Falling for WordPress Plugins

John’s Intro:

It’s Episode 609 and we have plugins for  Temporarily Accessing Toasted Ninja’s… and WordPress News. It’s all coming up on WordPress Plugins A-Z!

– ‘good morning, good afternoon, good evening, wherever you happen to be hiding out there on the globe today! Coming to you LIVE from …’

Amber’s Rant:

Welcome to Episode 609 – Falling for WordPress Plugins – We’ve got a couple of great in-depth plugins to cover for you, some recent news in both the WordPress World and the Tech World in general, and some awesome WordPress Tips!

Still got some smoky skies, though we are getting clear skies in between now! We have also started getting lower temperatures at night – the time of school and fall will be upon us shortly! I know my teens are totally looking forward to going back to school in about a week from now…

Some reminders before we start the show today….

Reminders:

• Remember that the show starts at 12:30 PM Pacific Time, with a pre-stream starting around 12:15 PM Pacific Time. Pre-stream is where we twiddle with the dials and knobs and really just warm up our voices, so join in for some entertainment value!
• Our show notes for each episode can be found at wppluginsatoz.com – the newest show notes will be up within 24 hours and on our front page!
• Don’t forget that this is a value for value show, and that you are a big part of it’s creation! You are our producers, and we need you to help us produce! Get out there and hit some like buttons, share an episode or two, and let people know that you help to produce the longest running WordPress Plugins podcast!

That’s it for reminders, don’t forget to stick around until the end of the show for some possibly life altering advice!

...When you see this in the notes, it means we didn’t read this on the show. The only way to find this information out is to read our Show Notes!

…You can send any questions/suggestions or notes saying ‘hi’ over to me at amber@wppro.ca, or hit up our site wpppluginsatoz.com/contact – Be creative with the title so that the spammer eater doesn’t eat your note though!

Let’s start the show with this weeks Featured Artist:

Artist: 

Greg’s Graphics (Greg Holdsworth)  — https://gregsgraphics.com

This weeks picture is an older one but is absolutely beautiful – showcases the colours of the oncoming fall with absolute mastery. I do love fall, it is as gorgeous as the spring time!

Going through the Art Vaults is awesome, but we would love some new art! You can send it into us at https://wppluginsatoz.com/artwork/. You can also check out the art vaults yourself there too!

…We can NEVER have too much art!

Breaking News in the WordPress World at large!! 

…If I missed something, shoot me a link at amber@wppro.ca – it may show up on the next show!

News this week:

WordPress Vulnerability Report – July 27, 2023 (https://ithemes.com/blog/wordpress-vulnerability-report-july-27-2023/) – I don’t see any changes this time; I am not sure what’s going on and whether they will be back with regular reports – though keeping an eye on this list is a good idea.

WordPress coding standards maintainer warns maintenance will be halted without funding: “this is an unsustainable situation” (https://wptavern.com/wordpress-coding-standards-maintainer-warns-maintenance-will-be-halted-without-funding-this-is-an-unsustainable-situation) – WordPressCS is mainly maintained by Juliette Reinders Folmer, and a small group of volunteers. Thousands of hours have gone into this most recent update – and the update will be good for a while but considering the speed with which PHP is moving it won’t last long. Unfortunately, nobody has stepped up to take on the funding, and maintaining the WordPressCS with nothing but volunteers is not going to last. It takes intense work, long hours, and specialized knowledge – and people need to earn a living. Without funding, the maintenance may just stop.

WordPress 6.4 roadmap includes typography management features, new blocks, and twenty twenty-four default theme (https://wptavern.com/wordpress-6-4-roadmap-includes-typography-management-features-new-blocks-and-twenty-twenty-four-default-theme) – Although WordPress is moving into Phase 3 of Gutenberg project which focuses on collaboration, 6.4 will primarily extend existing features in the block and site editors. 6.4 is bringing in a font library, new blocks, auto-insert blocks, updates to patterns, and expansion in the design of tools available for footnotes. I didn’t list everything out here, so if you are interested in what’s coming down the line, be sure to check out the links in our show notes!

WordPress unveils design for upcoming twenty twenty-four default theme (https://wptavern.com/wordpress-unveils-design-for-upcoming-twenty-twenty-four-default-theme) – WordPress 6.4 will be shipping in with a new default theme sometime in early November – or at least that is when it is expected to drop. The goal of the designers for this default theme is to go the opposite of the previous complaints of the default themes being too niche – they are attempting to make it the ultimate multi-purpose theme that can be used for nearly any website. This should be interesting to see how this new default theme looks!

New Chrome Browser extension enables one-click plugin and theme testing with WordPress Playground (https://wptavern.com/new-chrome-browser-extension-enables-one-click-plugin-and-theme-testing-with-wordpress-playground) – This is something that could be super useful! May be worth using Chrome just to have this. I personally prefer Firefox developer edition because it has so many tools, though being able to do a one-click test for themes and plugins would be very useful indeed! The new Chrome extension that LUBUS has created have labelled it simply ‘Playground’, and you will find yourself on playground.wordpress.net.

Equalize Digital Accessibility Checker plugin adds new frontend highlighting feature funded by NASA (https://wptavern.com/equalize-digital-accessibility-checker-plugin-adds-new-frontend-highlighting-feature-funded-by-nasa) – This is something that will be very useful for people who are working on making their sites as accessible as possible. The funded by NASA part comes in from when Equalize Digital was contracted by NASA to perform an accessibility test, and they wound up creating this feature and choosing to put it into the free version of the plugin. The feature speaks in plain speech telling you what is wrong with your site, and gives you an explanation and directions on how to fix it that are easily followed. For those working on accessibility for your site, this will be a very useful tool for you.

Back to school tech buying advice for parents (https://www.technewsworld.com/story/back-to-school-tech-buying-advice-for-parents-178524.html) – This is an interesting article and looks at some things in a way that I never though – the first thing that pops up is ‘ChatGPT’. Now, my first thought on kids using this is that it’s just cheating – but the writer makes a good point: having the skills to use this kind of program is going to likely be rather critical for their generation later on. After all, ChatGPT is popping up everywhere, and is going to be used in every sort of business within the next 10 years or so. So make a point of helping them to use this tool, but still require them to do the work. Cutting down the time it takes to do the related research is a valuable skill they will need later in life, so help them out with it so they don’t let the program do ALL the work, but learn to use it as a tool rather than as a replacement for doing any work.

The other things this article goes through are computers, trackers, atomic defense bulletproof backpack (yes, seriously, that is a thing that is gone over in this article), headset, and an expensive system called the Ooler Sleep System. It’s an interesting article that goes through these topics in a slightly different and out of the box way then I generally think when it comes to my teens and them going back to school, worth a read!

Digital Nomads reveal the best – and the worst – things about the lifestyle (https://thenextweb.com/news/digital-nomad-destinations-salary-visas)

The Extras – check out our Facebook, or Twitter page for even more!

Gutenberg 16.5 adds new commands to the Command Palette
(https://wptavern.com/gutenberg-16-5-adds-new-commands-to-the-command-palette)

WordPress Community Summit travel fund contributes $48K in assistance for attendees (https://wptavern.com/wordpress-community-summit-travel-fund-contributes-48k-in-assistance-for-attendees)

Organic Themes launches apparel store to raise money for the Maui strong fund (https://wptavern.com/organic-themes-launches-apparel-store-to-raise-money-for-the-maui-strong-fund)

Post Status celebrates 10 years, adds Joost De Valk and Marieke Van De Rakt as partners (https://wptavern.com/post-status-celebrates-10-years-adds-joost-de-valk-and-marieke-van-de-rakt-as-partners)

Watch WordCamp US 2023 via Livestream
(https://wptavern.com/watch-wordcamp-us-2023-via-livestream)

Impending French Law threatens the free internet, Mozilla Warns
(https://thenextweb.com/news/french-law-threatens-free-internet-warns-mozilla)

Experts say workplace AI bans won’t work
(https://www.technewsworld.com/story/experts-say-workplace-ai-bans-wont-work-178537.html)

New US initiatives aim to better defend against cyberattacks (https://www.technewsworld.com/story/new-us-initiatives-aim-to-better-defend-against-cyberattacks-178534.html)

Dragon Rating Time!

John’s Plugin

Temporary Access

https://wordpress.org/plugins/temporary-access/

The Lowdown:

There will come a time when you will need to allow access to your WordPress site by someone other than yourself. This may be an SEO person or a developer fixing something the list goes on. When you create that access you may want to remove it but as life happens you might forget. This is a perfect solution.

Give anyone a temporary access to your site for a limited amount of time with role.

Features:

• Enable/Disable Temporary Access
• Select Any User
• Restrict User With Time Limit
• One Time Temporary Access Url

Rating 5 Dragons

WordPress Tips

We would love to hear some tid bit tips from some of our producers out there – what did you figure out by breaking something? Or what did you need to learn in order to help someone? You can send these tid bits into me at amber@wppro.ca

Making Sites

There have been a few times when I have come across ‘how to’s’ or people who have stated what you should know ‘already’. I really dislike when I come across a person who scoffs at me for not knowing something already – one of the things I have learned is to just ignore them all.

There are things that I am still learning that apparently ‘everyone learns right at the beginning’ – though I have not had to use these skills before, so I had not learned them. I sometimes feel like I am doing a lot of things backwards – learning the more difficult things and then stepping back and learning the easier bits later.

However, that’s totally fine. Because everyone needs to learn different bits and pieces as they go when they need the information. Don’t let those people get you down – they are just looking to make themselves feel superior ’cause you probably know how to do things they haven’t even realized they will need to learn down the road.

Beginners Tips

Sleep.

Don’t try and do things all at once – even if it’s just a sandbox site, you WILL miss something as simple as an extra space in the code causing the whole site to not work.

Often when on a learning curve, we tend to skip sleeping thinking that we need to get this NOW, we need to understand, we need to figure this puzzle out – but the truth is, you won’t be able to figure out the puzzle until you sleep.

If you’re working on something, take the time to sleep – even if it’s just 4 hour naps at a time, that will help! Get the sleep, don’t refuse yourself, you won’t be able to solve the puzzle and figure out the problem otherwise.

…Some random entertainment in the World of WordPress!

…Matt’s Famous Quotes
https://www.idrlabs.com/quotes/matt-mullenweg.php

…The hall of shame via Automattic:
transparency.automattic.com/tag/hall-of-shame/

Amber’s Plugin

Ninja Toastify

https://wordpress.org/plugins/ninja-toastify/

The Lowdown:

Over the past couple of years, I have seen a few plugins called Toastify – I decided to check out a new one that is fresh outta the box.

This one is a button with a link attached created through css that you can put into your site.

The button is pretty cool, and they give you the information on how to personalize it right there on the plugin dashboard. They also give you a starter setup, so you can just copy and paste and change out the particular bits you want to change – colour of the button and message on the button, colour of the pop up message if there even is a pop up message, where the pop up sits, whether the button is a ‘copy url’ or a ‘click for message’ type button – the possibilities are endless with this.

You can make the button a ‘click here’ button that gives a popup message saying thank your or something along those lines and takes the person to a different link – or you can make it a ‘copy url/link/etc’ button where they click it and whatever it is is now saved to their clipboard.

The shortcode does not work in Classic Editor, either in visual or text area. However, it DOES work in page builders and widgets. I had no issue tossing it into a text widget through the ‘text’ section of it – although adding it into the visual area seems to work well too.

Now the down side to this is that you will have to have some basic understanding of the shortcoding language in order to completely personalize this. Although if you want the basics of what they give you an example for, it is fairly easy to figure out where you can replace what you want to have said. Because they give you the basic starter, it makes it a lot easier.

They also give you all the shortcodes you will need to personalize this to the fullest extent.

I think this is a really cool idea, I really like how well you can personalize this and that it works so well. Seems to play nice with others, and is totally free at this time!

Rating: 5 Dragon

Onto Our Producer Know How and Donations Segment!

Earn yourself a Producership Credit!

We have 3 levels of Producers that help to keep the show’s larders stocked to bursting – Free-Lance Producers, Back-Room Producers, and War-Room Producers. There are special perks for Back-Room and War-Room Producers that you can learn about on our site wppluginsatoz.com. Click on Time, Treasure, or Talent Donations in our main menu to learn all the nitty gritty details on how you can add your 2 cents!

Free-Lance Producers:

… Free-Lance Producers always show up when least expected, and often times when most needed! No donation required to become a Free-Lance Producer – you just are one if you’re here!

… If you have listened to even 10 minutes of this show, or shown up a single time to one of our live shows on YouTube, you are one of our many Free-Lance Producers! Although you guys are always popping in and out at unexpected times, we appreciate your support and periodic help with one thing or another – thank you!

Back Room Producers:

… Back Room Producers always seem to be about the place helping with our contests, artwork, site organization, notes, questions, suggestions, and even more! While they tend to hang out a lot in the back lounge and consume massive amounts of coffee and doughnuts, it’s well earned through both hard work and their donations – never above $50 dollars and absolutely equal to their Time and Talent donations!

… Back Room Producers, if you ever notice something that needs some work feel free to reach out to us and let us know – you can offer to take it up yourself, or just let us know and we will add it to our list. We always appreciate your help in organizing and changing of the coffee – thank you!

War Room Producers:

… War Room Producers receive a few extra perks with their donations of $50 or more – an official A to Z Handle of their choice, a spotlight in that weeks show for a short speech, and an official Executive Producership Credit! These credits are real and can be used in the real world to your advantage! Only draw back is that they sometimes gotta make fresh coffee when the Back Room Producers emptied the pot…

**If you prefer to stay anonymous, please let us know at the beginning of your note to us regarding your donation! We are more than happy to keep you anonymous from the world – nobody is ever forced out of the tender embrace of the shadows on this show!**

… Official A to Z Handle means you will receive a specialized login to our site. We are working to update our site where we will have a Members Only section, and you will have access to a variety of things through your personalized handle for our site! To receive your Official A to Z Handle, think up an original name, and send it in to us along with the show number and the show name.

… Your spotlight can be an elevator pitch for your business, a note, or you can just skip it – just be sure to let us know your choice and we will adhere appropriately.

… The Producership Credit we offer is REAL! When you send your donation in to us of $50 or more, please be sure to note down the number and title of the show your donation appeared on, and we will back up your right to claim Producership!

… You don’t ACTUALLY have to make the Back Room Producers coffee, but you might want to make yourself a fresh one. ;) Especially if you are planning on pointing out things going wrong on the site… we got a long list and will likely try and convince you to help us out a little!

… War Room Producers, same as for the Back Room Producers, reach out to us if you notice something that needs work! Whether you are wanting to take up the job yourself or just inform us and leave it, we will add it to our ever-growing list!

Join in and be part of your own production and support the show at the same time!

There are loads of ways to use us as your tool to get on out there like getting an interview, leaving a review for a plugin or donating your own plugin review, or your own plugin license! I recommend you give it a go and see how it helps – you can check out our show notes in this section to see all the ways to be part of your own production!

…Reach out to John and get yourself Interviewed – use us as your tool to get out there!

… Looking for a way to get your name and work out there? Use us as a stepping stone! Hit us up at https://wppluginsatoz.com/interview

…Send in your Plugin Reviews, or suggestions for a Plugin reviews!

… Have a plugin you love? Or one you really think people should avoid? Reach out to us and get your words and opinion out into the world by hitting us up at https://wppluginsatoz.com/submit-plugin-review/

…Send in your own Plugin License and add it to the contest – this is a great way to get your name and your work out there!

… Is your plugin worth its salt in Dragons? If so, send it on into us and add it to the contests! You can do this by hitting us up at https://wppluginsatoz.com/plugincontest/

…Send in questions and/or comments – we always love hearing from our Producers!

… Have a thought to share? Send it in! You can stay anonymous or belt your name out in all caps! Stitcher Radio, Google Play, or the iTunes Store. Doing this will also help you in producing the show for your own benefit too!

…You can support the show by Subscribing to our Newsletter, Donating, or reviewing us on Stitcher Radio, Google Play, or the iTunes Store. Doing this will also help you in producing the show for your own benefit too!

…You can check us out on Facebook, or our YouTube Channel! Be sure to hit the ‘like’ button and share share share!

… YouTube Channel and joining us live every Monday at 12:15 PM PDT is a FANTASTIC show of support – and since you’re already on the net’s, might as well check out the Facebook page and hit that ‘like’ button and share it out!

… Just showing up to our YouTube Channel and joining us live every Monday at 12:15 PM PDT is a FANTASTIC show of support – and since you’re already on the net’s, might as well check out the Facebook page and hit that ‘like’ button and share it out!

… Don’t forget – if you leave a review of us on any platform, that will help the show get noticed too; and if you happen to add your name to the show via questions or that awesome spotlight offered with a War Room Producership, that will get YOUR name out there too!

Questions, Notes, and Feedback from our Producers out there:

… No such thing as a stupid question people! I was new not too long ago, and I know how overwhelming it can be stepping into this world at this stage – I know for a fact that questions you have are the same questions others out there have!

Reach out through email to amber@wppro.ca, or through the site at wppluginsatoz.com/contact/!

Miscellaneous Announcements from us and Producers:

Have an announcement like a meetup, or to announce you’ll be on stage at a WordCamp? Let us know and we will add it here and help get your news out to the world!

If you are interested in finding a WordPress Meetup somewhere around the world you can go check out the places here: https://www.meetup.com/pro/wordpress/
Next WordPress Victoria Meetup don’t appear to have anything scheduled at this time, though be sure to keep checking back if you are interested as they do try and have a meetup regularly! https://www.meetup.com/yyjwordpress/

There are 5 WordCamps planned for August around the world:

WordCamp Nairobi, Kenya
Community Summit 2023
WordCamp US
WordCamp Denmark
WordCamp Jinja 2023

To find out more about these WordCamps around the world, you can check out the link here in our show notes https://central.wordcamp.org/

Keep checking back every week to find out what else is going on!

And remember, the show notes found at wppluginsatoz.com has a whole lot of extra information to grab up that we don’t read on air so be sure to check them out!

How to reach us:

We have a real brick and mortar address where you can send in art and/or notes – you can find the address in our show notes!

WP Plugins A to Z
C/O John Overall 
20-754 E Fairview Rd. 
Victoria, BC  V9A 5T9  
Canada

We also have virtual addresses too!

John:

• My website: http://www.johnoverall.com/  
• WordPress Emergency Support: http://wppro.ca/wpemergency
• email: john@wppro.ca

Amber:

• email: amber@wppro.ca

Today’s Plugins we covered were:

John’s Plugin:

Temporary Access by Sajjad Hossain Sagor

• Enable/Disable Temporary Access
• Select Any User
• Restrict User With Time Limit

Rating: 5 Dragons

Amber’s Plugin: 

Ninja Toastify By Farhan Ahmed

• Easy creation of a personalized button
• Can create ‘copy url’ or ‘thanks/donate/etc’ button
• Can completely personalize everything about this button

Rating: 5 Dragons

Q & A Time with Amber – Catch this info on our YouTube Channel

If you have questions you would like to have asked on the show, send them in to me at Amber@WPPro.ca – let’s see if we can stump my dad!

• What makes a person ‘good at what they do’ in this industry?

• Does knowing more coding languages mean you are better at what you do, or is it just an asset?

Questions asked after closing credits:

• What rates a person as ‘not good at what they do’ in this industry?

• Is there a way to really measure yourself against others in this industry, or is it really just a self worth kind of thing where you gotta decide whether you are good on your own?

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