This is kind of annoying, so I created a helper function that will add the http:// part if it is missing from the string you are trying to create a link for.

Check out the function below. It simply checks to see if the $url contains either http:// or https:// and if it doesn’t it will append http:// to the end.

This function could probably be even better, but it is pretty useful as is. Feel free to suggest any improvements in the comments below.

function maybe_add_http($url){
	if(!preg_match("~^(?:ht)tps?://~i", $url))
		$url = "http://" . $url;
	return $url;
}

To use it simply pass your URL into the function and let it do the rest!

function pre_get_posts($query){
   $query->set('post_status', array( 'publish', 'future') ) ;
}
add_filter( 'pre_get_posts', 'my_pre_get_posts' );

Or you can set it up so that it will only be valid for a specific custom post type

function pre_get_posts($query){
   //this will only alter the query for my_post_type custom post type
   if ($query->query_vars['post_type'] == 'my_post_type'){
      $query->set('post_status', array( 'publish', 'future'));
   }
}
add_filter( 'pre_get_posts', 'my_pre_get_posts' );

What are we doing here? Well, we are using the pre_get_posts filter to modify the WP_Query object. The normal functionality is to only show posts with a post_status of publish so we need to add to this by setting the post_status to an array that includes both publish and future

(function($) {

   $.fn.my_plugin = function() {

   		return this.each(function() {
   			//make the magic happen
   		});
	}

})(jQuery);

If you are using a child theme these functions will return different results.

//Returns the parent directory.
get_template_directory_uri();

//Returns the child directory.
get_stylesheet_directory_uri();

This begins to make sense when you recall that Child themes override the parent theme CSS, so it seems right that your stylesheet directory is in the child theme. While you are still probably using most of the functionality from the parent theme so this remains your template directory.

Most child themes will simply add or overwrite a few actions or filters in functions.php and almost always override styles in style.css.

Paste the following code in your header.php file just below wp_head();.

<style>
   html { margin-top: 0 !important; }
   #wpadminbar { display: none; }
</style>

This code will not remove the admin bar from the DOM, but it will not be visible or take up any space so by all means it is removed. If this proves to be helpful enough I will convert this into a plugin which will allow you to show/hide the admin bar by activating/deactivating the plugin. Rather than having to add code directly to your theme.

var data = {
	action: 'my_action',
	whatever: 1234
};

jQuery.post(ajaxurl, data, function(response) {
	alert('Got this from the server: ' + response);
});

However, if you tried to use this same code on the front end of your site you will find that ajaxurl is undefined. The easy way around this might be to write your JavaScript code in a php file and use admin_url( ‘admin-ajax.php’ ) like so

echo "var data = {
	action: 'my_action',
	whatever: 1234
};";

echo "jQuery.post(".admin_url( 'admin-ajax.php' ).", data, function(response) {
	alert('Got this from the server: ' + response);
});";

This approach is just plain ugly and nobody wants to write their JavaScript in a PHP file so I am here to show you a better way. When you enqueue your script you can also localize it using wp_localize_script, and that will allow you to make any variable accessible in your enqueued script. It looks like this.

wp_enqueue_script( 'my_js', plugins_url('my-plugin/script.js'), array( 'jquery' ), '' );
wp_localize_script( 'my_js', 'my_ajax', array( 'ajaxurl' => admin_url( 'admin-ajax.php' ) ) );

What this does is it makes a new object called my_ajax and it populates it with a property called ajaxurl. This can be accessed by using my_ajax.ajaxurl inside your script.js file. Which will look something like this.

var data = {
	action: 'my_action',
	whatever: 1234
};

jQuery.post(my_ajax.ajaxurl, data, function(response) {
	alert('Got this from the server: ' + response);
});

Notice how much this looks like the first snippet in this post? The only addition is our namespaced object my_ajax. That is more like it! The big idea here is to use wp_localize_script to make a variable accessible in our script.js file so we don’t have to code our JavaScript files in PHP (just writing that felt wrong, I can’t imagine actually doing it).

One more thing that should be noted. When you create your action you will need to hook on to the wp_ajax_nopriv_* action hook because wp_ajax_* will only fire for logged in users. So if you posted an action of my_action as we have done above you will hook onto the wp_ajax_nopriv_my_action hook.

Be sure to let me know if this was helpful or if you have any comments or questions below.

The default return value for these functions is to return only categories that are linked to a post, but what if you want to get all terms even if they have not been attached to a post just yet?

You can use hide_empty for just this situation, and it will look like this depending on which function you want to use.

$terms = get_categories(array('hide_empty' => false));

or if you prefer get_terms

$terms = get_terms( 'my_term', array('hide_empty' => false));

Be sure to check out the codex for more information on these two useful functions, but if you are simply trying to get all terms even if they are not assigned to a post this is your answer. Ask any questions or let me know if this was helpful in the comments below.

class my_plugin{

   function __construct() {
      //place actions and filters here like
      add_action('init', array($this, 'init'));
   }

   //place class methods for actions and filters here like
   function init(){
      //do stuff on init
   }

}

//now we need to create an instance of my_plugin so our actions
//and filters fire
add_action('init', 'init', 1);

function init(){
   new my_plugin();
}

The issue with all of this is is that we cannot easily register_activation_hook‘s inside of our class, so my solution is to modify the code like so. Notice the new install() function and the register_activation_hook at the bottom of the page. Comments in read explain further.

class my_plugin{

   function __construct() {
      //place actoins and filters here like
      add_action('init', array($this, 'init'));
   }

   //place class methods for actions and filters here like
   function init(){
      //do stuff on init
   }

   //this is the function that will fire when the plugin is activated
   function install(){
       //you can include more files here
       //you can create more objects
       //you can do anything you might need to do on activation here!
    }

}

//now we need to create an instance of my_plugin so our actions and filters fire
add_action('init', 'init', 1);

function init(){
   new my_plugin();
}

//this tells WordPress to fire the install method of the
//my_plugin class whenever the plugin is activated
//the install function is in the class code above
register_activation_hook( __FILE__, array('my_plugin', 'install') );

This is my preferred way for registering activation hooks. Let me know if you have any questions or if this was helpful in the comments.

You can use it like the following to search files within your current directory.

grep -l "Find Me" *

or like the below command in order to search recursively(r) within all folders up the tree from your current directory. So if you are in the root directory the following command will search for every file on your hard drive.

grep -lr "Find Me" *

You can also search within specific file extensions by changing the * to something like *.html or *.php.

Now that is helpful.

“Content precedes design. Design in the absence of content is not design, it’s decoration.”

I like this quote because it emphasis the fact that the web starts with content and that our designs should cater to this content. Not the other way around. Don’t get me wrong, I love illustrations and graphics, but I think the web is a place for content and we should build our websites around that content. Preferably with a crystal clean responsive design