Build a Custom WP with Semiomantics XO

This post focuses on setting up our Main Theme and a Child Theme. For the purpose of this exercise we will use Semiomantics XO as the parent theme because it’s flexible, user-friendly and highly optimized. In fact you can use most any decent WP theme to follow this tutorial, namely the TwentyEleven which comes with the WP installation.

Semiomantics XO for WordPress — Custom Magazine

Adding a Theme

Like on any live site, our test site on BitNami allows us to add themes either from the Dashboard (upload the theme’s zip file) or by pasting the theme into the themes folder in wp-contents.

Access your BitNami environment using Windows Explorer and surf to the themes folder. You will see the same folders and files structure under htdocs as you are used to when accessing your WordPress folder on a server using an FTP client.

Folders on BitNamy WP Stack

In order to add Themes, we just drop theme folders into the ‘themes’ folder as per above. As you can see, I have amongst others) added my Semiomantics XO (the ‘xo’ folder under themes). XO will serve as the parent theme of the new website. Instead however of customizing XO directly, I will create a child theme which will contain all modifications. The advantage is clear: when an update or upgrade of the theme becomes available, the parent theme can be updated without destroying the child and restarting the customization job from scratch.

Create a WP Child Theme for Semiomantics XO

A WordPress child theme consists first of all of a Folder to which we add a style-sheet.

This style-sheet contains a commented header which defines the parent theme folder as well as other optional data and it usually imports the parent theme’s style-sheet with a simple line of code (no need to copy paste the whole style-sheet). Also we will add a screenshot which will serve as a thumbnail in the Themes tab of our WP Dashboard.

Style-sheet for Child Theme

As you can see above, I am editing my files using the free PSPad which is handy to edit the various files we need to develop.

How to Create a Child Theme step by Step

1. Add a new folder to the WP Themes folder under wp-contents/themes; name it as you like your theme to be named, in my case: yorgo12

2. Create a new file called style.css using your editor and save it into the new theme folder.

3. Edit the style.css file by adding a commented section defining:

• Theme Name  (yorgo12 in the above case)
• Theme URI    (this is optional and can be your website where you may talk about your theme; in my case: semiomantics.com)
• Description    (Optional; I have added a simple description, but you may well describe your Child theme, for example: 3 column minimalist child theme for Semiomantics XO.
• Author:           (Optional; put your name.)
• Template:  This is important: put the FOLDER NAME of the parent theme, in my case xo.
• Version:          (Optional: I start with version 1.0)

You could add other data as some authors do, such as Author’s URI and more, but that’s not necessary.

NOTE: All the above information sits between comment tags (/*.….….*/)

Next, we import the style-sheet of the parent theme with the following line of code:

@import url("../xo/style.css");

I have then added a comment to remind that you should not edit above unless you know what you do.

Your style.css file reads now similar to the following:

/*
Theme Name:       yorgo12
Theme URI:        http://semiomantics.com
Description:      Child Theme for Semiomantics XO 12
Author:           Yorgo Nestoridis
Template:         xo
Version:          1.0
*/
@import url("../xo/style.css");
/* Edit here below*/

Save the file into the new Child Theme folder.

4. Add a Thumbnail

Usually the image represents a screenshot of the new site but it can also be a brand logo or any other image. Important: the image should be called ‘screenshot’ and be in png format to fit into WP. Use image size 300px x 225px for best display.

screenshot.png

Drop the image into the Child Theme folder.

Let’s now activate our new Child Theme from the WP Dashboard under Appearance/Themes.

What you will see is an out of the box XO when looking at the front-end of the site.

Having set the base for our custom development, we will start now to adapt the site to the needs of the hypothetical customer. Continue reading the next post.

No related posts.

Custom WordPress Design and Developments

This post will start a series of articles about building custom Websites based on WordPress and the Semiomantics XO Theme.

We will therefore use most of our remaining daily Ycademy calls this month to go into advanced customization issues. But first we will start at the beginning by planning and formulating a project which will allow us to test code, functions and design.

Semiomantics XO Custom Theme for WordPress

The WordPress Custom Project

For the purpose of this exercise, we will build plan and execute a hypothetical customer’s project.

The new website will be about WordPress, namely about WordPress Tips, Themes and Plugins. It’s a site for a WordPress developer and web designer.

The Architecture of the site

The structure of the Website will be based on WordPress and include some static pages such as the About, Contact, Imprint and Privacy pages as well as structured dynamic content.  As the site will focus on 3 main topics, Tips, Themes and Plugins, we will build for each of these topics custom Posts and Taxonomies.

The Developer’s environment

To build the new website in a test environment, we install BitNami and namely the WordPress stack (free download). BitNami creates an independent (Apache) server environment with MySQL server and installed WordPress, ready to use via our browser. If you are used to Firefox and Firebug, you will find it easy to customize your styles and designs.

Now we can access the WordPress Dashboard via the browser and the files using windows explorer.

We are ready to start working on our project. Please look forward to the next related post where we will start adding Semiomantics XO and start building our custom child theme.

Related posts:

1. Build your Flash Website
2. XO Photo Press WordPress Theme
3. Elegant WordPress by Semiomantics 101
4. Transparent Fonts for Photo Site
5. Best WordPress Business Themes

• supermoon 2012
• super moon 2012
• supermoon in greece
• super moon greece

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1. How to shoot the Moon with a Point and Shoot Camera
2. Flowers from Vouliagmeni Beach
3. Image Editing and Post Editing
4. Ycademy Online Seminar January 2012
5. Ycademy Online Seminar Photo Publishing with Evo for WordPress

This is about as good as it could get

The above was shot with the following

F-stop:                   f/6.3

Exposure time:    1/250

ISO-speed             ISO-400

Focal-length:        49 mm

35-mm focal length:  389

Exposure Program: Aperture Priority

The idea was to figure out different settings to catch at least some of the texture of the surface of the moon.

Vouliagmeni Full-moon May 5, 2012

Tonight I found a nice spot, just above Vouliagmeni’s Limanaki to catch the moon rising above the Varkiza Bay.

Click to view the bigger version for more detail.

This time I went for Shutter Priority and ISO 200 which resulted in an Exposure Time of 0,77 sec. Also I used an Exposure Bias of +0.7 step.

Of course this is not the kind of quality you could expect from a professional picture, but it shows what you can do with most any point and shoot.

Vouliagmeni Moon Variations

The temptation to pull such pictures through Photoshop is evident and I have not resisted just for the fun.

And a cooler version, filtering out some red which we usually see when the moon rises at the sea:

Incoming search terms:

• moon may 5 2012
• full moon may 5 2012
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• moon
• THE MOON TONIGHT MAY 5 2012
• may 5 moon
• may 5 2012 moon
• greece moon may 5
• full moon in greece may
• pics shot the moon may 2012

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The first question is: Do we need an iPhone Simulator at all? I have not seen a single free online iPhone Simulator which would render the mobile version of our WordPress sites. Online Simulators are therefore useless for our purpose.

Semiomantics Mobile Developments

iPhone Emulator

Free online Emulators I have come across do not generate a preview of the mobile WordPress version. There are some paid solutions which are however pretty cool and accurate, namely the MobiOne emulator included in the Studio version. There is a 14 day free trial, thereafter a $99 fee.

Surprisingly the emulator included with TheAppBuilder does not render the mobile version — this would be a real plus since it’s a free tool until you want to publish your app to a store.

There is a much easier to use solution out there which is accessible to anyone and available for Mac and Windows:

Preview your iPhone, iPod and iPad App in your Browser (Mac and Windows)

The quick solution to Bianca’s and still many other people’s problem has been solved by Apple itself. The Safari Browser is equipped with Developer Tools which allow to preview websites under multiple user agents amongst iPhone, iPod and iPad.

Here is how to get there:

1. Download Safari

2. Once Downloaded, go Edit -> Preferences-> Advanced

3. Tick “Show Develop menu in menu bar”

4. From the Develop Menu under User Agent select Safari iOS 4.3.3 — iPhone

5. Your Browser will switch to the Mobile view; reduce browser width to minimum to get the best idea of what it would look like on an iPhone.

To get an iPad preview, just switch the user agent to iPad.

Other Solutions

Other solutions are available, such as the iPhone Simulator from Apples Development Tools or the Firefox user agent extension; the latter is not as satisfactory as the Safari solution detailed above.

Conclusion

There is no more excuse for not customizing your Mobile WordPress version, namely if you work with WPTouch Pro .

Related posts:

1. Semiomantics Mobile Developments
2. Mobile WordPress and Shop
3. Semiomantics XO on iPad
4. iPhone 4S in stead of iPhone 5
5. WordPress on Facebook

Whether it is a simple blog or a shop, a photo site or a video library, a directory or any other content, your website can be converted and integrated into a mobile App. Production cost will vary in function of the complexity of the development. I mention cost at this point because for the time being, App developments are still relatively expensive, but that’s the price to pay for a seat in the front row.

The mobile web and mobile devices and platforms offer today many features designed to enhance conversation, feedback and interaction which are much more dynamic, flexible and user-friendly than those offered on traditional websites. Also, an App is much easier to use on a smartphone than surfing a website.

Bookmarking a website and then accessing (loading) it at a later time is one thing; accessing an app with the content already downloaded to the device is a completely different story. Surfing the web on a smart device is in many countries relatively slow and linked to excessive cost for bandwidth. The App is a onetime download and thereafter only updates will need to be downloaded, which saves time and bandwidth.

Communication between the user and the App owner or amongst the users can take place using all mobile features, from email, over SMS to Push Notifications which will display an alert immediately. Skype integration (or other communication plugins) is a plus.

Publishing on Multiple Platforms

The mobile web has been dominated by Blackberry first, today by Apple (iOS, iPhone, iPad), Android Operating System by Google and Microsoft with Windows Mobile. Producing for multiple platforms is costly but seems to become a necessity for as long as no uniform standards prevail.

Like publishing a website, App publishing has to do with visibility, traffic and sales. Mobile web users are active on Google, Facebook and in App Stores to find what they are looking for. This is a key issue: Apple’s App Store with over 500 000 Apps has become a real search heaven. If your name, brand or product is not available there, you are losing out on the potential of the mobile market.

App Store Optimization and Marketing

You can write the best App in this world, if it cannot be discovered by interested people, it’s worthless. As mobile web users surf the stores to find Apps corresponding to their needs, it is important to

1. Optimize the App you submit to a store and to monitor downloads and reviews
2. Market the App inside and outside the store.
3. Make sure search algorithms can detect and become aware of the existence of your app and as the case may be optimize for top ranking.

For the time being it is not clear how Search Engines will deal with Apps nor how App stores will make more App related info available to bots, however it can be expected that sooner or later Google will include App results as they have included Video and Images or Local Content into their search returns.

Incoming search terms:

• alert update app

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1. Semiomantics Mobile Developments
2. XO Mobile Theme with WPTouch Pro
3. WP Best Business Theme Home Page
4. Home Business Tax Benefits
5. Facebook and Home Business

Note: When removing the page title area we recommend using a child theme’s stylesheet and applying the code below to its corresponding stylesheet, per the instructions on applying custom CSS.

In the iPhone theme:

.page-title-area { display:none !important; }

In the iPad theme:

.page .title-area {display: none;}

Remove reflection on calendar icons and post-thumbnails

.idevice .post .thumbnail-wrap { -webkit-box-reflect: none; }
.idevice .calendar-box { -webkit-box-reflect: none; }

Change the size of the Post Thumbnails

Change every instance of 46px to your desired size

.post .thumbnail-wrap { height: 46px; width: 46px; } .post img.attachment-post-thumbnail { width: 46px; height: 46px; }

Remove rounded corners on Post Thumbnails

.post img.attachment-post-thumbnail { -webkit-mask-box-image: none; }

Remove “Comments are closed” text when comments are disabled in WordPress

p.nocomments, #respond { display:none !important; }

Remove comments completely

#respond, ol.commentlist, a.com-toggle { display: none !important; }

Remove comment # bubble

.comment-bubble { display:none !important; }

Remove ‘breadcumb’ text in category and search pages

.archive-text { display: none !important; }

Use custom color for the mobile header

#header { background-color: #ffffff !important; }

where #ffffff can be customized to suit.

Remove “HelloBar”

#hellobar-container, #hellobar-wrapper, #hellobar-pusher {display: none;} 

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1. XO Mobile Theme with WPTouch Pro
2. Customizing WP Shop Theme
3. Customizing Post Editing
4. Best WP Business Theme
5. Hosting South Africa Fun Theme

The cases I came across so far showed a hack just before the closing body tag in form of a short script pointing to an external source. Also, in some cases I found some php file in the uploads folder (in WP the uploads folder should not contain any php files).

Once the script executed, a long string starting something like this:

<?php /**/ //eval(base64_decode("aWYoZ...

is placed on php and/or htm/html files. This eval base64 encoded and injected PHP code will hit all php archives.

How to get rid of the hack without destroying your site

To start with: change your passwords (FTP and Admin). Make sure your site script WP and Plugins are updated.

Check your footer.php (theme folder) and delete eventually the script added by the hack (or just load your backed up footer.php and replace the file).

Check your uploads folder for php files and delete them. Check your plugins folder for unusual php files and as the case may be delete them.

If you are not familiar with Ruby, PuTTY and Shell access, then there is a relatively simple solution available by running a php script from your root. The script will back-up the hacked files, replace the hack with another string and save the repaired file.

A second script can be used to delete the backed-up hacks once we are sure that all works fine.

These scripts have been developed by Sergi Rodrigues Rius and published on his spanish website. They work on the most common php CMS.

Download from HERE.

Upload the search_and_replace.php into the root folder of your site and run it by opening the page in your browser.

Once you are sure all is working fine, run the second script (this can be done after a few days or weeks).

Related posts:

1. How to get rid of eval base64_decode Hack
2. WordPress eval base64_decode Hack
3. Upgrade your WordPress in 5 seconds
4. Ycademy Easter Contest 2
5. Facebook Profile Picture Hack

In order to dominate the local market, you need to assess the use of the internet your neighbors make; chances are that they mostly hang out on social media, search Google and use email. This is of course an extremely simplified view but it gives an indication about where we need to build high visibility.

You also want to have an idea about how people access the net and websites; you will notice an increased use of mobile deices, which means that your content needs to be formatted and optimized  for desktops as well as for tablets and mobile phones.

Finally you may notice that surfers prefer visual content to text, which impacts on editing and publishing for multiple platforms.

How to Dominate Google Top 10

In order to build high visibility on search returns, you need

• a local website.
• make use of all possible Google Listings pertaining to the geographic location.
• great content and consistent publishing to provide useful information and trigger conversation.

How to Dominate Social Networks

To dominate social networks (Facebook, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn) we need

• optimized profiles.
• Facebook Pages.
• a consistent flow of information to trigger attention and conversation.
• an optimized set-up to assure traffic back to our websites (let the social networks work for us instead of the opposite).

How to dominate the Mobile Web

To dominate the mobile web we need

• mobile versions of our websites (tablets and smartphones).
• mobile search optimization.
• ideally an App.
• easy to use interactive functions.

How to manage a Local Presence online

The answer is similar to managing a business online. There are three main elements I like to focus on:

• an optimized workflow to assure maximum productivity.
• high quality content and content providers.
• an integrated publishing network to hit all the important targets with per platform optimized content.

How to monetize a Local Website

• Ads from Local Business.
• Ads from external Business wanting to do business locally.
• Eventually by integrating a local directory.
• Eventually by integrating a real estate classifieds feature.
• Eventually by integrating a service and products exchange.
•  … and more.

How to get readers to the Local Website

Just a few ideas:

• Talk about people.
• Talk about events.
• Talk about stories concerning the community.
• Talk about Local Sports, Clubs, Associations.
• Publish Pictures (people like to see their face and place).
• Talk about local business.
• Integrate a news wire from the major’s office.
• Have a local Gossip column.
• Let visitors contribute and discuss content.
• Don’t forget rating.
• Create competitions, contests, top 3 lists.
• Exchange advertising space with local media to promote your site quickly an consistently.
• Bring the conversation from social networks back to your site.
• … and so much more!

I hope this post helps your brainstorming when creating your local project. I will publish shortly a detailed project for my demo community, Vouliagmeni.

Related posts:

1. How to Optimize your Impact on Social and Mobile Networks
2. Facebook Strategy with WordPress
3. Google Top 10 Dominate your Keyword 3
4. 3 Web Design Trends in 2011
5. New Facebook Pages Publishing Concept

At Semiomantics the starting point for our development is the most comprehensive conversion plugin, called WPTouch Pro. WPTouch has released its latest version end of March 2012 with some adjustments for iOS 5.1 and many other fixes and developments:

• * Added: Custom advertising options for iPad

• * Added: Simple caching of desktop functions.php

• * Added: Russian language file

• * Added: Automatic archiving of previous settings in wptouch-data directory

• * Added: Compatibility setting for BuddyPress Mobile AJAX support

• * Fixed: Changing user-agent matching that may have interfered with advertising in certain scenarios

• * Changed: Replaced include with locate_template in theme files, should allow child overrides of custom WPtouch Pro template files

• * Changed: Algorithm to reload settings; may have caused settings to be lost in a certain scenario

• * Updated: All translations based on 2.6 strings

• * Fixed: An issue with Register and Lost password links in Classic

• * Fixed: Video issues with jwPlayer and other video sources and plugins

• * Fixed: An issue which could cause the Share button not to show in Classic mobile theme

• * Fixed: Improved appearance for Embedded Google maps

• * Fixed: Issues with Tweet text encoding in sharing options for Classic

• * Fixed: Search form issues with Skeleton theme

• * Fixed: Admin issues for non-English languages

• * Fixed: Issue where style.min.css was never loaded in child themes of Classic

• * Fixed: Broken admin icons when SSL was enabled in the admin

• * Added: Hungarian language

• * Changed: Adjustments for memory management in Classic iPad theme

• * Fixed: An issue with MapPress embeds

• * Fixed: An issue with JetPack videos

• * Fixed: An issue with Smart Youtube plugin videos

• * Fixed: Issue with blank spaces in custom user agent string

Why to use advanced Mobile Web Developments

The above recent change-logs indicate the extent of considerations necessary for a serious development of an integrated mobile WP based solution. The reason for such complexity lies amongst others in the following:

1. Increasing WordPress complexity and advanced plugin developments.
2. The multitude of mobile operating systems, browsers and devices of different sizes, display resolutions and aspect ratios.
3. The improved algorithms of Mobile Search.
4. The complexity of Semiomantics’ unbeaten optimization for conventional and mobile search.
5. The popularity of mobile and smart devices and the automated Mobile Search privileging mobile site versions.
6. The popularity of Social Networks and their ever changing integration parameters.

The Goal of Semiomantics Developments

At Semiomantics we aim to make complex matters simple for day to day use. As an author or business, you don’t want to spend your time with technical issues or sitting logged into social networks to keep up with the continuous stream of information and exchanges. You want to do your business and be assured that your message gets spread broadly and that visitors requests are piped to proper destination without your intervention.

Semiomantics Developers are trained to build high end customer specific solutions assuring optimized productivity and workflow.

The Goal and Agenda of the Ycademy April Seminar

Based on the above, the Seminar will provide all necessary updates and upgrades for existing and new installations of high end websites, namely those built on Semiomantics XO and EVO frameworks.

During numerous Workshops we will knock participants personal sites into shape to comply with the highest standards.

1. Mobile Web

We will go step by step through the set-up and development of the customized version of each participants author site. This includes the following workshops:

1. 
   

   Build a Mobile Child Theme for your Website.

2. 
   

   Build OS specific Icons.

3. 
   

   Build a Start up screen (image).

4. 
   

   Build Mobile specific WP 3.0 menus.

5. 
   

   Custom Links and Icons.

6. 
   

   Integrate Advertizing: Adsense, Admob, Custom Ads.

7. 
   

   Custom Post formats for the Mobile theme.

8. 
   

   Test Plugin compatibility and create your mobile plugin menu.

9. 
   

   Embed media for Mobile content, YouTube, Vimeo or self-hosted standard h.264 encoded media.

10. 
    

    Specifics for tablet computing, namely for the iPad and other touch tablets.

2. Mobile Social Networks

We will focus on Facebook in particular. Mobile Facebook is quite restrictive; it is therefore important to learn about what is visible on mobile FB and what cannot be accessed, respectively, how we may work around some of these restrictions.

In fact: Mobile Facebook is quite disappointing, be it whether you access it via the App or the browser. Custom content on app driven canvas pages and page favorites don’t display! Even promoting their link on the wall will not trigger any display. There are some workarounds by using different browsers where you can modify browser settings and simulate a desktop browser, but that’s not a solution for the masses.

Facebook is not here to promote YOUR site but just to grab your content for it’s own purpose.

• We will show you how to work around the problem and take advantage of the FB App and Mobile Site to get most out of it. The goal is to achieve that Facebook works for you and not you for Facebook.

• We will also come back to the desktop version of Facebook, showing how to build the most neutral and minimalist Facebook page for full and perfect control of all your content.

Schedule

The Ycademy Online Seminar will take place on April 28/29, 2012 starting daily as usual at 1 p.m. London Time and closing at 9 p.m. London time.

Materials

All materials and scripts are provided and included.

Tickets and Discounts

The cost for this seminar is $85; discounts as usual for Ycademy Pros (please mail Bianca at bianca(at)ycademy.com for the coupon code.

Click on the below image to get your ticket.

Incoming search terms:

• mobile content caching strategies
• mobile developer seminars

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Vouliagmeni Spring Flowers

After a rather cold winter, it’s now getting warmer and sprouting all over the place in Vouliagmeni. Time for a stroll at the beach; the bright colors of the spring flowers attract men and bees.

Here just a few images of what the beach is populated with these days:

Click to view

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Click to view

Click to view

Hope you enjoy .

Incoming search terms:

• flowers
• digital photography of flowers
• flowers images
• flowers images photos

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3. Kavouri Beach Vouliagmeni
4. More Astir Beach Vouliagmeni Mist
5. Astir Beach Vouliagmeni

Due to the depreciation of the old calls, we will need to update the themes and make the modifications needed to take advantage of the new features provided by WordPress 3.4. The new theme versions will work with WP 3.4 minimum and must not be used with previous WP versions.

Custom developments and child themes may need a special treatment, depending on the degree of customization. I will arrange for some developers calls or set up some tutorials in due course. For the time being I am testing WP 3.4 Beta to check backwards compatibility using our themes.

I will keep you posted on results and updates.

Incoming search terms:

• wordpress 3 4
• custom backgrounds wordpress 3 4 backward compatible
• wordpress 3 4 beta
• wp beta 3 4

Related posts:

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4. Showcase Portfolio Photo Theme for WordPress
5. YORGOO Blaster YB271 Beta

Having thoroughly tested the new Photoshop CS6 Beta, it seems to me that this version is addressing namely people who are working with digital photos and videos; also the 3D features have been significantly improved.

In other words, if you are not using Photoshop to edit your images, needing content aware patching and selective blurring, there is no real need to upgrade your CS5.

If however you are a photo freak and if you are shooting short videos, then Photoshop CS6 is a smashing program, allowing you to go beyond what photography can do (such as multiple shallow depth of field areas on a single image).

Click to view

What is new on Photoshop CS6?

This is what’s new on Photoshop CS6:

•     UI redesign (all new icons and optional dark UI) OK, they copied (sorry, got inspired by (big companies don’t copy, huh)) Apple’s Aperture; you can switch back to the old colors in the Beta version.

•     Auto and background saves. (… no comment).

•     Content-aware Patch and Move tools  (Smashing stuff for Photo freaks!).

•     Blur Gallery (smashing as well as you go beyond photography!).

•     Color Range: skin tone and face detection (OK but not smashing).

•     Adobe Camera RAW 7 (this really brings out the detail of RAW formats).

•     Enhanced crop tool (at last they understood what we want)!

•     New properties panel (so what?).

•     Enhanced video support (good stuff, namely if you don’t have a real video editor).

•     Oil Paint filter (I don’t like this McDonald’s stuff).

•     Adaptive Wide Angle filter (Brilliant stuff)!

•     Paragraph and Character Styles (Great stuff — but only if you need to edit text with Photoshop).

•     Updated Printing UI (no substantial change — just for the look …).

Photoshop CS6 must see videos

There are two videos I recommend to get an impression of the good stuff contained in Photoshop CS6:

Russel Brown’s 6 favorites

Julieanne Kost’s Favorites

Photoshop CS6 and Windows 8

I have installed Photoshop CS6 on my Windows 8 installation and it works great! I am just still frustrated by the 64 bit version which is still slower than the 32 bit edition. Also my OnOne tools don’t fit into and work on the 64bit version.

Having said that, the new CS6 Photoshop (32 bit) is much faster than the previous version.

Click to view

Here above an exaggerated tilt-shift blur on a picture taken this week at a basketball game (Panathinaikos vs Macabi which we won ); the feature helps to blur faces from excited fans allowing the publication of the image.

Click to view

Click to view

Photoshop CS6 verdict

Yes, I like Photoshop CS6 simply because I love photography. Any tool helping to make the best use of a RAW or a JPEG file is welcome for as long as it helps to improve my photographic shortcomings. But CS6 goes further: it allows to apply filters to create effects which cannot be achieved just with photography without destroying pure photography. I am namely thinking of the blur filters.

Photoshop CS6 is better than most cameras out there and that’s another big advantage namely for people who don’t invest in high quality cams or who use just mobile phones to shoot pics and videos. The big question remains: is it worth while to invest into the upgrade? Put it that way: if you go for quality photo editing, Photoshop is THE tool and CS6 is a great step ahead of CS5. Together with Lightroom 4 and the latest OnOne Plugins you are well equipped to get the best out of your pics with an efficient workflow.

In as much as I am concerned, I guess I will not open my CS5.5 anymore.

Incoming search terms:

• photoshop cs6
• photoshop cs6 superstition
• photoshop cs 6
• photoshop plugins free download
• cs6 free download
• icon photoshop cs6
• free photoshop plugins cs 6
• cs6 superstition
• cs6 photoshop
• PhotoShop CS6 Beta

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3. Resizing Pictures in Photoshop
4. Book covers and Jewel Cases with Photoshop
5. Photoshop Borders Ycademy

Facebook Page Publishing with New Timeline

Contents

1. Facebook Page Publishing with New Timeline
   1. Semiomantics Facebook Publishing Concept
   2. The Semiomantics Publisher
   3. The Facebook Publishing Concept

 

As from March 30, Facebook pages will change their look and features. I have presented the new options at last week-end’s Ycademy Seminar. In order to take advantage of the new features, companies, brands or people in general must adapt to the new format and can optionally expand visibility and interactivity using a well thought publishing concept. The concept I am talking about is the Semiomantics Facebook Publishing Concept.

Semiomantics Facebook Publishing Concept

Semiomantics Facebook Publishing Concept

Semiomantics has been focused on developing high performance scripts for online publishing since 2008. Originally the main target was SEO to reach Google Top 10 listings and to gain high visibility and traffic on and from search engines.

Semiomantics main concern has always been to control and secure content and to make it available online in the customer’s own rights, rather than to entrust third party sites such as social networks with the content and letting them handle the publication. The second most important concern is productivity and an efficient workflow, allowing to edit and publish on one place only all content for the web (including the mobile web) and to channel it then to the different target locations, networks and sites.

The Semiomantics Facebook Publishing Concept is in line with Semiomantics proven SEO.

The Semiomantics Publisher

In the center of the concept we position the Semiomantics Publisher, a WordPress based website expanded with all necessary bells and whistles to communicate with Search Engines and Social Networks as well as with the Mobile Web.

The most popular base is Semiomantics XO, the semantic framework and theme developed since 2008. It is not what you add to Semiomantics XO but how you add it that makes the difference when it comes to plugins and add-on software. That’s why Semiomantics XO is mostly used for Customized Websites by professional Developers and Designers.

For the purpose of efficiently publishing to Facebook (and other social networks) Semiomantics has integrated, optimized  and further developed the best Facebook integration scripts out there, allowing to provide customers with an easy to use, homogeneous solution.

The Facebook Publishing Concept

Once expanded with Social Media Publishing scripts, the Semiomantics publishing framework provides custom taxonomies specially designed for FB Content creating, publishing and managing. The idea behind this concept is, that all content is published on our own website and when the Facebook page is called, the traffic hits our own site.

From the Dashboard we can set-up an unlimited number of such pages easily and quickly using the same editor as we use for WP dynamic posts or pages.

To get the pages hooked and deeply integrated into Facebook, we need to use the Facebook App and OpenGraph features. Don’t worry, it’s easy to handle once set up:-).

So, once we have created our FB Page content on our website, we create a Facebook App and then a Facebook Page. We link the App with our Website (from the Dashboard) and with the Facebook Page. Adding our App to Favorites on Facebook, we end up with a Favorites Tab on timeline (to the right below the cover image).

Facebook Timeline Page

Facebook Timeline Pages let us display 3 Featured Tabs on the first line, the Photo tab being fixed and cannot be replaced. Using the small icon on the right of the tabs, the page reveals another 8 tabs for additional use and display of apps. There we will lodge our additional pages created on our Website.

We end up with a Facebook page with highly visible tabs leading to content on our website, be it a shop, images, videos, sliders or any other content. By interlinking the so created pages and apps we offer easy navigation for our Facebook readers and can provide all the content you would never want to entrust Facebook with or share a license with Facebook, like for example on your graphics, logos and other content. (See Facebook’s terms.)

The following post will detail the set-up and procedure.

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This month’s Ycademy Online Seminar will take place on March 24 and 25, starting at 1 pm London (GMT) time and ending at 21 pm London time on both days.

Some of our developers have asked for a program covering Social Networks, namely Facebook and the Mobile Web and how to take advantage of them to distribute, promote and gain high visibility with own content.

The Seminar will cover the following areas:

1. Facebook and other Social Networks

• 
  

  Strategies for Individuals

• 
  

  Strategies for Businesses

• 
  

  Strategy for Brands

As you may know, Facebook will change  the rules of the game on March 31, when the new FB pages will be released (again!). In fact the new FB page format will be similar to the timeline format and a few important changes will be of utmost importance to businesses and promoters.

• 
  

  New Facebook Cover Photo and Profile Image

• 
  

  Larger, Highlighted and Pinned Posts

• 
  

  Company Milestones

• 
  

  New Applications

• 
  

  Facebook Offers

• 
  

  FB Insights, Admin Panel and Messaging

• 
  

  Facebook Advertizing

If some of the above topics do not have a meaning for you, never mind: we will deal with them and make sure you are ready and up to date before March 31.

To the above Facebook on-board means we will add our own means.

The permanent changes of rules and features on Facebook have lead professionals a long time ago to structure and manage their assets outside of Facebook on a CMS or other appropriate website.

In as much as we are concerned, at the Seminar we will focus on consolidating our own assets on a WP CMS, typically XO or EVO by Semiomantics.

Publishing your Managed Content on Facebook

If you don’t talk about your business, someone else will do it — probably not the way you prefer. I guess there is no doubt in the business world about the necessity to take social networks seriously. Not for what they are, but for what users can do to your reputation. Internet promo often is based almost exclusively on testimonials and testimonials can take most any form and shape.

Word of mouth or viva voce has been a proven marketing strategy for ages.There are two principals to it:

1. A recommendation by a trusted person will trigger about the highest conversion rate. 
2. A lot of people blowing into the same horn cannot be wrong.

Ad 1: The most important term is “TRUSTED”; it’s not a matter of numbers but of authority and trust.

Ad 2: 800 Million people are trusting Facebook … 800 Million people cannot be wrong! How does that sound to you? Yeah, we have heard such like about most any product. The fact that the masses use a product will attract new masses by building on the humans’ herd instinct’. And it works! Like Hype works and Spam works. If it didn’t work, fewer people would spam or hype up the junk they are trying to get rid of.

So, how can we profit ethically from the herd instinct and from word of mouth marketing in connection with Facebook?

Join the Seminar to find out .

Form WordPress, to Mobile, to Facebook, to Local …

Focusing on one single platform or publishing environment is not enough. To reach out for a maximum of customers, readers or just interested visitors it is of paramount importance to build a strong presence on Search Engines and Social Networks. Equally important is to take into account the increasing importance of the mobile web.

Therefore we need to publish and interlink our content in an efficient way to display on mobile and static devices and at the same time we must optimize it for all sorts of Search Engines as well as Social Networks.

The Seminar will show you how to build an effective publishing network across platforms while preserving productivity.

Seminar Tickets

As usual, just click on the image to get your ticket. Discounts as usual for Ycademy Pros; for the discount code please contact Bianca: bianca(at)ycademy.com

Ycademy Online Seminar March 2012

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Windows 8 Hotkeys

Hotkeys unchanged from Windows 7
Key combination	Windows 7 functionality
Windows	Display or hide the Start menu.
Windows-Left Arrow	Dock the active window to the left half of the screen (does nothing to Metro-style applications).
Windows-Right Arrow	Dock the active window to the right half of screen (does nothing to Metro-style applications).
Windows-Up Arrow	Maximize the active window (does nothing to Metro-style applications).
Windows-Down Arrow	Restore/minimize the active window (does nothing to Metro-style applications).
Windows-Shift-Up Arrow	Maximize the active window vertically, maintaining width (does nothing to Metro-style applications).
Windows-Shift-Down Arrow	Restore/minimize the active window vertically, maintaining width (does nothing to Metro-style applications).
Windows-Shift-Left Arrow	Move the active window to the monitor on the left (does nothing to Metro-style applications).
Windows-Shift-Right Arrow	Move the active window to the monitor on the right (does nothing to Metro-style applications).
Windows-P	Display projection options.
Windows-Home	Minimize all nonactive windows; restore on the second keystroke (does not restore Metro-style applications).
Windows–number	Launch or switch to the program located at the given position on the taskbar. (Example: Use Windows-1 to launch the first program.)
Windows-Shift–number	Launch a new instance of the program located at the given position on the taskbar.
Windows-B	Set focus in the notification area.
Windows-Break	Display the System Properties dialog box.
Windows-D	Show the desktop; restore on the second keystroke (does not restore Metro-style applications).
Windows-E	Open Windows Explorer, navigated to Computer.
Windows-Ctrl-F	Search for computers (if you are on a network).
Windows-G	Cycle through Windows Desktop Gadgets.
Windows-L	Lock your computer (if you’re connected to a network domain), or switch users (if you’re not connected to a network domain).
Windows-M	Minimize all windows.
Windows-Shift-M	Restore minimized windows to the desktop (does not restore Metro-style applications).
Windows-R	Open the Run dialog box.
Windows-T	Set focus on the taskbar and cycle through programs.
Windows-Alt-Enter	Open Windows Media Center. Note that Windows Media Center must be installed for this key combo to function; in many Windows 8 builds, it is not present.
Windows-U	Open Ease of Access Center.
Windows-X	Open Windows Mobility Center.
Windows-F1	Launch Windows Help and Support.
Windows-N	Create a new note (OneNote).
Windows-S	Open screen clipper (OneNote).
Windows-Q	Open Lync. Note that in Windows 8 the Search function overrides this key combo.
Windows-A	Accept an incoming call (Lync).
Windows-X	Reject an incoming call (Lync). Note that this key combo does not function if Windows Mobility Center is present on the machine.
Windows-Minus	Zoom out (Magnifier).
Windows-Plus	Zoom in (Magnifer).
Windows-Esc	Close Magnifier.
New hotkeys for the Windows 8 Consumer Preview
Key combination	Windows 8 functionality
Windows-Space	Switch input language and keyboard layout.
Windows-O	Lock device orientation.
Windows-,	Temporarily peek at the desktop.
Windows-V	Cycle through toasts.
Windows-Shift-V	Cycle through toasts in reverse order.
Windows-Enter	Launch Narrator.
Windows-PgUp	Move the Start Screen or a Metro-style application to the monitor on the left.
Windows-PgDown	Move the Start Screen or a Metro-style application to the monitor on the right.
Windows-Shift-.	Move the gutter to the left (snap an application).
Windows-.	Move the gutter to the right (snap an application).
Windows-C	Open the Charms bar.
Windows-I	Open the Settings charm.
Windows-K	Open the Connect charm.
Windows-H	Open the Share charm.
Windows-Q	Open the Search pane.
Windows-W	Open the Settings Search app.
Windows-F	Open the File Search app.
Windows-Tab	Cycle through apps.
Windows-Shift-Tab	Cycle through apps in reverse order.
Windows-Ctrl-Tab	Cycle through apps and snap them as they cycle.
Windows-Z	Open the App Bar.
Windows-/	Initiate input method editor (IME) reconversion.
Windows-J	Swap foreground between the snapped and filled apps.

Windows 8 Screenshot

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Photo before development

The above picture could not be taken from another angle and considering time constraints, I thought that this shot was better than no shot at all. Not a good picture but a nice sample to test some of Lightroom’s power, namely when it comes to Lens Correction.

Detail selection of the picture

Note that the picture contains some interesting detail, such as the thin net in front of the scaffolding which results in an apparent lack of punch.

Using the transform tools, distortion, vertical and horizontal, as well as a slight rotation we get the following view:

After first Transformation

We notice that the image is “stretched” too wide compared to the original proportions. We therefore apply a shot of Warping:

The Picture after Transformation

Now we just need to sharpen the image which will also get rid of the thin net hanging in front of the scaffolding:

Final result

While the above sample is is a pure exaggeration, it shows nevertheless some of the power of Lightroom 4.

Learn all about Lightroom 4

The YORGOO-Ycademy calls of this week will deal with Lightroom and show, how to use Lightroom 4 for efficient Photo (and Video) management, editing and publishing.

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The new Map feature allows to position images on the (Google) map and to add thus GPS data to the image files. This is namely useful if your camera does not add GPS data automatically, or if you don’t run the GPS feature on your cam to save power.

Lightroom 4 Map

On the above screenshot you see that I have pined 17 pictures to the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. You also can save locations for re-use.

Lightroom 4 Book

The Book feature, also accessible easily from the top right menu includes a book layout editor with hundreds of possibilities to style a digital or printed book. The feature connects directly to Blurb.com to upload your work and order a printed version. Alternatively a PDF version can be saved to the computer.

Lightroom 4 Book

 Lightroom 4 Development New Presets 2012

The Development module features new improved local and global presets for better image editing.

Lightroom Presets 2012

Lightroom 4 Movie Editing

Hopefully this is just the beginning! The clip editor allows for correcting toning, exposure and the use of many other presets. Also you can cut frames or take screenshots of individual frames (to pull a photo from the clip).

Lightroom 4 Movie Editor

Lightroom 4 on YouTube

There already a load of related videos available on YouTube. I prefer namely the ones Julieanne Kost, such as:

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Free Images from the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, Greece

As I needed some pictures for my demo portfolio and photography site, I paid a visit to the National Archaeological Museum in Athens last Saturday. The idea was to come back with some photos of outstanding works from the permanent exhibition.

Mask 1500 BC found by Schliemann who thought it was Agamemnon’s Mask

Photos from the National Archaeological Museum

A first Gallery of Images from my visit you will find on the Portfolio site by clicking on the below screenshot:

National Archaeological Museum Photo Gallery

For better viewing, I have put the objects on a black background. All images from that gallery will be available for free download and use on non-commercial websites shortly.

Black and White Images from The National Archaeological Museum

For those who prefer black and whites, there is also a B&W gallery and again, the images will become available for download shortly for free use on non-commercial websites.

B&W Image Gallery — Archaeological Museum Athens, Greece

Free Photos and Images from the National Archaeological Museum

While I like to take pictures, I like even more to share them. Not everybody has the privilege to live as close to so many artifacts as I do, nor do many have the possibility to travel to Greece. For this reason I make all images from my portfolio available for free usage and download for the use on non-commercial websites. If you are publishing or re-publishing my work, I would appreciate a mention and/or a link back.

If you would like to make commercial use or to print any image for commercial use, please contact me.

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