AWSOM Pixgallery 4.5.6 released
The AWSOM Pixgallery image gallery plugin for WordPress has been updated to version 4.5.6 and is now available for Download from the AWSOM.org website. This version adds in the ability to display IPTC data for your images and a few minor bug fixes.
WordPress 2.6, more updates more (possible) Plugin problems
WordPress 2.6 will soon be released, and much like 2.5 it may very well lead to a wide range of Plugin related problems. In this case though it’s not the normal range of programming level issues, but related to a security change in the structure of WordPress.
In 2.6 it appears that they want to allow the admin to alter the basic location of both the wp-config.php file (which contains the database/username/password information for WordPress) and the wp-content folder (which contains the theme/plugin/image/media uploads folders). I was honestly somewhat surprised when I first started using WordPress that these areas weren’t already variable based for their locations. Most other older CMS programs had implemented these types of customization options over time to help combat security vulnerabilities. Obviously the recent string of WordPress hackings have finally prompted the dev team to add this into WordPress.
So, what does this mean to Plugin programmers? Well, for very basic Plugins probably not much. However, the more powerful and wide ranging Plugins will need to probably be rewritten…again. Anything that needs to write to a specific folder or location will be impacted. Some Plugins that “require” the wp-config.php file will also be affected–this is even true in the cases of some Theme files too. So this could be very fun. The upshot though is the possible changes in this case are elective–the WordPress site admin will need to actively change the default locations for the config file and wp-content folders–so I’m hoping anyone who decides to do this will also be able to understand and compensate for any plugins that may need to be altered.
As for the AWSOM series of plugins, I’m going to work on and release an update soon for any that are impacted by these changes, so there shouldn’t be a problem going forward.
UPDATE: Here’s a link to a good write up on the changes Plugin writers need to know to be compatible with the new 2.6 version–> http://planetozh.com/blog/2008/07/what-plugin-coders-must-know-about-wordpress-26/
AnimeNext Panel on Online Distribution
Hi everyone, I’ll be at AnimeNext this weekend. One thing I wanted to specifically point out is a panel I’ll be on called “Online Distribution Options for Comics” that occurs on Sunday June 22nd at 2pm. This is an opportunity for anyone to come down and get some questions answered by me about web set up options as well as insight into other methods of getting your work out there through the internet. I’ll also be around at the “Onezumi.com/Stupid and Insane Defenders Against Chaos” table on Saturday from about 1:30-6:30 pm and also 10-1:30 on Sunday to answer questions (and maybe sell some stuff :) ) . Stop on by and say hello, I’m always happy to give advice or answer questions.
“Hidden” AWSOM Plugin features: Display Ads to Non-Registered Users
As part of my “Hidden” features of AWSOM Plugins I want to point out a usage for the AWSOM News Announcement plugin for WordPress that may be of use to Site Admins. Most people who use the AWSOM News Announcement plugin typically use it for it’s most basic function: adding a News block above your posts on the Index page of your site. This is one great usage of this plugin and the most obvious one. But you can have multiple News Posts active at the same time, so I’d like to point out another easy usage that adds power and capabilities to your site.
One of the things that you can select when adding a new news announcement is what viewer level is able to see that particular News Post, and each News Post can have different viewer levels. By default it’s set to “everyone”, but you are able to restrict the viewer to any of the regular WordPress registered user levels. So, you can make a News Post only visible to Subscribers or Administrators, or any level in between. This makes the News Post a handy way of informing other members of your site about important information that only applies to them.
Of course an obvious usage is to restrict certain things so that only registered visitors can see/use things. An example is an audio/video player for extra site content. With the “run php” setting in News Announcement turned on you can embed any player that requires javascript or php code to function. Now you have created an incentive for visitors to sign up to your site.
Conversely you can do things so that ONLY non-subscribers see certain News Posts. By selecting this as the viewer level for a post, it only gets shown to general visitors–>which makes it an excellent way of displaying ads to non-registered users while making it a “benefit” for people to sign up to your blog so that they aren’t presented with ads. Since any content can be added to a News Post and can run, almost any ad company code or system can be set to display in a News Post.
So not only do you now have a way to give your readers information, but you can present ads and reserve enhanced content and generate more reasons for visitors to interact with your blog.
AWSOM Pixgallery version 4.5.5 released
AWSOM Pixgallery for WordPress version 4.5.5 has been released and is now available for download from the AWSOM.org website. This version of the Pixgallery image gallery plugin has an important fix for a small number of people who were having an issue with Fancy Permalinks adding “index.php” into their URL’s (causing 404 errors). It also clears up an issue with the Visual Editor function used by Pixgallery for caption entry by adding in a new dedicated Visual Editor with more advanced functions than the standard WordPress editor.