Use The WordPress Force
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Use The WordPress Force
John's Intro:
It's Episode 584 and we have plugins for Object Cache, Forcing Logins, Stopping Spammers, Blue Whales, Easy Tube, Christmas Mood Setting… and ClassicPress Options. 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 Use The WordPress Force – This is Episode 44 for 2022! Time to get ready for the holidays! Hoping everyone is keeping warm and dry, as this is the time of year for colds!
A Message from your AtoZ Plugin Worker Bee's – This is a Value for Value show, meaning any value you find here, offer that same value back! We accept all currencies including time and talent currency! Chocolate is always good too…
Remember, don't skip the end of the show – you never know what kind of amazing life altering advice you might catch! Like how to fill your site as full of spam as possible…
A special note to our New Listeners: Don't be shy to ask your questions. No such thing as a dumb question!
…When you see this in the notes, this means we didn't read this on the show, and that 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: Angel Lemus — http://www.koadigital.com
We are still lacking in new art, however because of this we get to bring forth some amazing art that has not been seen for a while! This one is by Angel Lemus.
Feeling Inspired? Hit up our site at https://wppluginsatoz.com/artwork/ and submit some artwork of your own!
…We can NEVER have too much art!
Or check out allll the artwork at: https://wppluginsatoz.com/artwork/
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 – December 7, 2022 (https://ithemes.com/blog/wordpress-vulnerability-report-december-7-2022/) – The vulnerabilities list this week is a little on the long side, though not as long as we have had some weeks!
The ones I recognize easily are: Bulk Delete Users by Email, Eventify, Advanced Booking Calendar, and Plugin Logic. There are more, be sure to check the list!
– ChatGPT Creates a Working WordPress Plugin – on the First Try (https://wptavern.com/chatgpt-creates-a-working-wordpress-plugin-on-the-first-try) – For those that don't know, ChatGPT is an AI-powered Chat Bot created by OpenAI. A lot of good questions have been brought to the fore on Twitter by users, and this last week WordPress developer Jonathon Williams brought forth a plugin written by the ChatGPT that wound up working on the AI's first try. Very exciting!
– Jetpack 11.6 adds block pattern support to forms (https://wptavern.com/jetpack-11-6-adds-block-pattern-support-to-forms) – Jetpack has introduced a major update to its Form Block in the latest version 11.6 release. Users can not interact with the various form templates as patterns! Very exciting news for those out there who use Jetpack!
– Google rolls out December 2022 ‘Helpful Content' update (https://wptavern.com/google-rolls-out-december-2022-helpful-content-update) – Over this month Google has been rolling out a ‘helpful content' system update; it started on December 5th, and is still going – it is not becoming more visible in the results. Google has said that it should take about 2 weeks in total for this to fully roll out, though it may take longer. What this does is provides people with what it deems to be more original and helpful content ‘written by people, for people' in the search results.
– New WordPress Sandbox Project Demos: Test-Drive Themes and Plugins in the Browser (https://wptavern.com/new-wordpress-sandbox-project-demos-test-drive-themes-and-plugins-in-the-browser) – The experimental project using WebAssembly (WASM) to run WordPress in the browser without a PHP server has been going along quite nicely! On here you can test out themes from the WordPress directory. All changes made are private and disappear right after a page refresh. For those interested, this could be very helpful for figuring out different theme capabilities!
– WooCommerce blocks 9.1.0 introduces products blocks in beta (https://wptavern.com/woocommerce-blocks-9-1-0-introduces-products-block-in-beta) – WooCommerce has been adding some pretty cool things lately, and the 9.1.0 release on December 9th hit a major milestone for the development of its new products block! The new Products block is based on the core Query Loop Block – for those that are interested and want to know these things. Very cool and worth checking out!
– Your laggy WordPress site is annoying customers – here's how to speed it up (https://thenextweb.com/news/your-laggy-wordpress-site-is-annoying-customers-heres-how-to-speed-it-up) – This is really a list mainly for beginners who are figuring things out – it speaks mostly about how you can find the main issue, optimizing images, using lean themes – things that are really good to know, important to know, and that will help if you are learning how to get things done yourself.
ClassicPress News:
…Our News Section really isn't complete without ClassicPress News…
There is a new Blog Post available on the ClassicPress site!
New at ClassicPress: Security Release, GitHub Issue Templates, And More https://www.classicpress.net/new-at-classicpress-security-release-github-issue-templates-more/
ClassicPress has projects they are looking to have some support with. They have a page with these projects listed and who the contact is for the project. Check out the following page if you are using ClassicPress and are interested in helping them move forward! https://forums.classicpress.net/t/currently-active-projects/3630
They also have some petitions posted check them out!
…For some up to date news on ClassicPress check out the ClassicPress Blog.
The Extras – check out our Facebook, or Twitter page for even more!
…Here you will find news on tech in general, and some random things I think are pretty nifty! If you come across something you think should be added, send me a link at amber@wppro.ca
– Dependence on cloud's ‘big three' is hurting EU startup growth – it's time for a new approach (https://thenextweb.com/news/dependence-clouds-eu-startup-growth-new-approach)
– Clop ransomeware uses TrueBot malware for access to networks (https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/clop-ransomware-uses-truebot-malware-for-access-to-networks/)
– What you need to know about AIOps (https://thenextweb.com/news/what-you-need-to-know-about-aiops)
– Cloudflare's Zero Trust suite now available for free to at-risk groups (https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/cloudflares-zero-trust-suite-now-available-for-free-to-at-risk-groups/)
– European scientists are developing nuclear waste batteries for use in space (https://thenextweb.com/news/european-scientists-developing-nuclear-waste-batteries-for-use-in-spacecraft)
– Rackspace warns of phishing risks following ransomware attack (https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/rackspace-warns-of-phishing-risks-following-ransomware-attack/)
– Australia arrests ‘Pig Butchering' suspects for stealing $100 million (https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/australia-arrests-pig-butchering-suspects-for-stealing-100-million/)
– Antivirus and EDR solutions tricked into acting as data wipers (https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/antivirus-and-edr-solutions-tricked-into-acting-as-data-wipers/)
…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/
Let's have a peek at our Contests for this week…
Firstly we want to thank Simple Giveaways for being totally awesome and providing us with their Premium Version for our contests!
Secondly we want to thank Steve Goodtime & Brant Matthews for creating our amazing jingle we still use!!
And we want to thank Charlie for coming to our aid and rescue yet again with another fantastic contest!
We have a bit of a surprise for everyone this week – this contest is being extended for one more week!
Reason for this is because we are not going to be here for Christmas or new years, and we don't want to leave everyone hanging with a new contest, but we also don't want to have a show without the exciting opportunity for a contest either.
So you now have one more full week to enter into the contest for WP Go Maps!
Enter for your chance to win WP Go Maps – Unlimited Lifetime Licence Giveaway valued at $199
WP Go Maps
WP Go Maps
Manage Multiple WordPress Websites Effortlessly
The all-in-one solution for your WordPress maintenance service.
The most comprehensive WordPress Map Plugin, ever. Build simple to advanced maps in seconds.
Click here to visit wpgmaps.com
To Enter, head on over to wppluginsatoz.com/giveaway and enter for your chance to win!
Remember, this is YOUR show! We are just the Worker Bee's here – Don't be afraid to jump up and down and demand a turn at the wheel to help guide the show to where YOU want it to go!
That goes for all the Developers out there too – this is YOUR show! by supporting us with your Plugin donations you are helping to guide the show to where you want to see it go! A GIANT Thank You is owed to the Developers who have been supporting us this whole time, we honestly could not have even gotten this show started without you!
If any Developers out there listening right now are interested in adding to the show by donating a Premium License for our Contests, you can do so by going to WPPluginsAtoZ.com/PluginContest!
Remember, this is YOUR show! We are just the Worker Bee's here – Don't be afraid to jump up and down and demand a turn at the wheel to help guide the show to where YOU want it to go!
That goes for all the Developers out there too – this is YOUR show! by supporting us with your Plugin donations you are helping to guide the show to where you want to see it go! A GIANT Thank You is owed to the Developers who have been supporting us this whole time, we honestly could not have even gotten this show started without you!
If any Developers out there listening right now are interested in adding to the show by donating a Premium License for our Contests, you can do so by going to WPPluginsAtoZ.com/PluginContest!
Time for the Good Stuff! …
Off we go into the meat and potatoes of plugin depravity…..
WordPress Plugins
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John's Plugin
SQLite Object Cache
https://wordpress.org/plugins/sqlite-object-cache/
The Lowdown:
A persistent object cache helps your site perform well. This one uses the widely available SQLite3 extension to php. Many hosting services offer it. If your hosting service does not provide memcached or redis, you may be able to use this plugin instead and get the benefit of object caching
Rating: 4 Dragons
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Amber's Plugin
ClickWhale – Link Shortener, Click Tracker & Link Pages
https://wordpress.org/plugins/clickwhale/
The Lowdown:
This is a pretty awesome plugin – very easy to use and very useful! Especially if you have a lot of links that are kind of long, but you want people to be able to easily remember it – like a long link for your contest page for instance, but you just want it to be /contest so it's easier for people for remember.
You will find the dashboard on the left hand side menu; once in there, you put down what you want the link title to be – like ‘contest' – insert the slug you are wanting to change, insert the target URL, and hit save!
You also have the option to choose which redirect the link will have, whether it has a ‘Nofollow', Sponsored, or if it has a description.
Easy to use, and it's a cool name – although I keep thinking ‘FailWhale' rather than ‘ClickWhale'.
Rating: 4 Dragons
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John's Plugin
Force Login
https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-force-login/
The lowdown:
Easily hide your WordPress site from public viewing by requiring visitors to log in first. As simple as flipping a switch.
Make your website private until it’s ready to share publicly, or keep it private for members only.
Features
- WordPress Multisite compatible.
- Login redirects visitors back to the url they tried to visit.
- Extensive Developer API (hooks & filters).
- Customizable. Set a specific URL to always redirect to on login.
- Filter exceptions for certain pages or posts.
- Restrict REST API to authenticated users.
- Translation Ready & WPML certified.
Rating: 4 Dragons
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Amber's Plugin
Easy Tube
https://wordpress.org/plugins/easy-tube/
The Lowdown:
If you have a playlist you want to share on your site, this is the perfect Plugin for you!
Easy to use too! Once installed, you will find the name ‘easy tube' in your left hand menu.
The first thing you need to do is to create an API key for your YouTube playlist, insert your YouTube API key into your settings, label it well, and use the shortcode ‘{easyTube}' anywhere on your site.
On your front end you will be able to see an example of your playlist, and how many results – if you want them to show.
So if YouTube is one of your main tools for your company, then Easy Tube is a perfect plugin for you.
Rating: 4 Dragons
We Interrupt the Meat and Potatoes of Plugin Depravity Edition to bring you our Donations Segment and to thank our Producers!
Remember, this is YOUR show! We're just the Worker Bee's here. Don't forget to restock the show's larders with some Time, Treasure, or Talent Donations! Need more info on how to do that? Check out our site wppluginsatoz.com – right up in the menu you will see each one under ‘Donations'!
Special thanks goes to:
Free-Lance Producers popping in and out:
Though always showing up at unexpected times, these Producers are surely part of the reason our name is getting out there! Thank you!
…If you have listened to even 10 minutes of this show, or shown up a single time to one of our live shows on YouTube, you are one of our many Free-Lance Producers! Although you guys are always popping in and out at unexpected times, we appreciate your support and periodic help with one thing or another – thank you!
Back Room Producers hanging-out in the Lounge:
Always about the place consuming all the coffee and donuts, these Producers earn it by helping out with our contests, artwork, site organization, notes, questions, suggestions, licenses, and by hiring us! Your Time and Talent Donations are equal to your Treasure Donations of under $50, and we would not be here without you – thank you!
…Back Room Producers, if you ever notice something that needs some work feel free to reach out to us and let us know – you can offer to take it up yourself, or just let us know and we will add it to our list.
War Room Producers:
With their donations of $50 or more these Producers receive a few extra perks – an official AtoZ Handle of their choice, a spotlight in that weeks show for a short speech, an official Executive Producership Credit, and seeing the ‘Magic' as it happens up in the War Room before we send the show out into the netherworld of the internets! Thank you for sticking by us and helping to keep the Back Room Producers stocked in coffee and donuts!
…**If you prefer to stay anonymous, please let us know at the beginning of your note to us regarding your donation! We are more than happy to keep you anonymous from the world – nobody is ever forced out of the tender embrace of the shadows on this show!**
…To receive your Official AtoZ Handle, think up an original name, and send it into us! Be sure to note down the show number and title of the show so that we know when to log it!
…Your spotlight can be an elevator pitch for your business, a note, or you can just skip it!
…The Producership Credit we offer is REAL! When you send your donation in to us of $50 or more, please be sure to note down the number and title of the show your donation shows up on, and we will back up your right to claim Producership!
…'Seeing the Magic Happen' refers to being part of the show – if you are interested in taking up a larger part in the show, reach out to us and let us know! We will be happy to discuss the options!
…War Room Producers, same as for the Back Room Producers, reach out to us if you notice something that needs work! Whether you are wanting to take up the job yourself or just inform us and leave it, we will add it to our list!
Thank you, now back to the Meat and Potatoes of Plugin Depravity Edition!
John's Plugin
Stop Spammers Security | Block Spam Users, Comments, Forms
https://wordpress.org/plugins/stop-spammer-registrations-plugin/
The Lowdown:
Stop spam emails, spam comments, spam registration, and spam bots and spammers in general. Run diagnostic tests, view activity, and much more with this well-maintained, mature plugin.
Stop Spammers adds security that should kill off many of your spam worries straight out-of-the-box. Because every website is different (especially if you have integrated a payment gateway), we offer dozens of features you can leverage to meet your website’s specific needs. Our 50+ configuration options make personalization easy.
Rating: 4 Dragons
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Amber's Plugin
Christmas Snow 3D – Snowfalling, Snowflake Effect and Christmas Mood
https://wordpress.org/plugins/christmas-snow-3d/
The Lowdown:
This is seriously an awesome plugin! Totally free and brand new out of the box – designed just for Christmas cheer!
This is a plug and play – once activated, on your front end a really cool Snowing Effect appears. It's awesome 3D, and wherever your mouse moves, the snowflakes start falling in that direction, following your mouse in every direction it moves.
If you are looking for a seriously cool snowing effect for your site, this is a perfect one!
Rating: 5 Dragons
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ClassicPress
We have sadly neglected ClassicPress… we are working to remedy this.
…A little about ClassicPress for those who aren't sure: ClassicPress is WordPress frozen at version 4.9. Once WordPress moved to 5, they added in a whole lot of new folders, and the experimental additions to the Core started in earnest. ClassicPress is literally the Classic version of WordPress. A few plugins have been made over the years for just ClassicPress, though all Plugins compatible with WordPress 4.9 should work for ClassicPress.
To any ClassicPress user listening right now: I challenge you – yes YOU – to write a review of your favourite, or least favourite ClassicPress plugin, and send it into us! You can do so by hitting us up at https://wppluginsatoz.com/submit-plugin-review/!
…And feel free to add more to this section by reaching out to me at amber@wppro.ca.
ClassicPress Resource Section:
This information is like Fruit Cake! It doesn't wither away and will still be good years down the road so it's great for learning! Go and check this section out in our Show Notes if you have an interest!
…We have thrown some ClassicPress Resources in here for you – and they appear to have stuck like well cooked pasta! Glad you made it to this part of the notes since we only mention it lightly on the show – If we missed something, let us know!
…Learn 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
…ClassicPress Tutorials on their site:
…https://www.classicpress.net/category/tutorials/
…ClassicPress's “Must Have” Plugins List:
…https://forums.classicpress.net/t/must-have-plugins-list/1163
…ClassicPress Repository!!
…https://directory.classicpress.net/plugins They now have 71 plugins (and counting!) available.
…WordPress Plugin Section compatible with ClassicPress:
…https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/classicpress/
Questions, Notes, and Feedback from our Producers out there:
…Send us your thoughts and opinions, but most of all send us your questions! 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!
How to be part of your own production!
Interviews – get yourself out there using us as your tool!
…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
Send in Plugin Reviews, or suggestions for Plugin reviews!
…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/
Send in questions and/or comments!
…Have a thought to share? Send it in! You can stay anonymous or belt your name out in all caps!
Stuff and reminders about Stuff:
Meetups:
Nothing new has been set out yet, it all depends on how moody our island is going be this winter and how much snow/rain we get – no sense having a meetup if the main highway gets washed out again!
Keep an eye here for the next Meet Up, eventually we will get it going!
Random:
Remember you can check out our Show Notes on our site wppluginsatoz.com! There is extra information to grab up there that we don't even speak out loud on the show!
Today's Plugins we covered were:
John’s Plugins: SQLite Object Cache – 4, Force Login – 4, Stop Spammers Security | Block Spam Users, Comments, Forms – 4
Amber's Plugins: ClickWhale – Link Shortener, Click Tracker & Link Pages – 4, Easy Tube – 4, Christmas Snow 3D – Snowfalling, Snowflake Effect and Christmas Mood – 4
Ways to support the show!
You can support us by Subscribing to our Newsletter, Donating, or reviewing us on Stitcher Radio, Google Play, or the iTunes Store.
Join us on our Facebook, and hit the *Like* button on our YouTube Channel!
…Just showing up to our YouTube Channel and joining us live every Thursday at 11am PDT is a FANTASTIC show of support! So is joining our FaceBook page and hitting *Share* on our posts every once in a while!
…Giving a review of us on any of the platforms listed above would be super helpful too!
Want to get ahold of us???
If you still do Snail Mail, you can send an actual, physical letter or item to this Brick and Mortar address:
…(Pssst! I love receiving things that are not bills! Especially art if you enjoy drawing – no matter what age!)
WP Plugins A to Z
C/O John Overall
20-754 E Fairview Rd.
Victoria, BC V9A 5T9
Canada
OR, you can email us!
Amber: amber@wppro.ca
John: john@wppro.ca
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 – let's see if we can stump my dad!
- As it is the season for scams to start cropping up online, how would you propose shop owners help themselves to steer clear as possible of these?
- Would you specifically recommend people dress up their websites for the holidays?
Questions asked after closing credits:
- What kind of holiday dressings would you recommend people migrate towards for the various holidays?
- How would one go about creating a site for one of those Christmas Shops you always see at least one of in every town? Would you make it puke Christmas like the shops do, or would you make it more low key with Christmas trimmings?
One more time for the ways to contact us!
Our Brick and Mortar Address – just in case you decide to send along a gift!
(Especially art if you enjoy drawing – no matter what age!)
WP Plugins A to Z
C/O John Overall
20-754 E Fairview Rd.
Victoria, BC V9A 5T9
Canada
Fastest way to contact us:
John:
- My website: http://www.johnoverall.com/
- WordPress Emergency Support: http://wppro.ca/wpemergency
- email: john@wppro.ca
Amber:
- email: amber@wppro.ca
