WordPress Search & Replace

As a follow-up to the MySQL Search & Replace post, if you are using WordPress and need to make site wide changes there is a WordPress Search & Replace Plugin available.

MySQL Search & Replace

It seems like every six months or so I need to do some site wide replacing (not often enough to commit this tip to memory it seems). If the site was built as flat HTML pages, I’ll use the find/replace feature in whatever editor I am using at the time. These days—more often than not—the actual site content is somewhere in a MySQL database. When that is the case, this one-liner comes in handy.

update table set field = replace(field,'find_this','replace_with_this');

As with any database change, you should first back up your database, or at the very least duplicate the table (with the content—of course).

Let’s say you wanted to change the words “Web site” to the more commonly used “website” in all of your site content. If the table holding the content is named tbl_content and the field was named page_content, then your MySQL command would look like this:

update table_content set page_content = replace(page_content,'Web site','website');

Beware of “Easy” WordPress Upgrades

I use WordPress for this blog and for several other blogs and podcasts (coupled with PodPress, it is my podcast solution of choice). The platform is great, but I have had quite a time these last few hours of 2008 upgrading to the latest version—WordPress 2.7.

Merry Christmas!

I hope today has been a wonderful time with loved ones. It certainly has been for me.

1-800-GOOG-411

Google does it again! Not only do they dominate the search engine market, but now they have set their sights on the seemingly traditional 411 informations services. Telecoms beware!

Their voice-activated system connects you to the desired business, and can even send a text message with the details or map if you are calling from a mobile device.

 For more info, visit google.com/goog411.