Opening Up My Plugins

I made a decision today. I decided that I was going to open up my plugins to the world; well, most of them. Out of my 10 plugins that I have, I have put 7 of them on CodePlex and made them opensource. So what three didn’t I put on there? Well, my Video plugin, my Emoticon plugin and my Feed Reader plugin. Now the first two that I haven’t included some of you can probably guess why I didn’t open them up (as well as maybe be a little disappointed, sorry), but what reason do I have for not putting the Feed Reader plugin on CodePlex? Simple: I lost the source code for the released version . I had most of my source code backed up, and I started working on v2 of the feed reader plugin and unfortunately, my backup got lost (thanks X-Drive), so the only source code I have for it is the very incomplete and changed v2 source. So for that, I apologise (and curse X-Drive) again.

So, what ones are up there then? Well the Live Spaces Photo one and the Google Translator were already on there, but here’s the complete list:

• Insert Acronym Tags
• I’m Feeling Lucky
• Insert Amazon Details
• Insert Google Translation
• Insert Quick Link
• Insert Video Jnr
• Live Spaces Photo Album

So enjoy . One thing I do ask though, if you do modify any of the plugins, please, let me know, I’d love to see what you thought of adding/changing, and if you do release anything based off my plugins, please link back to this blog. Also, if you wish to contribute to the plugins, please email me at wlm[at]scottisafool.co.uk with your username on CodePlex and I shall add you to the project you requested.

I also want to apologise by the way for the lack of comments and general untidyness of the code…

SL

 

Whilst writing this I was listening to The Beatles – Free As A Bird

Amazon: You Suck!

Update: The plugin has been updated on Gallery now. Same place as before.

You might remember when I first released my Amazon plugin that I commented at the end on the fact that Amazon suck. Well, it has been brought to my attention that there was a slight problem with my Amazon plugin, and upon investigation, I found that Amazon not only suck, but are in fact, shit. No, really, they are! Basically, if you go to an Amazon store that isn’t the US one and try and put a product into it that isn’t in the US store, then you basically can’t have an affiliate link for amazon.com, you have to use the domain from which you got the product. So if you got something from amazon.co.uk, then the affiliate link also has to be amazon.co.uk. Do you have any idea how annoying that is!

Anyway, being the good little boy that I am, I have changed the plugin to allow for this. With it comes a new setting in the Options window, and a new textbox in the main plugin window:

I have put the update on Gallery, just waiting for approval. In the meantime, if you use an ISBN or ASIN number from a store that isn’t the US one, and the US store doesn’t have that product, then it will cause an exception. I will post an update when the new version has been approved.

SL

 

Whilst writing this I was listening to Red Hot Chili Peppers – Dani California

Live Spaces Photo Album Plugin Updated (Finally)

I finally got round to fixing my Live Spaces Photo Album Plugin after the changes that had recently been made to the Live Spaces services, in particular the feeds. The plugin now works with the changed feed format and works exactly as it used to . I have also decided to put it on Live Gallery as well, so you can now download all 10 of my plugins from the one place.

Screenshot

Download: here.

SL

 

Whilst writing this I was listening to Linkin Park – Somewhere I Belong

A Tip For Inserting Videos

My video plugin has, I think, a pretty extensive list of video sites that it supports, with more always being added. Unfortunately, not all video service providers can be added to the plugin, so then what? Open Writer up, go to HTML View, put code in, go back to another view, hoping it looks right? Well, not really, there is an easier option that came in with Beta 2 of Writer. If you take the embed code from the video site, copy it, then simply paste it into Writer, the embedded video will get added in automatically.

That will give you this:

Now, this little trick will also work with the video sites that my plugin does support at the moment, however, you won’t get any of the options that my plugin offers, like resizing the video, including the title of the video, etc. I, obviously, would still recommend using my plugin if the site you want is supported by it.

Thanks to Charles for the tip.

SL

Insert Amazon Details – A New Plugin

As part of a discussion on the Live Writer MSN Group someone asked about having a plugin to easily insert Amazon products and have a referral link to the product. I pointed out that a plugin already exists that does that kind of thing, but after trying it, they decided it wasn’t quite what they were looking for. So, I created one that did do what he was looking for. The plugin window is basic, you put your Affiliate ID in as well as the ISBN (or ASIN) number of the product, and just select whether you would like a thumbnail of the product to be shown as well:

Now, if you put a lot of Amazon links on your blog, it would get a bit cumbersome to have to keep putting in your Affiliate ID, so if you go to the plugin options, you can set your default ID:

And this is what it looks like:

Amazon.com: The House That Hugh Laurie Built: An Unauthorized Biography and Episode Guide: Books: Paul Challen ISBN: 155022803X ISBN-13: 9781550228038

An early version of the plugin allowed you to just put in the link of the product from Amazon, but unfortunately, Amazon suck, and they have a stupid amount of different ways a link can be given and still be valid and take you to the same page, so I dropped that. I might look at adding it again at some point, but for now, no, tough.

Download: here.

SL