10 WordPress Hacks to Make your Life Easy
Displaying Gravatars in comments
To refresh your memory, Gravatars are little user images from Gravatar.com that are displayed against your comments in the theme (if the theme is built to support Gravatars). A lot of WordPress themes are built without the support of Gravatars. So, here is some help for you to add Gravatars in your theme. Open up your comments.php file from the theme folder. Find this piece of code :-
Replace the above code with the following code :-
echo get_avatar( $comment->comment_author_email, $size = '50', $comment->comment_author_link);?>
The above code will display the Gravatars. Now let us add some CSS to the style.css file for your theme.
.gravs {margin-top:20px;}
.avatar {float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-bottom:5px; padding:3px; border:1px solid #999999;}
When you check your theme again, you will see the Gravatar images against your comments.
Image Gallery in WordPress
All the versions of WordPress 2.5+ have inbuilt Image Gallery function where you can upload your images in a set and then insert the gallery either into your post or a new page.
But almost all the old themes(before 2.5) and many new ones do not have the integrated functionality. In order to add this feature, here is what you have to do :-
In your existing theme, open single.php and save it as image.php in your theme folder. Now open this image.php file in an editor and find the line that displays the post content. It should be somewhat in the following form. It can differ a bit but the function is called by the_content like this :-
Now insert the following code above the aforementioned code (the_content) :-
Insert the following code below the aforementioned code (the_content) :-
Now, add this CSS to your theme’s style.css file :-
/****************Image Gallery *********************/
.gallery {text-align:center;}
.gallery img {padding:2px; height:100px; width:100px;}
.gallery a:hover {background-color:#ffffff;}
.attachment {text-align:center;}
.attachment img { padding:2px; border:1px solid #999999;}
.attachment a:hover {background-color:#FFFFFF;}
.imgnav {text-align:center;}
.imgleft {float:left;}
.imgleft a:hover {background-color:#FFFFFF;}
.imgleft img{ padding:2px; border:1px solid #999999; height:100px; width:100px;}
.imgright {float:right;}
.imgright a:hover {background-color:#FFFFFF;}
.imgright img{ padding:2px; border:1px solid #999999; height:100px; width:100px;}
The above CSS code fixes the default gallery of WordPress which doesn’t look so good. So, now when you go and upload your images in a post or a page, go to the gallery option (after you have finished uploading all your images) and insert gallery into your post/page. That’s it!
Adding a “Subscribe to feed” message after every post
Many people use this kind of message to remind the readers to subscribe to their blogs and place them at the end of every post. This can be accomplished by using a simple plugin or you can do the following. If you want the message to show under all your posts on the homepage, open up index.php and just where your content finishes (the_content), add this line :-
You can do the same for your single.php file in the theme folder which is used to display your individual posts.
Displaying Twitter messages on your blog
If you have a Twitter.com account and want to display the twitters that you make on your blog, here is what you have to do.
Login to your Twitter.com account. Go to this URL :- http://twitter.com/badges/html and choose your settings. Copy the code and paste it on your blog. You can paste it directly into your theme files or use text widgets to put them in a sidebar. They can also be styled through CSS.
Displaying Authors’ Bio
In a multi-user blog, it can be beneficial to show the Authors’ Bio under every single post for the users to read about the post author. This can be done using the Biographical Info in the Your profile setting under Users section of WP-Admin.
To integrate this bio, open up your single.php file and under the_content line (as before), add this code :-
Now, add the following CSS code to your style.css in the theme folder:-
.author{
color: #222222;
font-family: Arial;
font-size: 12px;
border:1px solid #CCCCCC;
width: 500px;
padding: 5px;
margin-top:10px;
margin-bottom:10px;
}
Now if you refresh your individual post pages, you will see the author’s info under the post content.
Categories drop down
To add a good looking drop down that will list all your existing categories, insert the following code in your blog template. You can do it either in your sidebar.php file or anywhere in the index.php. This is the code :-
Archives drop down
Just like in categories, you can have your monthly archives listed in a drop down. Add the following code to your template files :-
Adding 125×125 Ads to your sidebar
Many people do not know how to integrate 125×125 banner ads into their theme sidebars. I will explain it to you. Save the following image to your desktop (this is a sample 125×125 banner that we will use) :-
Make a folder called “ads” in your theme folder (the theme in which you want to add these banners) and place this image (125.gif) in that new folder. Now, add the following code to your sidebar where you want the banners to appear :-
; ?>/ads/125x125.gif)
Finally, add the following CSS code to your style.css file :-
.bannerads {width:270px; margin:10px auto;}
.ad_125x125 {float:left; margin:0px 5px 10px 5px; width:125px; height:125px;}
When you refresh your theme, you will see two adjacent 125×125 banner ads in your sidebar. You can then change the images as you like and also the hyperlinks.
Displaying most commented (popular) posts
There is always an urge in bloggers to showcase their most popular posts or the posts with the most comments. This is how you can do it:-
Place the following code at the end of your header.php file in the theme folder. You can change the number of popular post titles that will be pulled from the database by altering the $no_posts variable in the code :-
', $show_pass_post = false, $duration='') {', $after = '
global $wpdb;
$request = "SELECT ID, post_title, COUNT($wpdb->comments.comment_post_ID) AS 'comment_count' FROM $wpdb->posts, $wpdb->comments";
$request .= " WHERE comment_approved = '1' AND $wpdb->posts.ID=$wpdb->comments.comment_post_ID AND post_status = 'publish'";
if(!$show_pass_post) $request .= " AND post_password =''";
if($duration !="") { $request .= " AND DATE_SUB(CURDATE(),INTERVAL ".$duration." DAY) < post_date ";
}
$request .= " GROUP BY $wpdb->comments.comment_post_ID ORDER BY comment_count DESC LIMIT $no_posts";
$posts = $wpdb->get_results($request);
$output = '';
if ($posts) {
foreach ($posts as $post) {
$post_title = stripslashes($post->post_title);
$comment_count = $post->comment_count;
$permalink = get_permalink($post->ID);
$output .= $before . '' . $post_title . ' (' . $comment_count.')' . $after;
}
} else {
$output .= $before . "None found" . $after;
}
echo $output;
} ?>
Now, wherever you want to display the popular posts list, place the following code. You can do it in the sidebar or the index.php file.
Adding a Print Button to your posts
In order to enable your users to take printouts of your posts, you can provide them with a Print button on the blog. Open up your single.php file (for individual posts) from the theme folder and add the following code wherever you want to have the Print option:-
I hope that you liked these WordPress hacks and also hope that they make your life easy in some way 
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Nice Tips! i will use it in my website.. thanks
Nice Tips! i implement it into my website.. thanks
Although this is an old post- but still u made my day!
Thanks for these “hacks”. Though you can find some themes that already provide these features it never hurts some ol’fashioned php scripting and stuff. I am getting into it lately and your post provided me some useful insight.
Nice Hints for WordPress Users, thank you and keep up the good work
????????? ???? ?? canadianfilm.ru
Titile1
??????????? ofisservis.Ru: ?????? ??????????? ? ??? ?? ?????? ????????? ? ??????
Oh! I found one good blog after a long time.
Nice one.
Ya.. its really nice.. I like it.. Thanks
I like the theme, thanks very much
Very nice collection with simple code bits to implement very popular features.
Really useful tools.
The print button is frequently used.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
Absolutely Brilliant, thanks for sharing.
Great wordpress hack. Thanks for sharing it mate
The CSS image gallery code help me a lot. Thanks!
thanks for this! Makes my life so much easier
Very interesting tips. Thanks
These are the basic tips which every wordpress blog owner should know …thanks for sharing with us..
I created a new wordpress site and I don’t have a good design yet. But I hope your tutorial will help me a bit, but it looks complicated for a beginner like me.
What a great post. Thanks for the tips. I should be able to make my blog look better using these. Are there plug-ins for this stuff?
interesting, I will definitely be trying these hacks out. Hopefully I can get some good use out of them!
Well I can say that your tutorial here just brighten my life today.. Thanks a lot! a lot of helpful stuff in this post
This is perfect! lots of helpful stuff. Have stumbled.
Wow, thanks a lot. This really helped me to configure my settings a little better. Much appreciated!
@Dear Socrates:- displaying gravatars provides a more personal feel to your blog, letting readers have their picture rather than the generic one you choose. It may not make your life easier, but it is a great usability feature.
Having a subscribe to feed button under each of your posts gives the reader a quick and easy way to get updates from your site.. if I have to explain how that makes your (and the reader’s) life easier, than you’re just an idiot.
A lot of people use Twitter, a lot of people are interested in what their favorite bloggers are saying and doing on Twitter.. hence the relevance
and placing ads on your blog is a great way to generate revenue to keep the site going..
was that a sarcastic post, or are you really that dense?
Good article with a lot of simple tutorials that often escapes the attention of developers.
Hello Jai, this is an interesting post. I usually tell my designers to prepare all this, but your post made things so much clearer. Good stuff!
How’s “Displaying Gravatars” gonna make my life easier working with wordpress?
“Subscribe to Feed”? Twitter? Ads?
You gotta be kidding me, this is just a pile of shitty over-used mini-tutorials, and a plugin or two.
No real info.
finally i got lot of stuffs for my wordpress blog.Thankyou.
Thank This Useful t tutorial
Thanks man great tutorial finally found out lots of useful stuff at one place
hey..i was wondering how the AD box is placed and thanks to you…! Made my work easier..!!..can you give how can i add a 2 column add in the sidebar..!!..125×125..!! Thanks.!
Brilliant piece on how to display the most commented posts. Thank you!
I like to keep my template files clean, so I recommend that others place this function in their functions.php file (create this file if it does not exist for your theme). It works just fine outside of the header template.
HI I would really appreciate if someone would give me a code for dreamweaver to build a comment box like this one!! Please let me know babyanaa@aol.com Thanks and merry xmas
Ps. am using Dreamweaver cs4 and my host is godaddy
Nice job.. great list.
Excellent tricks. I will keep this link in my bookmark for future developments.
Very nice collection with simple code bits to implement very popular features. Great read!
this series poves to the best and excellent collection of tips
WoW!!! Thank you !
Nice Hacks, thank you!
Great codes, especially Most Commented Posts. It’s very clever to re-counted comments by the comment_post_ID. I didn’t thought about this.
Very interesting article and very good blog. Very much interested to know)
I will add this blog to RSS Reader
Sign: umsun Hello!!! rcuwwymhyw and 3544ssgfhphzye and 9009I love your site.
Love design!!! I just came across your blog and wanted to say that Ive really enjoyed browsing your blog posts.
Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog.
Cheers! Sandra. R.
Hey thanks it was Useful post.
Thanks for nice tips and shall take a test on my site.
Regards
TG
Hey thanks for the info really helped me with my new theme.
Been looking for that RSS tip for a while now. Used to be a big thing, people don’t remember it though.
awesome post man…i will definitely apply this to my site…thanks!
It is very useful
Awesome ! Thanks
Hi i need a function like yours Displaying most commented (popular) posts.
But i need most comented posts for current category. I avaery categori i retrieve a list of all posts in this category how to order them by comment count?
Any help an ideas?
This is a great head start on making my blog take advantage of the power of PhP. A fantastic resource!
thank you for your great post!
Good Info, I’am try on my blog
Print
Print this Article
Very nice hacks here…very helpful
Thanks a lot…
Hi. In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary.
I am from Eritrea and learning to speak English, tell me right I wrote the following sentence: “Learning proper introductions not only enhances your business savvy but boosts your self confidence.”
Best regards
, Veronica.
WOW thanks you so much for sharing his excellent tips. I’m still learning .I’m feeling very excited.:)
I like this site!
Nice hack it works at my site
this excellent tips.
thanks.
nice hack…. i will try the ads banner
Very nice hacks here…very helpful
Thanks,
Thank you!
hi there!
xxoxo
I made with photoshop glitter myspace pictures.
take a look at them:
http://tinyurl.com/5pde2x
Thank you for your website
great tips…..really helpful.
wow its a nice tips! thanks
wow.. this is really cool!!!!
Great List, Ive always loved this site.
i’m really thank you for the great Information.
This is what i really want for my Blog.
thanks again! Keep Posting!
excellent tips
@BoyGJ.COM:-
what about?
This is perfect! lots of helpful stuff. Have stumbled and will certainly be back!
wow I have added this page to my favs I wouldn’t mind doing a few things mentioned here including the member bio!
Nice hack thanks man
Thank you very much !
Great WordPress Hack
Davvero un elenco molto molto utile per chi vuole implementare al meglio il proprio blog! Grazie mille!
@Chada:- But what if you would like to modify the printed pages layout or something… ? This print button would be quite usefull.
????????
@goblogging:- yeah great
Thank you
Thank you very much, Jai! I have always wondered how to do a lot of the things which you have listed off here, and this post clarifies everything in an easy and great manner to follow!
Appreciate it very much!
wow, I found the hack I was looking for after a very long time. I have been wonder how to place 125 banner ads on my sidebar and this post of yours really helped me out and it is very easy to do. thanx again.
@ilan:- thanks again
Thanks! Those are great tools. I’m sure I’ll use it in my blog I’m working on.
Ilan
thanks a lot for sharing. Good luck for you
Great hacking tips. I would like them all. T
Nice tips, these really helped me, specially the category and archive drop down .
Thanks
Thanks for this tutorial…its very helpful.
Pagina molto interessante..Word Press is the Best
Most Commented post heck – NOt working – Donno why? ( added the word “function” before the code. )
Thanks for sharing those great tricks. Inspire by trick put category list into drop down, how do I put my tag list into a drop down?
Thanks for helping….
Excellent tips. Thank You.
Thanks for conglomerating the details at a single point and presenting to us. I would also request you to post about any plugin which would enable the wordpress users/readers to download the post as a PDF file.
Thanks for the support.
Very interesting and helpful. Thanks,
Hi Jai,
Very good tutorials mate lovd them keep them coming
!!!
lots of love,
Sam.
How do you alterin the $no_posts variable in the code?
Thank you thank you thank you!! I finally have Gravatars working thanks to your very easy-to-follow steps (if only WordPress.org has such user-friendly documentation).
@Young:-
there are some wrong words in my previous comments, sorry and will be more careful next time. Look forward to your advice.
@Jai, regarding the Displaying most commented (popular) posts, i copied the code and did as you said and published a post on my bog, there is no problem for the post look, but there is a big problem with the RSS Feed–it is impossible to open the feed site on IE :
http://www.essentialblog.cn/feed/,
but it is OK on Firefox.
I think the there are some mistakes in the code, would you please give me some advise how to fit it?
This is very informative tutorial I will apply it on my blog.
Thanks for providing such great info.
Thanks
Nice work…
Tks for your information. Salam.
This is great! I am beginning a web project soon for a photo gallery and your tips here would come really handy. Many, many thanks!
Thanks Mr Jai, great tips
Thanks for the info
Thank you so much for this!
Thanks for sharing this usefull information. Anything else in store ?
I really like this post. Thanks for your feed.
Have a nice week.
Lki
This is exactly why I like wordpress so much. You can edit / hack it up, etc without anyone getting angry. It’s awesome.
Thanks very much! Just coded gravatars into my wordpress site using your guide.
Thank you very much !
I’ll use the print button from now .
Dror
I used the Gravatar hack, thanks mate
@Bryan:-
Sorry this was meant for the DailyPress comments.
I love the theme. Can anyone tell me how to add who submitted the post. I have a blog with multiple author but dailypress doesn’t show who submitted the post.
@Jai:- Thanks, Jai. Appreciate your help..
@Jai:-
Thanks so much, Jai! It worked like a charm!
xx
@Harmony:- This is the code to use to display Gravatars for post authors :-
< ?php echo get_avatar( get_the_author_email(), '80' ); ?>@Yan Shall Blog:- I forgot to add the word “function” before the code. Please copy it again and try.
Hi Jai,
Any idea how to show gravatars for post authors?
And, as always, another great post!
Thanks,
Harmony
What a great collection of hacks! I attempted to add the most popular post but encountered this error
Parse error: syntax error, unexpected ‘{‘ in /home/……/public_html/wp-content/themes/sketchd/header.php on line 67
What could be the problem? I have added the code to my header.php and the php code on my footer.
Appreciate your guide on this. Thank you…
Yan
Can you also provide code for showing Author names in the side bar along with the number of posts by each author? I manage a team blog and it would be great to have this. Each name could hyperlink to the posts by that author.
Authors
name1 (#)
name2 (#)
…
great work jai. thx so much. currently i’m looking for these tutorials
Cool hacks! These features would be very useful for my site. Thank you
These are fantastic. Thanks Jai…
Thank you, this is nice hack
Learning…
I used 2 of the tips. I used your code to make my old theme compatible with the new WP galleries. I’ve put in the code, now I am going to upload pictures and try to post a gallery. I hope it works!
Next I used your Twitter calling code. Easy enough, I put my latest Twitter message right beside where I already had a Twitter chiclet.
Luckily Twitter warned me to put the “script call” in my WordPress Footer. That way, if Twitter happens to be down for the day, my page will still load.
On your Print tip, I think the thing that’s missing is a printable stylesheet. A lot of times the regular webpage, with ads and colors and borders, is too much to print. I use Gamerz’ WP-Print plugin for this.
STUMBLED!
Good tips, gonna do the RSS feed one.
Very Helpful. Thank You
Thanks a lot, ususally you can find them is themes but a list for them is good too
I have already implemented some of these on my blogs via plugins, but to be able to edit the code yourself is always useful. Thanks for the article!
A friend of mine is really happy with his theme but it doesn’t show gravatars in the comments, I just pointed him at this post. Thanks for the great tips.
Thanks, Jai. Great tips.
@styletime:-
Col!
Have to agree with Chada, The Print This article prints the entire page.
nice work!
I think that the Print Button is not necessary because that there is already a Print selection in the browses’ File list.
Thanks for the information. I’ve implemented a few of these things into my blog.
Really useful tools.
The print button is frequently used.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
Thank you, the learning
Thanks just restyled my comments a bit more!
Great!!
thank you very much. It’s really useful, a blogger should know about this trick.
Brilliant!!! Thank you. Great post to save and keep referring to every now and then to tweak my WordPress blog. Keep it up!