Redesigning Poles Apart Design, I used the Datafeedr Random Ads V2 plugin as a random image rotator. The plugin requires that I add PHP code to a template page which I didn’t want to do because I wanted the image rotators to appear in specific posts. I could make that happen by installing and enabling another plugin that enables me to use PHP code within a post, but sometimes using PHP code within a post can cause unexpected issues, plugin or no. So, I thought, oh yeah, shortcodes. Shortcodes are pieces of simplified code that represent PHP code/functions without having to use actual PHP in the place you put the shortcode. Actually, you can use shortcodes for output of regular text, html and even CSS. A shortcode comes in this format [shortcode-post-title-here]. Here’s how to add a PHP function into a post from any plugin that requires a specific function call (which is almost all) to generate whatever content the plugin is for.
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I didn’t get a cell phone until I was in my mid twenties. I refused to. I was definitely not anti-technology, just anti-reach-me-anywhere-anytime! Now of course, three phones later, I love my iPhone and can’t seem to leave it at home without feeling I’m missing an index finger. A ghost limb, if you will. Or perhaps I just like shiny objects (ha ha). Seriously though, since having my iPhone now strapped to my hip, I’ve found so many actually useful iPhone apps ’cause as much as I love new shiny things, I hate excess and prefer practical additions to my life, not glossy ones with no purpose. [Read more →]

Broken Link Checker is a great, great, great plugin because it saves you mucho, mucho, mucho time and headache keeping your site up to date with correct information, specifically, updated links. The plugin basically shows you a list of broken links under the Tools section of your WordPress dashboard. It shows you the post that the broken link was found in, the text it’s linked to, gives you the option of discarding the post, unlinking the text, and editing the post. But, the best, best, best part is that you can click “edit” to edit the link right there instead of having to fish for it within HTML code or in visual mode! Thank you Broken Link Checker!

Out of the many new additions to 2.8 from 2.7 my favorites so far have to do with accommodating my laziness. Or maybe just my impatience. The best thing about WordPress I’ve always found is that the dashboard, the admin area, is extremely user friendly, though of course not fool proof ’cause nothing’s fool proof, ’cause well, fools are foolish, aren’t they. Anyway, as user friendly as WordPress has always been, it hasn’t always been admin-friendly. Too many hidden features and sometimes not enough options in how to view the admin area without this plugin or that. With that said, I’m loving the many new admin area features that make my life as WordPress blogger, designer and developer that much easier when I’m blogging, setting up and/or explaining the admin area for a client and so forth. [Read more →]

I have a client who would very much like to choose which WordPress posts they publish to be sent to their facebook and Twitter accounts with a click of a button or checkbox. You’d think woth the onlaught and frenzy of Tweeting and spuerpoking, their would be a buffet of WordPress plugins to post blogs to facebook and Twitter to choose from. And there are, and none of them seem to work right. The closest I got to getting a plugin to do what I needed was using the “supr by StumbleUpon” plugin which allows you to post a a blog post to both facebook and Twitter.  It works for facebook, though a bit buggy. But the Twitter function doesn’t work at all. I found this all quite frustrating so I created a quick work around without having to create my own bloody plugin!
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I know, it’s been a while since I posted an article here at WordPress PAD. I have a good excuse, I’ve been hard at work developing websites using WordPress as a CMS (and blog). In the past few months I have learned a great deal about what WordPress can and cannot do…mostly what can be done to it with a little grease, time and patience.

With that said, working on a current project where I had to implement a bbpress forum with a current wordpress blog installation, I realized that bbPress, although a sister software of WordPress, is not the best solution for WordPress forum integration for two reasons. One, it’s quite buggy and two, it’s not a smooth integration. [Read more →]

So, let’s say you have a blog that publishes more than blog posts. Or rather, you use WordPress’s blog posts loop to publish glossaries, directories, or other lists that you don’t necessarily want published in your rss feed or exposed in your archives. Well, there’s a two-prong solution that takes just about 60 minutes of your time. First, installing the WordPress Advanced Category Excluder plugin and two, creating a JavaScript enhanced archives page that only exposes the posts and pages you want your users to see.
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Hi, welcome back to Our Love Affair with WordPress series. It’s been a while, I know. But, I’ve been busy working with some clients to make their WordPress blogs as fabulous as they can be! So, last time on Our Love Affair with WordPress, we talked about Enhancing Your WordPress Blog With Essentials. Now, let’s say you’ve got a pretty tricked out blog, that both emphasizes your topic without all the unnecessary spinning rims and shiny bling, but you got some seriously phat content, sweet design and sick SEO that doesn’t interfere with the user experience. Now, one reason I very much dislike excess in blog design, and excess in general is because having a lot of anything means there’s that much more to maintain and that much more to look a hot mess when not maintained on a regular basis. With that said, let’s talk about what blog maintenance essentials you should practice to maintain keep your blog hot, and prevent a hot mess.
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