Thinkology

Over the years I have written and communicated various thoughts about Concrete CMS, building web sites, managing projects, related and tangential topics. Some serious, some ironic, some humorous, some a bit controversial.

These thoughts don't fit into supporting any specific product, so I am gathering them together, editing and updating them here. Its not a blog, I won't be posting regularly and much of what I am posting is sourced from my "back catalogue", but the organization follows a news and blog-like structure. Dates shown are the dates first written, not the date revised and added here.

Orbiting the incident pit

JohntheFish 2 weeks ago Code

Small incidents get you closer to bigger incidents and the incident pit grows steeper all the way.

Packages incorporating 3rd party code

JohntheFish 2 weeks ago Concrete Marketplace

Navigate 3rd-party code licenses for Concrete CMS packages for a smooth marketplace submission.

Thinkology thumbnails

JohntheFish a month ago Design

I had fun generating quite a few thumbnail variations I didn't use. A gallery including those which did and didn't quite make it.

To blog or not to blog

JohntheFish a month ago Business

... that is the question. Many web site owners think they should have a blog, but is that a wise decision?

Getting close to the Lighthouse

JohntheFish a month ago Project Management

Google's Lighthouse metrics navigate us towards better web sites, but sail too close and you can end up on the rocks.

Lies, damned lies, and SEO

JohntheFish 4 months ago Business

Don't trust the SEO 'experts'. Create appropriate content and pray to the gods of the algorithm.

What do we look for in a marketplace review?

JohntheFish 6 months ago Concrete Marketplace

Here are my guidance notes. Everything is a matter of judgement, based on experience and to a great extent on intuition.

Why is my addon not selling?

JohntheFish 7 months ago BusinessConcrete Marketplace

Some addons sell and some addons don't. There is no simple answer, but here are some clues.

Metrics and misadventure

JohntheFish a year ago CodeProject Management

Becoming a slave to code metrics can be counter productive.

A fair contract

JohntheFish 2 years ago Business

What's good for the goose is good for the gander. The instant test of a reasonable and fair contract is to turn it round.

When will my forum question be answered?

JohntheFish 2 years ago

You posted a forum question. But no-one has responded. Why? What can you do about it?

Concrete CMS diagnostic information

JohntheFish 2 years ago CodeConcrete Marketplace

Diagnostic information a developer may ask you for when investigating problems.

Being happy in business

JohntheFish 2 years ago Business

Are you in the right business? Or would you be happier doing something else?

The Express train

JohntheFish 3 years ago Code

Thoughts about the Concrete Express data system. When to use it, when not to use it and why.

Manually Installing or Updating an Addon or Theme

JohntheFish 3 years ago Concrete Marketplace

If you are unable to connect your site directly to the ConcreteCMS marketplace, you can install manually.

The death of a thousand quotes

JohntheFish 3 years ago Business

Provide a quote for this small update, a quote for that small update, a quote for another small update... Is it really worth it?

Whoops on Install

JohntheFish 4 years ago CodeConcrete Marketplace

You click the install button from the Add Functionality dashboard page and you get an exception.

Getting to the real requirements

JohntheFish 5 years ago Project Management

Take a step back from replicating the old site with a shiny new theme and find out what the requirements really are.

Why projects go wrong

JohntheFish 5 years ago Project Management

When projects go wrong, 90% of the reasons for failure can be pulled off a pick list of same-old reasons.

Am I a developer, or an archaeologist of code?

JohntheFish 7 years ago Code

If the success of any software is measured by how widely it is adopted and used, the way to get there is to spend more time on enabling others to use it and less time on clever code.

Do everything in packages

JohntheFish 7 years ago CodeConcrete MarketplaceProject Management

Why I hate code residing in the Concrete CMS /application/ directory.

Making money from the marketplace

JohntheFish 8 years ago BusinessConcrete Marketplace

Is the Concrete CMS Marketplace a business, or are you just satisfying your inner geek?

Spreading the jam too thin

JohntheFish 9 years ago Project Management

Get suckered into too many channels of communication and have no time left to do any work.

Get code ready for the Marketplace

JohntheFish 10 years ago CodeDesignConcrete Marketplace

There can be a big difference between an addon or theme that works beautifully in the context of the site it was developed for and the same package installed on another site.

Sort out server file permissions

JohntheFish 11 years ago Code

To run a Concrete CMS web site, the web server must have access to read and write the files used for Concrete CMS.

My block does not work!

JohntheFish 11 years ago CodeConcrete Marketplace

You add a block to a Concrete CMS page and something stops it working. What diagnostics can you do?

Getting help on the Forums

JohntheFish 13 years ago

If you expect us to put in some work answering your question, you're going to have to show that you did some work to ask it!