Technical

WP 3.0 Maintenance mode

Today, during a routine plugin update, I discovered that WP 3.0 has a implemented a maintenance mode, which effectively takes the site “offline”. To be specific, visitors receive a message indicating the unavailability of the site during maintenance operations. Of course, I encountered a failure (most likely related to the timeout issues that I’ve been experiencing with this server) during an upgrade from the Admin Dashboard which prevented me from logging back into the site. Any attempt to pull up the blog or the admin panel resulted in a page displaying: “Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance. Check back in a minute.”

The fix was to log in to the site via FTP and delete the .maintenance file located at the blog root. This restored access to the site.

However, I wish there was an option from the Dashboard which allowed an administrator to toggle maintenance mode manually, instead of automatically assuming that the site should be taken down. Upgrading from the dashboard doesn’t work 100% of the time, and I foresee that the file deletion fix will occur more frequently than one expects.

Technical

Installing WordPress 3.0 on Server 2008 IIS7

After what seems like an eternity figuring out IIS7 on Server 2008, along comes Microsoft’s Web Platform Installer (Web PI) which makes installing and configuring PHP, MySQL and WordPress a snap! I discovered this easy 5 Minute Install on Windows section while I was reviewing the codex for 3.0 installation info. No more headaches trying to configure each entity separately in IIS…Web PI does it for you.

As a follow up, it’s always important to make sure that the appropriate internet account is set up for the Default Application Pool (DefaultAppPool). Make sure IUSR_servername is correctly added to the IIS_IUSRS group, then assign it to the Identity of DefaultAppPool.

One more important feature to enhance your interface with MySQL is the installation of phpMyAdmin, which makes managing MySQL and WordPress tremendously easy. The linked walkthrough also includes instruction on how to modify your PHP install to add some much needed extensions for phpMyAdmin (and some WordPress plugins you may find useful).

Ye Olde Garden

Blue and herby

As soon as I had decided on what to plant in the blue garden, the fiance and I rushed out to Strong’s to pick up some white coneflowers and asters (Wood’s Blue), but we had to make a detour first at Covington’s to see if they had anything else to add to our garden. I ended that shopping trip with 4 annual phlox, 2 scabiosa (Butterfly Blue), and a blue hosta, Prairie Sky, which was in the middle of sending up some lovely flower plumes.

The extreme heat isn’t doing our herb garden any good, so we’ve decided on twice daily watering for the time being. Having sprinkler systems is a great boon, which means the lawn is getting some much needed loving as well!

6/21/2010 Blue and Herby (1) 6/21/2010 Blue and Herby (2) 6/21/2010 Blue and Herby (3) 6/21/2010 Blue and Herby (4) 6/21/2010 Blue and Herby (5) 6/21/2010 Blue and Herby (6) 6/21/2010 Blue and Herby (7) 6/21/2010 Blue and Herby (8) 6/21/2010 Blue and Herby (9) 6/21/2010 Blue and Herby (10)