It's Episode 588 and we have plugins for Frequent Buys, Mail Catcher, Buying Free Stuff, Freesoul Deactivating, Editing Elementor, Lazy Elementor... and ClassicPress Options. It's all coming up on WordPress Plugins A-Z!

Cruising with WordPress

Cruising with WordPress

John's Intro:

It's Episode 589 and we have plugins for Googly Fonts, Local Fonts, Normal Widgets, Darkening Sites, AI Writing, Dating Installs… and ClassicPress Options. It's all coming up on WordPress Plugins A-Z!

– ‘good morning, good afternoon, good evening, wherever you happen to be hiding out there on the globe today! Coming to you LIVE from …'

Amber's Rant:

Welcome to Episode 589 – Cruising with WordPress – I hope everyone is doing well and keeping healthy! Apologies for missing last weeks show – I was cut down by an abcessed tooth – I highly recommend against ever getting that. It sucks.

Remember: This is a Value for Value show, meaning any value you find here, offer that same value back! We accept all currencies including time and talent currency! Chocolate is always good too…

And don't skip the end of the show – you never know what kind of amazing life altering advice you might catch!

A special note to all of our Listeners out there: What do you think about the way our show flows? Got an idea? Share it with us! Got a question? Don't be shy about asking! If you have a question or an idea that will make this show better, don't hesitate to chuck it at us – if we can't catch it we will just duck.

…When you see this in the notes, this means we didn't read this on the show, and that the only way to find this information out is to read our Show Notes!

…You can send any questions/suggestions or notes saying ‘hi' over to me at amber@wppro.ca, or hit up our site wpppluginsatoz.com/contact – Be creative with the title so that the spammer eater doesn't eat your note though!

Let's start the show with this weeks Featured Artist:

Artist: Angel Lemus —  http://www.koadigital.com

We are still lacking in new art, however because of this we get to bring forth some amazing art that has not been seen for a while!

Feeling Inspired? Hit up our site at https://wppluginsatoz.com/artwork/ and submit some artwork of your own!

…We can NEVER have too much art!

Or check out allll the artwork at: https://wppluginsatoz.com/artwork/

Breaking News in the WordPress World at large!!

…If I missed something, shoot me a link at amber@wppro.ca – it may show up on the next show!

News this week:

WordPress Vulnerability Report – January 11, 2023 (https://ithemes.com/blog/wordpress-vulnerability-report-january-11-2023/) – Quite a few of the vulnerabilities out there have been fixed, be sure to check out that list. The vulnerabilities this week are a little less than last, the ones I recognize most easily are: JetWidgets for Elementor, Social Sharing Toolkit, and Accordion Shortcodes. There are no WordPress Theme vulnerabilities to report this week.

ClassicPress Community Votes to Re-fork WordPress (https://wptavern.com/classicpress-community-votes-to-re-fork-wordpress) – The final vote was 20 for re-forking, and only 18 for as-is. Unfortunate in my opinion since this really just makes ClassicPress a WordPress without Gutenberg. Should be interesting to see what happens down the road.

Automattic Launches Blaze Ad Network for Jetpack and WordPress.com Sites (https://wptavern.com/automattic-launches-blaze-ad-network-for-jetpack-and-wordpress-com-sites) – Automattic is bringing Tumblr's Blaze ad tool to WordPress sites and to Jetpack. This will be an affordable way to attract new followers, get their game out there, or just send out something funny into the universe for $5.

New Video Explores Site Building Progress from WordPress 5.9 to 6.2 (https://wptavern.com/new-video-explores-site-building-progress-from-wordpress-5-9-to-6-2) – Seems a bit longer than it actually has been, though the way we build has certainly changed. Seems like a very interesting idea, taking the two and comparing them in a video.

The Most Mind-Blowing Neural Stories of 2022 (https://thenextweb.com/news/most-mind-blowing-neural-stories-of-2022) – This is a pretty cool read, goes through all the crazy yet awesome tech stories of the last year! From Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter, to former Google engineer Blake Lemoine declaring he'd met a sentient AI.

ClassicPress News:

…Our News Section really isn't complete without ClassicPress News…

ClassicPress has released 1.5.0 which which brings full support for PHP 8.0., Image Lazy Loading, And More In v1.5.0  Read up on all the changes that come with the new version.

Remember to do your backup before you upgrade!!
https://www.classicpress.net/php-8-0-support-in-v1-5-0/

ClassicPress is doing a Poll of its users to see where they want ClassicPress to go in the future.  They have given two options to vote on. Go check out the options and cast your vote!
https://forums.classicpress.net/t/community-poll-the-future-of-classicpress/4446

ClassicPress has projects they are looking to have some support with.  They have a page with these projects listed and who the contact is for the project.  Check out the following page if you are using ClassicPress and are interested in helping them move forward!    https://forums.classicpress.net/t/currently-active-projects/3630

They also have some petitions posted check them out!

…For some up to date news on ClassicPress check out the ClassicPress Blog.

The Extras

…check out our Facebook, or Twitter page for even more!

Google Chrome is finally making this important privacy tweak (https://www.techradar.com/news/google-chrome-is-finally-making-this-important-privacy-tweak)

Twitter's broken third-party apps will be the final straw for many users (https://www.techradar.com/news/twitters-broken-third-party-apps-will-be-the-final-straw-for-many-users)

2022 saw a huge rise in cyberattacks (https://www.techradar.com/news/2022-saw-a-huge-rise-in-cyberattacks)

AMD has revealed a whole host of CPU security flaws (https://www.techradar.com/news/amd-has-revealed-a-whole-host-of-cpu-security-flaws)

Laptops with Nvidia RTX 4090 through to 4050 GPUs are about to go on sale (https://www.techradar.com/news/laptops-with-nvidia-rtx-4090-through-to-4050-gpus-are-about-to-go-on-sale)

How McLaren leverages data for both its F1 and esport teams (https://www.techradar.com/news/how-mclaren-leverages-data-for-both-its-f1-and-esport-teams)

Microsoft Edge could go for rounded corners in a big way – but that might not be popular (https://www.techradar.com/news/microsoft-edge-could-go-for-rounded-corners-in-a-big-way-but-that-might-not-be-popular)

Google thinks a US Supreme Court case could radically change the internet (https://www.techradar.com/news/google-thinks-a-us-supreme-court-case-could-radically-change-the-internet)

…Some random entertainment in the World of WordPress!

…Matt's Famous Quotes
https://www.idrlabs.com/quotes/matt-mullenweg.php

…The hall of shame via Automattic:
transparency.automattic.com/tag/hall-of-shame/

Let's have a peek at our Contests for this week…

Firstly we want to thank Simple Giveaways for being totally awesome and providing us with their Premium Version for our contests!

Secondly we want to thank Steve Goodtime & Brant Matthews for creating our amazing jingle we still use!!

And we want to thank Charlie for coming to our aid and rescue yet again with another fantastic contest!

Reminder to our winner of the last contest, David be sure to check your email! I sent you a new confirmation email in case you missed the first one over the holidays, but unless you respond we can't pass on the prize!

Our Contest this week IS:

 Enter for your chance to win SweepPress – Unlimited Lifetime Agency Licence Giveaway valued at $459!

Powerful Database Cleanup Plugin for WordPress

SweepPress is an easy-to-use plugin for WordPress, built around 28 different Sweepers for database cleanup, support for WP-CLI and WP REST API, the ability to create sweep jobs that can include one or more sweepers, and that can be scheduled to run periodically, and other useful tools for database clean up and optimization.

Click HERE to visit SweepPress

…To Enter, head on over to wppluginsatoz.com/giveaway and enter for your chance to win!…

Remember, this is YOUR show! We are just the Worker Bee's here – Don't be afraid to jump up and down and demand a turn at the wheel to help guide the show to where YOU want it to go!

That goes for all the Developers out there too – this is YOUR show! by supporting us with your Plugin donations you are helping to guide the show to where you want to see it go! A GIANT Thank You is owed to the Developers who have been supporting us this whole time, we honestly could not have even gotten this show started without you!

If any Developers out there listening right now are interested in adding to the show by donating a Premium License for our Contests, you can do so by going to WPPluginsAtoZ.com/PluginContest!

Time to dive in to the meat and potatoes of plugin depravity!

Off we go….

WordPress Plugins

————————————————-

John's Plugin

WP Google Fonts

https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-google-fonts/

Version:
Requires: or higher
Compatible up to:
Released:01 January 1970
Downloads:
Last Updated:01 January 1970
Ratings:
0
(0 star out of 5)

The Lowdown:

Looking for an easy way to find Google Fonts. This is a plugin for you and when you use it with the next plugin I cover you can embed those fonts easily into your site.

Rating 5 Dragons

————————————————-

Amber's Plugin

DarkMySite – WP Dark Mode

https://wordpress.org/plugins/darkmysite/

Version:1.2.8
Requires: or higher
Compatible up to:6.6.2
Released:16 November 2022
Downloads:110148
Last Updated:21 September 2024
Ratings:
4.6
(4.6 star out of 5)

The Lowdown:

This is a nifty plug'n'play for giving your front end a dark mode option. No settings or anything, and the toggle on the front end is rather pretty! It shows up on the bottom right corner of your site just out of the way.

I always prefer to do my work in Dark Mode, I find it saves my eyes. Although, I have had a bit of a hard time finding dark mode options for the front end of the site that does not mess with the pictures on your site – I tried this one, and it seems to mostly leave your pictures alone.

There is a slight dark haze that falls over your pictures when the user turns on dark mode. While this may not seem like a major issue, after all dark mode is generally used by those like me who are doing so to save their eyes – it could cause an issue if brightness and vibrancy is a main reason for having your pictures on your site in the first place.

I like this plugin, it works well and seems to play well with others. So long as brightness and vibrancy of colours is not part of the reason for your images on your site, this one will work well for you!

Rating 4 Dragons

————————————————-

John's Plugin

Local Google Fonts

https://wordpress.org/plugins/local-google-fonts/

Version:0.22.0
Requires:4.6 or higher
Compatible up to:6.3.5
Released:16 May 2022
Downloads:519288
Last Updated:11 September 2023
Ratings:
4.5
(4.5 star out of 5)

The Lowdown:

An easy way to embed Google fonts onto your website to help speed it up a bit and to avoid the GPDR

Rating 5 Dragons

————————————————-

Amber's Plugin

AIPress

https://wordpress.org/plugins/aipress/

Version:1.2.2
Requires:5.0 or higher
Compatible up to:6.5.0
Released:06 January 2023
Downloads:4162
Last Updated:08 April 2024
Ratings:
4.3
(4.3 star out of 5)

The Lowdown:

This is a plugin that is supposed to help you to generate post content.

The first thing that happened when I activated it, was I got this message:

‘The plugin generated 168 characters of unexpected output during activation. If you notice “headers already sent” messages, problems with syndication feeds or other issues, try deactivating or removing this plugin.'

Since this is just my sandbox site, I decided to try playing around with the plugin anyways. You will find the dashboard for this plugin on the left hand side in your main menu as ‘AIPress'.

At the top of the dashboard there is a place to enter in your Open API Key. I didn't initially see anything about that in the description, though it is in the Q&A area.

I decided at this point to opt out, I didn't feel like signing up for an API key to use this, and I didn't like that it was creating unexpected output simply by being activated.

I have found plugins like this don't always delete themselves fully when you deactivate and delete them, though after double checking I saw that yes, the plugin did indeed fully delete all the files from the site. So that is a good thing.

I'm not sure what to think of this plugin…

Rating 3 Dragons


We Interrupt the Meat and Potatoes of Plugin Depravity Edition to bring you our Donations Segment and to thank our Producers!

Remember, this is YOUR show! We're just the Worker Bee's here. Don't forget to restock the show's larders with some Time, Treasure, or Talent Donations! Need more info on how to do that? Check out our site wppluginsatoz.com – right up in the menu you will see each one under ‘Donations'!

Special thanks goes to:

Free-Lance Producers popping in and out:

Though always showing up at unexpected times, these Producers are surely part of the reason our name is getting out there! Thank you!

…If you have listened to even 10 minutes of this show, or shown up a single time to one of our live shows on YouTube, you are one of our many Free-Lance Producers! Although you guys are always popping in and out at unexpected times, we appreciate your support and periodic help with one thing or another – thank you!

Back Room Producers hanging-out in the Lounge:

Always about the place consuming all the coffee and donuts, these Producers earn it by helping out with our contests, artwork, site organization, notes, questions, suggestions, licenses, and by hiring us! Your Time and Talent Donations are equal to your Treasure Donations of under $50, and we would not be here without you – thank you!

…Back Room Producers, if you ever notice something that needs some work feel free to reach out to us and let us know – you can offer to take it up yourself, or just let us know and we will add it to our list.

War Room Producers:

With their donations of $50 or more these Producers receive a few extra perks – an official AtoZ Handle of their choice, a spotlight in that weeks show for a short speech, an official Executive Producership Credit, and seeing the ‘Magic' as it happens up in the War Room before we send the show out into the netherworld of the internets! Thank you for sticking by us and helping to keep the Back Room Producers stocked in coffee and donuts!

…**If you prefer to stay anonymous, please let us know at the beginning of your note to us regarding your donation! We are more than happy to keep you anonymous from the world – nobody is ever forced out of the tender embrace of the shadows on this show!**

…To receive your Official AtoZ Handle, think up an original name, and send it into us! Be sure to note down the show number and title of the show so that we know when to log it!

…Your spotlight can be an elevator pitch for your business, a note, or you can just skip it!

…The Producership Credit we offer is REAL! When you send your donation in to us of $50 or more, please be sure to note down the number and title of the show your donation shows up on, and we will back up your right to claim Producership!

…'Seeing the Magic Happen' refers to being part of the show – if you are interested in taking up a larger part in the show, reach out to us and let us know! We will be happy to discuss the options!

…War Room Producers, same as for the Back Room Producers, reach out to us if you notice something that needs work! Whether you are wanting to take up the job yourself or just inform us and leave it, we will add it to our list!

Thank you, now back to the Meat and Potatoes of Plugin Depravity Edition!


John's Plugin

Back to Normal Widgets

https://wordpress.org/plugins/back-to-normal-widgets/

Version:1.0.0
Requires: or higher
Compatible up to:6.1.7
Released:15 January 2023
Downloads:740
Last Updated:15 January 2023
Ratings:
0
(0 star out of 5)

The Lowdown:

Back to Normal Widgets” is a simple plugin that restores the classic widgets settings, screens and disables the block editor from managing widgets.

With this plugin activated, you can continue to use the traditional widgets settings screens to add and customize widgets on your WordPress site. The block editor will no longer be able to manage widgets, and the ‘Customize' menu item and button will be removed from the WordPress dashboard.

There is no configuration required – simply install and activate the plugin to restore the classic widgets settings screens and disable the block editor for widgets.

Rating 4 Dragons
————————————————-

Amber's Plugin

Codecorun – Other Installation Details

https://wordpress.org/plugins/codecorun-other-installation-details/

Version:1.0.0
Requires:4.7 or higher
Compatible up to:6.1.7
Released:12 January 2023
Downloads:1355
Last Updated:12 January 2023
Ratings:
0
(0 star out of 5)

The Lowdown:

This plugin is a really helpful free plugin! It's another plug'n'play, no settings. Although if you want to change the date setup, you can do so through the general settings of your site – however this will affect your entire site.

Once installed, this plugin will record the following of each and every plugin for you and display it in your plugins dashboard area where you go to update:

  • Displays the installation date of the plugins
  • Displays the last deactivation date of the plugins
  • Displays the last reactivation date of the plugins
  • Displays the user who installed the plugins

For those who need to troubleshoot a website, this can be a very useful plugin! Not so useful if you are new to the site you are trying to troubleshoot though – the plugin can only record plugins that have been installed and activated after this plugin has been installed.

Rating 5 Dragons

————————————————-

ClassicPress

…A little about ClassicPress for those who aren't sure: ClassicPress is WordPress frozen at version 4.9. Once WordPress moved to 5, they added in a whole lot of new folders, and the experimental additions to the Core started in earnest. ClassicPress is literally the Classic version of WordPress. A few plugins have been made over the years for just ClassicPress, though all Plugins compatible with WordPress 4.9 should work for ClassicPress.

To any ClassicPress user listening right now: I challenge you – yes YOU – to write a review of your favourite, or least favourite ClassicPress plugin, and send it into us! You can do so by hitting us up at https://wppluginsatoz.com/submit-plugin-review/!

…And feel free to add more to this section by reaching out to me at amber@wppro.ca.

ClassicPress Resource Section:

This information is like Fruit Cake! It doesn't wither away and will still be good years down the road so it's great for learning! This is no longer ENTIRELY true as ClassicPress has voted to fork WordPress 6.0. This section is true for now, although we are thinking that it is going to change pretty soon… When they release the forked version, I will be sure to update this section.

…We have thrown some ClassicPress Resources in here for you – and they appear to have stuck like well cooked pasta! Glad you made it to this part of the notes since we only mention it lightly on the show – If we missed something, let us know!

…Learn more about ClassicPress 1.4.0 RC2:
https://forums.classicpress.net/t/classicpress-1-4-0-rc2-release-notes/3785?fbclid=IwAR3wGK5IW8ssJ-XC4k7IiZMBtSjUTVN2pexk6ATCRvuMN-Fn-McOy-XJJv8

…ClassicPress Tutorials on their site:

https://www.classicpress.net/category/tutorials/

…ClassicPress's “Must Have” Plugins List:

https://forums.classicpress.net/t/must-have-plugins-list/1163

…ClassicPress Repository!!

https://directory.classicpress.net/plugins They now have 71 plugins (and counting!) available.

…WordPress Plugin Section compatible with ClassicPress:

https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/classicpress/

Questions, Notes, and Feedback from our Producers out there:

…Send us your thoughts and opinions, but most of all send us your questions! No such thing as a stupid question people! I was new not too long ago, and I know how overwhelming it can be stepping into this world at this stage – I know for a fact that questions you have are the same questions others out there have!

How to be part of your own production!

Interviews – get yourself out there using us as your tool!
…Looking for a way to get your name and work out there? Use us as a stepping stone! Hit us up at https://wppluginsatoz.com/interview

Send in Plugin Reviews, or suggestions for Plugin reviews!
…Have a plugin you love? Or one you really think people should avoid? Reach out to us and get your words and opinion out into the world by hitting us up at https://wppluginsatoz.com/submit-plugin-review/

Send in questions and/or comments!

…Have a thought to share? Send it in! You can stay anonymous or belt your name out in all caps!

Hey Amber and John,

Happy New Year!  Really liking the new layout for the show and the variety of plugins you are reviewing.  Wishing you both a great year for 2023.

Keep up the good work.

Sharron

Stuff and reminders about Stuff:

Meetups:

Nothing new has been set out yet, it all depends on how moody our Island is going be this winter and how much snow/rain we get – no sense having a meetup if the main highway gets washed out again!

Keep an eye here for the next Meet Up, eventually we will get it going!

Random:

Remember you can check out our Show Notes on our site wppluginsatoz.com! There is extra information to grab up there that we don't even speak out loud on the show!

Today's Plugins we covered were:

John’s Plugins:

  • WP Google Fonts – 5
  • Local Google Fonts – 5
  • Back to Normal Widgets – 4

Amber's Plugins:

  • DarkMySite – WP Dark Mode – 4
  • AIPress – 3
  • Codecorun – Other installation details – 5

Ways to support the show!

You can support us by Subscribing to our Newsletter, Donating, or reviewing us on Stitcher Radio, Google Play, or the iTunes Store.

Join us on our Facebook, and hit the *Like* button on our YouTube Channel!

…Just showing up to our YouTube Channel and joining us live every Thursday at 11am PDT is a FANTASTIC show of support! So is joining our FaceBook page and hitting *Share* on our posts every once in a while!

…Giving a review of us on any of the platforms listed above would be super helpful too!

Want to get ahold of us???

If you still do Snail Mail, you can send an actual, physical letter or item to this Brick and Mortar address:
…(Pssst! I love receiving things that are not bills! Especially art if you enjoy drawing – no matter what age!)

WP Plugins A to Z
C/O John Overall
20-754 E Fairview Rd.
Victoria, BC  V9A 5T9
Canada

OR, you can email us!

Amber: amber@wppro.ca
John: john@wppro.ca

Q & A Time with Amber – Catch this info on our YouTube Channel

If you have questions you would like to have asked on the show, send them in to me at Amber@WPPro.ca – let's see if we can stump my dad!

  • What kind of files would be likely to exist in files that WordPress labels ‘unexpected'?
  • Where would you look to find out if any of the ‘unexpected files' were nefarious?

I have a couple more questions for my dad just after the closing credits, for those listening elsewhere, you will have to make your way over to the YouTube's!

Questions asked after closing credits:

  • When you uninstall a plugin, are there any ‘out of the way' places you should check for stray files that didn't delete?
  • Is there a possibility that a plugin file could insert itself so deeply that removing it breaks other plugins or your site? What should you do then?

One more time for the ways to contact us!

Our Brick and Mortar Address – just in case you decide to send along a gift!
(Especially art if you enjoy drawing – no matter what age!)

WP Plugins A to Z
C/O John Overall
20-754 E Fairview Rd.
Victoria, BC  V9A 5T9
Canada

Fastest way to contact us:

John:

Amber: