If you’re using the Simple Tags plugin, you might be holding off on upgrading to WordPress 2.9.1 because this plugin is only Compatible up to: 2.8.

Well, turns out the plugin does actually seem to work with WP 2.9.x — but you have to make a quick edit to the plugin file itself. Now, normally i’m not a fan of hacking plugin files to get things working because your changes would be lost with each new release. But, in this case, i figured that when the author does decide to release an update, i would be ok with losing these changes because they would no longer be necessary anyway.

Note: if you’re not comfortable editing plugin files directly (although this edit is really easy), then maybe you should wait until the author releases an official update. Otherwise, i’ve included the bit of code here for reference.

To get Simple Tags working with WP 2.9+

1) Open simple-tags.php and find the line:

if ( strpos($wp_version, '2.7') !== false || strpos($wp_version, '2.8') !== false ) {

2) Change that to:

if ( strpos($wp_version, '2.7') !== false || strpos($wp_version, '2.8') !== false || strpos($wp_version, '2.9') !== false ) {

That’s right, it’s just a matter of adding the additional condition which allows WP version 2.9 to work.

As always, be sure to backup and test this fix on your own site before going live.

This fix was found / documented here:
- http://www.wordpress-fr.net/support/viewtopic.php?pid=173448#p173448
- http://www.herewithme.fr/simple-tags-et-wordpress-2-8#comment-34072

Some notes:

Amazon Associate Filter – nothing happens

Amazon Book Picture from ASIN – just creates images from ASIN , uses shortcodes

Amazon Carousel(*) – flash, uses shortcodes, cool, lots of options, easy to use

Amazon Context Links Ads – does nothing

Amazon Machine Tags – complicated, uses shortcodes, requires an AWS key

Amazon MP3 Clips widget(*) – cool, flash 9.0.45 or above required, shortcodes, lots of options

Amazon Niche Store(*) – shortcodes, lots of options, 10% of the time is plugin author’s Amazon affiliate ID, plugin author linkback, widget included

Amazon Product Ads(*) – widget only, displays 1 item only, self-optimizing (auto) setting

Amazon Reloaded for WordPress – adds setting to post page but ajax not working

Amazon Search – not working, error: MissingParameter / Signature, widget and shortcode links only

Amazon Showcase – Access Identifiers required (AWS keys?)

AmazonSimpleAdmin – Access Identifiers required (AWS keys?)

Amazon SmartLinks Widget – many widget, working pretty well, looks nice

Amazon Widgets Shortcodes(*) – cool, lots of shortcodes, adds section to post page, conflicts with Amazon Niche Store plugin resulting in no output, must know exact widget ID

Keral Patel Amazon WordPress Plugin – requires an amazon web services access key

(*) i liked, but needs further testing

Gigs Calendar (v0.4.6)
- issues with timestamps posted to the future (but not with filter turned on)
- no multi-day events
- post created automatically

GigPress (v1.4.9)
- lots of setting (maybe too many)

Events Manager (v2.0rc2)
- not creating “real” WP posts (with post IDs)
- all event posts are on same page (eg: domain.com/events?events_id=1)

Events Calendar (v6.5.2.1)
- simple / good
- fills in actual post content

Events (v2.1.1)
- not creating “real” WP posts (with post IDs)

Event Calendar (v3.1.4)
- just adds dates and times to the edit posts screen

Calendar (v1.2.2)
- buggy (widget seems broken)
- not creating “real” WP posts (with post IDs)

Keep in mind, i’ve only tested these specific versions of each plugin. So, newer versions might include significant improvements over previous versions. Also, don’t take my word for it.. test them all out for yourself ;)