All the plugins I use were up-to-date and compatible with WordPress 3.2+ so I didn’t have much of a problem with the upgrade. I just made sure that I deactivated all of them before starting the upgrade process. The only incompatible plugin was Fluency Admin and the reason for it was because I was using an older version created for earlier versions of WordPress. I had to update it to the latest one – Fluency Admin 3.2 which is specifically designed for WordPress 3.2+.

For those who aren’t familiar with Fluency Admin, it is a technically a plugin but in terms of use, it is a WordPress admin or dashboard theme. In the past, there were lots of admin themes* available but with the development and release of newer version of WordPress, most of the admin theme authors didn’t update their products, rendering them incompatible with newer versions of WordPress. The only admin theme that’s left is Fluency Admin, which is constantly updated by its author – Dean Robinson.

Features:

• Stylish dark-on-light colours
• Hover activated sub-menus
• Custom colour-schemes
• Custom login screen
• Customise WordPress with your logo
• Access menus using ‘hot keys’

Screenshots:
Regular WordPress 3.2+ Login Screen

WordPress 3.2+ Login Screen w/ Fluency Admin (Extended Menu)

Regular WordPress 3.2+ Admin User Interface

WordPress 3.2+ Admin User Interface w/ Fluency Admin (Extended Menu)

WordPress 3.2+ Admin User Interface w/ Fluency Admin (Collapsed Menu)

I’ve been enjoying/using this type of user interface thanks to Fluency Admin since WordPress 2.5, which is about two years ago. Although the default WordPress Admin user interface is much much better than it was a couple years back, I still prefer to use the Fluency Admin theme because it uses less space (especially with the collapsed menu) and it doesn’t require me to expand the main menus to access the submenus – thanks to the hover menu and hotkey options.

In previous versions, Fluency Admin only had two color options/schemes available, same as the default WordPress color schemes – blue and grey. Now, you can customize and choose any color you want. Just go to Settings > Fluency Admin and specify the hex color code and click on Save Changes. If you want, you could also customize your WordPress login screen and use the Fluency Admin color scheme and also replace the WordPress logo with your own customized logo. To use a customized logo, just follow the instructions and the dimensions specified in the Fluency Admin settings page.

How do you like the new default WordPress Admin/Dashboard user interface in WordPress 3.2+? Anybody else using Fluency Admin? Which one do you prefer – default user interface or Fluency Admin?

*If you’d like to see the other admin themes which worked for older versions of WordPress, check out my Pimp My WordPress Dashboard series of posts – Pimp My WP Dashboard Part I, Pimp My WP Dashboard Part II and Pimp My WP Dashboard Part III.

If you run a WordPress-powered blog/website and would like to install the Google +1 button without having to worry about customizing, editing and uploading files via FTP, etc. then you need to use the Google +1 Button WordPress Plugin. This plugin was created by my friend AJ Batac, the same person who gave us the Facebook “Like” Button WordPress Plugin.

The Google +1 Button WordPress Plugin allows users to quickly and easily add the +1 button without having to customize or tweak a single line of code. Everything is done via the WordPress dashboard.

Screenshot:

Installation:

1. Upload the entire “google-plus-one-button-plugin” folder to the “/wp-content/plugins/” directory
2. Activate the plugin through the Plugins menu in WordPress
3. Set it up. There should be a new menu link on your WordPress left menu. Select your Google +1 options and hit save.

As you can see, I’ve installed Google +1 Button WordPress plugin here on JaypeeOnline. It took a little bit of tweaking and trial & error to make the TweetMeme button and Google +1 button to work nicely together. I love this plugin because not only does it provide my readers another option of sharing my posts but it was easy to install, didn’t cause any problems or compatibility issues with my other plugins and its FREE!

Some additional features that I would like to see added to this plugin are the options to display/hide the button on pages, on the homepage or on the RSS feed and also the option to install it manually using a shortcode. If you want to try it out, just click on the +1 button on the top left portion of this post and see how it works (You must be logged in to your Google account for it to work).

Check out the official Google +1 WordPress plugin page for usage, documentation and further information.

Download the Google +1 WordPress plugin from the official WordPress Plugin repository.

What do you think of the Google +1 WordPress plugin? Anyone else using it on their WordPress-powered website or blog? What other features or options would you like to see added to this plugin? Please share your thoughts.

Here’s a short introduction from the official plugin page:

Did you remember to write a post for next Tuesday? What about the Tuesday after that? WordPress doesn’t make it easy to see when your posts are scheduled. The editorial calendar gives you an overview of your blog and when each post will be published. You can drag and drop to move posts, edit posts right in the calendar, and manage your entire blog.

Features:

• See all of your posts and when they’ll be posted.
• Drag and drop to change your post dates.
• Quickedit post titles, contents, and times.
• Publish posts or manage drafts.
• Easily see the status of your posts.
• Manage posts from multiple authors.

Screenshots:

Installation:

• Backup your WordPress database.
• Upload the plugin directory editorial-calendar to the wp-content/plugins directory.
• Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress.
• Click the new ‘Calendar’ option under the ‘Posts’ menu or any other custom post types.

The Editorial Calendar plugin for WordPress is a very useful and handy tool to help you manage and organize your blog, schedule posts and at the same time increase your productivity. This plugin is ideal for bloggers who publish several posts daily or per week and also for blogs who have multiple authors or have guest bloggers.

The Editorial Calendar features vary between user roles/levels, so this is useful when you have multiple authors, guest bloggers and registered users on your blog. Administrators and Editors can access all calendar features, Authors can access the calendar to edit and move their own posts (other user’s posts are read-only) while Contributors and Subscribers have no access to the calendar.

Screen options on the plugin allows the Admin to choose whether or not to display post author names, post status, time published or publish schedule and how many weeks should be displayed on the calendar.

NOTE: Published posts can’t be moved on the calendar to avoid issues with the RSS feed. The calendar only allows scheduled and draft posts to be moved around the calendar.

Download the Editorial Calendar plugin from the official WordPress plugin repository

If you want to try out the Editorial Calendar plugin before downloading and installing it on your blog, you can try out the demo on Zack’s WordPress Sandbox.

Anyone tried or are currently using the Editorial Calendar plugin? What changes, improvements or other features would you like to see added to future versions of this plugin? Please share your thoughts.

Thanks to a new WordPress plugin called the WordPress Guest Post plugin, bloggers like me can now easily and quickly accept guest posts without having to login to my WordPress dashboard. The WordPress Guest Post plugin allows contributors to submit articles via a WordPress page, no user registration required. Blog owners or administrators receive customized online or email notifications when guest articles are submitted and they could easily review, edit, approve and publish the articles via the WordPress dashboard.

Features:

• Easily obtain guest posts without user registration.
• Users can add their posts right from a form hosted on a page on your blog. No logging in your WordPress admin.
• Effortlessly manage and edit post submissions.
• Customizable post submission notification on site and via email.

Screenshots:

Installation:

• Upload the unzipped WordPress Guest Post files to the wp-content/plugins directory.
• Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress.
• Go to the Settings page and customize your settings (Optional).

To access the list of unapproved guest posts, click on the “Guest Post” section on your WordPress dashboard. To edit a specific post, you’ll have to approve it. The post will not go live until you hit the Publish button.

The WordPress Guest Post plugin is still in BETA so the author offers no guarantees and use it at your own risk. As a safety precaution, make sure to back up all your WordPress files and database before installing this plugin or any new plugins.

Download the Guest Post plugin from the official WordPress Plugin repository. For questions, feedback and plugin support go to this link.

Anyone tried the WordPress Guest Post plugin? How do you like it? Does it work smoothly on your blog or did you encounter any issues/problems with it? Please share your thoughts.

[image source: WordPressGuestPost.com]

When Facebook launched the Like button plugin (social plugins) last year, my friend AJ Batac was the first one to create and release a WordPress plugin for it. Although it was easier to use and implement than the code provided by Facebook, the plugin at that time was a very simple one and didn’t have much options or extra features except adding the Like button onto a WordPress-powered blog/website.

About 3-4 weeks ago, AJ sent me an email and informed me that he has released a new and improved version of the Facebook Like button widget which is now called the WordPress Facebook Like Plugin. Like it’s predecessor, this plugin adds a simple and easy to use Facebook Like functionality but the new version now includes admin options to customize the plugin – change the location of the Like button, font, show faces, use the box with count and several other cool and use options.

Features:

• Customize button placement
• Customize layout style
• Customize show faces
• Customize verb to display (like or recommend)
• Customize font
• Customize width and height

Screenshot:

Installation:

1. Upload WordPress-Facebook-Like-Plugin.php to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory
2. Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress

Content that use the WordPress Facebook Like plugin and are “liked” by readers/visitors are automatically posted as a shared item on their Facebook profile with a thumbnail of the image post and a link back to the blog/website.

The new and improved WordPress Facebook Like plugin is a great way to allow your blog/website readers to share your posts on Facebook and also a good way for users to share content with their Facebook friends.

Download the WordPress Facebook Like Plugin from the official WordPress plugin repository.

Anyone tried or are currently using the WordPress Facebook Like Plugin? How do you like it? What other features or options would you like the author to add to it? If you’re not using this plugin, what plugin/method are you using to implement the Facebook Like functionality on your blog/website? Please share your thoughts.