When I upload a 1×1px images I don’t get any errors. When I upload any other image from 50×50px to 5×7@300ppi (1500×2100px image) I get this error message:

Warning: imagecreatefromstring() [function.imagecreatefromstring]: No JPEG support in this PHP build in /export/home/davidw/weaver.net/wp-admin/includes/image.php on line 147 63

Is [...]]]> Right now I’m just testing to see when I get an error

When I upload a 1×1px images I don’t get any errors. When I upload any other image from 50×50px to 5×7@300ppi (1500×2100px image) I get this error message:

Warning: imagecreatefromstring() [function.imagecreatefromstring]: No JPEG support in this PHP build in /export/home/davidw/weaver.net/wp-admin/includes/image.php on line 147
63

Is the image too big? If I continue the upload process all the images display as you see above.

is this a PHP 4.x vs. 5.x issue?

[update 6/20/09] It seems to be an issue of not having the GD or comparable library of image processing files on the host. I’ve sent a note off to my ISP.

[update 6/30/09] The function call that creates this error comes from /wp-admin/image.php I still can’t determine if this is a PHP issue or something else. GD is installed and is currently “GD Version bundled (2.0.28 compatible)”. I’m taking a hint from this post (http://wordpress.org/support/topic/220694) to see if I can use the ‘Save for Web & Devices…’ in Photoshop CS4.

I’ve just run some tests. Changing the way the JPEG file is created and I still get the same errors. I also took the file down to a reasonable web size of 900px x 650px and saved it using the ‘Save for Web & Devices…’ setting in Photoshop, this also resulted in the error.

Looking at the image.php file I note that there is an extra linefeed after the closing ‘?>” in the file. I’ve corrected that and put the changed file, now let me try uploading a small images that has been saved for web from PS.

Rats. No change in errors. So now I’ll Google “No JPEG support in this PHP build”. Looking at phpinfo reports that I’m on 4.43

More info at this post http://bugs.libgd.org/?do=details&task_id=125

There seems to be a faily old version(2.0.28) of GD installed. It’s old enough that I should go looking for old posts on this problem.

AH HA! I’ve uploaded a 900px wide version of a file as a PNG-8 file and it worked without errors!
Now time to try this with a large PS image that has been converted to PNG-24.
I’m going to toss this problem back to my ISP and ask for an upgraded GD library until they can upgrade to PHP 5.x. This link may also be of interest to the server admin too: http://phpbuilder.com/board/showthread.php?t=10303811

SOLVED!  The problems was that there was no JPEG support in the php build.  This has been resolved by my ISP.

It is all on hold as my ISP is buying a new server to place WP on. The build will have updated versions of all the software/OS needed to run the latest WP. So my todo list is on hold waiting for my ISP [...]]]> Just as the title says, here is my todo list.

It is all on hold as my ISP is buying a new server to place WP on. The build will have updated versions of all the software/OS needed to run the latest WP. So my todo list is on hold waiting for my ISP to get and install and transfer all my WP work.

The transfer didn’t go all too well.  Probably because I didn’t follow the instructions.  Since this was a fairly new blog then I’m not really concerned.  I rebuilt some major posts and thus the site is reborn.

Upgrade to Wordpress 2.8

Validate the website, http://codex.wordpress.org/Validating_a_Website

The XHTML doesn’t validate well.  The errors reported are in javascript and don’t appear to be valid errors.  So all is well for now.

Get an affiliate agreement and a nice looking SmugMug affiliate logo and place it in a sidebar. I’d actually like to have it automatically show up in posts where I mention SmugMug.

ISP Wishlist/todo

• Compile SimpleXML into the next build http://us3.php.net/manual/en/book.simplexml.php
• Get a new PHP 5.x compiled onto a new server.
• Make sure the GD lib is set to accept tiffs, and jpegs.

The ISP has been great and has readily fixed the very fewe problems I’ve had since we added the new server.  Thanks Bo!!!

Verify that Google Analytics are working for the site.

Add AddThis to the site.

Find a tool to help me manage a “Sign up for my quarterly email newsletter.” Also find a service to manage that. Constant Contact / Ask Emma. something like that.

Shopping Cart (aka: eCommerce solution for selling fine art prints) I already use SmugMug for all my event work.

Look into multilingual support, not so much for this site but for the one I’m building after this. Needs to be German/English compatible.

Add robots.txt for SEO use, probably with KB Robots.txt Since I’m using WP at the root of the site this plugin will probably work well for me. As I’m no longer using the root for the blog I’ve updated this accordingly.

You can get plugins at the Wordpress Plugins Directory

Installation notes for plugins.

It’s [...]]]> More documentation on setting up this site.
Here is the current list of plugins. I’ll update this as I add/modify/remove plugins.

• Akismet
• Exec-PHP Temporarily deactivated
• FeedBurner FeedSmith
• Google Analytics for WordPress
• Google XML Sitemaps
• Hello Dolly
• Widget Logic
• WP-reCAPTCHA
• KB Robots.txt
• Twitter Counter
• WP-Sticky <–some great plug-ins I want to go back and review later

You can get plugins at the Wordpress Plugins Directory

Installation notes for plugins.

It’s best to check the ‘readme.txt’ files and installation instructions for each plugin. I’m adding excerpts of the basic stuff that I found useful.

Google (XML) Sitemaps Generator for WordPress

From the Readme.txt:

== Installation ==

1. Upload the full directory into your wp-content/plugins directory
2. Use your favorite FTP program to create two files in your WordPress directory (that’s where the wp-config.php is) named sitemap.xml and sitemap.xml.gz and make them writable via CHMOD 666. More information about CHMOD and how to make files writable is available at the [WordPress Codex](http://codex.wordpress.org/Changing_File_Permissions) and on [stadtaus.com](http://www.stadtaus.com/en/tutorials/chmod-ftp-file-permissions.php). Making your whole blog directory writable is NOT recommended anymore due to security reasons.
4. Activate the plugin at the plugin administration page
5. Open the plugin configuration page, which is located under Options -> XML-Sitemap and build the sitemap the first time. If you get a permission error, check the file permissions of the newly created files.
6. The plugin will automatically update your sitemap of you publish a post, so theres nothing more to do

KB Robots.txt

== Installation ==

1. Upload `kb_robots-txt.php` to the `/wp-content/plugins/` directory.
1. Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress.
1. Go to the new ‘Settings=> KB Robots.txt’ admin page. In the box, write whatever you want your robots.txt file to say. There are examples below the box.
1. Test that it worked by going to `http://yourblog.example.com/robots.txt` to see your new robots.txt file.

== Limitations ==

Note that robots make only top-level requests for robots.txt files. If you have Wordpress installed in a subdomain (e.g. http://blog.example.com/) or in your root (e.g. http://example.com/), this plugin will work as intended.

Joe is a seasoned veteran in the biz. His books are great IF you are the right audience.

A newbie or pro-sumer that does occasional work for friends or family might be disappointed in his [...]]]> I’m a Joe McNally fan. If you are not familiar with his books I’d say go get them but wait…

Joe is a seasoned veteran in the biz. His books are great IF you are the right audience.

A newbie or pro-sumer that does occasional work for friends or family might be disappointed in his manner and lack of detail in cookbook recipes for shooting. His books are for those that have well-mastered the basic techniques of their gear and are looking for inspiration in the next great thing to do.

At least they are for me.

Shooting for the A-List at http://www.austin360.com doesn’t allow me a lot of freedom to place strobes and get the best shot. I still try for best shots and can get them as the opportunity presents them.

Sometimes I feel that I’m out of control when shooting. It happens more than you would think. Fortunately I shoot so much I’m not bothered with thoughts of “am I getting this right” or “let me make sure I have everything dialed in correctly” when I’m in a fast shooting environment. There is something to be said for getting camera settings close to what I want because I’ve been shooting for so damn long!

I do tons of shots for the Statesman’s entertainment website (Austin360.com) with the flash mounted on the hot shoe of the camera. I keep a diffuser on the strobe about 99% of the time too. They published about twelve-thousand of my pics in 2008. Hopefully, I’m doing something right.

Many people talk about taking the strobe off the camera and placing it somewhere else. This is great advice if you have the time to do it. I don’t have the time for most assignments. I’m shooting lots. I capture moments at events. Even if I had an assistant I wouldn’t be able to parse out instructions fast enough to get them in position to help light a shot. I work by myself in creating thousands of images.

Lots of pics I take suck. I’ll blog about that soon. I try not to send sucky pics to my editors. I do have a reputation to maintain….don’t I?

Do I love having a strobe on-top of the camera? Well…yes and no. There are lots of reason for moving the strobe ( go read one of Joe’s books) On the camera mounted flash situations I do make the quality of light better by diffusing it and getting close to my subjects. I love to shoot as wide as possible when doing event pics. Shooting wide allows me to work in very tight spaces and get the light close to my subjects. Diffuse and close light is a great thing in many cases. It doesn’t matter if it is only diffuse a foot or two around the center of the camera. I can deal with falloff. It is diffuse and it is close to the subject. I can get good results with that.

I’ve learned to love how to use what I have to use, as should you. I can teach a cell phone camera user how to take better pics – just understand the limitation and love what you have.

I will go on about shooting in controlled lighting situations later when I have time, which I don’t for most assignments. I enjoy studio work and the control I have over lighting. It is just not the bulk of my paid work.

Shooting with matrix metering and flash at -2 ev to add a touch of fill

I have to love the set-up I’m stuck with. I know how to control the light and can kiss the subject with just enough light to make a good pic once in a while.
For this shot I chatted up the subject briefly. I asked him to turn sideways as that would allows the strong available light to backlight his hair. He lit up a smoke and I got the pic. This was shot in shutter priority mode at 25th/sec and matrix-metering as I am after getting available light into the shot and I trust the Nikon metering system to do its job. The SB-800 flash was dialed down to -2 ev as I quickly composed the subject and then blam! – one shot, that works.

I have plenty that failed.

Keep shooting!
David

I didn’t think this would be that big a deal, but then I didn’t think my first marriage would be either. I’m in the process of done with tuning this theme and implementation of Wordpress so it can: