If you’re on Dreamhost, this can be a bit of a nuisance… its web-based FTP client is a drag to use, and many FTP clients you can use on your own machine are extremely slow.  I use FileZilla, and it can take as long as 10-20 minutes to delete all the directories and subdirectories for all the unused themes on a default Dreamhost installation.

There’s a fast and easy way to solve this!

First, you need to log into your account via telnet.  Click here if you don’t know how to log into a Dreamhost account via SSH.

Once you’re logged in, find the directory in your home account which holds the domain you’re interested in. Type “ls” to see the available choices.

Use the “cd” command to Change Directory to the domain you wish to edit. For instance, I’m about to clean up a subdomain I’m using for a test project, which is located at r.sylvansocial.com, so I type this:

cd r.sylvansocial.com

If you type “ls” again, you’ll see all the files in the root directory of your WordPress install.

The theme files are located inside yourdomain.com/wp-content/themes, so next you’ll want to cd over there:

cd wp-content/themes

If you want to check that you did this correctly, you can type “pwd” again, and you’ll see that your location on is /home/YourDreamhostUsername/YourDomainName.com/wp-content/themes (on Dreamhost’s server). If you’re with a different hosting company, it’s probably similar. Anyway, here’s a screen shot from the Terminal:

Next step, assuming you’re still using the default “twentyeleven” theme:

mv twentyeleven .twentyeleven
rm -r *
mv .twentyeleven twentyeleven


Done!

What might have taken a really long time via an FTP client, was probably just completed in under a second!

How?  Beacuaseok, this is a bit of a silly inside joke... it's from this video, which is great for a laugh if you have 2 minutes to be distracted: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z2Z23SAFVA [sic] the “rm” command tells Linux to remove files, the “-r” tells it to go recursively through every directory underneath, and the “*” tells it to apply this action to every file in the directory.

Why doesn’t this action kill the one theme that got renamed with a dot in front of it? Beacuase . . .see above for what 'beacuase' is about in Linux/Unix, a leading “dot” means “hide this file”. And the rm -r * function skips over the file you renamed with the leading dot.

I can’t include a full Unix/Linux tutorial in this blog post, but of course contact us at http://SylvanSocial.com if you have any questions!

Why?  Because many of the operations you might want to perform (such as removing bunches of folders, or searching through zillions of subdirectories) can happen extremely quickly on their machine as local processes, while they would take a long time to download to your machine, and then upload back.

Make sense?  For instance, if you want to make a copy of every directory in a WordPress installation, and move it to another location, for safekeeping, and then move it back later, that could require downloading hundreds of megabytes to your home computer — and then uploading them back to the Dreamhost server over the internet.  When all you really wanted was to tell their computer “copy this from point a to point b, both of which are on the same machine”.

Telnet, or logging in via SSH (a Secure SHell) makes it as if you’re sitting at their computer, instead of your own.  So long as you don’t actually need copies of files on your own machine, this approach is like teleporting into their office — since nothing needs to travel over the internet (except the commands you type), big file operations can be blindingly fast.

If you’re on a Mac, open the “Terminal” application (which you can find using “Quicklook”, or by hitting Command-Space and typing “Terminal” into the little blue search field on the top-right of your screen).

You’ll get a window that looks like an old DOS interface (fixed-width characters, etc.), and a command-line prompt.

You’ll see the name of your computer, then a “tilde” (“~”) indicating that you’re in your home directory, and then a prompt (“$”) indicating that it’s ready for you to type stuff.

How do you find your Dreamhost account?  Easy. Type this:

ssh yourusername@yourdomainname.com

In that example, “yourusername” is the username you have with Dreamhost (whatever you use to log in to their web admin panel). And “yourdomainname” can be ANY of the domains you host with Dreamhost.

After you type that, the system may ask for your password, and it’s looking for the password you use to log in to Dreamhost, not the admin account you may have created on your blog or website or whatever you’re having them host.

Remember, if this doesn’t seem to work, it’s possible they haven’t authorized SSH access for your account. If you call and ask, they should be able to fix that instantly, at no charge.

Happy telnetting!

More posts will be coming soon on this site, showing you some of the awesome things you can do once you’re logged in.

For starters, try typing ls after you log in. You’ll see each of your domains as a directory. If you type “cd yourdomainname.com” (using one of the names you saw after using the “ls” command), then you’ll see everything that’s in that site’s directory.

Now you don’t need an FTP client; you just need to learn Linux!

Turn your blog into a book in a few easy steps – sound too good to be true? Bookfabrik, a new, up and coming company out of Germany, promises to do just that. They say they will take your social media content (your blog) and turn it into something awesome (a book or PDF)!

Curious, I tried it out with www.peepdrinks.com, a WordPress blog using the theme “Crisp”, which is a premium theme provided by Woo Themes. This theme is a “tumblog” theme, meaning that it has Custom Post Types which are similar to tumblr.com functionality.

To start, I chose the option for self-hosted WordPress site, entered the login information (it’s gotta be your blog!) and about 45 seconds later I was ready to modify my book! Here are the somewhat limited options for modifying the book:

• change the date range of what is printed
• decide how you want to sort (it defaults to chronological)
• select the categories you want to appear in the book
• select the authors whose posts are to appear in the book
• choose from 4 standard covers and change the book title/author
• choose very basic layout options

The PDF proof created for www.peepdrinks.com

Once you have made your choices you can download a pdf proof and from there either order a book or a pdf. Peepdrinks was 32 pages and for softcover with color printing the cost would have been 9.95 euros ($14), hardcover would be 15.95 euros ($22.50). Not too bad until you add the 17.95 euro ($25.50) shipping charge to the US. So, if you wanted the hardbound book in color your total cost would be almost $50.00. The PDF would only cost 4.95 euros ($7) and would be instantly downloadable.

One of the biggest problems I ran into is that Bookfabrik is not “smart” enough to pull featured images from a blog. Peepdrinks.com is a heavily illustrated site, but 90% of the images are missing from the book because the images aren’t inserted directly into the post, they are set as featured images (part of the tumblog functionality).

Aside from the cost, image capabilities and limited style options, other frustrations include: limited font selection (1 choice!), inability to save your progress and get back to it later (total book creation must be done in one sitting) and you can’t change your mind once you purchase – there are no changes or returns once the order it submitted.

Overall, if you have a blog that would make a cool book, or a nice gift, Bookfabrik is certainly worth considering.

The key to successful design is trying different things to see what works.

Check out this slideshow, which should be self-explanatory:

Sylvan Social Technology offers a variety of solutions for this type of split-testing, which can be applied to:

• Digital Images
• Web Site Designs
• Online Advertising
• Email Marketing
• and more!

Because it’s incredibly quick and simple. Especially with special-purpose themes such as “SupportPress” or “Listings” from WooThemes, and “Anticipate” or “Boutique” from ElegantThemes.

According to WordPress.org, WordPress currently powers 14.7% of the top million websites in the world (up from 8.5%), and the latest data show 22 out of every 100 new active domains in the US are running WordPress.  A recent survey of end-users and developers got responses from over 18,000 participants, and the results of this survey are being used to improve the product.

It has developed rapidly over the past few years, and because of its open-source structure, WordPress has by far the largest library of third-party extensions available for it.

For virtually every feature imaginable, there are several competing products.  Choosing which product to use for a given feature, such as Event Management or Merchandise Sales, can can be tricky, which is why you’ll want a development shop that keeps its suite of tools extremely current.  The better packages publish updates every few weeks, with major upgrades every few months… so the best set of tools this month is different from last month.  The best developers will do fresh research for each product, but they will do the best job if it’s something they live and breathe every day.

A casual user can quickly and easily become facile with maintaining a WordPress site, but if you want to jumpstart a business, there’s no faster way than hiring the right development shop.  Unless your business is very unusual, a competent team should be able to build a fantastic web presence or basic site implementation in the range from $1,000 to $10,000, depending on complexity and the level of design customization you require.

Gradients can be made in CSS instead of .jpg or .png!

So, you want to have a with a nifty gradient background, or maybe a bar for a menu or your widgets…  And you want to to have that trendy “drippy-wet glossy” feel… what do you do?

The Amateur Way:  Hop into Photoshop, create a file of the size you need, create the gradient, save it as a .jpg, and load it on your website as an image.

A Slightly Better Way: Create a 1-pixel strip, and using “repeat-x” or “repeat-y”, have the browser render your strip at whatever width (or height) you need.

Here’s the absolute rockstar way to do it:

http://www.colorzilla.com/gradient-editor/

And then you can create extremely complex gradients without a single .jpg or .png file!  Pure CSS!  Infinitely scaleable to any dimensions, and they’ll look equally beautiful at any size!  Plus if you need to change something later, your whole site will be instantly re-rendered.

You could sift through the CSS manuals and figure this out by hand, but why? The Colorzilla site is completely awesome.  Just pray they don’t take it down or start charging money.

Special thanks to Janet Esquirol for finding this gem!

PhotoShelter is quite simply the premier site for photographers to create their online portfolios and sell images. It offers the most features of all online portfolio sites, including:

• A customizable domain name;
• Ability to add your own logo and customize the header and footer;
• Fully customizable galleries (your own CSS) in addition to pre-made templates;
• Four print partners, or the ability to self-fulfill orders;
• SEO features that show you exactly where and what to do to rank well in search engines;
• Easy integration with social media sites – including RSS feeds and embeddable slideshows;
• Accepts all photo file types, including RAW and PSD;
• Lightbox login;
• Wide selection of photos, photo books and other gifts;
• Digital Downloads available with multiple sizes and different license terms available;
• Easy to use watermark manager;
• Low transaction fees of 8%-10% (depending on your plan);

The biggest downside to PhotoShelter is the cost, which ranges (based mostly on storage space) from $9.99 to $49.99 per month, so it is not intended for the casual user looking to show off their vacation pictures. But, if you are a serious photographer and you want to display and network with other serious photographers, PhotoShelter is the place to do it. Another small downside is that PhotoShelter does not currently allow videos. It wouldn’t surprise me if this feature was eventually added, but if it is, expect it to only be available to the more expensive pro account.

The bottom line: If you want to break into the world of professional photography, to display your work and network with other serious photographers (over 65,000 current users), and money is not a factor, PhotoShelter is a great place to get started.

Carbonmade is one of those websites that you pull up and wonder if you made a spelling error in the address bar. Its homepage is a combination of casual, colorful vector art simply stating, “this is the place for your online portfolio”. And that is exactly what Carbonmade is – designed for ease and simplicity, Carbonmade is perfect if you are looking to manage your portfolio with a quick and no-fills set up.

It’s free, or fairly reasonably priced too. The free, “Meh” plan, provides you a unique url, up to 5 projects and up to 35 images. If you are looking for more, simply sign up for the “Whoo!” plan at $12 per month and get up to 50 projects, 500 images, 10 videos and domain binding.

As previously mentioned, setting up your account and adding a project is straightforward and simple. Choose your style of folio by selecting colors, fonts and footer information and then begin uploading images. Carbonmade also features a business directory divided by skills and areas of expertise, including a category for artists that are available for freelance.

There are a few downsides, the biggest being that although it is simple and straightforward, it is also very limiting. You are limited to the style choices and formatting capabilities provided, which is especially frustrating if you are paying for the “Whoo!” plan and are looking to do more with your portfolio. The price also seems a bit steep considering they cap your portfolio to 500 images and the free plan only gives you 35. Also, there are no selling features available, this is strictly a portfolio site.

All in all, this is a great application for those that want a simple, small online portfolio.

Zenfolio is yet another online portfolio and photo selling site rich with good features and low yearly cost. Zenfolio most closely resembles SmugMug in regards to features and pricing – it is missing a few of the features SmugMug offers but comes at a much lower price of $100 per year (in comparison to SmugMug’s $150+ yearly pricetag). For those just wanting an online portfolio with no selling involved, plans range from $25 to $50 per year. Zenfolio’s premium membership features include:

• 7 clean looking layout options with many customizable variables (although you cannot modify any CSS)
• A customizable domain name
• Unlimited photo uploads
• Easy integration into social media sites
• Wide selection of photos, photo books and other gifts
• Ability to self-fulfill orders with a lab of your choice
• One of the best and easiest to use watermark managers
• Digital Downloads available with multiple sizes and different license terms available
• Transaction fees of 4% to 12% depending on product type (prints vs. digital downloads)

Zenfolio is an excellent choice based on price point, but there are some limitations in comparison to SmugMug or Photoshelter. The inability to fully customize your portfolio is the biggest limitation. The options they give you are really good, but there are some people out there who’ll want to be able to import or modify their own CSS. Another issue is that you are unable to use RAW, TIFF and PSD filetypes, even with the premium membership. Finally, the SEO tools and keyword tagging is somewhat lacking compared to other sites.

On the upside, the yearly cost is by far the cheapest and Zenfolio still manages to offer a majority of the most wanted features. For those looking for a simpler setup and great selling capabilities, Zenfolio is worth a try!

FotoMoto is in a category of its own. Unlike Photoshelter or SmugMug, FotoMoto has no online portfolio hosting capabilities. Instead, FotoMoto is an e-commerce system that gives independent photographers and web publishers the ability to sell their work directly on their own site. They do all of the hard work for you: printing, packing, shipping and customer support. All you need to do is set up your store in the FotoMoto Wizard and then add a few lines of javascript code to your site and you are ready to sell. Plus, the entire shopping experience is widget based and on your own site, so none of your visitors will be directed elsewhere. The benefits of FotoMoto include:

• Easily integrates directly into your current website, including WordPress sites
• No subscription fee, only pay a 15% transaction fee on each order
• FotoMoto’s transaction fee covers everything – printing, shipping and customer service
• Personalize your Widget’s “Buy Buttons” with simple CSS
• High quality printing with many shopping choices (prints, canvas prints, Fine Art Prints, greeting cards, etc.)

If you already have your own website set-up and you want to start selling your photos without doing a lot of work, FotoMoto is well worth a try! If you are still not sure, or want to hear about FotoMoto directly from the source, watch the FotoMoto Concept Video.