Create a mobile version of your WordPress blog with MobStac
The mobile is taking over the world. Today, almost all mobile phones come equipped with browsers, not to forget the whole host of mobile devices out there. While most mobile browsers can easily support your normal blog theme, you might want to create a better experience for users by offering a custom look for mobile devices.
You can manually do this or use one of the many services that allow you to do so. MobStac is one such powerful service that helps you get the job done.
Creating your mobile blog is extremely easy and you’ll be done in 20-30 minutes.
Simply enter the site URL and let MobStac populate the fields. You can choose to upload a logo or just use your Twitter ID. I tested using the Techtites Twitter ID (the screenshot below shows me using the upload option).
This is the easy step. The next step is to install the WordPress plugin and enter the API key and you’re good to go. The mobile plugin ensures that if someone visits your blog on their mobile browser, they will be redirected to the mobile version of the site above.
If you have your own domain (you do, don’t you?), an additional (and optional) step is to create a CNAME entry to create a domain for your mobile site. This ensures complete sync and no third party URLs.
MobStac is currently available as an open beta, so you may see a few bugs on and off. The site still lacks decent documentation, which I am sure is WIP.
If you’re running your WordPress blog, do check out MobStac. If you’re on your mobile browser, check out our blog at http://m.techtites.com/
About Ajay
A die-hard blogger, web developer, biker, singer, geek, non-stop talker, foodie, movie freak are just some of the words that begin to describe me.
WordPress 2.8.1 and the Plugin Competition
WordPress 2.8.1 has been released today. WordPress 2.8.1 fixes several bugs and also a minor security risk that was reported by Core Security Technologies.
Changes in WordPress 2.8.1 over 2.8:
- Certain themes were calling get_categories() in such a way that it would fail in 2.8. 2.8.1 works around this so these themes won’t have to change.
- Dashboard memory usage is reduced. Some people were running out of memory when loading the dashboard, resulting in an incomplete page.
- The automatic upgrade no longer accidentally deletes files when cleaning up from a failed upgrade.
- A problem where the rich text editor wasn’t being loaded due to compression issues has been worked around.
- Extra security has been put in place to better protect you from plugins that do not do explicit permission checks.
- Translation of role names fixed.
- wp_page_menu() defaults to sorting by the user specified menu order rather than the page title.
- Upload error messages are now correctly reported.
- Autosave error experienced by some IE users is fixed.
- Styling glitch in the plugin editor fixed.
- SSH2 filesystem requirements updated.
- Switched back to curl as the default transport.
- Updated the translation library to avoid a problem with mbstring.func_overload.
- Stricter inline style sanitization.
- Stricter menu security.
- Disabled code highlighting due to browser incompatibilities.
- RTL layout fixes.
In other news, the annual WordPress plugin competition is on in full force. Check out the new entries already available in the plugin competition blog.
If you’re a plugin author, remember to read the rules and regulations before you submit your plugin.
Oh, we’ve sponsored $100 to the plugin competition prizes. There are already more than $3000 in prizes to be won. If you’re interested in sponsoring a prize you can send Mark an email.
About Ajay
A die-hard blogger, web developer, biker, singer, geek, non-stop talker, foodie, movie freak are just some of the words that begin to describe me.
WordPress Pagination!
We’re back with another dose on how to make your WordPress installation even better.
I bet that you’ve, at some point at least, noticed that your default WordPress theme has links only to the Previous or Next post page. While this is fine and makes for a simple browsing experience, there are times, especially if you’re an extremely large site like Smashing Magazine or PSDTUTS, where it makes more sense to have a proper pagination, instead of just simple links.
We’ve got the perfect plugin for you!
WP-PageNavi is a really neat plugin that allows you to create a simple Pagination for your posts page.
All you have to do, is download the plugin, unzip it and upload the wp-pagenavi folder to your content/plugins directory.
Once you’ve done that, simply copy paste this code
<?php if(function_exists(‘wp_pagenavi’)) { wp_pagenavi(); } ?>
anywhere in your theme. I recommend putting it in your footer, so it displays below all your posts. You can even display it above your posts if you want.
Now simply goto your WP-Admin > Settings > PageNavi to configure the plugin.
You can also edit the CSS file to change the look of the Pagination. Just goto your /content/plugins/wp-pagenavi folder and edit the wp-pagenavi-css.css file and Voila! You’re done!
About Nikhil
I'm a 23 year old Web & Graphic designer, currently living in Mumbai, India. Most of my time is spent on the internet browsing through new ways and means of betting myself at what I like to do. As a big guitar enthusiast, I enjoy listening to a lot of Blues, Jazz and a few select rock and roll bands. Classical, if I'm in the mood.
WordPress Plugin: Top 10
WordPress doesn’t count page views by default.
So, if you’re trying to find out which of your posts are popular, you’re kind of stuck with relying on third party analytics software through which you have to drill through extensively.
Top 10 will count the number of page views on your single posts and store them in the database.
You can then display the page view count on individual pages as well as display a list of most popular posts based on page views.
Features:
- Counts page views on single posts and pages
- Display the count on the single posts and pages
- Customize the text that can be displayed
- Display a list of popular posts by page count. The number can be customized.
- Clean uninstall if you choose to delete the plugin from within WP-Admin
- Works with WP Super Cache
Future Plans:
- Sidebar Widget for Popular Posts
- Popular Posts by Comments
- Ability to reset count
- More customization options
Download Top 10
Read the story behind Top 10
About Ajay
A die-hard blogger, web developer, biker, singer, geek, non-stop talker, foodie, movie freak are just some of the words that begin to describe me.
Coupon Codes for OIOpublisher
OIOpublisher is a popular WordPress plugin that allows you to quickly and easily sell advertisements on your WordPress blogs.
I currently use the same on this blog so you can purchase an ad spot.
All through January, affiliate could earn 90% commision on all referrals. With just a few days left, if you’re interested in purchasing the plugin, you can do so at a discount.
Use the following coupon codes to avail of a discount:
- Jan90-35 entitles the purchaser to buy for just $35
- Jan90-30 entitles the purchaser to buy for just $30
- Jan90-25 entitles the purchaser to buy for just $25
These codes all expire on 1st Feb, so pickup a copy of your plugin now. You won’t regret it!
Note: The links to OIOpublisher website contain my affiliate code. If you don’t wish to give me some affiliate love, please visit http://www.oiopublisher.com/ directly.
About Ajay
A die-hard blogger, web developer, biker, singer, geek, non-stop talker, foodie, movie freak are just some of the words that begin to describe me.
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