ZATZ Lab Notes
It’s not the years. It’s the lines of code.
If PayPal suddenly stopped working for you in Seamless Donations
TL;DR: New Seamless Donations 4.0.22 has been released that executes a PayPal compatibility test and removes obsolete IPN URLs. Important Update: There is a post in the user forums that seems to provide answers for some users, which I have incorporated into a new...
Adding https support to Seamless Donations 4.0.16
This note corresponds to the 4.0.16 release of Seamless Donations, which adds necessary support for secured http communications for PayPal IPNs. This both future-proofs Seamless Donations for the upcoming PayPal-mageddon when PayPal goes all https for IPN-based...
Tricks I learned installing my first SSL certificate
I just finished installing my first-ever SSL certificate by hand. While it wasn't exactly fun, it wasn't as harrowing as I expected it to be. Of more value, I learned about some helpful tricks and resources, which is why I put myself through this process. Before I...
All hosts are different: Seamless Donations 4.0.15 release
This lab note corresponds with the release of Seamless Donations 4.0.15. While this release took longer to complete than I would have liked due to some family circumstances, it's a large release with some very important compatibility options that should make life...
Open source anniversary: How adopting 10 WordPress plugins changed my life
If you'd like the story of my WordPress adopted plugins first year anniversary, check out my ZDNet article.
Dealing with PHP 5.3 legacy code in ZENPRESS
I've been preparing to move some of my ZENPRESS-based sites off of a host that permits running the old PHP 5.3 to a modern, managed host that requires a modern PHP implementation. Unfortunately, ZENPRESS dies horribly on PHP 5.4, because PHP removed call-time pass by...
Frameworks are no longer allowed in plugin directory
Interesting article on change in policy for managing plugin frameworks. Seamless Donations uses such a framework to provide its dashboard interface, but is already following the recommended practice. Seamless Donations bundles the framework in the distribution, so...
Working around PayPal breakage: the joys of being middleware
The problem with middleware is that your software is always caught in the middle. In the case of Seamless Donations, the plugin is fundamentally a piece of software that lives between WordPress and a payment gateway, which today is only the standard PayPal interface....
Why maintenance coding is a lot like remodeling a bathroom
As I look back at the changelog for 4.0.12, I'm kind of surprised at how large this week's update is. When you look across all the elements, you begin to see how the changes are related and that there is a pattern in the process. This is reflective of my fundamental...
Coding vs. yard work… and a swimming pool would be nice
“And a swimming pool would be nice.” That’s how a long conversation with my wife ended. It started with a discussion about the merits of software development compared to … yard work. Yes, yard work. I tended to favor software development, while my wife was all about...
