http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/search.php?q=Christmas

Of course, the plugin authors have their own merry making to add to the season as well and you can find a listing of the Extend Plugins repository with this little search:

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/search.php?q=Christmas

Don’t forget to use the “Sort by” function on the search pages to arrange the results to your preference.

Here is the trac ticket: http://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/11414, so it is being addressed.

In the meantime, I have decided to install the Ajax Calendar plugin as a substitute. There are many other calendar plugins available but this one suits my current needs.

Using a sample plugin (download zip file below) I will show you a simple how-to that makes use of the_widget() function. There is no codex page at WordPress.org for this function as of this writing, but there are some references you can find:

• WordPress trac ticket #9701
• WordPress trunk reference

The “trunk” reference provides an easy to follow layout of the function:

the_widget (line 1291 in file ../wp-includes/widget.php)

Output an arbitrary widget as a template tag

    * since: 2.8

void the_widget (string $widget, [array $instance = array()], [array $args = array()])

    * string $widget: the widget's PHP class name (see default-widgets.php)
    * array $instance: the widget's instance settings
    * array $args: the widget's sidebar args

We are going to use the sample plugin to replace the values in the function. We will start with this:

<?php /* Using the_widget() to make a plugin template tag */
the_widget(
  string $widget,
  $instance = array(),
  $args = array ()
);
/* NB: This will not work ... yet! */ ?>

First we will replace the “string $widget” with the plugin class name (see line 19):

<?php
/*
Plugin Name: WPFirstAid Sample Widget
Plugin URI: http://wpfirstaid.com
Description: Plugin with multi-widget functionality that displays stuff ...
Version: 0.1
Author: Edward Caissie
Author URI: http://edwardcaissie.com/
*/

/* Add function to the widgets_init hook. */
add_action( 'widgets_init', 'load_my_wpfa_sample_widget' );

/* Function that registers our widget. */
function load_my_wpfa_sample_widget() {
	register_widget( 'WPFA_Sample_Widget' );
}

class WPFA_Sample_Widget extends WP_Widget {

	function WPFA_Sample_Widget() {
      /* Widget settings. */
  		$widget_ops = array('classname' => 'wpfa-sample', 'description' => __('Displays some stuff.'));
  		/* Widget control settings. */
  		$control_ops = array('width' => 200, 'height' => 200, 'id_base' => 'wpfa-sample');
  		/* Create the widget. */
  		$this->WP_Widget('wpfa-sample', 'WPFirstAid Sample', $widget_ops, $control_ops);
  	}

	function widget( $args, $instance ) {

The function now looks like this:

<?php /* Using the_widget() to make a plugin template tag */
the_widget(
  WPFA_Sample_Widget,
  $instance = array(),
  $args = array ()
);
/* NB: This will not work ... yet! */ ?>

Next we will replace the “$instance = array()” part of the function with the appropriate code from the sample (see lines 70-75), in this sample case simply start with the “$defaults” values:

	function widget( $args, $instance ) {
      extract( $args );
      /* User-selected settings. */
      $title        = apply_filters('widget_title', $instance['title'] );
      $choices      = $instance['choices'];
      $show_choices = $instance['show_choices'];
      $optionals    = $instance['optionals'];

      /* Before widget (defined by themes). */
      echo $before_widget;

      /* Title of widget (before and after defined by themes). */
      if ( $title )
        echo $before_title . $title . $after_title;

      /* Display stuff based on widget settings. */
      if ( $show_choices ) {
        echo $choices . ' is in ... step to your ' . $optionals;
      } else {
        echo __('No appointments today');
      }

      /* After widget (defined by themes). */
      echo $after_widget;
  }

	function update( $new_instance, $old_instance ) {
      $instance = $old_instance;

      /* Strip tags (if needed) and update the widget settings. */
      $instance['title']          = strip_tags( $new_instance['title'] );
      $instance['choices']        = strip_tags( $new_instance['choices'] );
      $instance['show_choices']   = $new_instance['show_choices'];
      $instance['optionals']      = $new_instance['optionals'];

      return $instance;
  }

  function form( $instance ) {
      /* Set default widget settings. */
      $defaults = array(
          'title'                 => __('WPFirstAid Sample'),
          'choices'               => 'The Doctor',
          'show_choices'          => true,
          'optionals'             => 'right'
      );
      $instance = wp_parse_args( (array) $instance, $defaults );
		?>

		<p>
			<label for="<?php echo $this->get_field_id( 'title' ); ?>"><?php _e('Title:'); ?></label>

The function now looks like this:

<?php /* Using the_widget() to make a plugin template tag */
the_widget(
  WPFA_Sample_Widget,
  $instance = array(
        'title'                 => __('WPFirstAid Sample'),
        'choices'               => 'The Doctor',
        'show_choices'          => true,
        'optionals'             => 'right'
  ),
  $args = array ()
);
/* NB: This will not work ... yet! */ ?>

Now we just need to replace the last parameter, “$args = array()” with the appropriate information. Depending on the theme, and whether or not there exists widget areas in the theme, the simplest place to start is with clearing the standard widget arguments that reference before and after the widget, as well as before and after the widget title. The function will now look like this:

<?php /* Using the_widget() to make a plugin template tag */
the_widget(
  WPFA_Sample_Widget,
  $instance = array(
        'title'                 => __('WPFirstAid Sample'),
        'choices'               => 'The Doctor',
        'show_choices'          => true,
        'optionals'             => 'right'
  ),
  $args = array (
  'before_widget'   => '',
  'before_title'    => '',
  'after_title'     => '',
  'after_widget'    => ''
  )
);
/* NB: This will work, now! */ ?>

Just copy and paste into your theme; and, after making suitable changes to match your installed active plugin, it will now be used like a template tag!

Well Done! and, here is the sample plugin: WPFirstAid Sample Widget (164). Enjoy!

This post was inspired by this comment at BuyNowShop.com, thank you @finid.

BNS Support Review

This is the plugin description: “Simple display of useful support information in the sidebar. Easy to copy and paste details, such as: the blog name; WordPress version; name of installed theme; and, active plugins list. Help for those that help. The information is only viewable by logged-in readers; and, by optional default, the blog administrator(s) only.”

The plugin does exactly what it says it will. It provides an easy to read, and easy to copy and paste, information block you can readily share with your chosen WordPress support person or group. Simply install the plugin; copy the text from the sidebar where you placed the widget; and, paste it into your nearest WordPress Support forum … or into an email, or contact form … the possibilities are virtually endless.

Of course, I may be biased, but I believe the BNS Support plugin is a most useful tool for any blog, I would recommend it for every blog owner or manager.

First, you will need to be logged into your administration pages. This should be a familiar process. Remember this?

The typical WordPress login form

Next, on the left hand side of your screen you should see your administration pages menu. It will looks very much like this.

The admin. menu

To install a new plugin there are essentially two methods that can be done from these administration pages. Both methods make use of the menu at the top of the “Install Plugins” page. Here is a screen snippet of the page:

A screen snippet of the Install Plugins page. Click to enlarge. Click back to return.

Let’s look at the upload method first. This method only works for plugins you have downloaded to your local computer. Click on the upload link at the top of the Install Plugins page and you should see something like this on your screen:

Click on the Browse button to open the file browser for your computer.

Next, locate the plugin zip file on your local computer. In this example we will use a modified version of the Facebook Sharecount plugin by Snowball Factory, Inc. Your screen may look something like this:

An example of locating a plugin zip file

Click the “Open” button (see example image above). This will populate the field on the Install Plugins page under uploads. Click the “Install Now” button. The next step is activating the plugin which we will look at in a moment, after going through the steps to use the “Search” method(s). The “Featured”, “Popular”, “Newest”, and “Recently Updated” options are simply pre-configured special “Search” criteria. Here is a screen snippet:

Large Image. The results for searching on the term: Support. Click to enlarge. Click back to return.

Locate the plugin you are interested in using, for this example we will look at the BNS Support plugin. The plugin name itself will link to the page the plugin author has designated, the link to the far right will start the installation process. Clicking on the “install” link will open a pop-up style interface, very similar if not identical to this one:

The install now pop-up window

Clicking the big red “Install Now” button will display a screen with information like this:

After the plugin is installed it needs to be activated.

An example of the Manage Plugins page after plugin activation.

Some plugins offer functionality simply with their activation, for example the BNS Login plugin, other plugins require they are placed in a widget area of the theme. To add a plugin to one of these widget areas, you will need to click on Appearance, then click on Widgets; and, the Available Widgets page should be displayed. It will have a similar look to this example:

Large Image. An example of possible available widgets. Click to enlarge. Click back to return.

To use the plugin, drag-and-drop its title bar into an open widget area. Widget areas are theme dependent. If the widget area you want to use is not “open” first click on the small triangle on the right side of the widget area title. Now you can drag-and-drop the plugin title bar there. As you drag the plugin into the widget area, an outline of the plugin title bar will appear showing the plugin can be dropped. Once the plugin has been dropped into a widget area, if it exists, the plugin option menu will pop open. Similar to these next screen snippets:

A plugin being dragged into a widget area.

Once dropped, the plugin will pop open its option menu.

Some plugins have full pages to manage their options, either in addition or as their only method of control. This is more common for plugins that do not need or have use of being placed in a widget area. These option pages are generally placed in the admin menu at the author’s discretion. The most common area to find the plugin settings page is under … Settings, as this example shows:

A common place to find plugin settings pages is under the admin Settings.

Now you can return to your home page and see your newly installed, and configured, plugin. Congratulations!

The option itself was being maintained; the plugins are working according to expectations; but, the visual check mark in the box was not there. This can be become frustrating and annoying. A fix was needed. Here is it, in the form of a generic snippet:

<p>
	<input class="checkbox" type="checkbox" <?php checked( (bool) $instance['do_something'], true ); ?> id="<?php echo $this->get_field_id( 'do_something' ); ?>" name="<?php echo $this->get_field_name( 'do_something' ); ?>" />
	<label for="<?php echo $this->get_field_id( 'do_something' ); ?>"><?php _e('Display the Do Something action?'); ?></label>
</p>

The key is the (bool) in the checked() function. If it does not exist the checkbox will not maintain the visual check mark correctly.