The boilerplate warns that it still needs work. I tired to click to the plugin page of about 5 different plugins to end up with a 404 error. However, it’s an interesting use of AJAX and yet another place to find ways to pimp your installation of WordPress.
WordPress Plugin Database
Welcome to version 2.0 of wp-plugins.net. Lots of testing and improving still needed, but slowly getting there… As such, no point contacting us with bug reports for now (chances are, we may be working on them already), but any sort of patch and code contributions are always warmly welcome, of course.
Yesterday I did something I don’t normally recommend- I downloaded a piece of Beta software and installed it. If you have been following things on this site, you know that the number one rule is to abandon Microsoft Internet Explorer for Firefox (the reasons are too many to list). And when the new version of Firefox reached Release Candidate phase- it was too tempting to pass-up for one HUGE reason: it adds a spell checker to writing blog posts in WordPress, yes, you read that right: a spelling checker!
That alone is worth all the headaches that normally come with Beta software. However, I immediately found out that it also disabled almost all my plugins- including the Sage RSS reader. I was in instant info-withdrawl, and started searching for another solution.
Alas, I wasn’t finding any that would install with this release (no matter what the documentation said: wizz wouldn’t install). Then I found the magic bullet: Nightly Tester Tools extension for Firefox which will allow you to overide the compatibility check that prevents your standard extensions from loading. Once installed, it will give you the option to install software that Firefox says is incompatible. It fixed both Sage and Autofill, two of my favorite extensions for Firefox.
I haven’t had time to check all the features of Firefox 2, but the spell check function alone, makes it a must have for any blogger using WordPress.
Firefox 2 Release Candidate 1 (RC 1), the preview release of the next version of the Firefox browser, is now available for download. Web application developers, our testing community, and users who want to get a sneak peek at the next version of Firefox should download and install this release candidate. Please note that at this time, users should not expect all of their extensions, plugins and themes from previous versions of Firefox to work properly.The release notes have a detailed list of what’s new in Firefox 2 RC 1, including:
* A new theme that updates Firefox’s familiar interface
* Built in Phishing Protection
* Enhanced search engine management and search suggestions for Google, Yahoo! and Answers.com
* Improvements to tabbed browsing, including the ability to re-open recently closed tabs
* Firefox will resume from where you left off after a system crash or browser restart
* Better support for previewing and subscribing to Web feeds
* Inline spell checking in Web forms
* The ability to create bookmarks with “Live Titles†for Web sites that offer microsummaries
* New Add-ons manager that simplifies management of extensions and themes.
* Support for JavaScript 1.7
* Extended search plugin format
* Updates to the extension system to provide enhanced security and to allow for easier localization of extensions
* Support for client-side session and persistent storage
* Support for SVG text using svg:textPath
* New Windows installer based on Nullsoft Scriptable Install SystemYou can download Firefox 2 Release Candidate 1 for Windows, Mac OSX and Linux in more than 40 languages. We encourage our users to give us feedback on this release, either using this online form or by filing a bug (please read the bug filing instructions first, and check out the list of known issues.)
Found this article on 8 plug-ins for WordPress that can help you extend the functionality of your site.
One of the hardest things for us to keep up on is plug-ins, and how to separate the wheat from the chaff- some plug-ins can cause more problems than they solve (we found adhesive broke a google map plug-in for instance) and how some don’t work with certain themes (K2 doesn’t work with the google mapping plug-in either).
Another area where there seems to be a ton of options is Stats packages- right now we’re trying 3 different ones out.
So- here is a link to 8 invaluable WordPress plugins- and a brief quote-
WordPress in its default, out-of-the-box form can provide a good platform for your website, with a little tinkering you can increase the functionality of your site massively. And what’s the easiest way of tinkering? Plugins! Special files that you simply slot-in to your WordPress installation to get new features. Here are 8 plugins that I consider absolutely invaluable…
We’d love to hear what your favorite plugins are- so feel free to comment- we’ve got ours listed on our tools page.