How to Fix the Search

After searching the Internets I found a few fixes. Here’s one on the WordPress forums that seemed the most promising. This led me to the code below which, after being added to your theme’s functions.php file, will bring prevent the user from going to homepage and rather display the search results page.

Add to your theme’s functions.php file

add_filter( 'request', 'my_request_filter' );
function my_request_filter( $query_vars ) {
    if( isset( $_GET['s'] ) && empty( $_GET['s'] ) ) {
        $query_vars['s'] = " ";
    }
    return $query_vars;
}

A Few Notes

Blank search results seems to only happen when you have your homepage set to a static page in WordPress rather than the default settings. I haven’t seen any mentions of other configurations causing this on the web.

WordPress DEVs are Aware of the Issue

Here’s a WP Trac ticket opened at WordPress that says as of 2-months ago a fix for this is slated for future WP version 3.3

How to disable WordPress Post Revisions

Do you prefer a Plugin or Code?

Code Method:

Disabling the WordPress’ Revision Management feature is simple:

Open your wp-config.php file in the root directory of your WordPress installation.

Add this snippet of code at the top of the file (or bottom):

//disable WP Post Revisions
define('WP_POST_REVISIONS', false);

false, 0: do not store any revisions (except the one autosave per post)

Plugin Method

There’s a number of plugins that will keep you away from the code and safely deleting your revisions:

Revision Control is the most popular WP Revision management plugin. There’s also No Revisions which is less popular but gets the job done

How to Delete Existing Post Revision from Database

MySQL Query Method

For Advanced Users: Open up phpMyAdmin (SQL Pro) or what-have-you and run the follow query. If you like to

DELETE a,b,c
FROM wp_posts a
LEFT JOIN wp_term_relationships b ON (a.ID = b.object_id)
LEFT JOIN wp_postmeta c ON (a.ID = c.post_id)
WHERE a.post_type = 'revision'

*Disclaimer: Perform a db backup prior to running any queries to delete from your database

Plugin Method

The following plugins do the trick just fine (and perhaps “Better”):

Better Delete Revision

Delete-Revision

Why is WP_POST_REVISIONS enabled by Default?

While I cannot find an official explanation, my consensus is that many users find this feature an easy way to backup your posts and revert. WordPress is providing piece-of-mind, saving users from data loss. This feature is not available on many other popular CMS platforms.

I hope this article helps my fellow WordPress Community Memebers!

jFlow Plus is a compact slider (~4kb minified) with multiple effects and configurations that is cross-browser compatible and actively developed on by the open source community.

Click to view the jFlow Demo

Why Should You jFlow?

There are many sliders on the Internet to chose from, so why this one? Good question. First, let’s start with simplicity. A lot of jQuery slider plugins take an experienced developer to setup, not jFlow. We’ve got a superb demo for your to reference, download and implement. Novice web developers can get this puppy up and running in no time. What else you ask? Here’s a brief summary:

• Simple to setup
• Cross-browser Compatible
• Compatible with latest version of jQuery
• Open Source and Community Supported
• Actively Developed
• Good Documentation and Support
• and many more…

Help with Your jFlow

Planning on using jFlow for your next WordPress site? Great! Here’s a few tips to get your started quickly:

• Visit the Demo
• Start with the demo CSS and style to your liking
• If you’re stuck, read the documentation
• Start with the basic functionality and then modify to suit your needs

Remove the Paragraph Tags: Add this to your theme’s function.php file:

This simple filter will remove the wpautop function from running on the term description. Simply add this snippet to the bottom of your theme’s function.php file and save.

remove_filter('term_description','wpautop');

Before:

<p>My Category Description</p>

After:

My Category Description

Here’s a link to the WP forum thread revealing this simple and effective filter: WP Forum Thread

Sign Up for an Invite

Google is limiting the roll out of this new service to an untold number of webmasters. Using this sign up form you can request access to Page Speed Service and will be invited by Google to use this brand new service.

Here’s an image of the Page Speed Dashboard:

Below is a screenshot of the Rewrite options panel:

How it Works

Once you get to start using the Page Speed Service you will log into your Google APIs console, provite the domain of your website, verify ownership, set up the reference domain and change your site’s DNS CNAME.

That’s an earful, but Google makes the process pretty simple and it looks like they have pretty good documentation.

Where’s Your Invite?

I’m still waiting for my invite, I’ll update here when I get one.

Problem: No Vote or Rating Expirations

Out of the box, you are allowed to restrict voting by IP logging or cookies as see in the image below:

These setting are not exactly what we need, since there’s no option to expire votes we will need to do a little bit more. First, uncheck the options “Use logged data (IP) to prevent duplicate voting.” and “Use cookies to prevent duplicate voting.” like so:

No with these current options users will be able to rate and vote non-stop. Once could very easily rig up a macro and mess up some ratings. Obviously we don’t want this so let’s use cookies to prevent this from happening.

Solution: Use jQuery and Cookies to Restrict Voting

Have you heard of the jQuery Cookies plugin? It’s really good and lightweight.

Download the Cookies plugin and Insert it in your head

Download the jQuery Cookies plugin; once that’s done insert it into the head of your website:

Code the Function to Restrict Voting 24-Hours

Now that we have our Cookies plugin (along with jQuery of course) ready for use on our website we can code out a function to only allow people to vote once per day. Here’s the function I’m using:

jQuery(function () {
    //if our cookie is present display you have voted text
    if (jQuery.cookie('vote_cookie') == null) {
        //when gd star rating is clicked do function to set cookie
        jQuery('.gdt-starrating').click(function () {
            //set cookie 			
            jQuery.cookie('vote_cookie', 'closed', {
                expires: 1,
                path: '/',
                domain: 'yourdomain.com'
            });
        });
        //else the cookie is already set	
    } else {
        //fade out the ratings and display voted message
        jQuery('.gdt-starrating').fadeOut("fast", function () {
            //append voted message
        });
        //append voted message to parent container
        jQuery('.gdthumb').append('<p class="vote_msg">Thanks for Voting. Come back tomorrow!</p>');
        //slide down the vote message
        jQuery('.vote_msg').slideDown("fast");
    };
});

Check out my line-by-line notes above and leave a comment below if you have any code-related questions. For the cookie’s lifetime or “expires” parameter: You can define the lifetime of the cookie using a number which will be interpreted as days from time of creation. If left out, the cookie is a session cookie.

Please note: Depending on the GD Star Rating Template you are using, your jQuery selector could be different. Also, this method is not fool-proof. Users will still be able to clear their browser’s cookies and vote.

Live Working Demo

Update: Sorry the working update has been taken down :[ Please use the comment section below to post your questions.

To take a look at the GD Star Rating voting restriction in action check out the projects page over at The Modern Gypsies’ website.

Future Development

The best way to accomplish the voting restriction would be to do it via server-side with PHP and hooking into the function of the plugin itself. Fortunatly, for my needs this was not necessary but it may be for others with higher traffic and to ensure rating integrity.

Hopefully the plugin author will include this as an option in upcoming releases of the GD Star Rating plugin.

Using the Click and setTimeout Methods to Open Links

Using a bit of jQuery and JavaScript’s methods we can achieve a simple timer to open links.

See it in Action

Want to check it out? Click HERE and watch as the link opens after 3-seconds.

jQuery(function() {
   jQuery('.myselector').click(function() {	
      setTimeout(function() {
	window.open("http://wordimpressed.com");
      }, 1000 /* time to delay */ );
   });
});

Code Explanation

What the code above is doing is utilizing jQuery .click() method to fire off a function once the link or button with the class “.myselector”. Once this function fires the setTimeout method then calls a function after a specified number of milliseconds.

You may find that the number of seconds can vary depending on the user’s computer processing power and how busy the client (browser) is during at the time the function fires. Regardless, the this method should meet the needs of most developers for opening new browser windows after a specified time.

Using the jQuery .delay() Method for Animations and Effects

The code below will not open link in new windows, but it is useful for delaying jQuery animations and effects:

$("button").click(function() {
      $("div.first").slideUp(300).delay(800).fadeIn(400);
});

See it in Action

Click here to slide up the picture below after 3-seconds.

Code Explanation

The .delay() method is great for timing animations and additional methods to a certain time. In this example we use the .delay() method to delay the .slideUp() method on our demo image for a specified number of milliseconds.

Enable Facebook Sidebar Chat

Once you log into Facebook, go to your “News Feed” and ensure your browser is maximized. If you have a large enough monitor you should see the sidebar Chat grayed out with the following invite message:

Once you click the “Try it now” button you will immediately be able to message your friends that you interact with the most.

Still lost? Check out the Facebook’s Using the Sidebar for useful help information.

WordPress plugins are great for a variety of reasons. First, they allow you to add tons of additional functionality to your website with out having to do a lot of custom coding. Second, all plugins in the WordPress plugin directory are free. And lastly, you don’t have to be a developer to leverage many of their uses.

After building, maintaining and curating literally hundreds of WordPress websites, I bring to you my list of essential plugins for your WordPress install:

Top SEO WordPress Plugins

Search Engine Optimization is important for any WordPress website. Whether you know much about it or not, you should be at least doing your part to add the appropriate meta information to your posts and pages. Plugins make SEO for your website easy. Here’s some of the best out there.

All in One SEO Pack

AIOSEOP is one of the most popular plugins in the WordPress plugin directory. At it’s core, it’s a very simple plugin that allows you to add

Head Cleaner

The problem with using a bunch of plugins is that many of them include javascript and CSS files on your website which drag down load speed and in turn upsets Google as your load speed is affected negatively. This plugin allows you to filter out those scripts and control which plugins are including scripts into your head.

As far as I know this is the best plugin in its class, but I still need more. It’s OK for what it does, but could be much better by providing a better UI, fully explain the options available and allow for combing of scripts. Despite this, I always recommend using this plugin due to the need to remove these scripts that otherwise would have to be manually filtered.

Platinum SEO Pack

No quiet as popular, and seeminly with a lot of ‘borrowed’ code from AIOSEOP is “Platinum SEO Pack”. This plugin brings some added functionality that may be critical to you and lacking in AIOSEOP. If AIOSEOP lacks your needs, perhaps taking a look at this plugin would be to your benefit. For those already on AIOSEOP, this plugin will import all your data.

All in One Webmaster

Have a ton of tacking codes to put on your site? This plugin will help you insert just about any analytics code from Bing to Google, Yahoo to your very own custom application. Check it out. Side note: This plugin used to have a very annoying link it added to your site’s footer but in the latest versions the author has seemed to removed this. Thanks be to him.

Google XML Sitemaps

Make it easier for Google to crawl your site with this plugin. Once of the best plugins for creating sitemaps out there, probably the best. As an added bonus, this plugin will inform all the top search engines that it has just created a new sitemap.

Top Custom Post Types Plugins

WP 3.0′s Custom Post Type capability allows ever-increasing capabilities to the platform. Seemingly creating custom post types can be complicated with a lot of heavy development… guess again. Plugins bring a no-code approach to allow non-developers to leverage this awesome new addition.

Custom Post Types UI

Create custom post types with out being a developer. This plugin provides users with an easy to use and intuitive UI to create custom post types and taxonomies. I highly recommend this for developers and non-developers alike for taking full control of their site’s custom post types.

Custom Post Type Order

The free version of this plugin is incredibly handy for maintaining the ordering of custom post types with an easy to use drag-and-drop user interface. The premium version allows you to custom order by taxonomy, bringing even more flexibility in the way you display you custom post types. Highly recommended for all your custom post type ordering needs.

Enhance WordPress’ Capabilities

Although WordPress is already an incredibly feature-rich platform for a CMS or blog, plugin add to it’s robustness. The following plugins will help you extend WordPress to your specific needs by providing enhancements not present in it’s out of the box installation.

Custom Field Templates

Make WordPress into the CMS you always wanted it to be. This plugin allows you to customize WordPress as you’ve never before. Truly leverage the use of custom fields through this plugin and build a website that’s both easy-to-use and simple to manage.

I can’t say enough about this plugin. It has gobs of functionality such as full TinyMCE support for textareas, file upload and delete, custom PHP codes to set values, user access level per field. Truly a great enhancement to WordPress and one of my favorites.

Search Everything

One of the main complaints I always hear about WordPress is regarding its search capabilities. Search Everything brings to the table what WP’s core left in the kitchen. Search term highlighting, filtering and include/exclude options provide you a way to serve up results more accurately.

Top WordPress Form Plugins

Forms are necessary are nearly all websites. They provide you a way to interact with users and store their data within for tracking and reporting. If you’re not a developer and don’t want to custom code your own forms, plugins are the next best thing and most likely your best option.

cForms II

The definitive free forms plugin that allows you to do what all the paid form plugins do and more. Create advanced forms using a very to use UI, complete with tracking, data-handling and multi-part form creation. For anyone who’s looking to create forms as simple as a contact form or as advanced as a multi-page wizard form.

Widget, Widgets, and More Widgets

We all know and love those draggable widgets. They provide a big punch in a little package, don’t they? Here’s some of the best you can use for your site to fill up that sidebar or display in that perfect widget-zone.

Twitter Widget Pro

If you’re in need of displaying a twitter feed on your site, this is the plugin for you. Once you activate the plugin, simply drop it in your widget-zone of choice to start display your twitter account. Be sure to increase the time of response to twitter from the default of 2 seconds to reduce time out errors.

Advanced Text Widget

This plugin allows you to execute PHP code within your widgets and only display the title output when you need to. Also, you can only display the widget on pages or posts that you want to display them using page IDs. What the default WordPress text widget always wished it had.

Comments

Comments are essential to any blog. You need to provide your users a way to react to what they’re reading. I suggest adding the ability to comment through social media to increase exposure. Plugins will allows you to fully leverage this new form of comments.

Disqus

My favorite commenting platform. Full support for WordPress and backs up your comments in the normal WordPress comment systems. Great customizable options and additional features, not to mention premium spam protection.

IntenseDebate

Right on the heels of Disqus is IntenseDebate. Very many of the same features, but lacking the same usability in my option. Despite this, IntenseDebate has experienced an increasing WordPress user base.

Akismet

There’s a reason why they include this plugin in the WP core. You’ll get spammed, and Akismet will give you the sword you need to fend off the army of bots. Very accurate, free and great reporting. Use it and love it.

Top Photo Display and Gallery Plugins for WordPress

If you’re a photographer or have a need to display galleries then WordPress is your perfect system. It’s already got a built-in gallery feature that’s super flexible and may suit your needs, but if you’re looking for a little bit more then we’ve got your remedy.

NextGen Gallery

NextGen is the best gallery creation, album management and picture display plugin for WordPress hands down. It’s extremely well developed and I still can’t believe it’s free. Need there be more?

This Plugin goes above and beyond to allow you to share you images with the world through your WordPress website. Some highlights are a built-in uploader, thumbnail resizer and gallery/album management utility, several options for displaying your galleries (lightbox, shadowbox, prettyPhoto) and there’s actually a number of plugins to enhance this plugin. If you’re looking for the best WordPress gallery plugin, look no futher… NextGen gallery is what you need.

jQuery Colorbox

Colorbox is a solid modal view plugin that provides a fluid and intuive way to view thumbnails. Easily integrates with WordPress and NextGen, this plugin also allows your to display YouTube and embedded object as well!

Speed Up WordPress with Plugins

Need speed? Caching your website is your first goto. Want to take it to the next level? How about a CDN, or Content Delivery Network. Although both of these may sound complicated, plugins make their use and setup that much easier!

WP Super Cache

The most popular caching plugin to date, WP Super Cache has more than 2.3 million download an counting. Once you activate this plugin, it’s not hard to find out why. It’s super easy to use and really speeds up your site to please not only you and your users, but Google and other search engines as well.

WP Total Cache

A close second in the WP Cache realm is WP Total Cache. An excellent plugin for caching that provides almost too complex options to the user. That’s why I believe it’s not as popular, it’s almost too useful. The development of this plugin is spot-on, with many of WP’s core developers working on the project. Check it out, if you’re not satisfied with WP Super Cache then WP Total Cache most likely is for you.

WordPress Utilities

Sometimes you may need a few tools to get the job done.

Regenerate Thumbnails

Let’s say you decide to change you image proportions and need to quickly resize all your additional images. Don’t even think about doing this manually, you’ll be resizing all day depending on the size of your website. This plugin quickly resizes your thumbnails to the current proportions specified in your Settings > Media panel.