Author Archives: Sterling Hamilton

Mobile Detection and Redirection using the HandSetDetection API

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Me and the boys at DealerTrend have been trying to provide a scalable solution for mobile sites to our clients. We’d experimented with the many plugins available in the WordPress repository and most of them made the following mistakes.

  • Do all the running all the logic server side, which means caching is no longer possible via a proxy server.
  • Rendering the new content under the same domain. In essence restructuring an entire sites markup and outputting the new content. This could be seen as duplication within the same product.
  • Use static formulas for user agent detection.

Let’s take a look at the reasons I think these are mistakes.

First, running the logic on the server side produces an outcome…if that outcome is cached then someone else will see that outcome even if it doesn’t fit their situation. This means you can’t cache from an external server, it has to be done at the object level within WordPress. Which may not be ideal given that WordPress is using MySQL and in some cases, Apache which can only handle a (relatively) small load.

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CSS3 Flexible Box Layout Explained by Richard Shepherd

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The folks over at Smashing Magazine put out quite a bit of quality content.

Today I decided to get back into the flow of reading at least an article a day. They posted an article from Richard Shepherd covering the CSS3 Flexible Box concept. A worthwhile read, and as I was doing such it occurred to me I should start posting some of the worthwhile reads and sending users who are interested in learning over to their site :)

The flexible box layout module?—?or “flexbox,” to use its popular nickname?—?is an interesting part of the W3C Working Draft. The flexbox specification is still a draft and subject to change, so keep your eyes on the W3C, but it is part of a new arsenal of properties that will revolutionize how we lay out pages. At least it will be when cross-browser support catches up.

In the meantime, we can experiment with flexbox and even use it on production websites where fallbacks will still render the page correctly. It may be a little while until we consider it as mainstream as, say, border-radius, but our job is to investigate new technologies and use them where possible. That said, when it comes to something as fundamental as page layout, we need to tread carefully.

CSS3 Flexible Box Layout Explained by Richard Shepherd

Catch the rest of the article here!

Plugin Review: Raw HTML Snippets

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Like the Goddamn Batman, my services are required yet again.

It’s plugin judgment day!

Sometimes users need to use HTML/CSS/Javascript in pages or posts. While this is no doubt going to produce quality worse than the anything containing Kyra Sedgwick (seriously this will RUIN your acting career), sometimes people need to do what they need to do.

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Plugin Review: Members

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Another day, another WordPress plugin review!

Today I’ll be reviewing the Members plugin.

Description:

Members is a plugin that extends your control over your blog. It’s a user, role, and content management plugin that was created to make WordPress a more powerful CMS.

The foundation of the plugin is its extensive role and capability management system. This is the backbone of all the current features and planned future features.

Members

Let’s get this show on the road!

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