The call query_posts fixes this problem. By adding this following line before the loop, I am able to list my entire monthly archive displayed in a page (thus effectively overriding my 9 posts limit that I set in Dashboard → Settings → Reading):

<?php query_posts($query_string.'&posts_per_page=-1'); ?>

The value -1 set for &posts_per_page lists everything in one page. For search results, however, I’d prefer to restrict the list to 50 per page. Easy:

<?php query_posts($query_string.'&posts_per_page=50'); ?>

The result: a typical monthly archive, and a typical search results list.

For fun, try removing $query_string. from the first line of code above, and you’ll notice how it produces an entire list of posts ever written. Archives, Sitemaps anyone?

My perspective on minimalism has mostly revolved around bandwidth instead. Some experiments over the years:

• There was a theme I created in which the website showed only my about page, and nothing else. To find updated content, it would require the reader to subscribe to the feed (or find posts via the archives page, which I ended up adding a link to—for better visibility). As I realized after a month, it was a real pain for readers to find out what was happening.
• I’ve had inline editing via a plugin [zip], which, I am not sure works with the new WordPress release.
• Last year, I enabled a shortlived homepage with just Twitter updates.
• And now this. The new avatar (if you click and load the site) isn’t really new. For a few years, I put up with a barely populated sidebar, in the hope that I’d have some meaningful meta information to fill it with. That didn’t happen. So now it’s gone.
• Update: Oh by the way, the site search autodiscovery on this site is a couple of years old feature now.

1. Russell Beattie and Shelley Powers on the other hand appear to disagree.

Create a folder named m in your blog root—if you have a self-hosted blog. Dump a file named index.php with the following content in it:

1. <?php
2. header('HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently');
3. header( 'Location: http://www.google.com/reader/m/view/feed/http://ckunte.com/feed/atom' ) ;
4. ?>
5.  
6. Download this example: /inputfiles/m.txt

Be sure to replace my site's feed address with yours in the code above. Your mobile blog version would now be accessible at this address, for example: yoursite.com/m (or yoursite.com/blog/m depending upon where you created the m subfolder on your host).

I am averse to creating a sudomain just for this, but if you still prefer a subdomain like address, here’s a plugin code I just whipped up.¹

1. <?php
2. /*
3. Plugin Name: Mobile version via Google Reader
4. Plugin URI: http://ckunte.com/
5. Description: m. subdomain address is redirected to google's mobile version.
6. Author: Chetan Kunte
7. Version: 1.0
8. Author URI: http://ckunte.com/wordpress
9. */
10.  
11. if ( !strstr( $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'], 'm.' ) )
12. return;
13.  
14. header('HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently');
15. header('Location: http://www.google.com/reader/m/view/feed/http://' . trailingslashit(substr($_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'], 2)) . 'feed/atom');
16. exit();
17.  
18. ?>
19.  
20. Download this example: /inputfiles/moplug.txt

Download the file above², and rename it to, say, moplug.php and upload it to wp-content/plugins folder. Your mobile site would now be accessible at m.mysite.com—all this without having to create a subdomain.

1. Do note that I haven’t been able to test this on my host, since I have a subdomain related problem at the moment, but I believe this code would work.
2. Make sure there are no empty spaces after ?> in both the code snippets

As a little bonus, [version] 2.3.2 allows you to define a custom DB error page. Place your custom template at wp-content/db-error.php. If WP has a problem connecting to your database, this page will [be] displayed rather than the default error message.

It is important to note that the custom db error page file is not under the theme folder, but rather in wp-content folder. Also, it is important to avoid using any template tag (in db-error.php)¹ that queries the database for stored information; because when the database is down, you cannot get a reply back from the database to show the queried info on the error page. Obvious, but if it wasn’t to you, then you know now.

As always, Wordpress team listens—that’s something I really like about them. It doesn’t matter who you are, your suggestions are always considered. That’s the strength of the community.

1. I use plain html/php coded content in my db-error.php file.

I am a sucker for cable-stayed bridges. They present a perception of fragility while hiding their strength, which they derive from those frail looking highly tensile cable strands. We got lucky today on our way to Hoofddorp, as we found two of those gorgeous ones.¹

1. Update: Designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, three bridges Harp, Cittern and Lute—named after stringed musical instruments—spanning the main canal of Haarlemmermeer were opened, in 2004 by Queen Beatrix.