MAMP and WordPress

After a couple of hours of playing around with the MAMP software, I think I’ve finally somewhat come to grips with how to use it. I dont claim to know everything but I think I know just enough, for now, to get by. In trying to learn the most that I could in such a short time, I came across a tutorial by Michael Doig. I know this tutorial is quite dated but the information on the page was still relevant to the current version of the program.

Follow this tutorial made it really easy to understand the steps that needed to be taken in building a site on a local server. I’ve built sites before using html coding and what not, but never created one on my own server. I had a few minor problems initially because the tutorial stated that I needed to do my coding on a Mac program called TextEdit. I had quite a bit of trouble locating the program and I have a stinking feeling that I might’ve accidentally deleted in the first few days of using this laptop. So instead of whining about it (which I did for 2 minutes), I decided to look for alternative freeware that could be used for coding as well and I found one called TextWrangler. This program did the job =D

Anyways, it was only after I finished configuring the page that I realised that I wasnt supposed to be using WordPress as my test site. At least now I know how to configure my own site using MAMP and seeing as I still use WordPress, I guess what I’ve freshly learned wont be going to waste. I’ll be able to make my own themes now….when I have free time, that is.

In the last meeting I had with Adrian a couple of weeks ago, I remembered him saying something about a social networking engine called Elgg. I decided to check it out after I was happy with the WordPress site, only to find that Elgg matched almost all the criteria that need to be met in this project. Thinking it wouldn’t be a problem and that it wouldnt hurt to make another database and link it to MAMP, I tried to do exactly the same thing I did with WordPress. It turns out I wasnt able to even install Elgg properly on my mac. So I began to look for reasons why. After not being able to find any conclusive results to my search, I’m beginning to think that it’s just not mac-compatible. I think there’s a really good explanation as to why I cant get Elgg working on my laptop. There must be something I’m doing wrong.

In the event that it just really doesnt work on the mac, I should start looking for alternatives to the program. So far, I havent found anything that is anywhere as perfect as Elgg.

The search must continue though…

Cant believe Im so behind

It’s amazing how one week can totally upset the schedule I had set for myself at the beginning of the semester.Only now do I realise that I’m quite behind on my work – it’s safe to say I have my weekend cut out for me. I couldnt get so much of what I wanted to do done during the Easter break because I had to play the perfect host. I didnt even get to see my laptop very much.

Ahhh..anyways, I may as well just get on with it. Ranting will do no good. All I can do is apologize to my lecturers for being behind schedule and try my best to catch up.

So what do I need to do now before the end of the week ?

- sort out the wireless configurations on my mac so I can do work at Labsome without having to use the desktops.

- finish answering the learning contract questions for Transient Spaces

- do some reading up on Mamp and figure out how to use it properly before the meeting with Adrian.

I’m just really glad that I’ve got the Comm Rev essay over and done with. Thats one thing to take off the checklist =D