Blog

  • New WordPress Plugin: Photoblog

    I started a new Git Repository for a WordPress plugin I’m creating to contain the features that I want on this website related to Photoblogging.

    • I want to display a grid view of photos, in columns of 3, as I do on my photos page
    • I want to be able to add landscape and portrait photos, without breaking the grid view
    • I want to be able to navigate the photo’s with the arrow keys on the keyboard
    • I want to be able to add Galleries and make these appear as. a single image set in the grid
    • I want to enable zooming on all images by default
    • I want to display a short paragraph below the photo
    • I want to support video’s as well

    Currently only the first two bullets have been implemented. I’ve created a custom renderer for the Post Content that extracts the first image block (in the future I’ll add gallery and video blocks).

    Then I added some styling to make the images always fit within the designated grid square, without stretching it to the image’s original size.

    Read more: New WordPress Plugin: Photoblog
  • meet Ruby

    meet Ruby

    Read more: meet Ruby
  • Using ddev for local PHP development

    For me, one of the discoveries of 2024, has been ddev, a tool to manage PHP (and other) environments, based on Docker images.

    ddev logo
    Docker-based PHP development environments.

    In the last months I have been very happy using this project. It allows me to work locally on my source files and assets while at the same time have a specific environment with the exact server configuration that I need.

    Let me sum up some cases where it really came in a handy:

    • I ran into ddev for the first time when trying out a sample project for craft cms. The instructions to get the project up and running were surprisingly concise:
    git clone https://github.com/craftcms/europa-museum.git
    cd europa-museum
    ddev start
    ddev craft db/restore seed.sql
    • Converting an existing WordPress setup? Just run ddev config and ddev start.
    • Pull in a database dump from production? Configure a provider (ok that’s a little bit more work if you’re not on one of the predefined hosting providers)
    • want to add an extra container, say ElasticSearch? no problem.
    • Want to inspect the database? I run ddev sequelace and I’m in the database, editing the data.
    • run ddev mailpit and see the mails that have been sent out, in a Gmail like UI, or download them as a PNG screenshot
    • Boot that old Magento shop? Set the right PHP version, composer version, mysql version, run some terminal commands with ddev ssh and we’re up and running.
    • importing a database throws an error Unknown collation utf8mb4_0900_ai_ci? just switch from mariadb to mysql, run ddev restart and import again.
    • Want to run PHP with Xdebug? just drop an xdebug.ini in the correct config directory
    • I’m working on a Django setup, with extra startup scripts, an MQTT client and a Nuxt/Vue frontend and I hope to find the time to configure that for ddev as well. That would mean that starting ddev starts the full stack, all on the right ports and the paths mapped correctly

    I guess it’s clear that I’m excited about this addition to my toolchain.

    I’ve always been running Apache, MySQL, mkcert, MailHog through homebrew. And while that served my needs, I had to reconfigure quite a lot every time I ran brew upgrade.


    PS: last week I sent a toot at @atpfm suggesting ddev as a solution for Marco’s work on Overcast. I was happy to hear Casey read/butcher my name on the podcast 😄.

    Read more: Using ddev for local PHP development
  • Tailscale killed my DNS

    I am working on a remote location today, on a shared venue network.

    After rebooting my Mac I could no longer connect to any website domain, which led me to believe that DNs was not resolving. And indeed, pinging www.google.com gave no results. Even when tethered to my iPhone, I could not connect to any website. Connecting to VPN by IP did work though, and pinging 8.8.8.8 worked fine as well.

    Luckily, I could search for clues on my phone, and ran into this command that I have not used before:

    scutil --dns which gives you a nice list of DNS resolvers as they are used by the system, and, on top of that list this entry:

    resolver #1
      search domain[0] : tailf67a92.ts.net
      nameserver[0] : 100.100.100.100
      if_index : 24 (utun4)
      flags    : Supplemental, Request A records, Request AAAA records
      reach    : 0x00000003 (Reachable,Transient Connection)
      order    : 102000

    I restarted Tailscale, and we are online again 🎉.

    Read more: Tailscale killed my DNS
  • The creek flooded the trail

    The creek flooded the trail after tonights rain

    Read more: The creek flooded the trail
  • Exploring some new city neighbourhoods

    Exploring some new city neighbourhoods

    Read more: Exploring some new city neighbourhoods
  • Enable compatibility mode in WooCommerce

    If you have setup a WooCommerce shop recently, or have enabled their HPOS1 you will want to enable compatibility mode as soon as you use any extension.

    I’m running into issues with WooCommerce Memberships not able to create memberships for users, because it cannot find the users related to an order:

    /**
     * Returns users IDs from orders that contain products that could grant access to a given plan.
     *
     * TODO When WooCommerce starts using alternate data stores for products (perhaps from WC 3.5+) this method may require an update as it performs a direct SQL query assuming a standard WPDB data organization {FN 2018-07-23}
     *
     * @since 1.10.6
     *
     * @param int[] $access_product_ids array of product IDs that grant access to a plan upon purchase
     * @return int[] array of user IDs
     */
    private function get_users_for_retroactive_access( array $access_product_ids ) {
    	global $wpdb;
    
    	if ( ! empty( $access_product_ids ) ) {
    
    		// get orders that contain an access granting product (or variation) to the given plan
    		$product_ids  = Strings_Helper::esc_sql_in_ids( $access_product_ids );
    		$orders_table = Framework\SV_WC_Order_Compatibility::get_orders_table();
    		$order_id_col = Framework\SV_WC_Plugin_Compatibility::is_hpos_enabled() ? 'id' : 'ID';
    		$order_ids    = $wpdb->get_col(  "
    			SELECT DISTINCT orders.{$order_id_col}
    			FROM {$wpdb->prefix}woocommerce_order_itemmeta AS order_item_meta,
    			     {$wpdb->prefix}woocommerce_order_items AS order_items,
    			     $orders_table AS orders
    			WHERE order_items.order_item_id = order_item_meta.order_item_id
    			AND order_items.order_id = orders.{$order_id_col}
    			AND ( ( order_item_meta.meta_key LIKE '_product_id'   AND order_item_meta.meta_value IN ({$product_ids}) )
    			 OR   ( order_item_meta.meta_key LIKE '_variation_id' AND order_item_meta.meta_value IN ({$product_ids}) ) )
    		" );
    
    		if ( ! empty( $order_ids ) ) {
    
    			// get user IDs for the found orders
    			$order_ids = Strings_Helper::esc_sql_in_ids( $order_ids );
    			$user_ids  = $wpdb->get_col( "
    				SELECT posts_meta.meta_value
    				FROM {$wpdb->prefix}postmeta AS posts_meta
    				WHERE posts_meta.post_id IN ({$order_ids})
    				AND posts_meta.meta_key = '_customer_user'
    			" );
    		}
    	}
    
    	return ! empty( $user_ids ) ? array_unique( array_map( 'absint', array_values( $user_ids ) ) ) : [];
    }

    With HPOS, the customer id is saved in the wp_wc_orders table instead.

    1. High-performance order storage ↩︎
    Read more: Enable compatibility mode in WooCommerce
  • The last weeks, I’ve been overwhelmed by work, so no time to work on the blog or write posts. Also a bit depressed by the state of the world. And some family troubles that need time and attention.

    Here’s to a positive outcome for all of this.

    Read more: untitled post 1878
  • Mist

    Read more: Mist