Edcel - random thoughts of nothingness

Here’s an update to my previous post about the Garland theme for this website/blog.

I tried searching for some more information because in my previous Garland entry, I said that I couldn’t change the color because the wheel for the color customer was not working; which led me to just use the preset colors, which were shades of blue. I had one heck of a time searching for information on where I could find the proper zip file of this Garland theme without the worry of broken codes or functions.

It turned out that there were some issues as well with this Garland theme between Wordpress and Drupal. It’s something about Wordpress.com releasing the theme to its free wordpress accounts. Anyway, I don’t know much about it as I’m just a blogger who’s using Wordpress.org as my host for my domain site and I just want to use the Garland Theme with Color Customizer template cause I find it simple and nice because you can choose the basic colors of the page depending on your mood.

So, back to the story of me looking for the proper template that I could configure. I later came upon this Chris Meller’s blog about the template.

http://incoherentbabble.com/2008/02/03/fresh-garland-release/

I just downloaded the zip file provided on that page and I could see the color picker already when I checked the Color Customizer option in the Design tab! Upon uploading it to this site and changing the colors in the boxes, I encountered a problem. I couldn’t save the colors that I’ve changed.

As you can see the photo above, I tried to alter the custom colors, but when I click the “Save Custom Colors’ button, it would just revert to the Default Colors (shown at the photo below.

So when I visited the link again, I forgot to read the blog post about it. After reviewing Chris Merell’s entry, it included a brief explanation of the changes. In order for the Color Picker to follow the set of colors you would like to have, you need to change the ‘functions.php’ code. Just a minor change. You just need to change the word “Presentation” to “Design”, because the Wordpress.org host I use has the term “Design”. Actually, it’s just an educated guess for me because I have another Wordpress.org hosted blog, I think that my other blog isn’t updated yet to the new release, that’s why it still has the tab “Presentation” in it.

GOING BACK…

After the process of changing it and updating the file, I checked the Color Customizer tab and whaddya know? I could change the colors already! I’m so glad I’m able to find the solution for this theme. It took me some time to resolve this issue too. But afterwards, I felt a sense of relief, cause finally; the Garland theme worked! If anybody stumbles upon this page and wants to use the Garland them for their Wordpress hosted blog in their name, you can follow the link for the download.

Fresh Garland Release by Chris Merell

2 years at work. Has it been that long? May 11, 2006, if my memory serves me right, was the time when we had to introduce ourselves to a group which was later named as wave 9. I don’t want to go into details of each and every moment because it’s tiring. hehe.

Anyway, a lot has changed since. We may never have the opportunity to be as one team when we went live on the floor. We may have been placed from different TLs to another, others have left while some got promoted; but we still make it a point to say our casual Hi’s and Hello’s albeit the silence.

Even if we don’t usually get together on a regular basis and we mostly just exchange smiles and grins, we know and acknowledge where we came from. Thanks for the good times guys. I’m glad to be part of this group.

Congratulations to us, or what’s left of us. Good luck with our respective careers!

Finally! I was able to redirect my free Wordpress.com account to my Wordpress.org account! I’m just so happy that I’m able to do it. So if anybody who’ll type my previous blog (http://edcel.wordpress.com), it will be redirected to this site (http://edcel.net). It saves me the hassle of having to go through a lot of things just to update. Of course, if you want to get something here, it usually comes with a price. And for this, I spent around 10 bucks just to connect the two blogs. But I’m glad anyway because it makes my life a lot less complicated when it comes to updating and informing people about this new link.

In order for me to arrive at this stage, I simply searched for topics in google and stumbled upon this page: Wordpress.com to Wordpress.org. The link has a pdf file which talks about how to redirect your free wordpress blog to your hosted Wordpress account. In any case, here’s the pdf file.

But it wasn’t that smooth sailing for me because the pdf file discussed the process if your domain registrar (where you got your domain) is godaddy.com. As for me, godaddy isn’t where I got the edcel.net domain, because this domain came with the package I bought through my host which is 3ix.com. I tried looking for the settings in my control panel where I could change the nameserver. to the ones provided by Wordpress.

As you might wonder what I’m talking about, one of the requirements for you to be able to add your domain is you have to change the name of your DNS to: NS1.WORDPRESS.COM, NS2.WORDPRESS.COM and NS3.WORDPRESS.COM. The image below shows the error message I got when I tried to do that.

So I contacted the technical support of my host (3ix.com) and informed them about my issue. Since this is where I bought the name of this site, I asked them where I could change the nameserver. It turned out that my hosted blog’s Domain Name Server’s settings is from the backend which means I couldn’t configure it, they are the only ones who can access it. I gave them permission to change my default DNS to that of the ones indicated by Wordpress, and voila! it’s almost fixed!

There was only one thing for me to do to get rid of that error. That is to buy credits from Wordpress because you would have to pay for the service for redirecting. So I paid around 10 bucks using paypal and then followed the rest of the instructions of that pdf file. By the way, the redirecting service is good for one year which proves that the amount is really cheap.

Afterwards, I tried checking my site and typed my free Wordpress.com blog, and it redirected me to my domain which is edcel.net! At least with this, I won’t have a hard time informing other people to update their links as it will just redirect to my site. Sigh, I’m not much of a technical person, but I’m glad I was able to figure this out with the help of good people out there.

I’m so tired right now because of how many hours of facing this monitor. I’ve been working my way into building this site properly, the way I want to see it. However, I’ve had a bad time initially when I bought the site.

For a non-technical person like me, I really had a hard time learning the ropes in creating this site. I bought a domain at 3ix.com since that’s what a colleague at work used. I bought the cheapest package because I don’t think this blogsite would consume that much space as I also have another site. This is more of a place for my own silent rantings. Anyway, like I said, I had a bit of a time.

I was happy when I was able to buy my own domain and host in 3ix.com (I didn’t know what one would need at first in order to have a site) rather than have a free blog account. When everything went through (my credit card payment and the welcome email), I couldn’t hide the excitement.

However, because I was too excited, I didn’t know what to expect. I thought there’d be such a simple step by step process in order to come up with this page. I was wrong, well at least with the hosting package that I got. I didn’t even get any phone help cause the company doesn’t have one for technical issues. Hence, I just proceeded to using their Live Chat Support; which wasn’t that pleasant the first couple of interactions. The agents were a bit fast in delivering their spiels, thinking that I know how to set up this site. I admit that I’m not a technical person, I just want to learn in the process. But I just didn’t like the way they assumed that anybody who signs up for a hosting account. I should know since I’ve done I face customer and technical service interactions almost everyday as that’s my line of job.

But the third time that I was able to talk to a 3ix representative, I was able to get bit of an idea where to go and what to do. I figured I just have to use my searching skills in finding valid information in forums and other blogs.

So this is it, from edcel.wordpress.com to edcel.net . I’m still happy with what I’ve attained despite the many moments that I wanted to give up this page. But I said to myself that I have to go through with this for my added knowledge as there’s no use quitting since I’m not that much of a coward; at least to some extent.

I finally bought a domain for this blog! I wanted to get my own site cause I have another blog that talked about making your own money online; however, I didn’t have first hand experience in creating a site so at least it would add to my credibility that I was able to make one. Not to mention that I’m learning in the process.

Anyway, I was searching for this Garland theme because that’s what my previous free wordpress account had as the theme. I found this one quite simple and clean. The problem I’m facing right now with this Garland theme is that I’m unable to change the color which is supposed to be the main feature according to the ones who created this template.

Garland by Stefan Nagtegaal and Steven Wittens

A flexible, three-column theme with customizable colors. Design based on Themetastic for Drupal by Stefan Nagtegaal and Steven Wittens.

I downloaded the template here:

Garland theme

There seems to be no “wheel” where you can change the color as I can’t seem to find it. What would appear in the Color Customizer tab would just be the boxes where you can change the html color code. But when I tried to save the codes that I put, it would just revert back to the default color settings which is the color of this site.

I’m still waiting for something to happen as the blue color isn’t very appealing to me. Hopefully, I can find a fix for this. I’ve been searching for different forums and blogs and websites to check if I’m not the only one experiencing this. If ever I won’t be able to find a solution, I’ll find other means.

A friend’s dad just passed away.

I was off to work one Wednesday morning, I was hurrying to go up to the office cause we had a meeting at 10:00. I was late again for 15 minutes. The moment I clocked in, I got a call from a colleague/friend saying that she needed help because she’s the only one left in the hospital with her father and that she didn’t know what will happen with her pop.

I asked permission from my boss, but the problem is that I’m not the immediate family. So I had to wait till my break until I could go out and drop by. I told her initially that I would go and visit her when she called. But since I couldn’t, I just texted her saying sorry cause I was still on training and that I would go when I had the chance. A few minutes passed, she texted me her father was already gone…

I felt guilty at that time because I already told her I’d be there; I also felt helpless in the process. My other colleague mentioned though that I shouldn’t feel guilty cause I have an excuse and it’s not my fault

Fast forward to the end of our training, I directly went to the hospital and checked on the situation. She was okay, but her father was already in the morgue. She called me in the first place cause I’m only one of a handful of people that would be there for her when she needed support. I’m glad that she understood the dilemma that I was in.

After about an hour talking and being there, I went back to work.

I just came back from somewhere downtown as I was helping a friend sell their merchandize at a local bazaar nearby. Anyway, I was the one who carried their things back and forth the 3rd and ground floor.

I was also able to see some good finds there. They have stuffs from a blomus stainless steel fireplace set to clothes, from a blomus stainless steel firepit to bathtubs; all sorts of stuff which made it all the more great in watching out for new merchandise. What I found great is a blomus stainless steel teaset because of practicality. Unfortunately, I didn’t bring and sufficient cash in order for me to buy. But I’m planning to go back there anyway.

I like the fact that I’m able to help some friends with their new ventue. It’s hard to start a business. But their project seems worth it. Hopefully everything will turn out properous for them. As for me, I’m going back to the place to get me some of the steel I reserved.

I find myself weird sometimes that I get to maintain multiple blogs, well maybe not that multiple. But is 4 already a lot? The two other blogs already have their own niche, but the other two I’ve just categorized as personal ones. These other two blogs I get to write about anything that fancies me; of course, the first one is more public.

I asked some colleagues if this is normal, do I have some sort of split or multiple personality problem; or if this is at all a type of disorder. Anyway, I still don’t think I’m crazy; at least not yet anyway.

If I only knew how to be indifferent, I wouldn’t have to be so self-conscious.

Somebody said I might be a fun person to hang out with. It’s a good feeling knowing that people still have the notion of thinking and saying nice things about you; and they’re sincere at that. I don’t even know if it’s true but I just want to show myself as a happy-go-lucky person who doesn’t want to think too much negative thoughts cause I already have a lot already. That statement actually brightened my day, because it made me feel that I’m still worth something, which I rarely get nowadays.