“Übersicht” is a German word that means “overview” or “summary” in English. The name of the software was chosen because it allows users to have a quick overview of various information on their desktop. It’s also a play on words, because in German the name of the software can be translated as “super sight” which refers to the ability to have a lot of information at a glance.
Übersicht is a lightweight and powerful application that allows users to create and customize desktop widgets using web technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. With Übersicht, you can create widgets that display information such as the weather, calendar events, system resource usage, and more. The widgets can be customized to display the information in any format and can be positioned anywhere on the desktop, allowing you to create a personalized and efficient workspace.
Übersicht widgets are created using a simple and user-friendly interface that allows you to preview and edit the widget’s code. The widgets are also highly customizable, allowing you to change the appearance and behavior of the widgets to suit your needs. Additionally, Übersicht widgets can be shared with other users, and there are a variety of widgets available for download from the developer’s website.
The application is open-source and free to use, and it’s also lightweight, it won’t affect your computer performance. Overall, Übersicht is a powerful and versatile tool for creating custom desktop widgets on macOS.
There are several other tools similar to Übersicht that allow you to create custom desktop widgets. Some of the most popular alternatives include:
With many external systems in play, its always crucial to keep an eye on things. I have build nice dashboards, using Grafana, InfluxDB, NetData and Prometheus. But they are either displayed in a browser window or on a separate screen.
If you have 2 / 3 monitors or an ultra-wide screen, you have a lot of Desktop real-estate you can use.
That is something that I have been looking at for years, but only tried for a short period of time. This year I want to really build out desktop and menu widgets , that help me to get an even better overview of things and help reduce repetitive tasks.
I will share links to things I like and share access to the widgets I build myself or tweaked.
These are the current things that are in progress or planned.
Nothing to share yet ….
Productivity tools are software applications that help individuals and teams to manage their time and tasks more effectively. These tools can range from simple time tracking and task management apps to more advanced project management software.
The goal of productivity tools is to increase efficiency, organization, and accountability, allowing users to accomplish more in less time. They can be used for a variety of purposes, such as scheduling meetings, setting reminders, tracking progress, and delegating tasks. With the right productivity tools, individuals and teams can streamline their workflows, increase their productivity, and achieve their goals more easily.
I always use the first week of the year to evaluate my tools, workflows and software. I try to switch as little as possible within every 6 months, as I can not afford any downtime during my projects. This is the first year, that I am sharing a mostly complete list of things I use. Might be interesting for some of you.
Update: Not completely done yet, but close :)
Pretty flexible, when it comes to these tools. I am working with different agencies and customers, some prefer Adobe XD and some Figma.
I am a Mac and Linux guy. Windows only exists virtualised in my work environment ;)
Again trying to free myself from the Adobe subscription model. Might be the last year and than I can finally transition away ;)
Love to switch it up and again be flexible when it comes to customer preferences ;)
I am always staying busy, when it comes to programming languages. Have my side projects, that keep me exploring new stuff. My current top 8 ;)
“A homelab is a personal laboratory or workspace that is set up in a person’s home, typically for the purpose of experimenting with and learning about various technology or IT related topics. This can include things like building and configuring servers, experimenting with different operating systems and software, and learning about network and security concepts.”
I started my Homelab 2020 to allow more flexible workflows, to play with Docker setups, lower costs for external services and have full access to any server tool when ever needed. Allows me to quickly mirror customer setups or simulate possible upgrade paths. Quite addictive once you start building your own server. And the things you learn, can be easily replicated to remote servers, which I just did last year. I am starting to move services from a long-time static server to a scalable docker based foundation.
Will follow up on this section soon ….
Enjoy coding ….
“Git is a DevOps tool used for source code management. It is a free and open-source version control system used to handle small to very large projects efficiently. Git is used to tracking changes in the source code, enabling multiple developers to work together on non-linear development.”
Many use Github to host remote Git repositories, but you can use other hosts like: BitBucket, Gitlab, Google Cloud Source Repositories …. You can also host your own repository on your local NAS or remote server.
Will use this article for common problems I encoutered and possible solutions.
Push failed in Github Desktop and using Push from the command-line. The best bet is to experiment with different git config options.
The core.compression 4 worked for me and the push went through nicely.
|
1 2 3 4 5 |
git config --global core.compression 0 git config --global core.compression 1 git config --global core.compression 2 git config --global core.compression 3 git config --global core.compression 4 |
Other config option that can be tweaked are
|
1 2 3 |
git config --global http.postBuffer git config --global https.postBuffer git config --global ssh.postBuffer |
Read more about them here
jQuery has provided easy access to complicated core Javascript solutions in the past and has been shielding us from difficult workarounds for legacy browsers. But times have changed and many of those things can be done as easily using Javascript directly.
jQuery is a fast, small, and feature-rich JavaScript library. It makes interactions with HTML documents easy, and is widely used in web development to add features to web pages and to simplify the process of writing JavaScript. With a combination of versatility and extensibility, jQuery has changed the way that millions of people write JavaScript.
That being said, jQuery is still a popular and widely used library, and there are many valid reasons to continue using it. It is ultimately up to you to decide whether the benefits of using jQuery outweigh the potential drawbacks in your particular situation.
Easily search and compare direct Javascript solutions to jQuery ….
How jQuery does it:
|
1 |
$.getJSON('/my/url', function (data) {}); |
Pure Javascript:
|
1 2 |
const response = await fetch('/my/url'); const data = await response.json(); |
UmbrellaJS is a lightweight JavaScript library that provides a number of utility functions and features for working with DOM elements and handling events. It was designed to be small, fast, and easy to use, and it does not have any dependencies on other libraries.
Some of the features provided by UmbrellaJS include:
UmbrellaJS is a good choice for developers who want a simple, lightweight library for working with DOM elements and handling events. It is especially well-suited for smaller projects or for developers who want to avoid the overhead of larger libraries like jQuery.
Selector demos:
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
u('ul#demo li') u(document.getElementById('demo')) u(document.getElementsByClassName('demo')) u([ document.getElementById('demo') ]) u( u('ul li') ) u('<a>') u('li', context) |
Documentation
Migrate from jQuery
HTMX (HTML enhanced for asynchronous communication and XML) is a JavaScript library that allows you to add asynchronous communication and other interactive features to your web pages using HTML attributes and elements. It allows you to make AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) requests and handle responses directly in your HTML, without the need for writing any JavaScript code.
HTMX works by intercepting events on HTML elements and making asynchronous requests based on the attributes you specify. For example, you can use the hx-get attribute to make a GET request to a specified URL, and use the hx-trigger attribute to specify an event that should trigger the request. You can also use the hx-target attribute to specify an element on the page where the response should be inserted.
Here’s an example of how you might use HTMX to make a GET request and insert the response into a div element:
|
1 2 3 |
<button hx-get="/some/url" hx-target="#target">Load Data</button> <div id="target"></div> |
When the button is clicked, HTMX will make a GET request to /some/url and insert the response into the div element with the id of target.
HTMX is designed to be easy to use and flexible, and it can be used to add a wide range of interactive features to your web pages.
I am currently using HTMX in one of my longterm projects and will be talking about it more in a separate article in the future !
HTMX Reference / Documentation
It is ultimately up to you to decide which approach is best for your particular project. Sometimes a combination is needed ;)
A fullstack developer is a software engineer who has expertise in all layers of a web application’s stack. This includes both the frontend, which is the user-facing part of the application, and the backend, which is the server-side portion of the application.
To become a fullstack developer, one must have a solid understanding of a wide range of technologies. This includes proficiency in at least one programming language, such as JavaScript or Python, as well as knowledge of databases, server infrastructure, and web development frameworks.
One of the key benefits of being a fullstack developer is that they can work on any part of a web application, from the design and user experience to the underlying server-side logic. This means that they can take on a wide range of roles and responsibilities, from designing the user interface to implementing complex business logic.
Fullstack developers are also in high demand, as the skills they possess are highly sought-after in the job market. This is because companies are increasingly looking for engineers who can work on both the frontend and backend of their web applications, rather than hiring separate teams for each layer of the stack.
In addition to their technical skills, fullstack developers must also have strong problem-solving and communication skills. This is because they often work on teams and need to be able to collaborate effectively with other developers, as well as communicate their ideas to non-technical stakeholders.
Overall, being a fullstack developer is a challenging but rewarding career path. It requires a diverse set of skills and the ability to adapt to new technologies, but the rewards include the opportunity to work on a wide range of projects and the satisfaction of seeing your work come to life in the form of a web application.
Facebook sucks …. and now how to solve saving pages connected to a gray account! Might not work for everyone, but it solved it for me.
“A gray account is an account used to log into Facebook that is not associated with a personal profile or account. People used to be able to manage their Pages with gray accounts before we required individuals to have a personal Profile in order to create, manage, or run ads on a Page.” – Facebook Help
Normally it should be easy to transfer a page to a new administration account. Right? RIGHT!
My customers page was on the new profile page layout, that was introduced a while back. So normally you should go to the Page -> Professional Dashboard -> Settings -> Site Access. This would than allow you to assign a new page admin.
This just straight fails for me! I can easily choose a new person , select person and allow full access, confirm with password and than nothing happens. When checking the console, i see a couple of random errors …
Tried with different accounts, different browsers, different OS. Always the same …
After trying everything and almost giving up. I though, well you can still switch back to the old page layout, maybe that works!
And that is what finally worked for me. I was able to assign my customer as a new admin, within Settings -> Site Roles and than switch back to the new page layout!
Again … Facebook sucks! Who is testdriving updates and checking for incoming errors … seems that noone cares. Just leave it to the user, to solve their own problems. Not a single resource, that actually helps. I am sure that there are many, that already lost their pages! Just unbelievable !!!
Happy coding!
A while back a potential customer asked me, if it is possible to restructure a WordPress Multisite setup and WPML with a more simplified and custom url structure?
web.site/de/
web.site/en/
Languages would normally be added like this:
web.site/nl-nl/de/
web.site/nl-nl/en/
The customer wanted it to be restructured / simplified like this:
web.site/de-nl/
web.site/en-nl/
This basically mimics the structure of a single WPML website with custom languages, but with all the benefits of a multisite.
This is nothing that WPML or WordPress Multisite provides out of the box.
I built a prototype setup to make it work.
Not something that I would propose for anyone, as it requires a lot of tweaks for anything that handles dynamic links (plugins, hooks, core systems, page.builder …)
Its doable :)
One thing that needs to be tweaked globally, is the mapping of the new url structure.
So web.site/nl-nl/en/ needs to become web.site/en-nl/
This needs to be handled on the server side, by proxying the original to the new structure.
This can be easily done using Apache or NGINX.
With that web.site/nl-nl/en/ will be proxied to web.site/en-nl/, but any core navigation will not work yet.
This is the fastest solution that I came up with, within the hour I gave myself ;)
There surely are other options, like the core rewrites / restructuring of the core shorturl handling. But these approaches might break things in far more areas.
Using the proxy approach, keeps the core as it is. The solution needs to be as simple as possible, allowing to maintain it in the future :)
Just for the basic setup a couple of hooks are required to make this work, more might be needed depending on the plugins in use.
Here a couple of examples ….
WordPress site_url
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 |
add_filter( 'site_url', 'custom_site_url' ); function custom_site_url( $url ) { if( is_admin() ) // you probably don't want this in admin side return $url; return str_replace( "/nl-nl/en/","/en-nl/", $url); } |
WordPress Nav Links
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 |
add_filter( 'post_link', 'changePermalinks', 10, 3); add_filter( 'page_link', 'changePermalinks', 10, 3); add_filter( 'post_type_link', 'changePermalinks', 10, 3); add_filter( 'category_link', 'changePermalinks', 11, 3); add_filter( 'tag_link', 'changePermalinks', 10, 3); add_filter( 'author_link', 'changePermalinks', 11, 3); add_filter( 'day_link', 'changePermalinks', 11, 3); add_filter( 'month_link','changePermalinks', 11, 3); add_filter( 'year_link', 'changePermalinks', 11, 3); function changePermalinks( $url, $post, $leavename=false ) { $url = str_replace("/nl-nl/en/","/en-nl/", $url); return $url; } |
WPML
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 |
add_filter( 'icl_ls_languages', 'wpml_url_fix'); function wpml_url_fix( $languages ) { global $wpml_url_converter; $abs_home = $wpml_url_converter->get_abs_home(); foreach( $languages as $lang => $element ){ $languages[$lang]['url'] = str_replace( "/nl-nl/en/","/en-nl/", $languages[$lang]['url'] ); } return $languages; } |
Rankmath
|
1 2 3 |
add_filter( 'rank_math/frontend/canonical', function( $canonical ) { return str_replace( "/nl-nl/en/","/en-nl/", $canonical); }); |
This will not cover every angle, but will give you a starting point! I love my puzzles and there always is a viable solution :)
Need something similar … get in touch!
When you look at Youtube, Twitter, certain Facebook groups and even some software companies, they are all building up fear for the upcoming / in-progress Google “Helpful Content” algorithm update.
– Our “helpful content update” launching next week will better surface original, helpful content made by people, for people, rather than content made primarily to gain search traffic. It’s part of a broad effort to show more unique, authentic info in results – Google SearchLiaison@Twitter
Its happening as I write this and its about time!
The goal of this update is to rank websites that publish original and unique content. Content written by real writers and not AIs.
This also downgrades websites, that write about content that is not relevant to their core expertise. So no more content domain dominance, by posting about every possible content angle to lure visitors in.
Also old content, when not updated regularly, will loose prominence.
This all is a plus for the enduser and knowledge seeker. Google has been preparing for this for years now and its not happening suddenly.
Structured data gained more and more importance over the past few years. Google is finally using it to cleanup search!
Hard to tell. But change was needed! There are so many underrated websites out there, that deliver quality content, but never got a chance to bubble up or shine :) This will hopefully get us better search results and better quality control.
LOOKING FORWARD TO THE RESULTS!
Keep on breathing …. ALEX
Custom multisite setup for an educational institution website.
“The KAIAKOO® education group is a recognized education provider based in Speyer. Our services are tested, certified and eligible for funding in accordance with the Accreditation and Licensing Ordinance (AZAV). Our consulting cosmos includes in particular the topics of PROFESSION, CAREER & FOUNDING.”
Ich hatte dieses Jahr die Möglichkeit, über meinen Kunden TYPEMYKNIFE®, an der “Nacht der Sterne” in Stuttgart, im Mercedes-Benz Museum, teilzunehmen. Auf der Gala kommen mehr als 800 Gäste aus Gastronomie, Hotellerie, Politik, Kultur und Wirtschaft zusammen.
Es war ein klasse Abend, auf dem nicht nur die Spitzenköche aus Deutschland, der Schweiz, Südtirol und Österreich ausgezeichnet wurden, sondern diese auch Live zeigen konnten was sie so können.
Veranstaltet wird die Party von der Allgemeinen Hotel- und Gastronomie-Zeitung (Ahgz) und Burg Staufeneck / Rolf Straubinger.
Moderatorin des Abends waren die Journalistin und Fernsehköchin Felicitas Then und Rolf Westermann von der ahgz-Chefredaktion.
Informationen zum Award, den Methoden und Siegern findet man hier.
TYPEMYKNIFE® hat Vorort an einem Stand eine kleine Auswahl seiner Küchenmesser, die über den 3D Gravur Konfigurator vorbereitet und graviert wurden, präsentiert. Dadurch hatten Gäste die Möglichkeit, die gravierten Küchenmesser einmal persönlich zu entdecken und die Qualität zu bestaunen.
Die fast 1400 km Rundreise aus dem Norden hat sich gelohnt. Es ist immer schön Kunden mal nicht nur virtuell zu treffen, besonders wenn die Distanz so groß ist. Bei der Entfernung trifft man sich nicht immer mal kurz auf einen Kaffee oder Gin-Tonic :)
Gruß an TYPEMYKNIFE® / Schwäbisch Gmünd / Stuttgart