Author: kiusau

Life is full of surprises. Still, you can quit at anytime, if you have grown weary of their outcome. For, after all, survival is but a first step; it is a primitive instinct that does not distinguish us, humans, from other animals. Accordingly, if it is all that you can achieve in life, do not be surprised that others treat you like an ordinary animal. Alas, if it is all there is left, and you have grown weary, it is good justification to depart. Before you go, however, look deep inside and determine if you are not the cause of your own demise. For, in the end, society owes you nothing, and even your parents are likely to forsake you, if you have not been grateful. Have you said thanks for all that you have received, and have you given in return for all that you have taken? John F. Kennedy once stated "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country". Obviously, he was not thinking of taxes, but the help that he would require to become an effective president. Little that is great can be achieved alone. Then too, it takes great leaders to motivate society and move it forward in a manner that will pave the way to a better tomorrow. The world is in need of good leaders. Maybe you are one of them in disguise. Indeed, no one owes you a living, but if people see you struggling they are apt to lend a hand. Just do not be afraid to reach out. And, do not quit, if nothing is given in return. For, many people simply do not care, and you must not let them get you down. You have a right to your own life and the pursuit of your own happiness, so do not be afraid to claim what is yours. Just do not take what belongs to others, if it not without their permission or obtained in fair competition. And, cry out when you have been cheated, but only if there is something to be gained from your cries, for few people like a cry-baby. Be judicious, strategic, and select your battles wisely. Do not waste your time with trivial injustices, for we all make errors, and we are all, therefore, subject to the injustice of others. It is the very thought of exercising my freedom of last resort that keeps me alive, for it is the comfort that I can put an end to my suffering at any time that allows me to endure enormous pain. It is what gives me the courage to fight for what is right without fear of losing. It is a powerful freedom that you should never surrender! Just do not make pain your goal, or you will surely finish a loser. Then too, never place pleasure over goodness and know to distinguish between the two. In liberty, Roddy

The Addition of an Onsite Search Engine

What follows is truly exciting for a novice developer with natural political enemies.

Grammar Captive has discovered Matomo (formerly called PIWIK or Kiwi-P spelled backwards).  Matomo is Google Analytics on your desktop.  In other words, the data with which Grammar Captive does its analysis will not become the property of Google, but remain that of Grammar Captive.

What is more, the software that collects and process the data can reside on the user’s  computer, or a third-party host-server of the user’s own choosing.  Alas, Grammar Captive is free from the clutches of “Big Brother”!

Finally, Matomo costs nothing additionally, but the time of installation and set-up. Indeed, rather than reinventing the wheel and creating my own counters for activity on the Grammar Captive site, I will now write script to tell Matomo what it is that I want counted and how I want it analyzed.

This discovery has also resulted in a new task, but one that is fairly easy to implement and will not cause a great amount of additional delay — an onsite search engine.

The reason that I am adding this fourth, pre-production, development task is the important user information that it offers.  Where before users had to select newsletters and podcasts with the alternatives that I provided, they are now free to select Grammar Captive material without constraint.  The ramifications are both grand and immediate, as I will no longer have to second guess what my users want, for they will tell me directly each time they submit a search in the new Grammar Captive newsletters and podcasts search boxes.  Such information is simply too valuable to be without.

If you would like a preview of what is to come, open to the Grammar Captive mainpage and click in the navigation bar under the subheading Search Grammar Captive.

Roddy

Completed Upgrades

The following upgrades have been completed:

All communication with the Grammar Captive database is now achieved through a single PHP class.  This means that the database settings of all documents that communicate with the database can be changed by changing only one document.  As this document is only visible to the webmaster, the entire site is now more flexible and secure as a result.

There are now 6 different ways to sign up for the Seven Gates newsletter including four on the Grammar Captive main page and two on the Grammar Captive Podcast host page.  All of these avenues for subscription now use the same, secure, backend mechanism for communication with the Grammar Captive database — namely, MySQL prepared statements.

The offer of a free webinar is now independent of the Grammar Captive webinar series.  The free webinar will become a regularly scheduled webinar available to new and potential Grammar Captive users to ask questions and become acquainted with Grammar Captive’s host.  Sign-up for the webinar is now accessible via the Grammar Captive main page under the heading Introduction in the main page navigation bar.

In order to remove the bubbling effect when doing a search in the Concept and Form and Use podcast archives, the hover mechanism was changed to a click mechanism.  The effect is slightly less dynamic, but much more stable.

The final two plus one remaining development projects are:

  1. the completion of the PHP class for counting user activity in regard to newsletter, podcast, and page hits,
  2. modification of the database to account for different language versions of the Seven Gates newsletter, and
  3. tweeking the PHP mass mailer to handle mass mail.  Up until now it has only managed one email or newsletter at a time.

Surely there will be other important changes down the line, but not until after podcast production has been set into motion — say, in two to three weeks?

By the way, the Grammar Captive website (grammarcaptive.com) has now received just under 410,000 successful page requests since its inception in March 2017 for an average daily request rate of more than 1,750 requests.  This is astounding in light of the fact that not a single podcast has yet to be published.

Where there is a need that I can satisfy, there is hope.

Roddy

 

 

 

 

 

Upgrade and Innovation

While in the process of propagating Grammar Captive’s new PHP class for establishing a new, and importantly uniform connection mechanism to the Grammar Captive database across all points of entry on the Grammar Captive website, other incongruities were found.  In particular the manner in which users could sign up for the Seven Gates weekly newsletter.

It was not a simple matter of copy and past, and much was learned in the process; nevertheless, you can now sign up for the Seven Gates newsletter, even if you do not make it to the Seventh Gate of the Grammar Captive splash panel.

Just click on the word Subscribe under the heading Info/Newsletter in the navigation bar on the Grammar Captive main page, fill out the form, and submit your information.  Then, watch what happens, for you will likely be impressed.

You might like to read a newsletter or two in the new Seven Gates archive before you sign up.  And, if your work week has ended as well as mine, I wish you a great weekend, as well.

Roddy

Newsletter Body Formatting

Still another minor upgrade as I move forward with the development of  hit counters for both the Grammar Captive podcasts and newsletters.  In effect, I have discovered how to add formatting to the body of the text and other selected fields.

Go to the Grammar Captive main page, look in the navigation bar under Newsletter and click on the word Archive.  Then select Click and Read in the discoverable section under Newsletter No. 8.  Look at the formatting of the body of the letter and compare this result with the letter body of any other newsletter currently available in the archive.

WOW!  What a difference.

Roddy

 

Grammar Captive’s First Newsletter Delivery

You can now sign up for a Grammar Captive account and receive your first free copy of Seven Gates, Grammar Captive’s weekly newsletter in your email box.   Now, what is cool!

After having received the newsletter you have three choices available to you in the newsletter.  If you

  1. subscribed and now change your mind, you can unsubscribe.
  2. did not subscribe, but like what you find, you can subscribe.
  3. subscribed when you opened your account, and you like what you find, simply do nothing and receive the next and every future edition free of charge thereafter.

What to do?

  1. Open to Grammar Captive’s main page and follow the second splash panel to Gate 7.
  2. Proceed to the last panel of the gate and sign up where it says Free Gifts.
  3. Just do as you are instructed thereafter.

Enjoy!

Roddy

 

 

One Minor and One Major Adjustment

  1. Fixed the vertical alignment of the images in the podcast_hostpage.php sidebar.
  2. The Click and Listen link now appears properly on the overview.html Weekly Podasts insert.  Now you can see it without having first to pass your cursor over it!

Getting closer to the end of Grammar Captive’s first phase of web development.  If things keep moving as now, production is just around the corner.

Roddy