A few more improvements for my SimpleLink WordPress plugin …

• Fixed _ parsing bug ([Markdown] was munging underscores, now plays nicer with Markdown)
• Added open links in new window for pkzip.

You can download wp-simplelink-0.4.tar.gz, or visit the SimpleLink page for more details.

I did a bit of work on SimpleLink today, mostly cleanup and random features. SimpleLink is a WordPress plugin that makes linking to things simple.

• Added tag='rel' attribute to all text links, which allows semantic scraping by Technorati and del.icio.us.
• Fixed img generation for Amazon.com product links for fixed-size images with overflow (fixed dimension thumbnails without scaling thumbnail).
• Added Technorati search links with techo: and tag: targets, which generates links to Technorati searches and tag searches.
• Added Flickr image linking with flickr: target, making it easier to embed to Flickr images on your site

You can download wp-simplelink-0.3.tar.gz, or visit the SimpleLink home page for more details.

I added a few features to my Wordpress link plugin. I had been calling it MagicLink, but am thinking of changing the name to SimpleLink. People fear magic, even though it can be a lot of fun.

Here’s what can be done with Simple Links:

Markup	Resulting text
[http://warpedvisions.org]	warpedvisions.org
[http://warpedvisions.org|test]	test
[test google search]	test google search
[google: more google]	more google
[foldoc: usb]	usb
[imdb: star wars IV]	star wars IV
[perldoc: cgi]	cgi
[here: Google be gone]	Google be gone
[wiki: tsunami]	tsunami
Image linking
[asin: 0898799279]
[image: trees.png]
Special text
[abbr: CSS - Cascading Style Sheets]	CSS
[note: You are here.]	You are here.
[comment: Test comment.]	Test comment.
[warning: Don't!]	Don’t
[tip: A tip.]	A tip.

I hacked together a few WordPress plugins today to add support for the MediaWiki linking syntax. The first plugin, wikifier.php, adds support for double-square-bracket wiki links (to a default wiki, or the specified wiki. The second plugin, magiclink.php adds single-square-bracked external-wiki links and Google I’m-feeling-lucky, similar to my MagicMarkup plugins for Blosxom, which I plan to port in the next few weeks. For now, the plugins can be downloaded here … sometime in the future, I’ll setup a wiki page for my WordPress plugins and hacks.

WordPress has a decent plugin system. It’s a basic callback registration system with priorities, and has many exposed function points. It’s a better approach than Blosxom, mostly because the plugins can be ordered by priority (handy for text filters). It’s in PHP though, which reminds me of my days working in GWBasic and DBase. PHP seems so akward compared to Perl, Java, and C++ (but it’s workable).