Setting up WordPress for IndieWeb use

I spent some time this morning doing a dry run through setting up a suite of IndieWeb plugins on a fresh WordPress installation. Going off of a scant outline I talked for almost two hours describing IndieWeb functionality as I set it all up. Hopefully it will provide a useful guide to newcomers to the space until I can write up a more solid outline and take a more polished approach. Apologies in advance for the roughness of the audio, lack of quality, and even live mistakes. Hopefully folks won’t mind suffering through until we can come up with some better tutorials.

As prerequisites, I assume you’ve already got your own domain and have installed WordPress on a server or other host. I actually finish setting up the WordPress install as I start the video and then sign in for the first time as we begin.

While many of the core plugins are straightforward, there is a huge amount of leeway in how folks can choose (or not) to syndicate to sites like Twitter, Facebook, and others. Here I make the choice to use the Bridgy Publish plugin and only demonstrate it with Twitter. With one example shown, hopefully other silos can be set up with Brid.gy as well. The IndieWeb wiki details other options for those who want other methods.

At the end I walk through creating and syndicating a post to Twitter. Then I demonstrate commenting on that post using another CMS (WithKnown) from a separate domain.

I do my best to provide verbal descriptions and visual examples, but these can certainly be supplemented with further detail on the IndieWeb wiki. I hope to come back and add some diagrams at a later date, but this will have to suffice for now.​​​​​​​​​

For those who would like an audio only version of this talk, you can listen here (.mp3):
If possible, click to play, otherwise your browser may be unable to play this audio file.

Setting up WordPress for IndieWeb use was originally published on Chris Aldrich

Advertisements

📺 Jeremy Keith – Building Blocks of the Indie Web

Building Blocks of the Indie Web by Jeremy Keith (View Source London)

In these times of centralised services like Facebook, Twitter, and Medium, having your own website is downright disruptive. If you care about the longevity of your online presence, independent publishing is the way to go. But how can you get all the benefits of those third-party services while still owning your own data? By using the building blocks of the Indie Web, that's how!

Based solely on what I know from just the title of the talk, this wasn’t quite at all what I was expecting. It was far more interesting and philosophical than I expected, but I suppose that’s the extra magical bit that you get for a something presented by Jeremy.

Approaching the subject from a more architectural standpoint was quite refreshing and a great way to frame the subject for this audience. I found myself wishing he’d had twice the amount of time to expand on his ideas. Often when I’m explaining IndieWeb building blocks, I’ll touch on webmention prior to micropub, but I like the way he turned my usual thinking on it’s head by putting micropub first in his presentation.

Thanks, Jeremy (and Mozilla for the conference). This was great fun! 🎉 ​​​​​

📺 Jeremy Keith – Building Blocks of the Indie Web was originally published on Chris Aldrich

Energy and Matter at the Origins of Life by Nick Lane | Santa Fe Institute

Energy and Matter at the Origin of Life by Nick Lane (Santa Fe Institute Community Event (YouTube))

All living things are made of cells, and all cells are powered by electrochemical charges across thin lipid membranes — the ‘proton motive force.’ We know how these electrical charges are generated by protein machines at virtually atomic resolution, but we know very little about how membrane bioenergetics first arose. By tracking back cellular evolution to the last universal common ancestor and beyond, scientist Nick Lane argues that geologically sustained electrochemical charges across semiconducting barriers were central to both energy flow and the formation of new organic matter — growth — at the very origin of life.

Dr. Lane is a professor of evolutionary biochemistry in the Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment at University College London. His research focuses on how energy flow constrains evolution from the origin of life to the traits of complex multicellular organisms. He is a co-director of the new Centre for Life’s Origins and Evolution (CLOE) at UCL, and author of four celebrated books on life’s origins and evolution. His work has been recognized by the Biochemical Society Award in 2015 and the Royal Society Michael Faraday Prize in 2016.

h/t Santa Fe Institute

Energy and Matter at the Origins of Life by Nick Lane | Santa Fe Institute was originally published on Chris Aldrich

📺 Don’t Worry Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin

Don't Worry Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin from YouTube

Music video by Bobby McFerrin performing Don't Worry Be Happy.

Most will think that Robin Williams’ cameo in this video is the headline, but to me it’s Bill Irwin! I’ve been enamored of his work (and clowning) since watching My Blue Heaven in my youth. There’s nothing better than running into his work anywhere on film and television. I hope he ultimately gets the recognition he deserves for his work, which I think is sadly underrated. If you haven’t seen his Mr. Noodle work, go out and track it all down.

📺 Don’t Worry Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin was originally published on Chris Aldrich

📺 The Decentralized Social Web by Keith J. Grant

The Decentralized Social Web by Keith J. Grant (Recall Act)

We tend to have a love/hate relationship with social networks. The ability to interact with friends, colleagues, and even celebrities is wonderful, but the lack of control over privacy or content algorithms is troubling. A better way lies ahead, where you aren't tied to large social networks and where you can own your own data.

Recorded at Atlanta Connect.Tech 2017 on 9/21/2017

A few weeks back Keith gave a great non-platform specific overview to some of the moving pieces of the IndieWeb at Connect.Tech 2017 in Atlanta. I wish I could have been there in person, but glad that it was archived on video for posterity.

Somehow I managed to get a mention in his talk as did our friend Jeremy Cherfas.

The slides for his talk are archived, naturally, on his own website.
​​​

📺 The Decentralized Social Web by Keith J. Grant was originally published on Chris Aldrich