SDAC Inc | Chicagoland Web Development » SDAC-Recommends

SDAC Recommends: WP Plugin: http:BL

Jennifer Zelazny — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 14:53:00 +0000

Using Akismet for spam control has worked out really well over the last few years but I started seeing more and more spam get through (daily) so I decided I needed to look into something that would compliment Akismet. Once I installed the http:BL plugin – I have not had one spam comment get through. About the plugin:

http:BL WordPress Plugin allows you to verify IP addresses of clients connecting to your blog against the Project Honey Pot database. Thanks to http:BL API you can quickly check whether your visitor is an email harvester, a comment spammer or any other malicious creature.

If you are having any problems with spam getting through, check out: http:BL.

SDAC Recommends: WP Plugin: NextGen Gallery

Jennifer Zelazny — Fri, 02 May 2008 15:18:47 +0000

I get a lot of client requests for some sort of gallery plugin and it is clear to me now that the best gallery plugin for WordPress is: NextGen Gallery. The user interface is easy to use, the plugin is actively being developed, there are lots of options for the users, and it is a joy to work with. Out of the box it comes with a widget to load in recent or random images in your sidebar (or page) as well as an easy way to display single galleries or multiple galleries (albums). This is a must have for anyone who is looking for an elegant solution to display images.

SDAC Recommends: WordPress Plugin: WP Codeshield

Jennifer Zelazny — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 16:06:42 +0000

So many of my clients love WordPress but hate the WYSIWYG editor.
The problem:
When users try to add content with HTML within the content – then go back to edit it, save it, and their custom HTML becomes a mess. For most – simply disabling the rich text editor (Users > User > uncheck “Use the visual editor when writing”) is good, but others like to use the editor except for a handful of posts or pages.

The solution:
Download and install WP Codeshield. This plugin will make sure that the rich text editor does not touch any custom HTML code within . All you need to do is wrap around your custom code and you can forget about any more issues with the rich text editor and any HTML you put in/edit.

*Note – if you put this in place and your outputted HTML text looks different than everything else (it is using a monospace font by default) – add : code {font-family:inherit} to your style sheet and the text will not look out of place.

SDAC Recommends: WP Plugin: WP Super Cache

Jennifer Zelazny — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 19:25:40 +0000

There is a new (relatively) caching plugin in town for WordPress called WP Super Cache and after using it now for a few version, I have to say I would recommend this over the old standard WP-Cache plugin. The plugin is easy to install, easy to configure, and will produce a noticeable load time decrease for your WordPress sites. There are also options to set if you want to “digg-proof” your site, use compression, or “lock down” your site during an expected traffic spike.

SDAC Recommends: WP Plugin: Top Level Categories

Jennifer Zelazny — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 04:31:05 +0000

If you have ever wondered how to clean up WordPress URLs by removing the /category/ from your URLs, check out the plugin: Top Level Categories. After you activate it, you can access your web pages that were once only reachable by: /category/web-design/ by now using just /web-design/.

SDAC Recommends: WordPress Plugin: Cool Player

Jennifer Zelazny — Wed, 09 May 2007 01:13:45 +0000

After looking for a media player for WordPress sites and blogs, I have finally come to the conclusion that Cool Player is a great plugin to take a look at. A number of my clients need the ability to play a number of media files, and with an impressive list of supported media types, I recommend looking at Cool Player:

This version supports those types of files: rm, rmvb, ra, rv, ram, smil, smi, rtsp, rpm, asf, wm, wma, wmv, wax, wvx, ogg, ape, avi, mid, midi, wav, mms, m3u, asx, mov, qt, mqv, m4v, m4a, m4b, mpeg, mpg, m1s, m1v, m1a, m75, m15, mp2, mpm, mpv, mpa, flc, fli, cel, aiff, aif, aifc, cdda, bwf, rts, 3gp, 3gpp, 3g2, 3gp2, au, snd, ulw, smf, kar, qcp, sdv, gsm, amr, caf, amc, mp4, sdp, pdf, fdf, xfdf, xdp, xfd, gif, jpg, jpeg, bmp, png, xpm, dir, dxr, dcr, cst, cct, cxt, w3d, fgd, swa, swf, spl, mp3, flv, rtmp, rbs, xml, rss, xspf, atom.

SDAC Recommends: WP Plugin: Permalink Redirect Plugin

Jennifer Zelazny — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 21:38:05 +0000

If you ever want to change your permalink structure in WordPress, but still want to have all your old URLs to work, download Permalink Redirect Plugin. This plugin will make sure that all your posts will get redirected to the new permalink structure you moved to without any hassle whatsoever. Not only will your readers be thankful, your SEO rank will not suffer with any URL reorganization.

SDAC Recommends: WordPress Plugin: Update Manager

Jennifer Zelazny — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 03:31:09 +0000

A number of bugs can easily be solved by making sure you have the latest version of a particular plugin. If you are like most people, you do not have time to go to each and every plugin’s web site and confirm you have the latest version, but the Update Manager plugin will. The plugin is relatively new and somewhat in beta, but it has already saved me countless hours – and hopefully will do the same for you.

SDAC Recommends: WordPress Plugin: iGSyntax Hiliter

Jennifer Zelazny — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 20:50:42 +0000

After looking for a good code highlighting plugin, I can finally recommend iGSyntax Hiliter. This plugin allows you to “highlight” multiple languages within your WordPress web site.

PHP example:

CSS Example:

 .clear {clear:both;}

The plugin is easy to install and use, and if you still needs more information, a manual is provided.

SDAC Recommends: WordPress Plugin: WP Newsletter

Jennifer Zelazny — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 21:03:41 +0000

I have been working with WordPress for multiple years now and I decided I needed to start reviewing some of my favorite plugins – as I receive a number of requests about what plugins I use/prefer. I am going to start with a newcomer: WP Newsletter. This plugin works great for WordPress sites allows you to:

create a customized newsletter for your readers or customers using the same theme based layout as you use for creating WordPress themes
offer a newsletter archive within WordPress
seamless integration with the WordPress Admin
use custom Newsletter WordPress template for easy integration into existing WordPress web site or blog
customize welcome email for new subscribers that can be modified within the WordPress Admin

The plugin developer is very responsive and open to new ideas and adding functionality to his plugin. There are also many other general newsletter functions you would expect and want

If you need a newsletter plugin for WordPess, check it out!