Actually something does happen, Wordpress resets the password internally (in the MySQL database) but the link that it sent you to activate that password fails to connect with the database effectively locking you out of your blog. In this scenario, at least for me, all the potentially viable solutions lead to dead ends.

Although it should’ve, launching the database manager to reset the password manually didn’t work. I tried doing this in various ways including this method from Codex, this one from Watching The Net and this one from Thought Outflux. But none of them worked!

Opening up wp-config.php and trying to reset the password there didn’t work there either.

I was at a loss as to what to do. That is until I found the Village Idiot Emergency Password Recovery software. Using it is simple:

• Download the script from Village Idiot WordPress Emergency Password Script.
• Unpack the downloaded zip file.
• Upload the file emergency.php to the root of your WordPress installation (the same directory that contains wp-config.php).
• In your browser, open http://example.com/emergency.php.
• As instructed, enter the administrator username (usually admin) and the new password, then click Update Options. A message is displayed noting the changed password. An email is sent to the blog administrator with the changed password information.
• Delete emergency.php from your server when you are done. Do not leave it on your server as someone else could use it to change your password.

For whatever reason this worked flawlessly where the other methods failed and I was able to regain access to my wordpress blog and set the password to something I’ll (hopefully) never forget again. I’m not ruling out operator error on the other methods but the aptly titled Village Idiot software makes the process fool-proof.

Note: Keep in mind that all of these options will only work if you are the site administrator or have direct access to the server at which the blog is hosted.

^{Look familiar? I originally published this article as a writer for DeveloperTutorials}

Problems

• Emails ‘below the fold’ go out of sight. If I don’t remember to label them immediately when they come in, then they are often lost to my inbox forever.
• Important/urgent emails are treated just like any other email.
• Twitter has become like my second inbox, but there’s no way to integrate the two.

Solutions

• A ‘Related Emails’ module that pulls up X number of entries from my inbox and attempts to match whatever currently is being read, to things I may have missed or forgotten to reply to. My blog does this, my email should too.
• Unread reminder There should also be an area that randomly pulls unread emails and lists them. This wouldn’t be in the main window, but it’d be off to the side.
• Social Inbox For some people, I simply don’t have their email addresses but I do know them on various social networks. It’d be cool of this app could import all my contacts from all social networks it supported to allow me to communicate using whatever options are available. Of course it would also have to let us know which services are available to contact that person and give us a corresponding form for that communication (ex. If it’s Twitter 140 characters).

Other Features

• Trending/Analytics I’d like to see things like: How often I check my mail? Who sends me the most mail? Who sends me the least? Who gets replied to the least? How long do I allow new messages to sit before opening them etc. It would be like Google Analytics for my email.
• Granular SMS alerts for emails that have keywords either in the subject, body or sender. So if my mom emails “Need you to call right away.” I could have her email address flagged with the the keyword ‘call’. If those two conditions are met in the same message, I’d get an SMS alert telling me that I have an urgent email.
• Personal Assistant/Scheduler I’d also like personal assistant features that are integrated with my Calendar and ToDo list. If something like “I Want Sandy” became integrated, with a control protocol for sending queries to devices and applications, that would be ideal. Then I could do things like forward emails and appointments to my calendar and have them instantly appear.
• Logic I’d like some sort of logical filter that automatically pushes emails from people who I deem the most important to the top of the list. This is different from the Alerts feature because it would help me respond to people like clients, co-workers, and bosses with haste. This feature would learn from the Trending reports mentioned above.
• Smart Replies I’d like to be able to set up a list of conditional responses to emails. If you email between this date and this date I’ll be on vacation. If you email me between this hour and this hour I’m working. If you email me in the next ten minutes, you’ve missed me because I’m in a meeting. This would be tied to the Personal Assistant and calendar so that auto-responders automatically turn on and off without needing to think about it. However, they could be turned off temporarily or permanently by sending a message like “Auto Responder Off” via email or SMS.
• I’d like a Mobile interface to do things quickly when I’m on the go.
• Unified Web and Desktop App Why on earth are all the desktop email applications independent products from their web counterparts? I want one unified solution. This ensures that everything thought out for the online product also fully translates to the desktop product.
• Online/Offline Sync The unification mentioned above would allow for two things, syncing and online backups of desktop drafts. If you’ve ever used Evernote for taking notes, you can kinda grasp what I’m suggesting. This would allow users to theoretically never lose drafts or contacts.
• CMS-like Settings/Plug-Ins Most people find blog engines Wordpress and MovableType pretty easy to grasp. I’d like a similar UI that allows users to customize things. I’d also like to see plug-ins for the web interface and add-ons for the desktop interface. This would allow users to tweak their inboxes however they want.
• Better RSS integration if an application like NetNewsWire had email features it’s be pretty darn close to what I’m looking for.

In conclusion, the things I’m describing could be integrated into existing apps like Thunderbird, or they could be used in a completely new application. What would it look like? Click on the image to see it at Flickr with annotation…

I created most of it in Photoshop. Some of the apps I borrowed images from include Thunderbird for OSX, NetNewsWire for OSX and The Adobe Air app Analytics Reporting Suite. Most of the ideas I also heard on podcast from FOWA Miami ‘08, I just decided to make the mock up to help conceptualize it in case I decide to give a go at building it later.

<h3>Title of Your RSS Feed</h3>
<?php
// assign the feed to a variable named 'feed'
$feed = 'http://url-of-your-rss-feed.com/feed/';
	if ($feed) {
		include_once(ABSPATH . WPINC . '/rss.php');
// define that 'feed' is also your url
$url = $feed;
$rss = fetch_rss($feed);
// string to return if feed fails
 	if ($rss == false){
$string .= "[No Feed To Retrieve]";
	return $string;
}
$maxitems = 10;
$items = array_slice($rss->items, 0, $maxitems);
	foreach ( $items as $item ) :
// define the string which is '$title'
// define the action 'substr' means sub-string or 'part of a string'
// define where the feed string starts - first letter is '0'
// define the length of the feed string - 55 characters
// define the trailing characters - "..."
$title = substr($item['title'],0,55)." ... ";
?>
<ul>
<li>
// link to the rss item origin with the description as the title
<a href='<?php echo $item['link']; ?>' title='<?php echo $item['description']; ?>'>
// print the truncated RSS title
<?php print $title; ?>
</a></li>
</ul>
<?php endforeach;
}
?>
<br /><br />

This code will allow you to truncate and print the titles of an rss feed. No more worries about whether or not that aggregated feed from Twitter or another blog will break your design.

1. Carsonified.com
Designers or Event Planners? Who knows but everything they touch looks great.

2. Causeaffect.aigasf.org
Activism plus design, who can ask for anything more?

3. Photoshoplady.com
Women tutorial too.

4. Carbonmade.com
Well designed, great prices, looks fantastic.

5. PSDtuts.com
Another great looking tutorial site.