The Organ of Meaning

Currently I manage or own 5 websites/blogs that are (or should be) regularly updated. I also set up sites for people and ministries as a part of my job. As I’ve been playing with them and installing a couple of new ones in the past few weeks I’m starting to compile a mental list of plugins that I will probably install with every new site because I use them so often. This post is my attempt to compile that list into something less “mental.”

I’ve included the links to the plugin site, but with the easy install of WordPress you might just want to search and install. Most of them are that easy, I think the exceptions are the Google XML Sitemap & OneClick Updater plugin; they’re both worth it.

• Corrector – Top quality spell-checker which works in HTML mode. Does not work in WYSIWYG mode.
• Customize – A new find for me. From the site: “Provides CSS based customization for themes. Lets themers offer customization options with their theme really easily, just with a few CSS tricks.” This was built to work specifically with the Freshy theme, but can be integrated into any theme for easy customization.
• Enhanced Search Box – The easiest solution for making sure a search box’s standard text disappears when you click into it. Usually involves some JavaScript coding, which I still don’t quite “get”.
• Exclude Pages from Navigation – Useful for pages that you want to keep public, but you don’t want to clutter your menus.
• Extended Comment Options – Quick solution for closing/opening comments & pings on multiple posts at once.
• FD Feedburner Plugin – Redirects all new and existing RSS feeds to your Feedburner account without the need to convince people to resubscribe to your “new” feed. Wonderful. Works better than Feedsmith for me.
• FeedBurner FeedSmith
• Google Analyticator – Integrates Google Analytics into your site without the need to mess with theme files. Even better if you’re know to switch themes pretty often. (That’s me.)
• Google XML Sitemaps – It creates a XML sitemap that is perfect for search indexing. It wasn’t seamless or pretty to install and get to work with my 700+ posts, but it works.
• Manageable -”…allows for inline editing of the date, title, author, categories, tags, status and more on both posts and pages without leaving the “Manage” admin sections.”
  Edit: The author of the plugin commented below, this one is also depreciated, it was incorporated into WordPress 2.7.
• My Page Order – “Gives you manual control over the order of your Wordpress pages by letting you easily set an explicit order. Works with subpages too.” This is great if you like to do the drag & drop thing rather than messing with order numbers; quick & easy.
• One Click Plugin Updater – This is the key for having a bunch of plugins. You’re smart, I bet you can figure out what it does. I’ve run into problems with it not wanting to update a few plugins ever, but having to update one manually is fine with me.
• Reorder Gallery – It made re-ordering the pictures in galleries possible a while back. I think with the soon-coming 2.8 update it may be unnecessary, but I’d still recommend it because I’m not sure that it will be depreciated.
• runPHP – Again, one that may be depreciated now, but has been useful if I’ve wanted to run WP or PHP commands on sties. It is what powers my “All Links” page.
• Theme Test Drive – Great if you’re designing your site and want to really see how your site will operate with that new supergreat theme you like. It’s saved me some problems in choosing a theme.
• Twitter Widget – Good & simple. There’s an advanced one that has more options, but this gives your your feed on your site and isn’t too hefty.
• WordPress Database Backup – It backs up your MySQL database. You can have it do it automatically, email it to you, store it on your server or download it.
• WordPress Hashcash – The best and easiest-to-implement anti-spam-comment plugin. No hard to read images and it detects real humans vs. fake humans pretty accurately.
• WordPress.com Stats – WP’s toned down version of Google’s Analytics. Good for the amateur who just wants to know how many people are reading their site and perhaps each post and page.
• WP Easy Uploader – This is an0ther whose period of usefulness may be coming to a close with 2.8, but it’s been good for uploading themes and other random files that the standard WP uploader hasn’t been able to handle. It can also unpack your themes and plugins to install them.
• wpRedirect – Uses custom fields to enable you to create pages that redirect wherever you want.
• WP-Sticky – Create sticky-posts that are always on top of your index page.
• Zap_NewWindow – Every link that points somewhere other than your doman is opened in a new window. Perfect for users like myself who consistently have multiple windows open and go back to the original referring post to read more.

Do you you have standard ones that you use? Any reccomendations of better solutions than the ones that I am using?

After a particularly disgusting display last night where I “tweeted” 5 times in reference to Late Night with Conan O’Brien and then reading a particularly well thought-out post from eminent pastor, thinker & speaker John Piper on why he has decided to use Twitter and how he is planning on using it, I have found it necessary to re-think how I make use of and interact with social-media.

As of today I own, run or use regularly:

• 3 Twitter accounts.
• 8 blogs/mini-blogs/”best of” feeds
• 1 Friend Feed account
• 2 Facebook accounts (1 account and 1 page)
• 1 active Google Latitude account
• GChat
• AIM
• Facebook Chat

Beyond this, I have many of these integrated. My personal Twitter & Facebook accounts are updated when I post to 4 of the blogs (you probably got here from the link on one of them). I often use my GChat, AIM and Facebook Chat accounts through one program that connects to all of them simultaneously. Also, my Google Latitude account updates my GChat status automatically. My Twitter account automatically updates my Facebook status (I tried to make this work with GChat, but failed), my blogs also automatically post into my Facebook account as notes. All of these are integrated into my Friend Feed account and I have used Yahoo Pipes to integrate all of them in to one master feed.

In addition to all of this, I have increasingly tried to make it easy to get to any of these pages by creating redirects.

• Want to find my blog? – blog.jaysonwhelpley.com
• Want my Twitter? – twitter.jaysonwhelpley.com
• Facebook? – facebook.jaysonwhelpley.com or fb.jaysonwhelpley.com
• FreindFeed – ffeed…
• Google Reader Shares – share…
• Amazon Wish List – wish…
• You can even find my personal calendar if you’re follow the pattern.

In the past weeks, I’ve also found myself more defensive towards people who mock those of us who are more connected using these “tools,” which is usually a sign for me that I am taking myself or these interactions far far too seriously or imparting too much importance to them on the whole. After reading the well thought out statements that Piper wrote, I have decided that I definitely need to rethink what I’m doing here. Do I need to pull the integration plugs? Do I need to close accounts? Do I just need to pull the plug altogether?

What are you doing to keep yourself connected, but also focused on reality and real lives? What limits have you put in place to keep social networking from becoming an idol?

I updated the Wordpress Stats plugin for one of my other sites and after re-entering my Wordpress.com API code I associated it with the wrong site on the pulldown. Now all of my stats are attached to that site and mixed in with it.

Boo.

I have officially removed categories from being a part of my blog. I have no use for them any longer as tags are my new choice of keeping things “categorized.”

Tags do everything I need… and more.

I’m playing around with Thematic a new theme that I came across for WP. It seems like there’s a good bit of power to tweak as much as I want.

I went to North Africa last week, but I can’t share much because of security issues. I’ll share what I can when I can.

Just, yeah… still alive.