Author Archive

February 8th, 2010

Cory Miller who is one of the guys behind iThemes.com has published a long but excellent piece regarding his thoughts on why there needs to be a commercial WordPress plugin market. Honestly, I think Cory’s post has been the best on the subject and I don’t disagree with much of what he said. In terms of supporting the commercial interest of plugin authors from the plugin repository, there are a lot of questions that need to be answered. We already know that theme authors who sell their themes under the GPL license have been rewarded via a commercial themes page on WordPress.org. Back in July of 2009, the BlogHerald asked Matt if the same thing would happen for plugins:
Commercial plugins are already seamlessly integrated with the plugin directory.
I don’t know exactly what that means but if we take a look at the page that lists the restrictions and qualifications to [...]

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(3 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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Easily Add Multiple Content Columns

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Jeff Chandler

February 4th, 2010

WordPress Plugins

Craig Buckler of SitePoint.com published a neat guide today on how to split WordPres content into 2 or more columns. The explanation dives into various functions and parameters with use of the Read More tag but within the comments of the post, someone mentioned a plugin called WP Post Columns by Sam Burdge. I downloaded the plugin and to my surprise, it works very well and does not require any code editing. The magic lies within the shortcodes that need to be inserted into the content. For example, if you wanted two columns within your content, you would use the following shortcodes.
[column width="47%" padding="6%"] Column 1 content goes here. [/column]
[column width="47%" padding="0"] Column 2 content goes here. [/column]
[end_columns]
There are shortcodes for up to four columns within the content. I’ve rarely come across a theme or a WordPress powered site displaying content in this fashion but I imagine it would work [...]

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(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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Good Luck Lester Chan

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Jeff Chandler

February 3rd, 2010

WordPress Plugins

How many plugins do you run on your website that were created by Lester ‘GaMerZ‘ Chan? I’m guessing at least one or more. On WPTavern.com, I use three of them. I’ve been a huge fan of Lester ever since I discovered his assortment of plugins that provided functionality I didn’t think any WordPress site would want to be without. Features such as polls, easy page navigation, and nifty stats. I learned today that Lester is unable to provide support for his plugins due to a full time job he recently accepted. However, he states that he will try to keep the plugins working with newer versions of WordPress as time allows while also keeping the forum open to enable the community to help each other.
As you all know, I have been doing WordPress plugins and supporting it for the past 6 years. These 6 years of my life, I have [...]

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(15 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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An Inside Look At Organizing WordCamp New York

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Jeff Chandler

February 1st, 2010

wordcamp

WordCamps are great events. It’s where users of WordPress that are local to the area can all get together in one place to share tips, talk strategy, and share knowledge with each other. However, putting these events together takes time and an incredible amount of hard work, as shown by Steve Bruner’s post on the WCNYC blog:
When you have 70+ speakers and volunteers working for gratis, you start out $2,500 in the hole. And when attendees started registering like crazy, it really was a double-edged sword. While registration was beginning to reflect the fruits of our labor, and the hype was building, my little budget spreadsheet was blinking red with every registration. I was laying out money for shirts, bags and food, and the sponsors weren’t showing up
For those that are willing to go through all of the trouble of putting a WordCamp together, I salute you!

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(3 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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Plugin Review: WordPress Advanced Ticket System

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Jeff Chandler

January 29th, 2010

User Reviews

The other day, I had asked plugin developers to dish out their wish list for the plugin repository. Olivier published a comment recommending a plugin called WATS or WordPress Advanced Ticketing System as a way of handling support on your own website.
After installation, users need to visit the Wats Options page within the Settings menu to configure the plugin. The top of the settings page has a donate button if you want to send a little coin to the plugin author which is not intrusive or bothersome. While configuring the plugin, you can click on each menu title to show detailed information about that settings group.

The only problems I met when configuring this plugin is the user interface. Like I mentioned above, you can click on the settings title to show a hidden message that gives more details for the settings group but it’s not obvious this can be [...]

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(3 votes, average: 4.33 out of 5)

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Plugin Developers: What Is Your Wishlist?

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Jeff Chandler

January 26th, 2010

WordPress Plugins

Back in October, we told you about the new compatibility box that was added to the plugin pages within the repository. However, we’ve learned that this feature has one major drawback which is the crux behind this idea proposed by shinephp.
I propose to add the field e.g. ‘Problem description’ required for input if visitor click ‘Broken’ button in the Compatibility widget.
I’ve talked with a number of plugin developers and they have all said the same thing. The compatibility box is useless if feedback can not be tied to the rating. Sure, a support topic can be opened for the plugin but there is nothing tying that forum post to the broken rating. Mark Jaquith weighed in with an even better idea.
They should get a chance (or a mandate) to provide feedback, and that feedback should open a new support thread.
However, first, plugin authors need to be able to resolve support [...]

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(3 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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Do You Have Class?

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Jeff Chandler

January 25th, 2010

LinkyLoo

I have hard time understanding the basis of this article but I wanted to link to it because I know many in the WeblogToolsCollection audience are coders themselves and it would be interesting to see the conversation that arises from Andrew’s post. WordPress coders have no class. At least, that’s what Andrew says in his post that discusses object oriented code being used in a non-object oriented environment.
What do I mean by a non-object oriented environment? Well, firstly WordPress still does not require PHP5 for core code so there are limits to how many of the techniques it can use anyway. Secondly, WordPress has been around for a long time and has been developed by many contributors looking to achieve specific things with each patch without having a particular architecture imposed, except by committee.
WordPress developers tend to start as users who learn PHP in fits-and-starts when they need [...]

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(5 votes, average: 4.20 out of 5)

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Watch Where You Download That

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Jeff Chandler

January 21st, 2010

WordPress Templates WordPress Skins WordPress Themes

Craig Tuller of StudioPress.com has put together a post that contains information that needs to be repeated on a weekly basis. The basis of the post explains how downloading a theme or plugin from the wrong place can ruin your site. In the article, Craig publishes a small exchange that occurred between StudioPress and a customer who installed a non-purchased copy of a StudioPress theme. As it turns out, the non-purchased copy of the commercial theme contained code which generated links to porn sites on the customers website. This happens more often than it should but going down this road means you inherit the risks that come right along with it.
Not only should the advice Craig gives near the end of the article be heeded, but you should also read this article written by Leland of ThemeLab.com which goes into more detail with regards to nasty stuff that can [...]

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(4 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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WordCamp Miami 2010

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Jeff Chandler

January 20th, 2010

LinkyLoo

Here in Northern Ohio, it’s been one of those chilly Winters. I wish I could attend the upcoming WordCamp in Miami, Florida on February 20th from 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM (ET). The event will be taking place on the University of Miami Campus so there is bound to be great internet coverage. The speakers list is still being arranged but so far, Scott Kingsley Clark is a confirmed speaker who will discuss the PODS plugin. Other notable members of the community that will be in attendance are Matt Mullenweg, Mark Jaquith, Jane Wells and a host of other WordPress regulars. Registration for the event is currently open with tickets costing $30.00 each. Updated information can be found on the official WordCamp Miami website.

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(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)

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