Fun Facts
Adds a sidebar widget that display interesting, useless, weird and wonderful random fun facts.
Download
Download the plugin here: [download#9#size#nohits]
Installation
- To install the plug-in:
- Unpack the *.zip file and extract the /fun-facts/ folder and the files
- Using an FTP program, upload the full /fun-facts/ folder to your WordPress plugins directory (Example: /wp-content/plugins)
- Go to Plugins > Installed and activate the plugin.
- To add the widget:
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Go to Appearance > Widgets, add the widget to the sidebar of your choice and save.
- To use the shortcode:
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Simply add [fun-facts] to your posts or your pages.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I add my own fun facts?
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There is an easy interface built in the plugin to add your own fun facts. Go to Settings > Fun Facts to do that. Add one fun fact per line without HTML code. HTML encoded characters are OK.
- Is the plugin compatible with versions of WordPress ealier to 2.8?
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No. Because of the new widget implementation, you need to use WordPress 2.8 or later. If you are using an earlier version of WordPress, you can try using Fun Facts version 1.0 but, really, you should upgrade.
- How can I support this plugin?
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If you enjoy this plugin and would like to help with the development, please consider donating. Otherwise, spread the word, report bugs and give this plugin a good rating.
- How do I report a bug?
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If you find any bugs with the plugin or if you have any suggestions, please leave a comment to let me know.
Version history
The current version of the plugin is 2.0
The plugin requires WordPress to be at least version 2.8
The plugin has been tested with wordpress version up to 2.8.2
- 2.0
- Compatibility check with WordPress 2.8.2
- New [fun-facts] shortcode
- New WordPress 2.8 widget structure
- 1.0
- Initial release
- To do
- Add localization.
- Add code to allow the widget to be inserted anywhere in a template or a page.
June 19th, 2009 at 8:11 am
Works great, thank you
July 2nd, 2009 at 10:27 am
Hi.
I have added funfacts to my wordpress site
about two thirds down the side panel (right hand side)
but it just doesn’t want to display anything.
Any ideas. Much appreciated.
Pete B
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:28 pm
@Pete:
It look like the database query doesn’t return anything. I will contact you by email to help you resolve the problem.
July 27th, 2009 at 10:06 am
I am having the same problem. I added funfacts but it doesn’t display anything.
July 28th, 2009 at 11:49 am
I have add fun facts to my wordpress site but it doesnt’ display anything. Any ideas? Thanks
July 28th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
@Sandi:
I can’t access your website. I will follow up with you by email.
@Steve Gentry:
It look like another database problem. I will contact you by email to help you resolve the problem.
July 31st, 2009 at 1:34 am
Hi, i like those little Widgets …
but on my page, it doesn’t work.
The Widget appears, but no Facts … ?
do i have to configure something?
Thanks for help …
Malki
August 8th, 2009 at 1:52 am
Plugin stopped working in WordPress Version 2.8.3.
It just doesn’t display any facts. Just disappeared.
Please fix it.
August 11th, 2009 at 6:38 am
Looks like I am in the same situation as above. Can you help?
August 18th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
@Malki:
You shouldn’t have anything to configure. I will contact you by email to help you resolve the problem.
@Veiko:
That may be due to the way you updated WordPress. I will contact you by email to help you resolve the problem.
@Terry:
I will contact you by email to help you resolve the problem.
August 18th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
Is there any way to display the fun facts without having to put it in the sidebar or use [fun-facts]?
August 18th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
@Donald:
Not at the moment but I could add that to the plugin. What did you had in mind?
August 20th, 2009 at 5:41 am
Maybe something along the lines of manually inserting a function into the source code that calls the plugin. Wherever the function is placed in the source code would determine where the plugin displays.
August 21st, 2009 at 12:46 am
@Donald:
That’s a good idea. I’ll add that in a future version.
August 27th, 2009 at 9:52 am
Looks like I am in the same boat. Got installed, won’t list any facts. If you got that fix handy to send out again, send it my way too please. 🙂
September 22nd, 2009 at 4:08 pm
We tried your plugin, but each time we put a fun fact in and click save, the form blanks out and deletes all of our fun facts.
We are running the lates version of wordpress with the Bluelight theme.
September 27th, 2009 at 9:32 am
add widget but doesnt display anything on the webiste.
September 29th, 2009 at 10:18 am
Hi — I’ve installed the plugin but each time I enter a list of fun facts, and click “save changes” the fun facts all disappear. So I can’t get the fun facts to actually appear anywhere.
September 29th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
By the way — I’ll be happy to make a donation, but the plugin has to actually work in our environment first 🙂
October 2nd, 2009 at 10:05 am
Please help…:(
October 21st, 2009 at 6:15 pm
This little widget is just what I was looking for. I have no idea on how to make this work on my website. Can you email me the code and I can cut and paste it in the website admin. space?
Thank you,
Matt
November 8th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
Please please add a manual code that I can just paste into the sidebar. I love the plugin but am running into HELL trying to configure my .css and the plugin to display the title and format the text appropriately.
November 8th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
@Steve:
I’ll add the manual code to the todo list 🙂
December 5th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
I can’t download this plugin.
Error 404 – Not Found
Sorry, the page that you are looking for does not exist.
December 5th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
@Web design Reenata:
Thank you very much for pointing that out. It’s fixed now.
January 5th, 2010 at 7:32 pm
Love your fun facts plugin, one question though, do you have options of having the link back to your site removed in case external links aren’t allowed?
February 12th, 2010 at 11:14 am
Is there a way in which you can refresh the fun facts widget without refreshing the entire page? This would be a nice feature to have a link “another fact” or something along those lines. Just a thought.
March 5th, 2010 at 6:49 pm
is it possible to display all facts on a page?
March 7th, 2010 at 10:06 pm
Hi Joe,
First off – love the plug-in. Best one out there for random facts. Thanks.
A couple of questions. How can I eliminate there being a blank space in the random sequencing of the facts? Every so often, when hitting refresh, there is a blank space with no fact. I have deleted all spaces before the first fact and after the last.
Second, is there a way to get the facts to go in order instead of randomly? There are a few facts that come up a lot more than others.
Thanks.
July 26th, 2010 at 9:35 am
Hi Joe!
Nice plugin. There’s a bug, however. Your randomization code finds an ID between 0 and number_of_facts-1. That means that when I have 3 facts, 1/3 of the time it shows no fact (because there is no record with id 0), and my third fact never shows (because the range is 0-2, instead of 1-3).
Thanks! Good luck!
Cale
September 10th, 2010 at 10:05 am
Hi Joe,
no Fun Facts seen there. When I want to add a Fun Fact it disappears when saving. What’s wrong?
Thanks
Robert
March 29th, 2011 at 12:48 pm
Hi, I just customized a few fun facts and now they’re not returning anything at all. Is this a user issue, or have you heard of anyone else having this problem? I replaced the default set with 3 custom lines, all were saved, but the widget shows up blank on the site now.
Thanks for any help here!
-Joe
May 13th, 2011 at 9:02 am
Hi Joe,
Love the plugin and use it on 2 sites (the one above and http://DirtyLittleBlog.com). I have the weird question of the day for you: on the fishing site, I have replaced the Fun Facts with Fishing Quotes and it stays that way for a while but then Fun Facts get added without me knowingly updating the plugin. Is there anyway to stop that from happening so I can just keep the quotes?
Thanks,
Dori