I received a ping from Anil on their newly released beta product TypePad AntiSpam while I was on vacation. I told Anil that I would look into it and write a balanced article on it when I got back. I procrastinated on writing the post for quite a while but that also gave me the chance to think about the product quite a bit, have some conversations with Anil and others about the product and ruminate on the merits, usefulness and finally the viability of the service. It came as no surprise to me that Six Apart would come up with such a product and the choices made for the product are even lesser of a surprise. I had some initial thoughts on branding and the nature of the product that I communicated to Anil privately but the rest of the review of the technology and the service is my […]
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Archive for June, 2008
The WordPress Plugin Competition is in full swing. A lot of people have expressed interest in participating in the competition and some prizes have already been committed. As in the years past, the plugin competition prizes will be listed on the prize page. But here is a short list of what is in store for the winners. Weblog Tools Collection is offering up $1000 of prize money for the winners James and Andrew from Incsub have offered up $250 for a plugin that is WPMU compatible. They add that WPMU plugins are not that dissimilar to regular plugins, but need to run automatically and efficiently via wp-content/mu-plugins and require users to make no hard code changes (just edits in Settings) and for global administration to be possible via the Site Admin menu. Geof F. Morris has generously offered $100 towards the competition WindowsObserver.com has provided a copy of Tom Clancy’s […]
[Continue Reading...]When Jeff wrote about plugin deactivation breaking your blog, Aaron and I wrote in the comments of a few solutions to prevent plugin issues with themes. Within this post I will present several techniques plugin and theme authors can take in order to prevent deactivation issues. Method 1: function_exists In this example, let’s assume we have a function named related_posts. When in a theme, we could use this code to call the function if only it exists. <?php if (function_exists("related_posts")) { related_posts(); } ?> The PHP function_exists checks for the existence of the function, and if it does exist, it calls the function. Method 2: function_exists and Actions Using the same function name, the theme author could add some code into their functions.php file and use an action and function_exists combination. if (function_exists('related_posts')) { add_action('my_related_posts', 'related_posts'); } In the above example, we create a new action called my_related_posts. The end […]
[Continue Reading...]Two Column Themes ClearPixels ClearPixels is a widget-ready theme fully compatible with WordPress 2.5. Native Gravatar (2.5+) and tagging support. Also has an optional "sitewide announcement" configurable via a theme options page. iPhonized iPhonized is a two column widget-ready theme. The theme supports custom fields. The titles and comment counts are surrounded by rounded corners. The comments are embedded inside speech boxes. Spotlight Spotlight is a free WordPress theme with 3 widgetized areas in the sidebar (top, left, right) along with native Gravatar (2.5+) and tag support. Three Column Themes Mag Essentials Mag Essentials is three column widget-ready theme. The theme has a wide sidebar and has space for banner ad integration. The theme has a magazine style Design. Pundit Pundit is a three column widget-ready theme designed to focus on the writing. Perfect for news or political blogs or for anyone who anyone who wants to keep it simple. […]
[Continue Reading...]We’re one month into the plugin competition, so I thought I should write in and ask you how plugin development is going on? Are you ready with a plugin? If so, then it is time to create an entry on the Plugin Competition Blog. If you do not have author access then create an account and contact us to upgrade your account. Don’t forget to mention the plugin page on your site. Are you still hunting for ideas? Take a look at a post I made a while back. Need some questions answered? Ask away 🙂 Looking to sponsor the competition or donate some prize money? Please contact us. Donating money is easy and quick and it helps out the WordPress community. Remember we have just another month to go before the end of the plugin competition.
[Continue Reading...]is_human() is_human() is the simplest yet most extensive human verification system available on the WordPress market. Users can choose one of three verification types, or have the script show one at random on each page-load. WP Comment Remix WP Comment Remix allows you to reply and quote links for commentators and also provides a full upgrade to the edit comments pages in the admin panel. WP-Help WP Help is a plugin that allows you to create a simple help or instructional page in the WordPress Admin that will display customized information of your choosing. Image Upload HTTP Error Fix Fixes the media uploader HTTP Error that some WordPress (2.5+) configurations suffer from. Photo Galleria Photo Galleria is a simple, yet elegant, plugin for photographers, designers and WordPress 2.5 users alike who want to beautify their WordPress photo galleries using the jquery framework. WP Movie Ratings WP Movie Ratings is a […]
[Continue Reading...]Twitter, the micro blogging service which allows you to submit messages that are 140 characters or less has become an excellent communications tool. A large number of people are using Twitter on a daily basis to keep up with the world as well as communicating with their friends and family members from almost any location. As luck would have it, a large number of WordPress faithful are also using Twitter. I have at times, indulged in a conversation or two with those who are making a name for themselves within the WordPress community. I use my Twitter account to pass on links to cool themes, news stories and plugins I come across via my FeedReader. With that being said, I’d like to present you with at least 30 people to follow on Twitter. Each one of these people are doing something significant within the WordPress community and some of them […]
[Continue Reading...]Bloggers are Dangerous: I followed a chain of posts to the Innovation Creators blog to finally find the original author of the picture below. The linked article actually talks about how bloggers are perceived to be dangerous by various companies and their executives and Rod investigates the social and technological implications of blogging on the Enterprise. If you are into that sort of thing, it might be an interesting read. However, the picture of the various blog gang signs interested me the most. Afterthought: I wish more people credited the original author instead of linking to the last place they found an article of interest, especially when there is a CC license involved. Post name via oneplusinfinity On completely unrelated news, I found a WordPress Theme Design Book by Tessa Blakeley Silver that might be of interest to theme designers. Looks like the book is also available as an eBook. […]
[Continue Reading...]One Column Themes Revolution-X Revolution-X is a one column theme with three customizable widgetized sidebars at the bottom. The theme has a featured article section and built in transparency for linked images. Two Column Themes Dieanel Dieanel is a simple two column widget-ready theme. The theme makes use of blue colors intelligently blending the theme nicely. Loopy Rainbow Loopy Rainbow is a two column widget-ready theme, the theme is simple and comes with a sidebar to the right side. As the name suggests the theme comes in 7 colors and you can choose from blue, black, red, purple, pink and rainbow colors. Valid Blue Valid Blue is a two column widget-ready theme which makes use of darker shades of blue color. The theme is XHTML / CSS valid. Three Column Themes Pistachio Pistachio is a three column widget-ready theme with unique icons. The them is Gravatar ready and also highlights […]
[Continue Reading...]About the Author
- Mark Ghosh
An avid fan of business, education, technology and finance. I lead a lean, highly focussed and capable team of Java Back End developers and Front End developers through a maze of complex software wizardry to fulfill the web maintenance needs of a large chemical manufacturer. As per Myers-Briggs Personality Types, I am an ESTJ. I pride in a project completed on time and according to plan. My hobbies include all kinds of technology, anything that I can taste and anything that goes fast or flies in the air. I like to read business books and comics in my spare time.
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