Entries from 2018
Avoid Code Duplication Caused by ExpressionEngine (v2.6.1) Not Letting You Reuse Names in Channel Field Sets
I developed a content template in a CMS called ExpressionEngine. Everything seemed simple enough until I was asked to incorporate a few extra fields that were commonly used in other content templates. Since the website was using an outdated version of ExpressionEngine that didn’t let you use the same field name in multiple content templates, I ended up duplicating a lot of code that's used to display these common fields. Well, it turns out that there is a better way. [Continue reading]
Trick to Open Qualtrics in Multiple Browser Windows for Comparing the Settings of Separate Forms
When building a new form in Qualtrics, I would prefer having two separate browser windows open so that it’s easier to copy content from older forms into the new one. The problem is that Qualtrics remembers your last action no matter which browser window you are using. So when I copy CSS code from an old form in one window, for example, the other browser window with the new form starts misbehaving. Luckily there is a way around this issue. [Continue reading]
Quicker Way to Use Photoshop for Cropping Photos for the Web
If only I could go back and tell myself that I’ve been resizing images the wrong way. When preparing staff photos for the web, for example, I spent so much time cropping a photo so the spacing around the person looks proportional to my other staff photos posted online. I would then change the photo’s dimensions to fit the website template only to discover the new photo needs to be cropped some more or that it was cropped too much. I would then need to hit undo one or more times to make additional adjustments before resizing and testing again. It turns out that there's a much simpler way to edit photos and it’s less prone to errors. [Continue reading]
Prevent Qualtrics from Sending Emails Based on Incomplete Responses
An online form I manage through Qualtrics sent some confusing emails recently. The form should only email me when someone completes all required information, but somehow the emails I received were missing some critical information. I double checked that all my form validation was in place and my Survey Flow did not have anything letting respondents bypass the necessary questions. It turns out that the emails were triggered by an incomplete response reaching the expiration date. Therefore, I needed to rethink how my email triggers were set up. [Continue reading]
Avoid Losing Emails Flagged as Tasks
A downside of flagging emails as tasks in Outlook is that they are one in the same. If you delete the task, for example, the email will also be deleted. Outlook at least warns you before something like that happens. However, I found a way to delete several tasks / emails without any warning from Outlook. Luckily, I was able to recover the lost emails with a bit of work. [Continue reading]
