WordCamp: Developing WordPress Plugins

(Embedded slideshow below)

[embeddoc url=”http://rebelpixel.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/wordcamp-plugins.ppt” viewer=”microsoft”]

I did tell you I was slated to speak at WordCamp Philippines last week, right? I’m not so sure if I managed to expound on my topic acceptably, but hopefully I gave fellow WordPress users an idea on how to approach the task of coding your own WordPress plugin. If in doubt, you can always refer to the “Writing a Plugin” article at the Codex, it was so good I used it as the outline for my discussion. I embedded my slides above, just in case you want to look at it. It’s up on slideshare if you wanna grab it or share it with other WordPress bloggers.

I demoed a plugin I call Strip! which allows you to remove/hide links from a given comment. Unlike similar plugins, you can undo this action at any time. I was supposed to make this plugin available earlier in the week but had to do other things, good thing Drew came looking for it so I had enough reason not to forget it. And for good measure, Jayvee has been playing with it since Monday and it seems to work good enough for him.

Now what is the use of the Strip! plugin? I occasionally receive gratuitous comments from readers that though they try to respond to the discussion for a given post, they still (desperately!) promote and link to totally unrelated material for no apparent reason, except for you–know–that–now–but–I–won’t–tell–you. Some may have completely relevant comments but provide spammy and made–for–AdSense type of sites for their homepage. You can simply delete or mark these comments as spam, but sometimes they are still integral to the discussion. So you just strip out all links for that comment, but leaving just the text and its context. Maybe you’d like to give it a try?

Hana took many photos during the conference but I haven’t gone through them just yet, but I’m sharing you just two for now:

Markku & Hana at WordCamp Philippines 2008.

I believe AJ took that photo of us. Now here’s another photo, this time I’m with Matt Mullenweg, the WordPress man himself!

Markku with Matt Mullenweg of WordPress/Automattic.

I was very happy when I spoke to Matt and heard him say that he remembers this site for being one of the best–designed weblogs back in the early days of WordPress. Yep, the early days, when the plugins and themes features of WordPress were still to be conceptualized, the time when we still called blogs as weblogs. It was really nice to meet you and have you here in the Philippines Matt, we look forward to your next visit! 🙂

I’ll be uploading the rest of the photos soon and of course, a few more stories to share.

Gusto mo bang sumama?

Eraserheads: The Reunion

May isang umaga na tayo’y magsasama
Haya at halina sa alapaap
O anong sarap

So it was a promise after all. Alapaap’s surreal–sounding opening verse, sometimes omitted in our minds in favor of the upbeat chorus and other verses, was in hindsight an assurance that no matter what, against all odds, there is that one day when we’ll all be together, again. And it was 083008.

The Eraserheads reunion concert must’ve been one of the most awaited events in many people’s lives. I’ve been waiting for so long but never expected it this soon anyway. When I heard about it though, I had to accept it was going to be now.

Bloggers at the Eraserheads reunion concert. [1]

The ensuing drama wouldn’t let things stay as simple as they should be though. There was the DOH and tobacco advertising issue that gave Marlboro/Philip Morris lots of free mileage, and then came the sad passing of Ely’s mother. When it seemed like it was too good to push through, something else had to come to cast a cloud of doubt on the whole thing. Since ticket details were never clear until just days before Saturday, I was almost resigned to the fact that I might actually miss the first (and probably only) Eraserheads reunion concert.

When I got Juned’s message that our friends at San Miguel through Red Horse have some tickets for a few dozen bloggers, it had me believing that maybe I was really destined to see the Eraserheads!

Bloggers at the Eraserheads reunion concert. [2]

About two hours before the concert, we finally were in our Red Horse–badged Ely Buendia shirts with tickets ready. All we had to worry about now was where to get dinner so we could get in before the crowd thickens like a raging flood. More than 30 bloggers scrambled to grab a bite, rushing around the Bonifacio High Street area. Just a few minutes before 8PM, we were headed for the Patrons’ entrance.

Crowd ingress was smooth despite the long queue. Turns out the long lines were mostly due to insistent fans wanting to bring in long–zoom cameras and camcorders just to document this milestone in their lives. I left all my cameras in the car though, I knew they were prohibited and would only make things harder for me. Besides, there was no way I could grab decent shots from our section.

The 10–minute countdown seemed like too much at first, but as it got closer the crowd’s energy was just electric. After the short AVP, there was the band, finally, opening with what could possibly be their most popular song Alapaap. As they reached the first chorus, the crowd was jumping to the beat, oblivious to the rest of the world. All that mattered was the music.

Markku & Hana at the Eraserheads reunion concert.

It was only at that point that I felt that all was real, this is the Eraserheads together for a night to remember. Hana was right in front of me singing and trying to record a video on her phone, I was just so happy to have her by my side on that fateful night. And then I remembered Jonas, who’s probably the biggest Eraserheads fan I know. I dialed his number, all the way to Dubai Bahrain. I raised my phone up high just as Ely belted Ang daming bawal sa mundo, sinasakal nila tayo. Buksan ang puso at isipan, paliparin ang kamalayan.

After Alapaap, I could’ve walked out of there in nirvana. All I needed was one song from the Eraserheads, the music that is the soundtrack of my life.

***

There are a handful of great stories on the web about the Eraserheads reunion concert, here are some you might want to read:

Bloggers at the Eraserheads reunion concert. [3]

Bloggers at the Eraserheads reunion concert. [4]

Bloggers at the Eraserheads reunion concert. [5]