WordPress Website Overhaul Part 2

Welcome to the continuation of my Wordpress Website Overhaul Part 2. If you haven't read part 1 you can go here to read it. In part one I spoke about getting the right theme and removing the plugins that you really do not need. Of course that can be subjective, but you do need to take a hard look at what plugins you just don't need. I am a register DISQUS user and was using it on my site. However, I really don't do that much commenting on the web and my site has very few comments (not that I don't get a lot of comments in the spam bucket that I delete). Of course the amounts of comments I get can change, but thinking about it, I really didn't need to be using DISQUS and of course it was adding to my site load times. I am now using the WordPress comment system and do not require registration. That can add to the spam on your site and the need for additional plugins to control. I felt that not requiring registration makes it easier to comment and more visitor friendly so for me that is the best route to take. I know a lot of people debate what comment system is best and it is probably more of a personal option and choice more than anything else.

The next thing you really need to consider is how to protect your site from the evil of the world. You don't want to host viruses, link to shocking sites, participate in pyramid schemes or have your website host shut you down! Like it or not you should try to lock your site down. Make your login  password secure and look at plugins that can help keep access to your site secure.  I use Login LockDown  "Adds some extra security to WordPress by restricting the rate at which failed logins can be re-attempted from a given IP range". There are other plugins that you can look at and determine which is best for you.

For spam I use several plugins and most likely this is something that I will look at from time to time and perhaps try a few new plugins. I currently use;

• Akismet
• AVH First Defense Against Spam
• NoSpamNX (update: after 2 month Akismet and AVH have caught everything and NoSpamNX hasn't been needed/hasn't caught anything. I deleted it on 4/4/2013)

I also have a few other plugins related to security;

• AntiVirus
• BulletProof Security
• Wordpress Firewall 2

Finally I use a couple of plugins to help control splogging and junk email.

• Fast Secure Contact Form - "Includes CAPTCHA and Akismet support to block all common spammer tactics"
• WangGuard - "Remove the generator META tag, checks for blocked domains, Verifies that an associated Mail eXchange (MX) record exists for the email domain"

I had a plugin that provide a system health/info display on my dashboard, but I could get similar information from the BulletProof Security plugin so I was able to delete that plugin and still get the info from BPS.

I recommend you take the time to look again at the plugins you are running and see if there is any overlap in the functionality they are providing you. Look at other plugins not installed and see if perhaps they are better suited for your needs.

Look for part 3 of my WordPress Website Overhaul series.

WordPress Website Overhaul Part 1

I have completed my WordPress Website Overhaul and it was well worth the time that it took. This post is more about approach, but part 2 will contain more information on the plugins that I use. BhagaVideo.com is a self hosted WordPress site that makes use of many plugins. When I started the overhaul, my site load times were running in the 5 seconds area and I really wasn't happy with the overall look and feel of the site. I mostly do video and photography for fun and blog about my travels both near and far. Through this website I encourage others to digitize and restore their old photos and document their travels.

My photo website is Photos.BhagaVideo.com and it contains 6,000 pictures that I have taken since I was 10 years old. Most of the pictures are available for public viewing and many others are in private albums. The two sites contain links between them, with most of the pictures in my blog originate from the photo site. My photo site is hosted by SmugMug.

Before using WordPress I was writing my own code, but decided that I wanted my site to be more of a blog and WP seemed like a good way to go. I have used many themes trying each one out but was never really satisfied. One of my requirements for my photo site was GEO Mapping of my pictures, yet my blog did not make use of that. That didn't make sense. So I started looking at themes and came across Travel Blogger. Its theme was travel and it had Google Maps functionality built in. A perfect compliment to my photo site. I installed the Theme and made the adjustments to the size of the columns using a slider provided by the Theme.  If your blog is about cruising they have a Theme entitled "Seaward Bound" there is also a NYC Theme. Check them out.

Once I installed the theme I had the option of adding maps to all of my posts. I went back through my older posts and updated them to include a Google Map where that made sense to do. That is as simple as adding the shortcode to the end of my post. I only had about 50 posts that I needed to review so for me this wasn't a daunting task.

The second task was to review all of the Pages for content. I needed to update them to emphasize the travel focus of my site as well as still providing the inspiration around capturing old photos and converting 8mm film to video. This isn't exciting work but I believe that your site should have some consistency to it and stick to the theme.

The third task was to look at all of the plugins that I had installed and decide which ones I really didn't need, want or were overlapped by another plugin. You can get pretty hung up on cool thinks that really doesn't matter to anyone, and just adds to the load time of your site.

If you are going to run stats on your site pick the one that you like and go with it. I had Google Analytics, "Visitor Maps and Who's Online", and Woopra. I like Woopra but it really didn't give me anything more than what I can get with Google and the live chat isn't something that I will be doing. The most visitors I have ever had at one time is 26 and almost no one leaves a comment so what is the point? Worth considering if you are spending a lot more time on your site. "Visitor Maps and Who's Online" is something I like as well and the map of the world is great, but at the end of the day it is something I like and nothing my visitors really care about. The Who's online is good but again Google Analytics has it covered. It is a great option for anyone who wants to disconnect themselves from Google. I run Google Analytics on my photo website so I decided to go with Google Analytics and deleted the other 2 plugins. My first victory!

The next to go was copyrightpro. It works very well, but nothing on my site is worth protecting so again I had to ask myself, what's the point? It is just adding to the load time of my site, so deactivated and deleted. Next was Google Fonts, I wasn't using the plugin and I don't see a need to ever use it. I want to keep my site cleaner looking without a lot of colors and differing fonts.

I suggest that you follow the same idea that I did and delete the plugins that you no longer use or care about. The search engines are looking at your sites load time to improve its ranking so it is best to make site speed your priority rather than plugins that don't bring value to your visitors or you. The net result of doing the above dropped a full 1.5 seconds off the load time of my site. Well worth the effort that I made.

Look for part 2 of my overhaul post. I will get more into the plugins I decided on keeping and how I decided what to get rid of or replace.

Please feel free to comment below. Registration not required!

Quick Trip to Amish Country

On Saturday my wife and I decided to take a quick trip to Amish Country. We visited Sugarcreek and Berlin, Ohio to have lunch and visit a few shops. I took my Nikon D90 with me and captured a few winter pictures of the winter landscapes. Our first stop was at Dutch Valley Gift and then lunch at Dutch Valley Restaurant. I decided to take a few pictures while I was there. I have taken a few photos there in the summer but never during the winter.

First up was a picture of the Carlisle Inn Sugarcreek. Taken on a cold winter day it doesn't have the appeal of a snow covered picture taken at night or the warmth of a summer day. However, you certainly feel the warmth once you go inside the hotel and see the beautiful open spaces and wonderful wood work from local Amish craftsman.

Next up was a few pictures of the surrounding landscape near the hotel and gift shop. It was a gray day with temperatures in the low twenties and a little windy. The house off of old route 39 was an interesting site sitting there in the cold. As I was taking the picture I heard music off to the right that was coming from the church. The tree between me and the church really added some character to the photo. Although I was there to take some winter pictures I kept thinking about how I wished it was summer! 

Our next stop was Berlin to visit the Village Gift Barn and while there I took the liberty to snap a few outdoor pictures at Country Gatherings. On our way back home we stopped at Andreas Furniture in Sugarcreek to see what was new and look around to see if there was anything that we liked. We did spot a nice chaise lounge that would be a nice addition to our sun room. 

Driving south into the country is always a relaxing drive and is a great getaway to heading north into the bigger cities and heavier traffic. When in Amish country you need to watch out for the occasional buggy, not the shopping mall parking lot speedster.

[color-box color=yellow]See the complete gallery at Amish Country.[/color-box]

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The New Subaru Crosstrek for 2013

My wife and I have been driving Subaru's since 2007.  I had bought a 2007 sport wagon to drive to work and use as a second car, however, my wife claimed it the first hour I owned it and I was back to the Kia. In 2009 I bought an Outback Limited for myself, and in 2010 we replaced the sport wagon with an Impreza Outback Sport in two tone silver (the car my wife fell in love with the first time she saw it). My wife is from South Africa where she never had to worry about snow. Driving the Subaru in Ohio makes her feel free to drive in bad weather. In fact after the Subaru she would actually leave the house when it was snowing. In December 2011 I traded in the 2010 Outback and bought a 2012 Forester Touring which is built on the Impreza frame but has a higher ground clearance and more cargo capacity. Great for those times when you need a little more space. You can read more about our Subaru cars by following this link.

When I read about the XV Crosstrek I was curious to see it in person. It is also built on the Impreza frame and fits in between the Impreza and the Forerster. That seemed a little strange to me, but it actually looks more like an "Outback Sport" than my wife's actual Outback Sport. If that makes sense?! You can read a lot about the Crosstrek elsewhere on the internet, but my opinion is that some people would prefer the regular Impreza and the feeling of a smaller sporty car and others will like the SUV feel of the Crosstrek. The Forester probably isn't very likely to appeal to those two groups.

If you are looking for a small SUV but interior capacity is key then the Forester is the way to go. Plus the Forester still has the bigger engine. If you want something more sporty looking then the Crosstrek might be more appealing, but with the 2.0 engine certainly not for performance. Like all Subaru's the suspension is always well tuned and handling is very good regardless of the Impreza version you want. I think the diesel version of the Crosstrek might be the ticket, but that isn't a US option yet. Of course there are many opinions on diesel engines and their usefulness compared to the more modern engines of today.

So, would my wife want a 2013 Crosstrek? Nope, she likes the smaller Impreza Outback Sport because she feels it lives up to it's "Sport" name. Her Outback Sport is just the right size and color for her. The Crosstrek with its 8.7 inch ground clearance would be a great car for all those people wanting to get off the road and want a smaller car with good gas mileage. Would I want a Crosstrek? There are times when you just need a bigger car so not as my only car. However, I do like the Crosstrek and if I was in the market I might try to talk the wife into the Crosstrek instead of the Impreza. I would feel more comfortable in it and the gas mileage is a nice plus over our 2010 Outback Sport. Aahh, in the end though the wife would win out and she would have her smaller sporty car that handles great in the snow and is fun to drive. Did I mention the two tone silver? She loves that color combo, are you listening Subaru?

The Forester has the larger interior capacity, but the Crosstrek has the better miles per gallon. If neither of those count then picking your car is a matter of personal taste and options wish list.

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Ngala Safari South Africa Part 2

In part 1 of my South Africa safari story I blogged about the experience of a safari in Ngala. This is the same camp that Jack Hanna featured on his TV show "Jack Hanna's Animal Adventures". Ngala means “place of the lion” in Shangaan. One of the most interesting, thrilling and scary events happened on Saturday after I had returned from our morning drive. I still had my camera when I saw an elephant walking up to the swimming pool. I took some pictures and then walked around to another area where I felt he might go next. As it turned out he did come my way, but he wasn’t too happy that I was there. He stopped and extended his ears, stared at me for what seemed an eternity, and then started to charge me.

He stopped after a few steps, but I did not run. The day before the ranger had said not to run away but to rather walk away at the right time. He said this after an elephant wanted to charge our Land Rover. One of the ladies who worked the gift shop yelled to me to come into the shop before he decided to come after me. Looking at the giant beast I was forced to agree. The longer he looked the more worried I became. After I walked away he walked over to the lunch area and began to tear down tree limbs and eat the bark. I worked my way over to the lunch area and started shooting pictures again. Some other people started to get a little too curious and he charged them, I shot pictures as they ran past me and fortunately I was safe. He stopped and began to eat again. He eventually pushed down a tree and started to eat it as well. Of course he also deposited a little something extra before rangers shooting shotguns in the air finally drove him off. I , complete with zebra strip hat was then lifted into the air in a chair attached to two poles by the locals shouting “JUNGLE DEVIL”, “JUNGLE DEVIL”. Ok, actually the local rangers commented that I never stopped taking pictures and were laughing that my fellow guests had stumbled over one another  to get away from the elephant while I kept taking pictures.

Perhaps of interest to some, my tracker was a local native named Elvis!!! He was 32 and had been tracking since he was 15. He is the best tracker at Ngala. After the elephant incident Elvis must have heard about it because when we went on our evening drive he asked me if I wanted to see the elephants at night. "That would be great!"  was my response, and true to his word we saw some elephants that night and they were doing what they almost always do, eat!

One of the best parts of our daily drives was the chance to get out of the Land Rover and walk around and explore on foot. When you are in the private game reserve you don't have to stick to the roads. The private game reserves are built along side Kruger Park and the fence between the two is dropped allowing the animals to expand their territory into the reserve, allowing the rangers to drive off the dirt roads in pursuit of the wild. Which means their guests have a better chance to see more animals and get a closer look. It is well worth the extra money to visit the private game reserve.

As a side note, when I was a kid every movie ever made that takes place in the jungle eventually had the scene were the local natives who are carrying your supplies hear a noise, get scared, throw everything down and run away. At one point both the tracker and ranger left us to look for lions. I reminded our group of those movies and perhaps we were abandoned.  At last I felt like I was truly on safari. My experience in the bush was complete.

I have been on a total of 5 safaris but have seen leopards only twice and both times at Ngala. Hunting and loss of habitat has greatly reduced the number of leopards and explains why they are so seldom seen. It is capable of running at 36 miles per hour and it is unequaled in its ability to climb trees, which I witnessed from a cub going after its lunch.

As they say, all good things must come to an end. Sadly I returned to civilization on Monday August 10. Well, maybe not, when you consider the Sangoma, Muti and the Tokelosh, but that is another story.

Ngala Safari South Africa

On August 7, 1998 I headed to Ngala for a safari. Safari means, "trip or long journey" in Swahili. Ngala is a private game reserve north east of Johannesburg in Mpumalanga. It was a one-hour flight and then a 45-minute drive due east over mostly dirt roads to get to camp. The camp was not really a camp as you might think,  it has 21 private chalets complete with thatched roofs and mosquito nets. There were no locks on the door except for a simple latch to keep the monkeys out. However, there were no fences surrounding the camp so you are truly in the wild. During the night you are advised not to walk without assistance. There was a small pond that the water buffalo visited each night for drinking. I should say 300 water buffalo visited each night. There was a fence between the chalets and the housing for the employees that had a big hole in it from an elephant pushing it down a few days before I arrived. They called him Justin because he was just in side of the camp. Justin was a pain because he was in season and this is when an elephant can be most dangerous. It would be this elephant that would bring me fame as "The Jungle Devil", but I digress.

The first day at camp I went out on the first game drive. We were in a Land Rover and traveled all dirt roads with the driver/ranger behind the wheel and the tracker riding on a seat attached to the front bumper. We drove off road to track animals and if we were tracking lions the tracker would eventually ride in back so as not to be eaten. Just as a side bar, there are lots of barbed trees that are sharp and in some cases hard enough to penetrate a tire. If the driver isn’t careful he might run the tracker into a few of these barbs. If the tracker isn’t talking to the driver it might be because he has a few extra holes in his body from the day before. Okay, back to the safari. Basically the big cats do not see the vehicle as a threat and so they ignore it. They don’t see the people in a truck, they just see the truck. That is not true of most of the other animals. There were a great number of birds and animals that I have never seen before. The best part of the game drives was that the animals were free to roam, eat and drink without restriction. They are not caged or tagged nor have contact with people in anyway other than the game drives. If they get sick they are not drugged and treated. Everything is left as a natural process. It is totally different than a zoo. While traveling the roads we would have to stop for elephants in the road and be careful that the pachyderm wasn't contemplating charge our Land Rover.

The evening drives left at 3:30pm and got back at approximately 7:30pm (after dark). The first night out was a full moon and we stopped and had drinks and snacks in the dark under the moonlight. July and August are the winter months in South Africa so most of the trees and grass were brown. That is both good and bad. Good because you can see the animals much better and there are no malaria carrying mosquitoes, but bad because you do not get to see the look of the bush during the spring and summer when everything is green. Dinner was at 8pm and always outside with several fires burning and excellent meals and service. Each night you eat with the ranger and other members of your drives. It was an excellent time to talk about the day and learn more about the people who were also here from other areas of the world or Africa.

The morning started at 5:30am with a knock at the door. No phones or clocks here! A drink and pastry starts the morning at 6am and the first game drive begins at 6:15am. One morning drive we saw an Eagle Owl eating a Franklin (small bird) that he had caught. He was a magnificent bird with a huge wingspan. He flew to a near by tree after we had passed under him and watched us before flying off again. Unfortunately at that early hour I wasn't able to get a picture.

A brief overview of what I saw on my safari; a pride of lions (13) resting in the afternoon sun, 300 water buffalo leaving the camp watering hole in the early morning mist, elephants ripping down small trees and eating the bark, two 20 month old leopards with their breakfast up a tree, two 4 year old male lions marking their territory, we tracked 3 rhinos on foot, giraffes, zebras, impalas, warthogs, Kudu, hornbill birds, huge crocodiles, an occasional water buffalo skull, wildebeest (pretty dumb animals), and much more.

A safari, by far, is one of the best adventures you will ever take. What made Ngala so special was that I was riding in an open Land Rover with a small group of people and a personal guide and tracker. You could decide on what you wanted to see and the ranger would then take you to the areas to provide you with the best experience. I was at Ngala for three days but experienced an adventure that cannot be measured in time alone.