James Kelly

Sorry I haven’t written in a while.  Things have been a bit busy lately.

Last Monday I took a new job and got sicker than a dog simultaneously…not a good time.  I have since gotten over my cold (sniff - almost) AND appear to be fitting in well with the new position.  So maybe now I can get back to the stuff I came here to do…code and help to make WordPress better.

I have several new projects that I am going to be working on from categories, to administration, and maybe even a decent offline RSS reader.  I’ll post the projects as they become more solid and I have time.

One thing that appears to be happening is that I’m apparently not getting very many good votes over at wpplugins.org (http://www.wpplugins.org/plugin/themed-login-plugin).  Now, this perplexes me because I’ve received many great private reviews and very few complaints.  I think I can also safely say that I’ve personally responded to and fixed every complaint possible that has come my way.

So here’s the deal folks.  If you really have a problem with the plugin, then contact me and LET ME KNOW, I’ll fixe it…really!  It REALLY irritiates me when people give me (and others) bad votes and don’t even comment to let me and others know why.

It would appear that I just ASSumed that the themed login and registration form plugin would work on WP2.0.1, which is unfortunate because it didn’t.  Luckily a user of 2.0.1 informed me of this oversight which has now been corrected.

More importantly, Eliyahu from Tsiyon Heights Messianic Radio thought it might be kind of cool to add in the ability to change the default WordPress registration email that goes to users.  So that’s what we did.

You can now (through the same options form) alter the email that goes out to new registrations, as well as the subject line, and even the email address that the new user registration email comes from.  I’ve added instructions inside the form on how to include the dynamic information.  Let me know if it needs to be cleared up, it was late when I wrote it.

Another thing that can be changed, but most likely won’t be, is the notification email that comes to you when a new user signs up.  I’ve kept mine the same, but it might be kind of nice for those of you who may have some kind of automated system set up.  One other alteration I made is that the from address on the notification that comes to you will now be the address of the new user, that way you can just reply.
Download the new plugin and read about the changes here.

If you are new to C#, or indeed programming in general, I suggest you check out the C# tutorial by Joe Mayo. It’s a very basic, hands-on type tutorial that should take most of the mystery out of C# development, even if you are a rank amateur.

However, with all that said, you do need to keep your wits about you. As with many tutorials, there are a few gross errors to watch out for. One in particular is the reference to comma delimiters within a for loop in Lesson 4, I’m certain he meant semi-colon delimited.

If you are already comfortable with programming concepts, especially Windows programming, this tutorial may not help you much as all the lessons are console based, which is good, no windows stuff to get in the way for the true beginner.

Even if you are an accomplished developer, if you have no C# experience, it’s a great primer and should only take you a maximum of an hour to skim over to lay a firm foundation of the topics covered.

Other than the occasional typo here and there, which common sense can typically overcome, the lessons are very easy to follow and should give you a running start so that you can conquer more advanced topics including Windows based C# programming.
Go check out The C# Station Tutorial.

I was, to say the least, shocked to find out that the Widget system produced by automattic.com didn’t include the ability to customize the navigation links provided by the wisdom of the WordPress developers.

This widget system comes with two widgets that override the Meta and Pages widgets provided by automattic.com to include options taking advantage of link manipulation regarding the Pages and Meta widgets.  The options follow:

• Pages
  • Sort - Allows you to sort pages by database column name.  Right now you have to look at and type in the database column name directly.  Perhaps in a future version I, or someone else, will set up a select list.
  • Order - A select list containg Asc for ascending or Desc for descending order.
  • Depth - A numerical value indicating to what depth you want to display for your page hierarchy.  Leave this blank for infinite.
  • Show Date - A select list that allows you to choose no date to display, the Post Date, or the Modified Date.
• Meta
  • Include Register Link - When checked displays the register link, not checked hides it.
  • Include Login Link - When checked displays the login/logout link, not checked hides it.
  • Include RSS - When checked displays the main post RSS link, not checked hides it.
  • Include Comment RSS - When checked displays the comments RSS link, not checked hides it.
  • Include WordPress Link - When checked displays the WordPress link, not checked hides it.

WidgetWorks is also a system allowing you to include new widgets in the WidgetWorks folder.  This “system”, such that it is, will likely be replaced by a more permanent solution in the future.  I recently became aware of Stewart’s Theme Widgets which is also a viable system.  Perhaps I’ll alter the overridden widgets to work with his system as well.

Of course, both systems will likely be deprecated completely once WordPress adds this capability to its core.

Ahh well…in the meantime, have fun and I hope these can be of use to someone.

It occurred to me after seeing the Themed Login Plugin in action on a few sites that maybe some people would want to know how to improve the appearance just a bit.

If you want to center your forms add the following line to your style.css file in your theme directory (or alternatively by using the theme editor under Presentation):

#login {margin:0 auto 0 auto;width:250px;}

If you want to display the links (at the bottom of the forms) all on one line instead of as a list of bullets add the following lines as well:

#login ul {margin:0;padding:0;}
#login ul li {display:inline;margin-left:10px;}

You should probably add these lines to the bottom of your style.css file.  I didn’t put any inline styling into play because I wanted to afford users maximum flexibility and many people (by many I mean me) don’t appreciate it when plugin authors start dinking around with their “look”.

I’ve also added the style options to the Themed Login Plugin page for permanence.

Hi folks, Wil over at Will’s Blog pointed out that if you went to the reset password form, entered nothing and hit submit, that the resulting (expected) error message would display, but nothing else after it would.  This is actually the same way that the normal form worked, but it definitely isn’t very user (or site) friendly.

So in short, now it displays your entire theme upon submission of a blank reset password form.  This is not what I would call a critical update, but do download the latest version when you get a few seconds.

Well, it was bound to happen.  An oversight on my part caused warnings to be thrown on some systems due to an array in one of the WP classes not existing as an array.

However, this lead me to think of a way to simplify the process of enabling this plugin so that it will work with less thought on the users part.  As soon as I get a spare moment, I’ll set it up.

Thanks again to Learn and Inform for finding and reporting this oversight.

Get the latest version of the Themed Login Plugin here.

It’s somewhat amazing to me that very little customization of the login, registration, and reset password forms is possible.  I decided to create a little plugin that would give me that ability, and have made the plugin available here for anyone else who would like this ability.

I’ve created many plugins, but this is the first that I’ve ever released to the general public.  With that in mind, there might be a few bugs (thus the 0.9 version), but I’m confident that there aren’t that many.  Most of the code was copied directly from the wp-login.php and wp-register.php pages.  If you find this plugin useful, let me know (of course feel free to post any comments you might have in the normal fashion as well).

I just discovered that I seem to not be the only one that is experiencing this desire.  A small movement has started on the wp-hackers list as of last night which indicates many others would like to see this behavior.  As such, hopefully I or other developers can sneak some kind of theme based system into the core login and registration pages making this plugin obsolete.

But until then, maybe this plugin can help someone else out.  You can see a sample of the end result by clicking on the login link on my site.  I should probably style it a little better, but for now it works great.

I’ve been using WordPress off and on for quite some time now.  I’ve absolutely been fascinated by the evolution of this piece of software.  Despite it’s critics, WordPress is (in my opinion) THE blogging/CMS software everyone should be using.  The extensibility, clean base install, and sheer speed of this software is second to none. 

That is why I’ve decided to give a go myself at contributing to this project.  This will be my first official open source contribution so there is a definite learning curve in determining how NOT to step on others toes.

Based on the research I’ve done to date there is a definite need for contributors both at the development level and at the content level.  There are many sections of the Wiki that need to be gone through and updated/corrected.

At any rate, should I inadvertantly botch something up in my ignorance, I apologize in advance.

This is the long version of my resume. If you’d like, you can see a more traditional resume here.

I have been working in the technology field professionally since 1990. My experience is primarily in programming, networking, databases, Internet, security, and hardware. Most of my software/hardware experience is with Microsoft/PCs, but I do have experience with Linux, and Mac.

I’ve been working with Internet technologies since 1997 and am fluent with PHP/Apache, IIS, ASP.NET, Cold Fusion, MS SQL Server, and MYSQL.

I am looking for a position with a mid-size to large company offering plenty of room for growth which will help me to achieve my certification and professional goals. I would consider a smaller company if the offer was right. I am currently located in Southeast Washington State, and have no aversion to relocating or working from home.

I work well alone and within groups, I have some marketing background with Internet marketing concepts (traffic development and conversion). I am an effective communicator and my writing skills are more than adequate.

My chief asset is the ability to dissect problems and create viable solutions leveraging my cross pollination of skills.

If you would be interested in speaking with me more, you can call me at 509-547-8253, or contact me through this web site.

During my time with the employers you will find listed here, I had the opportunity to work with and for many other companies through my various employers. Some larger companies I’ve worked with:

• Battelle (Pacific Northwest National Laboratories)
• The Department of Energy
• BNFL (British Nuclear Fuels Ltd.)
• Lockheed Martin

Before 1994 I worked for BCSR (Boeing Computer Services Richland) a division of Boeing (the airplane manufacturers), which was a former contractor working for the Department of Energy at Hanford, Washington. My duties for BCSR was as an assistant administrator working in a heterogeneous UNIX network consisting of computers like DEC Alpha’s, HP Mini’s, Sun Microsystems, Silicon Graphics, several main-frames, and one outdated Cray. The main reason that I don’t include this experience is because I feel that many of the talents it took to operate in this environment are duplicated in the experiences below.

Phone: 866-404-3946

Buzzy Planet, Inc. is primarily an Internet marketing company. They own several web properties marketing products from collector’s items and health products to information products.

Buzzy Planet also develops solutions for a small client base and hosts some of their sites also doing marketing for them when approached.

I was responsible for:

• Establishing marketing systems from operating procedures to the technology behind the systems including:
  • Visitor tracking
  • Email and customer information collection
  • Follow-up with automatic targeted email delivery
• Creating solutions for internal problems and client challenges related to the Internet
• Setting up and managing pay per click campaigns
• Security and customer information protection
• PHP, XHTML, CSS, ASP.NET, MS SQL, MYSQL development
• DNS, backup solutions, website connectivity and hosting

I helped to create Buzzy Planet and it is definitely on the road to success. My motivation for leaving Buzzy Planet is due primarily to personal issues concerning my family. It is a small company that, while growing, I simply can’t wait for. I have a wonderful wife, who I’ve been married to for 11 years, and three kids to think about and the related concerns are growing with time. If my situation were different, I’d be perfectly happy staying on for an indefinite period of time because I find the challenges related to what they do exhilarating.

MEIER Enterprises, Inc. is an engineering company located in Kennewick, Washington with an employee base of about 40 - 50 people. Most of the employees are AutoCAD designers, with the remaining employees consisting of engineers (covering most disciplines), architects, and office management personnel.

MEIER wanted to break into the Internet market and “didn’t know how”. So I was brought on with the idea of helping them do just that. The other motivation was that the increasing complexity of computer systems and networks was quickly overwhelming their staff regarding their own internal systems.

Once employed, I quickly brought their network up to speed. I also centralized their file storage and increased performance by installing updated file servers, a central RAID 5 storage system, and automated backups with a custom developed application allowing full versioning capability with rapid recovery of individual files and complete sets when needed.

MEIER offered my services to its clients including network design for schools and businesses, application development (online, offline, and hybrid), web hosting, and basic technology consulting.

In this position I grew a previously non-existent group from nothing to 5 individuals. We specialized in database driven web-centric applications successfully mixing technologies that many never would have dared to mix.

Early on we developed a 3 dimensional graphic repository for left over waste in the Hanford tank farms commissioned by DOE (US Department of Energy).

Later we developed many other applications and web properties including:

• A commercial bidding system paid for by Energy Northwest for the decommissioning of a nuclear facility located in Western Washington.
• An amateur musician website which is still in operation today.
• Learning to Write, an online writing system still being sold to, and used by schools to this day.
• Kid Compass, an online student management system still sold to and used by schools to this day.
• A prototype Internet-based real-time broadcast stock market talk shows, which I’m sad to say, ran out of funding.
• Many internal systems that eased the day-to-day operations internal to MEIER.
  • Contact management and marketing system similar to Constant Contact (which made its debut shortly after we started on this project)
• And many smaller applications and web properties that may or may not exist today.

I thoroughly enjoyed working for MEIER Enterprises, Inc. Of course all things must end and so too would my employee relationship with MEIER. It was my choice, simply put, the opportunity for growth was too limited.

Dynacom Systems, Inc. was a small local (Kennewick, Washington) computer system manufacturer, ISP, and consulting firm. Dynacom Systems designed, installed, and maintained several small networks around South Eastern Washington.

I became an employee with Dynacom Systems in 1995 when they purchased my one-man computer consulting business, Aries Computer Services.

Dynacom Systems also attempted to gain entry to the Internet through a site that I designed, created, and initially maintained called The Executive Pages. The site was a success, but the business model was flawed which resulted in the site languishing for years never really reaching its full potential.

I quickly rose to my maximum potential with such a small firm until I was literally running most aspects of the business. I was the sole designer and installer of networks, primary contact with the manufacturing process and lead programmer.

It became obvious that my growth with Dynacom Systems had peaked, so in 1997 I joined forces with MEIER Enterprises, Inc. a local engineering firm also located in Kennewick Washington.

This tiny company, created and owned by myself, was relatively successful considering my lack of experience and wisdom.

ACS was organized as a sole proprietor business with a single employee…me. This endeavor was basically a crash course in economics and business in general. During the time that I owned and operated ACS I embarked in no marketing campaigns. All my marketing was strictly word-of-mouth and kept me very busy.

ACS was a computer consulting company specializing in business networking, computer repair, maintenance, and general troubleshooting. Many of the first networks I installed and maintained were of the 10Base2 variety (coax).

My client list included construction companies, schools, outsourced work from other local computer companies, government partners like British Nuclear Fuels Ltd. (BNFL) and individuals.

One of the largest networks I maintained during this period was a star topology consisting of one server and fewer than 50 clients. The server was running Windows NT 3.51 and the client machines were running MSDOS with MS Windows for Workgroups 3.11 (Thank God that’s over).

In late 1995 I sold ACS to Dynacom Systems, Inc. and became an employee for them basically doing the same thing as I was doing in ACS and more.

I’ve always enjoyed working with data and it gives me great satisfaction when I can organize data and retrieve datasets quickly and efficiently regardless of the DBMS I am using.

I am most familiar with MS SQL Server, and am just as comfortable with MYSQL. Two databases that you may notice are missing from the list below are PostgreSQL and FoxPro.

The reason for this is quite simple: I’ve never worked with them. I have looked at FoxPro briefly and I feel I can be relatively confident when I say that should I ever be required to work with either of them in the future, I could come up to speed quickly.

Quickly to me means a couple of days (max, more likely a couple of hours) studying the fundamentals to be able to confidently use them and streamline input and output, with a level of true proficiency developing within 5 to 10 days.

MS SQL Server is probably my favorite DBMS. I have over 6 years experience working with SQL Server and I am extremely comfortable with it.

I am proficient not only with development concepts but also administrative and maintenance concepts. I am adept with Data Transformation Services (DTS) and have used it for a myriad of purposes from merging heterogenous data sources to routine backup applications.

I’ve used MSDE (now SQL Server 2005 Express Edition) for web applications as well as stand-alone desktop applications and when possible will use it instead of other methods.

It is important to note however that I am not a Microsoft junky. I fully embrace other technologies (such as MYSQL) when it is logical to do so.

I am currently studying SQL Server 2005 concepts since DTS is no longer used and coming up to speed with SQL Server Business Intelligence, Management Studio, and Analysis Services.

I’ve been using MYSQL for going on 3 years. I love how portable it is and the concepts I’ve learned regarding other databases transferred very nicely allowing me to run with MYSQL in less than a day.

I have used MYSQL primarily for web applications and most of my experience is with 4.x. I have used MYSQL 5 and can’t wait for it to become mainstream. It’s my opinion that where MYSQL 4 is a fully functional database, 5 comes much closer to being what my opinion of a professional DBMS is.

I have used MS Access for many purposes throughout the years and have used it successfully to drive web properties as well as desktop applications. I avoid using it for most applications if I can use a SQL server solution, however, there are times where it just isn’t feasible, and that’s where Access truly shines for Microsoft-centric solutions.

I am proficient with VBScript so I can create, work with, and support Access enabled desktop solutions when necessary.

This was the platform that I was introduced to databases on. I don’t miss it except perhaps in a nostalgic way.

One of the first professional grade applications I created used DBase IV as the database with Quattro Pro (an antiquated spreadsheet program) thrown in for good measure.

The application was a custom-built data repository and research platform for a doctor who specialized in surgical operations regarding obesity. It was imperative that the data be entered, stored, and retrieved accurately with the ability to rearrange the data quickly and easily. This application was definitely a first-of-its kind solution that both the doctor and I could be proud of.

I’ve written code in just about every mainstream desktop, web server language, and scripting language in use today.

Every language I’ve ever attempted to learn I’ve come by quickly through my own persistence. I can usually pick up a new language in a few hours or days becoming proficient with it in 10 to 30 days depending on complexity.

Some code skills that I haven’t mentioned, and that I believe you come by and have to know to call yourself a developer, are SGML based “languages” (like XML, RSS, XHTML, and the like), Scripting languages (JavaScript, LiveScript, VBScript, ActionScript), and various data transfer methods (SOAP and RPC).

Standards are very important to me. I will fudge them when there is no way around it due to time constraints, requests, or compatibility issues, however I always strive for compliance when possible.

This section isn’t meant to go over every language I’ve ever used, but instead is meant to be a highlight of languages I’ve used with the intent to prove that I possess the ability to leverage learned concepts and applying them to new languages and concepts.

One language that I specifically omitted is ASP. I have a great deal of experience with ASP but do not consider it a solution for any new development.

This is one of the first languages I learned as a professional; unfortunately I’ve had very few opportunities to use it.

One occasion that I did use it was to eradicate corruption caused by a version of Nimda (a virus) on over 20,000 files that hadn’t been backed up. Virus scanners couldn’t remove the corruption because the virus itself had somehow malfunctioned and instead of replicating itself, it replicated part of a printer driver file into all the files it should have infected, sometimes many times.

This of course resulted in all of the files becoming totally unusable. As could be expected, many people were experiencing a great deal of anxiety over this because the files represented well over $200,000 of time, energy, and expense.

In about 6 hours I was able to analyze, write, compile and test a nifty little program that recursively ran through every file system infected, restoring 97% of the files to fully functional binaries.

While I enjoy working with this language, it simply isn’t feasible most of the time. However, knowing C++ has gone a long way toward allowing me to pick up other languages quickly.

Visual basic has been a language I’ve used to solve problems for employers and clients for years. Applications I’ve developed include stand-alone desktop applications as well as applications which take advantage of the Internet.

One client wanted a web based shopping cart with a content management system that was NOT web based. In other words, the client wanted a system they could update on laptops and that would synchronize with their web page. Visual Basic.NET allowed me to quickly create a management system that both fit their needs and grew with them.

Visual Basic.NET really enabled those I supervised and myself to develop applications and modules to solve problems reliably and fast.

My most recent development experience has been with PHP and Apache on LINUX servers. PHP is an incredibly robust language and I’m embarrassed to say, having worked with it many years prior as a CGI, I never really gave it another chance.

Luckily, I was forced to work with it again for the first time almost three years ago and have never looked back. It is a powerful language and can hold its own with most other languages today.

Now that it has fully come of age and supports advanced concepts like classes and inheritance it is truly a valid solution for many applications.

The majority of the solutions I’ve developed in the past three years have been with PHP. The open source community has given me a lot of leverage allowing me to take concepts, modules, and even fully developed solutions and mold them to my own and my clients needs with less time and financial resources invested.

I typically use MYSQL with PHP but in my opinion, the power of PHP really shines when coupled with a DBMS like MS SQL server.

I have developed many server side web properties with C# and ASP.NET. Most of them admittedly smaller applied solutions, but with my background for scalable solutions, presented with a challenge, I have complete confidence in my ability to perform in this regard, especially teamed with other professionals. My lack of experience with C# specifically has been mostly due to customers requesting VB.NET solutions.

Most of the development I’ve done with the server side of .NET has been outside of Microsoft Visual Studio and has been commercial in nature (shopping cart systems and dynamic sites). However, I have had opportunity to create various web controls and class based systems.

Various projects have also required me to develop a couple of ISAPI based solutions using C#.

Having been one of the first 100,000 Cold Fusion developers globally, I’ve been developing Cold Fusion applications since version 2.0. That gives me over 8 years of Cold Fusion development experience which makes me a veteran regarding this language.

I’ve developed web based Cold Fusion applications freestyle, using Fusebox, and other methods based on the task at hand and the requirements of clients. I haven’t developed any Cold Fusion applications since version 6.0 because recent projects haven’t required it.

Anymore, Cold Fusion is just too expensive for most to justify when other solutions like PHP and .NET are available. However, with my Cold Fusion background I can confidently say that I could quite easily come up to speed on the advancements in a day or two.

Applications I’ve developed or overseen the development of include:

• A web based MS SQL Server data repository of over 5 million records and a three dimensional VRML front end.
• Many shopping cart and content management systems
• Online bid management systems for the Department of Energy
• Real time media streaming and management systems
• And dozens of smaller applications and web sites

The first “web site” I ever created was with Cold Fusion 2.0 and was written using MS Notepad as the development environment.

CGI is a language I’ve used quite infrequently. Rarely was there a time that I could justify delving into the depths of CGI. Frankly, the only solution I’ve ever developed with CGI was while developing a custom web based file up loader in PHP. I needed CGI to help make a rudimentary progress bar. I’m certain many others could have done far better and it was rough, but it worked.

Regarding servlets; I’ve never written anything using this technology. I’m confident I could, but I’ve never seen the value, nor had a request to develop anything with this methodology.

Java is a language that I have used in the past but haven’t touched in the last 3 years. I am competent with Java, but far from proficient (in my opinion).

My first introduction to Java was a trial by fire. A client came to my boss and wanted two pieces of an application. A web based UI in the form of a java applet, and a client side Java application to manage the backend.

My boss quickly accepted the three-week deadline assuming I had previous knowledge of Java, which I didn’t. I complained naturally, and then quickly got to work to meet the deadline, which we did. It took me a week to come up to speed on at least some of the practices, syntax, and concepts, and two weeks to develop a fully debugged deliverable.

Needless to say, the client went away happy, paid his bill, and we breathed a collective sigh of relief, even me…I just didn’t let anyone see.

Python is a language that I am not very familiar with at all, however, based on what I have seen and read, I do not fear it and feel that if need be, I could come up to speed with very little investment of time.

Most of the skills I developed in this area were from necessity. I was constantly placed in positions where I was surrounded by people who knew what they wanted to do, and with no capability to do them.

This typically resulted in ”trial by fire” situations where the deadline was yesterday with maximum performance expected and no down time.

I typically excel in this type of environment and can’t think of one incident where I didn’t deliver.  Were there ever mistakes?  Sure, and I usually recovered from them quickly and completely.  I typically would test out theories and unproven knowledge on non-critical systems first, a must when working in a production environment.

Regarding Novell: I have experience with Novell Netware although not too many people appear to be using Novell in my area anymore. Even though I don’t include a section for Novell I am familiar with their concepts and, of course, IPX.

I also don’t speak directly to my design experience, that not withstanding, I’ve designed several corporate networks and local school networks from the infrastructure up.

I have experience with switches, routers, firewalls, Wi-Fi, cabling, connectors, wiring specifications, and multi-homed systems to name a few knowledge areas.

Most of my experience in networking has been with Microsoft technology. I’m familiar with and have implemented solutions using Active Directory, Exchange Server, and many other Microsoft technologies.

I’ve never been certified mainly because I’ve been too busy solving problems and haven’t spent any time working toward the paper trail. I’ve recently started looking into the certification process and intend to work toward getting certified. I know how much of a gamble it can be for employers to hire those with nothing but their word of their track record.

I’m currently working toward my Cisco certification and once complete will work toward both Microsoft networking and programming certifications.

The most common client and server systems I’ve installed, configured, and maintained include:

• Windows for Workgroups 3.11
• Windows 95, 98, and ME
• Windows professional
• Windows XP Home and Professional
• Windows NT 3.51 and 4.0
• Windows 2000 Server
• Windows 2003 Server
• Exchange Server
• Active Directory