Thesis Tutor » Thesis Development http://thesistutor.com Tutorials For The Thesis Wordpress Theme | Video Tutorials For The Thesis Wordpress Theme Fri, 09 Jul 2010 04:50:05 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc Mindlessly Simple Web Hostinghttp://thesistutor.com/mindlessly-simple-web-hosting/ http://thesistutor.com/mindlessly-simple-web-hosting/#comments Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:26:11 +0000 Matt http://thesistutor.com/?p=906

Web hosting confused the hell out of me when I first started working on the web. What is hosting? What kinds of options did I have? What’s the deal with their advertised prices? What service does Thesis Tutor recommend? These are questions that I am going to stamp out once and for all. With this post, I bestow unto you the knowledge of website hosting.

What is Web Hosting?

Web hosting is a simple concept: it is a virtual storage unit. That’s it. No mystery, no surprises. It stores and holds your website content, pictures, videos, comments [ahem], etc on a server. The only difference between web hosting and real storage units is that much of the contents of your server are available for public viewing.

Now, when I first started, I wanted to know why I couldn’t just host a website at my home computer. I thought I had a good internet connection and enough storage. So why not?

The first problem is your ISP. They simply cannot allow residential customers to use the amount of bandwidth required by website hosting. More simply, it’s just too slow.

Second is security. Chances are, if you are reading this you don’t know jack about security. I bet simple PHP encoding would totally stump you. Don’t worry though, you are not alone.

Third is management. Servers require constant attention. There are always patches and upgrades and this-es and thats. You don’t have time to fool with that junk, trust me.

Head over to MidPhase and pick up hosting. Or, read on!

Hosting Options

There are essentially three primary hosting options:

  1. Shared Hosting:

    Shared hosting is exactly what it says: you share a server with multiple other users. This is the simplest form of hosting and is absolutely the cheapest route.

    There are certainly some drawbacks, however. If one of the sites you share resources with suddenly gets a million visitors, your site will slow to a crawl. Also, advanced modifications to ports are hard/impossible to make. But, if you’re a newbie, you won’t be doing that anyway ;)

  2. VPS: Virtual Private Server

    VPS is the obvious way of the future. Basically, VPS divides a server into distinct sections that act as their own server. It is many sub-servers within a server.

    Lemme break it down for ya:

    Imagine an apartment building where everyone shared the same air conditioning unit. This would be like shared hosting. One greedy neighbor decides to turn his house into an icebox and sets his thermostat to 33°F. Suddenly, everyone else in the building is having problems because greedy, creepy icebox guy is overloading the A/C. Such is the failure of shared hosting.

    Now, imagine the same apartment building. Instead of one huge A/C unit, each apartment has it’s own. Suddenly, creepy ice man’s insane usage has little to no effect on your comfort. You win. heh.

    The one drawback with VPS configurations is that they require a slightly higher level of technical knowledge. So, if you are completely ignorant, this may not be for you.

  3. Dedicated and Managed Hosting

    Quite simply, dedicated hosting is your own server that you manage yourself. Managed hosting is your own server that the hosting company manages for you. Both options are considerably more expensive that either shared or VPS and should only be used by people who have fairly hefty traffic and a relatively high level of expertise.

Pricing

What if I told you that you could have a brand new, 52 inch Samsung LCD Series 6 HDTV for only $55 per month?! Yeah, you totally can. Except for instead of $55 per month you pay me $2000 right now!

Wtf kind of logic is that?

This is exactly how hosting companies advertise.

I’m tired of that junk advertising method so I’m going to lay it out straight.

Here are the rates for MidPhase shared hosting and VPS.net vps services, the companies (both owned by UK2) I exclusively love. I’ll tell you more about why I have a monogamous hosting relationship after I tell you the prices.

For a full list of all the features for each class, click here.

Shared Hosting Prices

  • Basic Plan – for ONE website.

    • 24 Months – $70.80
    • 12 Months – $71.40
    • 3 Months – $26.85 + $49.00 Set Up Fee

  • Unlimited Plan – Unlimited Sites and Databases

    • 24 Months – $166.80
    • 12 Months – $107.40
    • 3 Months – $10.95 + $49.00 Set Up Fee

  • Business Plan – Dedicated Secure Certificate & Static Ip [among many]

    • 24 Months – $214.80
    • 12 Months – $143.40
    • 3 Months – $38.85 + $49.00 Set Up Fee

Dude! Get over to MidPhase and pick up hosting. You’ll love it!

VPS Hosting Prices

VPS pricing is based on ‘nodes’ which are basically resource measures. The more resources you want, the more it costs. For small sites the nodes start at $20/month. For extremely large sites, prices will hit $234/month. And yes, they really charge by the month!

Most regular old sites will only need one or two nodes. But wait! What happens if you suddenly start getting massive traffic one day? Easy answer: pay for one day’s worth of extra space. Done.

Say what?

VPS allows for one day expansion nodes. You can add one node for $1/day or 18 for $18/day. Done, done and done.

Why I use MidPhase and am Switching to VPS.net

Right now, I run a shared server on the unlimited plan. Why? Honestly, I just haven’t gotten around to switching to VPS’ cloud hosted servers. I should, but I have sites to build and content to make :P By the end of the year I hope to have it all switched over, however.

But, why do I like MidPhase?

There are two reasons, really. The first is that they are just easy to use. When you sign up you get all the information within seconds and you can start adding domains and databases right away. I love that.

Second, they have great customer support. You can always chat with a live rep or call them if you are feeling particularly frisky. Every hosting problem I have had [even ones only kind of related to hosting like an .htaccess question I had] have been answered by their customer support. Once, in my early days, I was too stupid to go into my server and make a change in WordPress. The MidPhase customer support did it for me.

Am I saying MidPhase will totally hold you hand and wipe your tush? No. But they are friendly as hell and willing to help. What is that worth to you? To me it is worth infinity dollars. No, seriously!

I hope that this little article will help you find the right hosting to fit your needs. Good luck!

You know it ALL now! Secure your hosting today!

]]> http://thesistutor.com/mindlessly-simple-web-hosting/feed/ 0 The Comprehensive List of Thesis Hooks and Thesis Filtershttp://thesistutor.com/comprehensive-list-of-thesis-hooks-and-thesis-filters/ http://thesistutor.com/comprehensive-list-of-thesis-hooks-and-thesis-filters/#comments Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:35:11 +0000 Matt http://thesistutor.com/?p=859

When it comes to being a Thesis developer, there is one thing I have been unable to live without: Thesis Hooks. Good ol’ Chris Pearson has hooked us devs up with…well, a ton of hooks. The Thesis hooks list below tells you all 54 hooks in the order they appear in hooks.php. Before the list of hooks is the filters list with the corresponding file name.

Thesis Filters List

  1. Comments.PHP

    • thesis_comments_link
    • thesis_comments_intro
    • thesis_avatar
    • thesis_comments_navigation

  2. Compatibility.PHP

    • thesis_custom_field_keys

  3. Content.PHP

    • thesis_content_classes
    • thesis_image_caption_shortcode

  4. Document.PHP

    • thesis_body_classes

  5. Widgets.PHP

    • thesis_search_form_value

Thesis Hooks List

  1. thesis_hook_before_html - right after body.custom
  2. thesis_hook_after_html - after #container and before /body
  3. thesis_hook_before_header - between .menu and #header
  4. thesis_hook_after_header - between #header and #content_box, before thesis_hook_before_content_box
  5. thesis_hook_header - within #header, after #tagline, after thesis_hook_after_title
  6. thesis_hook_before_title - within #header before #logo
  7. thesis_hook_after_title - within #header, after #tagline, before thesis_hook_header
  8. thesis_hook_first_nav_item - right after .menu, before the first li
  9. thesis_hook_last_nav_item - within .menu, right after last li
  10. thesis_hook_before_content_box - between #header and #content_box, after thesis_hook_after_header
  11. thesis_hook_after_content_box - between #content_box and #footer
  12. thesis_hook_content_box_top -
  13. thesis_hook_content_box_bottom -
  14. thesis_hook_before_content - right after #content
  15. thesis_hook_after_content - at the end of #content, after .prev_next
  16. thesis_hook_before_content_area - before #content_area, only in full width framework
  17. thesis_hook_after_content_area - after #content_area, only in full width framework
  18. thesis_hook_feature_box - within #feature_box, either the first item within #content, between #header and #content_box, or between .menu and #header
  19. thesis_hook_before_post_box - after #content, before first post
  20. thesis_hook_after_post_box - within each .post, at the very end
  21. thesis_hook_before_teasers_box - within and at the beginning of .teasers_box
  22. thesis_hook_after_teasers_box - after each .teasers_box div
  23. thesis_hook_before_post - within and at the very beginning of .format_text
  24. thesis_hook_after_post - at the end of .format_text, after .to_comments
  25. thesis_hook_before_teaser_box - before each .teaser
  26. thesis_hook_after_teaser_box - after each .teaser [this one is a little tricky]
  27. thesis_hook_before_teaser - first thing within .format_teaser
  28. thesis_hook_after_teaser - last thing within .format_teaser
  29. thesis_hook_before_headline - first thing within headline_area
  30. thesis_hook_after_headline - right after .entry-title
  31. thesis_hook_before_teaser_headline - before each .teaser's .entry-title
  32. thesis_hook_after_teaser_headline - right below each .teaser's .entry-title
  33. thesis_hook_byline_item - right after .headline_meta
  34. thesis_hook_before_comment_meta - first thing within each dt.comment
  35. thesis_hook_after_comment_meta - last thing within each dt.comment
  36. thesis_hook_after_comment - last thing within each dd.comment .comment-body-n
  37. thesis_hook_after_comments - right after dl#comment_list
  38. thesis_hook_comment_form_top -
  39. thesis_hook_comment_field - right after #comment_form p
  40. thesis_hook_after_comment_box -
  41. thesis_hook_comment_form_bottom -
  42. thesis_hook_comment_form - right after .comment_box, before the submit button
  43. thesis_hook_archives_template - Used to customize the appearance of the Archives Template (archives.php). This hook calls the thesis_archives_template function by default. //from DIYthemes
  44. thesis_hook_custom_template - your very own custom page custom template replacing #content_box
  45. thesis_hook_faux_admin - within div#content_box (and also div#column_wrap if a sidebars-first three-column layout is in use) //from DIYthemes
  46. thesis_hook_archive_info - Above the first post only on archive views. //from DIYthemes
  47. thesis_hook_404_title - within a 404 page's .headline_meta h1
  48. thesis_hook_404_content - last thing within a 404 page's .format_text
  49. thesis_hook_before_sidebars - first thing within #sidebars
  50. thesis_hook_after_sidebars - last thing within #sidebars
  51. thesis_hook_multimedia_box - contents of #multimedia_box #custom_box
  52. thesis_hook_after_multimedia_box - after #multimedia_box, before #sidebar_1 and/or #sidebar_2
  53. thesis_hook_before_sidebar_1 - first thing within #sidebar_1 .sidebar_list, before the first li
  54. thesis_hook_after_sidebar_1 - last thing within #sidebar_1 .sidebar_list, after the last li
  55. thesis_hook_before_sidebar_2 - first thing within #sidebar_2 .sidebar_list, before the first li
  56. thesis_hook_after_sidebar_2 - last thing within #sidebar_2 .sidebar_list, after the last li
  57. thesis_hook_before_footer - right before #footer and after #content_box
  58. thesis_hook_after_footer - after #footer, but still within #page
  59. thesis_hook_footer - between attribution link and WP Admin link in #footer

Well, there you have it folks. A list of every single Thesis Hook available as of Thesis 1.6.

If you are interested in developing sites on Thesis, be sure to upgrade to the developer's option. If you don't have Thesis, you had better pick it up now!

]]> http://thesistutor.com/comprehensive-list-of-thesis-hooks-and-thesis-filters/feed/ 5 How to Upgrade from Thesis 1.5.1 to Thesis 1.6http://thesistutor.com/how-to-upgrade-from-thesis-1-5-1-to-thesis-1-6/ http://thesistutor.com/how-to-upgrade-from-thesis-1-5-1-to-thesis-1-6/#comments Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:35:25 +0000 Matt http://thesistutor.com/?p=693

Upgrading Thesis is extremely easy. Be sure to back-up all files before upgrading any software.

Also don’t forget to upgrade your copy of Thesis to the Developer’s Option!

]]> http://thesistutor.com/how-to-upgrade-from-thesis-1-5-1-to-thesis-1-6/feed/ 3 Thesis Tutor and Thesis 1.6http://thesistutor.com/thesis-tutor-and-thesis-1-6/ http://thesistutor.com/thesis-tutor-and-thesis-1-6/#comments Sat, 19 Sep 2009 07:31:25 +0000 Matt http://thesistutor.com/?p=565

The release of Thesis 1.6b marks a huge milestone for web design. Thesis 1.6 poses a few new challenges from a developer’s standpoint. It isn’t that Thesis is somehow more difficult, but rather it is simply a little different. The navigation area has had a ton of changes which means that some older tutorials on Thesis Tutor may not work as intended.

So, what is the point here? Well, I have a TON of work to do in order to correct all my nav related tutorials.

How can you help?

Well there are two ways that you can help me, the Thesis Community and yourself.

First, you can donate to Thesis Tutor. To this date, literally thousands of people have visited ThesisTutor.com and only one person has made a donation. This makes further development of Thesis Tutor very difficult. I have many other things that I can do that make money and to date Thesis Tutor and all the help I have given people has lead to a financial net loss. I have made some good friends, but they ain’t exactly gonna help me pay the bills :-/ I recommend a $25 donation to every person that uses this site.

Second, you can send me the fixes. If you discover that something doesn’t work properly in Thesis 1.6 [because of the nav changes] tell me. More important, if you have the answer let me know. Then, instead of making corrections on old videos I can move forward with new, original content.

So, there you have it. I am possibly the most excited person alive in regards to Thesis 1.6 and soon Thesis 2.0 (other than Chris Pearson). I can’t wait to watch Thesis, which has the potential to be the most significant piece of software in web design history, mature. I want to be at the forefront of showing end users and developers how to use Thesis and WordPress but I need some help.

]]> http://thesistutor.com/thesis-tutor-and-thesis-1-6/feed/ 3 The Single Most Critical Thesis Theme Development Toolhttp://thesistutor.com/the-single-most-critical-thesis-theme-development-tool/ http://thesistutor.com/the-single-most-critical-thesis-theme-development-tool/#comments Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:28:19 +0000 Matt http://thesistutor.com/?p=235

Yes, there is a tool so important to Thesis development that it is nearly impossible to unlock the power of Thesis without it. In fact, I think it is fair to say that without this tool you will never use Thesis to its fullest. What is this crucial tool? Firebug.

I know you want it.

Everybody that purchases Thesis deserves to take full advantage of its unprecedented design power. By using custom.css and custom_functions.php, you are able to make nearly infinite changes to Thesis. In fact, I challenge every person to find websites that they believe cannot be recreated using Thesis and, hopefully, I will prove them wrong [more on that later]. I digress. The issue at hand is that I know you want to use all software you purchase to its fullest. But, how does Firebug help with Thesis development? What the heck is it anyway? Let’s further examine these questions.

What the heck is Firebug?

Firebug allows you to “edit, debug, and monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in any web page.” It is a plugin for Firefox which, if you don’t have Firefox, get it right freaking now. Once installed, Firebug puts a little icon in the far right in your status bar. All you have to do is click the tiny bug. After that, you can inspect almost any area of your website. Firebug will show you the HTML on the left and the corresponding CSS on the right. You can also choose to inspect the layout of your site, which means no more 1px alignment issues [those drive me nuts]. There are almost as many ways to use Firebug as there are ways to use Thesis. Almost…

Firebug + Thesis = Web Pwnership.

Of course I use the word pwn; I’m cool like that. But seriously the two combined are like Bill and Ted: most excellent. One of the most advantageous aspects of using Firebug is that it helps you perfectly calculate ems. Yes, the dreaded ems. So many designers are opposed to ems. The problem is that a pixel on computer A may not be a pixel on computer B. So declaring sizes in pixels is a massive FAIL. How does Firebug show you em calculations? Well, the first thing to know is that ems are calculated by default in Thesis with a base 10. That means to calculate ems in most areas of Thesis, you divide the number of pixels by 10. If you inspect #content_box with Firebug and scroll down the CSS, you will see something that says font-size: 62.5%. Why do you see that? Because most browsers’ default font size is 16pt and Chris Pearson, in his infinite wisdom, decided that 10pt is better. I agree. Now, if you were to use Firebug to inspect #header #logo you would immediately see font-size: 3.6em;. That means the logo area has a base of 36. Therefore, to declare ems in this area you would divide the number of pixels by…you guessed it: 36.

Firebug is also useful for alignment problems, which are rampant on the web these days. Nothing makes me more disgusted than when I go to a website that looks like a 10 piece puzzle my one year old nephew put together. When inspecting areas in Firebug, you can use a feature called “Layout” which shows you measurements of any area on the site.

The last massive advantage I want to cover is the live CSS editing. Using Firebug you can experiment on your site with no ramifications whatsoever. I know that experimenting in your custom.css is cumbersome. Firebug allows you to make whatever changes you desire to the CSS. Add borders, change margins or adjust padding. Basically, whatever you want to do with custom.css can be tested with Firebug first.

The conclusion I want you to draw is that you are nuts if you don’t get Firebug. Both Mozilla and Firebug are 100% free so there is absolutely no excuse to not have them. Of course, I know you are nuts if you develop websites with anything other than Thesis. But, that is a topic for another day :)

Oh, be sure to check back soon for a better explanation of ems.

GET THESIS HERE!

]]> http://thesistutor.com/the-single-most-critical-thesis-theme-development-tool/feed/ 5 Three Essential Thesis Theme Development Toolshttp://thesistutor.com/three-essential-thesis-theme-development-tools/ http://thesistutor.com/three-essential-thesis-theme-development-tools/#comments Sat, 13 Jun 2009 17:06:11 +0000 Matt http://thesistutor.com/?p=95

The potential for the Thesis Theme is like no other theme in the history of WordPress. Thesis is not just a theme; Thesis is every theme. There literally isn’t a theme that currently exists that can’t be made by customizing Thesis. It would be more appropriate to think of Thesis as the Photoshop of web design. In the same way Photoshop makes pretty much any graphic, Thesis can make any website.

However, there are still a few tools that a smart web designer needs when using Thesis. Now remember, I use a Mac. I don’t discriminate against PC users, I just think you are conformists in your own way. Nevertheless, my perspective is that of a Mac user. I will therefore promote software that may only be available on Mac, but I’m sure a savvy PC user can find an alternative.

  • Transmit: Transmit allows you to upload and download files via FTP. Duh. Why do I recommend it? Because it makes your life infinitely easier. For instance, when you are editing your custom.css file in Dreamweaver and you save, Transmit automatically loads it to your server. That is great and it saves SO much time. Another cool feature is when you have multiple custom.css files open [because you have the developer's license] and you go through and save them all, Transmit will automatically save the files to the proper server. I was editing three custom.css files and two custom_function.php at the same time and had to suddenly save and quit. Needless to say, it went fast and efficiently, thanks to Transmit.
  • Dream Weaver: O.k. I know a ton of people think I am crazy for editing CSS and PHP in Dreamweaver, but I don’t care. It comes as part of the Adobe Creative Suite. I think it is sufficient for the needs of most designers. It color codes all the CSS and PHP [so do others, I know] and I just think it is incredibly easy to use. Is it the best? No. But, if you already have it because you bought the creative suite, you really don’t need anything else.
  • Photoshop: Without Photoshop I would be totally screwed. Photshop is great for everything from the obvious graphics work, to finding colors, measuring and extracting. Hell, I can’t think of a single reason to not own Photoshop other than slothfulness. Basically, Photoshop is tan essential tool to totally customize your Thesis Theme design.

Using Thesis is the best way to make an awesome website that has the best SEO on the market. But, Thesis does need some help getting its job done and I believe Transmit, Dreamweaver and Photoshop are the perfect companions for a foursome of hardcore web action.

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