Posted in news | No Comments »

Twitter cards are pretty neat. I used to see major newspapers and companies who had them but never thought much of them. I just assumed it was because they were “Verified” twitter account or something (I’m generally too busy to keep up on everything happening out there). Then one day, while snooping around the code of a blog I like (because that’s how I learn, not by reading designer blogs or forums), I noticed the code and did some research. After first looking at all the code examples I could find for wordpress twitter cards, then experimenting with my fashion blog www.street-fashion.net,

At first, I submitted my application only to have it disapproved! I don’t know if it was time passed since they wrote their blogs or what the problem was (they claimed it worked for them) but time and time again I ran into incorrect twitter card code for a wordpress based site. Once you implement your code, you can test it by putting the URL of any post that the code shows on here: Twitter Cart Preview. I say post or page because the code I eventually settled on, and something every blog I could find agreed on, was that the code would only exist on single posts. Works for me.

1. Make yourself a 150x150px image for your main twiter card image, posts will use the feautred image thumbnail (get that working first if you don’t already have it).
2. Open the header.php file or whichever file in your theme has your section.
3. Paste in the code below, replacing your image location and your twitter name WITH the @ symbol (my code snippet plugin does not seem to allow that symbol).
4. Test your card here. Remember to test a Post, rather than the homepage. If you don’t see an image, make sure your post has a featured image set. If you don’t see an option to set a featured image, look into this – http://codex.wordpress.org/Post_Thumbnails.
5. If it works, send it to Twitter HERE! Remember to put a working post url that you have tested in the field “Example Summary Card URL”. Skip Photo Card and Player Card fields unless you have also met those requirements.
6. Can’t do it or don’t know what I’m talking about? Pay me to do it! $20 for install and I will need your twitter and wordpress login and an image for your main card, + $10 if I need to get your thumbnails and featured images working.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27

<?php
#twitter summary card
if(is_single() || is_page()) {
  $twitter_url    = get_permalink();
 $twitter_title  = get_the_title();
 $twitter_desc   = get_the_excerpt();
   $twitter_thumbs = wp_get_attachment_image_src( get_post_thumbnail_id($post->ID), full );
    $twitter_thumb  = $twitter_thumbs[0];
      if(!$twitter_thumb) {
      $twitter_thumb = 'http://your-site.com/location/of/file/150x150image.jpg';
    }
  $twitter_name   = str_replace('@', '', get_the_author_meta('twitter'));
?>
<meta name="twitter:card" value="summary" />
<meta name="twitter:url" value="<?php echo $twitter_url; ?>" />
<meta name="twitter:title" value="<?php echo $twitter_title; ?>" />
<meta name="twitter:description" value="<?php echo $twitter_desc; ?>" />
<meta name="twitter:image" value="<?php echo $twitter_thumb; ?>" />
<meta name="twitter:site" value="(at)twittername" />
<?
  if($twitter_name) {
?>
<meta name="twitter:creator" value="(at)twittername" />
<?
  }
}
?>

Tags: summary card, twitter card, twitter summary
Posted in Web Design | 1 Comment »

Everyone hates watermarks (at least I hope they do). They are distracting, ugly, and often in a horrible font on top of everything. Literally, everything.
People are scared of having their images stolen, I understand, but the scenario ends up being either that your image is too ugly to want to steal because of the watermark and low resolution (if it’s too ugly to steal, it’s too ugly to want to buy) or people will just remove the watermark in Photoshop – BUT what if they don’t know it’s there? I know you’re thinking “but if they don’t see a watermark they will DEFINITELY steal it, as opposed to probably not”. It’s actually likely they will steal it anyway. Which is why having an invisible watermark will protect you down the road, even in a legal dispute if needed.
While working on some photos for Etsy today, I started making watermarks for my photos, something I’ve never really done before because it always looks so terrible, and decided to do a google search and find a debate for and against.
Many people were against using watermarks because of pretty much the reasons I listed above, It will not deter thieves, or it may, but also customers – depending on how hardcore your watermark is.
Someone on an Etsy forum posted the ultimate solution to everyone’s woes, instructions on how to make an invisible watermark and I’m sharing it with you here: Invisible Watermark Instructions

See the watermarks? no? good.

Using this watermark also gives you the freedom to stop squashing your images down to 500px wide as well, though that will be up to you. In my photos, details are important and the fact that my medium format images are so crisp and clear, is barely noticeable in a tiny photo. Why bother sharing if you’re not sharing the whole experience? This may mean that I add the invisible watermark all over the image rather than in just one place, just to up the chances of safety, but at least I get to display what I want worry free.

Check it out and give it a try. I know adding a watermark to all your photos might sound tedious. It will be. Also, think of it this way. Anyone who buys a print of your photo can scan it and put it in their own collection any time they want. There is really no safeguard from art thieves, so decide for yourself which preventative effort is worth it and which is not.

Tags: deviantart, invisible watermark, photography, photos, Princess-of-Shadows, protecting photos, watermarks
Posted in photos | No Comments »