I have just built a new WordPress plugin that displays a random verse from the Dhammapada on the front end of a website.
It’s not yet in the official repository. It’s in!
I was hoping folks with a wordpress site of their own could help by trying to install it and give me any feedback from the process of using it.
Here is what it looks like added to the sidebar of a website:
If you are using a WordPress.com website (as opposed to a self hosted WordPress.org installation) you will only be able to use it if you have an upgraded account.
You can embed the quotations using the shortcode [random-dhammapada] or as a widget.
Any ideas for features or improvements are most welcome. Anyone who has experience with php and wp development is more than welcome to look at the code and give suggestions/corrections. It is really just pieced together from code available on the internet. But I guess these day’s that’s what a lot of development is.
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How about modding it as an Android widget which displays an automatically changing quote in a 4x2 or 4x4 frame?
Not a developer myself- just offering a user perspective.
I currently make screenshots of interesting quotes from the suttas, typing them out on a note app, then use a photo widget to display them on a small part of my screen… something to focus the mind whenever I need to use my phone…
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I was literally just thinking about that for the last hour. Exactly a widget as you said.
The plugin is written in PHP, which is really exclusive to the web. So it would probably have to be re-written. But it’s such a simple plugin that it should be easy. So there isn’t a Dhammapada widget for android?
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There are book reading apps, but nothing noteworthy which will display a fresh line on your home screen every time you open your phone.
The plugin has been accepted into the official repository. Please consider installing it on your wordpress website. I’m working on a new feature to allow a subset of verses that would be applicable to a non-Buddhist but spiritually oriented audience.
Interesting. Would it be better to have a “verse of the day” or a random verse each time? With the verse of the day, you could engage with it throughout the day.
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I feel this option should belong to the user. Different strokes for different folks! 
Out of curiosity, where does the link point to?
The link on the citation? It takes you to the verse in the chapter on SuttaFriends.org in a new tab. As per WordPress plugin guidelines, this is an optional setting, off by default.
My hope is to have another embed with non-Dhammapada verse, and for those having links will be a little more important.
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