Pandan.gov.ph News improved

Thursday, September 21, 2006 @ 10:50 pm by Sofie Hofmann

It’s been more than a month since I converted Pandan.gov.ph from HTML to XHTML and PHP. I wrote about it on August 15, 2006, Simply Sofie Blog WP Upgrade, Pandan.gov.ph HTML to PHP. For the past few days, I’ve been also working on the News section of the site.

The News page of Pandan.gov.ph, the Official Website of the Municipality of Pandan, Antique, Philippines, is using WordPress 2.0.4. Now, that the site uses XHTML tags and PHP, and since WordPress uses PHP too, I used WordPress as a CMS (Content Management System) for the News section for easy updating purposes. I designed a theme patterned after the original design of the site, spending a lot of time creating CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). The News page is the only section which is using WordPress at the moment. I’m still thinking if I should use WordPress for the other pages. Well, for a start, I removed the Events menu and transferred it under News section.

The News section has several news updates too. Read the latest news update, 2006 International Green Apple Awards Winner. Bugang River Tour has been chosen as a winner in the International Green Apple Environment Awards for Environmental Best Practice.

For other pages, I need to make a template for each section so the subsections will reflect and not just the normal sidebar. It’s a lot of work, and so, for the meantime, I’m shelving that idea. If ever I decide to really do it, then I just have to do it slowly.

I also updated the Services section, added Engineering Services on how to apply for a building permit with links to building permit forms and documents for downloading. The forms and documents are also linked at the Downloads section. At the Downloads section, aside from the forms and documents, several resolutions were uploaded and they can be downloaded as well.

I made several changes at the site, and hope to be able to do more improvements later.

Green Cross Donation Pages uploaded

Wednesday, September 13, 2006 @ 9:16 pm by Sofie Hofmann

Finally, the donation pages of Green Cross Switzerland site are finished. The pages were uploaded and they’re now online at Green Cross contact page, also available in German, French and Italian languages. It was not an easy job since it required a lot of thinking, actually a little bit of programming because I used PHP for those particular pages.

I’m not a programmer but I was able to do such anyway. I’m so happy. I again accomplished something.

The last time I wrote about it was on June 08, 2006, Green Cross Donation Page. Then, I waited for the feedback of the Executive Director of Green Cross Switzerland. She was probably so busy that she was only able to write me last week and asked for some more that need to be included. So, once again, I revised the pages.

I was not able to do the revision right away because I needed a script and I have to think what to do with the pages. On Monday she wrote me again, but this time, for some updates at the “publications” pages. I updated the pages for some banners that can be downloaded from the site. The banners can be used at the other sites for advertising purposes. Then, of course, I expected it already, she asked me about the donation pages.

I was working on it but can’t seem to think of the script. Then on Tuesday, I finally found the solution to my problem. I tried it and it worked. I informed her and showed the pages to her. Just few more changes and I finally finished the pages. I was communicating with her through email yesterday and today for the whole afternoon because I really wanted those pages done.

Now, I can at least rest and relax, just for the meantime. I haven’t finished revising the other websites yet. I need more revisions to be done in the next few days, or in the next few weeks, or it could even take months.

Site Updates and the newly revised Pandan.ph

Monday, August 28, 2006 @ 2:23 pm by Sofie Hofmann

I revised the site Pandan.ph Pandan Antique Philippines. It took me weeks to finish it as I could not make up my mind what to do with the Gallery and News sections. The design is still the same. I just changed the HTML tags to XHTML using simple PHP at the same time. I removed some pages and used .htaccess to redirect them.

I finally ended up installing WordPress for News Updates and Photo Gallery making Pandan.ph finally more interactive. I checked the CSS and XHTML and they passed the validation. I checked them with Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera and Netscape, and everything seems fine.

Ok now, I would like to mention that Pandan.ph Portal was hacked, not the Pandan.ph itself. I was not checking it for several days and when I was checking google for any pandan related sites, I saw that the hacked pages were indexed. I didn’t panic, I just accessed phpMyAdmin, and uploaded my MySQL database. No sweat, in just about 2-3 minutes everything was restored. I just forgot to back up the counter, so the number of visits was the old one.

I use phpnuke for Pandan.Ph Portal, quite an old version, so to say, and because of some bugs, the hackers got into it. That’s why it’s important to upgrade all the time. This is also the reason why, I’m not very fond of using CMS such as this one because I always have to upgrade. Very important?! Don’t ever forget to back up your files and database. If you are not upgrading, it could happen that the hackers could destroy all what you have in your site just like what happened to Pandan.ph Portal. And, if you have no back up, then all that you have worked for will just be gone like dust in the air. Poof!

I was actually just testing phpnuke and I will not probably upgrade it anymore. There’s too many files and it takes long to upload. For one thing, Pandan.ph Portal was an experiment but I will not remove it because a lot of search engines have indexed those pages already. I just have to check it often that it will not happen again. If ever it will happen again, I guess I just have to uninstall it then.

That’s what I like about WordPress, easy to install, easy to upgrade, easy to upload, easy to manage, and easy to create a theme for it. Everything is just easy with WordPress!

Other updates!

I updated the site of Lux International AG, particularly the Lux worldwide pages. I added the countries Poland, Slovakia and South America. I also updated the Lux Partners page, changing it from Lux Group Worldwide into Lux International Partnership Alliance.

I updated the site of Green Cross Switzerland, particularly the Publications pages. I uploaded the Annual Report for the year 2005 of Green Cross Switzerland, in PDF files, both in German (Jahresbericht) and French (Rapport annuell). Kindly check them out at the Green Cross Switzerland site if you like to read the report.

Ok, that’s all for now. Have a wonderful day everyone!

Simply Sofie Blog WP Upgrade, Pandan.gov.ph HTML to PHP

Tuesday, August 15, 2006 @ 11:31 pm by Sofie Hofmann

I updated the sites, Weggis.net, SofieHofmann.com, and Pandan.gov.ph, the Official Website of the Municipality of Pandan, Antique, Philippines.

Photos of the Hoechifest 2006 are now available at Weggis.net. Hoechifest is a private small grill party of those families residing at the Höchi area in Weggis, Switzerland.

I finally upgraded Simply Sofie Blog at SofieHofmann.com. I upgraded from WordPress 2.0.2 to WordPress 2.0.4. Read the upgrading instructions at WordPress.org.

I also revised the codes of the website of the Municipality of Pandan, Antique, Philippines at Pandan.gov.ph. I finally converted the pages from HTML to PHP, but of course, still using XHTML tags. There is one page though that is not valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional because of the external links.

That’s the problem if you are using Content Management System (CMS). Most of them are not XHTML valid. I’m not fond of using CMS but then I found WordPress. With WordPress, you can really check the themes if the CSS or XHTML used are valid or not. If not, then you’ll just have to correct them yourself.

Well, I don’t have to correct the other themes as I’m using my own themes, and I see to it that the CSS and XHTML I used are valid. I’m using WordPress in some of my sites but not all. With regards to the other websites, I am also planning to revise them.

New Weggis.net, WordPress, WP Widgets

Thursday, July 6, 2006 @ 2:43 pm by Sofie Hofmann

Finally, I was able to revise Weggis.net Web site. The look is not really different from the old web design. I just improved it a little bit. I changed all the pages from HTML to XHTML and PHP but then realized that I’d better integrate it with WordPress.

I integrated my own coded XHTML and PHP pages with WordPress. I redirected HTML pages to the new pages. Weggis.net is now more interactive. I just designed my own theme based on the original site.

I installed the latest version of WordPress 2.0.3 and also used WordPress Widgets. The Widgets make the sidebar easy to tweak. If what you want is not included in the original zip file, just download that particular Widget Plugin, upload it at the Plugins folder and activate it. Once activated, you’ll see the Sidebar Widgets along with the Themes, Theme Editor at the Site Admin Presentation. If the Widget Plugin is not activated, then you will not see any change at the Site Admin Presentation.

I started revising it last week, exactly seven days ago. So I was quite busy for the past few days. But even before that, I was already quite busy then. I was busy revising my other websites and doing the donation pages of Green Cross Switzerland.

Speaking of Green Cross Switzerland, we haven’t finalized the donation pages yet. I’m still waiting for the English, Italian and French translations as the pages were done in German language.

Yesterday, I updated Green Cross Switzerland Media pages regarding the 1st National Nuclear Dialogue in Moscow on July 3-4, 2006. The Nuclear and Disarmament Experts emphasize the importance of the demilitarization of the materials and weapons of mass destruction.

The National Nuclear Dialogue was held 10 days before the 2006 G8 Summit in St. Petersburg, Russia where efforts of the G8 led “Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction” will be highly prioritized.

Read the reports in German and French languages at the website of Green Cross Switzerland for more information.

PHP, MySQL, HTML, External Hard Disk Drive

Friday, June 30, 2006 @ 11:57 pm by Sofie Hofmann

I’ve been too busy lately. Few days ago, I revised the PHP codes of my personal site Simply Sofie at SofieHofmann.com. It’s better now and easier to update. I also updated some data.

I didn’t really appreciate PHP before because of MySQL. I just hated the idea that I always have to back-up my database and if ever I forget to do it, and then something happened (i.e. lost database), then I will be left with nothing and have to do it all over again.

I am not a programmer just a simple hobby web designer but if I would like to be more effective, I need to know PHP. So I learned PHP through reading tutorials on the net.

One way or another, I have learn to love PHP and MySQL but I will never forget HTML. If you would like to start designing a website, I will always recommend to start with HTML. Until now, I write my codes using notepad. I still use HTML/XHTML combined with PHP and MySQL.

Since I have to download a lot all the time, considering that I also take a lot of pictures, I’m now running out of space in my hard disk drive. I still have a lot of pending hobby projects and I couldn’t really clean up my computer because I need to back up my data first.

Finally, my husband bought a 300 GB external hard disk drive today. He bought it for me. I was really so happy when I saw it. I can finally transfer my other data and erase some unnecessary files. What a relief!

XHTML, PHP, WordPress, YM, Yahoo! 360

Wednesday, June 21, 2006 @ 6:28 pm by Sofie Hofmann

Today, I changed the codes of my web design site, Sehdi.com – Sofie Estolloso Hofmann Designs International, from XHTML to PHP. I enhanced the index page with rotating images of my web designs with URL links and added the Latest Blog Posts, and so if you are regularly visiting my site, you will know right away if I updated my blog. I redirected the HTML pages to PHP pages using .htaccess. Then, I upgraded my sehdi.com blog from WordPress 1.5 to WordPress 2.0.3. Everything seems to be working fine.

That’s what good about WordPress, it’s not difficult to understand so you can configure it easily.

Yesterday, I revised the PHP codes of the donation pages of Green Cross Switzerland. I just need the translation of the German version to English, French and Italian languages, then everything will be in place and Green Cross Switzerland will finally be able to receive donations online through its site.

On other matters, Yahoo improved its Yahoo! Messenger with Voice.

According to Yahoo! 360 Team:

Yahoo! Messenger & Yahoo! 360° Working Together

The new version of Yahoo! Messenger has a great new feature called “plug-ins.”

Plug-ins are free, mini-applications that can be easily added to Yahoo! Messenger with Voice so that Messenger becomes more personal and interactive for you.

There’s a Yahoo! 360° plug-in on Messenger that lets you do some pretty cool stuff. You can read updates from your friends, see if you have new blog comments, and even write a blast or a blog entry – all from within Yahoo! Messenger.

Last night, I downloaded and installed the new beta version of Yahoo! Messenger with Voice (BETA) (8.0.0.505) with MyYahoo Module (7.5.0.1).

The new version is ok except for the Yahoo! Toolbar and Yahoo! Browser Services which are no longer optional if you want to install it or not. But you can uninstall the Yahoo! Toolbar if you don’t like it at all. (Updated on June 22, 2006 at 11:49 pm regarding the phrase that I just erased, see my next blog entry)

How do you uninstall it? It’s easy, just locate the “Edit” button, which appears like a pencil, click it and you will see “Uninstall” almost at the bottom. Just click it and the Yahoo! Toolbar is gone.

For more information, read the following at the Yahoo! Toolbar Help.

How do I remove Yahoo! Toolbar for Internet Explorer?

How do I remove Yahoo! Toolbar for Mozilla Firefox?

If you decide to install the new version of Yahoo! Messenger with Voice but don’t want the Yahoo! Toolbar, you just uninstall the toolbar after installing the new YM beta version.

That’s all and good luck!

MySQL and Few Site Updates

Wednesday, May 31, 2006 @ 2:24 pm by Sofie Hofmann

I was on vacation for a month and came back here in Switzerland 2 weeks ago. I felt exhausted just thinking about the work I left behind that I could not even do some updating to the sites.

Well, I finally updated the sites of Swiss Big Game Fishing and Green Cross Switzerland.

Last Saturday, the 27th of May, I added few photos at the Swiss Big Game Fishing and you can see those pictures at the “Fangerfolge” page. Literally, “Fang” as a noun means “Catch”, and “Erfolg” as a noun means “Success”.

Last night, I updated the site of Green Cross Switzerland, took the pop-ups, changed something on the pages that they updated when I was on vacation, and still working on some of the pages.

Regarding MySQL, I installed MySQL before in my computer and it was running ok, but few days ago I accidentally did something that I could not access my database afterwards. I could not fix it properly so I decided to uninstall it. I was able to re-install it last night.

I read these resources when I installed MySQL in my computer and thought that after what happened to me, I might as well write the links here for your reference. I have IIS (Internet Information Services) running in my computer and configure it so PHP (PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor) would work aside from ASP (Active Server Pages).

Advice on setting up and configuring MySQL and mysqlcc
SwoofWare » How to be a WordPress WIMP
MySQL 5.0 Reference Manual
TUTORIAL: How to install PHP and MySQL on IIS
Installing MySQL to run with IIS
Free Workshop: How to Install PHP 5, Apache 2, MySQL 4.1, SQLite, SQLite Manager and XSLT on Windows
How to Install Apache, PHP and MySQL on Linux
MySQL Tutorial – Uninstalling MySQL as a Service
Mysql: How do you uninstall MySQL completely?

Some other resources that are very useful are Apache, Linux and Microsoft Windows.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to write all these so we have something to read.