Results matching “mtos” from Ye Olde Rad Blog III

Upgraded Ye Olde Rad Blog to Moveable Type 4.21 (released 21.Aug). Had problems when I tried a new upgrade-method.

I used the same procedure I use to upgrade the forums, so I was surprised it didn't work. But the forums don't use a database (and the blog does), which is why I suspect I had problems. Finally got 'er working again. Whew! That suk'ed.

On another note, I found these $80 Sennheiser earbud headphones for $15 (with rebate) + free shipping .. if you need a new pair. Good deal. Many positive reviews, so lotsa people are buying these, and happy with their purchase. (September is my favorite month. Warm days, cool nights.)

For more along these lines. here's a Google search preconfigured for the query » upgrade movable type open source mtos blog

Upgraded my copy of Movable Type blogging software today (I use » Movable Type Open Source) .. to » v4.12, released last month.

Despite using Movable Type since 2003 (beginning with v2.63), this is the first time I've upgraded.

Previous "upgrades" were actually new installations, such as MT v3.35 (in April 2007) and v4.1 (last January), while leaving the old installations of Ye Olde Rad Blog untouched.

Upgrades make me nervous, cuz there's always a chance something might go wrong, and cause me to LOSE all the entries. (MTOS currently hosts ~50 entries.)

Now, with the new VPS, upgrades are easier, cuz I can use the Linux command line, which lets me overwrite old files with a single command. Very powerful .. but dangerous .. if I make a mistake (such as a simple type-o).

I transferred 2 months worth of daily entries (Dec 2007 + Jan 2008) to individual blog entries, using (older) Movable Type v3.35, since that was the version I was using when those entries were made.

It's much easier to reference (via linkage) a particular event .. such as the upgrade to YaBB v2.2 (which did not go well) .. or the Bug's 3rd birthday (which did) .. when I have a daily entry to link to (instead of monthly).

Back in December & January is when I was researching VPS servers, and didn't have time to convert the daily entries to blog entries...

.. after Lunarpages (you might recall) booted us off the server (end of November), and I was worried they were gonna turn off the lights and pull our plug.

But now we're all caught up. (Took me all day, tho. Tedious maximus.) Only the last 2 days don't have blog entries.

Blog entries are also better for search engines, since each page can indexed individually (with its own title).

Frontline airs the first of a 2-part special tonight, titled » Bush's War (the war which will define the Bush presidency) .. to mark the 5th anniversary of the Iraq invasion. (Part II airs tomorrow night.)

If you miss it, you can catch this (and other Frontline specials) online. See here » Watch Frontline Online.

Frontline is my favorite TV show. Besides no commercials (PBS), and a decidedly understated approach, they manage to uncover facts you simply can't find anywhere else (based on more than 400 interviews) ...

.. which helps us become better-informed citizens.

I also like the way they present their findings .. as objectively as possible, focusing more on the facts than trying to sway the audience .. allowing us to draw our own conclusions. And I like their narrator, too » Will Lyman.

Now that the site has been moved (to a new server), and the forum script upgraded (to YaBB 2.2.1) my sights turn to Ye Olde Rad Blog (MTOS 4.1).

One of the coolest differences between pre-MTOS versions and this (very first) open source release .. is that we can now create as many different blogs as we want.

Prior to MTOS, the Personal Use license limited you to 1 blog per installation, with a max of 3 authors. (Still does, actually.)

Now (with MTOS) » unlimited blogs, unlimited users/authors. So! Of course, I wanna try out this new feature (multi-blog config .. from the same installation).

NightOwl has reluctantly agreed to be my Guinea pig. Yesterday I created my first blog for someone else (on the same Movable Type installation).

While laying in the sauna last night (where I had a great sweat going), I was thinking how pleased I am with the way things turned out .. with our move to the new VPS server (upgrade). The site is more enjoyable to use, now that's much zippier. Both the blog and the forum are way faster.

And I like how the world of VPS contains such cool language. Consider, for example, the phrase, "Rad on VPS ala Xen." Sounds Ferrari-like, doesn't it?

Laying there (in the steam), I was thinking how many people have worked very hard to make all this cool software (such as MTOS) available .. that I get to play with!

The last few months have been hectic, trying to lower our usage of server resources. I upgraded both the forum & blog scripts. And when that wasn't enough, I had no choice but to move the site. Lunarpages kept threatening to cancel my account, so I had to do something.

Feel like I can finally relax. The move is complete. The site is stable. Nobody is threatening to turn off the lights. Plus these WiredTree support techs are great.

Biggest problem I had moving the site (to our new VPS server) .. was the blog not working.

Readers could still view pages/entries, but the blog-interface (which allows me to create new entries) would not load.

Instead of launching the interface, the master script-file (mt.cgi) prompted a *download*. ("Would you like to download, open or cancel?")

That suk'ed .. cuz I make much use of the blog .. to help keep the home-page lean-n-mean.

(Tho I create these entries in Dreamweaver, cuz it's a far superior tool to what you find in the MT interface, far as web page creation goes. Then I copy-n-paste into MT. That's why the blog entries always come after you see/read it on the home page.)

Normally I have a plenty of tools in my Troubleshooting bag-of-tricks, but this problem left me scratching my head.

I'd never seen this type of behavior. And neither had anyone at the Movable Type forums. (I use the new Open Source version of Movable Type » v4.1.)

Not being able to use the blog was a major bummer. Fortunately, I found an article that offered a solution .. even tho it appeared to address a different problem.

First thing I did after moving the site to a new server is .. find out if the move was really necessary.

You'll recall that Lunarpages support told me the site used too many resources to qualify for their VPS plan, and that I needed a dedicate server (something I found hard to believe).

So now that we are here, I've been pinging the sppt techs at WiredTree, asking them exactly what resources we're using.

You can find all the gory details here » Resource Usage at New VPS Server .. but they basically said our CPU usage is "minimal."

Surprisingly however, they also said our allotment of memory would've already been exceeded .. had it not been for the free 128-MB RAM upgrade ( .. for which I found a coupon).

WiredTree offers two VPS plans. One comes with 256-MB ($49/mo), the other 512-MB ($89/mo). So it seems we already exceed the 256 .. currently using 270-MB, and the specs of our current plan (with 384-MB dedicated memory) are half-way between the 256 and 512-MB VPS plans.

WT offers incremental memory upgrades at a rate of $7.50/mo per 64-MB. So it seems my (free) 128-MB upgrade is worth $15/mo. Plus the coupon also provides a 10% discount .. equal to $5/mo. So the coupon is worth $20/mo (total) .. without which we'd be paying $65/mo.

Was hoping to delve into the new Movable Type blogging software I installed last week (MTOS), and begin configuring it, ..

.. but I've been preoccupied with trying to rein in our ("excessive") use of server resources, since we were exiled to the "stabilization server," where all bad-boys are sent (banished).

Our resource usage however, seems higher than ever. The most-recent number quoted (today) was 8.46% CPU. (Limit = 1.0%.) So I've been researching more in-depth exactly what's involved in moving to a VPS server.

VPS is half-way between "Shared" hosting (which we have now), and "Dedicated" hosting (where you have the whole server to yourself). VPS is sorta like the "condo" version of web hosting plans.

(Shared is like living in a tenement, all crowded together, while dedicated is like having your own house.)

Lunarpages VPS servers are limited to 25 accounts, so each account is allocated 4% of the CPU. They come with dual-Xeons, a dedicated IP, and let you do with them as you please.

In other words, they offer the benefits of a dedicated server at a fraction of the co$t ($45/month .. $40 if you pay for a whole year up front). So that's where we are .. looking at a move to VPS. (Thanks to Magoo for offering to administrate.)

First post with Movable Type Open Source (MTOS v4.1). Had lots of problems trying to install this puppy. Finally solved my problems by uploading the entire *.zip file (which I downloaded from the Movable Type site), and unzipping the file ON THE SERVER (via cPanel "Files" module) .. instead of uploading each file individually.

The new blog still needs lots of tweaking, but at least I'm over the biggest hurdle .. uh, if this post works, that is.

UPDATE - Hey! It worked! Woohoo!

This is the default style that comes with MTOS, called "Minimalist Red". More designs can be found at the Design Assistant. Info about designing MTOS can be found HERE.

Installed Movable Type Open Source (MTOS v4.1)

Installed Movable Type Open Source (blogging software) last night. Woohoo!

I've installed previous versions of Movable Type a few other times, such as v2.63 (back in 2003), and v3.35 (last April) .. all with no problem. But this version gave me fits .. due more however, to server weirdness than the software itself.

Learned much in the process. Finally resolved my problems by uploading (to my server) the *entire* archived ZIP file (which I downloaded from the Movable Type site), and UNzipped the file ON THE SERVER (via cPanel).

This method is way faster than unzipping the archive on my laptop and uploading the (2,000+) files sequentially. Was a beautiful sight to finally see the MT installer appear in my browser window. (Hallelujah!)

I was up 'til 1:30 AM the other night/morning trying to figure out what the heck was goin' on. Still have lots of configuring to do, but over the biggest hurdles (installing MTOS + posting first blog entry).

So I've installed & used MT 2.63, MT 3.35, and now » MTOS 4.1 .. the first open source release. Looking forward to lifting the hood on this puppy and familiarizing myself with the full range of its power. Almost forget .. HERE's the new blog » Ye Olde Rad Blog III (based on MTOS 4.1).

For  more along these lines, here's a Google search preconfigured for the query » install movable type open source mtos