Upgraded WordPress from 2.0.2 to 2.0.4. Everything appears to be A-OK, but let me know if anything looks “off” or acts funny to y’all. I had previously tried upgrading from 2.0.2 to 2.0.3 when it first came out, but it broke more of my blog than it fixed, so I downgraded. It appears that 2.0.4 has fixed everything 2.0.3 broke. LOL

Hey, it happens.

No animals were harmed in the process of upgrading, so all is well in the universe again.

My better half has re-organized his site and has begun posting tech news again.

Isn’t he talented?

Anyways, he posted a news item this morning that I found mildly humorous:

Metallica Joining iTunes

Beginning on Tuesday, the band put up four of its records — “Kill ‘Em All,” “Ride The Lightning,” “Master of Puppets” and “…And Justice For All” — for sale on U.S. and Canadian versions of the popular online music retailer.

Fans may buy tracks a la carte for 99 cents or purchase the albums, starting at $9.90.

In a posting on the group’s Web site, the band acknowledged that fans have been increasingly buying music online and said it added some previously unreleased live tracks recorded in Seattle in 1989 to each of the albums to entice those who already own copies.

So, let me get this straight … Napster bad, iTunes good?

Nothing drastic, but I finally gave in to Jim’s persistence. We’re changing the wedding date from June 21st to July 7th. It will be on a Saturday, so hopefully all those invited will be able to attend.

There’s been a bit of confusion on the “how to” when joining the WordPress WebRing and how to use and/or setup the code. I often forget that not everyone knows that you DON’T actually have to use the SSNB code and can opt to have a minimalistic HTML version (like I use).

So here’s how:

You go to the WordPress WebRing site. Click Join This Ring. If you have a WebRing account already, you just fill in your site details (login if you’re not logged in already!). If you do not have a WebRing account, you fill out the account information form towards the bottom of the page.

Once you successfully fill out and submit your application, you’ll see Confirmation - Ring Application Sent followed by a bit of HTML code (actually it’s JavaScript, but that’s immaterial here). That is your SSNB code. If you belong to a WebRing and already have that code on your website, then your WordPress WebRing code is already there. WebRing introduced SSNB a few years back as a quicker way to add yourself to many WebRings without having to keep editing your webpage code. While handy, the downside to this is that you cannot edit the ring code displayed.

Also: WordPress.com users will not be able to use the SSNB code due to its Javascript content. WordPress.com does not allow the posting of scripts in sidebar modules or posts for security reasons — I was not aware of this until only recently, so all the more reason to post this tutorial!

Back to the subject at hand: the ability to use editable HTML code for your site is still supported by WebRing.

YAY!

Simply visit the WordPress WebRing site again — under Member Tools click on Edit Site Information, then click Get Navigation Code. Now you’ll see another box with the SSNB code. Scroll all the way down to the very bottom and look for Members who wish to use the HTML version of this nav bar should go here. When you click on that, you’ll be given code that you can edit to your liking.

(Take notice of your WordPress WebRing ID code. You’ll see “id=”.)

The following is what I use as a guide:

<p align="center">Wordpress Bloggers<br /><a href="http://S.webring.com/go?ring=wordpressblogger&amp;id=YOUR_ID_HERE&amp;sprev" title="Skip Previous">&lt;&lt;</a> &nbsp; <a href="http://S.webring.com/go?ring=wordpressblogger&amp;id=YOUR_ID_HERE&amp;prev" title="Previous">&lt;</a> &nbsp; | &nbsp; <a href="http://S.webring.com/go?ring=wordpressblogger&amp;id=YOUR_ID_HERE&amp;next" title="Next">&gt;</a> &nbsp; <a href="http://S.webring.com/go?ring=wordpressblogger&amp;id=YOUR_ID_HERE&amp;skip" title="Skip Next">&gt;&gt;</a><br /><a href="http://S.webring.com/hub?ring=wordpressblogger&amp;id=YOUR_ID_HERE&amp;hub" title="List All">List All</a> | <a href="http://S.webring.com/go?ring=wordpressblogger&amp;id=YOUR_ID_HERE&amp;random" title="Random Site">Random Site</a><br /><a href="http://S.webring.com/wrman?ring=wordpressblogger&amp;addsite" title="Join Wordpress Bloggers">Want to Join?</a></p>

Remember:

Change each instance of YOUR_ID_HERE to the id number listed in your WebRing code.

If you edit your code, remember to use the HTML equiv’s of ampersands so your code will validate!

(I always forget that part!)

If you get stuck, need help, or have any questions please feel free to ask here!

The principles of this tutorial can easily be applied to any other WebRing. Just remember to change “WordPress Bloggers” to the name of the ring being added, and be certain to change the ID number and ring values (the “ring=” part).

Thanks to an email from a sharp-eyed user, I have cleared all of the invalid entries from my “Geek Holidays” shared Google Calendar feed. Apparently a couple of my Ladies Night Out meetup group entries had migrated to the wrong calendar (most likely my doing when I was first setting these things up), and I had also found a couple Bama football calendar entries that had done their own meandering and fixed those. LOL

The Geek Holidays calendar feed should be displaying the correct dates and entries now.

(NOTE: if you need specific XML or iCal feed links, let me know!)