Last week I published two articles using custom loops. The first was about how to create a custom loop. The second was how to retrieve posts based on custom fields. In both articles, several readers commented that they would like to see paging and have it explained. I’d like to thank Aaron Harun from Anthology of Ideas for supplying the code used in this post. Paging, and why it doesn’t work with WP_Query The paging magic happens in a file called ‘link-template.php‘ in the ‘wp-includes‘ folder. Most themes have basic paging built in, with the help of two functions: next_posts_link and previous_posts_link. These functions, as well as several others, make use of a global variable called $wp_query. This variable is actually an instance of the WP_Query object. However, when we create our own instantiation of WP_Query, we don’t have this global variable $wp_query, which is why paging will not work. […]

Two Column Themes Blog It 750 Blog It 750 is a minimalistic two column theme with a sidebar big enough to hold two 125 x 125 banner ads. The theme is available in white and blue, black and blue, & black and red colors. RC2 RC2 is a lightweight 2 column theme with a top bar. The theme is simplistic and is widget ready. The theme loads quite fast since it uses minimal images both in the background as well as the page. Excel Excel is a two column theme which sticks to a strict horizontal grid. The theme has rotating header images, post ad integration, author comment styling and built in separated comments and trackbacks. LouisBrooks LouiseBrooks is a fixed-width, 2 column with right sidebar theme, with a little Deco styling. The theme is widget enabled and compatible with WordPress 2 and above. Simple Power Simple Power is a […]

Asides from having one of the simplest looking websites on the net, Yougler is a newly launched service which aims to provide bloggers the ability to establish a professional looking profile along with other perks. Using Yougler which is pronounced (Yoo-Guh-Ler) users can create profiles that bloggers can link to for spam free contact information. One of the long standing problems that bloggers have faced is the way in which end user’s can communicate with the blog author. Usually, this would consist of typing out your email address as so ( blabla at blabla.com). Replacing @ with at was a very inexpensive way of defeating the spam bots which would scrape the content of websites looking for printed email addresses but this method creates a few caveats. The first, user’s need to manually type out your email address which is far less convenient than clicking a link. The second, the […]

Two Column Themes Inverted Headline Inverted Headline is a dark theme with white and gray text. The theme has 4 widgetized areas in the sidebars which you can customize. Three Column Themes Multiplayer Tech Blog Multiplayer Tech Blog is a three column WordPress theme for technology blogs with blue and yellow colors. The sidebar is placed at each side of the content. MilaMira – Two authors blog MilaMira is a unique concept in a theme where the theme allows users to show separate sections for different authors. The theme is targeted at blogs which have two authors. Please read the customization options to set up the theme to show content from different authors. You can setup one author to use the left side of the page and the second one to use the right side of the page. Ad Clerum 3.0 Ad Clerum is a three column theme which includes […]

Speckyboy has created a list of the top 10 security plugins to use with WordPress. The plugins range from AskApache Password Protect to WP Security scan. When asked about security at WordCamp Dallas, Matt Mullenweg responded by saying “The best thing you could do to make sure your blog is secure is to stay up to date with the latest stable versions of WordPress.” Using strong passwords for your administrator account along with not using the default admin account that is created during a WordPress install are also good practices. For more information in regards to securing your WordPress installation, be sure to check out the Hardening WordPress article on the Codex.

How-To: Use WordPress 2.5 Tooltips Ozh has done it again! Have you noticed the cool little hover over tooltips on the WordPress 2.5 admin interface? Ozh’s small tutorial (with example code) shows us how to add your own tooltips to your cool WordPress plugins.

WP Page Numbers WP Page Numbers uses numbers which makes it easier for users to choose what page to go to instead of the regular Next and Previous links. There are five themes to choose from and an option to create your own themes to display the page numbers. WP Simple Sitemap WP Simple Sitemap is a WordPress plugin that automatically lists all your posts with a page number navigation. Dashboard last news Allows you to display the last items of several feeds in your dashboard. Aggregates as much feeds you want and displays the last items from it. DivvaFlip A plugin based on the WP2.5 media gallery DivvaFlip allows you to flip your pages using AJAX. It works in harmony with your native media WordPress galleries or with your Nextgen gallery. SmartAds SmartAds is a plugin that let’s you automatically, yet intelligently place Adsense ads into your posts. Some […]

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 […]