Archive for February, 2009

lasTunes 1.0

Wednesday, February 11th, 2009

I just finished writing my first WordPress plugin! here is some information about lasTunes:

Adds iTunes links to Last.fm user’s Recently Played Tracks feed and displays them.

Multiple options, including:

  • Add direct links to each track artist’s myspace and last.fm pages
  • Add link to album
  • Add link to user’s last.fm page

see it in action below. oh, and check out the lasTunes WordPress plugins page, where you can/should download it. while I may provide updates here from time to time, all new versions will be posted there. namaste!

recently listened tracks of cfretts
Alan JacksonWho's Cheatin' Who [Extended]Everything I Love
Paper CrowsFollow The Leader (George Lenton remix)Stop, Revive, Survive
Foster The PeoplePumped Up KicksTorches
Death Cab for CutieYou Are A TouristCodes and Keys
alexkillsdieALEX JONES MEGA RANT (dubstep remix)alexkillsdie

lasTunes by Calen Fretts

the ten WordPress plugins that saved me from coding

Wednesday, February 4th, 2009

if you have a WordPress site, there are thousands of plugins out there which you can use to make your site easier to use, or more interactive, or more useful, etc. here are 10 that I found I can’t live without.

All in One SEO Pack – puts SEO (search engine optimization) code into your site to get it more traffic.

Events Calendar – easily mark upcoming events, etc.

Google Analytics for WordPress – every website needs Analytics. this plugin is the most user-friendly.

Google XML Sitemaps – auto-generates sitemaps, which will boost your site in the search engines.

My Link Order – lets you easily specify which order you want your blogroll links to be shown.

ShareThis – inserts links to email the post, or Digg/share it on other sites.

Sociable – same functionality as ShareThis, but different. try them both and decide for yourself.

Stray Random Quotes – I tried a few quote plugins and this was the best.

Subscribe2 – allows visitors/members to subscribe to your site, and receive notification emails for different events such as new posts.

WP-PostRatings – allows visitors to rate posts. gives you a variety of options for your rating system (thumbs up/thumbs down, 5 stars, etc).

 you can see most of these plugins in use either on this site or my other site, Audio Showcase.


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