Mike Street Media - Freelance Website Designer

Create a WordPress Page with Posts and Custom Code

Mike — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 11:03:19 +0000

I have recently been creating a website where the client wanted a soundcloud player at the top of the page, with the posts from a certain category underneath within their wordpress powered site.. Obviously, I could create a sticky post, but that would be messy.

Instead I created a WordPress Page template with the soundcloud code at the top, underneath I then included the code which inserts the posts from that category.

First create a new WordPress Page Template.

Next, copy and paste the following code into your php page

if (is_page() ) {
$category = 3;
}
if ($category) {
$cat = 3;
$paged = (get_query_var(‘paged’)) ? get_query_var(‘paged’) : 1;
$post_per_page = 5; // -1 shows all posts
$do_not_show_stickies = 1; // 0 to show stickies
$args=array(
‘category__in’ => array($cat),
‘orderby’ => ‘date’,
‘order’ => ‘DESC’,
‘paged’ => $paged,
‘posts_per_page’ => $post_per_page,
‘caller_get_posts’ => $do_not_show_stickies
);
$temp = $wp_query; // assign orginal query to temp variable for later use
$wp_query = null;
$wp_query = new WP_Query($args);
if( have_posts() ) :
while ($wp_query->have_posts()) : $wp_query->the_post(); ?>

id=”post-”>

” rel=”bookmark” title=”Permanent Link to ”>

— | ‘,”); ?>

Not Found

Sorry, but you are looking for something that isn’t here.

$wp_query = $temp; //reset back to original query

} // if ($category)
?>

Replace the line of code

With the sound cloud, or youtube code you wish to appear on the page before the posts .

Change the category number (4 in the provided) and the number of posts you wish to appear,

if (is_page() ) {
$category = 4;
}
if ($category) {
$cat = 4;
$paged = (get_query_var(‘paged’)) ? get_query_var(‘paged’) : 1;
$post_per_page = 5; // -1 shows all posts

Upload, slelect it in your page settings and hey presto! Your page is dual functioning!

Making a WordPress Page

Mike — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 17:30:30 +0000

To make a page template in WordPress is quite simple:

Create a new php page in your favorite text editor and at the top place:

/*
Template Name: NameofNewTemplate
*/
?>

Done!

On your new page you can do things such as including posts from a certain category, have a static html page or even combine the two!
You may wish to start off by including your header, sidebar and footer

If you include the header, make sure you follow suit with the other pages and make sure you and tags are closed correctly

Wiitar: Combining the Wiimote, MAX/MSP and Mainstage

Mike — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 21:27:47 +0000

For the final year of my degree, I was required to create an Experimental System Design. At the time, I was heavily involved with a live version of The Red Attack, my electronic music played with instruments rather than computers.

My set up consisted of an electric guitar running through Logic’s MainStage which was a theoretical amp. This allowed me to apply effects to the guitar sound, which would have been a very expensive pedal board!

To complement this set up, I wanted a method of altering the effect parameters while playing. I was after a hands-free method, which could be controlled with simple gestures of the guitar. That’s where the Wiimote steps in. Using OSCulator, I was able to access the accelerometers and motion sensors, convert them into MIDI using MAX/MSP, which was then taken into MainStage.

The Wiitar (Wiimote & Guitar) and Mainstage makes a brand new instrument, with a brand new way of playing. Its takes a while getting used to but it is worth it. Your playing will never be the same!

Now fully developed, the MAX patch is hugely versatile. It can be used by a singer, by a drummer or by a piano player. Any instrument or sound, which can be fed into MainStage, can be effected with the Wii remote.

The MAX/MSP patch, in reality, is just sending out MIDI messages, so the patch can be used with Cubase, Logic, Ableton or any other sequencer.

For my project I had to create an example video of it in use, below is that video. I apologise for the awful playing but you get the idea!

Below, I have included the Wiitar application, the OSCulator patch and the Sample MainStage Patch. The Max patch can work on both Windows PC and Apple Mac, although MainStage is only available for Mac.

If you do end up using the Wiitar for something practical, then please let me know. Alternatively, if you would like the source file of the Wiitar application, then do not hesitate to contact me

Show WordPress Post Titles & Posts On Your Website

Mike — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 13:29:58 +0000

If you use WordPress for your blog, but your blog is not your home page, you may wish to display the latest blog posts on your homepage, or any other page for that matter, to entice people into your blog.

WordPress Pages

If you use WordPress for your whole site (pages and all) then this is relatively easy to add the code in the code. It can be placed in your footer (where I have it), sidebar or anywhere else you want it. Unfortunately, as with most WordPress code, it cannot be pasted straight into a post or a page.

The code to show your latest 3 posts is:

Result:

The wp_get_archives code is hugely customiseable. It can show months, days, posts etc. The default code generated comes out as a list (

), but needs a

To show, for example, the last 5 days where you have posted, with the post count next to it, you would use the following code:

Result:

One last example; If you would like to show Weekly posts for the last 7 weeks, with the word ‘Week:’ before each link and the words ‘was a good week’ after with each one in a

tag, you would use the following code:

Week: &after= was a good week

Result:

That single line code, as you can see, can be adapted to show exactly what you want. More details about the wp_get_archives reference, can be found in the WordPress Codex. For hard coding the wp_get_archives html, it can be found on line 818 in the wp-includes/general-template.php

Non-Wordpress Pages

You can also include your latest blog post titles on your homepage, even if your pages are not generated within WordPress. (For example, my WordPress installation is located at www.mikestreetmedia.com/blog but I want my latest blog title to appear on my homepage, outside of the blog folder). It does not require complex database connections, but rather a call to the wp-load.php file.

To use the following code there are a couple of requirements:

1) The WordPress installation is located on the same server as the file where the code is going (for example: in a /wordpress/ folder)

2) Your page is a php page. If it is .html then rename to .php. unfortunately, you will need to upload the file to a server (or set up a local testing server) to make sure the code works.

Firstly copy the following code into your page:

// Include WordPress
define(“WP_USE_THEMES”, false);
require(“./blog/wp-load.php”);
query_posts(“showposts=3″);
?>

The ‘false’ tells the code not to include your template, the following line says where the wp-load.php file is. If your blog is in a /blog/ folder, you would change /Wordpress/ to /blog/. Finally the query_posts() line allows a variety of customisation. For example: if you wanted to show the 3 most recent posts in category 3, you would use the following code:

query_posts(‘cat=3&’showposts=1′);

Now you have called your posts, all you need to do now is include the loop and the information you want. The code is just the same as you would find in your index.php, or archives.php in your theme:

”>Read more…

This can be customised as you would when editing your theme.

Alternatively, you can use a website like Feederr, which will turn your latest blog post into an image, which updates each time. It walks you through step by step to get your box, which, when customised, looks something like this:

Stop Your iPhone or iPod Touch Launching iPhoto

Mike — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 09:33:40 +0000

Since I reformatted my mac, I have experienced a very annoying problem – whenever I plug in my iPod Touch, iPhoto would launch and show the pictures on there.

To stop this behavior, the preference is located in an unexpected location:

Plug in your offending apple product, and then the program you need to launch is ‘image capture’. You can use spotlight to find it (as you may have moved it when you got your shiny new apple computer)

Once opened, you should see your peripheral in the left hand side. Select it, and in the bottom left hand corner you should see the preferences box. If not, click the little downwards arrow located in the bottom left-hand corner.

In the options box you then have the option to select which application opens when your iPhone/iPod touch is plugged in. Simply select your preference or ‘No Application’ and you’re done! Close the application, eject your music player/phone. Plug it back in just to double check – worked for me!

Whats Happened to My Blog?

Mike — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 19:49:55 +0000

I am currently going under a big re-design of my website. Recently I have been introduced into the world of jQuery (a plug-in for making fancy things) and so I am redesigning my website.

Along with the website re-deisgn, comes a wordpress blog redesign, so I have based it on the theme Depo Sinny. From there I will slowly redesign each page on the blog and slowly integrate the new design into the site. So hold tight.

If you notice the site go funny don’t worry – i’m working on it!!

Where Have I Been?

Mike — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 17:53:07 +0000

These last few weeks have been quiet on the blog front – so where have i been and what have I been doing?

Tim Healey

Mr DJ Tim Healey (www.myspace.com/djtimehealy) has asked be to re do the layouts for both his person myspace and his record label Surfer Rosa Records.

I have been working hard getting these layouts perfect before I transfer them over to the proper myspace accounts (no, I didn’t do the current ones – mine are much better!). You will be told when they go live.

Lobster Recruitment

Lobster Recruitment contacted me enquiring as to whether I would redesign their website for their recruitment agency in Crawley. I have agreed and have been creating wireframes and designs for their new website.

Mike Street Media

Yes, once more Mike Street Media is getting a redesign. Since I have become a full time web designer I have come across such a thing called jQuery. It’s actually amazing and will be making several appearances throughout my new site and all the other sites I will be developing.

Because of this, my blog will be getting a redesign (hurrah!) as I have never liked the layout of the blog.

A sneak preview can be found on my ‘playground’ domain: www.mikestreety.co.uk

World cup

I hate football, in fact ,I loathe it. Except the World cup. That and the Euro football tournament are the only two bits of football I watch and actively enjoy. Don’t ask me why!

Apart from that I’ve been working at Boz Boz!

Hosting Emails With Google Apps

Mike — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 19:56:47 +0000

I wanted to set up Google Apps so that the mail for one of my clients used GMail rather than the SquirrelMail/Horde/Roundcube that comes with cPanel. I struggled to find a proper, helpful blog – so I thought I would make one!

First off you need to have your own domain (obviously!)

Unless you want the Premier Edition of Google Apps, you need to head to the hidden Standard Edition Google Apps page

Once you’ve clicked Get Started, you’ll be prompt to enter your domain name (without the http://). After that you are grilled for your personal information (to once again – give away your soul to google!)

Step 3 of 3 is to choose an admin username and password for your email account.

You will then be asked to verify your website – may as well do it now while you are in the ‘zone!’

After set up you will then be taken to the dashboard of your emails. Don’t be fooled, you are not finished! You now need to edit the MX Entry for your domain, I’ll be doing it through cPanel, but you may need to do it elsewhere. Google provides a step by step guide of how to do it for most common control panels.

Once the MX records have changed, you just need to wait! Like DNS, MX Entries usually take a little while to switch over.

N.B. You might be able to receive emails but you will need to wait a little while until you can send them!

Once you’re done, check on the MX Record Lookup Checker.

If you would like to change the URL, so that when you go to mail.yourdomain.com it directs you to your new GMail account, then you will need to create a CNAME entry using your control panel. Google will help you with this. If you go to your Dashboard:

https://www.google.com/a/cpanel/YOURDOMAIN.COM/Dashboard

Replacing YOURDOMAIN.COM with your domain, click Email and then click change URL, Google will assist you with changing your URL.

Hack a Music MySpace Profile

Mike — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 21:17:47 +0000

I was tasked to redesign a Music MySpace Profile Page – below is the outcome:

Recently a client approached me and asked me to redesign their MySpace music page. I had recently helped someone redesign their personal page using the Profile 2.0 editor built into MySpace and found it very easy, so I thought the music ones would be a doddle.

How very wrong I was. The Profile 2.0 editor has not yet made it onto the Music side of MySpace. In order to get a profile looking swish and out of the ordinary, some serious jiggery pokery is required.

I spent several hours searching the Internet for an easy, basic start to editing the MySpace music page on which I could build up the profile to something I wanted.

I eventually found a forum designated specifically to hacking myspace layouts with a section committed just to music layouts.

The code I used was from MySpaceDivs.info

This code essentially hides all the basic elements of the Myspace Music profile and lets you build it up yourself using absolutely position DIVs. The method is quite unnatural for me, by Myspace layouts are generally for looks and concentrate less on SEO or Accessibility – which is a shame.

You are then required to design the page again, including the Add Me, Friends etc buttons yourself. To do this, you can design your own button/image and link it up using the following code.

To do this, you will need to find out your friend ID. To find your Friend ID, view your own friends and your address bar should look something like this:

http://friends.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewfriends&friendID= 538154926

At the end of myone, you can see it says ‘friendID= 538154926’. That number is the friend ID. Armed with that, you can now create your own Message Me, Add Me etc buttons

Creating an Add Me button:

Create a link to the following location. Make sure you change your ‘friend ID’ (the bit in bold) to your own ID!

http://collect.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=invite.addfriend_verify&friendID=538154926

Creating a Message Me button:

Create a link to the following location. Make sure you change your ‘friend ID’ (the bit in bold) to your own ID.

http://messaging.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=mail.message&friendID= 538154926

Add a Comment link:

If you want to be really flash, you can make your own comment box (using a textarea) and button using the following link (with your own friend ID)

http://comment.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile_commentForm&friendID=538154926

All these enable you to ‘rebuild’ your MySpace profile – exactly how you want it!

There are rumors that Profile 2.0 editor is coming to MySpace music, so soon this code will be obsolete, but until then, these were the best codes I found.

Many thanks to the interweb

The next step…

Mike — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 18:53:00 +0000

So you’ve got a brand new website that you want to promote?

Recently I finished a website for Frag Records. Once completed they asked me for some hints and tips on how to get their name out there and how to be heard. Off the top of my head I came up with several promotional techniques that are expected of artists, labels, companies etc but are not always that obvious, so I thought I would share these points. They do not all need to be done or they may not all appeal to you, but keep them in mind.

These steps are mainly for the music industry people, but can also be applied to any company.

Set up a facebook page and keep it regularly updated! Offer things to fans – people love being fans of things, especially if it means they might get freebies. Offer out a free track here and there, or discount to a night out that only fans can use. You can send out a private message to them all and print off a list of fans for a guest list.

With that, you can then set up a twitter account. Facebook and twitter can now talk to each other very easily, so you can update one account and the other updates automagically. If you want to offer Twitter or Facebook only offers, if you have it set up right, you can still log in and post separately.

Sign Up to MySpace – chuck some sample tracks up there. It is not crucial that you keep this one updated as much, but having a MySpace means more exposure, more chance of being found. Twitter can also update your MySpace status, so no need to keep logging in!

Set up a bandcamp – This site is fairly new, but this lets you upload your tracks and sell them – For free! You can also include mini media players from bandcamp onto your new website, giving people the chance to buy the tracks there and then.

Along the lines of bandcamp, use Soundcloud. This is another place to upload tracks but also lets people comment on others. Once signed up, find individuals who make music similar to you and comment on them. This gets you more attention, thus meaning more publicity!

All you’ve got to remember is that the more websites you’re on, the more chance there is of being found and it gives people the option to use whichever service they prefer.

Set up a mailing list – People love signing up to mailing lists if it means they get offers that no-one else does. To entice people, offer a introductory offer, be it a free track or free sample etc. and then once in a while give something away.

Set up a blog – this way you can post about upcoming gigs, the latest track and how it was made, gigs you went to, new albums you love, classic S Club 7 tracks… all this helps boost search engine optimisation, the more you talk, the more noticed you’ll get. The more you link, the more traffic, the more sales… the list goes on. If you do set up a blog, you can have it set up so it updates your twitter and facebook telling your fans that there is a new post.

Set up a shop – merchandise merchandise merchandise! You can use something like spreadshirt.co.uk if you want clothing, but if you want to sell CDs (even as an mp3 download) then either do it yourself or see above (bandcamp)

This is just the start of your campaign, but its worth taking these points into consideration for boosting your website traffic

Mike Street Media - Freelance Website Designer

Create a WordPress Page with Posts and Custom Code

” rel=”bookmark” title=”Permanent Link to ”>

Not Found

Making a WordPress Page

Wiitar: Combining the Wiimote, MAX/MSP and Mainstage

Show WordPress Post Titles & Posts On Your Website

WordPress Pages

tag, you would use the following code: Week: &after= was a good week

Non-Wordpress Pages

Stop Your iPhone or iPod Touch Launching iPhoto

Whats Happened to My Blog?

Where Have I Been?

Hosting Emails With Google Apps

Hack a Music MySpace Profile

The next step…

tag, you would use the following code:

Week: &after= was a good week