I’ve just released version 1.6 of GT-Vouchers over on Theme Tailors. There are several changes in this version but it primarily fixes a bug reported by users where the plugin would cause a site to hang – and eventually crash. That’s pretty bad.

As far as I can tell, this was caused by the original code performing unnecessary installation checks when actions where taken, and one of my features put this into a loop. 

The new feature added is the option to show a countdown of the number of vouchers available just above the download button.

Nothing major, but it’s now sold a few copies and I expect more feedback to keep coming in.

Thanks to everyone who has supported this project.

InstalledForYou.com now has 3 plugins available on ThemeTailors for GeoTheme and a fourth about to hit as I write this.

Previously I introduced you to GT-Dashboard which was upgraded recently to include a couple of more stats and an auto-updating feature.

Next up, IFY GeoTheme Exporter does what it says, it allows users to export from GeoTheme – specifically the emails and addresses of events & listings. Simple enough.

Third one out is the big one. GT-Vouchers is a fork of the existing VoucherPress plugin, but completely customized for GeoTheme users. It includes tight integration with price packages, places and events – giving the site owner good control over the use of vouchers and allowing them to set their pricing accordingly. 

• Full GeoTheme integration
• Business owner can create/edit vouchers from the front end (or back if they have access)
• Site owner can create/edit vouchers
• Tied to your GeoTheme price package / Special Offers
• Create a voucher list page for ALL and/or By Category
• Customizable text for messages & email
• Customizable css for border around vouchers on listings
• Allow only logged in users to download vouchers – optional custom message when not logged in
• Optionally hide vouchers after maximum downloads are reached
• Business owners can download the email list for their vouchers
• Dozens of bug fixes and optimizations

The GeoTheme community has become very active lately as the theme gains popularity. Some of the examples in the showcase are quite well designed and show some real inspiration. 

In some ways it’s considered “bad” to go too far into a niche market, but lately I’ve begun to explore a pretty small market with custom plugins (while working on my major plugin projects).

GeoTheme is a new theme based on the GeoPlaces theme. GeoTheme was spawned when the purchases of the original theme became seriously disillusioned with the theme they bought. Lack of support, no updates etc drove them to basically make their own by branching the original.

My first plugin for this theme is the GT-Dashboard. It’s pretty simple and offers stats specific to your installation of GeoTheme. You can tell at a glance how many places & events you have, and how many reviews have been posted or are pending. I am planning to add some more reporting including financial information. It’s currently for sale over at ThemeTailors.com for just $5, including all future updates.

Next up, I’m working on a “deals” plugin – mostly re-purposing the Special Offers in GeoTheme, but likely expanding outside of this as well. There seems to be a high demand, so I need to get that done quickly.

My most ambitious plugin to date was supposed to be a few hours, but turned into over a month of part time coding!

RosterPress is a WordPress plugin to help manage talent/model/sport agent websites and more.

Featuring custom talent profiles, an appointment calendar and notifications, RosterPress lets anyone who manages people quickly and easily build a website presence.

Fully customizable profiles let you display physical characteristics for models, actors & similar talent, or simply use the personal contact section for internal use.

The appointment calendar is a simple and slick drag-and-drop system letting you move appointments around with easy, see who’s attached and any other details with a simple click.

Hook all that up to email and optional SMS notifications, and RosterPress really is a business-in-a-box.

The plugin is currently in beta trials with a limited number of copies available for testing. Check it out over at RosterPress.com

As I mentioned in my last post, Ralph helped me out with the Drafts Scheduler plugin. He helped find a bug and get it fixed, which was just awesome. In return, Ralph asked if I’d take a look at building another plugin for him.

His website at DrHouseMusic.com is all about House music and the people on the site link and embed from music sites all over the web. Apparently LetsMix.com is a popular one, but there was no plugin available to make it easy to embed their codes. Sure, LetsMix give out a nice embed code, but you have to do a bit of work. Ralph wanted something simpler for his users.

So, out of that was born the Let’s Mix Shortcode plugin. It was a fun project, that took about 8 hours over the course about a week. Due to Ralph being in Holland and me in Vancouver, we were on opposite time zones, which slowed things down.

In the end, the plugin turned out really really well, and I learned a few things along the way. Please check it out if you’re a music fan needing to embed into WordPress.