WP Addict

WP Ecommerce Premium Gold Cart Plugin – FAIL!

Nile — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 07:29:41 +0000

I have used the free version of WP Ecommerce for quite a while, so when I had a client need their product to accept payments through First Data’s LinkPoint module, my client invested the money to add the extra payment gateways.

Lo and behold, when installing the premium upgrade, the payment gateway did not work. I submitted a ticket to their premium support – mind you that they subtract from it and you may get support from a “trusted” user of their product… not the plugin creators.

So, I was lucky two days later to get an email to check my payment gateway choices and finally, the LinkPoint selection appeared. So, I decided to put in the store ID and fill out the instructions. When updating, the page loaded to a blank page.

THEN, when my client tested the payment, it also loaded to a blank page, AND the transaction had not gone through. So, I sent a reply to the “trusted” user to update them on my client’s findings.

In the forums there have been many issues with this premium plugin concerning the payment gateways that have no solution or the members are struggling to find a solution…. TO A PLUGIN THEY PAID FOR!!! This is not right and I feel it is necessary to make sure that others are aware of this and that the plugin creators wake up. When you offer a paid plugin, it should work. If not, it should be taken down, re-worked, and then given out.

This would eliminate the need for someone to come in and fix an issue that should not be charged tokens, as according to their policy. It makes people like myself who have respect for plugin developers (I am one myself) have to question what is going on?

Anyone have any issues with the premium upgrade plugin?

Brand Your WordPress Login Without A Plugin – Part 2

Nile — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 08:50:13 +0000

I posted how to Brand Your WordPress Login Without A Plugin, but I was asked by Ash of Ash Blue Web Design how to change the URL on the login page from WordPress to your own URL. Well, after mulling it over and since I have been coding a few WordPress plugins, I thought I would dig a bit for the solution.

After you have followed the first tutorial, here is how you can change that URL.

As a reminder, the full code from the previous tutorial is:

function my_custom_login_logo() { echo ''; }

add_action('login_head', 'my_custom_login_logo');

Before the ‘; after the style tag, you will put the following javascript code, which is pretty self explanatory. We are switching one URL for the other, but specifying that it is your site’s link.

So, in the end, the full code is:

function my_custom_login_logo() { echo '


';

}
add_action('login_head', 'my_custom_login_logo');

Twitter Tools Back In Action

Nile — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 20:20:51 +0000

After a lot of work, Alex King finally got Twitter Tools working again. However, there is a catch. If you want to automatically post to Twitter, you will have to apply for a Twitter API to sync it with your Twitter Tools.

Although Alex says it is a big tricky, it really is not. The directions given to get the API working are very simple. It may not be easy for newbies, but if you have set up RSS Grafitti or a Facebook Application, it might not be so difficult.

Truthfully, all you have to do is follow the directions. Once you have filled in your website’s URL into the correct fields, the API will give you some codes for you to put into your Twitter Tools. Below is a screenshot of how I registered Blondish.net for a Twitter API, just for Twitter Tools usage.

It is important to note that if you are practicing in devious things online (like spamming) or have been reported for abusing Twitter in the past, Twitter may suspend you. The oAuth solution is the current approach, but according to King, he is definitely open to other solutions.

For a lot of people, this update comes as a relief. Twitter Tools is one of the most popular and downloaded plugins in the WordPress plugin repository.

What are your thoughts on the oAuth method? Have you set your Twitter API for Twitter Tools up on your site yet?

No related posts.

Changing Your Username In WordPress

Nile — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 04:31:58 +0000

Of course, when you go to your own WordPress admin panel and update your profile, you will see that it says you cannot change your username. A lot of people usually choose admin as their login password. This is very common.

However, for those who later realize it might be best to change your login username, you CAN change it!

1. Go to your database management in your webhost account’s control panel (whether cPanel, Plesk or some other type), and click to open phpmyadmin or something else.

2. Put the following line into your query

update tableprefix_users set user_login=’newuser’ where user_login=’admin’;

Of course change the newuser to the desired username you want and then click to load your new query. You should now be able to login with the new password. And for those who want to know if it interferes with your plugins, it should not at all unless you are required to put your username. In that case, you should inform the plugin creator to replace it with the variable to recognize the user_login which will protect your username from prying eyes.

For those who are using ‘admin’ for their username, it is best to change the password for security reasons since it is a very common username. This tutorial will help you change that.

WordPress Plugin Review: Connections

Nile — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 05:32:14 +0000

Connections (Connections in the WordPress plugin directory) is a plugin that allows you to list a directory of people, much like an address book, or a directory listing of people.

This is great for businesses that like to list their employees or management team. The plugin allows for an avatar or picture, website address, social network handles, address, and even phone. Visitors can download individuals entries (vCard.)

The plugin can be customized to fit your needs by simply adding CSS to your theme’s stylesheet, rather than editing the plugin’s default stylesheet. When uploading photos, if you have not set up a certain thumbnail size and go back to adjust the settings, you may need to re-load the images. The caching is a bit terrible.

The plugin can be applied to any theme and only needs the shortcode. For shortcodes, there are several methods to show the listings like descending order, alphabetical, and even by group.

I have used this plugin on a couple client’s sites and it is a real convenience because it is user-friendly. All that is needed is entering the information from the WordPress admin backend and the plugin arranges the rest.

I would like to see this plugin include a way to add extra fields or name certain fields. For example, if I had a business that I listed the management team, and a few blogged, I would want to list a link to the person’s author page. Currently, the only option is to select ‘Website’ and enter the URL.

Thesis Adopts A Split GPL

Nile — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 20:35:13 +0000

Chris Pearson and Matt Mullenweg clashed over GPL in an interview conducted at Mixergy.

The license adopted is one that covers Thesis for its WordPress components as well as Pearson’s own work into the product. So, you cannot redistribute Thesis as it currently is. You can only redistribute the parts that are WordPress code and API.

It boils down to the fact that Pearson can deliver a product that he can only offer, rather than adopting GPL for the whole theme and possibly losing business.

For me, I think this is a fair compromise. I am very sure it was a hard one to deal with and while I am certain there are a few developers grumbling that they cannot work with the entire code, at least they can work a little more with what is there. It is not an easy decision when changing software licenses because it can effect a lot of people.

However this protects Pearson’s work and also honors WordPress. Kudos to Chris Pearson!

I will say that for those who have been supporters of GPL software, this comes as great news! It is great that Matt Mullenweg stepped up to the plate to take on this issue.

What are your thoughts?

How to Display A User Welcome Message In WordPress

Nile — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 11:04:57 +0000

Whether you just like to put up a personal greeting or have a site that has quite a few users, something a welcome message is nice. I have seen a few people put this together and have a centralized paged where users can log in, read the personal message, and then go on their merry way using the website.

The code is really simple. This code calls the current user. If you want to only let people like contributors or other roles see the message, you have to adjust the level_0 to any of the levels corresponding with the roles. (Example: administrator is 10)

< ?php global $user_ID; if( $user_ID ) : ?> < ?php if( current_user_can('level_0') ) : ?>

Welcome < ?php global $current_user; get_currentuserinfo(); echo ($current_user->user_login); ?> < ?php else : ?> < ?php endif; ?> < ?php endif; ?>

You can edit the little welcome message to whatever you like.

WPQuestions: Ask a WordPress Expert

Nile — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 10:49:39 +0000

The WordPress Support forums are a great source of information, but to not always dig deep. This is where WPQuestions comes in handy. A lot of the questions involve getting down and dirty in code – somethings involve stealthy PHP ninjas.

For those who just need a little coding help, but do not want to go all out and pay a lot of money to a freelancing site, this works great. Response time is great too. I actually asked a question recently and within minutes I had a response. I even had been personally helped by Oleg Butuzov (@butuzov) to work out a code I have been wanting to work with involving adding Adsense. All of the available tutorials had not been working correctly, so I turned to WPQuestions. Thanks Oleg for your help!

Here were a few questions that have been solved in the past:

WPQuestions was started by Lawrence Krubner and Darren Hoyt.

Please note that if you do use the service to please set an adequate price. Some of the more difficult answers do take time. I have seen a few answers not give the amount that should have been given for an answer.

One of the great aspects is that if there are several people that answer a questions and they all add to the solution, then the person asking can split up the prize money and award it to all of the people who answered. However, please note, that even if you answered a question correctly after another person, does not necessarily mean you will be awarded the money. It really kind of works like freelance boards where you are competing.

So, if you are a person who loves coding, WordPress, and can answer those brain picking questions, perhaps you might be suited to become an expert too?

Thesis And WordPress Clash Over GPL

Nile — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 11:02:34 +0000

I am not a Thesis user. I have designed for Thesis, but I have no love of it. Frankly, it bites. I wrote about Thesis before, and even though I offer a free and simple skin, I still have no love for it.

Thesis does not enhance SEO in any way. In fact, here is what Matt Mullenweg retweeted from @studionashvegas on Twitter.

The whole shebang started before the above Twitter re-tweet between Matt Mullenweg and Chris Pearson, and it spurred on a lot of conversation.

WordPress allows people to alter its code, fork off the code, develop plugins, develop themes, redistribute it, and more. That is how open source is so great. WordPress allows for people who are web designers and developers to take something and improve upon it. However, they (WordPress / Automattic) have been steadfast in not supporting WordPress related software that does not also allow much in the favor of open source and GPL.

Thesis allows people to download the product for an enormous fee. In fact it is nearly $30 more for a single licensing fee than some of the top premium and more pleasing themes out there in the WordPress theme market. The majority of people that use Thesis really are not that different from each other aesthetically in design. This is not some megalomaniac type statement. Look around, it is so obvious. It really is a shame when the product needs more flexibility rather than revamping tidbits of code and offering developers an expensive price that offers VERY little other than multiple installs.

Why bother when the WordPress default TwentyTen theme has so much more potential to be customized and even looks better than Thesis.

For designers and developers who have been in the field of freelancing or offering free themes, Thesis is not something to embrace as a nice product. It is like the annoying premium plugins that end up being a pain to customize. You have to learn their product because they decided to not go with WordPress and tinker with making a ridiculous amount of coding to make hooks that really are not even necessary. They still end up doing the same thing as putting functions and filters in your theme and your theme’s functions.php file.

There are people using Thesis that still have to use gobs of plugins. Do yourself a favor and shop wisely for a WordPress theme if you are going to buy premium themes. Many of them not only offer as many options as Thesis, but go above and beyond in design.

It is a product that works and a lot of people have embraced it, but really, how many hard core WordPress designer and developers would loyally use it, let alone recommend it? Not many that I have seen, especially with the amount of freelance work I get just fixing code on work by other web designers, including a few Thesis related projects. And by the way, I do not see many of those type of projects listed on the freelance boards.

Legality:

I go back to my point I said earlier about Thesis still using WordPress to execute its functions and even though there is a huge argument over GPL, I am not in total agreeance with Why the GPL does not apply to premium WordPress themes. The Thesis product is a derivative much like most WordPress themes, according to Mark Jaquith. It is like if I make my own theme, write a bunch of unique hooks, but those hooks actually operate off of the WordPress core. It is a roundabout way of operating a site. The core is not hacked or altered in any manner.

To learn more about GPL, here are a few resources:

What are your thoughts?

Askimet Deletes Real Comments?

Nile — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 06:37:21 +0000

You heard it! And this is not a singular incident. Even Growmap published Akismet Deletes Comments Bloggers NEVER SEE!

While a lot of people do know, others do not know that Askimet will block IP addresses that have been reported to be used by spammers. This is a problem, especially if those addresses are dynamic IP, most commonly found with broadband users. So, if you happen to get the “lucky” IP, you might have your comment eaten by the spam elves at Askimet.

Your WordPress installation allows you to blacklist a lot of things from keywords to websites, and even IP addresses. I would say to eliminate less of a chance of being spam or accidentally blocking your regular comment buddies (example: if they were to change providers in the future), do not include IP addresses to blacklist.

If your comments are being caught as spam, you could use the Askimet contact form, but as to how they will respond, I cannot guarantee that you will get a positive response.

For myself, I have not had a problem with my comments. However, I see people complaining daily about their comments being eaten. It could be Askimet. It might even be the server itself going through a brief glitch. However, there are enough people that are pointing this out and losing confidence in Askimet.

While I am not bashing on Askimet (because I am going to keep using it for my own websites), I have to put the question out there if some algorithms and settings needs to be looked at before spammers get worse in the years to come. Perhaps leaving the IP banning should be up to the individual site owner? Most web hosts do allow site owners to implement IP banning… some make it easier. For example, web hosts that offer clients cPanel have a special section in the administrator panel for IP banning.

What are your thoughts?