Category: WordPress

Shown here is my Shortcode which aquires the value of a single cell of Google Sheet Data: 

/**
 * Aquiring google sheet data (David Stockdale)
 * Shortcode should be something like this: [get_sheet_value location="'Summary Page'!C3"]
 */
function sheet_value_shortcode($atts) {
    $API = 'XXX_XXX';
    $google_spreadsheet_ID = 'XXX-XXX-XXX';
    $api_key = esc_attr( $API);

    $location = $atts['location'];
    $get_cell = new WP_Http();
    $cell_url = "https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4/spreadsheets/$google_spreadsheet_ID/values/$location?&key=$api_key";	
    $cell_response = $get_cell -> get( $cell_url);
    $json_body = json_decode($cell_response['body'],true);	
    $cell_value = $json_body['values'][0][0];
    return $cell_value;
}
add_shortcode('get_sheet_value', 'sheet_value_shortcode');

To get the API Key goto the “Google Developers Console” and create a key in the “Credentials” section.

To get the SpreadSheet ID simply look in the “Sharable Link” (broken down here):

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/spreadsheetId/edit#gid=sheetId

Shortcode:

[get_sheet_value location="'Summary Page'!C3"]

So a while ago while doing some volunteer work I fiddled around with making the website adding support for “Co-Authors Plus” in embedded posts as outlined in Embed Customisation Supporting “Co-Authors Plus”.

 I found that my solutions all looked rather messy.

I presented those initial attempts to my boss and after making a few changes based on his feedback this is what we eventually settled on.

/**
 * Removes the title (David Stockdale).
 */
add_filter('embed_site_title_html','__return_false');
/**
 * Adds the author's names (David Stockdale).
 */
add_action( 'embed_content', 'embed_author' );
/**
 * Adds the author div to the embed iframe (David Stockdale).
 */
function embed_author() {
	$output .= '<div class="wp-embed-author">By:';
	$coauthors = get_coauthors();
	$loopcheck = 0;
	foreach( $coauthors as $coauthor ): 
		/**
		 * Checking if it's the first line to decide if it should be seperated with a comma.
		 */
		if($loopcheck == 0) {
			$loopcheck++;
		} else {
			$output .= ',';
		}
		$output .= ' ';
		$authorArchiveLink = get_author_posts_url($coauthor->ID);
		$output .=  "<a href=$authorArchiveLink> $coauthor->user_firstname $coauthor->user_lastname</a>";
	endforeach;
	$output .= '.';
	$output .= '</div>';
    echo $output;
}

By removing the author portraits I was able to create a cleaner looking list.

I then styled it to fit the websites theme of links in a specific colour.

/**
 * Customises the style/colours of embedded posts.
 */
add_action( 'embed_head', 'embed_styles' );
/**
 * Embed the plugin's custom styles.
 */
function embed_styles() {
    echo <<<CSS
<style>
	.wp-embed-author {
		margin-top: 0.5em;
	}
	.wp-embed-author a {
		color: #a6191a;
	}
	.wp-embed-author a:hover {
		color: #454545;
	}
</style>
CSS;
}

All in all a much neater look that is far more consistant with the website as a whole.

Another day of volunteer work, another nugget of knowledge learned.

To enable post-like excerpts on your website go into the functions.php file of your theme (in theme editor) or a site-specific plugin (in plugin editor).

Add the following code at the end:

add_post_type_support( 'page', 'excerpt' );

This code modifies the default WordPress content type ‘page’ to add support for excerpts.