“I am reading” is an easily configurable WordPress plugin to display the book you are currently reading in a sidebar widget or in your template. The book information is read from “Amazon Web Services” (AWS) and gets cached in the database.
For the second time already, “I am reading” has been abandoned by its author(s) and disappeared from the web and the WordPress repository. So, once again, I re-uploaded it under the name of “I am reading (continued)”. I’m not going to really develop the plugin, but I will at least try to keep it alive in its current state.
Download:
The latest version of the plugin is always available here.
Some features:
- Search for your current read book by title and/or author
- Search for your current read book by ISBN
- Easy setup of fonts and colors with live preview
- Ready for Codestyling Localization plugin
Installation:
- Unzip into your
/wp-content/plugins/directory. If you’re uploading it manually, make sure to upload the top-level folder. Do not just upload all the PHP files and put them in/wp-content/plugins/. - Activate the plugin through the “Plugins” menu in WordPress.
- Type in your Amazon Access Key ID and Secret Access Key or register for free first.
Frequently Asked Questions:
- What are the Amazon Web Services, and do I have to pay for them?
You need to be a registered member of the Amazon Web Services to send search requests to Amazon. This is a 100% free service providing product information about books and more. You won’t have to pay for it. - Can I use the plugin without a sidebar widget?
Yes, you can. Just use the shortcode [i-am-reading] to display your current read book in posts, pages or wherever you like, or insert the following PHP code into your template:
if(function_exists('iar_print_html')) { iar_print_html(); }
11 responses to “I am reading (continued)”
[…] Ich entschuldige mich für dieses kleine Chaos, aber so ist es für die Zukunft definitiv besser. Update: Weitere Informationen zum Plugin gibt es hier. […]
I love this plugin– my only question is how hard would it be to combine with this plugin: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/nook-widget/
I think this would be a very dynamic plugin if the user could have the option to choose which eReader they have and the background gets displayed, etc.
Hi,
as I wrote, I wasn’t actually planning on developing this plugin. I was just trying to save it from oblivion. ;) Anyhow, I can imagine ways to make your idea possible. I might fiddle around with it in the near future. However, be patient with me, since I don’t have that much time to work on this plugin. :)
Hi Ginchen,
thx for investing time into this plugin.
Unfortunately I found some bugs in version 1.0.0
(1) error instead of the widget display :-(
Warning: include(/home/wp-content/plugins/i-am-reading/themes/default/default.php) [function.include]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/wp-content/plugins/i-am-reading-continued/includes/class.iAmReading.php on line 340
Looks like a slight bug in class.iAmReading.php in public function __construct():
Instead of
$this->plugin_dir = WP_PLUGIN_DIR . '/i-am-reading';it should be$this->plugin_dir = WP_PLUGIN_DIR . '/i-am-reading-continued';(2) a typo in the German language: Fordergrundfarbe
(3) I can’t change the display settings (color picker) in the backend – can’t figure out exactly what goes wrong on the page but it affects other WP functionalities as well (e.g. I can’t logout when on the iar backend page)
(4) wp-content/plugins/i-am-reading//admin/images/menu-icon.png is missing as the correct directory is i-am-reading-continued
Seems I found the solution for (3a) and (4):
in i-am-reading.php, line 47
define('IAR_PLUGIN_URL', WP_PLUGIN_URL.'/i-am-reading/');should be
define('IAR_PLUGIN_URL', WP_PLUGIN_URL.'/i-am-reading-continued/');But logout is still not possible as the menu simply doesn’t fold out (FF6)
Darn, seems I was too quick uploading the thing. I obviously forgot to rename a few things … :D Thanks a lot for your corrections!!! I’ll upload them as soon as possible.
As for the IAR backend page, I’m having problems there, too. Don’t know exactly where they come from either – they were already there in the original version. Couldn’t figure that one out yet.
Hi, I’m interested in using this on my WordPress blog and I keep seeing everywhere that it’s free to use through AWS however when I sign up for an account, they ask for a credit card.
Is this normal?
Thanks.
Sorry it took me so long to respond, but I’ve been really busy lately … :/
The credit card thing is rather new. When I applied for my own API key (back when “I am reading” was written) they didn’t ask for that yet. I don’t know why they do now, but I think you don’t have to worry. I’m very sure that the things this plugin does are free and you would never be charged. But I can’t promise 100%.
The standard API calls that this plugin makes should be absolutely free of charge. However, I couldn’t find a clear, exact statement about this on the Amazon websites. I’ll keep searching …
Hallo Ginchen,
ich benutze dein Plugin schon eine ganze Weile (ich bin begeistert!) und bis vor kurzem funktionierte es auch ganz wunderbar. Leider seit kurzem nicht mehr: Ich bekomme einfach keine Suchergebnisse mehr angezeigt, weder wenn ich nach ISBN suche noch nach Autor und/oder Titel. Selbst Bücher die ich darüber schon einmal gefunden habe, erscheinen nicht als Ergebnis. Ich habe meine Amazon Keys überprüft und das Plugin einmal gelöscht und wieder neu installiert. Ich weiß, so eine Ferndiagnose ist schwer, aber vielleicht hast du ja trotzdem einen heißen Tipp für mich. Würde mich freuen. Ich benutze übrigens WP 3.2.1 und dein Plugin hat mit der Version auch schon funktioniert.
Vielen Dank schonmal vorab
LG Rosa
Hi,
I’ve been using this for some time and it’s been working fine. But now isuddenly it won’t search for books. i haven’t changes any setting or anything so I’m confused. I tried re-uploading the thing but it didn’t help.