish for each product
> video - you can add video also
> description
> price
> VAT if needed.
____________


Features that aren't included but can be added on if wished

> Add your products to Google Product Search.
> Shipment tracking - Add tracking info to orders
>  Pay Pal Pro - Direct gateway

Auto twitter for Facebook Fan pages

There must be an app on Facebook for this.  If you know of one that I can use for 'Auto updating my Fanpage from Twitter' then please post it under this blog.  The following blog is a long winded work around I had to use as I couldn't find such a solution. 

Some of the searchs I tried where

auto twitter for fan pages

how to auto status to a facebook fanpage from twitter

twitter feed for pages app for facebook


 None of these searches brought any answers or solution for me.

Here's what I did.  I know how to get a RSS feed from my twitter accounts - with this knowledge it occurred to me that if I could install an app on Facebook that gets from a RSS feed then I'd be in with a chance.  Check out RSS Graffiti to accomplish this  .  However it's not quite as simple as that as Graffiti doesn't let you get RSS streams straight from Twitter, so I had to be a little deceptive and fed the feed into Feedburner first  .  Yeah I know !!  if you know a better way please let me know ;)

Also before you go ahead and do this, you may want to consider whether its a good idea or not.  After all Facebook fans don't want to here all the Twitter noise that goes with it.  However in my case it'll at least mean I'd update much more regularly .  join my fanpage at facebook.com/littleripples

How to make money from a clothing website

The challenge with clothing websites is that people generally prefer to try on clothing before purchasing.  However plenty of websites are starting to make plenty of money selling clothes online.

How big is the online clothing Market?

Well here's the thing because the online clothing market has grown more than 150% despite the recession, reaching sales of £4.8 billion last year.  Confirming that something that many of us though might never take off has taken off and  online clothes shopping has come of age .  Let's take a look at why clothing sales online may be taking off.  

Firstly any potential business looking to be succesful at selling clothing online should be warned that the return rate is much higher online than it is on the high street.  Figures reported are that one in three items are returned online as oppossed to one in five sales on the high street.  High amount of returns on the high street

Have the Advancements in the Internet been the answer to the recent increase in online clothing sales

Back in '98 when I built my first clothing website the Internet was hampered by a slow connection and low quality displays.   Many of the advancements in how clothing is presented revolve around this.   

* 360 degrees views of clothing using video or JavaScript displays.  

* Über big images that load in the background.

* live feeds and recorded fashion show / cat walks to view.

Case Studies

_____________

Fits.me - Providing a virtual dressing room solution.  This company go a bit further than the normal handful of angles; but have photographs of all neck sizes & weights to show what the item would look like on you.  I believe that they use a robotic dummy that can inflate and reduce its size; so they can take all the images needed.    There's no prices on here, I'd have thought setting up your products on here may well be too much for Independent retailers; as even with the help of a robotic dummy there's a huge amount of leg work to be done.

Ann's Cottage Surf Shop

Quite easily the shop I've spent most of my money at over the years ( except for Grocery shopping ).  Oddly I've only ever made 1 online purchase from them.  So it's good to note that it's not only direct online sales that you'll be profiting.  The reason I'd like to highlight Ann's Cottage is because I know they're becoming a profitable online store and it's down to persistence and fighting from all fronts.  In fact the list of all the things they are doing represents a good checklist for others that want to be successful.

* Regular statuses on all major social networks.

* Competions and involvement through social network stream.

* Regular blogging.

* Regular Sales and promotions

* a product range and front page that reflects the season.

* A newsletter and incentives to join the newsletter.

* Offline promotion and presence in the real world and not just online
*Website address on every promotional item 

MagicSeaWeed.com

____________________

One of the leading surf clothing websites, with one of the biggest turnovers.  Despite this come the last few days before Christmas they were sending out daily newsletters with offers and 'how days left' for online shopping.  You'll probably familiar with this tactic as it was used by pretty much all the main online companies and despite the fact they had the air of desperation; it's probably true to say all the companies using this technique are probably the companies doing the best online. 

Another technique used by Magic Seaweed is there private member Sale offers.  Here they list offers to members only.  Making you feel that this is a limited offer - only to those who follow there site.  From what I here they have been doing well from this technique.

Conclusion

The fact is there's sales out there to be made.  However those that are doing well have put in the effort and have been and are persistent, relentless and creative with the way they approach selling clothes online.  Don't be affraid to be try a gimmick or two as well as making sure all the standard social media, email, sales and blogging methods are being ticked as well.