I present PostBits 0.1.0 Alpha.  Please note the lack of positive digits in the version and the prominence of the word “Alpha.”  This plugin is not complete, and it probably has some bugs.  As it stands, it should be able to replace Cricket Moods, but do not run it on your live blog.

Things to note:

• Does not import moods from Cricket Moods.  I will write a separate plugin to do that later.
• The plugin seems to work with WP 2.6, but the interface is designed for 2.7.
• Currently, only one category is available.  It has the ability to handle more, just not the interface to manage them.
• There is no README—you’re on your own.

If you’d like to try it out and/or help help me ferret out any bugs, you can grab a zip file from the PostBits Google Code site.  If you find any bugs or have any suggestions, please post them on the issue tracker.  Please don’t e-mail me or post any blog comments about bugs you find.

This release primarily fixes compatibility with WordPress 2.6.  It includes some really old changes for WPMU compatibility that I can’t guarantee still work.  The bottom line: if you want to use Cricket Moods with WordPress 2.6, get this new version.

I have hopefully fixed the issue in the 3.x branch of Cricket Moods.  I haven’t tagged a new 3.7 release of Cricket Moods because, frankly, I don’t know if these changes break anything.  I tested the changes on one Blog running WordPress 2.6.  So, before I tag and zip up a release, it’d be great if some folk² could test the new plugin.  Grab the file from the Subversion repository.

To fix any old duplicated moods, remove all moods from the affected post, save the post, add the moods again, and save the post.

1. A bug.
2. guinea pigs

As I mentioned in my previous post on the subject, the core functionality of the plugin is finished.  That’s all well and good if you like to hammer on your database by hand to get things done, but not so good for most people.

The Problem

The truth is, I’m bad at UI design.  Show me a mockup of what you want, and I’ll whip out the code to make it work.  Unfortunately, when it comes to designing it myself, I freeze up.

Also, I want to AJAX-ify the UI to some degree.  For example, I’d like the mood postbit creation process to be more elegant than Cricket Mood’s current two-text-box approach.  I’m thinking something drag-and-drop powered.  For some reason, I find the documentation for jQuery and script.aculo.us very confusing, so I’ve never learned how to use them.

The Bottom Line

I’m not mentioning all this to defend myself or to garner sympathy from readers.  I’m mentioning it because I have identified these two areas (UI and JavaScript) as things I need help with.  I need some creative folk to work with me to finish this plugin.

The Solution

In an effort to accelerate the development of PostBits, I have registered it as a Google Code project.  I urge any interested parties to take a look at the code and contact me if they’d like to help.

As a final note, I should mention that, in its current state, the plugin should not be installed on a live blog.

I always wanted the plugin to be something for more than just moods. Sure, you can set it up to let your readers know how the weather was on that day or gauge of how bad the traffic was on the way home from work, but you could only do one or the other. You should be able to do all three: moods, weather, and traffic!

Therefore, I have decided to refactor Cricket Moods into a new plugin. I have decided on the name PostBits. Each selectable option, like a mood (“Happy”) or a weather (“Overcast”), will be called a Bit. Bits can then be sorted into categories, like Moods or Current Weather. Each category can be set to independently AutoPrint, and can have independent HTML wrappings.

At the moment, I have about a third of the work done. The core functionality of installing the plugin and printing Bits is very nearly complete. It’s currently missing a UI and the UI logic. Once it’s done, it should be pretty powerful and, hopefully, easy to use.

There is, however, a new string that needs translation (help, tikurion!).

So, anyone that feels inclined to, please test the updated version. It particularly needs testing on WPMU installations. Thanks bunches!

• Now fails silently if the mood image directory does not exist.
• Fixed a silly omission in cm_list_mood_images for the manage and admin panels.
• Fix for a possible problem in the manage and admin panels that may cause some mood images to not display.
• Tried to beef up security by adding nonce and capabilities checks in various places.
• Switched out my broken JS for jquery.
• The blank mood lines will now update their mood images properly.
• Added a warning if the selected mood image directory is not readable.

Go get it and enjoy!

I need more information from you folks. Are you sure you’re running version 3.5? What other plugins are you using? What version of MySQL is your host running? Are there any relevant errors in your logs?

If you’re having trouble when using Cricket Moods with WP 2.2, keep in mind I have not tested at all with 2.2. It specifically says in the readme that it’s only been tested up to version 2.1.2. I simply don’t have the time to take care of this right now. If anyone wants to submit a patch that fixes the issue, I’ll be more than happy to incorporate the patch, give them credit, and release a new version.

Until then, I apologize.