After finding a couple of strange bugs, and ensuring the system is ready for Wordpress 2.8, USecureX 0.2 is finally released.  It contains just minor bug fixes, and also removed the static reference to wp-content for those of you that have changed your WP directory structure.  As always, let me know if you run into anything and need some help.

Most if not all of my plugins will work in 2.8 without any modifications, but I am running double checks as fast as I can just to be safe.

          

It has been a little while, but I have released BookX 0.3.   It is not a huge change, mostly a couple of bug fixes, but also verified complete compatibility with the upcoming version 2.8.  So Enjoy!

          

I recently had a very short contract gig working for a company that creates websites using Drupal.  While that doesn’t sound very interesting or even hard, to make it more so of both, these guys used Views for every

thing.  Which I just don’t get.

If you are a programming, why would you use views?  It is adding a layer of abstraction between the logic and database in an interpreted language with a framework that is already bloated beyond all recognition.  I know when I write plugins for Wordpress, I want the plugin to be quick, precise, and add the least amount of overhead possible.  Views just seem to be a way to do all the opposites of those, just for the hell of it.

If you are not very technically inclined, I understand.  Using views is a lot like using MS Access.  You can create fairly complex queries yourself, without having to get someone that actually understands it involved.  And that is the trade off.  You can do it yourself, and eat the extra overhead, or pay/hire/bribe/cajole someone else into doing it for you, specialized, and thus, in theory at least, more efficiently.

These folks claimed to be programmers though, so I just don’t get it.  Why are you depending on someone else’s plugin, that extends functionality that is inefficient and clumsy, can’t do everything, and still requires custom code to be written or even more plugins to be added.  Where exactly does that circular line stop?

The Drupal “framework” and I use that term loosely since it is really a CMS that can just be extended, has enough problems and bloat in it, why exactly are views worth adding more?  Again, assuming you know SQL and PHP on even a basic level.

It just doesnt make any sense.  Query writers and views are one thing if you are working directly with the database, (e.g. phpMyAdmin or TOAD), but adding it as a layer to a “custom” application that you will be supporting when you claim to be capable of actual programming!!??  Please explain that one to me.

To be fair, I dont use Drupal much, I like WP much better.  The OO approach is much more appealing than the very Perl-esque (read: old) way of doing things Drupal does with its modules. But I still don’t get what the big deal is about Views.

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MultiX is a lightweight script to allow for the seamless administration of multiple Wordpress websites that can reside on different servers and databases.  This plugin is a way for those of us that need to administer multiple Wordpress websites but don’t have the luxury of having all those sites on the same server or database.  I have a lot of Wordpress sites I admin for people and am getting more every day.  It is a complete annoyance to have to re-login to each and every one of them, so this plugin makes it to where a trust relationship is set up, and viola, now you can move back and forth at will.

Features

◊ Easy to setup and install
◊ Secure random trusted key method of authentication

          

BookX 0.1 is finally released.  BookX creates an easy way to give your site visitors a peek at your recommended books.  Using only ISBN numbers, it gets the information from Barnes and Noble (http://www.bn.com) and stores the information locally to both speed up the response time, but also to not bog down their servers with repetetive requests.  BookX creates a widget for your sidebar, a list view, and detail view, all customizable from the easy to use admin interface.

Features

◊ Uses only ISBN to fill in all the important information about your books
◊ Creates a Detail Page View, List View, and a Widget all from the same plugin
◊ Each view is totally customizable from an easy to use admin interface
◊ Lots of controls over the look and feel of the generated code through the admin interface
◊ Stores most (just not the image) of the data on your server for fast results and better control

          

ThemeX 0.5 is now ready for download and installation.  Here is the change log:

• Fixed bug #27

Just a bug fix, squashing the last known one.  It was a tough one to track down but thanks for bearing with me.

          

Calling all programmers, those of you that do it professionally at least.  Do you have your own personal errors and omissions insurance?  Should you?  Probably.

I have been in development for a long time time, about 12 years, and for the web development world I live in, that makes me ancient.  I carry my own errors and omission insurance for personal projects, just in case the GPL can’t protect me well enough.  What is this insurance you ask?

There is a good article over at Insurance Journal that goes over exactly what it is and why you might need it.  My question is a bit more complex though.  If you are a professional programming, working on someone else’s payroll, do you need this insurance?  If you are fired for incompetence, or laid off, and the company you used to work for finds a bug that has cost them $1M a week since it was implemented 2 quarters ago, do they have the right, or abililtty, to sue you for that loss?  Perhaps.  It all depends on where you live, what company, and the situation.

Being sued for something you did on the job, in the best interest of the company, under the leadership of someone else, is extremely rare.  Most likely because it requires the company to admit they were less than diligent, didn’t do a very good job managing, and then makes them liable to their stakeholders since they are basically admitting an agent of their company screwed up.  Companies don’t like to do that.

However, if you are working on a 1099 or a third party W2, you need to make sure you are covered.  If you are on 1099 or doing corp-to-corp, you had better have insurance.  You are liable in that case, in the absence of another contract, for everything you do and write.  While you probably wouldn’t be found guilty of anything (I hope), it would be expensive to fight it, and better let the insurance company do it.

If you are on a third party W2, make sure the folks you are actually workign for have E&O insurance as an add on or rider to their general liablity.  You could need them to protect you for something you did in their employ on behalf of one of their clients.

So, do you have insurance?  Do you need it?  I am not a lawyer, so none of this should be taken and blindly run with, but, ask yourself if you are covered, and if you have questions or doubts, find someone that knows and ask.  It never hurts and could save you a lot of trouble later.

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Well, it has been about a year since I officially stopped working on PHPX.  And last week someone came forward and asked to take over the project.  It has been a very interesting thought process on this since it is a lot more complex than I originally thought it would be.

First, there is the problem moving trademarks and copyrights.  PHPX is a trademark, PHPX is also a 501(c) non-profit dedicated to the distribution of free and quality software in order to better facilitate communication between communities of people in a virtual environment.  Sounds all official doesn’t it?  Well, sadly, it is.

I want to give over PHPX for someone that cares about it to develop it, but I am not really sure how to disentangle myself from all the legal stuff that goes along with it.  Perhaps I should just fork it and let them take over that.

What do you think?

          

WineX 1.1 has officially been released.  This is a very minor release for most people, but to those out there still having theming issues, here ya go.

In this release, the admin page has been cleaned up, making it the new pretty version found throughout WP 2.7 and ThemeX 0.2 (in a few days).  The other change, the more important change if I am allowed to play favorites, is the addition of a custom CSS field.  This field allows the user to enter custom CSS that will be inserted into the page right before the wine, enabling the user to fix any problems that might arise with theming.

Per the usual, if you have questions or concerns, let me know!

          

As I have gotten more and more involved in the WordPress world, I have released a couple of plugins, working on several more, and have already learned a few things.

One, it is always a good idea to release early, and release often, except where Wordpress release system is invloved.  The system is based on SubVersion, which has been great getting to learn, but it lulls you into making some assumptions.  The problem with this system, is the moment you upload code to the repository, it releases publicly.  While that is fine if it is a small plugin and your first release should be public, it is not a good thing for larger projects that are going to require a lot of testing and iterations to get it ready for an actual public release.  Wordpress does disclaimer their system, saying it is not a hosting service just a listing service.  Which begs the question, “Why are you using SVN?”.  Probably because it is familiar to most people that will be contributing code.

With all that in mind, I have moved my development versions over to Google Code.  It is a hosting service, is faster than Sourceforge, and I like the interface a lot better; it is a lot more clean and easy to understand.  All my WordPress plugins will be there, under the project SuiteX, and eventually the other projects I have going, like LadderX will move over there as well.

This doesnt really affect any of you much, except for questions/concerns/bugs/requests, I ask that you go over to the Issue Tracker on Google and post there.  It will keep everything a bit more organized, than random comments on this website or on the WordPress forums which do a horrible job of notification or even categorization.

Per the usual, if you have questions, please just ask.