Many of our clients take advantage of a key feature we added to their WordPress editor, that is, Custom Styles, and additional buttons such as Sub and Sup Script. If you have upgraded you may have noticed that these custom style drop down menus and icons are no longer available.
What we can tell is that the most recent version upgrade of WordPress included an update to the visual editor, that is the TinyMCE system that WordPress incorporates in their software, to a version 4. In this version some of the advanced functionality and customization that was previously allowed no longer is there.
We are investigating this issue to see if there is a way to work around this but at the time their is no additional documentation to debug this issue, there are however thousands of forum posts of frustrated developers like us here at Blackrock Networks, Inc.
This is an example of what used to work and no longer does.
// BRN ADD A CUSTOM STYLE SHEET TO VISUAL EDITOR
add_filter( ‘tiny_mce_before_init’, ‘my_custom_tinymce’ );
function my_custom_tinymce( $init ) {
$init[‘theme_advanced_buttons2_add_before’] = ‘styleselect’;
$init[‘theme_advanced_styles’] = ‘blue’;
return $init;
}
// display custom visual editor
function themename_add_editor_styles() {
add_editor_style( ‘custom-editor-style.css’ );
}
add_action( ‘init’, ‘themename_add_editor_styles’ );
Anchor Tags are links to another section within the same page. They are created by using the the <a> tag and an ID.
Example:
Section 1 (The code would look like this) <p><a id=”Section1″>Section 1</a></p>
Sample text here.
We are often asked if we can host standard HTML pages which are uploaded via FTP (File Transfer Protocol). We can host all types of files however we do not provide FTP access. If you choose to host on the Blackrock Networks, Inc. servers, you can use our Content Management System (CMS), WordPress of another CMS solution with us.
Our CMS allows you to create, update & delete web pages using only a web browser. With it you can upload images to display on your web pages, or make files available for download.
This is by design as it minimizes server administration and reduces overall security risk.
Specifically, we do not offer FTP service because it is an insecure protocol (i.e. sends passwords in the clear without encryption). This is a huge security risk. While there are secure alternatives, such as SFTP and SSH, we have chosen not to support them as this can still allow clients to inadvertently upload files that may lead to security holes on their website, and our CMS makes those services unnecessary.
reCAPTCHA is a free CAPTCHA service that protects your site against spam, malicious registrations and other forms of attacks where computers try to disguise themselves as a human; a CAPTCHA is a Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Human Apart. reCAPTCHA comes can be added to your blog, forum, registration form, etc.
In addition to protecting your site, reCAPTCHA also helps us digitize old books and newspapers. Learn More at http://www.google.com/recaptcha/learnmore
Fight Spam and Save Shakespeare
Many people ask why we don’t continue to support older web browsers when it comes to email or website development. The answer is simple. You can’t live in the past forever.
Our webmail is supported in the following browsers, but even the list below can be challenging when you have multiple tool-bars and plugins installed. These all can effect how your email and websites run within the browser.
As newer technologies become available that allow us to develop sites for mobile, or add fancy slide shows without the use of flash there will always be older technologies that just don’t know what to do with the new code. In these cases we make calculated decisions based on whether the time and cost associated with building for multiple platforms and versions of browsers makes sense, or does prompting users to upgrade become a better alternative.
For Website development we use the latest industry standards for browser support. The Compatibility View feature in Internet Explorer is not supported.
We make our best effort given our clients budget to support older browsers to a certain degree, such as Internet Explorer 8. Often the best way to deal with issues arising from older browsers is to tell the browser to disable the feature, such as shadow borders and opt for a solid outline. Of course, given enough resources and time we can try to account for every nuance of a browser, however many of our clients do not have the budget associated with firms such as Amazon, Microsoft or CNN so instead we make calculated decisions and compromises to get the best value for our clients.
This is not a new idea, it has been going on since computers began. The difference now is it more obvious to the average users because the speed of changes in technology happens so quickly. Only a year ago Facebook allowed pages without SSL and now that is no longer possible. You now require SSL for any custom pages.
An example of some other site standards are at: http://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/56161/which-browsers-are-officially-supported-and-what-else-do-i-need
We are not the only company either, Microsoft will be ending support for Windows XP in the upcoming year. Salesforce.com does not support older web browsers for most of their system functionality. Even if a company can support multiple browsers the support might be feature specific such as Adobe lists.
Some people think opting to NOT upgrade WordPress instead of paying to make sure that their theme and plugins don’t break during an upgrade can save them money. I am here to tell you this is just not the case.
Some plugins do not maintain their settings on update, and there may be conflicts with a new WordPress version, but my experience is that this is the exception, rather than the rule.
If you don’t upgrade WordPress your site runs an increased risk of being hacked. This is unfortunately, one of the downsides of open source software – it’s also available to hackers who look for potential security holes.
I’ve seen the aftermath of sites hacked and the cost of lost business is far more expensive than upgrading and possibly having to pay a developer to tweak your theme or find a new plugin.
When you update plugins make sure to have a backup, then have the following backend pages open in different browser tabs: Widgets, the settings page(s) of the plugin(s) to be updated, and the site’s front page. This way you can see if the plugin’s settings were maintained after updating, or if there are any other issues.
The term ‘bug’ was first used by Grace Hopper on September 9th, 1945 when a real bug, a moth, short-circuited an early computer. The operators of the computer said they had “debugged” the computer, and ever since then the terms has not changed.
This question has spawned a number of urban myths.
“After some Winter cleaning, Google announced the immediate discontinuation of Google Sync and Google Calendar Sync. These applications were designed to synchronize Gmail accounts with Outlook, various devices and other software via Microsoft’s Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) protocol.” -By Rick Burgess
Read More at: http://www.techspot.com/news/51129-google-drops-gmail-outlook-sync-support-microsoft-surprised.html
To upload images, documents, PDF or any other files in WordPress see the video below.
Tired of waiting for packages to arrive? Amazon’s newest shipping option delivers your package a day before it’s ordered. Written by: Lucas Klauss, Matt Moskovciak and Ben Stadler Animation by: Mack Williams…
When you sign up with us you get some of the most reliable and tested plugins pre-installed.
1. Jetpack is a WordPress plugin with the awesome cloud power of WordPress.com.
2. Akismet Spam Filter (requires subscription)
3. SEO Plugin
4. WP Database Backup with DropBox.com (requires subscription)
and many more…
Comment Moderation is very effective in addressing unwanted comments. The best defense against comment spam is just watching your comments.
Still if your blog is popular among people it will be popular among comment spammers as well and you may not be ale to do the heavy lifting all by yourself.
Luckily there are some great tools that can help. Akismet which comes installed with each of our WordPress hosting plans is a great service. Just sign up at http://akismet.com/ and send us the API key and we can do the rest.