http://www.grahamnott.com Tue, 13 Jul 2010 22:06:45 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Tasked with importing thousands of records from a different product into CiviCRM software, I dragged my feet. I was not looking forward to the learning curve and time required to fully understand the import procedure and how to do it error free. To test and clean the data without messing with ... http://www.grahamnott.com/2010/07/civicrm-314-import-contacts-tips/ Dear Google, I commend you for giving us the Google Font Directory at http://code.google.com/webfonts and the API. Ever since Netscape Navigator 4 have I anticipated using web fonts again, and that day has finally come. XOXO - Graham http://www.grahamnott.com/2010/05/web-fonts-are-back-for-good/ The nice people at TELUS have upgraded my ASDL speed to their High Speed Turbo. I've only had it for a day, and I cannot complain getting 5Mb/second downloads. Kudos - now, please work on increasing the maximum upload speeds. http://www.grahamnott.com/2010/01/i-like-telus-high-speed-turbo/ Nothing works completely. I should start by saying that CS Cart has impressed me greatly, and it is probably the best shopping cart software I've used. The administrator area is simple and powerful, and the templates (skins) are relatively easy to customize. Getting shopping cart software to run propertly for a ... http://www.grahamnott.com/2009/12/cs-cart-208-and-canada-post-shipping/ After a few days time of pondering, I decided today I will participate in the 2009 NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). But I am not going to write a novel. So that leaves non-fiction, and labels me a rebel! Over the previous nine years of NaNoWriMo, enough people have rebelled to ... http://www.grahamnott.com/2009/09/be-a-nanowrimo-rebel/ Before: After: When you need to understand a new database schema, making a model like this is a big help. I still like DBDesigner4 fromfabFORCE.net to get these simple models done. Yes, I know there's a much newer GUI program, MySQL Workbench, that could do a better job. One day I'll have ... http://www.grahamnott.com/2009/09/dbdesigner4-is-good-enough-for-me/ I have a short code snippet to share, if you want to do simple date calculations using the Smarty template engine. As a very short preamble, I've used Smarty off-and-on for eight years, and it's great. I find its simplicity and power outweigh bloated frameworks on a regular basis. If you ... http://www.grahamnott.com/2009/07/smarty-template-engine-and-tomorrow/ HTML5 and great expectations It's a busy day full of chatter on the InterWeb about HTML 5 and its proposed features. "Could it kill Flash and Silverlight", as supposed by Paul Krill at InfoWorld? One thing is certain: it is not vaporware. After a short search, I found this example implementing a ... http://www.grahamnott.com/2009/06/html-5-and-great-expectations/ Today I was waiting for files to upload to the server in order to upgrade Drupal (in fact it is Acquia Drupal) and CiviCRM for Drupal, and while I was waiting I started writing this. If you don't know what those software programs are, I will not explain here - you ... http://www.grahamnott.com/2009/06/upgrading-web-application-software-should-it-be-difficult/ There are so many adages that apply just as well to computers and software as anywhere else in life: be prepared! An ounce of prevention is.... The wise ones will use prevention to their advantage. For example, if you run a hosting server, and a users' domain name is about to ... http://www.grahamnott.com/2009/06/use-your-wisdom-to-beat-the-odds/