The inaugural event will take place on August 11th at 7pm at Future Media Concepts (FMC) in downtown Philly. WebDevStudios.com is sponsoring the event and donating pizzas for all!

I’m really excited to find some local talent to come speak at our monthly gatherings. If you’re in the Philly area, and interested in WordPress. make sure you join the Meetup group and get involved!

Related posts:

1. New Jersey WordPress Meetup coming in January
2. WordCamp NYC 2009 set for October 24th!
3. Indianapolis Twitter Meetup aka Tweetup

I plan on demoing a hacked website to show what hacks are capable of. I will also be covering top security tips and plugins for your websites and blogs. And lastly we’ll talk about how to clean up your website after a hack occurs. I will also be giving away some copies of Professional WordPress!

If you run a WordPress powered website these tips are not to be missed!

Related posts:

1. I’m Speaking at WordCamp Montreal!
2. WordPress Security from WordCamp Montreal
3. Professional WordPress Is In Production!

I’m also starting up a new WordPress Tips and Tricks Newsletter so if you are interested be sure to sign up!

First we need to add a form field to the Edit Category screen. To do this we’ll use the edit_category_form_fields action hook available in WordPress:

<?php
add_action ( 'edit_category_form_fields', 'tme_cat_featured');

function tme_cat_featured( $tag ) {

	//check for existing featured ID
	$cat_featured = get_option( 'category_featured' );
	$featured_id = '';
	if ( is_array( $cat_featured ) && array_key_exists( $tag->term_id, $cat_featured ) ) {
		$featured_id = $cat_featured[$tag->term_id] ;
	}
?>
    <tr class="form-field">
        <th scope="row" valign="top"><label for="category_featured"><?php _e('Featured Post ID') ?></label></th>
        <td>
        	<input type="text" name="category_featured" id="category_featured" size="3" style="width:5%;" value="<?php echo $featured_id; ?>"><br />
            <span class="description">The post ID that will be the featured post when viewing this category.</span>
        </td>
    </tr>

<?php
}
?>

The above code will add a single text field (Featured Post ID) to the Edit Category screen as shown in the screenshot below:

Now that we’ve added a text field to our Edit Category page we need to save the input to our option array. To capture the ID when a category is updated we’ll use the edited_category action hook like so:

<?php
add_action ( 'edited_category', 'tme_save_featured');

function tme_save_featured( $term_id ) {
	if ( isset( $_POST['category_featured'] ) ) {

		//load existing category featured option
		$current_featured = get_option( 'category_featured' );

		//set featured post ID to proper category ID in options array
		$current_featured[$term_id] = intval( $_POST['category_featured'] );

		//save the option array
		update_option( 'category_featured', $current_featured );
	}
}
?>

As you can see we are saving the Category ID and Featured Post ID as a single associative array option value in WordPress named category_featured. As you add Featured Post ID values to each of your categories they will be added to this array and saved in WordPress. One thing to consider when using this method is scalability. If you plan on storing thousands of meta data values for your taxonomies this isn’t the method for you.

I packaged this example into a stand alone plugin so you can easily install on your WordPress website and test it out: Download the Taxonomy Meta Data plugin example.

Related posts:

1. How To: Load User Info Using the Admin Email in WordPress
2. Custom Post Type UI Plugin for WordPress
3. How To: Add a Post Thumbnail to an RSS Feed in WordPress

Be sure to check out the newest features in WP 3.0 including the enhanced custom post type support. You can use my Custom Post Type UI plugin for a quick and easy way to play with post types.

I loved seeing three WDS guys on the list of Contributors: Chris Cochran, Brian Messenlehner, and Me!

Also check out the video showing the new features in 3.0:

Related posts:

1. Easily Increase Site Traffic Using StumbleUpon.com
2. Custom Post Type UI Plugin for WordPress
3. Google OpenSocial Launches Today, Hallelujah!

I spent part of the day waiting for FiOS to be installed in the new house. After the install was complete we had my birthday dinner at Hooters, which is pretty much a tradition at this point. All in all it was a good birthday!

I found this quote online that seems appropriate:

Everything I know I learned after I was thirty. – Georges Clemenceau

Related posts:

1. 330 Days Later and my House is Sold!
2. Merry Christmas from Scotland

WordCamp Day 1 was held at the Mission Bay Conference Center in San Francisco. The location was really nice and had plenty of room for all 700+ attendees at the event. I attended a few sessions throughout the day, but spent most of my time (as I usually do) chatting with fellow WordPress junkies in the hallways and outside.

For lunch we had an amazing BBQ buffet and some live jazz to enjoy while we ate outside. At the end of the day Matt Mullenweg gave his annual State of the Word address. However the best part was yet to come, and that was the afterparty!

The WordCamp after party was held at the Automattic lounge on Pier 38. After passing through security (yes security) we were treated to an open bar and a nice assortment of snacks including fresh made crepes! I knew we were in trouble when the drinks were being made at about a 90% alcohol and 10% mixer ratio.

I would share all of the photos from that night, but it would look more like the credits from The Hangover, so instead I picked my favorites of the bunch to share:

Photo credits to Chris Cochran

Related posts:

1. WordCamp San Francisco This Weekend!
2. WordCamp Boston 2010: Recap
3. WordCamp NYC 2009 Recap

This is also the first WordCamp since the release of Professional WordPress! I plan on bringing some copies of my new book to giveaway! If you are interested in getting a free copy make sure to track me down at the event to find out how you can do so. I will also have plenty of WDS schwag to hand out. I’ll be sure to write a recap of the event when I return next week.

If for some reason I don’t return next week it means I have decided to stay in California permanently. :)

Related posts:

1. WordCamp San Francisco 2010 Recap
2. WordCamp Boston Here I Come!
3. I’m Speaking at WordCamp Montreal!

/%author%/%postname%/

That’s all there is to it! Now the user URL will be http://example.com/username just like in Facebook! To create a custom author page design simply edit (or create if it doesn’t exist) the author.php template file in your theme directory. Below is a screenshot of the custom permalink structure:

Related posts:

1. How To: Create Backdoor Admin Access in WordPress
2. How To: Create Custom ASP URLs with Querystrings using ISAPI Rewrite
3. How To: Create ASP and AJAX username availability check example

I had a great time discussing our book with hosts Patrick O’Keefe and Stephan Segraves. We covered many different topics including how the book came to be, what separates our book from the rest, and how our book is a solid compliment to the Codex. We also had a great discussion about the difference between a WordPress Theme and a Theme Framework, which I think a lot of people are still a little confused by.

It’s a little strange being on the other side of the interview table, but I’m starting to get use to it. Promoting a book is a lot of work, but in the end the payoff is well worth it. If you haven’t had a chance to order this book what are you waiting for? Order a copy today and support your favorite WordPress developers!

Also be sure to subscribe to the SitePoint Podcast, which I’m a regular co-host on, if you haven’t already! We discuss the latest news and happenings in the world of web development and design.

Related posts:

1. My Interview on the WordPress Weekly Podcast
2. Official SitePoint Podcast Launches
3. Professional WordPress Is In Production!