The WPCandy Quarterly print proofs are in
The WPCandy Quarterly is, as far as I know, the first-ever WordPress-centric magazine. Or rather, it will be when it begins shipping out to subscribers in the next week or so. On Friday I received the final print proofs, which wraps up the last necessary step before all the issue are printed and delivered. I've dropped in a few photos of the proof sheets below. Of course I'm a bit biased, but I think this issue looks fantastic . I'll have more to share about the production process next week, but I just couldn..
Theme Playground (11 hours ago)
A Plugin to Make All Themes Responsive, Coming Soon
It's no secret that I'm a fan of responsive themes . Knowing that your WordPress blog will look just as good on a tiny mobile screen as it does on a huge desktop screen is one of the most important factors of design to me, especially in today's age where mobile device usage is growing so rapidly. Sadly, there aren't many responsive themes out there, but Responsive Plugin aims to change that. Once released, Responsive Plugin will make any theme scale perfectly on any screen size. There is no definitive release..
Weblog Tools Collection (16 hours ago)
Pressbits 005: Don’t delete plugin options on deactivation
In this episode of Pressbits I discuss my pet peeve of plugin developers deleting my options settings on deactivation, rather than upon uninstallation. You should listen to it, especially if you're a plugin developer. If you would rather download it directly you can do that too , or subscribe to this show via RSS or on iTunes . If you would prefer a written summary, you can also read that just after the jump. Deactivating and uninstalling a plugin are not the same thing Let's talk about plugin options. Sp..
Theme Playground (1 day ago)
Pressbits 004: Don’t hesitate to release plugins
In this episode of Pressbits I discuss the hesitance I sometimes see in folks to release their code as WordPress plugins. Listen, I dare you : If you would rather download it directly you can do that too , or subscribe to this show via RSS or on iTunes . If you would prefer a transcript, you can also read that just after the jump. Mine your work for plugins that you can release Sometimes I get the sense that someone is shying away from releasing any of their work as a plugin. They will say things like R..
Theme Playground (2 days ago)
Envato removes price adjustment tool from their Elite program
This morning Collis Ta'eed announced on the Envato Notes blog that their price adjustment tool, previously available to Envato Elite authors on their marketplaces that reached $75,000 in sales, is no longer available. Normally prices on the Envato marketplaces are set by Envato during the product review process, and not by the author of the product. The price adjustment tool, announced last year , allowed certain authors to test out different prices for their products beyond what the marketplace would set for..
Theme Playground (2 days ago)
WordPress Plugin Releases for 2/3
New plugins Quick Notice Bar will help you to display a sticky message in your site's header. RePress allows you to circumvent internet censorship by proxying traffic to websites that have been blocked by repressive regimes. Widget Logic Visual lets you control on which pages widgets appear using conditional tags. WP Really Simple Health allows you to view memory utilization, server uptime, and CPU load on the new admin toolbar. Updated plugins Tallyopia Analytics provides analytics that you can embed into yo..
Weblog Tools Collection (2 days ago)
WPCandy Podcast 30: Jetpack full of fireworks edition
In this, episode 30 of the WPCandy Podcast , we officially adopt a new format for the official show. In short, the goal is for the WPCandy Podcast to deliver a higher awesome per minute ratio, and be the “if you only listen to one WordPress podcast, listen to this one” podcast. But that's not all. In this episode Brian and I recap on 2011 at WPCandy, and I sit down to interview Andy Skelton and Joen Asmussen from Automattic about the WordPress.com/Jetpack year-end reports ( example ). You can list..
Theme Playground (3 days ago)
Envato offers bounty to get more e-commerce plugins
E-commerce is becoming more of a hot topic within the WordPress community. Given this realization, we've seen plugins like WooCommerce be released free of charge, among other great e-commerce plugins. Envato, the company behind ThemeForest and CodeCanyon (just to name of a few of their properties), put up a bounty to plugin developers. They see a need for more e-commerce plugins to be available in their marketplace and they're willing to pay to get those plugins up there. Here are the details about the bounty..
Theme Playground (3 days ago)
Behind the Site: Tripawds, a user-supported three legged dog community
Ed: Tripawds is, in all honesty, a very touching site. It is a community of bloggers and users supporting canine amputees. The site is run by Jim and Rene Nelson, and just so happens to be running on WordPress. Jim offered to share some background information on Tripawds when he saw our ongoing Behind the Site series. In this series, a WordPress site's owner walks us through what makes their site unique and how it does what it does. At this point I'll hand it off to Jim, who wrote about he and his wife's site..
Theme Playground (3 days ago)
Pressbits 003: Simple plugin updates
I recorded a Pressbits episode just for you : If you would rather download it directly you can do that too , or subscribe to this show via RSS or iTunes (coming soon). If you would prefer a transcript, you can also read that just after the jump. On simple plugin updates I try to pay close attention to plugin updates. Not as close as WordPress updates , though when it's a plugin I'm using it's just as important to me. One of my favorite dashboard-tweaking plugins has been, for some time now, the Expandable Das..
Theme Playground (3 days ago)
ThemeForest dev opens own theme shop
Matt Alexander has sold themes on ThemeForest for 2 years now, under the username digitonik . He's ready to break free and start out on his own. Matt decided to focus on the business side of themes, and offer them in a bundled fashion just like Elegant Themes is doing. Matt's new WordPress theme shop is called the “ WP Business Bundle .” Props to Matt for being mindful and not violating the registered WordPress trademark owned by the WordPress Foundation. I caught up with Matt and asked him why he..
Theme Playground (3 days ago)
ResponsivePlugin.com will help make your theme responsive
Responsive design is definiteively a topic for 2011 and converging into 2012. Having a responsive design is more than just having a “mobile friendly” site. It's about having a site that will look great and functionally work on nearly any device; whether it's an iPad, a Kindle Fire, an iPhone or Droid, all the way back to the desktop. Take WPCandy.com for example. If you were to resize the browser, it would work seamlessly without any issues. Not all sites do this, and most WordPress themes are not..
Theme Playground (3 days ago)
WordPress Theme Releases for 2/1
Dusk To Dawn is a dark theme that melds old-style organic ornaments with modern design and typography. Grisaille is a classic and simple two-column design adjusted for mobile browsing. Stark has 2 columns with a left sidebar, is of fluid width, has both an upper menu and a vertical menu, and is high contrast with vivid red, black and white.
Weblog Tools Collection (4 days ago)
The WordPress Theme Review Team Needs Your Help
Are you a WordPress blogger? Do you enjoy having thousands of safe themes to choose from in the official directory ? Did you know that a small group of volunteers goes through every single line of code in every submitted theme to make sure that they work properly on a basic installation and are free from malicious code? Chances are, you didn't know that last bit, but now you do. The Theme Review Team could use your help, especially if you know your way around a theme or two. At this time, there are typically ..
Weblog Tools Collection (5 days ago)
WordPress Plugin Releases for 1/30
New plugins No Soup allows you to block users from a specific IP or range(s) of IPs and redirect them to another site. WhatElse is a widget that lets you manually add related content to every post or page. Updated plugins Joemobi allows you to create native Android and BlackBerry applications from your WordPress site. Social Login for WordPress lets your users log in and comment via their accounts with popular ID providers such as Facebook, Google, Twitter, Yahoo, Live, and over 15 more.
Weblog Tools Collection (6 days ago)
WordPress Theme Releases for 1/28
Putte is a clean and beautiful theme with great features. Red Modern is an elegant theme with red modern menus and elements.
Weblog Tools Collection (8 days ago)
Year of the Meetup
We hereby declare 2012 as the Year of the WordPress Meetup. You'll want to get in on this action. meet·up \ mēt -əp\ noun A meeting, especially a regular meeting of people who share a particular interest and have connected with each other through a social-networking Web site: a meetup for new moms in the neighborhood; a meetup to plan the trip; a meetup for WordPress users. 1 So what is a WordPress Meetup ? Basically, it's people in a community getting together — meeting up — who share an intere..
WordPress Development Blog (8 days ago)
PressTrends Releases Plugin for WordPress Blogs
PressTrends has released a rather fascinating plugin for WordPress blogs. The plugin will allow you to measure various metrics for your posts, comments, and plugin usage, and compare these to averages across the entire PressTrends community. The feature list may be just a bit basic now, but there are more features on the way, the design is very clean-cut, and if you're interested to see how you're doing versus “the status quo,” this is definitely the way to do it. If you're a theme designer, you ..
Weblog Tools Collection (9 days ago)
WordPress Plugin Releases for 1/26
New plugins Site Background Slider uses fullscreen images (read from a specified folder) to create a slideshow inside your background area. Updated plugins Fast Secure Contact Form lets your visitors send you a quick e-mail message and blocks all common spammer tactics. Additionally, the plugin has a multi-form feature, optional extra fields, and an option to redirect visitors to any URL after the message is sent. FoxyPress is a custom plugin made to integrate FoxyCart e-commerce functionality into your WordP..
Weblog Tools Collection (10 days ago)
Celebrate Matt Mullenweg’s Birthday by Donating Water
Matt Mullenweg , co-founder of WordPress , turned 28 two weeks ago . It's been a busy year for Matt. Three major WordPress versions were released, he switched back to using a Mac after 8 years on Windows, and he travelled 190,000 miles over 245 days. Even though two weeks have gone by, it's not too late to say “happy birthday” to Matt. In fact, he would prefer to receive all of his birthday gifts this year in the form of donations to Charity: Water through his birthday campaign . Matt has set an a..
Weblog Tools Collection (11 days ago)
WordPress Theme Releases for 1/24
Evergreen is a colorful theme that packs a visual punch. Famous is an advanced theme for business, portfolio or blog usage.
Weblog Tools Collection (12 days ago)
iThemes Launches Web Designer’s Toolkit for Students
iThemes has now added a huge student discount to their popular Web Designer's Toolkit . The new Student Edition offers full-time students in the US and Canada access to over 150 themes, over 20 plugins, and over 300 hours of training for only $97 ($880 less than the original). Folks with a strong memory may notice the similarity to iThemes's Educator Program . While the Student Edition of the toolkit is not free, the $880 discount is something that can't be beat, especially if you're busy spending money on yo..
Weblog Tools Collection (13 days ago)
WordPress Plugin Releases for 1/22
New plugins Pretty Pinterest Pins allows you to display thumbnails and links to your latest Pins from Pinterest in your sidebar. Stop Censorship Ribbon will place a black ribbon with the words “Stop Censorship” in the top right corner of your website, linking to the American Censorship website . Updated plugins Fast Secure Contact Form lets your visitors send you a quick e-mail message and blocks all common spammer tactics. Additionally, the plugin has a multi-form feature, optional extra fields, ..
Weblog Tools Collection (14 days ago)
WordPress Theme Releases for 1/20
Pronto is a very minimal grid style masonry theme. Spring Wish is bright, optimistic and reminiscent of spring.
Weblog Tools Collection (16 days ago)
NASA Goes Open Source
NASA , the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration, has started to churn out quite a few open source projects . Though this doesn't have any impact on the blogsphere (yet), it's exciting to see a government agency of this level working in an open source environment, effectively asking its citizens for help with projects, while simultaneously making some outstanding code available for anyone to use. As an added bonus, the new code site is powered by WordPress .
Weblog Tools Collection (16 days ago)
WordPress Plugin Releases for 1/18
New plugins SOPA Blackout adds a temporary 503 status and customisable page on your site to automatically join Web Blackout Day – 18th January 2012. Stop SOPA Ribbon will place a black ribbon with the words “Stop SOPA” in the top right corner of your website, linking to the American Censorship website . Note: Folks with WordPress.com blogs can join the SOPA/PIPA Protest via Settings -> Protest SOPA/PIPA in their Dashboards. Updated plugins WP-Aletheia: Feedback allows you to easily gather fe..
Weblog Tools Collection (18 days ago)
Internet Blackout Day on January 18
WordPress.org is officially joining the protest against Senate Bill 968: the Protect IP Act that is coming before the U.S. Senate next week. As I wrote in my post a week ago , if this bill is passed it will jeopardize internet freedom and shift the power of the independent web into the hands of corporations. We must stop it. On January 18, 2012 many sites around the web — from small personal blogs to internet institutions like Mozilla , Wikipedia , reddit , and I Can Has Cheezburger? – will be go..
WordPress Development Blog (18 days ago)
How to Move A Small WordPress Site Via the Import/Export Tool
Over the past year I have moved a reasonable number of WordPress sites between different servers and hosting companies (around 10), and I picked up some tips and tricks along the way. First of if you search around the web for advice on how to move a WordPress blog you'll probably get a recommendation to backup all the site files and databases, transfer the site files, and then restore the database on the other server. While this works, I think it's unnecessarily complicated, especially if you are transferring..
Daily Blog Tips (19 days ago)
Help Stop SOPA/PIPA
You are an agent of change. Has anyone ever told you that? Well, I just did, and I meant it. Normally we stay away from from politics here at the official WordPress project — having users from all over the globe that span the political spectrum is evidence that we are doing our job and democratizing publishing, and we don't want to alienate any of our users no matter how much some of us may disagree with some of them personally. Today, I'm breaking our no-politics rule, because there's something going o..
WordPress Development Blog (25 days ago)
6 Tips to Speed Up and Optimize Your WordPress Plugins
The WordPress engine is pretty efficient out of the box, but once you start loading plugins the performance and responsiveness of your site might go downhill. On top of that the consumption of resources might become too big, possibly leading to a suspension of your hosting account (especially if you use shared hosting). Over the years I played with and tweaked my WordPress plugins trying to achieve a good performance level, and below you'll find the tips I learned along the way: 1. Use a Cache Plugin Serving ..
Daily Blog Tips (26 days ago)
WordPress 3.3.1 Security and Maintenance Release
WordPress 3.3.1 is now available. This maintenance release fixes 15 issues with WordPress 3.3, as well as a fix for a cross-site scripting vulnerability that affected version 3.3. Thanks to Joshua H., Hoang T., Stefan Zimmerman, Chris K. and the Go Daddy security team for responsibly disclosing the bug to our security team. Download 3.3.1 or visit Dashboard → Updates in your site admin.
WordPress Development Blog (32 days ago)
Must Use: W3 Total Cache WordPress Plugin
I am a bit stubborn when it comes to changing old habits. The same is true for technologies I use, WordPress plugins included. As such I have been using WP Super Cache for as long as I can remember, and I always thought it was a great plugin. Then around one year ago I started hearing about a new cache plugin, called W3 Total Cache . I didn't bother to actually test it, as WP Super Cache was doing its homework. Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago, and a couple of my sites started to open slowly due to the a..
Daily Blog Tips (54 days ago)
WordPress 3.3 “Sonny”
The latest and greatest version of the WordPress software — 3.3, named “Sonny” in honor of the great jazz saxophonist Sonny Stitt — is immediately available for download or update inside your WordPress dashboard. WordPress has had over 65 million downloads since version 3.0 was released, and in this third major iteration we've added significant polish around the new user experience, navigation, uploading, and imports. Check out this short video that summarizes the things we think you'l..
WordPress Development Blog (54 days ago)
WordPress 3.3 Release Candidate 3
The third (and hopefully final!) release candidate for WordPress 3.3 is now available. Since RC2, we've done a handful of last-minute tweaks and bugfixes that we felt were necessary. Our goal is to release version 3.3 early next week, so plugin and theme authors, this is your last pre-release chance to test your plugins and themes to find any compatibility issues before the final release. We've published a number of posts on the development blog that explain important things you need to know as you pr..
WordPress Development Blog (56 days ago)
Core Team Meetup Time
It's almost that time again, when the WordPress core development team gets together in person to review the year's progress and talk about priorities for the coming year. Next week Matt Mullenweg , Mark Jaquith , Peter Westwood , Andrew Ozz , Andrew Nacin , Dion Hulse , Daryl Koopersmith , Jon Cave , and I will meet at Tybee Island, GA, the same location as the last meetup. Last year we wanted to do a video town hall, but ran into technical and scheduling difficulties. This year we're planning ahead, and will..
WordPress Development Blog (56 days ago)
WordPress 3.3 Release Candidate 2
The second release candidate for WordPress 3.3 is now available! As the first release candidate was well-received, we think we're really close to a final release. Primarily, we've ensured that new toolbar (the admin bar in 3.2) has a consistent appearance across all browsers, and the API for developers is now final. You can check our bug tracker for the complete list of changes . Plugin and theme authors, please test your plugins and themes now , so that if there is a compatibility issue, we can figure it out..
WordPress Development Blog (60 days ago)
WordPress 3.3 Release Candidate 1
Release Candidate stage means we think we're done and are about ready to launch this version, but are doing one last check before we officially call it. So take a look, and as always, please check your themes and plugins for compatibility if you're a developer. Stayed up late tonight, Hammering toward RC1. Now with more icons! Download WordPress 3.3 Release Candidate 1 .
WordPress Development Blog (66 days ago)
WordPress 3.3 Beta 4 Available Now
The march toward 3.3 continues! With all our major tickets closed, we are very close to a release candidate. In Beta 4 we've fixed a bunch of bugs, cleaned up the UI, added real text in some of the screens that still had placeholder text in Beta 3 (post-update screen, the Dashboard welcome area, new feature pointers), and generally tightened things up. We updated to jQuery 1.7.1 and addressed a LOT of bugs. If you are a plugin or theme developer (or distributor), please test against Beta 4 to ensure there are..
WordPress Development Blog (73 days ago)
5 Reasons You'll Love the WordPress Editorial Calendar
This is a guest post by Annabel Candy. If you want to guest post on this blog, check out the guidelines here. Do you struggle to organize your blog posts in advance? I did too for my first two years of blogging. I've got a background in journalism so when I started blogging I knew the importance of having an editorial calendar and planning my blog posts in advance. I've also created clear topics on my blogs because it helps my readers see what information they can find on my blog and get there fast. But despi..
Daily Blog Tips (79 days ago)
Blogger Is A Valid Option For Some Websites
This is a guest post by ES. If you want to guest post on this blog, check out the guidelines here. I have been blogging for quite a while, and most of this time I used WordPress, as most of you guys. While I still think WordPress is an awesome platform, recently I rediscovered Blogger (not the free hosted service, but the CMS you can to host your own domains). I found that it has got many new features over the years, and that it might actually be an option to host some of our projects. In this post I'll highl..
Daily Blog Tips (170 days ago)
March 06 WordPress Links Round-Up
Reduce Comment Spam to Zero Without Akismet After my trouble with Akismet, I tried Arpit's suggestion on reducing spam. It worked! I used to get hundreds of spam comments and trackbacks per day, which makes it hard for me to find ones that were accidentally marked as spam. Now, I get less than a handful of spam comments every couple of days. Although I am still using Akismet as a back up, I have other plugins acting as the first line of defense. 48 Unique Ways to Use WordPress Bothered by the complexity of in..
WPDesigner (4 years ago)
Market WordPress Theme
“ Market ” is a new premium theme from Andrew of Astereostudio.com, which allows you to use your blog as an online store or marketplace. View the live demo here . Via custom fields, you can enter a description, 1 large image with 3 smaller images, a price, and other information for each product or item. It also allows people to pay you through PayPal. Installation Market is actually very easy to install. I have a copy of it installed offline (on my computer). It took me less than five minutes to a..
WPDesigner (4 years ago)
How to Get Help for WordPress Problems
The following tips will help you get help for WordPress problems. If you don't follow my tips, your question will get ignored, no matter who or where you're trying to get help from. Search Before You Ask WordPress.org, Google.com, within the site you're trying to get help from, etc. Double Check the Read-Me File Themes, plugins, and even WordPress have installation and usage instructions. They're usually in the readme.html or readme.txt file. Find the Right Place to Ask Do not email or post codes in the comme..
WPDesigner (4 years ago)
How to Use WordPress as a Membership Directory
This article was written by Chris Cagle . Do you want to create a moderated membership directory that showcases your member's information? Do you want it to be flexible, be very little work after initial setup, and use a world-class open source platform that you are already familiar with? Your first thought might not be to use WordPress for such a project, but since it already has an extremely easy way to accept, moderate and update registrations – it's a perfect candidate. In this tutorial I will show you ..
WPDesigner (4 years ago)
Inspiration or Lack of Creativity
Article's written by Jeff Chandler . As I browsed the WordPress themes released for February 25th 2008, on WeblogToolsCollection.com , I came across a theme that had everybody raving. It was called Options and was created by Justin Tadlock, the same theme author who created Structure . As I browsed the theme, I couldn't help but notice the similarities in terms of the icons that were being used, the navigational text/layout, the way the content was displayed, ect. It looked eerily similar to Brian Gardner's R..
WPDesigner (4 years ago)
Wpdesigner 20,000 Accounts Giveaway
The $5 WordPress themes club is giving away 20,000 accounts to your readers. Wpdesigner.com will sponsor your blog contests and giveaways by using the themes club memberships as prizes. To be a part of this giveaway, sign up your blog by leaving a comment or contact Wpdesigner.com between February 23 and March 8. Rules Your blog must have at least 1,000 unique visitors per month. Sign up any time between February 23 and March 8. You must announce the contest, giveaway, or promotion on your blog to get the fre..
WPDesigner (4 years ago)
Simple vs Complex Designs
Designs with complex structures are typically more fun to look at, but they're also typically more cluttered and harder to use. I find it interesting that WordPress users haven't gotten over the “premium” news and magazine themes craze because they're mostly designs with complex structures (and not exactly done right either).First, I admit it. This wave of WordPress themes imitating the structures of complex print magazines and online entertainment portals featuring multimedia content was a refres..
WPDesigner (4 years ago)
Beware of Careless Paid Theme Authors
Do you know exactly what you're buying? Where does everything within that paid WordPress theme come from? Of course, you don't have those answers. Theme authors (people you're buying from) are responsible for answering those questions and making sure everything you're buying was licensed for commercial use and redistribution. Unfortunately, some theme authors simply don't care enough to provide those answers and do it the right way. While I'm trying to make my themes more unique and referencing everything tha..
WPDesigner (4 years ago)
Wpdesigner 10 Preview
Structure-wise , I went for a small home page rather than the typical lengthy 10 latest blog entries and a sidebar. My new home page is made up of four main features: full content of latest blog entry, six titles of recent blog entries, another six titles of most popular articles, and a sidebar made up of my cheesy face and category navigation. Design-wise , it's grid; it's grunge; it's glossy; it's illustrated. This design basically represents the fact that I'm learning how to design and learning to not rely..
WPDesigner (4 years ago)
Static Sidebar Sucks
If every page has unique content or purpose, then why does your sidebar look the same on every page? Your static sidebar sucks that's why. Notice, currently, Wpdesigner.com's sidebar also sucks; it's static or displays the same content on every page. Example While reviewing DavidAirey.com , I realized that his blog's right sidebar (made up of a search form, feedburner subscribe link, list of popular articles, and list of recent articles) displayed the same sub-content on every page, even on the portfolio page..
WPDesigner (4 years ago)
