Random thoughts on art, technology, stuff, and occasionally Real Estate: February 2008

Jonathan's post here started a very interesting and lively discussion.

But I still don't have answer to my question.

Bob and I opened our own shop 9 years ago.  We've done well.  But, of course, I wouldn't mind adding a few top notch agents.

If I were recruiting *you* as an agent *today*, for my small, independent firm, what *specifically* would you want me to offer you?  What would seal the deal?

First off, I can't give you a private office without seriously reconfiguring our building.  So that one's off the table.

Would you expect me to cover your printing costs?  Everything?  Flyers and business cards only?

Would you expect me to pay your ISP and cell phone?

Would you expect me to pay print advertising on your listings?  If so, how much and where?

What kind of marketing materials would you expect me to provide?

Would you expect me to provide an assistant or transaction coordinator?

Would you expect me to pay your MLS dues?

How sophisticated do you expect the office voice mail system to be?

What about lead generation?  Old-school floor time?  Office meetings?  No meetings? 

What things would you specifically want?  And what commission split or desk fee would you be willing to pay for them?

Or, and someone please define what kind of "leadership" you would expect from me, using specifics again, please.  :-)

I have a request to create a tutorial on using FTP, specifically using FTP to upload and install a WordPress plugin.  Please note these steps apply for a WordPress.ORG blog, you don't have FTP access if you are using WordPress.COM  (Here's the official WordPress explanation of the difference.)

If you look at the entire process of installing a plugin, then break it up into "phases", it would look like this:

• Download, install and set-up an FTP program
• Download and unzip the plugin
• Upload the plugin to your site, and activate it in Wordpress

This post will look at the first phase of the process, downloading, installing and setting-up and FTP program.  I'm assuming a Windows system here.

FTP stand for "file transfer protocol", and before the world wide web took off in popularity, people were sharing computer files via FTP.  FTPplanet's Beginner's Guide covers a lot of good information in simple, easy-to-understand language:  http://www.ftpplanet.com/ftpresources/basics.htm

There are several low-cost FTP programs that you can try out for free including Cute FTP, Filezilla, and WS_FTP  I'm illustrating this tutorial with WS_FTP, the the basic concepts apply across the board.

Go to http://www.wsftp.com/products/ws_ftp_home/try/ and complete the free trial form

Submit, and click Download

If you download alot of stuff, you'll already know that its important to pay attention to just where your download file is going to end up.  Saving to the Desktop is a simple approach.  Some people keep a folder on the Desktop for downloads.  I can also see merits in installing to  an external device, such as a thumb drive.  Whatever works for you, the point is just be aware of where the file is, so you can find it again.

After you've selected the place you want to put the downloaded file, click Save, and the download will begin.

Don't close the "Download complete" dialogue box.  Completing the download is the first step.  The program's installation files are transferred to your computer, but the program in not actually installed.  Click run to begin the installation.

The program's installation wizard will start.  Click next and let it do its thing. 

When the installation is completed, click finish.

After you start WS_FTP, the first task is to set up your first FTP site.  The connection wizard makes it fairly easy.  First enter a recognizable name for your site.  Click Next.

Now enter the FTP server address.  For some servers it will be ftp.mysite.com for other servers it will simply be mysite.com (Sites hosted on GoDaddy seem to like it without the "ftp".)  Other servers will require a numerical address that you will need to obtain from your hosting company.  Try both ftp.mysite.com and mysite.com (without the ftp) before contacting your hosting company.  Click Next.

Enter your hosting account username and password.  (Note that if you are using GoDaddy, your host account username and password are probably different from you GoDaddy customer account username and password.)  Click Next.

Leave the "Connect to this site" box checked, then click Finish, and WS_FTP will proceed to connect to your site's host server.

Remember those three "phases" that started this post?  You've just completed Phase 1, downloading, installing and setting-up an FTP program.

The next phase would be downloading and unzipping the plugin that you want to install.  Jumping ahead, and assuming you already have the plugin, take a look at WS_FTP's information window.

On the left hand side is a panel displaying the files and folders on your own computer.  On the right hand side is a panel displaying the files and folders on your hosting server.

You move up and down the folders in both panels the same way you would in Windows My Computer or File Explorer.

To upload a file or folder from your own computer to the hosting server, you find and select that file or folder and click the green arrow pointing towards the right hosting server panel.

To download a file or folder from the hosting server to your own computer, you find and select that file or folder in the right hand panel, and click the green arrow pointing towards the left My Computer panel.

I'll cover Phase 2 and Phase 3 in the next few days.

Hey ... I remember this dance!

Maybe if I twisted with Chubby every day, I'd be a little less "chubby" myself .... ya think?

Or I could always twist with John, Paul, George and Ringo; (This one takes a moment to load. Be patient).

We're pleased to announce that the Photography Group has added two new moderators.

             John Hokkanen

          and 

             Lee Jinks

The group has grown tremendously since I first clicked that "Create Group" button back in November of 2006, with the simple idea of collecting a few of my basic essays about understanding exposure.  Thank you everyone!

Also please remember, and I know everyone is good about this, but just for the newcomers, please don't add a blog post to Photography Group unless the post is actually about ... ahh... Photography.

We've always covered all aspects of Photography from equipment, tips and techniques for taking photos, critiquing photos, to editing and improving photos.

Maybe one of these days -- are you listening BOB STEWART -- the Active Rain guys will come up with sub-folders for groups, so different topics within a group could be neatly organized.

And thank you, John and Lee, for volunteering your time.

Thank you, Bob Carney!  In case anyone was reading the exchange between Mr. Carney and me here and wasn't quite sure what we were talking about .... let me try to go through it step by step here.

You have a WordPress blog with the domain name www.mysite.com ... When people go to that URL the first thing they land on is your blog, which shows your recent blog posts.  It changes as you add new blog posts, the newest always on top.

But suppose you want the first page people land on when visiting www.mysite.com to be a static page,  maybe showing some special info and photographs about your community.  That page would always be the same.  And you want people to be able to just click on a tab to easily access the blog section of your site.

Here's how.

From the WordPress Dashboard, click Write -> Write Page, and write the stuff, and add the images that you want to appear on the opening page.  Click Publish.

Now repeat.  Write - Write Page.  Name this second page "Blog".  Leave it blank.  Click Publish.

Now click Options -> Reading.  At "Front page displays", select "A static page".  In the Front page drop down menu, choose the main page you just created.  Then in the Posts page drop down menu, choose Blog, that blank Blog page you just created.

If you are using a WordPress theme that includes navigation tabs (most themes do, I think, but not all) a tab is automatically created for each page.  And since you've now created, and selected  the "Blog" page  for your posts ....

There it is right in the menu bar ....

In case you're wondering, Queen of Kludge is a site I've been using just to test stuff.  It comes in real handy to have a couple "play" sites, so you don't muck up your real business sites as you experiment with new things.  :-)

P.S. to Ginger, as we talked about yesterday, the Digg 3 Column theme does indeed support page navigation.  Whenever you create a page, a new tab for the page is automatically added to your blog. 

A few days ago I got a large letter in the mail from John and Margaret Hokkanen.  They sent out samples of some of their marketing brochures asking for feedback on the photography.  A photo editing technique called High Dynamic Range was used on two of the brochures, the other two brochures featured the Hokkanen's incredible photographic skills, but not HDR. 

Their question was how much of a difference did HDR make.  My first reaction was I don't think the average person would notice any difference, but I volunteered to peel off the stickers indicating HDR or NON-HDR, place the brochures on a table in my office, and ask members of our staff what they thought.

First of all, I just need to say that all four brochures are exquisite.  Any client should be thrilled to have their property represented with this kind of high quality professional marketing.

No one could detect the differences in HDR and NON-HDR.  But I thought I'd pass along some of the other comments, for what they're worth....

The heavier paper stock used for the Neptune brochure was unanimously preferred.  Of course, I know it also costs a good bit more.

Poor Diamond was the least popular.  I think probably because the interior decor is less colorful.  Assistant Sofie noticed the car visible in the window in the upper right photo.  One agent commented that she would have cropped out the water cooler in Diamond's kitchen photo.  Assistant Frances was Diamond's one supporter.  She said she preferred the softer, gentler colors.

Everyone thought the color cast in Diamond's cover photo had a surreal, almost eerie, quality.  I remember that was one of your first HDR experiments.

An interesting design comment that Agent Ann brought up:  She loved the circular insert showing the exterior image in the Plover brochure, however she thought the smaller square inserts showing other interior shots were a little too busy and distracting.

Ann, who seemed to think I wanted an in-depth critique, also observed that the shadows under the bed in Hillock "looked smudgy".  I threw her out for the rest of the day.  :-)

Assistant Mabel chose Plover as her all round favorite.

Partner Bob chose Neptune as his all round favorite.

All in all, I don't think HDR made a big difference.  I guess people are more aware of the paper stock, the decor and staging of the rooms, and the overall design of the brochure.

And once more, these are gorgeous brochures!

I love it when I come across some great THEN AND NOW videos.

Here's Jerry Lee Lewis covering Whole Lotta Shakin Going On back in 1957.  Super high energy.

And here's ol' Jerry Lee in 2004.   A little less energy ... but a super-star back-up crew!  And nobody can do keyboard like Jerry Lee!

I mentioned this is a comment on Jeff Kessler's blog yesterday.   And I thought, hmmm, this topic could stimulate some interesting disscussion.

If Mr. Bush or his advisors had asked me, I would have said that instead of this crazy idea of sending everyone in the country a check for a few hundred dollars ... instead of that .... how about

1.  Reinstate the personal interest deduction

2. Place a national cap on credit card interest rates

Up until Regan's tax reform of 1986, interest paid on credit cards was deductible.  When I first wrote the comment yesterday, I was thinking that we lost the personal interest deduction in the 1970s under Carter; not the 1980s under Regan.   But here it is, right on the U S Treasury web site.  Ronald Regan's Tax Reform of 1986. 

The official line was that removing the personal interest deduction would stimulate savings.  Hello?  Has the U. S. individual saving rate improved since 1986?  And WTF anyway?  Mr. Bush is telling us that spending is what this country needs right now. 

And think about this:  The non-deductability of credit card interest was a factor for many people in deciding to re-finance their homes or take out HELOCs.  And in the process they burdened a long term asset (their home) with debt for short term items (After all, credit cards are often used to pay for food, clothing, gasoline ... all stuff that is rapidly consumed in the short term.)

What did happen in 1978 was a  Supreme Court ruling: Minneapolis v. First of Omaha Service Corp.,  that stated national banks actually could export interest rates across state lines.  That's why big banks opened offices in states such as Delaware and South Dakota, which have no ceiling on interest rates.   Now you know why your VISA bill has a Delaware address.  Here's more.

Interesting article from 2002 I came across while researching.....

Just my 2 cents worth..... put it on my AMEX.  :-)

Here's a question for Wordpress gurus.

Someone wants to setup a WordPress blog to function more like a website, so they set a static page as the main page, like this:

They click the Options tab, then the Reading tab ....

Then under Reading Options -> Front Page -> Front page displays, they select a static page, and then they click Update Options,

Okayfine.  But suppose they then want to create a navigation link to their blog posts.

What does the URL to access blog posts become??  I have tried a number of variations, and haven't come up with the answer.

I could probably create another page with the WordPress loop code on it.... but it seems to me there should be a simpler solution.    OK ... Archives ,,, maybe????

Anyone??

WordPress released another "urgent security update" a few days ago.

http://wordpress.org/development/2008/02/wordpress-233/

http://wordpress.org/download/

Since I currently run seven different WordPress(.org) blogs, updating can be a time-consuming PITA, so I want to do it quickly and painlessly.

The only file that needs to be updated to fix the security issue is xmlrpc.php  ...

However, to make the nag screen go away.....

You need to also update version.php found in the wp-includes folder.   For good measure, I updated gettext.php, and pluggable.php as well.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, don't worry.... it's a rather insignificant point in the big scheme of things,

One other thing, if you used the little trick described here to alter your index.php file ... and if you overwrote your existing index.php file when doing a full update, don't forget you will need to edit that header line in the index. php file again, or else you will get this when you try to view your blog: