Thu 10 Jul 2008
Idealien Category Enhancements
Posted by Idealien under Plugins[7] Comments
(13 votes, average: 3.23 out of 5)
Loading ...Does it seem strange to you that pages have a nice, intuitive way to apply various themes to them and categories don’t? Would you like to have a way for posts to be styled based on their category? I did on more than a couple of occasions. So for my entry into this contest I decided to make a plugin that would solve these two problems. All plugin details are available at the Idealien Category Enhancements (ICE) home page.
The first place I tried the plugin out was to create a set of AJAX-based category / post views for a client project (blacksmith artist photo gallery). The code for that is not yet “clean enough” that I feel comfortable sharing it, but looking at that site might give you a hint of the potential that this plugin offers. As I was creating that fast loading photo gallery, I realized that I may have unlocked another small piece of the ‘Can Wordpress become a fully-featured CMS?’. This plugin could allow one installation of Wordpress to be any / all of the following:
- An event calendar and each category is a different calendar type.
Each post takes you to a detailed view of the date with event details. - Photo Gallery
- Multi-level / genre portfolio with extensive use of custom fields.
- Contact list
- Product database
- etc
Looking at some of the other plugins that are part of the contest, at first glance my plugin might not seem that incredible. But I’d ask that the judges consider what a theme designer with bold vision could design as a result of using this plugin which could not be done as easily without. By integrating the template into the manage > categories menu, it brings consistency to the template process of categories, posts and pages.
(13 votes, average: 3.23 out of 5) Loading ...
My question with this plugin is how custom category templates would be handled.
From the code perspective, they would be handled exactly the same as the category.php and single.php files that are a part of any theme. The only difference being that you can now make one category-cssgallery.php, select it as the theme for a parent category and it will also apply to the dozens of sub-categories.
From the community perspective, it would be similar to the way themes are shared today. Designers could either share their css and category templates OR design a version which is VERY generic making it easier for other designers to leverage their code.
To help grow that community / sharing element for the plugin, I am in the process of creating the SVN repository on wp.org for this plugin. I will create a section for any category templates that I create or ones that other designers send me if they are so inclined.
I just hate the plugins with PayPal buttons.
Sorry you feel that way Nikos. It doesn’t affect the functionality and if it really bothers you that much you can comment out the form on lines 222 – 228 of the plugin code and not have to look at it ever again.
While I generally detest Paypal and the fees they charge for transactions, it is one of the easier ways to offer people the chance to support developers who are contributing to the betterment of the Wordpress landscape.
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