mccormicky

An example of Alex Rabe’s nextGen Slideshow Widget as an animated Flash Banner. It’s only being used on this page.

Most WordPress themes usually place the #header or #banner or #masthead div (division)
in a theme template file called header.php. Because headers are different from theme to theme I cannot promise there won’t be problems. Anyone comfortable editing their theme files can follow this tutorial. People uncomfortable with editing their WordPress theme files might be surprised at the astounding lack of mystery to it all.

PREPARATION
Pick a good height and width ratio and use it for all your slide show images. It should be the same ratio you use in the Slideshow widget options.
If the banner div your slide show goes into is 990px width and 300px height, crop your images and then re-size them to about or exactly this dimension. The slide show will look better this way. For this to work you have to add another sidebar to your WordPress theme. Please make a backup of your theme’s header.php and functions.php first.

CREATING A NEW SIDEBAR (WHICH IS NOT REALLY A SIDEBAR).
Paste this code into a plain text file and save as slideshow.php:

<?php if ( function_exists('dynamic_sidebar') && dynamic_sidebar('BannerDiv') ) : else : ?>
<?php endif; ?>

Upload slideshow.php to your currently in use theme’s folder.
REGISTERING A NEW SIDEBAR (EASY!)
You have to register the new sidebar in your theme’s functions.php file or it won’t show up in the Widgets Manager.
So add this snippet to your theme’s functions.php. Back up this file,first!!Make sure to add it between the opening and closing tags.
The file called Theme Functions (functions.php) will have opening and closing tags. These tags are very important. Your website will not work without them. They look like this:

Opening tag:

<?php

Closing tag:

?>

 if ( function_exists('register_sidebar') )
register_sidebar(array(

'name' => 'BannerDiv',

'before_widget' => '<div id="header-slideshow" ', This can now be styled in the theme stylesheet.

'after_widget' => '</div> ', 

'before_title' => ' ', This is blank because we don't need a title on the slideshow.

'after_title' => ' ', Ditto.

));

Save your changes. Make sure to add this to the functions.php before the next step.

Paste this code snippet

<?php include (TEMPLATEPATH . "/slideshow.php"); ?>  IN BETWEEN
<div id="header"></div>

so that it looks like this

<div id="header"><?php include (TEMPLATEPATH . "/slideshow.php"); ?></div>

Some themes don’t use #header – so the block might be called by another name. Look for #masthead or #banner. If the block in question also contains a navigation menu – make sure not delete the code for that. Make sure to back up header.php first.

FINDING YOUR NEW SIDEBAR
Now go to Appearances >> Widgets see your new “sidebar”. Drag the NextGen slideshow widget to the new sidebar then you can add in your slideshow width and height.
I hope it goes without saying that you need to have the nextGen plugin installed in order to use the nextGen slideshow widget.

You should see something like this:

More Plugin Experiments
Using (WP PLUGIN) Multifeedsnap to display Feeds. If the Feed URI is too long and full of ampersands(&) shorten them at TinyUrl.com.
Multifeedsnap is compatible up to WordPress 2.5.1 but does work with 2.7 ( and sort of with 2.8.4). I added my own styles for the feeds by editing multifeedsnap.php. Multifeedsnap grabs whatever html is in the feed so expect some difficulty. You’ll probably have to do a lot of CSS kungfu after you get the feed items. You can limit the amount of items to display,too: [ feedsnap,12] feed url [ /feedsnap>

Be warned that unless you have control over the feed you’re displaying you won’t be able to do anything about the HTML in the feed. If the desired content does not have a feed – you can use Yahoo Pipes or a Dap (Dapper) or another HTML to FEED service to create one. Please make sure to contact the content owners to ascertain if this is OK to do.
Discontinued! [ feedsnap>http://tinyurl.com/byeam2[ /feedsnap>

My Netflix movie Queue +Multifeedsnap

This stream-of-consciousness, 1960s-era drama centers on a day in the life of George Falconer (Colin Firth, in an Oscar-nominated role), an English-born, Los Angeles college professor reeling from the recent death of his lover of 16 years. Fashion designer Tom Ford makes his directoral debut with this luminous film, which is based on Christopher Isherwood's novel. Julianne Moore, Matthew Goode, Ginnifer Goodwin, Lee Pace and Nicholas Hoult co-star.

When 14-year-old Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan) is murdered, she watches from above as her family deals with her tragic death -- and as her killer prepares to strike again. Torn between vengeance and healing, Susie's loved ones are forever changed. Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz star in Peter Jackson's adaptation of Alice Sebold's riveting, best-selling novel; Susan Sarandon and Oscar nominee Stanley Tucci co-star.

Life gets knotty when successful Manhattan couple Alex (Oliver Platt) and Kate (Catherine Keener) develop a relationship with the granddaughters of Andra (Ann Morgan Guilbert), the cantankerous elderly woman who owns the apartment next to theirs -- and who must die so they can expand their home. The all-star cast includes Amanda Peet, Rebecca Hall and Lois Smith in this indie feature from writer-director Nicole Holofcener (Friends with Money).

Set two years after the wedding that almost wasn't, this sequel finds gal pals Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Charlotte (Kristin Davis), Samantha (Kim Cattrall) and Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) embarking on a much-needed vacation to exotic Abu Dhabi. They're still the same soul mates despite responsibilities of motherhood and marriage, but a new romance for Samantha and a little thing called Aidan, Carrie's ex, keep things interesting.

Amazon RSS and Tags
You can pretty much just whomp in any old keyword and Amazon will come up with something.

http://www.amazon.com/rss/tag/coffee/popular/ref=tag_tdp_rss_pop_auto

Aerobie 80R08 AeroPress Coffee and Espresso Maker (Kitchen)
By Aerobie

Buy new: $25.95
26 used and new from $22.99
Customer Rating:

Customer tags: aeropress(184), coffee maker(146), coffee(145), coffee press(131), espresso(124), americano(65), best(45), cappuccino(36), caffeine(36), french press(14), espresso maker(9), aerobie(9)

Coffee People, Donut Shop K-Cups for Keurig Brewers (Pack of 50) [Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging] (Grocery)
By Coffee People

Buy new: $21.00
Customer Rating:

Customer tags: k-cups(290), donut shop(147), keurig(117), coffee people(92), coffee(88), k cups(85), keurig coffee pods(72), k cup(33), extra bold(31), bold(16), keurig k-cups(13), donut shop coffee(6)

Keurig B60 Special Edition Gourmet Single-Cup Home-Brewing System (Kitchen)
By Keurig

Buy new: $128.79
20 used and new from $89.99
Customer Rating:

Customer tags: k-cups(310), keurig(203), keurig b60(157), coffee maker(142), single serve(133), single cup(101), coffeemaker(96), coffee(83), single serve coffee(47), keurig coffee maker(23), b60(8), k cups(6)

Keurig B-70 B70 Platinum Single-Cup Home Brewing System (Kitchen)
By Keurig

Buy new: $163.70
26 used and new from $95.00
Customer Rating:

Customer tags: k-cups(206), keurig(203), coffee maker(105), single serve(96), b70(91), coffeemaker(81), coffee(68), single cup(66), keurig b70(59), keurig coffee maker(34), coffee pods(3), a small piece of heaven(2)

Keurig My K-Cup Reusable Coffee Filter (Kitchen)
By Keurig

Buy new: $12.49
20 used and new from $9.25
Customer Rating:

Customer tags: k-cups(219), keurig(180), reusable filter(169), filter(77), single cup(71), coffee(64), single serve(53), my k-cup(45), coffee maker(43), coffee filter(10), k cup(5), reusable(5)

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