The Mochi Publisher program allows you to post games automatically to your website but to do so the developer should have minimal knowledge of PHP. In this tutorial I will show you how you can add this feature to your wordpress arcade website.

Overview of auto post feature

The Auto Post feature allows you to add a game to your site with a single click. By implementing our API on your site, you’ll be able to browse the Mochi Game Distribution catalog of games and click “add to my site”. This will send all the important game data via the API to your url, where you can store and display the game automatically. Here’s a high level overview of how the API works:

1. User clicks “add game to my site”
2. Mochi servers make an HTTP request to a URL you supply in your publisher settings
3. game_tag is contained inside of the request’s POST data
4. Your site implementation should then call back to get a Mochi URL supplying it with your publisher ID and the game ID
5. Once we confirm the publisher ID and game ID matches our records, we return the full game data which you can import and process

You request a feed from Mochi Media:

http://www.mochimedia.com/feeds/games/{PUB_ID}/{GAME_TAG}/?format=json;

You can find all the documentation on Mochi Media official website: http://www.mochimedia.com/support/pub_docs

Wordpress integration

Enough with the teory, this is the code:

set_time_limit(0);
//error_reporting(0);
// include the configuration file and  the file that keeps the wordpress functions
include ('wp-config.php');
include ('wp-blog-header.php');

$publisher_key = "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx";

if (isset($_REQUEST['game_tag'])) {
	$urlrequest = "http://www.mochiads.com/feeds/games/".$publisher_key."/".$_REQUEST['game_tag']."/?format=json";
	$gamearr = json_decode(file_get_contents($urlrequest),true);
	$game = $gamearr['games'][0];
	//print_r ($game);
	addToDB($game);
}

function addToDB($game)
{
	$name = mysql_escape_string($game['name']);
	$description = mysql_escape_string($game['description']);
	$swf = mysql_escape_string($game['swf_url']);
	$thumb = mysql_escape_string($game['thumbnail_url']);
	$width = $game['width'];
	$height = $game['height'];
	$keywords = $game['tags'];
	$instructions = mysql_escape_string($game['instructions']);

	$cats = array();
	$categories = $game['categories'];
	for($x=0;$x<count($categories);$x++){
		$categories[$x] = str_replace("-"," ",$categories[$x]);
		array_push ($cats,get_cat_id($categories[$x]));
	}

	$keywd = "";
	$count = count($keywords);
	$i = 0;
	if ($count) {
		foreach ($keywords as $value){
			if ($count-1 == $i) {
				$keywd .= $value;
			} else {
				$keywd .= $value.", ";
			}
			$i++;
		}
	}

	$post = array(
		'post_author' => 1, //The user ID number of the author.
		'post_category' => $cats, //Add some categories.
		'post_content' => $description, //The full text of the post.
		'post_status' => 'publish', //Set the status of the new post.
		'post_title' => $name,//The title of your post.
		'post_type' => 'post', // post type
		'tags_input' => $keywd //For tags.
	);
	// Insert the post into the database
	$post_id = wp_insert_post($post);
	// adding the custom fields, these custom fields are compatible with Emanuele Feronato's Mochi plugin
	add_post_meta($post_id, 'width', $width);
	add_post_meta($post_id, 'height', $height);
	add_post_meta($post_id, 'thumbnail_url', $thumb);
	add_post_meta($post_id, 'swf_url', $swf);
	add_post_meta($post_id, 'instructions', $instructions);

}

So, my friends, just paste this code in a php file, let’s name it autopost.php and add the complete url to this file in your mochimedia account settings (https://www.mochimedia.com/pub/settings):

If you want to create a Wordpress arcade website but you don’t have Wordpress skills you can buy my Wordpress Arcade Theme.

Using SimpleXML we will parse the Youtube feed to show today’s top videos.

The feed link is:

http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/standardfeeds/top_rated?time=today&start-index=1&max-results=5

it contains today’s top 5 videos. If you want to know more about the Youtube Gdata Api you can start by reading the API Reference Guide.

This is the feed structure:

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
<feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearch/1.1/' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:yt='http://gdata.youtube.com/schemas/2007' gd:etag='W/"DkYDQH47eCp7ImA9WxBREko."'>
  <id>tag:youtube.com,2008:standardfeed:us:top_rated</id>
  <updated>2009-12-31T07:42:51.000-08:00</updated>
  <category scheme='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#kind' term='http://gdata.youtube.com/schemas/2007#video'/>
  <title>Top Rated</title>
  <logo>http://www.youtube.com/img/pic_youtubelogo_123x63.gif</logo>
  <link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.youtube.com/browse?s=tr'/>
  <link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/standardfeeds/top_rated?client=ytapi-google-jsdemo'/>
  <link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#batch' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/standardfeeds/us/top_rated/batch?client=ytapi-google-jsdemo'/>
  <link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/standardfeeds/top_rated?start-index=2&max-results=1&time=today&client=ytapi-google-jsdemo'/>
  <link rel='service' type='application/atomsvc+xml' href='http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/standardfeeds/us/top_rated?alt=atom-service'/>
  <link rel='previous' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/standardfeeds/top_rated?start-index=1&max-results=1&time=today&client=ytapi-google-jsdemo'/>
  <link rel='next' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/standardfeeds/top_rated?start-index=3&max-results=1&time=today&client=ytapi-google-jsdemo'/>
  <author>
    <name>YouTube</name>
    <uri>http://www.youtube.com/</uri>
  </author>
  <generator version='2.0' uri='http://gdata.youtube.com/'>YouTube data API</generator>
  <openSearch:totalResults>100</openSearch:totalResults>
  <openSearch:startIndex>2</openSearch:startIndex>
  <openSearch:itemsPerPage>1</openSearch:itemsPerPage>
  <entry gd:etag='W/"D0UERX47eCp7ImA9WxBREko."'>
    <id>tag:youtube.com,2008:video:9DTWIYIgkrk</id>
    <published>2009-12-30T22:36:23.000Z</published>
    <updated>2009-12-31T16:00:04.000Z</updated>
    <category scheme='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#kind' term='http://gdata.youtube.com/schemas/2007#video'/>
    <category scheme='http://gdata.youtube.com/schemas/2007/categories.cat' term='Entertainment' label='Entertainment'/>
    <category scheme='http://gdata.youtube.com/schemas/2007/keywords.cat' term='shaycarl'/>
    <category scheme='http://gdata.youtube.com/schemas/2007/keywords.cat' term='shaytards'/>
    <category scheme='http://gdata.youtube.com/schemas/2007/keywords.cat' term='costco'/>
    <category scheme='http://gdata.youtube.com/schemas/2007/keywords.cat' term='love'/>
    <category scheme='http://gdata.youtube.com/schemas/2007/keywords.cat' term='the'/>
    <category scheme='http://gdata.youtube.com/schemas/2007/keywords.cat' term='smell'/>
    <category scheme='http://gdata.youtube.com/schemas/2007/keywords.cat' term='of'/>
    <category scheme='http://gdata.youtube.com/schemas/2007/keywords.cat' term='new'/>
    <category scheme='http://gdata.youtube.com/schemas/2007/keywords.cat' term='balls'/>
    <title>RACING THROUGH COSTCO! (12/29/09-300th!!!)</title>
    <content type='application/x-shockwave-flash' src='http://www.youtube.com/v/9DTWIYIgkrk?f=standard&c=ytapi-google-jsdemo&app=youtube_gdata'/>
    <link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DTWIYIgkrk&feature=youtube_gdata'/>
    <link rel='http://gdata.youtube.com/schemas/2007#video.responses' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/videos/9DTWIYIgkrk/responses?client=ytapi-google-jsdemo'/>
    <link rel='http://gdata.youtube.com/schemas/2007#video.related' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/videos/9DTWIYIgkrk/related?client=ytapi-google-jsdemo'/>
    <link rel='http://gdata.youtube.com/schemas/2007#mobile' type='text/html' href='http://m.youtube.com/details?v=9DTWIYIgkrk'/>
    <link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/standardfeeds/us/top_rated/v/9DTWIYIgkrk?client=ytapi-google-jsdemo'/>
    <author>
      <name>SHAYTARDS</name>
      <uri>http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/users/shaytards</uri>
    </author>
    <gd:comments>
      <gd:feedLink href='http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/videos/9DTWIYIgkrk/comments?client=ytapi-google-jsdemo' countHint='2837'/>
    </gd:comments>
    <media:group>
      <media:category label='Entertainment' scheme='http://gdata.youtube.com/schemas/2007/categories.cat'>Entertainment</media:category>
      <media:content url='http://www.youtube.com/v/9DTWIYIgkrk?f=standard&c=ytapi-google-jsdemo&app=youtube_gdata' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' medium='video' isDefault='true' expression='full' duration='731' yt:format='5'/>
      <media:content url='rtsp://v5.cache3.c.youtube.com/CjkLENy73wIaMAm5kiCCIdY09BMYDSANFEITeXRhcGktZ29vZ2xlLWpzZGVtb0gGUghzdGFuZGFyZAw=/0/0/0/video.3gp' type='video/3gpp' medium='video' expression='full' duration='731' yt:format='1'/>
      <media:content url='rtsp://v7.cache4.c.youtube.com/CjkLENy73wIaMAm5kiCCIdY09BMYESARFEITeXRhcGktZ29vZ2xlLWpzZGVtb0gGUghzdGFuZGFyZAw=/0/0/0/video.3gp' type='video/3gpp' medium='video' expression='full' duration='731' yt:format='6'/>
      <media:credit role='uploader' scheme='urn:youtube' yt:type='partner'>SHAYTARDS</media:credit>
      <media:description type='plain'>My Twitter http://www.twitter.com/shaycarl

My Dailybooth http://www.dailybooth.com/shaycarl</media:description>
      <media:keywords>shaycarl, shaytards, costco, love, the, smell, of, new, balls</media:keywords>
      <media:player url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DTWIYIgkrk&feature=youtube_gdata'/>
      <media:thumbnail url='http://i.ytimg.com/vi/9DTWIYIgkrk/default.jpg' height='90' width='120' time='00:06:05.500'/>
      <media:thumbnail url='http://i.ytimg.com/vi/9DTWIYIgkrk/2.jpg' height='90' width='120' time='00:06:05.500'/>
      <media:thumbnail url='http://i.ytimg.com/vi/9DTWIYIgkrk/1.jpg' height='90' width='120' time='00:03:02.750'/>
      <media:thumbnail url='http://i.ytimg.com/vi/9DTWIYIgkrk/3.jpg' height='90' width='120' time='00:09:08.250'/>
      <media:thumbnail url='http://i.ytimg.com/vi/9DTWIYIgkrk/hqdefault.jpg' height='360' width='480'/>
      <media:title type='plain'>RACING THROUGH COSTCO! (12/29/09-300th!!!)</media:title>
      <yt:aspectRatio>widescreen</yt:aspectRatio>
      <yt:duration seconds='731'/>
      <yt:uploaded>2009-12-30T22:36:23.000Z</yt:uploaded>
      <yt:videoid>9DTWIYIgkrk</yt:videoid>
    </media:group>
    <gd:rating average='4.973422' max='5' min='1' numRaters='13244' rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#overall'/>
    <yt:statistics favoriteCount='1805' viewCount='302'/>
  </entry>
</feed>

Now, I will load the xml file using simplexml_load_file:

$feed = "http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/standardfeeds/top_rated?start-index=1&max-results=1&time=today";
$xml = simplexml_load_file($feed);
echo '<pre>';
print_r($xml);
echo '<pre>';

As you see I check the simplexml object structure using print_r($xml), this will help me to see how can I parse the xml response from youtube.
To get the informations for every video I will parse every node in the Youtube GData response, so the previous code becomes:

$feed = "http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/standardfeeds/top_rated?start-index=2&max-results=1&time=today";
// load xml
$xml = simplexml_load_file($feed);
// parse every node <entry> to get the video information
foreach ($xml->entry as $video) {
	echo '<h2>'.$video->title.'</h2><br>'; // video title
	echo '<pre>'.$video->content.'</pre><br>'; // video content
	// media: namespace
    $media = $video->children('http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/');
	echo 'Tags: '.$media->group->keywords.'<br>'; // video tags
	echo 'Video url: '.$media->group->player->attributes()->url.'<br>'; // video url
	echo 'Uploaded by '.$video->author->name.'<br>'; // author name
	echo '<hr>';
}

$video->title – gets the video title from the node <title>
$video->children(’http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/’) – gets the nodes in media: namespace
$media->group->keywords – gets the video tags from the <media:keywords>  node
$media->group->player->attributes()->url – gets the video url from the <media:player> node
This was only a simple example of using the incredible Youtube GData API, I hope you liked it.

<media:keywords

I’m glad to announce you that from today I’m offering for sale a brand new Wordpress Arcade Theme, this is how it looks:

The theme has an options page where you can add the featured games:

To ease the process of adding games, I made a custom admin page where you can add the game details:

Also, this arcade theme is compatible with Emanuele Feronato’s Mochiads plugin.

Check the live demo.

Pricing:

Standard licence: 20$ only 15$ (you cannot redistribute or resell the theme)

If you want to buy the theme, contact me here or by email: alexandru.raduta(at)gmail(dot)com

Also if you have suggestions please post a comment.

In this tutorial I will show you a simple way to add an mp3 player in your blog posts using shortcodes.
For the start I chose an open source mp3 player that can be downloaded from here. The swf file, from this player, must be uploaded in the same directory with your default wordpress theme (Ex. /wp-content/theme-name/).
Add this piece of code in your functions.php file:

function show_player($atts) {
 extract(shortcode_atts(array(
 'path' => '',
 'width' => '200',
 'height' => '20'
 ), $atts));
 return '<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="wp-content/themes/theme-name/player_mp3.swf" width="'.$width.'" height="'.$height.'">
 <param name="movie"; value="player_mp3.swf">
 <param name="FlashVars" value="mp3='.$path.'">
 </object>';
 }

add_shortcode('mp3', 'show_player');

Next, if you want to add the player in your blog post you can simply add this shortcode anywhere in your page:

[mp3 path="wp-content/uploads/song.mp3"]

Or if you want to customize the size of your player you can add:

[mp3 path="wp-content/uploads/song.mp3" width="100" height="10"]

It’s that simple!

Below I selected 6 tutorials on how to create a nice featured content slider for your site.

1. jQuery UI tabs + Featured content = love

This example uses the jQuery UI library.

2. An Elegant Featured Content Slider for Wordpress

In this tutorial John Sexton creates a nice content slider based on “Coda slider effect”

3. Creating a Slick Auto-Playing Featured Content Slider

4. Image rotator with preview

A very well explained tutorial about creating an image rotator, perfect for an image gallery or portofolio site.

5. Feature List

A jQuery plugin that cycles items via slideshow.

6. Create Featured Content Slider Using jQuery UI

Another featured content slider that uses the jQuery UI library.