Weblog Tools Collection

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WordPress.com 2.5 Essential Training at lynda.com Online Training Library® is a set of training videos by Maria Langer (who also happens to be a professional helicopter pilot) that walk through the setup and use of WordPress as a blogging tool. Sadly, the title of this set of videos might be a bit misleading (though the title does indeed say WordPress.com, I was taken by the version number in the title) since the videos are tailored for WordPress.com blogs and not for self hosted WordPress.org blogs. However, a few of the initial videos are offered for free download and the only option for purchase of the full set is via a monthly subscription for $25 which would give the user access to all the videos on lynda.com. There are plans to sell the videos as a CDROM for purchase but those are not available as of this post.

The videos are aimed towards the basics of blogging and range in topics from setting up a blog on WordPress.com to creating and maintaining posts, pages, categories, adding multimedia, choosing and setting up themes, managing users and participating in the blogosphere.

If you cannot see, the video, please visit this link: Comment Remix - Video Plugin Review

Today’s WordPress Plugin video review is of Comment Remix.

Video Summary: Comment Remix adds numerous admin panel options, as well as reply, quote, and tag capabilities on a post. The star feature for admins (in my opinion) is the “In Need of Reply” option, as well as the various actions added to comments.

Pros: Reply/Quote options are useful for admin and end-users. “In Need of Reply” is great for blog admins and unreplied comments. A lot of admin panel options make this plugin highly configurable.

Cons: Pop-up boxes could use the built-in WP 2.5 thickbox.js script. The “In Need of Reply” badly needs an “ignore all” option. Not sure of the usefulness of tags for comments unless there are global options. Styling could also be better for the comment actions.

The Comment Remix plugin is entered in the WLTC Plugin Competition. Please head over and give your say to the Comment Remix plugin.

For a text review, please read Plugin Review - WP Comment Remix.

If you think your WordPress plugin will merit itself to a video review, please get in contact with me via e-mail (ronalfy+wltc @ gmail dot com). Please keep in mind I will not review premium plugins.

For more videos, please check out our brand new video website at Weblog Tools Videos.

If you cannot see, the video, please visit this link: Dashboard Widget Manager - Video Plugin Review

Today’s WordPress Plugin video review is of Dashboard Widget Manager by Viper007.

Video Summary: Dashboard Widget Manager is a great way to customize the WordPress 2.5 dashboard. The plugin is great for multi-author blogs where each author would like a customizable dashboard. Admin can also set a default dashboard setup.

The ability to re-order and customize certain dashboard widgets is a very nice feature. If possible, I’d like to see some extra widgets in the future.

Pros: Customizing the dashboard is very easy if you are familiar with widgets.

Cons: Minor style issues.

If you think your WordPress plugin will merit itself to a video review, please get in contact with me via e-mail (ronalfy+wltc @ gmail dot com). Please keep in mind I will not review premium plugins.

For more videos, please check out our brand new video website at Weblog Tools Videos.

Magnify.net has released a media search and upload tool in the form of a plugin for WordPress (and for Movable Type). The plugin requires WordPress 2.5 or above and the plugin lets the user search and embed video and images from a variety of networks into their posts. The plugin also provides the ability to shoot and publish videoblog posts using a webcam from within the WordPress and Movable Type platform and users can search and embed video from YouTube, AOL, Yahoo, BlipTV, Metacafe, DailyMotion, Clipsyndicate, Google Video, Veoh, Red Lasso, and more.

Install is relatively simple, though it involves more than just uploading one file. The plugin adds a small button to the post page and provides a search and embed interface for the various multimedia elements including a tab for webcam capture and embed. I would imagine a natural extension of this plugin in the form of enabling video comments for blogs like Seesmic and a screencast capture tool would be a very nice addition for the future. Read more reviews and opinions on the new plugin on Techmeme.

Disclosure: Weblog Tools Videos is built on the Magnify.net service

If you cannot see the video, please visit this link: Organize Series - Video Plugin Review

Today’s WordPress Plugin video review is of Organize Series by Unfolding Neurons.

Video Summary: Organize Series is an extremely powerful plugin that makes organizing series rather simple. There are many options to customize the look. The show clincher for me is the ability to have series archives. I highly recommend this plugin for people who do post series.

Pros: It’s easy to add series and to organize them. Many options to customize the look and feel. The series permalinks are a nice feature.

Cons: Perhaps too many options, but power-users will love them. I only tested this plugin on 2.5, so I’m not sure how well this plugin fares on other versions.

If you think your WordPress plugin will merit itself to a video review, please get in contact with me via e-mail (ronalfy+wltc @ gmail dot com). Please keep in mind I will not review premium plugins.

For more videos, please check out our brand new video website at Weblog Tools Videos.

If you cannot see, the video, please visit this link: Absolute Comments - Video Plugin Review

Today’s WordPress Plugin video review is of Absolute Comments by PlanetOzh.

Video Summary: Absolute Comments is a major improvement over the WordPress 2.5 Comments Panel. The plugin allows you to reply to comments easily without having to visit a post. The plugin also allows you to view all comments for a particular post. An immense timesaver.

Pros: Major improvement over the existing WordPress 2.5 comments panel. The plugin makes it easy to reply to comments.

Cons: None, although it would be nice if there was a way to change the default reply text (or have several options) in the admin-panel without having to edit the plugin’s code.

If you think your WordPress plugin will merit itself to a video review, please get in contact with me via e-mail (ronalfy+wltc @ gmail dot com). Please keep in mind I will not review premium plugins.

For more videos, please check out our brand new video website at Weblog Tools Videos.

Today’s WordPress Plugin video review is of Admin Favicon by John Kolbert.

Video Summary: Admin Favicon is a plugin for those who have a lot of open tabs and would like to use a Favicon to show using the WordPress Administrative Panels.

Pros: Extremely simple to use and quite useful for those who have a lot of open tabs in their browser. Very light-weight script.

Cons: None. Admin Favicon is not ideal for those who use desktop publishers or browsers without tabbed support.

If you would like your own plugin reviewed, please get in contact with me via e-mail (ronalfy+wltc @ gmail dot com). Please keep in mind I will not review premium plugins.

For more videos, please check out our brand new video website at Weblog Tools Videos.