Thesis OpenHook, a Plugin for WordPress and Thesis

So you’ve taken the plunge and have joined some of the world’s best bloggers in enjoying the Thesis Theme for WordPress. Good on ya!

And if you’re like most of those bloggers, you’re not going to be content with a vanilla installation; you’re going to want to add your own touches, drop in your favorite plugins, and plenty more. Excellent! That is where OpenHook comes into play.

What is OpenHook? In short, OpenHook is a WordPress plugin; in other words, if you’ve installed and activated WordPress plugins in the past, OpenHook shouldn’t be a challenge.

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The longer, more relevant explanation is that OpenHook provides a bridge between you & the inner workings of Thesis. What do I mean by that? Check this:

Most WordPress themes require you to edit the actual theme files — or create child themes — to customize your site. That’s a hassle, especially when it comes to upgrading.

Thesis simplifies the task of customization by trimming the process down to just one file, custom_functions.php, which we’ve all grown to know and love. However, even that requires several steps, including manipulating the file and somehow uploading it back to your server. What a pain!

Want to see OpenHook in action? Check out Greg Rickaby’s introductory video:

Features

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  • Complete access to all of Thesis’ hooks, within which can be added your own XHTML, PHP, or JavaScript.

  • Access to two standard WordPress hooks (wp_head() and wp_footer()).

  • Ability to remove many actions added by default to the hooks — either to just get rid of ‘em or to move ‘em elsewhere.

  • Ability to easily add a few elements to your site, including debug information in the footer.

  • Advanced: Directly modify the custom.css and custom_functions.php from within your administration panel. No more file transfer hassles!

Requirements

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The basic features require requirements are pretty obvious: a WordPress installation (version 2.7 or newer) which is using the Thesis theme (version 1.5 or newer).

The advanced features — namely the editing of custom.css and custom_functions.php — require that those files be writable by the server. While on some servers you may not have to do anything for file editing to work, on others you may need to change the permissions of these files to “666″ (or “0666″) so that the server can modify them.

Installation

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OpenHook is available from the WordPress plugin repository, and so can be installed automatically from within your blog’s administration panel.

If you must do or just prefer the manual method, OpenHook is installed just like any other WordPress plugin.

Download

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Dreamhost: Web hosting as low as $5.95/month

Thesis OpenHook 2.2.2
{ OpenHook in the WordPress Plugin Directory }

Past Versions

These are provided for interest only; I don’t recommend using them, nor will I knowingly give support for outdated versions.

Support

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For OpenHook support issues, hop on over to the OpenHook support forum.

If you’re already a member of the DIYthemes support board, you are welcome to get support via that board’s OpenHook forum.

Sponsors

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OpenHook development has been supported by the following generous individuals:

intersected Claude Betancourt on Twitter

If you would like to support Thesis development, you may do so in one of two ways. The simplest way would be a monetary donation via PayPal:

 

Or you can buy me something directly from my wish list, thereby saving me the trouble!

Dreamhost: Just like you. Only with much bigger pipes.

Thesis Theme: A pure, simple framework that taps into the hidden power of WordPress and takes customization and flexibility to a new level.

Changes

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  • 2.2.2: Adding content to the wp_footer hook block actually works now. Thanks, Illustrata
  • 2.2.1: Very minor bug fix: Removed option to remove thesis_admin_link() so that it can be used elsewhere; this function is no longer added via a hook in Thesis 1.5, so the OpenHook option essentially did nothing. There’s nothing to gain by upgrading other than a slightly cleaner “Footer” section on the main OpenHook page. ;)
  • 2.2:
    • New hooks: wp_head, thesis_hook_comment_field, and wp_footer!
    • Separation of stylesheet editing to its own page.
    • Addition of custom functions file editing, also on its own page.
    • Major internationalization improvements
    • Jump box added to quickly navigate to any of the dozens of hooks
    • Option to include an invisible, nofollowed Project Honey Pot link in the footer area to help in the war against spammers.
    • …and probably more that I can’t even remember!
  • 2.1: Added two new hooks: thesis_hook_before_content_area and thesis_hook_after_content_area.
  • 2.0.2:
    • Added ability to customize the save button text.
    • Added a bit more explanatory text on the OpenHook panel in the top area.
    • Fixed a bug with the “404 Title” hook that prevented slashes from being stripped properly. Thanks, Justin Thomas.
  • 2.0.1: Fixed a bug with the “After Header” checkbox for PHP usage thanks to Alec Wild
  • 2.0:
    • Reorganization of just about all of the under-the-hood code.
    • More robust stylesheet editing — should work for more people now.
    • Complete stylistic redesign to match other WordPress admin panels.
    • Save buttons added liberally throughout the page.
    • Added support for the latest Thesis hooks.
  • 1.1:
    • Debug info bugfix thanks to firstdayblack
    • Simple custom/custom.css editing from within the OpenHook panel
  • 1.0: Renamed from 0.2 to mark inclusion in the WordPress plugin directory!
  • 0.2:
    • Some code reorganization
    • Added options to easily remove Thesis’ default actions
    • Add some explanatory text to some hooks
  • 0.1: Initial release

Thesis OpenHook is released under the GPL and was both inspired and based upon K2 Hook Up.