From time to time you might need to be able to see the files that Mac hides from you. I work a lot with local installations of my websites and often need to make changes to the .htaccess file. As Mac hides all files that begin with dot, I usually have to run a script in the terminal each time I want to view or hide them. Until now!

A few hours of diligent Googling led me to an application that allows one to toggle the viewing of the hidden files from the dock or a Applications folder.

I wish everything in life were this simple!

Directions and download link at aetherworld.org

This tutorial will explain how to take your live site and make a fully functional local backup - a backup on your computer. I use WordPress and a Mac, however these steps should work for any platform and operating system. Some of the particulars may be slightly different.

At a minimum the tools you will need are…

• A FTP tool such as FileZilla or Cyberduck. I use Transmit on my Mac
• Administrative access to your server
• A local server utility such as Wamp or Mamp
• A code editor

Take a moment to familiarize yourself with the tools. And FTP is simply a method for transfering files. The local server utility allows you to run a CMS such as WordPress or Jomla! on your computer. Most of the tools I mentioned are free and run on either Mac or Windows. So, let’s get started!

Getting the files and folders onto your computer

1. Log into your server through the FTP and navigate to your File Manager. Download the entire root folder of your site. If you have loads of images and videos it may take a while.

2. Log on to your actual server account and navigate to phpMyAdmin.

3. Chose the database you want to back up. From the navigation bar at the top select Export.

4. Under Export select SLQ

5. Under Options select Structure, Add DROP TABLE / VIEW / PROCEDURE / FUNCTION, Add AUTO_INCREMENT value, Enclose table and field names with backquotes, Data

6. Finally, under Save as file, select Zipped and click GO!

Congratulations! You’ve made a full backup of your site! Now lets get it working on your computer.

Running your site on your computer

1. Get your local server up and running. Go into your local phpMyAdmin and create a database using your site’s name. Make note of your local url. It will most likely look something like… http://localhost:8888/yoursitename. Place the site folder you downloaded to the location specified by your local server application.

2. Open the SQL file you downloaded and replace any occurrences of your live url with your local url. Save the file.

3. Navigate to the database you created in your local phpMyAdmin and click Import. Choose your file, make sure SQL is clicked and hit GO. It may take a while. Be patient. Don’t refresh.

4. Open the config.php file within your site folder. Make the appropriate changes to the database info. In my case I changed the live database name to the local database name, the password to root and the username to root.

5. In the past I’ve had problems with the .htaccess file not being included in the root folder download. I just created a new one, copied the info from the live one and made any changes to reflect the live setup.

6. Navigate to your local url (http://localhost:8888/yoursitename). You shouldn’t have to run the CMS setup. Everything should be in order. Login as you normally would by appending the login part of your live url to your new local url. You may have to adjust plugins and posts to reflect the changes.

Thats it! Let me know how everything went.

I suppose that most websites draw their aesthetic inspiration from somewhere, but could I have been subconcsiously building Devtronik to look like a Kraftwerk music video?

Here is a studio and live video for Robots. What do you think?

Raquo or » or » is as loved as it is hated. On Wordpress, it is often the default symbol set in the theme of your installation. Let’s look at how we can remove or replace it.

1. Have a look in the header.php file of whatever theme you are using. You should see something like this within the code.

<title><?php bloginfo(’name’); ?> <?php if ( is_single() ) { ?>
» <?php
foreach((get_the_category()) as $cat) {
echo $cat->cat_name . ‘ ‘;
} ?> <?php } ?>

<?php wp_title(); ?></title>

2. Look for either &raquo or ». Replace it with a | or whatever you like.

3. We also put a | in this line of code <?php wp_title(’ | ‘); ?></title> to give us a | after the title. Have a look below to see what we did on phauxshow.com

<title><?php bloginfo(’name’); ?> <?php if ( is_single() ) { ?> |
<?php
foreach((get_the_category()) as $cat) {
echo $cat->cat_name . ‘ ‘;
} ?> <?php } ?>

<?php wp_title(’ | ‘); ?></title>

The effect is a | between our site name, page, category or archive. We think ‘Phauxshow | Artists | Elizabeth West’ looks a little better than ‘Phauxshow » Artists » Elizabeth West’, don’t you?

For more information on raquo check out raquo.net

Let us know if you have any questions!

Each of the posts will be linked to from this page and posted when I’ve finished writing it. So, if you see the post title, but no link, check back soon as I’ve just not completed it yet.

All of the articles will take into consideration cost, time and technical ability.

1. The Basics - the minimum that you will need to start a website
2. Choosing a Host
3. Choosing a CMS and Theme
4. CSS, PHP & HTML
5. Customizing your theme
6. SEO and all things Google
7. Increasing your traffic
8. Monetizing your site
9. Protecting your site
10. Additional resources

Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia…

The music video features clips of the faces of Thom Yorke and several other people interspersed with images of suburban landscapes. In lieu of traditional cameras, the video is made with lasers that detect the proximity of objects. This gives the video a grainy and grid-like appearance. Sheets of acrylic glass and mirrors are passed in front of the lasers to create scenes in which the image appears distorted, partially disappears, or begins to disintegrate as if being carried by wind.

The video was made on a minimal set in Florida. The data used to make the video was released under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 license and is available at Google Code.

And, of course, the video…

This post will detail the fix I found for the problem and might not be that interesting for those of you who don’t use Macs.

The Symptoms

1. Internet connection drops or breaks whether using wireless (Airport) or Built-in Ethernet (Cable).
2. Drops every few minutes, when computer sleeps or when changing wireless connection.

Temp Fix

Restarting the computer reconnected me to the internet temporarily.

The Fix

I searched for days. I’m not kidding here! I couldn’t upload or download anything without having to restart. The problem basically brought Phauxshow to a standstill. There is a lot of action on various forums but none of the suggested solutions seemed to work for me. It’s important to note though that some solutions worked for some people. It seems, in that case that while certain symptoms may be shared the root cause may vary from computer to computer.

Here’s what worked for me…

1. Click the Apple Icon then select System Preferences and then select Network.
2. Select the Location that you most commonly use.
3. Show the Network Port Configurations.

This will bring up a list of your Port Configurations.

4. Unclick things you don’t need. In my case I unclicked Bluetooth and Built-in Firewire.
5. Drag AirPort to the top of the list. Drag Built-in Ethernet to the second spot.
6. Make sure both are clicked and hit Apply Now then restart your computer.

There is also some talk about Resetting your Pram. I didn’t need to do this but you might need to.

That’s it! You should have a stable internet connection and your sanity back.

I’d definitely love to hear if this worked for you. Also, I welcome links to alternative solutions in the comments below.

Please see the Preface for the directory.

The Basics

So you want to build your own website? Great! Here is a rundown of what you will need. A lot of these points will be elaborated upon in further posts but this should give you a good idea of what you’ll be getting into.

1. Your own computer with internet access! This isn’t a deal breaker but it will make your life a lot easier. Also, keep in mind that for security reasons having a secure internet connection is very important.

2. You will have to decide whether you want to use a hosted service (your site is hosted on their server - but usually with limitations to you) or a self hosted service (you purchase server space and a domain address from a host but have essentially unlimited freedom).

There are dozens of popular hosted services. Some require that their domain be appended to yours (yoursite.wordpress.com) while some make their money from ad revenue on your site.

A couple examples of hosted services are:

• Wordpress.com
• Blogger.com

Hosted services, on the other hand, allow you to work within the limits of the particular service you use. Most are infinitely flexible and use a plug-in system to extent a light weight core. There are also dozens for you to choose from. In fact, the bar has been set so high by the free packages that I will rule out any that charge.

Here are a few examples of self hosted services:

• Wordpress.org
• Joomla!
• Movable Type
• Drupal

The package you choose will ultimately depend on your needs. It’s perhaps one of the most important decisions you’re going to make, so take your time and review all of the links above and any that you come across elsewhere. I will go into greater detail on the subject in the next couple of posts.

I should also mention that Devtronik is powered by Wordpress.org and hosted by Bluehost.

3. Once you’ve decided upon a service (we should probably be using the term CMS - although it might not apply to the most basic blogging software) you will have to choose a template, or theme. Chose a theme that fits your needs the closest as you will have to make the least amount of customizations. There are some fantastic themes out there. Generally, each CMS will have a theme directory to help you select a theme that works with their product.

4. You will need some kind of editing program. I use CSSEdit for CSS (I’ll elaborate upon this later) and TextWrangler for HTML and PHP code.

5. Some kind of image editing software if you plan to include custom images on your site. You can go with Photoshop on the high end or any of the free packages, such as Gimp. A lot of great websites don’t use any image editing software at all. Things like font color and size, header color can all be changes using CSS.

6. Most of all, you will need patience and persistence. Stalk the forums for information. Use Google. If you are stumped on something and can’t find a solution ask on the forums.

So, in summary, to begin building a website you will need…

• a computer with internet
• a CMS and perhaps a host
• some style and code editing software
• some graphic editing software
• patience!

Please feel free to post any questions or comments below! The next installment will be about choosing a Host.