Terry’s Computer Tips blog

* Updates Last Week
I watch a few operating systems and programs for updates — mainly because these are the ones that I use or in which I am interested. What updates or versions were new last week?

* Intelligent Fun on the Web
Some great animations and flash applications that make you think…

* My Computer Security Software Recommendations
Want to know which Antivirus program I recommend? Which firewall program? Which Antispyware program? Which Antispam? Or, which router for your home network?

Buy the award-winning NOD32 software here.
ESET’s solution named the “Best Antivirus Product of 2006″ by AV-Comparatives.org

Filed under: Terry's Computer Tips, Tips & Tricks, Web Browsing, Web Hosting

Terry’s Computer Tips newsletters June 17th

Posted June 17, 2007

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This week’s email and on-line newsletters are now available:
* free weekly Terry”s Computer Tips email newsletter
* weekly on-line Terry”s Computer Tips newsletter

This week’s online articles include:
*   Time sure flies when you’re having fun
*   Updates Last Week
*   Apple’s New Safari Web Browser - for Windows!
*   First Comments on Apple’s Safari 3 Browser for Windows
*   Privacy Control with XP Privacy Pro
*   My Computer Security Software Recommendations
*   Adobe Reader 8 Problems This Week - And a Change to Foxit Reader

If you subscribe to the email newsletter now, you will get instructions on how to request automatic free copies of the two most recent issues.

Filed under: Computers - misc, Free Software, Internet Explorer, Newsletters, Software, Software Reviews, Terry's Computer Tips, Web Browsing, Web Hosting, Windows XP

WordPress vs Serendipity

Posted October 24, 2006

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I just moved from Serendipity blog software to WordPress blog software for my Terry’s Computer Tips blog.

Do you like the new layout?� Or, prefer the old?� Let me know — comment below…

See a comparison of Serendipity vs WordPress fairly quickly. Now, I have five WordPress blogs and one Serendipity blog.
The driving force for the change, given that I had to import over 300 posts and lost all the comments, is that I can have much easier control of WordPress than I could with Serendipity.

WordPress is also much more common, although Serendipity is moving up in the rankings. My web host Powweb has “install wizards” to install either (or both) of them, although their advertising page still only mentions WordPress.

Serendipity is very powerful, has a lot of functions built in and a very convenient system for adding plug-ins and different themes - while still within Serendipity (WordPress makes me download, unpack, and upload into my WordPress directory before I can activate new plugins and themes). But, its change to the “Smarty templates” for all visitor-interface screens killed the ability to slip in a little tweak.

WordPress, on the other hand, is written solely in PHP and skips the Smarty functionality that PHP will support. That means, if I want to change a page, I can tweak the code easily.

An example of this insertion of the “Translation Gold” flags onto the TCTB home page

With WordPress, I was able to write and insert the PHP code into the footer file. This code displays the flags if the home page is being displayed - -but otherwise, doesn’t show them. With Serendipity, I’d have to craft the code into a special Smarty function and then call the Smarty function.

I like Serendipity; it’s more powerful if you’re going to use it “out of the box” or with pre-written templates and plug-ins. But, I prefer WordPress because I like to tweak…

Filed under: Blogging, Technology - neat stuff, Terry's Computer Tips, Web Hosting