I needed a better way to handle my project portfolio on this site, so I searched for a WordPress plugin to handle the job.  It also needed to play well with my Thesis theme.  After several failed tries, I found Portfolio for Thesis 1.8.1. It is written by
Serge Liatko and costs 10 EUR.

This is a great plugin for setting up a design portfolio, although it could certainly be used for portfolios of any kind. Through the Portfolio Settings page, in the WordPress Administration area, you can set how many work examples you want to show on each row and page. Each work example in your portfolio is added using the Add New option under the Works menu.  Works are a custom post type, so they function much like the Add New option under the Posts menu.

The plugin author, Serge, was very responsive and helpful with my questions as I was working to setup my portfolio.  It is important to understand that this plugin is designed to work with Thesis 1.8.1 functionality.  If you want it to work correctly, be sure to upgrade your Thesis theme to version 1.8.1.

Serge also has a plugin called WP Featured Image for Thesis.  This plugin works with the Thesis Post Image and Thumbnail widget in the Add New / Works==>Edit interface. The use of this plugin in conjunction with the Portfolio for Thesis 1.8.1 plugin is demonstrated in two videos on Serge’s plugin website.

If you have a WordPress site using Thesis 1.8.1 that needs a portfolio, I highly recommend the Portfolio for Thesis 1.8.1 and WP Featured Image for Thesis plugins.

I added the Livefyre plugin for WordPress to a site I am working on in order to integrate Twitter and Facebook into the comments. The plugin works and looks great except for one thing. There isn’t an option to not display it when comments are disabled. Instead it displays the message, “Comments have been disabled for this post.”

I contacted support to see if there is a solution to my problem and received the following timely reply:

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the email. Currently we don’t have a method for hiding Livefyre all together on posts where comments are disabled, but that will be coming very soon. I will keep you posted on the status of the fix.

Cheers,

Jenna

I look forward to the promised fix, but that doesn’t help me today.  I needed to figure out a solution for the current project I am working on that wouldn’t break a future fix from Livefyre.

This project is being developed using the Thesis premium theme for WordPress.  After searching for ideas, and reading several, I was able to figure out a solution using a Thesis filter and added the following code to the custom_functions.php file.

function custom_body_class($classes) {
if( is_page())
$classes[] .= 'lf_comments_disabled';
return $classes;
}


add_filter('thesis_body_classes', 'custom_body_class');


I also added the WordPress conditional tag, is_page(), because I only want this to be suppressed for pages. The Thesis filter is called thesis_body_classes and it is used to add a custom class to the html body. The one I used is called lf_comments_disabled.

Now, all that is left is to add the following to the custom.css file.


/* Hide Livefyre on pages */
.lf_comments_disabled #lf_comment_stream {
display:none;
}


This turned out to be a simple solution. It could use more work to handle pages where you do want comments enabled, but on the particular site I am working on, this isn’t a requirement.

After my contest at 99 Designs ended, I had two weeks to pick the winning design. It didn’t take that long, but it took me awhile to write this post!  Well, here it is – the winning design!

The logo designer was great to work with during the hand-off. He did all the minor revisions I asked for and provided all the files and versions I asked for.

I will be working on updating the design of this site to integrate the logo into it. Now, that will be a fun project!

I ran across a graphic from Zone Alarm, called Securing Yourself From a World of Hackers. At the top, it lists the top 20 passwords of all time. Here is that section of the graphic.

Do you think that hackers routinely try these passwords, and more, to get into websites?  I bet that they try admin as the user id too!

One of the most important items to get right in order to have online security is your password.  It must be a strong password.

Here are some tips to make your password strong:

• Use 14 characters or more.
• Use a variety of different characters.
• Use the entire keyboard. not just letters.
• Use both upper and lower case.

If you have trouble remembering your password, try turning a sentence into a password.

“I used to shop at Wal-Mart.” becomes “1uSd2s40P@W-m!”

Another way to ensure strong passwords is to use a password generator.  I use KeePass. It is much more than a password generator, it also stores your user ids and passwords for you.  Best of all, it’s free!

Change your passwords today, if they aren’t strong.  You’ll be happy you did.

My contest for a new logo at 99Designs ended last week. There was a flurry of designs at the last minute and I ended up with 45 designs total. I have narrowed it down to three designs that are possibilities.  It is at this point where I find a flaw with the whole concept.

Once the contest ends, I have about two weeks to pick a winner. That’s great, because I need the time.  What is not so great is that I also want to make some tweaks to the three finalists’ designs. Once the contest ends, they can no longer submit new designs or make changes to existing designs.  I had to resort to asking them to send me changes outside of the 99Designs system and that is not ideal for either party.

First, I wanted to use the vote feature where you can have your friends, associates, or customers vote on which design they like the best. When the minor changes I want made are completed, there is no way to upload them to the 99Designs site to use the voting feature.  It would be great if 99Designs would allow the finalists to make minor changes to the designs and allow this tweaking to happen during the two week decision period.

Secondly, the designer now has the risk of piracy once a design is out of the 99Designs system.  One designer solved it by adding a watermark.  That worked well to protect him and me.

I am looking forward to making a decision. I just wish I could share the real final designs with others and use the voting system.

As I write this post, my logo contest on 99Designs has two days left.  I have received 16 entries from six different designers. I was hoping for more designs to choose from, as the signup indicated that I would get about 30 designs. Also, at least half of my 16 designs are modifications of designs already submitted. So far, the experience has been good. Most of the designers have been responsive when I give feedback and post an updated design fairly quickly.

99Designs has a five-star rating system to give designers feedback on which designs you like.  There is also a commenting feature that allows you to tell the designer what to change in a design.  Some designers give you a comment to tell you the thinking that went into the design. Each contest has a health indicator to let you know how the contest is going.  If you don’t provide feedback or rate any of the designs, your contest health indicator will go down. If you decide you don’t like a design, you can eliminate it.

I did have my family look at the logo designs today and they didn’t like any of them.  I hope to get more submissions to choose from!

Every business needs a brand identity and I decided that it was time to get a logo designed for Ten Foot Table. I have looked at sites like Elance and Design Quote, but when you post a job on these sites, you are typically working with one designer. Instead, I thought I would try crowd sourcing to get my logo created.  This way, I would have several designs to choose from, increasing the likelihood of finding one that I like.

I chose 99 designs to get my logo developed.  They have different packages to set up a “contest” to have multiple designers provide sample logos for you to choose from. The contest runs for seven days and during that time, I should get about 30 designs submitted for my feedback.  At the end of the contest, I choose the design I like and the designer gets paid.

I paid for the Bronze package, which is the lowest cost option, for $295. (I could probably get a log designed on Elance for $50 to $100, but then I wouldn’t get several concepts to choose from.) Along with the Bronze package, there was also a special running called the Power Pack. When I ordered yesterday, the Power Pack was free, but today it is selling for $85. (It always feels good to save money!) This upgrade gives you three additional features: Featured Listing, Highlight & Bold, and External Promotion. This upgrade is supposed to attract 185% more designers to your contest.

Once I paid for my logo design, the next step is to fill out your design brief.  I would suggest that you take some time with this one.  It is valuable to browse other logo design contests to see how you should format your design brief. You can read about my design brief.

Within a couple of days, designers will start submitting new design entries into your contest.  As the contest progresses, you will need to provide feedback to the designers, rate the designs, and eliminate designs you don’t like.  At the end of your contest, you pick a winning design and the designer gets paid.

I am looking forward to seeing how this turns out and I will share my progress with you as the week goes on.

Note: This post contains affiliate links for 99 Designs.  If you click on the link and make a purchase, I receive a commission.

I have been busy getting my first web design client's website up and running and neglected to work on my own company's website! As the site for Conroy Insurance Services, LLC went live, my link was going to this page. Originally, Ten Foot Table was an e-commerce company selling salt. The new Ten Foot Table is an Internet Marketing and Design firm.  My vision for the company is a place where you can get results on the internet through the projects we complete for you.

This first version of the new Ten Foot Table website is definitely "bare bones."  I put it up in an afternoon, so it is light on content and visual elements.  That being said, I am pleased with the quick "prototype." Our development methodology includes iterations and project management.  However, this site iteration was more of a "sketch and go" implementation. It was literally formed according to some notes on a scratch sheet of paper.

Here's a screen shot of the 20101221 iteration.

This was a fun and quick project.  I look forward to the next iteration, but perhaps I will be working on a project for you!