• How to put up a (real) Christmas tree.

    How to put up a (real) Christmas tree.

    For years I purchased stands and various contraptions to hold my real Christmas tree. Unfortunately, these can become unstable, so I devised a way of having…

  • Lord of the Rings: The Balrog at the Bridge of Khazad-dum diorama

    Lord of the Rings: The Balrog at the Bridge of Khazad-dum diorama

    Great fun in creating this. The figures were 3D printed and purchased from eBay, while the Balrog was an Etsy purchase. The base was made of…

  • Step-by-step guide on getting a mortgage

    Step-by-step guide on getting a mortgage

    Mortgage broker.  The first step in getting a mortgage when you are 50, with very little deposit and not the best credit record is probably through…

  • Easy way to improve the “No products found” page in WooCommerce.

    Easy way to improve the “No products found” page in WooCommerce.

    An easy to change this page is by hooks and filters. One example is to show featured products, plus a slider at the top (after the…

  • Coffee table arcade machine.

    Coffee table arcade machine.

    Arcade machine made from a coffee table shell. The controllers, which were created using 165° cabinet hinges, which were positioned at an angle on a timber…

  • Upstanding retro arcade machine.

    Upstanding retro arcade machine.

    An old Lenovo, all-in-one, was used with RetroPie to create an arcade machine. The joystick was actually a USB bare-bones joystick, with multiple buttons added. The…

  • Football website, established in 1999.

    Football website, established in 1999.

    The Sassco.co.uk website was established in 1999 (under different names), but evolved from an original PageMill website, to Joomla and then to WordPress. All historical articles…

  • Sending an automated email when a user role is updated in WordPress / WooCommerce

    Sending an automated email when a user role is updated in WordPress / WooCommerce

    We needed a feature where a user was automatically informed if their role changed on our eCommerce site. An example was that a user signs up,…

  • Changing WordPress search to show products instead.

    Changing WordPress search to show products instead.

    When WooCommerce is added, the main search facility is still finding posts and pages. To change this so the search returns product information, the following code…

  • Adding ALT and TITLE on product images (in category pages).

    Adding ALT and TITLE on product images (in category pages).

    This simple snippet within functions.php will add ALT and TITLE tags to the images. I haven’t discovered how to add the same to the product category…

  • Minification of JS without a plug-in

    Minification of JS without a plug-in

    On occasions where plug-ins such as WP Rocket cause issues when using minification, then a simple minification can be added in functions.php while being disabled in…

  • Occre Titanic model

    Occre Titanic model

    A fantastic model kit to work with. Not a traditional plastic kit, but a wood and metal kit, which required a huge amount of woodwork to…

  • Blossom Pamper Parties website

    Blossom Pamper Parties website

    A site complete with a booking system, customised for the client’s requirements. A WordPress block theme was used, as well as complete hosting (via Ionos) and…

  • RESS Furniture Shopify website

    RESS Furniture Shopify website

    I completed this furniture site almost from scratch to an urgent deadline (after the client had been let down by a previous web designer). All products,…

  • Vintage Atari machine with Retropie and HDMI modifications

    Vintage Atari machine with Retropie and HDMI modifications

    Atari 2600 complete. Essentially a modern computer system within a 2600 shell. Controller #1 is connected via a network cable and the unused “B” button is…

  • Star Wars Trench Run diorama

    Star Wars Trench Run diorama

    Explosion simulation and floating models in the famous Star Wars Trench Run. All complete. 5 x #Revell 1:112(ish) scale models, painted and weathered. #StarWars trench base…

  • 2001 Space Odyssey Discovery One 3D printed model

    2001 Space Odyssey Discovery One 3D printed model

    From the classic Stanley Kubrick motion picture. Entirely 3D printed from brilliant files provided by Metaform 3D via Thingsverse The spine was created using a single…

  • Star Wars Sandcrawler model diorama

    Star Wars Sandcrawler model diorama

    An entirely scratch built model using an MDF lower and a cardboard frame. The panels were added using foam paper and card paper. Wheelbase complete using…

  • L11 Zeppelin (LZ41), 3D printed

    L11 Zeppelin (LZ41), 3D printed

    L11 Zeppelin (LZ41), 3D printed and some detailed scratch-built parts. The reason for this one, an unusual camouflaged Zep, is that on 1 April 1916 it…

  • Alien 3 EEV crash landing diorama

    Alien 3 EEV crash landing diorama

    Completed it in record time from 10th December to a completion on the 24th December. This Diorama is the opening scene from David Fincher’s Director Cut…

  • Ed’s Shearing’s Dog Grooming Studio Website

    Ed’s Shearing’s Dog Grooming Studio Website

    Website work for Ed’s Shearing’s Dog Grooming Studio involved a complete site design, as well as logo and downloadable PDF leaflet design. The site was updated…

  • Custom made tripod lamp

    Custom made tripod lamp

    Custom made tripod lamp, actually made from a Schiedel Chimney System test point component, which is a single wall steel tube, with openings on the side.…

  • WooCommerce flue components shop

    WooCommerce flue components shop

    A WordPress / WooCommerce site designed entirely from scratch to match an existing design. The idea was to finally get all product technical info online which…

  • Website for an aesthetics clinic

    Website for an aesthetics clinic

    The 415 Clinic website was designed in WordPress and uses a masonry grid. The site is secure and also ranking within Google, using Search Console. The…

  • Star Trek Original Series Galileo Seven shuttlecraft diorama

    Star Trek Original Series Galileo Seven shuttlecraft diorama

    The Star Trek Galileo Seven diorama, including Spock and McCoy figures was relatively easy in comparison to previous models. The shuttle was made entirely out of…

  • Star Trek Original Series USS Enterprise NCC 1701 scratch built model

    Star Trek Original Series USS Enterprise NCC 1701 scratch built model

    My most ambitious scratch build effort to date was the Original Series USS Enterprise model from the Star Trek series. I’ve always been a huge fan…

  • Star Wars scratch built X-Wing fighter model

    Star Wars scratch built X-Wing fighter model

    This article shows my Star Wars X-Wing fighter model, which was scratch built using a variety of simple materials. It isn’t physically exact to the genuine…

  • Model Construction: Polar Lights USS Enterprise

    Model Construction: Polar Lights USS Enterprise

    A few photographs of my beloved USS Enterprise model, which is residing above the cupboard in the kids’ room. The model was constructed over a course…

  • Model Construction: Titanic model

    Model Construction: Titanic model

    A Titanic model, built in the late 90’s during my uninteresting stint as a self-employed shopkeeper. I actually built the model behind the front counter during…

  • Website for hair tattooing service

    Website for hair tattooing service

    A website updated for Lindsey Thornton’s Hair Tattooing service. Lindsey covers the North East region from her clinic within 415 Professional Aesthetics, Gateshead, and the North…

  • Website for scalp micro-pigmentation service

    Website for scalp micro-pigmentation service

    A website updated for Lindsey Thornton’s SMP service. Lindsey covers the North East region from her clinic within 415 Professional Aesthetics, Gateshead, and the North West…

  • Website for a photography service

    Website for a photography service

    Peter Nelson is not just your photographer; but your storyteller, capturing the emotions, the laughter, and the joy that make your day truly unforgettable. This is…

  • Website for training service

    Website for training service

    National Chimney Academy (NCA), where the expertise of Specflue and Schiedel training centres comes together. The rebranded locations offer an expanded range of courses tailored to…

  • Goodreads reviews

    Goodreads reviews

    As an avid reader on various subjects, fiction and non-fiction, here are my reviews on Goodreads of the recent books.