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Pulling Together Plugins that Work

John's Intro:

It's Episode 623 and we have plugins for Customizing Fields, Logging in with IPs… and WordPress News. It's all coming up on WordPress Plugins A-Z!

– ‘good morning, good afternoon, good evening, wherever you happen to be hiding out there on the globe today! Coming to you LIVE from …'

Amber's Rant:

Welcome to Episode 623 – Pulling Together Plugins That Work – We've got a couple of great in-depth plugins to cover for you, some recent news in both the WordPress World and the Tech World in general, and some awesome WordPress Tips!

Welcome to Old Man Winter's last hurrah! Or at least that's what we are getting here on the Island. A little bit of everything weather wise this week –

A few reminders before we start the show today….

Reminders:

Reminder that our show is now every other week, and that it starts at 12:30 PM Pacific Time, with a pre-stream starting around 12:15 PM Pacific Time. Pre-stream is where we twiddle with the dials and knobs and really just warm up our voices, so join in for some entertainment value!
Our show notes for each episode can be found at wppluginsatoz.com – the newest show notes will be up within 24 hours and on our front page!
Don't forget that this is a value for value show, and that you are a big part of it's creation! You are our producers, and we need you to help us produce! Get out there and hit some like buttons, share an episode or two, and let people know that you help to produce the longest running WordPress Plugins podcast!

That's it for reminders, don't forget to stick around until the end of the show for some possibly life altering advice!

...When you see this in the notes, it means we didn't read this on the show. The only way to find this information out is to read our Show Notes!

…You can send any questions/suggestions or notes saying ‘hi' over to me at amber@wppro.ca, or hit up our site wpppluginsatoz.com/contact – Be creative with the title so that the spammer eater doesn't eat your note though!

Let's start the show with this weeks Featured Artist:

Artist:

Sir Rogue of the Tavern – Barron of the Cowichan Valley
https://theroguesoasis.com/

I think that may be the most adorable thing I have to date!

We would love some new art from our Producers out there! If you are so inclined, you can send it into us at https://wppluginsatoz.com/artwork/. If you need some inspiration, you can always go to our site wppluginsatoz.com and check out our Art Vaults – you will find the link for it on the left hand side.

…We can NEVER have too much art!

Breaking News in the WordPress World at large!!

…If I missed something, shoot me a link at amber@wppro.ca – it may show up on the next show!

News this week:

WordPress Vulnerability Report – February 14, 2024
(https://solidwp.com/blog/wordpress-vulnerability-report-february-28-2024/) – In this report 73 issues were reported publicly with 48 of them having fixes; the ones I most easily recognize are: User Shortcodes Plus, LiteSpeed Cache, Premium Addons for Elementor, BackWPup – WordPress Backup Plugin, Elementor Addon Elements, Brizy – Page Builder, Event Tickets and Registration, and WP Event Manager – Events Calendar, Registrations, Sell Tickets with WooCommerce. There are many more, so be sure to go and have a look at the list for yourself!

WordPress Vulnerability Report from PatchStack
(https://patchstack.com/database/) – This is a great link we are keeping here, it gives the most recent issues that have cropped up and the severity of them. Most recent at the time of writing this was 3 days ago that I can see immediately, and it is a plugin.

Avada WordPress Theme patches arbitrary file upload vulnerability
(https://wptavern.com/avada-wordpress-theme-patches-arbitrary-file-upload-vulnerability) – ThemFusion's multipurpose WordPress theme Avada has patched an Arbitrary File Upload Vulnerability. This means that there is a missing file type validation in the ajax_import_options() function, making it possible for authenticated attackers with contributor-level access and above to upload arbitrary files on the affected site's server – this would make remote code execution possible. So this has been fixed, be sure to update!

Acquisition Alert: Kestrel acquires Seven Barn2 Plugins
(https://wptavern.com/acquisition-alert-kestrel-acquires-seven-barn2-plugins) – Katie Keith the CEO of Barn2 talked about her intention to sell back in January on Twitter – although she has now done so. Kestrel has acquired seven Barn2 plugins – and this is actually Kestrel's first acquisition – so we don't know what, if anything, they are going to be changing. If you are a user of Barn2, let us know what happens!

Automattic faces scrutiny over AI Access Policy
(https://wptavern.com/automattic-faces-scrutiny-over-ai-access-policy) –
‘After unconfirmed reports of Google entering into a content licensing agreement with Reddit for training its AI, 404 Media claimed yesterday that Automattic is set to sell Tumblr and WordPress.com users’ content to Midjourney and OpenAI. If true, this could mirror an extended partnership that Shutterstock entered into with OpenAI last year.'
I couldn't explain it better then Jyolsna, so here is her opening; this is a very interesting article talking about what's going on in the background of everything WordPress and the data. Personally, I'm not really surprised – data is a big industry. If you are using something for free, you are the product – meaning your information like Tumblr and your content is being sold by the company – gotta make a buck somehow! Something to be aware of.

Google DeepMind taps the power of its AI to accelerate quantum computers
(https://thenextweb.com/news/google-deepmind-ai-to-accelerate-quantum-computers) – This is pretty cool! Google DeepMind has tapped into its AI in order to accelerate the development of quantum computers – this could be seriously awesome or seriously bad.. if we don't actually invent the technology ourselves, we will not be able to keep it going let alone keep control over it. However, if we do not allow the smarter thing we have already created help us in creating this new technology we actually want, then will we be able to figure this new tech out on our own? Talk about a conundrum…
This article is really good and goes through a bunch of information on what's going on, how the AI is being used, and it talks a little about the ‘Ren-AI-ssance'.

The Extras – check out our Facebook, or Twitter page for even more!

EU regulatory success prompts open-source CMS leaders to form alliance (https://wptavern.com/eu-regulatory-success-prompts-open-source-cms-leaders-to-form-alliance)

WordPress 6.5 is around the corner; Test Beta 2 (https://wptavern.com/wordpress-6-5-is-around-the-corner-test-beta-2)

Navigating the Nexus: a chronicle of recent WordPress acquisitions (https://wptavern.com/navigating-the-nexus-a-chronicle-of-recent-wordpress-acquisitions)

WooCommerce releases 8.6 and 8.6.1 (https://wptavern.com/woocommerce-releases-8-6-8-6-1)

Proposal: host non-bundled blocks in Gutenberg's GitHub Repository (https://wptavern.com/proposal-host-3rd-party-blocks-in-gutenbergs-github-repository)

WordPress Photo Festival 2024, a five part retrospective, parts 1-5
1 (https://wptavern.com/wordpress-photo-festival-2024-a-five-part-retrospective-part-1-organizers)
2 (https://wptavern.com/wordpress-photo-festival-2024-a-five-part-retrospective-part-2-volunteers)
3 (https://wptavern.com/wordpress-photo-festival-2024-a-five-part-retrospective-part-3-attendees)
4 (https://wptavern.com/wordpress-photo-festival-2024-a-five-part-retrospective-part-4-next-generation-events)
5 (https://wptavern.com/wordpress-photo-festival-2024-a-five-part-retrospective-part-5-what-we-learned-where-were-going)

FSE outreach experimental loses two words, gains new life (https://wptavern.com/fse-outreach-experimental-loses-two-words-gains-new-life)

The perils of hiring: a cautionary tale from a WordPress Business (https://wptavern.com/the-perils-of-hiring-a-cautionary-tale-from-a-wordpress-business-owner)

‘Support Inclusion in Tech' is fundraising to sponsor more marginalized WordPress contributors (https://wptavern.com/support-inclusion-in-tech-is-fundraising-to-sponsor-more-marginalized-wordpress-contributors)

Data Liberation: meet WordPress.org's ambitious plan for 2024 (https://wptavern.com/data-liberation-meet-wordpress-orgs-ambitious-plan-for-2024)

The block bindings API brings dynamic data to blocks (https://wptavern.com/the-block-bindings-api-brings-dynamic-data-to-blocks)

Reflecting on WordCamp Pheonix 2024: struggles, successes, and the road ahead (https://wptavern.com/reflecting-on-wordcamp-phoenix-2024-struggles-successes-and-the-road-ahead)

Dragon Rating Time!

John's Plugin

Advanced Custom Fields (ACF)

https://wordpress.org/plugins/advanced-custom-fields/

Version:6.3.11

Requires:6.0 or higher

Compatible up to:6.7.1

Released:25 March 2011

Downloads:57089445

Last Updated:14 December 2024

Ratings:

4.4

(4.4 star out of 5)

Download Link:Click here

The lowdown:

Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) turns WordPress sites into a fully-fledged content management system by giving you all the tools to do more with your data.

Use the ACF plugin to take full control of your WordPress edit screens, custom field data, and more.

Add fields on demand. The ACF field builder allows you to quickly and easily add fields to WP edit screens with only the click of a few buttons! Whether it’s something simple like adding an “author” field to a book review post, or something more complex like the structured data needs of an ecommerce site or marketplace, ACF makes adding fields to your content model easy.

Add them anywhere. Fields can be added all over WordPress including posts, pages, users, taxonomy terms, media, comments and even custom options pages! It couldn’t be simpler to bring structure to the WordPress content creation experience.

Show them everywhere. Load and display your custom field values in any theme template file with our hassle-free, developer friendly functions! Whether you need to display a single value or generate content based on a more complex query, the out-of-the-box functions of ACF make templating a dream for developers of all levels of experience.

Any Content, Fast. Turning WordPress into a true content management system is not just about custom fields. Creating new custom post types and taxonomies is an essential part of building custom WordPress sites. Registering post types and taxonomies is now possible right in the ACF UI, speeding up the content modeling workflow without the need to touch code or use another plugin.

Rating 5 Dragons

WordPress Tips

We would love to hear some tid bit tips from some of our producers out there – what did you figure out by breaking something? Or what did you need to learn in order to help someone? You can send these tid bits into me at amber@wppro.ca

Making Sites

Does your client have a lot of archived posts and pages? A lot of duplicates? How about a lot of pages and posts that appear to be the foundation of the site – but you can't actually tell because although they say they are live you can't actually find them on the site?

If you're feeling confused about someones site you are working on, ask them for help. Tell them that you need for them to go into the site and archive ALL the pages and posts that they are not using right now. If you need to tell them how, send them a video!

Never be afraid to ask your client to do something to make your job easier. And don't let them tell you that this is what they are paying you for – this is not what they are paying you for, and if they want you to go through and archive all these pages and posts, tell them you will need a specific list and that you will be charging hourly for it.

Don't let the clients tell you that they are paying you for work they are obviously not paying you for, and don't be afraid to get some help from them.

Honestly, most clients are more then happy to help with their site! And those that just get angry and mean – well, are they actually worth your time? After all, you know what your time is worth better then anyone.

Beginners Tips

Speaking of knowing what your time is worth, don't be afraid of setting your price as what you are worth!

How do you know what you are worth? Well, a decent way to figure that out is to go and look at the going rates for what you know how to do out there, look at the what the cheapest prices are and what they are offering for that cheaper price, and figure out somewhere in between.

Really think about it, and figure out what you would be willing to honestly pay for the services you are offering – remember, this would be as a person who is NOT capable of doing what you do. What would you pay? Does it sound fair, cheap, or too expensive? Ask around, ask your non techy friends, ask your techy friends.

Never be afraid to charge what your time in worth, and don't be afraid to raise the cost as the cost of other things goes up – or when someone is being a super pain in the rear – you can call it the ID10-T tax.

…Some random entertainment in the World of WordPress!

…Matt's Famous Quotes
https://www.idrlabs.com/quotes/matt-mullenweg.php

…The hall of shame via Automattic:
transparency.automattic.com/tag/hall-of-shame/

Amber's Plugin

IP Based Login

https://wordpress.org/plugins/ip-based-login/

Version:2.3.13

Requires:3.0 or higher

Compatible up to:6.7.1

Released:07 July 2013

Downloads:39695

Last Updated:20 November 2024

Ratings:

4.9

(4.9 star out of 5)

Download Link:Click here

The Lowdown:

For those who are not aware, this is really a continuation of last show's Plugin review – you can find it here on our site – in the last show I covered the free version of this plugin. In the Pro version there are additional options you can access.

First though, Brijesh Kothari actually reached out to me after the show last time to tell me the following:

The usage you explained in the episode that you can offer IP based access to developers is one use case. We also have 2 more use cases which I will mention below :

1. Publishers who have data can lease their data to Universities and the University students can login to these publishers' websites. E.g. Stanford University leases content from the following publishers :
https://lane.stanford.edu/biomed-resources/db.html

These publishers use the IP Based Login plugin to allow IP Based Access to the University students without credentials.

2. WordPress Agencies manage 50-100 sites at any given time and they create login accounts on each customer's website which is used by the development team. But when this site goes in production the accounts are left as it is and might contain weak passwords leading to a potential compromise.

In such cases the WordPress Agencies can install the IP Based Login plugin and then add an authentication API credentials and it will fetch the auto login IPs from our servers every hour.

Now WordPress Agencies can add their IP to the websites they are currently developing through a portal on our website and their development team can auto login to the customers websites without login credentials. When the project is completed and goes live the admin just needs to remove the auto login entry from our central server and it will be removed from the production website making it secure from bad passwords and IP login as well.

I seriously love when developers reach out and explain ALL of the things that their plugin can do! ‘Cause there is very little chance I would have figured these out on my own unless I was using this plugin on an active site, and needed to do these exact things – but now I can let everyone know that these abilities exist! Developers – don't be shy to reach out and tell people what else your plugin can do!

Once you activate, you will still find the plugin's dashboard on the left-hand menu under ‘IP Based Login'; it doesn't change its name or anything like some other plugins, so it won't hide on ya! Only thing is now you won't see the ‘Go Pro!' option.

Same dashboard even, except now rather then red letters stating ‘This feature is supported in the Pro version. Upgrade to Pro !' and red letters citing that you need to upgrade to pro to have IPv6 supported, the dashboard looks identical. Which is another really good thing – there have been a few more then I like plugins that decided a change to the dashboard once you go pro is appropriate. I don't like that at all – it's just confusing!

In Pro you get ‘Redirect to' option where you can put a link in and have the user be redirected there after they login. VERY useful for if you want whomever is logging in to see particular content or a particular are right away so they don't get lost.

‘Usage': here you can ‘enter the number of logins after which this range will expire – Default: 0 means unlimited' – what this means is that if you do not change from the default setting of 0, whomever you have given access to can login an unlimited number of times; if you set it to ‘1', they will be able to login once, and that's it. They go to login again and will be blocked. Again crazy useful!

I think they made a good choice on what to keep for just Pro options – these three options are rather vital to particular clientele, although the free version makes their plugin very useful for the average user!

This is a very useful plugin, even more so then I first realized!

Rating: 5 Dragon

Earn yourself a Producership Credit!

We have 3 levels of Producers that help to keep the show's larders stocked to bursting – Free-Lance Producers, Back-Room Producers, and War-Room Producers. There are special perks for Back-Room and War-Room Producers that you can learn about on our site wppluginsatoz.com. Click on Time, Treasure, or Talent Donations in our main menu to learn all the nitty gritty details on how you can add your 2 cents!

Join in and be part of your own production and support the show at the same time!

There are loads of ways to use us as your tool to get on out there like getting an interview, leaving a review for a plugin or donating your own plugin review, or your own plugin license! I recommend you give it a go and see how it helps – you can check out our show notes in this section to see all the ways to be part of your own production!

… Looking for a way to get your name and work out there? Use us as a stepping stone! Hit us up at https://wppluginsatoz.com/interview

… Have a plugin you love? Or one you really think people should avoid? Reach out to us and get your words and opinion out into the world by hitting us up at https://wppluginsatoz.com/submit-plugin-review/

… Is your plugin worth its salt in Dragons? If so, send it on into us and add it to the contests! You can do this by hitting us up at https://wppluginsatoz.com/plugincontest/

… Have a thought to share? Send it in! You can stay anonymous or belt your name out in all caps! Stitcher Radio, Google Play, or the iTunes Store. Doing this will also help you in producing the show for your own benefit too!

…You can support the show by Subscribing to our Newsletter, Donating, or reviewing us on Stitcher Radio, Google Play, or the iTunes Store. Doing this will also help you in producing the show for your own benefit too!

…You can check us out on Facebook, or our YouTube Channel! Be sure to hit the ‘like' button and share share share!

… YouTube Channel and joining us live every Monday at 12:15 PM PDT is a FANTASTIC show of support – and since you're already on the net's, might as well check out the Facebook page and hit that ‘like' button and share it out!

… Just showing up to our YouTube Channel and joining us live every Monday at 12:15 PM PDT is a FANTASTIC show of support – and since you're already on the net's, might as well check out the Facebook page and hit that ‘like' button and share it out!

… Don't forget – if you leave a review of us on any platform, that will help the show get noticed too; and if you happen to add your name to the show via questions or that awesome spotlight offered with a War Room Producership, that will get YOUR name out there too!

Questions, Notes, and Feedback from our Producers out there:

… No such thing as a stupid question people! I was new not too long ago, and I know how overwhelming it can be stepping into this world at this stage – I know for a fact that questions you have are the same questions others out there have!

Reach out through email to amber@wppro.ca, or through the site at wppluginsatoz.com/contact/!

Miscellaneous Announcements from us and Producers:

Have an announcement like a meetup, or to announce you'll be on stage at a WordCamp? Let us know and we will add it here and help get your news out to the world!

WordCamp Asia 2024 – March 7-9, 2024

Woman WordPress Day – March 8, 2024

Switzerland Community Day – March 23, 2024

WordCamp Torrelodones, Martch 23-24, 2024

WordCamp Vienna, Austria – April 5-6, 2024

To see the entire list you can follow the link here in the show notes, then click on ‘More WordCamps' right below the list of the next 5. https://central.wordcamp.org/

If you are interested in finding a WordPress Meetup somewhere around the world you can go check out the places here: https://www.meetup.com/pro/wordpress/
For those that live in Victoria, unfortunately the YYJ WordPress Meetup group has been cancelled and no longer exists.

Keep checking back every week to find out what else is going on!

And remember, the show notes found at wppluginsatoz.com have a whole lot of extra information to grab up that we don't read on air so be sure to check them out!

How to reach us:

We have a real brick and mortar address where you can send in art and/or notes – you can find the address in our show notes!

WP Plugins A to Z
C/O John Overall
20-754 E Fairview Rd.
Victoria, BC V9A 5T9
Canada

We also have virtual addresses too!

John:

My website: http://www.johnoverall.com/
WordPress Emergency Support: http://wppro.ca/wpemergency
email: john@wppro.ca

Amber:

email: amber@wppro.ca

Today's Plugins we covered were:

John’s Plugin:

Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) By WP Engine

Adds fields on demand – and anywhere
Any content, anywhere, fast
Easy, Breezy, Beautiful – and intentionally accessible

Rating: 5 Dragons

Amber's Plugin:

IP Based Login By Brijesh Kothari

Easily grant specific access via IP
Capability to grant access via range of IP
WordPress Agencies manage 50-100 sites at any given time