Author Archives: John Havlik

Breadcrumb NavXT and WooCommerce Compatibility Tips

Posted by in Word* > Plugins

In general, Breadcrumb NavXT, due to its use of the WordPress API, is compatible with other plugins such as WooCommerce. Occasionally, this is not enough and additional code is required for proper functionality. Other times, as with WooCommerce, proper settings configuration is sufficient.

What You Need

These are the plugins and versions used when performing the testing reported on within this article:

  • WooCommerce – At the time this article was written, 3.1.0 was the latest available version and was the version tested against.
  • Breadcrumb NavXT – Tested against a development release of 5.7.1.

What Works

Since WooCommerce is relatively well behaved, Breadcrumb NavXT can easily generate the expected breadcrumb trail for WooCommerce resources. However, depending on how WooCommerce is setup, Breadcrumb NavXT may need a couple of settings to be changed. In general, the following settings changes are recommended for WooCommerce users:

  • Ensure that the “Products Root Page” in the Breadcrumb NavXT settings page (Settings > Breadcrumb NavXT > Post Types) is set to the same page as the “Shop page” setting in WooCommerce (WooCommerce > Settings > Products > Display).
  • Ensure that “Product Archive Display” is unchecked.
  • Ensure that “Product Hierarchy Display” is checked.

Other Notes

One thing to keep in mind: when changing the “Shop page” in WooCommerce, the “Products Root Page” in Breadcrumb NavXT will likely need to be changed as well. Otherwise, the Products page in the breadcrumb trail will not match the WooCommerce shop page.

-John Havlik

[end of transmission, stay tuned]

A Decade of Breadcrumbs

Posted by in Word* > Plugins

Ten years a go, I released the first version of Breadcrumb Navigation XT after adopting it from its original maintainer, Michael Woehrer. At that time, I did not fathom the journey I would take with it.

Within the first few months after adopting Breadcrumb Navigation XT, a settings page was added and it took on a new name (now known as Breadcrumb NavXT). Fast forward to today, it has been rewritten from the ground up twice (in 2.0 and 3.0), translated into 18+ languages (counting >80% translation completeness), downloaded more than 4 million times, and used on over 600 thousand sites.

In commemoration of this anniversary, Breadcrumb NavXT 5.7.1 was released today. Originally, the intent was for Breadcrumb NavXT 6.0 to be released. However, Breadcrumb NavXT 6.0 is not ready yet, and a fall release is a more realistic target.

Lastly, in August, I will be giving a presentation at WordCamp Minneapolis/St. Paul 2017 covering the highlights of my decade long journey with Breadcrumb NavXT.

-John Havlik

[end of transmission, stay tuned]

Updated:

Breadcrumb NavXT 5.7.1

Posted by in Word* > Plugins

This is the first, and hopefully only, bug fix release of the 5.7 branch of Breadcrumb NavXT. Two bugs were fixed in this release. One relating to the bcn_display_json_ld() function and the other pertaining to the injection of separators in the breadcrumb trail.

Breadcrumb NavXT 5.7.0 introduced the new bcn_display_json_ld() function. However, there was erroneous instance of $linked that caused a PHP warning. This has been resolved in Breadcrumb NavXT 5.7.1.

The second bug involved missing breadcrumb separators after removing a breadcrumb from the trail. Breadcrumb NavXT 5.7.1 uses an improved method of determining when to insert a breadcrumb separator that does not exhibit this behavior.

As always, you can grab the latest version of Breadcrumb NavXT from the Breadcrumb NavXT page. If you experience any issues with this version of Breadcrumb NavXT, please leave a comment on this post detailing the issue.

-John Havlik

[end of transmission, stay tuned]

Tagged:
Updated:

Raspberry Pi Zero W and Funtoo

Posted by in Guides

After finding the PaPiRus ePaper panel, I picked up a Raspberry Pi Zero W to drive it. To be perfectly honest, the early Raspberry Pis never really excited me. However, the Raspberry Pi Zero’s small footprint caught my attention. Add in WiFi and Bluetooth, as found on the Zero W, and you have a solid IoT starter board.

Thanks to the popularity of the Raspberry Pi, both Funtoo and Gentoo have guides on setting up Funtoo/Gentoo on a Raspberry Pi. Getting a base system up and running is straightforward. Though, if you have to compile anything it will take a while.

Continue reading

Tagged: ,
Updated:

Dell TB16 vs TB15

Posted by in Reviews > Hardware

A year and a few months ago, I picked up a Dell TB15 to use with my new XPS 15 9550. Since then, the TB15 was discontinued due to hardware issues. Last December, the WD15 as the only available replacement, even though its link was USB C, not Thunderbolt 3 like the TB15. However, Dell has since released the TB16, which officially replaces the TB15.

Since January, Dell has replacing existing TB15 units with TB16 for customers who open a support ticket requesting an exchange. Additionally, it appears that Dell is, as of late April, proactively sending out TB16 units to those who purchased a TB15 unit from Dell.com—this is how I ended up with a TB16. In addition to the TB16, Dell includes a letter explaining the exchange process and a shipping label for returning the old TB15.

Continue reading

Updated: