I just updated the Smart Ads WordPress plugin to version 2.1. It fixes a PHP error that users were getting before they input any ad code into the settings page. Turns out it was a dumb coding mistake on my part. I fixed the code logic on one line and now it works as intended….

WordPress 2.8 is set to be released in the near future and promises to add quite a few new features. Among them, and one that fellow nerds like me will appreciate, is the addition of syntax highlighting and line numbering to WordPress’ built-in theme and plugin editors. Although I rarely use the built-in editors, it’s…

Many plugins use custom fields to store data about individual posts. When a plugin adds a custom fields, its key and value (or name and value) are listed in the Custom Fields meta box. For instance, a syntax hilighting plugin may set a custom field syntax_enabled on posts that use the syntax highlighting CSS. Often…

Those who follow me on Twitter know that I’ve stared a new project called WordPress Hire. After quite a few requests I’ve decided to elaborate on exactly what the project is. My goal for the WPHire project is to create an estimate/invoicing web application (think along the lines of Zoho or or Freshbooks) that runs…

Sometimes you only want to show posts that you’ve added a specific custom field to. For instance, lets say you write book and movie reviews and for each you give them a custom field “review_type” with the value set to either “book” or “movie”. So how would you show posts that are only movie reviews?…

My first-ever bug reported to the WordPress Trac website has officially been patched! About two months ago while developing the Absolute Privacy WordPress plugin I noticed that trying to add new roles (ie subscriber, administrator, etc) often ended in frustrating PHP warnings. I found the problem and suggested a fix in the Trac ticket. A…

Here I’m featuring a forum post from the official WordPress forums along with my response to it. It is a simple question for beginners to the WordPress world. “How do you change the blog title after installing WordPress?” (link). When installing WordPress for the first time your are prompted to enter the blog title, tagline, and…

Sometimes as a WordPress plugin developer you want to get all of the users with a specific role. For example, maybe you want to create a plugin that emails all the “Editors” of your blog. To easily get all users of a role, use the function below. function getUsersWithRole($role) { //gets all users with specified…

It is no secret that I enjoy writing WordPress plugins. I’ve got a few that I’ve released freely, some I keep to myself, and many are contract work. Most of my work goes undisclosed. However, when I release free plugins, the question that invariably arises is “what versions of WordPress will it support?” I have…

For the past few weeks I’ve been working on a WordPress plugin that my wife requested. Today I’m happy to announce the release of my latest WordPress plugin called Absolute Privacy. What does it do? Absolute Privacy turns your blog into the ultimate private blog. Here’s a quick list of its features: Force registrants to…