I manage a multi-site Wordpress installation for a client.
Before Christmas, they installed an LDAP connector plugin, but never got around to configuring or testing it.
Unfortunately, the default settings prevented using the Wordpress login as a fallback.
So everyone was locked out. So I tried the usual database>wp-settings>active-plugins workaround. There was nothing there!
So I tried the old faithful "rename the plugin folder" routine. Jackpot.
I was then able to get in.
Sorted.
Thursday, 26 January 2012
Tuesday, 17 January 2012
STOP SOPA / SOPA BLACKOUT
January 18th is STOP SOPA day.
All q292u sites will be participating in the SOPA blackout (18.1.2012)
Sites will remain dark from 8am EST to 8pm.
For information on what this is all about, visit http://sopablackout.org/
All q292u sites will be participating in the SOPA blackout (18.1.2012)
Sites will remain dark from 8am EST to 8pm.
For information on what this is all about, visit http://sopablackout.org/
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
ESSENTIAL Plugins for Wordpress
Wordpress is immensely powerful straight out of the box, but it's possible to add pretty much ANY functionality you want, and it's usually for free.
This is a list of the TOP Plugins we use at q292u.com.
They are in no particular order.
AKISMET.
ESSENTIAL anti-spam system. Free to non-commercial users.
Filters out unwanted (spam) comments automatically, and provides stats on what it's doing. ESSENTIAL.
FEEDBURNER FEEDSMITH.
Redirects all RSS feeds to your Feedburner feeds. So you can control all RSS activity. From there you can do e-mail Subscriptions and much more.
Including automatic TWITTER integration! Get a feedburner account. ESSENTIAL.
ALL-IN-ONE-SEO.
Handles ALL aspects of SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). Options to rewrite article titles, handles Keywords, meta tags, everything. There's also a "PRO version. You won't need it. ESSENTIAL.
ADROTATE.
Handles advertising on your site. Very comprehensive. Individual ads are created and then made into groups. You can then position the groups as widgets, in posts and on pages. Ads have start and end dates, and tracking can be switched on or off. Better than maxbannerads. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED
WPTOUCH.
Creates a mobile version of your site on the fly. All you need to do is access the site via a mobile device. The interface looks like Apple iOs.
Very smart. ESSENTIAL There's a PRO version as well.
WP AUTO TAGGER.
Automatically adds relevant tags to your posts as you create them, based on post content. It'll find tags you hadn't thought of. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.
WORDBAY.
Add relevant eBay listings to your posts and pages. This plugin is NOT free, but it's worth the money. Simply set it up, and use shortcodes to position ads. Now includes a widget as well. RECOMMENDED.
FEEDWORDPRESS.
Automatically creates posts on your blog, based on predefined RSS feeds. Excellent. RECOMMENDED.
QUICKCACHE.
Excellent caching plugin, creates static version of all your posts and pages as they are created. Far better than SUPERCACHE.
ESSENTIAL if you use a lot of plugins, or have a lot of visitors.
EXCLUDE FROM NAVIGATION.
Some themes automatically add all pages to navigation menus. This is how to stop it. Adds a checkbox in the editor. ESSENTIAL.
GOOGLE XML SITEMAPS.
Automatically generates and submits sitemaps to Google. You can also submit these to Yahoo and Bing, yourself. Helps with SEO. ESSENTIAL.
WORDPRESS-DB-BACKUP.
Automatically create scheduled database backups and e-mail to yourself.
Simple and effective. ESSENTIAL.
SMART 404.
Attempts to redirect 404 errors to relevant pages based on search query, and URL requested. Reduces bounce-rates. ESSENTIAL
Mail From.
Simply changes the return e-mail address for automatically-generated e-mail messages to something like "NOREPLY@domain.com". ESSENTIAL.
Google Analytics.
This adds Google Analytics tracking code to all your pages and posts, so you can keep tabs on everything. You need an analytics account. ESSENTIAL.
SIMPLE SOCIAL BOOKMARKS.
Adds social bookmark icons to your posts. Allows your readers to recommend your posts on DIGG, REDDIT, SLASHDOT, etc. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.
CONTEXTUAL RELATED POSTS.
Adds links to other relevant posts on your site. Engages visitors, and keeps them on your site longer. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.
GOOGLE +1 BUTTON.
The new kid on the block. Allows visitors to mark relevant posts, adds kudos and visibility on Google.
FACEBOOK LIKE BUTTON.
Allows visitors to "LIKE" your site on Facebook. Facebook is a massive audience, not to be ignored. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.
This is a list of the TOP Plugins we use at q292u.com.
They are in no particular order.
AKISMET.
ESSENTIAL anti-spam system. Free to non-commercial users.
Filters out unwanted (spam) comments automatically, and provides stats on what it's doing. ESSENTIAL.
FEEDBURNER FEEDSMITH.
Redirects all RSS feeds to your Feedburner feeds. So you can control all RSS activity. From there you can do e-mail Subscriptions and much more.
Including automatic TWITTER integration! Get a feedburner account. ESSENTIAL.
ALL-IN-ONE-SEO.
Handles ALL aspects of SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). Options to rewrite article titles, handles Keywords, meta tags, everything. There's also a "PRO version. You won't need it. ESSENTIAL.
ADROTATE.
Handles advertising on your site. Very comprehensive. Individual ads are created and then made into groups. You can then position the groups as widgets, in posts and on pages. Ads have start and end dates, and tracking can be switched on or off. Better than maxbannerads. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED
WPTOUCH.
Creates a mobile version of your site on the fly. All you need to do is access the site via a mobile device. The interface looks like Apple iOs.
Very smart. ESSENTIAL There's a PRO version as well.
WP AUTO TAGGER.
Automatically adds relevant tags to your posts as you create them, based on post content. It'll find tags you hadn't thought of. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.
WORDBAY.
Add relevant eBay listings to your posts and pages. This plugin is NOT free, but it's worth the money. Simply set it up, and use shortcodes to position ads. Now includes a widget as well. RECOMMENDED.
FEEDWORDPRESS.
Automatically creates posts on your blog, based on predefined RSS feeds. Excellent. RECOMMENDED.
QUICKCACHE.
Excellent caching plugin, creates static version of all your posts and pages as they are created. Far better than SUPERCACHE.
ESSENTIAL if you use a lot of plugins, or have a lot of visitors.
EXCLUDE FROM NAVIGATION.
Some themes automatically add all pages to navigation menus. This is how to stop it. Adds a checkbox in the editor. ESSENTIAL.
GOOGLE XML SITEMAPS.
Automatically generates and submits sitemaps to Google. You can also submit these to Yahoo and Bing, yourself. Helps with SEO. ESSENTIAL.
WORDPRESS-DB-BACKUP.
Automatically create scheduled database backups and e-mail to yourself.
Simple and effective. ESSENTIAL.
SMART 404.
Attempts to redirect 404 errors to relevant pages based on search query, and URL requested. Reduces bounce-rates. ESSENTIAL
Mail From.
Simply changes the return e-mail address for automatically-generated e-mail messages to something like "NOREPLY@domain.com". ESSENTIAL.
Google Analytics.
This adds Google Analytics tracking code to all your pages and posts, so you can keep tabs on everything. You need an analytics account. ESSENTIAL.
SIMPLE SOCIAL BOOKMARKS.
Adds social bookmark icons to your posts. Allows your readers to recommend your posts on DIGG, REDDIT, SLASHDOT, etc. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.
CONTEXTUAL RELATED POSTS.
Adds links to other relevant posts on your site. Engages visitors, and keeps them on your site longer. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.
GOOGLE +1 BUTTON.
The new kid on the block. Allows visitors to mark relevant posts, adds kudos and visibility on Google.
FACEBOOK LIKE BUTTON.
Allows visitors to "LIKE" your site on Facebook. Facebook is a massive audience, not to be ignored. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.
Tuesday, 3 January 2012
Wordpress 3.3 Error : Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in ".."/class-wp-admin-bar.php on line 342
One of our sites Supercars For Sale was displaying an error message:
Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in ".."/class-wp-admin-bar.php on line 342
This occurred after the 3.3 upgrade.
The problem is caused by the theme - in this case "elements of seo" having TWO calls to wp_footer (one direct call, and a do_action).
The solution was to remove the do_action call.
That's it. Sorted.
Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in ".."/class-wp-admin-bar.php on line 342
This occurred after the 3.3 upgrade.
The problem is caused by the theme - in this case "elements of seo" having TWO calls to wp_footer (one direct call, and a do_action).
The solution was to remove the do_action call.
That's it. Sorted.
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
Wordpress 3.3 Upgrades Completed
Out of the final three (mission-critical) sites, two went through smoothly.
One did not, and had to be upgraded via FTP, then remove the .maintenance file.
Anyway, that's it. All plugins updated, and all sites running on Wordpress 3.3.
Give it a week, and there'll be an urgent security fix, while everyone is off on their xm,as break..
One did not, and had to be upgraded via FTP, then remove the .maintenance file.
Anyway, that's it. All plugins updated, and all sites running on Wordpress 3.3.
Give it a week, and there'll be an urgent security fix, while everyone is off on their xm,as break..
Tuesday, 13 December 2011
Wordpress 3.3 Upgrades
We've started rolling-out Wordpress 3.3 to our sites, starting with the less mission-critical.
Site#1 went almost smoothly (timed-out), but resumed ok.
Site#2 went smoothly.
Site#3 timed-out in the middle of something crucial and broke the site..
The solution was to delete the ".maintenance" file in the root directory, download Wordpress 3.3, and then FTP the files up, and then run the upgrade procedure manually (just access site.com/wp-admin).
Site#4 was even worse - caused by SEO Ultimate plugin. Solved that by renaming the plugin folder, and ftping the files up, and running the upgrade manually.
Can't wait to start with the three mission-critical sites. That'll have to wait until we complete the office move. Did I mention that?
Sorted.
Site#1 went almost smoothly (timed-out), but resumed ok.
Site#2 went smoothly.
Site#3 timed-out in the middle of something crucial and broke the site..
The solution was to delete the ".maintenance" file in the root directory, download Wordpress 3.3, and then FTP the files up, and then run the upgrade procedure manually (just access site.com/wp-admin).
Site#4 was even worse - caused by SEO Ultimate plugin. Solved that by renaming the plugin folder, and ftping the files up, and running the upgrade manually.
Can't wait to start with the three mission-critical sites. That'll have to wait until we complete the office move. Did I mention that?
Sorted.
Wednesday, 23 November 2011
Old eBay RSS feeds died last night!
eBay appears to have (finally) pulled the plug on the old-style RSS feeds.
All our RSS feeds starting with "rss.ebay.." started generating errors last night.
We've now switched them all to the new "rest.ebay..." format.
Doesn't seem to be any better.. but at least no errors..
All our RSS feeds starting with "rss.ebay.." started generating errors last night.
We've now switched them all to the new "rest.ebay..." format.
Doesn't seem to be any better.. but at least no errors..
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)