WordPress CMS modifications

Making WordPress more like a CMS everyday!





WP-CMS Post Control plugin

Last Modified: 7 September, 2008 (10:57) | First Created: 26 July, 2008
Posted In: Our WordPress Plugins | Written by: Jonny

I am pleased to announce the launch of our second plugin available to the public for WordPress - Post Control. Previously maintained by Brady J Frey as the ‘Cloak’ plugin at his very lovely site, he has now passed over development to wp-cms so his fine work can continue for the benefit of WordPress users everywhere!

Post Control has been evolved a-lot since it took over from the Cloak plugin, and gives you complete control over your write controls. It not only allows you to hides unwanted items like custom fields, trackbacks, revisions etc. but also gives you a whole lot more control over how WordPress deals with creating content! This helps you use WordPress more like a CMS, allowing you to totally customise what your authors see and use.

The latest version of Post Control covers all features of the WordPress 2.6 write controls and is a substantial upgrade over the previous version - including full admin override of hidden panels from users of lower levels.

With this plugin you can control the following advanced options:

  • Force standard browser upload instead of Flash upload - great if you are having trouble with the Flash uploader, this stops you needing to select ‘browser uploader’ every time if the Flash uploader doesn’t work for you!
  • Turn off the revisions feature, some people don’t want to use this. This is great when you are developing a site - why clutter up your database with loads of revisions when you don’t need them! Just turn them off whilst you are developing the site, then turn back on if you want the functionality back on site launch!
  • Turn off the auto save feature, some people have problems with this or don’t wish to be interrupted as they type.
  • Create a message panel that appears below the write post area, allowing you to show custom messages to authors. Has ability to store message, turn visibility on/off and collapse initial view on/off. Great for leaving your authors messages about formatting or just simple reminders!

You can control the display of the following post options:

  • Post: Preview Button
  • Post: Permalink
  • Post: Tags
  • Post: Categories
  • Post: Excerpt
  • Post: Trackbacks
  • Post: Custom Fields
  • Post: Comments & Pings
  • Post: Password Protect This Post
  • Post: Author

You can control the display of the following page options:

  • Page: Custom Fields
  • Page: Comments & Pings
  • Page: Password Protect This Page
  • Page: Parent
  • Page: Template
  • Page: Order
  • Page: Author

You can control the display of the following global post/page options:

  • Post & Page: Media Upload
  • Post & Page: Revisions Menu
  • Post & Page: Editor sidebar links and ‘Press It’ function
  • Post & Page: Word Count
  • Post & Page: Advanced Options Title
  • Post & Page: Footer

WordPress installation

First time install

1. Decompress .zip file, retaining file structure.
2. Upload directory `wp-cms-post-control` and all containing files to the `/wp-content/plugins/` directory
3. Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress
4. Configure options through `Settings > Post Control`

NOTE - You can just upload the file `wp-cms-post-control.php` to your `/wp-content/plugins/` directory. However, when using the WordPress plugin auto-update, I noticed that it installs it in a folder and deletes a single file install - so I suggest you upload the entire folder so you keep your plugins folder consistent.

Update

1. Deactivate Post Control plugin (clears preferences from database on de-activation)
2. Replace old version of `wp-cms-post-control` directory with new version on server
3. Re-activate it on your plugin management page
4. Configure options through `Settings > Post Control`

WordPress automatic update

The automatic plugin update feature of WordPress works fine with this plugin. If your server supports it you should certainly use this as it’s the easiest way to keep your plugins up-to-date.

You should de-activate the plugin first, as this will ensure that the correct options are set/cleaned-up in the database (especially important as new features are rolled out to the plugin).

If you have problems, de-activating, then re-activating after update should sort it out for you.

Usage

Once activated, go to Options>Post Control to select which items you want to hide/show.

Planned development

  • DONE Introduce simple role management so ‘admin’ gets all options
  • DONE ‘Insert notes’ option
  • DONE Turn Flash uploader on/off
  • DONE Turn post revisions on/off
  • DONE Turn auto saving on/of
  • New ’save/publish’ buttons in admin, because I don’t like the new placement in 2.5+
  • Control over tinyMCE editor
  • More advanced content in message box

Development Notes

v0.2 - First public release (26th July 2008)

  • Included clean-up of database on de-activation.

v0.3 - Second public release (28th July 2008)

  • Introduced Admin user control.

v0.4 - Development version (1st August 2008)

  • Option to select uploader (Flash or standard)
  • Option to hide revisions control
  • Option to hide word count
  • Option to hide Advanced Options header
  • Fixed page custom field control
  • Redesigned admin page

v1.0 - Development version (1st August 2008)

  • Option to disable post and page revisions
  • Option to disable autosaves

v1.01 - Third public release (2nd August 2008)

  • Option to insert message panel
  • General tidying on admin page

v1.02 - Forth public release (3rd September 2008)

  • Bug catches, may help plugin compatibility on different servers

v1.03 - Fifth public release (4th September 2008)

  • Fix the bug introduced in v1.02 that broke the form fields
  • After comments feedback, changed and documented admin control

v1.1 - Development version (5th September 2008)

  • Found potential conflict with options variables declaired within a theme functions file
  • Confilicting PHP variables for reference - ‘options’ and ‘newoptions’
  • Should solve conflicts with wrongly coded variables from other plugins/themes

v1.11 - Sixth public release (6th September 2008)

  • Option to hide editor sidebar shortcuts and ‘Press It’ function
  • Remove redundant preview code
  • Improved formatting for message box text and title input

Download Download the plugin

Download WP-CMS Post Control WordPress plugin
from official WordPress Plugin respository

Version: 1.11 - Latest version

Problems or questions?

Feel free to leave a comment below, or share your thoughts on the official WordPress forums.



Comments

Pingback from Pete Ashton’s Blog » WP-CMS Post Control plugin
Time: July 26, 2008, 2:00 pm

[...] WP-CMS Post Control plugin - Very useful looking plugin that removes unneeded features from the WordPress writing interface. Very useful for group blogs with novices I'd imagine. [...]

Pingback from Pages tagged “cms”
Time: July 27, 2008, 12:10 am

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Trackback from Leonaut.com
Time: July 28, 2008, 3:13 pm

WP-CMS Post Control…

Post Control from WordPress CMS Modifications hides unwanted items on the write page and write post pages within WordPress, eg custom fields, trackbacks etc. This helps you use WordPress more like a CMS, alowing you to totally customise what you want a…

Comment from baron
Time: July 28, 2008, 5:32 pm

hi. Thanks for plugin

perfect.

Regards

Comment from Jonny
Time: July 28, 2008, 5:37 pm

My pleasure Baron - glad you find it useful!

I’m working on v0.4 - so keep an eye on your plugins page - it should auto show an update available now I have it within the WordPress official plugin repository.

Comment from Handig
Time: July 30, 2008, 11:01 pm

Very handy.

Heel handig als je wordpress inricht voor anderen.

Comment from Brady J. Frey
Time: August 2, 2008, 10:25 pm

Thanks Jonny for keeping this fresh - it’s great to see the strong development in wordpress as a powerful CMS! As a side note, wordpress.com sent me a heads up they’ve added it to their plugin repository - a few weeks later than I imagined:). I’ll send you an email so you can do what you wish with it!

Comment from Jonny
Time: August 3, 2008, 10:48 am

@ Brady - it was your solid work that built the foundation for this plugin - and for that we all thank you! The plugin repository can be a bit awkward to work with sometimes! I have of-course given you full credit (as promised!) - I hope you like what I have done with this plugin so far - there is more planned in the future!

Comment from enrico
Time: August 4, 2008, 3:56 pm

Hi there,

I installed the plugin according to faqs, set up the options but it won’t work. As soon as log out of my admin area and re-log in, the options below get resetted… and if I log in as a contributor, they are still there (not hidden). What’s wrong? I ev cleaned caches, temporary files, cookies nd sessions ( you never know),but it didn’t help… I have WP 2.6.

Thanks.

Comment from Jonny
Time: August 4, 2008, 5:51 pm

@enrico Humph - strange one. You seemed to have tried everything I might suggest - ie clearing cache - and my final question was are you using 2.6 - which you are?!

Not sure why this isn’t working - I have tested it on 4 completely different server setups and it has worked perfectly for me and my friends/associates.

The only thing I can think of is to delete the plugin and re-install again and let me know how you get on. In the meantime I will have a look over the code and see if there is anything that might be stopping this work.

Comment from enrico
Time: August 5, 2008, 3:51 pm

Sorry, I tried over and over again, reinstalled, but nothing. All the same as before. The only options that seem to work are the first and second block of options, but not the third one (with post and page options singularly). So far no clue…

Comment from Jonny
Time: August 5, 2008, 4:06 pm

@enrico - this has got me scratching my head why it doesn’t work for you! Thanks for letting me know about what you have tried - it’s useful for me to know.

Could I ask, are you using any other plugins like role manager or anything else that manages users? Also, are you using a different folder structure to the default WordPress folder structure at all?

I’m sorry this isn’t working for you - as I said I have extensively tested it on different platforms! There are a couple of things for me to look at that may be causing this - and if I find anything I’ll post a comment and plugin update!

Comment from enrico
Time: August 7, 2008, 6:02 am

Back. As for using Role player - yes, I am. I was using http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/mg-advancedoptions/ before installing yours…than I deleted it before installing your plugin. Maybe the database and options are still there but I don’t think it’s the case (you never know). About the structure, it’s all like the default of wordpress. I have no more ideas..

Comment from Jonny
Time: August 8, 2008, 10:13 am

@enrico - thanks for the information, it will help me eliminate a couple of things. The previous plugins used shouldn’t interfere, but some don’t clean-up after themselves properly and leave junk in your database. There certainly won’t be a clash in database options names (already checked that!), so I will take a look over the weekend into whats causing this.

Pingback from How To Turn Off Post Revisions In Word Press 2.6
Time: August 15, 2008, 10:55 pm

[...] and auto save features by editing the code in the wp-config.php file but its much easier to use the Post Control plugin which was recently released. All you have to do is install the plugin and visit the [...]

Comment from Kasia
Time: August 19, 2008, 6:11 am

Hi, I’ve just installed cloak and it doesn’t save the ticked options for me either. I click “save options”, the ticks remain but they disappear when I go to another menu option and then return to cloak.
Could this have anything to do with file permissions within the wordpress directory?

I’ve also tried the post control plugin and I get the same problem. It’s just not saving the options.

Comment from Jonny
Time: August 19, 2008, 10:31 am

@ Kasia - thanks for letting me know - good guess, but it will shouldn’t have anything to do with file permissions, all the options for the plugin are stored in the database.

Are you using WordPress 2.6 (or 2.6.1)? I presume you are using other plugins no problem? Do you have (or have used) anything like role manager plugin or similar?

I’d like to try and work out why this is not working for you - and am happy to work through the code but I’ll need a little more information to help me if you can provide it.

It is strange that it’s not working - I have tested this on various server environments and WordPress installations and it has worked perfectly.

Comment from Kasia
Time: August 19, 2008, 11:17 am

Hi, yeh I realised it’s just storing in the database. I’ve had file permission problems before so i’ve been sensitive in that respect.
I’ve just upgraded to 2.6.1 and I haven’t activated any other plugins.
The first two sections seem to work by the way, it’s just the ‘display options’ that aren’t working.
I can see it saving the array values in the database, but they’re not controlling what is displayed in the ‘write’ section.
thanks for the help in advance, what else do you need to know?

Comment from Michiel
Time: August 19, 2008, 6:02 pm

I’m having similar problems. using 2.6.1 fresh install, I haven’t activated any other plugins.

Comment from Ed
Time: August 20, 2008, 3:59 am

Jonny,
With the creation of this plugin, you have read my mind before I thought it. Just 2 days ago I knew I needed to find some way to hide a few of the confusing options, and most importantly to hide the templates as much of the design for my clients is built that way and they could totally crash their site…

I too am having the same difficulty as the others. The first 2 sections work, the final (and more desired) are not. I am using WP2.6 and the following plugins:
Akismet
All in One SEO Pack
Breadcrumb Navigation XT
Dashboard Editor
Exclude Pages from Navigation
FeedBurner FeedSmith
Get Recent Comments
GT Post Approval
Limit Posts
Maintenance Mode (disabled for testing your plugin)
No Self Pings
Redirection
Role Manager
Secure and Accessible PHP Contact Form
Simple Tags
Templatedia
WP Status Notifier

On another note, the settings of the 3rd level are slightly confusing…
“Admin users only get options selected below”… does that mean if I check a box ONLY ADMINS are supposed to see them, or if they are checked that USERS ONLY get those options? Since its not working either way, I can’t play with it to figure out what you mean.

I do hope you can figure out what is preventing this from operating. In the meantime, if you know a quick and easy mod I can make to the core file to prevent anyone not an admin from seeing the templates section, I would appreciate an email! LOL

Thanks,
Ed

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Time: September 2, 2008, 8:56 am

[...] take care of the matter so PodPress will work. The one I’m using in this blog is the excellent WP-CMS Post Control plugin by Jonnya. It works [...]

Comment from Jonny
Time: September 3, 2008, 5:44 pm

There is a new version of this plugin (1.02) just made available, please let me know if you have any luck with it, it fixes a few coding bugs that have now been swatted!

The latest version is always available from the official WordPress plugin site at http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-cms-post-control/

@Ed - It is best not to hack the core code, hopefully this update will get the plugin working for you and allow you to hide this option from your authors. As a quick fix I suggest you take a look at the files in w-admin directory if you really have to hack this out.

Comment from Russ Lipton
Time: September 3, 2008, 6:48 pm

Installed with 2.6.1 … doesn’t display the desired Write options (per Kasla, Michiel above …)

Comment from Jonny
Time: September 3, 2008, 8:11 pm

@Russ (or anyone else the plugin doesn’t work for) FIRSTLY, DOWNLOAD THE LATEST VERSION v1.02. If this still doesn’t work for you, you could help me out and download the Cloak plugin and trying it in your WordPress install. You can get it from http://bradyjfrey.com/blog/wordpress-plugin/cloak/ - this doesn’t cover all the functions of 2.6+ but if it works it means I have broken that section of the code!

I have tried this out on 4 different server platforms (including 1 Windows server) and it has worked perfectly in all server environments, so your help would be appreciated guys to help me eliminate what is causing this to not work for a handful of people.

Comment from James
Time: September 4, 2008, 1:25 am

Same here. The third part just doesn’t change anything. I’m on wp2.6.1 and your plugin 1.02 (latest one you uploaed on Sept. 3rd)

Also, like Ed pointed out, the admin see everything dropdown box is very confusing. I mean, like.. there’s only the real admin (me) and authors, editors and so forth.

I have created a user with an Author role, logged in and still see the confusing post options even though I disabled it.

Comment from Russ Lipton
Time: September 4, 2008, 6:35 am

I had uploaded 1.02.

Cloak works as advertised. Alas, Post Control still doesn’t work.

I notice that this choice always remains selected: “admin users see all normal post options” even when the other option is chosen. Is this helpful?

Comment from Jonny
Time: September 4, 2008, 5:26 pm

IMPORTANT v1.02 has some bugs in the code PLEASE UPDATE TO V1.03

The latest version is always available from the official WordPress plugin site at http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-cms-post-control/

@James/Ed - after your feedback I have changed the text in the form fields and put in an explanation below the selection box to clarify exactly what this does - hope it helps! Basically, rather than globally controlling all users options, it allows you to decide if Admins should also be effected by the plugin options, or if they should see all normal WordPress options.

@Russ - Thanks for checking cloak out, it really is VERY helpful! One person said Cloak didn’t work for also so I thought the source of the problem might be there. This is strange, I have this plugin working on a testbed server and another unix server fine right this minute! Give the new version a go - also, do you have any role management type plugins - especially ‘Role Manager’?

I know this plugin works for most people that use it - I am having trouble working out what may be causing this. I may have to re-write some of the code to make this more compatible for everyone.

Comment from Russ Lipton
Time: September 4, 2008, 8:59 pm

Glad to report that 1.03 seems to work fine, though I haven’t fiddled with a few of the plugin’s features. Suppressing a variety of post ‘features’ responded as expected, just as it had in Cloak. Thanks for your prompt work on this useful plugin!

Comment from Russ Lipton
Time: September 4, 2008, 9:00 pm

Oh, and though I do use RoleManager in some settings, I do not use it for the weblog in question. RoleScoper is intriguing me mightily at the moment …

Comment from Jonny
Time: September 5, 2008, 8:30 am

@Russ - COOL! Glad to hear that v1.03 works for you!! Do you mind me asking whats modifications you made to the plugin - you are of-course allowed to hack it up to your hearts content, but you will have to re-apply those hacks when I launch a new version… is there anything useful that you want to share - I may even incorporate it into the next version (with credit!).

Comment from Russ Lipton
Time: September 5, 2008, 10:29 pm

I didn’t mean to suggest I had hacked it - not a bad idea, though ;-). 1.03 just ‘worked’.

Comment from Craig
Time: September 7, 2008, 2:19 am

I had the same problem with this plug-in like some of the folks above. However, with version 1.11. The plug-in works beautifully. Excellent job Jonny!

Comment from Jonny
Time: September 7, 2008, 10:33 am

IMPORTANT v1.11 is a major upgrade - AND SHOULD SOLVE THE PROBLEM A FEW PEOPLE HAVE EXPERIENCED WITH THE PLUGIN NOT WORKING! The latest version is always available from the official WordPress plugin site at http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-cms-post-control/

@Craig - Glad to hear v1.11 is working for you!

@Russ - hack to your hearts content, really! I’d suggest you clearly comment the code, that way you can apply your hacks to future versions (REMEMBER TO BACK IT UP VIA FTP IF YOU USE THE WORDPRESS PLUGIN AUTO-UPDATE!!) and maybe choose to share them with me… I might even integrate it into the core code of the plugin!

For anyone that wants to know, I finally replicated the problem of the post control checkboxes not working on a friends WordPress install (v2.6) - there was a clash with a couple of global variables hanging around set by his themes option page. This could also be occur with plugin code. Generally, these shouldn’t be used by the developers (I have contacted them), but basically the variables of ‘options’ and ‘newoptions’ were being set elsewhere and where overiding these in the Post Control plugin.

I have now changed these to unique names and cleaned up some other bits of code, which should mean that I have finally rectified this issue - it had me scratching my head for a while I can tell you!

Comment from Kasia
Time: September 12, 2008, 5:00 am

Woo hoo! I’ve updated to version 1.11 and it works great. Nice one, thanks!

Comment from Mark
Time: September 13, 2008, 11:11 pm

Can I use your plugin to cloak By Role3? I’d like to change up the fields for Contributors, but not admins.

Comment from Mark
Time: September 13, 2008, 11:30 pm

Never mind on my last comment. I just installed it and it rocks! But I have an important suggestion: Rather than the option to let admins see all fields, how about letting us specify what the lowest level role would be to see all fields. For example, I’d like to let Editors and Admin see all the options, not just Admin. That would be pretty easy for you do introduce, I’d think. It would offer us much more flexibility.

Now, all I need to do to make WP really Contributor/Author-friendly would be to make it so that the user would only see their own posts (with a configuration option for Drafts and/or published posts) in the Manage Posts area, and to get rid of the Comments tab as well. Even all the stuff on the Dashboard is unnecessary. Really, all a contributing author needs is to be able to enter a postt, edit a draft post, tell the editor it’s ready for review, and that’s pretty much it. Anything else just people confused or gets them to monkeying around with things they don’t need to monkey around with. If anyone knows of anything that can do these things please let me know.

Comment from Mark Fleming
Time: September 26, 2008, 3:32 pm

Is there any way to hide the All-in-One SEO plugin fields in the Post Entry? I’ve got everything else I want hidden.

Comment from Alastair
Time: September 28, 2008, 4:14 pm

Hi Jonny,

Really useful plugin, thanks! Just a quick issue I spotted when trying it out:

In “function wpcms_post_control_ids()”

The line:

submitpost div.side-info’ => __(’Post & Page: Editor sidebar shortcuts & \’Press This\’ feature’, ‘wpcms_post_control’)

Needs separating into one option for Pages and one for Posts, as for Pages it becomes “submitpage div.side-info”.

Regards,

Alastair

Comment from Jonny
Time: September 29, 2008, 12:59 pm

@Mark Its funny you mention user role management, this is something I do have planned for the plugin. I already have some of this complete in another plugin project and it will get incorporated into the next public release. I’d like to do more advanced user management (ie per user level visibility) but that is quite a bit more complex (and I don’t need it for any active projects!) so the advanced role management is not a priority at the moment.

@Mark Fleming I’m afraid the plugin is only designed to control core WordPress features, I can’t put in options for every plugin that inserts new controls into the write panel - even popular ones like All-In-One SEO, I could never keep up with the updates! I would suggest you take a look at the plugin and hack that part out if you don’t want it, or contact the original plugin author for guidance on this.

@Alastair Good spot, thanks!! I’ll incorporate this into the next version of the plugin!

Comment from Jens Wedin
Time: October 2, 2008, 7:26 pm

Hi
Would it be possible to have different settings for different roles? Nice plugin, I use it on one of my sites :)

Comment from Krissie
Time: October 3, 2008, 3:32 am

This is a really fantastic plugin - it’s helped me immensely.

Between this, Adminize, and Dashboard Editor, I’ve got the backend almost completely cleaned up.

I say almost, because after installing this plugin, I installed the Role Scoper plugin (it’s a must for me.) Unfortunately, the role scoper plugin adds three fields/options to the advanced section on the edit screen for posts and pages.

I see and understand what you have written above, but would it be possible to offer some one time only advice on roughly how to go about hacking the plugin to add some extra options to remove the offending items?

Kind regards,
Krissie xx

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Time: October 6, 2008, 7:42 pm

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Time: October 8, 2008, 10:59 am

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Comment from trendland
Time: October 10, 2008, 10:21 pm

Its a nice plugin, but is possible to have this kind of work offer to the readers, lets say they just upload a picture and a simple text, and post it. On the other side, the admin is able to accept or not the post then publish it… That would be great

Pingback from Finalim.com » Blog Arşivi » Wordpress’e 20 eklenti ile cms desteği
Time: October 11, 2008, 8:36 pm

[...] 20 eklenti ile cms (içerik yönetim sistemi) açısından güçlendirebilirsiniz. Role Manager, WP-CMS Post Control plugin, Pagemash, gibi eklentileri içinde [...]

Pingback from 10 Plugins to use WordPress as CMS | Magazine Idea
Time: October 19, 2008, 2:17 am

[...] WP-CMS Post Control plugin - an options panel that lets you decide what kind of content will be displayed on your site. Amazingly good. [...]

Comment from Alistair
Time: October 20, 2008, 2:51 am

Hi Jonny, just seen the new visuals for wordpress 2.7. Much nicer. Will your plugin work with the new 2.7 backend appearances?

Cheers,

Alistair

Comment from Jonny
Time: October 20, 2008, 12:56 pm

Big comment catchup - been too busy working to respond… but here goes!

@Jens - Role management is a potential for further development of this plugin, but don’t hold your breath!

@Krissie - I obviously can’t support every plugin that puts new fields and controls in to the write page/post area, but I can advise that you firstly need to identify if these new controls have custom CSS definitions. If so, you can simply add these new ones into the array in the plugin… if you can’t follow this please read up on CSS and PHP, sorry!

@ Trendland - That is beyond the scope of this plugin, sorry!! I’d suggest a good look around the WordPress plugin database - you may find what you are looking for there.

@ Alistair - Hopefully CSS definitions have been kept the same in WordPress 2.7, in which-case this plugin will work right away. If it doesn’t play nice with WordPress 2.7 it will be at the top of my list to update the plugin to 2.7 compatibility… and maybe even integrate a couple of new features at the same time!

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