via Fotopia

I don’t use Google Maps on daily basis. Now, it offers a short URL for map location link (reference). Now, compare this:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Jakarta+Capital+Region,+Indonesia&sll=-6.21185,106.845174&sspn=0.019454,0.038581&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Jakarta+Capital+Region,+Indonesia&z=11

With this: http://goo.gl/maps/vDOY. For me, shorter is better. This feature is still available under Google Maps Labs. So, the first thing you need to do is to enable “Short URL” feature from Google Maps Labs page.

This method works on my blog, but I don’t guarantee that you will have the exact process depending your own installation:

• First, enable WordPress 3.0 Multi-Site feature
• You should have access to modify domain DNS record. If your webhosting provider provide “Add-on domain” feature, it should work.
• Create a new site under First Blog, you can use any address first.
• Export contents from blog you want to move using WordPress export feature.
• Import the export file you have to Second Blog.
• Copy all media files from Second Blog to firstblog.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/files/X/ (Note: “X” is the Site ID).
• Check all settings, escpecially the image locations in your posts. Later, the uploaded media files will use this path: seconddomain.com/files/path/to/image.jpg (the path might be different). If you have broken image path, check the settings and paths again.
• Install WordPress MU Domain Mapping plugin. Follow the instruction. It’s easy.
• Modify Second Blog DNS settings. Basically, you need to create an A record. Point your Second Blog domain to an IP address used by First Blog.
• Check all plugins, blog settings, and permalink.
• Enjoy!

I don’t know whether it’s an easy process or not, but here I want to show you that WordPress 3.0 Multi-Site feature can be useful. If you’re still comfortable to manage multiple blog installations, you don’t need to use this method.

It’s not a problem-free solution, of course. And it might be tricky sometimes. For example, about the plugin activation. Which plugins should be installed ‘globally’ or ‘locally’. Some plugins might work without any modifications. Here, I still have a plugin that does not work on my Second Blog. It works well on my primary blog, but not on the secondary. So far, I’m happy with the result.

Currently, this blog is already using Multi-Site feature. The setup was easy, but I want to share few things I had during the ‘migration’. By default, this feature is disabled. So, you will see no settings/option under your WordPress Dashboard menus. If you’re ready to enable this feature, the first thing you need to do is to modify WordPress configuration file (wp-config.php). Add this line of code into wp-config.php:

define('WP_ALLOW_MULTISITE', true);

Before you continue to the next step, here are few things/extra steps you might find/do:

• You need to disable all active plugins. Just make sure that your theme are compatible with no plugins-installed scenario. After you enable the Multi-Site feature, you will find extra plugin activation schema: “local plugin” or “global plugin”. You can have certain plugins only in specific blog or for all blogs in your ‘network’.
• Your WordPress URL and blog URL should be using a same address. Previously,  I have a little bit different settings. My WordPress URL (WordPress files) under a different folder, not in root folder. (Reference: Giving WordPress Its Own Directory)

After that, you should see an additional menu under “Tools” menu called “Network”. Yes, the Multi-Site feature is also called “Network”. So, here… you will create a network site under your WordPress installation. Just follow the instruction there. If everything works, you will find an additional menu box in your dashboard called “Super Admin”.

Additional actions

Since I modified my WordPress URL, all uploaded media files will have new URL paths. This is not good! You can leave a copy of your uploaded media files by having the folder unchanged, or you can replace all media paths in your entries. I chose the second options. To do it, you can use Search and Replace plugin. I replaced http://mydomain.com/old-dashboard/wp-content/uploads/ with http://mydomain.com/wp-content/uploads/. It took less than a minute, anyway.

Now, what’s next?

I haven’t used the Multi-Site feature right now. But, at least I already have it. Later, I will split my entries into one or two additional sites. For example, my podcast entries will be under “Podcast site”, and my photoblog can have it’s own installation. By this, I hope I can have my entries more organized. We’ll see.

Using only one phone is already disturbing, but… what about two? Haha! Errrrrrrggggggghhhhh! I think I did it. My friends at the office felt disturbed. :D I had plan to install this apps to their Nokia phones. But, I believe they won’t allow me. :D

So, what is Nokia Video Cuts? From the project detail page:

Finding the key scenes from a video or movie with Nokia Video Cuts is as easy as jumping to a favorite scene from a DVD. Use the Nokia Video Cuts gallery to scroll through the thumbnails of videos on your device and preview any of the videos’ key frames at the bottom of the screen. Then select your favorite video, jump to a key frame, and enjoy.

Here are some installation process screenshots.

For more details, you can watch the video introduction.

If all process were completed, you should be happy. Otherwise, you will need to do some extra works. WordPress will display this kind of error message: “Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance.” You will be locked out from your admin area. Your website will be inaccessible. Solution? Easy. You need to go to login to your webhosting server, and remove .maintenance file. You can find it in your blog folder — the same location with your wp-config.php.

When I firstly got the news that I was the lucky person who got the skateboard, I thought it would be shipped from Finland. But, I was wrong. Niini Kokkonen, Ovi Blog’s editor, said to me that it would be shipped from the US office. On the next day, she emailed me telling that the skateboard had been shipped using UPS service. And I waited. OK, I’ll be honest: I checked the delivery status everyday. :D

At around 4 PM, I got a phone call from UPS and they told me that I got a package. They asked about my office location. I gave the direction to the guy behind the phone. He said that the package should arrive in about two hours. So I opened the box, and found that shiny skateboard deck with a letter inside it.

It was only the deck. If I want to use it, I think I need to get some accessories like the trucks, wheels and also bearings. Not sure where to find those items in Jakarta. I’ll get them later. I am not sure whether I can stand on it or not. Yes, I played skateboard, but it was like 15 years ago! LOL. But of course, it’s still a wonderful gift.

So, is it only about the skateboard? No. Personally, it’s more about the whole processes. It’s about how I got it, and the stories behind it. I learn few things here.

First: Nokia (Ovi Blog) uses its blog (and also its Twitter account) as a great medium to interact with its audience in general, especially with its customers (Nokia users). The whole story I mentioned above was started by a blog post. It was about Ovi Blog asking for feedbacks from its readers. And, they listened. Of course, there were lots of great feedbacks. I was one of the lucky readers.

Second: they’re reachable. If you read Ovi Blog, you’ll get the idea of what I’m talking about. The people behind the blog actively involved in the discussion. When I got the email for the first time, it was written in a friendly tone. All emails I sent were replied in one or two days. This is good. I will not post the email here, but it was fun to communicate with them. Well, I only communicated with the editor. :)

Thank you Ovi!

[Update: June 10, 2010] Ovi Blog has another post related to this entry.

<object width="560" height="340">
<param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XdQxtQFfxiM&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0"></param>
<param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param>
<param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param>
<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XdQxtQFfxiM&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed>
</object>

Now, look at the this line of code:

http://www.youtube.com/v/XdQxtQFfxiM&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0

To have the video inserted using a new player design, just put version=3 parameter there. So, it will be like this:

http://www.youtube.com/v/XdQxtQFfxiM&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&version=3

You will have YouTube video displayed like what you see below. Of course, you can still modify out it looks using another player parameters.

I personally like the new player design. So, I modified all video codes used at my videoblog to have the new look. It didn’t take much time since I replaced the codes using search and replace plugin. :)

Today, Jan Ole Suhr (Gravity developer) tweeted an update and he put a link to his Flickr photo page. Right now, I’m using Gravity version 1.30 build 6501. Gravity already support direct photo upload to some services like Twitpic, MobyPicture, Yfrog and also img.ly. But, seeing the screenshot above, it will support Flickr also. Yes, this is good since I use Flickr. Now, waiting for an update.