Posted on May 15th, 2008
Learning to develop a WordPress plugin can be both fun and rewarding. In this Tutorial we will go over how to make a simple Hello World plugin that you can create. This will give you a very basic understanding of how to create a simple WordPress plugin that we can build on in future tutorials.
To begin with create a folder in your wp-content/plugins/ folder called helloworld.
Next create a file in a text editor called helloword.php.
Add the following lines of code to the helloword.php file…
<?php
/*
Plugin Name: Hello World
Plugin URI: http://www.yourdomain.ca
Description: A simple Hello Word Plugin
Version: 1
Author: John Doe
Author URI: http://www.yourdomain.ca
*/
The above code creates the information pulled in to the Plugins page of your WordPress admin. Plugin URI should point to the site where you will provide updates and install details for a plugin. The other information above you can edit to be your own details.
Now add the following code to the bottom of the helloworld.php file…
function hello_world() {
Print(”Hello World”);
}
?>
The above code will output Hello World when the plugin is called from one of your pages. Upload the helloworld.php file to your helloworld folder and activate the Hello World plugin in your WordPress admin.
Last step is to add the plugin to a page so you can see the plugin. To do that add the following code to the bottom of your index.php file in your theme…
<?php
if(function_exists(’hello_world’))
{
hello_world();
}
?>
Be sure to upload the change to your index.php file and refresh your main page. If you placed it at the bottom of your page you should see it now if you scroll to the bottom of your page. You can remove the plugin from your page by deactivating it.
Although this example may not be exciting it is a good start to the understanding of how to create plugin. In our next example we will build of this so you can learn how to make more advanced WordPress plugins.
If you get stuck let me know in the comments.
Posted on May 12th, 2008
We asked if a Job Board would be a good added feature to our site. You spoke and we listened. I wanted the Job Board to be built only with WordPress. Once the Job Board is 100% ready I will be releasing the code for free so that you and others can have a job board on your own blog.
After a few weeks of playing with various plugins and css in WordPress we have the beta of our job board online. You can test the beta of the job board at jobs.bluefur.com.
Please test it out and provide any feedback you have in the comments.
Posted on April 28th, 2008
Our BlueFur mascot has been a representation of our business since we opened. The lovable character has been one dimensional with our logo and has served us well. I feel it is time for our mascot to come alive in the form of a puppet. I have been working to find a good puppet maker to design it and have a few possible solutions.
The idea I have is that we can use the puppet to make weekly video’s for our blog. Something like BlueFur TV where our mascot would comment on the state of the hosting industry in a humours manner. I think the idea would be both entertaining, viral and educational for our current and future customers. The owner disagrees and feels that it is not a good idea.
As a leader in community evolved hosting we have decided we will throw this question out to you to help us decide…
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Should we create our Mascot into a Puppet?
Posted on April 21st, 2008
Over the weekend I had an idea for an easy to create and fun Twitter application. Like various other social mediums I like to build something so I can better understand how that medium works. I also like to ensure that our hosting will work with that medium if someone asks. Reading through the Twitter API it became very apparent that a Magic 8 Ball application would be very easy to build. I sent a tweet to Matt and asked him if he wanted to build it together. Matt agreed and we development began.
How does it work?
The Magic 8 Ball Application allows you to send a yes or no question to @magic_8ball and it will reply back with an answer to your question. Matt and I agreed to make the code open and available for you to see and use it if you wish. You can reuse the Magic 8 Ball Twitter Application script to create your own script. I think it would be easy to modify this script to make a coin toss game and rock-paper-scissors.
Problems with developing on twitter
From the development I would make a few suggestions to Twitter. The 70 replies per hour limit slows down development and will mean that the application will only be able to do 70 replies an hour. Also they limit the API to pull 20 replies. If you had 22 questions the script would only reply to the first 20. Twitter should look at the Facebook development model which they approve scripts which can then increase these limits if approved. I did email twitter to request these levels be increased and as of this post I have not heard back.
Monetizing your twitter application
If your developing an application for twitter there is a limited amount of revenue models. You could sell the link monthly in your applications profile. You could of course sell the application but usually people only buy applications that generate money. You could spam your users but usually that will cause people to stop using it. I think it would be hard to generate some good revenue from a twitter application at this time.
Do you have a twitter application you would like to develop?
Posted on March 24th, 2008
Based on last weeks response to the question if we should have a job board for our community we have decided to add one. Not only are we adding one were creating one from scratch using WordPress. Once the code is done we will make it available to the community so you can add your own job board. It will be very easy to post a job and to keep track of the job posting using your RSS reader. Below is a preview of what it will look like…
For categories I was thinking Web Programming, Graphic Design, SEO and Content Writing.
What categories do you think we should have?
Posted on March 17th, 2008
As a website owner you have work to be done and need to find the right person to do it. As a developer or designer you want to find new customers. Our community has these 2 types of people visit it daily. Does it make sense then that we provide a job board?
It would not take that much to add a job board and I think it would bring value to our community. As a job poster you would sign-up and be able to post a job for free. Developer and designers would be able to apply to your job at no cost to them.
What do you think?
