vBulletin Tagging

Hi all,

I’m pleased to announce, effective immediately that MyBB is no longer distributed under our own proprietary license agreement and is now distributed and licensed under the popular open-source GNU GPL v3.

The move to a fully open-source compatible license comes as we want to open MyBB up to the community and help support the world of free software.

For those not familiar with the GNU GPL v3 license, the GNU GPL license still allows you to use MyBB for free. You may also take a copy of MyBB, modify it and redistribute your derivative version as long as the internal copyright notices are left in tact and your derivative is also distributed under the GNU GPL license.

You may read the GNU GPL v3 license agreement MyBB is distributed with at: http://www.mybboard.net/about/license/.

Questions:

• Does this mean I can remove the MyBB ‘Powered by’ line?
  In short - yes and no. The MyBB ‘Powered by’ line is no longer a requirement on the bottom of your forums, however if you wish to receive support from the MyBB team, it must be in place on your forum.

  The ‘Powered by’ line is how MyBB promotes itself and we receive the majority of our users, we very much would appreciate it if you left it in place as a sign of respect for the hard work that goes in to this application.

• Which versions of MyBB are GNU GPL v3 licensed?
  MyBB 1.4.2 and onwards will be licensed under the GNU GPL v3. Older releases of MyBB (1.4.1, 1.4, 1.2, 1.0 etc) are still licensed under our proprietary license agreement and still subject to the terms and conditions set forward in that agreement.
• What does this mean for me, the average Joe user?
  To the average Joe, this change does not affect the way you use MyBB or run your forums. You do not need to change anything, you just need to make sure you comply with the terms and conditions set out via the GNU GPL - which if you meet our current license agreement, you already do.

If you have any questions or feedback about the license changes, please use the discussion thread and we’ll do our best to answer them.

Regards,
Chris Boulton
MyBB Project Manager

New Plugins

LibDig

Adds a Lib Dig box to WordPress posts and pages

scrnshotsRSS

This plugin for WordPress allows you to show Scrnshots.com captures on your sites

eFiles Backup

This plugin for Wordpress allows you to download backups of your Uploads, Themes and Plugin directories. It also allows you to download the entire wp-content directory. Not suitable for WPMU without alteration, or for large sites.

WP-UDIF-Entrecard

This plugin enables a simple method of displaying an Entrecard Widget on your Blog and will also display a “U Drop I follow” Image below it for members of the U Drop I Follow Moment

Updated Plugins

AVH Amazon

The avh-amazon WordPress plugin gives you the ability to add a widget which will display a random item from your Amazon wish list, baby registry and/or wedding registry.

Related Posts by Category

Display related posts based on their category. (Page in German)

DasboardZone

Displays statistics about your posts and post frequency on the WordPress Dashboard

Event Calendar 3

Manage future events as an online calendar. Display upcoming events in a dynamic calendar, on a listings page, or as a list in the sidebar.

Alt Link Text

Alt Link Text adds “Alternative Link Text” and “Alternative Title Attribute” fields to the Write Page and Manage Page screens.

Pods

Pods is a Wordpress plugin that adds CMS abilities to blog posts.

Drain Hole

Drain Hole is a centralized download manager with full monitoring, statistics, versioning, SVN support, and proper SEO download URLs

[center]*SN - Advance Rules in Category
*
[left] *_Special Thanks To_:*
*ry215* (http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/member.php?u=140639)

This MOD was added ……..

*For the full text, visit…

One of the things I’ve noticed since using WordPress is that after you install a number of plugins, it becomes clear that there is no standard for where to place the plugin configuration link. Sometimes, the configuration link for a plugin shows up in the dashboard while other times, the link appears within the Manage panel. To top things off, many of the plugins provide links to their specific settings in the Settings panel. How much time do you think you have wasted so far by always searching for a particular plugins settings page?

Over the weekend, I happened to come across a post written by Andrew Rickmann which showcased an idea to create a configure link next next to the usual Activate/Deactivate Edit links found within the Plugin Management panel.

Andrew’s point of view is that, instead of adding top level menu items to the WordPress administration panels, it would be far easier to click on a configure link that would open up a sliding panel which would present anywhere from 1-5 configurable settings. Not only does this idea make configuring plugins faster, but it makes browsing the WordPress administration panel much easier as the top level navigation system is not filled with links. On top of that, the configure link makes complete sense to be located next to the Deactivate/Edit links. In doing so, configuration options are in a predictable location.

In my opinion, here are a couple of reasons why we are not seeing something like this already being used. Number one, WordPress is open source meaning anytime you try to implement anything close to a standard, it probably won’t work. People will come up with their own solutions to the problem which is one of the beauties of Open Source but can also be a contributing problem. Secondly, this was brought up over two years ago. You can see the initial forum thread here and the post on the WP-Hackers Mailing List from Owen here. Considering we have gone two years without any move towards a solution such as the one Andrew suggested, perhaps we will always be at the mercy as to where plugin authors place their configuration links.

Plugin authors can bring up the fact that they provide directions within their readme files that indicate where to find the configuration page. While they may help in the short term, that doesn’t solve the root of the overall problem. Andrew’s idea is something that can be implemented by plugin authors right now. In terms of something like this being added to the core, according to Andrew, the process is so simple, it probably doesn’t need to be added.

Where do you stand on this issue? Would you like to see more plugin authors implement Andrew’s idea into their own plugin or is there a better alternative?

*English:*
What Does it?:This hack will add to Navbar Random Thread :).

*Install:*
+Go to admin Cp
+Plugin System -> Manage Products -> [Add/Import Product] -> Select
…

[center]*Forumhome Account Manager Box*
by *vB-Italy.org* (http://www.vb-italy.org/) - Italian vBulletin Support Forum

[left]

This product will add an account manager box under (or everywhere you…

*English:*
What Does it?:This hack will add to your FORUMHOME Popular Members.

*Install:*
+Go to admin Cp
+Plugin System -> Manage Products -> [Add/Import Product] -> Select
…

Raven’s Antispam

Raven’s antispam is a WordPress plugin, powerful and invisible fighter against comment spam.

Cronjob Control

This plugin shows you all active WP cronjobs (scheduled tasks) of your weblog in the “Site Admin” area and if you want, you can stop the cronjob(s)

FTP Plugin for WP Database Backup Plugin

This plugin adds a fourth way to save the database backup files of the WP Database Backup plugin. With the standard WP Database Backup plugin you can save the database tables of your weblog a file. This backup file can stored on the server of your weblog, send to an email account or saved (manually) to your local hard disk.

Update URLs

When you move WordPress to a new domain or directory, the permalinks are not updated. This plugin updates all permalinks. In addition, it also gives the user the option to update any links within posts and pages.

FV Community News

Allow your visitors to add articles to the sidebar or anywhere else. Complete with moderation panel and a settings page, you can sit back while you have full control about the look and articles that being posted.

Caption Disabler

Caption Disabler is a WordPress plugin that removes and disables captions feature in WordPress so that all caption shortcode is not been parsed or translated, and no and HTML entities are automatically added while editing or writing.

jQuery Reply to Comment

Add “reply” and “quote” features on each comment list.

Redirection

Redirection is a WordPress plugin to manage 301 redirections, keep track of 404 errors, and generally tidy up any loose ends your site may have.

WP Double Opt-In List Management

This WordPress email list management plugin allows the visitors of your blog subscribe to your mailing list using a double opt-in method. The signup form (Email, Name and other fields) is placed on the WordPress blog sidebar. After a user fills in the form and clicks “Subscribe”, WP double opt-in plugin sends an email with the subscription confirmation link to the user.

*English:*
What Does it?:This hack will add to your FORUMHOME Popular Forums.

*Install:*
+Go to admin Cp
+Plugin System -> Manage Products -> [Add/Import Product] -> Select
…

hi all,

*About this mini Mod:*
simply this hack take your code from options and show it under all header styles

*Installation:*
Import XML file (as product): AdminCP > Plugin System > Manage…

*English:*
What Does it?:This hack will add to your FORUMHOME Top X Album.

*Install:*
+Go to admin Cp
+Plugin System -> Manage Products -> [Add/Import Product] -> Select
…

Child themes are a trend which appears to be gaining traction everywhere you look. Theme authors such as Ian Stewart, Justin Tadlock and Darren Hoyt are just a few of the influential people pushing this concept. In order to try and grasp an understanding of child themes, I interviewed Ian Stewart of Themeshaper.com. His responses were so long, this interview will end up being published in two parts. Here is part 1.

1. First off, could you please explain what Child themes are in the simplest way possible?

A Child Theme is a WordPress theme that installs and activates just like any other WordPress theme—with 2 crucial differences. Firstly, it requires no PHP template files of it’s own to work. That’s because it uses the template files of a defined Parent Theme. The Parent Theme must be installed—but not activated—in your blog’s themes directory for the Child Theme to work.

Secondly, as of WordPress 2.7, template files located in your Child Theme folder will be used instead of the template file in your Parent Theme folder. Don’t like how the header is coded up for a particular theme you want to edit? Copy the header.php file from your Parent theme into your Child Theme folder and make the change there. WordPress, as of 2.7, will look for header.php (or any possible template file) in the Child Theme first and use the Child Theme template file instead. This new feature in WordPress 2.7 makes custom theming really exciting and even easier.

It’s really very simple to make your own Child Theme. So simple, I can tell you and your readers how to do it right here in four ridiculously easy steps. It’ll help you get your head around using a Child Theme if you follow along (with a test blog—this’ll be easy but our test theme isn’t going to be pretty).

1. Make a folder in your blog themes directory called “achildthemetest”.

2. Create a “style.css” file in that folder with the following code copy-pasted into that “style.css” file.

/*
Theme Name: A Child Theme Test
Theme URI:
Description: Trying out a Child Theme with the classic theme
Author:
Author URI:
Template: classic
Version:
*/

/*
For the sake of simplicity we're going to import
the classic stylesheet and override the styles.
You don't have to do this though. You can just
start fresh with new CSS or copy over large chunks of
the original styles and edit them here.
*/
@import url(../classic/style.css);

/*
Now, for a demonstration, let's make all the anchors red.
*/
a {
color:red;
}

3. Refresh your blog’s theme directory in the WordPress admin. You should see a theme called “A Child Theme Test”. It’s using the classic theme as a Parent Theme. If you look at the code above you should see a line that starts with “Template” it’s there that we defined that Parent Theme as “classic”, the folder name of our Parent Theme (which could be any installed theme).

4. Activate your new Child Theme and check out your blog. Are all the links in the main content area red? Congratulations. You just made a WordPress Child Theme. You can now edit your WordPress theme of choice—in this instance, the Classic theme—through CSS alone without having to modify any of the original template files. (If you’re a more advanced WordPress developer you can also include a functions.php file in your Child Theme that lets you interact with WordPress and your themes just like a plugin. But that’s another story altogether.)

2. What are some of the benefits that child themes offer versus stand alone themes?

There’s 2 main benefits for the end user when it comes to using a Child Theme versus editing a theme directly: Simplicity and Upgrade-readiness. To explain, I’ll tell you why I use a Child Theme of my own theme, Thematic, on ThemeShaper.com. That’s right, I’m not even editing my own theme directly on my own WordPress Theme blog.

Firstly, it really is just simpler. I currently have only 2 files in my Child Theme folder: style.css and functions.php. Everything else is coming from the same Thematic template files anyone can download and use. When I want to change the look of my theme, I do it in style.css. If I want to get really serious with theme changes, like, plugin-serious, I write some simple code in functions.php. I don’t think about my Parent Theme and, excepting the XHTML it eventually outputs and displays in my browser, I don’t even look at it. Except! Except when it comes time to upgrade.

When I need to upgrade Thematic, my Parent Theme, I can do so without worries. That’s because I haven’t touched the original template files. I haven’t edited the header. I haven’t edited the footer. I haven’t edited single.php. Or index.php. All my theme edits have been made in the stylesheet and functions file of my Child Theme.

Look at it this way: I have another blog I manage with a really fresh and distinctive design that I get compliments on all the time. Unfortunately, I made that design by hacking up and heavily modifying The Sandbox version 0.6. If I wanted to upgrade to a newer version of The Sandbox I’d have to recreate that design. That means I’d have to pull the theme apart, find all my changes, and reintegrate it with a newer version of the theme. If I’d made the modifications in a Child Theme upgrading would mean uploading a newer version of The Sandbox and, well, that’s it really. How long does it take to upload a theme? 10 seconds? When you’re using a Child Theme, upgrading turns from a day long affair into a 10 second chore that can be done while you’re reading weblogtoolscollection.com.

3. Based on what I’ve seen, the child theme trend is really starting to gain traction thanks in large part to you and other theme designers. How long has the ability to develop child themes been available for WordPress? If it’s been available to develop for some time now, why is it that we are only now starting to see heavy development in this area?

As far as I can tell, Child Themes have been available since version 2.1. But I first heard about Child Themes when I entered the Sandbox Designs Competition (http://sndbx.org/). Every entry there is a Child Theme that defines The Sandbox as it’s Parent Theme and modifies the theme with CSS alone. Consequently, I think a lot of the credit for popularizing Child Themes needs to go to Scott Wallick (http://www.plaintxt.org/), co-creator of The Sandbox and organizer of the Sandbox Designs Competition.

But that brings us to why I don’t think there’s been much talk about Child Themes: I think there’s sort of a lack of faith amongst theme authors and users when it comes to what you can actually do with CSS. WordPress developer and theme author Ben Eastaugh thinks that “one reason it hasn’t been more widely publicized is that [modifying Parent Themes with CSS] wasn’t, as it stood, terribly useful” (http://extralogical.net/2008/08/theme-inheritance/). I’d disagree with that in principle but that sort of sums up the feeling of theme authors that have been ignoring this feature.

And, by the way, if you don’t think Child Themes can really do anything with CSS alone make sure you check out the winning entries in The Sandbox Designs competition (http://sndbx.org/results/) or the oft-mentioned and linked to CSS Zen Garden (http://www.csszengarden.com/).

But regardless of what you think you can do with CSS alone, now that WordPress 2.7 let’s you overwrite Parent template files from your Child Theme I expect we’ll be seeing more and more people using them.

Plus, there’s a few other WordPress developments in the works that’ll likely further popularize this method of theme modifying. Namely, the WordPress.com Themes Marketplace and allowing GPL Child Themes to be released through the WordPress Theme Directory.

4. Before we move on, could you explain what a theme framework is? Perhaps providing a few examples for the readers.

In my mind, a Theme Framework would be a theme that, at the very least, was made with clear intentions of being used to develop further themes. A starting point theme if you will. I think a good Theme Framework also shows consideration of, or planning for, what can be done with Child Themes, now and in WordPress 2.7+. And that’s because, really, you shouldn’t be touching a framework if you can help it.

Think of WordPress as a framework where the contents of the database are output in a controlled fashion by your theme. We don’t go in and tinker with the WordPress core in order to make our themes work better (well, some people do but that’s another story again). The same thing with a theme framework. We can modify the theme framework with our Child Themes and leave the framework pristine for easy, safe upgrades.

This concludes part 1 of the interview. Stay tuned for Part 2 which will be arriving shortly.

Business Directory for WordPress

Business Directory for Wordpress is an easy way to host a free directory page for your readers, affiliates, advertisers, community or club members. Invite them to submit a simple advertisement listing for themselves on your blog

Wordpress Multibox Plugin

This plugin brings the great Multibox from phatfusion to your blog images.

WP-RecentComments

Display recent comments in your blog sidebar.

Woopra Analytics Plugin

This plugin adds Woopra’s real-time analytics to any WordPress installation. Activate the plugin and configure your site ID in the Woopra settings.

Collapsing Categories

This plugin uses Javascript to dynamically expand or collapsable the set of posts for each category.

Lazyest Gallery

Lazyest Gallery is an integrated image gallery with automatic thumb and slide creation

Adminimize

Visually compresses the administratrive header so that more admin page content can be initially seen.

CommentLuv

Appends a titled link using AJAX to the authors last blog post on their comment giving back some luv to the people that join your discussion.

HeadSpace2

HeadSpace is a powerful all-in-one plugin to manage meta-data and handle a wide range of SEO tasks.

vBadvanced Dynamics v1.0.3 has been released and is now available in the Members’ Area here for current license holders, or through our Software Products (http://www.vbadvanced.com/products.php) link for new customers. Though this new release is mostly a maintenance release to fix all currently…