Add Delay Feature to Newsfeed
The newsfeed feature I developed a few years back works as expected. At times, however, I wish it would let me have a post automatically appear after a specific time. Especially now that I'm used to services like HootSuite that allow me to schedule tweets and other social media postings. [Continue reading]
Use MySQL’s Date Functions Instead of PHP’s
Many of the MySQL queries that I create include a date and / or time. My usual place to get this information was from PHP's date() function. At least until I discovered that MySQL has many built-in functions to do the same thing. Let's look at a quick example. [Continue reading]
Import Login Information for Database Connection Scripts
I'm starting to realize that importing the script used to establish a database connections isn't enough. Being able to import a script wherever the database is needed does simplify the process of changing a database password since it only needs to be changed in one place. However, I keep finding reasons to make major revisions to the connection script which usually results in having multiple versions and I don't always have the time to complete the upgrade process. All of those connection scripts need to be updated when the password changes. [Continue reading]
Prevent Browser Windows in Chrome from Closing When Multiple Tabs Are Open: An Alternate Approach
It's common for me to have several browser tabs open at the same time while developing a website. And since I use Google Chrome, I've been looking for a solution to prevent all those tabs from being accidentally closed. There used to be a plugin that worked perfectly, but the plugin is incompatible with the newer versions of Chrome. So my only option, besides switching browsers, was to be extra careful when closing a tab…or so I thought. [Continue reading]
Calculate Distance Between Zip Codes Part 2: Build the Search Engine
With a database full of zip codes, latitudes, and longitudes, you can get all the entries that are within a given radius using the Haversine formula…and a little help from Google. This week's post will build on the work done last time by developing a search engine where users can enter a zip code and a search radius. The script will then output all the records within the given radius. [Continue reading]
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]
