Yes! Finally!

Took a break from writing earlier and decided to see if I could get the WordPress “updates” block working with the login block real quick.

Quick didn’t happen.

I’ve been obsessing on the thing all day, and I finally got it working! I had to make some changes to the way my blog displays urls, and then finally screw around with variations of the rss link until it came out right.

Edited all the templates to remove the parts of IPBs templating that I didn’t want, inheriting mine instead, and it finally looks exactly how I want it to.

I’m sincerely hoping that was the hard part *laugh* I know it was last time, trying to integrate the two under the old software. Other than that nightmare, I really like the object-oriented way things are designed in the new software. I have high hopes that I won’t have to modify a single line of code in the actual software package, but instead use the functionality present to create what I need in a way that won’t require crossing my fingers every time I update to new versions.

I can’t begin to describe the feeling of victory I’m having right now *laugh* This is what happens when old coders fall off the horse for a while.

Absolutely not going to fiddle with the conditionals for a little while. I still have to puzzle out the best way to use the widgets in the new software to accomplish this in an efficient manner.

Now, to catch up on some of the writing time I lost while I was obsessing.

Looking good

So far, it looks like IPB is going to serve my needs perfectly. I’m able to integrate a login into my templates with ease.

Next step will be to make sure my WordPress code will integrate into that, in order to display the updates block. I had problems with that when trying to do it under the old back-end software. Hoping it won’t be an issue again. I suppose that if it becomes a problem, I could always use the Articles functionality of IPB and retype all those bloody entries… again… but I really don’t want to do that *laugh*

After that, I’ll start experimenting with the conditionals — displaying a warning page to anyone who isn’t logged in, filtering images based upon the settings chosen at sign-up ( going to be required, though the default will be no filtering )

Once that’s working, I’ll delve into custom databases and administrative functions. Once I puzzle that out, I shouldn’t have any trouble restoring and updating all the content that used to be here, as well as easily adding to it. Just as going with this blog for updates increased my update frequency, so should having a fill-in-the-blank backend of the site increase the amount of content I’m able to add without much work.

Wish me luck! *laugh*

I’m going to celebrate with a quick break, then write for a while.

Took the plunge

Decided to go ahead and get IPB. I’m in the process of exploring the integration options now. With all the features added since I last muddled around with it, I’m hoping to be able to use those features to do what I need to do, rather than actually making modifications to the code itself.

None of this ( including the forum ) will be available for a while. I want to make sure that everything is working, and take the time to skin the forum ( and the blog, something I’ve been meaning to do ) to provide a consistent look for the site, no matter what section you’re in.

Doubt I’ll ever integrate the WordPress login with the forum one ( which will also be the website login ) but if I find a quick and easy way to do so ( which is possible, considering the profile of both ) I’ll take care of that.

Once I have a couple of widgets working, I’ll probably delve into getting the next major priority online — the listing of my stories. After that will come restoring all the information about Danica’s world, and expanding it.

If I have a simple data-entry method to do that, as I now do for updating news with this blog, there’s a damn good chance the amount of behind-the-scenes information about all of my stories will expand dramatically. The addition of a forum will also expand visitor ability to request specific information.

Download and install took bloody forever, so I’m chilling before I even start delving into the code *laugh* Likely wait until this evening to do so, after the young one has went to sleep for the night.

For now ( after a brief break ) I’m back to writing.

Know how Lowborn’s going now

Got up this morning and wrote most of the transition out of the action scene in Lowborn 06, and I think I know how it’s going now.

What I’m going to do is cut this chapter off about one thousand words prior to where I am at the moment, moving that to chapter 07. Then, I’m going to write a more detailed introduction to 06, getting in a little information I was originally going to put in Ch. 07. That should put 06 somewhere around the same length as the preceding chapters.

I should be able to fit the rest of what I had planned for 07 in with the carry-over 1k words, which sets me up for the ending in Ch. 08. So, once I complete that new introduction ( probably later today ) Ch. 06 will be done, and Ch. 07 will already be a thousand words in.

Still waiting on Roust to fight his way through SOTM 16 on the unfamiliar system. If he gets it done this weekend, it will go in Monday. If not, it will be the following Monday ( I hope ). I’d like to continue aiming for the same day of the week with all new chapters, and his editing is just too important to the overall story for me to post without it.

Off to work on Lowborn.

EDIT (later): And, done! 06 is in the bag, and 07 is already 1/5 the length of the average chapter. Going to chill, then get back to SOTM 18. Accomplishing goals is a solid motivator, and now I want to get the next scene of this done 🙂

Kicking something around

Wrote another 500 words on Lowborn, almost closing out the first scene. Once I get that done and a couple more, I’ll know whether this is going to be a long chapter + another before the end, or just a long chapter. I’m really thinking that I’ll be going for eight, in order to not have the last two chapters be a lot longer than the previous five.

Got a little bit more done on SOTM 18 as well.

Would have been more, but I got a bit distracted with research. I may have mentioned that I worked with the invision forum software in the past, so I’m at least familiar with the previous version of it, and the general coding style of the developers. With almost all of my tax check still sitting in the bank and an extra hundred bucks from placing in the Earth Day contest, I’m seriously considering licensing an IP board.

Looking at the latest version, it seems that there are some site integration features that can be purchased as an add-on called ip.content. I’m still digging around, but it looks like this may be ideal for me to build the interactive and informative parts of the website, getting more than this blog back online at long last.

I’ve coded not only extensive forum add-ons, but back-end administrative functions and even some website interaction in this forum software before, so there probably won’t be as much of a learning curve as with the other free software I was experimenting with.

I’m going to continue to research, but if anyone has working knowledge of coding for the 3.x versions of IPBoard as opposed to the 2.x version, give me a yell in a comment, email, or something. Likewise if anyone has experience with the ip.content add-on.

If I go with this, and the differences in the way you modify the software isn’t too far off from what I remember, I could get pieces of the website up and running in pretty short order, most likely. The first thing I would probably tackle would be a “latest release” to replace the section on the front page where I currently link to my old site change previews.

Anyway, gimme a yell if you have any knowledge on the software. I’m going to chill for a few and see if I can’t get back to writing. I have Lowborn, SOTM, and a story in my third name all open. Have to see what’s singing to me before I call it a night.