As with Wordpress, the Mu version uses the same plugin procedure albeit with some plugins written specifically for the multi-user platform. Some plugins just don’t play well with the database structure in Mu, and other plugins are specifically written for managing or adding features for a Mu environment. I utilize several plugins for this, all of which are either written by or available for download of WPMU.org

Some of the plugins I use, in no particular order, include:

• Domain Mapping – so that I can host my domains on just one WPMU install, much easier to maintain a bunch that way.
• Blog Activity – if you’re running a free/paid blog host. Great way to keep up with activity.
• First Comment – I find it beneficial to include a more helpful first comment. Things that are special to your host or information about a support forum, etc.
• Global Search – search across all your hosted blogs.
• Google Analytics – easy way for users to get thier blog’s stats. Pretty snazzy.

There are loads more, including those on the premium end of things. You’ve gotta pay for access, but the plugins and support are top notch. My membership is on/off there depending on what I’ve got going on. It’s worth it if hosting blogs on Mu is your thing (or if you want it to be). It’s also worthy to note that we’re also participating on the Countdown contest.

© mdvaldosta for Joe Hayes {dot} Org, 2009. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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The answer was using RSS from one or the other, and even though Wordpress already has RSS functionality I’d prefer using the blog’s homepage in a static manner and keeping all the info in the phpBB forum. So, a quick search found a quick and dirty simple RSS mod that required no template edits, and am going to use Wordpress’s built in RSS functionality to display this in a blog template.

Regardless of where you generate the RSS feed from, the code to display it will be the same. Since Wordpress already handles imported RSS to display info in the admin panel, we can just tap into that code using a php includes and then use those functions to our liking. So, on any template page (outside of the loop of course), you can throw in this code which can be downloaded in this text file.

Some things to note, you must include the file rss-functions.php before you can use the RSS functions. Change the $url = to your feed url. The variable $href will output the post’s url from the feed, $title would output the post title, and $description would output the post. You can change the number of items feed with $i == 5 to whatever you want it to be. Enjoy.

© mdvaldosta for Joe Hayes {dot} Org, 2008. | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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On another note, Wordpress Mu webmasters need to also patch their versions to the latest  (v1.3.3 – which is a both a merge with the regular Wordpress version 2.3.3 and a patch for their own security exploit that “allows any user with, ‘manage_options’ and ‘upload_files’ capabilities to execute arbitrary PHP code” – the code (oops) of which was posted openly. Why… oh why… do people post exploited code? Eh, guess I did too in a way.

At any rate, I hope you updated. Hackers (or should I say script kiddies) are sure to be on the loose this week.

© mdvaldosta for Joe Hayes {dot} Org, 2008. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
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At any rate, it’s pretty simple.  You’ll need to use this code to prevent your ad code from appearing after every single post, as Wordpress would just loop and keep showing it (which would likely be against Google’s TOS as they only allow 3 ad blocks per page).

First, open your index.php (or home.php, archive.php, or any other file you want to do this for) and find this line:

<?php if (have_posts())

and before, add:

<?php $count = 1; ?>

This will be used to track which post is being displayed. Next we’re going to add the code to display your Adsense. Find:

<?php the_content

and after, add:

<?php if ($count == 1) : ?>
Adsense Code Goes Here
<?php endif; $count++; ?>

There you have it, quick and dirty. Remember, this has to go inside the loop otherwise it won’t display properly (place it before the <?php endif; ?> which closes the loop. If you wanted this outside the loop (completely before or completely after all your posts), there would be no need to iterate through a post count. You can change this code to display after any number of posts by changing the $count == 1 to whatever post number you’d like.

© mdvaldosta for Joe Hayes {dot} Org, 2007. | Permalink | 56 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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