CMS | Sofie Estolloso Hofmann Designs International

Upgraded to WordPress 3.3.1

Wednesday, February 22, 2012 @ 10:45 pm by Sofie Hofmann

Four weeks ago, I finished upgrading and updating at least 20 blogs and sites using WordPress as a blog publishing platform as well as CMS (Content Management System) from WordPress 3.2.1 to WordPress 3.3.1. Everything went smoothly. I did not encounter any hitches or problems at all.

I directly upgraded from WordPress 3.2.1 to WordPress 3.3.1 fix release skipping the new WordPress 3.3 “Sonny”, the latest version of WordPress before the release of WordPress 3.3.1 security and maintenance release.

There are nice new improvements at the latest WordPress 3.3 “Sonny” version. You can watch the video, Introducing WordPress 3.3 “Sonny”, below or read the blog entry, WordPress 3.3 “Sonny”, at WordPress.org.

Highlights of the WordPress 3.3 “Sonny” version are the new drag-and-drop uploader, hover menus for the navigation, the new toolbar, improved co-editing support, and the new Tumblr importer.

Thanks a lot to the WordPress Team!

Upgraded to WordPress 3.2.1

Tuesday, August 9, 2011 @ 7:08 pm by Sofie Hofmann

I finished upgrading the sites and blogs that I maintain using WordPress as a blog publishing platform as well as a CMS from WordPress 3.1 to WordPress 3.2.1. It went smooth and fine.

If you noticed, I directly upgraded from WordPress 3.1 to WordPress 3.2.1. I was not able to upgrade the 18 sites and blogs even to WordPress 3.2 “Gershwin” after I upgraded to WordPress 3.1 “Reinhardt”. I just skipped the fix releases and upgraded to the latest version of WordPress.

I even upgraded the sites that I mentioned where I encountered a problem when I upgraded to WordPress 3.0 “Thelonius”. This time, I did not encounter any problems at all when I upgraded the sites and blogs from WordPress 3.1 directly to WordPress 3.2.1.

There are quite a few improvements at the WordPress 3.2 release but you can read all about it at the blog entry, WordPress 3.2 now available, at WordPress.org.

Thank you very much, WordPress Team!

Fluid Two-Column WordPress Theme for Pagtatap.org

Thursday, March 17, 2011 @ 1:48 pm by Sofie Hofmann

I created the new fluid two-column WordPress theme for Pagtatap.org within a week.

Pagtatap.org version four used WordPress as CMS (Content Management System) in this site.

The new web design was based on the older version of Pagtatap.org which was Pagtatap.org version three.

I also made use of the new fluid two-column WordPress theme for SofieHofmann.com (version three) and the new fluid two-column WordPress theme for Pandan.ph (version three) as frameworks.

The new Pagtatap.org WordPress web design was uploaded and became available to the public on March 11, 2011.

Pagtatap.org WordPress theme has one main column situated on the right side and one sidebar situated on the left just like the older version.

The navigation menu was still on the sidebar and on top of the page under the logo and pictures.

The other page menu was still on the top corner on the right side. The three logos were still on top of the page.

The colors were not changed too.

But the rotating pictures on top of the navigation menu were transferred to the sidebar. I just maintained two rotating collage type of pictures on that particular area where the rotating pictures used to be located.

The fixed-width page was changed into a fluid page. The width of the page wrapper, the main column, and the sidebar of this theme were all fluid unlike the version three.

The paging was the same and the category feature was still being used as dynamic pages for any updates.

The other necessary details on this new fluid two-column WordPress theme for Pagtatap.org were done by just tweaking the cascading style sheets.

Just like the newly designed sites, SofieHofmann.com version three, Sehdi.com version four, and Pandan.ph version three, Pagtatap.org version four looked fine with Safari 5.0.3 and 5.0.4, Firefox 3.5.16, and Opera 9.20 with 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×1024 screen resolutions and even bigger than 1280×1024.

Fluid Two-Column WordPress Theme for Pandan.ph

Tuesday, March 15, 2011 @ 1:25 pm by Sofie Hofmann

I created the new fluid two-column WordPress theme for Pandan.ph within two weeks.

Pandan.ph version three used WordPress as CMS (Content Management System) in this site.

The new web design was based on the older version of Pandan.ph which was Pandan.ph version two and also made use of SofieHofmann.com version three as the framework.

The new Pandan.ph WordPress theme or web design was uploaded and became available to the public on March 4, 2011.

The changes were not that much. I made those changes by just tweaking the cascading style sheets of the framework.

Pandan.ph WordPress theme has one main column and one sidebar situated on the left.

The navigation menu on the sidebar was transferred at the top area under the logo and made use of the drop down menu feature of WordPress.

The Page feature was used as it is and the Category feature was used as a submenu to the Blog section.

But as the framework where this new web design was based was not totally finished yet, I needed to make a few changes on the header, footer and sidebar just like with the other sites and blogs which made use of the framework.

I created a frontpage template to show a few text with slideshow on the front page.

The width of the page wrapper, the main column, and the sidebar of this theme were also fluid just like the other new WordPress themes that I designed.

The other necessary details on this new fluid two-column WordPress theme for Pandan.ph were done by just tweaking the cascading style sheets.

Just like SofieHofmann.com version three and Sehdi.com version four, Pandan.ph version three looked fine with Safari 5.0.3 and 5.0.4, Firefox 3.5.16, and Opera 9.20 with 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×1024 screen resolutions and even bigger than 1280×1024.

Upgraded to WordPress 3.1 “Reinhardt”

Monday, February 28, 2011 @ 5:45 pm by Sofie Hofmann

I have upgraded the sites and blogs that I maintain using WordPress as a blog publishing platform as well as a CMS from WordPress 3.0.5 to WordPress 3.1 “Reinhardt”. But I did not upgrade all the sites because I encountered the same problem that I mentioned when I upgraded to WordPress 3.0 “Thelonius”.

I will just wait for the bug fix release of WordPress 3.1 before I upgrade the three other sites. Just like what I did the last time, I also did not upgrade the three sites but waited for the next release. When I upgraded to WordPress 3.0.1, WordPress fixed the problem by itself.

I also noticed that the new WordPress release has the latest version of Akismet now, which is Akismet version 2.5.3.

Regarding the new features, I immediately noticed the admin bar on top of the page. The admin bar only appears on the page itself when you are logged in. It does not appear when you are inside the dashboard or any part of the dashboard.

It is actually a good feature because logging out became easier when you are on the page. I, myself, when I design a WordPress theme, I normally do not include the login and logout functions on the sidebar or any part of the site or blog.

That is why, I am really wondering why some people would like to deactivate this new feature when the regular readers do not even see that admin bar unless they are registered members and, add to that, logged in.

On the writing interface, most of the panels have been hidden. If you are using custom fields, that panel is hidden too. If you would like to see it always visible under the post box, just click the Screen Options on the top right to get the panel back.

On the Posts side, if you click posts, you will see your list of posts under the Title column. Other columns are the Author, Categories, Tags, Comments and Date. A new column was added, the Views column.

As I see it, the Views column is only available to those who installed the WordPress Stats plugin. If you installed the WordPress Stats plugin but did not activate it, you will not see this new feature.

I especially checked another site without the WordPress Stats plugin and I did not see the Views column.

The new Views column is actually very convenient. I also would like to see how many views my posts have but I am not really fond of checking the statistics that often. Adding the Views column is a very good idea. I really like this new feature.

There are more new features but I have not really explored them that much yet.

Well then, if you are upgrading to WordPress 3.1 now, please do not forget to back up your files and databases.

If you need any information on how to back up your database via phpMyAdmin, just read the blog entry.

Updated on March 15, 2011

I checked the Views column again on the Posts section. I realized that it is only available to those who installed the WP-PostViews plugin (not the WordPress Stats plugin). If you installed the WP-PostViews plugin but did not activate it, you will not see this new feature.

Upgraded to WordPress 3.0.5

Thursday, February 17, 2011 @ 3:48 pm by Sofie Hofmann

I finished upgrading all the blogs and sites using WordPress as CMS from WordPress 3.0.4 to WordPress 3.0.5. I did not encounter any problems at all. Everything went fine.

I just noticed something though. WordPress 3.0.5 has the old version of Akismet. It still has the version 2.4.0. It was also like that when I upgraded to WordPress 3.0.4 from WordPress 3.0.3.

So, if you already have the latest version of Akismet which is version 2.5.3 right now, then you will have to upgrade again from version 2.4.0 to version 2.5.3 even if you upgraded it already, just because WordPress 3.0.5 has still the version 2.4.0.

Before you upgrade using the WordPress automatic upgrade feature, remember to back up your database and files.

Upgrading is easy but backing up the databases of 13 blogs and sites using WordPress normally takes some time.

Upgraded to WordPress 3.0.4

Friday, January 7, 2011 @ 10:55 pm by Sofie Hofmann

I already upgraded the blogs and sites that I maintain using WordPress as a blog publishing platform as well as WordPress as CMS from WordPress 3.0.3 to WordPress 3.0.4.

I actually upgraded the sites and blogs right after WordPress 3.0.4 was released on December 29, 2010. I was just not able to write about it.

Sofie Hofmann dot com
Sofie Estolloso Hofmann Designs International
Pro Blog it | ProBlogging Venture Tips and Ideas, Reviews and Opinions
ISYU.INFO Around the World
PANDAN.PH Pandan Antique Philippines
Weggis along Lake Lucerne Switzerland
PAGTATAP Foundation
Philippine Seafarers Assistance Programme
Leocadio Alonsagay Dioso Memorial Public Library
Tugbong Festival
Patria Diesel Power Plant Issue
Semirara Dumpsite Issue
Official Website of the Municipality of Pandan, Antique, Philippines

As Matt said, an update during the holidays was no fun but I did it anyway as he rated the release as “critical”.

Thanks goodness that everything went well. I did not encounter any problems during the upgrade. So, that was a consolation.

If you have not upgraded yet, it is advisable to upgrade to WordPress 3.0.4 now.

But remember to back up your database and files first before you upgrade.

If you need any information on how to back up the database via phpMyAdmin, just read the blog entry.

Upgraded to WordPress 3.0.3

Wednesday, December 22, 2010 @ 11:08 pm by Sofie Hofmann

Last week, I upgraded all the blogs and sites that I have been maintaining. I upgraded the blogs using WordPress as a blog publishing platform and the sites using WordPress as CMS from WordPress 3.0.1 to WordPress 3.0.3.

I skipped upgrading to WordPress 3.0.2 as I was on vacation when WordPress 3.0.2 and WordPress 3.0.3 were released.

I did not have any problems with any of the blogs or sites when I upgraded them from WordPress 3.0.1 to WordPress 3.0.3 even if I skipped upgrading to WordPress 3.0.2.

Thank you, WordPress Team!

But remember, before you upgrade, back up your database and files.

If you need any information on how to back up the database via phpMyAdmin, just read the blog entry I just mentioned.

WordPress as CMS for Pandan.gov.ph

Friday, December 17, 2010 @ 11:50 pm by Sofie Hofmann

I converted Pandan.gov.ph, the Official Website of the Municipality of Pandan, Antique, Philippines, from simple PHP to WordPress as CMS. I actually revised the Website a few months ago but I did not write about it.

I designed this Website in 2005 and it was officially online on April 01, 2005. I also paid for the hosting of the Website. But more than two (2) years ago, I gave up maintaining the Website but did not give up hosting it yet as I would like to turnover the Web content maintenance of the site to Pandan Local Government Unit.

This year, upon my request, Mayor Tan, the new mayor of the Municipality of Pandan, Antique, Philippines, decided to maintain the Website and so I converted it to WordPress CMS.

The web design is still the same, based on the original web design of Pandan.gov.ph when it was still using simple PHP and before that using simple XHTML, except for the navigation menu on top of the page as it is a dropdown navigation menu now. Despite the new dropdown navigation menu, I left the other navigation menu by section on the left side of the page.

I used the Pages feature for most of the pages on this Website and used the Posts feature for the gallery, news and bid sections. If there are any updates on the site, the readers will be able to see them immediately at the front page.

When it comes to WordPress Plugins, this Website is using three (3) plugins only, Akismet, WordPress Stats, and User Role Editor.

It took me at least four (4) weeks to finish redesigning this Website.

How to Install WordPress, How to Set Up a Website

Tuesday, October 12, 2010 @ 11:50 pm by Sofie Hofmann

I have discussed topics like how to start a Website, how to register a domain name, how to get a web host, how to set up a Website, and how to set or change nameservers. Almost everything that have been discussed on those topics were required for a Website to be available online.

If you are determined to have a Website and you do not have any idea on how to design a Website, there are free publishing platforms out there which you can use. One of those easy to use publishing platforms as well as CMS Content Management System softwares is WordPress.

I will not discuss what is WordPress but I will give you an idea on how to install WordPress at DreamHost using its “One-Click Installs” feature.

How to Install WordPress at DreamHost

Proceed to DreamHost.

1. Supply the email address and password that you used when you signed up for a web hosting account with DreamHost at the “DreamHost: Login” page to log in at the web control panel.

Click the button “Login”.

You will be redirected to the “DreamHost Web Panel > Home : Welcome” page.

You will read the following text:

Welcome to your DreamHost Control Panel!

This is the control center of your DreamHost account. From here you can configure literally any aspect of your account in no time at all!

When you signed up, we automatically set up your first FTP user, your domain registration (if you so selected), your domain’s hosting with us, and your first email address (just to forward to your current email)!

If things aren’t working yet you may have to wait a day for the new DNS information to propagate across the whole Internet.

Now, you can go install in just one click some weblog software, a forum, a poll, an online store, or even a wiki!

How to Install WordPress, How to Set Up a Website

2. Click the link “One-Click Installs” on the left side under “Toolbox” above the “Main Menu” or click the link “Free Website Software” on the right side under “Let’s Get Started”.

You will be redirected to “DreamHost Web Panel > Goodies : One-Click Installs” page.

You will read the following text:

One-Click Software Installation

Fantastico, shmantastico! DreamHost now has its very own one-click software installation!

All software listed here has been judged best in its class by us, not to mention being open-source and completely free!

Unless you choose our “Easy mode,” you are also responsible for upgrading your old installations (you can do it from here!) should any critical security holes be discovered!

You have four (4) options:

Install new website software – Easy mode

Modify / remove previously installed software (easy)?

Install new website software – Advanced mode

Upgrade or remove previously installed software – Advanced mode

But since you are just going to install WordPress, you have two (2) options:

Either to Install new website software in easy mode or to install new website software in advanced mode.

DreamHost says:

“In easy mode, you cannot access the files for the installation (so you can only use the themes/plugins/languages we’ve included), but installation, upgrades, and maintenance are all handled for you!”

“In advanced mode, you have full control (the software is installed to your web space), but installation and maintenance is a tiny bit more involved.”

You can install WordPress in whatever mode you like but in my case as I would like to have full control, I always install WordPress in advanced mode.

How to Install WordPress, How to Set Up a Website

Well then, let us install WordPress in advanced mode.

3. Click the link “Install new website software – Advanced mode”.

You will be shown all the softwares that you can install and you will read the following text:

What software would you like to install?

How to Install WordPress, How to Set Up a Website

Install to:

Please be sure there are no files there now

Create a Database for me automatically: Uncheck this option if you want to create your database manually or use one of your existing databases.

Note: Submitting this form will set your domain to run PHP as a CGI if it isn’t already! (Which is probably fine!)

It should take less than 10 minutes to install your new software.
We will email you further instructions at (email address) when it’s complete

In this case:

4. Click WordPress.

5. Select the domain name at the dropdown menu corresponding to the text “Install to”.

For example your domain name is “sehdi.com” or “mysehdi.com”.

Select the domain “mysehdi.com” if you would like WordPress to be installed on that domain name.

You have the option to install it under the domain name “mysehdi.com” itself or at a folder.

You can write at the field provided next to the the domain name the folder like “mywp” or “wp”.

It would look like this:

Install to: http://www.mysehdi.com / mywp

How to Install WordPress, How to Set Up a Website

After that, there is a need to create a database.

Read “Create a Database for me automatically”.

You can leave it checked if you would like the database to be created for you automatically.

You can uncheck it if you would like to create your database manually or use one of your existing databases.

If for instance, you unchecked it.

You will be shown the following text and you need to fill out the blank fields provided:

Select a database to use:

New Database Name:
Try putting your domain name in front of your database name if the name you want is already taken.

Use Existing Hostname:

Create a New Hostname:
There is a delay while DNS propagates for new hostnames..(The domain must use our DNS!)

First User:

How to Install WordPress, How to Set Up a Website

In this case and if for instance you have no database yet:

Select “Create a database now” from the dropdown at the corresponding text “Select a database to use”.

You can write “mysehdidatabase” or “databasename1” at the field corresponding to the text “New Database Name”.

Select “Create a new hostname now” from the dropdown corresponding to the text “Use Existing Hostname”.

You can write “mysql” or “host” or myhost” or whatever you like at the field provided corresponding to the text “Create a New Hostname”.

Select the domain name “sehdi.com” or “mysehdi.com” that you already added before.

Adding the domain name was discussed on the topic how to set up a Website.

If for instance again, there is no existing username yet.

Select “Create a new user now” from the dropdown corresponding to the text “First User”.

Supply the necessary details at the blank fields provided.

New Username: databaseusername (example only)

New Password:

New Password Again:

But for example, we checked the box with the text “Uncheck this option if you want to create your database manually or use one of your existing databases” corresponding to the text “Create a Database for me automatically”.

With that, the database will be created for you automatically once you click the button “Install if for me now!”.

How to Install WordPress, How to Set Up a Website

6. Click “Install it for me now!”.

You will be redirected back to the “DreamHost Web Panel > Goodies : One-Click Installs” page.

You will again read the following text but with “Success” message:

One-Click Software Installation

Fantastico, shmantastico! DreamHost now has its very own one-click software installation!

All software listed here has been judged best in its class by us, not to mention being open-source and completely free!

Unless you choose our “Easy mode,” you are also responsible for upgrading your old installations (you can do it from here!) should any critical security holes be discovered!

We do not provide technical support for this software beyond the initial installation. For technical support, contact the software authors at the official sites linked below.