Category Archives: Announcements

This is where announcements will be made, such as expect down time, ect.

I’m Speaking at WordCamp Minneapolis 2014

Posted by in Announcements

My presentation titled “1 Million Downloads – Lessons Learned Growing a Plugin” was accepted into the second developer’s track for WordCamp Minneapolis 2014. This presentation was inspired by a presentation I attended at WordCamp Chicago 2013. It will cover my experiences (mistakes, triumphs, etc.) as I have grown Breadcrumb NavXT over the past 7 years.

This session will cover what I have found that works, and the mistakes I made as I’ve grown Breadcrumb NavXT into a plugin that has been downloaded over 1 million times. Topics covered include: support and release strategies, workflow and tools, and WordPress plugin coding tips. Naturally, this is a non-exhaustive list of the topics I’ll cover but it should give a feel for what I’ll be talking about.

Psst. If you haven’t registered yet, register for WordCamp Minneapolis while you still can. Last year we sold out of two day passes and Saturday only passes. Also, it is definitely worth participating in both Saturday and Sunday activities, Kiko and crew did an excellent job organizing last year and this year is looking to be even better.

-John Havlik

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Breadcrumb NavXT Title Trixx and Menu Magic

Posted by in Announcements

As promised earlier this week, I am announcing the first two Breadcrumb NavXT premium extensions today. They are Breadcrumb NavXT Title Trixx and Breadcrumb NavXT Menu Magic. Both plugins will require Breadcrumb NavXT 5.0, which will be released around the end of September/early October. Purchases will come with 1 year of free updates. Support and pricing has yet to be determined.

Breadcrumb NavXT Title Trixx

Breadcrumb NavXT Title Trixx allows users to specify a custom title for any post’s (as in any post type) breadcrumb. It features integration with All in One SEO Pack, taking the SEO title if it exists. If All in One SEO Pack is not activated on the current WordPress install, an “Alternate Title” meta box will be available on all post edit screens. The initial version of this plugin complete and will be released upon the launch of the Breadcrumb NavXT Extensions Store.

Breadcrumb NavXT Menu Magic

Breadcrumb NavXT Menu Magic allows users to specify a WordPress Menu for Breadcrumb NavXT to follow for both titles and hierarchy for resources (posts, taxonomy terms, archives, etc). If the current item is not found in the menu, Breadcrumb NavXT will fall back to its default behavior. This extension is currently in development, an initial proof of concept is functional, however a bit of work is still required. As with Breadcrumb NavXT Title Trixx, Breadcrumb NavXT Menu Magic will be available upon the launch of the Breadcrumb NavXT Extensions Store.

-John Havlik

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Breadcrumb NavXT Hits One Million Downloads

Posted by in Announcements

Back on Thursday evening, Breadcrumb NavXT hit one million downloads on the WordPress.org plugin repository. This is the total number of downloads since it was first introduced in the plugin repository almost six years ago. Not many plugins have hit this milestone, and it is exciting to have written something that has been downloaded a million times. At this juncture, it seems appropriate to reveal my vision for the future of Breadcrumb NavXT.

The Future

Breadcrumb NavXT 5.0, is functionally ready for testing. Only some polishing and documentation is left before it is ready for release. The reason for skipping versions 4.5 through 4.9 is the fact that a substantial reorganization of the plugin has occurred for this version. The changes should make Breadcrumb NavXT more flexible, and were necessary to implement an Network Admin settings page. Expect to see 5.0 near the beginning of October.

Currently, the plans for 5.1 are a little open, though it is likely it will contain several tweaks that fix issues that have been punted for some time. See the issue list on GitHub for Breadcrumb NavXT milestone 5.1. Additionally, for 5.1 the introduction of a more formal regression/unit test suite is likely to happen. As for a release date, sometime between the end of December 2013 and mid January 2014 is the target release time-frame.

Something New

There are several features that groups of users have wanted Breadcrumb NavXT to have for quite some time. While introduction of these features into the main plugin has been resisted—and will continue to be resisted—going forward many of these features will make their way into premium add-on plugins.

These features have enough demand to warrant an add-on plugin, but are not applicable to the majority of use cases for Breadcrumb NavXT. To service this demand, beginning in September, a handful of premium add-on plugins will be released for Breadcrumb NavXT to add functionality. Take a look at how Easy Digital Downloads is run, that is the model that will be used here. More information on this will be made available later this week.

-John Havlik

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I’m Speaking at WordCamp Minneapolis

Posted by in Announcements > WordPress

My presentation titled “The Power of Custom Types” was accepted into the “Intermediate” track for WordCamp Minneapolis 2013. This is based off of the presentation I gave twice at WordCamp NYC last year. Based on some feedback from organizers this presentation will take a slightly different path than its predecessor.

Yes, it is still on Custom Post Types. However, custom taxonomies and post (custom) meta will also be covered. Inspiring members of the audience to use WordPress’ custom types in their next project is the aim of the presentation. In the presentation I will be covering the basics of CPTs, taxonomies, and post meta, presenting a few cool tips and tricks, discussing when a CPT, taxonomy, or post meta use is appropriate, and showcasing some cool plugins that use a combination of CPTs, taxonomies and post meta. As always, there will be plenty of time for Q&A so bring your questions.

Psst. If you haven’t registered yet, register for WordCamp Minneapolis while you still can.

-John Havlik

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I’m Speaking at WordCamp NYC

Posted by in Announcements > WordPress

My presentation titled “The Power of Custom Post Types” was accepted into the DIY track for WordCamp NYC. Yes, it is on Custom Post Types. Inspiring members of the audience to use CPTs in their next project is the aim of the presentation. In the presentation I will be covering the basics of CPTs, showing a few cool tips and tricks, and showcasing some cool plugins that use CPTs (including one I have been working on for the past five months). There will be plenty of time for Q&A so bring your questions.

BTW, for those of you in the Twin Cities, you can get a preview of both my presentation, and Josh Leuze‘s presentation titled “jQuery the WordPress Way”at the next MSP WordPress meeting. Free pizza and beverages are provided by the Nerdery.

-John Havlik

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