Efficient Related Posts 0.3.2 Released

Posted by on August 22, 2009 · Leave a Comment 

Version 0.3.2 of Efficient Related Posts was just released. Due to popular demand, it now has a shortcode to add add the list of posts anywhere shortcodes are supported in the loop. The readme was also updated to answer some of the common usage questions and to explain how to use the new shortcode.

The best place to find information is on the Efficient Related Posts page which is updated regularly. However, here are some of the new FAQs.

How can I add a list of related posts to my posts?

You can configure Efficient Related Posts to add related posts automatically in Settings -> Related Posts. Alternatively you can use the shortcode [relatedPosts] or the helper functions wp_get_related_posts() and wp_related_posts() in your theme files.

How exactly do you use the [relatedPosts] shortcode?

To use the default settings (from Settings -> Related Posts) you just need to add [relatedPosts] to your post or page where you want to list to be. You can also add some attributes to it such as num_to_display (Number of related posts to display), no_rp_text (Text to display if there are no related posts), and title (Title for related posts list, empty for none) like this:

  • [relatedPosts title="Most Related Post" num_to_display="1"]
  • [relatedPosts num_to_display="1" no_rp_text="No Related Posts Found"]
  • [relatedPosts title="Try these related posts:" num_to_display="3" no_rp_text="No Related Posts Found"]

How do the theme helper functions work?

You can use wp_get_related_posts() and wp_related_posts() to display a list of related posts in your theme. They need to be used in “the loop” and the only difference is that wp_get_related_posts() returns the list and wp_related_posts() echos the list. You can also pass an associative array of arguments to it such as num_to_display (Number of related posts to display), no_rp_text (Text to display if there are no related posts), and title (Title for related posts list, empty for none) like this:

  • wp_related_posts(array('title'=>'Most Related Post', 'num_to_display'=>1))
  • echo wp_get_related_posts(array('num_to_display'=>1, 'no_rp_text'=>'No Related Posts Found'))
  • wp_related_posts(array('title'=>'Most Related Post', 'num_to_display'=>3, 'no_rp_text'=>'No Related Posts Found'))

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WordPress Twitter Widget Pro 1.3.0 released!

Posted by on April 11, 2009 · Leave a Comment 

I just uploaded version 1.3.0 of my WordPress Twitter Widget Pro plugin. It has been updated to allow HTML in the title and error message, which will allow for more inventive titles (like the one currently being used in the sidebar here). Additionally, the plugin no longer relies on you having a caching solution installed and set up. It now caches the tweets for 5 minutes using the built-in blog options functionality. Twitter limits the number of requests you can make in any given hour, so this caching should greatly reduce the number of times you see the “twitter not available” error message. Lastly, we phased out the old Snoopy class in favor of the new HTTP class.

Please discuss this plugin on the WordPress Twitter Widget page.

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Twitter Widget Pro 1.2.2 Released!

Posted by on June 26, 2008 · 10 Comments 

I just uploaded version 1.2.2 of my WordPress Twitter Widget Pro plugin. Since twitter has slowed down, a lot of people (especially on slower servers) have been getting the “Could not connect to Twitter” message when twitter was slow but not down. I’ve added a setting on each widget to specify the number of seconds to wait for Twitter. It still defaults to 2 seconds, but you may have to bump it up. Just remember that when twitter IS down, it will try for that full amount of time to reach them BEFORE your page loads, so don’t set it too high!

Please discuss this plugin on the WordPress Twitter Widget post.

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WordPress Google Analytics 1.2.2 Released!

Posted by on June 13, 2008 · 7 Comments 

I just uploaded version 1.2.2 of my WordPress Google Analytics plugin. It squashes one major bug that has been plaguing some users. Those that switch back and forth from visual to HTML editor, will not longer have problems with it getting stuck!

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WordPress Twitter Widget Pro 1.2.1 released!

Posted by on June 9, 2008 · 2 Comments 

I just uploaded version 1.2.1 of my WordPress Twitter Widget Pro plugin. It includes the removal of the “friends feed” option, the addition of custom error message setting for when Twitter is down, and optional anonymous statistics collection (more on this in a moment). Unfortunately, the database query that Twitter had to run to retrieve these feeds was contributing to their constant crashes. They have removed this functionality, and have no immediate plans to add it back. If they ever do, I’ll redo the plugin to use it. I’m sorry, but it’s completely out of my hands.

Regarding the anonymous statistics collection, as my plugins are getting more and more popular (1000s of users now), I’m struggling to keep in touch with my plugin users. Gathering some statistics will help me to design my plugins to meet the needs of the users. This is not meant as an invasion of privacy, and you can easily disable it from the options page.
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Google Analytics plugin 1.2.0 released!

Posted by on June 8, 2008 · 3 Comments 

A quick bugfix on the activation routines that generate the installation ID, released as 1.2.1.

I just uploaded version 1.2.0 of my WordPress Google Analytics plugin. It includes some minor bug fixes, and updated options page, and optional anonymous statistics collection. As my plugins are getting more and more popular (1000s of users now), I’m struggling to keep in touch with my plugin users. Gathering some statistics will help me to design my plugins to meet the needs of the users. This is not meant as an invasion of privacy, and you can easily disable it from the options page.
Read more

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