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Katz Web Services is a web development company operated by Zack Katz.
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Category Archives: Code
Paginate Links in WordPress Link Manager
Links are not a first-class citizens in WordPress
In developing the a website for professional genealogists, I was tasked with creating link directory functionality in WordPress. I didn’t want to install some big plugins; I wanted to use the Links Manager that’s built in to every WP install out of the box. There were two problems, however:
- Link categories are not hierarchical, and;
- There is no pagination in the Links Manager: all links are displayed on one page by default.
My client’s website will have over 20,000 links; having them all on one page was simply not an option.
I didn’t want to create a new Post Type or Taxonomy; Links are already the right tool for the job. I moved forward creating the custom solution, and am sharing the results of that development here. The result of the project was a successful deployment of a crazy amount of links (see an example on their Iowa genealogy resources page).
Posted in Code, WordPress
Tagged Link Categories, Link Manager, Links, Pagination, Wordpress Customization
10 Comments
Storing Data in WordPress Plugins – A Quick Rundown
Coding better WordPress plugins
As I’ve worked with WordPress plugins, I’ve learned new ways of working with WordPress. WordPress has tons of built-in functionality that is very useful and easy to use once discovered.
I am by no means a great PHP coder. I am still learning OOP principles and how to write code better. In creating new WordPress plugins (see a list of my plugins), I have improved how I code: writing more efficient code using WordPress functionality rather than hacks.
One of the methods of coding that I have discovered (thanks to Jeremy Clarke) is using the WP Cache and Transient APIs to store plugin data. It’s made a big difference in the speed of all my plugins.
The following is a quick review of three different ways of storing data when you code plugins or work with WordPress. This is to the best of my knowledge, and I welcome feedback/improvements in the comments.
Posted in Code, WordPress
Tagged Options, Plugin Development, Plugins, Transients, WordPress Development, WP Cache
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Auto-Optimize WordPress Database without a Plugin
These horses are somehow not cool. Speeding up your blog is.
I am working on a WordPress project that has a pretty heavy database, and I want to be able to auto-optimize the WordPress database. Even though they are integrating this functionality into WordPress 3.0, I want it now, and without having to use a plugin (I have had some issues with WP-DBManager configuring properly on a few sites).
If you add the following code to your functions.php file, it will automatically optimize your WordPress database every 6 hours, keeping it squeaky clean.
Posted in Code, WordPress
Tagged Database, Functions.php, load time, Optimization, Speed, WordPress Development, WordPress Functions, WP-DBManager
6 Comments
How to Prevent Loading WP-DownloadManager’s CSS File
If you want to disable the WordPress plugin WP-DownloadManager‘s download-css.css file from being loaded, add the following code to your functions.php file:
remove_action('wp_print_styles', 'downloads_stylesheets');
Alternatively, if you would just like to use your own stylesheet, you can add a file named download-css.css to your theme’s directory, and the plugin will automatically load your stylesheet instead.
Posted in Code, QuickTip, WordPress
Tagged CSS, load time, Plugin, Plugins, WordPress Plugins, WP Plugins, WP-DownloadManager
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Add a Store Catalog XML Sitemap to the Shopp Plugin
The Shopp default RSS/XML/Google Base solution was not enough.
I needed to have a Google Base feed that featured all the store products. For some reason, the recommended process wasn’t working for me. It was either showing only recent products, or it wasn’t working at all. Here’s how I fixed it:
Posted in Code, Shopp
Tagged Google Base, Google Base Feed, RSS, RSS Feed, Shopp Plugin, Shopping Cart, WordPress RSS Feed, WordPress Shopping Cart, XML
5 Comments
Simple Taxonomies Formatting — Improve the Plugin’s Code Output
I’ve been using Joost de Valk’s Simple Taxonomies plugin for a couple of projects, and I’ve been very disappointed by the formatting of the terms output code.
When configuring the plugin, you have the option of choosing “Add terms to the end of posts” or “Add terms to the end of excerpts.” If you do, you get a <div> and a couple of spans. Not very semantic. Also, the code uses an #id, instead of a .class, meaning that if you have more than one post on a page with taxonomies, it no longer validates.
Simple Taxonomies uses terms, so let’s make a list of them!
Here’s a way to reformat the code and prevent overwriting in future plugin updates. We’re going to strip the code and use a definition list instead (<dl>). Definition lists in HTML have a term and description; just as a custom taxonomies creates a taxonomy and its terms.
Posted in Code, WordPress
Tagged custom taxonomies, custom taxonomy, Joost, Plugin, Simple Taxonomies, Taxonomies, WordPress Development, WordPress Plugins, Yoast
2 Comments
How to Display a Random Testimonial or Post in WordPress
Set up a testimonials category — no need for a plugin.
There are a couple of plugins designed specifically for testimonials, but I didn’t want to use them; they use their own databases, and don’t keep with WordPress’ simplicity. If possible, the best way to work with WordPress is to use it’s built-in functionality.
I also wanted to have the testimonials as a category in WP, rather than as a separate plugin. This code will work for any type of category, not just a testimonial.
Here’s how to create a random post item in your sidebar:
Posted in Code
Tagged Categories, Code, How To, Plugins, Posts, query_posts, Random Post, Testimonials, WordPress, WordPress Development
28 Comments
Get Adjacent Images – More WordPress Functions
WordPress, just get the adjacent image links. I’ll tell you what to do with them!
WordPress is normally great about providing functions that have a return and an echo version. In WordPress, if a function has the prefix get_, then it does not echo (print it into the content), but rather returns the result so that it can be saved as a variable, like so: $example = get_example();
There are some functions that only have echo capability, so I wanted to share my work-around with you all.
Updated image_link functions
- adjacent_image_link() » get_adjacent_image_link()
- previous_image_link() » get_previous_image_link()
- next_image_link() » get_next_image_link()
WordPress Digg Shortcode Function – As Seen on WordPress.com
When moving from WordPress.com, my Digg shortcodes broke.
I wanted a simple way to transition my Digg chicklets to a WordPress.org installation.
ArrayI created a function that does nothing special, except for reproducing the Digg shortcode functionality on WordPress.com. All you need to do is enter [digg=http://digg.com/path_to_story_on_digg], and it will create a Digg This chicklet for you. Here’s the code in action →
Posted in Code, WordPress
Tagged Digg, Digg Shortcode, Functions.php, WordPress Shortcode, WordPress.com
2 Comments
Mountain America Jerky Redesign Launched
Mountain America Jerky Redesign
Mountain America Jerky - Before and After Redesign
I’m happy to announce that today the new Mountain America Jerky website launched. Check out the site and try some of their crazy-good Garlic Black Pepper Beef Jerky. One perk of working with a nice client who sells beef jerky is getting samples of the product! Seriously, though, it’s the best jerky I’ve ever had.
I started working with Mountain America Jerky as a SEO. Jerky is a competitive field, and they wanted to improve their ranking. After working with Chuck on the website’s optimization, he told me he wanted to go big and rebrand the site. The result is a rustic, functional, beautiful website.
Posted in Code, Web Design Portfolio
Tagged Beef Jerky, Cufon, Denver SEO, gzip, Jerky, Mountain America Jerky, Text Replacement, Web Design, Web Development, Web Fonts, Word Spacing, YSlow
4 Comments
