Can’t access WordPress? I just wait.

It’s the lazy person’s solution and today a gift from the gods.

I lost administrative access to this site a couple of months ago. I did some quick searching to find the solution and got as far as figuring out that it meant I had to figure out how to access the back end – through the server, specifically through something called PhpMyadmin. If that means nothing to you, you don’t need to know more. I think I’ve seen PhpMyadmin at some point in my time writing this blog, but I really have no idea how to get in there. Being a busy girl with demands on my time, I had to take an unwanted hiatus from posting because I didn’t have time to figure out the fix.

Today I mustered the energy … and discovered the problem had solved itself. So here I am again, courtesy of the gods and goddesses of blogging and creativity and coding.

Actually, the gods and goddesses of creativity have shined on me this week. I’m taking a much-needed week off work, escaping the huge project that has been eating up 50+ hours per week for several months. I shut my work computer down Friday night, and aside from a couple of hours of final tidying yesterday I’ve no plans to fire it back up again unless I’m summoned back for an emergency. Continue reading

Usability fail

I’m going to the theater next weekend. It’s kind of a miracle that I was able to buy tickets.

There’s no ticket scarcity that I know of. It’s not “Hamilton” I’m seeing but a very small show presenting a series of 5-minute plays focusing on themes related to digital privacy; it’s part of a series of local productions sponsored worldwide by the nonprofit Goethe Institut.

What makes it amazing that I’m able to attend is the website usability fail I had to get past in order to buy tickets. It was one of the worst digital user experiences I’ve had in a long time — and it turned out to be caused by one simple error. Continue reading

Google: Pushing to make the web more mobile-friendly

MobileCarIn case you missed it, Google recently announced plans to make mobile-friendliness an even more important part of its ranking algorithm. What that means is that it’s even more important than before for your website to display well on mobile devices.

The reason for this is sound. It isn’t just Google trying to dictate changes that it wants you to make to your website. Google is reflecting the reality of how people use the Internet. Continue reading

Map My Fail

I’m a fitness tracker. Exercise, weight, the foods I eat, how much water I drink… I track it all. It helps motivate me to get healthier.

The other day, I walked my dog to the library so I could return a book. It’s a moderate-length walk for us, a couple of miles, and was uneventful save for the fact that my phone crashed while I was using it to track my exercise. So when I got home, I had to log the walk manually. My phone still didn’t want to behave, so I fired up my laptop to use the tracking app’s web interface. What greeted me was an object lesson in usability:

Usability fail Continue reading