1. Install the Smilies Themer plugin
2. Activate it.
3. Go to Settings > Smilies Themer and pick a theme pack. If you want to create a custom one, keep reading
4. Create a folder with the name of your theme pack in wp-content/themes/smilies-themer/. In my case I called it devthought

5. Place your emoticons in that folder and a file called package-config.php

   

6. Place a code like this in package-config.php

   :o'      => 'angryface.png',
   	'>:-O'   => 'angryface.png',
   	':-['       => 'blush.png',
   	':['         => 'blush.png',
   );
   // add as many as you want respecting the same format:
   // 'emoticon' => 'file.jpg',
   

7. Go to Settings and choose your package!

Now you’re done! :[ >:o :X :-/ o:)

I’ve just released a new WordPress plugin: FeedBurnerCount. It gets the job of retrieving feed readers from the FeedBurner API done efficiently.

Lately it seems the API is up and down all the time, many times providing invalid data, and recently moved to a new URI. The one plugin that solves this same task hasn’t been updated in months, and it’s not ready for an inconsistent API, which results in a N/A count all the time.

FeedBurnerCount can maintain your feed count even if the Awareness API is not working (or you can specify a custom message for those situations), and calculate the average readers count in a period of time. It also sniffs your feedburner details (if the FeedBurner plugin installed) for an impossibly easier setup.

Head to the the plugin page for more details.

There’s a very useful PHP function called filemtime, that returns the timestamp of the modification time of the file. This is similar to how the HTTP 1.1 ETag header is generated. The strategy is basically to append the modification date to the script or CSS URI in order to refresh the user’s cache when you’ve modified them.

This is an extract from Devthought header.php WordPress template file:

All you have to do is change the routes to match your files. If you’re not using wordpress, you’ll have to remove the get_stylesheet_directory* and get_template_directory* function calls and replace with your paths.

I’m signing up for this WordPress design competetion, organized by the guys over at WPWebHost team. Only WordPress-powered sites are elegible, and there are 5 categories with 10 featured sites and 1 winner each.

The winners will be decided by the public, so it’ll be nice if you cast your vote for your all-time favorite Devthought! As for the prizes, winners will get a badge, $200 cash via Paypal, and excellent life-time hosting (which I’d love).

I’m signing up for the Best Modern and Elegant category, which probably also means some strong competition