It’s a FLoC’ing Good Time
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It's Episode 508 – We have plugins for Watching the Earth, Making Sure it Fits, Searching, Login Controls, Tracking Sales, Going FLoC'ing Crazy…., and ClassicPress Options. It's all coming up on WordPress Plugins A-Z!
Size Guarantee, NVV Login Control, Search Only Posts, Earthquake Monitor, Order Reports for WooCommerce, Disable FLoC Easily and ClassicPress options on Episode 508.
John's Intro:
Make sure to have a look at the new system for submitting art work for the show https://wppluginsatoz.com/artwork/. You can also view the art work from the past. Currently you can see all the submissions we have here https://wppluginsatoz.com/show-art-submitted/ and you can even vote on the art work.
We are now at 57 weeks of the Rona lock-downs, and yet the world still has not found its collective brain and insanity still abounds. There are small signs of hope here and there though so, lets keep spreading the word and hopefully bring people back to the light. It's Earth Day today time to get out and help it shine.
With great appreciation for the No Agenda Show for their inspiration of ideas and the occasional stolen sound clip.
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:
Show Art:
Greg's Graphics (Greg Holdsworth) — https://gregsgraphics.com
All the show notes can be found at: WPPluginsAtoZ.com
Ambers' Rant:
This is #16 of 52 episodes for 2021. Its Episode 508, and it appears that Spring has decided to stick around for a bit! Gotta love when the little Death Star pollens find their way into your system and make you sound like you're dying – they could at least make you sound cool like Darth Vader or something.
Honestly, allergies aside – I love this time of year. Everything looks and feels so fresh and new! ‘Spring Cleaning' may be a cliche, but it really is a thing we all do one way or another every year.
But it doesn't have to stop with the physical stuff! Spring Clean your mind from all of the prattle online and on the tube by retreating from the world to a comfy spot where you can lay about and listen to some music, or maybe catch up on that podcast or audio book you've been thinking about! Grab yourself a drink, and tell your kids to go catch fish or frogs! Trying to find frogs at this time of year should keep them busy for hours.
Never be be afraid to tell your kids to bugger off for an hour – it's totally allowed to demand they not bother you unless they are broken, dying, or bleeding for the entirety of the hour! Send them outside with a can of nails, a hammer, and some old wood, and tell them to make a fort. Let them drive the neighbors nuts with the hammering while you catch up on some *you time*.
Remember, remove all social media and main stream news during your 1 hour!
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:
Siri spills the beans on Apple’s 4/20 event (BLAZE IT LOL) (thenextweb.com) – Siri offers up a date for for Apple to reveal new Ipad Pros, and possibly it's AirTags smart tracker for 4/20. But Apple hasn't agreed, it's just Siri talking about it.
Cumulative Layout Shift Debugger (CLS) – webvitals.dev – good tool for debugging. Example of what this helps with: “Have you ever visited a website and was about to click a link to an article, and then… the layout suddenly moves, an ad appears, and somehow instead of clicking on the article you wanted to read, you click on the useless ad?”
WordPress Jobs | Post Status – A current listing of the WordPress jobs available for all those looking for a job. Currently 21 listings to look at.
Headless Form Submission With the WordPress REST API | CSS-Tricks (css-tricks.com) – For those of you using Headless CMS out there, here is a way to use a form withOUT REST API.
What’s new in Gutenberg 10.4? (14 April) – Make WordPress Core – What's new in Gutenberg!
How to Enable Classic Editor in WordPress.com (lireo.com) – How to enable Classic Editor in WordPress.com
See EXPAND 2021 at GoDaddy Events GoDaddy Pro (Online) – Virtual Web Designer and Developers ‘get together' for April 27-28, for those who are down with the virtual events that are now taking place.
Everything you need to know about… setting up an office space | Courier (mailchimp.com) – Offers up a fantastic guideline to those who are still struggling with figuring out how to make a space for working at home.
Patchstack Whitepaper: 582 WordPress Security Issues Found in 2020, Over 96% From Third-Party Extensions – WordPress Tavern (wptavern.com) – WordPress security issues from 2020 from third party's – mostly from Patchstack recently re-branded as WebARX.
Apple is changing Podcasting
https://podcasters.apple.com/878-subscriptions
Time to get the FLoC out of here
https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/04/18/proposal-treat-floc-as-a-security-concern/
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
Donor – Support
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 my 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
Check out all out art work at https://wppluginsatoz.com/show-art-submitted/
This week's Executive Producer/'s are:
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:
Yes, I am pimping out my daughter here, if you want to see her very pretty mug in the live stream it is now up to a $500 donation and until it happens that price will continue to go up… At the rate it is going she will never be live. Someone may want to start a Go Fund Me to make her mug live.
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,
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 a fast growing fork of WordPress that is starting to come into its own. ClassicPress is focused on Business Websites, runs fast and is looking pretty good. 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.
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. Currently there are not a lot of ClassicPress specific plugins but I do know it is going to grow and I'll have to expand this segment then. Who knows, it could take over the whole show.
This week for ClassicPress I have:
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Just a note for my ClassicPress listeners please send me info to help keep the ClassicPress section full.
Random Links to ClassicPress supporters
ClassicPress Resources:
For some up to date news on ClassicPress check out the ClassicPress Blog.
“Must Have” Plugins List
https://forums.classicpress.net/t/must-have-plugins-list/1163
To find a listing of ClassicPress specific plugins check out this link https://forums.classicpress.net/t/plugins-built-specifically-for-classicpress/1011?u=codepotent there is currently 37 42 49 50 52 55 57 58 plugins here and growing. I look forward to the day they have their own repository. I can still recall WP when it had a small repository.
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
Really, get the FLoC out of Here!
Disable FLoC Easily
https://wordpress.org/plugins/disable-floc-easily/
The Lowdown:
FLoC is the new surveillance arm from Google and it seems that it's not being well received through the WordPress sphere. Although I get the feeling it will happen anyway. If you choose to not have your website participate in this surveillance then you can install this plugin. This is the first one I found and it seems there are more in the REPO. Four that I found in a short time, it seems FLoC is not all that popular.
Rating 5 Dragons
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Amber's Plugin
Search only Posts
https://wordpress.org/plugins/search-only-posts/#description
Description
I came across this plugin when I was looking at different options for the search function – and I thought that there would be more to it honestly.
Once you download and activate this, it's on. There is nothing else you need to do, it just forces the WordPress search function to search in only posts – and to turn this off, you need to deactivate the plugin.
I had thought that there would be a settings page where you could choose to turn it on or off, or perhaps set it up so that there would be a time when it would only allow the option to search only posts – but that is not the case.
Seeing how it is only for the WordPress search function, I could see using this in conjunction with another search option, and having them both up on your site, stating that the one is for post searches and the other is for the whole site searching.
I was honestly a little underwhelmed by this, though I can see how it could be useful.
If you think this is something you could really use, than please go and check it out!
Rating 3 Dragons
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John's plugin
Order Reports for WooCommerce
https://wordpress.org/plugins/order-reports-for-woocommerce/
What they say:
Description
Filter all WooCommerce orders by timeframe, status, amount or payment method.
For example, using filters you can generate report by payment method and display all orders made with given payment method.
Using the plugin you are able to generate reports for the following:
* Orders by Payment Method
* Orders by Status
* Orders by Amount
* Orders by Date
Customer name, and country (billing) columns for each order is provided.
Tax totals, shipping totals, and amount totals are calculated automatically for filtered orders.
All results are exportable to CSV on a single click.
Rating 4 Dragons
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Amber's plugin
NVV Login Control
https://wordpress.org/plugins/nvv-login-control/
Description
I thought this was a neat idea, set your site apart from most by changing up the login page!
Once this is activated, you can personalize the login page via colours, pictures, or graphics. This comes in English and Russian, and has custom CSS style options, customizable maintenance page, offers you the ability to access a closed site on behalf of any user, so long as you are a trusted user – these are just a few of the options this has, and there are quite a few more.
This is a brand new out of the box freemium plugin! I think it's gonna go a long way, though I could be wrong, there are so many of these sorts of plugins they may be entirely missed – but I hope not. I like the way that this one works, very user friendly, easy to set up, and runs smoothly.
I also like that it has a recaptcha – I know that not many out there appreciate the captchas, but I personally like them a lot.
If you are looking to customize your login page, I recommend you go and check this one out!
Rating 5 Dragons
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John's plugin
33 is the Majik Number
Earthquake Monitor
https://wordpress.org/plugins/earthquakemonitor/
The Lowdown
Description
Earthquake Monitor is a customizable widget that shows an overview of earthquakes around the world from the U.S. Geological Surveys data. You can show this in a widget (or multiple widgets) or use the shortcode [eqmonitor]. All requests can be cached so it won’t slow down your site.
This is a pretty nice plugin for those of you wanting to keep track of what is happening in the world today. Easy to setup and get going using either a widget or a short code. See it in action here https://theroguestavern.com/news/
Rating 5 Dragons
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Amber's Plugin
Size Guarantee
https://wordpress.org/plugins/size-guarantee/
Description
This plugin is designed to make it easier for those using woo commerce to sell clothing and other size related apparel sized more properly and individually to the customers needs.
What this does, is it takes the customer through a ‘size guarantee' profile set up that can than be used anytime by that customer, anywhere. The shopper just needs to log in and compare the clothes from any retailer or distributor with their size profile to know their best fit.
Drawback though, is that in order to use this for your site, you need to sign your site up with Size Guarantee website. Once you're signed up with them, you can put your API key into your plugin, and off you go!
I can see the major uses of this if you are a clothing store, though I personally don't like the idea of having my customers create an account with a third party to shop on my site.
Rating 4 Dragons
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Random links for plugins
WordPress plugins crafted from love and experience
https://codeat.co/
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This show is brought to you by:
John Overall.com WordPress & Web Services
Finding quality WordPress and ClassicPress hosting and support can be a challenge, well you can drop that stress by contacting JohnOverall.com web services. I can help you eliminate your WordPress stress and ClassicPress needs. Solving your ClassicPress or WordPress Emergency issues or doing the more day to day items such as finding that perfect plugin, helping you move to a new hosting provider or even providing Quality WordPress hosting.
With 20+ yrs Exp. on-line and over 10 years dedicated to WordPress, and ClassicPress from its inception. JohnOverall.com provides all your web service needs from hosting to WordPress and ClassicPress development, repairs and WP Malware Removal.
Visit my website JohnOverall.com, Call 818-850-7729 or send an email to john@wppro.ca
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 are taking a vacation from the contests so check back for when we have a new one ready to roll!
Visit http://WPPluginsAtoZ.com/contests for more info.
For all developers who would like to support the show. You can donate a premium license to be used in a future contest, please go to WPPluginsAtoZ.com/PluginContest
The plugins we covered were:
John’s Plugins: Earthquake Monitor – 5, Order Reports for WooCommerce – 4, Disable FLoC Easily – 5
Amber's Plugins: Search only Posts – 3, NVV Login Control – 5, Size Guarantee – 4
Trivia:
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
If you're not getting enough of us, you can join us for the new Podcast and Live Stream of The Rogues Tavern **Shooting the Shit at The Rogues Tavern** Tuesday evening's at 8 pm PDT, check us out there TheRoguesTavern.com/live
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/
****Show segment Q & A Time ——– Catch this info on our YouTube Channel*****
Questions and Answers –
*** Note if you have questions you would like asked, send them to Amber at WPPro.ca she will get them into this segment. ****
What is internal linking?
What is open free software, and what is the difference between that and just software?
Where do you go for open free software? Is there a specific site? How do you know if what you are getting is not chock full of viruses?
How do you get your home based server onto a separate line? So far as I know, you can only have one internet in a house…
Transition to show close out <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
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Amber can be contacted at:
- email: amber@wppro.ca
