Tag Archives: WP125

Commercial WordPress Theme Directory? What About Plugins?

Jul 6, 2009 by Matt | Posted in WordPress 6 Comments

Joost de Valk thinks WordPress.org should have a section for commercial GPL-compliant plugins, like the new one for the themes. I couldn’t agree more.

Of course, we plugin authors get to host our own plugins on wordpress.org, and we can get links back to our site etc. But where’s the page for commercially supported GPL WordPress PLUGINS Matt? Don’t you think it’s time you started treating the plugin authors the same way as the theme authors? Or do we have to start a theme war for that first?

On the GPL, Themes, Plugins & Free [Yoast]

Theme developers seem to get more attention than plugin developers, and have for a long time. It’s sad. There are a lot of amazing plugins out there (including mine, of course…), but their developers are by and large not as well-off financially as the theme developers. You have giants like WooThemes selling $80 themes, that are now GPL compliant, but the plugin developers are pretty much just collecting a few donations here and there.

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WP125 1.3.0 Released

Feb 17, 2009 by Matt | Posted in WordPress 3 Comments

The WordPress 125×125 ad management plugin has just got better, with yet another release. Version 1.3.0 fixes a few bugs, and adds some useful new features.

New features in 1.3.0:

  • iCalendar subscription – Want to keep tabs on ad expirations better? Subscribe to them through Google Calendar, iCal, Outlook, or any other major calendaring application.
  • Localization support – Now you can have WP125 in French or Spanish, should you have your WordPress installation set to display one of the two languages. (I am responsible for the Spanish translation, so feel free to criticize my most likely poor grammar…) If you wish to help translate WP125 into a language that you know well, the .POT files are in the /translations directory.
  • Dashboard widget – A WP 2.7-compatible Dashboard widget is now supported. It shows a table of the current active ads. You can hide/show it like any other Dashboard widget.

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WP125 Patch 1.2.1 Released

Jan 2, 2009 by Matt | Posted in WordPress 3 Comments

If you have already updated to WP125 version 1.2.0, which was released just a few days ago, you would be strongly advised to upgrade to the the new 1.2.1 release, which fixes a critical bug.

If you are running 1.2.0, ads will not be taken down properly when they reach their expiration date, and you will recieve an endless supply of email notifications stating that the ad has been taken down. For every time someone loads a page on your blog, an email notification will be sent. This could quickly fill your inbox, and put unnecessary strain on the server.

This issue was caused by a mistake in an SQL statement that has since been fixed. Please update to version 1.2.1 of the WP125 ad management plugin, via the automatic updater in WordPress, or by downloading it manually.

EDIT: It seems we are up to 1.2.2 now. A couple of other, less major, bugs came up, and have since been fixed.

WP125 1.2.0 Released

Dec 29, 2008 by Matt | Posted in WordPress One Comment

Version 1.2.0 of the WP125 ad management plugin has been released. You can download the latest version from WordPress Extend, or you can update using WordPress’s automatic plugin updater.

The latest version streamlines the management workflow, and overall makes the plugin more friendly with WordPress 2.7. The subtle usability tweaks should make it easier to navigate the plugin in the latest WordPress release.

But what about the more major features?

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An Interesting Use for WP125

Dec 7, 2008 by Matt | Posted in WordPress 4 Comments

Dave Rigotti has found an interesting new use for my WP125 plugin. It came to my attention recently while I was checking my Technorati link feed.

He is using the plugin, which is usually for displaying 125×125 advertisements in your blog sidebar, to count how many times his RSS button is clicked. So coupled with the Feedburner subscriber count, he has a metric of how many people actually subscribe to the feed after clicking the icon.

If you’re curious, approximately 21% people subscribe to this blog after clicking the big button to the right.

Interesting idea, Dave. I never would of thought of using an ad plugin to test links’ conversion rates. I suppose it’s not too huge stretch, but it’s quite creative.

It’s kind of fun seeing people use my plugins for things I never intended for originally.

What Would You Like to See in WP125?

Oct 26, 2008 by Matt | Posted in WordPress 11 Comments

The WP125 Ad Management Plugin has gained quite a sizeable following over the past few months, with nearly 4,000 downloads logged in WordPress/Extend as I write this. (Note that there were likely a lot of downloads before it was accepted into the repository.)

Overall, I think it’s been successful.

The point of the plugin has been to provide an easy way to manage 125×125 ads, rather than relying on hand-coding or more complex ad-serving applications like OpenX. The goal has been to make it the right choice for as many bloggers as possible who want to sell 125×125 ads.

So, how is it? What do you like about WP125? What do you want to see in it? Is there something about it that just bugs you? What killer feature is missing that you just have to have?

The next release of WP125 is in the works currently, and I’m working on it off and on, whenever I have some spare time. Now is a good time to suggest new additions or changes.

This is you chance to voice your opinions about the plugin. Any constructive criticism or suggestions are welcome.

Use WP125 as an Ad Rotator

Oct 15, 2008 by Matt | Posted in WordPress No Comments

I’ve received a few emails now asking for ad rotation features in WP125. Now, that’s not something I want to build into the plugin’s core files. Only a few people want it, and I don’t want to make the code needlessly bloated over something that doesn’t fit the ordinary uses and intention of the plugin.

After telling most of those people something along the lines “sorry, unsupported,” I came up with a quick solution (that one emailer was lucky enough to get). This solution doesn’t modify the plugin code, and seems to work pretty well. I figured I’d share it here, in case there’s anyone else who wants it.

Basically, if you want to have a rotation instead of a “normal” block of 125×125 ads, you just need to make use of the handy <?php wp125_single_ad(num); ?> template tag I created for “unforseen circumstances” when I wrote WP125. Just put this code where you want your rotation to appear:

<?php wp125_single_ad(rand(1,6)); ?>

Just replace the “6” with the number of ad slots you have.

Now, fill your ad slots with banners and you’re done.

WP125 1.1 Released

Sep 12, 2008 by Matt | Posted in Featured, WordPress 30 Comments

The WordPress 125×125 ad management plugin has just got better. I’ve just released version 1.1.0, which improves performance, adds several customization options, as well as a few major features.

New is version 1.1:

  • Setting to change the widget title.
  • Option to remove the default ad styling, enabling you to use your own CSS rules.
  • Settings are no longer stored in a database table, but in WordPress’s built-in Options system. This reduces database queries, and improves performance.
  • Admin menu functions are no longer included outside of the WordPress Admin (hehe :D ).
  • A few other tweaks were made of efficiency and security nature.
  • Major feature: If you supply an email address in the options page, you can opt to receive email notifications when ads expire, allowing you to easily send follow-up emails to advertisers, or simply just stay in the know.
  • Major feature: Placeholder ads! If an ad slot is empty, instead of not being shown, a placeholder ad (a.k.a “Your ad here” image) will be shown, linking to your sales page.

Download the plugin here, or just use the WordPress 2.5+ automated plugin updater.

If you have any suggestions, or if you find a bug, please leave a comment or shoot me an email.

EDIT: Everyone using 1.1.0, please upgrade to 1.1.1, unless you don’t mind your ads being unclickable. A stupid mistake on my part caused the issue in 1.1.0. It’s been patched now.

EDIT: Arg!!! I made another mistake. Version 1.1.1 is identical to 1.1.0, and therefore didn’t get the fix. Please use 1.1.2. :D

ANOTHER EDIT: Another bug squished. 1.1.3 is out, everyone. Fixes an issue with the slot dropdown on the Add/Edit page.