Whatever you do, don’t lie (when naming files)

So since Autoptimize 2.0.0 got released half a year ago, minified files are not re-minified any more, which can yield important performance-gains. Or that, at least, is the goal. But as checking if a file is minified is non-trivial, AO reverts to a simpler check; does the filename indicate the file is minified. So for example whatever-min.js and thisone_too.min.css would be considered minified and will simply be aggregated, whereas not_minified.js would get minified. Mr Clay’s Minify (which is used by WP Minify, BWP Minify and W3 Total Cache and of which the core minification components are in Autoptimize as well) applies the same logic.
But apparently plugins often lie about their JS and CSS, with some files claiming to be minified which clearly are not and with some files (even WordPress core files) being minified but not having the min-suffix in the name. It’s obvious that lying like that is kind of stupid: saying your files is minified when in fact it is not, offers you no advantages. Not confirming your file is minified in the name when it is, saves you 4 characters in the filename, but I suspect you were just being lazy, sloppy or tired, no?
So, ladies and gentlemen, can we agree on the following:

  1. Ideally you ship your plugin/ theme with minified JS & CSS.
  2. If your files are minified, you confirm that in the filename by adding the “.min”-suffix and minification plugins will skip them.
  3. If your files are not minified, you don’t include the “.min”-suffix in the filename, allowing for those minification plugins tot minify them.

For a more detailed overview of how to responsibly load minified JS/ CSS in WordPress, I’ll happily point you to Matt Cromwell’s excellent article on the subject.

How to add posts’ featured images to WordPress RSS feeds

The standard WordPress RSS-feeds don’t include posts featured image. Below code adds the medium-format thumbnail to each item in a RSS2 standards-compliant manner by inserting it as an enclosure.

add_action('rss2_item', 'add_enclosure_thumb');
function add_enclosure_thumb() {
  global $post;
  if(has_post_thumbnail($post->ID)) {
    $thumbUrl = get_the_post_thumbnail_url($post->ID,"medium");
    if ((substr($thumbUrl, -4) === "jpeg") || (substr($thumbUrl, -3) === "jpg")) {
      $mimeType="image/jpeg";
    } else if (substr($thumbUrl, -3) === "png") {
      $mimeType="image/png";
    } else if (substr($thumbUrl, -3) === "gif") {
      $mimeType="image/gif";
    } else {
      $mimeType="image/unkown";
    }
    $thumbSize = filesize(WP_CONTENT_DIR.str_replace(WP_CONTENT_URL,'',$thumbUrl));
    echo "<enclosure url=\"".$thumbUrl."\" size=\"".$thumbSize."\" type=\"".$mimeType."\" />\n";
  }
}

A more advanced & flexible approach would be to add support for the media RSS namespace, but the above suffices for the purpose I have in mind.

Fun with EDD; showing EUR price in USD (and vice versa)

I was playing around with Easy Digital Downloads (because this) and I choose EUR as currency, but I wanted the price to be also displayed in USD. Obviously there’s a premium add-on for that, but as I don’t want to purchase stuff just yet, I concocted an alternative myself. Here’s the resulting snippet of code that shows the price in USD for shops with EUR currency and shows the price in EUR when the shop is in USD;

add_action("plugins_loaded","edd_curconv_init");
function edd_curconv_init() {
	$curpos = edd_get_option( 'currency_position', 'before' );
	$curcur = strtolower(edd_get_currency());
  	if (in_array($curcur, array("eur","usd"))) {
	  $filtername="edd_".$curcur."_currency_filter_".$curpos;
	  add_filter($filtername, "edd_eur_dollar_conv",10,3);
	}
}
function edd_eur_dollar_conv($formatted, $currency, $price) {
  $rate=1.13;
  if ($currency === "EUR") {
	$outprice = $price * $rate;
	$outrate = "USD";
  } else if ($currency === "USD") {
	$outprice = $price / $rate;
	$outrate = "EUR";
  }
  if (!empty($outprice)) {
	$out = " ( ~ ".edd_currency_filter(round($outprice,2),$outrate).")";
	$formatted.=$out;
  }
  return $formatted;
}

This obviously lacks the features and robustness of that Currency Converter add-on, so (don’t) use (unless) at your own risk.

Music from the Boiler Room; Débruit

I first heard Débruit a couple of weeks ago while dozing off listening to Lefto’s late-nite show on local radiostation Studio Brussels and the set was that good that I wanted to wake up to listen more carefully.
Débruit is a French producer (apparently currently living in Brussels), who seamlessly merges electronica with African and Middle-Eastern influences and collaborations. He just released “Débruit & Istanbul”, an album based on his Europalia-commissioned explorations of Istanbul in 2015.
Below video is of the great Boiler Room series and although it doesn’t feature his latest work, it is just as diverse and exciting as what I heard on the radio;

dEbruit Boiler Room LIVE Show