GT-Vouchers 1.6 is out

By : Jeff Rose | In : Plugin Reviews, Wordpress

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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.

More GeoTheme Plugins

By : Jeff Rose | In : Plugin Reviews, Wordpress

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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
Next, and pending approval at this time is GT-Big Calendar. This one is pretty simple, create a full-page calendar with listings of upcoming events and link to more details. This one also adds Previous & Next day navigation to daily event lists. All without modifying any core code or even requiring a child theme!

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. 

Standout Comments Plugin updated

By : Jeff Rose | In : Plugin Reviews, Wordpress

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I’ve been pretty bad about posting here, but busy responding to requests. Thanks to everyone who has been using my services. You sure keep me busy.

On top of customer support, my family and my day job, I’ve been working with Alex Shalman and John Chow to build an awesome plugin for comments on WordPress sites. Standout Comments is now up to version 0.95 and has been quite popular with those who use it.

As with most things WordPress, it’s been a community effort. Not only with John and Alex helping me get it done and marketed, but also with the awesome users of the plugin sending in bug reports, feature requests and suggestions. It’s truly amazing in a way I hadn’t imagined.

It’s also quite challenging as the number of variations of WordPress themes and installation situations start to emerge. Wow. Talk about “I hadn’t thought of that.”

StandoutComments generally let’s you integrate your marketing efforts into your comment form and take advantage of the fact the user is entering their email, but not in a sneaky way. The user is given the option to opt-in to your auto-responder and/or your Feedburner email feed. They can also follow you on Twitter.

StandoutComments features:

  • Full integration and customization with any WordPress theme
  • Subscribe to notifications of new comments on posts
  • Integrate with any auto-responder to grow your list
  • Integrate with FeedBurner email to notify users of new posts
  • Integrate with Twitter:
    • Users enter Twitter ID to show Twitter avatar instead of Gravatar
    • Display Follow site owner on Twitter below comment form
    • OR Integrate with Twitter’s @anywhere to display a Twitter Follow button
    • Use Twitter’s @anywhere to link Twitter IDs in your entire blog with hovercards (@installedforyou)
    • Use popular short url providers to display a Tweetback URL
    • Track Tweetbacks and integrate them as comments
  • Nearly all text and styles can be customized to suit your blog.

Anyway, version 0.95 was just released today and expands on the features we have, and finally includes the Unsubscribe option. Yeah, it should have been there from day 1 but wasn’t.

Next up I’m making sure it’s ready for WordPress 3.0 in general (ie: still works), enhanced features for 3.0, and also the WordPress 3.0 multisite option, which may be important now that WordPress mu is integrated with core.

»crosslinked«

Helpful Plugin for Amazon Affiliates

By : Jeff Rose | In : Plugin Reviews, Wordpress

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A while back I purchased a WordPress plugin, which I had never done before. With such an abundance of good plugins available in the repository, I’ve never felt the need. Part of doing this website and consulting with various clients in various fields, I am asked regularly to evaluate a plugin or to recommend a specific one for a given task.

 

I purchased the ReviewAZON plugin by Brad Hanson and started building a few sites with it. I’m pretty impressed over all.

Generally, what it does is insert content from Amazon into WordPress posts or pages. You can do single product posts, multi-product inserts and even bulk important entire ranges. In fact, the book reviews on InstalledForYou.com are being auto-posted over time by the plugin.