WordPress 3.0 Features
This falls into the category of information one has to keep track of. WordPress 3.0 has some news features, but you need to know how to activate and use them. You will find the following article useful: HOW TO : Enable WordPress 3.0 New Features After Upgrading
Happy blogging.
Aptana Has Help
Eclipse is my IDE of choice. I will not argue that it is the best IDE for each of the tasks I use it for – that is not the point. I like Eclipse because it represents a one-stop-shop – I use it to edit web pages, style sheets, JavaScript, Python, PHP and Java. Eclipse also gives me access to my code repository using Subversion.
Lately, I have also been using Aptana, an Eclipse plug-in that helps me create JavaScript. It also makes some of the latest Web 2.0 cool effects available to me by helping me integrate various JavaScript libraries with my code.
Today, I discovered that the Aptana site provides some high quality help for web developers. I do not specialize in front-end development; therrefore, I find this page very useful. I am currently promoting the use of AJAX at a client site – these resources will be very useful. So will Aptana. Give it a try.
Get A Virtual Machine
I use VMware at home. The benefits are huge. I have a virtual machine that acts as a file server, which I mirror to another server on my network. I also backup files to an external storgae device.
The biggest change for me is that my fully configured virtual machines are throw away appliances. I find this especially useful for the instance of Windows that I run. I have a snapshot of the VM in perfect working order. If I get a virus, or my registry becomes corrupt, I just roll back to the previous state. Since I do not use this instance to store files, I can do this with impunity.
I especially like being able to set up a web application with a separate database server and a separate apache instance to handle images. VMWARE let’s me plan how I am going to scale an application.
However, I still have a small problem. I still have to configure my VMs myself and install the software I need. You can solve this problem by downloading a preconfigured VM that can be used right out of the box. VMware provides some of these that can be downloaded out of the box, which is fine if you use VMware.
A Canadian company provides useful Virtual Appliances in multiple flavours. For example, you can download a server that runs an installed instance of PostgresSQL that runs under VMWARE, XEN or Microsoft Virtual PC. The copany is called Virtual Appliances, and their head office is in Uxbridge, Ontario. Their VMware appliances are certified by VMware, which means that they comply with best practice, they provide a safe computing environment and they have complete documentation. Give them a try. I found the TomCat VM very useful.