function getCategoryAncestor($cat,$index=0){

$parentCatList = get_category_parents($cat,false,',');
$parentCatListArray = @split(",",$parentCatList);
$topParentName = $parentCatListArray[$index];
$charReplace = array(" " => "-", "(" => "", ")" => "");
$topParentSlug = strtolower(strtr($topParentName,$charReplace));
$catAncestor['ancestor'] = $topParentName;
$catAncestor['ancestor_slug'] = $topParentSlug;
return $catAncestor;

}

// How to use :
// if you have this category (by term ID) structure : 1 > 2 > 3
// to get ancestor of a category ID 3

$ancestors = getCategoryAncestor(3);

// to get parent of a category ID 3

$ancestors = getCategoryAncestor(3,1);

I know this code is premature, it’s only works when you didn’t modify the category slug. But at least it is working in almost all my projects :p.

According to codex.wordpress.org:

Actions: Actions are the hooks that the WordPress core launches at specific points during execution, or when specific events occur. Your plugin can specify that one or more of its PHP functions are executed at these points, using the Action API.

You can find more complete explanation about this hooks in http://codex.wordpress.org/Plugin_API and right now I only give simple example to create custom hook that would give us benefit if we want to build wordpress plugin.

1. Initialize Our Hook

You can put this code in any of your plugin files

function my_first_hook(){
// initialize hook
do_action('my_act_first_hook');
}

2. Adding Action

function my_first_action(){
echo 'This is my first hook';
}
add_action('my_act_first_hook','my_first_action',5);

remember : ’5′ at the end of the add_action is priority. 5 mean lower than 4 to execute and the default value is 10

3. Execute it

Now, we only need to call our function from the first Step in every your php files

my_first_hook();

This function will produce

This is my first hook

That’s all we’re finish. “Really? how about if I want to append other text to my hook?”. All you need is only create another function and call it via add_action. Here it is how to do this :

function append_another_text(){
echo '. Append new text';
}
add_action('my_act_first_hook','append_another_text',6);

Code above will produce

This is my first hook. Append new text

See the ’6′? change it to lower number than 5 and your text will appear before the original one. “Cool, But how about if I want to pass argument into this hook?”. Good question, all you need is only change your code a bit. here it is

function my_first_hook($arg){
do_action('my_act_first_hook',$arg);
}
function my_first_action($arg){
echo 'This is my first hook with '.$arg;
}
add_action('my_act_first_hook','my_first_action',5,1);

and call it to your php files

my_first_hook('Argument');

And the code above should produce

This is my first hook with Argument

Not too complicated right?.

“How about if i want to completely remove the original text and change it with the new one?”.

There is also answer about that one. You only need to call remove_action. Here it is how to do this.

1. Remove previous action

function remove_text(){
	remove_action('my_act_first_hook','my_first_action');
}
add_action('init','remove_text');

2. Create your new brand new function

function brand_new_text_action(){
echo 'Brand new text';
}
add_action('my_act_first_hook','brand_new_text_action');

That’s it, want to see real action in form of plugin? you can download it here Action Hook in Action | size : 4.75 kB

Thank You, hope this article is usefull for us

Installation

The plugin is simple to use:

1. Download `rh-ym-status.zip` you can download here RH Yahoo! Messenger Status WP Plugin | size : 66.22 kB
2. Unzip
3. Upload `rh-ym-status` directory to your `/wp-content/plugins` directory
4. Enable the plugin via plugin managament page
5. Go to widget area and fill your Yahoo Name(s) and Yahoo ID(s) to show your Yahoo! Messenger status in widget area

Screen Shot

Download

For bugs reporting, please send your email to wp.plugins@ronggur.com. And feel free to leave any comments
Thanks!

1. Get Page ID by name, slug or title

<?php
function rh_get_page_id($name)
{
global $wpdb;
// get page id using custom query
$page_id = $wpdb->get_var("SELECT ID FROM $wpdb->posts WHERE ( post_name = '".$name."' or post_title = '".$name."' ) and post_status = 'publish' and post_type='page' ");
return $page_id;
}
?>

2. Get Page Permalink by name, slug or title

<?php
function rh_get_page_permalink($name)
{
$page_id = rh_get_pageid($name);
return get_permalink($page_id);
}
?>

3. How To Use

<?php
// get by title
echo rh_get_page_permalink('Your Page Name');
// get by name or slug
echo rh_get_page_permalink('your-page-name');
?>

Enjoy.. I hope it useful and works for you

WordPress Theme : January, 2 columns theme with widget ready on sidebar

Here is my first wordpress theme for public. I named it January. This theme is 2 columns layout theme with widget ready on sidebar. This design is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/.

Right now the demo page is unvailable but i’ll try to create it as soon as possible. I release this theme with ‘menu.psd’ to create menu manually.

Please send me email if there’s bug to me[at]ronggur.com. Thank you and have fun

Thank’ to P.J. Onori, I use his bitcons for january theme

Download link : WordPress Theme January (294)

*/update January 08, 2009 – 11.11 PM GMT+7 : i added some classes for wp calendar. Thank’s to ariawan for correcting me. you can donwload style sheet directory here Update style wordpress theme : January (266). After you download it, please replace the style directory inside january theme directory.

*/update January 07, 2009 – 3.07 PM GMT+7 : now i give link to the plain html. But it is only the homepage click here to find out

*/update January 07, 2009 GMT+7 : For you who downloaded this theme before January 7 2009, please delete below css code in style.css

.aligncenter {
display: block;
margin-left: auto;
margin-right: auto;
}

.alignleft {
float: left;
}

.alignright {
float: right;
}

or place it after

@import url('styles/reset.css');
@import url('styles/text.css');
@import url('styles/default.css');

Somehow it makes the styles didn’t work. Sorry my mistake.