Create a Tweet This Button with Shortened URLs

Because micro-blogging services like Twitter have a character limit of 140 characters, it is paramount that you shorten your links as much as possible. Wordpress does not do this natively but that does not mean that it is difficult. We can include our code in the functions page for an easy,  repetivitve action. You can see an example of how it looks below this post. Is.gd probably outputs the shortest links, but you can use most other url shortners for this tutorial. Open your templates functions.php and include the following code.

function getTinyUrl($url) {
  $tinyurl = file_get_contents("http://is.gd/api.php?longurl=".$url);
  return $tinyurl;
}

What this code means is that we create new function called “createTinyLink” and allow a parameter of “$url” to be grabbed so it can be convereted into a tinyURL. Then we create a new variable called “$tinylink” and let that equal to the contents of the function on the is.gd website. I got that link from here. But you could also use Bit.ly or Tinyurl just as simply. The code then returns the contents into where we want it displayed.

After this we go into the single.php (or any page) and enter in:

Tweet this

This creates a link that says Tweet this and the url will be a link to Twitter.com that can update your status with Currently Reading : [The title of the post] and the shortened link to the article.

There you have it extremely easy and very cool addition to your blog, without slowing it down with a million plugins.

100 Amazing Design Blogs To Subscribe To

It is important as a designer, to build a good collection of resources for constant inspiration. That’s why I subscribe to over 100 feeds all in different areas of design, to gain see a wide spectrum of knowledge. My RSS reader of choice used to be Google Reader, but more recently I’ve been using the Firefox addon Feedly , which extends Google Reader’s capabilities and adds Twitter and FriendFeed integration.

Here I will list over a 100 blogs for you to subscribe to, but also I will give a link to download all the URLs so they can be easily imported into Google Reader.

Design a Wordpress 2.7 Theme – Day 3 : Dynamic Sidebar and Functional Footer

Introduction

Although the main content is always the most important part of a web design, the secondary content plays a fundamental role in guiding the user through the website. The sidebar helps direct the flow of the page, gives it useful information, and can display some of the most important aspects of your website.

Seeing as these tutorials are based off of Wordpress 2.7, there is no need to go into detail about static sidebars. You can easily add these in, with your knowledge of XHTML and the use of the very detailed Wordpress Codex.

Footers are also a very important feature of your site. Because they are at the bottom, they are often overlooked. Many people don’t realise how important it is to have something to look at once you finish reading a post and so the footer is an ideal opportunity to maintain readership.

Design a Wordpress 2.7 Theme – Day 2 : File Separating and The Loop

Introduction

You have your basic page structure, but there are none of your posts visible. Because there is a lot of PHP needed, and because it can get messy some times, Wordpress give you an easier way to separate your template theme pages into different files. With Wordpress, you can and it is extreemly easy!

Design a Wordpress 2.7 Theme – Day 1 : Structure and Heading

Introduction

The first thing to consider when designing a Wordpress theme is to think about the layout of site. Who is it for, why do they need it, how many columns, what colours? For this tutorial, I will be working on something to give away for free on this site ( a sort of follow-up to the series). I cant decide on your design, so you will have to get all of these beforehand.