WordPress | Developer of Toronto's Open Source Web

05th May2012

Another succesful client website launched

by admin

We have just Launched a WordPress based website. The name of the company is PaperBoat Creations, they create some amazing stuff.

Please Make sure to see these amazing wedding and baby stationery creations.

Category : Portfolio, WordPress

Tags : design, Stationery, WordPress

0 Comm

29th Feb2012

Drupal Archive Tree Module

by admin

If you ever needed to create a blog fro your client running Drupal, you can’t help to wish certain aspects of WordPress would be part of Drupal. Undeniably one of those items is archive. Now granted WordPress has many widget extensions to make the archive look many different ways, the problem is, in Drupal there is no basic to base it on…

So recently i had a client who wanted to have an accordion archive tree for their website. they were using Drupal 7 and the previous developer after struggling with it for a while just gave up…

My first inclination was to just write it into the theme, but them mentioning that they plan to swap themes for different seasons, made this not sustainable solution. So i decided to create a custom PHP block, that way we could reuse it in any theme.

Archive Block

<?php

drupal_add_library('system', 'ui.accordion');
drupal_add_js('jQuery(document).ready(function(){jQuery("#archivetree").accordion({ active: "h3:last" });});', 'inline');

$result = db_query("SELECT DATE_FORMAT((DATE_ADD('19700101', INTERVAL node.created SECOND) + INTERVAL -18000 SECOND), '%Y%m') AS created_year_month, COUNT(node.nid) AS num_records
FROM 
{node} node
WHERE (( (node.status = '1') AND (node.type IN  ('blog')) ))
GROUP BY created_year_month
ORDER BY created_year_month ASC");


foreach ($result as $record) {
    
    $created_year_month = $record->created_year_month;
    $num_records = $record->num_records;
    $year =  substr($created_year_month, 0, 4);
    $month = substr($created_year_month, -2, 2);
    $month_name = date( 'F', mktime(0, 0, 0, $month) );
    
    $archive_tree[$year][$month] = array(
        'month'            => $month,
        'name'               => $month_name,
        'num_records'      => $num_records,
        'year'               => $year,
    );
}
$i_year = 0;
foreach ($archive_tree as $list_year) {
    if ($i_year == 0){
        $output = "<div id='archivetree'>\n";
        $i_year++;
    }

        $i_month = 0;
        foreach ($list_year as $list_month) {
            
            if ($i_month == 0){
                $output .= "<h3><a href='#'>";
                $output .= $list_month['year'];
                $output .= "</a></h3>\n";
                $output .= "<ul>\n";
                $i_month++;
            }

            $text = $list_month['name'];
            $text .= " (";
            $text .= $list_month['num_records'];
            $text .= ")";
            $path = "blog/archive/";
            $path .= $list_month['year'];
            $path .= "/";
            $path .= $list_month['month'];
            $link = l($text,$path);
            $output .= "<li>$link</li>\n";            
        }
        $output .= "</ul>\n";

}
        $output .= "</div>\n";
print $output;
            
?>

<?php

drupal_add_library('system', 'ui.accordion');

drupal_add_js('jQuery(document).ready(function(){jQuery("#archivetree").accordion({ active: "h3:last" });});', 'inline');

$result = db_query("SELECT DATE_FORMAT((DATE_ADD('19700101', INTERVAL node.created SECOND) + INTERVAL -18000 SECOND), '%Y%m') AS created_year_month, COUNT(node.nid) AS num_records

FROM

{node} node

WHERE (( (node.status = '1') AND (node.type IN ('blog')) ))

GROUP BY created_year_month

ORDER BY created_year_month ASC");

foreach ($result as $record) {

$created_year_month = $record->created_year_month;

$num_records = $record->num_records;

$year = substr($created_year_month, 0, 4);

$month = substr($created_year_month, -2, 2);

$month_name = date( 'F', mktime(0, 0, 0, $month) );

$archive_tree[$year][$month] = array(

'month' => $month,

'name' => $month_name,

'num_records' => $num_records,

'year' => $year,

);

}

$i_year = 0;

foreach ($archive_tree as $list_year) {

if ($i_year == 0){

$output = "<div id='archivetree'>\n";

$i_year++;

}

$i_month = 0;

foreach ($list_year as $list_month) {

if ($i_month == 0){

$output .= "<h3><a href='#'>";

$output .= $list_month['year'];

$output .= "</a></h3>\n";

$output .= "<ul>\n";

$i_month++;

}

$text = $list_month['name'];

$text .= " (";

$text .= $list_month['num_records'];

$text .= ")";

$path = "blog/archive/";

$path .= $list_month['year'];

$path .= "/";

$path .= $list_month['month'];

$link = l($text,$path);

$output .= "<li>$link</li>\n";

}

$output .= "</ul>\n";

}

$output .= "</div>\n";

print $output;

As you could see from the code we are using the ui.accordion from the jQuery UI which since Drupal 7 release is being included in the core.

Then my curiosity coupled with the fact that i had few more similar projects lined up won me over. I wanted to see if i could make it into Drupal module.

And “surprise” i have created the module learning few things along the way and breaking some drupal rules along the way… So here is how i have done it:

Step 1: create .info file, here is mine: (archive_accordion.info)

name = Archive Accordion
description = Archive Accordion will give you a new block for the blog content type.
package = User interface
core = 7.x
dependencies[] = block
dependencies[] = views

name = Archive Accordion

description = Archive Accordion will give you a new block for the blog content type.

package = User interface

core = 7.x

dependencies[] = block

dependencies[] = views

Step 2: Now that info file is created lets create the module file:(archive_accordion.module)

<?php

/**
 * @file
 * Archive Accordion will give you a new block for the blog content type.
 */
 
 
 /**
 * Implements hook_help.
 *
 * Displays help and module information.
 *
 * @param path 
 *   Which path of the site we're using to display help
 * @param arg 
 *   Array that holds the current path as returned from arg() function
 */
function archive_accordion_help($path, $arg) {
  switch ($path) {
    case "admin/help#archive_accordion":
      return '<p>'.  t("Archive Accordion will give you a new block for the blog content type") .'</p>';
      break;
  }
} 

/**
 * Implements hook_block_info().
 */
function archive_accordion_block_info() {
  $blocks['archive_accordion'] = array(
    'info' => t('Archive Accordion'), //The name that will appear in the block list.
    'cache' => DRUPAL_CACHE_PER_ROLE, //Default
  );
  return $blocks;
}

/**
 * Custom content function. 
 * 
 * @return 
 *   A result set of the targeted posts.
 */
function archive_accordion_contents(){
  
  //Later fix Use Database API to retrieve current posts.
  /*
  $query = db_select('node', 'n')
    ->fields('n', array('nid', 'title', 'created'))
    ->condition('status', 1) //Published.
    ->condition('created', array($start_time, $end_time), 'BETWEEN')
    ->orderBy('created', 'DESC') //Most recent first.
    ->execute(); 
  return $query;  
  */
  $result = db_query("SELECT DATE_FORMAT((DATE_ADD('19700101', INTERVAL node.created SECOND) + INTERVAL -18000 SECOND), '%Y%m') AS created_year_month, COUNT(node.nid) AS num_records
    FROM 
    {node} node
    WHERE (( (node.status = '1') AND (node.type IN  ('blog')) ))
    GROUP BY created_year_month
    ORDER BY created_year_month DESC");
    
    return $result;
}

/**
 * Implements hook_block_view().
 * 
 * Prepares the contents of the block.
 */
function archive_accordion_block_view($delta = '') {
  switch($delta){
    case 'archive_accordion':
      $block['subject'] = t('Archive Accordion');
      if(user_access('access content')){
        //Use our custom function to retrieve data.
        $result = archive_accordion_contents();
        //Array to contain items for the block to render.
        $items = array();
        //Iterate over the resultset and format as links.
        foreach ($result as $record) {
    
    $created_year_month = $record->created_year_month;
    $num_records = $record->num_records;
    $year =  substr($created_year_month, 0, 4);
    $month = substr($created_year_month, -2, 2);
    $month_name = date( 'F', mktime(0, 0, 0, $month) );
    
    $archive_tree[$year][$month] = array(
        'month'            => $month,
        'name'               => $month_name,
        'num_records'      => $num_records,
        'year'               => $year,
    );
}
$i_year = 0;
foreach ($archive_tree as $list_year) {
    if ($i_year == 0){
        $output = "<div id='archivetree1'>\n";
        $i_year++;
    }

        $i_month = 0;
        foreach ($list_year as $list_month) {
            
            if ($i_month == 0){
                $output .= "<h3><a href='#'>";
                $output .= $list_month['year'];
                $output .= "</a></h3>\n";
                $output .= "<ul>\n";
                $i_month++;
            }

            $text = $list_month['name'];
            $text .= " (";
            $text .= $list_month['num_records'];
            $text .= ")";
            $path = "blog/archive/";
            $path .= $list_month['year'];
            $path .= "/";
            $path .= $list_month['month'];
            $link = l($text,$path);
            $output .= "<li>$link</li>\n";            
        }
        $output .= "</ul>\n";

}
        $output .= "</div>\n";
      
        if (empty($archive_tree)) { //No content.
          $block['content'] = t('No posts available.');  
        } 
        else {
          //need to fix to Pass data through theme function.
          $block['content'] = $output;
        }
      }
  }
  $build['myelement']['#attached']['library'][] = array('system', 'ui.accordion');
  $build['myelement']['#attached']['js'][] = array('data' => '(function($){$(function() { $("#archivetree1").accordion({ active: "h3:first" }); })})(jQuery);', 'type' => 'inline');
  $output .= drupal_render($build);
  return $block; 
}

/**
 * Implementation of hook_views_api().
*/
function archive_accordion_views_api() {
  return array(
    'api' => 3.0,
  );  
}

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<?php

/**

* @file

* Archive Accordion will give you a new block for the blog content type.

/**

* Implements hook_help.

* Displays help and module information.

* @param path

* Which path of the site we're using to display help

* @param arg

* Array that holds the current path as returned from arg() function

function archive_accordion_help($path, $arg) {

switch ($path) {

case "admin/help#archive_accordion":

return '<p>'. t("Archive Accordion will give you a new block for the blog content type") .'</p>';

break;

}

/**

* Implements hook_block_info().

function archive_accordion_block_info() {

$blocks['archive_accordion'] = array(

'info' => t('Archive Accordion'), //The name that will appear in the block list.

'cache' => DRUPAL_CACHE_PER_ROLE, //Default

);

return $blocks;

}

/**

* Custom content function.

* @return

* A result set of the targeted posts.

function archive_accordion_contents(){

//Later fix Use Database API to retrieve current posts.

$query = db_select('node', 'n')

->fields('n', array('nid', 'title', 'created'))

->condition('status', 1) //Published.

->condition('created', array($start_time, $end_time), 'BETWEEN')

->orderBy('created', 'DESC') //Most recent first.

->execute();

return $query;

$result = db_query("SELECT DATE_FORMAT((DATE_ADD('19700101', INTERVAL node.created SECOND) + INTERVAL -18000 SECOND), '%Y%m') AS created_year_month, COUNT(node.nid) AS num_records

FROM

{node} node

WHERE (( (node.status = '1') AND (node.type IN ('blog')) ))

GROUP BY created_year_month

ORDER BY created_year_month DESC");

return $result;

}

/**

* Implements hook_block_view().

* Prepares the contents of the block.

function archive_accordion_block_view($delta = '') {

switch($delta){

case 'archive_accordion':

$block['subject'] = t('Archive Accordion');

if(user_access('access content')){

//Use our custom function to retrieve data.

$result = archive_accordion_contents();

//Array to contain items for the block to render.

$items = array();

//Iterate over the resultset and format as links.

foreach ($result as $record) {

$created_year_month = $record->created_year_month;

$num_records = $record->num_records;

$year = substr($created_year_month, 0, 4);

$month = substr($created_year_month, -2, 2);

$month_name = date( 'F', mktime(0, 0, 0, $month) );

$archive_tree[$year][$month] = array(

'month' => $month,

'name' => $month_name,

'num_records' => $num_records,

'year' => $year,

);

}

$i_year = 0;

foreach ($archive_tree as $list_year) {

if ($i_year == 0){

$output = "<div id='archivetree1'>\n";

$i_year++;

}

$i_month = 0;

foreach ($list_year as $list_month) {

if ($i_month == 0){

$output .= "<h3><a href='#'>";

$output .= $list_month['year'];

$output .= "</a></h3>\n";

$output .= "<ul>\n";

$i_month++;

}

$text = $list_month['name'];

$text .= " (";

$text .= $list_month['num_records'];

$text .= ")";

$path = "blog/archive/";

$path .= $list_month['year'];

$path .= "/";

$path .= $list_month['month'];

$link = l($text,$path);

$output .= "<li>$link</li>\n";

}

$output .= "</ul>\n";

}

$output .= "</div>\n";

if (empty($archive_tree)) { //No content.

$block['content'] = t('No posts available.');

}

else {

//need to fix to Pass data through theme function.

$block['content'] = $output;

}

$build['myelement']['#attached']['library'][] = array('system', 'ui.accordion');

$build['myelement']['#attached']['js'][] = array('data' => '(function($){$(function() { $("#archivetree1").accordion({ active: "h3:first" }); })})(jQuery);', 'type' => 'inline');

$output .= drupal_render($build);

return $block;

}

/**

* Implementation of hook_views_api().

function archive_accordion_views_api() {

return array(

'api' => 3.0,

);

}

If you will look at the last part of the code above, you will notice that there is a reference to views api. the reason is that i also built a view that goes with it. (This was the easiest part, as all i had todo is export the view to code.) So here is the 3rd file in the folder (archive_accordion.views_default.inc)

<?php
/**
 * Implementation of hook_views_default_views().
 */
function archive_accordion_views_default_views() {
 
  $view = new view;
$view->name = 'blog_archive';
$view->description = 'This view works together with the Archive Accordion Block, if you didn't activate it yet please do... :) ';
$view->tag = 'default';
$view->base_table = 'node';
$view->human_name = 'Blog Archive';
$view->core = 7;
$view->api_version = '3.0';
$view->disabled = FALSE; /* Edit this to true to make a default view disabled initially */

/* Display: Master */
$handler = $view->new_display('default', 'Master', 'default');
$handler->display->display_options['title'] = 'Blog Archive';
$handler->display->display_options['access']['type'] = 'perm';
$handler->display->display_options['cache']['type'] = 'none';
$handler->display->display_options['query']['type'] = 'views_query';
$handler->display->display_options['query']['options']['query_comment'] = FALSE;
$handler->display->display_options['exposed_form']['type'] = 'basic';
$handler->display->display_options['pager']['type'] = 'full';
$handler->display->display_options['pager']['options']['items_per_page'] = '10';
$handler->display->display_options['style_plugin'] = 'default';
$handler->display->display_options['row_plugin'] = 'node';
$handler->display->display_options['row_options']['links'] = FALSE;
/* Field: Content: Title */
$handler->display->display_options['fields']['title']['id'] = 'title';
$handler->display->display_options['fields']['title']['table'] = 'node';
$handler->display->display_options['fields']['title']['field'] = 'title';
$handler->display->display_options['fields']['title']['label'] = '';
$handler->display->display_options['fields']['title']['alter']['alter_text'] = 0;
$handler->display->display_options['fields']['title']['alter']['make_link'] = 0;
$handler->display->display_options['fields']['title']['alter']['absolute'] = 0;
$handler->display->display_options['fields']['title']['alter']['word_boundary'] = 0;
$handler->display->display_options['fields']['title']['alter']['ellipsis'] = 0;
$handler->display->display_options['fields']['title']['alter']['strip_tags'] = 0;
$handler->display->display_options['fields']['title']['alter']['trim'] = 0;
$handler->display->display_options['fields']['title']['alter']['html'] = 0;
$handler->display->display_options['fields']['title']['hide_empty'] = 0;
$handler->display->display_options['fields']['title']['empty_zero'] = 0;
$handler->display->display_options['fields']['title']['link_to_node'] = 1;
/* Sort criterion: Content: Post date */
$handler->display->display_options['sorts']['created']['id'] = 'created';
$handler->display->display_options['sorts']['created']['table'] = 'node';
$handler->display->display_options['sorts']['created']['field'] = 'created';
$handler->display->display_options['sorts']['created']['order'] = 'DESC';
/* Contextual filter: Content: Created year */
$handler->display->display_options['arguments']['created_year']['id'] = 'created_year';
$handler->display->display_options['arguments']['created_year']['table'] = 'node';
$handler->display->display_options['arguments']['created_year']['field'] = 'created_year';
$handler->display->display_options['arguments']['created_year']['default_argument_type'] = 'fixed';
$handler->display->display_options['arguments']['created_year']['default_argument_skip_url'] = 0;
$handler->display->display_options['arguments']['created_year']['summary']['number_of_records'] = '0';
$handler->display->display_options['arguments']['created_year']['summary']['format'] = 'default_summary';
$handler->display->display_options['arguments']['created_year']['summary_options']['items_per_page'] = '25';
/* Contextual filter: Content: Created month */
$handler->display->display_options['arguments']['created_month']['id'] = 'created_month';
$handler->display->display_options['arguments']['created_month']['table'] = 'node';
$handler->display->display_options['arguments']['created_month']['field'] = 'created_month';
$handler->display->display_options['arguments']['created_month']['default_argument_type'] = 'fixed';
$handler->display->display_options['arguments']['created_month']['default_argument_skip_url'] = 0;
$handler->display->display_options['arguments']['created_month']['summary']['number_of_records'] = '0';
$handler->display->display_options['arguments']['created_month']['summary']['format'] = 'default_summary';
$handler->display->display_options['arguments']['created_month']['summary_options']['items_per_page'] = '25';
/* Filter criterion: Content: Published */
$handler->display->display_options['filters']['status']['id'] = 'status';
$handler->display->display_options['filters']['status']['table'] = 'node';
$handler->display->display_options['filters']['status']['field'] = 'status';
$handler->display->display_options['filters']['status']['value'] = 1;
$handler->display->display_options['filters']['status']['group'] = 0;
$handler->display->display_options['filters']['status']['expose']['operator'] = FALSE;
/* Filter criterion: Content: Type */
$handler->display->display_options['filters']['type']['id'] = 'type';
$handler->display->display_options['filters']['type']['table'] = 'node';
$handler->display->display_options['filters']['type']['field'] = 'type';
$handler->display->display_options['filters']['type']['value'] = array(
  'blog' => 'blog',
);

/* Display: Page */
$handler = $view->new_display('page', 'Page', 'page');
$handler->display->display_options['path'] = 'blog/archive/%/%';

 
  $views[$view->name] = $view;
  return $views;
}

<?php

/**

* Implementation of hook_views_default_views().

function archive_accordion_views_default_views() {

$view = new view;

$view->name = 'blog_archive';

$view->description = 'This view works together with the Archive Accordion Block, if you didn't activate it yet please do... :) ';

$view->tag = 'default';

$view->base_table = 'node';

$view->human_name = 'Blog Archive';

$view->core = 7;

$view->api_version = '3.0';

$view->disabled = FALSE; /* Edit this to true to make a default view disabled initially */

/* Display: Master */

$handler = $view->new_display('default', 'Master', 'default');

$handler->display->display_options['title'] = 'Blog Archive';

$handler->display->display_options['access']['type'] = 'perm';

$handler->display->display_options['cache']['type'] = 'none';

$handler->display->display_options['query']['type'] = 'views_query';

$handler->display->display_options['query']['options']['query_comment'] = FALSE;

$handler->display->display_options['exposed_form']['type'] = 'basic';

$handler->display->display_options['pager']['type'] = 'full';

$handler->display->display_options['pager']['options']['items_per_page'] = '10';

$handler->display->display_options['style_plugin'] = 'default';

$handler->display->display_options['row_plugin'] = 'node';

$handler->display->display_options['row_options']['links'] = FALSE;

/* Field: Content: Title */

$handler->display->display_options['fields']['title']['id'] = 'title';

$handler->display->display_options['fields']['title']['table'] = 'node';

$handler->display->display_options['fields']['title']['field'] = 'title';

$handler->display->display_options['fields']['title']['label'] = '';

$handler->display->display_options['fields']['title']['alter']['alter_text'] = 0;

$handler->display->display_options['fields']['title']['alter']['make_link'] = 0;

$handler->display->display_options['fields']['title']['alter']['absolute'] = 0;

$handler->display->display_options['fields']['title']['alter']['word_boundary'] = 0;

$handler->display->display_options['fields']['title']['alter']['ellipsis'] = 0;

$handler->display->display_options['fields']['title']['alter']['strip_tags'] = 0;

$handler->display->display_options['fields']['title']['alter']['trim'] = 0;

$handler->display->display_options['fields']['title']['alter']['html'] = 0;

$handler->display->display_options['fields']['title']['hide_empty'] = 0;

$handler->display->display_options['fields']['title']['empty_zero'] = 0;

$handler->display->display_options['fields']['title']['link_to_node'] = 1;

/* Sort criterion: Content: Post date */

$handler->display->display_options['sorts']['created']['id'] = 'created';

$handler->display->display_options['sorts']['created']['table'] = 'node';

$handler->display->display_options['sorts']['created']['field'] = 'created';

$handler->display->display_options['sorts']['created']['order'] = 'DESC';

/* Contextual filter: Content: Created year */

$handler->display->display_options['arguments']['created_year']['id'] = 'created_year';

$handler->display->display_options['arguments']['created_year']['table'] = 'node';

$handler->display->display_options['arguments']['created_year']['field'] = 'created_year';

$handler->display->display_options['arguments']['created_year']['default_argument_type'] = 'fixed';

$handler->display->display_options['arguments']['created_year']['default_argument_skip_url'] = 0;

$handler->display->display_options['arguments']['created_year']['summary']['number_of_records'] = '0';

$handler->display->display_options['arguments']['created_year']['summary']['format'] = 'default_summary';

$handler->display->display_options['arguments']['created_year']['summary_options']['items_per_page'] = '25';

/* Contextual filter: Content: Created month */

$handler->display->display_options['arguments']['created_month']['id'] = 'created_month';

$handler->display->display_options['arguments']['created_month']['table'] = 'node';

$handler->display->display_options['arguments']['created_month']['field'] = 'created_month';

$handler->display->display_options['arguments']['created_month']['default_argument_type'] = 'fixed';

$handler->display->display_options['arguments']['created_month']['default_argument_skip_url'] = 0;

$handler->display->display_options['arguments']['created_month']['summary']['number_of_records'] = '0';

$handler->display->display_options['arguments']['created_month']['summary']['format'] = 'default_summary';

$handler->display->display_options['arguments']['created_month']['summary_options']['items_per_page'] = '25';

/* Filter criterion: Content: Published */

$handler->display->display_options['filters']['status']['id'] = 'status';

$handler->display->display_options['filters']['status']['table'] = 'node';

$handler->display->display_options['filters']['status']['field'] = 'status';

$handler->display->display_options['filters']['status']['value'] = 1;

$handler->display->display_options['filters']['status']['group'] = 0;

$handler->display->display_options['filters']['status']['expose']['operator'] = FALSE;

/* Filter criterion: Content: Type */

$handler->display->display_options['filters']['type']['id'] = 'type';

$handler->display->display_options['filters']['type']['table'] = 'node';

$handler->display->display_options['filters']['type']['field'] = 'type';

$handler->display->display_options['filters']['type']['value'] = array(

'blog' => 'blog',

);

/* Display: Page */

$handler = $view->new_display('page', 'Page', 'page');

$handler->display->display_options['path'] = 'blog/archive/%/%';

$views[$view->name] = $view;

return $views;

}

Hope you enjoyed this brief tutorial, if you have any questions or suggestions please feel free to leave a comment.

Complete code:
Archive Accordion Module

Category : Blog, Drupal, Modules

Tags : Blog, Blog software, CMS, Content management system, Drupal, JQuery, Open source, PHP, Views, WordPress

0 Comm

11th May2011

From Joomla 1.0 to WordPress 3.1

by admin

I recently had a client who had an Joomla website with hundreds of posts. He had a couple of problems with his old website:

The site was loading very slow or not loading at all some times
Website flexibility was an issue
the person hired to maintain and to-do all the updates had a hard time working with very not intuitive Joomla

The client made a decision that its time to migrate site to some other CMS (content management system). The question became which would it be Drupal or WordPress. So we sat down and looked at his current site (whatever we were able to see, since part of the loading issue was the template we had to temporally switch to a different template). Here is a short list of stuff we looked at (and thoughts):

The site had a few hundred articles (need an automatic importer)
The articles are to the most part text with some image in the middle (WordPress could do it)
Though the articles are broken down into categories the layout to display them is identical (Would be easier to replicate with Drupal, but does the client actually care about this or would he not care to have all of them look the same)

As you probably guessed we went for the WordPress in this case. We started looking for a migration/importer solution to bring over the old content, but we hit a roadblock, there was an importer from Joomla 1.5 to WordPress 3, (to make it work would need to update the joomla first) and there was one for Joomla 1.0 to wordpress 2.3 (to make this work will need to install an old version of wordpress import and then upgrade or export as wordress to wordpress). Since i wasn’t in the mood of updating an already broken Joomla site. I decided to use the second script Joomla to WordPress Import Wizard.

So here are the steps we took.

Install a new wordpress 3.0 on a sub-domain ”New”
Install wordpress 2.3 on sub-domain ”temp”
upload the importer/migration script to “import” folder
create all the Post categories corresponding to the old site in the temporary wordpress install
run the import script to import the content one category at a time
Clean up (move the contents of “new” sub-domain to the main public_html/www folder, delete unnecessary temp sub-domain and import folder)
Enjoy the new site

The whole process including theme customization took approximatively 15 Hours. And here is a link to the new website http://arniegotfryd.com. Any comments or questions?

Category : Blog, WordPress

Tags : Blog, CMS, Content management system, Drupal, Joomla, Open source, Website, WordPress

2 Comm

10th Jan2010

From HTML Website to CMS with the same design powered by WordPress

by admin

Last week i had a task that i was really waiting to get one of these days. We had a client who has a basic informative website about a service they offer. The website was created a couple of years ago and they were very happy with design, but they wanted it to be a CMS. So that if they want to add another page they don’t have to manually create the page and add a link to it from the navigation menu on all other pages.

An obvious choice was WordPress since all they need is a 10 page website plus Blog, Drupal would be to big of an overkill for this scenario. Now, even though i already made more then 30 WordPress installs, i usually used either a free them and just made some small changes or even sometimes the client liked the theme so i didn’t even had to touch it.

I was looking for a blank WordPress theme that while having all the necessary elements would let me do the design. And while i am sure there are dozens of those here is one i used and was pretty happy with, its called WP Framework their own description says it in the best way possible:

A blank WordPress Theme Framework that’s everything you need, and nothing you don’t

And thats exactly what it was. All i had to do is break the existing HTML into parts as following:

header.php will hold parts of the HTML that never change from page to page on the top of the page
footer.php holds parts of the HTML that never change from page to page on the bottom of the page
sidebar.php has to have the HTML that will container that will be able to stretch based on the widgets activated in the back-end menu
and of course index.php thats where you include the header, footer and sidebar plus the container for the main part of the page your posts and pages.

Then i imported the CSS and 99% of the site was done. Feels great -I just created my first WordPress theme. Having done it i see first hand why there are so many nice and free WordPress themes, since you don’t have to be a coder to make one.

Category : WordPress

Tags : Cascading Style Sheets, Content management system, HTML, Templates, Website, WordPress

12 Comm

Developer of Toronto's Open Source Web

Another succesful client website launched

Drupal Archive Tree Module

From Joomla 1.0 to WordPress 3.1

From HTML Website to CMS with the same design powered by WordPress

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