If I were to mention to a casual WordPress user something about the WordPress Heartbeat API, most would have never even heard of it, much less know that it's been in WordPress since version 3.6(!) with very little fanfare. But, as it turns out, the Heartbeat API has gained traction in the developer community, as people are starting to utilize it to create some…
Jetpack - WordPress' popular "modular" plugin - released a major update on May 20th, and with it came a slew of major design changes and a few additions to the plugin, dubbed "Jetpack 3.0". Those familiar with Jetpack will recognize a lot of the same great functions you know and love - just wrapped in a nice, pretty shell. Let's dive in and see just what's changed,…
If you're a WordPress developer, migrating a finished development project can be one of the trickiest parts. There's moving parts in many places that have to be taken into consideration, and migration is (unfortunately) where WordPress actually could use some improvement. However, it's a necessary evil - one that I've done almost daily for a few years now. I've developed a nice system to…
With the release of WordPress 3.9 beta 1 on March 11, everyone is (or should be) ensuring their plugins and themes are ready for the update. There's a lot of exciting things coming from this update, and it's easy to overlook some of the more technical (but still important) aspects being added into WordPress. There's new features, updates to existing one, and even some…
Whenever I speak at conferences, attend meetups, or even just causally mention WordPress in conversation, there's one question that comes up in nearly every conversation I have: What WordPress plugins do you recommend? That list is constantly in flux - a new plugin will be developed that replaces an old one, or an old one will stop working or be depreciated. Nonetheless, this list…
We've all been there: We're editing the WordPress theme file, setting a new function and *BAM*: We view the site and it's nothing but a sea of white pixels. There's no messages, no errors, nothing to indicate what you've done wrong. And it's frustrating: sure, removing the change would fix the problem, but I (as I'm sure you agree) would rather know why it's not…
WordPress 3.8 came out just a few days ago, and I jumped at the chance to install it on as many of my blogs as I could manage. This was one of the most anticipated updates in years - and with good reason. It was a complete overhaul of the admin interface and added quite a bit of new features. So, does WordPress 3.8…
A good favicon (the little icon next to your URL in the address bar) can mean the difference between a boring bookmark, or standing out in a bookmark list. It's also something most people don't think about, simply because it's such a small part of the overall presence of a site. Here's the thing, though: having a favicon means that there's a logo of yours…
One of the most useful features WordPress has is the ability to create custom image sizes from uploads. This takes the guesswork out of design, as it allows me to specify exactly the dimensions I need for my image. For a long time, WordPress had the ability to switch between a "soft crop", which basically resizes the images without any actual editing, and "hard…
I wrote a post a while back stating that the iOS app for WordPress was... lackluster, at best. That was nearly a year-and-a-half ago, and it's nice to see that the app has come a long way. I downloaded it to test it recently, and I was happily surprised with what I found: [gallery link="file"] Taking a page from the Facebook App's playbook has…