Login

Stephan's blog posts

"I may not have gone where I intended to go but I have ended up where I needed to be." — Douglas Adams

Drupal: use block subject as block class name

stplanken — August 7, 2010 - 16:48

Drupal

I needed to style one block differently than the standard blocks. So I added some code to the block preprocess function in template.php, instead of relying on the $block_id or $id variables in the block template.

This code snippet adds a block class name based on the subject. If none was entered, I used the work-around by beginning the subject with an asterisk, creating the class name, then removing the subject.

Slow printing from Nitro PDF

stplanken — July 27, 2010 - 18:05

I have always used Adobe's free Reader to read PDF's and the free Primo PDF to create PDF's. Since a while I switched to the also free Nitro PDF, that can both read and create PDF's (currently at version 1.2.0.11).

But if there is one caveat to Nitro PDF it is that printing is rather slow.

Drupal: remove "reply" link from comments

stplanken — July 26, 2010 - 22:51

Drupal

When displaying the comment form below the post, it doesn't make sense to display a reply link for the original post and each of the comments.

You could opt to always hide (CSS) or remove (PHP) the comment reply link.

It would be an improvement to remove it only when the comment form is displayed for the content type.

Here is how you can accomplish that.

Sophie discovered her new favorite food group: ice cream!

stplanken — July 11, 2010 - 17:16

We had an ice cream cone to celebrate the beautiful day (that was before the thunder and dark clouds over the area) and as soon as I held it near Sophie she tried to grab it. She stretched and stretched! So I scooped some on my finger tip and gave it to her, making sure she didn't get a brain freeze. She visibly enjoyed that!

Dressed for summer!

stplanken — July 8, 2010 - 21:55

Dressed for summer! Dressed for summer!

Now that the weather has finally started to improve it's time for Sophie to wear some of her cute summer clothes. She has been making attempts to crawl lately, mostly backward. But she is able to lift her upper body and she can maintain that for a long time.

And, as always, she is just her happy little self.

It's a privilege to hang out with her after work, prior to her bed time.

My first Father's Day present ever

stplanken — June 20, 2010 - 10:19

Fathers Day card 2010

Today is my first Father's Day ever and I received a nice card from Sophie (and Tanya, of course). This is by far the best card I have ever received:

Sophie eating yogurt

stplanken — June 17, 2010 - 13:52

Sophie (6 months) tasted yogurt for the first time today. Can't say she liked it but she didn't reject it either. Aren't babies great in accepting new flavors without questioning (yogurt is not the easiest flavor to accept).

Why you should be wary of subcontractors

stplanken — June 15, 2010 - 22:44

Lousy paint job

The first day of this job looked good, primer looked good, he was using masking tape, I had a good feeling about this.

Until I came home today...

This is how something simple turns into something really expensive or time-consuming. This is why you should be wary of subcontractors.

Dear Canada Post

stplanken — May 14, 2010 - 19:48

Dear Canada Post,

I know that common sense seems to be in short supply with the economy the way it is and all. But if you happen to see that the heavy, oversized envelope you're about to squeeze in the tiny undersized mail box really is too large, please don't shred it to pieces as you are persisting.

If it really doesn't fit, just drop me a note and I'll gladly pick it up at the post office. In one piece.

Thank you?

We mourn the loss of our father, George Planken

stplanken — January 24, 2010 - 07:45

December 12, we celebrated the birth of our newborn daughter, Sophie. Now, unfortunately, we mourn the passing of my father, George, at the age of 82.