WoogleCal
WoogleCal seemed like it would be a winner in its simplicity and function.  The plugin would require an RSS feed from Google Calendar (which is easy to get), and just post it into any part of a WordPress template.  However, the plugin wasn’t available to download. Fail.

wpng-calendar
This plugin allows for integration of Google Calendar to a WordPress blog through ways I don’t really know…  I do know that it uses Widgets and Ajax features that I particularly do not like to use.  There wasn’t even an option to post it into a template (not that I know of atleast).  The only thing I have against widgets is that I do not know how to implement them into custom templates (like ones I make).  I do not want to use widgets also inpart to the loss of functionality and customizing that can be accomplished through XHTML and CSS.

RSS Aggregator Method
I categorized this into a section because it utilizes various RSS Feed Aggregators to post Google Calendar in some format.
FeedBurner’s BuzzBoost feature plus adding paramaters to Google Calendar’s XML URL makes it a top choice, though not one I particularly like.  The code FeedBurner gives you is javascript, which is partially okay, but I prefer a php style list sorta thing like most decent WordPress plugins give you.
Basically, you add:

?orderby=starttime&sortorder=ascending&futureevents=true&singleevents=true&max-results=10

to the end of your Calendar Address XML URL

http://www.google.com/calendar/feeds/soggn9gp245h3vkrsfgq6m3330%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic

The end result is something like this:

http://www.google.com/calendar/feeds/soggn9gp245h3vkrsfgq6m3330%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic?orderby=starttime&sortorder=ascending&futureevents=true&singleevents=true&max-results=10

If you do not have a FeedBurner account, (which was recently acquired by Google) go get one. When you add a feed, add the one that you just combined together. Now, you can use the FeedBurner’s BuzzBoost by going to your Feed, click the tab for “Publicized” and click the sidebar link for “BuzzBoost.”  Activate the service, and edit the necessary fields.

If the javascript isn’t to your liking, the next one might float your boat.

Here is one that I think ranks up top as well..
RSSImport by Frank Bueltge
This one fits the need perfectly. I was slightly skeptical when I first saw the plugin but it works correctly. Simply use the php code given, type in the FeedBurner address for the Feed address, edit how many items, and etc. One thing to note is that the URL with the parameters added to the Google XML URL has a limit of 10; you would need to go back and change it to fit the limit, or remove it and use the one from the plugin. I think the only downside of the plugin was that it didn’t display the descriptions, when, and where correctly (in which case most other RSS plugins have failed in).

The end all of solutions for Google Calendar to WordPress
There’s a twist, and its pretty funny how I overlooked it. The best method to have correctly formatted events displayed is using the ICS or ICal URL and import that to WordPress. Again with more plugins! I tested almost every ICal to WordPress plugin relatively well, and while some may seem well featured, most plugins got the cut.

I will share with you the one I used however.
This one is by Daniel Westermann-Clark, you can click on the name to get to the plugin.

The readme inside the download has all the detailed information on how to add it, format it, etc. The plugin is completely underrated for what it can achieve, and through using it, you get correctly formatted dates (even customizable date formats), information, the works..

I’ll go over how to use it later. In the meantime, have fun with it!

The design was sorta simple yet went back to my own tastes with various inspirations elsewhere. I do like simplicity, and I think simplicity fits me well. I would like to try out various other styles of design like the very artsy vintage, grunge styles, and vectorish modernish.

They should have a class specifically for web design styles, haha. Then again, there might be stuff already made for that and I wouldn’t even know.

So today I completely neglected the fact I had a math exam in calculus. I stayed up all night until 5am doing my website and formatting my portfolio to be displayed.

I still have not come up with a great work flow that covers the creative aspect as well as the organized format of a web design portfolio. If you don’t know what I mean, I am talking about what to do when you create a finished product or work, such as a wallpaper. How would you display it for the world to see on a website? More specifically, would you keep copies of your wallpaper in an archive on your external hard disk (like me) and make a copy specifically for your website to distribute?

Also, how do people go about making thumbnails? Thumbnails are really a pain… This is true for even different sizes of print material.

As you can also see, I have updated my portfolio. You can see my various works I have finished. I think I will update it to have titles and general information on the works.

And I must not forget my resume..

On to my rant, the question is number 5 from page 61-62 from the book “Principles of Web Design.”

5. Find a Web site that you think needs improvements in its design.

a. Print two pages from the site.
b. Make copies of the originals, and set the originals aside.
c. Using scissors, cut the main elements of each page. Rearrange the elements and paste them in a design you believe improves the site.
d. Compare and contrast the original with your improved design.

Now, about those instructions… For one, its a waste of paper. Two, websites that do need improvement need major overhauls in content (eg. pages that scroll so far that you can’t even see the scroll bar). Three, cutting and pasting elements won’t do much to improve the design, since most websites that really need improvement need better content organization.

For better instructions to improve the question, I would see something like: Choose a website that needs improvement and sketch out a layout using some graphic elements and/or content from the site.

Back to work. End.

Anyway, new stuff you’ll find is the new Add this feature at the bottom of every post.  This will allow you to submit currently viewed posts to popular social bookmarking sites like del.ici.ous, digg it, etc.

Other things that are new are the recent comments.  This allows people to view the most recent commented posts and see who commented them. A similar feature below that are the popular post list.  The plugin generates a list of popular posts, with the top one being the most popular, based on trackbacks, comments, views, clicks, etc.  I actually have no idea how it works, but it seems accurate in my opinion.

In other news, I got the website to be significantly viewable on Internet Explorer 6, which is  sad in a way due to the fact that people still use that horrible piece of crap.  At school, it is very sad that we still use that horrible piece of crap, though we spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on expensive printers.

I’ll post a guide on installing Firefox along with the best web optimized plugins, including how to increase the speed of your DSL/Cable, as soon as I have the time.

I made a couple of DBZ websites on Geocities, yes that mess.  I did some checking on my old websites, and guess what? They are still there.  One of them was “Xeo DBZ,” but.. they deleted it.. Darn them Geocities people.. Anyways, I made my many websites using Frontpage, Notepad, and Internet Explorer.  My layout designs were based off of old Photoshop techniques, tables (yes tables..), and iFrames.  I was still into DBZ for a couple of years-months, but how did I really get into this design mess?  After clicking into one of my DBZ inspirational sites, I saw that the layout was actually created by this guy named “Chris Dang,” his original website “Halovision” had stopped production I believe.  I clicked on some links on his website, which lead me to many more design websites with the same style to different varieties of styles.

With this much inspiration, I decided to make myself different things on Photoshop.  But not knowing how, I looked up some tutorials, which in turn led me to making different wallpapers.  Slowly building up my portfolio, I gained a vast knowledge of Photoshop skills and different taste in design. 

So from then and now, I had gone off of web designing, waiting for some sort of inspiration, but when I came back, I found out that tables, were no longer necessary.  Entering the world of CSS, I stumbled upon a website called “CSS Reboot.”  Most of the websites their had these strange validation links, and when I clicked on it, they said “Fully Validated HTML,” I was like, “WOOOWW (Not really, but I was impressed that people care about their coding).” 

Stumbling upon multiple layouts, I could not see the use of CSS.  But with the help of Firefox’s Developer Tools, I disabled CSS, revealing the organization and the complexity of CSS.  Everything in a list, is actually IN a list.  And content is organized with certain tags and such.  I noticed that my knowledge of CSS is somewhat above average, but the websites I saw were well beyond average.  Starting to code in CSS, I had a rough transition in Dreamweaver.  Currently, I am able to visionize a design and organize how the coding will look like, but back then, I couldn’t code without looking at a few tutorials.

Now that I am here where I am today, with my second purchased domain, I can blog on here forever, and speaking of which, I still have to do my school work.. Haha.