Tag: WordPress (Page 191 of 219)

Articles, tips, and resources for WordPress-based development.

The Identity Crisis of WordPress Plugin Icons

April 19, 2013 / Tom / 0 Comments

One of the coolest things to be introduced to the WordPress Plugin Repository over the past couple of years was the addition of the header images – this one little addition made it possible to easily have your plugin stand out in the larger context of the entire repository.

This also got me thinking a bit about WordPress plugin icons.

The majority of our devices – either desktops / laptops, tables, phablets, and phones – all use icons to represent the application. Of course, this is nothing knew – we’ve been doing this since the GUI was introduced to computing, right?

But is this something that we should be considering for our WordPress plugins (or our themes)?

Displaying a Plugin Activation Message in WordPress

April 18, 2013 / Tom / 0 Comments

There have been times through out several projects where I’ve wanted to display a plugin activation message (or deactivation message).

WordPress makes it relatively easy to do this using two functions:

But here’s the the thing: These two functions may not work as you expect if you’re writing your plugins using object-oriented practices.

So I thought I’d share how I go about displaying a plugin activation message in hopes that it not only helps you in your future projects, but in hopes that you guys could offer up your own code review as well.

Quality WordPress Products: Do They Exist?

April 12, 2013 / Tom / 0 Comments

Last week, I published my thoughts on Software Craftsmanship and WordPress. For what it’s worth, that particular post was one that I’d been thinking about for quite some time, I just never took the time to sit down and actually draft my thoughts on it.

The post resulted in a short, but interesting discussion both in the comments and on Twitter, but one comment in particular really got me thinking more about the topic.

Seeing the terms “WordPress” and “software craftsmanship” in the same sentence makes me LMAO. I just downloaded 3.5.1 to see if it was as bad as I remember. It’s worse. I remain convinced that WordPress was developed wholly by monkeys randomly hitting keys on a keyboard.

The point of this post is not to go back and forth on whether or not the author is correct in his statements. Instead, the comment got me thinking about craftsmanship in the context of the work we do on top of pre-existing systems regardless of the language, platform, and/or framework that you’re using.

Specifically, it got me thinking more about quality WordPress products and projects and whether or not form follows foundation.

WordPress Plugins: A Dilemma

April 11, 2013 / Tom / 0 Comments

In case it isn’t obvious from some of my previous posts, I’ve been giving a lot of thought to some of the problems with the WordPress plugin repository.

Though I’ve already stated this in previous posts, my goal isn’t to complain without offering solutions – I hate seeing it, and I hate doing it – I don’t think it’s proactive and that’s why I enjoy many of the comments that have happened around this particular space.

But as I begin consider moving back to a premium model of offering WordPress-specific products and services, this has raised yet-another-dilemma.

An Update To The WordPress JavaScript Coding Standards

April 9, 2013 / Tom / 0 Comments

A few weeks ago, I published the first version of the WordPress JavaScript Coding Standards to the WordPress Codex. Since then, it’s already been updated with a variety of improvements from several other developers who are much more capable than I am.

However, there’s currently a major overhaul of certain documentation going on. For example, a number of us are working on the Core Contributor Handbook, the Theme Developer Handbook, the Plugin Developer Handbook, and more.

As of today, the WordPress JavaScript Coding Standards are now part of the Core Contributor Handbook.