the air

This is a series of posts designed to illustrate the different plugins that help power this blog. Part I can be found here.

Part II will discuss the following plugins:

• Buy me a beer
• Comment Timeout
• Executable PHP Widget
• Extended Lives Archives
• Feedburner Feed Replacement

Buy Me a Beer

This is basically a “donation” plugin that allows readers to donate any amount of money to you through PayPal. I added this plugin just for fun because I’m an avid drinker and I figured this was something I could enjoy seeing on my blog. The author of this plugin suggests that those who run this plugin instead of simply running a “tip-jar” will see more beneficial results. I can’t comment since I haven’t received any cash, but hey, I’m not complaining! Beer on my blog still looks cool

Comment Timeout

In my continuing efforts to combat spam, this plugin supplements Akismet by disabling comments on posts that are older than a certain date or have been posted for a certain amount of time. As of right now, my posts automatically disable comments once the post is about 90 days old. This way, bots cannot attempt to leave fake comments on posts that are old since many bots are designed to post those pesky “spamments” on older posts. This is definitely a good plugin to have if you quite a few older posts and want to reduce spam on your blog. However, this plugin is not essential.

Executable PHP Widget

This is an extremely useful plugin that allows me to execute PHP commands outside of a PHP file. Why would I use this? This way, I can harness the power of the built-in PHP functions of WordPress on my sidebars. The Port of Air section and the MyBlogLog widgets are all relying on this PHP widget. It is definitely a handy widget to have if you wish to run PHP functions outside of PHP files. Try it out, you may just realize you can never live without it.

Extended Lives Archives

Have you tried my new archives section? This is one of my most beloved additions to this blog since it now has an AJAX-powered archive. It truly is far more easier to find older posts on my blog than if you were to use the traditional archives found in WordPress. In my opinion, this plugin is a must-have for any blog, assuming it can fit into your overall layout and design. Try this plugin and let me know what you think.

Feedburner Feed Replacement

This plugin “hijacks” the RSS feed on my blog and goes through Feedburner, a popular RSS management site. It really is quite powerful and since it has been purchased by Google, we can all expect further enhancements. If you are a blogger, you should already be using this plugin and be a part of Feedburner.

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