A major change: You can now use iCal data (think Google Calendar) with the widget. When a date has passed, it disappears from the widget and gets replaced by the next one in line. How cool is that?
You can post support questions if you want. iCal parsing is done by the iCal Events plugin 
, so if you’re having trouble getting your calendar data to parse correctly, you might need to contact those folks instead.
Be aware that this new iCal feature is very new. Consider that aspect of the plugin beta. Please inform of me of any bugs.
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There have been 70 comments so far.
70 Comments
I am running 2.34 on WP 204 running 3K2
I installed plugin and setup in widget control of K2 but get warning
I tried 3.1 but got same warning but it mention line 688. So I figured it was becasue of rev of PHP and backed down to 234 but same result different code line. Please advise. Tanks… lots of Tanks
The problem is K2. The K2 folks claim that any widget can work in their module system, but they are wrong. Widgets that allow multiple instances (like this one does) often fail on K2. Sorry.
Hi, love the widget, but I’m having a strange problem. For some reason, the countdown is shown both in my sidebar AND at the top of each page (view the problem at [link]. Can you suggest where I may have a mistake?
Thanks,
Ryan
Never mind, I figured it out. Thanks!
Can the KB countdown widget track weeks? If so, how? This is most useful for pregnancy and baby’s age.
Ziyun, all the available tags are listed in the FAQ. Total weeks is not one of them, although you could add this with a little tweaking on your own.
I try to limit the number of tags available to avoid straining people’s servers. Obviously, adding one additional tag wouldn’t be a major problem, but adding a whole bunch of them could be.
Something I would dearly love to see is a Progress Meter that works like your Countdown demo.
Numbers instead of dates. :)
It would be a perfect Writer’s WIP tool and if you could modify it to work like that… that would just rock.
i.e. Title, Date started, Words written / Words total. With various bars like the countdown ones… man… I’d love it. :)
Not quite sure I follow, Silke…
This is one of the best plugins I have come accross!
Is it compatible with WP 2.2.3? The download page on WP says its compatible with w2.2.1, just wanted to confirm!
I don’t know, since I use WPMU. Give it a whirl and let me know, and I’ll upload the WP.org info if it works.
Seems there is some problem using this plugin with WP2.3.1 :(
When I changed the End Date(only), saving changes, then checking whether the widget had changed or not, it didn’t. The End Date remains 1-1…
Could you help me figure out what was wrong? Thanks.
Oops, got the answer..
The PHP version of the server is 4.4.6..
Sorry for bothering again & again..
KB Countdown Widget 2.3.4 is still not working with WP 2.3.1…
The configuration cannot be changed..
Are you sure it’s this widget, or is it all your widgets? I’ve seen several people over in the wp.org forums complaining that they can’t update any of their widgets after the upgrade.
Some of them can, but some of them cannot..
The plugin “StatPress”, and the original widgets of Archives, recent comments, recent posts, can be changed, while categories widget and this plugin cannot…
Regarding your switch down to 2.3.4 of the widget–I should update the documentation. That’s no longer necessary–I modified the most recent version of the widget so it ought to work on PHP 4. (You would have seen a “fatal error” otherwise when you were using the latest version.)
As for the problem at hand…
Hmm. I’m hoping they didn’t screw around with the widgets API (again) in the new version of WP. They’ve done that on almost every one of the recent upgrades to WP, forcing me to rewrite part of the code each time.
Could you do me a quick favor? Try to change the widget. After hitting “save” on your widget’s admin, take a look at the HTML source. (In IE, I think you look at the “View” menu, then “Source.” In Firefox, it’s “View” then “Page Source.”) Look at the very end of the source. If the last few lines contain something that looks like an error message, then let me know.
That’s what happened last time they changed the widgets API with a WP upgrade–there was a PHP error that showed up in the source but wasn’t visible in the browser.
Hi Adam,
Great work!
I have a little problem with multi date.
I would like to get two differnt events display with different dates
for example queen at 16 december 2007 an rolling stones on 17 december 2007
how can i do that.
Maybe stupid question didnt found the answer in google
Thx
Mike
Mike,
The easy way is to use two separate countdown widgets, one for each event. Scroll down to the bottom of your widgets administration and you’ll see an option to increase the number of countdown widgets available.
The slightly more difficult way is to use an ical feed. That’s what the “multi-date” mode refers to in the widget. But for what you’re trying to do, it sounds like it would be easier to just use two widgets, both in single-date mode.
Thank you for the quick answer Adam for the information.
I used the separate countdown widgets like you said.
Is it possible to link countdown with an event callender where you fill in the event and date and it automaticly come in countdown.
And thx again for the great widget.
Will make an article about your widget soon.
Mike: “Is it possible to link countdown with an event callender where you fill in the event and date and it automaticly come in countdown.”
Yes, you can do that, but only if you have your dates entered into a calendar with an ical feed (think Google Calendar, which is free and easy to use, although there are also non-google options available).
You can read more in the FAQ under “Can I Enter in Multiple Dates?”
Hi Adam, me again ;)
Can i put somewhere htmlcode or php code to the countdown so i can add a link at the bottom of it. For example to sell tickets.
Here is a link to my site: [link]
It’s a great widget, code for my blog.
Love it.
Mike
ok Adam i found the problem php didnt work for me, but html with simple the code with declareration of worked fine:
Keep up the good work
hi there, I am trying to get kb countdown 3.1 working with wp 2.3.1 but not using widgets, instead I use sidebar modules [link]
and I get the following error:
can you maybe help me out with this? sidebar modules is a lot better and more flexiblen than the usual widgets…
@Mike: Glad you got it.
@ovidiu: I only support the widget with the standard interface, but here’s a suggestion that will probably get it working for you pretty quickly with something sidebar modules:
Near the end of the code, you’ll find a bunch of calls to
register_sidebar_widget()and similarly-named functions. You’ll also notice that I do a bunch of version checks in that part of the code to figure out which version of WP you’re on. The WP/Automattic folks kept changing the widgets API for awhile, so I kept needing to change how widgets are registered for each version of WP.I suspect you can fix the problem by fiddling with which version of the registration functions get used. I’m not sure how good you are with PHP, but all you need to do is comment out one block of registration functions, then try the next block, and so on, until you find one that works.
@adam
thx. I cannot create anything with PHP, but I am pretty good at altering stuff ;-)
I’ll have a look later on what I can do…
I’ve found an error in your total days since/until calculation: 84600 should be 86400 on line 290 in the calculate function (where you convert seconds to days).
60x60x24 = 86400 not 84600
Thanks for catching that Tony. That’s only a 30 minute difference, so it shouldn’t be causing major problems. It will be fixed in the next update.
Hi – I must admit that I am new to using plugins but was hoping to get the KB Countdown one working. Installed it OK. Activated it OK. In the Design->widgets menu, I added it to Sidebar1 but am unable to enter any details. When I try to edit, the majority of the page is obscured by the list of available widgets. I can see the details of the editable fields by moving the widget around by it’s title bar but can’t enter anything. I am on WordPress 2.5 and PHP 5.2.5.
Any help appreciated.
Cheers
Mark
MarkyGee,
When testing in WP 2.5, I noticed that errors similar to what you describe would sometimes arise when I added a new countdown widget to the sidebar. But if I clicked “save changes” (without editing the widget’s options first), then came back to the widgets menu and tried to open the widget’s options, it generally worked at that point.
Hi Adam, My Home PC seemed to be OK with this. The difference between the Home PC and my work laptop is that the laptop only has IE6 installed and I’m using IE7 at home.
Having just tried it out with Safari, this seems fine too. it may just be something to do with IE6. Any thoughts?
Mark
Hi, thanks for the widget, but is there also an option NOT to use the bargraph? I tried setting all pixelsizes to 0, but the widget restores them automatically to 10,1,1.
Hello Adam,
First off; excellent work with this widget! I’ve installed it a couple of minutes ago on my WP 2.5 site and it’s working perfectly.
I have however one question as asked earlier; is it possible for you to add weeks_since / weeks_until into it?
Not hindered by my sincere lack of PHP knowledge, I’ve had a play around but can’t seem to get it working (I managed to delay the pregnancy to a due date of 16 years and 7 months … I wish! :P)
Or any hints/tips would be much appreciated as well
Robert
Hi Adam,
Thanks for this usefull and nice plugin.
I have a question for you regarding the language in the message.
I try to change it in the list you give at the begining of the script (# translation from English, if desired) but can’t work.
Can you explain me if I need to change something else ?
I use iCal for multiple dates in one widget.
I have provided a Google .ical URL and read it fine.
My question is: How often it re-reads the iCal file for changes?
Thank you for your great plugin!
When I place the message the countdown timer will only show in the first line of my post. I want de countdown timer in the middle of a line.
Who can help me ? What an I doing wrong.
example: …..dus daar moeten we nog ^KBCOUNTDOWN||Diedel$ voor wachten……
thanks
I have a small problem and I’m not sure if it is this widget or iCal Events Plugin. My problem is that if I have multiple events on the same day (google calendar) I only get the first event listed. Any ideas??
OK, I now know the problem isn’t with iCal Events Plugin but with this widget. I have no clue where to start though!
i want to include the countdown timer in the header. what code do I need to put this there?
Ronald: Read the documentation.
Steo: Not sure what you mean.
Saxtus: Once each hour.
Peter: I don’t have time to try fixing the problem right now, but if you figure it out, let me know and I’ll upload a patch.
Robert, rICH: These require modifications to the code, and I’m afraid I just don’t have time for that at the moment. Sorry!
Hi Adam, i put your plugins in my web (www.merdekapentagon.net) but there’s a problem, because i’m in Indonesia can i put change the GMT to +7?? thx!
Is it possible to get only days as an output? For Example:
wrong: 3 Month 5 Days
right: 67 Days
Ok, found the total_days_until tag. But there goes to more Problems:
1. Only the Number is shown, no “days” behind it. There is no translation option. Have i overseen something?
2. It didn’t count correct. With “normal” Options it says 1 Month 5 Days. With total_days_until it says 32 days remaining. Thats incorrect. 28 Days for Februra + 5 Days of March (target date is 03.07.09) makes 33 days, not 32. Do you have an idea where the problem is so that i can fix it by myself?
LastOne: That tag only produces the number, not the words. Just write the word “days” into the text field. As for the counting, that shouldn’t be a problem–is your time zone set correctly in the WP options? It might be off by half a day, not a full day.
Yes, time zone is correct. I will check in 3 hours what the counter shows. Than i can see if its a full or a half day wrong.
Writing the word “days” is possible and i did that. Only Problem is that than it shows at the end “1 days” … there for in the normal options is an extra field for “day”
I think your current plugin thinks there are 29 days this February, when it should be 28. Any chance of a small bugfix? :-)
No, in the morning it counts correct. I think the problem is that after lunch (12 o’clock) it takes one day away.
Hi, great timer
currently rejigging a site that has the timer that has fully run down to 0 (a late baby)
since installing the widget the wp install has updated (now 2.8) and the browser i used has become IE8 (yeah i know)
also i think there might have been a few widget auto updates too
if i go into the appearance/widget i can see it on the right in an active sidebar
but if i open it to edit it, it only highlights the first tab (single-date mode), no other tabs work.
only once have i accidently dragged it from sidebar to the widget pool and then back to sidebar
the focus then changed to another tab (help)
luckily i didnt lose the settings…
i’d like to adjust the timer now and make a new accending timer but something is broke.
any suggestions?
a full removal and replacement is the next port of call (perhaps after the birth….if it ever happens.)
D
I’m running WP 2.8 and am not able to get the plugin to give me multiple widgets – despite having asked it for 3 instances of the plugin on the Plugins page. Any advice? :)
Hey Adam,
I am loving your countdown widget, but I was wondering how can I edit the actual code which displays it on my website.
Because I want to add a “margin-bottom” to the h2 style which is used on the title of the countdown.
I know you are busy, but I would really appreciate it if you could just tell me where about I can edit the code.
Thanks, Daniel Mousdell
I’m having the same issue as Jill and I’m running WP 2.8.2. When I tell it I want 2 I’m assuming that ‘KB Countdown 2′ will be created to enable me to drag it to the sidebar but it doesn’t.
Awesome Plugin!
Hi,
I have got the same problem as Jill and GWhip. I’m using 2.8.2. Would be wonderful to have a solution.
All the best!
Same here with 2.8.3. If anyone knows a fix or workaround… ;)
Found a workaround which worked for me; seemed to be a template Problem.
Just changed the Theme once, and there are the widgets again.
If that’s all, this was an easy one ;)
Hmm…when I select more than one KB countdown widget, I would normally expect additional widgets to be available to drag into the sidebar. I need 2, but only one shows up.
Hi adam,
Since quite some time I’m using your simple but great KB countdown widget. I really love it because it just works with google ICS URLs. Unfortunately, I just wanted to change something on the URL, but I detected that the widget doesn’t work anymore with the current 2.8.x versions of wordpress. As far as I understand, there seems to be a problem with the javascript in the widget, which prevents me to select between the tabs (single-date, multi-date, bargraph, non-english and help), so I cannot switch from single-date back to multi-date to change the settings there.
I can only guess that it’s because the javascript is no jquery function, which seems to be default with wordpress now.
Would you like to fix this? It would be great since I tested out about half a dozen other ICS capable plugins but none of them satisfied my (simple) needs.
Thanks in advance,
Frank
Hi adam,
I too would like to confirm the Javascript error in latest wordpress as noted in comments 47 and 55 above (i.e. can’t change tab in the widgets option page) – and I use firefox!!
Thanks
I’m with J Hudson. This is a great plug-in, but can’t switch menus in the widget options.
Does anyone have an alternative plugin to import iCal data? This plugin doesn’t work correctly anymore with wordpress and i really like to have an alternative, since this one is not under maintenance anymore.
I am having the same problem with the widget. When I select to have more than one, there are no more instances of it to drag into the sidebar.
I also am not able to click on the tabs for multiple date, bar options or help. Perhaps it did not install right?
Thanks,
Steve
Hi Adam!
Nice plugin you made.
Is it possible to change Year, month, day into another language.
So instead of being in english (1 year, 7 month and 6 days)
It would be in my language (Danish) (1 år, 7 måneder og 6 dage)
There is a “Non-English” tab, but as i can read from early posts, you can not click tabs due to a new java something.
Is it possible to change the language by editing inside your php file?
Inside your php you have a section:
# translation from English, if desired
‘year’ => ‘year’,
‘years’ => ‘years’,
‘month’ => ‘month’,
etc..
I have changed it to my desired language, so it says:
‘year’ => ‘Ã¥r’,
‘years’ => ‘Ã¥r’,
‘month’ => ‘mÃ¥ned’,
But that does not seem to do it.
It is still in English.
What should i change?
Hope You can help me here.
Thanks
Ronni (Denmark)
How do you enable multiple Countdowns to work. I have save 3 on the settings page but I see only one in the widgets page.
Hello Adam!
I’m having dificulties adding my sixth countdown… There seems to be no effect when changing the option for how many countdown widgets i want.
please help
-juha
In a demo site I build with WordPress, I try to use the plugin, and I came across the same problem with the non-switching tabs and the change to non-English translation, as mentioned above.
The following trick works for me but not an option for working blogs (mine is a demo):
I put the widget in one of my sidebars and I click to non-English tab.
Then I click to remove the widget and once again I put it back on the sidebar. So, for my surprise, when I open it, the tab was open on the non-English section allowing me to change the terms (dates, months etc.)
Same again for the Barcode options.
Not a real solution, but it is ok if you have only one countdown and you don’t mind spend a couple of minutes to set it up.
I didn’t have time to look at the code but any suggestion from Adam, at where to look will help.
Thanks!
hello! love the countdown widget. Put one instance on our home page. Worked great…for a while. Now, nothing. Doesn’t even show up. I used firebug to see what was happening, and I get “403 forbidden” as the error reason that my widget can’t get the data from freecountdown.net.
Help?
Can you make a total weeks since addon for the widget to count how old a baby is?
Is there any solution now because of the non-english-tab?
Using 2.9.x of WordPress (current). I can’t seem to access the barcode setup sub-menu (Firefox 3.6.x), nor am I seeing more than 1 widget (I’ve specfied 3).
Any suggestions?
Hi Adam: this widget looked great when I installed it. However, I tried clicking on all the tabs except “Single-date mode” and nothing happened, it was stuck in Single Date Mode. Now, when it opens up, it is in Multi-Date mode and asking me to install the iCal plugin, and I cannot change it back to Single Date Mode, nothing happens when I click! Help!!
Hi
Is it possible to change the Font /Size / Colour in the Message Area to match the Title.
I presently have “TIME_UNTIL to go” in the Title which displays….
“1 year and 10 days to go” in Times New Roman/18pt/blue.
and…
“BARGRAPH to our Wedding” in the Message area which displays…
“[THEBARGRAPH] to our Wedding” in Arial/12pt/black.
Many thanks
Frank
Hi Adam,
I was just wondering if it is possible to pass a variable into set_end or any of
‘endyear’ => 2010
‘endmonth’ => 11,
‘enddate’ => 1,
so that instead of the above, you might have:
‘endyear’ => $fye,
‘endmonth’ => $fmo,
‘enddate’ => $fday,
As in, I have a custom date field set up for each one of my posts, I’m trying to get those custom dates to be the dates used in your plugin, but I can’t quite figure out how. Any advice you (or anyone else) could give would be greatly appreciated!
Cheers,
David