Suggestions for writing flexible and usable plugin

February 5th • 4 Comments • Under: Sidenotes • Tags: development, plugin, WordPress

After the release of Custom Function Widgets plugin I also wrote about it in the WordPress support forum. Fellow forum contributor Otto42 (author of a very similar plugin: ExecPHP) had very interesting things to say regarding the plugin development in general. Really worth reading and discussing.

WordPress Plugin: Custom Function Widgets

February 4th • 21 Comments • Under: WordPress • Tags: blogging, plugin, WordPress

Many of the WordPress plugin authors don’t offer widgets, but only raw PHP functions (or hooks) which you have to insert into the theme’s template files. As the number of functions increases it becomes harder to manage it all, especially if you decide to uninstall some of them or add new ones.

It is especially inconvenient for those who are not so savvy, or don’t want to edit theme files. Moreover, if one decides to change the theme, the edits have to be repeated all over again.

Therefore, I made this Custom Function Widget plugin which allows you to create sidebar widgets without ever touching the theme’s files and use these widgets in any theme you like. Read more »

Singer/songwriter Martin Confused — acoustic and absolutely fantastic

February 1st • No Comments • Under: Sidenotes

Martin Confused is an amazing singer/songwriter from Latvia whom I discovered only today. Download and listen to his two latest songs “Too late” and “Boy who never cried” at martinconfused.lv or watch him perform at NokiaOpenStage.lv. p.s. Turns out that we share the same surname — his real name is Mārtiņš Dambis.