BuddyPress, BuddyPress Development, BuddyPress Tutorials, Tutorials

How to Build a Facebook-Style Members-Only WordPress-BuddyPress Site

by Patrick Cohen July 25^th, 2012 150 Responses

The WordPress-Buddypress-Lockdown challenge
I often read about folks wanting to lockdown their WordPress-Buddypress site, and make it so that content is accessible to logged-in members only. Even more, many want to know how to redirect site visitors to a landing page like Facebook – with login and registration on the page – while still having some select content available to them.
Look no further folks. Today, we’re gonna git ‘er done!
Once we’re finished with this project, and depending on your chosen theme of course, your landing page should look quite similar to the screenshot at right.

WordPress Buddypress - How to Make a Members Only Website (4)

Freebies, Plugins

10 Free Plugins to Add Custom Content to Your WordPress Sidebar

by Patrick Cohen July 23^rd, 2012 3 Responses

Do you need unique WordPress sidebar content on…

different pages?
page templates?
posts or post types?
category or tag pages?
archives?

Well then, here’s a collection of free plugins that enable you to dynamically display different widgets, or entire sidebars, pretty much anywhere you like. Some of them have rather unique ways of displaying custom content in your WordPress sidebar. Check ‘em out, I’m sure you’ll find one that will work for you.

Dynamic Widgets

Plugins

WordPress Plugins: Can You Have Too Many?

by Patrick Cohen July 9^th, 2012 2 Responses

The world of WordPress plugins just keeps getting bigger. There are thousands of freebies available from the plugin repository, with more added pretty much every day. Hundreds, if not thousands, of premium premium plugins can also be found from a variety of sources.

With all the cool features and functionality that can be found – not to mention the fun factor – it’s often tempting to install stuff, even if you don’t really need it on your site. But, before you go installing everything that looks cool, consider the following questions:

Can you really have too many WordPress plugins on your site?

WordPress Plugins - Can they put too much strain on your database?

Tutorials

Responsive Design: Does Your WordPress Site Really Need It?

by Patrick Cohen July 7^th, 2012 7 Responses

Responsive design in WordPress themes is becoming more and more popular these days with the proliferation of mobile devices. Theme designers and web developers alike are getting on the band-wagon and responding (no pun intended) to the demand. As a result, many popular premium theme sellers are increasing their selection of responsive designs. More and more freebies are also offering responsive design.

But, there is question that needs to be answered before you consider installing and using a responsive theme on your WordPress site or blog:
Do you really need a responsive design theme?

Responsive Theme - A theme that adapts to all devices

Miscellaneous

5 Tips to Organize Your WordPress Theme Stylesheet and Make it Easier to Navigate

by Patrick Cohen June 26^th, 2012 Leave a comment

But first, a WordPress theme quiz…
Author’s note: this is a low-tech quiz; answers saved in your head will suffice :-)

Are you a WordPress theme designer?
Are you a hobbyist or enthusiast?
Is your WordPress theme stylesheet a little confusing?
Do you spend too much time trying to figure out where your custom styles should be inserted?
Do you just plop styles in anywhere in the stylesheet and then wind up with conflicts that can be hard to track down?
Do you compulsively customize the heck out of stuff? (that’s me!)
Do you just like to futz around to get stuff looking right in your chosen theme?

WordPress Theme - Stylesheets can be confusing

Freebies, Plugins

9 jQuery WordPress Menu Plugins + Bonus Tutorial for the Adventurous

by Patrick Cohen June 25^th, 2012 3 Responses

Search “WordPress menu plugins” in Google = Eeek!
A quick search for WordPress menu plugins in Google will bring up over 32,000,000 results. Oh, dear Lord! Dozens, if not hundreds, of those results can be quite mouth-watering at first glance. But sifting through the mess of unappetizing stuff to find something satisfying can be frustrating to say the least. Even searching the WordPress plugin repository can be quite tedious.

WordPress Menu Plugins - Enhance your user experience

BuddyPress, Tutorials

WordPress login page not right for your site? Build your own sidebar login with member info!

by Patrick Cohen June 21^st, 2012 18 Responses

We all know and love the WordPress login page, and many of us have tried to customize the heck out of it at some point or another. But even if we get it looking and working more or less the way we want, it’s not always a good fit for the type of site we’re running. In many instances, a sidebar login seems to be a more appropriate choice. For one thing, a sidebar login is always there, enticing your visitors to connect and to engage with other users. That can be especially true if you’re running a niche community network with Buddypress.

Wordpress login page sidebar alternative

Plugins

Writing php code to your WordPress posts and pages the safe way

by Patrick Cohen June 18^th, 2012 6 Responses

If you’re handy at writing php code to your WordPress blog, you’ll know that there are several ways of getting it done:

Write it in custom templates and use one for each custom page
Wrap snippets in various conditionals in a single template and use it for multiple pages
Use a plugin like Exec-PHP to write your php code directly in the post editor or a text widget
…probably more

A problem…

Plugins

Cool WordPress shortcode plugins to snap your blog into style

by Patrick Cohen June 15^th, 2012 8 Responses

Do you like to style content on your WordPress blog and make it look real pretty? Are you NOT a whiz with css? Then, here are some quick and easy shortcode solutions for you!

Shortcodes are, imho, one of the best things to happen to WordPress. They allow you to do all kinds of cool things on your blog with just a few mouse clicks; like create beautiful buttons, boxes, columns and tabs. Today, I’d like to share 3 of my favorite shortcode plugins to do just that, and then some… check out #3 on the list; it’s awesome!
#1 – J-Shortcodes