Development
The player card option in X Autopost is relatively easy to use. For the most part, your article doesn't change in any way, though you are linking to it - and if you're setting up a player card, the video should probably also be displayed in your article.
Delivering GeoIP data for GDPR and EU e-Privacy Directive compliance without sacrificing website performance is a significant challenge. Server-side GeoIP lookups can disrupt caching systems like Varnish, while client-side solutions are slow or unreliable. This article introduces a groundbreaking discovery: using the Server-Timing header to deliver GeoIP data post-caching, enabling compliance and personalization while preserving speed. This server-side solution, implemented with nginx and Varnish, is the first step toward updating the System - EU e-Privacy Directive Joomla extension to display cookie consent banners only for EU visitors. Beyond GDPR, it supports broader GeoIP applications (e.g., city, state, continent) for content personalization, analytics, and more, all while maintaining cache performance.
Read more: Server-Timing for GeoIP Data Delivery to Achieve GDPR Compliance
I'm all about creating free Joomla extensions that make your life easier, and sometimes the best ideas come from the smallest frustrations. That’s exactly what happened with the latest update to our Content - Indexing API plugin, problems turned into features. Now available in version 5.2.0 and up.
As a Joomla extension developer, I’ve spent years building and sharing free extensions with the Joomla community. It’s a labor of love—crafting tools like my Contact - Valid Email and User - MX Filter plugins to help site admins fight spam and keep their forms secure. But every so often, the open-source world delivers a humbling reminder that no matter how carefully you code, there’s always a blind spot waiting to surprise you. Today was one of those days, and it’s a story worth sharing.
As a developer of free Joomla extensions, I’m incredibly grateful for the community that uses and supports my work. I strive to provide helpful extensions and, importantly, readily available support. It’s a rewarding cycle – users benefit, I gain valuable feedback, and the entire ecosystem thrives. A primary source of feedback comes from fair reviews.
So, on May 25, 2025, I got this absolute gem of an email through my RicheyWeb contact form. Check this out: “From: RicheyWeb”, but the reply-to was “jdjiqk <kajakaka@se>”. Subject? “RICHEYWEB: askjdSjs”. Body? “This is an enquiry email via https://www.richeyweb.com/ from: jdjiqk kajakaka@se just test v”. I’ve dealt with spam before, but this one? This one pissed me off enough to actually do something about it.
Read more: One Sh*tty Email That Made Me Finally Do Something About Spam
GeoIP was a fun little Joomla plugin I put together at RicheyWeb to make my System - EU e-Privacy Directive plugin a bit cleverer. That plugin deals with those EU cookie consent pop-ups nobody likes, and GeoIP’s gig was to spot EU visitors by their IP, so only they’d see the prompt—non-EU users got to skip the nuisance. It was a tidy way to handle EU rules without bugging everyone else. When the IP dataset GeoIP used went away, it was annoying, like losing a favorite screwdriver. System - EU e-Privacy Directive’s latest release couldn’t tell who was in the EU anymore, and that meant dropping a feature I hated to lose—no developer wants to go backward. I’ve been working on a super-wham-o-dyne GeoIP update to fix that, with a new 2.3MB compressed dataset I’ll update daily on Google Drive. The plugin’s not out yet, but I’m thrilled to share a preview of what’s in store.
Good riddance to this regulatory mess. The European Union is eyeing a GDPR overhaul—fewer popups, less red tape—and I’m not shedding a tear. Cookie consent banners? I’d rather debug Internet Explorer 6 than click “accept” again. Word is, proposals might drop by May 21, 2025, to simplify things. This matters for your Joomla site, and I’m glad it’s shifting. Here’s why—and how I’ve already outsmarted the old rules.
Read more: GDPR is Getting a Facelift—And I’m Not Crying Over It