We’ve all been there, lured in by the promise that this plugin or that widget will take care of all that ails our WordPress site. When we shake ourselves back into reality we realize that we were promised rainbows and unicorns but instead have rain and horse droppings.

To that end, I have a few plugins that I have installed multiple times, provide a lot functionality, are easy to use, and actually make me happy to use them. Without further ado, here they are: (more…)

Wow, it has been awhile since I’ve last posted. The quick story is that I’ve been busy between redesigning our work website, kept running with my kids’ activities, and maintaining about eight other websites as well. I still have many photos (i.e. thousands) to go through and post as well.

I’d like to share something that I’ve learned these past few months. First of all, if you are using a free WordPress theme you’ll want to make sure you got it from a legitimate site. In doing research for a new design for work, I came across a “free” theme called ‘Coffee Break.’ As it turns out, it was posted on a site that I then found out didn’t have the authority to post it. ‘Coffee Break‘ is a cool theme from Woo Themes and much to my chagrin is not free. (more…)

I’m peeved with T-Mobile. Until the other day I had no major issues with them other than a “rebate” that took almost 5 months to get credited..story for another day. I recently found out that even though I just signed up for “unlimited web access,” for testing our soon-to-be mobile site at work, I can’t view websites using any other browser on my phone other than what is provided by T-Mobile (which is crap by the way.)

My phone is a Nokia 6133…not top-of-the-line nor a smart-phone but has been good for my purposes. In trying to install Opera Mini on my phone I found that while I could download it, I couldn’t install it. The application access option on my menu that would allow me to install was grayed out. This is a feature Nokia provided as a factory setting. However, in T-Mobile’s “branding” process they deactivated it. They “don’t support third-party applications.” Huh?

I’m sure Dell, HP, Apple and every computer company would say the same thing but they at least give you the option and opportunity to screw up your system should a third-party application go awry. I signed up for “unlimited web access” so I could surf using my mobile, but I can’t even make it a pleasant experience?

Do other cell phone providers “brand” their mobile devices to make them barely functional also? While I can’t afford to go all out with a Blackberry Curve with unlimited surfing and unlimited text, kids and house ya know, I’m more than willing to make do with what I’ve got…plus a little bit of application help.

Eight months to go before the contract is up and the research into other carriers has begun…