Pre-Alpha 1.0
MB Montessori

tenterhooks

suspense seldom kills

Archive for the ‘WordPress Plugins’ Category

Site Closed

Monday, May 12th, 2008

I have revived this site in a static format - no new posts and no new comments. All my work will be posted on my main site: www.webdezine.ca . I apologize to anyone that attempted to access the site over the last 6+ months, but I abruptly returned to school which has gobbled up all of my free time. I will be around my webdezine site attempting to update the menu to work with Wordpress 2.3-2.5.

Thanks for all your support in the past :)

Best,
Sheri

Customer Relationship Management with WP

Wednesday, July 25th, 2007

This is the “reason” for the delay in the release of the E-commerce plugin in.

I have been working closely with Rich of www.cregy.co.uk to come up with a plugin that would allow many of his clients to receive correspondence through their Wordpress sites and to be able to act on that correspondence in a way that makes managing communication easy and swift.

This is the result: http://www.cregy.co.uk/crm-wp-plugin/

This plugin allows the admin to create any form of their choosing - without prior knowledge of HTML. If the admin knows how to fill out a form… then they can create forms!

To make responding to form submissions easier, there is the ability to assign each form submission to a category which the admin has previously created. Why though?

For an example:

  • You run a web solutions company (original eh?)
  • You have created a contact form that the user fills out to request more information about the various aspects of your business
  • You don’t want to respond to EACH request individually (time is money!)
  • You put each request into different categories: design, development, branding etc.

Now you can send one email to all the people who want to know about what is involved in “Branding”. Easy!

One email? Yup. The plugin provides an area for you to create email templates that can be used over and over again. Or, just to be used once. Whichever you need.

The email template system is, in my opinion, unique (to Wordpress anyway!). In that it allows you to “personalize” each mail that is sent while still only creating one email body. It does this by using placeholders. All of the fields within the form you created are made available for use within the template. Eg.:

“Dear [+first_name+] [+last_name+],
We received your mail on [+date+] requesting information about our [+web_solutions+].
yada yada yada.”

Where those placeholders ( all instances of [+ … +] ) represent fields that have been filled out by the user when submitting the form.

The email template system allows you to use html or plain text for your mail. The html option will include a plain text version for those email client that do not accept html. Still just one template… the html is stripped when the mail is sent.

It also allows you to specify how you want to send the mail: php mail() or smtp.

When it comes time to email all those people who have filled out a form, you can mass mail by choosing all those who will receive the same template…or you can mail one person.

Check it out! Rich has kindly made this plugin available for the Wordpress community.

http://www.cregy.co.uk/crm-wp-plugin/

E-Commerce Shop for WordPress

Tuesday, May 15th, 2007

It’s been SOOOO long since I published a post. Between the css menu plugin development and the rest of my life, new posts have slipped through the cracks.

Let me rectify that now!

My current project is an e-commerce shop for WordPress. It’s being funded by Rich of www.cregy.net and www.cregy.co.uk . To Rich I humbly bow! Thanks :D It promises to be a great addition to the WordPress community.

A quick preview of the features that will be included in the first rewrite of the plugin:

*shop front highlighting newly added products (sounds familiar?)
*ajax shopping cart
*sidebar category(product) and product menus
*unlimited products
*unlimited categories
*customizable pagination for product listing
*multiple images using “greybox” technology
*template system
*paypal payment gateway utilizing Instant Payment Notification(IPN)
*customizable shipping options
*customizable tax options
*viewable orders in the admin
*integration into the existing WordPress user registration system
*single page checkout (keep your fingers crossed for this one!)

And that’s all I can remember for now.

I’ll keep you udated.

Best,
Sheri

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New Wordpress Menu

Thursday, February 15th, 2007

08/03/07: Clarification:

UPDATE! Please download the sitemap fix for version 2.0.3. All new downloads, please also download the fix and overwrite the file. The next version will be available as soon as my main site has finished it’s facelift.

The What

The Webdezine Pure CSS Horizontal Menu is a dropdpwn, cross browser multi-level (nested) css navigation system for Wordpress that can be displayed across the top of your header area. It includes support for Pages, Categories, Archives, Blogroll and Meta Links. The menus can be used in place of or in addition to the default Wordpress fuctions wp_list_categories, wp_list_pages, wp_get_archives, wp_list_bookmarks, and meta data that is contained in the sidebar.php. The menu is currently compatible with Wordpress 2.1.* and will soon be available to 2.0.* Wordpress users. The menu is as always, free for personal use, although support is greatly appreciated. Commercial users (including developers) should download the commercial version of the menu.

The Screen Shots

wd_css_shot1.gif wd_css_shot2.gif wd_css_shot3.gif
wd_css_shot4.gif wd_css_shot5.gif wd_css_shot6.gif
wd_css_shot7.gif wd_css_shot8.gif wd_css_shot9.gif
wd_css_shot10.gif wd_css_shot11.gif wd_css_shot12.gif


The Demos


The Features

  • The Menu
    • The menu is entirely CSS based. It does not rely on client-side scripting such as Javascript to hide or reveal the menu levels.
    • The menu is based a degradable unordered html list
    • The menu can be nested to a maximum of 4 levels (do the users really want more than that?).
    • The menu is compatible with PHP4+
    • A sitemap is connected to the title links in case of menu failure (unlikely).
    • Each menu or nested level can be styled individually if you wish
    • The css classes are based on divs and links for maximum compatibility
    • You can now choose which menus to display and how
    • You can exclude pages or categories from your menus
    • You can display page, post or link counts in your menus
    • You can organize your blogroll into multiple top-level categories
    • …………etc.
  • The Sitemap
    • The sitemap is also based a degradable unordered html list
    • Each menu or nested level can be styled individually if you wish
    • The css classes are based on divs and links for maximum compatibility
    • A sitemap page is created upon activation
    • If you already have a great sitemap, you can detour this one and link your menu to the one already in place
  • The Admin
    • The admin is now a pimped up wonder
    • Tabs separate the option sections
    • Display the options in English, French, Spanish, German, or Italian
    • Choose to display the titles (Pages/Categories/Archives) or spread the top levels across the header. Each menu is individually customized - e.g. display the archive title, but not the page title
    • More options for the menu - Choose the date format for the archives, exclude categories, ….
    • Input your old sitemap url and the menu takes care of the rest
    • Edit the CSS directly from the option page (and the IE6 css!)
    • Preview your changes in the option page (I got tired of refreshing my development site - this is much better)
  • The Machine
    • Nonce security has been added
    • Personal and Commercial License payments are now accepted through the option screen
    • Licensees are automatically registered for the in-depth support forum for help with customization, support and feature requests
    • If caching is enabled the calls to the database are cached
    • If a new category or post is created the cache is refreshed allowing your visitors to get the newest information instantly.
    • Upon activation, the plug-in loads up the default values - Upon deactivation, the plugin removes all options/sitemap from the database….almost like it was never there.

The Structure

<ul>
  <li><a href="">LIST NAME
    <table>
      <tr>
        <td>
          <ul>
            <li><a href="">PARENT CAT
              <table>
                <tr>
                  <td>
                    <ul>
                      <li><a href="">CHILD CAT
                         <table>
                            <tr>
                              <td>
                                <ul>
                                  <li><a href="">SUB-CHILD CAT</a></li>
                                </ul>
                              </td>
                            </tr>
                         </table>
                  </a>
                      </li>
                    </ul>
                  </td>
                </tr>
              </table>
              </a>
            </li>
          </ul>
        </td>
      </tr>
    </table>
    </a>
  </li>
</ul>
 
Why the tag soup?  To make it compitable with IE of course!

The Compatibility

OS Browser Version Compatible? Issues?
Windows XP Firefox 2.X Yes None
Windows XP Internet Explorer 6 Yes None
Windows XP Internet Explorer 7 Yes None
Windows XP Opera 9.1 Yes None
Linux Firefox 2.0.0.3 Yes None
Linux Konqueror 3.5.6 Yes None

I need a heads up for non-windows OS browsers. Please drop me a comment listing your Operating System, Browser, Version, whether it’s compatible or not and any issues related to the operation of the menu.Thanks for your help!

The Stats

  • Version Download Totals
    • Webdezine Wordpress Menu V1.0 (23)
    • Webdezine Wordpress Menu PHP4 V1.0 (4)
    • Webdezine Wordpress Menu V1.1 (58)
    • Webdezine Wordpress Menu PHP4 V1.1 (28)
    • Webdezine Wordpress Menu PHP4 V1.2 (40)
    • Webdezine Wordpress Menu PHP5 V1.2 (537)
    • Webdezine Wordpress Menu PHP4 V1.3 (487)
    • Webdezine Wordpress Menu PHP5 V2.0 - PERSONAL & COMMERCIAL (20)
    • Webdezine Wordpress Menu PHP5 V2.0.1 - PERSONAL & COMMERCIAL (17)
    • Webdezine Wordpress Menu PHP5 V2.0.2 - PERSONAL & COMMERCIAL (109)

The Download

The Why

I found the default lists impractical and IMHO quite ugly. I also wanted to use the same menu for my blog that I will be using for my main site.

The How

The Installation Instructions

  • Download the .zip file
  • Extract the .zip file
  • Upload the folder called ‘webdezine_menu’ and the file called ‘webdezine_css_menu.php’ into your plugin directory located in /wp-content/plugins
  • Upload the webdezine_sitemap.php page template into your theme file located in /wp-content/themes.
  • Add this code to your header file
    <?php
    if (function_exists('get_menu'))
    get_menu('topmenu');
    ?>
    

    It will look like this in the default theme

    <div id="header">
      <div id="headerimg">
        <h1><a href="<?php echo get_option('home'); ?>/"><?php bloginfo('name'); ?></a></h1>
        <div class="description"><?php bloginfo('description'); ?></div>
    <?php
    if (function_exists('get_menu'))
    get_menu('topmenu');
    ?>
      </div>
    </div>
    <hr />
    
  • Head over to your admin interface and activate the plugin
  • Head over to the webdezine css menu option page and customize to your liking
  • IMPORTANT! When using the Blogroll menu you must only use top parent categories to store your links. These are special categories you have created that have a category parent ID of ZERO. You may organize your links into those categories. The links will pop out in a list from each “0″ level link category.

The Upgrade Instructions

  • download the current zip
  • To UPGRADE:
    • From 2.0 to 2.0.1:

      • overwrite the “scr.js” file in the webdezine plugin folder
      • overwrite the “wd_all_the_menus.php” in the webdezine plugin folder
    • From 2.0.1 to 2.0.2:
      • overwrite the “wd_all_the_menus.php” in the webdezine plugin folder

The Customization

The function variables can be changed from the admin option menu. Note: Please remember that should you change the CSS class names available through the option menu, you will also have to change the class names within the CSS file.

The Changes

  • 02/25/07: Version 1.0 released - not a plugin
  • 02/27/07: Version 1.1 released - not a plugin
    • Missing close bracket at line 198 FIXED
    • Query ERROR: “You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual
      that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax” - FIXED
    • Amended the read_me file to include instructions on how to add the css style information
  • 03/12/07: Version 1.2 released - a plugin
    • changed the menu to a plugin to allow more to easily use this resource
    • fixed 2 lines of code that prevented the page menu from displaying the sub-child page names
    • fixed 2 lines of code that prevented the post count from showing correctly in the category menu
    • added support for the blogroll–now a drop-down menu like the others
    • added a variable in blogroll function to allow a separate css class for different styling of links
    • removed the read-me file and placed the information here
  • 03/13/07: Version 1.3 released -PHP4
    • Fixed a mismatched file name in the PHP4 version
    • Fixed the missing php tags within the code to add to the template
  • 05/01/07: Version 2.0 release - PHP5 only
    • Completely rewrote the functions eliminating all known bugs
    • Added many more options for customization
    • Revamped the admin section
    • Added css editing support from the admin
    • Added page preview from the admin
    • Created a licensee forum for in-depth support
    • Integrated forum registration with Paypal into the option page
    • Created separate personal and commercial versions
    • Worked like a dawg on this plugin
  • 05/02/07: Version 2.0.1 released
    • fixed admin javascript conflict
  • 05/02/07: Version 2.0.2 released
    • fixed array check in “wd_all_the_menus.php
  • 05/08/07: Version 2.0.3 released
    • added PHP4 compatibility
  • 08/05/07: SITEMAP FIX FOR 2.0.3
    • overwrite existing file with replacement

The Bugs

Found a bug? I’d be happy to squash it. Just leave me a comment and I’ll do what I can.

Here is a link to another way to accomplish a dynamic css menu for wordpress:
side dynamic menu for pages. While not a drop down or one that is used for all links, it does highlight the page links if that is more important to the blog than the other links available.

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