Max Foundry, which has in the past primarily concerned themselves with developing and releasing WordPress plugins, has entered into the commercial theme space this week with their new theme Liftoff, a landing page theme.
It seems just about everyone is getting into the commercial theme space these days. Do you think the theme industry is still booming, or is there no room for those jumping in now?
WordPress has certainly taken strides in recent years to improves as a content management system, or CMS. But one area that is still being explored is the use of WordPress as an LMS, or a learning management system.
Vernon Fowler is the English Second Language teacher and e-Learning Coordinator for the Hawthorn Learning Centre campus of Navitas English in Melbourne, Australia. One of his most recent projects there has been incorporating WordPress, using the BuddyPress plugin, into their school’s coursework as an LMS. A number of Fowler’s findings, as well as his pitch to other schools to try BuddyPress out, are included in a presentation he gave yesterday.
He concluded that BuddyPress is capable of much stronger connections with students than other available systems:
Which learning tool would 86% of students use for homework? BuddyPress. It combines features of social networks like Twitter and Facebook with Learning Management Systems like Moodle and Blackboard.
Fowler’s presentation includes examples from their own use of BuddyPress and use cases based on their experience at Hawthorn.
The presentation is embedded just after the jump.
Fowler has also posted a handful of his own recommendations for a BuddyPress setup, based on his use of it at Harthorn, on Scribd.
Do you see BuddyPress used in teaching environments, or educators interested in using WordPress more than they do? Do you think BuddyPress is a better option for schools than other systems like Moodle and BlackBoard?
The organizers of WordCamp Las Vegas have posted a call for help on their site. The message, signed by John Hawkins, says that due to their extremely busy schedules they won’t be able to fulfill their usual roles as the organizers for the event in 2011. The callout is looking for new organizers to make this year’s event happen.
Anyone interested should see their message and get in touch with them.
Hey WordCamp organizers, I’m curious. How do you manage to balance your careers, responsibilities, and social life while also organizing a WordCamp? Do you have any advice for aspiring organizers—or those looking for a better way to balance the two?
Click here to view the embedded video.
Have you ever wondered what a WordPress marketing video would look like if it was directed by Michael Bay? Wonder no longer. It’s all in good fun, of course. The video above was completed very recently and now sits on the Catalyst Theme homepage.
Today’s Daily Plugin adds a new widget to the WordPress Dashboard that pulls in any posts that are scheduled to publish at a later date. It’s a nice way to get a bird’s eye view of what is coming up next on your blog, particularly if you blog a lot.
The video is embedded at the top of this post’s page, with more about the plugin below.
I’ve made no secret of my love for simple Dashboard tweaks. A good chunk of Daily Plugin episodes are all about small tweaks to the WordPress admin. This one’s no different: Dashboard Scheduled Posts is a handy plugin that pulls any scheduled posts into a handy Dashboard widget.
Sound simple? It is, which is what makes it so awesome.
Video recorded with version 2.0 of Dashboard Scheduled Posts, running WordPress 3.1.3.
This plugin is developed by Alex (or Viper007Bond) who works for Automattic. He has developed a number of plugins on the WordPress.org Plugin Directory.
Who else loves his username, by the way? Shaken, not stirred.
If you would like to see your plugin featured on an episode of The Daily Plugin, send your plugin information over to dailyplugin@wpcandy.com. We’ll see you tomorrow for another Daily Plugin!
