Voice of the DBA

Category: Blog

  • Data Cleanup for WordPress Tags without a Plugin

    Over the years I’ve had this blog, I’ve added lots of tags. In 15 years and 4,600+ posts, you can guess that I’ve made some typos and mistakes. I’ve also changed how I classify posts, or names of products/technologies have changed.

    Recently I wanted to do some tag cleanup as I discovered I had an “administration” tag and an “adminstration” one (missing an i). Apparently there is no easy way to do this in the EAV structure of WordPress, though there is a plugin that will help.

    Unfortunately, I use wordpress.com for my blog and they don’t allow plugins without a business (and much more expensive) plan. Makes sense, I understand, and I’m not complaining, but how can I clean up tags?

    Slowly

    The way to do this is manual, and slow. I am surprised that the WordPress base package doesn’t allow for this, but I also think they made some poor database decisions they’re living with and this means I must as well.

    If I look at tags, I’ll see things like this:

    2020-07-23 08_47_17-Window

    ReadyRoll has been renamed, and this tag is really obsolete. Some of the posts still make sense, and I don’t want to delete them. I do want to get rid of this tag. I’ve already started using “SQL Change Automation”, which is the new name, so what I want to do is fix tags.

    If I click Edit above, I only get a few choices.

    2020-07-23 08_47_21-Window

    Nothing here to merge. If I rename this tag, I’ll have two tags with the same name, which is another whole issue. However, over on the right side, I can see how many posts have this tag.

    2020-07-23 10_50_42-Window

    If I click the “””3”, I go to a page with those posts.

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    For this set of posts, they’re already dual tagged. I think I added the SQL Change Automation tag when the product changed.

    Now I can quick edit each of these, and remove the tag for ReadyRoll. When I complete that, I go back to the tag and I see there isn’t anything using this.

    2020-07-23 08_52_31-Window

    Now I can just delete the tag.

    A Chore

    This isn’t easy, simple, and it is incredibly manual. I don’t have a ton of tags that I need to change, but I did find 4 or 5 that were typos and I have worked on those across a few days, as I need a break from other work.

    I also have a number of tags with 1-2 posts, so I have been thinking about consolidating those, or re-tagging with something else, but I haven’t decided.

    Data cleanup is a pain, and not being able to do this in a lookup table in a database and quickly fix things is annoying. It’s not an enjoyable chore, but it also gives me perspective as someone that has built software for the tooling that users would like to see, as well as the struggles when we don’t account for tasks they will perform, like consolidating tags.

  • Daily Coping 3 Aug 2020

    I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here.

    Today’s tip is to reset yourself for the month ahead with a goal for the next 30 days.

    I can’t believe it’s August and we’re still in a semi-lockdown. When this started in Feb/Mar, most people, myself included, thought we’d get back to a more normal existence than we have now by this time.

    In any case, as I struggle with the longevity of this, and the sameness, I know I need to focus on myself, try new things, and find ways to cope. With that in mind, I’m going to reset a few things in life.

    First, I’m going to try and build a more steady schedule that includes workouts during the day to break up things. I’m also going to do some walking as my dog heals by taking her to different places away from our property. There is a large dog park, and I think the time away will do her, and me, good.

    Second, I’m doing to try the Pomodoro technique for working, focusing for 25 minutes and then taking a break. With the dog and distractions, I’m not sure 5 minutes away is enough, but I’m going to try and work on deeper focus for these times, then a break, then get back to it. I’ll set aside some of these periods to check social media for the SSC posts and to interact a bit with people.

    We’ll see if this helps me reset to this new way of working.

  • Office Upgrade – A Secret Lab Chair

    Last year I wandered over to Glenn Berry’s house for some lunch and a chat. While I got to see his home brewing setup and the latest in computer hardware, one of the neat things that stood out was a Secret Lab chair. It’s a nice looking chair, but when I sat in it, it put my $79 Office Depot chair to shame.

    I thought about it for a few months, but since I travel a lot, I wasn’t overly concerned. Then the pandemic and lockdown hit, and I was at my desk every day, and likely for the foreseeable future. I decided my back could use a little more support and an upgrade.

    I looked through the list and decided on a Titan chair. I’m 6’, 225lbs, and this seemed to be the chair to get. I ended up with a PU Leather version, fairly plain, without any special designs. There are some neat ones, but I’m a simple guy. Plus, no one sees this and the $50 for some special edition would make my wife just laugh at me every day.

    Here’s the chair in my office.

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    Since I got this a few months ago, it’s more comfortable to sit in and it supports my back well. I like that I can easily adjust the back tilt, as I like to sit up straight most of the time, but I can lower it for calls or more relaxed situations where I’m not typing.

    I even upgraded it with some rollerblade-like Oasis wheels recently after we refinished our floors. These are fantastic and the chair now glides across the floor and carpet without any snags.

    20200717_125916

    This is a nice home office upgrade. It’s not cheap, but it is something to think about if you plan on spending a lot of time at your desk. Your boss might even cover the cost as an investment in you. It never hurts to ask.

    I got my chair for $379 early this year, and you can, too. They’re $399 now, but you can use this link to get $20 off and start enjoying a better experience at your desk.

  • Daily Coping 31 Jul 2020

    I’ve started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here.

    Today’s tip is to think about what you can learn from a recent challenge.

    This wasn’t much of a challenge for me, but I learned something.

    Colorado implemented a mask order on Jul 16. That morning I’d coached a practice a volleyball team and we had a lot of fun. When the mask order was put in place, I wondered what might happen. A few days later I learned how things would go when I went to an open gym to help coach.

    After 6 girls the week before, we had 15 or 16 show up, all with masks. A big sign at the entrance noted that all coaches and players had to wear them. We took temperatures of everyone, as we have been, and then we went to work.

    Wearing masks.

    We ran drills, we played, and I only got a minor working hitting a few balls for them. Girls, however, ran around as they normally do, diving for balls and competing hard. A few would pull them down for a minute to catch their breath, but they wore them most of the time. I was impressed.

    I learned that the mask thing, while annoying, isn’t that bad. Even for athletes working hard. The next Thursday I held my tryout prep again, this time I participated with the 9 girls while the other coach inbounded balls. I ran, and worked, sweating, wearing the mask the entire time.

    It was hard, but I learned I can do it, too.