…but it seems that WordPress is replacing ampersands with those #038 codes. For some reason, that prevents Sonic Memo Pro from playing the configured MP3 audio file.

Yes, there are plugins such as the Hana Code Plugin, which converts those #038′s that appear in your HTML code (thanks to WordPress) into regular & (ampersand) characters.

Why am I still trying to get Sonic Memo Pro to work with WordPress (and Amazon S3)? The audio flash players look great!

Still have to figure out why the flash player keeps “waiting” for the remote audio file. Grrrrr.

UPDATE: A quick adjustment of the HTML code did the trick!

WordPress 3.0 / WLM v2.20.435-2 / WPDrip 1.48C
WPListBuilder 1.06 doesn’t add new WLM members automatically to the autoresponder. For some reason, the autoresponder service does not even detect the attempt to subscribe.

To-do:

1. Test the set-up using WordPress 2.9.2 and WLM v2.20.435-2

Result: WPListBuilder still does not seem to communicate with the autoresponder under this setup.

2. Test with WP 2.9.2 and WLM version 2.20.552

Status: Still waiting for Support for a copy of 2.20.552

3. Test with WPDrip 1.48D
Result: Much better than 1.48C because it correctly follows the “how many posts to show” setting. In “C”, two initial posts would be displayed even if the setting was “show only 1 post.”

NOTE: Hold off on testing WLM v2.30.592 with WordPress 3.0 and a webserver that has PHP 5, because some of the Membership Cube plugins don’t work yet with this latest version of WishList Member.

Membership Cube Goodies

• Wishlist Member – Unlimited Site License ($297)
• WordPress Drip Plugin – version 1.48D works
• WP List Builder Plugin – trying to get this to work
• Gravatar Manager Plugin
• One Click Signup Plugin
• “Special Offer” & “Coupon Avalanche” Plugins – nice!
• “Wishlist Protector” Plugin
• “Article Importer” Plugin
• “Wishlist Analytics” Plugin

It’s called FAQ-Tastic (FAQ-Tastic.com) and comes in two versions: Lite Free and Pro.

I’ll give this a try in the coming weeks because we will build websites that look like libraries containing tutorials in text/graphics format. The only thing that makes me hesitate is: will people bother to go through a FAQ, or will they simply fire off an email and ask their question?

Found out about FAQ-Tastic thanks to Andy Beard’s WordPress Comment SEO Solutions. He talks about building an “Ask Andy” section in a private area, but doesn’t think 3rd party systems will be able to effectively handle comments in custom areas of WordPress.

Sounds like a WordPress membership site plugin will work.

So if ever you notice your web stats dropping, check the footer.php file of your theme. It might be the case of you excitedly updating your blog’s look, that you overlook some required files.

TIP: Keep a site admin diary. Every change you make, list it in your diary so that you can review it and understand better why certain things happen in your site.

So, Lorna, that’s why your traffic dropped. Actually, it did not drop… it was the just the report. Or rather, the lack of a website traffic tracking code. Sorry about that.

In other words, they will not readily see your blog’s headers or blog post title.

Here’s how to bring those “read more | continue reading…” readers to the top of your page…

You will need to edit your WordPress template, specifically the Main Index Template (index.php) file of your site’s theme.

The part where the_content is displayed should be replaced with this:

<?php the_content('','1',''); ?>

Please note that in some WordPress themes, the line that you have to replace looks something like any of the following:

<?php the_content(''Continue Reading &#187;''; ?>
<?php the_content(__('Read more'));?>

Learned this technique from WordPress FAQ: How can I customize the “more” tag?

An ideal approach is to create a copy of that theme, and modify the copy instead of the original. The thing is, if you simply copy the files, when you open WordPress and choose the theme to edit you’ll feel confused.

You will see two identical themes, and you won’t know if you’re editing the original or the second copy.

And that’s where you need to read How to make a “child theme” for WordPress. A pictorial introduction for beginners (I like the simplicity of that blog’s permalinks… no obsession over SEO).

You’ll need the Slimbox WordPress Plugin.

You’ll also need to edit the /wp-includes/post-template.php file:

Somewhere near line 390, replace

return "<a href='$url' title='$post_title'>$link_text</a>";

with this:

//mafro lightbox mod
list($url, $w, $h) = wp_get_attachment_image_src($id, "full", $icon);
return "<a href='$url' title='$post_title' rel='lightbox[roadtrip]'>$link_text</a>";


I found that WordPress PHP adjustment in a comment made by Mauro in WP 2.5 Gallery Lightbox Plugin, and I just modified it with “[roadtrip]” which is used by the Slimbox plugin.

Similar to Mauro, I wasn’t able to solve the picture-to-picture issue with WP 2.5 Gallery Lightbox plugin.

With the Slimbox WordPress Plugin, however, the left/right arrow keys will allow you to easily view the different photos in your WP Gallery.

It’s not ideal, because each time we upgrade WP we will need to manually edit the post-template.php file, but at least this Lightbox plugin works with WP 2.5.1

You might need to check, though, if it will cause any conflict with your other plugins.

Do you want to see this WordPress 2.5 Lightbox plugin in action? Check out the May 2008 Dragonboat Race Photo Gallery of TheActiveAchiever.com, click on any of the square thumbnail photos, and then use your left/right arrow keys to move from pic to pic.

When I visited another site that uses the old plugin, I was surprised to find that the sitemap page was blank. Now that I’ve installed the latest version, the sitemap page displays the blog posts correctly.

If you use WordPress and would like to earn additional SEO points, create a sitemap of your site so that the search engine crawler robots will have an easier time finding your hundreds of posts.