Embedder Plugin v1.0 Posted – Groups and Import/Export

I have just finished uploading a brand-spanking new version of the Embedder Plugin—version 1.0.

Given the major new functions added to the plugin this time around—embed groups and the ability to export and import your embeds—I thought it was a good time to bump the plugin up to a new major version. Here is an overview of the new features:

Embed Groups

One of the things I was beginning to realize about creating lots of global embeds was that it was beginning to get a little cumbersome to manage them all. For example, one of the things I want to do is create a set of quicktag embeds—tags like , , [quote], [color] etc. that I can provide to commenters as an alternative to the limited HTML tags that are allowed (for security reasons).

But creating a bunch of tags like that would leave them all jumbled up with the other embeds I am using, like the one for the Embedder logo above, and the Twitter and Facebook buttons, etc.

Hence groups were born. With this version, you can place your embeds into different groups according their use (or in anyway you want, really). So I can now create a group for all my quicktag embeds and keep them separate from all the other embeds. Things should be much easier to manage with groups if you have created more a few global embeds.

All your existing embeds will be placed in the Default group, but once you have created another group, you can move the embeds by editing them individually and selecting the new group from the list provided.

I also have added some housekeeping features to the groups:

• Expand / collapse all groups or individually
• Rename a group
• Delete a group (the embeds are not deleted, they are moved to the Default group)
• Enabled / disable all embeds in the group
• Export all embeds in the group

Groups are provided purely to help you manage your global embeds. They serve no purpose when you are actually using the embeds in your blog.

Export / Import Embeds

The other major new feature is the ability to export and import embeds. This allows you to make quick backups of your embeds (though if you are backing up your blog’s database regularly this should not be necessary), but more importantly, it allows you to export and share embeds with others, and import embeds that others have created.

Thus, the next time I create a new example, instead of having to explain every single step to recreate the embed yourself, I can simply export the embed and put in the post for you to copy. Much easier all round, I think!