WordPress Plugin: WordPress Exploit Scanner
With all the talk about WordPress security vulnerabilities, every bit of protection helps. The WordPress Exploit Scanner plugin does just what it says: it looks for any suspicious behavior in your WordPress files and database tables.
This WordPress plugin searches the files on your site for a few known strings sometimes used by hackers, and lists them with code fragments taken from the files. It also makes a few checks of the database, looking at the active_plugins blog option, the comments table, and the posts table.
It also allows the blog owner to search for whatever string they like which could come in handy when new exploit code is used in a hack.
Download WordPress Exploit Scanner
TypePad AntiSpam for WordPress and WordPress.com Stats for Movable Type
WordPress and WordPress.com are Automattic products, while Movable Type and TypePad are SixApart products. These two companies are fierce competitors for the blogging platform crown, but here’s a surprise: you can actually use two of their plugins for the “opposing camp”.
TypePad AntiSpam
TypePad AntiSpam is SixApart’s answer to Automattic’s Akismet. It’s completely compatible with the latter, and like it you’ll need to register for an API key, also for free. Get started here.
WordPress.com Stats
WordPress.com Stats is an analytics program for self-hosted WordPress and WordPress.com users alike. Movable Type users can run this plugin as well, but they’ll also need a corresponding API key. Complete details found here.
It’s clear that these two companies are looking to expand their userbase not just with their blog software but with other projects in tow.
Share your ideas to the WordPress Plugin Competition 2.5
The WPCandy team is asking for your ideas for their entries to the WordPress Plugin Competition 2.5.
If your plugin gets chosen, we’ll give you credit inside the code and with a post here linking back to your blog. Remember though, your idea can’t be something that already exist! It has to be totally new and of course, it’s going to be GPL.
Even better is that should they win the contest, they’ll give away the prize to one of their readers! Great way for everybody in the WordPress community to participate in this plugin competition.
Join the WordPress Plugin Competition 2.5
Weblog Tools Collection announced an all-new WordPress plugin development contest. It will run from May 10 to July 10. Standard rules apply, such as the code must be licensed with GPL. No word yet on the prizes, but that should come along soon.
I think this is a great way for Filipinos to get recognized for their coding efforts, and knowing how big WordPress is in this country, it shouldn’t be too hard to convince fellow Pinoy bloggers to join!
WordPress Plugin: Seesmic Video Comments
Seesmic is a service for video-based conversations. But it takes a step further and can integrate with your WordPress blog. It lets you record video blog posts as well as video comments with the help of a WordPress plugin.
The Seesmic-wp-plugin allows you to:
- Record one or more Seesmic video’s to a post.
- Accept authenticated or anonymous video comments.
- Moderate video comments exactly like text comments.
You can watch how it works with this video.
Download Seesmic Video Comments
Coffee2Code’s 14 Days of WordPress Plugins + 7 Bonus Ones
Scott Reilly of Coffee2Code has finished his plugin coding spree, 14 Days of WordPress Plugins, and creates 7 more! How’s that for a very prolific WordPress developer?
Here are some of the plugins I found interesting:
Display upcoming (today + future) or past (before today) posts in an easily customizable manner.
Extract a listing of all commenter emails.
Easily create a link to another post using a simple shortcut that references the post’s id or slug; the link text is the post’s title, unless overridden.
Hide (so no one, or only users above a certain userlevel, can see) or cut (so only viewable on post’s permalink page) portion(s) of post text. Link text for cuts can be defined per-cut or omitted, and if used, cut links are uniquely anchored.
HTML Special Characters Helper
Adds a tool to the Write Post page for inserting HTML encodings of special characters into the post or page.
There are a whole lot of plugins you might find extremely handy if you’re one of the more finicky WordPress patrons.
Zemanta
Zemanta is a “content suggestion engine for blogging”. Just write a blog post as you normally would and eventually Zemanta suggests relevant links, articles, images, and tags. Needless to say, this is a really convenient and innovative way to help bloggers with their posts.
It currently works with WordPress and Firefox, as well as other blog platforms like Blogger and TypePad. Here’s a video demo of Zemanta for a WordPress blog:
Zemanta Wordpress Plugin Teaser from zemanta on Vimeo.
You can also check out a demo at their website. Why not download and install Zemanta and try it out for yourself?
Pinoy WordPress Plugin: Technorati Tags for WordPress 2.3
Will Garcia has written a WordPress plugin that displays Technorati tags for a post in place of its local tags.
After a few minutes of tinkering with the core files, I decided to try making a plugin that would mimic Ultimate Tag Warrior’s ability to display Technorati tags, a feature that I sorely miss, having to let go of the plugin I have come to know and love. I definitely know I have to do something about it. It’s the OCD-ridden kid in me that just has to scratch this itch.
I created this plugin so that anyone who wants their posts listed as Technorati tagged posts. That way, you get more traffic (hopefully) from Technorati. This is also something I want my blog to have, and I think I’m not alone on this one. In case I am, well, I still did it for me. What are personal blogs for but your own person, right?
Also check out related plugins Technorati Tag Cloud for WordPress 2.3 and Technorati Tag Cloud Widget for WordPress 2.3.
Download Technorati Tags for WordPress 2.3
WordPress Plugin: WordPress Automatic Upgrade
WordPress is pretty easy to install, but I’ve always hesitated to upgrade to the latest version, no matter how many times I’ve done so in the past. So imagine my sigh of relief when I discovered the WordPress Automatic Upgrade plugin.
Once activated, just head over to the plugin page (Manage > Automatic Upgrade) to begin the update. Here’s an idea of what the plugin does:
- Backs up the files and makes available a link to download it.
- Backs up the database and makes available a link to download it.
- Downloads the latest files from http://wordpress.org/latest.zip and unzips it.
- Puts the site in maintenance mode.
- De-activates all active plugins and remembers it.
- Upgrades wordpress files.
- Gives you a link that will open in a new window to upgrade installation.
- Re-activates the plugins.
The plugin can also can be run in a automated mode where in you do not have to click on any links to go to the next step.
Download WordPress Automatic Upgrade
Pinoy WordPress Plugin: Sideblog
Want to write about miscellaneous topics, but they don’t quite fit into the main purpose of your blog? Sideblog, created by Ilonggo developer Kates Gasis, is a great solution to that.
Choose at least one category to use in your sideblog, then configure how it will be displayed (typically as a list) and how many will be displayed. Finally, you can also set whether these sideblog posts will appear in your feeds.
