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The Correct Way To Report A Security Issue With WordPress

25
responses
by
on
August 12th, 2009
in
WordPress Security

If you don’t know by now, WordPress 2.8.4 has hit the public and it addresses a mild but hugely annoying issue. There was no advanced warning regarding the vulnerability but it was quickly patched in the core of WordPress for the next release. Unfortunately, word quickly spread and in fact, even my site WPTavern.com was affected by the problem as I received an email letting me know what my new password was even though I didn’t request one. Here are the details regarding the annoyance: a specially crafted URL could be requested that would allow an attacker to bypass a security check to verify a user requested a password reset. As a result, the first account without a key in the database (usually the admin account) would have its password reset and a new password would be emailed to the account owner. This doesn’t allow remote access, but it is […]

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Is WordPress A Thankless Community?

245
responses
by
on
July 10th, 2009
in
WordPress Plugins

Over the past few weeks, I’ve noticed a disturbing trend. Many of the plugin authors I have spoken with throughout the community tell me that very rarely do they ever get a donation let alone a Thank You for releasing their work to the public. Based on the plugin authors feedback, end users demand more features, demand better support, and in the end, have this feeling of entitlement even if the plugin is available without a price tag. The reality is, that for a freely available plugin, you’re not entitled to anything. I don’t know about you, but I certainly would not like to be part of a community that is known as thankless. Before I list a few ways of curbing this attitude, I must say that not EVERYONE in the community acts in the ways I described above. I know many of us have donated to plugin authors, […]

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Attention All Plugin Authors

29
responses
by
on
June 20th, 2009
in
WordPress

Today is the day of changelogs for plugins in the WordPress plugin repository. Back on June 15th, I vented about the fact that most Plugins didn’t provide an easily accessible changlog that notified me of why I should upgrade to the latest version of their plugin. Some plugins provided this information in the description tab while others placed it within the Other Notes link. Still others linked directly to a blog post explaining what had changed. The end user experience of trying to figure out why a plugin should be upgraded was a nightmare which is why I proposed that a new top level link be added along side Installation, Other Notes, etc called Changelog which provides a short and sweet history of version numbers and changes. This idea had been proposed before but no one managed to find time to address it. Thanks to some great work by Peter […]

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What Are Your Theme Standards?

27
responses
by
on
May 18th, 2009
in
WordPress Templates WordPress Skins WordPress Themes

On a thread within the WPTavern forum, there is an interesting discussion taking place among some prominent theme authors on creating a theme standards system. The initial idea is to create a standards system which would give theme authors a goal to shoot for. However, as the discussion has progressed, it’s easy to see that this entire idea of rating themes or putting together a set of standards is a complex problem. So after reading through that thread, I thought it would be a good idea to tap into the WordPress community to figure out what is most important to you when it comes to using a theme? Is it price, license, design, usability, functionality, or something else?

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Theme Development Checklist

6
responses
by
on
May 12th, 2009
in
LinkyLoo

Stefan Vervoort of WPToy.com has published a new and improved version of his WordPress Theme Development Checklist. This new checklist is provided in PDF form but it’s very easy to print. The checklist covers the following points: General Stylesheets Browser Compatibility Pages Styled Everything? Standard CSS Classes Validate WordPress Code Blog Elements This is one of those guides you could put up on the wall to serve as a quick reference.

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Need Help With That?

4
responses
by
on
May 11th, 2009
in
LinkyLoo

Over the past two years, I’ve had the privilege to talk with a number of different plugin/theme developers. While they each have their own unique style of getting things done, one thing they all have in common is providing support. Michael Torbert author of the All In One SEO Plugin wrote a great blog post published on WPTavern.com providing up to twelve things you can do to help make the support process go as smoothly as possible. You may not agree with what’s on the list and in fact, if you have anything you’d like to add, say so in the comments. Considering the AIO SEO plugin is the most downloaded plugin on the repository, you can bet Michael has had his share of support queries and then some. Before you ask for support, use Google. Make a concerted effort to search for resolutions to your issue. This will help […]

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Wanted: Women WordPress Developers

11
responses
by
on
May 6th, 2009
in
WordPress

Jane Wells recently put the call out to the WordPress Professionals mailing list asking for recommendations for Women WordPress developers. That is, those who develop plugins or patches for WordPress, not bloggers. Personally, when I think of women involved with WordPress, I think of Lorelle VanFossen, Lisa Sabin Wilson, and a few others. Other than Lisa who develops themes, I can’t think of any women off the top of my head that contributes routinely to the development of WordPress or plugins. If you are a female WordPress developer and you live on the West Coast, preferably around San Francisco, CA get in contact with Jane Wells as soon as possible. You may end up with the opportunity to present at WordCamp San Francisco.

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Smarter Theme Development

10
responses
by
on
May 1st, 2009
in
WordPress Templates WordPress Skins WordPress Themes

Ian Stewart who is the creator of the Thematic theme framework is currently in the process of putting together a series which explains how to cut theme development time, easier theme modifications, and the power of child themes. The first two parts of this guide are already online and covers child theme basics and modular CSS in child themes. Ian plans on covering the following topics in the future: Using Filter Hooks in WordPress Child Themes Using Action Hooks in WordPress Child Themes Creating WordPress Child Themes Publicly Releasing WordPress Child Themes Although this guide ends up using Thematic as the prime example, you should be able to pick up a few tips and tricks to implement if you’re not using Thematic.

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The Hidden Gem Of WordPress

28
responses
by
on
April 27th, 2009
in
WordPress

The other day, I was thinking about how easy it is to make a mess on the web. For example, purchasing a domain that you attach an email address to that is used for a year only to end up wanting to use a different domain. This means you have to go to every site you registered an account with and change the email address if you plan on letting the old domain retire. There are also a host of other issues as well which in the end, just seems like a giant mess. For this reason alone, I believe hosted blogging solutions will always have a market because you don’t have to worry about moving around or managing a domain. Typically, all you have to do is register an account and blog. However, users of WordPress.com have an awesome benefit that not many other blog hosting providers can match […]

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