Archive for September, 2007

iCal4WP, back to the future!

Sunday, September 30th, 2007

It is now time to look at iCal4WP and see how we can improve it and ultimately release a 1.0 version.

Here is the todolist for this 1.0 version:

  • Bug Fixes:
    • Fix repeating events to make sure they appear as well in the sidebar widgets (currently only the first event appear, thought it works on feeds)
    • Make it works with WordPress 2.3 (issues with new categories system, see hooks)
  • add the plugin in wordpress.org with svn account (about plugin hosting),
  • re-organize UI to make it more user-friendly,
  • switch to jQuery to be aligned with wordpress new default JS library and not loading a new js library
  • Use jQuery plugins for date and time pickers,
  • allow events with no end date (useful for people organizing night event with no specific end time)
  • Do not show list of events if no event to list, but still keep feeds pull down menu.
  • Switch from pull down menu to a bar of icons or simply one icon that shows the pull down once clicked (?)
  • Improve widget UI: input of title in the widget conf, select a default type (or maybe if MacOS detected then iCal, otherwise Google Calendar?)

I would like to thing about re-using some code to create a Symfony plugin that can easily deliver events with associated calendar subscription feeds. I can imagine that a Propel behavior could be very useful: you can make any object as an event.

ical4wp: a quick fix for WP 2.3

Friday, September 28th, 2007

As you may know, Worpdress 2.3 has a new database structure and therefore ical4wp does not work properly. Actually, everything is working except the list of ical feeds.
I took some time today and I fixed it, making sure that it continues to work with WP < 2.3 too.

I am not going to release a new version yet because I want to fix a few other things before but I know some of you are stuck with this WP upgrade, here is the function to replace the existing one (roughtly line 552 in ical4wp.php file):

Do not replace the all ical4wp.php file but only the ‘ical_list_calendars’ function inside ical4wp.php file.

ical4wp quickfix for WP 2.3

Amazon.com MP3 download – Tip 1

Friday, September 28th, 2007

A quick tip to keep track of your mp3 you bought in Amazon.com if you are using iTunes. On a Mac, by default, it imports your downloaded mp3 to iTunes, nice, but it does not create a specific ‘Amazon.com’ playlist to easily find them, like the ‘Purchased’ you have for titles bought on the iTunes Store. Since they are not doing it for you…DIY (Do It Yourself!):

1. Each mp3 from Amazon contains a comment with ‘Amazon.com Song ID: xxxxx’ (xxxx is a unique key per song I guess).

2. Create a smart playlist with in the comment containing ‘Amazon.com’

Amazon.com MP3 smart playlist in iTunes

Done!

iCal 4 WP and WordPress 2.3

Thursday, September 27th, 2007

Hi all,

good news, WordPress is out for a new release: 2.3. A few really good new stuff inside, you should have a look at it. But be aware: iCal4WP is not working anymore with this version due to some changeĀ  in the database schema. I am aware of this and I fill find some time within a week to fix this.