Easy Page-Specific WordPress Sidebars
August 29th , 2010
In yet another step to make WordPress function more like a CMS than a simple blog, there is a recently updated plugin that I think is worth noting.
By default, the WordPress sidebar remains identical on every single page of your web site. However, sometimes we need to be able to have a specific sidebars for different pages. For example, maybe you have a “Products” page that needs testimonials along the sidebar while your “About Us” page sidebar needs to display a listing of awards.
Category : Blog & Cool Tools & WordPress
Review of Easy E-Commerce Solution, Wazala
August 22nd , 2010
Wazala is a great new e-commerce solution that can work with any web site and is designed to make setting up an online store a simple copy, paste, point, and click operation.
In experimenting with Wazala in conjunction with a WordPress website, sadly, at the time of this blog posting, the WordPress plugin simply did not work for me, and I had to refer to the inaccurate instructions on Wazala’s web site to get the thing working (long story short, you need to paste a bit of code directly before the </head> tage of your site.)
However, once you get the code into your header, then it’s smooth sailing without another lick of code necessary to get your store up and running.
Category : Blog & Cool Tools & Reviews & WordPress
8 Tips for Overcoming Web-Technophobia
July 11th , 2010
Besides costing you money, there are other disadvantages to handing over the reigns to someone else every time you need to do things like change a phone number on your web site or make a quick online video.
Avoiding learning new technologies means you could very well lose the opportunity to infuse your individual personality into your digital communications. In this new business landscape, standing out from the ever-increasing online crowd means balancing the efficiency of powerful technology with authentic human relationships.
If the thought of updating your blog or adding a PayPal button to your web site leaves you stricken with the fear of God, here are some suggestions to help you claim your digital independence:
Category : Blog & Cool Tools & Good Business & Web Wisdom
Important and Often-Missed LinkedIn Setting
July 5th , 2010
Thanks to my marketing compadre Phyllis Zimbler Miller at Miller Mosaic Power Marketing, I was recently made aware of a setting on my LinkedIn profile that’s pretty darn important, super-quick and easy to fix, but which has nonetheless eluded my consciousness over the last few years that I’ve been using LinkedIn.
Category : 2-Minute Tips & Blog & Cool Tools & Good Business
Ten Seconds to Better Networking
June 8th , 2010
Just discovered a simple idea for networking utilizing the power of LinkedIn.
Since I’m always looking to network with interactive agencies (who are usually a strong match for my particular services), before I meet someone at a particular agency either in person or over the phone, I take a quick glance at that person’s LinkedIn profile and see how I’m connected to that person. (more…)
Category : 2-Minute Tips & Blog & Cool Tools & Good Business
What I Learned About WordPress Last Week #1
May 2nd , 2010
Inspired by the supa-talented Portland-based designer Deb Pang Davis‘s recent blog post What I Learned this Week #19 2010, I’ve decided to follow suit with my own list of things I learned, last week, but just about WordPress (otherwise we’d be here all month, as I obviously know very little and each week is a completely new adventure in all areas of my life).
Category : Blog & Cool Tools & News and Updates & WordPress
Pictorial Guide to Popular WordPress Sidebar Widgets
April 18th , 2010
I thought I’d provide a pictorial list of the most popular and common WordPress widgets. This chart can be used in the following ways:
- Non-Designers and WordPress Newbies – Because you, or the designer you’ve hired have gotta put something in your sidebar, this guide will remove all of the guesswork from the process and give you a visual image of what each widget will actually contain and how it will add to your site’s functionality.
- Web Designers Working with a Client – You may have already accounted for the sidebar content in your design mockup, but in case you’d like to give your client the opportunity to decide which widgets they’d like to use based on their particular goals for the site, a guide like this can save you hours of email and telephone back-and-forth explaining and finally finalizing this absolutely crucial part of the design and development process.
Of course, this list represents just a teeny-tiny micro-fraction of the possibilities for WordPress sidebar widgets, as the total number of available WordPress plugins goes well into the thousands. This is simply meant to be a basic starting point.
Category : Blog & Cool Tools & WordPress
Easily Create and Share Color Palettes
April 11th , 2010
Working with your designer to create a color scheme for your web site can often be a tricky thing.
On the one hand, many designers are wary of being reduced to mere “pixel pushers.” But, in some cases, it’s helpful to provide your designer with the exact color scheme you were hoping for on your site. Of course, your designer may come back to you with their own feedback, but I do think that being very specific can make for an effective and unambiguous starting point at the very least.
I’ve researched many of the online tools for easily arriving at an ideal color palette, and of all the ones I’ve tried, the “Create a Palette” page at ColourLovers.com is my favorite to date.
Within a couple of minutes, it’s possible for a non-technical person to create, and then share a color scheme in a simple format that would be easy for any designer to implement.
Category : Blog & Cool Tools
The Best & Worst Web Hosts for WordPress
April 4th , 2010
Having been in this web-development biz since 1997, I’ve worked with many of the major web hosting companies (Earthlink, AOL, Mindspring, 1&1, GoDaddy, Media Temple, HostGator, etc), but none have ever matched the quality of service I’ve enjoyed with my good friends at Bluehost.
Category : Blog & Cool Tools & WordPress
Easy Web Forms with WuFoo
March 28th , 2010
Many moons ago, the task of placing a form on a web site was a dreaded task reserved for only the geekiest of geeks. Of course, that’s no longer the case, and thanks to the beautiful simplicity of WuFoo, anyone with an internet connection can make a pretty strong start.
How it Works – A Quick Pictoral Overview
Rather than bog you down with a mountain of text, I just thought I’d toss up some screenshots of how this works with my captions to ‘splain things.
Category : Blog & Cool Tools
