Monthly Archives: June 2021

Original Dark Mode Developer Relaunches Plugin After the Apparent ‘Cash Grab’ of the New Owners – WordPress Tavern

[ad_1] WordPress dashboard screen with Dark Mode 2. Daniel James, the original Dark Mode WordPress plugin creator, is stepping back into WordPress development after a two-year pursuit of other projects. His new plugin: Dark Mode 2. It is a response to the recent change to the original Dark Mode plugin for WordPress. Last month, I reported that the WPPool repurposed the plugin to include the commercial Iceberg editor, a feature entirely unrelated to providing a dark viewing mode for the WordPress admin. It is now called WP Markdown Editor. After the change, several plugin users left one-star ratings. However, its user base was small compared to that of ProfilePress (formerly WP User Avatar), which continues getting drenched in low ratings. Still, the change did not sit well with James. “After finding out that Dark Mode had been passed on to multiple people, I was disappointed to see so many people say they’d take it on without actually bothering to do anything with it,” said James. “It became even more disappointing when I learned the latest developers to have hold of it had ripped out the original functionality in favor of something completely different as a means of selling a product.” The Dark Mode plugin was once a feature proposal for WordPress. James began the process in 2018, but it never moved much beyond the initial stage. In 2019, he put the plugin up for adoption. It changed hands a couple of more times before WPPool became the owner. In hindsight, James said he should have just abandoned the plugin. At the time, he was stepping away from WordPress entirely to pursue other projects, including building applications with the Laravel PHP framework. However, he never stopped using WordPress completely and has kept an eye on the community. “I think there is more things that WordPress.org maintainers could do, specifically the Plugin Review Team,” he said. “I think more checks need to be done when plugins change ownership and/or are updated. As someone who used to put a lot of time into WordPress, I know how demanding it can be, so having volunteers tasked with more work is always a tricky thing to handle.” However, he said he did not have the solution to the problem. “When you take Dark Mode and, more recently, WP User Avatar having their code changed for what appears to be a cash grab, all it does is hurt developers, agencies, and site admins.” The repurposing of his former work was the catalyst that he needed to rebuild a solution from scratch. Now, Dark Mode 2 is on the scene. A New Plugin and a Fresh Take Manage posts screen with Dark Mode enabled. James says Dark Mode 2 is still early in its development lifecycle. However, he does not think it is far off from where the original plugin would be if he would have continued it. Maybe just shy an extra setting or two. “I’ve finally got it to a point where it’s ready to be used and replace the classic Dark Mode plugin,” he said. “The great thing about starting again is that it’s easier to style the WordPress dashboard. There is so much going on in the various wp-admin stylesheets that starting over was the only way. It means it supports the latest version of WordPress and cuts out any outdated styling that was previously there.” The plugin currently only has one setting, which individual users can set via their profile page. It is an option between “Light” and “Dark” viewing modes. Configuring Dark Mode from the user profile screen. There are several features James is eager to work on going forward. One of the most requested from the “classic” Dark Mode days is styling the WordPress editor. At the moment, the plugin steers clear of it. “I’ve always been hesitant to do that because of theme editor styles,” he said. “However, lots of themes tend to style the editors in a very basic fashion, so I’ll be looking at adding in ‘support’ styles for those that want a fully dark dashboard.” One of the other features he is working on is scheduling when Dark Mode is active or inactive. This would primarily work based on a user’s system preferences if they have their OS set up for light or dark mode at different times of the day. “For something that appears to be quite a basic plugin, there’s so much you can do with it,” said James. This time around, the plugin developer is making Dark Mode 2 a commercial-only plugin. He is pricing it at £25 (~$35.28 at today’s exchange rate). This includes lifetime updates with no installation limits. James said he wanted to keep the price low and not have people worry about another renewal fee every year while also still being supported for his effort. “I’m not going to make millions from this plugin, and that’s okay,” he said. “That’s not my goal. My goal is to make a plugin that helps people and makes it easier for them to manage their website. Plus, it’s about time WordPress got a proper Dark Mode!” Like this: Like Loading… [ad_2] Source link

Continue reading

Open Invitation To Contribute to the WordPress Block Pattern Directory – WordPress Tavern

[ad_1] The upcoming block pattern directory is launching alongside WordPress 5.8 in July. The goal is to make several high-quality designs available for users right off the bat. However, the official submission process will not open until the directory launches. In this chicken-and-egg scenario, the Design team is asking for early contributors to submit their pattern candidates via GitHub. “The project needs a collection of high-quality, diverse, community-designed patterns to populate it with during development,” wrote Kjell Reigstad in the announcement post. “These patterns will set the tone for quality in the repository and will make the directory useful for folks upon its launch.” Alongside Reigstad, Beatriz Fialho and Mel Choyce-Dwan have already added several block patterns. They are available through the Gutenberg plugin now. Several of the current block patterns. The trio has also submitted the majority of the 18 current potential patterns. While they have produced solid work thus far, the directory needs a more diverse set of designs from the community to launch with a bang. Creating a pattern requires no coding skills. It is possible directly via the block editor. Just design, copy, and submit. The team already has a GitHub template in place for submitting patterns. Be sure to use CC0 (public domain) images if they are a part of your creation. Copying a pattern from the WordPress editor. I have somewhere between 40 and 50 patterns lying around. You could say that I have been doing a bit of dabbling in the art of block-pattern design in my free time. Many of these patterns rely on custom block styles, so they are not suitable for the directory. However, I have several that are general enough for submission. As always, I try to pay it forward when possible. Therefore, I cleaned a couple of patterns today using the Twenty Twenty-One theme and submitted them for inclusion. The first was a three-column section of “about me” or “connect with me” boxes. This has been one of my favorites to play around with. About me boxes. It is not on par with my original design, but I like how it turned out. If you have read any of my past posts on blocks and patterns, I will sound like a broken record. However, I must say it for those who did not hear the message the first 100 times. The main limiting factor for block patterns is the lack of spacing options on almost all blocks. Blocks like Group and Column have padding controls, which are a nice feature. However, vertical margin options are must-haves for the directory to be as successful with its goals as it intends to be. A prime example is in my first pattern. My original mockup closes the gap between the heading and subheading. In my submission, I tightened the space by setting the line height, but I needed an option for zeroing out the vertical margin. If you compare it to the original idea built with some features not yet available, you can see how much improved the overall layout’s spacing is. Original about me boxes with tighter margin control. I ran into the same issue with my second pattern, Team Social Cards, between the Image and Separator blocks. The gap there has more to do with Twenty Twenty-One’s inconsistent spacing. I may revisit the giraffe photo, but it is growing on me. It is fun. Plus, end-users are meant to actually replace it. I will probably submit one or two more during this early phase, and I will definitely contribute more once the pattern directory is officially open. For now, I want to see our talented design community giving a little something back to the WordPress project. This is such an easy way to contribute that has no coding requirement — just a little time. Like this: Like Loading… [ad_2] Source link

Continue reading

Discover Where You Belong – HeroPress

[ad_1] My path to WordPress is, like so many stories, a twisty road lined with both struggle and good fortune. And yet, when I reflect on what led me here, it simply comes down to the common threads that bind us together as a community: the desire to make meaningful connections, the ability to do amazing things together, and the very human comfort that comes with knowing that I belong here. It starts here Just before I made my way into this world, my parents immigrated from Taipei, Taiwan to San Diego, USA. Growing up, I held a level of pride in being first generation which warred against a long list of discomforts that, as a kid, I couldn’t fully comprehend. That unlike my school mates, I rarely saw my extended family. That my English didn’t sound like that of my Californian friends, nor did my Mandarin mirror my Taiwanese cousins’. That cultural norms at friends’ homes were diametric experiences from my home. I realize that this sounds like I had a challenging, confusing childhood, but I assure you that I had a good time growing up. My folks are loving and made sure I had opportunities whenever possible. I always have had wonderful friends who generously share their lives and love my quirks. And, I have a brother who, despite being far smarter than I will ever be, still puts up with my big sister act. My point is that, it was painfully clear to me where I couldn’t fit in. Like many third culture kids, my perplexing cultural foundation had a profound impact on my values, and created importance around the concept of belonging, something I still hold to this day, and which pushed me along my way to WordPress. The twisty road I was terrible at college. I had no sense of what I wanted to do with my life, and drifted from major to major until I found myself entirely broke and rudderless. It was 2010, and with minimal job experience and 45 credits short of a degree, I desperately applied for jobs, taking the first that offered me a full time position. It was a pivotal moment in my life. The job gave me purpose, and I actually felt like I was good at something for a change. I worked closely with my boss and mentor, a highly regarded commercial real estate advisor with a warm heart and penchant for dad jokes. What set him apart was his belief in community values: the importance of education, humility, empathy, good stewardship, qualities that made him a respected leader in many circles. Over the ensuing years, I would finish my degree. But the lessons that meant the most were learned by following my mentor’s example, and would later translate well to open source leadership. Meanwhile, I began volunteering with renewed passion: sorting clothes at homeless shelters, working on literacy programs, teaching English at the library, serving meals, maintaining trails, building homes. I fund raised and coordinated volunteer events. Eventually, I joined advisory boards and committees of a few nonprofits, and became enamored of the strategic, thoughtful work that came with these roles. Building homes in Estelí, Nicaragua. One of my favorite volunteer memories! Ideas around positive change and impact through community initiatives blossomed in my mind. Driven by strongly held values, I continued to help and was welcomed at every turn. I learned that it was people who could create spaces in which anyone, everyone could belong and add value by virtue of being a unique, enthusiastic human being. I wanted to create these spaces. Finding WordPress Now, it is a true story that I also found my way to WordPress through my partner, and that WordPress brought us together. We met through a mutual friend, and when I realized that he could build me a website, I asked him to do so for work. Arguably, one of my first experiences with WordPress could be described either as sharing what my site required with my developer, or innocently flirting with my future partner. The joke I like to tease him with is that I needed someone to maintain the site, so I married him. The other truth was that, after eight years of volunteering and lessons in leadership, my passion had turned to community building. I wanted a career in creating sustainable communities where people were openly welcomed, and members tangibly feel that they belong and experience joy in their participation. Simultaneously, working with my WordPress site also reinforced my sense of belonging to something bigger. Despite not having any technical background (y’all, my degree is in English), I was able to not just publish with WordPress, but have a functional site that worked incredibly well for my purposes. I saw WordPress as a way for anyone to have a voice online, and as a result, I was also drawn to the idea of creating these tools that non-developers, like myself, could use in an increasingly online world. By that point, my WordPress developer had become my fiancé, and he once again suggested a WordPress-based solution, this time for my career needs. Just before we married, he forwarded a job opportunity with Automattic as a sponsored community organizer within the WordPress open source project. It was a perfect match. And that is how, in 2018, after going through the standard Automattic interview process (another story that I’m happy to share with anyone interested) I found myself a community organizer for the WordPress Project. Where do we go now? I’ve only been in my current role for two and a half years, but during this time, my belief in the power of resilient communities has only grown, fortified by supporting meetup and WordCamp organizers, bolstered by working on diversity initiatives, and humbled by opportunities to serve teams as their lead, mentor, or member. I’ve met and worked with so many phenomenal community members, full of passion and creativity, and have loved every minute of what we do

Continue reading

Review Signal Publishes 2021 Hosting Performance Benchmarks on New WordPress-Powered Site – WordPress Tavern

[ad_1] Kevin Ohashi has published his 2021 WordPress Hosting Performance Benchmarks report. The annual report is broken down into six different hosting tiers, from the most economical <$25/month, to the $500+ enterprise level. This is the second year the stats include WooCommerce-specific hosts as a separate category. After eight years of measuring peak performance and consistency for WordPress hosts, Review Signal has relaunched benchmarks on wphostingbenchmarks.com, a WordPress-powered site. Review Signal started using sentiment analysis to capture consumer reviews of hosting companies on Twitter in 2011 and launched in 2012. Ohashi added a WordPress blog but said it never really integrated well with the code and design of the rest of the site. He launched the benchmarks in 2013, publishing the first handful of tests via a simple blog post. “In 2020 it was dozens of companies, 6 full price tiers of competition, and a separate WooCommerce group as well,” Ohashi said. “It really has become its own product, and creating a dedicated site for them at WPHostingBenchmarks.com is recognition of that fact. It also opened the door for a rebranding effort and a much better presentation of the results.” Results on the new site are much easier to understand at a glance with honorable mentions and top tier companies denoted by a half star and full star. Visitors can click through to get more specific information about each host’s performance on the tests. Top tier performers in the <$25 tier included 20i, CynderHost, EasyWP by Namecheap, Eco Web Hosting, Green Geeks, Lightning Base, RAIDBOXES, and WPX, with a handful of honorable mentions. In the Enterprise tier (shown above), RAIDBOXES, Scaleforce powered by Jelastic, Seravo, Servebolt, Servebolt Accelerated, and WordPress VIP capture the top tier spots. Now that the new site is database driven, Ohashi can publish faster and reduce the amount of work it takes going forward. “It also lets me auto generate pages from the data – for example company profile pages,” he said. “I attempted to write a blog post in the past about companies that did well, but it was never really a success. Now, I can display all their historical results, pull up analysis, compare them all by year, etc. So I am happier, companies are (hopefully) happier, and most of all – consumers get better insight into the results.” WooCommerce Benchmarks Expanding WooCommerce benchmarks have expanded since their first time to be included separately last year. Five out of the 11 companies tested scored top tier results, including Lightning Base, Pressable, Servebolt, SiteGround, and WordPress.com. Servebolt scored 99.999% Uptime and the fastest Load Storm average response time, along with the fastest wp-login, Buyer and Customer profiles and second fastest Home profile. Pressable reprised its top tier status with perfect uptime and the second fastest Average Response Time on WebPageTest. WordPress.com posted perfect uptime, the second fastest K6 average response time, and a solid Load Storm test. On the WebPageTest results WordPress.com took 10/12 of the fastest response times and posted the fastest WP Bench scores Ohashi has ever recorded and the second fastest PHP Bench. In 2021, SiteGround slipped to honorable mention status in every other tier where it was tested, with the exception of WooCommerce. Lightning Base maintained its top tier status with a 99.99% uptime rating, very good flat Load Storm and K6 results, and no problems with the tests. “For WooCommerce I had seven companies participate last year and this year had 11 companies, which is a 57% increase,” Ohashi said. “The traditional WordPress benchmarks grew from ~29 companies last year to 35-37 depending on if you differentiate Automattic brands (VIP, WP.com, Pressable) which is at least a 20% growth in participation.” Ohashi said he is pleased with the mix of new entrants and companies that have participated for years, but the pandemic has slowed Review Signal’s business. “It’s been a bit slow revenue wise,” he said. “I don’t sell any products and don’t think I’ve found any advantage during the pandemic to make what I do stand out relative to what’s happening to the world. That is another motivating reason for creating WPHostingBenchmarks.com, I wanted to take that extra time I have and make the biggest change for Review Signal in years.” Review Signal’s benchmarks are one of the most thorough and transparent evaluations of hosting products in the industry. This is because Ohashi doesn’t accept any hosting sponsorship. Each company pays a small, publicly documented, fee for participation to cover the costs of the tests. These fees are standardized based on the pricing tier of the product entered into the testing. Consumers in the market for a new hosting company will find WPHostingBenchmarks a solid resource for comparing how companies perform at different pricing tiers. Like this: Like Loading… [ad_2] Source link

Continue reading

How to Create Funnels with WordPress (Step by Step Guide)

[ad_1] One of the hardest aspects of running an online business is turning your visitors into paying customers. There are so many factors involved that you’d be forgiven for missing a step or two. Yet, if you were to create funnels with WordPress, there’s a greater chance of winning customers. When it comes to creating sales funnels, for us, WordPress beats the competition. It’s scalable, flexible, and fits your budget regardless of whether you’re a startup or an enterprise. In this post, we’ll show you how to create funnels with WordPress. We’ll outline all of the tools you need, and walk you through the entire process. A Quick Primer on ClickFunnels Before we get into the article proper, it’s worth talking about ClickFunnels for a few minutes. This is a leading solution for creating repeatable and effective sales funnels. Thousands of users generate traffic, customers, and income using the tool. On paper, it has a lot of exciting and innovative features and functionality. For example: There’s much more in the “Heck Yes!” column for choosing ClickFunnels. Even so, it doesn’t capture 100 percent of the user base. Why You’d Want to Find a ClickFunnels Alternative Given the great things ClickFunnels offers, it’s not the only solution on the market. In fact, whenever we’ve mentioned ClickFunnels at WPKube, it’s always alongside the competition. Here are a few reasons why: Pricing. There’s no getting around that ClickFunnels is expensive. The lowest tier is $97 per month, and this isn’t as full-featured as the $297 per month plan. ClickFunnels’ ecosystem. While a closed-source all-in-one hosted platform is great to get started with, you’re locked into ClickFunnels forever. In other words, there’s no way to take your business away from ClickFunnels’ system. The functionality. ClickFunnels is a ‘jack-of-all-trades’. As such, while some functionality is best-in-class, others need some work. Its look and design. Much like WordPress sites used to have certain ‘tell-tale’ elements, so a ClickFunnels site screams its name too. To touch on this last point a little more, if you take a look at any of the templates or default setups for ClickFunnels sites, they all have a dated look that has become associated with sales funnels as a whole: So, ClickFunnels has a ‘spammy’ default design, although we admit it’s a successful one. Regardless, there will be a unique combination of reason why you’d want to create funnels with WordPress – so let’s chat about this next. Why You Should Create Funnels With WordPress It shouldn’t come as a shock that we think WordPress is number one when it comes to building any type of website. We’ve covered our reasons in detail across the blog in the past, although let’s summarize the key aspects for you: The WordPress core software is free. Not only does it cost zero dollars to download and use, it’s also open-source. This means you control almost every aspect of your site, without lock in. It can stick with you for your business’ entire journey. WordPress works great as a blogging platform. It’s also a full-featured Content Management System (CMS) that works for enterprise-level sites with millions of hits per month. WordPress is extendable through thousands of themes and plugins. In fact, many are free. There’s also a rich premium market for both themes and plugins that we’ll touch on throughout the article. The WordPress community is strong, diverse, and knowledgeable. There are support channels with easy access, and a rich developer network to ensure WordPress is always evolving and improving. The above is just the tip of the iceberg. Even so, not everyone will jump to create funnels with WordPress, without surveying the competition. We’ll focus on this next. 2 Alternative Solutions to Create Funnels With WordPress Competition is a healthy thing among any products or services. Sales funnels are no exception. We’ve covered landing page plugins in the past, and in many cases they could compete with more ‘traditional’ funnel builders. Despite this, there are two tools we’d suggest are closer competitors to WordPress, and the first is one we’ve already mentioned. 1. ClickFunnels We won’t go over the same details again, as we’ve already talked about ClickFunnels both in this article and others. In any case, it’s worth summing up the appeal of ClickFunnels in general: It’s an all-in-one funnel builder platform. The community is geared towards helping you succeed. You’re given a proven system to create, utilize, and prosper from sales funnels. What’s more, it’s a breeze to get up and running with. Once the sign-up process is out of the way, you’ll carry out the following steps: Navigate to your dashboard and click the Build a Funnel button. From the dialog screen that pops up, choose a funnel type to work with. Use the Launch Checklist in the Funnel Builder to create your sales funnel. The final step here involves designing squeeze and sales pages, order forms, confirmations, and Thank You pages. It’s all laid out well, and you’ll have your funnels ready and waiting for visitors within no time. 2. Systeme Another solution we’ve featured on the blog in the past is Systeme. This positions itself as a direct ClickFunnels competitor, and has much of the same functionality: A drag-and-drop funnel builder, that also doubles as a site-building tool. Email and content marketing functionality. Built-in tools for selling subscriptions and courses. Robust contact management. In our review, we argued that Systeme reaches a different user than ClickFunnels. The latter is focused on the core concept, while Systeme wants to be the center of your entire business. As such, the getting started steps are more diverse than ClickFunnels: Click the Create button to build a new funnel. Choose an end goal for your funnel, such as capturing emails, or running a webinar. Build an order form and Thank You page using templates. Customize each page to your requirements. Use the built-in page builder to design your funnel further. We think that both solutions have a good approach to creating funnels. Our

Continue reading

How WordPress Made Space For Me As A Kid Who Grew Up With MS – Come WordPress Mi Ha Accolta Quando Ero Una Bambina Crescendo Con La Sclerosi Multipla

[ad_1] Questo saggio è disponibile anche in italiano. I was first introduced to WordPress when I was 13 years old. My parents had the idea to give me my very own WordPress website. I was able to use, play, test, and try whatever I wanted with it. My First Encounter With WordPress While the technical aspects of my new WordPress website intrigued me, I was more interested in the space it made for me to write. All throughout my childhood I had struggled with chronic pain, fatigue, and other unexplained symptoms. Having a private world I could call my own, I was able to write my story. And there is something truly amazing about having a place to tell your story. When doctors, nurses, specialists, and the best hospitals I could go to struggled to find answers for me and my parents, I felt like my life and world were out of control. But logging onto my little website and typing away on the computer keys gave me a sense of control. I couldn’t always do things that other kids had the energy to do. But I could get lost in writing for hours. I couldn’t control my life story, but I could write about it. It felt like writing letters to my future self, “Look at what you went through, look how strong you were.” And even now, when I go on, I feel like I’m writing letters to my past self, “Look at you, look how you made it.” WordPress In The Real World I swear I thought that when I grew up, that I’d be healthy. I thought that “unhealthiness” was a part of being a kid. Something as terrible as having a bedtime, or having to eat carrots. And like most kids, I couldn’t wait to be a grown up so that I could stay up as late as I wanted, never eat carrots again, and— be healthy. But growing up didn’t change that. In fact, my condition grew slowly worse as years went by. I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, a decade later at 18 years old. I realized that I couldn’t handle a 9-5 work schedule, I couldn’t drive to a job on some days (shout-out to my mom for driving me) and I knew deep down that I would need to find another way to work. I began writing music and book reviews online. I wrote blog posts. They were getting published and I was getting paid too. WordPress felt familiar, typing on the computer keys felt comfortable, and sharing my words with the world felt surreal. I think I believed WordPress was mine somehow. I was learning that WordPress is something that belongs to everyone in some way. And I loved it. My WordPress Job at Valet The thing I love about WordPress is that it’s not just for developers or bloggers or SEO experts. I began to meet more people in the community and was delighted to find people like me, who didn’t know the technical stuff, but were a part of WordPress. There were social media managers, there were designers, there was a place for everyone. And the community felt as important as the rest of everything that makes WordPress what it is. It felt like it was about people and relationships as well as codes and databases. I was hired at Valet in 2020 thanks to my relationships with people, in this case, my very own dad. I like being a part of a WordPress company, and I love that I contribute to a team that helps people with their websites. I understand the importance of having a space that’s yours. Whether it’s a business or personal site, having a website gives you the power of telling your own story. I didn’t have to work 9-5 jobs, or have my mom drive me to work, I didn’t have to worry about days when I needed to just stay in sweats. I have a 100% remote job which I can do despite the plot twists in my story, thanks to WordPress and the people in it. Welcomed Into The WordPress Community Kimberly Lipari was the first person to repeatedly tell me that I was really indeed a part of the WordPress community. It felt unreal. I wasn’t a dev, I don’t know how to code, and yet I got to be a part of it all? I felt like I was a fake. But she continues to remind me that I’m real, I get to be here, I get to stay, I have a place. When Michelle Frechette told me I could contribute to Big Orange Heart, I was honored. I was typing my words, pieces of my story, and sharing them with a community of people. And when Topher contacted me to write my WordPress Story for HeroPress I could only say yes. I could go on and on, this community is not perfect, but everyone here is constantly working to be better and do better. My WordPress Story I’m proud and grateful to be sharing my story today. I hope that maybe it can be a letter to anyone out there thinking, “I won’t make it.” I hope that it will remind anyone reading this that WordPress is a space for everyone. Healthy or not, developer or not, blogger or not— WordPress belongs to you too. I hope most of all that my story can somehow remind you that your story is important. Sono stata introdotta a WordPress per la prima volta quando avevo 13 anni. I miei genitori hanno avuto l’idea di darmi un sito WordPress personale, tutto mio. Cosi potevo usarlo, provare e riprovare, o fare quello che volevo. Nessuno di noi sapeva l’importanza che WordPress avrebbe nel mio futuro. Il mio primo incontro con WordPress Mentre gli aspetti tecnici del mio nuovo sito Web WordPress mi hanno incuriosita, ero più interessata nel fatto che ha creato uno spazio per scrivere. Per tutta la mia

Continue reading

Spice Up Your Food or Recipe Blog With the Nutmeg WordPress Theme – WordPress Tavern

[ad_1] Last week, Dumitru Brînzan announced Nutmeg Plus. It is the latest commercial theme offering through his ILOVEWP brand. Earlier today, the free version of Nutmeg landed in the WordPress theme directory. The theme is built for food and recipe bloggers and is another solid example of building on the block system. As is typical of his style, Nutmeg rests on a foundation of clean lines and readable typography. It pulls elements from some of Brînzan’s previous work, such as the featured pages section of Photozoom and the two-column intro from Endurance. Reusing code is one of the cornerstones of smart development. The theme never gets too flashy, nor is it a bold step forward in design. However, it has a timeless layout that is hard to go wrong with. Where it shines is in its use of block patterns and styles. Recipe post built with Nutmeg. Sometimes, theme authors surprise me with, in hindsight, simple solutions. Nutmeg’s List block styles had me asking, “Why didn’t I think of that?” Last month, I challenged theme authors to build out patterns that are often created as custom blocks. In the post, I showcased an example of how themers could provide pricing columns for their users. The Nutmeg theme is a perfect example of that same concept, only applied to recipes. The unique aspect is that Brînzan did not make it complex. With a few simple styles for the List block, he had all the makings of the typical “recipe card” seen on many food blogs. Is it as advanced as a fully-featured recipe card plugin? No. But, that should not be the goal. If users need more advanced recipe-related features and functionality, that is where plugins make sense. The theme even recommends a few like WP Recipe Maker, Recipe Card Blocks, and Delicious Recipes for those who need more. However, for bloggers who are just starting, undecided on recipe plugins, or simply do not want another dependency, the theme has built-in solutions for them. It is tough to discount the value in that. Adding instructions and ingredients. With a starting point of the Recipe Info, Ingredients List, or Ingredients + Instructions patterns, users can quickly pop these sections into their content. Or, they can go the alternate route of starting with the List block and selecting one of four custom styles. Theme authors should be able to build unique and complex combinations of blocks with custom styles. Users should be able to just make it look like the demo. Block Patterns Will Change Everything It was March 2020. The Gutenberg development team had just pushed block patterns into the plugin, but the feature would not land in core WordPress for months. I do not want to call myself a prophet. It was plain enough for anyone to see: block patterns would eventually change how end-users interact with the editor and build their sites. Patterns were the answer to elaborate homepage setups. Instead of jumping back and forth between non-standard theme options, hoping for the best from a theming community that never learned to entirely leverage the customizer, users could simply click buttons and insert layout sections where they wanted. Recreating Nutmeg’s homepage demo was easy. By just picking a few patterns and adding some custom images, I was up and running in minutes. No tutorial necessary. No half-hour session of figuring out a theme’s custom options setup. Select the custom homepage template. Add the Cover with Overlay pattern and upload an image. Drop in the Opening Message pattern and customize. Insert the Featured Pages pattern and add images. Homepage built from patterns. Simple setup processes like this are the exact thing that theme authors have been repeatedly asking about for the better part of a decade. Except for a powerful Query solution, which is arriving in a limited form in WordPress 5.8 (the Post Featured Image block is the weak point), the tools are mostly in place. The feature set is only growing with each release. One of my favorite solutions in the theme is the use of the Cover block’s inner container. The plugin has several styles for moving this inside box around and creating a featured section. Customizing the Cover block with styles. One improvement I might suggest is to provide “width” styles for the inner container here. Core already provides an alignment matrix option. Styles for 25%, 50%, and 75% width (100% being the default) would offer more variety when coupled with the existing alignments. The only things that felt out of place with the theme were its alignment block styles for Heading and Paragraph blocks. WordPress already provides alignment options for these blocks. I am not sure if there is a use case that I am unaware of for the styles, but they were definitely confusing. The theme is worth a test run for any food or recipe bloggers who need a dash of Nutmeg to spice up their site. Like this: Like Loading… [ad_2] Source link

Continue reading

16 Examples of Awesome Websites Built with Divi (2021)

[ad_1] Divi, by Elegant Themes, is one of the most popular web-building frameworks right now. It has been used on over 2 million websites worldwide. Divi comes in two flavors: It’s either a WordPress theme or a page builder. While the theme gives a website its appearance, the builder provides you with the tools to create content with its various on-page elements. This blog post lists websites using Divi. Since Divi is such a versatile product, you can build any website with it, including one-page websites, multi-page websites, blogs, landing pages, or online stores. So let’s start exploring and see Divi in action. Huntington YMCA’s primary goal is to strengthen communities by focusing on youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility. The content uses the entire width of the page and includes rounded images and bright colors. You’ll also notice a sticky navigation bar that stays put at the top, even when you scroll down the page. The page is easy to navigate and fast to download. Does your roof need a renewal?  If you live anywhere near the Ironton, Huntington, and Ashland Tri-State area, then consider Thoroughbred Construction Group for the job. Right after you have loaded the home page, you clearly see what the company is all about and what they promise to you. Right after this text, you notice the call to action (CTA) buttons, so you can get an estimate of the repair or call them. Thoroughbred uses sticky navigation on their site, making navigation between different parts of the website simple. Naxian Wave Orkos offers accommodation in Drymalia, which is part of the Greek island Naxos. The main menu sits at the top of the page. You can find a Book Now button to the left of the navigation, which takes you to their reservation system. There, you can view their apartments in more detail. The overall theme of the pages is white, just like the buildings located on Drymalia. The pages show big images of the available rooms. You can find the contact information and customer testimonials, too. Would you like to play golf?  If you are in the Rochester area in New York, you could head out to the Timber Ridge Golf Club. The home page opens with a full-width picture of one of the holes in the course. You can click the Book a Tee Time button in the middle of the page to reserve your spot on the golf course. The home page also features helpful information regarding the course, including the contact information, customer reviews, and an introduction to their facilities. When you scroll down any of the pages, you’ll notice smooth animation effects on images.  At the end of the page, you find a footer area. It includes the navigation, combined with the contact information and links to social media profiles. LOCAMAT is a Togo-based company in West Africa. It offers heavy lifting, handling, and truck services in Togo, Burkina Faso, Benin, and Ghana. The front page of the website contains a full-width animation, where the company shows its services. On the home page, you can also read more about the types of services they offer. When you scroll down the page, you’ll find customer testimonials and information on contacting them. You can quickly jump from page to page by using the sticky navigation at the top.  In the footer area, you can join their email list by entering your name and email. The company’s brand color is red, and this same color is dominant on their pages, too. When you enter the White Gorilla, you see a page-wide image of a desktop. In the middle of this area, you learn that the company creates websites, web apps, and digital experiences. Next, you’ll notice a black button that says “Start a Project.” White Gorilla’s website is an example of a one-page website. The header area contains sticky navigation. Clicking on any of the items on the menu makes you jump to a specific part of the page. The overall color scheme is black and white. The exception to this rule is the works area, which features their previous projects with full-color images. Trafoos is an online store that sells unique designs on products like t-shirts, mugs, or posters. If you don’t find the design you are looking for, you can also create your own. You can start shopping or creating your custom products by clicking on the appropriate buttons at the top of the page. When you scroll down the home page a bit, you’ll also find all their shopping categories and featured products. In the footer area, there is an opt-in form. When you join the email list, you’ll receive exclusive designs and discounts. This website presents the realtors named the Langhirt Crew. They are real estate agents located in Columbus, Ohio. The home page displays a looping video, showing all the various happy experiences and memories a home can have.  When you scroll down the page a bit, you find an introduction to their team, followed by the featured property and client testimonials.  You can find the company’s contact information in the footer and links to social media profiles, too. Allianz is a global financial services provider. Allianz Brno is an official branch of the Allianz corporation located in the Czech Republic. The website uses controlled and well-balanced colors to represent its brand. On the homepage, you see a picture of their three local agents working in the branch. This picture adds more trust towards the company. A green CTA button is located at the top of the home page, asking you to contact the agency. Next to the CTA, you can also find a phone number if you’d like to call them instead. The home page gives you all the essential information about the company and the services they offer. The footer area provides the contact information, with a map on how to reach them in Brno. Alive offers various services, like IT or employee-related,

Continue reading

Empowered To Make A Change

[ad_1] The good part; When writing this, I am working with the top companies in the WooCommerce ecosystem, partnering with creative minds, making things happen that can make a massive difference to many users, or even an essential lifeline to their business survival due to a lockdown. As a partnership manager at YITH, I also had* the privilege of traveling worldwide and attended various WordCamps and WordPress events. I’ve co-organized WordCamps, Meetups, and with 28 WooCommerce London Meetups in 2020 alone.* We are still in a local lock down due to covid at the time of writing this. The rubbish part; Okay, nine years ago, life was not great, my daughter passed away, and I was stuck as a restaurant owner, working hard and not making much money, plus soon after, I started a court case against my landlord. Maybe this was the year I lost most of my hair, and it also caused my flare-up of UC… so hopefully, you get it, it was not a good time of my life, and I probably had every reason to find ‘the bottle’ more attractive. From The Rubbish To The Good Part When bad things happen to people, some will hide and go downhill, whereas others use this negative energy into something positive. I can’t say, I fall in either camp, but having been influenced by the right people around me, decisions I made, and by chance, I was being drawn towards the latter one. Soon after our daughter died, my wife, Nihan enrolled in the open university to finish her Computer Science degree. I have massive admiration for Nihan’s strong determination, and I wholeheartedly supported her in this decision. We managed to finance this with an adult learning grant and working as a chef in various local pubs. My wife’s coursework interested me a lot, and very soon, we started following the lectures together, plus extra course work I was practicing myself too. Then came the idea of affiliate commission earnings through blogging, which I started out using Joomla as a CMS platform. Creating websites was slowly becoming a passion for me, and in these first few years, I enjoyed every part of the steep learning curb tackling the basics to more advanced coding and designs. Diving Into The Web After reducing hours as a chef, I followed various online courses in coding and e-commerce, SEO, and online marketing. One of the training courses I signed up for was a lifetime deal for OSTraining. The lessons came in particularly useful when I applied for a job as a WordPress designer. Please note that at this time, I had heard of WordPress and used it as a blogging platform but not played with it as a designer. One of the tutors on OSTraining became my absolute savior in the next two weeks before my interview for a new WordPress job. His name is Topher, also well-known for being the founder of HeroPress. Having binge-watched various WP development topics and getting familiar with the structures, I was rather lucky to have been given the job. Still, this was only the beginning of my journey into the world of WordPress. A year later, my boss asked me whether I would consider taking over the business and clients. Together with my wife, we started a new brand and company that we then build up over the years. This path naturally leads us into a niche of working with WooCommerce in combination with Online marketing. As I often say to people, WordPress is just one of the tools in my box, just like a carpenter can’t do without a hammer. The skill in using it efficiently comes over time and even then, there are different techniques. We all look back at projects and think: “ouch, why did I do it that way?” I often hear the term ‘imposter syndrome.’ I don’t believe in this, as I think whoever progresses and explores is eager to learn and wants to improve. It is frankly in human nature to drive ourselves forward. WordPress has evolved in so many branches that require different skills, and thank goodness for that, or we’d all be in competition. Instead, there are 100’s of areas of expertise, roles, and jobs that complement WordPress to make it what it is. A big part of that is each person’s personal background complements their skillsets. Think about it, who you are and what you do is influenced by what you have done and learned. Cherishing this, adding your culture, language, and experience and you suddenly find yourself more than qualified. And often these are not skills or certificates you list on a CV as they might be good and also bad experiences. Joining A Business The next part of this chapter was my dealings with YITH. As a long-term customer and having met some of the team at WordCamp London, I got into discussions to represent them at events held in the UK. This soon went global with me attending WordCamps in 3 other countries… and this was the moment I realized I could do much more with my connections and create meaningful partnerships. Within a few weeks, I crafted my dream job and sent a proposal to Nando, the CEO of YITH. It is not easy to pitch yourself with an idea hoping that someone, I never met or spoken, understands this vision. The doubts went through my head; “do I give up my business and work for the benefit of another company? What if I don’t get on? After all, I met 2 out of a team of 40 only three years ago… What do I do with my customers? Thinking of which, they have been demanding and not paying us on time. Plus, they annoy me when I want to be on holiday, not just that, they cause arguments between my wife and me. Because what is more important, family time or a site down and a business that is not earning

Continue reading

Ujwal Thapa, Co-Founder of the WordPress Nepal Community, Passes Away – WordPress Tavern

[ad_1] “Here is my resume of professional Failures,” began his LinkedIn profile. On a site where most are apt to share success, Ujwal Thapa started with nearly a two-decade history of dreams that did not quite work out. Or, maybe they did in some ways. Much of Nepal is reeling from his death today. In the past week, he had been battling multiple health complications from Covid-19. The 44-year-old activist was the founder of the Bibeksheel Nepali political party, originally a peaceful movement that fought against political corruption and social injustice. However, many Nepali WordPress users will remember him as a co-founder of their community. The WordPress Nepal Facebook group has now grown to nearly 8,000 members. Photos shared by Ganga Kafle. In a 2015 interview with Nepal Buzz, he noted his proudest WordPress-related achievement as building this community. “That is not just creating tens and hundreds, but thousands of jobs in Nepal, and has the potential to create tens of thousands more, which basically means we are contributing to the nation by creating opportunities where there are none.” Later in the interview, he said he was a provoker, and he continued to live the remainder of his life in that belief. “I believe that the easiest way to bring change is to align all the positive people in the same direction,” he said. “So my job is to provoke and bring together people with similar interests, and align them in a similar direction, creating the change that they would never believe could come.” Thapa founded Digital Max Solutions in 2002, amidst the Nepalese Civil War. At one point, the company had as many as 35 employees. Over 30 eventually moved on to start their own IT businesses. He also created the Entrepreneurs for Nepal Facebook group, which now has over 100,000 members. From May 2013 to October 2019, he served as the Chairperson of the BibekSheel Nepali party. Many in Nepal’s WordPress community owe him a debt of gratitude for having the vision of building off the core platform. WordPress.org Themes Team representative Ganga Kafle credits at least part of his career and deep involvement with WordPress to Thapa, helping him land an initial internship with Web Experts Nepal. “Ujwal Thapa is the person who introduced WordPress to me in 2012 in a meetup,” he said. “After that, I was in close relation with him. In 2014, after my graduation, I went to Ujwal and asked him about the internship, and he took me to that office and talked with the boss and finalized for the internship. That’s how I jumped in WordPress, and now I am one of the leads of Themes Team.” “Once he said to me, ‘WordPress is giving so much things for free, why you hesitate to put Proudly Powered by WordPress?’” Kafle shared of the mentor, referencing the typical credit line in many WordPress site footers. “He was in love with WordPress.” You can view Thapa’s WordCamp presentations as a speaker and panel moderator via WordPress.tv. Like this: Like Loading… [ad_2] Source link

Continue reading
1 … 4 5 6 7 8 … 11