Head over to Flig.ht Data and check it out!

1: Overuse of the options table:
get_option() and set_option() are wonderfully useful features, if used in moderation. If not used in moderation, they result in a hellish jumble of entries in the wp-options table. Instead of using many discreet entries, an “options” object or array should be serialized into a set_option() call. While this may be overkill for a very simple plugin, once you get to any number of options it is a necessity.

2: No NONCEs
This is such an offensive mistake it makes me cry a little. As I(and Mark Jaquith and Vladimir Prelovac and many others) have written, using nonces is a must for any plugin which takes options from a user. Strangely enough, the nonce field is included, but then never checked (WTF?). Without the use of nonces, a nefarious user can arbitrarily change your plugin settings, and possibly even take over your database. Particularly if there are

3: No SQL Injection Security
Not having nonces is one thing. It’s bad, but I’ve forgotten from time to time myself. But not even escaping input before putting it in the database is, to quote “Yahtzee”, pants on head retarded!. Escaping user input is probably the single simplest and most basic security. It’s the last line of defense against people replacing your header image with horrific porn. Don’t write code without it.

4: Unnecessary use of global variables
This exists on two levels:
A) In purpose.php, both $wp_query and $post are called into the function via global. While this probably won’t do any harm, globally including everything everywhere is what made earlier version of php such a nightmare and it looks messy. If you don’t need a variable, don’t include it.
B) $var1-$var4 are declared to static values at the top of the file where they will clutter up the global namespace. They are never accessed from their global context, they are always get_option()ed. In fact, the only reason they are declared here is so that they can be add_optioned into options. EVERY TIME THE CODE RUNS. That’s four superfluous function calls every single time the file loads. This should be done once, on plugin install. Not every single time WordPress loads a page.

5: Include vs. Require
I realize that this is pretty nit-picky, but, when including files that are required for the program to function, the appropriate function is require() (or better yet, require_once(). If the file is missing, the code to break while trying to include the file, instead of mysteriously throwing messages about redeclaration of functions.

In conclusion, while the concept of a plugin framework is laudable, Fire Studio’s implementation falls far short of any reasonable mark of best practices, and only serves to encourage worst practices.

1) Static JavaScript. Instead of using the *.js.php which I have been using, javascript templates are being parsed by a small JS templating engine and stored as static files. This should significantly cut down on the amount of time spent processing php. Each file is stored as filename-hashcode.js.

2) Bootstrapper. People have told me a) They don’t think it’s fair to count the size without jQuery (it probably isn’t) and b) They don’t want to load jQuery on every pageload. To that end, the default install will now include a tiny bootstrapper (hopefully under 200 Bytes) that doesn’t load the player until and unless someone actually wants to use them.

3) Single audio player. For legacy browsers, there will only be one player, the awesome Sound Manager 2 player. User interface will be provided via jQuery based controls. Using a single “invisible” player allows a consistent JavaScript interface for all the players, and, should help to

4) <audio> tag based player. This will probably be beta only in 0.7, but I want to move towards using the native browser implementation instead of flash. Using a javascript interface and sound manager means it should be a seamless user experience, and the only difference is whether the JavaScript is calling the sound manager js or the <audio> tag.

I’ll be at WordCamp in San Francisco this weekend, anyone who wants to bend my ear about a feature can do so. Twitter at jwriteclub to get together.

In addition, there’s now a forum where groundschool students can ask questions and one of the instructors (mostly me) will do our best to answer. Anyone can read the forum, and you can sign up for a free account to post questions.

Join the forum discussion on this post - (1) Posts

As always, head over the the µAudio page at Wordpress.org or grab a copy from my µAudio page.

Head over the the µAudio page at Wordpress.org or grab a copy from my µAudio page.

Those of you waiting for the 0.7 release with the new sidebar widget shouldn’t have too much longer to wait. It’s coming with some major changes to how µAudio handles javascript. There will probably be a 0.6.2 release in the next week or so to fix any lingering bugs with the current implementation, and then 0.7 will have the new code.

Head on over to Wordpress.org or grab a copy from my µAudio Page.

• New Dashboard Widget
• Better number formatting
• 2.7 Compatible

Mosey over to the µMint page at wordpress.org or grab a copy from my µMint page.

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups Flour.*
• 1/4 Cup Sugar
• 3 1/2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1/8 Teaspoon Salt
• 1/3 Cup Butter, unsalted, cold but not hard
• 1/3 Cup Sour Cream, cold
• 1/2 Cup Cream**, as necessary
• optional 1 Teaspoon Vanilla

* While several types of flour are customary, I prefer white flour from wheat for my scones. In any case, the flour should be well sifted for the best result (and ignore what the package says about “pre-sifted”)
** Especially if fruit is added, the Cream content may need to be modified in order for the dough not to get to wet. Add slowly to avoid a useless mess. Some people (including my mother) like to use buttermilk, although in this case, you may consider 3/4 cup buttermilk and no sour cream.

For the Raspberry and Mint scone:

• 1/3 Cup Raspberrys, washed and drained well
• Splash of “Mint”*
• 2 Tablespoons Milk
• 1 Tablespoon Simple Syrup, or granulated sugar in a pinch

* See the note at the end on Simple Mint Extract.

Preparation:

Pre-heat oven to 400 F (convection oven), 425 F (plain oven). Grease a baking sheet well.

Sift the salt, baking powder, flour and sugar together. With the butter cool (but not hard), cut the butter into the dry ingredients, either via a pastry cutter, knives, or a stand mixer on it’s very lowest settings (preferably using a pastry hook). If you use the mixer, it is important not to over mix, a second or two should do it. The final result should be grain sized lumps of butter in the dry mixture. If you intend to freeze and then bake the scones, and extra tablespoon of butter may be a good idea.

Gently mix in the sour cream and about half the cream. If you are making the scones plain, mix in a teaspoon of vanilla. Add cream until the dough if thick and flaky, but not “rubbery”. If you are adding a fruit or other additive that is quite moist, you may want to add it before you finish adding the cream as the moisture in the additive can make the dough too wet if all of the cream is added. If you are adding a soft fruit (like raspberrys) and using a mixer, you should add them after you remove the dough from the mixer, otherwise you will end up with puree.

Turn the dough out on a surface liberally dusted with flour. Knead 3-5 times until the dough is just coated enough in flour that you can easily handle it. Pat the dough out in to approximately an 8″ round. With a lightly greased knife, cut the round into 8 pieces. Lay the pieces out on the baking sheet and bake for 8-12 minutes, until the tops are a very light golden color. Optionally wash the top lightly with a mixture of 2 tablespoons cream to 1 tablespoon simple syrup (or sugar). If baking in a non-convection oven, turn the baking sheet 3-4 times to avoid hotspots. Cool on a rack and enjoy (if someone doesn’t eat them before they are cool). If freezing, freeze on the baking sheet. From froze, add 3-5 minutes to cooking time.

Mint Raspberry Scones: My favorite scones have a subtle hint of mint accentuated with delicious fresh raspberrys. To make the mint extract, take 2-3 sprigs of fresh mint, minced finely. Put the mint in a suacepan on low heat with approximately 2 tablespoons of sweet white wine (Riesling, for instance). Add a splash of clear alcohol (Everclear, for example) and allow the mixture to warm, but not to boil until the mint is limp and slightly brown. Drain the mixture thoroughly. I add 1-2 teaspoons of this to the recipe when I add the other ingredients. When adding the berries, wait until you have turned the dough out the knead, and then knead the berries in.

Variation: Scones can be made with a wide variety of fruits, spices, and even savories. Popular combinations include, current, currents and cinnamon, lemon and poppyseed and ginger and honey. If you have an interesting alternative, drop it in the comments.

Serving:

If you get very luck the scones won’t all get eaten off the cooling rack. Serve the scones warm with clotted cream and jam, or with butter, or all by themselves. Makes 8 Scones.

I am happy to announce the release of a new plugin today: µMint. Like my other µ plugins, it’s a small, lightweight plugin to (hopefully) do something useful. In this case, µMint allows you to painlessly integrate Shaun Inman’s Mint into Wordpress. Unlike the currently existent solution, µMint does not make use of iframes. Instead, µMint is designed to work with both the Exposé API, by Adam Livesley as well as the included API, µAPI for Mint. Furthermore, there is a development version of a connector whcih allows Wordpress to directly query Mint, when the two share a database.

µAPI does more than just get your stats, it displays them for you. You can have your choice of a sidebar widget, a dashboard widget, or both. And, in the µ plugin philosophy, stats are cached periodically to reduce the number of API calls required.

I think that µAPI neatly bridges the gap between Mint and Wordpress, and I hope you’ll give it a try.

µMint for Wordpress Dashboard