ProPhoto - Premium Wordpress Theme for Professional Photographers - Single Column, big pictures - Blog Template

Upgrade your version of WordPress to the latest release (currently 2.6 as of 7/16/08) right away.  And keep it up to date.

Tonight I’ve spent some trying to help someone whose WordPress blog got hacked.  It’s not a pretty site.  His blog is downloading viruses and trojan horses to anyone who visits it, and Google has banned the site and most modern browsers are throwing up huge warning pages before they let anyone through.

Not good for business. Don’t let this happen to you.  Keep your version of WordPress up to date.

This person was still running version 2.2 which is over a year out of date and has a number of documented security problems.  If your blog is still running 2.2 — run don’t walk to your computer and upgrade.  If you’re at 2.3.3, you’re in slightly better shape, but you should still upgrade.  In fact, just upgrade everytime WordPress releases a new version and you’ll be safe.

The latest release 2.6, is the most secure ever, and has some core security improvements that make it harder to hack than ever.

Why does this happen?

It happens becaused WordPress is the world’s most powerful and popular blogging software, and so there are literally thousands of people working day and night trying to find the slightest security breach in the WordPress core files. Why? Because they know if they can find a security breach, they can write software that will troll the internet injecting links to their spammy sites and viruses into hundreds of thousands of WordPress blogs.

That’s the bad news.  The good news is that the heroic folks at WordPress are constantly plugging these holes and making WordPress more and more secure all the time.

So, please upgrade.  I know it can seem scary at first — but it’s really as easy as

1. Backup your blog (never skip this)
2. using FTP, delete the old core files (don’t delete “wp-config.php” or “wp-content” folder)
3. using FTP, upload new files from http://www.wordpress.org/download (but don’t upload “wp-content” folder).

If you’ve never done it before, please read and watch this post on backing up your blog, and this post on upgrading wordpress.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Oh, and another tip:  if you’ve let your blog stay out of date for a long time, change all your login passwords.  Sometimes if your blog get’s hacked, the hackers can keep your password and then it won’t even help if you upgrade because they still have your password.

Hey all,

Sorry the blog’s been a bit quiet lately – I’ve been cranking through a bunch of non-WordPress related web projects.

Just thought I’d give everyone a heads-up that another version of WordPress is just about to be released, version 2.6.  So, you’ll probably start seeing a notice any day in your WP admin area that a new version is available.

Among the features of 2.6:

1. an option to switch back to the old image uploader/inserter, for people having the “white screen of death” problem.  (my personal favorite feature)
2. Preview themes before activating them (dumb feature – why would you ever want to use a theme but ProPhoto?)
3. Google Gears integration (speed up your admin area)
4. “Press This!” – bookmarklet:  a shortcut to blog about webpages you’re surfing
5. better plugin management and organization tools
6. order your images when inserting using the gallery shortcode (I know some of you were asking about this)
7. umm…. I can’t remember what else
8. oh yeah, option to define the path to your uploads folder and your wp-config.php file (advanced users only probably)
9. probably some other stuff

I’ve already tested the beta versions and I don’t believe there are any bugs with ProPhoto and WP 2.6, so feel free to upgrade whenever you want.

Before you upgrade, make sure you review and know exactly what you’re doing — and ALWAYS backup first, ok?

Here’s a few helpful links about the upgrade process:

Upgrading WordPress
Backing up your blog

[UPDATE: WordPress 2.6 fixed this problem by allowing users to override the flash-based uploader by using a browser-based uploader instead.  So, if you're still having this problem, upgrade.]

Over that past few weeks, a small but significant number of WordPress users (including ProPhoto users) have been experiencing a problem inserting images into posts using the WordPress write box.  What happens is they upload an image, but then their little upload box goes white and freezes, and they can never insert the image into their post.

[note: this is kind of a long post, but keep reading, there are some good tips, and if those don't work, there is pretty good fallback solution at the bottom]

We have dubbed this problem “The White Screen of Death.” It’s a tricky problem.  Some facts:

First, please understand this is not a ProPhoto theme issue.  This is a problem with WordPress itself, not ProPhoto. Specifically, it is a problem with WordPress 2.5 and above.  It did not occur in earlier versions of WordPress.

Second, this is not a ProPhoto theme issue.  Oh, wait, did I already say that?  Sorry, I’ve gotten a few emails where people were upset with me over this and could not understand that there was a difference between WordPress and ProPhoto.  WordPress is the blogging software. ProPhoto is just an add-on of files that makes your WordPress blog look cool.  All of the image uploading functionality is done by WordPress, and not by ProPhoto.  You can de-activate ProPhoto (or even delete it off your web host) and still have the same problem.

An analogy:  if you’ve ever purchased a set of Actions for Photoshop, ProPhoto is like that.  If Photoshop has some kind of bug, it’s not the fault of the poor guy who sold you the actions.  Another analogy:  if you bought a pair of fuzzy pink dice for your Honda Accord, don’t blame the dice manufacturer when you blow a head gasket in your engine.

OK, rant over, sorry.

If you are having the White Screen of Death, here are a few support threads that might make for good bathroom reading:

Thread 0
Thread 1
Thread 2
Thread 3
Thread 4
Thread 5

Here are my thoughts on getting this resolved:

First, if you’re using Internet Explorer, try using Firefox instead.  If you don’t know what Firefox is, it is a free web browser that is faster, safer, and more powerful than Internet Explorer.  You can download it here.

Second, make sure your version of Flash player (a plugin used by browsers to display special content) is up to date.  Go here to update.

Third, try using Firefox with no additional tabs open – just one window and no tabs.

Fourth, use an FTP program and navigate to your blogs wp-content folder, which is in your main blog folder or whatever your root directory for your blog is.  Using the FTP program, change the permissions on this folder to 777.

Fifth, read Thread 0 above, and try some of the other solutions, or continue reading for an alternative solution.

If none of those things seem to work, you’ll probably need to use a blog editor to publish to your blog until WordPress gets this all sorted out. You can post to your blog, including uploading images, using a desktop-based (non-web based) program.  Try using Qumana blog editor.  It should allow you to post just fine.  And it’s free. Just disable the dumb little “posted by Qumana” tag by going to “Preferences” => “Editor” and uncheck “insert Qumana tagline in new posts”.

Finally, if you don’t want to use a blog editor like Qumana, you can downgrade (but I don’t recommend this) to WP 2.3.3.  This is a temporary fix, because you will want to eventually upgrade again in a few months for security reasons, but maybe by then WordPress will fix this bug. To downgrade, first backup your blog, entirely (don’t skip this step), then follow the normal upgrading instructions here, except use this copy of WordPress 2.3.3 >> WordPress233

Questions? Instead of emailing for support, leave a comment below so everyone can benefit from any clarification.

Nicole just left a comment asking how to adjust the font-size for her comments area.  I thought that was a very good question, and one I’ve been asked a few times, so I’m writing it up here for everyone’s benefit.

There are two places you may want to change the font-size in your comments area.  The first is in the area that lists how many comments and has the “show comments” and “add a comment” text, as shown below:

The second area, is the actual comments themselves, show below:

To change the font size in these areas, open up your Stylesheet in your Theme editor by going to “Design” => “Theme Editor” after loggin into your WP Admin area.  Once you’re in your Theme editor, from the right-hand side choose to edit the file called “Stylesheet (style.css)”.

Scroll all the way to the bottom, put your cursor at the end of the line and press return a few times to get on a new line.  Then paste in this chunk of code:

/* font size for comments area */
.meta-inner {
font-size:13px;
}

Adjust the number 13 to whatever size font you want.  This will affect both of the areas I discussed above.  If you’re OK with both areas having the same font size, you’re all set.  Just view your blog (remember to force your browser to refresh so you can see your changes) and check your work.

If you want the font size for your actual comments (picture 2 above) to be different from the other area (picture 1 above), you’ll need to add another chunk of code, like so:

/* font size for only comments */
.meta-inner #comments {
font-size:12px;
}

Again, adjust the number 12 to whatever you want, save the changes, view your blog and refresh your browser to check your work.

Related posts:
Change comment text color,
Display comments by default,
Comments aren’t working

Questions? Instead of emailing for support, leave a comment below so everyone can benefit from any clarification.

Just a quick note to let everyone know that I made all the payments today for people who received a Quick Buck discount code. Thanks Kim, for bugging me about it!

Sorry for the delay, it’s been about two months since I went through my records and made payments.  If anyone thinks their code was used and didn’t get a payment, email me and we’ll figure it out.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, anyone who wants one can get a personal discount code for ProPhoto theme for Photographers.  Everyone who uses your code will get $5 off the theme, and for every person who uses it, I will also send $5 back to you as a thank-you for your referral.

I try to make the payments at the beginnig of every month.

If you have photographer friends and colleagues, or participate in a forum, email me at: sales at netrivet dot com and put “QUICK BUCK” in the subject line and also give me your PayPal email address, and I will send you your own code.

I’ve got a couple people who have earned more than what their blog cost in Quick Buck payments, so it can be quite lucrative!

I got an email today from someone who was having trouble typing below and between images that she had uploaded and inserted into her post. She said that in the past when she tried to do this…

“several of my images were “stuck” together so I couldn’t get in between the images very well to type — and when I did once it deleted the image.  so i got frustrated.”

This type of problem is pretty common for people new (or not-so-new) to WordPress.  It’s tough sometimes to get your cursor in the right spot and type without deleting stuff or clicking on images.  Here are a few tips and tricks to make this a bit easier.

1. Increase the height of your post box (<– click the link to find out more)

2. Increase the width of your post box (<– click the link to find out more)

3. When you’ve inserted an image and want to type below it, or if you want to type between two images you’ve already inserted, put your cursor just to the right of an image, click there, then press “Enter”.  If you then start typing, you should be on a new line under that image.

4. Try switching to full-screen editing mode when posting (<– near the bottom of that post)

5. In a pinch, switch over to “HTML” mode and put your curser after the code for the image in question.  Then press return TWICE and start typing your next line.  If you then switch back to visual mode, you should be able to continue typing.

Probably one of the most important things for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – the art of trying to get your website to rank high in Google and other search engines – is building lots of high-quality inbound links.

Inbound links are other websites that link to your site. Search engines view these as metaphorical “votes” for your site, and rank websites that have lots of inbound links higher than those that don’t. (This is a major oversimplification, but this is a SEO 101 lesson, not a nuanced article.)

How many inbound links do you have? Good question! Here’s a simple trick to find out approximately how many inbound links search engines are counting for your website. Just go to www.altavista.com (you can do this in Google too, but Google doesn’t show you but a small percentage of the inbound links it has indexed for your site) and type in

link:www.mywebsite.com

In the search bar, like so:

…and press Enter. On the next screen you should be able to see an approximate count of how many links to your site have been indexed by search engines.

You can also use this trick to hunt the backlinks of any sites you want. Frustrated by that other photographer in your area who ranks higher than you in search engines? Check out how many links they have! Chances are it’s more than you.

In future posts I’ll give some tips on building inbound links and making sure that you get credit for all of the ones you do have, but for now, happy hunting!

If you’re anything like me (and I know I am) then you love BIG monitors. My main computer is a 24″ iMac (primal grunting here). I just think that I’m a lot more productive on a big monitor. And there is scientific evidence to prove my point. But I digress…

If you have a big monitor like me, then you may have been a little frustrated when WordPress 2.5 came out and one of the new “features” was an admin working area limited to 980px. Especially when posting big, ProPhoto-sized pictures, more width can be really nice.

I already posted about increasing the write-post box’s height, but today I tried out a cool plugin that removes the max-width setting on your admin area.

You can download it here. I like it! What do you think?

Related posts:
Increase the size of your post-writing box
Installing and using plugins

Dennis recently commented on a post asking how to change the comment text color on main page comments.

Here’s how:

In you WordPress admin area, go to “Design” => “Theme Editor” and select “Stylesheet (style.css)” to edit it. Scroll down to lines 121-123 which look like this:

body.home #comments {
background-color: #E3E3E3; /* bg color of mainpage commment area */
}

Add a line inside the curly braces, like so…

body.home #comments {
background-color: #E3E3E3; /* bg color of mainpage commment area */
color:#ff990; /* color of comment text */
}

…except use the six-digit color code of your choice. Click “update file” to save your changes, then view your blog (remember to force your browser to refresh) to check your work.

Questions? Instead of emailing for support, leave a comment below so everyone can benefit from any clarification.

I still get a lot of questions about size of images to post and how to resize and optimize them, so I thought I would throw up this post for the sake of clarity.

ProPhoto is designed for images that are 900 pixels by 600 pixels, vertical or horizontal. You can post images smaller than that, but you can not post images WIDER than 900px. Some people (Mark Ridout comes to mind) post a lot of pictures that are 900px wide and MUCH taller than 600px, but they still don’t go any wider than 900 pixels as this will break the layout of the blog. (By the way, I don’t personally recommend using images bigger than 900px tall because of page load speed and because most monitors are big enough to see all of the image at once).

All image editing programs (most photographers use Photoshop or Lightroom or Aperture) allow you to resize images. If you’re interested in how I get images ready to post to the blog using Photoshop, read on:

First, I resize it to 900px by 600px by going to “Image” => “Image Size…” (Note, if you’re using a PC, things might look a bit different for you.)

Then I set the wider dimension to 900 and click OK. As long as you leave “constrain proportions” checked the other dimension will take care of itself:

Once I’m done resizing, I usually add a bit of sharpening–I use Kubota’s Magic Sharp action–but you can sharpen with whatever action you like, or use a built-in sharpening filter from Photoshop, or don’t sharpen at all, it’s up to you…

Finally, I optimize it for the web by shrinking the file size (not the dimensions–how big the file is in terms of memory used to store it and download it) as much as I can without sacrificing too much quality. I do this by going to “File” => “Save for Web and Devices…”

And then making sure that “JPEG” is selected as file type, and turning down the quality to around 80. I keep my eye on the file size in the lower left corner and watch how the quality looks on the “optimized” tab preview. I’m trying to get the file size as small as possible (this will help your blog load fast) without sacrificing image quality too much.

(By the way, that is my bald 8 month-old daughter on the left of that picture.) Then, I click save, and I’m ready to upload to the blog.

If you know your way around Photoshop a bit, you may want to create a couple of actions that automates all of this for you–this can save a lot of time.

Questions? Instead of emailing for support, leave a comment below so everyone can benefit from any clarification.