Turn WordPress Into a Project Management System

If you run a multi-authors blog, there will be times when you need to create projects and assign tasks to your authors. Instead of using a third party project management software, you can now use setup a free project management system right within WordPress, with the help of CollabPress.

CollabPress is a plugin for WordPress that transforms your WP setup into a project management platform. It is developed by Brad Williams (@williamsba) and comes with plenty of features at a price of free.

Turn Your WordPress Into A Private Twitter-like System

WordPress is best known as a blogging platform, but it can be a versatile piece of software as well, allowing you to turn it to almost anything you want. Here is how you can turn a WordPress installation into a in-house private Twitter-like microblogging system.

There is little or no coding required. What you need here is a custom theme and some plugins. There are currently two themes that can instantly turn your blog into a status update system: Prologue and P2.

Both themes require little or no configuration. As soon as you activate the theme, your blog frontend instantly become a Twitter clone.


Prologue Theme


P2 Theme

Prologue theme is just a basic Twitter-like theme with no configuration option. On the other hand, P2 theme is more comprehensive and allows you to switch between "status update", "blog post", "Quote" and "Link".

With the P2 theme, you can also configure who can post update, the background image/color, show/hide sidebar etc.

Adding a login form to the sidebar

Instead of getting your users to go to the wp-login page, it will be great if you can add a login form to your sidebar and let your users login from the front page.

What you need here is the sidebar-login plugin. Install the plugin and add the widget to your sidebar.



At the sidebar-login option page, remember to set the "Login Redirect Url" to your Home page.

Show status update only for logged in users

If you want to use this as a in-house private Twitter system, you won't want the public to see your update. The best way is to show the update only for logged in users.

Open the index.php file in your P2 theme folder.

Scroll down until you see the code:

[php]</h2>
<ul id="postlist">
<?php if ( have_posts() ) : ?>[/php]

Insert in the following code after </h2>

[php]<?php if(!is_user_logged_in()): ?>
<p>You need to log in to view the status update!</p>
<?php else : ?>[/php]

So now you should have:

[php]</h2>
<?php if(!is_user_logged_in()): ?>
<p>You need to log in to view the status update!</p>
<?php else : ?>
<ul id="postlist">
<?php if ( have_posts() ) : ?>[/php]

and don't forget to close the loop. Insert <?php endif; ?> before the </div><!-- main-->.

[php] <?php endif; ?>
</div> <!-- main -->[/php]

Repeat the same for the single.php file as well. You should see the following for non-logged in users.



Alternatively, you can also use the Private-WP plugin to force your users to login before they can read your status update. This is an easier implementation, but a less elegant solution.

This tutorial only touches the tip of the iceberg. If you have added your own modifications/enhancement, do let us know in the comments.

How to Create And Embed A Contact Form On The Fly

Creating and embedding a form into your WordPress blog is not as easy as it seems. Since WordPress doesn't come with a built-in form builder, you will have to first install and activate a contact form plugin, then go to the plugin setting to create and configure the form. Lastly, go to your new post and copy the form shortcode into the content area. With Grunion contact form, you can now eliminate all the above mentioned process and create/embed a form to your post on the fly.

How to Make Your Theme Printer-Friendly Without Plugins

If you consistently provide good content on your blog, there is a high chance that some of your readers will print out your articles for future reference. The problem is, while your blog might look nice in the browser, it could be in a mess when you print it out. While there are several plugins that can format your site to printer-friendly layout, they can add extra overhead to your system and mess up your permalink structure (some plugins add a "/print" behind your URL). Here's a little trick to make your site printer friendly, without using any plugin.

Snippet: How to Enable Shortcode in Widget

The best way to implement php code in the widget is via the use of shortcode. The following line of code is all you need to enable the shortcode for widget function.

In your functions.php file, paste the following:
[php]add_filter('widget_text', 'do_shortcode');[/php]

That's it.

How to Show Related Posts in WordPress Without Using Plugin

There are many plugins that allow you to display related posts on your site, but most of them are either too bloated, too complicated or too simple. A better way is to implement the related posts function directly into your theme and reduce the server overhead. In this way, you can also theme it up the way you want it.

This tutorial will teach you how you can show related posts in your site without using any plugin.

Easily Migrate Your SEO Settings With A Single Click

When it comes to the list of "must-have" plugins, SEO plugin will always be in the list. A good SEO plugin can help you to rewrite your site title, description, meta tags and also redirect all your dead permalinks to active one. At its best, It can help you to achieve higher search ranking, without you having to be a SEO expert.

With that said, there are plenty of SEO plugins that you can use. The All in One SEO Pack, Platinum SEO, Headspace2 and WordPress SEO are all great SEO plugins available in the repository. To make things more complicated, premium themes such as Headway themes, Frugal, Thesis, Genesis etc also comes with inbuilt SEO settings that make SEO plugins obsolete.

How to Embed Tweets In Your Posts

Blog posts,Twitter, Facebook and many other social networks often go hand in hand. When you publish a blog post, you will often tweet the link to your Twitter account. Sometime when you send a tweet, you will also embed it in your blog post. The problem is, embedding a tweet in your post is not as easy as it should be. It often involves taking screenshot of the tweet, crop/edit it before you upload it to your post. With the introduction of Blackbird Pie, the whole process just become much easier.

Blackbird Pie is a method created by Twitter Media to easily embed a tweet on your site. Feed it with the tweet's URL and it will generate the necessary code for you to copy/paste to your site.

Fixing the Blackbird Pie Plugin - undefined function mb_strlen

If you are using the Blackbird Pie plugin to embed tweets to your posts, you might see an error message Call to undefined function mb_strlen(). The reason for this error is because the plugin is using the mb_strlen function that is not activated by default.

To fix this, go to the Blackbird Pie plugin folder and open unicode.php in your text-editor. At line 18, replace the line:

[php firstline="17"]return mb_convert_encoding($swap,&quot;UTF-8&quot;); //not really necessary, but why not.[/php]

with

[php firstline="17"]if ( function_exists('mb_convert_encoding') )
return mb_convert_encoding($swap,&quot;UTF-8&quot;); //not really necessary, but why not.
else
return $swap;[/php]

At line 21 and 25, replace the line:

[php]$strlen = mb_strlen($string);[/php]

with

[php]if(function_exists('mb_strlen'))
$strlen = mb_strlen($string);
else
$strlen = strlen($string);[/php]

Save and upload the file to your server. It should work now.

via WordPress Support

Limit The jQuery Lazy Load Plugin to Operate Only In The Content Area

If you have noticed, one of the way that highly-trafficked site save bandwidths is to use a lazy load plugin. What this lazy load plugin does is to load the images only when they become visible on the screen. Any images below the visible screen will not be displayed. This is also known as on-demand loading.

In WordPress, there are several lazy load plugins that you can use. One of my favorite is the jQuery Image Lazy Load plugin, simply because it just works the moment you activate it. No configuration is required.

How to Add Custom Navigation Menus to Your Themes

WordPress 3.0 comes with support for custom navigation menu. The new feature is a good way for you to add navigation menu to your theme with little configuration. Best of all, it allows you to administer the menus from your dashboard. No longer do you need to tamper with the code to add/remove items from the menus.

Now, unless you are using an updated theme, chances are, your old theme does not support this new custom navigation menu feature. Here is how you can modify your current theme to support the menus feature.

Dropbox-CDN Uses Your Dropbox Account As Free CDN

I am sure you have heard of Dropbox - the web storage service that allows you to access your files from almost everywhere. If you are a WordPress user as well as a Dropbox user, you can now host (some of) your theme files in Dropbox and save some bandwidth.

A new plugin known as Dropbox-CDN helps you automate the process. All you need to do is go to your Dropbox's Public folder, create several level of folders with the same folder structures as your WordPress server (for example: /wp-content/themes/your-theme-folder/) and place all your js, css and image files into it. Copy and paste your Dropbox public link to the Dropbox-CDN options page and it will do the rest for you.

Note: This plugin only supports themes who use the filters 'template_directory', 'template_directory_uri', 'stylesheet_directory', and 'stylesheet_directory_uri' to determine the paths to the theme's template and stylesheet files.

How to Secure Your WordPress Login With One Time Password

If you have a little sense of security, you will know that it is totally unsafe to login to any of your private account, be it email, bank, or your WordPress site, in a public unsecured network (a.k.a free wifi). Many hackers are hanging around in the open network looking for opportunity to obtain your login credential and wreak havoc with it.

Much as we like to prevent, there will be situations (for example, when we are travelling) where we need to access our WordPress account via a public network. Luckily, we can add extra protection layer to our WordPress account so that when such situations occur, we can be sure that we are safe from hackers' clutches.

How to Test Drive New Plugins And Themes Without Making Them Live On Your Site

Apart from being a user-friendly CMS, what makes WordPress really great is the support for plugins and themes. With a huge library of plugins and themes, you can instantly add new features and new skins to your blog without any coding on your part.

However, if you have been blogging long enough, you will know that sometime a badly coded plugin can break the site. Worst still, it can even cause the site to crash. This goes the same for a new theme. Without any tweaking and configuration, 9 out of 10 times the theme won't look great on your site. For such cases, it is wise to test them out before making them live.

How to Replace WordPress Cron With A Real Cron Job

We are all too familiar with the "Missed Schedule" status, aren't we? I am sure it is very frustrating to see that all your scheduled posts went MIA.

WordPress comes with its own cron job that allows you to schedule your posts and events. However, in many situations, the WP-Cron is not working well and leads to posts missed their publication schedule and/or scheduled events not executed.

To understand why this happen, we need to know that the WP-Cron is not a real cron job. It is in fact a virtual cron that only works when a page is loaded. In short, when a page is requested on the frontend/backend, WordPress will first load WP-Cron, follow by the necessary page to display to your reader. The loaded WP-Cron will then check the database to see if there is any thing that needs to be done.

Reasons for WP-Cron to fail could be due to:

• DNS issue in the server.


• Plugins conflict


• Heavy load in the server which results in WP-Cron not executed fully


• WordPress bug


• Using of cache plugins that prevent the WP-Cron from loading


• And many other reasons

There are many ways to solve the WP-Cron issue, but the one that I am going to propose here is to disable the virtual WP-Cron and use a real cron job instead.

Why use a real cron job?

By using a real cron job, you can be sure that all your scheduled items are executed. For popular blogs with high traffic, using a real cron job can also reduce the server bandwidth and reduce the chances of your server crashing, especially when you are experiencing Digg/Slashdot effect.

Scheduling a real cron job

To configure a real cron job, you will need access to your cPanel or Admin panel (we will be using cPanel in this tutorial).

1. Log into your cPanel.

2. Scroll down the list of applications until you see the "cron jobs" link. Click on it.



3. Under the Add New Cron Job section, choose the interval that you want it to run the cron job. I have set it to run every 15minutes, but you can change it according to your liking.



4. In the Command field, enter the following:
[bash]wget -q -O - http://yourwebsite.com/wp-cron.php?doing_wp_cron >/dev/null 2>&1[/bash]

Replace http://yourwebsite.com with your website URL.

5. Click the "Add New Cron Job" button. You should now see a message like this:



6. Next, using a FTP program, connect to your server and download the wp-config.php file.

7. Open the wp-config.php file with a text editor and paste the following line:

[php]define('DISABLE_WP_CRON', true);[/php]

8. Save and upload (and replace) this file back to the server. This will disable WordPress internal cron job.

That's it.

To test it out, it is best to schedule a post 5 - 10 minutes after you have completed the above configuration. Wait and see if the WordPress internal cron job is fired. If yes, then congratulation, you have successfully scheduled a real cron job for WordPress. If no, go through the steps above and see if you have made any mistake. Alternatively, contact your web host and get them to configure for you.

How to Add Featured Images to Your Theme

WordPress first introduced the "Post Thumbnail" feature in version 2.9. This feature allows the user to set an image as the featured image for the particular post. In version 3.0, the "Post Thumbnail" feature was renamed as "Featured Image".

By default, this featured image option is not turned on. You will need to place a simple code snippet in your theme file to activate the function. Here's how you can get it to work in your current theme.

In your theme folder, open the functions.php file. Add the following code to the end of the file:

[php]add_theme_support( 'post-thumbnails' );
set_post_thumbnail_size( 150, 150, true ); [/php]

Explanation of the code

The line add_theme_support( 'post-thumbnails' ); activates the "featured image" function. You should be able to see the "Set featured image" link on the right sidebar of the post editing page or when uploading any image.



The second code set_post_thumbnail_size( 150, 150, true ); determines the size of the thumbnail image. In this case, we have set it to be 150px wide by 150px tall. You can change it to suit your theme.

Displaying thumbnail images in your theme

Now that we have activated the feature, it is time to get it to display in the front end.

Open your index.php (or whatever place that you want the thumbnail image to appear). Within the loop, insert the following code:

[php]<?php
if ( has_post_thumbnail() ):
the_post_thumbnail();
endif;
?>[/php]

Note: The above code must be within the loop.

This will first check if there is any post thumbnail for the particular post. If yes, it will display the post thumbnail. If not, it will do nothing.

For more advanced uses, you can get it to display a default image when the post thumbnail is not available:

[php]<?php
if ( has_post_thumbnail() ) :
the_post_thumbnail();
else:
//url to the default image, or write your own code here
endif;
?>[/php]

That's it.

Latest Update to WordPress For Android Now Allows You to Set Post Status

I seldom blog from my Android phone, simply because the WordPress app is not good enough. Well, to be more exact, it is good enough for casual blogging and quick updating, but for managing a full fledge blog, it still can't meet the standard.

A recent update to the WordPress for Android (version 1.3.8) app adds a new "set post status" feature. You will now be able to set "Draft:, "Pending Review", "Private" or "Publish" from the app itself. While this is just another "should have been there long ago" feature, it is better late than never.



Other bug fixes include:

• Fixed crash when adding media on Dell Streak


• Fixed crash when attempting to add a self-hosted site with an invalid blog URL


• Fixed local db problem when upgrading from a 1.0.x or 1.1.x version


• Updated Polish translation strings


• Fixed crash when trying to add a second blog from a WordPress.com account or WordPress multi-user install


• Fixed no-name blogs from showing as blank in the multi-user blog selection screen


• Comments Loading progress bar no longer hangs

Version 1.3.8: Post Status & Bug Fixes [WordPress for Android]

How to Make Disqus Notify the Post Author When a New Comment Is Posted?

By default, in a multi-authors blog, you can get WordPress to notify the post author when a new comment is posted. To do this, you just have to update the “Email me whenever” field in "Settings -> Discussion".



Now if you are using Disqus as your comment system, you will find that it won't notify the author when a new comment is posted. Instead, it will only notify the moderators.

To fix this, go to the Disqus-Comment-System folder in the Plugins directory. Open the disqus.php in a text editor. Scroll down to line 289 where you see the following:

[php]$comment_id = $commentdata['comment_ID'];
update_comment_meta($comment_id, 'dsq_parent_post_id', $comment->parent_post);
update_comment_meta($comment_id, 'dsq_post_id', $comment->id);[/php]

Add in the line "wp_notify_postauthor($comment_id);" so that it becomes:

[php]$comment_id = $commentdata['comment_ID'];
update_comment_meta($comment_id, 'dsq_parent_post_id', $comment->parent_post);
update_comment_meta($comment_id, 'dsq_post_id', $comment->id);
wp_notify_postauthor($comment_id);[/php]

Save, upload and replace the file back to the server.

That's it. It should notify your authors whenever there is a new comment.

How to Change the Default Height Of The Text Editor in WordPress

If you have noticed, the visible area of the text editor in WordPress is very small. Most of the time, you will have to drag the right bottom corner of the text area to enlarge it. Worst still, you have to do that every time.

Here's a quick hack to change the default height of the text area.

Open your theme's functions.php file. Copy and past the following code.

[php]add_action('admin_head', 'content_textarea_height');
function content_textarea_height() {
echo'<style type="text/css">
#content{ height:500px; }
</style>';
}[/php]

Upload the functions.php back to your server.

Note: The above code set the default height to be 500px. You can change it to the height you want.

WordPress.com Enables BlackBird Pie