The issue only affects users running WordPress’ new “multi-site” mode (the replacement for WPMU), which may result in “page not found” errors when loading OIO’s javascript or click tracking features. If you have noticed any such problems after activating multi-site mode, it is recommended that you upgrade to the latest code.

A full changelog is available here.

As always, please remember to back-up your database before upgrading.

The module will allow you to manage all one-off / subscription purchases with AlertPay automatically (in the same way that the existing PayPal module does). If you have any problems with it, let me know on the forum and I’ll help you out.

Solution: upgrade to v2.26. The standard upgrade procedure is to simply upload the new files over the top of the old ones. A step-by-step upgrade tutorial is also available here.

What it does: this update will stop OIO from hanging if 3rd party web services are inaccessible. It also adds the ability to turn off geo-targeting completely.

Please report any issues in the forum. As always, a full changelog is available by clicking here.

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Customised Installs: for those users who have template customisations, you shouldn’t need to over-write any of the templates. At the very least, you will need to overwrite the following files:

* the entire “admin” directory
* the entire “modules/demographics” directory
* the functions.php, install.php, upgrade.php files in the “include” directory
* all php files in the main OIO directory (eg. oiopub-direct/admin.php)

If you encounter any problems with updating the minimum number of files, you should try over-writing all files (in case you have an older install that requires a complete upgrade). You can leave the “templates” directory until last, since it is the least likely to require updating.

I’m currently in the process of building a library of re-usable components that will deal with most of the laborious tasks automatically (the backbone of the opensource framework upon which OIO will be built). I did at one point consider using an existing library (Zend Framework, Kohana etc), but as many have found before me it’s not quite the same as doing it yourself.

As a quick example, I’ve most recently been working on an email component, in order to handle different protocols (SMTP, POP3, IMAP) and send / receive mail in any language automatically. Each component can be used independently of others, so as to make them usable in any development situation, but is kept as lightweight as possible.

Once I’ve constructed the final few generic components, I’ll be able to use them to develop the first prototype of OIO v3. As I mentioned previously, I won’t give any timeframes until I can tell you something accurate; otherwise it’s just a guess on my part.

The main features are:

1.) Integrate a standalone installation of OIO with any WordPress / WPMU blog (if you’ve got OIO installed as a WordPress plugin, you can ignore this feature).

2.) Type a placeholder such as [% oiopub-banner-1-left %] into any of your WordPress posts and it will automatically be converted into an OIO ad zone. The example would output banner zone 1 on the left of your post.

3.) Put an ad zone into your RSS feed.

For more information and to download the “addons” plugin, click here.

After a bit of searching, I found the following comment by a paypal developer:

Apologies for any inconvenience this issue with IPN may have caused you. We are aware of the issue and working it as high priority, to get it resolved as soon as possible.

As a workaround, if you use port 443, rather than port 80, IPN will work.

Once resolved, we will update any threads created for this issue, so that everyone is aware. Thanks for your continued patience!

I therefore did as suggested and added the option to use port 443 (if the server supports it) instead of port 80, which did indeed fix the problem. I’ve also added the same code to the OIO paypal module, since port 443 seems to be the recommended default now.

There’s no urgent need to upgrade, unless this problem persists for a while.

So, if you’re experiencing any problems with paypal IPNs today, now you know why!

>> http://v3.oiopublisher.com/spec/v3-spec-1st-draft/

Up until now, there was no way to accomplish this, since the output functions just used whatever was set in the admin. Whilst this type of thing will be fully resolved in v3, I thought I’d put together some alternative output functions for v2 that could do the same thing.

I haven’t yet released it as part of the official download, since the output is fundamental to everyone who uses OIO and so any bugs could cause quite a few problems for people upgrading. Instead, I’ve released it as a separate package that you can upload, which will over-write the default functions:

>> http://forum.oiopublisher.com/discussion/796/manipulating-ad-zone-output/

The link above contains all the information you should need on how to install and use these new output options. It supports both php and javascript, and won’t affect any of your current ad zones using the old output method.

(1) One-click WordPress theme integration – you can now use your WordPress theme with OIO more easily. You can find out more information about it here, as well as a short tutorial on how to use this feature (and what to do i your theme doesn’t look quite right initially).

(2) Use decimals in your pricing – up until now you’ve only been able to use whole numbers when pricing your ads. Now you can set your price to whatever you’d like (eg. $9.95).

How to upgrade

The standard upgrade tutorial applies. If you’ve customised any of the template files, the only one to change since the release of v2.20 is the “templates/core/main.tpl” file.

How’s v3 coming?

Since I get asked this quite a bit, the answer is it’s coming along slowly but surely. I’ll be releasing a spec shortly, including as many of your ideas as possible, so you can see what it will end up like. Remember, there’s still time to submit your own ideas!

>> Rather than try and explain it in words, check out the image below (click it to view full size).

If you want to try it out for yourself, simply download the latest code and over-write all your existing OIO files. There’s no version number change yet, as I’m testing it out with the early adopters first.

PS. the ‘templates/core/main.tpl’ file has changed for this.