Are you a Twitter user and WordPress fanatic?   Theme Playground recently published a great list of 50 WordPress peronsalities to follow on Twitter.   Their list includes developers, WordPress bloggers, etc.

I was excited to see our friend Jean-Baptiste Jung make the list, showing he is finally getting the recognition his hard work deserves.   There are also a number of other people included in the list that are worth following, so Twitter users will want to make sure to check Theme Playground’s post.

Have you ever wanted to use icons/images instead of plain text for Login/Register links on a WordPress blog? Thankfully WordPress allows a down to bone customization so you could say that almost everything is possible. Our technique is simply achieved by creating two functions and adding them to your theme’s function.php file.

To replace Log in/Log Out text with a desired image, simply copy the code below and make your functions.php file ready for editing (through WordPress Theme Editor or FTP),

//Image instead of text for the "Login & Log Out" links
function ax_login() {
$before = '<li class="axLinks">';
$after = '</li>';
$theme_url = get_bloginfo('template_url');
if ( ! is_user_logged_in() )
$link = $before . '<a href="' . wp_login_url() . '">' . '<img src="' . $theme_url . '/images/login.png" alt="Log in" />' . '</a>' . $after;
else
$link = $before . '<a href="' . wp_logout_url() . '">' . '<img src="' . $theme_url . '/images/logout.png" alt="Log Out" />' . '</a>' . $after;
echo apply_filters('loginout', $link);
}

Paste the code you copied and then submit/save the file. Pick two icons you like (the size it’s up to you to decide but names are relative to the code, see: login.png, logout.png) and upload them to your theme images folder. Reload your WP site and ta-da!!! There you see two new shiny icons you didn’t have before. This code applies to any situation, whether you do have or not the Meta Widget active.

What just happened?

This function will override the output of loginout filter, it requires you to have wp_loginout(); somewhere on  your theme where you want to show your login icon. You can even style it using CSS by adding the .axLinks{ } class to your theme’s style.css file, and then manipulate it as you desire. Here’s a small CSS block which gives only basic directions.

.axLinks li, a, img{
background-color: transparent;
list-style: none;
text-decoration: none;
border: 0; }

The same treatment can be applied to the register filter as well, with just some small necessary changes, of course a new functions needs to be created only to avoid confusion. Below you can find the code for Register/Site Admin links. Follow the same steps as with the function above.

//Image instead of text for the "Register & Site Admin" links
function ax_register() {
$before = '<li class="axLinks">';
$after = '</li>';
$theme_url = get_bloginfo('template_url');
if ( ! is_user_logged_in() ) {
if ( get_option('users_can_register') )
$link = $before . '<a href="' . site_url('wp-login.php?action=register', 'login') . '">' . '<img src="' . $theme_url . '/images/register.png" alt="Register" />' . '</a>' . $after;
} else {
$link = $before . '<a href="' . admin_url() . '">' . '<img src="' .$theme_url . '/images/site_admin.png" alt="Site Admin" />' . '</a>' . $after;
}
echo apply_filters('register', $link);
}

This function will override the output of register filter, it requires you to have wp_register(); somewhere on  your theme, more precisely wherever you want your register/site admin icon. Now if you don’t have any pre-chosen icons, there are numerous choices out there.

This little modification has been tried and proven to work up to WordPress.2.7.1 and is intended to save you from editing the core, instead creating two easy-to-customize functions that can be delivered with your theme. If you encounter any potential problems feel free to ask by commenting below.  Cheers!

This was a guest post by Arian Xhezairi, a WordPress manic, web developer and Twitter user (follow him here!). You can also check out his site, iTechnologize.net. If you have WordPress knowledge and are interested in writing a post for WordPress Hacks, please contact us.

WordPress’s default comment system isn’t exactly the greatest, and whilst you can improve the comment system manually, not everyone has the time or skill to do so. Thankfully, one of Automattic’s recent acquisitions, IntenseDebate can help.

Before we dive into installing IntenseDebate (which is really easy!), here is why you should use it, according to the IntenseDebate website:

So IntenseDebate is pretty much everything you could want from a comment system, so next we’re going to walk through the installation.

First thing is to go to www.intensedebate.com and signup. Next you’ll be asked to enter the URL of the site you want to install IntenseDebate on. Do so and click next. Assuming you’re running WordPress, you’ll be told you need to install the plugin:

Before you intsall the plugin, make sure you backup your database.

Once you’re backed up, follow the instructions above to step four. Once you’re at the tab, login with the account you just created, and then on the next screen click the big ‘Import Comments’ button. Sit back whilst your comments import themselves. When it is done, this screen will appear:

You’ll find a whole load of options to fiddle around with, so fiddle away, and then you’re done. Told you it way easy!

This was a guest post by Alex Denning, a WordPress power user, web design freelancer and Twitter fanatic (follow him here!). You can check out his site, Nometet.com here. If you have WordPress knowledge and are interested in writing a post for WordPress Hacks, please contact us.

Some of you may have noticed a lower than normal number of posts over the past two weeks.  This is primarily because of some major server issues we’ve been having, which resulted in all of my sites experiencing quite a bit of downtime.   Fortunately, I think yesterday afternoon we got it figured out and things have been good for the last 24 hours.

While working on our server issues, I had a little spare time that normally would have gone towards blogging.   Here is what I did with my time:

1. Taxes – Having a business requires some changes to how you do your taxes, whether you are an LLC or a sole proprietorship.   As a result, I’ve had to spend some additional time working on the taxes for Apricot Media.  After going through this, I’ve found quite a few ways to improve my processes.  If anyone is interested in learning more about this, I’m planning to write a post about this over the coming weeks on my affiliate marketing blog, Slick Affiliate.
2. Spring Cleaning – Once a year (at least), I’ve always felt it is good to go through your computer and clean up.   This can involve reformatting your computer(s), optimizing databases, backing up files, and cleaning out email and pictures.  We currently have over 120 websites, so this took quite a bit longer this year than in the past.   I also will typically use this time to go through my pictures and music files and make sure everything is backed up on an external drive.

What do you guys do for your computer’s yearly spring cleaning?  Share your tips in the comments!

Finding a good web host for your websites or WordPress blogs can sometimes be difficult.  In the past I’ve had a lot of success with HostGator, but sometimes found that working with a large web hosting company can sometimes leave some gaps, as their service wasn’t designed specifically for the needs of a WordPress blogger.

Recently I came across a web hosting service called WP Web Host, which is web hosting designed with WordPress bloggers in mind!    Their servers were designed to support one click WordPress installation and their support is also focused completely on WordPress.  They also recently added support for WordPressMU (for running multiple WordPress installations).

Some additional information about WP Web Host:

Fast & Stable Server and Network

We invest heavily in ensuring our servers are not overloaded, have the fastest network connections, and guarantee 99.9% of network uptime (and 99.5% of server uptime) to all of our customers.

100 Days Money Back Guarantee

We take pride in making sure our customers are equally satisfied and happy. If you are not, within 100 days from when your initial order was placed, you’ll get your money back.

If you are worried about WP Web Host being a new service, let me ease your worries.  They currently have over 20,000 different satisfied users and a couple of years experience under their belts.  They also have the guarantee quoted above, showing they are a reputable business.

Probably my favorite part about WP Web Host is the price!  Your hosting is only $5.00 a month and includes up to 50 domain names, 50GBs of web space, and 500GBs of monthly bandwidth, which should be plenty for most WordPress bloggers.

If you’d like to give WP Web Host a try, we were given permission to give a special offer to our readers.   If you use the coupon code WPHACKS, you’ll receive a one-time 30% discount on all hosting plan (and all billing cycle).   Click here to take advantage of this offer!