WordPress is a platform designed for blogging,  and bloggers love comments, which is why WordPress has it’s own comment system.  The built in WordPress comment system is Okay but misses the mark in terms of social networking login, ease of modification, moderating, and features.  The system is fairly straight forward, it allows you to gather the commenters name, e-mail, website and there comment.  It also ties in to Gravatar for Avatar usage, again nothing wrong with that but it’s kind of annoying that I can just quickly upload my own picture and use it on the comment page.

Disqus solves a few problems, it ties in nicely to your existing Wordpress Comment system and allows you to import those comments with the click of a button.  It maintains text formatting, usernames and avatars, while allowing you to add additional features such as the ability to upload images in your WordPress comment.  It also ties in nicely with Askimet to reduce spam and to ensure the integrity of your sites comments.

I use Disqus on all my client websites because the plugin just gets it.  Some additional features that it comes with is the ability to see recent comments via a button click on the comment form, it shows related posts that you may want to comment on and the top comments on the site by rating.

Disqus also allows you to subscribe to comments via RSS feed or E-mail, this helps tremendously for interaction between users and encourages ongoing usage.   Other comment systems also do this but not as nicely as disqus in my opinion.   If your looking for a simple and easy to install/configure comment system you can try the other’s out there like IntenseDebate or Facebook Comments but no other plugin I’ve seen does it as nicely as Disqus.

This plugin is highly recommended and you can e-mail me today if you’d like help installing it.  Thanks for reading and happy Blogging WordPressers!

Comicpress doesn’t seem to want to update and embrace a new easy to understand interface.  Since I’ve began using it almost three years ago it seems that it has stayed the same with little advancement on simplicity and ease of mastering.  This expands to the sites widget areas.  When using most of the default Comicpress themes you do not realize the sheer amount of widget areas that you have.  This is bloth a blessing and a curse in my opinion, it is great for a master comicpress user who fully understands what the features can do…however it makes it difficult to the basic person who wants to just quickly change some text or an image widget, you have to take a second and think if this is going to be in the right area.

My recommendation to all first time ComicPress users is to start experiementing with the different widget areas and start trying to remember what each individual widget section controls and where they appear on your front end.  If you want to learn how to hide certain widgets from ComicPress all together…stay tuned!

To get more information about ComicPress please feel free to contact me at the Get Cured Page.

One of the aforementioned changes is the ability to change the default text that appears when you go to create a new post, page, or any custom post type for that matter.  THis is the text that appears in the Title Area on a New page.  This text only appears on new pages, posts, post types  and the text simply reads “Enter Title Here.”

In my years of experience, not many people have recommended this change, partially because a lot of people don’t realize that you can actually change this field.  However, I recently ran into the issue with one client who wanted the text changed to “Name This Post/Page.”  So i searched for a way to do this, and now I will share how to alter this information with you!

• Step Number 1:  Log in to your WordPress Dashboard area by visiting, http://yoursite.com/wp-admin.  Login with valid Administrator credentials and go to your Dashboard.
• Step Number 2: On the Left hand navigation area, select the Appearence Menu and then choose “Editor” from the sub menu or flyout.  This will take you into the Theme Editor.
• If your already in your default theme, just go to the Functions.php file. WARNING: Always backup your WordPress Functions.php File prior to altering it,  this is the brain of your WordPress Theme and misplaced code or bad alterations could result in your Site going down.  I always recommend a full backup and copying your previous revision before making the changes.   If you need a suggestion on a good Backup Program please contact me via the Get Cured Page.
• Paste the following code into the functions.php file, i typically always append to the bottom of the file:

function title_text_input( $title ){

     return $title = 'Add Your Title Here';

}

add_filter( 'enter_title_here', 'title_text_input' );

• Congratulations, you’ve made the change, hit save and refresh the Dashboard,  if you don’t experience any errors, go ahead and go into your Posts/Pages area and add a new post, you should now see your custom title appear at the top of the Content Area.

If you run into issues  or would like to get a quote on having this change made for you, again please reach out to me via the Get Cured page and I’d be glad to give you a hand, a change like this is only a few bucks so don’t hesitate to reach out!   Thanks for reading, make sure to check out the other posts in this Series by clicking the Tag!

Other Posts in this series:

• Change WordPress Dashboard Footer Text

Below I will provide a code snippet that will come in handy if you ever want to make a change to the WordPress Dashboards Footer Text.   This code snippet is at your own risk however is tested up to WordPress Version 3.5.1, I currently have the change in effect on this site. 

How To Change The Dashboard Footer Text

• Step 1.  Go to Your WordPress Dashboard panel by logging in to WordPress just by visiting, http://yoursite.com/wp-admin.
• Step 2.  After logging in go to the Appearence Menu on the left hand side of your Dashboard Navigation and Select Editor.
• Step 3. On your active theme, select the functions.php file.  WARNING: Please backup your functions.php file and be sure that you have FTP or Shell Access prior to making any changes to functions.php.   I always recommend a full backup prior to any alteration.
• Step 4.  Within functions.php  append the following snippet:

function remove_footer_admin () {
    echo “Add Your Own Text!”;
}

add_filter(‘admin_footer_text’, ‘remove_footer_admin’);

• Step 5.  Save the changes and refresh the browser by hitting Ctrl+R on your keyboard,  you can also press F5 or Function F5.  This will refresh your page and make your changes visible.  Confirm that your text has changed by just navigating back to your Dashboard and viewing the footer text.

If you run into any issues  with making this alteration you can reach out to me on the Get Cured page,  you can also view the WordPress Codex on WordPress.com. This is the first post in the WordPress Dashboard Customization Series, keep an eye out for future posts by visiting the Blog Page frequently,  new content is added as often as possible.  If you have any requests for articles, again reach out via the Get Cured Page!!!!!!

Some of my favorite plugins I use on my clients websites, others I hold back for myself.   However In this article, I am going to share ten of my favorite WordPress Plugins for both Developers and for New Users.  Please enjoy the post and send any feedback to kevin@kevindankowebdesign.com, Or you can request a WordPress Custom Theme by visiting the Get Cured page right now!

1. MyFtp

MyFtp is a plugin that i found one night after being completely tired of having to switch back and forth between my FTP server and the WordPress Dashboard for .php and Custom WordPress Template Updates.  The plugin that is not currently being developed anylonger, was designed to allow you to upload and edit files that are only in your FTP folder, this is good for theme development, plugin development, stylesheet modification etc…  This program is extremely powerful however security is always going to be an issue.  If you are in a pinch and need to modify files on the go – my ftp works on any device such as a mobile browser that doesnt natively support the download/usage of an ftp client.  You can read more about MyFtp by visiting this recent post.

2. Advanced Custom Fields

This plugin allows a developer to create custom fields that can be used on different content related areas of your site.  You can add Custom Fields to Posts, Pages, and Custom Post Types of all kinds.   This makes a simple user interface that will allow you to add and remove fields from the aforementioned forms, allowing better customization and ease of editing going forward.  Let’s face it, WordPress isn’t just about “Posts” and “Pages”  it can do much more.  Customizing your WordPress Dashboard and Content Editor Area will allow you to create a more custom user experience truly propelling WordPress as a CMS.

The makers of Advanced Custom Fields describe the plugin as Custom Fields, made easy  and that’s exactly what it does.  It will allow you to not only create a custom text box area you can do all types of cool content types including: Date Pickers, Drag and Drop Media Uploader, Page Link, WYSIWYG Editor, Gallery, Flexible Content, Checkbox, you name it, ACF can probably do it…if it can’t check out the Add Ons market via: http://www.advancedcustomfields.com/add-ons/ and expand the functionality as you go! Read more about this plugin by visiting my recent post here.

3. White Label CMS

As a developer, it is often my job to create a usable wordpres installation that will allow my clients to easily update content with little help from me.  This is why I use White Label CMS.  White Label CMS helps me to declutter WordPress and to create a more custom experience.  

This program will allow you to do many things including: Changing WordPress Logo on Login Page, Changing the Admin URL from wp-admin to login, Adding Custom Dashboard Widgets to the front page – Great if you want to add your own support/contact information to your clients Dashboard, also very great for instructions and pointing out areas of interest within the site.  White Label CMS is one of my go to programs when creating WordPress Sites for my clients.

That’s it for right now, check back for Part 2 in the near future!  If you have any questions about these plugins or how to add them to your site you can shoot me an e-mail by visiting the Get-Cured page.

I found White Label Cms when i was looking for a way to remove certain features that my clients don’t need and that could potentially cause problems if used without knowledge.  It all started when a client of mine went ahead and upgraded a previous developers theme,  the theme was not a child theme and when he went to hit update he lost all the modifications that the previous developer had made.  In the long run I created a new child theme for the client however I wanted to ensure that if he ever found another developer that he wouldn’t run into the same issue.

My goal was to remove the ability for my client to update themes or plugins, so I removed the option using White Label CMS.  After finding and succesfully demoing the plugin I found that it does much much more.  I was also able to change the look of the Login page, removing the default “WordPress Logo” from the WP-Admin area.   I also was able to link back to my website on the dashboard and remove the version # for the current installation of WordPress from the footer.  

One of my favorite features is the ability to hide widgets from the Dashboard, I was able to take off widgets that third party plugins added, remove the Right Now area and add some simple instructions for using the site.  This makes for a more lightweight – easy to follow admin area.

I reccommend using the White Label CMS plugin on all websites however especially on Client Websites.  Check out my recent post for more of My Favorite WordPress Plugins – Part 1.

The makers of Advanced Custom Fields describe the plugin as Custom Fields, made easy  and that’s exactly what it does.  It will allow you to not only create a custom text box area you can do all types of cool content types including: Date Pickers, Drag and Drop Media Uploader, Page Link, WYSIWYG Editor, Gallery, Flexible Content, Checkbox, you name it, ACF can probably do it…if it can’t check out the Add Ons market via: http://www.advancedcustomfields.com/add-ons/ and expand the functionality as you go! 

I have been using this plugin lately due to the fact that many of my clients are asking for a more customized feeling within there dashboards, they want to be able to just quickly fill out a form and create content, without having to know any type of code or linking to anything directly.   On the fly I can create a new Custom Field, add the necessary code to a template field and my client will never have to learn code or remember to format a wysiwyg text editor area to add formatted content.

One of my favorite uses of the plugin was when I recently went out to make a Service Catalog for a corporate client,  The Service Catalog had a lot of content that would need to appear formatted for every service, fields included Cost, Enterprise Usage, Phone Number, Dates, Custom Taxonomies, and links to other pages including Support Information for that Service.

Using Advanced Custom Fields I was able to add a text field to establish Cost, use the jquery date picker to add a date, link back to my Custom Taxonomies, and also use the Relationship field to link back to other Pages with related content.

Installation is a breeze, the plugin is free out of the box but does offer some available third part add ons via it’s website.   For additional Information on advanced custom fields check out the official website at http://wwww.advancedcustomfields.com.

Make sure you check out some of my other favorite plugins by visiting Part 1 of my multi part series of Favorite WordPress Plugin posts. 

This program is extremely powerful however security is always going to be an issue.  If you are in a pinch and need to modify files on the go – my ftp works on any device such as a mobile browser that doesnt natively support the download/usage of an ftp client.  Although the plugin is no longer being developed, you can still find the plugin via third party websites by searching for MYFTP WordPress Plugin from Google.

I prefer to use MyFtp as I never have to leave my dashboard to upload or edit files,  this is very beneficial when in a pinch or time crush, it also keeps my computer running lighter as I no longer need third party software installed on my system,  I use WordPress as an Application Environment and it saves me both time, headaches, and helps me feel more secure.

It is a shame that the plugin is no longer being actively developed as you could really see the future of WordPress File Management with it.  Some features that would have been awesome that never made it in include the ability to change file permissions and security, the ability to rename existing templates or files on the fly and the ability to color your code for ease of use.

This plugin was recently featured as one of my favorites in Part 1 of the My Favorite WordPress Plugin Series seen here: My Favorite WordPress Plugins – Part 1.  

The developer of this plugin does offer a warning to all potential users in regaurds to the management of files within your browser. 

Warning: This plugin is a VERY Powerful tool. Without using proper precautions, it is possible to do severe and irreversible damage to your WordPress installation. Please use caution when editing or deleting files on your server.

I would go on to offer that you should be extra cautious when editing your WordPress Functions.php file as this really is the nerve system of any WordPress Theme.

If you have any questions about the WordPress MyFtp plugin you can check out the WordPress Codex by visiting this link: Click Here.

This project was a ton of fun to work on, it presented many challenges due to the custom nature of the platform previous to my taking over the development.  The code was in an awful spot due to the amount of custom PHP and WordPress modifications, however I decided to streamline the code and build out something that was minimal yet powerful.  We used a lot of WordPress built in functionality along with some custom API’s to create a truly interactive and wide ranging platform for Architects to share there work.

The Code:

To alter the length of your Post Excerpt, navigate to your WordPress Dashboard, then go to Appearence, then Theme Editor, then choose the ”Functions.php” file.

One inside of the Functions.php file, you should navigate to the bottom and paste the code listed below:

function custom_excerpt_length( $length ) {  return 200; } add_filter( ‘excerpt_length’, ‘custom_excerpt_length’, 999 );

This code essentially tells your WordPress Theme to display 200 words of text instead of 55.  To Change the length from 200 to something else, just edit the snippet  { return 200; } and replace 200 with the amount of words you’d like displayed.  Although it is best to keep the excerpt an excerpt, you could put in as many words as you’d like and they would then display accordingly anywhere your theme uses “the_excerpt.”

Conclusion.

In conclusion, your best resource for any and all WordPress related documentation is the WordPress Codex.  Please visit this article for more detail on changing the custom excerpt length of your WordPress theme, http://codex.wordpress.org/Plugin_API/Filter_Reference/excerpt_length.