Update on the site update

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Still working on the site update. Much progress behind the scenes – mostly to do with multisite stuff. I’ll work to get some of the changes live this week. ~ Ciaran

CONSTRUCTION UNDERWAY

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Hi, This is Ciaran. I’m helping Amber get the site modernized. The work is starting today, Friday, February 3 2023, and should be done during the day on Sunday, February 5. UPDATE: Looks like I need a couple more days to get the new WordPress blocks set up. Should be done on Wednesday.

For those interested, this is going to be an update to the latest Big N of WordPress, which starts with throwing away literally all the concepts around which this site was original built. And that includes so much custom code … oh my gosh so much tweaking of PHP to get things in place, and then keep them working as things around us changed.

For anyone curious about ComicEasel on WordPress 6 please let me set your mind at ease. In the words of The Mighty, it is super easy. Barely an inconvenience. I’ll keep notes on how we set up, configure, and integrate with ComicEasel, and will share those with Amber’s permission when the site is up and purring.

On a personal note, just creating this post using the old WordPress format makes me wonder how we ever survived. This is horrifically painful.

Here’s the log for anyone playing along at home:

  1. Can has full backup?
    1. I use the mighty and powerful FETCH for FTP. It’s been my constant companion and bestest buddy since 1989. I remember meeting the team at MacWorld ’93 after the show was over and trading them a whole box of tradeshow fu-fus for a personal Fetch of my own. You can’t buy loyalty like that – it has to be bartered for in the dark of the night after substantial drinking.
    2. Backups successful.
    3. Exports successful.
    4. WordPress 5.8.6 -> WordPress 6.1.1 … working.

HA HA HA oh my god that was painful. Like, HOURS of painful. I got to learn so much about core_updater.lock and all its marvelous friends and relatives. Woof. Ok, that is going to be a story to tell in the white paper that comes out of this update process.

THEORY: I believe that we had so much custom code in the guts of WordPress that the update just gave up. That the start of this post above can’t be converted and had to be wrappered to preserve it might just be the tip of the iceberg.

Now on to the next steps:

Post WordPress 6.1.1 Upgrade steps:

  1. Move to WordPress 6.1.1 savvy theme.
    • OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD
    • ABORT ABORT ABORT

HA HA HA this is going to take some extra typing.

Please note: None of this has anything to do with ComicEasel. This is all just the normal noise of going from hand-cut WordPress 4 & 5 hacks to a WordPress 6 site with blocks.

I will be back on Monday to do more work on getting this all fixed and working.

The State of the Panel 2023

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Hello, Fellow Human!

In this brave new world of AI-generated images and Chat GPI, I think it’s important to remind people I, too, am a people. So with that being said, where are we?

Website

WordPress has changed behind the scenes from version 4 the site is currently built upon versions 5 and even 6. The site needs to update with the times, so we’re going to see a lot of under-construction stuff over the next month or so as we switch everything to the new block format WordPress is using for their page designs. I have an extensive plugin system for my comic archives called Comicpress which also needs to update to the new system. Frumph, the original designer, is working with my web guru Ciaran to rectify the issues.

Comics

Holy shit, we’re finished with page 5 of Captain T as of this writing. It will be published on Keenspot first before eventually making it over to the site here. They’re printing the comic. I’ve been streaming the art creation on my twitch channel at Twitch.com/artglych. I try to stream several times a week. As of this writing, I have 72 followers but am not an Affiliate yet. I guess I need to chat more. Most other comic projects are on hold right now until I can get the site worked out. I do plan on bringing Red Dahlia to the site in its own section as well as separating the archives into a better format than they are currently (if I have to change everything, I might as well change everything).

Other Projects

I have some commissions to finish as well as a kid’s book written by Shawn Ray called Rosie the Salamander. I might make some more coloring books this year if I have time. It might be a passive income for me as an artist. I’ve also been updating my Patreon more and more. Chuck Whelon also invited me on as a co-host for his weekly Planet Urf Podcast which re-streams to my twitch channel if you ever want to check it out.

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