Preparation

Before it is possible to start creating your own, custom, templates; a few things have to be done. This is necessary in order to keep your modifications while updating to a later version of the plugin.
Don’t worry, these steps are nothing more then copying, pasting and renaming a directory.

Preparation Steps

1. First go to the plugin directory, usually /wp-content/plugins/fv-community-news/.
2. Copy the Template directory.
3. Go to your themes directory, usually /wp-content/themes/.
4. Paste the Template directory here, and rename it to fvcn
5. You can start editing the template files, located in the fvcn directory, now.

Template Files

Located in the directory you just created, there are a few PHP files. These are the template files you can modify. A brief description of each file will follow below:

form-widget.php
Displays the form in a widget.

form.php
Displays the form.

list-posts-widget.php
Displays the most recent posts in a widget.

list-posts.php
Displays the most recent posts.

posts-archive.php
Displays a complete archive of all the posts ever submitted.

So if, for example, you would like to change the looks of the recent posts in your sidebar widget; you will have to modify list-posts-widget.php.

Template Functions

With version 2.0 and up, the plugin has build-in template tags, very similar to the WordPress ones you use in your themes. You can use these functions to customize the default templates.

Post Functions
These functions can be used to render anything related to a submitted post.

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fvcn_has_posts($args)

fvcn_posts()

fvcn_the_post()

fvcn_get_post_id()

fvcn_post_id()

fvcn_get_post_author()

fvcn_post_author()

fvcn_get_post_author_email()

fvcn_post_author_email()

fvcn_get_post_status()

fvcn_post_status()

fvcn_get_post_author_ip()

fvcn_post_author_ip()

fvcn_get_post_title()

fvcn_post_title()

fvcn_get_post_content()

fvcn_post_content()

fvcn_get_post_excerpt()

fvcn_post_excerpt()

fvcn_get_post_url()

fvcn_has_post_url()

fvcn_post_url()

fvcn_get_post_link($text)

fvcn_post_link($text)

fvcn_get_post_title_link()

fvcn_get_post_date($format)

fvcn_post_date($format)

fvcn_get_post_views()

fvcn_post_views()

fvcn_get_post_approved()

fvcn_post_approved()

fvcn_get_post_approve_link()

fvcn_post_approve_link()

fvcn_get_post_unapprove_link()

fvcn_post_unapprove_link()

fvcn_get_post_edit_link()

fvcn_post_edit_link()

fvcn_get_post_spam_link()

fvcn_post_spam_link()

fvcn_get_post_unspam_link()

fvcn_post_unspam_link()

fvcn_get_post_delete_link()

fvcn_post_delete_link()

Form Functions
Use these functions to create the submission form.

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fvcn_get_form()

fvcn_form()

fvcn_get_form_message()

fvcn_form_message()

fvcn_form_processed()

Render Functions
These functions render a complete section.

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fvcn_list_posts()

fvcn_post_archives()

Various Functions
Other functions.

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fvcn_get_rss_url()

fvcn_rss_url()

More information on these functions will soon be available.
All these functions are located in the file fv-community-news/Includes/TemplateFunctions.php. You can view this file for more information on these functions as well.

After adding version 1.3, I received a few notifications about the javascript. It gave errors, wasn’t compatible with most plugins and/or themes and just sucked

My decision was to update the complete javascript used with version 2.0, since that one is going to have a complete makeover. However, more and more emails came, telling about the JavaScript. The problem seems to be worse then I was thinking, so an early patch for the javascript is already available.

I removed the Prototype framework for compatibility, since most themes and plugins are using jQuery. Now the Community News plugin does too. It uses the jQuery lib that comes with WordPress itself. I hope this will improve the compatibility. Also errors which occurred in the old javascript are fixed.

Template Tags

A lot of people were asking for it, template tags for use in posts/pages. Well, here they are:

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<!--fvCommunityNews:Form-->
<!--fvCommunityNews:Submissions-->

The first one will display the form, just as the widget does, but then within a page or post. The next one will display a list of submissions, as defined in the admin panel (under: Settings – Template). You can simply put these tags in your post or page, and thats all.

Uninstall Feature

While I was thinking what this plugin needs, I decided that it should have an uninstall function. Before, you could only deactivate the plugin through the wp-admin panel under plugins, but when that was done, all the data/settings still remain in your database and on your server. With this new Uninstall function you can remove all settings, and/or all data before you deactivate the plugin and remove all the plugin files.

Translatable

Before version 1.3, all text displayed on the screen, produced by this plugin was static data, you couldn’t change it. From now on the plugin uses the WordPress functions for displaying text, wich makes it possible for you to translate it and run the plugin in your own language. There are no languages included yet, but don’t hesitate to submit your own translation. I will include it in the plugin and would be very thankfull.

Custom Response Messages

Didn’t like the standard responses? You are now able to customize them so they fit for you. Go to Settings – Appearance, and modify all possible responses. Also a simple stylesheet is included to give the form a little style.

Improved Akismet

As of the previous (1.2 series) version, I included an Akismet class to fight spam. Unfortunately, this class was causing some serious problems at random servers. Because of this I searched for another solution, and found the MicroAkismet functions. These do work on blogs where the old class failed. I want to thank my friend Ivan, who made his blog availible for some tests.

Well don’t worry I am busy to create that and it is almost finished. In the mean while, I wanted to share some stuff I learned while creating this RSS feed.

The Beginning

The first thing we need is a function that actually creates the RSS feed. This function doesn’t need any parameters and it also shouldn’t return anything.

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<?php
function myGreatPluginRSSFeed() {
    // Function content goes here.

}
?>

This function must create the whole feed form the beginning to the end. So, you also have to include the xml/rss header. I ripped something from the default WordPress feed that should work for any blog.

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<rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/">

	<channel>
		<title><?php bloginfo_rss('name'); wp_title_rss(); ?></title>
		<link><?php bloginfo_rss('url') ?></link>
		<atom:link href="<?php self_link(); ?>" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<description><?php bloginfo_rss("description") ?></description>
		<language><?php echo get_option('rss_language'); ?></language>
		<sy:updatePeriod><?php echo apply_filters( 'rss_update_period', 'hourly' ); ?></sy:updatePeriod>
		<sy:updateFrequency><?php echo apply_filters( 'rss_update_frequency', '1' ); ?></sy:updateFrequency>

		<item>
		</item>

	</channel>
</rss>

Now, you could see the <item> and </item> tags, that is where we are going to add our feed items. From this moment I assume that all our RSS data is located in an array like this one.

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$rssItems = array(
	'item_1'=>array(
		'Title',
		'Link',
		'Author',
		'Date',
		'Description',
		'Content'
		),
	'item_2'=>array(
		'Title',
		'Link',
		'Author',
		'Date',
		'Description',
		'Content'
		)
	);

And so on. For adding the items to our feed, we simply use a foreach loop.

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foreach ($rssItems as $item) {
	echo '<item>';
	echo '<title>' . $item['Title'] . '</title>';
	echo '<link>' . $item['Link'] . '</link>';
	echo '<dc:creator>' . $item['Author'] . '</dc:creator>';
	echo '<pubDate>' . mysql2date('D, d M Y H:i:s +0000', $item['Date']) . '</pubDate>';
	echo '<description>' . $item['Description'] . '</description>';
	echo '<content:encoded><![CDATA[' . $item['Content'] . ']]></content:encoded>';
	echo '</item>';
}

The mysql2date function is a WordPress function that converts our date to the format we want for our feed. The input should be the date in the following format: d-m-Y H:i:s. See php.net for more information about the date formatting.

Now we have finished our function, we have only one thing to do.

Adding the RSS Feed to WordPress

To add the feed, we could use one simple function, build-in in WordPress since version 2.1.0. This is the add_feed function. This function has two parameters.

• $feedname; The name of your feed.
• $function; The function that creates the feed. (The one we created above)

So lets say we name our feed: ‘guestbook’, then we should call the add_feed function this way:

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<?php
// Add our new RSS feed.

add_feed('guestbook', 'myGreatPluginRSSFeed');
?>

Now our feed is added and working! One thing you might be asking yourself is: Where could I find my feed? Well, that’s simple.
If you are using permalinks on your blog (could be checked this way: $wp_rewrite->using_permalinks()), then your feed is located at: http://your.website.com/[feedname].
If you don’t use permalinks, your feed is located at: http://your.website.com/?feed=[feedname].

Done!

After all our hard work, we have created one beautiful RSS 2.0 feed, working with WordPress. Any questions? Please leave a comment.

Features

Currently, the Community News plugin has the following features:

• Widget Ready (Different form/results widget)
• Tags for use in posts/pages
• AJAX Form Handling
• Multi-Language Support
• Moderation panel (with email option) – Make sure you approve the right articles.
• Edit Submissions
• “My Community News” Page – Allow registered users to view their submitted articles.
• Customizable templates
• Akismet Spam protection (API key required)
• Build-in RSS 2.0 Feed
• Settings Page
• Uninstallation – Not the right plugin for you? You can easily remove it completely.

How To Install & Use

In order to successfully use this plugin, you will need the following:

• PHP 5 or higher
• WordPress 3.0 or higher

Installation Steps

1. Download the files
2. Upload the files to /wp-content/plugins/
3. Activate the plugin (WP-admin > Plugins > FV Community News)
4. Browse Community News > Settings to select the settings you prefer.
5. Go to Design > Widgets to add the Community News widgets to your sidebar.

You can also show your Community News on a static page. You can do that by placing the following codes on a page that supports PHP.

Add Form

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<?php fvcn_form(); ?>

Latest Articles

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<?php fvcn_list_posts(); ?>

Archive

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<?php fvcn_post_archives(); ?>

If you are not familiar with PHP, and you want the Community News to be shown on a WordPress page or post, you can use the build-in tags for that. Make sure you are using the HTML editor while adding these tags!

Add Form

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<!--fvCommunityNews:Form-->

List Posts

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<!--fvCommunityNews:Posts-->

Archive

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<!--fvCommunityNews:Archive-->

Custom Templates

Every blog out there has different requests and needs. With version 2.0 and up, the plugin supports custom templates so it can meet all of those needs. Creating your own custom templates is simple, and more information on this can be found on the Custom Templates page, dedicated to this topic.

Example

If you would like a live demo of the plugin, be sure to check out DivitoDesign.com. The plugin has been running there for quite some time now.

Bugs & Questions

If you find any bug in the latest version of this plugin, I hope you’d be so kind to tell me about it. This will only improve the plugin, which is better for the users! When you have anything else to say (appreciated!), please comment!

Plugin Info

AUTHOR: Frank Verhoeven
AUTHOR URL: http://www.frank-verhoeven.com/
WORDPRESS VERSION: 3.0+
TESTED UP TO: 3.1.2
CURRENT VERSION: 2.0.2

Change log

If you are interested in the changes this plugin has had, please check out the changelog on the official WordPress page.

Download

DOWNLOAD: FV Community News

Donate

Like this plugin? Please consider making a small donation.

Or help promoting it by adding a link to this page, definitely appreciated!

I searched the whole source code of this great piece of blogging software, and not on one single line I found even one session. Also the session_start() function is not called, but I still needed my sessions to work .

So I started searching Google for a fix of my problem. I found a lot of people asking the same question: “Why do sessions not work in WordPress?” Finally I found a solution to fix this little issue and guess what, it is a simple one.

The Solution

The only thing you have to do is call session_start(); before any output is send to the client. Now you might think: Nice, but what happens when I upgrade my WordPress installation to the latest version? Well, yes, your changes will be lost. That is the reason why we first should think of where to add these changes..

Normally upgrading your installation will replace all files, except one. Yes, it is the wp-config.php file. And even better, there isn’t send any output to a client yet, when this file is loaded.

So, we add the next lines of code to our wp-config.php file:

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/**
 *  Enable sessions
 */
if (!session_id())
    session_start();

And sessions are enabled on your blog!
I think the best place to add these lines is at the top of the config file, so immediately after the php starting tag (<?php).

I hope this will help you out when facing the same problem.