Creating Package for files and documents:

1. You can list many files and documents under same package
2. Add title for each file
3. Lock each file with password
4. Download each file from front-end separately
5. Download all files at once as a zip pack from front-end

File Storage Location:

1. You can upload files  and documents from your pc and store it in your server where you hosted WordPress Download Manager Pro
2. You can upload files and documents from your pc and store it in a remote FTP server
3. You can upload files  and documents from your pc and store it in Amazon s3
4. Additionally you can explore already uploaded files and documents in your server, remote ftp server and amazon s3 buckets and add with your pacakge

Various Lock Options:

1. Password Lock: Check this option if you want to lock your package using password(s). In password field you can enter one more more password. For multiple password each password should be inside “[]“, like [123][456][789]. And user will be able to download package using any of those password. And you can limit usage time for each password using “Password Usage Limit” field. So if you set “Password Usage Limit” value to 1. then each password can be used for once. And when a password will reach to its usage limit, it’ll expire and user will not be able to download the package using that password anymore.
2. Google +1 Lock: Check this option if you want to prevent user to download package before they add a +1 to your specified url. If no url used then it’ll be the current page.
3. Facebook Like Lock: Check this option if you want to prevent user to download package before they like your specified url on facebook. If no url used then it’ll be the current page.
4. Email Lock: Check this option if you want visitor to enter their email address before download. At frontend user will be asked for email and when they enter email, the download link will be mailed to that address.

Access Control:

1. You can make your files and documents public
2. You can make your files and documents access protective and allow only users under certain user roles
3. You can also make the files and documents access private and allow only specific users
4. Protect files and document using one or more password
5. Auto generate 1000′s of passwords in 3 clicks
6. Set password usage limit, like if you set each password usage limit = 3, then a password will expire after it is used for 3 times

Bandwidth Control:

1. You can control how many times a user should able to download a files
2. You can setup different limit for different user roles
3. Setup document specific or global limit

Bulk Import:

1.  Import multiple files and documents from csv files with all detailed info
2. Import all files and documents from a server directory into database
3. Import full category structure from csv file

Download Stats:

1. Track on who is downloading and from where. also how many time its downloaded.
2. Daily stats
3. Per user stats
4. Per package/file stats
5. Stats for a specific period
6. and many more

Custom Templates:

1. Many integrated template
2. Different template set for showing document links and document details
3. Option for creating your own template simply using template tags
4. Lots of template tags for showing different info about files and documents

Image Preview:

1. Upload one or more image with each packages and use simple short-code to show the images at front-end
2. Highly customization template tag for displaying thumbnail with matching size

SEO Optimized:

1. Customizable URL slug
2. Custom page for showing files and documents detailes
3. Specially optimized for wp seo plugins
4. Changeable base slug

Sidebar Widgets:

1. Sidebar widget for showing categories
2. Sidebar widget for showing top downloaded files and documents
3. Sidebar widget for new uploaded files and documents

Media Preview:

1. Simple short-code to show preview for mp3 files uploaded with a package.
2. Auto create play list for multi-file package

Front-end Files and Document Editor:

1. Users will able to manage their own packages from front-end when multi-user options is enabled
2. Edit profile option
3. Customized login and registration page

Add-ons:

1. Auto-share files and documents to facebook, twitter and delicious
2. Daily download limit
3. Advanced access control
4. WPDM premium package – in case your want to build a full featured online shop for selling your files and documents, paypal integrated, full features script licensing option
5. WPDM hotlink protection
6. WPDM Directory add-on
7. Newsletter add-on
8. Authorize.net payment gateway
9. Advanced tinymce button
10. jQuery carousal add-on

So, who do you think now,  do you need anything else for your site. If yes, still no problem, as they said they are accepting any new idea and will implement that priority basis to make you satisfies!

All those amazing feature you will get from here: Files and document management plugin for WordPress

You can check the demo here: Files and document management plugin Demo

Affiliate Marketing is one of the easiest and most cost effective ways to advertise your products. However, running an affiliate program through a 3rd party company can be expensive! With WP Eden Affiliate Server, you can manage, track and pay your affiliates directly from your WordPress website! WP Eden Affiliate Server will track your all sales from your site silently and is compatible with any shopping cart plugin.

WP Eden Affiliate Server Features:

• Simple Integration
• WP Marketplace, WP E-commerce, Woo Commerce, JigoShop and paypal shopping cart support
• Compatible and Workable with any WP shopping cart plugin without changing code
• Affiliate Commission Setup
• Maturity period setup

What WP Eden Affiliate Server will do:

• Enable Affiliate Marketing
• Track Unique Incoming Hits
• Easy to handle affiliate links
• Easy to handle admin options

Why you need WP Eden Affiliate Server:

• Increase your sale
• Drive quality traffic to your site
• Extend your brand visibility
• Increase back links, better search engine visibility

Download & More Info: WP Eden Affiliate Server

Take decision what purpose the plugin will create. Make a folder on the plugin folder with a different name.  Try to use a similar name with your plugin.

Step 2: Common step to write plugin

/*
Plugin Name: first plugin
Plugin URI: http://myurl.com
Description: A brief description of the Plugin.
Author: Shaon
Version: 1.6.1
Author URI: http://shaon.info/
*/

a.After <?php  tag all information use in the comment tag. It is important to write a plugin.

b.Plugin Name: Write here your plugin name. Important part of the plugin. This name shown in admin as a plugin name. It must be an unique name of other plugin

c.Plugin URI: The webpage of the plugin where it is kept. It is optional part but standard.

d.Description: Your plugin description or summery put here. It will show

e.Author: The name, who is making the plugin. You can put your name. It is also optional.

f. Version: Put version of your plugin. Optional use.

g. Author URI: You can put your website here. Optional use.

After install the plugin, you will look like this in the admin area.

Step 3: Go to details code

Show our plugin to admin menu like flowing image. Need to write the code.

We are making a simple plugin to show one line is “My first plugin”. Now add the following code in your php file.

add_action('admin_menu', ‘first_plugin_menu');

 Details of add_action

Here add_action is wordpress built in function. It is called hook. Here we call a function, name is ‘first_plugin_menu’

first_plugin_menu function add menu like image. The code is below.

function first_plugin_menu (){

add_menu_page( "First Plugin", "First Plugin", 'administrator', 'first-plugin', ‘first_plugin_function');

}

Details of add_menu_page:

add_menu_page( $page_title, $menu_title, $capability, $menu_slug, $function);

$page_title  : The text to be displayed in the title tags of the page when the menu is selected .

$menu_title : The on-screen name text for the menu.

$capability : The capability required for this menu to be displayed to the user. User levels are deprecated and should not be used here.

$menu_slug : The slug name to refer to this menu by (should be unique for this menu). Prior to Version 3.0 this was called the file (or handle) parameter. If the function parameter is omitted, the menu_slug should be the PHP file that handles the display of the menu page content.

$function : The function that displays the page content for the menu page.

When click on the menu it is call the following function and showing the output.

function first_plugin_function(){

echo " My first plugin";

}

 After all, the whole code of our first plugin is as follows:

/*
Plugin Name: first plugin
Plugin URI: http://myurl.com
Description: A brief description of the Plugin.
Author: Shaon
Version: 1.6.1
Author URI: http://shaon.info/
*/

function firstplugin_menu() {
add_menu_page( 'FirstPlugin', 'FirstPlugin','manage_options','first-plugin', 'wpo_First_Plugin');
}

function wpo_First_Plugin(){
echo "My first plugin";
}

add_action('admin_menu', 'firstplugin_menu');

Now I will tell you what types of features of this plugin can you enjoy. You can also visit the following features from this demo link
Front-end User Login: With this plugin has integrated a login form to handle user login for visitor. No need to use WordPress native login form for this.

Front-end User Signup: With this plugin also add a signup form for visitor to handle user registrations which will help you to keep integrity of interface rather going to native WordPress user registration page.

User Profile Management: Without accessing to WordPress admin, user can change their profile information, password, email with this profile management feature.

Write Post from Frontend: It is the main feature of this plugin and what is the purpose also, from where user can post with this window. It uses WordPress native tiny-mce editor to edit post content which gives the users same comfort as writing posts from WordPress Admin.

Manage Posts from Frontend: In this area the plugin will show the list of post in slick interface. From where user can easily manage their post.

Integrated Media Attachment Option: This plugin added another interesting feature is Attachment Media, from where visitor can attach media file with posts while creating to editing a post in a easier and faster way.

Full Featured Media Manager: It is an interesting feature of this plugin. In this screen show all list of the media file. From where user can edit, delete there media file easily. Also can generate Embed Code, which just copy on your desire place by which visitor can easily manage their post with media.

Custom Fields: This plugin include custom field with its same as wordPress admin function and has new short-code option to embed custom field value in post content which is a best feature of this plugin.

Post Tags: This plugin also add a tagging feature like as WordPress admin tag from where user can add and delete post tags.

Access Controll: The Front End and Media Manager plugin also include access control system. Site Admin can make rules and capabilities also control the visitor account.

Multifile and Ajaxed upload support: To upload easier and faster for visitor there has been included another feature is Multifile and Ajaxed upload system.

Integrated Media Player: The Front End and Media Manager plugin add one short-code features to add audio and video file to post easily.

Many Shortcode support: The Front End and Media Manager plugin add 10 more short codes to embed various data to make flexible use of this plugin like button, calendar, map and etc inside post content.

One of the most anticipated features of WordPress 3.0 was the ability to add your own custom post types to WordPress. For content creation, the default wordpress post types are Post and Page. After WordPress 3.0, there is an extra facility to add user defined post, which is known as custom post. If you may have a more specific type of data that you want to include on your site. This is where custom post types come in.

Create Custom Post Type:

There is a WordPress built in function to create Custom post.

 register_post_type( $post_type, $args ) 

$post_type: In this line $post_type is required field and string value. The string max. 20 characters, can not contain capital letters or spaces.

$args: $args is an array of arguments. It is optional value. We can use various value as an arguments. We discuss some of arguments in our article which we use. For more details you can visit to the following link http://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/register_post_type

labels: An array of labels for this post type. By default post labels are used for non-hierarchical types and page labels for hierarchical ones. The values for labels array, we use are as follows.

        'name' - general name for the post type, usually plural. 
	'singular_name' - name for one object of this post type.
	'add_new' - the add new text.
	'add_new_item' - the add new item text.
	'edit_item' - the edit item text.
	'new_item' - the new item text.
	'view_item' - the view item text.
	'search_items' - the search items text.
	'not_found' - the not found text.
	'not_found_in_trash' - the not found in trash text.
	'parent_item_colon' - the parent text.

Public: It is boolean value. If set true, post type is intended for public use and for false post type is not intendend.

Support: It is also optional and array of arguments. Here we use as arguments title, editor, custom-fields, revisions and excerpt.

Now the full code to create a custom field is as follows. In various ways we can create the custom post type; with plugin or in function.php file. In this article we will create in function.php file. Open the function.php file of your theme folder and past the following code to this file.

add_action( 'init', 'create_products' );
function create_products() {
$labels = array(
'name' => _x('Products ', 'post type general name'),
'singular_name' => _x('Product', 'post type singular name'),
'add_new' => _x('Add New', 'Product'),
'add_new_item' => __('Add New Product'),
'edit_item' => __('Edit Product'),
'new_item' => __('New Product'),
'view_item' => __('View Product'),
'search_items' => __('Search Products'),
'not_found' =>  __('No Products found'),
'not_found_in_trash' => __('No Products found in Trash'),
'parent_item_colon' => ''
);

$supports = array('title', 'editor', 'custom-fields', 'revisions', 'excerpt');

register_post_type( 'event',
array(
'labels' => $labels,
'public' => true,
'supports' => $supports
)
);
}

Here we use another extra line add_action( ‘init’, ‘create_products’ ); This line will call create_products function. Now we write the create_products function.

Now go to admin area and look the following screen come as custom post type.

Whether you are an individual or a company, you should approach online secuirity in the same way that you would approach physical security for your home or business.  SSL uses a cryptographic system that uses two keys to encrypt data. An SSl Certificate is an digital computer file (or small piece of code) that has two specific function.

1. Authentication and Verification .
2. Data Encryption.

SSL Short for Secure Sockets Layer, a protocol developed by Netscape for transmitting private documents via the Internet. A  public key known to everyone and a private or secret key known only to the recipient of the message.  It’s a process where data passed between the user and server is encrypted/decrypted so that no external third party can hijack the connection.  It is a technology that establishes a secure session link between the visitor’s web browser and your website so that all communications transmitted through this link are encrypted and are, therefore, secure.  SSL is also used for transmitting secure email, secure files, and other forms of information.

How Does SSL encryption work?

Each SSL session consists of two keys:

1. The Public Key is used to encrypt the information.
2. The private key is used to decrypt the information and restore it to its original format so that it can be read.

The Process : Every SSL Certificate is issued for a specific server and web site domain (website address) for a CA-verfied entity. When a person uses their browser to navigate to the address of a web site with an SSL Certificate, an SSL Handshake occurs between the browser and server. Information requested from the server which is then made visible to the person in their browser.

SSL in website to be secure:

The primary reason why SSL is used is to keep sensitive information sent across the Internet encrypted so that only the intended recipient can understand it. This is important because the information you send on the Internet is passed from computer to computer to get to the destination server. Any computer in between you and the server can see your credit card numbers, usernames and passwords, and other sensitive information if it is not encrypted with an SSL certificate. When an SSL certificate is used, the information becomes unreadable to everyone except for the server you are sending the information to. This protects it from hackers and identity thieves.

How sidejack SSL less site:

There is a technique to sidejacking or hijacking your information in SSL less site. By this technique malicious users of public networks (such as WI-FI hotspots) intercept other people’s session cookies to gain unauthorized access to their accounts. Although login passwords are typically encrypted to protect them from being grabbed off a network, session cookies are not always as well protected, making users of public networks who surf sites which do not employ SSL or encrypting protocols vulnerable to snooping programs such as Firesheep.

Different types of SSL

Generally there are three different types of SSL certificates.

1. Dedicated SSL – This is the most secure and evidently the most expensive solution. An HTTPS connection is only verified for your root domain targeted via a designated IP address.
2. Shared SSL – Web hosts which offer shared hosting will sometimes have multiple domain names pointing to the same IP address. In this case it’s much easier for the host to manage one single SSL on each server spanning an array of different websites.
3. Wildcard SSL – These can be similar to a dedicated or shared SSL certificate based on server configuration. Wildcard SSL certs will target multiple subdomains for your website. This is a viable solution if you split up different functions of your website e.g. shop.domain.com, checkout.domain.com, etc.

Website visit securely

When a visitor visit a website, then naturally the address start with http://. This means that the website is talking to your browser using the regular ‘unsecure’ language. It is possible for someone to “eavesdrop” on your computer’s conversation with the website. If you fill out a form on the website, someone might see the information you send to that site. But if the address is start with https:// then you are more secure from hacking your secure information. You understand why this is so important, right? If a website ever asks you to enter your credit card information, you should automatically look to see if the web address begins with https://. If it doesn’t, there’s no way you’re going to enter sensitive information like a credit card number! From the following lock icon you can also sure this site is protected from hijacking or SSL Secured site.

How do I know that a site has a valid SSL Certificate?

A standerd web site without SSL security displays “http :// “  before the web site address in the browser address bar. However , a website that is secured with a SSL Certificate will display “https ://” before the address. Stands for “Secure HTTP”.

 Advantages of having dedicated SSL Certificate :

Main advantages of having dedicated SSL is to gain of your potential buyers.   Dedicated SSL also shows that the SSL Certificate is in your company name and dedicated to your website. If you want your customers to put their credit card details on your shopping cart then dedicated SSL  is much better. SSL allows  you to browse your site with “https ://” instead of “http ://” SSL certificate is a must for e-commerce site as its ensures that the confidential information like credit card numbers and bank account information entered by your customers remain secure.

The effective implementation of SSL Certificates and correct placement and use of trust marks are proven tools in the establishment of consumer trust.

I ride a lot, and as freeing as it can be, a good rider is always keenly aware of the high risks of being on a motorcycle. A good rider plans — as much as he or she can — for all kinds of contingencies.

The key to being a safe rider is the acceptance of risk.

I have to consider a lot of variables, but ultimately I’ve decided that I want to ride, and I’ve accepted that there will always be a certain level of risk to that activity.

Running a website is not unlike motorcycle riding when it comes to risk acceptance and overall risk management.

A Responsibility to Your Audience

Though WordPress allows a site creator to go a step above what most website software offers regarding security, it is still Internet based software, and there are inherent risks for you, your data, and your users.

The security of visitors on your site should be a priority, ensuring their visit is free from harmful content. Your website does you no good if it’s harming visitors, or your reputation.

Just like hopping on a bike, you need to be taking a strategic approach to WordPress risk management.

Here are four simple risk reduction approaches you should consider and implement …

1. Clean Your Garage

The paint on a Harley-Davidson is engineered to last 50 plus years — even in extreme heat or cold.

It isn’t designed to withstand that ladder currently leaning up against your garage wall falling on it. Before I brought my precious bike home, I decided to pick up a few things and create a proper parking spot.

We’re extremely fortunate as WordPress users. The WordPress core team does a great job of cleaning up and optimizing the WordPress core on an ongoing basis.

They are committed to the identification and patching of security vulernabilites. Anytime you see a minor release (3.2.x), it’s for bug fixes and security patches.

Here’s a few things to consider with each WordPress update:

Update your core: The most important advice I can give anyone who manages websites is to ensure they are updating their software. When you’re done updating, check everything again, and update some more!

One of the biggest contributors to malware attacks is running outdated software. In fact, it accounts for more than 70% of all the cases we see at Sucuri. This includes various web based software titles, not just WordPress. There are various ways to accomplish this, and it usually takes mere minutes to update the WordPress core.

Have you tried the automatic update feature in WordPress? It works great, and is conveniently located within your WordPress admin panel.

Update themes and plugins: Everything is working just fine, why should I touch plugins? The same reason you’d updating any other software — even more so with themes and plugins — because they don’t necessarily go through the same vetting and testing as WordPress core (unless you’re using StudioPress themes and plugins).

Remove disabled plugins and inactive themes: In August of 2011, there was a public disclosure that the popular TimThumb script included in popular WordPress plugins and themes was vulnerable. Within days we were seeing attackers exploiting the vulnerability with everything from SEO spam to website redirects to infecting every single PHP file on the server with nonsense characters.

As we started to see more and more of these cases we came to realize that most site owners didn’t even realize the script (and resulting malware) was on their server. In other cases, site owners were disabling the vulnerable plugin or theme, but were leaving it on the server. This vulnerability didn’t mind that the theme or plugin wasn’t enabled in WordPress. Attackers started scanning sites looking for Tim Thumb and when they found it, they would arbitrarily execute PHP on the server. When a plugin or theme is inactive, WordPress does not load it.

However, it is still accessible and executable on the web server. This is one of the most overlooked vulnerabilities on a WordPress install and one of the first avenues hackers cruise when looking for ways to exploit a site. If you aren’t using the plugin or theme, remove it from your site! That goes for all software really, if you’re not using it, remove it from the server. There is no sense in storing it there if it’s not being leveraged.

There’s nothing worse than leaving it there, forgetting about it, then getting infected through something that you don’t even need. In the end, by removing all unneeded software, files, and data from your server, you’re reducing your risk of future vulnerabilities being exploited, and it’s less you have to update or maintain.

Update your server: If you’re being held accountable, your web host should be as well. Are they keeping the server software update? Are you running the latest web server software? If you’re not sure, ask them! If that doesn’t net the results you’re looking for, you can scan your site at Sucuri and it will tell you.

2. Close Your Garage Door

As obvious as this may sound, one of the things I seriously considered when buying my bike was the state of my own home.

Where was I going to park my new ride? How would I ensure that it would be protected when I was away from it?

How does this apply to WordPress?

Making sure your local infrastructure is as safe as possible is the starting point for most everything you will do online.

Here are a few areas that will help reduce your risk from the beginning:

Keep your computer up-to-date: Ensure you’re patching or installing updates regularly. Automatic Updates are good. Most OS vendors are patching security issues often, it’s important to stay updated.

Install an anti-virus solution: AV solutions don’t only protect you from computer viruses, they are also helpful to detect malicious software that may try to attack your web properties.

Software firewalls: Yes, they are still relevant.

Safe Browsing: Just because your website is a super ninja doesn’t mean others are too. Most desktop viruses and malware these days are passed via infected websites. If it doesn’t look right, it probably isn’t. If you’re a Firefox user check out the NoScript Extension, It allows you to manage the scripts being loaded by websites so that the latest drive-by doesn’t catch you with a funny pop-up.

3. Don’t Leave Your Keys in the Ignition

I was having a great day at the office a few days back.

When I left to head home, I realized that my bike’s key was in the ignition — in the on position — which had drained my battery. I was lucky though.

What if someone with malicious intent realized the key to my ride was sitting in the ignition? I’d be dealing with my insurance company right now.

The simplest forms of authentication use some type of keying mechanism. This is one of the quickest ways for attackers to gain access to your site, and ride off into the sunset.

Let me ask you this, are your passwords strong enough to ward off an attack long enough to disinterest an attacker?

Did you know that the most stolen password in 2011 was “password”?

Here are the top 5 worst passwords:

1. Password
2. 123456
3. 12345678
4. qwerty
5. abc123

Hackers aren’t sitting around all afternoon randomly typing passwords. They automate attacks using a technique called the dictionary attack. They create a large list of common passwords and automate an attack trying each one until they find what they’re looking for.

Here are a few things to help you fight password attacks:

Change your passwords often: The longer you use the same password, the more time you’re giving hackers to try and crack it. If you change it frequently, you shorten the window of attack.

Don’t share passwords: Passwords are like toothbrushes, you should keep them to yourself. And discard them, and get a new one, if they have been used by others.

Don’t write your passwords down: This is as bad as me leaving my key in my bike. Anyone can take it, and run with it. Alternatively look at using a password management tool like KeePass or LastPass

Use Passphrases: Passphrases are basically long passwords, something with a meaning. For example: F0urScoR3&s3v3NYeAr$aG0Now – this passphrase is pretty complex, but you’ll see that it contains 3-4 words, uppercase, lowercase, numbers and symbols. I am fond of Abraham Lincoln and the Gettysburg Address so this would be fairly easy for me to remember. You don’t have to go crazy like the example, but the idea is to use a more complex set of characters that would be very difficult to guess.

4. Find a Good Mechanic

I don’t trust my bike with just anyone.

I have poured my heart into upgrading, and customizing it. I have spent countless hours architecting the ride, the look, the feel. Sound familiar?

In a lot of ways I approach my websites the same way, and when choosing a web host I research considerably before giving over the keys to the kingdom. Anytime you install a plugin or let a designer make changes to your site, you are handing them the keys to your kingdom. Your hosting provider always has the keys to your kingdom.

Do your research, get recommendations, and choose wisely. Here’s a few things to consider when using thrid-party offerings:

Plugins: Not all plugins are created equally. Unintentionally, an inexperienced plugin designer can open up all kinds of security vulnerabilities in your site or simply tank its performance. Read the reviews of plugins you select and try and stick to ones that have shown a history of updating and evolving their code on a regular basis.

Designers: The WordPress design community has grown significantly and there are lots of great resources to choose from. Make sure and get recommendations for a qualified designer and consider having them implement their design on top of a reputable framework like Genesis. A framework really helps to keep your designer in design and configuration mode versus coding. Unless a designer is an experienced WordPress developer as well, coding can often lead to security and performance issues.  Even if they are an experienced WordPress designer, it doesn’t hurt to stress to them that security is important and ask them to keep it in mind by adhereing to some of the advice in this post as well as the basics of WordPress hardening from the Codex .

Hosting: Most hosting platforms are designed to be everything to everyone. If you select a hosting provider that specializes in WordPress and is proactive in its approaches to security, your chances of having performance, operational, or security issues will lessen. Copyblogger Media’s Synthesis Managed WordPress Hosting, for example, combines a minimalist, locked down stack with proactive PHP scanning software to prevent hackers from accessing its customer’s sites, or even gaining information about them. It’s also safe to say that the folks at Copyblogger understand WordPress, SEO, and hosting and integrate that knowledge into their customer support.

I hope this helps in your travels down the WordPress highway.

As you can see, a few simple plans can go a long way in heading off disaster, and bringing you peace-of-mind.

As a web developer, you can broaden your potential client base and add value for existing clients by listing ‘WordPress’ as an area of expertise. Of course, unless you want to bluff your way through jobs, you’d better have the skill to back-up that claim. This collection will help.

WordPress Basics

1. Unraveling the Secrets of the comments.php File

Nettuts+ author Gilles Maes has written an in-depth overview of the comments.php file and how to make the most of the template.

2. How to Become a WordPress Developer

iThemes has a tutorial on how to become a WordPress developer. The article covers development tools, best plugins, suggestions for getting clients, and more.

3. Multiple WordPress Installations Using a Single Database

Streamline your WordPress set-up by installing multiple instances of WordPress on the same database.

Theme Tutorials

4. How to Create a WordPress Theme from Scratch

Nettuts+ author Sam Parkinson gives a thorough overview of how to make your own custom theme from scratch, complete with source code.

5. So You Want to Create WordPress Themes, Huh?

A lengthy and thorough series of tutorials covering nearly every aspect of WordPress theme development. A must-read for beginners.

6. WordPress for Designers: Video Series

Drew Douglass will teach us, using easy to understand screencasts, exactly how to design for WordPress.

7. WordPress Theme Hacks

A collection of simple WordPress hacks that you’ll find yourself reusing all the time when working with themes.

8. Designing for WordPress Screencast

CSSTricks has an excellent 3-step screencast that starts with the basics of solid theme design (step 2 and step 3).

9. Turning a Web Template Into a WordPress Theme

Instead of using one of the many standard WordPress themes, you could convert a web template into a WordPress theme with this video tutorial.

10. WordPress CSS Guides

A slightly-dated but still useful guide on how to alter the CSS on default themes to create your own personalized theme.

11. How to Create a WordPress Theme in 5 Minutes

Bothack has a quick-n-dirty rundown on how to create your own WordPress theme in 5 minutes.

12. Mastering WordPress Theme Hacks and Techniques

Nuope has a 4-part series on Mastering CSS, one of which is how to master WordPress theme hacks.

13. Blog Posts in Different Columns

If you’re wanting a little more advanced look and feel to your blog, try setting the posts to display in different columns.

14. Adding Tabs to Your Theme’s Sidebar

Here’s a quick hack that adds tabs to your sidebar using Yahoo! Tab View.

15. Category Styling

This tutorial shows how to add messages in the theme for posts in a certain category using CSS.

16. Multiple Page Layouts in a Single Template

If you’re looking for a more diversified template for sub-pages in a template, check out this quick tutorial for mutiple page layouts in a single template.

17. Rounded Corner Tab Menus

Rubique has a quick tutorial on how to use CSS to make rounded corners for your WordPress menus.

18. Dynamic Classes or ID’s

Elliot Jay Stocks as a useful tutorial on how to apply a dynamic body class or ID to your templates, for styling purposes.

19. Formatting Images for Feed Readers

How to make sure your images are looking good in many of your blog follower’s favorite medium: the feed reader.

20. How to Highlight Author Comments in WordPress

Google blogger Matt Cutts offers some advice on how to style your author comments differently than the rest of the reader comments.

21. Customizing Widgets Using CSS

Widgets are a great way to quickly add information to your layout (namely the sidebar). Here’s a tutorial on how to style the widgets using CSS.

22. Using Sliding Doors with WordPress Navigation

The Sliding Doors technique is a great way to utilize CSS and background images to make tabbed navigation. WPHacks shows us how to utilize Sliding Doors to enhance WordPress navigation.

23. WordPress Categories in a Horizontal Drop-down Menu

How to use CSS and Javascript to make a horizontal drop-down menubar.

24. Separate Comments from Trackbacks

It’s a good idea to separate trackbacks from your comments.

25. Creating a Widget Ready Footer

There’s a trend for blogs to have footers that feature columns of extra information. Learn how to create a widget-ready WordPress footer.

26. Make a Featured Post Carousel

Many blogs use a featured post carousel to show recent posts or flagship content. Learn how to create this nifty feature with Nettuts+ author James Lao.

27. How to Lay Text Over Images

Add a little flair to your blog and add some text to your flagship images by only using WordPress custom fields.

28. The Date/Image Hack

Interesting tutorial on how to combine a combination of images, CSS and WordPress hooks in order to graphically display the date of the published post.

29. Dynamic Sticky Pages

Learn how to dynamically make posts stay on top longer in category and archive listings using multiple loops.

Plugins

30. Your First WP Plugin

Mark Jaquith has a short-and-sweet screencast on how to create your first WordPress plugin in under 5 minutes.

31. How to Write a Simple WordPress Plugin

A step-by-step guide to a simple and fun WordPress plugin.

32. Screencast on Writing a WordPress Plugins

If you’re rather see a visual demonstration of how to write a WordPress plugin, look no further than the Weblog Tools Collection screencast.

The Backend

33. Custom Write Panels in the WordPress Backend

Design blog WeFunction shows us how to create extra write panels for adding extra bits to the “Write” page of the admin area.

34. WordPress as a CMS

WordPress isn’t just a blogging tool, it can also be a CMS with the help of some plugins and theme retooling.

35. Exporting WordPress Data

Learn how to import and export your WordPress posts and comments with this handy screencast.

Miscellaneous

36. Embedding WordPress into OS Commerce

OS Commerce is a popular open source ecommerce shopping script that many web developers use to sell goods. Here’s a tutorial on how to embed a WordPress blog into an OS Commerce installation.

37. Creating An Automatic Sitemap

Sitemaps help users navigate the site, as well as allow search engines to have quick access to all of your blog’s pages. Here’s a tutorial on how to create an automatic sitemap for your WordPress installation.

38. Build a Dynamic Design Portfolio

A terrific guide on how to utilize the query_posts tag to create a design portfolio with WordPress.

39. Create a User Contributed Link Feed w/ WordPress Comments

If you’re wanting to add a Nettuts+ style link feed, Collis has an excellent tutorial on how to utilize WordPress comments to create the feed.

40. A WordPress-Powered Membership Directory

WPDesigner shows us how to create a membership directory using a standard installation of WordPress and some customization.

41. Remove Categories in the WordPress Loop

Sometimes excluding certain posts in categories from showing in the WordPress loop is important. Here’s a quick tutorial with sample code on how to exclude certain categories in your templates.

42. Add a Twitter Field to your Form

How to install the twitip-id plugin to include a field for commenters to leave their Twitter ID.

43. Enabling HTTPS for WordPress.com Blogs Screencast

The WordPress team has put together a how-to video on enabling HTTPS on WordPress.com blogs.

44. How to Add Photo Captions

Good photo captions aren’t that something that WordPress themes usually come with out of the box. This screencast shows how to correctly add photo captions into your posts.

45. Make a Random Post Button

Adding a random post button is only a SQL query and PHP snippet away.

46. RSS-Only Posts

This tutorial shows you how to create posts that only appear in RSS feeds, in hopes to improve RSS subscriber counts.

47. WordPress SEO

Yaost has a lengthy tutorial on how to squeeze the most SEO out of your WordPress blog.

48. Learn How to Make Your Blog Accessible

Most blogs don’t conform to WAI/WCAG standards in terms of accessibility. Learn how to meet these standards with Bruce Lawson’s accessibility hacks.

49. Definitive Guide to Semantic Web Markup for Blogs

Although not strictly a WordPress tutorial, Chris Pearson’s guide to semantic web markup for blogs is a must-read for anyone wanting to maximize their results in search engines.

50. Digg-proof Your WordPress

Learn how to configure MySQL, Apache and other things to keep your site humming when it lands on the front page of Digg.

Sketch it out before you start

Image from: Gary Lambert

Before you even turn your computer on, sit down with a pencil and some pieces of paper and sketch out what you want your site to look like. It will be much easier to create your page in Photoshop if you already know exactly what you want.

Get a template and use a grid

By using a grid, you can make sure that your page and all of the elements on it are neatly lined up. If you are off by even a pixel or two, your site may otherwise look sloppy. Snap elements into your grid to be sure it is all orderly and neat.

Learn shortcuts

You can do a lot with Photoshop, and you can do even more with keyboard shortcuts. As you learn how to do design, everything will be even more frustrating as you scroll through menus to find what you need. There is a shortcut for almost everything!

Stay organized

As you make changes, save often, and save old drafts. You never know if you may end up wanting to go back to a previous version later. Be sure to save them with names that let you know if something is an original, a final, or the fourth draft.  

Make your history longer

Before you do anything else, go to your Photoshop preferences and increase the value for the History. As you are learning Photoshop and design, you may need to go 30 steps back to find where you first goofed, but your history probably won’t let you go back that far by default.  

Pick up the pen tool

If you are newer to Photoshop, the Pen Tool can be scary. It is also a great resource, so start to get acquainted with it, since it could make your life a bit easier. It can help when masking images or adding illustrations, among other things.

Be subtle

You probably want the elements on your site to POP, so it is tempting to make visual elements harsh and bold to make sure that they will stand out. If you use a little self-control, especially with contrast and gradients, you will make a polished professional site, and your emphasized elements will still be noted.

Personalize Photoshop 

As you create your website, Photoshop is your workspace. Just like with your desk, you want to make sure that it is organized so things you need often are at hand, and tools you nearly never used are properly tucked away. Hide away menus that are not of any use to you, and consider toying around with the default settings so that even more is already your way.

Note from the editor: This article is provided by Kevin Moor who writes for different sites, which inter alias are working to find better disk cleaner. Mr Moor is solely responsible for all the content.

The Google Analytics for WordPress plugin allows you to track your blog easily and with lots of metadata.

Download Zip: Google Analytics for WordPress