Past days I updated both WordPress sites (Dutch and English) to WP version 3.5.1, PHP 5.3 and mySQL5.
So far, so good. Until now, no update of the WordPress-TNG plugin was needed.
Next step is to look into upgrading TNG to newer version.
Past days I updated both WordPress sites (Dutch and English) to WP version 3.5.1, PHP 5.3 and mySQL5.
So far, so good. Until now, no update of the WordPress-TNG plugin was needed.
Next step is to look into upgrading TNG to newer version.
Few days ago WordPress version 3.2 has been released.
Which means all Plugin and Theme builders have to validate their products against this new release.
Curious as I am, as the TNG-WP plugin is no longer supported I liked to know what about this plugin?
So I had my test website updated to PHP 5.3 and mySQL to 5.0 and installed TNG 8.1, WP3.2 and loaded the new Twenty-Eleven theme.
Then I installed the WP-TNG plugin 0.25 and had it updated to 0.26. Finally I created a ‘familytree’ page in WP and configured the plugin.
The result: it worked as expected but of course with same issues as recognized on WP 3.1. See my other post on how to fix most of these issues.
However, when you make use of additional plugins or when you’re using another Theme, then my advise to you is to wait until all plugins and the Theme you use at your site have been qualified for WP 3.2.
For me the WP-TNG plugin has been qualified for WP 3.2 already.
Since my previous post I received some questions on how to install the updated WP-TNG plugin. As this update does not include all needed files, I will describe the steps I followed.
The basic sequence is: install TNG, install WP and WP-Theme 2010, install WP-TNG plugin, update the WP-TNG plugin, configure WP-TNG plugin, reconfigure TNG, upload gedcom, configure another WP theme, add other WP-plugins, and finally change TNG stylesheets to match your WP environment.
From now on all TNG information will be displayed within the WP theme at your ‘Familytree’ page. However, because of the screenwidth of the Twenty-Ten theme of approx 500px, the presented TNG information might run outside these WP boundaries or even worse will be clipped at the WP boundaries. These are just ‘cosmetic’ errors and can be corrected otherwise. To repair them one need to alter the TNG files (not the plugin). Please read page 5 of the document on what I have changed to correct some of such cosmetic errors.
Debugging:
For debugging purposes access to your WP-mySQL database is very handy. There you can check the option values as as stored by the wp-tng plugin. If TNG does not display information at your ‘familtree’ page at all, check your WP-configuration settings in the mySQL database. Especially check the WP-TNG option values stored (also read page 7 of my document).
Note: As TNG and WP have been installed next to each other in seperate folders at any time TNG itself (without WP) should still work (see step 1 above). Through the regular TNG admin pages you should be able to reconfiger TNG as well, upload gedcom files, add TNG users, etc.
If all went well, and TNG displays its information within WP too, you can continue. Now you can add other WP-plugins, change the basic WP-theme, add WP-widgets, WP-Footer, etc. Please note that WP widgets will not be shown at all TNG pages.
Within TNG you now can add additional users, your gedcom files, etc. Furthermore you probably want to repair the ‘cosmetic’ errors and update the .css stylesheets to have TNG’s colors match the WP theme (read page 8 & 9 of the document). However, do not select ever a TNG template (theme) as this will clobber up your graphical TNG presentation within WP! Also the TNG footer can be changed now to match the WP footer.
Integration of WordPress and The Next Generation (TNG) genealogy software keeps many people busy. When my dad past away in 2002 he left me few Gedcom files with the genealogical data of our family and a Microsoft Frontpage website to present this data on the web.
As I like Wordpress for blogging, few months ago I thought to revive this old website by using WordPress instead of Frontpage, but I had to solve the issue how to present the family tree too.
While searching the web I found quite a few WP-plugins to present a family tree, but none of them could import a Gedcom file. Then I ran into the TNG software. It has almost all I needed BUT I found many complains about WordPress-TNG integration too. A WP-TNG plugin is available but this plugin is still in Beta and was not updated since WP version 2.8.
Fortunately I found that Darrin Lythgoe had created a update of this WP-TNG plugin for usage together with WP 3.1.3. so I decided to give it a try.
I had a few requirements. IMHO not that spectacular:
I’m not that smart on WordPress capabilities nor on TNG, but I figured I would need two WordPress installations loaded on my web server: one for the English language and one for the Dutch language. Furthermore, as TNG has its own language translation capabilities both WP sites should point to the same TNG installation.
This all resulted in three software installations on the same webportal which caused another requirement:
This updated document describes the odds I encountered when integrating WP 3.1.3 and TNG 8.1 and how I solved few of the issues. This is not a guide how to integrate your WordPress site with TNG, it just describes how it worked for my site. I am aware that not all requirements have been met yet. Also not all issues have been fixed so far, therfore I will be pleased if you let me know your suggestions or remarks.
Today I updated the colors in the .css files of both WP and TNG. Now color settings of both applications match even more. Still to do is to figure out why the Google maps will not be displayed anymore (since WP 3.1.3 this is).
Furthermore as you might have noticed I started to update the family tree data too. First is to apply changes I have received in past years. Thank you all for those emails and please keep sending me your updates.
Today I added the WordPress SEO plugin of Yoast. A great plugin which has a seperate MS-Word document to guide you true many many settings. Once you have enable this plugin the WordPress dashboard will show additional settings for the pages, posts and categories plus it gives advice how to optimise your settings.
The other day I ran into TNG (The Next Generation) software. Great software as you can view at this site. It can run standalone without WordPress and with a WordPress Plugin. Unfortunately this TNG plugin for WordPress (Beta version 0.25) has not been updated since WordPress version 2.xx. But fortunately Darrin Lythgoe updated this plugin (now version 0.26) to work with TNG version 8.1 and WordPress 3.1 for most needed feautures.
However, as can be read at many blogs, the TNG screenlayout does not match up completely with most WordPress themes and multi column layouts. For that reason I tweaked a couple of TNG files just a little:
On my ToDo list are still some changes related to font settings and the color scheme and updating the gedcom file being used (the current data has not been updated since 2003).
Select Familytree in the menu above to have a view on the cooperation of TNG 8.1.1 within WordPress 3.1.3 using the TwentyTen theme.
So sorry for the delay to present the real Familytree.
Currently the WordPress Plugin I selected to use at this website does not show me any data. As a result it will take some more investigation what it is caused by: either the 8 year old Gedcom file containing all the recorded relatives or the plugin being used to present the contents.
Welcome, after being offline for few years, this site is back to present the family tree of relatives with the name “Ringersma”. Although not all data has been made available yet, you will have a rough idea what to expect soon.