Version 2.0 adds 5 new tweaks, removes 13 outdated tweaks, fixes a few tweaks that broke between WordPress 2.5 and 3.1, adheres to new plugin development best practices that have emerged since WP 2.5, adds an instant search bar, and ups the minimum WordPress requirement from 2.1 to 3.1 (quite the jump!).

For those who aren’t familiar with the plugin, WordPress Tweaks gathers a plethora of assorted options into a convenient list of checkboxes and dropdowns. (WordPress Tweaks is in the same vein as Microsoft’s abandoned TweakUI program, for those who remember it.)

Here’s the current list of supported tweaks:

• Admin
  • Automatically scroll to the post editor
  • Disable the admin bar
  • Disable the Dashboard
  • Disable the “Search Engines Blocked” notice
  • Disable tag autocomplete
  • Disable WordPress’s admin footer text/links
• Comments and Pings
  • Disable self-pinging
  • Dofollow comment author links
  • Dofollow comment body links
  • Open external comment links in new windows
• Media
  • Disable the Flash uploader
  • Default media inserter tab
    • From Computer
    • From URL
    • Gallery
    • Media Library
  • JPEG Quality
• Posts
  • Disable post revisions
  • Force excerpts on archives
  • Open external post links in new windows
  • Add a “Continue reading” link to excerpts

Install Now

Ready to start tweaking? Just enter the homepage URL of your WordPress site:

Here’s what an inline changelog looks like when implemented:

As you can see, a small notice like this helps users know at-a-glance what’s new in your plugin update.

Here’s the code you can incorporate into your plugin:

<?php
function my_plugin_update_info() {
	if ( $info = wp_remote_fopen("http://www.example.com/my-plugin-updates.txt") )
		echo '<br />' . strip_tags( $info, "<br><a><b><i><span>" );
}
add_action('in_plugin_update_message-'.plugin_basename(__FILE__), 'my_plugin_update_info');
?>

Of course, to keep plugin users happy, be sure that your inline changelogs are informative and unobtrusive. Happy coding!

(Plugin users, if you’d like to see this feature implemented in your favorite plugins, you could try sending the plugin author a link to this post! You could also check out the new Changelogger plugin.)

That’s the goal of SEO Ultimate, which is a free plugin I’m developing on behalf of SEO Design Solutions.

Right now the plugin is in its early stages (currently at version 0.6). There are many more features yet to come; as more functionality is added, I expect SEO Ultimate to become the all-in-one WordPress SEO solution of choice for more people as time goes on.

Features

Current functionality includes the standard All in One SEO Pack features:

• Title rewriting
• Noindex checkboxes
• Meta editing
• Canonical tags
• Post meta box

SEO Ultimate also has these additional capabilities:

• 404 monitoring
• Linkbox insertion
• Settings import/export functions

Upcoming features include robots.txt editing, 301 logging, XHTML validation status monitoring, and much more. (If you install the plugin now, you can get these features delivered to you on a regular basis via WordPress’s semi-automatic plugin updater!)

I’ve also incorporated these extra features into SEO Ultimate:

• Inline changelogs
• Readme changelog
• Footer branding
• WordPress 2.7 menu integration
• Integration with WordPress’s Help system
• Inline phpDoc documentation

Auto-Installer

Also, be sure to check out this cool auto-installer system I invented. Just type in your blog’s URL, click “Launch Installer,” then click “Install Now,” and voila, SEO Ultimate will be installed on your blog! You can then enable it by clicking the Activate link.

Try it out:

You can also download the zip file. SEO Ultimate requires WordPress 2.7 or above.

Let me know what you think!

• Added the “Automatically scroll to the post editor” tweak (based on the WriteScroll plugin)
• Removed unnecessary JavaScript HTTP calls (hat tip to user Doug)
• Removed unused code
• Added a POT file to the plugin distribution
• Fixed a WordPress 2.6 compatibility bug (reported by user Chris)
• Other minor enhancements

Learn more about WordPress Tweaks or download the latest version here!

1. Broken Link Checker — Automatically checks your posts for broken links and images and reports its findings in the dashboard. Its AJAX capabilities even allow you to fix the offending links without editing the posts!

2. WP-Project — This plugin adds lightweight project management to WordPress. If you want the ability to track clients, projects, and tasks from within your blog, this plugin is for you.

3. WP SEO Master — The WordPress SEO arena is usually dominated by plugins like All in One SEO Pack, but this plugin provides some unique functionality, including keyword autolinking and comprehensive noindex/nofollow options.

What’s on your top list of cool plugins that aren’t mentioned that often? Let us know in the comments!

This would also make a cool blog meme: if WordPress-using bloggers could post a list of plugins that they think should have more limelight, we could promote plugin authors’ works and help each other discover some cool plugins.

I’ll tag the following bloggers: Kyle at Hack WordPress, Richard at WP Project (not to be confused with the plugin listed above), and Ian at ThemeShaper. If others would like to participate, feel free to do so! (If you don’t blog about WordPress, perhaps you could discuss plugins related to your niche.) Just post your list on your blog, link to this post if you want to register a pingback, and then tag additional bloggers.

• Internationalization support for all strings
• Nonce support for the administration interface to guard against unauthorized changes
• Other minor enhancements and fixes

For those who aren’t familiar with WordPress Tweaks, it is a multi-purpose plugin specializing in simple toggle-on/off changes. It adds many useful settings pertaining to comments, posts, SEO, security, the administration back-end, and much more.

Learn more or download the latest version

• Admin: Disable the Dashboard
• Security: Disable directory listing for my plugins folder

WordPress Tweaks now includes a total of 23 toggle-on/off settings spanning SEO, administration, security, posts, and comments.

Download the latest version here

Download the latest version here

If you run into any bugs, let me know in the comments!

1. Check for an uninstaller — If the plugin has administration pages, check them to see if the plugin has an uninstallation routine. If so, running it should clear out the plugin’s database tables and settings, which you won’t be needing anymore if you don’t plan on using the plugin again.

2. Deactivate the plugin — Go to the “Plugins” section, find the plugin, and then click “Deactivate.”

3. Check for plugin calls — Now browse around your site and see if anything broke. If so, follow the instructions in this post: What to Do if Plugin Deactivation Breaks Your Blog.

4. Delete the plugin files — Using an FTP program, delete the plugin’s folder and/or file.

You may also want to check out the Clean Options plugin. I can’t vouch for it, since I haven’t used it, but it claims to be able to find any options table entries that the plugin may have left behind.

The problem is that your theme is calling on the plugin you deactivated. However, since that plugin is gone, the site displays an error and then stops rendering the rest of the page.

Here’s what to do:

1. Go to your WordPress administration. Click “Design” (or “Presentation”), then click “Theme Editor”.

2. Where on your site did the error appear? If it was on your sidebar, click “Sidebar.” If it was only on a search page, click “Search Template.” If it was in the comments section, click “Comments,” etc.

3. Now look for a function call that might be related to the plugin you just deactivated. For example, if you deactivated the Related Posts plugin, you might see some code like this:
   <?php related_posts(); ?>

4. If you don’t plan on using the plugin again, and if you’re sure the code belongs to the deactivated plugin, just delete the code.

   Or instead, you can follow these instructions to alter the plugin function call so that it won’t break your blog when the plugin is deactivated.

   (If you’re new to theme editing, you might want to backup your theme first just in case.)

5. When you’re done, click the “Save” button to save your changes.

6. If you couldn’t find any relevant code, or if the problem still isn’t fixed, repeat steps 3-5 for the rest of your theme files.

If all else fails, reactivate the plugin to get rid of the error, and then consult the plugin’s documentation, contact the plugin author, or file a support request at the WordPress Support Forums.