In a recent article over at ManageWP, I asked a bunch of plugin developers what they would do to improve the WordPress.org Plugins Repository.
The answers were varied, but there was one that stood out in particular. It was from Janet Aronica, Head of Marketing for Shareaholic:
I’m a freelance blogger (as you might be able to guess, given that you are reading this post). With that said, I really should put up some testimonials on my blog. After all, testimonials are an extremely powerful source of social proof – if you’ve got a whole bunch of people queueing up to tell you how awesome you are, prospective readers/clients/customers are likely to take note, right?
I’ve always been left a little confused and underwhelmed by the default widgets that come packaged with WordPress. Whilst there are a few that are clearly useful and functional, there are also some rather bizarre inclusions. For instance, I have never seen the calendar widget used effectively (if indeed that is possible).
Just the other day, Sarah featured some proposed improvements to the media library in WordPress 3.5. Whilst the improvements are still very much at a formative stage, they represent something that has been a long time coming.
Media has never been handled particularly well in WordPress. If you run a post on proposed improvements to WordPress (like I did), you’ll always get at least one negative comment regarding the media library. So with that in mind, it is nice to see that the WordPress dev folks are taking steps to improve it.
Impatience is a Virtue
I’m experiencing one of those moments when I’ve found a plugin for which I can’t really think of a use, but I just plain like.
Under normal circumstances, I would have to move on with my life, forever knowing that I may have missed out on something special. But as a writer for WPMU, I can pass on my approval to you guys, in the knowledge that some of you will know what to do.
And yes, I do like to engage in hyperbole at every possible opportunity.
Street View Comments
That’s enough babbling for a Monday morning – let’s take a look at this plugin.
ManageWP has experienced a meteoric rise over the past 18 months. We first took note back in March 2011 when Sarah reviewed the beta version of the multiple WordPress site management tool. Then in December we interviewed Vladimir Prelovac, the brains behind the operation.
When ManageWP officially launched in January of this year, we were eager to check it out (and subsequently gave it a glowing review). Whilst it has had its problems (such as the furore regarding the pricing model), ManageWP is well and truly established as the leading multiple WordPress site management tool.
Unless you have been hiding under a rock for the past year or so, you will be well aware of the phenomenon that is Pinterest.
And if your WordPress blog is in any way image-driven, you have probably sought to leverage Pinterest as a traffic source. If not, you’re missing out. A Shareaholic study carried out in July concluded that Pinterest is second only to Facebook amongst the social networks when it comes to sending referral traffic.
Any WordPress developer should have a local version of WordPress installed on their PC or Mac. Even if you are only a bit of a tinkerer, an offline environment is a much better place to do your work.
Why? Many reasons, including:
It’s great for testing
You can have as many installations as you like
It is a lot faster
You can experiment with design/functionality changes at no risk
There is no danger of the site being inadvertently indexed by Google
![WordPress for Mac: How to Install Locally with MAMP [Tutorial]](http://wpmu.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/wordpress-mac-install-mamp.png "WordPress for Mac: How to Install Locally with MAMP [Tutorial]")
So I’m in a band.
That’s right people – I am a genuine rock star, regularly playing to crowds well into the double digits. The men want to be me, the women want to be with me – it’s quite the life I lead.
And yet I still find the time to blog about WordPress. How’s that for dedication? But let’s face it – WordPress is rock ‘n’ roll, through and through. When it comes down to it, we’re all WordPress rockstars.
Feedback is a good thing.
If it’s feedback from a moron, you can laugh in their face (always fun) and ignore it. If it is feedback from someone whose opinion matters, you can use it to improve yourself. It’s a win/win situation.
