So, you’ve got a shiny new website, now what? You’ve poured hours into crafting the perfect website — by yourself or with a web designer. You’ve meticulously curated content, tweaked designs, and optimized for user experience. It’s perfect — for now. But as we all know, the digital landscape evolves rapidly. Vulnerabilities emerge. New software … Read more
Sharing access to your WordPress website is a deceptively awkward situation. It doesn’t seem like that big of a deal, but let’s face it: you feel a little uncomfortable handing over your personal username and password. It’s not that your designer is going to steal your passwords and take control of your online accounts. It’s just a little scary to share your … Read more
You’re a WordPress blogger. You’re a also writer. A researcher. A marketer. A designer. A webmaster. A search engine optimizer. Oh, and on top of that, you’re probably either employed full-time or are running a small business associated with that blog of yours. Am I right? You wear a lot of hats and have a lot of responsibilities. … Read more
I don’t have to tell you how important your site menu is. You know that it’s the first place visitors look (except for maybe your logo) and that it tells them how to get around your website. That’s why you’re here, trying to learn how to use them. WordPress gives you a ton of control … Read more
Client feedback is one of the most important parts of any design process. In fact, it might be the most important part. That’s why most designers make a point to ask for feedback early and often. As a web designer, my process looks something like this: mockups, feedback, revisions, feedback, test site, feedback. You get the idea… Feedback is an … Read more
You would cry too if it happened to you. No, I’m not talking about getting dumped on your birthday. I’m talking about getting hacked. Getting hacked sucks. But it happens. Especially if you don’t take the proper precautions to protect your website. The biggest problem with WordPress security is that users put themselves at risk without knowing. Seemingly innocent … Read more
Getting started with WordPress plugins If you’re a DIY WordPresser, plugins are your best friend. These bits of code let you add features to your WordPress site–often with a just a couple of clicks. Need social sharing buttons on your blog posts? There’s a plugin for that. Want to display customer testimonials on your home page? … Read more
“Mobile-friendly” isn’t just a buzzword web designers throw around to get your business. It’s an actual benchmark that Google uses to determine if a website is optimized for mobile use. Last April, Google made an update that gave a boost to mobile-friendly websites. Last week they announced another update. This one will give even more weight to mobile-friendly … Read more
Quick edit: the most overlooked WordPress feature WordPress has a ton of handy features that help you spend less time managing your website. That’s more time doing the work that you love. I could wax poetic on the ways in which I love WordPress, but I’ll save you the time and myself the embarrassment. I’ll leave it at this: … Read more
When I first got started in web design, a friend/mentor told me that to always keep three copies of my files. That’s right, the originals plus 2 backups. TWO BACKUPS. This was his suggestion: Keep one copy on your computer. You’ll have easy access to work with these files on a day-to-day basis. Keep a second copy on an … Read more
12 WordPress Plugins that will Improve Your Website WordPress out of the box is pretty great, but plugins are where the real fun is at. Plugins are the building blocks of your WordPress website. The right ones can add features, improve functionality, increase security, and boost speed. But where do you start? There are over 43,000 plugins in … Read more
The WordPress visual editor is the window you’ll use to input content for every single post and page on your website. It looks a little something like this: If you have a WordPress website, you’re going to be seeing a lot of this editor, so you might as well learn how to use it…and use it right. The … Read more
