You should listen to it, especially if you’re a plugin developer.

If you would rather download it directly you can do that too, or subscribe to this show via RSS or on iTunes. If you would prefer a written summary, you can also read that just after the jump.

Deactivating and uninstalling a plugin are not the same thing

Let’s talk about plugin options. Specifically, what I expect as a user when I deactivate a plugin, versus uninstall one. WordPress has some hooks built in that help enable plugin others to do things, namely register_activation_hook, register_deactivation_hook, and register_uninstall_hook. The deactivation hook and uninstall hook are great places to trigger certain things. Unfortunately, too many plugin authors unset options in the wrong one.

When I deactivate a plugin, I’m not really trying to totally remove the plugin from my site, but rather just turn it off. So when a plugin author deletes all of the options I’ve selected on a plugins’ settings screen on the deactivation hook, it makes me angry that I have to go and reset them when I turn it back on. So angry that I might just find another solution for what your plugin is doing.

What they should be doing instead, is removing these options, and everything else, with the uninstall hook. When i uninstall a plugin completely, it is safe to assume I am finished with it, and it is the appropriate place to take such action. But when I simply deactivate, in all likelihood I’m just debugging something in my theme or another plugin, or maybe backing up or upgrading something.

So consider this a friendly message to plugin developers, and future plugin developers – remove options on the uninstall hook, and not the deactivation hook.

In this episode of Pressbits I discuss the hesitance I sometimes see in folks to release their code as WordPress plugins. Listen, I dare you:

If you would rather download it directly you can do that too, or subscribe to this show via RSS or on iTunes. If you would prefer a transcript, you can also read that just after the jump.

Mine your work for plugins that you can release

Sometimes I get the sense that someone is shying away from releasing any of their work as a plugin. They will say things like “this isn’t that complex” or “this isn’t worthwhile or unique”. But the thing is, we (the community) need more plugins that are small, simple, and compact.

Dig into your functions file, your functionality plugins, or even stray code that you have within your theme files. Be watchful for what could become a general public plugin. If not for your own sake — some aren’t interested in maintaining plugins on WordPress.org, which I get — then release them for me. I want to see your awesome ideas, the ways you have solved your own problems, and whether they might be useful for myself or others. Some of my favorite plugins are not big and powerful, but small and very specific.

One thing I’ve learned by being a part of the WordPress community (or is it communities?) is that code you keep to yourself can end up stale and weak. Sharing code, on the other hand, using WordPress.org or Github (my two favorites) means that others can add to and improve on your code. It also helps to bring you further into the community and makes others aware of you and your ideas.

Personally I try to turn as many of my site’s features into plugins as possible (internally). They instantly become easier to manage and seem generally more organized than as scattered functions in a file or two. Now I just need to take my own advice and release a slew of my own tiny, purpose-specific plugins.

Are you sitting on any code (read: solutions to problems) that you could take a few minutes to release as a plugin?

In this, episode 30 of the WPCandy Podcast, we officially adopt a new format for the official show. In short, the goal is for the WPCandy Podcast to deliver a higher awesome per minute ratio, and be the “if you only listen to one WordPress podcast, listen to this one” podcast.

But that’s not all. In this episode Brian and I recap on 2011 at WPCandy, and I sit down to interview Andy Skelton and Joen Asmussen from Automattic about the WordPress.com/Jetpack year-end reports (example).

You can listen to the podcast here:

This week’s episode is just over 41 minutes long. If you want to jump ahead:

• 00:50 Ryan and Brian reminisce on 2011
• 14:55 Interview with Andy Skelton and Joen Asmussen

Subscribe to the show on iTunes, or directly to the RSS feed. As always you can send any emails you would like to have included on the show to podcast@wpcandy.com. The download link is just after the jump.

If you would like to download the podcast in MP3 format directly, you can do so here.

I recorded a Pressbits episode just for you:

If you would rather download it directly you can do that too, or subscribe to this show via RSS or on iTunes. If you would prefer a transcript, you can also read that just after the jump.

On simple plugin updates

I try to pay close attention to plugin updates. Not as close as WordPress updates, though when it’s a plugin I’m using it’s just as important to me.

One of my favorite dashboard-tweaking plugins has been, for some time now, the Expandable Dashboard Recent Comments plugin by coffee2code (I believe I mistakenly referenced Viper007Bond as the author — sorry Scott!). I’ve mentioned it on The Sweet Plugin before, but in short it allows you to expand the comments you see on the dashboard (the previews you use to quickly approve or trash new comments). It saves me a page load since I don’t have to visit the comments screen, which I like.

The plugin update (released in the last couple of weeks) includes a user interface improvement. Previously the link to expand the comments was a double arrow placed inline with the comment text. The plugin update moves the control to the comment action links, right next to approve, spam and trash.

This brings the plugin more in line with the standard WordPress dashboard UI, which is something every plugin should aim for. Not every plugin update needs to be something major, or even specific to functionality. coffee2code is making a point to revisit and update all of his released plugins right now. I think stepping back and improving UI in a simple way like this – particularly for something users might be using a dozen or more times each day – is well worth the effort.

If you would rather download it directly you can do that, or subscribe to Pressbits via RSS or on iTunes. A summary of this episode is after the jump.

Do your clients understand the admin you’ve given them?

You’ve built some pretty cool features into a website, and you’re about to hand it over to your client. But do they know what to do with these features, and how to use them? Do they even know they exist? What good is it if they login and get overwhelmed?

Unless you tell them, they probably don’t know where to go, or what to do, or how to navigate the backend at all. There are options out there to help you clean up the clutter, and I personally use the White Label CMS plugin to help me do that. Not only does this plugin let me select some unnecessary (for the client) menus to hide, but I can quickly create a couple of helpful widgets, like one with quick links to help and our company support contact information.

So before you wrap up your next client site, take a step back and put yourself in a beginner’s shoes to make sure that the experience isn’t too overwhelming, and offers them clear direction of how to operate the site as soon as they log in.

I’m happy to introduce the newest addition to the WPCandy shows family. It’s called Pressbits, and it’s exactly what you’d expect: bite-sized thoughts on WordPress. Ryan and I will both be contributing to Pressbits, and you can expect them at a rapid-fire pace (daily-ish).

I got inspiration for Pressbits from Paul Boag’s Audio Boos, which is one of my favorite web related podcasts. Our goal is similar, quick, off the cuff recordings of what’s on our mind. I hope you’ll enjoy, and of course, your feedback is always appreciated.

We’ll update this post shortly with a podcast feed url dedicated to Pressbits. Listen to the introductory Episode 001 of Pressbits after the jump, or download it directly.

You can also subscribe to this show via RSS or on iTunes.

I’m excited to (finally, I know) post the recording of the first episode of WP Late Night, a production that myself, Brad Williams, and Dre Armeda put together. If you missed the live recording—and let’s face it, relatively speaking the world did—you can check it out now, lovingly crafted into a variety of media formats.

The video (yup, we recorded video for this podcast) is embedded at the top of this post’s page. Alternatively, you can listen to the audio only just after the jump. I’ll have an iTunes subscription available soon.

Episode 001: Shame Edition

In this episode (which is embedded above, and also on Vimeo and YouTube if you prefer), Brad and Dre and I discussed:

• The release of WordPress 3.3.1
• 10-year-old Jesse’s first WordPress plugin
• Dre’s tattoo
• Twenty Twelve
• WordPress.org’s recent improvements
• The Top 10 Reasons WordPress is not a Cult
• Mailbag: WordCamp sessions, speeding up websites, and WordPress security

We’ll be recording future shows live as well, so watch this blog for news about when to catch our recording.

If you’d like to get in touch with the show for the mailbag, or anything else really, here’s how:

• Leave a comment on this post, we’ll see it.
• Shoot an email over to wplatenight@wpcandy.com.
• Leave a voicemail for us at 815-322-WPLN.
• Tweet about us using the #wplatenight hashtag.

This episode of the WPCandy Podcast sees Ryan, Brian, and Daniel discuss the most interesting news items of the WordPress community this holiday week. Grab a cup of coffee, maybe cocoa or eggnog, and enjoy the Christmas (Christmas, and Christmas) edition of the podcast.

This week’s podcast was a bit longer than normal (approximately 90 minutes) so the breakdown of topics discussed below also include approximate time codes, just in case you want to jump to a specific discussion that you care about.

Jump straight into the podcast audio here:

This is a bit of a long podcast, so to make things easier on you I’ve broken down what we talked about minute by minute. It’s just because we love you all so much:

• 1:45 What’s everyone building this week?
• 12:00 WPCandy Awards discussion
• 18:00 Quarterly update
• 20:30 Custom plugin header images (funny one)
• 29:00 BuddyPress activity admin screens and BuddyPress general discussion
• 36:00 WordPress for Android, mobile WordPress apps
• 45:45 WooThemes infographic
• 1:07:00 Theme Foundry post
• 1:14:15 Infographic again
• 1:17:00 Post formats and UI
• 1:21:15 Editor’s picks (see below)

This week Brian’s pick was the very recently released Gravity Forms add-on for the WooCommerce plugin (demonstrated), which he picked up yesterday. Ryan’s pick was the User Switching plugin, and Daniel opted out of picks this week.

Subscribe to the show on iTunes, or directly to the RSS feed. As always you can send any emails you would like to have included on the show to podcast@wpcandy.com. The Download link is just after the jump.

If you would like to download the podcast in MP3 format directly, you can do so here.

I know what you’re thinking—it isn’t possible. Could this really be a new WPCandy Podcast? Indeed it is. After a shamefully long gap since the last podcast we’re back at it, this time joined by the newest contributor to WPCandy, Daniel Immke. In this episode we discuss the Quarterly a bit (by the way, pre-order yours), WordPress 3.3 RC1, WordAds, and a couple of fun stories that popped up in the last week or so.

Jump straight into the podcast audio here:

Link-wise, this week we discussed:

• WordPress 3.3 RC1
• The announcement of The WPCandy Quarterly publication
• WordPress.com’s announcement of WordAds
• Plugin duplicates may result in rejection from WordPress.org
• The PressTrends preview we published last week
• Seshn is ambitious, plans to be biggest by 2013

Then we have picks. This week Brian chose the Ambrosite Next/Previous Post Link Plus plugin, which is entirely a mouthful to say. Daniel’s pick was the Headway Themes redesign that went up recently, and my pick (though I’ve yet to play with it) is the Social plugin from Crowd Favorite and MailChimp.

Subscribe to the show on iTunes, or directly to the RSS feed. As always you can send any emails you would like to have included on the show to podcast@wpcandy.com. Download links are after the jump.

If you would like to download the podcast in MP3 format directly, you can do so here.

It’s time again on WPCandy for another podcast about WordPress. Of course, saying it’s “about WordPress” is a bit unnecessary right? Would you expect it to be a podcast about tacos?

In this episode Brian Krogsgard and I discuss the WordPress news that interested us the most in the last week. That includes the 3.3 feature freeze, the state of WordPress marketplaces, and how WordCamp Louisville was last weekend.

Jump straight into the podcast audio here:

Link-wise, this week we discussed:

• What’s coming in 3.3, The WordPress 3.3 feature freeze (and Theme.fm’s demo of pointers)
• WordCamp Central update, camps coming in November
• ThemeGarden scaling back, refocusing as an alternative marketplace
• Stop telling users they shouldn’t be running very many plugins
• bbPress 2.0 and BuddyPress 1.5 released
• Pods Foundation raising over $4,000 on Kickstarter

Brian’s pick was a snippet of code he pulled from Noel Tock’s work at Theme Force. Mine was oEmbed Gist, a plugin I like but have yet to try, that I found via Remkus de Vries.

Subscribe to the show on iTunes, or directly to the RSS feed. As always you can send any emails you would like to have included on the show to podcast@wpcandy.com. Download links are after the jump.

If you would like to download the podcast in MP3 format directly, you can do so here.