z-Lightview Updated to 1.3.0
I’ve just released version 1.3.0 of my z-Lightview WordPress plugin. This update fixes a few bugs and provides additional options with how Lightview will be used on your WordPress site.
Full details and a download link are available on the z-Lightview page.
z-LightView Updated to Version 1.2
I’ve just released version 1.2 of my z-LightView WordPress plugin. This plugin utilizes the excellent LightView software by Nick Stakenburg to create smooth image galleries in WordPress pages and posts.
This update improves functionality by using the latest JavaScript libraries for LightView. It also improves how these are included on web pages to avoid potential conflicts.
Get the update here.
New Twitter WordPress Widget
Today I’ve made available a simple WordPress plugin that adds a sidebar widget featuring your Twitter tweets. This new plugin is available for download here.
Bible Verse of The Day Plugin Updated to 2.1
I’ve updated my BibleGateway.com verse of the day plugin to version 2.1.
This update fixes an issue where the Title entered when using the sidebar widget would conflict with other widgets.
The update is available for download here.
BibleGateway Verse-of-the-Day Plugin Updated to 2.0
I’ve just updated my BibleGateway.com verse-of-the-day plugin to version 2.0.
The updated version now enables WordPress users to include Bible Gateway’s daily scripture in the sidebar of any widget ready theme.
The original functionality of inserting the verse using a shortcode is still included and this version is completely reverse-compatible with its predecessor.
Visit the plugin’s page for all the details and to download the update.
Block spam and save bandwidth on your blog
Here’s a quick and easy way to kill two (proverbial) birds with one stone.
I might not have the same amount of activity on my blog as other sites but the site is still a frequent target for spam bots. I alleviated much of my frustration by installing Akismet (and it does a truly fantastic job). Still, I monitored regular visits and spam posts (well, attempts anyway as Akismet caught them) from the same IP addresses.
What I did was create a .htaccess file on my web site with the following entry:
deny from xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
Where the X’s are the IP address of the problematic spammer, for example:
deny from 169.254.0.188
This solution works great because WordPress doesn’t have to handle anything, the web server simply forbids access whenever an attempt to visit the site is even made. This saves server resources and bandwidth.
It should be mentioned that this solution isn’t perfectly ideal. Many (most, really) Internet IP addresses are dynamically assigned–given to a computer for only a short period of time before being reassigned to another computer. Eventually these HT Access entries could block a potentially legitimate visitor. It worked for me because I noticed the addresses of the spammers had not changed for quite some time. At some point in the future I’ll comment out those lines in the file and see if the heavy spamming resumes.
So this can work to quickly stop an annoying spam bot that regularly plagues your site, but it’s not a permanent anti-spam solution. For that I strongly recommend Akismet.
z-Lightview WordPress plugin updated to 1.1.2
For those interested, my z-LightView plugin has been updated to version 1.1.2. The only real change is that it uses the latest LightView code (2.3.1, released August 20th).
You can get the update here.
LightView is a package that includes JavaScript code to enhance the way embedded content (such as images) is displayed on web pages.
WordPress app for iPhone
The fantastic folks at WordPress have just released an application for iPhone and iPod Touch users. The new application, appropriately named WordPress, is now available (iTunes link) as a free download from the new iTunes App Store.
I just installed the 0.3MB program on my iPhone and it works as advertised: easily allowing me to write and manage posts on my WordPress blog. The feature I appreciate most is the use of a Local Drafts folder. I don’t have a data plan for my iPhone, so while I’m out and about I can take a picture or start a post and have it stored locally on my iPhone. Once I’m near a wifi hotspot I can publish the post with ease.
The application also features options to include pictures (taken live from the camera or those already stored in the Photos application), set categories and tags, control the post status (Draft, Private, Published, etc.) and more. It even includes an option to preview the post as it would appear on your blog.
There are a few quirks that I’m sure will get addressed in the future. It would certainly be nice to be able to view published posts without having to go into the Edit screen, for instance. I also notice that it does not seem to respect my time zone setting.
For version 1.0, the application is an excellent addition to the free blogging software. No doubt this is going to be a very popular download.
Details, including screenshots and a video, are available on their web site.
New WordPress plugins
Along with the new site look, I’ve created a dedicated page with some WordPress plugins I’ve written.
The first of these allows you to easily insert BibleGateway.com’s verse-of-the-day in posts or pages. The second enables the use of LightView for images/pictures.
New site design
Although I had only been running my blog for about six months, I felt a change was needed. Today I’ve started using a new theme for the site.
I still like the previous theme, but this new one is a bit brighter and I prefer the horizontal menu along the top.
