Contributions to WordPress Core at all-time high

Okay, let’s just get this out in the open: I don’t have any problem working in the background, but sometimes I like seeing my name in the credits.

I love the WordPress community, from blog writer to core developer. And I love giving back to the community: from answering questions at the OKC WordPress Users Group monthly meetup and in IRC to writing patches for core. I enjoy using WordPress to help folks communicate their message to the world, do business, or just keep family and friends updated on life.

The altruistic part of me loves seeing the fruits of my labor when someone is able to do something amazing with WordPress.

But that self-centered part of me loves seeing props morganestes as a Trac ticket is closed. It is a small reminder that I’m fighting Impostor Syndrome on a daily basis, and I see it as a blow landed against the fake me.

I’m excited about the release of WordPress 3.9 today for lots of reasons, but one that really stood out to me when I read the release blog post was this:

There are 267 contributors with props in this release, a new high.

That’s nearly 100 more than the last release! That’s 266 people around the world that I’ve been able to collaborate on a huge project that changes lives daily. That’s pretty cool in my book.

I’m excited to be a part of the Core Contributors group, and hope to continue the into 4.0 and beyond.

Even if it is to feel the slight rush of seeing my name in Trac. 🙂

Widon’t Part Deux

I just released a new WordPress plugin to prevent typographic widows and orphans. Based on Shaun Inman’s original Widon’t plugin, this one has been updated to ensure it works with 3.6 and to take advantage of the new Settings API.

You can get it now for your blog at http://wordpress.org/plugins/widont-part-deux/.

Can’t activate iMember360 plugin in WordPress

Ran into a problem this morning where I couldn’t activate the iMember360 (Infusionsoft for WP) plugin on a local development install. Instead, I got a rather unhelpful error message: “Plugin could not be activated because it triggered a fatal error.” Okay, thanks for that.

We hates encrypted plugins, we do! (Gollum photo credit: Emmi.Kristiina)

I’m running all my WordPress development sites on DesktopServer by ServerPress. The PHP is a bit dated (5.3.1 as of v3.5.8), but it’s a good stack and simple to set up. The only problem I’ve ever faced with it is the iMember360 plugin, because of its use of file encryption. I’ll go on a rant about that ugliness in another post, but suffice it to say for now that it sucks and we hates it my precioussss. :-\

A peek at the code tells me that before it can run, it requires that the Zend Guard Loader or ionCube Loader be present and active on the server. Since neither one of those is active by default in DesktopServer, you’ll need to download and install your preferred decoder. I used ionCube for this setup.

1. Download the loader files and extract them to the extensions folder in your DesktopServer install. Mine is at /Applications/XAMPP/xamppfiles/lib/php/php-5.3.1/extensions/no-debug-non-zts-20090626. I also downloaded the loader wizard and extracted the folder to /Applications/XAMPP/xamppfiles/htdocs.
2. Add the following line to your php.ini file (mine is at /Applications/XAMPP/xamppfiles/etc/php.ini:

   ; Enable ioncube
   zend_extension="/Applications/XAMPP/xamppfiles/lib/php/php-5.3.1/extensions/no-debug-non-zts-20090626/ioncube_loader_dar_5.3.so"

3. Open your browser to http://127.0.0.1/ioncube/loader-wizard.php and follow the directions there to make sure it’s working. You may need to restart Apache from inside DesktopServer.
4. Activate the plugin and get back to work!

Speeding up my WordPress workflow using Git

I’ve started working with Git as part of my Web development workflow, and am just getting the hang of some of the tools. I’m still running into problems, but it’s mainly where I haven’t taken the time to read Pro Git and learn what it is I’m trying to do.

Here’s a quick overview:

• make changes in code
• test in local development server
• commit changes to git repository
• git add .
• git commit -m “Explanation of changes.”
• git push
• move updated files to external dev server
• git ftp push
• test on external dev/staging server to verify changes
• move to production site (on same server as dev/staging)
• git ftp push -s www
• verify changes on production. smile at work accomplished

I’ve also tried working with git flow for feature and release management, but haven’t quite got the hang of it yet to make sure I’m doing it right. Once I know more about what it’s doing, I’ll write about how I’m integrating it with my own workflow.

Publishing a jQuery plugin

I’ve written a few plugins for jQuery and WordPress over the past few years, but mostly for specific projects or my own personal use.

The first time I released a plugin (Hashgrid for WordPress) for others to use, I ran into the challenge of maintenance hosting: I didn’t have time to maintain it, and my host ended free hosting and I lost the files.

This was in the olden, pre-Github days.