Category: WordPress

Getting Started with WordPress, an IndieWebCamp Pop-up Session

Have you been hearing whispers about the #IndieWeb and want to know more?

Did you see Tantek’s call to action at WordCampUS last November, but wondered how to get started?

Do you have a WordPress website where you want to better own and control your own data?

Do you want to use your own website to interact with other websites or even social media silos?

Are you a teacher or student and need a platform you control for communicating on the web while you’re stuck at home? Don’t want to rely on a toxic corporate social media site to do it?

David Shanske and I are hosting an IndieWebCamp pop-up session/workshop for WordPress beginners to learn a bit more about how to add some of the basic IndieWeb building blocks to their websites. 

Whether you’re new to the process or have some questions about how to improve your site, stop by and join us this weekend.

Getting Started with WordPress, an IndieWebCamp Pop-up Session on August 1, 2020 at 9:30 – 11:30am Pacific. Everyone is welcome. RSVP at the event site or by replying on Twitter.

If you don’t already have a domain name or need help getting WordPress set up on a host, stop by one of the Homebrew Website Clubs this week or ask for some help in the IndieWeb chat so you can follow along at the workshop on Saturday.

Replied to a tweet by Aram Zucker-ScharffAram Zucker-Scharff (Twitter)
to the rescue. There are a few great options for this. None of which should require you to write any code! 

One of my favorite is Kevin Marks’ Noter Live (open source) which is great for live tweeting and creating long threads quickly, especially at conferences. When you’re done, it’s kept a record of everything which you can quickly cut/paste as HTML into your website for an instant archive post.

Another option if your website supports the Micropub spec (perhaps with a plugin?) ThreadReaderApp recently added support to let you unroll the thread and you can go to your account and authenticate to your website and post the thread with one click.

I’ll also note that WordPress’ Gutenberg just added the ability to unroll threads to websites built with it as well. 

In addition to general public use, these could actually be the backbone of an interesting journalistic live notebook for reporters in the field who could quickly compile/archive their threads for expanded articles later on.

Add Post Kinds fields to WordPress Search

Filed an Issue dshanske/indieweb-post-kinds (GitHub)
adds support for responding to and interacting with other sites using the standards developed by the Indieweb Community
I’ve noticed that the built-in WordPress site search is generally abysmal because so much of the content of my site is handled by Post Kinds and the search doesn’t look through any of the common Post Kinds data fields. 

As an example, trying to search for watches of particular television shows I know I’ve watched don’t show up because I leave those post title-less and don’t specifically tag them.

Is there something in the codex that will allow you to hook these fields into WP’s internal search?

Read IndieAuth 3.5.0 for WordPress Released by David ShanskeDavid Shanske (david.shanske.com)
Earlier in the week, I noted the release of IndieAuth 3.5.0, but I didn’t explain the major under the hood changes that occurred here in a post, which I need to do as at least one person is experiencing issues(probably necessitating a 3.5.1 as soon as I figure out why.) I also noted I forgot to de...
Read Micropub 2.2.0 for WordPress Released by David ShanskeDavid Shanske (david.shanske.com)
Micropub 2.2.0 has one major change in it. IndieAuth client code was removed. This code now lives in the IndieAuth plugin. This means that Micropub does not check for scopes. It uses the built-in WordPress capability system to determine if an action should be performed. The IndieAuth plugin limits c...
Read Unroll Your Twitter Threads Into WordPress by Gary Gary (The WordPress.com Blog)
Turn your recent Twitter thread into your next blog post.
I’m curious if they were following the recent functionality added by ThreadReaderApp using Micropub? I’m guessing the fact that they used the verb “unroll” means they were at least aware of it as a functionality.
Bookmarked MailPoet, a newsletter plugin for WordPress (MailPoet)
WordPress newsletter plugin trusted by 300,000 websites. Send newsletters, post notifications and email marketing automation for WooCommerce.
Mentioned as an interesting option for creating newsletters from WordPress at the DoOO Meetup earlier today.
Read People Seem Confused about IndieAuth by David ShanskeDavid Shanske (david.shanske.com)
When I first started in the IndieWeb community, IndieAuth confused me. It confused me up until I built an IndieAuth endpoint for WordPress. It may confuse you as well. And that has been a problem in its adoption. The biggest confusion seems to be conflating IndieAuth and IndieAuth.com. IndieAuth.com...
Read IndieAuth.com vs IndieAuth by Nathan DeGruchyNathan DeGruchy (Verily)

David Shanske is one of the authors of one of the core IndieWeb plugins for WordPress: IndieAuth. It looks like he is depricating the use of IndieAuth.com as a provider. Makes sense with WordPress as the idea is really to use the built-in authentication method in WordPress itself, not another provider.

So, going forward, I’ve decided that I’ll be disabling the code from the IndieWeb WordPress plugin that allows you to use IndieAuth.com in favor of the built-in solution. Those who want to use an external service will still be able to do so, but this will be an ‘expert’ feature. Because enabling a plugin and it just working is what most people want.

David Shanske on the future of the WordPress IndieAuth Plugin

Honestly, I didn’t even know you could use IndieAuth.com as a provider. I assumed when I set it up that the entire idea was to use your site as a sort of IAM or SSO provider. I guess this confirms that my assumption was correct.

Keep up the great work, guys!

Replied to a tweet by Tracy DurnellTracy Durnell (Twitter)
Tracy, you’re not shouting into the void. If you’re interested, a few of us are hosting a free pop-up session that will cover that issue (and a lot more) in just a few weeks: Getting Started with WordPress, an IndieWebCamp Pop-up Session. Also happy to discuss it at any of the upcoming Homebrew Website Club Meetups too!
RSVPed Attending Santa Clarita Valley WordPress Meetup: Using WordPress to own your online data & social media presence w/Chris Aldrich

Online event
August 22, 2020 at 11:00 AM- 01:00PM

Corporate social media has been dominating the online space so significantly that the newest generation of Internet users now thinks that is what the "web" actually is. Fortunately, with WordPress as your platform, you can not only take back your online identity and presence, but you can use it to have a richer and fuller experience than the locked-down experience you get with the limits of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.

Chris will explore some open web standards and technologies that open up WordPress to allow site-to-site interactions and easier posting functionality through the magic of a small handful of simple plugins. These are simple enough building blocks that the beginning WordPress user can do some powerful new things with their sites but are also rich enough that senior developers can build and extend them or find uses for them for business sites and even e-commerce.

I suppose since I’m the one speaking that I have to RSVP, right?! I hope everyone will come join me in talking about using WordPress and the IndieWeb.

You can also find a copy of the event on the IndieWeb Events calendar.