Plugins 029 – Max Sweet from WebmasterRadio.FM

In this episode we’re speaking with Max Sweet (TimeStampStudios.com), a WordPress plugin developer and web designer for WebmasterRadio.FM. Max discusses why his employer moved to WordPress and how the custom plugins he’s developed meet specific needs for the online radio station.

Max explains why they’re using WordPress and a briefly explains the plugin he developed that manages the images that scroll across the top of the WebmasterRadio.FM web site.

We talk about Yoast and his Sociable plugin. Yoast is a plugin developer who has created a lot of very powerful WordPress plugins. Yoast also hosts the Press This podcast.

Further into the discussion Max explains WordPress MU and how to can be used for hosting multiple WordPress blogs.

We go into detail about some plugins that Max has developed that he may be releasing in the future. One that sounds very useful is a Module Switch plugin which would allow you to switch content on a page from say an advertisement to a live stream embed.

Max impresses me greatly because he is not only a plugin developer but also a graphic designer. Max explains the advantage of being both a designer and a web developer, which is useful when planning the development and coordinating CSS with the design.

If you have any suggestions, comments or feedback, please email angelo [at] pluginspodcast,com, use our contact form, or call (614) 859-9007 to leave a voice message.

Plugins 024 – Interview Mitcho author of Yet Another Related Posts Plugin YARPP and HookPress WordPress Plugins

In this episode we continue our conversation with Mitcho, the author of the Yet Another Related Posts Plugin (YARPP) and HookPress plugin.

Mitcho and I talk about jQuery, plugin development and plugin translation in WordPress. Mitcho goes into detail of the problems that come up that you cannot anticipate when creating plugins.

Further into our conversation we talk about providing translation support in plugins and the challenges with it. Mitcho recommended the CodeStyling Localization WordPress plugin to allow translators to translate plugins. Mitcho explains how to add code around your strings in your plugin to support translation. e.g. __(‘your string here’). The translation is performed using GetText, which is a very popular translation method and is very popular for software translation.

Mitcho goes on to suggest that a repository of translations be created and hosted at WordPress.org so translations can be managed and distributed independently of the plugins. I completely agree with Mitcho and think this is a great idea.

Near the end of the interview we talk more about YARPP features and how it can be added to themes.

Thank you so much Mitcho for taking the time to come on the  show and discussing your WordPress plugins and thoughts on translation.

Plugins 017 – Interview Paul Kehrer Part 2 CDN Tools & Fidgetr

This episode we continue our interview with Paul Kehrer. Paul has written 4 plugins, 2 of which are publicly available called CDN Tools and Fidgetr plugins, both available at wordpress.org.

Please click for part 1 of this 2 part interview.

In part 2 of this 2 part interview we continue talking about tips for WordPress developers. Paul recommends WordPress plugin developers check out Adam Brown‘s web site for his extensive documentation of the actions and hooks  (Adam Brown’s wp_hooks) in WordPress. We go on to discuss the subversion repository provided by WordPress.org. We reflect on the old and new WordPress plugin search web site as well as discuss the problem when plugins haven’t been updated for the latest builds of WordPress.

To learn more about Paul Kehrer and his plugins, please visit swearingscience.com.

Plugins 016 – Interview Paul Kehrer Part 1 CDN Tools & Fidgetr

This episode we interview Paul Kehrer, a WordPress user and plugin developer. Paul has written 4 plugins, 2 of which are publicly available called CDN Tools and Fidgetr plugins, both available at wordpress.org.

In part 1 of this 2 part interview we talk about developing plugins, web development, HTML5, as well as discussing open source software. Paul is an open source veteran and co-developed the popular MySQLTuner application written in Perl.

We discuss other plugins such as WP Super Cache, WP-Syntax,

Near the end of part 1, Paul discusses tips for other WordPress plugin developers.

Part two will be available next week, stay tuned