I’m upgrading eight of the weblogs we host this weekend. That’s not all the weblogs we host, just the ones that are currently being maintained on at least a semi-regular basis. The single-property-web-sites we’ve done as weblogs are languishing in neglect.
These are the blogs I’m hitting:
- BloodhoundBlog.com
- BloodhoundBlog.TV
- BloodhoundRealty.com
- DistinctivePhoenix.com
- PRETExchange.com
- RealEstateWeblogging101.com
- TheBrickRanch.com
- TooMuchVegas.com
I’m bringing this up for two reasons.
First, if you have privileges on any of those weblogs, watch for potentially significant changes between now and tomorrow morning. Two of them are running WP 2.0.10, and only one was running 2.3.1 until I started updating. Plus which, I’m updating and standardizing all the plug-ins. Let me know if you detect anything broken.
Second, I need an easier way of doing this. I expect that WP Multi-User already does this, but sometime soon I’m going to see if I can make WordPress run multiple installations from something like a common code-base. In other words, I would like to be able to update eight (or more) weblogs with one FTP upload. I would like to be able to update a plug-in one time and have that update apply to every weblog we host. I’ve got a lot on my plate between now and Unchained, but I’ll see what I can come up with.
And this entire post is a hint to you. This is a good time to look over your weblog and see what needs to be updated.
In particular, the year is about to change. If you have the words “Copyright 2007” somewhere in your weblog (it’s often found in the footer), you can change that copy to this:
Copyright <?php echo date('Y'); ?>
The PHP “echo” command will echo the current year forever. You’ll never have to change the date again.
Of the eight weblogs listed above, six are done. I have to go show and I don’t plan to do BHB and TheBrickRanch until late tonight, anyway. Should be duck soup, but if something looks hosed to you in the wee hours, tilt your head to the southwest and I’ll teach you how to swear.
Technorati Tags: blogging, real estate, real estate marketing, technology
Jim Duncan says:
For upgrading, this plugin has been a life-saver. It makes life soooo much easier (although I do always backup first).
December 29, 2007 — 1:45 pm
Scott Rogers says:
With so many blogs, and with your knowledge of PHP, have you considered building your own blogging system?
Depending on how many different plugins/widgets you want to incorporate, it isn’t too hard. I built my blogging platform, which currently powers blogs for 7 agents in my office, and can scale to support many more.
December 29, 2007 — 2:36 pm
Bob in San Diego says:
Greg, switch to WordPress MU.
December 29, 2007 — 3:36 pm
Greg Swann says:
> Greg, switch to WordPress MU.
Bless you. Thank you. I just read the FAQ. I had always assumed WP MU was a licensed product.
December 29, 2007 — 5:06 pm
Chuchundra says:
Why would you go to the trouble of writing a whole blogging platform from scratch? Between WP’s templating system and plugins you can make WP pretty much do whatever you want.
I wrote a whole little league registration system using WordPress. It’s very flexible.
December 29, 2007 — 6:42 pm
Scott Rogers says:
> Why would you go to the trouble of writing a whole blogging platform from scratch?
I guess it depends on the scenario. I was building a blogging platform to be tightly integrated into the rest of the agent web site, and thus it was easier to build it from scratch rather than tailoring and adjusting and trying to get WordPress to fit the bill.
December 29, 2007 — 10:24 pm
CJ, Broker in L A, CA says:
Now, if you’d only resurrect presenceofmind.net 🙂
December 30, 2007 — 9:49 am
Greg Swann says:
> Now, if you’d only resurrect presenceofmind.net
I need to move it. That’s the only one of our domains that we don’t host.
December 30, 2007 — 10:15 am