Show-n-Tell Thursday: Help for Admins trying to be Web Developers

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This SnTT comes out of my need to ‘tweak’ someone else’s project. It’s not directly a ‘Lotus’ thing, but I find it useful… I hope that you do too! Let the games begin…

When I have to review and update CSS files, trial and error just doesn’t cut it. I’m too busy for that. That’s why I test web apps using a Mozilla Firefox extension I find very valuable (even for working on this site). It’s called ‘Web Developer’ by Chris Pederick. It has many great web development features, but I use it to view and edit CSS files. Here’s an example of some of what you see with this extension.
A picture named M2
It even adds rightclick functionality to your Firefox experience. He has it well documented and has a forum on his site to ask questions. I would strongly recommend trying this extension out.

More SnTT: Downgrading a Domino server

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I’m back… to Domino 7.0!!! How’d I do it? Well, it’s more SnTT…

I found this technote while at work, and printed it out, but forgot to reference it online. One look thru Google sent me to Andrew’s site. He’s such a cool guy. Too bad I didn’t get more of a chance to hang out with him at Lotusphere.

Technorati tag(s): Show-n-Tell Thursday, SnTT, Lotus Notes, Lotus Domino

Show-n-Tell Thursday: Don’t Install Domino 7.0.1 if you’re using Blogsphere!

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The real tip should say ‘Don’t upgrade without vigorous testing’.

The only way you are reading this is because you are using a RSS reader. You’re currently not seeing this with a web browser. Why? Because I’m now a member of the ‘Worst Practices Club’. I upgraded my Domino Server to 7.0.1 without testing my blog first. Now, when you access my site via http, you get:
Error 500 HTTP Web Server: Lotus Notes Exception – Incorrect data type for operator or @Function: Text expected
I got caught with a regression bug that happens in 7.0.1 that deals with DbColumn DbLookup and a 64KB limit. (Rocky mentions it and references others mentioning it here.)

Rocky mentions that a server side hotfix is available via the standard support channels. There will also be a client fix available soon.

For me, it looks like I’m going to be rolling back my server. I just don’t know when I’ll have time to do it…

Technorati tag(s): Show-n-Tell Thursday, SnTT, Lotus Notes, Lotus Domino

Happy Paczki Day 2006

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It’s back! Time for that annual tradition that Detroiters love so much… stuffing our faces with paczki.

What? What is paczki? Haven’t you been reading this blog for the past two years? You haven’t? Ok, then. I’ll let it slide this time and tell you all about paczki.

Paczki is a Polish tradition (although there are other ethnic groups that have the same thing, including us Ukrainians). It’s a traditional deep fried pastry (like a jelly doughnut, but heavier) that’s filled with either a jelly, custard, chocolate or prune filling. You can find out more about Paczki Day by clicking here (Wikipedia), here (Detroit Free Press), here (The Detroit News), here, here, here, here (WARNING- popups!), and here. I even found you a recipe for them. Oh, and don’t forget the Paczki Pals for the kids.

This morning, I went out at 3AM to the New Palace Bakery to pick up the paczki for work. It was already busy, and it looks like Hamtramck, Michigan, will become ‘Marti Gras North’.

We’ve got to get all of that fattening food out of our cabinets today. Why? For all of the Catholics out there, tomorrow is Ash Wednesday. Time to get your prayer on… but for today, WE EAT!

Technorati tag(s): Fat Tuesday, Paczki, Hamtramck, Lent

2006 Michigan Brewers Guild Winter Beer Festival

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This one goes out to my ‘brewers in arms’ (especially Devin Olson)…

Tomorrow (Saturday), my wife and I are going to the 2006 Michigan Brewers Guild Winter Beer Festival in Lansing, Michigan. From 12 noon until 5pm, we will be walking outdoors in the streets of Lansing sampling some of the best beers that Michigan has to offer, including my good friends at Fort Street Brewery. There will also be food, music, and good times. This is an outdoor event… rain, snow or shine.

According to the National Weather Service…
A 40 percent chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 32. Breezy, with a northwest wind between 20 and 24 mph, with gusts as high as 36 mph.
Not too bad, but not great. Who cares? I’ll be with good friends, and good beer!

If you’ll be in Michigan tomorrow, you can buy tickets at the door. Check out http://www.michiganbrewersguild.org/festinfo.asp for more information.

CHEERS!

Technorati tag(s): Beer, Michigan Brewers Guild, Fort Street Brewery

Show-n-Tell 2… Electric Boogaloo

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I’m going to catagorize this week’s SnT Thursday under ‘Did you know that?’. Here we go…

Many of my students find that when they ‘discover’ Domino Web Access (AKA iNotes), the first thing they complain about is the URL. I would have to agree. Most end users have a hard enough time remembering their passwords. Fortunately, Lotus gave us a great tool to help with this.

It’s called ‘Domino Web Access Redirect’, a Notes database that will redirect a user’s browser to their mail file based on username/password. It can be created from the ‘Domino Web Access Redirect’ template on the Domino server. Once created, all you have to do is go through the 3 step process of setting it up. Then, once it’s set up, just point your users to that nsf file via a URL. Heck, you can even set up a redirection or (something like it) on your Domino server to make it even easier for the users.

  • An example of a user’s URL before:
    http://www.fakewebsite.com/mail/dnotes.nsf
    (and each person has a different URL)
  • An example of a user’s URL after:
    http://www.fakewebsite.com/webmail.nsf
    (and this will be the same for everyone)

Now I do understand that for many enterprise businesses, they will probably use other options, but for small to medium-sized business and for an organization with a small user base, this might just fit the bill.

Technorati tag(s): Show-n-Tell Thursday, Domino Web Access, Lotus Notes, Lotus Domino