Road Trippin’ With WordPress Plugins!

It's Episode 547 and we have plugins for Verifying Users, Checking Links, Dates Dash Widget, Logging Runs, Tripping Blurb, Collecting Maps… and ClassicPress Options. It's all coming up on WordPress Plugins A-Z!

User Verification, Broken Link Checker, Important Dates Dashboard Widget, Run Log, WP Trip Summary, OSMaps……. and ClassicPress options on Episode 547.

John's Intro:

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:

Angel Lemus — http://www.koadigital.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 #7 of 52 episodes for 2022! I can't wait for the summer to come along and warm up the lakes so that I can kick my kids out to go swimming – I mean, encourage my lovely children to head outside and get some fresh air!

As much as we love our family, I think right about now is when everyone starts to get a little cranky with one another due to having been stuck inside for most of the winter to avoid the cold, so I would say that it is a good time to remember to do things for yourself. Things like taking a ‘time out' where there are no demands put upon you – or any sort of media or anything so that you have some real quiet, or allowing yourself to enjoy some sort of treat like hot chocolate or ice cream or some good rum! Or even both together!

Also remember to breathe – summer is coming, and we will be able to enjoy the sun that has stayed hidden for so long now very soon!

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:

WordPress Vulnerability Report – February 9, 2022 – Welcome to this week's Vulnerability Report! The plugins to be aware of this week are the following: Cost Calculator. That's it! They seem to still be working on a patch for it, so for now just deactivate it.

Sent in by a listener: PHP Everywhere RCW flaws threaten thousands of WordPress sites – There are three critical Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerabilities in the PHP Everywhere plugin. Of the three flaws, one of them can be used by subscriber level user, the other two by contributor-level user. The flaws give the user the ability to create arbitrary PHP code on the site and create posts. To learn more, check out the link!

WordPress ramps up Social Learning Events on Full Site Editing, project aims for 500 Block Themes in 2022 – There was a live online event hosted by WordPress to help site builders learn how to use open source tools in getting their sites up and running. The course was very popular and tickets were sold out very quickly due to high demand – I believe we will be seeing this sort of thing popping up a lot more often in the future.

FSE Program: The Media Experience and its future in WordPress – The FSE Outreach Program is running this round of testing until February 23 with all feedback welcome from anyone! The two tasks given on this round are: Exploring the Possibilities, and My Vision for Media. If this is something you would like to be part of then follow the link and check it out!

German court fines website owner for violating the GDPR by using Google-Hosted Fonts – This may not seem like direct WordPress related news, but if you have a site that is internationally known and visited, you need to be aware of GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) laws in the various countries to some extent. Brief explanation of what happened: “…defendant violated the plaintiff's right to informational self-determination by forwarding the dynamic IP address to Google when plaintiff accessed the defendant's website”. Take some time and look into GDPR, and the way your site is set up or this could happen to you as a site owner.

Gutenberg 12.5 introduces Global Styles Variations, preserves Adjacent Button Styling, and adds Alpha Transparency to Colour Pickers – 12.5 was a rather heavy update, though Gutenberg users seem to be pleased with the changes for the most part. The style variations offer a little more personalization options, and the idea behind Global Styles Variations is to allow Gutenberg to ‘break the theme barrier', and be interchangeable between themes. There are a few more changes, check out the article to learn more!

What are Block Patterns and how to use them in WordPress Block Editor in 2022 – For those who are still a bit new to the scene and are feeling a wee bit confused with all the ‘block' talk, here is a useful article to help you figure your way around! The article walks you through what a block pattern actually is, the differences between block patterns and page builders, block patterns vs reusable blocks, and many more things. I found it to be a well written and helpful article, check it out!

9 best mechanical keyboards in their categories: Cheap, Wireless, for Mac – Just to round out the WordPress News with something fun, here is a great list of mechanical keyboards! I would love to get one of these iQunix ones!

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

North Korea hacked him. So he took down its internet. – An independent hacker known only as P4x decided to take matters into his own hands, and single-handedly launched “denial-of-service” attacks on the servers and routers in the country's few internet-connected networks. Check out the article to get the nitty gritty details!

Everything you need to know about those .eth addresses on Twitter – Great article going through explaining what the .eth addresses are, where they are from, and how you yourself can get one!

Dear Microsoft, please let me pin Windows 11 Widgets to the desktop – Problems with Windows 11 are coming out left and right. One of the lesser, but still rather frustrating, one is their new version of widget quick access – everything gets placed into a a hidden side panel. Read on to find out more!

Free decryptor released for TargetCompany ransomware victims – I think this is a great thing! However there are a few drawbacks such as: this decryptor can only be used to restore encrypted files ‘under certain circumstances', use of this decryptor will be very time consuming up to tens of hours, and if you are not already familiar with this kind of tech it will be a bit of learning curve for you. Read on to find out how this works!

Fake Windows 11 upgrade installers infect you with RedLine Malware – For those who don't know, RedLine Malware (RedLine Stealer Malware) is an information grabber. It tricks you into installing it citing itself as an upgrade, than grabs up your password, browser cookies, credit card, and cryptocurrency wallet information. So be careful not to willy nilly upgrade!

Mozilla fixes Firefox bug letting you get Windows admin privileges – This is an issue that only affects Mozilla FireFox on Windows, no other systems are effected. This flaw was allowing successful exploitation on unpatched systems to escalate their privileges to NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM account rights – the highest level Windows allows. The issue has been patched, be sure to allow your FireFox to update!

Intel Wi-Fi hit by trio of nasty security holes – so update now – The critical issues found, enable an attacker to facilitate escalation of privileges via ‘adjacent access', meaning they can gain access to your machine if on the same network. If you are home on your own network, no issue. But for those out and about, be sure to update! Also, there is a problem with their Bluetooth – the issue is that it can be leveraged to create a ‘denial of service', but won't allow anyone else into your system. Just cut you off of.

Toshiba set to split into two companies – They were going to initially split into three, though now just two. Seems to have to do with money mostly – if you are interested, check the article out!

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 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:

Angel Lemus — http://www.koadigital.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 whocame 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 we just don't have the time to add reviews on ClassicPress myself. We are always open to reviews sent in by listeners, though unless there is a review sent into us on ClassicPress, we am not going to do more than mention that ClassicPress is a thing. Here are some resources, we hope some listeners out there find this information useful!

One thing we are 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. We do believe it has a future, we just don't have the time to help them in getting it out there right now.

ClassicPress News:

No new updates this week.

Find out more about ClassicPress 1.4.0 rc2 https://forums.classicpress.net/t/classicpress-1-4-0-rc2-release-notes/3785?fbclid=IwAR3wGK5IW8ssJ-XC4k7IiZMBtSjUTVN2pexk6ATCRvuMN-Fn-McOy-XJJv8

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

You can check out the ClassicPress repository here https://directory.classicpress.net/plugins They now have 84 plugins (and counting!) available.

WordPress Plugins

Are you looking for some great newly released plugins? Check out this link:
https://wordpress.org/plugins/browse/new/

——————————–

John's Plugin

User Verification

https://wordpress.org/plugins/user-verification/

The lowdown:

This is a great tool to help with all the spam registrations on your WooCommerce website.

Rating 5 Dragons

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Amber's Plugin

Run Log

https://wordpress.org/plugins/run-log/

The Lowdown:

For all you runners out there, this is an awesome easy to use plugin for recording and sharing your runs! Totally free, this comes with a bunch of options for personalizing your post! You can log the distance, duration, elevations, calorie burn, pace/speed, choose light or dark style to go with your theme, add in a map to show your route, and even add in ‘other gear' options like tracking by shoes!

If you're a runner that likes to share in your accomplishments, then this is a great plugin for you! It has a translation option into Hebrew, though no others that I can tell.

Run Log! Check it out!

Rating 5 Dragons

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John's Plugin

Broken Link Checker

https://wordpress.org/plugins/broken-link-checker/

The Lowdown:

This looks to be a pretty good broken link checker for your site. It is a good idea from time to time to clean house.

Rating 4 Dragons

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Amber's Plugin

WP Trip Summary

https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-trip-summary/

The Lowdown:

This is a nifty plugin for those who are always going on bike trips, hiking trips, or train rides and enjoy sharing their adventures! Unfortunately, there are no other options, just these three. I personally was hoping for the ability to jot down information on a road trip taken via your own personal vehicle, but this works pretty well for what it is!

There are different options available for the information you can add in for each category, though Distance, Elevation, Difficulty, and a map option are the same throughout. One of the difficulty options is ‘Medieval Torture' – which sounds about right for some of the hikes I have gone on over the years! There is also a map option for each topic, though you can take it or leave it.

One aspect that could be either drawback or positive I noticed, is when you are setting up the options for the plugin itself in Viewer Settings, you can write out a top teaser text and a bottom teaser text. Every single post you make will have this exact top and bottom teaser, which can be very useful, though also could just cause one to not use the option as it does not change. I think if it had been put into the options area on the post page it would have worked better, as you could have personalized each post.

Rating 5 Dragons

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John's Plugin

Important Dates Dashboard Widget

https://wordpress.org/plugins/important-dates-dashboard-widget/

The Lowdown:

This could be a useful plugin for yourself or if you have other admins on your site. When you login and see the dashboard, you see any important dates like birthdays ect that you would like to remember.

Rating 4 Dragons.

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Amber's Plugin

OSMaps

https://wordpress.org/plugins/osmaps/

The Lowdown:

This plugin was a fantastic idea – using map tiles from either OpenStreetMap, which does not require an access key, or from Mapbox, which does require an access key. The idea was that you take these map tiles, easily found through the map coordinates help link at the top of the settings are (found beneath settings on the right hand side in your dashboard). Create a new map with those coordinates, it gives you a short code, then you place that short code into your post!

While the demo map worked perfectly, I was unable to get any other map to work. I was really unhappy about that as I think this is a fantastic idea!

Rating 2 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.

A BIG Thank You to Steve Goodtime & Brant Matthews who have created our Awesome jingle for the contests!

A BIG Thank You to Steve Goodtime & Brant Matthews who have created our Awesome jingle for the contests!

A BIG Thank You to Charlie for coming to the aid of the show and getting our contests all organized!

We also want to give a BIG Thank You to all the Developers for supporting our show with their plugin donations! Please be sure to check them out!

Short note about participating in the contests folks – we go to great efforts to get these licenses. We would LOVE to see a bit more participation from you, The Producers.

We have a new contest for you!! Our contest is for:

The Events Calendar Pro Single Domain License, valued at $99

This events calendar, developed by https://stellarwp.com, is the same events calendar we have been using on our sites for many years.

This plugin makes your events easy with calendars, ticketing, and powerful WordPress tools to manage your events from start to finish.

With more than 28 million downloads and 800,000 active installations, powering over one billion events, this plugin has been put to the test!

You can try it out by going to their demo page and giving it a whirl.

You can enter the contest from February 3, 2022 until March 2, 2022 with the winner being announced on the show onMarch 3rd!

Visit http://WPPluginsAtoZ.com/contests for more info.

Let your friends know about the giveaway!

Enter to win and remember to share this contest with friends to earn extra entries to the contest.

For all developers who would like to support the show: You can donate a premium license to be used in a future contests. Please go to:WPPluginsAtoZ.com/PluginContest

The plugins we covered were:

John’s Plugins: User Verification – 5, Broken Link Checker – 4, Important Dates Dashboard Widget – 4

Amber's Plugins: Run Log – 5, WP Trip Summary – 5, OSMaps – 2

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!

• SEO is a commonly tossed around ‘need' for sites, though not many people really understand it too well even years after dealing with it. Can you explain it a little in Leyman's terms?
• What would one need to learn about SEO in order to use it themselves on their own site, and how would they know if it made a difference?
• Learning about CyberSecurity, I can't help but wonder – is it possible that the main reason for more cyber attacks recently is due to the lack of cyber security workers? it seems as though not nearly enough people are going into cyber security, but are instead going into web development. What are your thoughts?

Closing out this Episode

Just some reminders:

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How to Contact Us:

John can be contacted at:

• on my website @http://www.johnoverall.com/
• WordPress Emergency Supporthttp://wppro.ca/wpemergency
• email:john@wppro.ca

Amber can be contacted at:

• email: amber@wppro.ca