Protected Post Personalizer

Wow! My very first WordPress plugin! I hope you’re all very proud of me, but I’m sure that you’re more interested in knowing the way it works. That’s probably why you came here in the first place.

Brief Description: Customize the display of private and password-protected posts: titles, previews, and password forms.

Well, it sounds easy enough. Matter of fact, it is quite easy—but don’t let anyone else know, ok? I enjoy spelling it out…

What It Does

In WordPress, you can require a password for any blog post you want. Readers can’t see the whole article unless they enter the password. This is quite convenient since you don’t always want to share everything with everyone. The system is excellent—and this plugin doesn’t alter the way these passwords are handled. What it does is change the way they’re shown.

It can change what appears in the title, it can change what (if any) part of such a post will be shown without a password, and it can change the look of the password form itself. Or, optionally, leave everything as it is. If you install and activate it, then forget it, nothing changes. Pretty much as straightforward as promised.

Why It’s Used

The problem I had with my protected posts is… well, to use an analogy, they come dressed as a secret service agent. They say, “This post is protected. A password is required. Submit your password to view (sir).” This can come off as a little stiff, a little impersonal. I’m sure his authority must be scare off would-be guessers, people who shouldn’t be trying to crack it. Of course… people like me want them to guess. This plugin gives the option to be more playful, more personal, more special.

You may now become quizmaster of your own charming little trivia-verse. You may pose as Gollum and Bilbo trading riddles in the dark. You may ask these questions three if you favor Monty Python’s The Holy Grail.

If you’re concerned that your blog’s stodginess might put people off, it’s no longer a concern. Use passwords in your posts knowing they’ll look good.

Future Features

These are possibilities. Please let me know if you have anything to add, or if you’d really like to see these. They are only ideas, after all.

  • suffixes, after the post title
  • replace the post title altogether
  • don’t hide the letters in the password field
  • include customization for the web page’s <title>
  • enable custom message for pages (pages have no excerpt)
  • redirection to another page, such as a special place to request the password
  • the ability to log out of a password-protected post (suggested in the WordPress ideas forum)

Download

download from WordPress plugins directory
Current version is 0.6, updated January 18th, 2009.

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