With that in mind, I always like it when a plugin simply works. When it meets or even surpasses your expectations in carrying out a singular task effectively.

Super RSS Reader is one such plugin. Check out this video for a quick overview:

As you can see, Super RSS Reader allows you to place one or more RSS feed summaries directly into any widgetized area on your blog. It has a few different options which you can set to determine how the feed is displayed – including description, description length, number of visible items, and so on. And if you are a dab hand with CSS, formatting the widget to your liking is an absolute cinch.

Super RSS Reader is not a game-changer (obviously). But it is a big improvement on the default WordPress RSS widget. So if that is something you already use (or are thinking of using), you should definitely take a look at this first.

Download Super RSS Reader here.

Tom Ewer on Google+

Custom admin icons are needed in when creating new custom post types, plugin settings and theme options pages. At the very least you will need three icons:

• two 16px icons for the admin menu, one non-colored and one colored icon for the hover state
• one 32px icon for the actual screen

What’s included in the template pack?

Inside the download you’ll find a layered PSD with all of the icons sizes you’ll need. You’ll also find code examples for quickly implementing the sprites with custom post types and plugin/theme options pages, along with a few sample sprites for the various sizes.

Refer to Matthias’ release post for more detailed recommendations for the workflow of implementing the template and code examples.

You can download the free WP Admin Icon template and code from Kremalicious.com or grab it on github. The code is licensed under the GPL and the template PSD is public domain, free to use in any personal or commercial projects. This template pack most certainly took some time to prepare, so drop by Matthias’ site to say thanks or buy him a coffee.

Sarah Gooding on Google+

Here’s a look the new features in the latest release:

(Note: The API service is only available with a paid membership.)

• Refreshed menu structure and admin screens
• New Pattern Matching functionality to block bots by signup patterns
• New Are You A Human PlayThru game captcha
• New blog and splog creation stats screen with pretty graphs
• Add tags to API call for more accurate classification
• Add splogging command capability to admin toolbar
• Fixed various bugs/notices

While much of the power of the Anti-Splog plugin is necessarily behind the scenes, there are a few new additions from the list above that will be visibly noticeable: the refreshed menu structure and admin screens, the new blog stats screen, and the addition of Are You a Human PlayThru game captcha.

Let’s take a look at the stats screen and the new captcha game below.

Stat Screen

The new stats screen lets you clearly see at a glance how many blogs (as well as splogs) have been created on your site. In the graph below, legitimate blogs are in green (labeled ham) while splogs (labeled spam) are represented in red.

Are You a Human PlayThru Captcha

The Are You a Human PlayThru game captcha is another weapon you may choose to use to stop splogs. It’s one of several captcha options offered in the plugin. (Note: As with a number of the better captcha solutions, this is a free service that requires registration. You will then need to enter your assigned API key.)

The Are You a Human captcha works by presenting the visitor with a little animated drag-and-drop game that they must complete. Below are a few examples:

Anti-Splog Overview

Much of the power behind the Anti-Splog plugin comes from the Anti-Splog API service hosted at WPMUDEV Premium. The API service not only prevents/limits bots, it also identifies human-created spam.

In addition to the API service, there are a number of other methods the plugin uses to shut out splogs before they even get started, such as using sophisticated captchas, changing the sign-up page location every 24 hours, and limiting sign-ups per IP per 24 hours.

For a short overview of the plugin, check out the video below.

You can checkout the plugin in more detail and download it on its homepage here.

Joseph Foley on Google+

Any plugin that you favorite will show up on your profile listing at profiles.wordpress.org. This is a great way to keep track of the plugins that you want to remember, use often or want to recommend to others. Check it out at the plugin repository and start adding your favorites.

Sarah Gooding on Google+

I recently interviewed Lester for ManageWP, and so had the opportunity to take a closer look at all of his plugins. One that caught my attention in particular was WP-ShowHide. It is very simple, but what it does, it does well.

The idea for WP-ShowHide came from the way in which Engadget embeds press releases within posts (here’s an example). And whilst the plugin certainly can be used to present press releases in that manner, it can also be used to embed and show/hide any form of text.

How Does It Work?

Using WP-ShowHide couldn’t be any simpler – just wrap the text you want to embed in [showhide][/showhide] tags, and readers will see the following:

If a visitor clicks on the link, the text appears seamlessly, and the link text changes accordingly:

As you can see, I am using the trusty T’Lipsum Generator for my dummy text (I’ll take any excuse to plug it).

By default, the shortcode assumes that you are embedding a press release. However, you can define a few different variables from within the shortcode to control settings:

• type – if you want to include more than one block of embedded text within a post, you need to name each one using this variable.
• more_text – use this variable to define the text that is displayed when the embedded content is hidden. Include “%s” to display a word count.
• less_text - conversely, use this variable to define the text that is displayed when the embedded content is displayed.
• hidden - define as yes/no to determine whether the embedded content is displayed or hidden (by default, it is hidden).

Here’s an example using all of the above variables:

[showhide type="podcast" more_text="Show Podcast Transcript (%s words)" less_text="Hide Podcast Transcript" hidden="yes"](Podcast Transcript)[/showhide]

And here is the end result:

That’s it! There are multiple potential applications for WP-ShowHide – how will you use it?

Download WP-ShowHide here.

Creative Commons image courtesy of Ernst Vikne

Tom Ewer on Google+

Good news for WPMUDEV members – the still relatively new Events Plus plugin has been beefed up yet again with a whole slew of new features.

The Events Plus plugin allows you to create and manage events right on your WordPress site. It also works with BuddyPress and Multisite.

Let’s take a look at the features and add-ons:

•   Event and Next Event Countdown add-ons.
•   Next Event Shortcode add-on.
•   Event Controlled Redirect add-on.
•   Weekly Event Calendar add-on.
•   Avatar replacement for people logging in with Facebook/Twitter.
•   Filling in users first and last name metas from Facebook and Twitter.
•   Support for multiple person attendance for an event
•   Support for registering to website from front end
•   Login with Google account
•   Category-like custom taxonomy.
•   Category filter to upcoming events widget.
•   Defaulting to username if no other names apply for “Guest lists options” add-on.
•   Support for blog local time, instead of server local time
•   Support for WP date/time settings
•   Improvements in Help texts.
•  Recording event metas on posted social messages.

Events Plus Plugin Overview

Because this plugin is still relatively new (first released in February), we’ll give a quick rundown of what it’s about.

The Events Plus plugin lets you create and manage meet-ups, parties, dinners, fundraisers, or any other type of event you can think of – be it online or off – right from the comfort of your WordPress site. It also works with BuddyPress and Multisite.

Here are some of it’s features:

• Integrates with PayPal. Sell tickets to your event and accept payment in any major currency.
• Hassle-free interface. Creating your event is as simple as adding a new post to your WordPress blog.
• Facebook and Twitter login. Guests can RSVP with their social media profiles – no WordPress account required.
• Integrated Google Maps. Simply insert Google maps with built in direction features for attendees by using our Google Maps Plugin.
• Widgets included. Easily display event attendees, upcoming events and most popular events in any widgetized area of your site.
• Compatible with any WordPress theme. Looks great out of the box or customize the style and layout to fit your site.
• Keep tabs on who’s coming. Monitor the guest list from your WordPress dashboard, with the option to display public RSVPs on your site.
• Works perfectly with Multisite and BuddyPress. Beautiful BuddyPress integration, including groups support
• New features: Recurring events, auto-scheduler, limited capacity events, ‘my events’, e-newsletter integration, front page editing, guest list options and more…

And of course don’t forget all the new features in this latest update.

You can check out or download the plugin here.

Photo: Event Ticket from BigStock

Joseph Foley on Google+

Pingdom

Pingdom offers a free package that lets you monitor one website or server and includes 20 free SMS alerts as well as free email alerts.

Uptime Robot

Uptime Robot lets you add up to 50 websites to monitor for free. You’ll get alerts by e-mail, SMS, Twitter, RSS or push notifications for iPhone/iPad.

Tag Beep

tagBeep lets you monitor up to 50 sites for free. The service checks your site every minute and sends free email and SMS alerts to notify you of errors. When errors are detected the service takes a snapshot of the page and saves the HTML.

Service Uptime

Service Uptime alerts you within seconds via email or SMS whenever your website becomes inaccessible or returns incorrect data. A free account lets you monitor one service and will check on your site or server every 30 minutes.

Site Uptime

The free plan at SiteUptime allows you to monitor one website. Their software tracks site failures and logs detailed reports of the uptime/downtime of your website each month.

Site 24×7

The free option at Site 24×7 allows you to monitor two websites at a 60 minute poll interval.

Monitor.us

Monitor.us offers unlimited monitors and email notifications for free.

Uptime Dog

Uptime Dog checks the availability of your website every two minutes to see if it is online and working. It will notify you via email if your site is down. The free account requires you to put a link to their site at the bottom of your site.

100 Pulse

100pulse lets you monitor two websites for free with a minimum interval of 15 minutes.

Internet Seer

Your free account at Internet Seer will notify you of downtime email. The services checks your site once every hour.

Binary Canary

The free service at Binary Canary lets you monitor up to five websites at a 15 minute frequency.

Uptime Spy

Uptime Spy is a free service that provides all of the functionality, quality, and performance of monitoring systems that one might normally pay for. The service checks your website at 1/5/15/30/60 minute intervals and offers TCP monitoring, ping sensitivity control, monitor periods, contact management, and node selection.

Sarah Gooding on Google+

The site’s creator hopes to make it a more comprehensive and up-to-date reference than the Codex currently offers. The auto-suggest on the search certainly makes it a bit more friendly and convenient for digging through WordPress code. Bookmark QueryPosts.com for the next time you need to do a little bit of research.

Sarah Gooding on Google+

While the plugin was already loaded with features, the ability to segment audience by country is a game-changer for those who could benefit from catering to different visitors around the world in different ways. Here are a few examples of what’s possible with this new feature:

• Show a pop up only to visitors from the U.S. but no one else.
• Show a pop up to only visitors from the U.S. and Canada but no one else.
• Show one pop up to visitors from the U.S. and Canada, but show a different pop up to visitors from the U.K. and yet another pop up to visitors from Australia. Show everyone else either a completely different pop up or no pop up at all.
• Show a pop up to visitors from every country around the world except visitors from the U.S. and Canada.

Have the wheels in your head started turning yet?

Take a look at the country function in action.

Here is the complete list of upgrades and fixes in the new version:

• Added Geo IP rules to allow restriction of popover showing based on visitors country (using hostip.info’s API)
• Added IP cache so that the API isn’t hit repeatedly for the same IP address
• Added configuration option to allow the API used to be changed easily.
• Added configuration option to allow defaulting to a specific country if the API is down.
• Fixed IE bug that left dark background in place when dismissing popover.
• Fixed issue with internal referrals condition when domain mapping is active on a blog.

If you haven’t yet checked out the pop up plugin, you really should. It’s packed with controls that will let you do practically anything you like. Along with controlling how, when, and where the pop up displays, the plugin lets you show a pop up (or not) based on the following conditions:

• If the visitor is logged in
• If the visitor isn’t logged in
• If the visitor has never commented
• If the visitor came from a search engine
• If the visitor came from an external link
• If the visitor came from a specific referrer
• If the visitor has already seen the pop up X-number of times
• If the visitor is on a specific URL
• If the visitor is not on a specific URL
• If the visitor is in a specific country
• If the visitor is not in a specific country

And here’s a look at the display controls.

You can download the new version on its homepage.

Photo: World map from BigStock

Joseph Foley on Google+

I first wanted to check and make sure that I was not the only person coming across the problem. But after a quick straw poll amongst some colleagues, I discovered that I was not.

Here’s the problem:

Yikes. Ugly, right? Whereas Facebook typically takes a link you paste into the status update field and populates it with a title, description and thumbnail, I would often end up with something like the above screenshot. It doesn’t exactly look appealing for your fans, does it?

The Solution

The sadistic part of me wants to make this more complicated, but there’s no need. I have found a simple fix to this bug that has worked every time so far – depending upon the URL you paste in, either add or remove the trailing forward slash.

So in the above example, I refreshed the page to get rid of the old draft status update, then pasted in “http://wpmu.org/beginners-introduction-to-multisite”. Here’s what resulted:

Much better, right? A simple, yet elegant solution.

If anyone technically minded knows why Facebook is experiencing this problem, please let us know in the comments section!

Tom Ewer on Google+