One of the problems with having external scripts on your site is that you have little control over them – caching and the like are out of your hands.

The solution I’m using, via cPanel, is a weekly cron job that copies external scripts to a folder on my own server. And it will only do this if the script has only changed, as well.

I’m no Linux expert (or probably even amateur, if I’m honest) so it took a while to find the right code to use, but here is the result…

wget -N  --directory-prefix=[local folder] [script location]

Simply change [local folder] to where you wish the script to be copied to and [script location] to where the external script is held (including script name). If you wish to perform multiple copies you can append them together with &&.

So an example may be…

wget -N  --directory-prefix=public_html/wp-content/themes/artiss  http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js

This would copy the AdSense code show_ads.js to a theme folder named “artiss”.

I know there’s been a lack of content recently. However, this is due to a number of factors…

1. I’m very busy on version 2 of my YouTube Embed plugin – a huge change and my most complex plugin yet – this is taking a big chunk of my time.
2. I’m using the excellent new Google Page Speed Online to look at various improvements to site speed. I’ve also been, and will continue to, making changes to this site.
3. Spent far too much time trying to sort out a technical issue with Streamline. It’s still not resolved and I’m sure, at the rate they’re going, a rant post is imminent.
4. I get a lot of this work done at home in the evening. However, I’m looking at moving house so apart from traipsing around various properties, I’m also getting lots of DIY done as well.

I’m also expending a bit of time preparing for my birthday in a couple of weeks time. It’s a, erm, “special” birthday and I’ve asked for money or Amazon gift vouchers – I’ll then be the proud owner of a Playstation 3! I should add that all the preparation is deciding what games and accessories to buy

However, I do have a couple of articles to publish so, when I find time, I’ll try and get those completed.

I recently came across John O’Nolan, a UK based core member of WordPress specialising in the UI, because of a plugin that he’s released, named UI Labs. This offers experimental WordPress admin UI features and is a great way for John to try out and get feedback for his ideas. I have it installed and am already benefiting from coloured tabs on my post and page screens, easily indicating the post types.

If you’re a WP developer I’d recommend following his Twitter feed.

Available on SlideShare are a couple of excellent presentations of his – again, if you’re “into” WordPress, these are excellent (and non-techie).

The first is titled “Designing WordPress” and was given at Heart & Sole 2011. Heart & Sole is a UK event in which professionals working in Web design and development get together to to interact, share experiences and learn together.

And there’s a matching video of the presentation, courtesy of Vimeo…

The second (and most recent) presentation is titled “Taking Control of WordPress: How to Build a Better Blog” and was given at TBU 11, another UK event but this time for travel bloggers.