Purple Hazard

You can find various plugins that allow you to control on which pages you display your widgets. Unfortunately I was unable to find one specifically made to show certain widgets to logged on users only.

Fortunately I was able to figure out the next best thing, which is actually pretty basic. Just follow the steps below, it won’t take more than a minute.

1. Install the Widget Logic Plugin via your dashboard or download it here.

This plugin gives every widget an extra control field called “Widget logic” that lets you control the pages that the widget will appear on.

Now some of you might be thinking, “aah I have to fill something in… no thanks”. Don’t worry there’s only one more step and you only have to copy what I put down.

2. If you take a look at the above picture you will see the “Widget Logic” area which is situated on your widgets page at the end of each widget.  Here you will have to add a conditional tag which tells WP to only show the widget to a logged on users.

Now all you have to do is add this tag :   is_user_logged_in() .

Only add that tag to the widgets you want to display only to logged in users.

Alternative : Those who don’t need the advanced usage of  Widget Logic can try the Dynamic Widgets Plugin , which will do the same and a bit more, without pasting any code. Thanks to Frederic for mentioning this.

Have fun. If you found this helped in some way, please make a comment.

Many of you who use BuddyPress would like to remove the default BuddyPress Sidebar Login Form for reasons such as adding you own login form or freeing up some sidebar space.  I was able to do this by using the plugin code provided in this discussion by Pers.  So remember to visit him and say thanks.

All I did was add the code to a php file and zip it for you guys, so all you have to do is upload it like you would for any other plugin and activate. If there’s any problems, which there shouldn’t be,  just let me know so I can redo the code, or you can do it on your own.

You can see the script in action here. (I’m using the “Login with Ajax plugin as a replacement.)

Download
Downloaded 10 times

I started with a list of free BuddyPress themes for 2010 and when I reached number five I found a post that lists 28 Free BuddyPress Themes Compatible with BuddyPress 1.2 and Above… Which made my attempt a bit redundant.  I suggest taking a look at the post and thanking the poster for setting it up, because BuddyPress theme’s are still few and far between.

If you find any new theme please let me know and I’ll put up a NEW Free BuddyPress 1.2 and Above Compatible theme list.

As part of my blog revamp I got rid of the old forum and setup a new forum which focus is WordPress Themes, Plugins and Addons. You can discuss, share or info about these various topics.

The forum is located here : http://purplehazard.com/wpforum

Feel free to sign up and start sharing.

Here is a list of sites I’ve been using to test out new site ideas before I register for a paid TLD domain.

1. CZ.ZZ (No Ads)

Most likely the best newcomer I’ve seen so far. You’re allowed five free domains and you’re credited with 1$ when you register, which you can use for free advertising. They also support free DNS, real MX, CNAME and A records.

2. Co.CC (No Ads)

They’ve been around for a while, and I’ve always found them to be pretty good. After a year you will have to pay to renew your domain. They also support free DNS, real MX, CNAME and A records.

3.Co.Nr (No Ads)

They offer the usual free url forwarding, cloaking and path forwarding. Not sure about DNS, MX, CNAME and A records. Remember having some trouble with them, but I will let you decide.

4. .tk (Some Ads)

Yes .tk is the shortest and the only real TLD (Top Level Domain) provider. I remember some splash ads being thrown on my site and site login problems you will usually notice when url-forwarding. In general the package is good, even with the restrictions they impose.

If you have anymore for me to add, please let me know.

Ning created alot of buzz and negative comments due to their sudden switch from a free to premium service. I also had a Ning network, but fortunately never paid much attention to it, rather focusing on other network applications. Some of you weren’t as lucky as me and spent hundreds of hours changing and growing your Ning driven network. Those of you unable to pay for the premium service lost all your users, but possibly still stay in contact with them.

Many of you are now looking for a great alternative. Below I have four free and easy to use Ning Alternatives.

1. BuddyPress:

BuddyPress is a free WordPress plugin which is very easy to setup and modify with available themes and plugins. You will need your own self-hosted WordPress blog to activate BuddyPress.

My BuddyPress Sites : http://livingwordpress.com  (Blogging Social Network and Free Hosting.)http://rugbyshout.com (Rugby Social Network)

2. Elgg:

Elgg is a standalone free social networking script. Setup is easy and they have a great community providing free themes and plugins. You will also need your own hosting account to set it up or you can join the premium service.

3. Spruz

Spruz is the service which I find most similar to Ning. You simply fill out a few fields and you have a social network hosted by them. It’s free and easy to setup and provide plenty of options.

See my Spruz test – http://ayoba.spruz.com

4. Yuku

Similar to Spruz and Ning, but not as easy to use or as pretty. The admin interface reminds me of Joomla, which I never found very intuitive. I would recommend trying Spruz first.

My Yuku attempt : http://ayoba.yuku.com/ (To be honest I gave up in the first five minutes. I’m fickle like that.)

If you have any suggestions for the list OR would like to show us your site, please post it in a comment.

Hi there all bloggers, writers and tech-wizz’s. I’ve recently setup a new blogging community and I’m looking to expand with three new sections each with their own blog, but still under the same domain.

 I’m looking for people who will be willing to contribute to a specific section.

Benefits:

1. Get free blog hosting.

2. Free exposure for you and any blog you prefer.

3. 50/50 Revenue Share.

4. Become part of our blogging community.

Sections:

1. Blogging SEO

Contribute 2 posts per week about blogging SEO, with a minimum of 100 words.

2. Themes and Plugins

Contribute a minimum of 5 plugins/themes per week, with a decent description.

3. BuddyPress

Contribute 2 posts per week about BuddyPress, with a minimum of 100 words.

If you’re interested or would just like to know more, please leave a comment and I will e-mail you.

I’ve recently been working with BuddyPress and used it to setup my first rugby community. I’ve been enjoying it so much I got myself a new domain, awesome hosting package, some friends and setup a new blogging social network. I’m using the BuddyPress Default theme with the Widgetized Frontpage “page template”.

As an extra I decided to use WP 3 RC1 and offer free blog hosting.

Please take a look at LivingWordPress.com and tell me what you think. It’s fully functioning and will hopefully be running for many years, so feel free to register and contribute.

The first Release Candidate is now available for WordPress 3.0 .  It appears that most of the bugs and other issues have been fixed, according to Jane Wells :

It means we think we’ve got everything done: all features finished, all bugs squashed, and all potential issues addressed.

I would recommend downloading the RC1 , and testing it on a non-live site.  The new features are listed below.

• Custom menus are finished!
• Multi-site is all set.
• The look of the WordPress admin has been lightened up a little bit, so you can focus more on your content.
• There are a ton of changes, so plugin authors, please test your plugins now, so that if there is a compatibility issue, we can figure it out before the final release.
• Plugin and theme *users* are also encouraged to test things out. If you find problems, let your plugin/theme authors know so they can figure out the cause.

Feel free to let me know what you think.

See original post and download link : http://wordpress.org/development/2010/05/wordpress-3-0-release-candidate/

If you’re running a Buddypress install you will most likely experience a massive amount of spam registrations. With massive I mean between 10 and 20 per day, which is what I used to get. There’s a big discussion regarding the best way to control spam on your BuddyPress network.

So far I’ve found SI CAPTCHA Anti-Spam , which has been updated to work on the latest BuddyPress install. It basically adds a Captcha form to your registration page, comment form or login form, you decide.

You can find the download link here : http://buddypress.org/community/groups/third-party-components-plugins/forum/topic/si-captcha-anti-spam-updated-for-latest-buddypress/

Or you can install it from your WordPress Dashboard.

If it worked for you let me know.