Post rating system on Wordpress Heroku blog - wordpress

I am trying to install on my blog a system that allow post rating and add in the sidebar the top ten of most rated post...
For this i am trying to use much cummon plugins, such as:
contestant-rating, post-ratings, buddypress-rate-forum-posts, rate-my-whatever
also this:
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-postratings/
that looks to be better of all...
But nothing they won't work correctly...it seems to have problem with PostgresSQL DB...
Do you know this issue? if yes, have a solution?

Wordpress is done for the MySQL initially. There's an extension for using PostgreSQL with it, and it even works (we're using it for small blog).
Unfortunately, many plugins are designed to query database directly, not via the Wordpress layer. If this is the case, then you have either to modify such plugin, or look for something else.
There're some movements towards support of more databases, but it is work in progress.

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What is the difference between building a site on wordpress vs hand coding?

So I'm a beginner to coding and I am wondering what is the difference between building a site using wordpress (which I am not familiar with) as opposed to just hand coding from a text editor like sublime and then hosting it. Should I be using Wordpress? What exactly are the benefits? Thank you.
It all depends on what you want the website for.
I've both hand coded and used Wordpress (and before that Moveable Type) over the past 15 years. When I was doing infrequent updates to my website then hand coding was perfect. I could make it look exactly as I wanted, it had only the elements that I needed and nothing heavy in the backend to slow it all down.
When that all changed to being frequently updated Wordpress was much easier. The ability to schedule posts was one of the big things that got me into using it. If you're doing frequent updates, which, say need to post at the same time every day or multiple times in a week, but you're not necessarily available, then it's great. If you're short on time, then it's also useful because you choose once how you want the site to look then type your information and publish it. You don't need to amend any code or use FTP.
What you do lack is the personalisation. Unless you're also going to learn how to make Wordpress themes to properly personalise a Wordpress site, then you're stuck with the templates available for download. Some are great, some are mediocre and some are very simple.
My next project is to get my sports team online properly, and because there are about five or so people who would need to edit it Wordpress works for this. I can give people limited access to allow them to post/edit posts but know that because they're restricted, they're not going to break it all, unlike if I allowed them FTP access, which could be a massive disaster with people who aren't familiar with that.
You need to consider what you're really trying to achieve. If the website is really you and needs to reflect you and you don't update it relentlessly, then hand coding would be my first choice. If other (perhaps inexperienced) people are involved or you need to do things quickly, then I'd choose Wordpress.
If you want to create your first website, you should use a CMS like WordPress, because it will be easiest for you to publish content online and you will find many free plugins and themes at the wordpress website.
The main difference between a CMS like WordPress and a hand coded website is the first is not create for you. WordPress can be used in many way, but you will have to learn the WordPress codex to create your own themes and plugins.
With the hand coded, you will create a website optimized for what you need.
But you have to consider, you will have to code again each time you want to edit something, and for some features it will be a lot of work.
WordPress already include many "must have" features like seo friendly URLs, categories and tags etc..
But you can also look for another CMS, smaller than Wordpress

Did i reached the limits of wordpress and woocommerce?

I know the question sounds a little weird, but, please, read along. I have a store based on wordpress, woocommerce and wpml - currently in two languages but with plans to add another 3. The theme is quite huge with a lot of custom integration like Infusionsoft, Xero and more. About 50 plugins, 1100 product and 1700 posts. The number of posts and products will most likely double in the near future once we add another 3 languages. The overall setup is already kind of slow although we have enough server resources: 12 cores and 31 GB of ram. On top of this, I'm looking to integrate some sort of multi store and multi domain functionality. The multi store functionality will also require to be multilingual (wpml). There are two solutions to create the multi store functionality and none of them seems to be ideal and easily replicable without hacking more into woocommerce and wordpress.
1. Another install of wp, woocommerce, wpml and then using the woocommerce API to transfer the orders, stock, etc. back to the main site.
2. Wordpress multisite - from what i read is quite buggy with woocommerce and wpml.
As a developer myself, I feel this is a overkill for the wp, woocommerce and wpml. Especially if we take into consideration that Opencart or Prestashop comes with this functionality by default - without any kind of complications. But maybe, just maybe I am missing something really clever. Did anyone faced a similar setup ? What are your thoughts about developing such a complex setup in Wordpress and Woocommerce? Do you guys think it's imminent to move to another solution like Opencart, Prestashop or Magento ?
I would really appreciate your feedback about this!
Cheers
What i would do here is investigate why the website is slow first before adding hardware to the issue. Wordpress is a great base to start with but the same as all db driven websites needs optimization as the website grows.
There are many techniques for the below so ill just point to ideas and you can re-search them yourself and decide whether they suit your website.
Test here:
http://www.webpagetest.org/
To test your server code:
Use something like microtime to measure processes especially wp queries. http://php.net/manual/en/function.microtime.php
Where possible use caching (server caching) - possibly use varnish to cache product pages and serve static pages in place of dynamically created pages.
For expensive queries like post-archives use wp-transients or your own object caching.
To test browser code:
This is probably where you will see the greatest timesavings if you have 50 plugins. Unfortunately dev's love to hook js files, css files to the footer/header. This can be a significant load time. Investigate what you can remove from your templates (un-used js scripts, css files, etc) and de-queue them. For more savings see if you can isolate the css / js actually needed for the page out of the files present - combine into 1 file of each. Most of the time you will need the header/ sidebar css and some text styles but you are loading an entire themes stylesheet.
Pretty essential:
investigate your browser caching strategy.
https://developers.google.com/speed/docs/insights/LeverageBrowserCaching
Fun project:
Did you know you can load images/js/css to the cache using js? Pre-loading!
Maybe look at post-archives that require a lot of images and see if you can preload the "above the fold" content - your user will get a pretty quick browser load time and by the time they navigate below the fold the next batch of images should be cached (if you are combining with lazy load techniques)
This might save you the need to use extra servers but if you have to look at sharding rather than using a api to transfer data using php (i presume woo commerce api uses?)

Integrating social networks into wordpress native comments

I've been looking for the 'perfect' comment system for a wordpress blog I'm working on.
First, there is Disqus/intensedebate/etc... :
Pros: Easy to set up, somewhat customize-able (to a limit), removes load from your server, social.
Cons: Syncing with wordpress can sometimes be a problem, external bugs can ruin your comment flow, there's no fallback for javascript-less users, lots of embedded code.
Then, Wordpress native comments:
Pros: Deeply integrated with the blog, highly customize-able, saves the huge junk of javascript thats being embedded into your blog, easier to provide fallback options
Cons: Not native-ly social, ???
For me, Wordpress comments would seem like the best option.
The only problem is the social integration.
My questions is ;
what do I do with the data I receive by the users AFTER they log into a social network? (I already know how to create the login gate and get the required info back...)
I thought about simply saving their; email, name, picture (which you get from the social network) like what's being done when people comment without a social network...
The problem is I don't have any experience with the wordpress database and I have no idea where to start. Normally my best bet would be to use the wordpress codex but I couldn't find much there.
P.S; Please, no plugins!
There are amazing plugins out there but I love to learn to do stuff by myself.
If someone could just throw some useful links to me or theoretically what needs to be done, I'd be super thankful!
I was looking for the same 'solution', but couldn't find a proper answer (like 5 months ago). I recommend the Nextend series of plugins, Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Maybe you can look at the code inside this great plugins. Here's the Nextend Facebook Connect http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/nextend-facebook-connect/
For me is the 'cleanest and unintrusive' way of implementing a social connection for the comments in Wordpress, because you can handle the users as you wish, and the comments template works in the way you want to work.
You can look in here http://dfine.me/2012/11/500px-lanza-aplicacion-oficial-para-iphone/ to take a look to the implementation.
An article that maybe can help you a little http://www.tutorialstag.com/create-custom-wordpress-registration-page.html maybe with that you can write the 'Social Info' to the Wordpress db.

Do I have to Upgrade WordPress to "pro" if I want to edit the CSS?

I started using WordPress just a few hours ago because I need to develop a couple of blogs to a client. I understand that WordPress is the best solution if you want something fast but flexible. But, the first thing that I wanted to do was just change the font of the post and I didn't find how to do it (for all the posts, because I changed it on this one using the HTML editor). I've read something about editing the CSS, but it turns that I need to buy the Pro upgrade to be able to use the custom design.
Is this the same if I use WordPress in my server?
I need someone to guide me on this one. I need WordPress as customizable as it can be. But, I prefer not to pay! :) Unless that's the only way to do it.
If you use WordPress on your own server, you can do anything you like to it - it's open source. The "Pro" upgrade is just for WordPress blogs hosted on the commercial WordPress.com platform.
Do note that running your own installation means you're responsible for adding plugins, themes, keeping the code up-to-date, etc. That has a cost too, even if it's not money directly out of your pocket.
If you are using wordpress on your own server - you are free to do anything with it. The best way to customize your site then is using a child theme. It will contain your customization, overriding styles from previously loaded parent theme (and/or adding some scripts). You will be able to upgrade parent theme then without loosing your customization (until parent theme owners deprecate something you use, but it must not happen often). There are some plugins for simplifying working with it as well. There are also some easier customization ways, if you want just minor changes - such as Custom CSS in Jetpack plugin, which works in similar way, as far as I know.
If you're using a wordpress.com account, you have less freedom in modifying things, consider using paid custom CSS plugin maybe. Or maybe mentioned above jetpack will do.
Also, as mentioned in other answers - there are wordpress codex, wordpress.org forums, and wordpress stackexchange, they seem to be better place for such questions.
In your wordpress admin section of your site (usually www.yourdomain.com/wp-admin) on the left hand side nav bar, you will find a section called "appearance", if you expand this and click "editor" you can edit all of the files that your current theme uses. A quick warning, if you are doing this on a live server, the changes you make are live as soon as you save them!!
Hope this helps
I'm pretty sure you do not have to pay to customize CSS. Check your server installation... particularly in the folder $wordpress_install_home/wp-content/themes/default.
You should have access to all the CSS files in there.

What kind of Plugin is the New Playstation Share Blog using | Wordpress

Love this feature http://share.blog.us.playstation.com/ Users are able to post requested features and then vote them up or down. Is this a plug-in that can be downloaded?
Thanks,
Tim
Well if you took 5 seconds to look at the source (all resources from wp plugins are served out of thier respective directory) you would see this is indeed a plugin. It is called wp-postratings
edit: Byron Whitlock points out which plugin they're using. Looks like they did a lot of customising, though.
You might consider saving yourself the implementation work and just using Google Moderator...
It is using the wp-postratings plugin, however, I will say that it isn't extremely modified. The only thing we changed was fixing some bugs with binary (up/down) voting. Everything else is handled via added rewrite rules and wp_query filters.

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