From IThemes Codex

Welcome to the PluginBuddy Knowledge Base - Tutorials, Technical Information, Debugging Information, and more.

Contents 1 Premium Plugins 2 Free Plugins (active) 3 Free Plugins (inactive) 4 Misc. Documentation 4.1 Frequently Asked (Plugin) Questions 4.2 License Manager Tutorial and Information 4.3 PHP Development & Advanced 5 Translations (localization / internationalization) 5.1 How Translations Work 5.2 Tips on how to localize any PluginBuddy Plugin to any non-English language 5.3 Resources for understanding, creating, updating and submitting final translation files 6 Extra Customizations 7 External Plugins Compatibility 8 Free Plugins 9 Bugs, Features and ETA on new updates 9.1 Bugs, bug reports and bug fixes 9.2 Feature Requests 9.3 ETA on new updates 10 What does BETA mean? 11 PluginBuddy Licenses 11.1 Plugin Conflicts 11.2 Licensing Issues

Premium Plugins

• Ajax-Edit-Comments
• BackupBuddy
• DisplayBuddy
  • Accordion
  • Billboard
  • Carousel
  • CopiousComments
  • FeaturedPosts
  • Rotating Images
  • RotatingText
  • Slides
  • Slideshow
  • Tipsy
  • VideoShowcase
• EmailBuddy
• Frolic
• LoopBuddy
• Mobile
• TailoredLogin
• ThumbsUp
• VidEmbed

Free Plugins (active)

• Featured Text
• PB-Tweet
• ServerBuddy
• Tabber Widget
• ThemeMan
• S3 URLS
• YOURLS
• ContactBuddy

Free Plugins (inactive)

• WP Easy Uploader
• WP Developer Assistant
• Easy Theme and Plugin Updater
• Current Date & Time Widget

View all PluginBuddy Wiki Pages

Misc. Documentation

Frequently Asked (Plugin) Questions

• General Plugins FAQ

License Manager Tutorial and Information

• License Manager

PHP Development & Advanced

• .htaccess
• PHP
• Arrays

Translations (localization / internationalization)

Many PluginBuddy plugins come with translation capability. That means such PluginBuddy plugins can be translated (aka localized) to other languages.

How Translations Work

PluginBuddy provides the capability to have a translation in such plugins. Anyone wanting to enhance PluginBuddy with specific language translations can do so voluntarily via Translation Files. Translation Files are simply language files created fully and solely by the volunteer community which use the already built in translation-capable features in many of the PluginBuddy plugins to allow such plugins to show text or outputs in different languages. Making PluginBuddy translation-capable is done by PluginBuddy. Creating, updating and sending in any language specific translation files to PluginBuddy is done by the volunteer community.

Anyone can create translation files, package them into the proper format and give PluginBuddy the final translated files that we will try to include in the next update for the plugin in question. We call such awesome people, who create or update the translation files and send us the full translation package files, Awesome Translator Volunteers, and we are really thankful that they take the time to do such an awesome thing.

If you want to help us, you can translate any existing PluginBuddy plugin which supports internationalization (another way of saying localization or translation-capable) and then, once you're fully done, simply let us know in the forums the link to the final language files that we can directly save and simply try to include in any future updates for the plugin(s) in question.

Tips on how to localize any PluginBuddy Plugin to any non-English language

The following 9 tips can help you figure out how to approach translations, how to create translations, and how to send us the final translated file for any translation-capable PluginBuddy plugin:

• 1 : Many of the PluginBuddy plugins are internationalized, meaning they have the capability to be translated, via actual external translation files, by any non-iThemes-staff Awesome Translator Volunteer who wishes such plugins to be translated to their language.
• 2 : If a PluginBuddy plugin is currently not internationalized or you're not sure if it is, you can ask us in the Support Forums and we'll let you know, or we'll have it included as a future translation feature request. After the translation capability is added to such a plugin, you can submit the actual translation file. Please remember though: we cannot help with creating, understanding or making any language translation files. Our Awesome Translator Volunteers do that voluntarily (you can too! keep on reading) and fully on their own.
• 3 : There are MANY resources which teach you how to create and work with WordPress language files. Following are the official 3 directly by the WordPress community:
  • 1 : WordPress in Your Language
  • 2 : Translating WordPress
  • 3 : What WordPress Localization in Plugins is mainly about
• 4 : Translations are sent in from volunteers from all over the world. As a courtesy, we sometimes package the actual language translation files (provided directly by the Awesome Translator Volunteers) in with the final product. If some translation is not included in the actual plugin even when the plugin has the capability to be translated, you can submit the final translation to us for consideration in the next update by posting on our forums OR you can include the translation in your own live or local WordPress install directly for your own use. More info on how to include your own language specific file for your own WordPress sites is in the resources listed in #3 above.
• 5 : A translation included in with the final product does not guarantee the accuracy or quality of the translation. These files are from the Awesome Translator Volunteers, and correction of these files is also done by those Awesome Translator Volunteers.
• 6 : If a translation is very inaccurate or incomplete, we can put out a request for a new translation from the volunteer community, or remove the translation from the packaged and final product. You can also let us know of any inaccuracies in any existing translation files by the Awesome Volunteers by providing us with the corrected final files. Please remember: we only accept final and full translation files that you yourself have already created or packaged properly. If you let us know only of the actual inaccuracies without providing the final correct files, we cannot make such changes ourselves to the translation files.
• 7 : Unfortunately, PluginBuddy cannot work on, help with, create, nor make any updates to any specific translation files you may have, or may be working on, or want to work on. Our Awesome Volunteers do that and simply give us the final files for inclusion or consideration.
• 8 : If you have corrections for any existing translation in form of final proper format translation files for an existing language, OR want to provide the final and proper translation files for a new language, please post a new thread in the appropriate product category in the PluginBuddy Support Forums with the final translations files. If you have any support questions on how to create or make language specific translation files, or how translation files work, you can do so on the WordPress forums, as such support questions are outside the scope of what PluginBuddy support guarantees with your iThemes membership.
• 9 : Any final translation file provided by you (or any other Awesome Volunteer) on the support forums will then be saved and filed as a future enhancement request for the future updates of the plugin(s) in question. In your support forum thread, where you share the final complete translation files you inclusion, you can upload your files directly to the forums OR upload them somewhere and link to them in your support forum thread. We will then download and save such files. Remember please: we cannot guarantee looking inside such files or verifying that they are correct in any manner (because of so many languages in the world and so many possible language files everywhere).

Thank you SO MUCH for being interested in providing translation files for our PluginBuddy plugins. We hope you will become one of our Awesome Translator Volunteers, in addition to being our AWESOME CUSTOMER, and create/update any language-specific translation file package and provide it to us so that we can consider including it in future updates.

Resources for understanding, creating, updating and submitting final translation files

• Here are the 3 official resources again which you can use to create, update, start work on and finish translation on any of the translation-capable PluginBuddy plugins:
  • 1 : WordPress in Your Language
  • 2 : Translating WordPress
  • 3 : What WordPress Localization in Plugins is mainly about

Extra Customizations

While any extra customization of any PluginBuddy Plugin is beyond the scope of the official support, we do from time to time offer different tips and tutorials on editing the awesome PluginBuddy plugins to better fit your individual needs. All such edits are, however, beyond what is officially supported and provided in the actual plugin admin panel and officially stated features on the individual plugin pages. No official support is provided nor guaranteed in, before, during, after or related to anything resulting from any such edits/customizations.

No support is provided on any of these extra customizations. Any of the steps mentioned in any of these extra custom edits may change at any time depending on newer versions of the plugins being released. Any use or customization of anything, beyond what is provided by default inside the plugin admin menu, means you are proceeding at your own risk and that you accept 100% responsibility and liability for everything you change or modify in any manner in the plugin. Your purchase and use of any PluginBuddy plugin implies and shows that you are buying and using PluginBuddy plugin(s) the way it(they) came in their original unmodified form, with no exceptions.

• Remember:
  • Make a backup of your entire site with BackupBuddy before making any edits!
  • PluginBuddy only supports the official unedited, unmodified versions of all PluginBuddy plugins.
  • Use a good text editor to make any file changes. Again, maintain backups!
  • Any changes you make to files WILL MOST PROBABLY be lost when the plugin is upgraded to any newer version.
  • You are 100% responsible and liable for anything resulting from any of these changes.
  • No support is provided nor guaranteed on any of these extra changes in any form or shape, whatsoever, regardless of who suggested these custom edits or suggestions.
  • Any extra customization info or suggestion is added voluntarily by PluginBuddy staff to help users as much as possible, even if such customization is outside the scope of any membership support.
  • Whether a PluginBuddy staff or representative offered or suggested the edit/customization, another customer or anyone else, PluginBuddy does not officially support nor provide any official support on any such edits.
  • We cannot guarantee providing any support on any edits or customization tips we provide.
  • Absolutely no support is guaranteed in any manner on any of our free plugins, whether or not there is any customization/edit involved.

External Plugins Compatibility

PluginBuddy does not promise, guarantee or provide support for any compatibility with any external plugin. If any PluginBuddy Plugin works without any problems when used with any external plugin in question, that means the PluginBuddy Plugin is most probably working without any issues overall. PluginBuddy is not responsible for making PluginBuddy plugins work in any manner, whether custom, fully, fixed or other, with any external non-PluginBuddy plugins. PluginBuddy is also not responsible for providing any support whatsoever for any external plugin, whether or not such an external plugin is used along with any PluginBuddy plugin.

Free Plugins

Free plugins are provided as is. There is no guaranteed support that comes with them. Guaranteed support is limited only and mainly for our premium unmodified plugins.

Bugs, Features and ETA on new updates

With every new release of any plugin, there may be a new bug or two. You may also want to have new features added to specific plugins. All existing versions of all plugins can have bugs reported OR new features suggested. All of this is done via the official forums.

New updates are also usually released regularly and at the same time, at very different paces, depending on the current number of bugs, features, new plans and tasks at hand. Therefore it is the official policy that there is NO pre-defined ETA on any bug fix, feature imeplemention OR new update OR new plugin roll-out UNLESS otherwise specified specifically in writing somewhere by an official iThemes employee.

Bugs, bug reports and bug fixes

Bug reports are filed and noted as they are encountered (thanks for reporting them to us!). There is never any ETA on any bug fixes unless otherwise noted.

Feature Requests

Feature requests and feature suggestions are basically future suggested features that users can suggest, and/or future features PluginBuddy may consider adding to the future versions of the plugin(s) in question (again, thanks for suggesting new features!).

There is no guaranteed ETA on when such feature requests will be implemented, unless otherwise noted. All suggested features are just that: suggestions. They remain suggestions until they're confirmed as officially in the works and to be included. Even then, unless a feature is actually rolled out publicly, there is no guarantee any feature suggestion will be implemented. We do our best to try and accommodate as many feature suggestions as possible.

Also, there is no guarantee that any feature request suggested will be implemented, unless otherwise noted.

ETA on new updates

Just like bug fixes and new features, there is never a guaranteed date nor a guaranteed time frame on when new updates will roll out. We work every single day of the week, all the time, on our plugins and thus every day there is something new and improved happening in almost all our plugins daily. Whenever we are ready to release any new updates publicly, you'll find out by seeing the plugin update notice in your WordPress OR in your Member's area.

What does BETA mean?

Some of PluginBuddy plugins may be in Beta status OR may have Beta features. BETA simply means that some feature or specific part of the plugin is currently still in testing mode, and can cause issues if not used properly. All BETA plugins/features are not yet 100% stable, and thus should NOT be relied on to be working properly OR working at all. Throughout the iThemes Codex, any time the word "Beta" is used in any form, it refers to Beta plugins, Beta features, Beta status and/or anything related to the Beta nature that is officially announced or mentioned as such by any iThemes staff or on any of the Plugin pages, or in this Codex.

Beta implies that any new features or plugins are very close to being released as 100% working very soon, and that there may still be some issues to fix or test more before removing the Beta status. Since no single software of any kind can be tested under every system and site configuration in the world, the Beta status enables the Beta features to be tested out by as many people on as many different websites and configurations as possible.

• Some points to keep in mind when using any BETA plugin/feature:
  • 1 : Make FULL WordPress backups before using ANY beta feature.
  • 2 : Beta means that the current software feature is NOT complete, and that you are NOT forced to use such a feature at all. You are advised to WAIT until the BETA status is removed.
  • 3 : Using any Beta feature of any kind, whether it is an entire plugin or something inside a plugin, means and shows that you are fully accepting any liability for any risks involved.
  • 4 : Using any Beta feature of any kind, whether it is an entire plugin or something inside a plugin, means and shows that you are fully aware that there are all different kinds of risks involved with such features.
  • 5 : If you are concerned about your important data or anything bad that might happen as a result of using any Beta feature, do NOT use such Beta features.
  • 6 : ALWAYS make full BackupBuddy Backups of all your important data before using any Beta software, whether that Beta software is from PluginBuddy or from any other place.
  • 7 : If any issues are found in Beta, they are usually added to the list of bug fixes to be released as a whole, or for the next big update, instead of being updated OR fixed individually on a case by case basis.
  • 8 : Beta features are recommended to test and play with on test sites/servers and configurations with any dummy data, as long as you have full backups of all important data still.
  • 9 : iThemes is not liable nor cannot be held accountable for any unwanted results resulting from the use of BETA features.
  • 10 : The very name and nature of BETA shows clearly, without any doubt, that there will most probably be issues and problems involved when such labeled features are used anywhere.
  • 11 : Support for Beta features may be very limited. We usually simply collect all reports related to Beta features and collect them all for one big update in the future.
  • 12 : If you lose any important data or settings anywhere, or encounter damaged data or settings anywhere, because of any Beta feature, we will not be able to help you and will simply tell you to revert to your previous backups. We will also tell you to always wait for BETA status to be removed before using any such features.

If you do not fully understand what Beta means, OR are not willing to fully accept and be fully liable for any risks involved because of using such Beta software, you should NOT use the Beta software in any manner. In such a case, you should simply wait until the Beta status is removed.

• Blog post announcing what BETA means

PluginBuddy Licenses

Plugin Conflicts

Some times, external plugins may cause issues in detaching, deleting, generating OR saving license keys. Such plugins may also cause issues when you want to manually or automatically upgrade plugins when you try to solve licensing issues.

Following is a list of currently known plugins which cause license detaching, deleting, generating OR saving issues. Please disable the following plugins, even temporarily, while you perform all the steps of manually OR automatically upgrading the PluginBuddy plugins in question, and detaching, deleting, generating and saving license keys for them. Keep such plugins disabled UNTIL all license key issues are gone OR at least while you perform these steps.

• Plugins causing PluginBuddy licensing issues
  • W3 Total Cache or WP Super Cache : If you are using any caching plugin like W3 Total Cache or WP Super Cache, please disable it temporarily and then carry out any required steps. You can re-enable the plugin in the end after everything works in terms of the licenses.
    • Fix: Follow the above steps to fix this issue. Steps also explained by BackupBuddy customer Laura (thanks!)
  • Any other CACHING or related plugin: Try disabling such plugins, performing the required steps, and then re-activating the Caching or related plugins in question.

• Related Links
  • 1 : Disabling W3 Total Cache modules allowed Greg to license BackupBuddy without any issues
  • 2 : W3 Total Cache causing licenses to be deleted after a while
  • 3 : W3 Total Cache not allowing licenses to be saved properly
  • 4 : W3 Total Cache not allowing licenses to be saved - easy solution!
  • 5 : W3 Total Cache plugin conflict and solution
  • 6 : W3 Total Cache plugin conflict and solution
  • 7 : W3 Total Cache plugin conflict and solution
  • 8 : WP Super Cache conflict and solution

Licensing Issues

There are some reports that some users have issues with their license insides the Licenses area of different PluginBuddy plugins, including BackupBuddy.

Remember: All your PluginBuddy plugins, including BackupBuddy, will CONTINUE WORKING PERFECTLY even with these licensing issues. You can keep using the plugins exactly how you want them even during these licensing issues. Your plugins are NOT affected by this licensing situation in any manner.

Your membership is also completely fine and you have NOT lost any license(s). The issue is happening to some customers who simply need to upgrade manually to the latest version of their plugin, if the automatic upgrade does not work.

• Plugins with the update versions which remove this issue completely
  • ALL PluginBuddy Products

• You can upgrade via one of the following:
  • Automatically upgrade to the latest version
  • Manually update by downloading the latest zip version of your PluginBuddy plugin from your Member's panel and then
    • Overwrite your existing plugin directory via FTP with the new files.
    • De-activate the existing plugin, delete it via your WordPress --> Plugins area and then upload the newly downloaded zip file. Then re-activate the plugin.
  • That will remove the issue completely.
• DETACH the key and then RE-ATTACH the license key for the specific site in question IF licensing still shows issues AFTER manually upgrading to the latest version of the plugin in question (check your Member's area for the latest version download)
• Also make sure to DETACH the key, DELETE that same AND any other keys related to that specific site from the entire licenses area, and then GENERATE a new key for that site IF detaching and re-attaching the license key does not work AFTER manually upgrading (for example, manually upgrading to the latest BackupBuddy version - all plugins have their own latest version numbers - check your Member's area for the latest version download)

First reports