Archive for the ‘Miscellaneous’ Category

Smashing WordPress Review

Smashing WordPress Review

Smashing WordPress: Beyond the Blog (Smashing Magazine Book Series) by Thord Daniel Hedengren

This is not a book for beginners. You should know HTML and CSS (and some basic PHP) and be comfortable with editing files.

I’ve used the loop before for custom queries, but I found the way he explained it easier to comprehend than other explanations I’ve read.

I felt like some of the code displayed in the book was unnecessary, especially most of the CSS. There were a few things I would have liked to see the code for that weren’t shown, mainly in the second half of the book.

I would have loved to see the Uncommon WordPress Usage chapter expanded, with more examples and code.

It’s too bad that the book came out before 3.0 and custom post types and menus. It just came out in February, so it is pretty up to date but WordPress evolves so fast.

There were some complaints on amazon.com about the layout and design of the book but I have an issues reading it.

I did learn a few new things from the book, but mostly I found it inspiring.

I didn’t see any website listed in the book to download the code, but I did find it via Google. You can download the Smashing WordPress code from the author’s website. The only issue is that problems noted in the comments there has not been fixed yet (the question marks are replaced with a different character). But search and replace is still faster than retyping it all.

A lot of the code is taken from his theme, Notes Blog Core. I like that he uses his theme as an example, rather than making up a fake theme. It makes everything more real.

I would highly recommend this book.


To-Do List Plugin – Possible New Feature

As I’ve been getting a new site of mine ready for launch, I realized that I have a need for both a public and a private to-do list.

I often use my to-do lists as places for possible post topics, things I need to do to improve the site, and so on. This new site is going to have reviews and I want to list upcoming reviews. And to be able to see the upcoming list in the admin so I know what I need to do and check them off when I finish (or I would just use a text widget).

So I’ve been thinking of how exactly I should change my plugin. Do I just make a private checkbox? Do I set it up to allow categories? With category options where you can set it as public or private?

Right now I’m liking the category idea best. Does anyone have any input?


WebCEO on Sale Now!

The SEO software, Web CEO that I posted a review of recently is now on sale.

This sale only lasts till June 12th and is a huge discount if you’ve been thinking of buying this software.

SmallBiz Unleased is 62% off and Professional Unleased is 52% off.

You get the software plus training and certification.


SEO software by Web CEO


Web CEO – SEO Software Review

Do you need software for search engine optimization? Not really.

But is is easier and more convenient with it? Yes.

It’s like using Notepad to code versus using an editor with features like code folding and syntax highlighting.

I tried out several different free editions of SEO software, but the only one I liked was Web CEO.

It comes in several editions, including one free and two paid options. Even the free one comes with a basic SEO training course that ends in a certification. I took the free certification course myself and ended up learning some things I didn’t know about SEO.

The Professional version is a good option if you are doing SEO for clients and need to generate reports with customized headers and footers. Otherwise, the SmallBiz edition should suit your needs.

The free version is not time limited and has no nag screens, but of course it’s not as powerful as the two paid editions.



Favorite Firefox Addons

There are a lot of great Firefox Addons available. Some can help you in developing your WordPress site and some just make your browsing experience better.

Addon Name URL Description
Adblock Plus Website Ads were yesterday!
Backgroundimage Saver Website Save or View Backgroundimages (even if they are protected by hiding behind transparent Gifs).
CodeBurner for Firebug Website Extends Firebug with reference material for HTML and CSS
ColorZilla Website Advanced Eyedropper, ColorPicker, Page Zoomer and other colorful goodies
Delicious Bookmarks Website Access your bookmarks wherever you go and keep them organized no matter how many you have.
Download Statusbar Website View and manage downloads from a tidy statusbar
Dummy Lipsum Website Generate “Lorem Ipsum” dummy text.
FEBE Website Backup your Firefox data
Firebug Website Web Development Evolved.
FireDiff Website Track Changes in Firebug
FireFTP Website FTP Client for Mozilla Firefox.
FireShot Website Adds the ability to take a screenshot of the page entirely, edit it and save in (JPEG, GIF, PNG or BMP), print, copy to clipboard, send to external editor or e-mail it. Additional annotation tools (text, freeform drawing, highlights) provide quick and easy way of documenting of captures.
Font Finder Website Get all CSS styles of selected text.
Html Validator Website Adds HTML validation to the View Page Source of the browser. The validation is done by Tidy from W3c.
IE View Website Open pages in IE via Firefox menus
Image Spark Website Add images to your imgspark.com account by right clicking on any image.
JSView Website View the source code of external stylesheets and javascripts.
MeasureIt Website Draw out a ruler to get the pixel width and height of any elements on a webpage.
MR Tech Toolkit Website MR Tech Toolkit power tools for all users. (en-US)
Palette Grabber Website Creates a color palette for graphic design applications based on the current page.
SearchLoad Options Website Tweak the searchbar’s functionality.
Seo Toolbar Website The SEO Toolbar allows you to look at on page and off page competitive research details from the convenience of your Firefox browser as you browse the web. It also allows you to find keywords by putting many keyword tools at your fingertips.
Status-bar Calculator Website It’s a tiny calculator icon in the status bar.
Tab in Textarea Website Insert tab characters in textareas.
URL Fixer Website Fixes common misspellings in URLs entered in the address bar.
URL Link Website Allow navigation to broken/unlinked URLs
View Dependencies Website Adds a tab listing dependencies and their sizes in the Page Info window.
Web Developer Website Adds a menu and a toolbar with various web developer tools.