Daniel Felice

Woo Woo

// January 14th, 2010 // No Comments » // Wordpress

Thanks to Jono, I have updated my theme once again. I like this theme much more than my previous, and it still incorporates the lifestream aspects that I am fond of.

Being a personal blog I like the idea of sharing my twitter feed, photos, links, etc with my viewers. I was trying to get that across with my last theme, but failed due to the theme being a bit rough around the edges.

I took Jono’s advise and surfed over to Woo Themes where I took a look at the free themes. Most of the free ones are pretty decent, very professional looking.

If you want to pay for themes, Woo Themes has some pretty decent prices depending on what you are looking for.

So if you are a WordPress user, and looking for a new theme, check them out…

WordPress MU 2.8.1 & BuddyPress 1.0.2

// July 11th, 2009 // 3 Comments » // Buddypress, Wordpress

WordPress MU 2.8.1 was released the other day, however if you are running the latest version of BuddyPress you should hold off upgrading until we are given the green light from the guys at BuddyPress.

There does not seem to be any major issues currently known and the testing I have done with the two current versions doesn’t seem to break anything, but there are a few little things that will need to be looked at before BP 1.0.2 is WPMU 2.8.1 ready.

If you are running bbPress with deep intergration you will also need to change a few things in the config files in order to ensure it still works. Check out the forums for all the latest updates.

25% Off WordPress Themes!

// June 14th, 2009 // No Comments » // Wordpress

I have decided to give anyone who signs up for a subscription at Elegant Themes $5 back!

For just $19.95 a year you will get unlimited access to some of the best premium WordPress themes available – and there are over 20 to choose from. All themes come widget ready, up to date to the latest version of WordPress, coded in xhtml 1.0 and CSS. What is best of all – all themes actually work in the latest versions of FireFox, Internet Explorer, Safari and Opera web browsers.

All you have to do is go to Elegant Themes using THIS LINK and sign up for a yearly subscription at $19.95. Once you do that, let me know via the comments below and I will give you back $5!

WordPress 2.8 is Out

// June 11th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Wordpress

WordPress 2.8 was released yesterday. I have just upgraded a few of my blogs and some of the improvements are great. I have listed a few of the changes below.

• New Theme Installer routines
• Add CodePress syntax highlighting to Theme and Plugin editors
• Add Documentation(function) lookup to Theme and Plugin editors
• Use “Custom Header” for menu text and revise Default theme to reflect change
• Separate Comments into a separate postbox, from Discussion postbox, on the Edit Post screen
• Make tags accessible without Javascript on the edit screen
• Don’t ask for confirmation when marking a comment as spam
• Don’t notify post author of own comments
• Fix comment paging for static front page
• Allow the dashboard widgets to be arranged in up to four columns as set via the Screen Options tab
• Make titles into links in Dashboard Right Now module (this was in 2.7.1)
• Improved Admin icons (grey-to-transparent shadows)
• Update Blue Admin Color Scheme
• Press This improvements UI, quoting fixes, plus ability for Contributors to use Press This
• Add a Cancel Upload button and a Delete link to Administration > Media > Add New
• Add column “Rating” in Administration > Links > Edit
• Improve installer to help people entering wrong email addresses
• Improved Widget user interface
• Allow editing of all plugin files (Ticket 6732)
• Improved Plugin search (this was in 2.7.1) on Administration > Plugins > Add New
• Per Page option for plugins
• Move “Install a plugin in .zip format” to new Upload tab under Administration > Plugins > Add New
• Show absolute date instead of relative date for scheduled posts
• Fix tags suggest for post quick edit and bulk edit
• Permalink editor changes and fix for pages
• Autosave post/page when pressing Control/Command+S
• Add toggle all button to the Gallery tab in the uploader
• Support more than one gallery on the same page
• Add per page option to Screen Options for comments, posts, pages, media, categories, and tags
• Overhaul of LiveJournal importer (also add define WP_IMPORTING)
• Import category descriptions for Administration > Tools > Import > WordPress
• Show Tools menu for all users so they can access Turbo
• Check for new version when visiting Administration > Tools > Upgrade
• In upgrade process, provide better explanation for database upgrade message
• Fix most popular link category list
• Add description field for Tags in Administration > Posts > Tags
• WAI-ARIA landmark roles to added to WordPress Default theme
• “Choose a city in the same timezone as you” for Timezone in Administration > Settings > General
• Remove My Hacks option from Administration > Settings > Miscellaneous
• Hide email addresses from low privilege users on Administration > Comments
• Allow case-insensitive logins
• Login and Registration pages noindex followed
• Give login screen proper iPhone viewport
• Enforce unique email addresses in Add/Edit users
• Make user_nicenames unique during registration
• Add “Send this password to the new user by email” option to Administration > Users > Add New
• Don’t set user’s Website url to http:// in Administration > Users > Add New
• Add password strength meter to Add User and Edit User
• Hide things that need to be available to screen readers via offscreen positioning
• Use invisible class for hiding labels and legends
• Use a semantic class name for text targeted to screen readers

Get WordPress 2.8 here

News in 30 Seconds

// May 25th, 2009 // No Comments » // Buddypress, Wordpress

Just a quick post!

• BuddyPress – Help shape the future of BuddyPress and vote on what you would like to see in future versions of the social networking plugin for WordPress MU. It only takes a second and gives you the chance to tell Andy and the BuddyPress gang what features you would like in the future. Vote here
• WordPress – WordPress 2.8 Beta 2 is out and ready for you to test. I have not yet played with the 2.8, however I am hearing very good things about it. Remember – the quicker you test and post feedback the quicker it will be released! Download Beta 2 here

WordPress 2.8 Beta 1

// May 17th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Wordpress

Just when I thought testing and upgrades were going to slow down for a while, the new beta version of WordPress, 2.8, has been released for download. For those of you who like to keep up to date, then you can download and play around with the new version. I probably wouldn’t run it ona  live site just yet, however if you have a test hosting account lying around then I suggest you give it a go. Just make sure you report any bugs back to the WP team!

New features include:

• New Theme Installer routines
• Add CodePress syntax highlighting to Theme and Plugin editors
• Add Documentation(function) lookup to Theme and Plugin editors
• Use “Custom Header” for menu text and revise Default theme to reflect change
• Separate Comments into a separate postbox, from Discussion postbox, on the Edit Post screen
• Make tags accessible without Javascript on the edit screen
• Don’t ask for confirmation when marking a comment as spam
• Don’t notify post author of own comments
• Allow the dashboard widgets to be arranged in up to four columns as set via the Screen Options tab
• Make titles into links in Dashboard Right Now module (this was in 2.7.1)
• Improved Admin icons (grey-to-transparent shadows)
• Update Blue Admin Color Scheme
• Press This improvements UI, quoting fixes, plus ability for Contributors to use Press This
• Add column “Rating” in Administration > Links > Edit
• Improve installer to help people entering wrong email addresses
• Improved Widget user interface
• Allow editing of all plugin files (Ticket 6732)
• Improved Plugin search (this was in 2.7.1) on Administration > Plugins > Add New
• Per Page option for plugins
• Move “Install a plugin in .zip format” to new Upload tab under Administration > Plugins > Add New
• Show absolute date instead of relative date for scheduled posts
• Fix tags suggest for post quick edit and bulk edit
• Permalink editor changes and fix for pages
• Autosave post/page when pressing Control/Command+S
• Add toggle all button to the Gallery tab in the uploader
• Support more than one gallery on the same page
• Add per page option to Screen Options for comments, posts, pages, media, categories, and tags
• Overhaul of LiveJournal importer (also add define WP_IMPORTING)
• Import category descriptions for Administration > Tools > Import > WordPress
• Show Tools menu for all users so they can access Turbo
• Check for new version when visiting Administration > Tools > Upgrade
• Fix most popular link category list
• Add description field for tags
• WAI-ARIA landmark roles to added to WordPress Default theme
• “Choose a city in the same timezone as you” for Timezone in Administration > Settings > General
• Remove My Hacks option from Administration > Settings > Miscellaneous
• Hide email addresses from low privilege users on Administration > Comments
• In upgrade process, provide better explanation for database upgrade message
• Enforce unique email addresses in Add/Edit users
• Make user_nicenames unique during registration
• Add “Send this password to the new user by email” option to Administration > Users > Add New
• Don’t set user’s Website url to http:// in Administration > Users > Add New
• Hide things that need to be available to screen readers via offscreen positioning
• Use invisible class for hiding labels and legends
• Use a semantic class name for text targeted to screen readers

For a more complete list of features check out the 2.8 Codex. Download WordPress 2.8 Beta 1 here.

Intergrating WPMU, BP & bbPress

// April 28th, 2009 // No Comments » // Buddypress, Wordpress

Last week I made another attempt at trying to make BuddyPress work with bbPress (WordPress forums) and after a late night I finally got it working. Due to the fast pace of the development of BuddyPress, as well as having to deal with a beta version of WordPress MU 2.7.1 and an alpha version of bbPress, most of the online tutorials were out of date which didn’t help the task of making all three applications work together.

I managed to get this working a few weeks earlier without any issues, but so much had changed within a sort period of time. Thanks to a few friends on Twitter I finally managed to make it work as it should.

Since then, Chris from “The Easy Button” has put together a fantastic online tutorial on intergrating WPMU, BP and bbPress. I ran through it in a matter of minutes, rather than hours and everything is very well documented and explained – and best of all it works!

If anyone is looking to setup forums with BuddyPress then this is THE guide for you!

Upgrades – BP & WPMU

// April 27th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Buddypress, Wordpress

I spent the good part of Saturday upgrading Explore With Me to the latest version of WordPress MU and then BuddyPress RC2. To my surprise, everything worked in the end and there were no major issues considering the fact that I had to remove BuddyPress and re-install it.

As of BuddyPress RC2, it is only compatible with WPMU 2.7.1. This allows users to install BuddyPress (and any other plugin) via WPMU 2.7.1 which will make any future versions a lot easier to manage. All you should have to do now is click “Upgrade” in the plugin section of the dashboard, and everything will download to your server and it install itself automatically.

At the end of this month the eagerly awaiting BuddyPress version 1 will be out so that will mean another upgrade next weekend. Hopefully that is all for a while!

WordPress MU 2.7 Released!

// January 29th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Wordpress

After much anticipation, the new version of WordPress MU have finally been released! Many of us have been waiting for the new version since the regular WordPress 2.7 version was released a few months ago.

I have been waiting for WPMU 2.7 so I can launch Explore With Me, so this weekend’s task is now to upgrade the site to the new version and make sure it all works as it should.

BuddyPress Beta 2 will be released sometime in the next few hours so hopefully I will be able to test both WPMU and BP Beta 2 and officially launch Explore With Me within the next two weeks.

I am yet to look at WPMU 2.7, but I am sure I’ll be able to get my hands on it tonight!

Wish me luck!

You can download the new version of WPMU at http://mu.wordpress.org/download/

Projects Update

// January 15th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Projects, Wordpress

As many of you know I have a few projects that I am currently working on. Here is a quick update…

• Explore With Me: The site has been completed, BuddyPress Beta 1 is up and running, and members are joining at a steady rate. I am still saying that the site is not yet officially launched as I am waiting for the new version of WordPress MU 2.7 and BuddyPress version 1. There is no word yet on WPMU as to when it will be released, however rumours suggest it might be at the end of the month. BuddyPress v1 is set be released February 9, so once testing is complete the site will be officially launched and I’ll start the task of promoting it.

  Hits are very steady and encouraging at this early stage. I am getting a lot of traffic from the BuddyPress website, but that also means I am getting a lot of people looking at the site to check out BuddyPress rather than interested in the site. Though at this early stage anything that spreads the word is a good thing.

  As for revenue, I am making a bit of money from Google Adsense. The affiliate links have not made any money yet, but people are clicking on them so it is just a matter of time.

• Free BuddyPress Themes: This venture is very new and still pretty raw…oh and the blog is pretty empty. The site relies on users submitting their themes for others to download, but as BuddyPress is new, I don’t think many people have got past the point of installing and testing it. Once version 1 is released I think the site will begin to grow.

  Traffic is been fantastic in the past week. I have had more traffic to the site than this site got in the past two months. There is plenty of interest, but there are no themes to download as yet. I am getting the majority of traffic from the BuddyPress forums and Google searches.