When I’m asked how I got to the point I’m at in the WordPress community by upcoming developers, the best response I can give them is: It’s the little things that matter. If you’re not taking care of them, then the big, grand things you’re doing will only get you so far.

What are the little things?

The little things are usually things that WordPress does that slightly irritate me. They don’t irritate me enough to switch platforms, but they are things that I wish were different.

I’ll show you an example of just what I mean with two pictures of the same comment using different themes. See if you can find the major difference (i.e., the little thing) between the two.

The first is from the default WordPress theme:

The second is from the development version of my Hybrid theme:

Notice the difference?

The default theme displays the title text of the edit link for a pingback as “Edit comment,” which is standard for WordPress. The Hybrid theme displays “Edit pingback” instead.

Why make these little changes?

At this point, you may simply think I’m crazy for changing “comment” to “pingback,” but the example is hardly the point.

What’s more important is that I would’ve likely had a user come along one day and ask, “How can I change ‘Edit comment’ to ‘Edit pingback’ for the pingback comment type?” Rather than having to explain how to do this or even coming across the question at all, it’s already done.

An equally valid reason for doing so is that this is simply how I want things done on my personal blog. And, when I code something that benefits me, it’s easy to give that back to the community.

Those little things do matter

While you may not take things as insanely far as I have in my example, it’s important to recognize how these seemingly insignificant things can help you and your users. For example, this can translate into fewer support questions or become marketing points for your plugins/themes.

Attention to detail is the extra thing you should bring to the table, and end users always appreciate it when the details are covered.

WordPress version 3.0 will make creating custom post types extremely simple. But, the techniques I’ll point out in this tutorial can be used with previous versions of WordPress.

Changing the post type on the home page

By default, WordPress shows the post post type on your home page. Let’s suppose we want to show several post types in addition to posts:

• page (yes, regular pages)
• album
• movie
• quote

To add these, open your theme’s functions.php file and paste this PHP code into it:

add_filter( 'pre_get_posts', 'my_get_posts' );

function my_get_posts( $query ) {

	if ( is_home() )
		$query->set( 'post_type', array( 'post', 'page', 'album', 'movie', 'quote', 'attachment' ) );

	return $query;
}

That’s all there is to it.

You may have noticed the addition of the attachment post type even though I didn’t mention adding it. This is something I highly recommend adding if you’ll be showing any attachment images on your home page For example, if you have a gallery on your home page, the images won’t appear without adding the attachment post type.

Showing the post types in your feed

Realizing that many of you might want to also add these post types to your feed to match your blog, a small change in the code is required. All you need to do is change this line:

if ( is_home() )

We’ll use the is_feed() conditional tag:

if ( is_home() || is_feed() )

Now, you can have custom post types in your regular blog post rotation and your feed. Enjoy and look for more custom post type tutorials soon.

My list of goals usually has too many things on it, and those goals change throughout the year. This year, I’m going to try and keep it simple.

Be healthier

I’m steering clear of the “get in shape” line and getting back to what’s important — health. This means I need to eat better and exercise more.

I’ve already dropped nearly 10 pounds in January by just eating better.

It’s not all about physical health. I need to get out and enjoy life more than I did last year. I spent more time than necessary behind a computer screen, and that’s not good for the ol’ social life. Just in case I’m feeling unmotivated, I’ll keep my copy of Yes Man near the TV. That movie always gears me up for a whirl out in the real world.

Become an English teacher

Last year proved to be rough in the job hunting process. I had never walked out of an interview and not gotten a job until last spring. It wasn’t the last failed interview either.

I’ve learned from my experience and have wedged my foot into a few doors over the past year. This time around, I’m going to give it everything I can and land a teaching job.

If you feel like wishing me luck, I’ll take all of it I can.

Build an online empire

Honestly, I want to blog more this year. Of course, I tell myself this a few times a week.

One of the reasons I don’t blog as much is because it becomes tiring. I sometimes spend hours working on a single blog post. Doing that on a regular basis isn’t much fun.

I need to reorganize some things around this site. The biggest change I’ll be making at some point this year will be the incorporation of a few custom post types. This will allow me to build the type of site I’ve been thinking about for the last couple of years and post content in ways that better suit my passions in life.

I’ll post more about my thoughts on this (and probably some tutorials on how I’ll be doing it) in a future post. For now, I’ll give you a preview of a possible new home page.

I also want to try my hand at a few art-directed posts, which I hope will keep my creative juices flowing.

No more goals?

Sure, I have loads of smaller goals. While the smaller goals are sometimes just as important as the larger ones, they’re usually steps that lead up to the major plans. So, I wanted to provide an overall outlook at what I want to accomplish this year.

Omelet and toast

One of my New Year’s resolutions is to eat healthier. Isn’t that on all of our lists? Another is to take more pictures.

Since I’m making an effort to do both, I thought I’d share some of the things I eat along the way. Now for the first recipe.

Today, I got up bright and early simply because I wanted to make sure I got breakfast in. I’ve had a craving for an omelet for a while. I haven’t made one in a couple of years, so this was an experiment in making sure I didn’t completely burn something.

Ingredients

• Whole grain bread (I prefer Arnold’s 12 Grain)
• 1 whole egg
• 3 egg whites
• 2 Tbsp fat-free/skim milk
• 1/3 cup of cheddar cheese (reduced-fat), shredded (I used mozzarella because I was out of cheddar)
• 1/4 cup of lean ham or turkey, diced
• 1/4 green bell pepper, diced
• 1/4 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 slice of an oninon, diced
• Black pepper
• Chili powder
• Ground cumin
• Minced garlic

How to cook the meal

First, you need to toss the whole egg (preferably without the shell), the three egg whites, milk, and black pepper into a bowl. Whisk it until you’ve gotten it looking like one substance and not some weird mish-mash of foods.

While doing this, you should have a frying pan (or skillet as non-Southerners call them) warming up on medium heat. Yes, this should be on a stove-top.

Pour your omelet mixture into the frying pan. While waiting for the next 3-to-4 minutes for the omelet to set, toss in a sprinkle of chili powder, ground cumin, and minced garlic. I prefer to season as desired, so there’s no set measurements for seasoning. Feel free to experiment.

Once the egg mixture is set (isn’t runny on the top), add the ham, half of your cheese, green and red bell pepper, and onion onto one half of the omelet. Take your spatula and flip the other half on top of that. Then, sprinkle your remaining cheese across the top.

Let this set until the cheese on top starts to melt. Also, you might want to toast that bread.

At this point, you can throw it on any type of plate you want (notice that I went with the traditional paper plate with a paper plate holder) and enjoy.

My thoughts on this recipe

The biggest mistake I made was not picking up cheddar cheese while grocery shopping yesterday. Mozzarella just doesn’t do an omelet justice. And, I may have set the heat a bit too high at first, which is why the omelet is a little browner than I wanted and had a little breakage around the edges.

Another thing I might try next time is tossing my ham, pepper, and onion into a separate frying pan and heating them before adding them to the omelet. I might go with a real plate the next time I take a picture too.

Overall, it was tasty. But, more importantly, it was much healthier than the things I was eating every day last year.

Kirby Junior child theme

I’ve stuck with the same design for just over a year here on this blog, which is the longest I’ve ever kept a single design.

And, to be honest, I haven’t been too motivated in updating it.

But, that all changed when I saw the first version of Ian Stewart’s Kirby theme posted via Twitter.

I liked the clean design and the large, yet elegant, typography. It at least motivated me enough to start using the design from the Kirby theme here on my blog.

I don’t mind using other people’s designs, but it’s tough for me to use other code. Pretty much anything I do has to run on top of the Hybrid theme. So, I set out to make Kirby a child theme of Hybrid.

I’m now using the Kirby Junior child theme on this site.

A new default WordPress theme

The point of this post isn’t to talk about how I’m using the theme on this site, but to make note that I’d love for Kirby to be the new default WordPress theme. On the ThemeShaper blog, Ian has a fairly lengthy post on why it should be the default theme.

I’ve never liked Kubrick (current default theme) enough to run on my blog. Kirby is a theme that I’d actually use on my personal blog, which is something I don’t say often about other people’s themes.

My notes on the Kirby theme

While I am using just the design here on my blog, I did spend some time sifting through the theme code. Overall, it’s solid. These are some of my notes on version 0.3 of the Kirby theme. Let’s hope Ian can make use of these.

• Integrate post images/thumbnails. So many people use some sort of thumbnail setup these days, that it may as well be added.
• Add a default taxonomy.php file to handle custom taxonomies.
• A searchform.php file is needed for users that add a search form to their site.
• I’m not a fan of the several if/else statements in the header for the <title> element. These could less-messily be done from the theme’s functions file.
• The comment reply script should be added through functions.php and only active if a user is using threaded comments.
• Users shouldn’t be required to use a custom field to turn on comments for pages. There’s an admin option for this on the page editor screen.
• Template code cleanup. I’d like to see a better indentation system in place to help users understand what’s happening.

These are my personal ideas for the theme. Feel free to disagree. And, please offer your suggestions and thoughts on the Kirby theme post.

Or, if you have alternate ideas for what the default WordPress theme should be, share your opinion.

Please note that the design you see here on my site isn’t a completely accurate representation of the Kirby theme. The version I’m using has several modifications. I highly suggest checking out the actual theme to get a feel for how it works.

What I wanted was something that allowed me to control widget content from the post editor, so I wouldn’t have to worry about setting my widgets. This gave me the idea for the My Snippets plugin.

What this plugin does is add an extra meta box on the post editor that allows you to input custom content. This content is then displayed using the Snippet widget in any widget area you choose.

How the plugin works

First, you’d add the Snippet widget to the widget area of your choosing. You’ll need that to display your custom snippets.

When writing a post (or page), you’ll have an extra meta box labeled Snippet Post Settings. In this box, you can add text, HTML, and shortcodes.

Here’s an example of adding a video snippet:

Here’s the output of the snippet, which will only be displayed on the singular view of the post/page I added it to:

Don’t be fooled by the example though. You can add pretty much anything in your snippet meta box, so feel free to go wild.

Download the plugin

Before using the plugin, please take a moment to read through the readme.html file included with the plugin download.

• Version: 0.1
• Requires: WordPress 2.8+
• Support: Support forums
• Download (from WP.org)

Please don’t use my contact page or the comments section below to ask support questions. Use my support forums at Theme Hybrid, which is where I handle all support questions for my WordPress projects.

If you’ve ever used a theme of mine, you know I love adding widget areas everywhere. And, I know this can be confusing for some people.

Fortunately, WordPress 2.9 will allow theme developers to add a description for each widget area. This should help end users figure out what the heck is going on.

Widget descriptions from a user’s view

If you’re an end user and your theme author has added descriptions, you’ll see the description near the top of the widget area on the Widgets admin screen.

Adding descriptions to widget areas

If you’re a theme developer, adding descriptions to your widget areas is as simple as adding an extra argument to the register_sidebar() function. Use the below PHP code as a guide.

add_action( 'init', 'register_my_widget_areas' );

function register_my_widget_areas() {

	register_sidebar( array(
		'name' => __('Primary', 'example'),
		'id' => 'primary',
		'description' => __('The main widget area, most often used as a sidebar.', 'example'),
		'before_widget' => '<div id="%1$s" class="widget %2$s widget-%2$s">',
		'after_widget' => '</div>',
		'before_title' => '<h3 class="widget-title">',
		'after_title' => '</h3>'
	) );
}

The new code allowed in 2.9 is the description argument.

'description' => __('The main widget area, most often used as a sidebar.', 'example'),

Theme authors, it’s time to implement this new feature for your users. It will take less than five minutes to add to your theme and should at least cut back on a few support queries.

In this tutorial, I’ll be covering the various things you can do with the post image feature. Some things will be specific to end users while others will be useful for theme and plugin developers.

One important thing to note is that this new feature is an image-based representation of a post. The image itself is directly tied to your post. You shouldn’t think of it as something different than that.

How does an end user make use of this feature?

First, your theme must add support for it. Otherwise, you won’t be able to use it. At this point, let’s assume that your theme does support it. I’ll go over instructions for theme authors later.

To use this feature, you must be within the post editing screen of your WordPress admin. On this screen, you’ll see a new meta box labeled “Post thumbnail” (or “Page thumbnail” for pages). There’ll be a link to “Set thumbnail,” which will allow you to use the media uploader to load a new image.

It’s not just for thumbnails

Even though it is called “post thumbnails,” we can technically use the feature for all sorts of things (e.g., feature images, medium-sized images for the front page, etc.).

By default, WordPress gives you several image sizes each time you upload an image. These image sizes are:

• Thumbnail
• Medium
• Large
• Full (the image you uploaded)

Some plugins even extend this by allowing more intermediate sizes. The important thing is that you understand that more than thumbnails can be used here.

How to add support for the post image feature in a theme

Theme authors, I’m going to make this simple for you. You only need one line of code to turn this feature on for your users. Add this to your theme’s functions.php file:

add_theme_support( 'post-thumbnails' );

Or, you can register support for specific post types. For example, let’s suppose you wanted to add thumbnail support for both the post and movie post type but not for the page post type. You’d use this instead:

add_theme_support( 'post-thumbnails', array( 'post', 'page' ) );

Of course, that one line doesn’t actually add anything to the front end for you. You’ll need to call the image somewhere within The Loop in your template files. For example, you might want to add thumbnails to your category archives. You’d do this by adding this line of code:

<?php the_post_thumbnail( 'thumbnail' ); ?>

Or, maybe you have a section on a special template that calls for medium-sized images:

<?php the_post_thumbnail( 'medium' ); ?>

Or, a huge sliding feature area on your front page and need the full-sized image:

<?php the_post_thumbnail( 'full' ); ?>

That’s all there is to it. As a theme author, you can hand over some powerful functionality to your users with just a couple of lines of code.

The rest of this tutorial will focus on developer features and some options for using older images.

Checking if the post has an image

Sometimes, you may need to check if a post has an image. There’s a function for that called has_post_thumbnail(), which will return true or false based on whether there’s an image.

In this example, we’ll check if there’s an image. If there’s not, we’ll show a default image instead.

<?php
	if ( has_post_thumbnail() )
		the_post_thumbnail( 'thumbnail' );
	else
		echo '<img src="default-image.png" alt="Example Image" title="Example" />';
?>

Getting the post image ID

Maybe you need to write your own custom script but still want to allow users to upload their own images. You can grab the post image ID and use it. This ID is saved as the meta value for the meta key _thumbnail_id. It is the ID of the attached file.

You only need to call the function in your code like so:

$image_id = get_post_thumbnail_id();

How to return the image instead of displaying it

In some scenarios, you might want to return the post image for use in your PHP code instead of displaying it.

Here’s an example of that functionality:

$image = get_the_post_thumbnail( $post->ID, 'thumbnail' );

How to filter the image size

Some plugin developers may want to filter the image size (or maybe even child theme authors). The post_thumbnail_size filter hook is available for that. The filter function below is for changing the thumbnail size to medium.

Add this PHP code to your theme’s functions.php file or your plugin file:

add_filter( 'post_thumbnail_size', 'my_post_image_size' );

function my_post_image_size( $size ) {
	$size = 'medium';
	return $size;
}

Changing the HTML output of the post image

There may be some scenarios where you’ll want to change the HTML markup of the displayed image. In this example, I’ll show you how to wrap the image with a link to the post.

Add this PHP code to your theme’s functions.php file or your plugin file:

add_filter( 'post_thumbnail_html', 'my_post_image_html', 10, 3 );

function my_post_image_html( $html, $post_id, $post_image_id ) {

	$html = '<a href="' . get_permalink( $post_id ) . '" title="' . esc_attr( get_post_field( 'post_title', $post_id ) ) . '">' . $html . '</a>';

	return $html;
}

What happens to my old images/thumbnails?

If you’re like me and many others, you may have been using custom fields to add images to your posts for years. If you switch to this new method, everything will be lost.

I’ve got a solution for this problem: The Get the Image plugin.

Version 0.4 will be released when WordPress 2.9 is out. Not only will support be added for the new WordPress post image feature, but you won’t lose all of the hard work you’ve put in. The plugin will have the ability to check for post images in five different ways (in the below order):

• Custom fields.
• New post image feature.
• Attached image.
• Scan the post for images.
• Default image.

For those of you already using this plugin or a theme of mine that includes the script, you’ll only have to upgrade the plugin or theme. The feature will be turned on for you by default, so you will be able to start using the new feature without touching anything but an upgrade button.

Have fun with your new post images

I hope this tutorial has given you an in-depth look at the post image feature. There are some limitations, but on the whole, this feature will make things much easier for end users compared to the currently-available methods.

If you’re a user of my Get the Image plugin or Hybrid theme, look out for an update within a few days of WordPress 2.9. You’ll be able to start using the post image functionality soon.

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to utilize the add_meta_box() functionality to add two things to your pages:

1. Excerpt box.
2. Custom taxonomies boxes.

Being able to add these meta boxes to pages isn’t the limit. This tutorial should serve as a starting point. You could do the same for custom post types, links, or anything that fires the do_meta_boxes action hook.

Adding an excerpt box to your page editor

The first thing you should do is open your theme’s functions.php file in your favorite text editor. Paste the following PHP code into it:

add_action( 'admin_menu', 'my_page_excerpt_meta_box' );

function my_page_excerpt_meta_box() {
	add_meta_box( 'postexcerpt', __('Excerpt'), 'post_excerpt_meta_box', 'page', 'normal', 'core' );
}

Now, you’ll be able to add excerpts to your pages, just like posts. This can come in handy with themes that display search results in excerpt form.

Adding custom taxonomies to your page editor

This one will be a bit trickier. I’ll have to assume you’ve created a custom taxonomy specifically for pages. If you’re unfamiliar with this process, you need to familiarize yourself with creating custom taxonomies.

Let’s assume you’ve created a “People” taxonomy for pages. Your custom taxonomy code should look a little like this.

register_taxonomy( 'people', 'page', array( 'hierarchical' => false, 'label' => 'People', 'query_var' => true, 'rewrite' => true ) );

The important thing in that line is page. We’ll be adding meta boxes for all taxonomies that have been registered for pages.

Again, we’ll go to our theme’s functions.php file. Paste this PHP code in:

add_action( 'admin_menu', 'my_page_taxonomy_meta_boxes' );

function my_page_taxonomy_meta_boxes() {
	foreach ( get_object_taxonomies( 'page' ) as $tax_name ) {
		if ( !is_taxonomy_hierarchical( $tax_name ) ) {
			$tax = get_taxonomy( $tax_name );
			add_meta_box( "tagsdiv-{$tax_name}", $tax->label, 'post_tags_meta_box', 'page', 'side', 'core' );
		}
	}
}

Once that’s done, you’ll be able to use your page-based custom taxonomies.

Please note that hierarchical taxonomies aren’t going to be available yet. Maybe in WordPress 3.0?

A good move by WordPress

I’m glad WordPress is moving in this direction with some of its functionality. Average Joe might not realize the implications of something as simple as moving code to another file, but developers should rejoice. The reuse of code is a cornerstone of good development practice. By making things more modular, it becomes easier to create new things without rewriting a lot of code.

I’ve shown you how to do these things with pages. Just imagine being able to make these simple and quick changes for custom post types (i.e., content types), essentially having the ability to create any type of site you want with WordPress.