Invalid robots.txt but don’t understand why

The new robots.txt tester that is now built into Google Search Console is finding errors with the last two rows of my robots.txt file:

Sitemap: https://www.daniweb.com/latest-sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.daniweb.com/sitemap.xml

The error is: Invalid sitemap URL detected; syntax not understood

Any idea what could be wrong here?

Virtual Threads: A Definite Advantage

It’s great to explore the world of virtual threads, a powerful feature in Java that promises to revolutionize multi-threaded applications. In this article, we’ll delve into how virtual threads can enhance your application’s performance and scalability, all while keeping thread management overhead very minimal. Let’s embark on this journey to harness the full potential of virtual threads!

In order to prove this use case, we will create one million platform threads and virtual threads. After generating these threads, we will analyze their heap and thread behavior with HeapHero and fastThread tools. Through this exploration, we aim to highlight the distinctions in performance between platform threads and virtual threads.

Methods of Source Code Management and Data Protection

The escalating frequency and sophistication of cyber threats pose a significant challenge in today's interconnected world. With the rapid digitization of various sectors, the attack surface for malicious actors has expanded, making businesses, governments, and individuals more vulnerable to cyber attacks. Threats such as ransomware, phishing, and data breaches have become pervasive, leading to financial losses, reputational damage, and compromised sensitive information.

In response to this evolving threat landscape, the importance of implementing robust security practices has never been more crucial. Organizations and individuals must prioritize cybersecurity measures to safeguard their networks, systems, and data. This involves regularly updating software, employing strong and unique passwords, implementing multi-factor authentication, conducting regular security audits, and educating users about potential threats. 

What’s New in Next.js 14 and How Does It Achieve To Be So Fast?

Next.js, an open-source Javascript framework was created specifically for leveraging React to create user-friendly web applications and static websites. It was developed by Vercel and offers an integrated environment that makes server-side rendering simpler.

Next.js was released on October 26, 2023, and during the Next.js Conf, Guillermo Rauch, the CEO, talked about the new features. One of the features, termed “Partial Prerendering,” was introduced in the preview to provide both quick initial and dynamic visuals without sacrificing the developer experience.

Leonardo AI: Midjourney’s New Competitor

In the dynamic scenario that encompasses the application of artificial intelligence in image generation, Leonardo AI is progressively emerging as a prominent alternative, challenging the position previously established by Midjourney.

In this article, we will examine the evolution of Leonardo AI, detailing how it has managed to establish itself as a solid option in the world of artificial intelligence dedicated to image generation. From its attractive free plan to its model training capabilities and its emphasis on visual excellence.

Simplifying SPIFFE: Accessible Workload Identity

SPIRL is a full workload identity solution based on SPIFFE (Secure Production Identity Framework for Everyone). What does this mean? What is SPIFFE and isn’t it already for everyone? Or if not, how could “everyone” include more “everyone”?

The most important piece to understand before getting started is that SPIFFE is a specification. Relevantly, this means that SPIFFE is not itself a tool, but rather something that can be implemented in a standard way. There are open-source implementations of SPIFFE, including a project called SPIRE, which we will also talk about in this article.

Decoding Exponential Backoff: A Blueprint for Robust Communication

Exponential backoff is a network algorithm that gradually increases the time between successive retries when a request to a server fails. This mechanism is commonly used in distributed systems and networking protocols to handle situations where a server is temporarily unavailable or overloaded. The goal is to prevent overwhelming the server with repeated requests and to allow the system to recover from transient failures.

Need for Exponential Backoff

  • Avoiding Overloading Servers: In cases of server outages or high load, repeated and immediate retries can contribute to server overload. Exponential backoff helps distribute retries over time, reducing the risk of further overwhelming the server.
  • Handling Transient Failures: Transient failures, which are temporary and typically resolve themselves, can be mitigated by giving the system some time to recover before attempting another connection.

Implementation Details

1. Initial Timeout: Start with an initial timeout value for the first retry attempt.

How to Add a Gallery in WordPress with a Lightbox Effect

Do you want to add a gallery in WordPress with a lightbox effect?

Adding the lightbox effect will allow users to view your images in a distraction-free environment without leaving your website. However, the default WordPress gallery block does not support lightboxes.

In this article, we will show you how to easily add a gallery in WordPress with a lightbox effect, step by step.

Add a Gallery in WordPress with a Lightbox Effect

Why Add the Lightbox Effect in WordPress Galleries?

By adding the lightbox effect to the galleries on your WordPress website, you can show off your images in a more professional way.

This effect allows you to display your images in a pop-up window on your website when a user clicks on them.

Lightboxes help create a more immersive viewing experience for your visitors and even make it easier for them to share your images on social media or download them on their computers.

Lightbox preview

If you have a photography website, then adding a lightbox effect will enable users to view your high-resolution images in a distraction-free mode, increasing engagement.

Similarly, if you have a WooCommerce store, then adding a lightbox effect to your product galleries can also help customers view the product up close and make an informed decision.

Having said that, let’s see how to easily add a WordPress gallery with a lightbox effect, step by step.

How to Add a WordPress Gallery With a Lightbox Effect

You can easily add a WordPress gallery with a lightbox effect using Envira Gallery.

It is the best WordPress gallery plugin that allows you to create fully responsive and modern image galleries for your website.

Envira Gallery is also super fast and has a drag-and-drop builder, professional gallery templates, and many features, including adding tags, audio, social sharing, and the lightbox effect.

First, you need to install and activate the Envira Gallery plugin. For detailed instructions, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Note: Envira Gallery also has a free plan that you can use for this tutorial. However, upgrading to the paid plan will give you access to more features.

Upon activation, visit the Envira Gallery » Settings page from the WordPress admin sidebar to enter the license key.

You can get this information from your account on the Envira Gallery website.

Add the Envira Gallery license key

After that, you need to visit the Envira Gallery » Add New page from the WordPress dashboard to start creating your own gallery.

From here, type a title for the image gallery and click the ‘Select Files from Your Computer’ button to upload images.

Or, if you want to add media library images to your gallery, then click the ‘Select Files from Other Sources’ button. This will launch the media library from where you can upload gallery images.

Remember that you can only upload one image from the media library at a time.

Add images to the gallery

Once you have done that, scroll down to the ‘Currently in your Gallery’ section, where you will see a preview of your gallery on the right with settings in the left column.

Now, click the pencil icon on top of each image to open the ‘Edit Metadata’ prompt on the screen.

Click the pencil icon to open the Edit Metadata screen

From here, you can add the caption, status, title, and alt text for individual images.

After that, don’t forget to click the ‘Save Metadata’ button to store your settings.

Configure image metadata

Next, switch to the ‘Configuration’ tab from the left column to change the layout of your gallery according to your liking.

From here, you can select a layout, number of columns, image size, dimensions, themes, and more.

For detailed instructions, please see our beginner’s guide on how to create an image gallery in WordPress.

Configure gallery layout

Once you have configured the gallery layout, switch to the ‘Lightbox’ tab from the left column and check the ‘Enable Lightbox?’ option.

After that, select a lightbox theme from the ‘Gallery Lightbox Theme’ dropdown menu. If you choose the ‘Legacy’ option, then the lightbox effect prompt will have an older layout.

On choosing the ‘Base (Dark)’ option, the lightbox prompt will have a dark base as its layout.

Enable the lightbox option

Next, you must select if you want to display the image title or its caption in the lightbox prompt. You can also display both or none of them if you like.

Once you have done that, choose the image size for the lightbox from the dropdown menu.

Configure image title and size for the gallery

After that, check the ‘Enable Gallery Arrows’ option. The lightbox prompt will now show two arrows that the viewers can use to switch to different images in your gallery.

You can also configure other settings for your lightbox, including its transition effect, open/close effect, enable lightbox supersize, and more.

Once you are done, don’t forget to click the ‘Publish’ button at the top to store your changes.

Configure other lightbox options in Envira Gallery

To add your image gallery to a WordPress page/post, open the page in the block editor.

Here, you need to click the add block ‘+’ button in the top left corner of the screen to open the block menu. Next, add the Envira Gallery block to the page/post.

Add the Envira Gallery block

After that, select the image gallery that you just created from the dropdown menu in the block itself. Finally, click the ‘Update’ or ‘Publish’ button to store your settings.

Now, you can visit your WordPress blog to view the image gallery and then click on any image to see the lightbox effect.

Lightbox effect gif

Alternative: Use NextGen Gallery to Create Image Portfolios and Galleries in WordPress

Envira Gallery is the best option for adding lightbox images to your WordPress website. Alternatively, you can use NextGEN Gallery to create fully responsive and visually pleasing galleries and portfolios on your WordPress site.

NextGEN Gallery is the best Envira Gallery alternative because it supports a wide range of gallery types, has eCommerce-related features, and allows you to add watermarks, lightboxes, image comments, and more.

Additionally, NextGEN Gallery allows you to accept online payments via Stripe or PayPal, making it easy to sell your images online.

NextGen Gallery

It is an advanced gallery plugin with features for professional photographers, graphic designers, and visual artists, making it one of the best WordPress portfolio plugins on the market.

For detailed instructions, you may want to see our tutorial on how to add a portfolio to your WordPress site.

We hope this article helped you learn how to easily add a WordPress gallery with a lightbox effect. You may also want to see our beginner’s guide on how to do basic image editing in WordPress and our expert picks for the best tools to create better images for your blog posts.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Add a Gallery in WordPress with a Lightbox Effect first appeared on WPBeginner.

The Guide to SRE Principles

Site reliability engineering (SRE) is a discipline in which automated software systems are built to manage the development operations (DevOps) of a product or service. In other words, SRE automates the functions of an operations team via software systems. 

The main purpose of SRE is to encourage the deployment and proper maintenance of large-scale systems. In particular, site reliability engineers are responsible for ensuring that a given system’s behavior consistently meets business requirements for performance and availability.

7 Technical Reasons Why Software Product Engineering Projects Fail

Are you tired of witnessing software product engineering projects crumble before your very eyes? Despite meticulous planning and effort, failure haunts every step, leaving you perplexed and frustrated. Well, you're not alone! Countless individuals like you have faced the same agonizing ordeal.

In this tech-driven era, software product engineering has become the backbone of innovation, but it's also prone to pitfalls that can spell disaster for your project. Brace yourself as we delve into the heart of the matter and uncover seven glaring technical reasons behind these failures.

Deployment of Spring MVC App on a Local Tomcat Server

This guide delves into the meticulous steps of deploying a Spring MVC application on a local Tomcat server. This hands-on tutorial is designed to equip you with the skills essential for seamless deployment within your development environment. Follow along to enhance your proficiency in deploying robust and reliable Spring MVC apps, ensuring a smooth transition from development to production.

Introduction

In the preliminary stages, it's crucial to recognize the pivotal role of deploying a Spring MVC application on a local Tomcat server. This initial step holds immense significance as it grants developers the opportunity to rigorously test their applications within an environment closely mirroring the production setup. The emphasis on local deployment sets the stage for a seamless transition, ensuring that the application, when deemed ready for release, aligns effortlessly with the intricacies of the production environment. This strategic approach enhances reliability and mitigates potential challenges in the later stages of the development life cycle.

Top 10 Software Architecture Patterns to Follow in 2024

In this ever-changing world of software development, the choice of software architecture patterns holds importance. As we approach the year 2024, the relevance of these patterns continues to grow, shaping the way we design and develop software. These patterns not only address critical design challenges but also enhance the software architecture development lifecycle. They are essential considerations for software development companies and providers of software maintenance services, serving as the foundation for building resilient and adaptable software solutions. Join us in this exploration of the software architecture patterns that are poised to define the future of software engineering in 2024 and beyond.

10 Common Software Architectural Patterns

Software architectural patterns are the backbone of modern software development. These patterns offer solutions to common design challenges, enhance the software architecture development lifecycle, and are essential considerations for software development companies and those offering software maintenance services.

Exploring Apache Airflow for Batch Processing Scenario

Apache Airflow is an open-source platform that allows you to programmatically author, schedule, and monitor workflows. It uses Python as its programming language and offers a flexible architecture suited for both small-scale and large-scale data processing. The platform supports the concept of Directed Acyclic Graphs to define workflows, making it easy to visualize complex data pipelines.

One of the key features of Apache Airflow is its ability to schedule and trigger batch jobs, making it a popular choice for processing large volumes of data. It provides excellent support for integrating with various data processing technologies and frameworks such as Apache Hadoop and Apache Spark.

KubeAdmiral: Next-Generation Multi-Cluster Orchestration Engine Based on Kubernetes

Since its release in 2014, Kubernetes has become the de facto standard for cloud-native orchestration and scheduling systems, delivering substantial value to infrastructure developers around the world. As an increasing number of corporations embrace cloud-native technologies and migrate their workloads to Kubernetes, the scale of their clusters grows rapidly. 

The community edition of Kubernetes, capped at 5000 nodes per cluster, is no longer able to keep up with the scale requirements of large-scale enterprise applications. Moreover, many companies are adopting multi-cloud architectures to achieve cost reduction, increased resource and operational efficiency, geographical disaster recovery, and environment isolation. As a result, the demand for multi-cluster orchestration and scheduling tools is on the rise.

Accelerating Insights With Couchbase Columnar

The purpose of computing is insight, not numbers.
Richard Hamming

Capella Columnar is an advanced real-time analytics database service from Couchbase, targeted for real-time data processing, offering SQL++ for processing JSON (semi-structured) data and more. This service enables data to be managed locally and streamed continuously from both relational and NoSQL databases, or simply process data on S3. The columns or fields of the source are directly mapped to a field in the JSON document at the destination automatically. This is really a zero-ETL operation. A key feature of this system is its ability to continuously stream data, making it immediately available for querying, thus ensuring near real-time data processing. 

Troubleshooting “Uncaught RangeError: Maximum Call Stack Size Exceeded”

Recently, we encountered an 'Uncaught RangeError: Maximum call stack size exceeded' error when loading our application in a web browser. In this blog post, let’s discuss what triggered this problem, explore how different browsers respond to it, and how we went about solving it.

What Triggered 'Uncaught RangeError'?

Our fastThread web application parses Java thread dumps to generate comprehensive reports containing insightful metrics and graphs. One of the sections in the report condenses the entire thread dump into a single flame graph, as shown below. This powerful visualization facilitates engineers to understand thread dumps in a single view.

Unleashing Conversational Magic: Integrating ChatGPT With React.js and Node.js

In the ever-evolving landscape of web development, creating immersive and dynamic user experiences is paramount. One way to elevate user interaction is by integrating chatbots, and with the advent of advanced language models like ChatGPT, the possibilities are limitless. In this comprehensive guide, we'll explore the integration of ChatGPT with a powerful duo: React.js on the frontend and Node.js on the backend. This synergy creates a seamless and intelligent conversational interface that can be tailored to various applications.

Understanding the Components

Before diving into the integration process, let's briefly understand the components involved:

Maximizing Business Benefits: Building Microservices Architecture in Azure

Transitioning from monolithic architecture to microservices brings about significant advantages for businesses. While monolithic structures have their simplicity, they come with limitations such as complex updates, manual testing requirements, and difficulties in scaling. This is where microservices shine, offering a more efficient way to develop, protect, and market applications.

According to a report by Nginx, 36% of commercial organizations have already adopted microservices, with another 26% exploring their potential. Microservices, since their launch in 2011, have gained rapid acceptance across various industries and company sizes.