76 Creative - New Site

Date: 27th February 2008 at 3:51 pm | Filed under: portfolio | Author: Sam Burdge

76 Creative Screenshot

The new 76 Creative website is here! We have updated our portfolio and the design of the site itself. The incredibly popular Sound FX board is still there, and is now joined by the extremely cool (if I do say so myself) Artanoid - 76 Creative's take on the arcade classic Arkanoid. The site is built in PHP with flash elements.

Check it out: www.76creative.com

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WordPress - Change Default Email Address Plugin

Date: 20th February 2008 at 12:04 am | Filed under: development, plugins, wordpress | Author: Sam Burdge

This WordPress plugin changes the default email address that all notifications sent from your blog are addressed from. The default address for all emails sent by your blog is currently wordpress@ yoursite.com.

I had seen some tutorials / forum entries previously where people suggested editing the core WordPress file 'pluggable.php' to overide this default. This method does work, however you would have to repeat the hack every time you upgrade to a new version of WordPress so it is not an ideal solution.

Faced with this problem for a site I was working on recently, I wrote this basic plugin which allows you to configure your own email address in the format: Your Name <yourname@yoursite.com>.

Installation:

  1. Upload the file wp_change_default_email.php to your wp-content/plugins folder
  2. Activate the plugin from the Plugins page in WordPress

Usage:

  1. In the Plugins page in WordPress click the edit button next to the plugin in the list.
  2. Scroll down until you see a note saying 'Configure it'
  3. Enter your name and email as shown
  4. If you don't enter a new address the default 'wordpress@' will remain

Download:


2 Responses to “WordPress - Change Default Email Address Plugin”

  • Comment by Shane
    Date: February 29th, 2008 at 8:33 am

    Works great - thank you!

  • Comment by Change Default Email Address » Wordpress Plugins
    Date: July 9th, 2008 at 6:56 am

    [...] Version: 0.1 - License: n/a - Author: Sam Burge - Plugin Page - » Download [...]

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WP Instructions Plugin

Date: 19th February 2008 at 10:07 pm | Filed under: development, plugins, wordpress | Author: Sam Burdge

As someone who regularly sets up WordPress sites for clients, often with bespoke themes and various plugins installed, I find it useful and helpful to include basic instructions for them. I used to send a text document to them by email when I handed the site over, but more recently have been including an instructions page as a tab in WordPress.

This plugin allows you to create a custom instructions page for a wordpress blog. Especially useful for those setting up WordPress sites for other people. You can use it to provide instructions for use of specific plugins etc.

Installation:

  1. Upload the wp_instructions folder to your wp-content/plugins folder.
  2. Activate the plugin from the Plugins page.

Usage:

To create your custom instructions simply edit the instructions.txt file in the wp_instructions folder. You can use html if you want. Numbered lists are a good format for giving step-by -step instructions.

Handy Tip:

As pointed out by David A (See comments for this post) you can use WordPress to create an instructions page and save it as private. You can then copy and paste the code from the code view of the WP text editor into the plugin's instructions.txt file, thus creating an html formatted instructions page without having to write any html yourself.

Download:


20 Responses to “WP Instructions Plugin”

  • Comment by Sam Burdge
    Date: March 2nd, 2008 at 5:19 pm

    Hi all,
    Just a quick note to users of this plugin - the plugin is currently set so that all user levels are able to view the instructions. If you wish to change this so that only users of a certain level (i.e Authors or administrators) are able to view the instructions you can change the following line in the plugin's code:

    add_menu_page('WP Instructions', 'Instructions', 1, __FILE__, 'wp_instructions_page');

    Replace the number 1 with the number that relates to the user level you want. For more info about user levels please visit this page on the wordpress site Levels and Users for WordPress.

    Also for non-english users you can always replace the word 'Instructions' with the translation in your own language.

    I hope these tips come in handy.

    Sam

  • Comment by Ken savage
    Date: March 4th, 2008 at 3:58 pm

    Hey Sam, nice plugins. thx for sharing.

    Woould you be willing to share the instruction you give out for new people accessing wordpress? I'm turning over a new site to another group in my company and this would save me a few hours of writing and creating screen shots.

  • Comment by David
    Date: March 4th, 2008 at 10:58 pm

    The download is an empty file!?!?

  • Comment by Sam Burdge
    Date: March 9th, 2008 at 1:54 pm

    Hi Ken,
    All of the instructions I have written are generally to do with using specific plugins like Podpress or ANIga. They would probably not be that useful to you. You could always take some of the instructions from the wordpress.org site and summarise them.
    Sam

  • Comment by Sam Burdge
    Date: March 10th, 2008 at 10:01 pm

    Hi David
    This problem (in IE only) should be solved now. Appologies for the inconvenience.
    Sam

  • Comment by David A
    Date: March 18th, 2008 at 3:18 pm

    Hi, nice idea! However, I'm wondering if it can be modified to pull a specific page from Wordpress instead of using a text file. That way you could use WP's page editor to edit up your instructions with formatting.

    So far, it appears that if you were to create a page template with no header, sidebar, footer- just the page content code, then create a page in WP, make it private, and use that blank page template, it should work fine as a replacement for Instructions.txt under your plugin (provided the path is changed in the plugin).

    You'd probably need to use pretty permalinks to keep the path stable, or provide a selector within the plugin page to pick the right page, but otherwise it should work fine? Does this sound workable/useful, or have I strayed too far from the path (again) ? :)

  • Comment by Sam Burdge
    Date: March 19th, 2008 at 7:31 pm

    Hi David,
    Thats an interesting thought. I will think about integrating such a feature for a future release of the plugin.
    Sam

  • Comment by David A
    Date: March 20th, 2008 at 3:59 pm

    Hi again, I discovered that by using WP to create a Private page of instructions, you can copy and paste from the Code view into the Instructions.txt, and it displays perfectly.

    You will still likely need to upload the text file into the plugin folder (your server directories, like mine, are probably not writeable for security reasons), but at least you can use WP to write and maintain the instructions.

    Thanks again for such a great idea, and donation incoming!

    David
    p.s. The captcha system is giving me a headache, three tries and no luck so far. I'm triplechecking before submitting, and it sure LOOKS right…

  • Comment by Sam Burdge
    Date: March 23rd, 2008 at 5:35 pm

    Hi David
    Thanks. I'm glad you found it so useful.
    Sam

  • Comment by Weathervane
    Date: March 25th, 2008 at 10:01 pm

    I can't find a download link for any of your plugins. Am I missing something?

  • Comment by Sam Burdge
    Date: March 26th, 2008 at 10:57 pm

    @Weathervane: Hi, erm… the big button that says 'download file' under the heading 'Download:' at the bottom of each plugin post!

  • Comment by Kevin
    Date: April 8th, 2008 at 12:46 pm

    The plugin doesn't work op wp 2.5 :(

  • Comment by Sam Burdge
    Date: April 12th, 2008 at 10:48 pm

    @Kevin: I have tested it on WP 2.5 and it works fine for me. Have you tried re-installing the plugin?

  • Comment by Leon
    Date: April 14th, 2008 at 1:07 pm

    Hi Sam

    Nice plugin. Was looking for something like this. The WP admin plugin manager states that there is a 1.0 version, but the HTML link refers to your flash clock plugin. Maybe you can fix this?

  • Comment by Christopher
    Date: April 15th, 2008 at 2:44 pm

    Just installed it and I think it is a great little plugin - really useful, many thanks for your hard work.

    It did not seem to like it that I have not installed WordPress in the root (blog homepage is in different directory from where WordPress is installed), so had to edit the plugin to point it at the right directory for the text file.

    I also just noticed that WordPress is suggesting an update but linking to wp-digi-clock-plugin-01beta

  • Comment by Christopher
    Date: April 15th, 2008 at 2:50 pm

    Sorry, could have been more useful if I had included my edit.

    Changed get_bloginfo(’url’) for get_bloginfo(’wpurl’)

  • Comment by Casey
    Date: May 30th, 2008 at 5:49 pm

    I keep downloading and upgrading, but it keeps telling me that a new version is available. The zip I download produces a folder name wp_instructions_01, with another wp_instructions folder within. No matter which folder I put up there, the plugins page says there’s a newer version available.

    could you please check to see if the package is correct? I’m using 2.5.1. I read that your plugin was compatible with 2.5x…. please advise if this isn’t true, thanks!

  • Comment by WP Help : Pressing Pixels | A Wordpress Magazine
    Date: June 4th, 2008 at 10:10 pm

    [...] I came across a plugin that did this but is was not easily updatable and had some issues with a couple of installations. So I’ve improved on it and here is WP Help inspired by Sam Burdge’s wp-instructions. [...]

  • Comment by Laran Evans
    Date: July 19th, 2008 at 5:21 am

    Hey Sam. Neat plugin.

    I did run into some issues due to the use of the fopen function.

    I wrote a plugin that generates a table of contents for content.

    Someone contacted me today saying that they wanted to integrate the table of contents with your instructions plugin. So I did. I also fixed the fopen bug.

    So, here’s a link to the integrated code (just the .php file, not instructions.txt) along with two screenshots. One screenshot is when my table of contents plugin is activated. The other is when it’s de-activated.

    http://tinyurl.com/5n3qj6

    Now I’m going to go check out the WP Help plugin :)

    Enjoy!

  • Comment by Laran Evans
    Date: July 19th, 2008 at 5:23 am

    I forgot to give the url of my plugin. Here it is:

    http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wordpress-table-of-contents/

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Encoding Flash Video (flv) - Part 1 - The Basics

Date: 16th February 2008 at 12:53 am | Filed under: development, flash | Author: Sam Burdge

This is the first part in a series of articles I will be writing on encoding Flash Video (flv files) using the Adobe CS3 Video Encoder. I intend to cover all aspects of flv encoding to help you to attain the best results possible. If you are using another software to encode your flv files, such as Adobe After Effects or Final Cut Pro, many of the principles will be the same.

Read on…

3 Responses to “Encoding Flash Video (flv) - Part 1 - The Basics”

  • Comment by Grant Forrest
    Date: February 29th, 2008 at 10:29 am

    Hi Sam Been hunting the internet for some advice on optimum source files for flash - with no joy. But came across your encoding flash video article and have been enlightened. Many thanks Grant

  • Comment by John Smith
    Date: July 8th, 2008 at 2:50 pm

    Very helpful information. Much appreciated. Thank you.

  • Comment by samir
    Date: July 15th, 2008 at 6:03 pm

    Thank you for this useful article.
    Very informative.
    It solved my issue with horizontal lines in flash video files.

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WP Flash Titles Plugin

Date: 15th February 2008 at 11:53 pm | Filed under: development, flash, plugins, wordpress | Author: Sam Burdge

This Plugin has been updated to version 2.0

This WordPress plugin allows you to display your post titles in any font, colour and size you want using Flash. It will also retain your original html styling of your titles and display that to users who don't have Flash installed. It is fully customisable via the Options tab in wordpress. It is search engine friendly and easy to implement.

Example:

I am happy with my WordPress theme as it is, so I have set up this example page for you to see the Flash Titles in action: WP Flash Titles Example Page

Installation:

  1. Upload the wp_flash_titles folder to your wp-content/plugins folder.
  2. Activate the plugin from the Plugins page.

Usage:

  1. Go to Options -> WP Flash Titles to choose your font, size and colour scheme for your titles.
  2. You need to modify your template file slightly. First you need to locate the code that relates to the post title. This will typically be something like:
    <h3 class="storytitle" id="post-<?php the_ID(); ?>">
    <a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark">
    <?php the_title(); ?>
    </a>
    </h3>
  3. You then need to add two lines of code. First paste this line in directly before the page title code:
    <?php if(function_exists('wp_flash_titles')){wp_flash_titles($post->ID,'start')} ?>
  4. Then this line directly after:
    <?php if(function_exists('wp_flash_titles')){wp_flash_titles($post->ID,'end')} ?>
  5. To embed any font you want you must have Flash CS3. Open the source file 'wp_flash_title.fla' which is located in the 'Source' folder of the plugin. In flash simply change the font of the text area to any font you wish. Do a 'Save As' and then publish the swf. Once you have created the swf you must upload it to the folder: wp-content/plugins/wp_flash_titles/flash
    It will now appear in the list of fonts in the Options -> WP Flash Titles page!!

Download Plugin:

Version 1 Beta is no longer available. Please visit the WP Flash Titles 2.0 page to download the new version.

19 Responses to “WP Flash Titles Plugin”

  • Comment by Brewskie
    Date: February 17th, 2008 at 5:48 pm

    I am amazed at how nice this looks on my site!

    http://www.criticalreactor.com

    It looks as though I am using a custom font. But one that everybody can see.

    Thanks for your time you put into this. Good job!

    One small question however. Are there any free apps that can edit .fla files? Flash is pretty expensive :)

    Again..good job on this :)

  • Comment by Brewskie
    Date: February 17th, 2008 at 6:24 pm

    A small wish list:

    Animations.

    Like animate on load, hover , click etc.

    More fonts :)

    An option to have more than one instance. This would allow a cutsom logo/banner or whatever.

    Widgetized.

    This would allow flash anims for the blocks in the sidebars. Either for the title of the block or the whole content of them.

    By using flash for the sidebars there's a lot of cool things you can do. Like tabbed blocks :)

    Thanks again for this :)

  • Comment by Sam Burdge
    Date: February 17th, 2008 at 8:15 pm

    Hi Brewskie
    Thanks for your comments. The Flash Titles really look great on your site! I have plans to add some of the features you mentioned for a future release and also have some more Flash based plugins in the pipeline… As for free apps that can edit fla files, I’m not sure sorry
    Cheers,
    Sam

  • Comment by Erik Tiekstra
    Date: February 21st, 2008 at 4:33 pm

    Hi,I hope to be able to like your plugin, I just can't seem to download it. Also from the Wordpress plugin site the fla is missing..?!Could you help with that?/Erik

  • Comment by Brewskie
    Date: February 24th, 2008 at 3:45 pm

    Something strange happened.

    I went to make a small correction to the dimensions of the flash and when I saved the whole thing went blank. As in nothing was saved and it reverted to empty boxes in the admin.

    I haven't installed any other plugins since this one so I know it couldn't be the problem.

    I've been playing around with it for a while but I really can't figure out what would cause this behavior.

    Any ideas?

    Thanks!

  • Comment by Carnevalle
    Date: February 25th, 2008 at 11:07 am

    I'm having som problems with this plugin. First of, my installation is not in the root-directory, so the document_root path to the flash-directory is not working. But this is an easy fix.

    The bigger issue is, that at first it is working and displaying the flash titles, but if I try to edit the configuration it goes blank and there is no way back. What could the problem be?

  • Comment by kike
    Date: March 1st, 2008 at 5:55 pm

    It would be great to change also the link from the sidebar, I have some errors, the titles dont show and in the admin when I put update does not show anything, I have the latest version of wordpress. Please answer on my mail, thanks enrique from Argentine

  • Comment by Sam Burdge
    Date: March 2nd, 2008 at 4:50 pm

    A note to all users who have had dificulty using the plugin:

    1. Check folder and file permissions - refer to this article WP Digi Clock Plugin - Folder and file permissions - I know this relates to another plugin, but the principles are the same.
    2. If your wordpress is not installed in the root directory you may have problems using the plugin, unfortunately you may have to wait until the next release of the plugin for these issues to be resolved, sorry for the inconvenience.

    I hope this helps some of you.

    Sam

  • Comment by Sam Burdge
    Date: March 2nd, 2008 at 4:51 pm

    Brewskie - try a fresh install of the plugin and see if that resolves the prob?
    Sam

  • Comment by Gilbert Purtee, Jr.
    Date: March 22nd, 2008 at 7:08 pm

    Cant update   goes blank perm set correct cant get it to work

  • Comment by Sam Burdge
    Date: March 23rd, 2008 at 5:33 pm

    Hi Gilbert
    Can you give me some more info please? What platform is your server running?
    Sam

  • Comment by stephen
    Date: April 13th, 2008 at 11:08 pm

    I also get the disappearing prefs I am afraid. It seems to set all values to blank and thus no titles appear on my blog if enabled.

    As for platform info, I am not entirely sure what you mean, but I am running wordpress 2.5 on php 5.2.3, Linux 2.4.3, Apache 2.0.61…if you want the full phpinfo, I can send it to you.

    Thanks!

  • Comment by Johno
    Date: April 16th, 2008 at 8:40 pm

    Not working in IE7, but then I can’t get sIFR to work at all with IE7, Any ideas?

  • Comment by Sam Burdge
    Date: April 17th, 2008 at 2:26 pm

    Hi Johno

    Might seem obvious but, do you have flash installed / Javascript enabled in your browser?

    I’m not that familiar with sIFR, but my plugin works on a similar basis.

    Sam

  • Comment by Sam Burdge
    Date: April 17th, 2008 at 2:28 pm

    Note to all users of this plugin. The new version is coming soon (within the next couple of weeks. There will be new fonts and new options available. The disappearing preferences some users have been experiencing will also become a thing of the past!

    Sam

  • Comment by Sam Burdge
    Date: April 22nd, 2008 at 3:09 pm

    Version 2.0 is here. Hopefully any problems with version 1 have been resolved. Thanks to all commenters for your feedback.
    Sam

  • Comment by Anthony
    Date: May 12th, 2008 at 2:07 pm

    Hi Sam,
    Your plugin works very great !
    But I want to know if there is a solution to have a relative height (for example 100%) for the block, ans not a fixed height. It’s because sometimes my titles are in three lines, ans sometimes in one single, and it display a white space after short titles… I hope you’ll undersand my request !
    Anthony (french blogger)

  • Comment by kit
    Date: August 7th, 2008 at 8:57 pm

    having similar issues with it not showing up in IE7. anyone find a fix yet?

  • Comment by kit
    Date: August 7th, 2008 at 9:27 pm

    ok so i found that if i empty my cache and load a page it works no problem, but as soon as i go to another page it disappears and won’t show up until i empty my cache again. PLEASE helP!

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