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Sweet Solutions

Web design with flair

Archives for Sweet Solutions

Sweet Solutions: Then and Now

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strawberryIt’s always interesting for me to look back to see how far I’ve come.

This website has evolved through the years. Essentially, it went from simple to complex, then back to simple in the blink of an eye.

I don’t have screenshots of its absolute first incarnation, but I remember it well. It was just a page that had a photo of a strawberry dripping with chocolate and a sales pitch that ended something like, “We have sweet solutions for every taste and budget.”

That was back in 2002. The name . . . Sweet Solutions . . . stuck and the strawberry followed me everywhere I went. By 2006, I was well on my way to where I am now.

Here’s a quick blast from the past . . .

Sweet Solutions
Sweet Solutions 2006—flash
Sweet Solutions
Sweet Solutions 2008—HTML
Sweet Solutions
Sweet Solutions 2010—WordPress/Elegant Themes
Sweet Solutions
Sweet Solutions 2013—WordPress/Genesis

. . . and how the site looks today

Sweet Solutions
Sweet Solutions 2015—WordPress/Genesis Mobile Responsive

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Elvis Has Left the Building

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ElvisRecently, I changed hosting services. I had been with my previous host, who shall remain nameless, since 2002. During that time, I had no issues and was completely satisfied with the service.

It’s easy to be satisfied when there are no issues. I mind my own business and rarely, if ever, contact my host for any reason. So I had no reason to complain and could never understand why others trashed the customer support at this particular hosting service as being near non-existent, slow to respond, apathetic, lackluster, and rather rude.

That May, things changed. Suddenly, I started having all sorts of problems. My website became sluggish, slow-to-load, and unresponsive. Every time I tried to make updates, I was kicked out of WordPress with error messages saying my connection was lost. Other sporadic messages said that WordPress could no longer establish a secure connection because my server was not configured correctly. I was getting server errors left and right. More than once I could not log in because my username/password were not being recognized. Several times I could not access my site at all because, I was told, my own IP address had been blocked by my server’s firewall. It was a hot mess.

This went on all summer—it was one thing after the other. I contacted tech support repeatedly looking for answers. It took them forever to respond. First, they blamed WordPress. Then, they told me that the OpenSSL version 1.x I needed for WordPress requires CentOS 6 and up and, unfortunately, the server I was hosted on was still using CentOS 5 . . . as if this was somehow my fault. I felt a definite disconnect. Their responses were oftentimes generic, not addressing my specific issues at all. The final blow came when they announced that brute force attacks on my website as well as a lot of hits from some bad Bots and IP addresses were causing spikes on their shared server. They wanted me to fix it.

I don’t know anything about brute force attacks or how to stop them. I’m a web designer. I rely on my host to keep its servers updated and secure. If there are security or other issues with my website, I expect my host to be readily available and willing to put some effort into helping me resolve the problem(s).

In retrospect, I believe the sudden issues I experienced were directly related to the shared server my site was on. At the same time I was having problems, my host was in the process of upgrading its servers from CentOS 5 to CentOS 6, and the final portion of that upgrade was with the carriers that provided the connectivity at my data center. There may have been too many people on the shared server, or my host may have arbitrarily reduced CPU limits for its customers. Whatever. Whatever my host was (or was not) doing during that server upgrade was having a definite negative impact on my website.

All I have left to say is . . . for 13 years of good service . . . thank you, thank you very much. Bye bye.

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Sweet Solutions

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Sweet Solutions

19 Dec 2010 . . . After all these years online, it was time to redesign Sweet Solutions and bring the site into the 21st century. —Patricia Petro
I wanted to start blogging about web design and needed a CMS like WordPress that would allow for easy updating and maintenance.

The challenge was to come up with a layout that would not only be functional and have the design elements I wanted, but would also be attractive enough to make a positive and professional first impression.

Elegant Themes was the answer. Their themes for WordPress have a solid framework with all the design elements needed for a website. It was just a matter of deciding which elements I wanted to use, moving them around to best suit my needs, and customizing the look of the layout.

Lumin and Deep Focus by Elegant Themes, modified for the website, Sweet Solutions
Lumin and Deep Focus by Elegant Themes, modified for the website, Sweet Solutions

For Sweet Solutions I used the ET themes, Lumin and Deep Focus, with a little help from several other ET themes, ePhoto, eStore, Minimal . . . Oh, what’s the point of listing them all? I mixed and matched where and when I wanted, and what you see here is the final result.

Sweet Solutions

Small business website
WordPress theme modification
Custom title
Dynamic top menu with rollovers
Slide-in/out search form
Image highlight rollovers
TimThumb thumbnails
Thumbnail popups
Feedburner
Tabbed blog excerpts
Portfolio gallery
WP page navigation
Fancybox
ET contact form
Custom favicon

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Sweet Solutions

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Sweet Solutions

It is sometimes necessary to admit defeat, cut your losses, and start over.

My attempts to correct the issues with this website and finish it forced inspired me to lose the flash and change the site’s layout and look.

The section for premade layouts was expanded to make way for the new designs that are now available for purchase and immediate download. Simple links to PayPal work nicely.

Sweet Solutions

Small business website
Custom design
Flash title/banner
Custom images
Conveyor slideshow
Side menu with rollovers
Secure email form
Products linked to PayPal
Immediate downloads
Secure contact form
Encrypted email
Custom favicon

Filed under Sweet Solutions

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Patricia Petro
Sweet Solutions
Findlay, OH USA

Email: patpetro@msn.com
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