Download

Download the latest version Serial Links v1.0.

Description

This plugin allows you to assign Links post to a Serial, using custom fields, and then displays a list of all links post assigned to the same Serial in your single post page (usually single.php or index.php).

Compatibility

• Requires at least Wordpress 2.5+ (possibly works with 2.3 but no promises)
• Compatible with Wordpress Mu 2.7

Installation

1. Download the latest version of the plugin to your computer. 2. Extract and upload the folder serial Links and its contents to your /wp-content/plugins/ directory. Please ensure that you do not rename any folder or filenames in the process. 3. Activate the plugin in your Dashboard via the Admin Plugins menu. 4. Configure the plugin’s Settings page in Admin Settings.

Upgrading from an older version

You can use the Wordpress Automatic Plugin upgrade link in the Admin Plugins menu to automatically upgrade the plugin.

Using the plugin

The plugin provides two methods: a shortcode and a template tag, either of which may be used. It is recommended that you use one or the other, but not both, in accordance with your needs and preferences. Template tag: Add this template tag to your single post theme template file, typically single.php or index.php, wherever you want to display the list of posts. This tag must appear within the Loop.

<?php serial_links(); ?>

Shortcode: Add this shortcode directly into the post editor when writing or editing a post.

[seriallinks]

Configuring the Settings page

In the Dashboard, go to Settings and open the Serial Links Configuration page. List Display options: This is where you can customise the Serial Links heading and list of posts. The Heading is made up of three elements: “Text before Serial name” “Serial Name” “Text after Serial name”. Text before Serial name: Enter the text that you would like to appear in the Heading BEFORE the Serial name. If you don’t want to show any text before the Serial name, just blank out the field before saving your settings. Text after Serial name: Enter the text that you would like to appear in the Heading AFTER the Serial name. If you don’t want to show any text after the Serial name, just blank out the field before saving your settings. List <ul> class: To allow even greater control over the styling of the unordered list, you may specify a class name for the list’s <ul> tag. The default is serial-links. Note that the plugin replaces any whitespace with hyphens. Include current post in list of Serial Posts: Check the box if you want to include the currently viewed post in the list of Serial Links. Default is CHECKED. If you uncheck this box, the currently viewed post will not appear in the Serial Links list. Show current post as a link: If you have checked “Include current post in list of Serial Links”, you may check this box if you want the currently viewed post to be shown as a link. Default is UNCHECKED. If you check this box, the currently viewed post will appear as a link in the Serial Links list. Reset all options to the Default settings: Check this box if you want to reset all the options to their default settings. That’s it! The Settings Page is now configured.

Styling the list with CSS

The plugin automatically creates a Heading and a list of posts with the following XHTML and CSS markup:

• The entire list is contained in a <div> which is automatically assigned an ID of the name of the Serial.
• A List Heading in <h3> tags. The Heading is made up of three elements: “Text before” “Serial Name” “Text after”. Each of these three elements is automatically contained in <span> tags and assigned class names as follows:
  • <span class=”serial-pre-text”> for the “Text before Serial name” element.
  • <span class=”serial-name”> for the “Serial Name” itself. For example if the Serial name is “My great series of articles” the assigned class will be my-great-series-of-articles.
  • <span class=”serial-post-text”> for the “Text after Serial name” element.
• An unordered list of links for the posts, contained in <ul> tags with a user definable class name.
• Each post in the list is displayed as a link in <li> tags assigned a class of the name of the Serial.
• If the “Include current post in list of Serial Links” checkbox is checked, the <li> tag for the current post is given an additional class of current-active or current-inactive depending on whether or not the “Show current post as a link” checkbox is checked.

All of this means that by adding these classes to your theme’s stylesheet you have full control over the styling of every element in the plugin’s output. You don’t need to do anything with the CSS if you are happy with the default look of the plugin’s output, but the capability to customise the styling is there if you want to use it.

Support

This plugin is provided free of charge without warranty. There is also a Serial Links plugin tutorial with further information, examples and screenshots to show you how to configure the plugin’s Settings. Support is provided in my free time but every effort will be made to respond to support queries as quickly as possible. Thanks for downloading the plugin. Enjoy!

Donations welcome!

If you have found this plugin useful, please consider making a donation to help support future development. Your support will be much appreciated. Thank you! You can find a Paypal link at the foot of the plugin’s Settings page in Admin.