Desk Mess Mirrored 1.4.5
Although I have been working on smaller and smaller issues with the Desk Mess Mirrored theme I am still looking for improvements and a finer tuning of the core theme files. Last night I finally said it was time to draw a line in the code and put the update out, thus we now have version 1.4.5 approved for download from the WordPress Extend Themes repository earlier today.
The following is the changelog for this update:
Changelog, as of Jan 20, 2010:
-- Version 1.4.5
- corrected positioning of 'cancel-comment-reply-link'
- corrected positioning of 'logged-in' message for comments
- added query reset to correct for possible is_home() issue?!
- corrected deprecated parameter 'siteurl' to 'url' in header.php
- editted footer.php template file to better handle possible lengthy text fields
- CSS: cleaned out empty elements
- CSS: added #bottom-container within #bottom-extended
- CSS: reviewed IE6 conditional style sheet -> reduced theme elements being displayed; please upgrade!
- CSS: added better styling of page list elements
- moved theme version display to functions.php
- minor updates to Multi child theme included
- Multi version number should reflect Desk Mess Mirrored version
- NB: The image files twitter.png and flickr.png will remain but are not used in the theme.
- NB: Multi will no longer be included with Desk Mess Mirrored to reduce theme size after version 1.4.5
- NB: Multi will be available to download at http://buynowshop.com/themes/desk-mess-mirrored
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* Internet Browsers Reviewed *
* ========================== *
* *
* Apple Safari v4.0.4 (Mac) *
* Apple Safari v4.0.4 (PC) *
* Firefox v3.5.6 *
* Google Chrome v3.0 *
* Internet Explorer v8.0 *
* Opera v10.10 *
* *
* IE 6 - basic functionality *
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Themes at Work and Play
Today we have a modified version of the Shades theme by the good folk at The Ninja Review. I have been to their site numerous times in the past but this time when I opened their blog I had to scroll to the bottom of the page before I recognized the Shades theme.
The Ninja Review was born out of one ninja’s frustration at being unable to find clear-headed, detailed reviews of places he wanted to go to. Add an undying passion for noodles and a lack of outstanding contracts, and you get The Ninja Review.
… from Way of the Ninja | The Ninja Review
Another showcase site uses an older version of the Desk Mess Mirrored theme to host “The Official Quest Atlantis Blog“. An interesting concept dealing with education and online gaming.
Quest Atlantis (QA) is an international learning and teaching project that uses a 3D multi-user environment to immerse children, ages 9-16, in educational tasks (visit QuestAtlantis.Org to learn more. QA combines strategies used in the commercial gaming environment with lessons from educational research on learning and motivation …
… from About QA | Voices of QA
Stop by and have a read, both sites contain some very interesting information.
WordCamp Toronto 2010 #wcto
WordCamp Toronto 2010 is scheduled for March 27 & 28 and I will be there, will you?
I first found this news on the WordPress blog here. Which lead me to the more obvious (now) web site address of the camp itself: http://wordcamptoronto.com.
I managed to create a TinyURL link for the location map: http://tinyurl.com/wcto2010map, feel free to pass it around. The link will open a Google map.
I am looking forward to this event and since I know about it well in advance I am scheduling my time to be available for both days. It also helps the location is only about a 30-40 minute drive from home.
If you are not sure what a WordCamp is, then this little bit from WordCamp Central should help:
WordCamp is a conference that focuses on everything WordPress. WordCamps are informal, community-organized events that are put together by WordPress users like you. Everyone from casual users to core developers participate, share ideas, and get to know each other. WordCamps are open to WordPress.com and WordPress.org users alike.
I will be using the twitter hash tag #wcto for references to the event. Hope to see you there!
Happy New Year 2010
Tomorrow is January 1, 2010! The beginning of a new year in the Gregorian Calendar.
I thought I would write a post on what will be going on at BuyNowShop.com in the immediate future and the new year.
- All of our themes will continue to be maintained and updated.
- Every theme will undergo regular reviews to address all of the ideas brought to our attention.
- All of our plugins will continue to be maintained and updated.
- Every plugin will undergo regular reviews to address all of the ideas brought to our attention.
- I will also be continuing to volunteer my time at the WordPress.org Support forums
There are still at least two themes on the drawing board and at least three plugins, too. We hope to see these released in the first half of the new year.
The last item being looked at right now is the incorporation of a forum. Maintaining themes and plugins via the WordPress comment system is possible but not the most efficient. We are seeing potential for a complimentary system offering support for our themes and plugins; as well as, a premium system to continue with our WordPress Services.
New WordPress Plugin: BNS Support
Yesterday was one of my more productive. I managed to strike a major item off my to-do list with the complete writing, submission, and go live of the free BNS Support plugin for WordPress.
The idea behind the plugin comes from my time at the WordPress Support forums and how often I have replied, or any number of other volunteers have replied, asking for a link to the blog in question that the issue at hand is being experienced on. Also, from time to time it is nice to know the theme and maybe the installed version of WordPress, too.
This lead me to put together a simple plugin that provides all this information, clearly labeled and easily copied and pasted in the body of the question being posted. This information, first and foremost, is only displayed if the user is logged in; and, by default, only logged in users that are administrators are able to see it.
I see this plugin as very useful, especially by WordPress support individuals and organizations.
Merry Christmas 2009
Season’s Greetings!
I would like to take a moment and extend a heartfelt wish of a happy holiday season and a very healthy, prosperous New Year to all of my supporters and to everyone that enjoys the themes and plugins we have made available through BuyNowShop.com
Edward Caissie
aka cais
BNS SMF Feeds and WP 2.8.6
Currently the BNS SMF Feeds plugin is not refreshing correctly under the current WordPress (version 2.8.6 as of this posting). The issue:
- Warning: gzinflate() [function.gzinflate]: data error in ../wp-includes/http.php on line 1787
appears to have been corrected in WordPress version 2.9 which is still in beta.
I am actively looking at ways to work-around this issue prior to the release of WordPress 2.9. Until then, I am available to help with upgrading to the beta version which I see as stable; and, I am running it on several live sites without a significant issue.
NB: WordPress 2.9 was released Dec 18, 2009.
New WordPress Plugin: BNS SMF Feeds
I’ve just sent the commits to the WordPress Extend Plugins repository for my latest plugin, BNS SMF Feeds (version 1.0.1). This was initially a “proof of concept” plugin by request. I needed a way to show recent topics from a Simple Machines forum (SMF); and, I wanted more controls than what the WordPress default RSS widget offered. The following is the plugin description from the included readme.txt file:
Plugin with multi-widget functionality that builds an SMF Forum RSS2 feed url by user option choices; and, displays a SMF forum feed. The widget includes the additional option to include in the feed: specific boards and/or specific categories. There are also check boxes to include the feed item date, summary, and author. Please note, the author option is not currently supported in a standard SMF forum feed, but is included for future possibilities.
The basic usage of the widget is keyed to a SMF forum feed which allows the specific options of those feeds to be chosen more easily. Here is a screen shot of the option panel:

BNS SMF Feeds (v1.0.1) Option Panel
A Pleasant Surprise
I was just catching up on my twitter account (@JellyBeen) when I noticed this tweet:
RT @kwbridge: .RT @andrea_r: Remember to thank the wordpress forum volunteers, yo. http://bit.ly/8Scy2E
@wptavern
… it seemed interesting so I followed the link and was pleasantly surprised by the following paragraph:
Generally active volunteers, nominated by official moderators for recognition:
esmi, ClaytonJames, numeeja, stvwlf, buddhatrance, songdogtech, alism, alchymyth, Ipstenu, RVoodoo, jdingman, kmessinger, ArnoldGoodway, Shane G., figaro, jonimueller, blepoxp, cais, mfields, designdolphin, doc4, greenshady, mercime, mrmist, bh_WP_fan , henkholland, krembo99, jdembowski, pboosten, adiant, andrea_r, GDHosting, Gangleri.
A Little Support? by Jane Wells
A fine group of volunteers to be in company with. Thanks to all of them, and thanks to the Support Forum moderators for their recognition.
BNS Corner Logo 1.2
I’ve just finished committing the changes to the free WordPress plugin BNS Corner Logo. The significant change for this update is the addition of support for your Gravatar. Currently the Gravatar that will display, if the option is checked, will be the default administrator’s gravatar, that is the one associated with your blog’s User-ID=1.
Here is the recent changelog:
== Changelog ==
= 1.2 =
* completed Gravatar implementation - displays Gravatar associated with user-ID 1 (main administrator)
* added plugin specific style sheet (required by Gravatar implementation)
* noted suggested maximum pixel size of Gravatar but no restrictions set
* updated screenshot of option panel
… and here is the new look of the option panel:

BNS Corner Logo Option Panel as of version 1.2




