WARNING: There is a distinct lack of hamsters in this video. Likelt very dull for non-geek types.
Peace out.
A brief look at HTML5 forms & a new Macbook Pro
WP Plugins: Simply Show IDs
The Link
http://sivel.net/wordpress/simply-show-ids/
The Lowdown
I couldn’t be without this plugin and install it on every blog I work on. It’s one of those beautifully simple ideas that fills a great big hole in any WP Developers ‘back end’.
Once you install and activate this tiny plugin (it weighs in at a whopping 4Kb), it places an ID column into all your page and post lists, your category lists, your media gallery lists. Whereas this information is kept hidden (not hidden exactly, but you’d have to hover over a link to discover the ID of a particular post or page) in the default WP installation, this plugin puts it out there for you to see at a glance.
Handy, handy handy handy handy.
WP plugin development: property listings management
The Link
The project
I was approached by Sarah from Hexagon Webworks regarding the programming of a bespoke property management plugin for a site build project that she was working on for Adkin. Top priority of the project was to be usability, both on the front end and in the admin area.
The client needed the plugin to allow them to manage all aspects of the listings, and to do so in such a way that fitted in with their existing systems. It was also necessary to devise an email subscription system that allowed users to register to receive email notifications of new listings matching their chosen property criteria, to be able to register the same email address across different sets of criteria, and to be able to manage each registration individually.
The Geek Stuff
The plugin has been built from scratch and includes the ability to manage each individual listing in a WordPress Blog Post fashion, but stored completely independently of the blog section of the CMS. The plugin hijacks the WordPress Media Library to its own ends for image management, and has a seperate facility for managing listing subscribers outside of the WordPress User database.
Safe.
Office Skiffle & The Effervescing Elephant
Yet another video blog that has absolutely nothing to do with web programming.
I hope you enjoy it and actively encourage you to get involved in the office skiffle movement. I’m not sure if there’s anybody in the office skiffle movement other than me at the moment, but we’re definitely changing the musical landscape.
Instruments featuring in this video are:
- Recycling Bin Bass
- Keyboard Washboard
- Stapler
- 30cm Ruler
- Rotary Pencil Sharpener
- The ubiquitous Flying-V Ukulele
Safe.
WP Theme Hack: www.ukpress.com
The Link
The project
Julian from UKPress first approached me after being sent in my direction by a mutual 4Networking contact. As a professional photographer he was keen to use a theme from Graph Paper Press – due to it’s great Photoshelter integration – but wanted to squeeze a little more specific functionality out of the theme beyond that which shipped with the theme. Julian was also after a hand setting up the (slightly overwhelming) theme administration panel to make the theme look the way he wanted it to look.
The Geek Stuff
The site has been built using WordPress as a content management system (CMS), uses a modified version of the ‘On-Assigment’ WordPress Theme and various pre-built plugins including wp-jquery-lightbox and Twitter Widget Pro. Most of the visual stuff was a breeze to get sorted via the theme admin panel, with a few Css hacks hardcoded into the stylsheet. The main programming job was the 6-thumbnail element on the front page, which Julian wanted to represent the latest post in each of 4 seperate categories plus the latest 2 posts in another, which was fun to write.
Safe.
