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RubyPress

So a while back I had thought my WordPress install was getting exploited through some bug and decided I wanted to write my own replacement.. Turns out that bug had nothing to do with wordpress but was rather an issue with my host.. It’s been resolved, but that niggling desire to create my own blogging software stuck..

This is something I wanted to create from the ground up that would be a 100% “my own” solution to include even the look&feel theme of the thing and I decided that it would also be 100% open source from the start.

I wanted to use this project as a possible way to expand my horizons but I also wanted something functional that I could use and expand on quickly;  the more I thought (and still think) about this the sooner I wanted off WordPress, not because WordPress is a bad thing (it’s not) but because I wanted something that was fully mine that I could modify to my hearts content.

So with that, I moved forward with my project and started looking at which language I wanted to write it in.   After some consideration I decided to limit myself to writing the code in Python, Ruby, Node, or PHP.

I knew from the get-go that I didn’t really want to write this thing in PHP.   PHP is a great language but it’s getting a little long in the tooth and frankly some of the frameworks out there leave a lot to be desired.   Plus I have been writing PHP since ’96 or so.. I’m ready to move on..

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WPOS7 Screenshot

So I have been plugging away at creating my OS7 theme.. I previously stated that IE8 sucked completely and I have to take that back.   It doesn’t suck completely.. infact, it sucks a lot less than I realized..

I found that I was using IE8 in “quirks mode” and of course it behaved quirky.  My main question is;  What the hell is the point of quirks mode?!  “Here have our browser in a mode that is completely broken.” I just don’t get it.. I guess quirks mode is basically IE6 as they seem to render similarly.. (I have IE6 on my laptop still for testing purposes..) If that’s the case it couldn’t be better named..

Apparently since I had a misspelling (or something) in my doctype it defaulted to quirksmode.. Once I found that I was in the wrong mode, found out why and fixed it, I started to test my new UI in IE7 and IE8.. It actually works!!  Ever so minor bug in IE7, but its hardly worth mentioning..   IE8 works fine, but a little slow. er.. in fact, a lot slow.. IE8 ain’t zippy at all.. Read more…

Wordpress OS7 Theme

So I have been using Windows 7 for a while now and I really do like it.  It’s no Snow Lepoard but it’s what I have.. heh  Honestly, its not bad at all..  I also have been using wordpress for a goodly while with the same theme “Microblue” a theme I created a year ago.

I’m getting bored with Microblue so its time for a change and I thought it would be fun to combine Windows 7′s look and feel into a wordpress theme.    This lead me down the road that I had started with my jQuery Windows post and posed an important question;

Do I implement a windows manager within a webpage?    God what a pain in the ass..

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Well as some of you know I have been working on a joint WordPress MU and Invision Power Board theme based on the joomla theme Chromatophore.. I thought I would give an update — It’s going well all things considered, but its taking me a little longer than I had for seen to get the color chooser logic working correctly.

You can see my progress here:

http://info.rsow.com/projects/fffredesign/

I’ve run into some interesting javascript foibles that I have had to deal with and have also taken this opportunity to start on my own javascript toolbox.

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My new project requires a common theme across both WordPress (and thus WordPress MU) and Invision Power Board. No small order.

To that end I have decided to convert (or redesign) the Chromatophore Joomla theme into a combined wordpress / invision power board theme. I decided to go with this look because I very much appreciate what the folks over at RocketTheme did with the Chromatophore theme. To be honest if I were using Joomla I’d buy it, but since I’m not I must create my own.

Instead of just cutting and pasting their html, js, css, and images into an already created wordpress template I have decided to recreate the theme from what I see alone. Without looking at their source — at all.  (So far I’ve only peaked a couple times)

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So I got the WordPress MU blog system up and running YESTERDAY. And today I wake up to some spam in the form of a bot that created a “wow gold farmer” blog. It was completely random crap and went a pretty long way towards detailing my need of some form of bot protection.

I’m stunned that I got botted so soon after putting it up, more over on domains that didn’t exist until yesterday.  BUT likely due to my post of yesterday which told the bots where to go — woops.  A solution was required and fast! Read more…