I’ve been working on a few BuddyPress projects lately, using custom themes. Actually, I’ve used a great new plug-in, BuddyPress Template Pack by Andy Peatling to help with custom themes. While this great plug-in got me down the road (it basically turns your existing theme into a BuddyPress compatible theme), there were a few things missing. I wanted to share one I solved, and how.

Once I installed the theme and started working on it, I noticed that there was white space at the top of all my pages, enough room for the BuddyPress admin bar. So I knew it had something to be missing code that wasn’t displaying the admin bar. A quick search on the BuddyPress forum site and I found the solution: Make sure the wp_footer() reference is in your template file.

My theme needed a reference to wp_footer(). There was a reference to get_footer(), but that doesn’t help the admin bar. Once I added the reference, the bar shows up as desired. I call this code snippet in the custom theme where the footer should appear.

<?php
function custom_footer() { ?>
    <div id="custom_footer" class="accentBorders">Copyright &#169; 2010 All Rights Reserved.</div>
<?php
    wp_footer();
}
?>

Find more BuddyPress goodness at http://buddypress.org/support/topics/.

By the way, BuddyPress is a set of plug-ins that give your WordPress site the ability to create a community.

Goolge has started transitioning users from Feedburner to its own brand of RSS delivery. After I completed the transition I reviewed the different RSS feeds that are being distributed through Feedburner, and I started to wonder if RSS feeds actually have any value individually.

My reason to question this is I have FriendFeed consuming all of my blogs RSS feeds, my Twitter Feed, my Flickr feed and many other. In essence I am posting all of my content in one location which doesn’t require you to subscribe to my individual feeds, only one FriendFeed. So my question is, are RSS feeds becoming a means to display multiple streams of content in a single location, which can also provide a single RSS feed to consume if someone chooses too?

I know RSS has value, but I’m wondering if it has the same value today as it did a year ago. Are you subscribing to as many individual feeds as you have in the past or are you letting social networks help give you the streams you are most interested in?

I’m excited that WordCamp has been scheduled for Utah. I’m an avid WordPress fan, developer, hack, and bigot. OK, I love other software too, but I really do use WordPress for a lot of projects.

Joseph Scott of Automattic has worked really hard to get this WordCamp going, and I think there is a fantatic lineup of speakers. You will be rocked by Cameraon Moll, Ash Buckles, Alex King, Richard Miller, Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg, and myself. I’ll be talking about using WordPress with podcasts, video and other media.

The event will take place September 27th, at the Novell Open Source Technology Center in Provo, UT. Registration is cheap, includes a t-shirt and lunch. It’s on a Saturday so there shouldn’t be an excuse for not coming.

If you want to learn more about WordPress, its future, and some of the really cool things that can be done with the tool, please come.

If you’re a Flickr user, and want to post photos to your blog, you know there is no way to add categories or tags to the post. There could be a plug-in solution, but I couldn’t find it. Seriously, I looked for a long time. If there is one that does what I’m proposing, please let me know and I will update this post and back out what I’ve done.

This solution isn’t for the faint of heart. And I’m not 100% sure how secure it is. But I know for a fact it works just like I want. Here is the scenario and my hack:

1. Create a new WordPress user for Flickr posts. Doesn’t matter what you call it. Just make sure it has posting rights.
2. Add you blog, or modify and existing entry, in your Flickr account. How to do this is beyond the scope of my explanation.
3. Use the new WordPress user you created in step one in your Flickr blog settings.
4. Modify you xmlrpc.php file that sits in your WordPress root folder, with the below code. It would be in the same place as wp-config.php.

Here is where it gets a little hairy. Find the line which has this code snippet. Mine starts on line 1578, but yours may differ. It’s in the function mw_newPost($args):

if (is_array($catnames)) {

foreach ($catnames as $cat) {

$post_category[] = get_cat_ID($cat);

}

}

Just above the code on line 1578, add this code snippet:

if ( $user_login == '*NEW_USER_NAME*' ) {

$catnames[] = '*CATEGORY*';

$tags_input[] = '*TAG1*';

$tags_input[] = '*TAG2*';

}

Save the file. Flickr gives you the ability to create a test post. I would recommend you do that before calling it good. Make SURE to remove any entries in the Settings/Writing/Update Services box before testing or your test post will show up in your RSS feed and anywhere else that you ping a new post.

Now, when you post from Flickr, using the correct WordPress user, you should have an entry in the category you choose, with the tags you want. You can add as many tags, or even categories as you like.

Again, there may be a more elegant solution that I haven’t found, but for now this solves my problem. I suppose you could use this for any outside service that uses XMLRPC to post to your blog.

I’m also interested in hearing about potential security issues with this solution.

Photo courtesy of poolie.

It’s August 1st. We are in the dog days of summer. The time where you’re just about fed up with hot weather, and ready for the fall cool down to happen. Not to mention you’re ready for the kids to go back to school. Pools are your best friend, and you get up early just to go for a run

NaBloPoMo theme for August is HOT. So, I’ll be writing post about things that are hot. And they won’t necessarily be about the weather.

Play along if you would like, visit the web site here.

Photo by PieterMusterd

We only have five days before PodCampSLC kicks off. The current schedule we have at the moment:

9-10 Come by and get your name tag, get a seat, and schedule your discussions
10-11 Kick off and Keynote by Michael Harper, Professor, Utah Valley University
11:15-12:15 Attend Session 1, join another discussion, or start your own
12:15-1:15 Lunch
1:30-2:30 Attend Session 2, join another discussion, or start your own
2:45-3:45 Attend Session 3, join another discussion, or start your own
4 Wrap up, comments and final thoughts

There will be a Podcasting Genius Bar — Completely open access to recorders, cameras, software, and experts. Michael Harper, from UVSC/UVU, is driving this offering. Please contact Michael with suggestions or to volunteer — harpermi AT uvsc DOT edu.

We need to be out of the building as soon as we can after the wrap up.

Bring your friends, business associates, anyone who is interested in sharing ideas or learning more about new media. Thanks, and we’ll see you there.