Harrison Blackwood » Website

K2 WordPress theme

Harrison — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 06:05:21 +0000

I have used the K2 WordPress theme since around version 0.9 with WordPress 1.5.
I usually try to use the most current nightly version. Occasionally, I found the nightly versions did’t work well immediately with whatever WordPress version was current at the time of the K2 nightly release but with dedication from the K2 developers everything worked out eventually. All I had to do is use a previous version (revert) from the WordPress selection menu until issues were fixed. I kept 4 to 5 sequential K2 nightly releases in my WordPress themes folder. I even used ‘bleeding edge’ WordPress releases from time to time and K2 worked.

K2 nightly version is currently at 1.1 revision 1144 from 8/24/10. This is the version I am currently using.

Recently, I read on their support forum that it appears the K2 development has ended. That is too bad. K2 has always been ahead of the curve when it came to features and usability. WordPress 3.0 has some similar features for ease of use that K2 implemented awhile back.

Times have changed. User demands change as WordPress and more are developed. Thanks to the hard work all the K2 developers put in the past years.

pages vs post catergories

Harrison — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 01:40:46 +0000

I finally figured out what I can and can not do with the layout structure. I thought I had always understood the difference between pages and posts. After doing some searching on the structural difference, I read some answers to other’s questions to realize what I was trying to do with pages I need and can do with categories. Pages are static, best used for lists, tables, or unchanging data like some broad subject description. Archives, About, and Contact are examples of some of the most common.
Luckily, some themes easily allow menu bars for pages and categories.

Trying different layouts

Harrison — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 06:58:09 +0000

Layouts I like that I have seen elsewhere have:
- Static front page
- Right sidebar, one or two columns?
- Footer widget area

I will be trying different ones to see if they work for me.

Removing Movies & TV page

Harrison — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 04:39:20 +0000

Due to my total lack of progress, I may remove my Movies & TV page. After coming across the ‘WP Movies Ratings’ plugin I thought it would be cool to have a page listing with basic review and rating information on all the movies and TV shows I have watched in the past. I then could add new ones as time progresses. The choices for display selection are title, rating, or view date (date title watched or entered). These are great choices and it is a nice ability to re-sort the list, but view date does not work for me since I want to build up a database a past movies before I move forward. View date sort could be production or release date instead. Overall this is only a minor issue that is not a deal breaker. This is an excellent plugin, simple to use with a specific function.

A draw back to this page idea for me is the time involved setting it up with past titles. Although I could use the bookmarklet to help out. I know I am trying to use this plugin a bit differently from the designed purpose.

Since I never really planned to sit down and enter hundreds of past movie titles anyway, I could scan through some old titles from time to time and add 10-20 a month. Date viewed is not really that important. Addition I can use my Netflix rental history information to help out. Ultimately it comes down to spending the time.

Time for a new theme

Harrison — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 07:28:38 +0000

Well, its about time for a new theme. After updating to WordPress 3.0.2 my old theme just wasn’t working. I had been using the K2 theme for years. Current nightly version r1144. The K2 theme has an excellent layout and was ahead of the curve when it came to layout design structure. But times change.
Initially, I think I will try to use the new default theme TwentyTen. I like the Footer widget ability. Although I have grown accustom to having 2 right hand sidebars. I have never really liked lefthand sidebars. Since most people read left to right, the left sidebar would be the first thing the eye sees. I want people to see the main content first and not the sidebar has they pan left to right. I feel no left sidebar provides for better flow and readability, especially when you visit a blog multiple times.

WordPress 3.0 and K2 theme

Harrison — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 18:57:21 +0000

I am currently running WordPress 3.0 using the K2 theme nightly version 1.1 r1105. When I previewed the theme first the format was not showing up correctly. I had to re-select ‘Use K2 Styling’ in order for the site to be displayed correctly. I only mention this because on two other sites with a different hosts I did not have to do this. Strange – no matter everything is working.

Also, I had to re-select ‘Header Menu Home tab’ selection of Custom and re-enter ‘Custom Home tab’ name: Start under the K2 Options tab.

sent from Macjournal

Harrison — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 02:55:21 +0000

Since I own Macjournal and I am only using the trial version of MarsEdit, I will now try using Macjournal for a while before spending more money for MarsEdit.

Giving MarsEdit a try

Harrison — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 06:35:16 +0000

First post of 2010 – FINALLY!
Maybe if I try a weblog editor like MarsEdit, I may actually post more often. This still doesn’t have the flexibility of some of the plugins provide. Like embedded video. And I have not tried to upload and insert a picture. I currently do not use Flickr. For most of my text based post, this will definitely work as is.

Additionally, I am trying out layout changes once again. There are sidebar issues with the currently nightly of K2 that I’m using – r1044. I not sure about dueling sidebars or 2 on the right. A single sidebar just doesn’t work for all the stuff I want to display. Time will tell.

Just a test from my iPod Touch

Harrison — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:37:36 +0000

Checking to see if this post appears ok.

Typing on the virtual keyboard is a bit time consuming. Twitter is the only app that works for this type of posting. Keep it short and specfic.

Still using K2 theme with WordPress

Harrison — Sat, 30 May 2009 09:13:48 +0000

I am still using the K2 theme, now revision r791 with the current version of WordPress 2.7.1. I still need to adapt to widgets vs K2′s SBM (sidebar manager). I liked K2′s SBM much better than widgets due to the ease of use, flexibility, and customizability. I will need to hunt down more plugins or widgets to get back what I miss, mainly Pages display control.

For as often as I post, does this matter? A little. Time for some experimentation.