Place this after get_header() within your page template.

$paged = (get_query_var('paged')) ? (int) get_query_var('paged') : 1;
$page_link = get_permalink($id);

Not sure what type of loop you want to create but here’s what I recently used under the page content.

<?php
	$events_query = new WP_Query('category_name=Custom&amp;paged='.$paged);
	while ($events_query->have_posts()) : $events_query->the_post();
		// post markup would go here, e.g. the_excerpt();
	endwhile;
?>

I also wrapped my page content so it only showed on the first page and not the paginated pages.

<?php
	if($paged == 1){
		// all the page content markup, e.g. the_content();
	}
?>

After those updates you’ll have a page template that returns a loop of posts under the “Custom” category.

The last step is adding the pagination links. Here’s the markup I used.

<div class="pagination">
			<span class="previous">
				<a href="<?php echo $link ?>page/<?php echo $paged + 1; ?>">&amp;laquo; Previous</a>
			</span>
			<?php if($paged != 1): ?>
			<span class="next">
				<a href="<?php echo $link ?>page/<?php echo $paged - 1; ?>">Next &amp;raquo;</a>
			</span>
			<?php endif; ?>
</div>

So, is there a better way out there? I hope so, since the previous and next links show regardless if there’s posts or not, and I don’t feel like writing those queries for this tutorial :).

Download the Apache Tomcat

Found under Binary Distribution as a tar.gz under ‘Core’

Move and untar

$ cd /usr/local
$ mv ~/Downloads/apache-tomcat-6.0.24.tar .
$ tar -xzvf apache-tomcat-6.0.24.tar
$ mv apache-tomcat-6.0.24 tomcat6

Starting and Stopping Tomcat

$ mkdir bin
$ cd bin

Create a file under called start_tomcat ( e.g. ~/bin/start_tomcat ) with the following contents:

#!/bin/sh
export CATALINA_HOME=/usr/local/tomcat6
export JAVA_HOME=/usr
$CATALINA_HOME/bin/startup.sh

..and another for stopping tomcat ( e.g. stop_tomcat )

#!/bin/sh
export CATALINA_HOME=/usr/local/tomcat6
export JAVA_HOME=/usr
$CATALINA_HOME/bin/shutdown.sh

Make the files executable:

$ chmod ug+x start_tomcat stop_tomcat

Now you can start and stop tomcat with commands these commands:

~/bin/start_tomcat
~/bin/stop_tomcat

Apple has some good docs on tomcat, even if they’re out of date.

Right after the body I include the image inside a div:

<div id="loading-image">
	<img src="<?php bloginfo('template_url'); ?>/images/ajax-loader.gif" alt="Loading..." />
</div>

Of course I’m using wordpress so you might need to include a different path for your ajax-loader.gif.

Here’s the CSS I’m using on my current project:

#loading-image {
	background-color: #333;
	width: 55px;
	height: 55px;
	position: fixed;
	top: 20px;
	right: 20px;
	z-index: 1;
	-moz-border-radius: 10px;
	-webkit-border-radius: 10px;
	border-radius: 10px; /* future proofing */
	-khtml-border-radius: 10px;
}

Now the most important part. I’m using jQuery to hide that div after the page completes loading.

jQuery(window).load(function() {
	jQuery('#loading-image').hide();
});

I have some more jQuery “magic” working for form submissions but this should get you where you need to get.

As you can tell it shouldn’t be too difficult, but there’s a crux that I’ll bring up after the first solution.

The first solution that will use CSS3 column-count;  and some js for that browser we all hate ( IE if you couldn’t tell ).

For Firefox and Webkit browsers ( chrome and safari ) it’s as easy as this:

#container {
text-align: justify;
width: 885px;
margin: 10px auto;
padding: 10px;
}
.columns {
-moz-column-count: 2;
-moz-column-gap: 1.5em;
-moz-column-rule: none;
-webkit-column-count: 2;
-webkit-column-gap: 1.5em;
-webkit-column-rule: none;
/* future proof */
column-count: 2;
column-gap: 1.5em;
column-rule: none;
}

Then for IE there’s a great script that will parse through your CSS and force IE to split the content up into two columns. Here’s a demo of the script in action. You should be able to figure out how to implement it from there, it’s pretty easy.

[note: just make sure that you don't have your style sheets on a different domain, otherwise the script will not be able to parse it. I ran into this because of how I have my local wp dev setup]

Now this solution will solve just about 99% of anyones needs. However, if you wanted to print that same page you’re at a lose, the columns will break down.

Here comes my second solution, the one that I’m using on the current project.

The below function will essentially figure out where the middle of the content is, then insert your separation code in-between.

function content_split($text, $separator = '<hr/>', $start = false ) {

if ( $start === false) {
$start = strlen($text) / 2;
}

$lastSpace = false;
$split = substr($text, 0, $start - 1);

// if the text is split at a good breaking point already.
if (in_array(substr($text, $start - 1, 1), array(' ', '.', '!', '?'))) {

$split .= substr($text, $start, 1);
// Calculate when we should start the split
$trueStart = strlen($split);

// find a good point to break the text.
} else {

$split = substr($split, 0, $start - strlen($separator));
$lastSpace = strrpos($split, ' ');

if ($lastSpace !== false) {
$split = substr($split, 0, $lastSpace);
}

if (in_array(substr($split, -1, 1), array(','))) {
$split = substr($split, 0, -1);
}

// Calculate when we should start the split
$trueStart = strlen($split);
}
//now we know when to split the text
return substr_replace($text, $separator, $trueStart, 0);

}

[props to this function which helped me through]

And to implement it into WordPress just place the above function in your functions.php file, then just use the function anywhere you’d like and pass the appropriate vars:

<div class="first-column column">
<?php
$text = get_the_content();
$separator = '</div><div class="second-column column">';
echo content_split($text,$separator);
?>
</div>

My CSS is basic after that:

.column {
float: left;
width: 430px;
clear: right;
}
.first-column {
margin-right: 20px;
}

Now I can print the page exactly how it looks on the web ( maybe with a little print.css love ).

It’s really simple, so simple I almost didn’t post about it, just use the remove_action function like so:

remove_action('admin_menu', 'cfct_admin_menu');

Then just use an add_action for your admin panel ( if necessary ). I already had a logical admin panel “framework” built so it was an easy transition for me from my old theme framework ( custom ) to the carrington framework.

I’m guessing this post will be useful to most, especially WP theme developers whom are the real users of the CFCT, but I need to post some progress to the theme experiment series :).

I stumbled across Derek’s post just the other day through a delicious share of Dean’s and since I’m working on a project with custom re-writes I thought it would be simple to write a quick plugin and document how to shorten your urls within your theme’s function file.

Another reason I thought this was justified: all the other plugins are too complex and Derek’s solution seems to be the best because it’s simple–it just needed to use what WP offers for custom rewriting vs. hacking the .htaccess file.

Right now it comes in two flavors, a plugin or you can update your function.php file within your theme.

add_action( 'generate_rewrite_rules', 'custom_rewrite_rules' );
function custom_rewrite_rules( $wp_rewrite )
{
$newRules = array();
// Defualt http://siteurl.com/s/1 ( '1' being the post id )
$newRules[ 's/([0-9]+)$' ] = 'index.php?p=' . $wp_rewrite->preg_index( 1 );
// Another example below http://siteurl.com/1
// $newRules[ '([0-9]+)$' ] = 'index.php?p=' . $wp_rewrite->preg_index( 1 );
$wp_rewrite->rules = $newRules + $wp_rewrite->rules;
return $wp_rewrite;
}

After you place this in your functions file, or after every update or new re-write, you will need to refresh your permalinks via http://yoursite.com/wp-admin/options-permalink.php ( just click save changes ).

Now you can just use Derek’s templating code to do something like this.

Tweet This

<?php //display the current and parent category (2 total)
$category = get_the_category();
$current_category = $category[0];
$parent_category = $current_category->category_parent;
if ( $parent_category != 0 ) {
echo '<a href="' . get_category_link($parent_category) . '">' . get_cat_name($parent_category) . '</a>';
}
echo '<a href="' . get_category_link($current_category) . '">' . $current_category->cat_name . '</a>';
?>

props: Nick

<?php if ( $count == 1 ) : ?>
  <div class="special">
   Content Here
  </div>
<?php endif // ( $count == 2 ) ?>

<?php $count++ ?>
<?php endwhile; ?>

Notice the code is added just before the

<?php endwhile; ?>

in your loop.

Internal private use of that code, like the work I do for clients, is fine but if the theme or plugin is ever distributed in any way then full source code must be offered to everyone. 

Looking back at this post, which I stopped following since it wasn’t going anywhere, I noticed Samuel sums up the entire issue.

This is a really interesting discussion. As someone who has been involved with open source and the GPL for over a decade, it has never ceased to amaze me some of the common misconceptions about the GPL by some of its most ardent and vocal supporters.
First of all to clarify the legal issues surrounding the GPL. It is perfectly legal to sell GPL software. The obligation that a distributor of GPL software has, whether for profit or not, is to provide the source code of the GPL work to the distributee. This is where the GPL doesn’t precisely fit source-only code models. However, I could sell an obfuscated php version of the theme, and I would still be obligated to provide the source to anyone I sold it to. That said, there’s nothing preventing someone I’ve sold it to from giving it away for free after the fact.
The prevailing analysis about copyright is true: Work that is not directly tied to a GPL work (through API’s) is not required to be GPL, therefore images and CSS which can be used independently of the php templates can be released under any license of the creator’s choosing. They can be combined in the same distribution package. The GPL does not ‘infect’ proprietary code it is distributed with. To correctly follow the GPL, however, the php parts that use the API should retain the GPL notices.
This mess could have been avoided by the theme API being under the LGPL which allows linking without license inheritance.
Now as for Matt’s comments about vendors being ‘disrespectful’ to the community, I think that’s an unproductive way of viewing the situation. Premium distributors offer a value-add to the community in a different way than open contributors. Not everyone feels that their time spent coding should be released as a free for all back into the wild. It’s great for us that there are some that do. But open source software in general would not be in the strong position it is today without the aid of commercial support. There’s room for everyone at the table.

Since I’ve moved to 90% WP development I’ve seen a lot of Premium theme shops pop up , I’ve even thought about creating a few but when I look at the long term business model I don’t see it flourishing. Flourishing: for the community and the business as a whole.

This is where I give revolution themes a lot of respect. I love what they’re doing, I’ve even used some of their themes as a base, and I’m sure they’re going to do much better for themselves than they would have just selling premium themes.

<?php
	//exclude these from displaying
	$exclude = array("Hood Newz");

	//set up an empty categorystring
	$catagorystrings = array();

	//loop through the categories for this post
	foreach((get_the_category()) as $category)
	{
		//if not in the exclude array
		if (!in_array($category->cat_name, $exclude))
		{
			$catagorystrings[] = '<a href="'.get_bloginfo(url).get_option('category_base').'/'.$category->slug.'">'.$category->name.'</a>';
		}
	}
	echo join(', ',$catagorystrings);
?>

If you’re looking to exclude the category across the entire theme through a filter, you can add this to your funtion.php file.

function the_category_filter($thelist,$separator=' ') {
	if(!defined('WP_ADMIN')) {
		//list the category names to exclude
		$exclude = array('Something','Something Else','Blah','YAY');
		$cats = explode($separator,$thelist);
		$newlist = array();
		foreach($cats as $cat) {
			$catname = trim(strip_tags($cat));
			if(!in_array($catname,$exclude))
				$newlist[] = $cat;
		}
		return implode($separator,$newlist);
	} else
		return $thelist;
}
add_filter('the_category','the_category_filter',10,2);

Thanks to the WordPress Forums.

$convert -version

Normally I would use yum but I didn’t have the privileges.

Here’s a method for getting a category description based off a slug

<?php
echo category_description(get_category_by_slug('category-slug')->term_id);
?>

One of the first issues I found, the in_category function doesn’t support the category name,

<?php
if (in_category('CATEGORY-NAME')) {
	load_template(TEMPLATEPATH . '/category-special.php');
	}
else {
	get_header();
	load_template(TEMPLATEPATH . '/category-default.php');
}  ?>

and since this client requires the category name (because of multiple development environments having different category ids) a simple get_cat_id retrieved the category ID for in_category. Example,

<?php
if ( in_category(get_cat_id('CAT NAME')) ) {
	load_template(TEMPLATEPATH . '/category-CATNAME-template.php');
	}
else {
	get_header();
	load_template(TEMPLATEPATH . '/category-default.php');
}  ?>

So, the above code will replace the category.php file but make sure to copy the existing code to a new template, in the example above use category-default.php. The rest should be self explanatory.

So, instead of running through the total amount of sidebars you want in the functions.php file, example below:

if ( function_exists('register_sidebars') )
    register_sidebars(3,array(
        'before_widget' => '<div class="side-box">',
        'after_widget' => '</div>',
        'before_title' => '<h5>',
        'after_title' => '</h5>',
    ));

create an array of widgets – naming each one, example below:

if ( function_exists('register_sidebars') )
register_sidebar(array(
   	'name' => 'Left Sidebar Top',
   	'before_widget' => '<div class="side-box">',
   	'after_widget' => '</div>',
   	'before_title' => '<h5>',
   	'after_title' => '</h5>',
));

register_sidebar(array(
   	'name' => 'Home Announcement',
   	'before_widget' => '<div class="side-box">',
   	'after_widget' => '</div>',
   	'before_title' => '<h5>',
   	'after_title' => '</h5>',
));

register_sidebar(array(
   	'name' => 'Right Sidebar Top',
   	'before_widget' => '<div class="side-box">',
   	'after_widget' => '</div>',
   	'before_title' => '<h5>',
   	'after_title' => '</h5>',
));

Since those codes only work inside the post/page’s content a filter needs to be applied.

Nothing has changed the setup:

ID, 'slideshow', true); ?>

and instead of,

<? php echo $image; ?>
[/sourcecode ]
we'll apply the filter,
[sourcecode language='php']
<? php
$img = ''.$image.'';
$img = apply_filters('the_content', $img );
echo $img;
?>;

This could help in appending your custom fields too, for example you could setup the custom field for a code input only and wrap the value. Example,
[sourcecode language='php']
$id = ””;
$id = apply_filters(‘the_content’, $id );
echo $id;
[/sourcecode ]
A value “3″ would create ““.

props to the WP forums

After reading though the doc I was able to create this:

<?php
$querystr = ”
    SELECT wposts.*
    FROM $wpdb->posts wposts, $wpdb->postmeta wpostmeta
    WHERE wposts.ID = wpostmeta.post_id
    AND wpostmeta.meta_key = ‘repertory’
    AND wposts.post_type = ‘page’
    ORDER BY wpostmeta.meta_value DESC
 ”;
 $pageposts = $wpdb->get_results($querystr, OBJECT);
?>
 <?php if ($pageposts): ?>
  <?php foreach ($pageposts as $post): ?>
    <?php setup_postdata($post); ?>

I’ll break it down just a little, you can read the doc if you’d like to learn more.

AND wpostmeta.meta_key = 'page-category' 

“page-category” is the key that I’ve assigned to the page. This is creating a category for your pages. I don’t recommend creating these false categories if unnecessary, use tags, I’m using these because I need to sort the pages based on the value.

AND wposts.post_type = 'page' 

Basically, only display pages.

ORDER BY wpostmeta.meta_value DESC

Finally, sort the pages based on the key value.

Step 1. Install Postgresql
My server runs Fedora core 2 so I ran this fro mt he command line:

yum -y install postgresql postgresql-server php-pgsql

Step 2 . Configure Postgresql
From the command line:

$ vi /var/lib/pgsql/data/postgresql.conf
- change tcpip_socket = true
$ vi /var/lib/pgsql/data/pg_hba.conf
- add:local all all trust
host all all 127.0.0.1 255.255.255.255 trust
host all all 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.255 reject
Or through a text editor just edit these files:
open /var/lib/pgsql/data/postgresql.conf
and change tcpip_socket = true (make sure to uncomment the line)
open /var/lib/pgsql/data/pg_hba.conf
and add these 3 lines to the bottom, no need to edit anything else.
local all all trust
host all all 127.0.0.1 255.255.255.255 trust
host all all 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.255 reject

Step 3. Restart Postgresql
I use

service postgresql restart
you can replace restart with start.

Step 4. Create a DB
from the command line:

su - postgres
createdb db_name

Step 5. Create a postgresql username and password for the newly created DB
createuser -P -U postgres db_username
This command will initiate an user creation script.

Enter password for user "db_username":
Enter it again:
Shall the new user be allowed to create databases? (y/n) y
Shall the new user be allowed to create more new users? (y/n) y
CREATE USER

The CREATE USER statement indicates that the command was successful.

Step 6. Restart Postgresql again

Step 7. Test your connection
from root:
psql -U web_user web_database

Step 8. It’s all up to you. I installed phpPgAdmin

1. You would need to log into the server through ssh.

2. Change into a directory were you would like the backup of Plesk to be saved. In this example I have made a directory called backup and changed into this directory

# mkdir home/backup

# cd home/backup/

3. Type the following the command to start the Plesk backup procedure. This would make a complete backup (-F), to the directory location /home/backup (-f)

# /usr/local/psa/bin/psadump -F -f /home/backup/

You will see the messages that the backup is in progress. After you will see the message

“Server backup is successfully completed”

4. After the backup is complete you can check the archive file which looks similar to;

1 root root 7568786 Oct 11 12:14 psa-7.1.4-p15160828.pureserver.info-20041011.12.archive

You may now save this file to another server via FTP if you wish.

NOTE: A ftp backup of Plesk can also be done using the following format
: @ storing the backup file on remote ftp server.
5. To restore the backup you would need to change back into the home/backup directory and run the following command

/usr/local/psa/bin/psarestore -f psa-7.1.4-p15160828.pureserver.info-20041011.12.archive -m map_ip -s shell_ma

NOTE:

The restore backup might fail on the 1st run. The reason for this is Plesk looks for the map_ip and shell_map files which may not be located, so on the first run it creates the files. If you run the restore command again the procedure would now start to restore Plesk on the system. If you do not get the following message then run the command again for the third time;

“Server restoration is completed”

You can also review the psadump and psarestore logs located at /var/log/ on the server.

Additional options that can be used for making the backup

Options:
* -h – This help.
* -F – Make (f)ull dump(it is default option, -C option is not supported now).
* -z – Enable gzip compression for result dump file.
* -f
* /fullpath/filename – regular file,
* /fullpath/ – dir for dumpfile with default name,
* - – use stdout for output,
* : @

I prefer not to do it this way because the file is too large, making a daily backup very tedious. Most importantly, you cannot roll back your plesk server to an earlier version this way unless you keep the old backup as well. It is a matter of preference and the users ability.

I recomend tar’ing your backups separately.

Create Cron jobs that back up each of the following directory’s

/boot: Files important for boot process
/etc: System configuration files
/home: Domains and home directories of users
/root: Homedirectory of root
/var/lib/mysql: MySQL-Databases
/var/logs: Log-files
/var/spool/mail: User-mailboxes
/var/spool/cron: Cron-Jobs
/usr/lib/python2.1/site-packages: PLESK Configuration

Here is an example:
15 1 * * * tar czvf /home/backup/sql.tar.gz /var/lib/mysql

This will run at 1:15am everyday of every week and of every month and back up the /var/lib/mysql directory naming it sql.tar.gz and storing it in the /home/backup directory.

I store my backups in a newly created directory under my home directory because of space. *Please note*: if you do the same, you must not backup the whole /home directory because if you do you will create an infinite loop, backing up your backup, over and over.

I also recomend you backup domains individually so you are not stuck with a huge tar file. Restoration depends on how fast you can upload your data and set-up the server, that is why I choose the later because I can easily reconfigure plesk and individually upload the tars 10 times faster then uploading a 2 gig file that takes a long time to execute.