Sebs Studio

What a better way to transform a previous piece of code to something much easier to use for WordPress users. I recently wrote a script for the new Google Translate API which allows you to translate your content with out leaving the site using jQuery and Ajax. Now I am doing the same only with a UI and a more professional way to handle the translation with ease. The plugin allows you to translate your posts right then and there with out leaving the site.

You can select the languages that Google support on there translation service and hit translation. Simply put the content editor in ‘HTML’ mode before translating.

Release date of this plugin will be tweeted so follow me @sebsstudio

Update (27.01.2012) More details on the plugin here.

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This is the third post from the WordPress Post-Series. I know it’s late but I have been busy this past week. Hopefully I will be back on schedule for next weeks post.

This is going to get a little technical for this post and is one many of us who use WordPress a lot wish there is an easier way to do it, especially when setting up WordPress for clients. We just want to get it up and running in a flash so that we can start to add content, setup the theme and plugins as soon as possible.

We all like to work quick, get the task done and move on to the next. This is one of the reasons why I developed a service site that allows us to install WordPress quick and easy to our server or the clients so we don’t have to go through the hassle of doing it all manually.

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It’s time for a few screen shots to be shared with you guys of some of the work that I have been doing for my WordPress Online Installer service site.

It is not complete to be put up yet but it is getting there. So far I have the ultimate ‘wp-config.php’ file setup process complete which is the main part of this custom setup process.

The next part is creating the database structure, insert the default values and insert a fake administrator user ‘admin’ as the username set as a subscriber.

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This is the second post from the WordPress Post-Series.

Finding the right host to publish your site is the most important part. The majority of hosts out there offer the same but the two things you need to really look for is first obviously the cost and easy to use control panel.

Your first instinct is how much are the hosts charging and how much you are willing to pay for that service. Select a few hosts and do a comparison table for your self.

WordPress requires at least a minimum of:

• PHP version 5.2.4 or greater
• MySQL version 5.0 or greater

That’s really it. It is also recommend that you choose a host that supports either Apache or Nginx for the server to run WordPress, but any server that supports PHP and MySQL will do.

It is always best to check WordPress.org for a more up to date requirments.

Once you have got that down and out of the way look at what control panel they have. Having the right control panel makes it so much easier for you to manage your database and site content. Some provide there own control panel the majority of them use CPanel.

CPanel to me is the far most professional and easy control panel out there and if you choose a host that has CPanel then you are golden.

I have worked on some other web hosts when working with my clients and have found it hard to work around, loading time is slow and support can some times be bad so it is very wise to find a host that provides the requirements that WordPress requires and a control panel that you can feel comfortable with.

Here is a list of some great host providers.

• A2 Hosting
• Bluehost
• MediaTemple
• Laughing Squid
• Dreamhost

What host do you use and do you find it easy to manage your site with ?

Previous Post <- Why WordPress is Awesome

Next Post -> How to upload WordPress to your server ?

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Tomb Raider: Official Trailer (E3 2011)

‘My YouTube Videos’ is one of my plugins that I have created and is in need of a bit of an upgrade.

Above is an example of a YouTube video inserted by a shortcode which I am still experimenting with. You can either manually insert a video you like from YouTube or from the menu in the visual editor, you can select one from your account, uploaded or one you have added to your favourites.

This is a new feature that I am inserting into the plugin. This would be version 2 and will not only include this but allow you to view any YouTube video in the sidebar as a popup using lightbox once you click on any of the thumbnails.

Still not sure which one I am going to use and would like your input on the best lightbox plugin (or what others out there are called) to use for this ability that displays videos.

I hope this will be a great upgrade, I know a lot of you have been asking for these features and I hope to bring them to you in the near future.

If you have any other additional ideas that you think would be great to add to my video plugin. I am happy to receive your ideas or suggestions if you leave one below.

Thank you.

You can download the current version of this plugin at WordPress.org here .

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This is the first of many posts about WordPress to come from my WordPress Post-Series.

WordPress has been and probably be the best CMS platform out there to this day. There are millions of users around the world using it and has even inspired many of us who did not know how to blog or code to start doing so. WordPress has been the biggest and easiest tool to use for creating websites on for you personally or for business purposes. Many web developers and designers have come together to build themes and plugins for all of us to use weither they are free or premium.

So why is WordPress so Awesome ?

Well if the small post above was not enough here are 10 reasons why WordPress would be great to use for your site.

• Easy to use control panel
• Can control your content easily
• No usage restrictions
• Light and Fast
• Free Updates for WordPress
• Great Support by a Worldwide Community
• Can be used for any type of site
• Unlimited to what you can customise on the front or the backend
• Huge range of designs to choose from
• Free and Professional plugin tools to help you

What are the down sides to using WordPress ?

There is ONLY ONE flaw WordPress has and will always probably have is the fact that it is Open Source, which leaves it exposed for people to find a flaw in the system and will do anything to damage one’s site who has WordPress installed. This doesn’t mean for you to go and change your CMS, you will find the same results for any other free CMS out there. Just make sure that you have the latest version of WordPress installed at all costs and follow a few simple security tweaks that could help prevent hackers cause any harm.

Do you use WordPress and if so what are your thoughts on why WordPress is Awesome ?

Next Post -> Choosing a Great Host to Support WordPress

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By now you might of head that WordPress 3.2 has been released and so I have updated the WordPress Online Installer site, removed the previous release candidates and allowed you to still install WordPress version 3.1.4 if you prefer to use that version still.

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It is amazing how many people out there still do not know how to setup WordPress and how little time they have to setup one themselves or for someone else. I am starting a series of posts that I will post at least once a week explaining about WordPress. Although my post titles are unclear to what they might be at this point I’m sure that in the end they will be eye appealing to you. The series of the posts will be in order for a novice (beginner) user to WordPress.

This series will help those who are new and still learning in the process. I have already posted from time to time how to create things for WordPress and have created a few plugins for you to use for free and now I will take a journey with you, to take a course if you like, over the next few months going through how to start at the very beginning and to answer the very question people always ask when stating something new… were do I start, how do I begin ?

So I am looking forward to it and I hope you all do too.

The following posts will be based on:

• How WordPress as a (CMS) content management system is a excellent tool to use.
• Finding the right web host to support and install WordPress on.
• How to Setup an offline test site before attempting t try online.
• How do I put WordPress up on my server ?
• How to setup WordPress for the first time and how to secure it.
• How to enable and disable features in WordPress that are hidden that you may or not need.
• Hide from others what version of WordPress you have installed.
• Picking a theme that suits the site you are trying to create (Free or Premium).
• How to customise the Dashboard of WordPress to your liking.
• What plugins are appropriate and beneficial to you and your viewers.
• How do I backup WordPress and all of my content ?
• How to connect to social services and allow readers to subscribe to your content.
• Creating a theme of your own from scratch.
• Creating a plugin of your own from scratch.
• What books are recommended for a more knowledge and give great examples on how to expand in your creativity for WordPress.

UPDATE 6th July 2011

I now have my Titles and have laid out my schedule in the sidebar for each of these posts in the series.

UPDATE 13th July 2011

You can now view the WordPress Series page for a list of posts to read.

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WordPress v3.2 is going to be released very soon, and it might be less likely that I will update the WordPress Online Installer with the current releases for WordPress v3.1.4 and WordPress 3.2 RC3. I have been a little busy with work and fixing bits and pieces here and there on the site.

But don’t worry I will update WordPress Online Installer once WordPress v3.2 has been published.

I’m still working on the Custom Setup and is about 50% complete.

I might even allow WordPress v3.1.4 to stay on as an option if users wish to use the current UI layout for the dashboard. I personally not too keen on the new UI layout for WordPress v3.2 . It’s great that they are making more room for the main content to be viewed but personally the dashboard doesn’t need to be changed to make it look like just text on a plank piece of paper. The light grey is far better and easy on the eyes and the padding helps you understand the column grid layout.

What are your thoughts on the changes that WordPress has made to the new UI design ?

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I was setting up a new multi-site in the early hours of the morning and I noticed that when a WooThemes theme is active on another blog, the link to ‘Update Framework’ was still showing under the theme options. I thought too my self that this was wrong and it would allow any one to update the framework for that theme without permission of the proper administrator of the main site.

So I did a little research on how to detect the main site and the first blog. If both equal as One then the link to update the framework would show. Otherwise any other site created using the theme it would not. This also applies to the admin bar.

Here is what I changed and is fairly easy to do your self if setting up a multi-site with WooThemes.
You will need to make a backup of two files in the WooThemes theme you are sharing.
‘admin-interface.php’ and ‘admin-functions.php’

Please not that if you update the framework after this modification it could be very well removed. If you are sharing just the one WooTheme like I am on a multi-site, then this will be easy and done in no time at all. If you are sharing more than one or all of the themes… then it will take you sometime unless all themes have the exact same framework version from the start before modifying them.
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I’ve been loving the latest theme Statua from WooThemes and could possibly be the theme I will use for EyesofPhotography.com

I made a little mod to the theme already just something small. The homepage slider was a little restricted. I decided to open it up and allow the theme to display not just from the Photos post type but also the ordinary Posts type. This will allow me or others to display one or the other in there slider on the homepage.
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