Archive for September, 2009
29 Sep, 2009
Writing a Wordpress Plugin
Posted by Bhavin Turakhia | (7) Comments
I was just reading up on building wordpress plugins andthe simplicity and architecture impressed me enough to quickly pen down a short post. Now it does not make any sense to pen down a detailed HowTo since the documentation on the wordpress site is adequate and self-explanatory. However here are some quick notes -
- Start off by reading – Writing a Plugin – it lays down the framework of creating a plugin and defines what your plugin should be called, file names, structure and even a header for your plugin
- Next review – Plugin API – which describes the simple yet powerful Hooks, Filters and Actions mechanism provided by Wordpress to plugin developers
- Hooks are provided by WordPress to allow your plugin to ‘hook into’ the rest of WordPress; that is, to call functions in your plugin at specific times, and thereby set your plugin in motion.
- There are two kinds of hooks – Actions and Filters
- Actions are the hooks that the WordPress core launches at specific points during execution, or when specific events occur. Your plugin can specify that one or more of its PHP functions are executed at these points, using the Action API.
- Filters are the hooks that WordPress launches to modify text of various types before adding it to the database or sending it to the browser screen. Your plugin can specify that one or more of its PHP functions is executed to modify specific types of text at these times, using the Filter API.
I like the architecture – it allows any plugin developer to modify pretty much any functionality provided within Wordpress. Many application platforms can be modeled around this same event-based plugin architecture providing powerful extensibility to plugin developers.
21 Sep, 2009
Checking in my 22″ LCD keyboard and mouse
Posted by Bhavin Turakhia | (6) Comments
I am a stickler w.r.t productivity and one of my biggest bones with travelling is the loss of efficiency on my 12.1″ Lenovo X 200. It is the most mobile laptop ever, and I have often been caught carrying it around in one hand whilst typing with another – without breaking a sweat – but when I am sitting in my hotel room, on one of my trips, I miss my regular IBM qwerty keyboard, Logitech mouse and multiple 22″ screens (I use 4 simultaneous monitors at work). I figure I lose atleast 35% in terms of speed and efficiency on these trips.
I have gone through several iterations to remedy this situation – including carrying a projector (uncomfortable), buying a head-visor (resolution became an issue amongst other things), and researching foldable monitors, until I finally realized the only way was to lug my 22″ screen and keyboard/mouse assembly alongwith me.
I figured there are likely others like me – and there must be a product that makes this easy. Given my travel schedule for the next few weeks, I figured it is high time I took a look around, and sure enough, within a few minutes of Googling I came across this baby -
http://www.casesbypelican.com/monitorlcd.htm
They also have a 24″ version that carries just the LCD – http://www.casesbypelican.com/1690-30-lcdmonitor.htm
I am getting mine as we speak. Meanwhile, a few other links I came across are -
