Hey, my name is Daniel Felice. I am a freelance web designer, specialising in WordPress. I enjoy all things technology, travel, food and motorsport! Enjoy
// July 26th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // General
For the next 6 weeks I’ll be travelling Europe and therefore I won’t be updating the blog until sometime in September. It is tough leaving the blog for a month or so, as it has taken so long to build it up to what it is today. Hopefully there is enough content that keeps you occupied!
// July 20th, 2009 // No Comments » // Buddypress
Chris at The Easy Button has updated her guide to integrating the latest versions of WordPress MU, BuddyPress and bbPress.
With the recent changes and updates to all three components over the past few weeks, the older guide that was created a few months ago was a little bit out of date and no longer worked.
You can get the guide here. Thanks Chris!
// July 16th, 2009 // No Comments » // Buddypress
This new update fixes any compatibility issues with WordPress MU 2.8.1 which was released last week. As a result it will only work with the new version of WPMU so make sure you download and install 2.8.1 before upgrading to BuddyPress 1.0.3.
This update also includes a new widget API which will require you to re-add and configure your BP widgets.
From what I have read in the forums Facebook Connect for BuddyPress does not work anymore, and with no one owning this plugin (Andy made the last modifications to it) it might be a while before it works again. For this reason I’ll be holding off upgrading Explore With Me.
There are a few small bugs related to language translation which Andy is aware of and will have fixed in another update shortly.
// July 14th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // General, Projects
In a few days time I will leaving Ireland, making my way through Europe and ending up in Australia 6 weeks later. All up my girlfriend and I will be spending 40 days travelling through Europe, visiting about 15 countries.
As most of you know, we run a travel website called “Explore With Me“. For those of you who don’t know, “Explore With Me” is a travel blog, social community and gives other travellers the chance to create their own travel blog.
Leading by example, we are planning on blogging about our travels while on the road. We will be travelling with a few cameras, video cameras, laptops and hopefully will be able to find an internet connection to provide daily updates, posting photos, videos, reviews and reports. Along with that, our Twitter followers will also get updates every few hours.
Keeping our promise of daily updates is going to be a fairly big task. Due to the large amount of countries we are going to be visiting, we will be either travelling, sleeping or sightseeing. Finding the time to write post, edit and upload photos and record video blogs will take at least 2 hours a day. However I think finding an internet connection is going to be a task in itself. I am thinking of using a mobile broadband device just in case there are no wifi hotspots around, however the roaming costs are going to be huge!
The reason behind our little challenge is to promote “Explore With Me”. I am hoping that we receive some exposure and encourage new members to join and kick start our social network. Aside from that we will be able to look back on our blog in years ahead and remember the times we spent in Europe. Most people take a bunch of photos and unedited video which sits in a box for the next 50 years. Our trip will live a long life on the internet!
If you would like to follow our trip, check out the “Explore With Me – Europe in 40 Days” blog!
// July 11th, 2009 // 3 Comments » // Buddypress, Wordpress
WordPress MU 2.8.1 was released the other day, however if you are running the latest version of BuddyPress you should hold off upgrading until we are given the green light from the guys at BuddyPress.
There does not seem to be any major issues currently known and the testing I have done with the two current versions doesn’t seem to break anything, but there are a few little things that will need to be looked at before BP 1.0.2 is WPMU 2.8.1 ready.
If you are running bbPress with deep intergration you will also need to change a few things in the config files in order to ensure it still works. Check out the forums for all the latest updates.
// June 29th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // General, The Internet
Over the past few months I have been using Twitter more and more. The more I use it, the more I realise that it is so much more than just another social networking tool.
Many people just use it as a way to communicate with others, and for others it is fast becoming an important tool for business. I am beginning to rely on Twitter more and more for everyday life, from news, to business, to asking advice on what camera to buy!
Here is what I use Twitter for:
Previously my first stop would be a news site to get the latest headlines. Now, I am a follower of numerous news agencies and I can get all their headlines in one place.
When my freelance works starts to slow down, I simply tweet that I am looking for more freelance work. Generally I get at least one or two leads which then turn into work. Normally at least a handful of people are looking for some kind of work.
Since I began using Twitter I have made a lot of contacts who have helped me build my freelance work, as well as give me general advice about whatever I need. I now know many people who I can turn to if I need developers, marketers, sales people, and so on. All I have to do is ask!
When I was in the market for a digital SLR camera I asked Twitter what a good entry level camera was. I got a few responses back which helped me along the way to choosing my product. I do this with any big purchase now because chances are someone on Twitter is using it and will give you some honest feedback.
On top of everything else, I have a few friends that I communicate with via Twitter. I managed to find a few people I have not spoken to in about 10 years on Twitter!
I recently ran the BuddyPress Theme Contest and spreading the word via Twitter was an important factor in generating traffic to the website. Looking over the stats, at least 50% of the hits were from Twitter.
What do you use Twitter for?
// June 14th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // General
I am planning to head back to Australia in a few months and will be applying for jobs in the IT industry. I have been updating my CV with all my qualifications and all that sort of stuff to make me look good to a potential employer.
I was wondering what they might find if they Googled me and how it might influence their decision. I think this would be a fairly standard practice in this day and age and rightly so.
I decided to type “Daniel Felice” into Google and here are some of the results in the order of ranking (and that are of actually me):
They are all the results that relate to me on the first 3 pages – and I don’t think anyone would look beyond page 3, if that far.
There isn’t anything too incriminating there so I think I am safe – but I wonder to what extend an employer would base Google results in weighing up potential employees. Could someone’s digital footprint cost them a job?
Anything that is put up on the internet is there for years and years to come and these results will increasingly influence potential job offers so be careful what you do on the internet. I don’t mean lewd videos and dirty photos, it could be more general things like comments on social networking websites or photos of nights out.
What is your digital footprint?
// June 14th, 2009 // No Comments » // Wordpress
I have decided to give anyone who signs up for a subscription at Elegant Themes $5 back!
For just $19.95 a year you will get unlimited access to some of the best premium WordPress themes available – and there are over 20 to choose from. All themes come widget ready, up to date to the latest version of WordPress, coded in xhtml 1.0 and CSS. What is best of all – all themes actually work in the latest versions of FireFox, Internet Explorer, Safari and Opera web browsers.
All you have to do is go to Elegant Themes using THIS LINK and sign up for a yearly subscription at $19.95. Once you do that, let me know via the comments below and I will give you back $5!
// June 12th, 2009 // No Comments » // General
I have been a bit quiet lately – not much blogging has been happening! This is because I have been flat out with a few freelance projects, and getting organised for my 40 day tour of Europe before I head back home to Australia after spending the last 3 years in Ireland.
It is a busy time, and I will be flat out until at least September the way things are going. I will head off on holidays in a few weeks, and then leave Ireland for Australia via Europe in August.
Before I go I want to redevelop Explore With Me. It needs a total revamp and I have some good ideas which I think will work well – and we have a travel company that has sponsored 25% of our tour so we want it to look good as it will get some good traffic in August.
When I do blog is all seems to be about BuddyPress. That is because my life seems to be revolving around it at the moment. Between Explore With Me and my freelance work, that is all I seem to be doing. I have not really had the chance to concentrate on making money online through my websites so there is not much to blog about there – but FYI I am making a few dollars here and there.
It’ll be back to normal soon – I promise!
// June 11th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Wordpress
WordPress 2.8 was released yesterday. I have just upgraded a few of my blogs and some of the improvements are great. I have listed a few of the changes below.
Copyright © 2010 Daniel Felice. All rights reserved.
