The default WordPress search tool is fine for low-traffic sites or those with relatively limited content.  But it’s a limited system.  So limited, in fact, that even Matt Mullenweg, one of WP’s founder developers, actually uses Google Search on his own website. So if you want more relevant search results, a lighter database load, and better performance for large or highly trafficked sites then this may well be what you need.

To download and install you can either scroll down and find the download button at the bottom of this article, or you will soon be able to auto-install from the WP back-end.

Do be aware that this is quite a database heavy and complex plugin - it should work well on most installs, but it’s not for everybody and we hold no responsibility for any problems caused.  Consider taking a back-up before implementation. Read more

WordPress makes, in my opinion, the sin of storing serialized PHP data in the database. In my view using databases to store non-platform-agnostic information is always dangerous, but then I spent half my career working on cross-platform code and databases, so perhaps it’s just me. Read more

To download the Plugin, please read the instructions then go to the bottom of this post and click the download button.

It’s often nice to be able to create a profile page or similar, and to display it in a sidebar. You get to use the visual editor, and you don’t necessarily need admin access. Similarly, you avoid the issue of having to work with the much more difficult text widget.

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Yes, we’ve finally done it - Spectacu.la is now 100% GPL. All our themes are now available for free download.

Caribou Withdrawn - Temporarily

We’ve had to withdraw the Caribou News Theme for the time being, as it’s got elements that aren’t able to be released under the GPL license. Rather than wait (as we had been doing) we’ve decided to say sod it and simply withdraw it for the moment. When it does come out in GPL form it will, we feel, be the most powerful WordPress theme available with this license.

Why?

We had to get with the community, basically. Our plan had always been pragmatic - write a theme and later release it as GPL. That way we would be able to satisfy our commercial aims along with our community aims. But there’s a considerable amount of controversy over the detail of the GPL and in this case the view of the WordPress community didn’t agree with ours.

Now, you have a few choices when your views don’t align with your community - align with the community, change the community view, or fight your ground. Well, as far as we’re concerned life is too short to fight the community or to try and change it… so that left one choice. Well OK, two choices - we could have given up and shut up shop, but we’ve decided to continue with Spectacu.la for the moment.

There Are Downsides

We’re not at all sure if this way of running a club is a winning solution. Ultimately, we only offer our own themes - there’s nothing to stop a rival offering our themes (and others!) and undercutting us whilst offering the same level of forum support. They won’t have the cost of making themes, just of support. For sure, the community may do the honourable thing and avoid them, but I believe about 80% of the people out there aren’t really active members of the WordPress community. They don’t really care where they source their themes, and they’re not going to contribute.

We saw that when Brian Gardner withdrew his free downloads from Revolution Too that there must have been a problem with his model. We don’t know if it was costs, or hassle, or what, but he decided to give the free downloads up. Quietly he was dropped from WordPress.org, and that was the end of it. But he had, somehow, managed to stir up the whole wasps nest of debate on the GPL and when he first made the GPL announcement other clubs that were non-GPL were cast out.

A Promise

We will never ever withdraw our themes from free download. If the bandwidth gets a bit much then they’ll be available in the WordPress.org repository soon anyway (generously hosted by Automattic, I believe) and that will be fine for us. In fact, that’s what we want - we want it to be as easy as possible for you to install our themes on WordPress 2.8 when the auto-installation features come out. This is important and useful.

Memberships to the themes club are currently unavailable - watch the site for an announcement once the new payments gateway is tested (Paypal was too expensive and too clunky for us) and you’ll soon be able to join the forums once more.

Past members who supported us in the early days will be given a year’s free membership.

Yes, it’s here - the new WordPress 2.7 User Guide first draft.  A little late in coming (we promise to be quicker with 2.8) but then these things take time and they don’t really make us much money.  You can help us with the money bit by joining Spectacu.la when we relaunch later this month, by the way…

Non-members can download the pdf file below, while members can download the pdf and the final Word Document.

WordPress 2.7 User Guide in Adobe pdf format.

WordPress 2.7 User Guide in MS Word format (members only).

WordPress 2.7 User Guide in MS Word 2007 docx format (members only).

The re-brandable and final .doc file can be changed to have your company logo on it, though we do ask that you leave credits to us somewhere in the document in order to maintain long-term copyright issues in the future. Doesn’t have to be everywhere - just at the beginning or end. Basically, be sensible.