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A PolyWogg Guide to Music: 1943 – Pop (MUS00001)

The PolyBlog
September 5 2020

Why am I writing “a PolyWogg guide” and why for 1943?

I have thought about a series of posts about music hits for a long time. At one point, I was envisioning the idea of “Billboard got it wrong” as the theme, the idea that listing by sales might be a good short-term measure of a hit in the year it is recorded, but ten, twenty, even fifty years later, is it still a song that holds up? Or is there some sort of historical “correction” that I could apply, albeit biased by personal subjectivity, that would be “my view of the musical hits for year x”. A PolyWogg Guide to Music, if you will.

As I started preparing for the project, a topic that interested me as far back as 17 years ago even, I was caught by the most basic question — what year would I start with? While Billboard really got going in the 50s, it had some lists as far back as ’46, and there were some other emerging lists even during the war years. I eventually decided to go with the first real list that I found with a credible methodology based on something resembling sales. That year was 1943.

Of course, one of the things that attracted me to 1943 too was the change that was happening in music. The dance music of the Roaring 20s had long faded but the sagas of the depressed 30s were still hanging on. The start of WWII, a scant 22 years after the “Great War to end all wars”, heavily influenced all aspects of life, including music.

In 1940, Winston Churchill promised to “fight them on the beaches”; Germany blitzed London; there were race riots in the U.S.; and Gone with the Wind debuted. The U.S. did its best to stay out of the war, the only time in history perhaps that it has emulated Switzerland. Yet the U.S. was arming, and the economy was booming, starting the reversal of the Great Depression. Benny Goodman and Count Basie ruled the hit parade with jazz.

In 1941, Citizen Kane and The Maltese Falcon ruled both the cinemas and the newly created drive-in theatres, the war was front-page news, and the Japanese threat was increasing. Right up until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor which changed the War, and perhaps the face of global politics, forever.

In 1942, the U.S. fully engaged in the war effort, but the feelings of optimism of a quick victory were eaten away as the year progressed. The tide in Europe started to turn although the UK was still being pummeled, and as the war in Asia heated up, 120K Japanese Americans were sent to internment camps under U.S. Executive Order 9066. Similar internments occurred in Canada and elsewhere. Women formed the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, and were celebrated by Douglas MacArthur as he said they worked hard, complained less, and were better disciplined than the men! Rationing kicked in, particularly for gas. Casablanca ruled the movie world, although Bambi and Road to Morocco held their own.

But while those were all important as undercurrents to the approaching year, the years’ biggest long-term contributions to music likely went unnoticed except by relevant family members:

  • John Lennon, Manfred Mann, Frankie Avalon, Gene Pitney, Smokey Robinson, and Ringo Starr were born in 1940;
  • Chubby Checker, Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Pete Best, Paul Anka, Joan Baez, Mama Cass, Neil Diamond, Placido Domingo, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding and Percy Sledge were born in 1941; and,
  • Jimi Hendrix, Jerry Garcia, Brian Jones, Paul McCartney, Barbara Streisand, and Tammy Wynette rounded out the births for 1942.

The dawn of 1943

Not surprisingly, the big news for the year remained the War. Construction of the Pentagon building in Washington was completed, rationing was expanded, Eisenhower became the head of the Allied forces. The war in Italy turned significantly, and across the various fronts, the German forces started to see less success. More importantly for pop culture, the role of women changed rapidly. They worked in factories, contributed to the war effort in the home, in the office and in the stores. And, for those who like baseball, baseball returned with the creation of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (immortalized in the movie A League of Their Own).

Hollywood was not to be left out though…they started the Golden Globes (although not awarded until January ’44), Lassie Came Home, and they made movies like For Whom the Bell Tolls and Heaven Can Wait. Frank Sinatra, Glenn Miller, and the musical Oklahoma heated up the music scene.

And not that anyone else would notice for a while, but Steve Miller, Janis Joplin, John Denver, Charles Gibson, George Harrison, Mick Jagger, and Jim Morrison came into the world.

Digging into the music

When you look at the various sources of “hit lists” for 1943, there isn’t a lot of credible information with rigorous methodology, no single list to rule them all. That isn’t to say there aren’t ANY lists — some lists tracked sales, some talked about hit parades, and others simply listed big hits by Frank Sinatra or Glenn Miller. But I pulled together a combined list from multiple sources (Whitburn, Your Hit Parade, and TSort, plus some iTunes lists), and I started going through my master list, song by song.

Not unexpectedly, some songs reflect the mood of the times. Others the changing social conditions. Many others clung to the jazz sounds of the 1930s, simpler days in terms of politics if not the economy. And others were just about the war. Of the 117 songs in my list, very few would stand the test of time in terms of listening to them regularly now, unless you had a specific ear for jazz, swing, or sultry crooning.

But that doesn’t mean I didn’t find ten that stood out.

#001. As Time Goes By by Dooley Wilson

This first song, and the only one that I rate at 3/5 for the year, is a bit of a gimmick for the list. I know that’s a terrible way to start, considering I’m trying to overcome old methodological problems to talk about songs with longevity. However, this version of the song is extracted from Casablanca, with original dialogue from the movie overlaying the song in places. Yet, given the song’s strong contribution to pop culture through the following years, it was almost impossible NOT to include it. When I added in the song’s ability to simply stand on its own, it had to be my first choice. Rudy Vallee, Jacques Renard, and Vera Lynn also did versions of the song during the year (a common practice for the era), and none of their versions hold up to Dooley’s version.

#002. Pistol Packin’ Mama by Bing Crosby

This song may seem like a bit of a stretch to come in at #2, but it is a pretty lively song. It isn’t jazz, it isn’t Big Band per se, it isn’t swing…it’s a bit of R&B mixed perhaps with some country twang, sung by a noted crooner. There is a new sound in there that starts to emerge about this time, not defined yet, and this is one of the earliest examples.

#003. Flash by Harry James and His Orchestra

Just as I chose the #2 song above as an example of a new sound, I chose this one as a Big Band / jazz hybrid. It’s a little up-tempo, slides back and forth between jazz and Big Band, and even manages to harken back a bit to the Roaring 20s sound. It’s not spectacular, it’s not ground-breaking, but you can listen to it easily even 70 years later.

#004. Sweet Slumber by Lucky Millinder and His Orchestra

This song is a slower one that goes in the opposite direction to Flash. It is reminiscent of Auld Lang Syne, with a jazz sound, performed by a full orchestra. Then out of nowhere, more than a minute into a 3-minute song that seems like a simple instrumental, a voice starts crooning crystal clear. It’s definitely not jazz at that point, or rather it isn’t sung in a jazz style. It is almost like the sound of a barbershop quartet and foreshadows the pop crooners of the 50s. There are a lot of songs that do this throughout the year — they start off instrumental, and then halfway through, the singer starts in. However, when Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra do the same songs, they move the lyrics to the start and spread them more evenly throughout the song. This too is a change…the old “orchestra” sound that was the foundation for many of the “hits” was starting to give way to more pure lyrics-led songs.

#005. I’ll Be Home for Christmas by Bing Crosby

I have to admit that I seriously thought of putting this song first. It is such a classic song that gets dug out every Christmas, it would be impossible to deny its longevity and contribution to pop culture. Sure, it came from a movie in ’42, not ’43, but that isn’t a reason to quibble (after all, Casablanca was from 1942 as well). My reason for not putting it first though is that in ’43, it had a totally different mood to it than it does now. In ’43, it really was about people who would NOT be home for Christmas (except in their dreams). Yet many celebrants now don’t even realize the song means the opposite of what the title implies, the mood and sense don’t seem to match the words anymore. It was a truly sad song in ’43, and for some, it even meant those who would never return at all.

#006. Murder, He Says by Dinah Shore

I had never heard this song before I went through this review, and yet the song is pure 1943. So much so that it likely wouldn’t work in any other year because of its content. It is about a girl who has a boyfriend who constantly talks in the “hip” slang of the era and I was attracted to the song, partly as some people argue that the biggest indicator of change in a society is the degree of change in a language during the same era. In the song, every time they kiss, he says, “Murder” i.e., she’s an amazing kisser and it is almost like the kiss is killing him. Except he’s driving her nuts with his slang, and she’s thinking of (not really) killing him if he doesn’t start talking normally. The song has no longevity, but it is awesome as a “snapshot” of the year with lots of examples of phrases for the year. Murder.

#007. Ration Blues by Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five

This song, and the next three, are really here for a very specific reason — they capture specific aspects of the “wartime” mood. Ration Blues was lamenting the experience of rationing that had expanded throughout the U.S.

#008. Silver Wings in the Moonlight by Anne Shelton

While there wasn’t a lot of great news stories coming out of Northern Africa or Europe, the war in the Pacific had the glamour that always accompanies the crisp flyboys of the Air Force with their Silver Wings.

#009. When the Lights Go On Again by Vera Lynn

Lynn had lots of airplay during the time, lots of hits. But this one captures the mood of change perfectly — looking forward to when the lights go on again all over the world, i.e., when the war is over, and things return to normal. Not the naïve “victory in weeks” sentiment that was prevalent at the start of ’42, but the cold rational belief by ’43 that while it would still be a gruelling slog, victory would be had eventually. Vaughn Monroe also produced a version, but it was more instrumental and without the wistful hope of Lynn’s version.

#010. Why Don’t You Fall In Love With Me? by Dinah Shore

The title of the song implies little more than a simple love song, but the lyrics are about the temporary nature of the war…it says “as long as you’re not already in love with someone else, why don’t you fall in love with me?” While Casablanca belittled the small concerns of two crazy people in a mixed-up world, this one tries to say, “Hey, let’s make the most of today, unless you have someone back home.” Finding comfort where comfort could be found. Dinah Shore shows up here for two in the top ten, and again at #040. Comforting, indeed.

After those ten, there are a few groupings / tiers for the rest of the songs:

  • #011-018 were decent enough for me to consider them for the top 10, and I ranked them accordingly, but they were mostly “B” level choices after the top ten above. I consider them all tied for the 11th spot. Some cook (Five Guys Named Moe), some are amazing instrumentals (Mission to Moscow), and others are from popular movies (Yankee Doodle Boy);
  • #019-032 are all essentially tied for the 19th place, and I have listed them alphabetically by song title;
  • #033-052 are similar, and I would consider all 20 of them tied for the 33rd spot; and,
  • #053-117 aka the rest of the list is “filler” for the year, with nothing exceptional in there. They represent a long slow slide from “nostalgia” in the first 50 songs above to “meh” for the rest. I consider them all tied for the 53rd spot, so I have listed them alphabetically by song title.

However, even with a lot of sludge to go through, there are some other highlights:

  • Taking a Chance on Love steps in at #28 on my list, farther down than I might have expected as the 1943 version isn’t earth-shattering…many have sung it better over the years;
  • They’re Either Too Young or Too Old is at #29, and I like the sentiment…it’s a little light-hearted song about the girl left behind who can’t find a man because they’re all off at war. As a result, for what’s left, they’re either “too young or too old”…there are some links to themes of gender emancipation here, but the song is more cute than revolutionary;
  • A Slip of the Lip makes my list at #41, as it looks and sounds like a War Department-sponsored song that uses the slogan of the day — a slip of the lip sinks ships, i.e., there are spies everywhere;
  • Oh, What A Beautiful Morning is at #93 with Bing Crosby and Trudy Erwin. It is a truly amazing song, but this version is not up to later standards; and,
  • Zing! Went the String of My Heart is at #117…again, a great song but NOT this version.
RankRatingArtistSongRating
13Dooley WilsonAs Time Goes By🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪
22Bing CrosbyPistol Packin’ Mama🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
32Harry James And His OrchestraFlash🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
42Lucky Millinder And His OrchestraSweet Slumber🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
52Bing CrosbyI’ll Be Home For Christmas🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
62Dinah ShoreMurder, He Says🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
72Louis Jordan And His Tympany FiveRation Blues🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
82Anne SheltonSilver Wings in the Moonlight🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
92Vera LynnWhen The Lights Go On Again🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
102Dinah ShoreWhy Don’t You Fall In Love With Me🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
112Ella Mae MorseShoo Shoo Baby🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
122Freddie SlackRiffette🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
132Benny GoodmanMission to Moscow🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
142Fred Waring & The PennsylvaniansYankee Doodle Boy🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
152Bing Crosby & The Andrews SistersJingle Bells🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
162Lucky Millinder And His OrchestraApollo Jump🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
172Louis Jordan And His Tympany FiveFive Guys Named Moe🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
182The Tommy Dorsey OrchestraBoogie Woogie🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
192King Cole TrioAll For You🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
202Vera LynnAs Time Goes By🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
212Erskine Hawkins And His OrchestraDon’t Cry Baby🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
222Duke EllingtonDon’t Get Around Much Anymore🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
232Bunny Banks TrioDon’t Stop Now🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
242Judy Garland & Gene KellyFor Me & My Gal🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
252The Ink SpotsI Can’t Stand Losing You🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
262Original CastOklahoma!🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
272Al Dexter & His TroopersPistol Packin’ Mama🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
282Benny GoodmanTaking A Chance On Love🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
292Jimmy DorseyThey’re Either Too Young Or Too Old🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
302Harry JamesTwo O’Clock Jump🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
312Bing CrosbyWhite Christmas🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
322Benny GoodmanWhy Don’t You Do Right🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪
331Jacques Renard And His OrchestraAs Time Goes By🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
341Rudy Vallee & His Connecticut YankeesAs Time Goes By🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
351Glenn MillerIt Must Be Jelly🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
361The Tommy Dorsey OrchestraIt Started All Over Again🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
371Charlie BarnetThat Old Black Magic🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
381Louis Jordan And His Tympany FiveThe Chicks I Pick Are Slender
And Tender And Tall
🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
391Bing CrosbySunday, Monday Or Always🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
401Dinah ShoreYou’d Be So Nice To Come Home To🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
411Duke EllingtonA Slip Of The Lip🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
421David RoseHoliday for strings🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
431Charlie BarnetOh! Miss Jaxon🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
441Mills BrothersPaper Doll🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
451Duke EllingtonPerdido🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
461Xavier CugatBrazil🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
471Dick HaymesIn My Arms🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
481Dick HaymesIt Can’t Be Wrong🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
491Four VagabondsIt Can’t Be Wrong🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
501Ella Fitzgerald & The Ink SpotsMy Heart And I Decided🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
511Dick HaymesPut Your Arms Around Me Honey🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
521Frank SinatraYou’ll Never Know🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
531Francisco AlvesA Dama de Vermelho🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
541Frank SinatraAll Or Nothing At All🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
551Buddy Johnson And His OrchestraBaby Don’t You Cry🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
561Glenn MillerBlue Rain🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
571Ted Daffan & His TexansBorn to Lose🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
581Jimmy DorseyBrazil🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
591Frank SinatraClose to You🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
601Four VagabondsComin’ in on a Wing & a Prayer🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
611The Song SpinnersComin’ in on a Wing & a Prayer🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
621Bing CrosbyConstantly🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
631HildegardeDarling Je Vous Aime Beaucoup🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
641Glenn MillerDearly Beloved🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
651Glen GrayDon’t Get Around Much Anymore🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
661The Ink SpotsDon’t Get Around Much Anymore🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
671Beverly White And Her Blues ChasersDon’t Stop Now🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
681Charles TrenetDouce France🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
691Lionel Hampton And His OrchestraFlying Home🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
701Lionel Hampton And His OrchestraFlying Home🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
711Ceele BurkeFrom Twilight ‘Til Dawn🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
721Jay McShann And His OrchestraGet Me On Your Mind🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
731Andy Kirk And His 12 Clouds Of JoyHey Lawdy Mama🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
741Kate SmithI Don’t Want to Walk Without You🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
751Harry James And His OrchestraI Had The Craziest Dream🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
761Vera LynnI Had the Craziest Dream🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
771Dick HaymesI Heard You Cried Last Night🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
781The Ink SpotsIf I Cared A Little Bit Less🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
791Bing CrosbyIf You Please🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
801Fred AstaireI’m Old Fashioned🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
811The Tommy Dorsey OrchestraIn The Blue Of The Evening🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
821Harry James And His OrchestraI’ve Heard That Song Before🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
831Bert Ambrose & His OrchestraJohnny Zero🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
841The Song SpinnersJohnny Zero🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
851Buddy Johnson And His OrchestraLet’s Beat Out Some Love🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
861Jimmy DorseyLet’s Get Lost🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
871Kay KyserLet’s Get Lost🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
881Vaughn MonroeLet’s Get Lost🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
891Harry JamesMister Five By Five🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
901Bert Ambrose & His OrchestraMy Devotion🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
911Billy ButterfieldMy Ideal🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
921Glen GrayMy Shining Hour🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
931Bing Crosby & Trudy ErwinOh, What a Beautiful Mornin’🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
941Mayfair Dance OrchestraPedro The Fisherman🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
951Bing Crosby & Trudy ErwinPeople Will Say We’re in Love🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
961Frank SinatraPeople Will Say We’re in Love🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
971Boone’s Jumpin’ JacksPlease Be Careful🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
981Dick Kuhn & his OrchestraPut Your Arms Around Me Honey🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
991Glen Miller And His OrchestraRhapsody In Blue🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
1001Sonny Boy Williams And His OrchestraRubber Bounce🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
1011Count BasieRusty Dusty Blues🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
1021Orlando SilvaSempre em Meu Coracao🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
1031Duke EllingtonSentimental Lady🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
1041Frank SinatraSunday, Monday or Always🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
1051Glenn Miller with Skip NelsonThat Old Black Magic🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
1061Freddie SlackThat Old Black Magic🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
1071Louis Jordan And His Tympany FiveThat’ll Just ‘Bout Knock Me Out🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
1081Ivy BensonThe Homecoming Waltz🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
1091Tommy Dorsey & Frank SinatraThere Are Such Things🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
1101Jimmy WakelyThere’s a Star Spangled Banner
Waving Somewhere
🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
1111Harry James And His OrchestraVelvet Moon🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
1121Charlie BarnetWashington Whirlagig🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
1131Vaughn MonroeWhen The Lights Go On Again🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
1141Anne SheltonYou’d Be So Nice to Come Home to🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
1151Dick HaymesYou’ll Never Know🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
1161Willie Kelly & His OrchestraYou’ll Never Know🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
1171Judy GarlandZing! Went the Strings of My Heart🐸⚪⚪⚪⚪
Posted in Music Reviews | Tagged music, music review, PWGM | Leave a reply

Today I choose to design a new layout (TIC00045d)

The PolyBlog
September 5 2020

I was feeling a bit off earlier this morning, and took it easy on my food intake for the day. Even managed a nap in there for self-care. But after watching two episodes of Bear Grylls’ Eco-Challenge show tonight for relaxation, I was feeling a bit better for the day, and decided to double-down on a layout issue.

I mentioned previously that I’m getting organized for a large project related to music reviews, although it is more about getting myself better organized so that I can peck away at it a bit here and a bit there. I have a few projects like that under way, and each one requires a bit of planning to get it going.

For the musical review one, I never really liked a format I was using, a big “ugly” table, albeit with an option to make it sortable. I did a bunch of searching yesterday for the right tool, found an option, discarded it, and decided tonight to rethink the design.

What I really needed was my raw data file. I thought I knew where I had saved it but when I went to the folder, I could find only 1944. No 1943 data. Looked all through my folders, a couple of other places, backups even, nada. I started to think I had maybe moved some files at some point, and deleted a folder without making sure it was empty. Nope, I was more efficient than that. I had apparently merged my 1943 data into a larger Excel file so it was all in one place. Which meant when I opened the oddly-named file and found 1944, I thought that was the end of it. Not noticing that 1943 was just another tab. Doh!

I played with some setups, and then into the old web file I went. Only to have it crash on me again. WTH? I thought it had been a design flaw, but now I felt it was something else. A coding problem somewhere in the file. One of my multiple plugins had converted it over at some point in the past, and well, it glitched. I don’t know how or where, but it did.

So I created a fresh new file, copied the original text to a notepad file in order to delete any weird codes, pasted it into the new file, and voila! All fixed. Sigh. Which means I probably COULD have left it in the old format and just used a different / fresh file for that too.

Which now means I have to go back and decide if I want to revamp the design the new way or go back to the old.

I solved it, then I unsolved it, then I solved it again, and now I can do it either way. Has anyone else’s head exploded yet?

Today I choose to design a new layout. I just don’t know which one I’m going to use.

Which choices are you making today?

Posted in Pondside Planner | Tagged goals, TIC, today I choose | Leave a reply

Reviewing GetWid’s blocks for WordPress

The PolyBlog
September 4 2020

I am constantly on a search for new blocks to make my workflow more consistent, particularly in areas where I don’t even know I could improve things. So I’ve already reviewed 11 block collections, and this is number 12. Let’s see what I get out of it:

  • Accordion: Expandable, but doesn’t seem to be collapsible except by clicking another one.
  • Advanced Spacer: Yep, it’s for controlling space and not much else.
  • Anchor: Useful instead of coding your own.
  • Banner: Same as headers in most other collections, very large image with the ability to put text over it AND you can add 6 transition effects when you hover.
  • Button Group: Not a bad deployment, generating multiple buttons side by side, all individually controlled for text, colours, links.
  • Circular Progress Bar: Options to change colour and thickness, plus value, but not SHOW the value?
  • Contact Form: Basics, nothing special.
  • Countdown: Set future time and date, and countdown by years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, and seconds, with some typography but not very sophisticated designs.
  • Counter: Animated count up to a total.
  • Custom Post Type: Basic options but threw JSON errors trying to load excerpt.
  • Google Maps: Enter your key, insert your map.
  • Heading: Custom heading, not default ones, allows you to do font typography plus colours.
  • Icon: Simple insertion, a bunch to choose from as defaults, nothing exceptional.
  • Icon box: Centred, heading, description.
  • Image Box: Main image, doesn’t seem like it does much at first, but it has a bunch of animations on hover.
  • Image Hotspot: Adds tooltip so you can click in various places on a larger image.
  • Image Slider: Decent setup, can even just have 1 image, not a slider in that case.
  • Image Stack: It seems basic at first, but then you have different layout options with a partial overlap like index cards.
  • Instagram: Connect an Instagram account.
  • Mailchimp: Couldn’t try this one, don’t have MC key.
  • Media and Text Slider: I have no need for it, but I like the way it loads them — tabbed for each “slide”. And lots of tweaks available.
  • Person: Basic profile box. Heading, subtitle, text and description AND their social links.
  • Post Carousel: Basic options but threw JSON errors trying to load excerpt.
  • Post Slider: Basic options but threw JSON errors trying to load excerpt.
  • Price Box: Few options, nothing special.
  • Price List: Again, I was hoping this would allow me an easy way to do a long table. It had an option for an image, leaders from name to the price, not bad. But only basic tweaking options.
  • Progress Bar: Simple horizontal line, set the %, it will show in two colours but can’t vary the width of the line but you can animate the load.
  • Recent Posts: A selection of options to show a list of your last x number of posts in varying detail, although it throws a JSON error trying to show excerpts.
  • Section: Lots of options to put in backgrounds.
  • Social Links: Basic options plus some outlining, nothing special.
  • Table: Relatively simple but powerful, and you can change table settings or cell settings, merge or split, seems great. But you can’t change the typography. WTH?
  • Table of Contents: Decent, nothing special, although it does give an ordered list option.
  • Tabs: Basic options, some tweaks, nothing special.
  • Template Library: Up until here, it was a rather ho-hum collection but the template library is pretty well done with lots of nicely done options. My favorites include SubHero 4. I feel like I could have used that for a nice Blockquote layout, maybe I just like the background image.
  • Testimonial: Basic layout.
  • Timeline Block: Alternating blocks with image, header, description, and minimal styling.
  • Toggle: Seems identical to the accordion.
  • Video Popup: Only for externally hosted videos or if you have a direct link to the locally-hosted ones, plus loads in lightbox.

Overall, I’m impressed with the level of tweaking but underwhelmed with the overall consistency between blocks. Some have great options, and really stand out. Others are extremely basic with almost no tweaking. I was hopeful for the table block, and it comes REALLY close, but doesn’t allow typography changes. Although I could wrap it in a larger container that would handle that to set the defaults.

Of the close to 40 blocks, I really like their Template Library, and they have decent options for the Anchor, Button Group, Media and Text Slider (even if I have no use for it), and the Table. Not sure if the collection is worth keeping though, unless I’m going all in on their table. Other than one of the nice templates in their gallery, I already have options to do all the rest.

I’ll keep it around as a potential option in the short-term, not sure about the long-term.

Posted in Computers | Tagged blocks, computers, website | Leave a reply

Today I choose to search for the right tool (TIC00044d)

The PolyBlog
September 4 2020

I have a dream, except my dream is a lot smaller than racial equality. My dream today is simply that I can create a nice table on my WordPress site that doesn’t go crazy.

So let’s start with the nature of the problem. I have a post, about the top hits of 1943. It’s part of a long-term project I am working on that will eventually have me review all the Billboard hits from 1943 up to the present. Fun, right? Okay, maybe not, but I find some of it pretty interesting. I did the first year as a test, 1943, and while Billboard’s list wasn’t exactly up and running yet, I ended up with a combination of several lists and 117 songs to review. I reviewed them, I sorted them, I put them in a table.

A table that is 5 columns wide and more than 100 rows long.

It’s simple, it organizes the data, it’s boring. I would LIKE to be able to intersperse some comments here and there. Actually, I’d rather it looked like a playlist that people could click on, but that seems doubtful at the moment (Apple is not my friend). Regardless, it is a LONG table. And I have four options to display the data:

  1. Use the default TABLE block that comes with WordPress. I can use that block, but it isn’t the best to work with, and styling is a problem at times.
  2. Use an Advanced Table block but it REALLY doesn’t seem to like the new editor much. It might be a conflict with something, but I can’t tell what or why.
  3. Use TablePress. This is a really powerful tool for making great-looking tables, but it comes at a cost — the table is not actually IN the page, it is generated by a database and all the data is stored in the database first. It’s easy to populate, I have the data in Excel already, but I’d prefer NOT to put it in a table that is generated. I would much rather a flat table that I can edit and add comments throughout. You can’t do those kinds of edits or tweaks if the data is just generated.
  4. Ditch the table and use a list format. I could do this easily enough, since I have it in an Excel Table, I can easily reformat the same data into a nice “line of text” such as “##. Singer name – Song (Company)” and just paste it into a set of bullets. Anywhere I want to edit the table/list, I just add a couple of hard returns to break the list and type away.

None of those options are what I want. So I posted a Q on a FB group that has some good designers in it, and one guy got “immediately” what I was looking to do. He even noticed there was a problem with the page which might have something to do with why it wasn’t loading completely correctly, and I’ve fixed that part at least. But the table? Neither of us have a working solution.

Yet. But he is also willing to help look for an answer.

I found a great tool tonight that has some really nice “blocks” in it for doing different things in WordPress. I’ve reviewed 10 block collections previously, found some I really liked, and some that I absolutely LOVE from Stackable. So when I saw there was a great little collection called CoBlocks that had a LOT of blocks in it, a decent number of installs, and some positive reviews, AND it has something that looks like a “pricing table” where you could list a variety of information items, it sounded great. So I went down the rabbit hole of testing the set of blocks (Reviewing CoBlocks for WordPress). Alas, no joy in Mudville.

I’m also going to try GetWid (a collection of blocks that also sounds promising) and Ninja Tables (it also looks like it generates the tables the way TablePress does, but perhaps not, hard to tell yet).

There’s a simple way to do this, I know there is. I just have to get there without having to fight with the block codes I have. As I said, I have a dream…

Today I choose to search for the right tool for the job.

What choices are you making?

Posted in Pondside Planner | Tagged blocks, computers, goals, TIC, today I choose, web design, website | Leave a reply

Reviewing CoBlocks for WordPress

The PolyBlog
September 4 2020

I’ve already reviewed the default blocks in WordPress plus nine other collections, with Stackable winning most head-to-head battles. I’m in the market for something that will do interesting tables without having to generate them from a database, but I’m also always open to new Block collections.

Let’s go through the collection of blocks:

  • Accordion: it is nice, simple, has a header and colour options, but I already have a good one with Stackable and an even better one with Kadence. Pass.
  • Alert: I’m impressed, as it is a nice simple box with a spot for a title and a background in one of four main preset styles and colours, although the colours can be altered. I’m tempted to keep it around just because it is a quick way to do a text box with light colours in it.
  • Author: Like many other profile boxes, nothing special.
  • Carousel: I have no need for a carousel as I use NextGen Gallery and it isn’t compatible. But in addition, for some reason, the images I inserted didn’t seem to line up properly for the top and bottom.
  • Click to Tweet: Not bad, prepopulate some text you want people to share, they click, and it will copy to Twitter along with a link to your page. Another I have no need for.
  • Collage: This is a really cool block, where you can have 4 or 5 pics laid out for you like a photo book, with a bit of overlap. Cool way to do a layout. I can’t think what I would use it for, but it’s different.
  • Dynamic HR: If you were into HTML, you’d remember HR was the code for a horizontal line. Otherwise you’d have no idea what this was. And it’s pretty bland…dots or a line, coloured, thickness.
  • Event: Wow, this is terrible. Bad layout, almost no styling, no box around it. You could do better on a typewriter.
  • Features: Logo / icon, title, text. Nothing special.
  • Food & Drink: If you were doing a menu, great little block. Section heading, title for the item along with icons for popular, spicy, vegetarian, adjustable sizes and fonts, prices, descriptions.
  • Form: Defaults for Contact, RSVP or Event, nothing special.
  • GIF: inserting from GIPHY, already covered with other plugins as standard embed.
  • GIST: inserting code from GITHUB, just as easily covered by code blocks, although I suppose it would be live update, no use for it.
  • Hero: Call to action with two buttons, nothing special.
  • Highlight: Simple line of highlighted text…which you could do in any paragraph block?
  • Icon: Pretty simple set of icons to choose from, hard to tell, you can’t see them all, change colour and size. Yawn.
  • Logos & Badges: Quick way to insert images from the media library, but for no special purpose other than perhaps to show them in grayscale? IDK.
  • Map: Standard insert from Google.
  • Masonry: Nothing special, and only works with default media library.
  • Media Card: Decent layout, you can insert video, but limited layout options.
  • Offset Gallery: Okay, nothing special, just irregular gallery.
  • Posts: Nothing special.
  • Post Carousel: Nothing special.
  • Pricing Table: This is the one that I really hoped would lead somewhere. It made it sound like you could do a sophisticated table. Nope, just pricing boxes.
  • Row: Actually it’s simple columns.
  • Services: Same as pricing table but with images.
  • Shape Divider: Eight choices, not bad, nothing fancy.
  • Share: Simple sharing icons.
  • Social profiles: Mirror image of Share for your own profiles.
  • Stacked gallery: You rarely see this but it is a gallery with all the images one above the other, full width. Or you could just insert them individually and have more control over them.

Wow. So I was mostly interested in the “Pricing Table” which turned out to be simply boxes side by side. The rest are okay, nothing very robust, a tier-2 set of blocks overall. I could use the Alert or the Collage, they’re different, but not enough to warrant leaving the whole collection installed for two blocks I will rarely use.

I’m out.

Posted in Computers | Tagged blocks, computers, website | Leave a reply

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