Using Short Codes to Easily Format WordPress Page Content
Posted by Aaron Keenan on May, 7th 2010Custom short codes can be extremely useful towards setting up a conveniently manageable WordPress theme design. Since WordPress 2.5, there has been in-built support for creating custom short codes using the add_shortcode() function.
A Basic add_shortcode() Example
In the example below I have used the short code [go] (square brackets are always included as part of a WordPress shortcode) to enter a linked button that could, for example, be used as a link on multiple pages throughout the site.
[realgo]
The advantages in this case are in:
speed
ease-of-use
consistency
You can be assured that the button & link will be consistent whenever the short code is used and the process will be altogether more efficient (provided you remember the short code!).
To set up this short code the following lines were added to functions.php in the theme folder:
function add_go_button()
add_theme_support() – a Function to Change the Future of WordPress Theme Development
Posted by Aaron Keenan on May, 5th 2010One relatively new function that could be making a big difference to the future of WordPress theme development is add_theme_support(). The function was introduced late last year with the release of WordPress 2.9. The major current use for add_theme_support() is for conveniently setting thumbnail images for posts and pages. When WordPress 3.0 is released (scheduled for this month) add_theme_support() is also set to be very useful in managing site navigation menus. The scope of these applications and the generality that is implied by the name of the function suggest that add_theme_support() could become a very prominent part of theme design over the next few releases of WordPress.
Using add_theme_support() to Manage Post & Page Thumbnail Images
Available with WordPress 2.9
To take advantage of this functionality, all that is required is one line in functions.php of your theme folder:
Finding Post and Category IDs in WordPress
Posted by Aaron Keenan on April, 15th 2010To take full advantage of all the WordPress template tags and functions it is often required to use post IDs and category IDs. These values can be found conveniently in the WordPress admin area, without needing to refer to the database.
Finding a WordPress Post ID
To find the ID of a particular post or page in the admin area, you will first need to navigate to Posts > Edit or Pages > Edit as applicable. If you then roll over the link to edit the corresponding page or post, your browser’s status bar will display the url for editing that page. This url will include ‘post=’ and then the ID (e.g. in the image below the post ID is 218).
Adding PDF Links to WordPress Posts and Pages
Posted by Aaron Keenan on February, 8th 2010Linking to a pdf can, in many cases, be a very convenient way to add content to your site. We often find that clients will want to add menus, brochures, instructions etc. that may be most effectively viewed, shared or printed in pdf format. Uploading a pdf and adding a link in your site’s content so that visitors can download this document is all possible through the standard WordPress admin options.
When you are editing a page or post in the WordPress admin, there are a group of four options above the main edit window labelled ‘Upload/Insert’. The first is for uploading and managing images, the second for video, the third for audio and the fourth for other media (text files,
Macmillan Global Wins TEFL.net Site of the Month Award
Posted by Aaron Keenan on February, 5th 2010We’re very pleased to hear of the success of http://www.macmillanglobal.com in the TEFL.net Site of the Month Award. Global won the award for February due to their valuable teaching resources and all-round contribution to English language training.
The site has achieved great success already in terms of visits and newsletter subscribers. We’re confident that this success will continue due to their commitment to high quality content. The site offers audio and pdf downloads, videos and frequent blog posts about their course and broader issues relating to teaching and learning English as a foreign language. The blog section features the writing of well-respected contributors such as David Crystal and Linsay Clandfield.
We are proud of the web design and our contribution to presenting their content in an effective, visually-appealing manner and we hope to see the site continue to
Embedding YouTube Videos, Flickr Images and more in WordPress 2.9
Posted by Aaron Keenan on January, 27th 2010WordPress 2.9 has greatly increased the ease of embedding videos, images and other types of content. You are now able to display videos on your site from, for example, YouTube simply by entering the url of the YouTube video as plain text in a WordPress page or post. It is also possible to similarly embed videos from Vimeo, DailyMotion, Google Video and other video sites or embed images from Flickr and Photobucket. Embedding articles from Scribd or polls from PollDaddy is equally staightforward. A more comprehensive list of sites that you can embed from using this method is available at http://codex.wordpress.org/Embeds .
The example displayed below shows the post content in the admin (4 urls entered as plain text on a separate line – one from Flickr, one from Scribd, one from YouTube and one from PollDaddy) and the next
Image Editing in WordPress
Posted by Aaron Keenan on January, 18th 2010The release of version 2.9 provided WordPress users with some very useful additional image editing capabilities. In the following article we will look at some of the new options for reversing, rotating, cropping and resizing images.
When you are editing a page or post, a row of tools for uploading additional files is available just above the main content entry box. These tools are labelled ‘Upload/Insert’ and the first is used to handle image files. Click on this tool to open the media file pop up window.
From the pop up window, click on ‘Select Files’ and choose the image you want to upload.
Once this file has uploaded select the ‘Edit Image’ button.
WordPress Database Backup Plugin
Posted by Aaron Keenan on January, 7th 2010Today we are very thankful for one highly recommend and potentially invaluable plugin: the WordPress Database Backup plugin.
It’s likely that you have been frustrated several times by losing unsaved work when your computer or one of it’s applications has crashed unexpectedly. Just imagine, then, the all-consuming sorrow of losing weeks, months or even years of blog posts or other site content. Your hosting company may provide a responsible backup service (or you may have a well-considered system in place if your site is self-hosted) but some extra insurance can be crucial if the unexpected happens (as it did for one of our client sites today).
The WordPress Database Backup plugin makes backing up WordPress content a painless process. Once the plugin has been added and activated through the WordPress admin section, it is then possible to specify an
Benefits of Using a Content Management System (CMS)
Posted by Aaron Keenan on January, 6th 2010A content management system can be used to:
Simplify the addition and management of content on your site (so that this will all be possible without technical knowledge).
Allow many people to edit and contribute to your site and allow control over which contributors have particular permissions.
Set a template or theme for the site so that new content can be easily set to display with a consistent style.
Incorporate security features, SEO features and other functionality and keep up to date with upgrades.
Provide options to backup and export site content.
Around 5% of sites currently online use some form of web CMS technology – this means that roughly 95% of current websites can only be edited with specialist technical knowledge. This is unfortunate for the vast majority of people who are unlikely to have the familiarity with HTML, CSS,
WordPress – The Leading Open Source Content Management Application
Posted by Aaron Keenan on January, 5th 2010WordPress consistently triumphs in popularity polls and is in use on over 200 million websites. What most impresses me about WordPress is it’s flexibility: it’s excellent for the most straighforward site or blog but can also be extended to include ecommerce, forums, social media functionality and much more. In addition, this flexibility is aided by an enthusiastic community that provide many of the plugins to extend the WordPress core free of charge. The result is that WordPress represents an excellent, cost-effective option for a wide range of sites.
I will be posting regularly on this blog about what WordPress has to offer as a Content Management System and ways to take advantage of this functionality. Subjects that will be covered include:
What a Content Management System (CMS) is and how it could benefit your site
How WordPress compares with other