I think, and hope, that I’ve finally ironed out all the little glitches. The only problem I’m still aware of is actually not a problem with the plugin so much as it is a problem with other plugins and themes that fail to properly load jQuery by using wp_enqueue_script(). It always bugs me when people have problems with my plugin because of someone else’s poor coding practice. It bugs me when people have problems with my own poor coding, but at least I have only myself to blame for that!

For those of you curious as to what was done in the 1.0.2 release, I patched a rather glaring error related to Internet Explorer, a potential XSS vulnerability, and an obscure updating issue. I also added a Turkish/Türkçe Translation, graciously provided by Serhat Yolaçan and an updated French/Français Translation again provided by Jandry.

For those of you who are curious, the XSS vulnerability was due to an issue discussed here, by Mark Jaquith. While I understand how one could trigger the exploits, I don’t fully understand how those exploits do any damage, but whatever the case, it’s been resolved. I don’t actually think this was a real security issue for most people, since you have to be logged into the admin options to access it, but in Wordpress MU installs it could have been an issue. Either way, upgrade! Fixing this issue also had the added bonus of fixing an issue where one user was unable to update their Slimbox settings because somehow the form was submitting the server directory path, and not the url path. I don’t really know what caused that in the first place, nor do I know why it wasn’t a problem in previous versions of the plugin, but it’s fixed, so I won’t complain.

The issue with Internet Explorer likely effected more people, given the prevalence of IE users out there, and unfortunately was tied into my transition from dynamic JS files to static JS files. Essentially I was trying to convert a string array of numbers into an integer array of numbers, so I used a function I’d found, .map(Number). Unfortunately, I failed to then test the script in IE, since I would have discovered that apparently that function isn’t supported by IE. There’s likely a much better way to do it, but ultimately I wound up manually writing a loop to create the integer array and allow the script to work correctly in IE.

I’m hoping to have version 1.0.3 out later this week, but this update should only interest people who use the Spanish/Español, Dutch/Nederlandse, and German/Deutsch translations, or would like to use the plugin in Simplified Chinese! That’s right, the next release will include Simplified Chinese thanks to easespot.

Hopefully I’m done with major updates to the plugin, and future releases will be limited to simply adding translations, but if you have good ideas feel free to post them to our support forums and I’ll see what I can do.

Several users reported errors similar to the following:

Fatal error: Call to a member function get_option() on a non-object in /var/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/wp-slimbox2

In each case, it appeared that for some reason the $options variable, which was declared as a global variable, was not being properly recognized as an object. I don’t know why this is, though I suspect it’s tied into either the version or the settings of PHP being used on the host. This would explain why several users had no problems, and several others did. In one case someone had no problems on one site, but on another site they did.

If anybody can explain to me why this is, I’d appreciate it. Either way, I was able to resolve the issue by just recreating the variable in each function. This seems to me like it would be less than ideal, but someone else informed me that WP already caches options after fetching them, to minimize calls to the database, and so by recreating the object, I’m just pulling from the cache, or something like that. It works, that’s the important thing!

While attempting to diagnose the problem I also discovered a tiny glitch resulting from one of the new features I’d added. The grouping of autoloaded images wasn’t correctly grouping my images by post anymore. The original code was written as follows:

slimbox2_options.selector = "div.entry-content, div.gallery, div.entry, div.post, div#page, body";
return (this==el) || ($(this).parents(slimbox2_options.selector)[0] && ($(this).parents(slimbox2_options.selector)[0]==$(el).parents(slimbox2_options.selector)[0]))

I misunderstood this to mean that it would search through the parent elements for each image, and progressively search for an element that matched the selector. In this case it would look for a div of class entry-content, gallery, entry, or post, as well as a div with an id of “page” and if that all failed the body element. In actuality, while this would do that, it would also sort the results, which screwed them up. I revised the code as follows:

slimbox2_options.selector = "div.entry-content, div.gallery, div.entry, div.post, div#page, body";
return (this==el) || ($(this).closest(slimbox2_options.selector)[0] && ($(this).closest(slimbox2_options.selector)[0]==$(el).closest(slimbox2_options.selector)[0]))

I could even drop the [0] as closest only returns a single element anyway. This function actually searches for the first parent element that matches the selector, not all of them. If it finds a gallery first, that’s what it returns, if it finds entry-content, that’s what it returns, etc. This would allow a bit more granularity in the selection, and also better enable out-of-the-box support for more users and themes.

The downside to this change is that closest was introduced in version 1.3 of jQuery, which WordPress didn’t include until version 2.8. I’d hope most people aren’t hanging around updating their plugins and not their WordPress install, but you never know. If someone actually did want to do that, they could change closest back to parents, and just be more specific with the selector.

As translations are updated, or added I plan to make a few more minor releases, but hopefully I’ve got all the main things in now.

Release 1.0 includes several new options such as:

The ability to enable the effect on mobile phones (originally there was no option, but now it’s disabled by default).
The ability to control where the caption text comes from.
The ability to control what parent element to group images by.
The ability to render the caption as a URL to the original image.

Large portions of the backend of been rewritten as well and now the JavaScript files are entirely static, no more dynamic generation from php. This was accomplished by utilizing the wp_localize_script function of WordPress that let’s the options be loaded up in the main page, which is dynamic anyway.

If you localized the plugin in the past (or would like to now), please help bring your translations up to date!

Major changes on the user side include the addition of the wonderful jQuery Farbtastic colorpicker Javascript, created by Steven Wittens and a new key code detection script (written by me) that allows you to simply type the keys you’d like to use instead of looking up their key code.

Major changes on the backend include a rewrite of the core to utilize the WPlize class to clean up the code and minimize database calls by utilizing a single database entry and utilizing an array to store all the variables.

Major changes for people who don’t speak English, or would just prefer to use their native tongue, we’ve added Dutch/Nederlandse and French/Français to the list of supported languages. Thank you nv1962 and Jandry for your efforts, and to all the translators for bringing their translations up to speed.

That means WP-Slimbox2 is now available in Dutch/Nederlandse, English (of course), French/Français, German/Deutsch, and Spanish/Español.

Hopefully the list of supported languages will continue to grow. If you’d like to contribute a translation, or have suggestions please post a comment and check out the support forums.

Unfortunately, what I do not have are localizations, Spanish/Español aside.

So I’m putting out the word, on my mostly unread blog, requesting people to provide translations! It uses the standard POT file method, the same as WordPress, so just load up the POT file included in the languages sub-directory of the plugin package in your PO editor of your choice (such as POedit) and get to work. You’ll also need to create image files for the Next, Prev, and Close displays. Look at the default English files, as well as the Spanish files, if you want examples.

I’d really like to be able to serve as many people as possible with the plugin, but I can only read and write English and don’t see myself becoming a linguist any time soon.

If you’d like to contribute, please leave a comment here, as well as on our support forums where I’ll set up a special localization thread a bit later.

Thanks!

Here is the completed work:

If you haven’t figured it out yet, click both of those to see the larger images – speaking of which, utilizing the new plugins I mentioned below.

As it turns out, there was one option, jQuery Lightbox Balupton Edition which worked ok and obviously did use jQuery, but it had a few really annoying aspects to it, like the big advertisement in the upper right corner when you used the effect, plus the name was ridiculously pretentious. For some reason several of the plugins I tested also had issues where the dropdown menu wouldn’t properly situate itself into the background either (though I could resolve this by changing my menu’s z-index).

What to do? Well, I searched around the WordPress plugin repository, that’s how I found the various plugins that I did test, and then I tried a few internet searches. That’s how I stumbled onto Slimbox 2, the ultimate lightweight Lightbox clone for jQuery. Unfortunately I couldn’t find a WordPress plugin for it, fortunately the javascript itself really just needed to be loaded up, the gallery plugin already added in the lightbox cues (though the JS also will add them in for images that don’t have them). Ultimately I could’ve just hacked it into the code, or probably plugged it in with a K2 hook, but I figured it be better to just write a new plugin to do it, so I did. Currently it’s basically just a tiny php file that tells it to enqueue the javascript, points to a CSS file, and has a few image files, but I’ll see if I can maybe flesh it out, after I look over what capabilities Slimbox 2 provides. I’ll also likely want to figure out how to properly credit the author of the script, but assuming I can figure it all out I’ll likely release it for others to use too.

Let me know what you think.

That’s right, down here, there you go. So, awesomeness aside, why do I have this silhouette of Godzilla posted? I’ll tell you why. Because I have an empty wall that needs filling, that’s why!

Since I first moved into my condo I found myself tasked with something relatively new to me, decorating. Back when I lived with my parents my decorating was pretty much limited to my immediate room, which 90% of the time consisted of some posters and piles of junk on my desk, bureau, and pretty much everywhere else. When I was younger I did get a set of G.I. Joe wall stickers that my younger brother and I split between our rooms, plus I’d earned some fake Indian stuff at summer camp. During college it was a similar deal, limited to my dorm room, and if anything, I decorated even less then. But now, now that I actually have a place of my own, with many many plain white walls, well, I feel the need to fill them with something. Not just anything, mind you, that would be even more boring than nothing. No, I need to fill them with unique, creative, manly things!

I think the first thing I decorated my walls with was a tin filled with three of my favorite things: Booze, Smokes, and Puppies – the Trifecta, the only thing missing was women, but that’s ok, 3 out of 4 of my favorite things ain’t bad (for those of you who don’t know me…booze and smokes aren’t actually in my list of favorite things…puppies and women however….). The Yeungling brewer tin has familial attachments, plus I just think puppies drinking booze and smoking is pretty funny. Check out a picture of this artistic delicacy here. In fact, the wall you can see in the background is ultimately the one Godzilla is all about, but I’ll get to that.

After the puppies adorned the area above my dining room I got it in my head to mount my guitar. The fact that I’m still only capable of strumming a few chords is beside the point, a guitar on the wall is a sign of manliness. And so, with the help of my dad, I designed and built this. Which allowed me to mount the guitar like this. Manly, I know.

Some might consider two pieces of art/decoration enough and call it a day, but not me, no, I needed more. The longest wall in my condo is in my living room, and that in turn means it was also (and technically still is) the emptiest. Clearly, I needed to fill this space. My brother, Zareiff, who’s gallery is linked to on the right, is an artist, and so I came to him with an idea I had to fill this space. I needed a painting, a relatively large painting (when I say large I don’t mean like ‘The Last Supper’ large, just 36″x48″ or so large), and painting that will be the pinnacle of awesomeness and manliness. I don’t recall how specific my original idea was, or which portions of it were his ideas, but what I do know is that I wanted something local, with the DC landscape. I also wanted it to be personal, so I would be a central character in the painting. And, of course, it had to be manly, so it would involve violence! Ultimately the idea culminated into a chaotic version of the DC landscape in the background, while in the foreground myself and Christopher Walken (both in giant form) would tower over the monuments while engaged in mortal combat.

I know, you’re speechless, aren’t you? Could anything possible be more awesome? No, it couldn’t, but something might come close. Sadly, the painting hasn’t developed beyond the conceptual stage, and the canvas purchasing stage, but it will get done.

Now you’re definitely thinking “That’s plenty of decoration,” but you’d be wrong. No, with the painting still unpainted, I only had one piece of decoration in the living room. That wouldn’t suffice, no, so I purchased one of my brother’s earlier paintings to hang above my TV. A painting of Cobra Commander, what could be more awesome than a painting of the most infamous fictional international terrorist ever to live (in a fictional world)? Well, the aforementioned painting, clearly, but other than that, nothing, I suspect. See what I mean by taking a gander here.

All of that, but there’s more! “How could that be?” You say, “You can’t possibly make such a place more awesome.” You’re wrong though, and I’ll tell you why. Seeing just how awesome the guitar mount turned out, and considering I have a very nice trombone (that I can actually play much better than the guitar) I decided to make a trombone wall mount. Again my dad helped out here, and he admittedly probably came up with more of the design on this than I did, plus he cut out the actual “handles”, though I did almost all of the backboard for it, and he dug up some nice felt to put in the handles to prevent scratches. It’s not finished yet, but once I’m home for the holidays I think it’ll get wrapped up.

And now to the last element on my list of decorations, or planned decorations – those manly things that make a home unique and personal…and the very subject of this post….Godzilla vs King Kong!

There’s a barren wall in my dining room that gets prominent viewing to anyone walking through the condo as well as plenty of light, but I couldn’t come up with a way to fill it. I’d kept thinking pictures, except, I have no pictures to put on the wall and had no desire to go on a photography kick, especially since it’d take me forever to take any worth putting on the wall. No, I needed something else…something…manly! And then I had an epiphany. I saw Godzilla…fighting King Kong…on my wall! Yes, pure genius, but instead of being a painting, or being painted on to the wall, I wanted it more subtle, but still something I could take with me if I moved. Something thin to be placed up against the wall, a silhouette cutout, but what material? Discussing the matter with my brother I believe we settled on vinyl of some sort, but I’m not positive. And now he’s begun to craft out the designs, once of which is included at the top of this post! He also sent me a King Kong, but he had a beer belly…that’s not gonna fly…

And there you have it, the explanation, the most awesome and manly condo ever – that’s what I’m going to have.

Before I forget, if you’re reading this post while it’s still at the top of the page, how awesome does the graphic look, what with the transparency and the way the tail curls under the menu on the right? Now I want to come up with a way to fix it in place…too bad my knowledge of CSS is crap…but I’ll figure it out, eventually, maybe…..

Sadly I’ve been horribly busy lately and just haven’t had time.

I have noticed, strangely, that the spammers seemed to disappear for several days, but then I got hit by 5 or so this morning. I guess we’ll see if they start up again.

I’d been working on Interdementia during my metro rides home, but lately I’ve just been too tired. Hopefully that’ll change.

As for women of questionable virtue, if you know any, send them my way