Sorry, but no, they only come in kidnapper white.

Just A White Van

This version uses this technique exclusively as a function. If you want to see the earlier similar function used in a PHP class see Really boring HTML & XML tag class function for PHP. You would have to edit the original example to match these changes, but if you want to use a PHP class then I suspect you know what you are doing.

The major change is moving from sprintf to concatenated strings. I also had to change the content array key to tag_content because content is an HTML attribute (doh!). With that change I added array keys tag_content_before and tag_content_after so you can add more stuff. So picky folks can \n\n\t\t\t\t their i-want-pretty-source-code-hearts out or add comments and other junk. I also simplified the reserved array key names checks.

Remember I don’t consider myself a programming god, just an artist that writes code. I know there are plenty of great HTML PHP libraries and other coding toys, but this just a simply coded function to met my needs.

<?php
// Boring general purpose html and xml tag generation function
function the_html_tag( $html = array() ) {

    $attributes = '';
    $composite = '';
    $spacer = '';
    $reserved = array(
        'tag', 'tag_type', 'attributes', 'tag_content', 'tag_content_before', 'tag_content_after', 'return'
    );

    foreach ( $html as $name => $option ) {
        if ( in_array( $name, $reserved ) ) continue;
        $attributes .= $name . '="' . $option . '" ';
    }

    if ( $html['attributes'] != '' ) $attributes = $html['attributes'] . ' ' . $attributes;

    if ( $attributes != '' ) {
        $attributes = rtrim( $attributes );
        $spacer = ' ';
    }

    switch ( $html['tag_type'] ) {
        case 'single':
            $composite = $html['tag_content_before'] . $html['tag_content'] . '<' . $html['tag'] . $spacer . $attributes . '/>' . $html['tag_content_after'];
            break;
        case 'open':
            $composite = $html['tag_content_before'] . '<' . $html['tag'] . $spacer . $attributes . '>' . $html['tag_content'] . $html['tag_content_after'];
            break;
        case 'close':
            $composite = $html['tag_content_before'] . $html['tag_content'] . '</' . $html['tag'] . '>' . $html['tag_content_after'];
            break;
        case 'attributes':
            $composite = $attributes;
            break;
        default:
            $composite = $html['tag_content_before'] . '<' . $html['tag'] . $spacer . $attributes . '>' . $html['tag_content'] . '</' . $html['tag'] . '>' . $html['tag_content_after'];
            break;
    }

    if ( $html['return'] == true ) return $composite ;

    echo $composite;
}
?>

Basically you call the_html_tag( $array_here ) function with an array. The array has a few special keys used to control the function output:

• $array['tag'] – is the HTML or XML tag you want to create.
• $array['tag_type'] – is how the tag will be composed. You can set it to one of these predefined options:
  • single – composes the tag_content_before then the tag_content and a self-closing tag (like IMG) with the attributes followed by the tag_content_after.
  • open – will compose the tag_content_before then an opening tag with attributes followed by tag_content and finally tag_content_after.
  • close – will output tag_content_before then the tag_content with a closing tag (no attributes) and followed by tag_content_after
  • attributes – will output just the attributes with no tag or tag_content key values… yum!
  • With no tag_type the default behavior  composes the tag_content_before then the tag with the attributes wrapped around tag_content with a closing tag followed by the tag_content_after.
• $array['tag_content'] – is the normal content that will be enclosed in the tag, but the string content will be placed differently depending on the tag_type above.
• $array['tag_content_before'] – is an extra string content value typically used in an area before tag_content depending on the tag_type value.
• $array['tag_content_after'] – is another extra string content value typically used in an area after tag_content depending on the tag_type value.
• $array['attributes'] = is an extra key that will push the string value into the tag attributes area before the attributes that will be generated by the non-reserved keys ( see the last note ).
• $array['return'] – will either echo when set as false or return the composed string when set as true. By default it is set as false so the function will echo it’s final output.
• All other key and value pairs set in the array will be used as attributes in the form of key name equals value. So $array['onclick'] = ‘fail();’ would return onclick=”fail();” for any tag_type that uses attributes.

Of course the main question might be: “Why bother when you can just write out some HTML with your PHP code?” Fine, you can do that and deal with double-quote single-quote escape madness. The examples below should be a clue for my usage of this boring, simple function.

Here is how I would use it to create a function for creating a simple H1:

<?php
function boring_h1( $headline, $headline_classes ) {
    the_html_tag( array(
    'tag' => 'h1',
    'tag_content' => $headline,
    'id' => 'main-title',
    'class' => $headline_classes,
    'tag_content_after' => '<!-- #main-title -->'
    ) );
}
?>

<?php boring_h1( 'Look A Headline', 'title-big title-red' ); ?>

This would produce HTML that looks like:

<h1 id="main-title" class="title-big title-red">Look A Headline</h1><!-- #main-title -->

Now a more complex example is being used in my weirdo WordPress Theme Framework experimentation. For that project I wanted to move to a CSS class based layout (not ID) and allow some modifications to the class attributes of various layout elements using WordPress filters. I could write a whole article about my reasons for doing this, but that would be even more boring.

The code example below shows a fraction of how this works, but you can also view the source of this website and see the technique in action. These are two additional functions. The first is an additional utility function using the_html_tag() with filters, and the second is just used to simplify the template function used in the theme.

<?php
// Funbox element Classes takes element and array and spits out a class= with some dynamic filtering.
function funbox_theme_layout_element_attributes( $element = '' , $element_classes = array(), $return = false ) {
    if ( $element == '' ) return;

    $element = sanitize_title_with_dashes( $element );
    $element_classes[] = $element . '-';

    $layout_element_defaults = array(
        'tag_type' => 'attributes',
        'id' => $element,
        'return' => $return
    );

    // So the filter is consistent. No dashes sorry!
    $element = str_replace( '-', '_', $element );
    $element_classes = apply_filters( 'funbox_theme_' . $element . '_class',  $element_classes );

    $layout_element_defaults['class'] = implode( ' ', $element_classes );

    $layout_element_defaults = apply_filters( 'funbox_theme_' . $element . '_attributes',  $layout_element_defaults );  

    the_html_tag( $layout_element_defaults );
}

// Funbox Wrapper Class
function funbox_theme_layout_wrapper_attributes() {
    funbox_theme_layout_element_attributes( 'wrapper' , array( 'hfeed' ) );
}
?>

In a WordPress Theme I would use this template code:

<div <?php funbox_theme_layout_wrapper_attributes() ?>>

That template code would produce this type of output:

<div id="wrapper" class="hfeed wrapper-">

Have fun! :P

Okay, Caidy and I haven’t worked on the house in Houma as much yet. A little being busy, a little being lazy, and more of being both. We have started to to more, but the ugly parts of home ownership always have the jump on us.

The Bathroom Sink

So your sink doesn’t drain:

1. Unscrew A. and B.
2. Get a towel under A. and B. (this should be .1)
3. Check the trap you just disconnected. Of course it’s clean!
4. Hidden in the photo near C. is the drain plug leaver arm. Unscrew the cap and remove the arm. Now you can remove the already broken drain plug where some idiot before you snapped off the plug part because they didn’t know how to do this.

You get the drain apart and start poking around from the bottom and the top. In my case I used a straw. Then I resorted to a flatly wadded piece of toilet paper.

A nice even pressured push downward from the sink above using the straw produced an mutant animal that was probably years in the making. I forgot to mention that the sink has been a slow drainer before we moved in two years ago.

It Lived Under the Bathroom Sink

Just don’t forget to put the sink parts back together before you wash your hands. Then check for leaks.

Old Loose Caboose T-Shirt Design Cleaned Up

So it’s been over 10 years since the Loose Caboose Coffee House shutdown and stopped making all that racket in West Monroe & Monroe, Louisiana. I thought it would be fitting to post the artwork for the t-shirt that I was working on that final year. Before the Loose Caboose was morphed and resold to become the University Pub, then  Atomic Coffee & Tea, then finally Cottonport Coffee. I hear the espresso machine is somewhere in Ouachita Parish.

My wife thinks it’s a pseudo-self-portrait. It might be a little. Inspiration for it actually came from a Billy Goat performance at the Caboose. If you drank coffee, went to show, or loitered at the Loose Caboose in the 90′s you might understand.

It’s not like you expect to see great rockin’ performances in northeast Louisiana, but there were quite a few. I would list some of them here, but I know I would miss mentioning a few and it really wouldn’t be fair. I’ll just post my favorites in the comments instead.

Between 1993(?) and 1998(?) the Loose Caboose served coffee and mayhem to the population of Monroe and West Monroe, Louisiana. The coffee shop was originally owned by Shannon Willis and Mahlon (Lonnie) Davis. With the awesome support from a cool caffeinated community of culture lovers, they ran a barely accepted all-ages venue. There was good music, art, and conversation. I still eat my dinner at a table painted by Stacey Thomas.

Old Loose Caboose T-Shirt Design Scans

I got involved in 1995 after graduation from college and because circumstances with my roomate almost left me homeless. I moved into the house on Riverbend with Lonnie and Shannon. I did some design, website, and other work for the Caboose in exchange for coffee, food, and (yep) music. I got my first webmaster gig by meeting Tom Johnson at that infernal coffee house.

I really don’t want to gush over it too much, but it definitely was one hell of a once in a lifetime experience.

iAmerica in the Library

Okay, that’s punny! Connie Ryan sends Tommy Johnson a photo of the old iAmerica Internet Guide found in a public library.  Wieird to find a one shot-quicky, finished in a week piece of cover art sitting on the shelf available for check out. Ha! I should start asking for a raise, cuz I have publication proof.

Of course, iAmerica.net still lives. Currently it’s sitting out there using WPMU and BuddyPress. No open registration yet, but it’s mostly operational. I want to open up to my fellow iAmericans once it’s working and has a nice look to it.

Aug 4, 2006: The Saga Begins

I wanted to release this software because it solved a problem for me, but I also wanted to see what happens. I figured I would try to keep track.

Sunday Aug 6, 2006

In the early morning around 4ish. I called it quits and figured I would throw it out there when I got up. Around noon I woke up and posted the plugin to the WordPress support forums.

I got one reply saying nice job within an hour. :)

About 6pm I posted bugs for both the WordPress Team and Moxicode for problems found while developing WP Super Edit.

My host ran it’s logs after 11:00 pm so I thought I would check. I hit the site over the weekend, so I can’t really dig out an visits… except one. This one had a referrer by clicking my name from his plugins.php file… sweet!

Monday Aug, 7 2006

Oh just shoot me. I knew I tested the thing on a hacked up version of WordPress. SO I had to go back to the drawing board for issues for WordPress 2.0.4. It wasn’t pretty but I got it work. Wrote some warnings for the TinyMCE options that are unsupported or unstable.

I updated the web pags and responded to the posts and e-mails.

Tuesday Aug 8, 2006

This morning I thought I would check the site stats.

I’ve got Webalizer on this host… i prefer awstats, and this is just hits and visits. No tracking or anything. Some of these are probably me crusing my own site and dusting up for visitors.

The article at /2006/08/06/wp-super-edit/ – 81 hits / 62 Visits

The plugin page /superedit/ – 114 hits / 11 Visitors

The zip file got 18 downloads in two days so far.

Friday Aug 11, 2006

I got sick starting Tuesday afternoon, so Wednesday was complete bust. I just stewed at home basically.

By Thursday I checked around and found that both Moxiecode and Ryan at WordPress had started to checkin changes for the two bugs that I found, so this package would be getting smaller for sure.

I made some changes, and everything seems to be working. I probably won’t bump the release yet.

The article at /2006/08/06/wp-super-edit/ – 104 hits / 79 Visits

The plugin page /superedit/ – 154 hits / 39 Vistors

The zip file – 26 hits

HA! new bug though with the WordPress SVN. Autosave is very cool, but my cursor keeps jumping to the top every time.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

WordPress has updated TinyMCE in the trunk, and that seems have borked WP Super Edit. So I get to poke around for that issue. Yay.

I moved to a new host, so I want to review the stats for this plugin. I’m just doing raw hits here. I’m not a big fan of Webalizer and I know there is better, but this is just for fun. I’m not going to get the full month for November since I moved hosting on Nov. 20, but this will be an interesting look.

/superedit/ – plugin page

• August – 125 hits / 17 visits entry / 43 visits exit
• September – 74 hits / 47 visits entry / 51 visits exit
• October – 82 hits / 68 visits entry / 66 visits exit
• November – 38 hits / 31 visits entry / 25 vists exit

/2006/08/06/wp-super-edit/ – original post

• August – 93 hits / 71 visits entry / 12 visits exit
• September – 61 hits / 40 visits entry / 29 visits exit
• October – 101 hits / 85 visits entry / 37 visits exit
• November – 61 hits / 52 visits entry / 30 visits exit

/wp-content/uploads/2006/08/superedit.zip – plugin download

• August – 23 hits
• September – 28 hits
• October – 17 hits
• November – 4 hits

October 2006 to March 2007

I really couldn’t keep tabs to well through this period. I moved funroe.net to Dreamhost, put WP Super Edit into a Google Code Subversion repository, and fixed some bugs.

I pretty much gave up. With WordPress 2.1 out I thought I could start work on this again, but hey… I got married, got Caidy to a doctor, moved into a house, did some freelance… Very busy and WP Super Edit had become a terrible frustration.

I couldn’t fix the problems folks were asking about. At this point I knew I would probably have to give up and start over. Instead of fretting about it, I jumped into helping out with WPG2 and playing with the Sandbox Theme.

June 2, 2007

Weblog Tools Collection starts up the WordPress Plugin Competition. Hmmm… I read the rules and thought I qualified (more on that later). So I checked out nasty revision #9 of WP Super Edit and started chopping away. It was not pretty.

I started out revising what I had. Moving bits around to make it dynamic. Learning more about this TinyMCE editor thing and how the WordPress team beat it to make it behave. Slowly it started to actually work.

June 21, 2007

“Read the fine print!”

So I was getting close and decided to check out this Plugin Competition. I was interested and it gave me a reason to do WP Super Edit besides this experiment. And behold, I doth read thy rules and they say “nay!”…

“You cannot submit plugins that have been released already (before June 1st)”

Oh no. What does released mean? I didn’t want WP Super Edit released when I started trying it out. My first idea was bad very bad. That’s why I never promoted it or posted information outside the WordPress Suport Forum.

So I got a little bummed. I saw some entries were skirting the June 2nd date, and I thought I might as well ask. So I fired off a note to Mark Ghosh at Weblog Tools Collection and asked what he thought.

His first was reply was to the point… Rules are Rules. Mark says “it['s] really not eligible unless you create a new function/use for the original code.”

I know Mark is probably a busy guy, but he might have enough time to check things out, so I give him access to the test blog, and tell him about the work I’ve done. I mentioned the Google Code Subversion Repository and by the end of day I get:

“Hmmmm….announce it on the plugin blog. But please make sure you mention that the plugin was literally recoded and is a whole lot different than the original intent. If there are a lot of negative vibes from my readers, I will have to nix it again. ”

Fair is Fair.

Hell this will be fun even if they throw me out.

July 11, 2006

Okay, I’ve hammered on this thing during lunch… before work… after work… In every – other – spare moment… ( Note: Most of Jess’s Spare Moments are property of his wife and employers )

But it works pretty good everywhere I tested. Cool jQuey ( gave up on script.aculo.us around June 10th, 2006 .)

I packaged it up and posted it:

http://weblogtoolscollection.com/pluginblog/2007/07/11/wp-super-edit/

Got a WordPress Extend Page:

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-super-edit/

I got some nice e-mail. Got $6.00 in donations ( if you don’t count the Paypal fees ) Bug reports and requests over the next week.

Downloaded around 1,130 times between July 11th and July 21st. Compare that with the very selective testing done last year… woosh.

July 21, 2007

So I hammered at it some more. Moved to WP Super Edit 1.1. I got this very small audience that I should pay attention to, so I fix some things. I test it with other plugins. I do stupid settings and delete files. I do these things to make WP Super Edit work like I want it to work, and I think I may be close.

I posted WP Super Edit and noted it here:

http://weblogtoolscollection.com/pluginblog/2007/07/21/wp-super-edit-updated/

And of course here:

http://funroe.net/2007/07/21/wp-super-edit-11-updated-with-interesting-feature-bug/

November 19, 2008: Fast Forward

Geez! I’ve got this draft post that has been sitting here for over 2 years! WP Super Edit went through a painful upgrade to WordPress 2.6 and was completely rewritten.

So how about a tally:

• Downloaded from WordPress Extend 26,253 times.
• About 50 bug reports and suggestions.
• Between 3 to 6 bugs fixed in WordPress found during development.
• It’s made about $50.00 in cash. Google Ads has about $50 bucks too.
• It’s made new friends, happy clients, and happy users on the sites I maintain.

I moved everything to the Funroe Factory site just to have another site to play with, and keep the development stuff organized.

Moral of the Story

WordPress plugin development is fun and has it’s rewards. I only do this part time, so my goals were not fame or riches, and it shows! If you expect huge social or economic returns for WordPress plugin development, follow the examples of the successful ones solving big problems or having awesome ideas.

For me, WP Super Edit gave me a tool for my users and clients. If you want count that sort of monetary gain well I won’t mention the details, but my salary and freelance billing has worked out marginally well.

The real advantage has been improving my skills. Doing a complicated WordPress plugin really keeps you on your toes. Not only do you deal with the changes to a complex web application like WordPress, but making your code public attracts people interested in your development goals. That leads to better code and good ideas. I got a good refresher on my PHP, SQL, HTML, javascript, and CSS skills. I got to look at and work with new code like jQuery.

Okay… Hit the damn publish button already…