FettesPS

Not sure what happened there, went to check my stats tonight and my entire site was down. Logged into StatCounter and AdSense and both are reporting very small amounts of traffic for the last two days and a slightly reduced amount for 3 days leading up to that. None of that makes sense, the site should have been up or down, but yet it seems to have worked intermittently. In any case, this is the error I was getting for both the main site and even the admin login:

cannot redeclare sticky_class() (previously declared in /home/user/wordpress/wp-includes/post-template.php

The file in question was wp-includes\deprecated.php, which is not a file I would ever edit in my WordPress installation. I also had not edited the post-template.php file at any point. The only thing I had done recently was some house cleaning on other parts of the FTP and I did update my plugins, themes and WordPress installation about 2 weeks ago. Still, it had worked afterwards, I know I tested it. And based on when my traffic dropped this happened on it’s own about a week after I did all that.

So I am at a loss as to how I ended up in this situation, but here’s how I managed to get back online:

1. Got the latest WordPress zip file
2. Extracted the files
3. Deleted the old wp-includes and wp-admin directories on my server
4. Uploaded the new wp-includes and wp-admin directories
5. Uploaded the new wp-content folder to my existing wp-content folder, overwriting existing files
6. Uploaded all files from the root directory of the WordPress install into my root directory on the site

Of course, I did not know these steps off hand and had to consult with the WordPress Codex. You’ll notice I did not deactivate my plug-ins, I honestly wasn’t sure how I was supposed to complete that step without having access to my admin panel. But in the end the process worked and my site is now back online.

Although I am avid hater of Adobe Acrobat, I do find PDF format itself to be quite useful. Knowing that your document is going to look a certain way when you receipient recieves it is invaluable. Nothing worse than sending out a resume or similar document in Word only to find out that when it was openned it looked entirely different due to a difference in the versions of their software. So because of this, the PDF format is widely used and nearly every computer, whether it be a Mac or PC, can open a PDF file. Unfortunately most users aren’t aware of the alternatives to Adobe Acrobat, nor are they aware of just how terrible a product Adobe Acrobat is.

Reading PDF Documents

There are numerous alternatives to Adobe Acrobat out there that are much more light weight and stable. My prefered option has always been Foxit Reader. It is a free product, and comes with a browser plugin. There is no mention of Windows 8 compatibility but if you grab the latest windows version it will work perfectly.

Another excellent option is Sumatra PDF, which is an open source product that keeps it simple. There are no bells or whistles with this product, but it works and it loads fast. Plus it works out of the box in Windows 8!

Writing PDF Documents

Most people don’t realize how simple it is create a PDF document. There are many ways it can be done, but I have always recommending installing fake print drivers that output your document to a PDF rather than to your printer. There are many products available that do this, but I have always been a supporter of Primo PDF. Their free version provides all the functionality that 99% of PC users would require. It advertises compatibility with Windows 98/NT/2000/XP/Vista but does not mention Windows 8. I have been using it now for several months in Windows 8 and have had not a single issue.

Just like in the last two incarnations of Windows, Microsoft has left the Telnet client out of the default Windows installation. But have no fear, you can quickly install the component for free and you don’t even need the Windows installation discs. Depending on if you use the Start Screen or the Desktop there are two different ways to enable Telnet:

From the Start Screen:

1. Control Panel
2. More Settings
3. Programs and Features
5. Turn Windows Features On or Off
6. Check Telnet Client
7. Hit OK

From the Desktop:

1. Move your cursor to the bottom right endge
2. Click Settings
3. Click the Control Panel button
4. Click Programs
6. Turn Windows Features On or Off
7. Check off Telnet Client
8. Hit OK

And that’s it! You don’t even have to restart your computer to use it. And always remember, Telnet is very insecure and whenever you have the choice you should always use SSH and a client such as PuTTY.