transmothra - signs of the collapse

Originally published at jeremyjarratt.com. You can comment here or there.

Here's where you find the damn thing already.

For those of you WordPress users wondering how to find your Custom Post Types in the Appearance >> Menus page (for your Custom Menus), look no further than your handy Screen Options dropdown panel, up at the top right of the page. No, your other right. Up further. Look – right there! See where my finger is pointing? Where it says “Howdy, [yourname] | Log Out”? Yeah, just below that. No, you’re looking at “Help.” I said it was Screen Options and i MEAN it was Screen Options, goddammit.

Menu page options dropdown

I looked and looked and had a hard time finding these options (ok, actually i found it not long after i started looking, but i figured there’s got to be a whole slew of people out there having a hard time figuring this one out). So now you know, and knowing is half the battle.

(Also note that until we get a decent UI, plugins such as Custom Post Type UI will have to do, unless you just want to code away your evening. Additionally, your theme must support Custom Menus in order to use them.)

Incidentally, if you have no idea what the hell i’m on about, and for some reason refuse to mind your own damn bidness, here’s the deal: In the recent WordPress 3.0 release, users now have the ability to create not only custom navigation menus (those things you click on to get to other areas of the site you’re on), but can also create something called a Custom Post Type. (Oh god i wish i could explain this really well.) Basically, instead of only being able to create blog posts (which are generally chronologically ordered) or generic Pages (which are the same thing, without the emphasis on time), WordPress administrators can also create types of content specifically geared toward a given theme… say, a real estate listing, a movie review, or a section of used musical instruments for sale. This also lets you enable or disable certain options. You know what? You don’t get it, do you? Mind your own beezwax if you’re gonna give me that look. Hey – hey! Why don’t ya try running a WordPress site yourself? Seriously. Give me a breeeeeaaaaaak!

Originally published at jeremyjarratt.com. You can comment here or there.

Want an argument for accessibility?

Here you go! (via Ma.tt)

Uber-cool Glenda Watson Hyatt, aka the Left Thumb Blogger, shares her perspective on how WordPress has improved her ability to communicate effectively on the internets.

Whether you are 100% able-bodied or not, accessibility is important. Because no matter who you are, the future is coming. Some day many of us may have devices assisting us, whether we need them or not, and completely removing all barriers between humans and machines will be an important first step in enabling us to proliferate on the digital grid - on a truly level playing field.

I’ve committed to making my upcoming theme be as accessible as possible. You should too, especially if you want to meet the Future head-on. Keeping all variants of humanity and machinery in mind when designing user interfaces of any kind will be important there.

Originally published at jeremyjarratt.com. You can comment here or there.

I’ve been hard at work the past couple of weeks on a new WordPress theme i’m calling “transitory.” It’s not as cool of a name as Big Urgent Wish, but i tried it on and it stuck.

My goal with this theme was to have a much, much cleaner page, without too much extraneous information clogging up eyeballs. Here is how i’ve decided it will eventually be layed out:

"transitory" layout (click to enlarge)

Note that the colors are arbitrary in the above layout and will change. 

And now here is a screenshot of it in action. Note the final layout has not yet been 100% applied. Also note the cool city background, which is blacked out underneath content boxes. Trust me, it looks much cooler than this. The menu to the side is being rewritten with jQuery, and will fold out when needed, and collapse when not needed.

"transitory" screenshot (click to enlarge)

At a guess, i’d have to say that it should be completed in about another week or two. So… a month, maybe? I dunno. You’ll see it soon enough.

All comments (good or bad) welcome!