Choosing a Video Format for the Web

Nettuts+ has a good article detailing the current state of the various video codecs supported by desktop and mobile browsers. Basically, there’s still no single format with universal support; Flash is still the best option for the desktop, and H.264 is the only option for mobile devices. In the future browsers will natively support HTML5’s […]

Determining WordPress Paths and URLs

I often need to include a directory or URL path when writing a theme or plugin, but I can never find all of the different options in one place, so I’m pulling it together from various Codex pages and xref. Constants ABSPATH – /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs/ WP_CONTENT_DIR – /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs/wp-content WP_CONTENT_URL – http://www.example.com/wp-content WP_PLUGIN_DIR – /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs/wp-content/plugins WP_PLUGIN_URL – http://www.example.com/wp-content/plugins TEMPLATEPATH – /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs/wp-content/themes/parent-theme STYLESHEETPATH – /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs/wp-content/themes/child-theme […]

Using Chained Properties Inside $wpdb->prepare()

If you’re using $wpdb->prepare() to query a custom table, you can’t pass the table name in as an argument because it will be single-quoted, which would be a MySQL syntax error. Instead, you need to insert the variable directly into the double-quoted query string and let PHP parse it out. That creates a new problem, […]

Capturing WordPress Plugin Activation Errors

If you’re developing a plugin and there are any PHP errors/warnings you’ll get a message like this when you activate it: The plugin generated [x] 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. You don’t actually see […]

The Correct Way to Roll Cables

This video explains the right way to roll cables, alternating over- and under-hand loops to maintain the natural curve of the cable. Using this method helps avoid knots, makes it quicker to unravel, reduces wear on the cable and makes it easier to get a clean, symmetrical coil. The video is geared towards audio cables, but […]

How to Find a Twitter User’s RSS Feed

Twitter has always offered RSS feeds for user’s tweets, but unfortunately they stopped publishing the URLs awhile back. The feeds are still active, though, so you just have to manually figure out the URL. The first thing you’ll need to do is use this website to find their ID based on their username. Then, just […]

Reserved WordPress URL Parameters

Using a reserved WordPress URL parameter (like “year” or “m”) on the front end will cause a 404 error.

Ian Dunn

WordPress Developer

Choosing a Video Format for the Web

Determining WordPress Paths and URLs

Using Chained Properties Inside $wpdb->prepare()

Capturing WordPress Plugin Activation Errors

The Correct Way to Roll Cables

How to Find a Twitter User’s RSS Feed

Reserved WordPress URL Parameters