Tips and Tricks

Display form rows in columns

Chad Butler · Oct 19, 2018 ·

This tutorial will address the common question, “How do I layout the form in columns?”

Let me say that this tutorial is one of those that is a “guideline,” not an exact science. That is due to the number of different variables that cannot be controlled. So for best chance of success, I recommend that you start with the basic process exactly as in the example. Try to reproduce that first so that you understand what it is doing before moving on to something complicated.

The following is a discussion of the the exact code snippets that I used in this demo (which also uses the code snippets for assigning placeholders to the fields and removing labels).Continue Reading →

How to bulk activate all users on an existing site

Chad Butler · Sep 25, 2018 ·

This article is provided free. Find out how you can get full access to premium content, including how-to articles and support forums, as well as priority email support and member exclusive plugin extensions..

A question that comes up from time to time is how to implement moderated registration on an existing site with current users. There is no difference between an “existing” user and a “new” user – they are all simply “users,” so there isn’t a way for the plugin to know who you want to activate and who you don’t.

One particular problem, though, is that when you activate a user it will send the user a notification that they have been activated and if current settings are to send the user their initial password, their password will be set upon activation (thus changing an existing user’s password if you activate them).

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Allow users to choose membership products at registration

Chad Butler · Sep 20, 2018 ·

NOTE: This post is a tutorial for a process that is no longer necessary since the inclusion of the “membership” field type in WP-Members 3.2.6. If you’re using a recent version of WP-Members, then you already have a simple way of adding a membership selection to the WP-Members registration form by creating a custom field and selecting “membership” as the field type.

This process is for people who need to assign a membership when the user registers through the WP-Members registration form. Since this is applied at registration, it is not recommended for users who are selling memberships, unless you are using moderated registration to approve the registration. Similarly, this is not recommended for installs integrating the selling of memberships through WooCommerce.

This is a working example of using WP-Members Membership Products. In this tutorial, we’ll add a custom field to display a multiple checkbox group in the registration form with a checkbox for each membership product. The user can select one or several at registration. Continue Reading →

Send new user activation link with manual admin approval

Chad Butler · Mar 19, 2018 ·

This post describes a very similar process to what is described in the tutorial titled “Send new user an activation link in the new registration email.” The twist on this version is that this will send the user an email requesting that they confirm their email address, then it will send the admin a notification to manually activate that user.

The original version in the other tutorial was intended for use where users just need to confirm their email address. This version is for confirming their email address and then approving the account. Continue Reading →

Handling form layout when using a builder plugin

Chad Butler · Jan 31, 2018 ·

Builder plugins (and themes that use them) such as SiteOrigin, Elegant Builder, Divi, and others, have become more popular.

Without beating a topic that has already been beat to death in the WordPress developer community, let me just say that my position on it is conflicted.

First, I generally agree with the assessment provided by Pippin Williamson:

Builders provide a poor user experience and cause significant compatibility problems for other plugins.

The other big issue is that their use violates a primary reason for using a CMS in the first place – separating content from design. Using a builder embeds design elements into the content which is a major design flaw from a CMS site management perspective.

On the other hand, I also agree with Chris Lema – builders exist because there is a market demand for them:

Why do people want WordPress Page Builders?
Simple. They offer customers a solution for personalization that mass-produced themes can’t offer, while at a lower price than working with a professional web developer and web designer.

A bigger problem than simple compatibility however, is that there is simply no industry standardization. In the WP development community, most successful plugin developers work with WP’s core standards. That makes it easier for everyone because if something isn’t initially compatible, a couple of adjustments with filter/action hooks and you’re dovetailing seamlessly.

Continue Reading →