The Scribus versioning conundrum.

Which Scribus version should I use in production?

As of today, it is unclear which version of Scribus is fit for production use. The Get Scribus link on the Scribus website takes us to a page with a stable and a development version of the software.

At this point, it seems clear to anyone who knows what the words stable and development mean in the release cycle of software to make an informed decision and download the version fit for production use.

The Conundrum

The problem is that the stable version of the software which, is 1.48 is outdated and abandoned, as pointed out on the Scribus blog. And the next promised stable branch, which is 1.6.x, is not out yet. And this leaves us with no stable version of the software for the moment. Even though the 1.4.9 version exists under scribus-svn on sourceforge.net, it is not yet released.

A Possible Answer

The Scribus team considers version 1.5.7 in the development branch is stable for a development release, but that’s not the same thing as the stable release of the software.

However, as of version 1.5.1, we consider the development branch reasonably stable, so it can be used for serious work by users who accept that not all new features are already working perfectly. Features already available in the officially stable version will work much better in 1.5.1+, though.

The Scribus team

Conclusion

In the end, it’s your choice which version you want to use. If you choose to use the 1.5.x branch in a production environment, make sure you test it sufficiently to avoid surprises and learn the new features because they are not well documented. And some of them might not work as intended.

If you choose to use the stable version from the stable branch, you will miss out on bug fixes and newer features.

Remember Scribus is free software, and the whole Scribus community would benefit from your contribution, whether it’s a donation, a blog post explaining a feature, a YouTube tutorial video, or submitting a bug report.

Let me know in the comments if the post helped you. And how I could improve it.

All the best. Happy publishing. 

How to use the contact_form_message hook in Jetpack

The Jetpack for WordPress Contact Form gives us a hook to filter what gets sent via email after a successful form submission but the documentation is not very helpful as it doesn’t provide an example. To top that the Comments are closed for the article. For details refer to the Jetpack Contact Form Message Hook page.

Copy the code below into a child theme’s functions.php file or a functionality plugin to append the value of $new_text to the end of the email.

Please change the value of $new_text to whatever you like.

Use Cases: You could use this hook to create a link to internal documentation or company policy.

Note: You need to check the email of the WordPress administrator, not the person sending the email, to notice the change.

<?php
function dd_change_successful_contact_form_submission_email_message($text){
$new_text = '<p>Text to add after email message. <a href="https://example.com/" target="_blank">Visit Example.com!</a></p>';
$text = $text . $new_text;
return $text;
}
add_filter ('contact_form_message', 'dd_change_successful_contact_form_submission_email_message');
view raw change_succesful_jetpack_contact_form_submission_email_message.php hosted with ❤ by GitHub

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5 Services Hosted on Automattic Servers

If you are not familiar with what Automattic is. It’s is the company behind WordPress.com.

When I first learned about WordPress.com and how it differed from WordPress.org, one of the things I noticed is that WordPress.com hosts all of its sites on Automattic Inc, but what I learned later is that Automattic hosts more than one service on its servers. I’ve compiled a list of 5 website services that Automattic hosts on its servers. If you know of any more or you find an error, let us know in the comments.

Why do I need to know it?

If you’ve been part of the WordPress community for a while and are passionate about WordPress, it might be of interest to you. Another reason could be to improve your general knowledge.

How to verify?

To verify that the services below are hosted on Automattic, open this Domain Name Registration Data Lookup tool then copy and paste the root domain of each URL (without the https://) into the search field in the new tab and press enter. Scroll down to Contact Information. Under that, you’ll find the Registrant then Organization.If it says Automattic, Inc, We know, it’s hosted on Automattic’s servers.

Tumblr

Tumblr is a microblogging service that’s fun and engaging.

WordPress.com

WordPress.com is a flavor of WordPress.org hosted by Automattic.

VaultPress

VaultPress is the security and backup solution by Automattic. On a self-hosted WordPress site, you would need to install and configure the VaultPress plugin to use the service.

Simplenote

Simplenote is a simple note-taking application that works in the web browser and mobile phones.

WP VIP

WordPress VIP is the enterprise offering from WordPress.com

WP VIP GO

VIP Go is the newest hosting package from VIP.

Is the Mother of Our Lord the Last Eve?

The mother of our Lord is not the last Eve since Jesus Christ our Lord is the last Adam read 1 Corinthians 15:45. For the mother of our Lord to be the last Eve, the first Adam should have been the son of the first Eve and not his spouse.  Another way Our Lord’s mother could or would be the last Eve is if her husband Joseph was the last Adam.

Understanding The Digital Attack Map

Introduction

The Digital Attack Map is a free online service that provides live and historical world-wide DDoS attack data between countries for a given day.

What is a DDos attack?

Arbor Network’s ATLAS® global threat intelligence system sources the data. The front-end and presentation is the work of Jigsaw LLC. You can visit digitalattackmap.com directly in a web browser or do a google search on digitalattackmap.com both methods should work.

You can make sure you are actually on the real site and not a phishing site by clicking on the padlock symbol in the address bar and inspecting the certificate issuer. If it says GTS CA 1DS, you are on the real website.

Heads Up & Warnings

  • The interface can be confusing and slow in some cases owing to the amount of data displayed. So I recommend using a computer with plenty of CPU and memory or enabling power mode on your laptop.
  • I haven’t been able to get the embed feature to work.
  • The date on the timeline does not match the date on the top of the right sidebar because it begins on the 2nd of January instead of the 1st.
  • The news stories seem to be missing in the current version of the interface.
  • The round buttons below Size(Bandwidth, in Gbps) aren’t working for me.

Usage

To read a map effectively, you need to look at the map key. The column on the right is that key. Unlike a map key on printed material, this key has buttons to filter the map data. The Large, Unusual, and Combined buttons, filter the DDos map data by the size of the attack for a given day. The list of buttons below Color Attacks By is self-explanatory.

The section below Shape indicates the source and destination of the attack.

Conclusion

Keep in mind that just because an attack is sourced in a country it doesn’t mean that the attacker performing the attack is in the same country. He could be using a compromised machine from another country. You should use the data to get a general idea of DDos activities on a global level.

Sources: Google Trust Services Repository