Last week, I changed web hosts from Network Solutions to Hostwinds. Because Network Solutions gave me some suggestions that broke my self-hosted WordPress sites. Additionally, hosting WordPress has gotten too labor-intensive. So, I have chosen the premium option at WordPress.com. It gives me the ability to have a custom domain (keegan.blog), and it has 99% of what, for me, makes WordPress attractive. Furthermore, I came to the decision that there is no need for a separate podcast site. The Keegan Podcast is now part of The Keegan Blog. As a result, the podcast can no longer be updated through iTunes. But, no one listens to it anyway.
Category: Change Log
New URL and new host
I have change the URL for the Keegan Blog: keegan.blog. I have also changed hosts. While 90% of the blog transferred properly, I still have a punch list. Please bear with me as I fix these minor issues. Thank you for your patience. Additionally, if you find a post that isn’t functioning properly, please leave a comment; and let me know.
My hope is that this change will remove some of the backend problems I’ve been experiencing with the blog.
Trouble with Dynamic Web Template
Back in July, I changed web design programs from Expression Web to Dreamweaver Creative Cloud. As a result, I had to recode the dynamic web template that I based the majority of my site on. At the end of every year the copyright has to be updated. 2016 has to be changed to 2017. That process should be a simple matter of updating the template, saving the changes, and the program should update the pages that use the template automatically.
I have updated the main template and save the changes, and I thought the program updated the pages that use the template. However, some pages updated and some pages did not, and I have no idea why. This problem is slowing the responsive design update.
Still Updating to responsive design
Last week, I picked up my responsive design project where I left off. In earlier post I described the beginning of the project. Since November, many of the pages in the site have been updated. There is still a lot of work to be done. This week I changed design programs from Expression Web 4 to Dreamweaver Creative Cloud chiefly because I wanted to use the full capabilities of CSS 3 and have them recognized by my design program. To put it simply, Expression Web 4 is 10 years old and shows every bit of its age. It’s so old in fact that Microsoft is giving it away for free. I have tried Visual Studio 2015, and it takes too long to install; and comes with too many features I will never use.
Dreamweaver Creative Cloud is subscription service, so I will have access to updates as they become available. It is standards compliant and the user interface is not that different. In the end, markup is mark up and code is code. Dreamweaver should I serve my needs for the foreseeable future. Switching to Dreamweaver has created some issues. The most annoying one is that the program uses a slightly different syntax in its dynamic web templates, which means I cannot create new pages based on my existing templates. Furthermore, all pages based on existing templates must be updated after I create new templates based on the different syntax, but all of those are backstage updates.
Most of my major content pages have been updated. I still have some structural pages to update, and I am considering updating the Doctor Who Episode Guide and keegan.wiki as well as other sub-sites. Additionally, I still have a great deal more to learn about CSS 3. I am still having difficulty mastering flex box and float.
Recent office 365 update is causing me problems
Update
January 13, 2016:
Apparently, all the broken links to the documents and presentations that I maintain in OneDrive for Business are now functioning. However, if you have problems accessing any of them, please email me.
At some point in the last few weeks Microsoft updated OneDrive for Business, which is where I store all the files that are linked to from my websites. Because of the update any link that is more than a month old is broken and does not function. The only fix for this problem is to update each link. That is, create a new link for each Word Document and PowerPoint Presentation and Excel spreadsheet on all my sites, which is going to take a great deal of time. How much? Who knows.
If you have trouble accessing a Word Document, PowerPoint Presentation, or Excel spreadsheet please email me and let me know. I will send a working link as soon as possible.
Thank you for your understanding and patience.
Converting to Responsive Design
Back in August, I started the process of converting some of the pages in my website to responsive design. I may put up my notes on the process later, but for now I have completed nine pages. I do not know if I will convert my entire site. I have been reluctant to move to responsive design because most of my pages were, I thought, already designed for most smaller screens. The Doctor Who Episode Guide works well on an iPad mini screen, but not as well on an iPhone 5, iPhone 6 , or an iPhone 6 Plus screen. Even so, the Guide is one sub-site I will, most likely, not convert and there is some other content such as my Portfolio, the Launching of a New Constitution, Teaching Resources, and keegan.wiki. The thing these pages have in common is they were designed for professional use where laptops and desktops are common, and for the minimum screen size of an iPad mini. The Doctor Who Guide and my other Doctor Who content does not fit into that category. However, its present format is the best way to display the content at this time.
A majority of my recent content, however, is blog posts and articles, and is slowly being converted to responsive design.The following is a list of pages that have been converted so far. I, probably, should not have used a table.
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# |
Title |
URL |
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1 |
Home |
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2 |
Copyright |
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3 |
Forensic Science Links |
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4 |
Rise and Fall of the Third Reich Has Its Place |
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5 |
Groucho Marx: The Writer… |
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6 |
DNA Dragnet: Constitutional? |
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7 |
Articles |
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8 |
Intelligent design is not science |
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9 |
Intelligent design Links |
Office 365 public website feature being discontinued…
I learned last week that the Office365 public website feature is being discontinued. Microsoft is no longer offering the feature to new Office365 customers, and existing customers have two years that is until March 2017 to find a new hosting platform and move their data. The loss of the public website did not concern me as much as the loss of the ability of users of my website to view Word documents and PowerPoint presentations in Office Online (Office Web Apps). As I explained to the Sharepoint Online support team at Office365:
One of the key features of the public facing website is the ability for my users to view documents in office Web apps. Microsoft lists a number of third-party solutions none of them have the ability to view documents in the office Web apps (See jgkeegan.com/plans/home.htm). One of the reasons I activated the public facing website feature is the fact Office Web Apps provide somewhat more security from copyright infringement than does the standard PDF file. I have tried to share with (everyone) documents with my one drive for business and my team site, but that has never worked. I require a solution that allows users to be able to view documents in Office Web Apps. None of the third-party solutions listed in the knowledgebase article provide that functionality.
It took two service requests, but they were able to show me a solution. One that, apparently, has been available all along. One drive for business has the capability to share documents and presentations publicly. And one of the members of the support team was kind enough to walk me through the process.
The following video demonstrates how to share an Excel document stored on OneDrive for Business from within the client. The process is the same with Word documents and PowerPoint presentations.
The process is similar when OneDrive is accessed from the web. The first step is selecting a file.
Next click the three dots.Then, click share.
Then, Click Get a link.
After that choose between allowing the public to only view the document or give everyone in the world the ability to edit it. Most, if not all, of the time choose view only.
After clicking create link A public link is generated that can be placed on any webpage or emailed to anyone. Note also the ability to stop sharing any document by clicking disable.
The only drawback, and this is true of the public website if it does not have a vanity domain, is that anyone can print or embed my content on their website without asking permission. I am not happy about that. So, over the next two years I will be moving all my content from the public facing website to OneDrive for business.
