If you have checked out the site over the past few days you may have noticed it hasn't looked the same twice. I'm trying to find the right look and feature sets. There are so many themes to look at, but what I am finding is that to tweak their look I have to mess with code and I don't want to have to do that. So the search continues. I'm mostly looking at free themes but there should be "professional" themes as well; i.e. a theme I buy. I did that before and used it for two years and the designer helped me tweak it to make it my own. I hope to find something like that again. So stay tuned for more changes.
Here we go again
Trying to import blog entries... but not working too well...
Mobile Kellysworld
It looks as though I have a mobile version of KellysWorld working. Another great reason I made the move to WordPress. All I did was install a plugin and turn it on. It works great on an iPhone, but should work equally well on most other mobile phones. Your phone should be auto re-directed to the proper page. It should be noted that I wrote this post on an iPhone using the WordPress App. Very Cool!!
UPDATE: If you use an iPhone or iPod Touch you will see an even smarter mobile interface that should work fast and make excellent use of the touch interface. Same should be true of Android phones too.
KellysWorld 2009
Well, you might have noticed rather quickly that KellysWorld looks a little different; okay, it looks a lot different. You might be asking why? Well, I've made another switch in how I create my website. Yes, for those of you that have followed KellysWorld since I started it back in 2003 you have seen several revisions of the site. This though is the biggest switch in several years.
In 2003 I began my website using Blogger, a website dedicated to just creating websites for anyone with the time and inclination. You might remember I called it KellysWorld Times. While I loved how easy it was to use Blogger, I didn't have a great deal of control over the site. I decided I could do it better on my own and moved to using FrontPage. A move that turned out to be painful; but in the end KellysWorld took shape with my own graphics and basic layout. While I learned how to deal with the limitations of FrontPage, I yearned for something more.
I found it in a Mac application called RapidWeaver. It made FrontPage seem like creating a website with a chisel and a rock. Only problem was RapidWeaver didn't work on a PC, only on a Mac. I eventually solved that little problem by moving back to favorite Operating System Max OS and never looking back. Interestingly, the switch to Mac would have a cascading effect still felt today in my home; but I digress. The switch to RapidWeaver gave me a great deal of power over my website and the templates I could use were amazing. While the site would undergo various changes over the past few years, none were major. I was happy with what I had and busy enough that change didn't seem all that important.
Something was missing though, the ability to edit pages when I wasn't near my beloved Mac. Using website creation software that was tied to a single device took away some of my mobility; mobility I hadn't enjoyed since I moved from Blogger back in 2004. In the past year the ability to post on the go has become something more and more people can do and want to do. There is also the lack of integration with Twitter, a service I used regularly.
For the past several weeks I have been looking at other options. One of them is a service called WordPress. This service is different than Blogger, but still very similar. Blogger is owned by Google (now) and is hosted by them. You can get your Bogger site onto your own domain, but the data officially resides with Google. WordPress took a different approach, it's a service you install on your own server so the program and all the data is hosted by the owner of the website. It's also open source.
That's been true for a while, what's changed is that there is an iPhone App that works rather well and I can integrate with Twitter in a two-way fashion. I can have post from KellysWorld appear on Twitter and I can have posts from Twitter appear on KellysWorld. Someone can follow either and still see the updates and posts.
For you the reader it isn't a big deal, for me it's a big deal in that my 140 character posts will appear on KellysWorld and I can post to KellysWorld using my iPhone. So if I'm board in a line or waiting for a movie, I can post something more than 140 characters and do so directly to my own website.
Does this mean KellysWorld will see more posts than before? Well, short ones yes... long ones, probably not. My website is changing, not my schedule.
DVD List Returns
You may have noticed if you clicked through my DVDs & More link that the list for my DVD library was AWOL. That link has been broken for some time, but as of tonight it is working again. That being said the list of DVDs is a bit out of date. How out of date? Not really sure, that’s what I have to figure out next. The currently list is 283 DVDs long and I’m pretty sure I’ve not updated the list since last year at least. So, I may have a bit of work ahead of me in cataloguing the DVDs and now Blue-Ray disks I’ve purchased or received as gifts since then. Might be a good thing so that anyone looking to buy me a gift, has a place to look to see what I already have, one would think.
I Promise To Do Better - Really, I Do!
Looks like I have failed again in updating my blog. I'm not sure why it's so hard to load a program, write a few sentences and then upload a page or two; but it seems to be bloody difficult. I'm not making excuses. I'm not saying I'm going to stop blog posting all together. I'm just saying I'm pretty lousy at regular updates. I'm not the only one out there, but then there are many who are much better than myself as well.
It's not like I'm the quiet one either or that I am without opinions. I'm sure anyone that knows me would say, "Kelly, I'm sure you can think of something annoying to say about something; you always do when I'm around." I'm sure they would say it in the most loving of ways too. Right?
Well, I again will make a promise to try harder, work longer, think broader and lots of other "ers," to make this a better blog and website. The whole site needs regular updates to be honest. I've got to find a way to get photos on-line easier too so that grandmas and grandpas as well as far flung family can more easily see the events that make up the lives of the Wylie Spores.
Again, I PROMISE!
Yeah, Yeah... Been Gone Again
Yeah, I know... Yet another long period of time has passed since my last entry. I've been involved in many different events and activities since Dec. 9. There was a little holiday called Christmas, then New Year's and of course working towards adopting a child. Lots of paperwork, classes and other necessary work that has to be done before we can even begin the process of adopting. More on that in a future entry. I've also had my time consumed by a little device called the iPhone. Yes, for Christmas my wife got me that one gift I just had to have but wasn't going to buy for myself. Apple Inc.'s well known iPhone. You've seen the ads. You've heard the hype. You've seen the news and maybe read a review or two. I'm here to tell you.... BELIEVE EVERY POSITIVE WORD. It isn't a perfect phone, but it is far more perfect than any mobile phone I've ever used or owned. It's actually better than any phone I've every used before. More on the iPhone to come later as well.
I've been busy, VERY BUSY, at work. I arrive each day around 8:00 and leave each day around 6:00 or 6:30. Long days that go at an incredibly fast pace. My company operates in 33 markets now, crossing every time zone in the country. Since most of our major clients are either medical or financial, our clients are fast paced operations as well. Since I am the Manager of Customer Service as well as one of the chief operation managers, I stay busy answering questions, researching problems and approving actions. I love every minute, even if I'm often exhausted by days end. I don't blog much about work, and I don't see that changing. Work is work, all that needs to really be known is that I enjoy my job and the responsibilities that come with my position.
This post is short and a bit "all over the place," but I promise to try and make at least one entry a week. That's not much is it, one post a week?
Complaints, Irritation, Annoyance
Okay,
I have heard through the grapevine that some of our regular visitors (we have regular visitors????) have complained that the photos Tracy and I keep telling people are on KellysWorld are not easily accessible. For all of you, please know that I have learned the error of my ways. I have made finding the photos of 427 Da Vinci Lane so easy, Gracy (that's my dog) could do it.
Wait, you wonder how easy is it? What have I changed? Well, if you are reading this article shortly after publication then all you need to do is look directly to the left of this text (and a little up) and you should see a simple link that will take you directly to the photos.
But wait, there's more! For those that need it really, really easy, I MEAN REALLY EASY.
CLICK HERE
(If you are currently looking for the "HERE" button, please turn off your computer and throw it away.)
Here at KellysWorld we strive to offer our visitors the very best in customer service and satisfaction. After all, you, our readers pay the bills.
Wait, no you don't..... Okay, so why am I making this easy?!?
Oh yeah, my wife threatened to raise my voice two octaves if I didn't. See honey, I do as you ask me.