The root cause of the problem

Though there are several different "types" of errors each of you are getting, they are all in fact caused by one underlying problem. Unfortunately, that problem is your web host. Some of you have hosts which are just plain crappy, while others of you have hosts who are so caught up in "securing the servers" that they've removed and/or disabled most of what makes PHP such an awesome language to work with.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm all for security. I know I sure as hell wouldn't want a server on my grid getting hacked. However, some of these hosts are going to the far end of the "extreme" in terms of "lockdown". I won't get into too many geeky details, as it would just bore most of you. So I'll just say this... When it comes to web hosts, the cliche "You get what you pay for" is more true than you could possibly imagine.

What we intend to do

The examples mentioned above don't cover everyone, but those are the primary issues at hand. So, we're working extra hard to implement EVEN MORE pre-checks, pre-pre-checks, and pre-pre-pre-checks to ensure that if ANYTHING is unavailable in your hosting environment, the plugin will simply abandon the idea of using our fancy new sprite generator feature and use the premade sprite that's included with the plugin instead.

Another thing that we've come to realize is that we're failing in part due to the fact that we're trying to make this plugin as "dummy proof" as possible. I'm not calling anyone names, just making reference to the fact that aside from clicking a few checkboxes, radio buttons, or icons... There's not much to "setting up" the plugin.

This however, may be about to change. Unfortunately for the vast majority of you who enjoy the plugin and who it works for just fine, there are others out there who can't get it to work due to lousy server setups and poorly thought out site structures. Therefore, we're debating whether or not to add several text boxes which will allow for a 100% guarantee that the plugin will work on your server setup.

These boxes would be for you manually defining absolute server paths, relative server paths, and other such things which are somewhat hard to "automatically guess" due to the fact that some people love installing wordpress in crazy directories and renaming wp-content to something weird...

Now before any of you who are code savvy say, "but what about using content_url() to grab the wp-content location no matter where it is or what it's named?". Let me first say thanks for mentioning it... However, content_url() only gets the URL of wp-content folder... It doesn't get the absolute path, nor does it get the relative path, which are two things we desperately need for this to work properly.

There are things called "constants" that are defined by WordPress that we could use, but they aren't 100% accurate either as they won't know if the folder has been renamed. At any rate, please be patient and rest assured that we are most definitely busting our butts trying to get this thing back up and running 100% for all of you.

Those of you who did not get a chance to download v3.0 should consider yourselves lucky, as I seemed to have "jumped the gun" a bit and released it before I tested thoroughly. At any rate, v3.0.1 addresses each of the issues that arose in v3.0 and also adds a couple small finishing touches as well.

Lessons learned...

Considering the level of mayhem associated with the v3.0 release, I would say that the biggest lesson I've learned from it would simply be this:

QUIT USING THE HOME ROW TO CODE!

The reason so many of you got fatal errors when upgrading was because my pinky finger apparently pressed the semicolon key inadvertently while coding. May not sound too terrible if you're not a coder, but trust me... PHP didn't like it one bit! Anyway, here's a list of what was fixed/added in this release:

1. Fix for fatal error upon upgrading to v3.0

2. Fix for Google Bookmarks image not displaying correctly

3. Fix for spritegen not working if wordpress installed in subdirectory

4. Spritegen now outputs minified CSS as well

5. Added activation hook to generate sprite automatically upon activating the plugin

Don't forget v3.0 features!

Since most of you will be upgrading to v3.0.1 directly from v2.6.1.3, you may want to go see what features were added in v3.0 as well!

UPDATE:

There are currently 4 primary types of bugs being tracked with this release:

1. Upon installing/upgrading, all icons disappear and are replaced by text links
2. Upon installing/upgrading, a list of "Uncaught exception" errors is displayed
3. Upon installing/upgrading, a list of "filesize()" errors are displayed
4. Upon installing/upgrading, "Invalid argument supplied" errors are displayed

Please be patient as we are working frantically to find the common link between each of the errors so that we can get it fixed as soon as possible. I guess it's a bit ironic that this was a "bug patch" release, and yet it's still apparently full of bugs, eh?

So this update covers both versions 2.5.4 and 2.5.4.1, as the latter was simply a quick patch to fix my flub in v2.5.4 earlier. Several new features have been added, as well as several bugs squashed. Take a look below.

Features added in v2.5.4

1. Added Update Notice

   This one was added for all you "naughty" users who never seem to update the plugin with the latest versions... You know who you are!

2. Added Ning to the list

3. Added Hacker News to the list

4. Added DesignBump to the list

5. Added Identica to the list

6. Added PrintFriendly to the list

   Rather than adding a "Print This Page" option as many of you have requested, I've decided to add something a little more refined... PrintFriendly will better prepare most any page for printing and allows you to have full control over what does and does not get printed.

7. Added Romanian translation

   Thanks to Ghenciu Ciprian for taking the time to translate the plugin to better accommodate the my peeps in Bucharest!

Bugs fixed in v2.5.4

1. Fixed a few minor CSS issues within the admin page

2. Fixed issue with some themes causing the icons to be listed vertically rather than horizontally

3. Reorganized some of the code

Bug fixed in v2.5.4.1

1. Fixed fatal error: "cannot redeclare plugins_api()"

   Whew! I know that version was a lot to handle, but I think you'll make it...

Latest Feature Requests

1. Add Xerpi to the list

   Ok, so I had honestly never even heard of this site... but apparently many of you have!

2. Add ability to import/export your settings

   Still in the works... Haven't finished it yet.

3. Re-integrate the "Email This" button back into the plugin

   Many of you have been asking for the email button to be added back into the plugin with a simple mailto until the "self hosted" feature is added.

4. Add integrated Awe.sm functionality and support

5. Add Migre.me to the list of available URL shortening services

6. Ability to choose from different plugin skins/themes to better match individual WP themes

   This is one of the big ones... Many people love the fact that the plugin offers more than just a few 16x16px icons for people to click on, but they don't like the fact that the plugin doesn't work so well with some themes (especially dark backgrounds). So, we're working on incorporating different "themes" to choose from which will use different sets of icons and possibly even different types of "hover" animation functionality.

7. Only load CSS/JS on posts/pages where SexyBookmarks is being displayed

8. Don't generate short URL for drafts/previews

Ok, so I think that's about it... Stay tuned my little munchkins, good things come to those who wait!

Ok, so this post is gonna cover everything that's happened since the last post and now (which is quite a bit), so get ready. It seems that with my other project nearing it's launch date, it's becoming harder and harder to divvy up my time between both projects equally. This has been pretty clear in the fact that SexyBookmarks hasn't been updated nearly as much as I would have liked to lately.

I know this sucks for you guys, but I'm doing my best. Anyway, I've recently updated the plugin (which I'm sure you guys have already downloaded by now) that fixes quite a few bugs and adds several new features as well. This in itself was no easy task, as it seemed that the SVN didn't like me at the time. It took me several new version releases to get the SVN updated "correctly", and then Norman had to come along behind me and clean up my mess. Don't ask me, I have no clue... I guess it was a SVN conspiracy against me or something... Anyway, it's fixed now and hopefully I won't encounter such conspiracies gain in the near future.

Bugs Fixed/Features Added in v2.5.3.3

1. Added i18n / l10n support

   This has been a long awaited feature addition that took quite a while to accomplish due to the lack of real "instruction" on how to implement it in the WordPress codex. Sorry for the wait!

2. Added Russian translation and several popular Russian bookmarking sites

   Thanks to Yuri Gribov for translating the plugin and offering several suggestions for Russian based bookmarking sites!

3. Added DesignMoo to the list

4. Added bit.ly integration

   The plugin now allows you to enter your bit.ly user ID and API key so that you can track stats on the links you shorten

5. Fixed *most* plugin conflicts due to jQuery incompatibility

   There are still a few conflicts that we've yet to solve, but this update fixed the majority of them.

Known Bugs in v2.5.3.3

1. Conflicts with jQuery sliders and faders

   No matter how hard we try, we can't seem to work out ALL of the plugin/theme conflicts related to jQuery. This latest release fixed the vast majority of them, but there have been a few reports of persistent conflicts that we've yet to find a solution to.

2. Plugin doesn't pull correct post titles when using Shopplugin.net shopping cart plugin

   I'm assuming this one is still broken, but have yet to receive any confirmation of the fact.

Now, please take note that the above lists were ONLY for v2.5.3.3, and the last version I posted about was v2.5.2.3 which was quite a while ago. The reason for this is because of the streak of bad luck I seemed to run into lately. First, when applying the update for v2.5.3 to the SVN, there was an issue with the CSS due to the fact that we tried to remove all of the !important statements from our stylesheet. However, for some reason unknown to us, when most themes loaded the styles they didn't seem to cascade properly as they should. So we had to add the !important rules back in to fix that.

The next bit of bad luck came when I attempted to update the SVN with v2.5.3.1 which included the fix mentioned above. I have no clue why, but it seemed that the SVN was plotting against me and made it extremely difficult for me to get anything done. First it applied the entire contents of our repository into the tag update, and then wouldn't actually update the tag after I had removed it. This led to me having to release YET ANOTHER tag update JUST to remove the repository from the tag.

Norman then had to add a couple of CSS fixes that I had missed and release another update (v2.5.3.3) to clear everything up and get things back on track. Once all that was done, I then decided to tinker with my server settings at the root level... BAD IDEA.

I wound up breaking the site (which I'm sure most of you already realized) and have spent the last 3 or 4 days trying to fix it. I've finally got most everything restored from backups, but had to recreate quite a few things manually. The contact forms are all new, so hopefully they're going to work properly. Anyway, just an update to let you all know what the heck happened. Let's hope it never happens again, eh?

Ok, so there were a few bugs that didn't get fixed this time around... However, it wasn't for lack of trying. Some of them have still yet to be solved, while others are simply still on the "back burner" until I actually get a few free moments to be able to add the fixes for them. Please be patient, and I assure you I will fix all of them that have been reported!

This patch fixes the following list of issues:

1. Fixed "Subscribe to Comments" link

2. Fixed issue with titles & URLs on index pointing to site and not individual articles

3. Fixed persistent Twittley error message when saving settings

4. Resolved issue with Google Bookmarks link

5. Fixed issue with some themes forcing borders and background colors for menu items

6. Added mobile browser check & ability to hide menu from mobile

Yep, that's right... I'm the cause of most of the bugs this time around. Most of them were simply stupid omissions on my part, and others are things that I have no clue what happened.

Rest assured though, ye townsfolke of Sexyville... I've collected thy reports and have thus begun the annihilation of said bugs.

1. Subscribe to comments link printed twice

   Some see two icons, others simply see the link itself is printed in duplicate.

2. When added to Index, menu references site rather than posts

3. Google Bookmarks link garbled

4. Everyone getting an error message about Twittley Default Tags when saving

   Fixed in development version... Help is on the way!

5. Conflicts with jQuery sliders and faders

   There have been several reports that the plugin causes the jQuery slider or fader of a user's theme to quit working if any of the javascript powered options are selected. (auto-center and animate-expand) - We are looking for a solution, but have yet to actually find the real problem so far.

6. Plugin doesn't pull correct post titles when using Shopplugin.net shopping cart plugin

   Still looking into this one, please be patient!

7. Some themes FORCING background colors or borders

   This is also fixed in the development version.

8. Plugin doesn't cooperate with installs which use custom wp-content directory location

   Thanks to Kureng for pointing this one out to me. He's also been kind enough to show me how to fix the issue, and it will be released in an update very soon.

I know you hate bugs, so do I. So keep checking back often for updates regarding bug patches for these bugs!

I know, I know... I should've caught them all the first time around, but I didn't. However, I do think we are slowly nearing the end of the massive bug invasion that seems to happen with each new release.

This patch fixes the following list of issues:

1. Changed icon for Fwisp at request of site owner

2. Re-added Twitter Friendly Links support after accidental removal in previous release

3. Added an automatic check/removal function for those of you having blank spaces inserted where the email icon should have been

4. Fixed issue when trying to dismiss more than one status message in the plugin options area

So this version seems to have a LOT more bugs than other versions... I suppose it could have something to do with the fact that the entire plugin has basically been rewritten from it's original format over the past few updates, who knows. Anyway, no matter what the cause, there are bugs galore!

One of these is a "recurring" bug that we have stepped on before and apparently didn't step on it hard enough because it's back up and scurrying around... Patience is a virtue people, and greatness doesn't happen overnight... (and any other cliches you can think of to insert here)

1. Twitter status message doesn't get encoded properly

   Those of you who publish content in any of the "romance" languages please be patient, we're doing our best to find the issue and solve it as quickly as possible.

2. Email message doesn't get encoded properly

3. Two variables were missed when renaming

   (already fixed in development version)

4. Several reports of SB not working with Thesis theme

   I'm currently looking into this one due to several reports saying the same thing. However, there have also been several people using the Thesis theme who say that it works fine... There has to be a common denominator somewhere, so I'm out to find it.

5. Conflicts with jQuery sliders and faders

   There have been several reports that the plugin causes the jQuery slider or fader of a user's theme to quit working if any of the javascript powered options are selected. (auto-center and animate-expand) - We are looking for a solution, but have yet to actually find the real problem so far.

6. Plugin doesn't pull correct post titles when using Shopplugin.net shopping cart plugin

I know that's a mouthful up there, so please be patient as we work our way down the list and try to find solutions for each of the bugs that have been reported. As always, if you have encountered a bug not listed here, please report it using the appropriate form listed in the menu at the top of the page.