Why Not Jetpack For WordPress
WordPress.com has recently made some serious changes, removing support for their wp-stats plugin and now pushing out their Jetpack WordPress plugin. The Jetpack plugin gives WordPress.com features to people who are running WordPress on their own servers. These features include:
- A Twitter widget for displaying tweets in the sidebar
- Gravatar Hovercard support
- WordPress.com Stats
- WP.me Shortlinks
- LaTeX (an typesetting language)
- Shortcode Embeds
- Sharedaddy (social media bookmarks)
- After the Deadline (grammar & spell check)
Sounds like a wonderful plugin that someone using it could not resist. But there are several bugs and problems with this plugin:
- The Stats section requires that you have a working WordPress.com username and password whereas other WordPress statistic plugins do not need such a username. This is assumed to be because Automattic does not want to reveal how they collect stats or compile their graphs.
- Jetpack has significant negative effects on server speeds. This website as well as others have noticed a loading lag after installing the plugin for testing that can accumulate in reduced performance.
- Jetpack is bloated. They have not created something new but are trying to replace several individual plugins that work just as well. If you only want the stats and proofreading sections of Jetpack, you cannot individual download them.
- Jetpack was created by Automattic, a FOR profit company funding WordPress.com and trying to walk the line of being free and still earning money. For now the plugin is free, but future features have already been guaranteed to be “premium” sections.
- WordPress and Jetpack are starting to resemble the Mircosoft and Internet Explorer controversy because their one-click installations of WordPress at HostGator.com and Dreamhost.com come packaged with Jetpack and Akismet but exclude all other non-Automattic plugins.
So for now, we will not be hosting the Jetpack plugin and instead supporting the individual coders that meet our specific needs. We will see what comes of Jetpack, if they get rid of the bloating, the performance and WordPress.com account issues, and ever cross that “free” line.
FREE STUFF : Battery Pack Icons
This week, we have some custom-made battery pack icons. Specifically made for a youth ministry’s volunteer training on being spiritual full. Use it, rework it, just do not resell it.
Battery Pack Icons (ZIP file, 209KB)
3 Top Blogs of March 2011
I am an avid reader of several blogs, but every month, it seems that some of them hit their content a little better than everyone else. Here are a couple of my favorites from last month.
OrangeParents.org
The last year and half of youth ministry has been dedicated to empowering, equipping, and encouraging the community of people around students of our youth group and Think Orange has some amazing resources. One of them is this daily blog specifically made to impact parents (and is a perfect ministry tool!). I’ve forwarded, printed, and used many of their posts for our leaders.
DougFields.com
While not new to the youth ministry (he is one of the superstars!), he is new to the blogging sphere this year and yet has come out with such great quality material that I am daily visiting his website and regularly commenting on articles. If you love his books, you will love his blog posts.
Tutorial 9
For all of you professional and amateur graphic and web designers out there, this is a great collection of tutorials to skim through for creative ideas and useful tools.
FREE STUFF : Custom Social Media Pack
This week, we have some custom-made social media buttons in several colors. These images are perfect for web designs, but can obviously be used for any projects that you have. Provided in the zipped file are the original Photoshop file as well as individual images ready-to-use in yellow, red, and green.
Social Media Pack (ZIP file, 815KB)
Struggling with Scripture : Genesis 32:24-28
I was raised my entire life with the fact that God knew what was write for my life and I was suppose to follow that. When younger, my parents would discern what was correct and tell me. As a teenager, I fought a lot of what my parents said only to find out in college that they were actually geniuses. In college, I started to look to my future of what was going to happen: who will I marry, what will I do as a career, what is my purpose. One night my senior year, struggling with these decisions, I told God to break me and lead my path completely. I humbled myself to whatever He wanted from me, unsure of the unknown, and struggled with God to show me the way.
Jacob’s Struggle With God
Genesis 32:22-32 is the famous Biblical story of Jacob, son of Issac who was coming home after being away for twenty years. Genesis tells us that when Jacob had been left alone, “a man wrestled with him until the break of day.” Jacob, it is said, wrestled with God through the night, refusing to let go, even when he had been wounded, holding on until he had received a blessing. This seemed to go against everything I believed. Wrestling with God? Can we do that?
How bold! How dangerous! Jacob held on to God until he received God’s blessing, but he did not leave unscathed. For the rest of his life, that hip would be a reminder of who was in control of his life. Yet his blessing was transformational both in name (from Jacob to Israel) as well as in purpose (from second heir to his brother to God’s nation that will come from his family).
Struggle With God Yourself
I see Jacob wanting more to his life and know God could lead him, so he wrestled with God. But Jacob is not the only one. Abraham laughed at God (Genesis 17:17), Moses argued with God (Exodus 4:1), David yelled at God (Psalm 88), Peter fought God every step of the way (Matthew 16:22-23), and for Paul it took a miracle for him to see the authority of Christ. (Acts 9:5-9)
Today we often find ourselves in Jacob’s position. We are troubled with worries and anxieties; our future is unsure at best, and we desperately seek God’s blessing and deliverance. When I asked for God to break me, mold me into His image, and lead me, I was blessed beyond belief. Yet, I also have a permanent reminder of the power of God and how He always has control of my life.
So, be cautious in asking God to break you. It WILL HURT, but it could be the greatest think you ever do.