Entries from 2015

Calculate Distance Between Zip Codes Part 1: Geocode Database Entries with the Google Maps API

A few years back I looked into using the Google Maps API to calculate the distance between two zip codes. The proof of concept seemed to work well enough. But when I attempted to perform larger-scale calculations, the solution began falling apart. And it was slow… So I needed to develop an alternative solution. [Continue reading]

View More Information About the Files in the Recycle Bin

A mystery file appeared in the Recycle Bin on my computer recently. I can usually tell where a file originates from based on the file name. However, I had no idea why this particular file was sitting in the trash. I didn't want to just remove the file since it could have been placed there by mistake; so I wasn't sure how to proceed. [Continue reading]

Mysterious WordPress Update Causes the Number of Comments Link to Include the Post Title

With the recent WordPress upgrade, the links that show how many comments were made to the blog posts have changed. My template was originally designed to only show the number of comments, but now it also includes the post title. Let's take a quick look at what's causing the issue and what can be done in response. [Continue reading]

Manage Tasks in Outlook: Leveraging Task Descriptions

Managing tasks in Microsoft Outlook is made easy by the versatility of the task description field. Not only do you have the ability to create bulleted lists, bold text, etc., but you can also embed emails and other documents within the description. No more digging through folders trying to find that one message needed to complete a specific aspect of a task. [Continue reading]

Manage Tasks in Outlook: Create Customizable Tasks

Sometimes I just need more control over the tasks created in Microsoft Outlook. Being able to flag emails that I may need to follow up with is great, but the options for customizing the resulting tasks can be too limiting. For the times where you need more control, Outlook provides additional ways to create tasks. [Continue reading]

Manage Tasks in Outlook: Flagging Emails as Tasks

My primary goal for switching to Microsoft Outlook was so I could track requests that I send to co-workers through email. If I don't flag the requests shortly after sending them, there's a good chance that I'll forget to follow up. Let's take a quick look at how I currently use Outlook to stay on top of these types of requests. [Continue reading]

Manage Tasks in Outlook: Categorizing Tasks

When I originally looked for a way to manage tasks, I tried Microsoft Outlook's built-in feature. The problem was that there didn't appear to be a way to assign tasks to other people. Well, that turns out not to be the case. Let's take a quick look at how I currently organize tasks. [Continue reading]

How to Test Form Submissions: Using Google Chrome to Change Form Values

When forms are set to the POST method, it may not be apparent how you can test responses made through fields like radio buttons. Of course, you can click each radio button to make sure each individual value can be submitted. But how do you make sure that someone can't tamper with the form and submit an invalid value. Let's take a look at how the browser can help. [Continue reading]

How to Test Submissions from Forms that Use the POST Method

An important part of developing online forms is testing. One area of testing I've always wanted to better with is making sure input types like radio buttons can't accept values which are not allowed. In this week's post, we go over my primary method of testing. That way we can discuss a faster way next time. [Continue reading]

Lessons Learned: Outputting Shortcode and Plugin Results

If you look closely at the documentation for WordPress Shortcodes, there is a specific way to output content to the screen. Of course, this is a part of the documentation I skipped while developing my first plugin which lead to some baffling results. To help save you time, I wanted to share one last lesson learned from writing my plugin. [Continue reading]