The default comment feature on WordPress is good for generating discussion on topics that you start, but what if your visitors want to create their own topics? A forum is the best format for this type of discussion. I have worked with two different forum softwares for WordPress. One is a project of the WordPress folks (Automattic) called bbPress. And the other is a plugin for WordPress called Simple:Press. (more…)
Archive for the ‘WordPress’ Category
Adding a Forum to WordPress
Friday, April 17th, 2009Amazon S3 for hosting site downloads
Thursday, March 19th, 2009Girlebooks.com was one of the first sites I set up in WordPress. The site is not only a hobby for me but also a great playground to see what I can do with WordPress. It also is a great site to point prospective clients to when they want to see examples of what we’ve done with WordPress.
The site’s main focus is hosting free ebooks. Since we have our own hosting space for our web development work, I have been using the extra space on that account for Girlebooks. Lately, due the the increasing popularity of the site, Girlebooks has been hogging all of our extra bandwidth and disc space so that we have none left for hosting new clients or upgrading existing accounts. It was either buy more space on our hosting account or seek out an alternative for Girlebooks’ growing needs. (more…)
A Subscription Website Using WordPress
Tuesday, November 25th, 2008Note 2010/06/09: Since I wrote this post, our client has sold her site to Morningstar, which has replaced the subscription area we developed with their own, Windows-based subscription service.
Our latest work involves development of a subscription system using WordPress on the popular financial blog, Footnoted.org. The requirements of the system were as follows:
- A subscriber registration and payment processing interface
- System tracking of subscription expiration dates
- Download management allowing the administrator to easily upload files as well as restricting file downloads to paying subscribers only
- An email notification sent to paying subscribers when a new publication is available
WordPress Plugin: PHP Code Widget
Thursday, October 23rd, 2008This post is a continuation of posts about WordPress plugins we’ve worked with. I just installed a plugin called the PHP Code Widget for a client today. This plugin takes the basic function of a text widget and lets you place PHP code in it. Very useful if you’re using a widgitized sidebar and need to place some PHP code in a widget. In this particular example, I needed a links widget that would display only one link category. The default WordPress links widget displays all categories and has no options. What do I do? Well, I download the PHP Code Widget and insert my PHP widget with the code to display one category only (assuming a category number 2):
<?php wp_list_bookmarks('category=2'); ?>
Beautiful!
Choosing a Developer-Friendly WordPress Theme
Monday, August 4th, 2008The first thing you’ll do after you install WordPress is choose a blog theme. If you are going to have a developer help you with your blog at any point, choosing a good theme can also mean money if your developer is charging by the hour. You want a theme that not only looks good but also is easy for your developer to customize. Here are a few themes that I rate highly in aesthetics and ease of customization. These are developer-friendly themes, so to speak. (more…)
Starting with WordPress
Wednesday, July 30th, 2008Since we’ve been working a lot more with the free blogging software WordPress lately, this blog will record a little of what we’ve discovered along the way. WordPress.com is a good place to go if you don’t want to worry about hosting, upgrading, and general messing around with the software. However, WordPress.com is limited in three areas:
- You are limited to the themes that are available in the WordPress.com theme library.
- You cannot edit your theme’s code.
- You are limited to the plugins that are available in their plugin library