Results 71 - 80 of about 12807 stories
Matt Mullenweg on 21 January 2012, 8:44 am   Category: Blog

Two excellent essays on how Hollywood has completely put our legal system out of whack through years of twisting our legislative process to their ends, or as Shirky put it “imagine the possibility of a longer jail term for streaming a Michael Jackson video than Jackson’s own doctor got for killing actual Michael Jackson?”

Andrew Bridges on PandoDaily: Forget SOPA, Hollywood Already Had a Field Day with the Justice System.

Clay Shirky on his blog: Pick up the pitchforks: David Pogue underestimates Hollywood.


WP Tavern on 20 January 2012, 6:00 pm   Category: Wordcamp

The conference that was supposed to bring together heavyweights within the open source world to Scotland has been cancelled. KevinJohn Gallagher listed a number of reasons as to the cancellation of the conference with one of them being the unfortunate circumstance of a number of people requesting refunds for their tickets after Kevin published an article explaining why his company would no longer be using WordPress. He promises to refund everyone’s tickets in full but you’ll have to give him some time as it involves multiple parties.    

No related posts.


WordPress.com on 20 January 2012, 12:18 pm   Category: Blog

It’s been an extra big week in the news ’round these parts, so much so that the launch announcement of our latest premium theme seems like an extra extra good way to headline our Friday.

Newsy is a versatile business and news-friendly theme that offers up to ten different layouts, four footer columns, custom link and accent colors, and a custom site header. Brand and content-focused editorial teams will love publishing with this theme.

Newsy: Home Page

Newsy: Home Page

Designed by Themify, Newsy comes with an impressive set of Theme Options that afford you a great deal of flexibility with how you choose to display your website. Easily control your site’s sidebar positions, home page and archive page post layouts, and navigation bar search box visibility.

You also have the ability to change your site-wide link and accent colors. A few quick adjustments via the options panel will truly have the effect of individualizing your site and making it stand out from the crowd.

Newsy: Accent and Link Color Examples

Newsy: Accent and Link Color Examples

Up to ten different layouts in Newsy can be achieved by simply altering your widgets and Theme Options. A wide sidebar, narrow sidebar, and two mini sidebars come rolled into Newsy, as well as additional post display and sidebar alignment options.

Newsy: Wide Sidebar Left, Narrow Sidebar Right Option

Newsy: Wide Sidebar Left, Narrow Sidebar Right Option

All of this is controlled either from within Appearance → Widgets or Appearance → Theme Options. The goal with Newsy is maximum flexibility without the headache of manually configuring a thousand theme options. In this case we really can say that less—well, fewer (options)—is more. :)

Newsy is a premium upgrade for your blog at $85 for a lifetime subscription. Read more about its features on the Theme Showcase or dive right into previewing it on your blog from Appearance → Themes.



Weblog Tools Collection on 20 January 2012, 7:00 am   Category: Themes

Pronto is a very minimal grid style masonry theme.

Spring Wish is bright, optimistic and reminiscent of spring.


WordPress.com on 19 January 2012, 6:04 pm   Category: Blog

If you feel like it’s a chore to keep up with all your favorite blogs, you can now read posts from all the blogs you follow (even the ones that aren’t on WordPress.com!) in one convenient place on the WordPress.com home page:

Your reader displays all the posts across all the blogs you follow in the order they were published, with the most recent content appearing at the top. You’ll see an excerpt of the introduction to each post, the first image in the post, and thumbnails of any other images that the post contains.

You can even like and reblog WordPress.com content directly from the reader (we’re working on bringing reblogs back to the toolbar!) using the icons in the top right corner of each post:

Whether you’re at the computer or using the WordPress app on an Android or iOS mobile device, having all the posts from the blogs you follow in one place makes it easy to find the updates that are important to you, and skip over the ones that aren’t.

Click in the toolbar at the top of any WordPress.com site (you must be logged in to see it) to add new blogs to your reader. For directions on adding blogs from Tumblr, Blogger, and other services to your reader, check out the support document on managing the blogs you follow.

Discover New Blogs, Too

To find some awesome new WordPress.com blogs you might like, check out the Recommended Blogs section of the reader:

Right now you can browse blogs in twelve different categories, and we’ll be adding more very soon.

Use WordPress.com as a Real-Time Information Network

If you want to see what people are saying about your hometown, favorite sports team, or a concert you attended last night, add any topic to your reader to create a stream of all posts published with that tag.

You can add as many topic streams to your reader as you like. You’ll notice frequent updates being published under general topics like “art” and “books,” but you can also add more specific topics like “Picasso” or “J. K. Rowling.”

Want less email?

Each time you follow a blog, new posts from that site will appear instantly in your reader, and you’ll also receive them by email. If you prefer to receive email notifications on a daily or weekly basis, or not at all, you can change your default email settings from the bottom left corner of your reader. You can also change your email notification preferences on a per-blog basis.

Find Friends on WordPress.com

Want to see if any of your Facebook and Twitter friends are on WordPress.com? Give the Friend Finder a try:

So, how will you use the reader, and what can we do to improve it?



New Theme: Convertible 2 weeks ago.

ElegantThemes on 19 January 2012, 2:13 pm   Category: Themes

Convertible is a new take on the classic sales page. Landing pages are useful for marketers who have a single product to sell and need to create a page to pitch it to their visitors. Our landing page theme comes with tons of easy-to-use elements such as buttons, pricing tables, image sliders, tabs and more.

A landing page needs to be versatile and customizable, which is why we devised an entirely new way of managing your pages. Convertible includes a custom Drag and Drop page builder that allows you to completely customize your landing page without ever having to touch a line of code. I am confident that anyone who uses the new builder will soon wish they could use the same functions on their other websites as well, which is why we will be developing the builder technology into its own plugin in the near future to be used with any theme!

Drag and Drop Page Builder

With Convertible comes the most advanced feature we have ever packaged with a theme. Your page is no longer built using the standard page editor, but instead with our custom drag and drop builder. No longer do you need to use HTML or Shortcodes to create advanced layouts, which often lead to WYSIWYG conflicts and headaches.

The builder works using what we call “Modules.” Modules can be whatever we want them to be, and in this case, are various elements that we thought would be useful on a landing page. These modules include Tabs, Toggles, Image Sliders, Buttons, Testimonials, Pricing Tables, Boxes, Lists, Videos, Images and more. These modules are stacked onto a visual canvas like building blocks, allowing you to intuitively structure your page without ever having to touch a line of code or get lost in a sea of excessive shortcodes.

Drag and Drop Modules Onto Your Canvas


To add a module to your page, simply drag it from the list of available modules and drop it onto your canvas. Once dropped, your module can be edited, rearranged, re-sized or deleted. You can have an unlimited number of modules of your page, allowing for infinite possibilities.

Rearrange Modules On The Page


Once a stack of modules have been added to your page, they can easily be re-arranged by dragging and dropping them around the canvas to change their order.

Re-size Modules With The Drag Of Your Mouse


Any module can also be re-sized on the fly. Simply drag the edge of the module with your mouse to adjust it’s size. The size is % based, so the visualization in the builder gives you a good idea of how big your module will be in relation to your other modules. A % value is also displayed as your re-size your modules. Modules also float and re-stack themselves. For example, if two modules with a width of 50% are set next to each other, they will float onto a single line creating a single 100% row that contains both modules.

Create Advanced Column Layouts and Nested Modules


If you would rather have a more exact approach to structuring your modules, you can next them inside columns. Like modules, columns can be dragged onto your canvas. Modules can then by dragged inside this columns. You can add multiple modules to any single column.

All Modules Are Also Shortcodes!


One really cool thing we have done is  make all of our modules function as shortcodes as well. This means that any module that contains text can nest modules as shortcodes within themselves, allowing you to create modules with multiple tiers. If you drag a modules into the WordPress text editor, the shortcode markup for the module is added automatically.

Add Widgets and Sidebars Anywhere On Your Page


Widget-ready-areas have been turned into modules as well. This means that you can drag and drop new “sidebars” onto your canvas and place them anywhere on your page. Anywhere that you can add a module you can also add a sidebar, allowing you to integrate your plugins and widgets anywhere in the theme.

I hope everyone puts the theme to good use. I can’t wait to see what you create! Let us know what you think of the new builder :)


Justin Tadlock on 19 January 2012, 1:36 pm   Category: Blog

Recently, I needed to build some functionality into a site that disabled the ability to reset the passwords of certain site administrators via the “lost password” form. However, I wanted to leave this option open for other users in case they needed to reset their password after forgetting it.

Thus, the Prevent Password Reset plugin was born.

How the plugin works

Prevent Password Reset is an extremely simple plugin. It adds a checkbox to the “Personal Options” section of each user’s profile page in the WordPress admin as shown in the following screenshot. Anyone who can edit the user’s profile can select this option for the user.

Screenshot of password reset option on user profile page

Once this option is selected for a user, their password cannot be reset via the “lost password” form. The following screenshot shows what happens when someone attempts to reset the password for a user with password preventing enabled.

Screenshot of password reset disabled

Download the plugin

You can download the latest version from the WordPress plugin repository: Prevent Password Reset Plugin. I hope you enjoy it and can get some type of use out of it.

Please do not ask support questions in the comments below. If you’re in need of plugin support, head over to the Theme Hybrid support forums, which is where I handle support for all my plugins and themes.


WP Tavern on 19 January 2012, 8:00 am   Category: Wordcamp

I was contacted the other day by one of the organizing team members of WordCamp Phoenix to let me know that they have released a press release that contains all the information you need if you plan on attending the event. I should attend this event based on the fact that it’s being held in a city that’s the same as my last name. The press release is as follows:

WordCamp Phoenix Returns to Chandler as
One of the Nation’s Largest WordPress Education Events

Chandler, Ariz. — There’s a good chance your favorite blog, website or online store is powered by WordPress, the free online DIY website software that has put web publishing power in the hands of anyone with a keyboard and Internet access. February 24th-26th, more than 650 small business owners, non-profit agencies, realtors, photographers, designers, journalists and even kids will swarm downtown Chandler to learn easy website publishing and development at the 2012 WordCamp Phoenix.

The non-profit event brings together WordPress enthusiasts from around the globe to share best practices and strategies for a wide variety of businesses. Headlining speakers include Lisa Sabin (@lisasabinwilson), author of WordPress for Dummies, Sean Herron (@seanherron), Technology Strategist at NASA Headquarters and Jane Wells (@janeforshort), Head of User Experience at WordPress.com. Users of all skill levels and backgrounds are encouraged to attend.

“It’s an amazing mix of folks at all ability levels,” said Dallin Harris, one of the event’s organizers. “I’ve watched small business owners go from zero net knowledge in the 101 class to publishing their own business website by the end of the conference.”

Not just for novices, WordCamp Phoenix has become the valley’s must-attend networking and continuing education event for professional web developers. A series of panel discussions and workshops aim to cultivate a creative community among design, web development and communication professions.

Several of last year’s popular activities will return, including FREE Friday workshops and an after party hosted on the beautiful grounds of Chandler’s new City Hall. Other highlights include:

• Saturday classes and talks geared toward specific industries such as publishing & media, eCommerce, visual arts, education, government, nonprofit and real estate
• Developers’ Day and WordPress for Kids hosted at Gangplank on Sunday
• And for networking fun, a Friday evening bar crawl and ice cream social

Tickets are $35 and are available at 2012.phoenix.wordcamp.org/attend/register/. Ticket

Ticket holders get access to more than 30 sessions, classes and networking events across 3 days. As an added bonus, event sponor WP Engine will supply each attendee with free lifetime website hosting.

The Friday workshops are open to the public at no cost. For updates on speakers and scheduling, visit 2012.phoenix.wordcamp.org.

WordCamp Phoenix 2012
Friday, February 24 – Sunday, February 26
Chandler Center for the Arts | 250 N. Arizona Ave., Chandler, AZ 85225
http://2012.phoenix.wordcamp.org | Facebook.com/PhxWordCamp | twitter.com/phxwordcamp

Related posts:

  1. WordCamp Phoenix On Friday The 13th!
  2. The First Virtual WordCamp
  3. My Thoughts On The Virtual WordCamp


Matt Mullenweg on 18 January 2012, 11:23 am   Category: Blog

Really great article from my friend Hunter Walk on #Reinventing the Chamber of Commerce, which is especially relevant given how the US Chamber of Commerce has been tending to side with the MPAA and RIAA rather than actual small businesses, startups, and tech communities.


Matt Mullenweg on 18 January 2012, 10:51 am   Category: Blog

I've built my life on a free and open internet. As the co-founder of WordPress.org, a free software project that aims to democratise publishing, and the founder of Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com that hosts blogs from around the world in pursuit of the same goal, the proposed US legislation to regulate and censor the free and open foundation of the internet makes my mouth go dry with fear.

The rise of the web over the past two decades and the freedom to publish and express yourself online will be looked back upon as a cultural revolution.

We have gone from a world split between gatekeepers and media "consumers" to a world in which anyone regardless of geography, finances, social class, race, gender, or any other demographic identifier is free to engage with the rest of the world on their own terms.

That freedom is of paramount importance and must be protected.

That's why we're blacking out our websites on the 18th to raise awareness of this issue, and giving our users tools to do the same.

The tech world is fiercely competitive and companies seldom agree on anything, when you see so many united in solidarity on a single issue, you know there's something to it.

What concerns me the most about Sopa and the Protect IP Act is not that media companies and legislators want to have measures in place to protect copyright – for example we reply to and comply with DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) takedown notices on WordPress.com when we receive them, it works well for everybody – it's that the authors of the legislation don't seem to really understand how the internet works.

The definition of domestic versus foreign sites shows a woeful lack of comprehension about how domains are used and how traffic flows on the internet.

Where do I stand? On the side of publishing freedom.

What do I hope for? That these pieces of legislation be set aside, and that any future legislation in this arena be drafted by people who understand how the internet works – and how it won't if they do the wrong thing.

My part of the set of op-eds on the BBC concerning today’s blackout. Check it out to also see Jimmy Wales, the MPAA, and the Chamber of Commerce. Hat tip to Jane for helping out with the above.


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