Well it is a month since my last post! What have I been up to? Unfortunately I was ill with a flu type virus that left me in bed for a week and I am not fully recovered yet but am slowly getting better.

The promise of Spring did not materialise and in UK it has been the second coldest March on record. It would be great to see some more sun and get the temperature to warm up. The clocks went forward an hour and we have lighter mornings and evenings but the cold wet weather is bleak…Where are you sun?

Of course I have been computing and web developing over the last month with a couple of highlights and a low point.

Web graphics

Firstly I decided to do some Photoshop webdesigns and have sharpened up my skills with that. I also had some problem with my PS CS5 program (especially use grids from patterns). As this program was a little old I tried PS CS6 trial version which was good but realised that any new PS software would be beyond my budget (Adobe software is so expensive) I decided to ditch Photoshop and in the main do my graphics in GIMP!
So I have been doing webdesigns in GIMP (similar to PS but free and very good!) and so far so good. I really like free good software & GIMP is in that category.

WordPress theming

I have continued with WordPress themeing, including converting a static site to a WordPress theme and also converting a theme from the WordPress theme directory into a design and coded site that better suits the site’s function. I even found my WordPress notes in MSWord format I’d started about 2 years ago from a backup drive and I plan to update these and do something with them (eBook/blog posts…). Good information on WordPress is always handy to have around.

Localhost web developing

Of course web developing has not always been plain sailing! A couple of days ago my localhost WordPress site would not start-giving the error “Cannot connect to database”. I have had this before and so I vaguely knew what the fix might be (although I have no idea what caused this). It has however taken me about 2 days to get it working again as I could not remember the exact steps needed to fix it. I took a few screenshots and I have made some notes so that I can refer to these when it happens again (which it may well do). I may do a blog post in more detail on this and with more information on using IIS localhost server on Windows 7 if I get time.

Solidity and simplicity in web design and developing

Overall I am quite encouraged with my web designing and developing and my general aim in computing and web work is toward solid simpler designs that work well.

Now it’s back to programming and designing & coding (with a smattering of marketing also!) and hoping the sun shines on us all!…