Supposedly I had a few outdated scripts running on this domain that some fishing software took over and we were demanded to shut it down.
So what do you do in a situation like this? Upgrade everything that you’re actually still using and DELETE everything else.
HAHAH!
So I got pretty lucky. I was able to figure out what was wrong with the old installation of Wordpress. I exported the posts and categories and now I’ve moved everything over to a new fresh installation and everything appears to be working just fine now. I’m still going to have to work on a few things. I have absolutely no new articles to write up. I don’t currently have a theme setup either, and I’m going to have to do everything I get the plugins back up and running. Either way I imagine it’ll take me a while to complete everything. Maybe I’ll have some time this weekend where I can begin getting everything accomplished.
So for now, this site is still on hiatus but as you can see – it’s been nothing but problems in order to get things back up and running!
I know I haven’t really done a lot of posting here, and that’s mainly because I’ve just been too busy with work. As I’ve noted numerous times before – it truly is my ultimate goal to get this site back up and running. So I’ve been working with a few things, there have been some bumps in the road, and unfortunately there are other things going on right now that need to take the priority while this goes on the back burner. I haven’t forgotten about anything and I’ve tried very hard to note abandon anything either. Hopefully in the upcoming month I’ll have more going on here. So if you’ve been a loyal visitor for quite some time I greatly appreciate it and please keep checking back for updates!
It’s been quite some time since I updated this template. There are numerous plugins that do not work with the newest version of Wordpress and it’s causing some trouble with a few of my sponsored links, as well as the bulk of my sidebar in general. I’m going to spend some time fixing these problems and when that’s said and done I’m going to then begin working on a new template for this site. I do like the general look and feel of the sidebar, this is why I’m going out of my way to fix it due to the fact that it may be recycled to the new template. Either way there will be bits of downtime with this site over the course of the next few hours so if you show up and there’s a huge array of errors showing up – not to worry – I’m working on it!
Work has been going pretty well lately, it’s proving to be a bit difficult on my inspiration though. I have the stamina to complete the tasks I have, there’s no question about that. The issue is where I’m unable to come up with ANYTHING for the new clients coming in that hasn’t been done before. I know there are some very creative people out there but it’s one of those situations where once you’ve seen it done before, you know it’s wrong to go out of your way to recreate it and then pass it off as your own. Of course, there is an exception to the rule. If a client asks you to recreate a template that they liked (paid or free, or just on someone else’s website) then you have to do what the client wants – without breaking any major copyright laws at the same time.
I’m working on this new site that’s health related. With the way the client approached me I thought I was going to be working on a hospitals website or something. The money from it is great, don’t get me wrong, but I was going in a completely different direction when he told me to slow down and sent me a long email on exactly what the company was. It’s for a new experimental weight loss supplement, something I’m honestly not sure I would try myself, but they seem pretty darn focused on getting it launched and out there for the world to see so of course I need to come up with something that’s not only informative, but matches their brand label and can appeal to 18-32 year old men and women whom would benefit from using their product.
So what did I do? I went out of my way to look at just about every single site that houses a large database of website templates that I could find. During my search I went through the usual sites, ones that tend to pop into your head as soon as you’re looking for new ideas. Fortunately, I found a new one that’s certainly worth flipping through, that’s for sure. It’s called DreamTemplates.com. They have a database of over 300 templates that are completely free, or you can pay them a one-time-fee of $59.95 and gain access to THOUSANDS of templates.
When looking through the premium templates, I have to say that I was certainly inspired. While the bulk of them look very generic (to me at least) the rest of them are appealing and worth that one-time payment. They’re all high quality templates, all of the sources files are included (if you’re looking at any Flash based ones) and they’re relatively attractive for just about any business or personal site you’re looking to house them on. I’d highly recommend them.
While it’s only about 1:30 in the morning, it’s officially August. July went by rather quickly. I’m still in New York, I’m still searching for a job and I’m still working on straightening out my head so I can figure out exactly what I’m going to do with my life. Numerous family members are sick, and while Sean and I have been at my father’s house this entire time, my father doesn’t seem bothered by the fact that we’ve both been here for as long as we have. We’re hoping to figure things out as soon as possible but of course that requires some kind of a call-back from any of the positions I’ve applied for.
Today was pretty busy for me. I put in a lot of applications and I spent about six hours (straight – no breaks) working on an account for a client. I want to get everything accomplished with them over the course of the next few days so I can begin putting the finishing touches on things – mainly because right now I’m in the process of converting screen shots to code, it’s time consuming but I’ve half-assed a few things here and there just to get it done. The finalization of things will look much better, it’s just a matter of changing some CSS attributes around so there’s a better flow with the template. Right now it looks very pasted together, but the cosmetics aren’t the hard part it’s the conversions. I’m moving along nicely though so I’m sure I’ll be done sooner than I think.
I have a few pending projects as well. I need to renew this domain name so any money that shoots into Paypal over the course of the next couple of days will go right to that. I’m also still working on loading everything to the new AGn Solutions database, it’s all automated but it’s the matter of getting my older clients worked into the billing area. Time consuming but worth it in the end.
In any event, guess I should wrap up for the night and head to sleep. I’ve been up for about 15 hours now so it’s definitely time to crash.
I’ve been pretty busy for the past couple of days, mainly with work. I’m working on a new site now that’s proving to be a bit more difficult to code than I’d originally thought it would. I’m working on another template that’s so beyond my experience it’s unreal. I’ve been able to get somewhere with it, I’ve just never had to use so many div layers to accomplish everything.
On top of that, I’m waiting to hear from at least ONE of the jobs I’ve recently applied to. I’m waiting on about 7 design positions and a few clerical ones as well, the biggest being one at the Hospital. Even though it’s per-diem (call you when they need you) if you have your foot in the door and have your shit together, then you’ll more than likely be on their payroll for a full-time position in close to no time. I’m really hoping to hear something from them though. It’s local, easy to get to, and with most of my family already working there it shouldn’t be hard to get in. I just have to wait for the application to even be looked at, let alone delivered to the hospital. I completed it online but it has to go through two other offices before it gets to human resources. Last week they had something going on with joint commission so that puts a delay on things. But it’s been over a week since I submitted so I really just hope to hear SOMETHING.
In any event, I have some posting to do, mainly to get back on track with things I’m backed up on. There are a few new cool technology things to boast about, and lets not get started on the new CSS3 standards. OY!
I’m still in the process of moving. I now have about 30% of the accounts transferred over. Hopefully by Wednesday (it’s Thursday now) everything should be completely transferred and then Sean and I can take on the daunting task of completely revamping everything. I really should be doing that now but I’m very content with the current layout on agn-solutions.net. The revamp would be the backend. The new script we’re going to use is connected to the WHM so everything, account wise, is going to basically be automatic. That works great when it comes to new customers, but when it comes to integrating the old ones we’re bound to have a little bit of an issue. I will hopefully be able to get everyone setup without any problems, and it would definitely help with those of my clients who have multiple domains hosted with me. I think my top one in that regard owns about 15 domains with me, so that should be interesting. It will certainly take a while but the amount of effort put in should certainly pay off in the end.
In other news, I have a few new projects under my belt. Hopefully it will bring in a decent amount of money in upcoming months so that Sean and I are able to go forward with our plans and possibly move up to New York. I’m more comfortable up here, it’s very easy for me to concentrate on things as well. He’s noticing the same thing, even though he’s not used to “city living” with all of the street noise, he’s still able to put his head into work with absolutely no problem at all.
A perk would be that my grandmother has an available apartment, the downside would be that it’s $1,000 a month. However – everything is included (heat/water/gas) so there really would be no issues there but the fact that in order to just live would cost us about $1600 a month (after cable/internet/phone and food) is a bit of a damper. Not to mention car insurance and gas prices in New York are a little extreme. So it’s a lot to think about but I think if we can both get to the point where we have about $4000 a month (in total) coming in – we should be absolutely fine.
He’s been on my iMac for the last week ( I brought it up with me ) and now he’s absolutely in love with it and wants to get one of his own. While I can’t afford it right now I’m certainly thinking of getting him one in the future. An iMac for an iMac – heh.
For the past three days I’ve been working pretty hard on balancing a few different clients. I’m happy to say that a few of my bids were accepted so this month is probably going to be pretty nice – money wise. I can’t wait to dump all of the money into the bank account so I can visually see my going up to New York at the end of June being a definite possibility. It’s been difficult though, it’s hard to juggle so many different ideas and attempt to remember which client they’re connected to. If it weren’t for the Stickies with my iMac I probably would have everyone completely confused. I also have to say THANK GOD for being able to choose multiple colors with the stickies. Each client has their own color and it makes life very easy for me.
I’ve got a new Font database, there were a lot of fonts on my laptop that couldn’t be transferred over to the Mac. Unfortunately they’re ones that I need to use on a regular basis with certain logos and what not so thankfully I was able to find the Mac version through a huge Google Search day. Three of my favorites couldn’t be downloaded, but that’s only because I didn’t feel like paying for them again. I did email the owners and request the alternate download considering I’d purchased them only recently. So we’ll see how far that gets me. For now I’ll work with what I have.
I’m patiently waiting on a fourth bid though, that would be the biggest money maker this month. I hope to hear something before Friday but who knows what’s going to happen there. Either way there’s still a lot of work left to do on the other accounts so I guess I’ll get back to them now.
I’ve spent the last couple of hours working on my portfolio. I’m still in the process of programming everything off-line, it’s easier than constant uploading updated files. I hope to have it completed within the next couple of hours. I’ve broken things down into categories, added the ability to purchase templates through the site without having to come back to this domain and eventually I’ll have everything worked over to that site.
The new template is based off the image I use on the main site to call to the design section. I was able to work it in, in a bold way that gives me the ability to showcase my designs without any excess coding around the site itself, bogging down on the loading time. While I’m not sure if I’ll be able to complete everything within the next couple of hours, I’m confident that it will be up by Saturday evening at the absolute latest.