MattKendrick.com

I’ve been using WordPress blogging platform for over a year now. I’ve been extremely impressed with the ease of use and plugablity. I’ve also taken part in writing a few plugins for WordPress. Now I think I’m ready to take the next step and attend WordCamp. WordCamp is a convention so to speak for those who use WordPress. It’s a great way to meet people and expand your horzions on the great blogging platform. I just found out today, that WordCamp Louisville has been officially set. The date is Dec. 4th 2010. This will be the closest WordCamp event to where I live. Not completely sure if I will be able to make it. But I’m excited and can’t wait to attend. If I can make it, I’m looking forward to meeting other WordPress users and share ideas. This WordCamp event proceeds will benefit the University of Louisville Autism Training Center. So to help the gang at WordCamp Louisville out, I’m putting a supporting logo on my blog! So there ya have it!

Contributors: Matt Kendrick
Tags: cafepress, t-shirts, ad, display
Requires at least: 2.6
Tested up to: 2.9.2
Stable tag: .85

This plugin adds a widget that displays random items from your CafePress.com store. Requires cURL and a CafePress API Key.

== Description ==

This plugin adds a widget that displays random items from your CafePress.com store. The display uses the 150px X 150px thumbnail provided by CafePress, description, price and ‘Buy Now’ link. See it in action at OnScreenCars.com It can also cache a copy of your items to avoid hitting API limits and performance issues. Your webserver will need to have the cURL extension for PHP in order for this plugin to work. You will also need to obtain a CafePress API Key. API Keys can be obtained from this link: http://developer.cafepress.com/apps/register.

== Installation ==

1. Upload zip file contents to the `/wp-content/plugins/` directory
2. Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress
3. Add/Configure Your CafePress Ad Rotator Widget

After you install the plugin go to Widgets, add and configure the CafePress Ad Rotator widget. You’ll
need your CafePress store id (ex. http://www.cafepress.com/mystoreid, last part of the url),
API Key and a label name for your widget. You can obtain API Keys from http://developer.cafepress.com/apps/register Once you have your widget up and running it’s best to cache a copy of your CafePress items. From the widget control panel check “Update Cache” and click Save. You can clear or update the cache at anytime. It marks the last time you updated your item cache. Whenever changes are made to your store, you need to update your cache.

== Changelog ==

= .85 =

Bug fixes for PHP5, No sell-out price fix, total items variable correction.

= .80 =

First version released.

=== Downloads ===

=== Update ===

For those who are having trouble with which fields to fill out when requesting an API KEY. I’ve added an example form below with the correct responses.

Name of the application:
WordPress Ad Rotator User

Web Site:
Your Website Url

Please describe what your application will do:
Displays random CafePress items from my store on my blog.

What type of application are you building?
Other

Other? Tell us more:

How many people do you anticipate will use your application?
1-10

Is your application commercial? (Will you charge people to access the application?)
No

Does your application run advertising?
No

What one-word tags best describe your application?
WordPress

Notes:
(nothing)

How did you hear about this API?

http://mattkendrick.com

What is your preferred protocol?
REST

What is your preferred output format?
XML

Leave the “CafePress API” checked.

Check the “I agree to the terms of service”

Click “Register”

Hope that helps. Also be sure to not leave the required fields blank when configuring your widget. Also be sure not to leave spaces in the the API Key field.

=== API Tester ===

Below is a form for testing your Store Id and API Key. We do not log results, API Keys and Store Ids.

*** This is an unoffical test. We are not response-able for results or errors. ***

About: This plugin watches your Twitter RSS Feed for user-defined “launch codes” to trigger user-defined script URLs.

Have you ever needed a script or task run on your blog and you were not near a computer with internet access? Well look no further than “Tweet My Script.” This plugin allows you to simply use your cell-phone to text a short tweet to Twitter with a “launch code.” When someone accesses your Word Press blog, Tweet My Script will check to see if you’ve left any new launch codes to activate. After each successful launch, the plugin records the previous tweet. This insures that the script being launched will only be launched once, unless the launch code is used again in a new tweet. This plugin can be used to launch any public accessible script.

Updates

Version 0.75 – March 7th 2010: Offset feature added. Allows for bloggers to set an offset on the number of times your blog checks Twitter to keep from exceeding API limits. This is ideal for blogs with high traffic or blogs hosted on high traffic shared hosting. Default offset is set to 0.

Installation

1. Upload `tweet_my_script.php` and `tweet_my_script_options.php` to the `/wp-content/plugins/` directory

2. Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress

3. Configure plugin settings from the dashboard settings option `Tweet My Script`

Download

Tweet My Script WordPress Plugin (1038)

This is my first official plugin for WordPress! If you find it helpful or would like to help further push development, please donate!

Holiday Season/Winter is approaching fast. You can add some falling snow/leaves to your site to make it more festive! On this site I’m using a blogging software package called WordPress. Nicolas Kuttler a developer from Germany wrote a very easy to use plug-in to add falling snow to your WordPress blog. As you may have noticed I’m using the plug-in now with falling leaves (hasn’t started snowing yet).

Nicolas describes his plug-in:

Snowflakes falling down your blog! Inspired by the unforgettable xsnow. Install this and enjoy the snowfall! Great for times around Christmas and Christmas templates. The plugin comes with different snowflakes and a lot of possible settings. You should see the effect on this page.

You too, can easily add this plug-in to your WordPress blog through your admin console. In the plug-in search box, search for “snow”. The results will list this plug in as “Snow, balloons and more…”. Just install and activate. There ya have it. You can also change different settings for the plug-in as well. Settings include speed, direction, size and images to use.

If ya get a chance check out Nicolas’ other WordPress plug-ins at his website at: http://www.nkuttler.de

You can also learn more about this plug-in at: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/nksnow/

Today, I thought I would try a different theme for WordPress. There are a million themes out there for use with WordPress. I stumbled across a theme called “Grasslands.” I found it on WordPress.com free themes section. I thought I would give it a try. Not too shabby hun? Adding new themes to WordPress is really easy.

1. Download your new theme.
2. Unzip and Upload it to your “wp-content/themes/” folder
3. Login into your WordPress Dashboard, click Appearance
4. Click on your new theme to preview
5. Click activate to set it as your current them.

Not sure how long I’m going to stick with it. Comment your thoughts on this theme.

Download this theme from http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/grassland.