Updates on Some WordPress Plugins

Posted by Sech in Tips on Jun 21st, 2008 | no responses

Google Maps for WordPress plugin I posted about before has not been working consistently. Even after the latest update, it was not able to pinpoint the marker to the exact location on the map. After trying another plugin that gave JavaScript errors, I decided to use iframe embed on pages and posts within "code" tags which worked out great. The the moral of the story is that before you run out and try to find a plugin to accomplish a certain task, see if you can do it without a plugin.

Perishable Press has a good article titled Optimize WordPress: Pure Code Alternatives for 7 Unnecessary Plugins about this.

The process of embedding the Google Map on your blog page or post is very easy: After you searched for the address on Google Maps, you'll see a link on top left corner of the map that is titled "Link to this page". When you click on the link, dropdown box will offer you two options. Click on "Customize and preview embedded map" option and adjust your map size settings so that the map fits your blog page/post, copy the code and past it on your page/post within "code" tags. That is all there is to it. This is the easiest way to go if you only need a simple location map on your blog.

The same approach applies to WP iPaper plugin I talked about here. There is no need to use it at all. Get your iPaper embed code and insert it on your post/page within "code' tags. This way you can even include the document's text in embed code. Including the text of your document in the embed code will allow search engine crawlers to index the document. As Scribd explains:

This will mean people who search for relevant terms may end up at the page where you add the embed code. This will help drive more traffic to web pages where you embed the document.

Now on to another plugin I have started using:

WordPress Custom Admin Branding plugin is great if you have a blog/website you will allow others to register and use admin area to contribute. You can customize your WordPress login screen to look the way you want.

The Custom Admin Branding Plugin allows you to not only re-brand the WordPress login screen, but also the admin header and footer with your own custom images.

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