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Should I Do This in a WordPress Theme or Plugin?

February 19, 2013 / Tom / 0 Comments

Last week, a fellow WordPress developer and I were having a conversation about a particular feature that he’s been contracted to implement for an existing site.

In short, he was trying to decide between introducing the new feature in the form of a child theme or in the form of a plugin.

It’s a question that I see raised more often than not, but I think there’s a series of questions that we can ask ourselves before jumping into writing any code.

Generally, it has to do with the true definition of a theme and the true definition of a plugin. Of course, there’s room for deliberation, but here’s how I normally see it.

Strategies For For Supporting WordPress Plugins

Strategies For Supporting WordPress Plugins

February 18, 2013 / Tom

When it comes to writing, releasing, and maintaining WordPress plugins is figuring out how to actually support your work once it’s released.

After all, the majority of work on software is maintaining the codebase and responding from all of the feedback given by users or customers.

In my latest article on Envato, I talk specifically about strategies for supporting WordPress Plugins – I lay out some of the problems that currently exist, and also invite readers to share their experience, concerns, and suggestions with what’s available today.

Using Kaleidoscope For a Git Diff Tool

February 18, 2013 / Tom / 0 Comments

In a previous post, I’ve mentioned that GitBox is my git client of choice. In short, I think it’s UI is simple and it’s extremely easy to manage all of the standard git tasks.

And, of course, if you find yourself needing to issue some commands from the command line, it’s really easy to install git for the command line.

But for anyone that’s done an any amount of work with source control, you know that a portion of your time is resolving merge conflicts and sifting through code using a diff tool to help manage the merging.

Though there’s a lot of good options available, the latest version of Kaleidoscope has become my favorite application for managing code diffs. After installing it, here’s how you can configure it for your environment.

Writing a Plugin (and Doing It Live!)

February 15, 2013 / Tom / 0 Comments

Earlier this week, Pippin Williamson (of Pippin’s Plugins) sent out the following tweet:

What's a plugin that @nocross and I could build during #wcmia and release for free? #WordPress

— Pippin Williamson (@pippinsplugins) February 13, 2013

Neat idea, right? Have he and Andrew Norcross – a fellow WordPress developer – create a plugin during the course of a WordCamp that could be released for free.

So I tossed my idea into the ringer:

@pippinsplugins @norcross write a plugin that identifies all comments that have *not* been replied to by the post author.

— Tom McFarlin (@tommcfarlin) February 13, 2013

You can actually read the entire conversation here.

This has been a plugin that I’ve wanted for a long time, and I assume anyone who’s actually maintained a blog for a significant amount of time would do the same.

As it turns out, I’m going to be joining Pippin and Norcross in writing a plugin for exactly this. And we’re gonna do it live.

Comment Images 1.8 – A Major Update

February 14, 2013 / Tom

Late last night, I released Comment Images 1.8 along with two smaller updates to resolve any outstanding issues (some of which were already reported by users – so thanks for that!).

Comment Images 1.8

Here’s a run down of everything that’s new in the last version of the plugin.