Half-Elf on Tech

Thoughts From a Professional Lesbian

Author: Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)

  • Did You Know …. Gravatars

    Did You Know …. Gravatars

    I we helping someone debug their gravatar recently. There was a long back and forth about your WordPress.com vs WordPress.org account when he couldn’t log in, and once we sorted that, we wanted a way to check if the Gravatar was actually working. Lo! There’s an easy way:

    https://en.gravatar.com/site/check/

    You can put in anyone’s email and get their Gravatar, which is a great check for people on, say, WordPress.org complaining theirs isn’t working when it totally is, had they used the right email.

    There are some things I wish Gravatar had, though, like the ability to drag-and-drop new avatars instead of the old click-here-to-select interface that feels so very, very, old now.

  • What To Expect When You’re Expecting to Go to WCSF

    What To Expect When You’re Expecting to Go to WCSF

    So WordCamp San Francisco is in a month and a half and you’re raring to go? I’ve done two WordCamp San Francisco’s, so I’m by no means an expert of them, but I’ve been to the Bay Area enough to know some of the more annoying aspects of it. Here are my top considerations for the camp of camps.

    Airport delays

    I’m going to say this. SFO sucks. It just does. I’ve only flown once without significant delays, and that was 2012 where they had a ‘surprisingly mild summer.’ The rest of the time, consider flying into Oakland. You can still take the Bart. The reason SFO sucks, in general, is the cloud coverage. The airport is right by the water, and the weather caused by the bay is nuts. Speaking of ….

    Weather

    Pack for cool weather. “Summer” in the Bay Area is not like summer in pretty much the rest of California. It’s a micro-climate, hemmed in by the bay and the mountains, which means it’s cool and a little damp. Unless you’re used to it, pack long pants and light jackets because the damp will do a number on you. Spring or fall weight (light sweatshirts) versus summer weight is smart. Lots of people bring shawls, if you’re into that, and the trick is light layers. Everyone from outside the US, I’m really sorry, it’s not ‘summer’ at all. I will note than in 2013, it was actually warm, so having a light jacket that was easy to tuck away was my best friend.

    October isn’t going to be cold in San Francisco, but it won’t be warm either. That light jacket will be your friend.

    Comfortable shoes

    Shoes that are probably not very comfortableSpeaking about clothes, remember your feet! You will walk. Bring comfy shoes. In fact, bring two pair. I pack sneakers, comfy ‘talking’ shoes, and a pair of flip-flops for the inevitable moment when I can’t fit my feet back in my shoes. You will also be standing and talking a lot. If you, like me, have a knee that likes to flip you the bird, keep that in mind and have no shame in telling people you have to sit down.

    Transportation woes

    There are six taxis in SF and you probably know the way better than they do thanks to Google Maps. No, I kid. But really, taxis are rare. A lot of people use Uber or Lyft to handle booking cars for quick transport, but even with that, people use other options. It’s kind of like Gypsy cabs, if you’re from the East, only a little less sketchy. Most of us use the BART, though. It comes right from the airport (both Oakland and SFO), and you can get a Clipper Pass to use both MUNI (which goes from downtown to where WCSF if held) and traditional BART. If you plan on coming back to SF ever, it’s a decent investment.

    Walking through many classes of areas quickly

    You can go from upscale to seedy in about a block, so if you’ve never walked through the city before, please go with someone you know already, or suck up the price of a car ride. Can you walk from your hotel to WCSF? Probably. Do you want to? Probably not by yourself. This is not to say that San Francisco is particularly dangerous, but it’s a big city. There are crazy people and bad people in every major city in the world. Be aware of this. I try to never be alone on the streets at night in any city, just as a rule, unless I know the city really well. Even so, I lived in Chicago for 15 years, and I never once forgot that I was a woman, and it just plain wasn’t safe to walk though, oh, Cabrini Green by myself at night. If you don’t know what is and is not a safe part of town, don’t go alone, or don’t go at all.

    Computers

    Hundreds of Maine students who gathered Thursday at the University of Maine's Collins Center for the Arts hold up the Apple laptops they use as part of the Maine Learning Technology Initiative.Unless you’re speaking or doing the Happiness Bar and, thus, need the laptop, leave it at home. Bring your tablet to take notes on or use a notebook. There are usually some Moleskin and pen swag lying around, so grab one if you forgot yours and take your notes/reminders there. If you bring your computer, you will be tempted to log in, be social there, and do work. You just came to a massive, in person, WordCamp. Look up from the screen once in a while. I promise, WordPress is people.

    Swag

    Everyone gives away swag at WordCamps. There are the high-level sponsors who have tables, and they’ve usually got t-shirts, pins, pens, candy, postcards (with information), water bottles, and all sorts of weird stuff. You can get swag from everyone, even your competitors (who really are your coopetition, right?). I’m fond of how soft the WPEngine shirts are. You will get tons of swag. Leave room in your luggage for this stuff so you can get home. Also you’ll want to bring an empty bag with you to the event to tote stuff around. Unless, like me, you know how to make bags out of swag pins and t-shirts, you want that extra bag.

    Hugs (set boundaries fast!)

    I need to preface this with “The way I hug you is not directly proportional to how I feel about you.” I hug like I follow people on Twitter. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t, and it’s pretty fluid based on my mood.

    It’s okay not to hug! A lot of us are huggers, though, especially because some people are considered family. No, I’m not related to Amy or Andrea (or Andrea) or Courtney or Jen, but we’re good friends and they’re people I will likely hug a lot. Especially right before they go on stage, or right after, or when we first see each other, or when we’re leaving for the day, or when we check out of hotels… Then there are people like Otto and Jaquith and Nacin and Koop who almost always get at least one hug hello.

    There are also a lot of people I bro-hug. You know the one, right? Where you clasp a hand and keep it between you as you one-arm hug?

    Bro Hug

    This doesn’t mean I like you less. I’ve hugged my wife this way following a performance. It may mean I’m feeling overwhelmed and need not to hug someone. I may have spilled my drink on myself and not want to get you wet. Maybe I smell bad and don’t want you to know. Point is, different people have different huggy rules depending on their mood. Respect that. Also it’s okay to hold up your hands and so ‘No, bro, no hugs.’ I went to WordCamp Portland while getting over a nasty flu bug, and was on a no-hug trip. People understood.

    People talking like they know you (and they probably do)

    They do know you. Or your work. Or your avatar. Suffice to say, it’s weird the first time it happens, and it’s weird every other time. Even Otto has remarked to me that he finds it weird. I mean, we’re just people, we’re not celebrities, right? You’d be surprised how other people feel. It’s still weird to me, but recently someone said “Where do I know you from?” and I smiled and replied “Probably the Internet.” He cracked up and we exchanged nicknames which was when he realized he’d seen me on WordPress TV. People know you, they know your avatar, and they’ll want to treat you a little different than ‘normal’ because to them, you’re kind of important. Say ‘you’re welcome’ when they thank you, and if they have something to give you (like more of those awesome 10up moleskins?) say ‘thank you’ and you will be a great person.

    Mobbing and/or Monopolizing People

    So many people do this, I feel bad for Matt Mullenweg (whom I know expects this and is probably okay with it). A lot of people want to meet Matt and talk shop. Respect the fact that everyone wants his time, and try not to take up more than five minutes. Maximum. If there are other people hovering around you looking anxious, ask him what a good way would be to get in touch and talk longer later.

    As for other people… I was at a WordCamp where I was chatting with a friend and noticed someone standing to the side looking edgy. I smiled at her, stepped to open up the chat circle, and asked if she wanted to join our chat. She actually wanted to thank me, personally, for something. As we talked, a couple more people queued up. As the first woman kept on talking, I finally said “You know, I’d love to talk to you more about this, but we seem to have made a line. How about we all sit together and lunch and we can all chat?” She huffed, but agreed, and the next person smiled at me and said she didn’t want to monopolize, but did I know of a good plugin for something. I did, she thanked me, and left. That set the tone for the next few people. They realized they weren’t the only person important to me in that moment, and they shared me.

    So the take away here? Share the person you’re mobbing. Take no more than 3 minutes. If it takes more than that, you should offer to buy them lunch/coffee/dinner and have a private chat. After all, they’re here to learn too!

    Woman plugging her ears with fingers

    Afterparty Earplugs

    Sensitive ears? Bring ’em. The afterparty is a party. It’s loud, and it may not be for you. But know that earplugs are probably a good idea. Also it’s NOT a dinner, so after camp breaks up, get with a group of people and go eat. Go to your hotel and nap. Then come party. We’ll still be there. They usually have to kick us out.

    Losing your voice

    I come out of WCSF sounding like Angie Harmon, and with a really sore throat, every single time. I talk to a lot of people, I end up shouting to be heard at dinner/parties. I am far more social at at WordCamp than I am in my normal life, where I like to be pretty quiet, so I almost always come back a little Kathleen Turner. So I guess there could be worse fates!

    What about you?

    What are your tips and tricks?

  • The Great Internet Slowdown

    The Great Internet Slowdown

    Wednesday is the Great Internet Slowdown where websites all over the world are going to protest the cable conglomerates getting together to tell us how fast our internet can be to specific sites, when they want it to be fast or not.

    I’m going to do this one simply. You know how you can dial anyone on your phone, and it’s your responsibility to not dial up sex numbers if that offends you? The phone company doesn’t limit your ability to do that. It doesn’t stop you from sexting your ex at 2am when you’re drunk and that was a really bad idea, wasn’t it? They don’t tell you, as you dial a psychic, that you should dial this other one instead. No, they let you shoot yourself in the foot.

    Well that’s not how they want it to work on the Internet.

    Cable companies are spending billions to gut the heart right out of net neutrality and create fast lanes and slow lanes on the Internet. A company that pays them more will get their site loading faster. A company that doesn’t, even if it has superior products, would be slower.

    This isn’t about how quickly our cat videos load, it’s about the future of our ability to communicate, to learn, to create, and to rebel. It’s about the future of humanity.

    I know that sounds a little heavy handed, but it’s true. The ability to use the Internet for communication is massively important. I work with people all around the globe, I fix websites all over the place and I talk constantly with people everywhere. I need to be able to do this to succeed at my job. If cable companies get their way, it might make it impossible for products like WordPress to develop as quickly as it does today.

    It’s already hard enough, with nations putting up firewalls and blocks preventing China from reaching Google for fonts, to get things done. But now we’re letting companies you and I might not even use decide they know what’s right?

    Come on! Let me decide if I want to go to that site and talk to those people! It’s just like the phone, after all.

    If you’re on WordPress, grab the Cat Signal Plugin. You can install it and leave it on, it’ll turn itself on when needed.

    This is the battle for the net

  • Network Rules

    Network Rules

    I love Multisite. I don’t think people use it ‘right’ but I love it. So I’ve started to make my own rules about Multisite and how to use it properly.

    Only One SuperAdmin

    There should be only one SuperAdmin, and you should never use that account to post. This will limit what you can do on any given day, and you’ll need a second account to mess with network settings, but this is a good thing. While WordPress lacks a sudo feature (yes, I know there are plugins), having only one SuperAdmin and locking that account tight and keeping the keys to yourself limits people’s ability to be mean to you and brute force. Extra points if you name the account something random.

    Restrict Access

    Only give people access to what they need. This means you limit their plugins to what they have to have, ditto themes, and you don’t let them argue they need the unicorn.

    But I want the Unicorn

    You knew I’d pull that one out, right?

    Be mean and say no. Don’t let someone be an admin of a hundred sites if they only need to be admin of one. Don’t let them be members of sites they don’t need to write on. Remember, Multisite makes you a pseudo-subscriber so a user will be able to read and comment on all sites on your network. They only need to be a legit member if there’s a real reason, like it’s a locked site.

    Don’t Network Activate Things

    Perhaps this is better said as follows: Only network activate things that must be network activated.

    Is it ‘easier’ to network activate W3TC and configure it for your network? Sure! Should you? Probably. But what about Jetpack? Does everyone need it? Do they all need the tool for GUI comments when not all the sites even use comments? Be judicious and cautious when you network activate plugins.

    Test All The Things

    Vet your plugins and themes before you install them. Test your upgrades on a non-production site. I cannot stress this enough. Test, test, test, test! Test! Just … test okay?

    Heavy duty padlock

    What are your rules?

    I asked on Twitter and Tim Moore said he turns off the plugin menus for subsites. You can do this very easily by going to Network Admin -> Settings -> Network Settings and uncheck the plugins box for “Enable administration menus.” I do sort of wish we had more things there, like disable themes and so on, but seeing as you can more granularly control themes anyway it doesn’t matter that much.

  • He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Website

    He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Website

    I get asked this a lot from a more technical perspective.

    All the myriad reasons you have to use, or not use, Multisite aside, the question that is often wondered and confused over is the one where we’re trying to balance out ease of support vs cost. You see, a lot of the time, people consider multisite because they’re on a webhost who only allows one domain for your site. You may be able to use add-on domains but they also may be limited, and the easiest way to run a hundred sites on one hosting plan is multisite.

    I have to remind everyone here, I would never, ever, in the history of ever even remotely consider running Multisite on anything less than a VPS. Yes. I said it. Keep in mind when I run a Multisite I’m always doing it to run a network of heavy duty sites. If I was just running a tiny private network, my goals would be different. But more than that, I keep in mind the realizations of the limitations of shared hosting. Shared hosted is tiny. Multisite is big. Match ’em up and you’ll be happier.

    What does this have to do with the heft of a network? Well if I have 100 separate sites and 100 sites on a multisite network, what’s the real, practical difference?

    • 100 separate logins vs 1 login on 100 sites
    • 100 separate sites to update vs 1 site

    That’s pretty much it. Yes, there are a dozen of little things (like it’s easier to restrict access to a single site) that come into play here, but when you start looking at the server itself, the practical differences when it comes to things like disk space, memory usage, process utilization, and emails, there is no negligible differentiation on your site’s performance.

    Yeah, 100 separate sites and 100 sites on a network will run pretty much the same on the same server, assuming the exact same level of traffic and use of plugins. That’s a pretty big assumption most of the time but in this one case, it’s safe. We’re trying to compare apples and apples, with only one difference: Multisite or Not.

    Of course, there are specific situations where a multisite will cause more damage to a server than a single site, especially if you’re doing a lot of cross-content manipulation (like including the RSS from one site into the sidebar of another). But it all really depends on if you have a lot of traffic. Yes, one Multisite blog getting hammered will hurt the others on the network, but it shouldn’t cause a significant CPU spike any more than two separate really massive single sites would on the same server.

    Foggy photo warning of heavy fog

    And there is one place where Multisite very much would do more work on the server than Single Site, and that’s with ms-files.php. That old magic that made your image URLs to be domain.com/files/2014/09/image.job. The way that worked was to pass images via .htaccess through the ms-files.php page and then generate the image. Yes, that caused more load. It’s part of why we don’t do it anymore, and why I suggest never trying that again.

    It’s funny, though. I’ve seen one host say that Multisite will use less by way of PHP processes because it’s one install, while another said it would use more because ‘Multisite’, and a third said there’s no difference.

    Obviously I don’t think there’s a difference.

  • Featured Image Size

    Featured Image Size

    I’m particular about a lot of things, including my excerpts and featured images. The biggest problem I have is remembering what my featured image size should be. You see, I do slap up a custom image, just for that, most of the time, and remembering that the size should be 900×220 every day is something I just can’t do. So I lamented, as I checked for the 99th time, that I should be able to pull in the size!

    What I want is this:

    Example of featured image meta box with the size indicated

    And yes, I did it with this in my functions.php for my theme:

    //* Add new image sizes
add_image_size( 'featured-image', 900, 220, true );

//* Change Featured Image to remind me what the size is
add_filter( 'admin_post_thumbnail_html', 'helf_admin_post_thumbnail_html' );
function helf_admin_post_thumbnail_html( $content ) {

	// Get featured image size
	global $_wp_additional_image_sizes;
	$featured_image = $_wp_additional_image_sizes['featured-image']['width'].'x'.$_wp_additional_image_sizes['featured-image']['height'];

	// Apply
	$imagesize = '<p>Image Size:' . $featured_image . 'px</p>';
	$content = $imagesize . $content;

	return $content;

}

    The trick there is I have to know the name of my featured image. Since I use Genesis, it’s usually named ‘featured-image’ but it could be anything. That also means on my Theme Settings I have this set:

    Genesis Content Archives

    And that has to match. So, since I am running Genesis, it’s a quick change to put in this check instead:

    add_filter( 'admin_post_thumbnail_html', 'helf_admin_post_thumbnail_html' );

function helf_admin_post_thumbnail_html( $content ) {
	// Define what the name of our featured image size is
	$genesis = get_option('genesis-settings');
	$genesis_image_size = $genesis['image_size'];

	// Get featured image size
	global $_wp_additional_image_sizes;
	$my_featured_image = $_wp_additional_image_sizes[$genesis_image_size]['width'].'x'.$_wp_additional_image_sizes[$genesis_image_size]['height'];

	// Apply
	$imagesize = '<p>Image Size: ' . $my_featured_image . 'px</p>';
	$content = $imagesize . $content;

	return $content;
}

    The only thing I couldn’t get to work was an if-check around the filter so I could make sure I really am running Genesis. Future improvements, I suppose.