Get rid of the Sociable plugins. Do it yourself!

While i am at the topic of WordPress tweaks here is another one. Since i started coding plugins, i keep encouraging people to minimize their plugin needs. They are resource hungry and may cause problems due to security issues on your blog. There are those that agree to that but say that on the other hand there are those people that are not comfortable and familiar with code and cannot do changes on their own. Thus, they need some plugins to do the job, although the task at hand could be coded easily. As i think they are right at that point, i decided to write this small article on how to get rid of the sociable plugins. Those are the ones that add a small segment on the end of each article that have links for digging, stumbling or subscribing. I think that these are the most easy ones to code on your template. That way you can uninstall them making your blog a bit lighter. Here is how.

What you will need is to edit two files on your theme, single.php and style.css. The first one is the script that tells WordPress how to render an article and the second one is the file that tells the browser how to color/place or show each element on your site. Go to “Design -> Theme Editor -> Single Post (single.php)”. Opening that file, locate the line that says:

There is where your theme inserts the comments and the comment form below your post. Just above that is where you want to add that sociable block. Here is mine:

As you can see it’s the text that shows up on the bottom, included in the dashed box. if you like, you can change it to whatever you want. Now, it’s time to edit style.css. Go to the bottom of the file and add this block:

What this does is actually tells the browser to make a dashed box around it, that has a 10 pixel spacing from the top and bottom content (this is the margin) and write the text 10 pixels from the top and bottom dashes and 5 pixels from the right and left (that is the padding). That is all! Save the files and visit an article of yours. Be sure to delete the cache, if you have it enabled, so the changes can take effect immediately.

You still can’t do it? Well, if you are willing to add a small link back to my site to your blogroll or ad area then mail me (at the email found in the about us page) these two files and i will do it for you! If you want more changes and require some assistance with your blog then consider hiring me. For any problems do not hesitate to come back with comments!

Adding a “featured” post on your theme

Here i am with another coding tweak for your WordPress blog. I don’t want to repeat my self on how you should try to avoid using a plugin when something can be done by hand. This task, adding a featured post on your frontpage, i must admit is a bit more complicated than the others so please only follow if you are comfortable with php and the WordPress framework. If not, then the WordPress plugin directory is what you probably need. Still with me? Ok, here is what we are going to do. We are going to add a block on top of your homepage that holds a featured post. This way, the post you think deserves more attention than others won’t sink down, and it will be up there for as long as you want, plus, it will be rendered a bit specially to darg some more attention to it.

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Update to WordPress 2.7 for $25!

A few days ago i brought up a small portfolio site for my services. I decided to start seeking clients for freelance jobs. Obviously, i haven’t had any luck yet, so i decided to proceed with an offer. WordPress 2.7 will be released on December 5th 2008 1AM UTC (less than ten hours when writing this post). I know that there are a lot of bloggers out there that don’t feel comfortable updating their blog as they are afraid that something might go wrong. So, i will be doing this for you for just $25! I feel this more than a cheap price since the work i will be doing will take more than an hour, it will be very well taken care of, and will include the following:

1. You will receive an e-mail that i am starting the upgrade process.
2. I will fully backup your database and all your WordPress files.
3. I will start the Update process.
4. When done, i will e-mail you with a link to your backup that you must download to be safe from future loses.
5. You pay me

Here is a note i would like to make. Some plugins might have some problems with the new version especially their dashboard widgets. That is because WordPress changed the way dashboard widgets render so some of them might not work. In that case i will let you know and you can decide to remove the widget from the dashboard, uninstall the plugin completely or rollback to your older version of WordPress (2.6 that is) till the plugin gets compatible.

This offer stands for this weekend and this weekend only, till Sunday December 7 that is. After that i will still be offering the service but the price, most probably, will be different. For all the services i offer, please take a look at my protfolio site.

If you want to go on and hire me for the job mail me at jobs [at] stratosector [dot] com. You can also mail me there for any service you would like.

Go WordPress!

How can a WordPress plugin be unsafe

I recently read this comment. What the commenter said is that a WordPress plugin can pose a security risk for your site. That is entirely true. You must remember my post about minimizing plugin use and doing whatever can be done by hand. That is one of the reasons. But how can this happen? Well, a WordPress plugin, as any piece of code, can be vulnerable to various kinds of attacks, if poorly written. Actually, even if taken well cared for, they can still have holes that the coder did not notice. That’s because he is a human after all. But how severe can this security risks be?

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Portfolio site is up!

As you all know, recently, i made an effort to find a way to earn the costs for my server. My thought was to put up some ads (a couple of them on the top section to be exact) so the payoff would be just fine. It is true that i didn’t like my option since i don’t like advertising that much but, at the time, it seemed nessesary. On that post, Kim and Raju commented telling me that i should actually start a small freelancing bussiness where people can hire me for various tasks, including WordPress plugin creation and tweaking. It sounded like a nice idea, and since the advertising didn’t go well i decided to setup a small portfolio site. It took me a few days, but here it is now. At StratoSector.com you can meet my “commercial” alter ego

Here, i would like to take the opportunity and thank the three people that gave me testimonials: Ms. Kim Woodbridge, Mr. Mike Nichols and Ms. Yael K. Miller.

Please go through on what i can offer and to for you and your blog. What do you think about it? If there is anything you want to clarify, or want to ask do not hesitate to contact me. Wish me luck on my new endevour!