Tagline Rotator Plugin for WordPress
The Tagline Rotator plugin does pretty much what it sounds like it would do: it randomly selects a tagline (that’s the description of your blog beneath the title) from a list of user-compiled taglines, then displays it within your blog. It offers a couple of advantages over some of the other similar plugins I found, most importantly that it uses the mySQL database within WordPress, and therefore should not slow down page loads at all.
Installation
- Download the plugin and unzip it.
- Copy the tagline_rotator.php file to the plugins directory of your WordPress install.
- Activate the plugin in the Plugins menu within your admin pages. Taglines can be added through Settings -> Tagline Rotator.
Known Bugs/Limitations
Of course, there are a couple of bugs/limitations that you should know about.
- You must choose ‘Save Changes’ to commit any deletions or additions to the tagline database. Hopefully, this will soon be automated
- The plugin currently does not delete the tables it creates upon de-activation (that way you don’t lose your taglines). However, if you manually delete the table, WordPress will throw an error upon re-activation of the plugin. The easiest way to fix this is to change the option ‘tagline_tables’ in wp_options to be ‘false’ NB: If you’re not comfortable manually editing your mySQL database, don’t worry. The table will just sit there and work if you re-activate the plugin.
- It still won’t do the dishes.
Updates
Version 1.1 – 12-31-2009 – Plugin database table is now compliant with WordPress database prefix (i.e. it will use the database prefix set by WP, not the previous wp_tagline_rotator). This should make it WPMU compatible as well, although this is still untested. Upgrading automatically through WordPress from a previous version will also rename the database table to use the correct prefix.
Version 1.0 – 3-16-2009 – Version 0.4b has been tested out a bit, and this plugin does what it sets out to do. As a result, it’s being re-tagged as version 1.0.
Version 0.4b - 3-13-2009 – Ensures compatibility with themes using either bloginfo() or get_bloginfo() to display tagline information. Here is the download: Tagline Rotator Plugin (BETA)
Version 0.3b - 7-31-2008 – Allows for editing of existing taglines without deleting and re-adding them. Please report bugs or errors in the comment area.
Version 0.2 – 7-26-2008 – Fixes an issue where double quotes in a tagline prevent it from being deleted. Thanks to Thorsten for pointing out this bug.
Feedback
As always, please keep in mind that this is open-source software, so I welcome any contributions or suggestions you might have. Please leave a comment with any feedback or problems you had installing or using the plugin. Feature requests are also welcome, as are over-the-top compliments.
Donation
If you got some use out of this plugin, please consider a donation. My ability to purchase beer is directly correlated to new version releases.
Comments
Drew (Jul 14, 2008)
Thanks for this plugin! Just a quick question: now that i’ve got it installed what should I do with the Tagline field under Settings -> General? Empty it? If something is filled in there, will it be rotated or ignored?
Vasken (Jul 14, 2008)
@Drew,
Good question. The Tagline field is ignored by the plugin. I figured that was the best way to go, since it won’t leave people without a tagline if they uninstall the plugin. At some point in the future, I hope that the tagline that’s already set for the blog will automatically show up in the plugin as the first entry, but for now you’d have to enter it again if you want it in the rotation.
Thanks for downloading the plugin! Please let me know if you run into any problems or have any requests for new features.
-Vasken
WordPress Plugins: Tagline Rotator at WordPress Today (Jul 14, 2008)
[...] ??Tagline Rotator?????Tagline? ??Tagline?????Title??????????????????VeryCD???????????????VeryCD????????????Tagline? [...]
Lionfire (Jul 15, 2008)
Am I right in thinking that the random tagline is being cached with wp-cache? Is there a convenient way of tweaking the tagline so it is regenerated for each page-view (rather than being cached)?
WordPress Plugin 07/14 : Sukaba.net (Jul 15, 2008)
[...] Tagline Rotator [...]
Vasken (Jul 15, 2008)
@Lionfire,
It should just be a matter of wrapping the function that adds the filter (the main part that makes the plugin work) in the mfunc tags that wp-cache provides to include dynamic content. However, that’s not working for me right now. I can tell you that this isn’t the first plugin that’s having this problem, though–someone using the wp-quotes plugin had the same issue. I’ll work on it and post here (and email you) when I figure it out.
Leonaut.com (Jul 15, 2008)
Tagline Rotator Plugin…
The Tagline Rotator plugin does pretty much what it sounds like it would do: it randomly selects a tagline (that’s the description of your blog beneath the title) from a list of user-compiled taglines, then displays it within your blog. It offers a c…
WordPress Plugin Releases for 07/14 | Wordpress Blog NL Hosting (Jul 16, 2008)
[...] Tagline Rotator [...]
Grindblog » Besser als drüben (Jul 17, 2008)
[...] und Bergemensch haben zwar diesen Sloganizer, aber ich habe den Tagline Rotator. Freut euch auf viele selbstgeschriebene [...]
My new Favoritest Plugin “Known Limitations” warning — Mama’s Bloggin (Jul 18, 2008)
[...] neverblog.net » Blog Archive » Tagline Rotator Plugin for WordPress. [...]
Softonix.com » Blog Archive » WordPress Plugin Releases for 07/14 (Jul 23, 2008)
[...] Tagline Rotator [...]
thorsten (Jul 27, 2008)
Hi.
I can’t delete taglines with a quote.
e.g.:
Tagline: a (can be deleted)
Tagline: “a (can’t be deleted)
Is this problem/bug known?
Vasken (Jul 27, 2008)
@thorsten,
Thanks for reporting that…I hadn’t tried any quotes with quote marks in my testing. I will figure it out as soon as possible and email you back directly as well as posting on this comment list.
-Vasken
Vasken (Jul 31, 2008)
The issue with quotes is solved. Also, there was a version of the plugin available for about a day with an error that affects the visual editor in WordPress. If you are experiencing this error, please re-download the plugin.
fryevhen (Aug 10, 2008)
Greetings from Ukraine! ) Good plugin!
Raymond (Aug 18, 2008)
How do you set up where the taglines are shown. I do not see any instructions for this. I am a NOOB.
Vasken (Aug 19, 2008)
@Raymond,
If you’re running WordPress 2.5 or later, just look for the Settings link towards the top right of your Admin panel interface. In there, one of the headings is “Tagline Rotator” and you can add or remove taglines there.
Kugelblitz (Aug 19, 2008)
Plugin could not be activated because it triggered a fatal error.
CREATE TABLE wp_tagline_rotator (id INT NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,random_tagline VARCHAR( 200 ) NOT NULL)Could not create tagline table
I am running three wordpress installations on one MySQL Database.
All separated in different tables like first_wp_database second_wp_database and so on.
How can I run that plugin on two of my blogs now?
baron (Aug 25, 2008)
hi. Thanks for plugin
perfect.
Regards
Kugelblitz (Aug 26, 2008)
Hey There, wonder if that problem with the wp_tagline_rotator Datasheet is fixed in version 0.3?
phraensys (Sep 01, 2008)
i’ve just installed the plugin
so far, nice and cool!
i’ll get back here when i find some flaws
thanks a lot dude!
Rotating Taglines (please) - DIY Themes Forums (Oct 08, 2008)
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Vasken (Oct 22, 2008)
@Kugelblitz,
Unfortunately, the plugin is trying to create the database every time that you install it. Since you are using only one database, it is crashing because the database already exists. You should really not be sharing a database among three installs because of things like this, but you could delete the tables for the plugin manually each time before you switch on the plugin on each blog. Then the tables will be re-created by each blog and you can delete and activate, etc. Of course, all of your taglines will be shared, as there is only one database of taglines for all three blogs.
esck (Nov 13, 2008)
Hello Vasken I want to know if this feature could be doable?
I want that know if the taglines could be sent as comments in a wordpress page? so they can be moderated.
What do you think? I would love that feature!
j (Dec 31, 2008)
love it! exactly what I wanted. Thanks!
Randy (Mar 08, 2009)
Hey dude, installed this and added some taglines but none of them are showing up. The plugin is activated. If I change the tagline under the general settings it still changes on the site, so it isn’t being ‘ignored’ like you reference above. I’m running WP 2.71 with the Atahualpa theme. Is there anything special I need to do? Any code I need to reference somewhere or something? Hopefully I can get it working since it’s exactly what I need.
Thank you.
Sean (Mar 14, 2009)
@Randy: Atahualpa uses get_bloginfo() instead of the older bloginfo() function to load the tagline. I’ve been working on a workaround for the past few days but haven’t gotten anything useful. It SHOULD be possible to modify Atahualpa’s bfa_header_config.php to make it work.
liuzhongshu (Apr 16, 2009)
I found this plugin is very useful for me, Thanks.
And I noticed that I can not set tagline use Chinese character, It is caused by the Mysql characater encoding. I think you should create the table with UTF8 Collation.
Vasken (Apr 17, 2009)
@liuzhongshu,
I will make the change and email you as soon as it’s available.
Karen Mason (Apr 22, 2009)
Great plugin. I have an autocompleter set to my taglines so it would fail my site. But great plugin.
Geoffrey (Jun 12, 2009)
As Kugelblitz notes, the plugin creates its own table in the database. This means it will not work with Wordpress MU. Otherwise a very cool plugin.
ashutoshjha (Oct 25, 2009)
really great plugin to use thanks
Michael (Dec 29, 2009)
Thanks for this great plugin, I can see a potential issue in that the table created in the db is given the name “wp_tagline_rotator” ignoring the custom table prefix set up in wp-config. Can this be changed when the plugin is next updated?
Vasken (Dec 31, 2009)
@Geoffrey @Kugelblitz I’m pleased to announce that Version 1.1 now uses the prefix specified within WordPress for the database table, so it should be WPMU compatible. If you upgrade using the automated upgrade function in WordPress from a previous version, it will rename the table for you to comply with your prefix structure.
Eric J. (Dec 31, 2009)
Is there a way to make a tagline display using html? I wanted to include a link in a couple of taglines, but the html code doesn’t do anything.
Vasken (Dec 31, 2009)
Hmm, I hadn’t tried that. I’ve got some time over the next couple of days–I will look into incorporating that into a new version and email you when I have it.