WordPress To Change ‘Posts’ to ‘Blog’ in Next Version? |
- WordPress To Change ‘Posts’ to ‘Blog’ in Next Version?
- The WordPress 3.4 Killer Feature
- WordPress 3.4 Green Released with Tons of New Customization Options
- WordPress Plugins: My Top 5
- Premium WordPress Themes: Are They Worth The Money?
- Daily Tip: Free Online Magazine and News Theme for WordPress
| WordPress To Change ‘Posts’ to ‘Blog’ in Next Version? Posted: 14 Jun 2012 08:12 AM PDT We’ve preached about the need to simplify the WordPress dashboard before, and just a few minutes ago one such change was proposed in the WordPress Trac. This change is simple: 1. Change the ‘Posts‘ menu item to ‘Blog‘ 2. Move the ‘Pages‘ and ‘Comments‘ menus up above ‘Media‘ The idea is that the difference between posts and pages is often confusing for new users and this should help make it more clear. We are a bit torn on if this really is a good move, so thought it might be worth asking you here. For the record, healthy debate about the usability of WordPress is always welcome, and continuous improvement is a worthy goal. We’re excited to see some serious thought being put into menu placements and user experience. Related posts:
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| The WordPress 3.4 Killer Feature Posted: 14 Jun 2012 07:37 AM PDT WordPress 3.4 is out and if this is the first you're hearing about it you should seriously reconsider your news sources and reading lists. You know what, WordPress 3.4 is great. I've been doing that thing you're not supposed to with it for quite some time, which is to say I've been enjoying nightly releases. And yes, I really tried to make that sentence sexual but it just didn't work out, OK? OK. Back to WordPress; 3.4 is a solid release. I still think the admin interface needs work (sorry, no update on my progress, been way too busy) but it does the job all right. There are several cool things under the hood for developers, and the beta and RC periods have been without major problems as far as I can tell. You'll be happy with 3.4, at least until the first point release ships. But you know what? 3.4 has a killer feature, a sign of the awesomeness that is yet to come, I'd venture to say. The live theme customizer. Yes, I know, this isn't exactly a unique feature, and most of the things it does has been possible for quite some time. But it is sexy. It is easy to use. It gives you instant gratification. My clients (and friends) will love this particular feature, way more than just about everything else WordPress have been getting lately. The only thing that could threaten this particular feature's sexiness would be a brand new media manager. Let's make that happen in 3.5, OK? PS. If you haven't upgraded to 3.4 yet you're Photo by Peter Andersson (CC) No related posts. |
| WordPress 3.4 Green Released with Tons of New Customization Options Posted: 14 Jun 2012 07:00 AM PDT The big news this week is that WordPress 3.4 has dropped, and we’re excited about all of the fancy new goodies. The release is called “Green”, named after jazz guitarist and composer Grant Green. Let’s take a look at a few of the highlights: Theme CustomizationThe theme customizer is the biggest change that you’ll find in the dashboard. It allows you to try on new themes in real time, make changes to the site tagline, customize colors, and change header text. The live preview feature makes it easy to see what your site is going to look like before you push it live. You can now choose your own image dimensions for greater flexibility when customizing your headers. Header images can easily be selected from the media library. Twitter EmbedsAdd the URL of a tweet on a line of its own and it will now automatically be embedded in a clickable way for easy replies, retweets, favorites and following. HTML Image CaptionsWordPress 3.4 allows you to include basic HTML in image captions, so you can give credit for the image or link to relevant information. You can expect WordPress 3.4 to be faster than ever, as it’s received dozens of performance and API improvements. Users who have upgraded already have been reporting no problems with their installations. Don’t all the new features and improvements make you want to upgrade your sites to 3.4 right away?! If you’re a WPMU DEV member, you’ll be glad to know that all of our plugins and themes are compatible with WordPress 3.4, so your sites can keep on ticking and take the upgrades as fast as they come out. Enjoy the new release and don’t stress about the upgrade. This one should be smooth sailing. Related posts:
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| Posted: 14 Jun 2012 07:00 AM PDT
With that in mind, today I want to focus on my 5 favorite plugins – a pick of what I consider to be completely indispensable. I will be trying to cut down on my 24 (although whether or not I am able to remains to be seen), but I am confident that the following 5 will always remain. There’s just one slightly counterintuitive rule to this top 5 list – I am not going to include the really obvious candidates (Akismet, WordPress SEO by Yoast, and W3 Total Cache). Almost all of you already know all about them, so there wouldn’t be much worth in their inclusion. 5. Comment Reply NotificationI’ve featured this plugin on WPMU before, and with good reason. Comment Reply Notification gives your blog’s commenters the opportunity to sign up to notifications on comments that they make. You may consider it a bit naughty that I send emails to commenters by default (when only I have responded), but I think it is completely acceptable. If someone has taken to the time to comment on my blog post, I presume that they would like to know if I have responded to them. That’s my rationale, anyway! This plugin offers a great way of keeping your readers engaged in the conversation. After all, what’s the point in responded to a comment if it’s never going to be read? In my opinion, Comment Reply Notification definitely belongs in the “functionality that should come as standard in WordPress” category. 4. RedirectionGranted, this isn’t a particularly exciting plugin, but its functionality is indispensable (for me, at least). As the name suggests, Redirection allows you to set up redirects from one URL to another. This function is useful in a variety of circumstances – I primarily use it to “protect” my affiliate links. That is its basic function, but there is an awful lot more to the plugin than meets the eye, including 404 error monitoring. Although there are plenty of redirect plugins out there (many of which I have tried), I have always come back to Redirection as my top pick. 3. Performance Plugin ProfilerI’m all about site speed (even though I have recently discovered that my own site apparently has a woefully slow load time – something I need to work on!). With that in mind, I consider Performance Plugin Profiler to be yet another indispensable plugin. It was developed by the folks over at GoDaddy, and allows you to gauge the effect each of your plugins has on load time, through a series of spiffy reports. Here’s a copy of a report I just ran on my site: As you can see, Performance Plugin Profiler allows you to make informed decisions about the worth of any particular plugin when compared to the effect it is having on your site’s load time. Very handy. 2. ManageWP – WorkerI have quite a few different sites, and keeping track of them all used to be quite a hassle. But once I found ManageWP, I never looked back. Having read that sentence, it sounds like the script to a bad informercial, but I actually mean what I say. For those of you who don’t know, ManageWP allows you to manage all of your WordPress sites from one central dashboard: With features like one-click updates and backup scheduling, it is something I would really struggle to do without. 1. Digg DiggI love Digg Digg for so many reasons. Because it has a cool name. Because it is owned by the awesome guys at Buffer. And because it is, in my humble opinion, by far the best social sharing tool available for WordPress. Digg Digg offers up two options – a floating displays that always remains onscreen (seen above), and a static placement (to be placed wherever you like). It is easy to implement and looks really slick. And since development has been taken over by the Buffer boys, the support system is fantastic. I couldn’t do without it. Creative Commons image by Sean MacEntee Related posts:
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| Premium WordPress Themes: Are They Worth The Money? Posted: 14 Jun 2012 05:00 AM PDT WordPress originally began life as a blogging platform but has grown to be a Content Management System (CMS) and is now so popular, that it is now used by thousands of companies and corporations. Many thousands of free themes of differing purposes and quality have been released to the public, but yet during the last few years more and more developers have popped up selling premium WordPress themes, but are they worth the money? Personal Users vs Business UsersFree vs Paid Whether or not premium themes are worth the money will depend largely on your usage of WordPress. If you are using it as a personal blog paying $40 for a theme may seem crazy, however if you are not a coder you may find it difficult to customize free themes. Not all free themes come with documentation nor is there any guarantee the developer will provide technical support, but the documentation WordPress provides should be sufficient as a guideline if you are technically savvy. If you are using WordPress as a company to develop your site, and you can afford the cost, then it may be worth investing money on a premium theme as there are some benefits over using free themes. Below are some benefits worth noting when deciding whether to take out your wallet, or credit card in this case, or not: CustomizationPremium themes usually come with a control panel, although some free themes do as well but not always and often are not as thorough or advanced as ones provided by premium themes, which can be used to easily customize the appearance of the site. You won't have to dig into the code to change the logo, colours, column width or other matters relating to the appearance of the website. Documentation and Technical SupportTechnical Support Agent Premium themes and frameworks, such as Thesis, are usually designed and developed by professional designers and coders and will include documentation and professional technical support, however the support will depend on how professional the theme provider is. Inbuilt FeaturesSome themes, depending on the type of site the themes was built for, come preloaded with plugins and scripts, such as image carousels, shopping carts and featured posts, that add professionalism and extend functionality of your site. Browser TestedPaid themes are browser-tested Since premium themes are designed by professional designers, you should also expect the themes to look the same on all major versions of browsers. If you're a designer or developer, you'll appreciate the headaches this will save you. Time SavingSince premium themes are basically finished products it would not require your coder a large amount of time to customize it to suit your needs; free themes may require more work and maintenance. Case StudiesTwo WordPress users have given us their insight and have provided us with opposing views on premium themes. Gerard Cunningham (@faduda), a journalist, writer and researcher, says that premium themes are not worth it and that he has yet to find a premium theme that does something he "can't find/hack for free." Neil (@Nerin_), also a writer, says that he is first and foremost a writer, so premium themes "removed a lot of the hassle." He says that some people "just want to get customisation out of the way and onto content." He would recommend paying for premium themes, however he has had bad experiences with premium theme providers who have been unwilling to resolve issues and questions, and even deleted negative reviews and requests for help on their site and Facebook page. Beware of Poor Customer ServiceThis brings us to an interesting point. As with all service providers, customer service is hugely important and good customer service may just make that $80 price tag seem more worthwhile. With all things regarding money, it's important to research the company you're buying the theme from in terms of technical support and complaints and/or praises the company has received. Even for free themes it is also worth checking whether the developer will provide any technical support. ConclusionWhether or not premium themes are worth the money will depend entirely on your circumstances and what you're using WordPress for. Free themes may suffice for personal blogs and sites that reach a small audience. If you're running a business, premium themes may be worth the money if you want to build your website quickly and professionally. Let us know your thoughts on premium themes vs free themes? If you have used a premium theme provider, have you had bad experiences them regarding technical support? WordPress logo image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and Creative Commons Related posts:
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| Daily Tip: Free Online Magazine and News Theme for WordPress Posted: 13 Jun 2012 05:03 PM PDT Today, gazpo.com released a nice new, clean and highly customizable news theme, silverOrchid. This free theme is available from the WordPress theme directory. If you are trying to fit a lot of content into your site’s real estate, you may want to give this theme a download. It makes space for lots of images and headlines, and provides plentiful widgets and socially interactive features. The SilverOrchid theme is for use with WordPress 3.3+. Its most notable features include:
View the live demo to see the silverOrchid theme in action. Hop over to the theme’s homepage today and check it out. Related posts:
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You may have noticed that yesterday I published a list of 
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