Fall-ing for WordPress Plugins
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Fall-ing for WordPress Plugins
It's Episode 536 – Moon Phases, Saving Posts, Gravity Forms, Tracking the Source, Masterbar Note, Cancelling Orders… and ClassicPress Options. It's all coming up on WordPress Plugins A-Z!
The Moon – Current Phase and Next Eclipse, Display Gravity Form Entry Anywhere, Masterbar Note, PostSaver, Kawuda UTM Source Tracker, Cancel Unpaid Order for WooCommerce……. and ClassicPress options on Episode 535.
John's Intro:
It is Veterans Day here in Canada and Memorial Day in the US so lets have a moment of silence for our Vets who have served.. Fall is here and the seasons are changing, enjoy….
This is a value for value show and I look forward to everyone providing some value back.
Before I get started, you will want to hang around to the end of the show for our Q & A segment with Amber…. and to those listening on the podcast, you may want to check out the YouTube version which has some great discussions before the show starts…
Producer Credits:
Executive producer:
Nobody this week. Maybe next week!
Show Art:
Greg's Graphics (Greg Holdsworth) — https://gregsgraphics.com
All the show notes can be found at: WPPluginsAtoZ.com
Check out all the art work at https://wppluginsatoz.com/show-art-submitted/
To Submit Artwork go here https://wppluginsatoz.com/artwork/
Amber's Rant:
This is #43 of 52 episodes for 2021! We are almost at the end of another truly frenetic and busy year!
I personally consider Halloween my own New Year's, and this year I moved on Halloween! That was a total ‘Alice down the rabbit hole' kind of upside down, topsy turvy weirdness! Though the new place is quite nice, I had to take a little time to get my brain back online. It's truly amazing how the best laid plans always seem to go completely awry!
I am stoked to be back, missed being around everyone here! Remember, no matter what's needing doing (like my entire kitchen right now, and the last of the boxes in all of the rooms…), take the time you need for you! Have a bath, or a nap, chill out, and just take that breather before getting up and moving on. It reeeeaaaalllly helps in the long run!
Rinse and repeat as often as needed.
We have some news from the world of WordPress for you today as well as some great plugins.
News this week:
Why WordPress Freelancers Don't Make More Money
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhOdB271ozk
This is a great video and I was also on WP Tonic Last week where we had a roundtable discussion about this video.
https://www.wp-tonic.com/644-wp-tonic-this-week-in-wordpress-tech-show-with-guest-john-overall-of-the-wordpress-plugins-from-a-to-z-podcast/
Radio Station PRO launches, offers new tools for live broadcasters – Could be useful for podcasters and other entertainers out there! Worth checking out if you are not pleased with your current toolbox!
WordPress Polyglots Team launches a new monthly newsletter – Very useful and rather exciting newsletter to be coming out about the Polyglots Team, who are the ones responsible for the translations of WordPress. If you use the translation process, or if your site uses this, then this may be a good thing to keep up on!
AMP has irreparably damaged publishers' trust in Google-led initiatives – This article covers the issues arising from AMP speaking out after the court proceedings, the response from Chrome leadership, and the oppositions of many major tech organizations revolving around FLoC and other Google-led initiatives. Great article for catching up when you have been out of the news for a bit!
Patchstack releases free security plugin, its Red Team found 1,182 vulnerabilities since March – According to Patchstack this is to be expected with each plugin, multiple security vulnerabilities, and really nothing to worry about. Though the amount of security vulnerabilities are not great in my opinion.
A quick note from the WordPress Bar Tender: There are questions regarding where all the WooCommerce blocks are – and this is a great explanation on how this is a third party plugin, unrelated to WordPress Core
Automattic Acquires WPScan, may be rolled into JetPack in the future – For now there are no changes planned for the service, though we will keep an eye on it and let you know if anything comes to our attention!
The extras – for even more extra news, check out our Facebook, or Twitter page!
This is the extra news stuff that someone out there might find interesting. To read more, you can head on over to the show notes or newsletter and check it out! If you find something to add for next show, send me a link at amber@wppro.ca
First ever drag race between flying cars! – This is just too cool not to share!
Meta's ban on ‘sensitive' ad categories doesn't spell the end of microtargeting on FaceBook – A quick, yet thorough, look at the policy coming up for Jan. 19th.
Awesome N64 look a like for about 40 cad! – Perhaps not entirely news, but really awesome! No cartridges needed, but has over 600 games, and looks like it will be an awesome gift for under the tree!! Totally worth it in my opinion, and I wanted to share its existence with you!
Green Hydrogen Batteries instead of Lithuim Ion Batteries – to get flying taxies off the ground…? – I have to say that this whole article is quite eye opening, and very interesting! I have never really thought about the heat lithium ion batteries create while being powered or having their power used while up in the air – not something that is entirely comfortable to think about really. Very interesting article, highly suggest you give it a read!
Due to chip shortages, Valve's Steam Deck won't ship until 2022 – This seems to be a rather large issue for gamer's out there who have already been waiting due to the near constant delays! If this is something important to you, hop into the article for more information!
Birmingham to host first in-person WordCamp, February 4-5, 2022 – For those who have missed the WordCamps, this will be good and welcome news!
Apple is trying to delay third party app store payments despite judges orders – This is a good thing for you to have a look at if you are one of the people awaiting payment for your Apple app.
WordPress' Gutenberg Demo Page is getting a redesign – Soon we should be able to see the actual capabilities of Gutenberg on the demo page! Very exciting for those of you who use Gutenberg!
The hall of shame via Automattic:
transparency.automattic.com/tag/hall-of-shame/
Matt's Famous Quotes
https://www.idrlabs.com/quotes/matt-mullenweg.php
Support the show
This Show will not work without you, the producers, as it is a Value for Value model, meaning if you're getting any value out of it then give some value back and help the show out.
Start by subscribing to the newsletter for additional information and get out there round them up and rope them all in, belly up to the bar and enjoy. Spread the word about WP Plugins A to Z and catch it live every Thursday at noon PST on our YouTube Channel.
Show Producers
We'd like to acknowledge all the producers who have supported the show in the various ways over the last week.
This weeks show Art Work comes from:
Greg's Graphics (Greg Holdsworth) — https://gregsgraphics.com
To Submit Artwork go here https://wppluginsatoz.com/artwork/
Check out all the art work at https://wppluginsatoz.com/show-art-submitted/
This week's Executive Producer/'s are:
Nobody this week. Maybe next week!
A big thank you to all the Producers who came in under $50 and to those who have set up weekly subscriptions they will remain anonymous and I thank you very much.
All these small subscriptions really help the show out.
A big thank you to those who have hired me because of the Podcast, thank you that is as good as donating to the show.
You can Support the Show by:
Donating money to help the show Donations of $50 and over are credited with an Executive Producer Credit in the Show Notes, and their note is read out on the show.
Submitting art work at the WP Plugins Art generator,
To Submit Artwork go here https://wppluginsatoz.com/artwork/
Submit articles news and information
Submit plugin suggestions for reviews
You can also create a monthly donation at Patreon
Or something I may not have thought of.
If you would like to send something to WP Plugins A to Z you can send to the following address:
WP Plugins A to Z
C/O John Overall
20-754 E Fairview Rd.
Victoria, BC V9A 5T9
Canada
Off we go into the meat and potatoes, Into the depths of plugin depravity…..
ClassicPress Options
ClassicPress is growing really well, but I just don't have the time to add reviews on ClassicPress myself. I am always open to reviews sent in by listeners; though unless there is a review sent into me on ClassicPress, I am not going to do more than mention that ClassicPress is a thing, and here are some resources. I hope some listeners out there find this information useful!
One thing I am looking forward to in the ClassicPress World is the expansion of the number of ClassicPress specific plugins and their own repository. There are a few plugins specifically for ClassicPress and all plugins for WordPress 4.9.9 work well on it. I do believe it has a future, I just have not time to help them in getting it out there.
ClassicPress News:
No news this week!
For some up to date news on ClassicPress check out the ClassicPress Blog.
ClassicPress Resources:
“Must Have” Plugins List
https://forums.classicpress.net/t/must-have-plugins-list/1163
It seems ClassicPress now has it own repository you can check it here https://directory.classicpress.net/plugins they now have 83 plugins available.
CodePotent's plugin directory
https://codepotent.com/classicpress/plugins/
WordPress Plugins
Are you looking for some great newly released plugins? Check this link:
https://wordpress.org/plugins/browse/new/
——————————–
John's Plugin
Masterbar Note
https://wordpress.org/plugins/masterbar-note/
The Lowdown:
This is a simple plugin that simply allows you to add a new message to the admin bar in the top right of the page.
Rating 4 Dragons
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Amber's Plugin
PostSaver
https://wordpress.org/plugins/postsaver/
The Lowdown:
This is a neat plugin that I came across, still pretty fresh on the market! The idea is to make it possible for your visitors to save their own collection of posts for later viewing right there on your site.
You start off by adding the short code you are given to any page you want to allow your visitors to save, then they will be able to fill out the registration form that allows them to start saving their own collection of your work!
I both like and dislike the fact that you need to place this shortcode on every page you want people to be able to save – it gives you complete control, but it also means a lot of tedious work if you have a lot of articles and what not out there for people to view. It would be great if you could somehow use this in categories or something..
Rating 4 Dragons
——————————–
John's Plugin
Display gravity form entry anywhere
https://wordpress.org/plugins/display-gravity-form-entry-anywhere/
The Lowdown:
This is a plugin that may help you expand the places in which to place your Garvity Forms, forms. Using a simple short code, you can place the form anywhere you want. This can be useful as there have been times in the past I wanted to place the form but it did not quite work
Rating 5 Dragons
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Amber's Plugin
Kawuda UTM source tracker
https://wordpress.org/plugins/kawuda-utm-source-tracker/
The Lowdown:
This seems like it could be very useful! It took me a moment to figure out the settings once I activated it – and I realized that this tracks you as well as anyone else on your site.
This offers up Real Time tracking, and a history. You are able to set it for how many days you see, how many rows of information you see, and you also have the ability to search months, month spans, and you get to see where your visitors go, how long they were there for, how many pages browsed, etc.
Very useful information for your site, no 3rd party needed, and totally free!
Rating 5 Dragons
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John's Plugin
The Moon – Current Phase and Next Eclipse
https://wordpress.org/plugins/the-moon/
The Lowdown:
This plugin lets you place a moon phase calendar into your site. It will show a graphical representation of The Moon, along with additional information such as the name of the current phase, the percentage of the moon that is illuminated, the age of the moon, the current constellation that the moon is inside, and the date of the next lunar eclipse.
You can add it via short code or widget.
Rating 5 Dragons
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Amber's Plugin
Cancel Unpaid Order for WooCommerce
https://wordpress.org/plugins/wc-cancel-unpaid-order/
The Lowdown:
I can see both the positives and negatives of this plugin. On the one hand, you can set your site up so that people who just simply add in items to their cart and then forget about it cannot keep a hold on that stock – but I also see how people like myself will put things in their cart, leave, and come back to see the items and than decide to get the items.
I am also under the impression that for the most part, unless you actually pay for the item, WooCommerce does not put a hold on the stock items – in my experience so far, until you pay the money, you don't have any real claim on the item…
You can set this up so that this plugin will only cancel the order after a certain amount of time – be that minutes, hours, days, months, or years. That could be great!
This plugin is very easy to use, simply plug it in and go to settings to set up the perameters you want for this to go off of.
Like I said, I see the pros and cons in this app – it could be something so absolutely useful for some people, and so absolutely in the way for others. I see this as more of a middle of the road plugin because it is so equally positive and negative…. but it was made really well and it works really well, so I rate it at:
Rating 4 Dragons
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Random links for plugins
WordPress plugins crafted from love and experience
https://codeat.co/
Listener Feedback / Audio Clips
Feel free to send in your thoughts to us – The Good, The Bad, The Ugly – we'll take them all!
Listener Questions
If you have any you would like to have asked, please feel free to send them in! Remember, there's no such thing as a stupid question!
Enter The Contest to Win!!
Contests Powered by Simple Giveaways who kindly provides us with the premium version for our contests.
Steve Goodtime & Brant Matthews created a new jingle for us for contests.
I do want to thank Charlie for coming to the aid of the show and getting our contests all organized. I also want to thank all the developers again for supporting our show with their plugin donations! Please check them out.
Short note about participating in the contests folks. Remember we go to great efforts to get these licenses and look for more participation from you the producers.
We have a new Contest Coming starting next week where we will be giving away a ONE YEAR Hosting Package….
The plugins we covered were:
John’s Plugins: The Moon – Current Phase and Next Eclipse – 5, Display Gravity Form Entry Anywhere – 5, Masterbar Note – 4
Amber's Plugins: PostSaver – 4, Kawuda UTM Source Tracker – 5, Cancel Unpaid Order for WooCommerce – 4
Matt's Famous Quotes
https://www.idrlabs.com/quotes/matt-mullenweg.php
Reminders / Commercial / Promotions:
Next Week:
No meetup planned at the moment but you can keep tabs on this at https://wppluginsatoz.com/meetup
Would you like to be on an interview show? Simply connect at https://wppluginsatoz.com/interview
If you have suggestions on plugins you would like to have reviewed please submit them on the website at https://wppluginsatoz.com/submit-plugin-review/
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 and we will answer to the best of our ability!
- What is Cross Site Scripting Vulnerabilities?
- Can you fix it yourself?
- How do you figure out whether or not that is there?
- Can you protect against it pre-emptively?
- Is it a common trait for people who work on websites to tend to get lost on the front end of rando sites they go to? ‘Cause I am finding that I tend to get lost in a lot of sites I am visiting to do things like change my address – but I know that if I could get into their site I would be fine for navigating.
- Why can't the front end of sites make as much sense as the back end???
Closing out this Episode
Just some reminders:
Be sure and subscribe to our Newsletter.
You can support the show at wppluginsatoz.com/donate
All the show notes can be found at: WPPluginsAtoZ.com
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How to Contact Us:
John can be contacted at:
- on my website @ http://www.johnoverall.com/
- WordPress Emergency Support http://wppro.ca/wpemergency
- email: john@wppro.ca
Amber can be contacted at:
- email: amber@wppro.ca
