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The WordPress theme check is a great plugin. For those who haven't seen it it's a way to check that you theme covers all of the functionality required to be added to the WordPress.org theme directory. I have been using this plugin to help me test the themes that I am creating on Pro Theme Design. It covers a surprisingly wide array of tests, making sure that you don't have any errors, and that you support all the most important [...]
I am currently working on the next version of Mimbo Pro (due for release really really soon), and am updating the child themes to work with the new update. Part of the update is that we (Darren and I) wanted to make the best use of the built in WordPress functionality. One of the elements we wanted to take care of was making sure the header is as flexible as possible. Adding the custom WordPress headers is easy. There's documentation [...]
I have a conundrum. I want to improve Elemental - my WordPress theme framework. I want to make it lean and fast; but this will involve removing functionality. This in turn means that when people upgrade their themes things may break. And I don't know what to do? Examples I want to remove options and features and make better use of WordPress built-in functionality. For example: HTML5: I want to move to HTML 5 for the theme. I'm in the [...]
In the last 7 months I have released 3 new WordPress Themes on Pro Theme Design and so I thought I would mention them here. The themes cover a variety of website types/ niches, and so are suitable for a range of different people. If you're interested in any of these themes then you can give them a test run for yourself on the Pro Theme Design preview site. Byline Byline is a magazine/ newspaper style theme. Its unique feature [...]
Building WordPress themes for Pro Theme Design I have to tread a fine line, between what people ask for, and what people want. I get loads of feature requests, and generally my approach is to suggest a plugin, or to dig a bit deeper and work out why the request has been made. The requests normally end up filtered into one of three piles. Will it benefit me or my own website? This is particularly relevant for my framework, Elemental, [...]
Recently my website was moved to a new web server, and in the process the server software was upgraded, and it broke some parts of my site. It took a bit of digging but in the end I worked out that the problem lie with Mod Security - a server plugin that improves security but can sometimes inadvertently break features.
These days everyone with a blog understands the importance of thumbnail images. Three years ago it was common place to have exclusively text, but now a nice image is a requirement. As such the process of implementing the image needs to be made easier. With my WordPress themes, Elemental in particular, I have simplified things as much as possible. You can set your own thumbnail using the WordPress featured image functionality, or you can use custom fields (which is generally [...]
One of the great things about WordPress is how 404 error pages are handled. If a page isn't found then you can show a proper dynamic error page giving the user things to do - this removes a lot of the traditional problems with 404 pages, ie the dead end syndrome.
Ever heard the saying, 'the more I learn the less I know'? I often feel that way with WordPress! I like to think that my knowledge of WordPress is above average, but I keep learning new things, and they keep on changing it. My most recent 'discovery' is pluggable.php. Pluggable.php is a php file full of a variety of WordPress functions. I was aware of its existence but until recently I didn't understand it's significance. The key thing that makes [...]
Saw an interesting blog post on Twitter today about storing WordPress FTP information in wp-config.php. The article was written in German so I sent the author an email to ask if he'd mind me translating it. Phil, the author, very kindly said yes - so my translation is below. Since the addition of the automatic updates in the WordPress core became available, there has been the possibility of FTP data in the backend. Then you can get both plugins and [...]
Recently I was contacted on Twitter by Josh Fialkoff how I develop WordPress themes, and I thought the answer would make for perfect blog fodder. I used to work entirely on my local computer, with apache, mysql, and php installed (XAMPP on Windows, MAMP on Mac), however working like that made collaboration really tough so I decided to move online, and that's what I am going to write about below. WordPress Development Site My solution was to create a sub-domain [...]
There has recently been a new piece of code added to the WordPress core which makes sure that people spell WordPress correctly - automatically correcting misspellings (ie. making the P in the middle uppercase). On its own this seems harmless enough but there has been a lot of talk in the WordPress community about it over the last couple of days. Summed up the key issues are: The plugin is breaking urls such as links and image paths WordPress is [...]
Before I continue I'm going to give some warning for those who still haven't read the Harry Potter books. If, like me, you like to be surprised when you read something new - leave now This post is a follow on from my earlier Harry Potter theory about RAB. So, let's start with the obvious... Is Dumbledore really dead? There are people who seem to think that Dumbledore hasn't died [...]
As I mentioned previously I fancy having a go at working out what is going on in the world of Harry Potter. I'm going to split my theories up into a series of posts, each about a different element of the books. Since I've already mentioned him this one is going to be about RAB. Before I continue I'm going to give some warning for those who still haven't read [...]
So... anyone else read it yet? I bought my copy late Saturday morning, there were loads of copies available, and a rather miserable looking witch handing them out. I bought my copy in Bexleyheath, which is fairly close to where I live, and Alan Rickman was due to make an appearance and sign copies of the book. I couldn't be bothered to wait around (he was already late when I [...]
It's cool to have the WordPress login page customized to fit your own website branding. This is even more significant for multi author blogs, or sites you have set up for clients as it adds that little extra something. Since writing this post in 2007 I have released a plugin called BM Custom Login which does everything described below I was actually inspired to write this post because of a [...]
I often get asked questions about TimThumb and why it doesn't work in certain situations. I can generally tell what is wrong with the script within about 60 seconds of being sent a demo url. Below are my top tips for debugging TimThumb issues. Keep TimThumb up to Date This is super important. TimThumb should always be kept up to date. I regularly publish bug fixes and improvements and often [...]
Previously Harry Potter Theory #1: RAB Harry Potter Theory #2: Dumbledore Before I continue I’m going to give some warning for those who still haven’t read the Harry Potter books. If, like me, you like to be surprised when you read something new - leave now Snape is an enigma. What is he doing? From the very first book it has been made incredibly clear that two things are true. [...]
About BenMy name is Ben Gillbanks. I'm a lover of Video Games, WordPress, Web Development and everything in between.
I have been working on the internet since 1998, and working with computers even longer. I am a hardcore Nintendo fanboy and have owned most of their consoles at one stage or another.
Read more about me on my about page.
RT @m4tt: 'Star Wars Rebels' is Lucasfilm's first animated series under Disney, coming fall 2014 http://t.co/YsS8iJ8mmD