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Byq292u
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Login Blocked by misconfigured LDAP connector plugin

I manage a multi-site WordPress installation for a client.
Before Christmas, they installed an LDAP connector plugin, but never got around to configuring or testing it.
Unfortunately, the default settings prevented using the WordPress login as a fallback.
So everyone was locked out. So I tried the usual database>wp-settings>active-plugins workaround. There was nothing there!
So I tried the old faithful “rename the plugin folder” routine. Jackpot.
I was then able to get in.

Sorted.


Byq292u

STOP SOPA / SOPA BLACKOUT

January 18th is STOP SOPA day.
All q292u sites will be participating in the SOPA blackout (18.1.2012)
Sites will remain dark from 8am EST to 8pm.
For information on what this is all about, visit http://sopablackout.org/


Byq292u
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ESSENTIAL Plugins for WordPress

WordPress is immensely powerful straight out of the box, but it’s possible to add pretty much ANY functionality you want, and it’s usually for free.

This is a list of the TOP Plugins we use at q292u.com.
They are in no particular order.

AKISMET.
ESSENTIAL anti-spam system. Free to non-commercial users.
Filters out unwanted (spam) comments automatically, and provides stats on what it’s doing. ESSENTIAL.

FEEDBURNER FEEDSMITH.
Redirects all RSS feeds to your Feedburner feeds. So you can control all RSS activity. From there you can do e-mail Subscriptions and much more.
Including automatic TWITTER integration! Get a feedburner account. ESSENTIAL.

ALL-IN-ONE-SEO.
Handles ALL aspects of SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). Options to rewrite article titles, handles Keywords, meta tags, everything. There’s also a “PRO version. You won’t need it. ESSENTIAL.

ADROTATE.
Handles advertising on your site. Very comprehensive. Individual ads are created and then made into groups. You can then position the groups as widgets, in posts and on pages. Ads have start and end dates, and tracking can be switched on or off. Better than maxbannerads. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED

WPTOUCH.
Creates a mobile version of your site on the fly. All you need to do is access the site via a mobile device. The interface looks like Apple iOs.
Very smart. ESSENTIAL There’s a PRO version as well.

WP AUTO TAGGER.
Automatically adds relevant tags to your posts as you create them, based on post content. It’ll find tags you hadn’t thought of. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.

WORDBAY.
Add relevant eBay listings to your posts and pages. This plugin is NOT free, but it’s worth the money. Simply set it up, and use shortcodes to position ads. Now includes a widget as well. RECOMMENDED.

FEEDWORDPRESS.
Automatically creates posts on your blog, based on predefined RSS feeds. Excellent. RECOMMENDED.

QUICKCACHE.
Excellent caching plugin, creates static version of all your posts and pages as they are created. Far better than SUPERCACHE.
ESSENTIAL if you use a lot of plugins, or have a lot of visitors.

EXCLUDE FROM NAVIGATION.
Some themes automatically add all pages to navigation menus. This is how to stop it. Adds a checkbox in the editor. ESSENTIAL.

GOOGLE XML SITEMAPS.
Automatically generates and submits sitemaps to Google. You can also submit these to Yahoo and Bing, yourself. Helps with SEO. ESSENTIAL.

WORDPRESS-DB-BACKUP.
Automatically create scheduled database backups and e-mail to yourself.
Simple and effective. ESSENTIAL.

SMART 404.
Attempts to redirect 404 errors to relevant pages based on search query, and URL requested. Reduces bounce-rates. ESSENTIAL

Mail From.
Simply changes the return e-mail address for automatically-generated e-mail messages to something like “NOREPLY@domain.com”. ESSENTIAL.

Google Analytics.
This adds Google Analytics tracking code to all your pages and posts, so you can keep tabs on everything. You need an analytics account. ESSENTIAL.

SIMPLE SOCIAL BOOKMARKS.
Adds social bookmark icons to your posts. Allows your readers to recommend your posts on DIGG, REDDIT, SLASHDOT, etc. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.

CONTEXTUAL RELATED POSTS.
Adds links to other relevant posts on your site. Engages visitors, and keeps them on your site longer. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.

GOOGLE +1 BUTTON.
The new kid on the block. Allows visitors to mark relevant posts, adds kudos and visibility on Google.

FACEBOOK LIKE BUTTON.
Allows visitors to “LIKE” your site on Facebook. Facebook is a massive audience, not to be ignored. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.


Byq292u
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WordPress 3.3 Error : Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in ".."/class-wp-admin-bar.php on line 342

One of our sites Supercars For Sale was displaying an error message:
Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in “..”/class-wp-admin-bar.php on line 342

This occurred after the 3.3 upgrade.

The problem is caused by the theme – in this case “elements of seo” having TWO calls to wp_footer (one direct call, and a do_action).

The solution was to remove the do_action call.

That’s it. Sorted.


Byq292u
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WordPress 3.3 Upgrades Completed

Out of the final three (mission-critical) sites, two went through smoothly.
One did not, and had to be upgraded via FTP, then remove the .maintenance file.
Anyway, that’s it. All plugins updated, and all sites running on WordPress 3.3.

Give it a week, and there’ll be an urgent security fix, while everyone is off on their xm,as break..


Byq292u
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WordPress 3.3 Upgrades

We’ve started rolling-out WordPress 3.3 to our sites, starting with the less mission-critical.
Site#1 went almost smoothly (timed-out), but resumed ok.
Site#2 went smoothly.
Site#3 timed-out in the middle of something crucial and broke the site..
The solution was to delete the “.maintenance” file in the root directory, download WordPress 3.3, and then FTP the files up, and then run the upgrade procedure manually (just access site.com/wp-admin).
Site#4 was even worse – caused by SEO Ultimate plugin. Solved that by renaming the plugin folder, and ftping the files up, and running the upgrade manually.
Can’t wait to start with the three mission-critical sites. That’ll have to wait until we complete the office move. Did I mention that?
Sorted.


Byq292u
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Old eBay RSS feeds died last night!

eBay appears to have (finally) pulled the plug on the old-style RSS feeds.
All our RSS feeds starting with “rss.ebay..” started generating errors last night.
We’ve now switched them all to the new “rest.ebay…” format.
Doesn’t seem to be any better.. but at least no errors..


Byq292u
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New Site Launched: www.motorbikes4sale.net

That’s right, another q292u site was launched this week, called Motorbikes4Sale.net. It does exactly what it says on the tin.

This site raised a bit of a problem: although it’s fed by RSS feeds, there is only ONE feed per manufacturer. So how to create tags for keywords that are NOT a category? Model Names, for example..

After extensive searching, and at one point even considering writing a cronjob plugin to do the job, we found “WP Auto Tagger”. This uses the Yahoo API to find suitable tags based on the post title and content. It works like a dream!


Byq292u
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New Site Launched: www.motorbikes4sale.net

That’s right, another q292u site was launched this week, called Motorbikes4Sale.net. It does exactly what it says on the tin.

This site raised a bit of a problem: although it’s fed by RSS feeds, there is only ONE feed per manufacturer. So how to create tags for keywords that are NOT a category? Model Names, for example..

After extensive searching, and at one point even considering writing a cronjob plugin to do the job, we found “WP Auto Tagger”. This uses the Yahoo API to find suitable tags based on the post title and content. It works like a dream!


Byq292u
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WORDPRESS: How to disable all active plugins, without access to the dashboard..

See my earlier post as to why I needed to do this..

My site was down. Dead. No access to the admin functions. The problem was a plugin gone bad (when I tried to disable it).

So, I needed to disable plugins, but couldn’t get into the admin panel.

The excellent support guys at Unlimited Web Hosting came up with this ingenious solution:

Here’s what you do: use CPANEL or PLESK to access the WordPress database of your site directly. It’ll be something like phpmyadmin. Details vary with web hosting firms. If in doubt, ask yours.

Browse the WP_OPTIONS table. Look for a record called “active_plugins”.
Copy the contents of this field into notepad, and save it, just in case.
Now go back to the database, and EMPTY the contents of “active plugins”, and save it. (you can always restore it from the copy you made).

Now access your site. It should come back up, but with no plugins running, so it’ll be weird. Now go into admin as usual, and re-enable all plugins one-by-one, EXCEPT the one that caused the problem.
I’d DELETE that one..

** DISCLAIMER. If you try this solution, and it messes things up, that’s your problem. I take no responsibility for it. It worked for me. **

** If it all goes wrong, simply restore the database from your backup. You DO have a backup, right? **


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