Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with plugin

How to index a Youtube channel on a Wordpress blog?

diode — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 11:24:58 -0800

I've just started up a new Wordpress blog, which is all well and good. I've also got a lot of content on Youtube in a channel, quite a bit of videos, as in 200+. Most of that content is not going to be embedded in the blog, but it's useful content that I'd like to be able to index and show to a browser. When I googled this topic, I found a WP plug-in that seemed to do precisely that, generated an XML sitemap of a Youtube channel and a URL on your blog that you could browse and see the content as thumbnails and synopsis. The plug-in unfortunately is no longer available and the developer is not interested in supporting it. I'm not a coder or WP developer. I've got tech skills and can usually find a way to do what I want to do in a technical sense. Solutions that involve me setting up a coded solution are not in my bailiwick. I have some developer resources, but not much. I could set up a static page and do this manually video by video but that's inelegant at best, and tedious at worst, and pretty much obsolete from day one as content gets added.
I was thinking if I replaced the WP search function with Google search, plus the XML sitemap video plug-in, that would be fairly powerful in terms of finding content you want on the blog related to a video topic of interest hosted on Youtube but not embedded on the blog, but clearly the plug-in is now obsolete.
So, any resources I could use to find an answer would be useful including places I could post this question, or other ways of thinking about this problem.

Looking for Wordpress conference plugin

beagle — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 14:21:59 -0800

I'm organizing a conference which has a Wordpress website. Can anyone recommend a plugin that facilitates easy setup of pages/posts with speaker bios, session descriptions, locations and times, and an attractive auto-generated conference schedule page with links to the bios and session blurbs? This one would appear to do the trick but seems to be defunct in terms of continuing support and upon trial looks like it is incomplete. So not that one.

Help me create a useful gallery site with WordPress?

humph — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 09:31:17 -0800

I've not used WordPress for quite some time and the recent release of 3.5 with its new ways of handling media has me somewhat confuddled. Say I created a gallery site about footwear. I'd regularly be posting lots of pictures of shoes, boots, sandals, etc..

Posts would be categorised under Shoes, Boots, Sandals, etc. but would also have specific tags - I would really love to have the ability to click on a post tag (e.g. 'gold buckle' or 'low heel') and have a gallery created containing images with that specific tag.

Is there a (free or cheap!) theme, plugin, article that will help me do this?

Turning user input into pie (charts)

antonymous — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 08:59:21 -0800

WordPressFilter: I'm looking for a plugin/widget/codesnippet that will allow me to create a graph using input from the user. This seems really simple and I don't want to reinvent the wheel, but my Google-fu is taking the day off. Basically, I want the user to put numbers into one or more fields, then we apply our mathemagic formula to those numbers, then we give them a graph with the results. I tried looking along the lines of mortgage calculators, but no dice there either.

I'd prefer to find a plugin for WordPress that will handle this, but I'm also amenable (to a lesser degree) to hacking together some solution in HTML5/js if that's a viable alternative. Gentle nudges in the right direction there would be helpful too, as my skills have atrophied a wee bit...

Chrome vs. Firefox Extension Security

pavane — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 14:12:51 -0800

Please help me understand the difference (or non-difference) in safety for Firefox vs. Chrome browser extensions (plugins/add-ons). I'm about ready to move to Chrome for various reasons, but when I go to install (on Chrome) Chrome's versions of some of the extensions I was using on Firefox, some of the extensions give me a warning message about various types of personal data the extension would expose to the extension developer. A friend suggested that Firefox extensions do the same thing, but that Firefox isn't as good at warning you about it.

I've read some explanations of the Chrome warnings already--this Google forum thread includes a good explanation of the Chrome side of things--but I'm really wondering about how Chrome's security in terms of extension data sharing differs from Firefox (or any other browser). I'd feel better sharing data with trusted plugin developers if I know that this data sharing is necessarily occurring in every browser and isn't just a flaw of the Chrome set-up.

Thank you!

Plug me in to a subscribe plugin for wordpress

MT — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 21:55:24 -0800

What is the best free WordPress plugin for subscribers to get an email update about a new post on my girlfriend's blog? (Hopefully using HTML and images, not boring plain text updates). I'm looking for suggestions for the most effective free subscriber plugin, so subscribers get an email update about a new post to my girlfriend's blog. She's self hosting from the Wordpress platform version 3.4.2 (latest)

She was using a Feedburner subscription so subscribers got an email when a new post was made. Then she heard Feedburner wasn't being updated, so changed to the 'Follow' plug-in. Problem is Follow plug in sends 'public subscribers' a pretty ugly plain text only email. As the blog is about fashion, ideally she's looking to have a HTML email update, including an image and text, encouraging people to the blog for more detail. 'Follow' allows this for 'registered users', but that's hardly anyone.

I can't seem to find an answer... Thanks

Microsoft Outlook's default search functionality sucks.

longdaysjourney — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 09:16:22 -0800

Please share your recommendations for the best Outlook e-mail/desktop indexer search tools out there. I'm looking for an Outlook plugin or a desktop indexer that can 1.) run fast full-text searches of the e-mail in multiple Outlook .pst files that total about 20GB (including the text of all attachments) and 2.) is capable of handling complex boolean searches. The indexers I've looked at so far are Xobni, Lookeen, and X1 Professional Client. I have no problem with buying a license if the indexer is worth it, but I'd really like to avoid yet another product that's only available via subscription (e.g, Xobni), if at all possible. If you use Outlook and are constantly running searches for e-mails that you know are "out there somewhere", I'd love to hear about your experiences with third-party indexers/search tools.

Why do Google and Adobe seem to want me to give Apple money for a new OS?

maryr — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 17:35:56 -0800

Chrome requires, via yellow pop down box, that I manually allow Flash to run on nearly every webpage I load (presumably just the ones that use Flash), each time I load it. How can I stop this? Complication: Chrome is no longer supported for my OS. System details:

OS X 10.5.8 (MacBook 4,1 = my hard drive is nearly full and the case is cracking, but everything runs, so I'm not shelling out for an OS update.)
Chrome 21.0.1180.90. After this version, Chrome no longer supports OS X 10.5 so I cannot update.
Flash 10.3.183.29. chrome://plugins says I should "Download Critical Security Update". Following the "Update This Plugin" button provided by Chrome brings me to a page that suggests this is the most up to date version.

I have restarted my browser. I have disabled/re-abled the Flash plugin. I have restarted my computer. I am in a circular advice loop between Flash and Chrome referring me to each other's help pages which do not help. The best I get from Google is this:

Note: Although not recommended, if you don't want Google Chrome to notify you when a plug-in is out of date, use the command line flag --allow-outdated-plugins. Instructions on how to add a command line flag can be found on our Chromium site .

Is this something I need to learn Chromium to fix? Is Flash no longer supporting old versions of Chrome? Is the solution really to return to Firefox? Because I like Chrome, but not so much that I'll deal with a distracting error message on every web page I visit.

Specific slider for wordpress

victory_laser — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 01:00:53 -0800

I want my wordpress page to have a slider like this one [large image]. Specifically, I need tabs/titles at the bottom, which are always displayed no matter what image happens to be displayed at the moment. What is a plugin that could do this, so I don't have to change my whole theme around? Alternatively, maybe you can tell me some keywords that would help me find an answer myself.

Can I make any of these plugins work with Adobe Audition?

RobotHero — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 10:14:29 -0800

Can I make any of these plugins work with Adobe Audition? I've tried to install them, but they won't appear in the menus. I've downloaded some .dlls that looked promising, put them in a folder, added that folder to the Audio Plug-In Manager, clicked Scan for Plug-Ins, and they show up ad Working, type VST, and they're checked Enabled. But I can't find any of them to use them, in the sense that they don't seem to show up in the menu anywhere. There's nothing under Effects > VST or Effects > VST3

Is there something else that I'm missing? Is there a way to access plugins that are allegedly "working?" Is there a reason these won't work with Audition? Should I try again with a different program?

Wordpress Twitter Tools replacement

tommasz — Wed, 23 May 2012 06:17:35 -0800

I've been using Twitter Tools on my Wordpress blog for a while now but it's not working the way I want. I tried using the newer beta version but that doesn't actually work at all. There's like a million Twitter-related plugins for Wordpress but which one(s) does what I want? Details within. I'm running v3.3.2 of Wordpress. Twitter Tools v2.4 works, but won't include the hashtag when I use the "Press This" bookmarklet. If I want to include or change a hashtag, I have to go into the Admin interface. It looked like the Twitter Tools beta would allow me to add a hashtag (or any other random text) but it didn't actually work at all, unfortunately. All I want to do is have Wordpress send a tweet when I post, I'm not really interested in creating posts from tweets or anything similar.

What would be ideal is the ability to have a per-post hashtag field on the bookmarklet along with the default (as well as have the default included). The sidebar widget of Twitter Tools is nice but I can easily do that in other ways. Is there something that does this buried in the Plugin Directory, or am I stuck with Twitter Tools?

Need a specific Workpress plugin for sending emails

theRussian — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 13:26:35 -0800

Is there a Wordpress plugin for sending "form letter" emails? I'm working on building a new website for my neighborhood association, and am just going with Wordpress since it's so easy to set up and it meets our basic needs for the most part. One thing I can't easily find (not really sure what I should be googling for, I guess) is the ability to have an "email city council" form on the site. I've found a lot of 'contact form' plugins, but I haven't found one that does what I'd like.

Ideally, we set up a page with a pre-filled letter (allowing the user to change anything in the letter) an input for their email address and name, and a send button. On the back end, we'd configure it to send an email to 1 to n recipients. A contact form would work, I think, provided we can provide different emails for different forms. The ones I tried only let you have all the forms send to one address.

Any ideas on if there is a plug in like this? I'd like to avoid the 'mailto' links, and I'd prefer not to roll my own if one already exists. Since I've seen these around (contact your senator an whatnot), I assume someone has written one already.

Ideas?

Firefox mp3 plugin

Deflagro — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:34:29 -0800

What is a good Firefox plugin that will let me pause and change the playing point of online mp3s? Right now my Firefox is running the VLC plugin. I have online foreign language homework where I have to listen to the language and answer questions. However when I miss a word or something, it's really annoying having to refresh and sit through the whole thing again just to answer one question (and if I have to listen to it multiple times to figure out what it's saying, it takes forever!). So is there a good plugin that will allow me to pause and to start at a certain points in online mp3s?

Internet explorer development

Pants! — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 22:59:05 -0800

I've got some JavaScript I want to turn into an extension (plug-in?) so it will always run for certain webpages for Internet Explorer, but because I've been using Chrome/Firefox for years, I don't know what search terms to use. Do you know of a simple how to resource? Grease monkey like alternatives aren't an option for me.

All you need is one...

chrisinseoul — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 06:50:52 -0800

I just want a WordPress plug-in that can display a slideshow of photos. No drama, no fuss, no need to make 13,000 choices. Bonus points for ability to go full-screen if the user chooses. Hehe, this is the first question I've asked in awhile that doesn't really need the extended explanation. This plug-in would be used to display a photo portfolio - nothing fancy. I consider myself pretty smart with computers, but after a couple hours of searching and trying some different stuff out, I've grown more frustrated than I was before I started...

Missing Plugins

DolorousEdd — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 12:57:42 -0800

I can't see most website content due to some missing plugin. Which one!? On youtube, Mr. Scruff.com and various other sites most of the website is not available for viewing, with just a box saying "missing plugin." How do I figure out which plugin I'm missing?

I already tried reinstalling adobe Flashplayer, and that didn't work. Any ideas?

Wordpress User Management Challenge

Danniman — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 20:26:45 -0800

Wordpress filter: I am trying to set up a user management system with some specific requirements. I have hit a road block. Please help. What I am trying to do:

I am designing a website (for a conference) where people can register for the conference by filling out a form with some information and paying the fee. After the spots are full, registered users can return to the website to sign the photo waiver and pick a roommate. The roommate must be of the same gender.

What I have so far:

I can use Gravity Forms (with paypal and user registration add-ons) to take care of the basic stuff. I can set up a form where people can register and pay the fee. Once the fee is paid, the user is registered with an account on the website.

What the road block is:

I don't know know to set up the later part of the process. How can I set up a system for roommate picking so that logged in users see a drop down list of same gender users from which they can pick a roommate from. There are two challenges involved with this:

1) How do I automatically generate the database of users filtered by gender

2) How do I set it up so that the system recognizes the gender of the logged in user and shows the appropriate list.

I don't know if Gravity Forms is capable of doing this. Are there any other plugins or combination of plugins that can help me achieve this? Is there any other solution besides plugins that can solve this?

Acrobat Plugin to open the Next/Previous File in a Folder?

millerizer — Tue, 24 May 2011 09:40:47 -0800

Acrobat Plugin to open the Next/Previous File in a Folder? I have a large collection of PDF files that I need to review and it's quite a drag to have to go File>Open>Scroll through the folder to find the next file.

Is there a plugin for Acrobat Reader to open the next file (& the previous file)?

And to clarify, it needs to be for Acrobat Reader. I can't use another program.

Historical dates in Wordpress or another blog system?

Victorvacendak — Thu, 05 May 2011 14:06:12 -0800

Historical dates for blog posts? Back in the Wordpress 2.6 days, I had a blog of World War II letters where the posts were time-stamped in the 1940s. It was pretty neat until Wordpress 3 came out, breaking it, and its handling of dates no longer worked with these old 20th century years.

I am trying to figure out the best way to write a plugin to handle these old dates, or whether a different CMS like Textpattern would work better with them. My only idea so far is to design a Wordpress custom field that keeps the 1940s dates, but then I wouldn't know how to make Wordpress sort them chronologically, so I am wondering if there is a better approach. Any help much appreciated.

Customizing Wordpress's Media Library -- should I use a hook?

Victorvacendak — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 16:44:15 -0800

Question about Wordpress plugins and hooks. I've been trying to write code to add a new, clickable option to the Wordpress Media Library. The idea is 1) to let the user choose a picture, and then automatically 2) do stuff with that picture. (For example, assigning that picture's URL to a custom field.)

After reading the Wordpress Codex and various other people's plugins, here is what I am confused about: OK, so I have successfully added a link to the Media Gallery, "do stuff with this picture." And so it is all ready to send GET info to a PHP function, somewhere.

But where? I don't know how to make that info go to a hook that I can hang a function on, or to some other PHP that can deal with it.

I'm still learning the Hook system, and I'm wondering if there is a nice Hook that would handle a situation like this through add_action. If I only knew which hook that was, or, if this isn't the best solution, what other method you might suggest for letting a user click on the Dashboard to reach a new function to handle his/her input.

I thought about just creating a separate form-handling PHP script but wasn't sure if this was proper Wordpress programming form.

Any help much appreciated.

Including a Business Directory in a Wordpress Site... any ideas

hellodonna — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 08:43:21 -0800

I am trying to find an easy way to incorporate a business directory into a Wordpress site. You'd think it would be easy... there must be a directory plugin that allows for people to submit a business listing, an admin can then approve it and people can search for that business listing using keywords or scrolling through the list.

I have tried out the free directory plugins only to find extreme limitations. I have tried to make BuddyPress and Mingle work. I purchased two directory themes but they usurp the entire site and turn it into one big directory.

I am beginning to think there has to be another way. In an older thread someone said Drupal.

Any suggestions? Can I keep using wordpress and then use some other tool for the directory? Or do I really need to go the Drupal route?

I just feel like I am spinning my wheels. Can someone give me some guidance?

I need someone to tell me what's cool for web applications

Foam Pants — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 17:04:08 -0800

Where do you go to find recommendations for the best new web widgets and applications? So, there is this whole class of websites/downloadables out there that can do things for you. For example, Prezi.com, right? I'm also thinking about FTP clients, VNCs, Firefox plugins and anything else that might be a cool new thing that could help someone make websites or make the web work for them.

I am having a hard time finding this stuff on my own. I want a few blogs or sites devoted to recommending new things of this nature. Sort of like "I tried Hootsuite and it rocked my motherlovin' socks off. Here's how it works..." I don't want a list of everything because that is almost as bad as a void of information. I want a few knowledgeable folks who have tried a few similar apps to recommend one or someone who is always in the know about the latest idea. You have any go-to places for this kind of information?

Burning down the blog

wundermint — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 14:49:15 -0800

What plugin or method will allow me to get Feedburner up and running on a self-hosted Wordpress blog? I'm finally getting on board with Feedburner but I've run into a problem getting it up and running with Wordpress (self-hosted Wordpress install, version 3.0.4). Feedburner says to use their official Feedburner Feedsmith plugin - but according to them it's only compatible up to Wordpress 2.5. So I tried using the recommended plugin FD Feedburner. When I active the plugin I get an error that appears at the top of the admin panel.

has_cap was called with an argument that is deprecated since version 2.0! Usage of user levels by plugins and themes is deprecated. Use roles and capabilities instead.

Trying to google this problem led me various places, some of which said to change the .htaccess and others which said certain themes already have feedburner built in - in which case I would feel like an even more spectacular noob for not realizing it's actually working already. I'm lost - help me, MeFi?

Put me up on some plug-ins...

Tiresias — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 18:15:14 -0800

What are the best (free?) VST plug-ins for Ableton Live on OS X 10.6.4? After making music using Live on a PC for years, I finally took the plunge and got a mac. It's been a positive change!

...except that my vast library of heavily-used VST synths and effects are suddenly incompatible with my new computer (including my beloved Triangle II.)

I've looked and looked, and maybe not surprisingly, cannot find all that many free VST plugins for OSX.

So, are there any that you would particularly recommend? Specifically, I'm looking for synths in particular, although drum machines are good too. And what the hell, if there are any effect plug-ins that really jump out at you, sure, those will work. Also, free would be nice --- although, if there is a particular synth that is the best thing you've ever heard and could not imagine making music without, I'm sure I could be persuaded to lose a few bucks.

Thanks!

Cross-browser bookmark sync?

pemberkins — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 06:05:21 -0800

What is a good alternative to Xmarks for cross-browser bookmark syncing? I just saw the news that Xmarks is going to close its doors. I use different browsers on my home and office computers, and I have come to rely on the cross-browser bookmark syncing service that Xmarks provides. I'm hoping they find some way to continue providing this service, but assuming they do shut down in January, what are my options?

The two features I valued in Xmarks were:
1) cross-browser bookmark syncing
2) the ability to access my bookmarks via their website (which is awesome when I need to find a bookmark on a public computer).

Is there another option that will provide both of these features? I didn't use their password-sync, so I'm not bothered about replacing that feature.