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Tag: wordpress.org

  • A Tour of Page Builder Sandwich Version 3

    a-tour-of-page-builder-sandwich-version-3

    We’ve changed a lot things in Page Builder Sandwich version 3. If you’ve been using Page Builder Sandwich for quite some time, you’ll notice that the changes are quite drastic. There is a big difference between the version 1, version 2, and the current version. In the previous versions, everything was located in the inspector on the side. We’ve since gone through and split its components into different, more logical partitions. We have listed reasons for this upgrade in the previous blog post.

    Current users may find the changes cumbersome at first. Give it a few minutes of trials, and we trust that you’ll feel right at home. We’ve carefully designed each aspect of the interface for your second nature in word processors to function in website building.

    Watch The Tour of The New Interface

  • Where Things Get a Little Technical: How We Made Our Version of Shortcode Mapping Happen

    How-We-Made-Our-Version-Of-Shortcode-Mapping-Happen-2On the previous article, we’ve discussed the basics of shortcode mapping and how you can get access to its sweet benefits. We’ve decided to split the article featuring the Page Builder Sandwich version of Shortcode Mapping, as the following write-up may get a little more technical.

    Below are more in-depth descriptions of the inner workings of our shortcode mapping feature, and how we got it to work.

    An Automated Process

    In order to decide which plugins to include in the shortcode mapper, we built an automated script that will gather the top plugins in the WordPress plugin directory based on the following criteria:

    • Within the 1,000 popular, top-rated and updated plugins,With at least 4,000 active installs,
    • With at least 4,000 active installs,
    • With at least 20 ratings, and;
    • With at least a 3-star average rating

    We run this query daily against the WordPress plugin directory. These filters ensure that we get a list of good quality plugins that a lot of people use. During the time this was written, this criteria resulted in 800 plugins. That’s a lot. Like, a lot.

    Some of the most popular plugins detected for shortcode mapping.
    Some of the most popular plugins detected for shortcode mapping.

    We then run a series of automated checks on each plugin’s source code to find out whether it contains any shortcodes, and then we try and find all of those shortcodes, including all their attributes. Crunching the data, this resulted in over 2,000 shortcodes. Double woah. Detected shortcodes are then inputted into the shortcode mapping database for manual inspection.

    By the end of this process, we would end up with a huge list of plugins, and what their possible shortcodes are. It’s now a matter of cleaning this data up to make sure everything’s correct.

    A Manual Process

    This is probably the hardest part of the whole mapping system. Plugin code comes in different forms and sizes, not all shortcodes are automatically detected by our scripts. Even though the WordPress Codex says to use the function `shortcode_atts` to filter a shortcode’s attributes, this is only a recommendation and not everyone does it. There is also no sure-fire way to check the innards of a shortcode when a plugin is installed.

    To so make sure that we get all the shortcodes and their attributes right, we created a front end area dedicated to editing shortcodes and attributes and is built using AngularJS and Bootstrap.

    Bootstrap & AngularJS interface for fixing up all the mapped shortcodes.
    Bootstrap & AngularJS interface for fixing up all the mapped shortcodes.

    We’ll have to manually go through each and every plugin and check their shortcode documentation and make sure that all the data we have is correct.

    Even though this is painstakingly tedious, there are some bright sides to having an automated process:

    • According to our early stats, only around 1 in every 2 plugins have shortcodes.
    • Half of the detected shortcodes have no attributes (but a portion of this may be false positives)
    • By getting only good quality plugins, most likely they have shortcode documentation

    When all of a plugin’s shortcodes have been checked, only then will the server start distributing the shortcode mappings of that plugin to the users.

    A Rest API Call

    The last piece of the puzzle is the plugin itself. The concept here is simple: find out what plugins are active, what theme the site is using and what shortcodes are available, then ask the shortcode mapping database whether it has mappings. For this we created a custom WP REST API endpoint that all clients ping to get their latest shortcode mappings.

    The Future: Crowdsourcing

    Manually checking each plugin requires a lot of time and effort. Once the shortcode mapping platform is stable, we plan on opening up shortcode mapping to everyone. This means that everyone can help out in adding shortcodes.

    You might be thinking, “why would I help map out shortcodes? What’s in it for me?” Well, a few things come into mind on why people would want to help out:

    1. If you have created a plugin, and we haven’t caught it yet because of the criteria above, (and it’s in the WordPress plugin directory) then you can add the mappings yourself. Your plugin would become fully supported by PBS!
    2. Since we’ll only be dealing with those in the WordPress plugin directory in the automated process, premium plugin & theme authors won’t become included. So if you have one, then you can also your shortcode mappings for those.
    3. And for the non-plugin creators, we can reward those who help. To make shortcode mapping an enticing endeavor, we can reward happy helpers with a personal license, or an upgrade to a premium license of PBS!

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    The shortcode mapping functionality will be out for our customers tentatively on August 12  August 15  August 16, 2016. Not all shortcodes will be mapped by this time (our estimate is maybe 100 plugins), but mapping will be continuously done and customers will get them as soon as new ones roll out.

    Sign up to our newsletter to get news on shortcode mapping, when we’ll release it, and when we open shortcode mapping to the public!

  • WordPress.com VS WordPress.org

    Wordpress-Com-VS-Wordpress-OrgIf you’re relatively new to building websites, chances are, you probably aren’t familiar with the great WordPress.com vs WordPress.org debate. You might not have even known that one of the other exists, and the different pros and cons of each one. So what is, pray tell, this great debate between using WordPress.com, and WordPress.org? Is the other one just a cheap rip-off waiting to get sued?

    Well, no.

    The debate, in a nutshell, is about which of these two WordPress services is a better fit for the website you’re trying to build. Neither is a rip-off of the other, and both sites are owned by WordPress; it’s just that one (.com), is a more non-developer-friendly version than the other, and .org has a lot less limitations when it comes to site building, compared to .com.

    “How do I know which one I need, though?”

    The answer to this question all depends on your future website’s needs. There is no one WordPress entity that’s objectively the “better” or even “best” version to use. The two have their own unique features, and an equal amount of pros and cons.

    WordPress.com: Why and When Should I?

    WordPress.com takes care of the basic essentials for you, which lets you focus more on your site’s content. It’s a site builder that’s completely run and hosted by a group of company called Automattic. You get premium hosting, backups, security, and the like. This means that you can focus on your site’s content a lot easier, compared to having to spend hours on end building it from scratch.

    Take note though, that WordPress.com also comes with its own limitations. While you may not have to worry as much about maintaining the inner workings of your site, you may have to keep in mind that you probably aren’t going to have as much freedom with it as you’d like. While customizing your site’s interface may not be an issue (WordPress.com comes with a ton of themes, for instance), adding certain features and elements in the form of plugins may become a problem, especially if your site needs specific features that aren’t available at WordPress.com.

    How to maintain a website is an entirely different story. It greatly depends on 1.) you aren’t a WordPress developer 2.) you have no intention of learning code, or 3.) have little or no time to.

    WordPress.org: When Is It Time to Consider?

    One rule of thumb when it comes to considering WordPress.org is when you’re at least a little familiar with the workings of code, or are willing to invest some time in learning how to. Since WordPress.org is a self-hosted version of WordPress, you can get your hands as dirty as you want them to be. Plus, you have the freedom to tinker with it as much or as little as you’d like. You’d be in-charge of finding your own host, of setting up your own security backups, and overall maintain the website by yourself– and more importantly, on your own terms.

    “But wait, why would I want that? Isn’t the point of WordPress to make site-building easier?”

    …Not exactly. Think of it this way: The Daily Post creates an excellent analogy between WordPress.org and WordPress.com, in a way that even the noobest of noobs (such as myself) get the gist right away.

    According to them, you have to think of WordPress.com as something you don’t have full ownership to. Take for instance, your 15-year old self, still living with your folks. If you wanted to paint your bedroom, you’d have to ask your parents’ permission first (who of course have full ownership of the house, including your room). Technically, the room is yours, but at the end of the day, well…it kind of isn’t.

    So if you need or want to make any drastic changes (like painting your walls, or having the room extended), you’d still have to talk it out and/or work up a compromise with the actual owners of the house, a.k.a. mum and dad. An upside to this though, is that when the fuse in the basement crashes, or the AC stops working, your parents get to take care of it, and you don’t have to worry about a thing.

    WordPress.org, on the other hand, is something you can freely customize and tinker with on your own accord. This can be compared to when you finally get to move out at 18, and get a flat of your own. Since you have full ownership of your residence, you don’t have to compromise with anyone to paint your walls in that color your mum’s always dreaded; you have the freedom to make the decision, and/or hire someone who fits your standards to do it for you. Additionally, you also have the liberty to choose exactly which AC unit you want for your living room. It’s just that if it happens to crash, you’re going to have to hire a mechanic to fix it, or figure out what’s wrong and how to repair it on your own (which isn’t too bad, because hey, lesson learned, and learning is good).

    By now, you’ve hopefully gotten a clearer picture of just what the stark differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org are. But in a nutshell:

    install as much or as little as you want themes are limited only to WordPress themes, you have to pay a certain fee to get rid of ads.You have near full-control of your site; you can add, customize, or even build your own themes.

    Content control is limited;

    WordPress.com WordPress.org
    Fully hosted by WordPress; all essentials are covered. Self-hosted; choose your own essentials, or choose better ones.
    Features are limited to what WordPress.com offers Thousands of features in the form of plugins;

    These are a few of comparisons that come with weighing in the differences between the two. Choosing between the two ultimately comes down to the amount freedom you want in creating your site, and how much resources (time, effort, money, etc) you’re willing to give up for it. Remember, that these are both very crucial options to weigh in before you decide which WordPress platform suits you best. So, don’t rush the decision process!

    Happy Website-Building!