It’s highly recommended that you upgrade for the usual reason (security). Auto upgrade didn’t work for me, so I performed the upgrade manually and that went off without a hitch. In reviewing the blog’s functionality afterward, I discovered that my categories, blogroll (links) and tags were all missing from sidebar, posts and the backend admin [...]

What do these things have in common? 1. failure to use a condom 2. volcanic eruptions 3. buying imported foods 4. the earth’s tilt 5. leaving the lights on when leaving a room 6. wildfires 7. running unnecessary errands in your car Though some are natural events and others intentional/unintentional human activities, all can engender [...]

Ever wonder where blogging is headed now that social media web sites have become mainstream tools? If you’ve decided that blogs are so 2008, think again. I just watched a great 8-part video series on Build a Better Blog, presented by Denise Wakeman of “The Blog Squad” fame. The series is called 5 Tactics for [...]

The last time I updated my WP installation, it was quick & easy and smooth sailing… for about a month, when Loosely Speaking magically crashed on the morning of my birthday. It then took a month, much trial and error, help from some great colleagues, one very amazing tech support person at my host company, [...]

126 spams. 1,314 spams. 471 spams. Lately this is what Akismet tells me when I log on to the backend of my blog. End result: spending more time pondering whether my blog is here for the sole purpose of giving spammers target practice than I do working on new posts. Then there’s lure of social [...]

This is a really long, detailed post for anyone who may ever have to sort through the labyrinth of possibilities in the aftermath of a blog crash. I wager no one else will ever read it. The first place to look for help after a crash is the WordPress forum: http://wordpress.org/support/. Using the forum may [...]

If you’re still on the fence about blogging or what to do with your dusty old web site that’s sorely in need of a face lift, snap up my new guide on web development. There are a lot more of us out there on our own these days, and it’s hard to do it all [...]

In the wee hours of February 18, while I was packing for a trip out of town, Loosely Speaking vanished from existence. In the past 6 days, friends and tech support have been trying to solve the problem. I don’t have a handle on it yet, but, as you can see, I am back online. [...]

Harry Caray may be one of the best networkers ever, moving thousands of tone-deaf Cub fans to stand and sing at the top of their lungs. Harry had no issues with his own terrible singing voice, using his presence to connect many of us in ways which extended beyond our fandom. During my recent sojourn [...]

Craving a new look for your Twitter badges? I was on the fence about this until I saw some nice options on another site today. Try Limeshot. Emma Hoffman’s designs are fresh and different from what you find among Twitter’s badge offerings. After an experimental period with tweets appearing in the sidebar, I decided to [...]