There's a mantra I repeat when people ask what they should be doing online: "Go where the people are". A good rule of thumb is to ask your readers what social media they frequently use, and strive to connect with them there. The one resounding link I've always gotten: the ability to listen to podcasts when they're on the go or commuting. The good news? It's…
If you run a blog (or a church site with some sort of event calendar or news section), having a place where your visitors and members can share your content is absolutely invaluable. Sometimes all it takes is for people to start spreading the word about an event. By giving them the chance to do so, you increase your chances for people to know what's…
We as humans strive to create beautiful content in everything that we do. Whether that's a fine oil painting hanging in a museum or the amazing selfie from on top of Christ the Reedeemer in Brazil, that content is something we've made and that we're proud of. I've noticed, however, that people think they can sustain their online presence with only content they create. They feel…
With all of the various tutorials I post on CSS, HTML, and website design, I often get emails from readers that resemble something like this: "This looks awesome, but I have no idea where to start. Do you have anything that talks about the basics of [css/html/jQuery/etc]" It's worth going back to the very beginning to set a great foundation for the other tutorials…
CSS Transitions, when used properly, are a great way to provide a bit of eye candy to your site. Providing movement and motion, either upon scroll or reveal of content, is a great way to subtly draw a viewer's attention. It's also a way, unfortunately, to annoy the ever-loving crap out of your readers. When CSS Transitions were first revealed, people worried that they…
When it comes to developing a new site, every developer has a stash of favorite code snippets or reusable modules they keep handy. It could be a homemade widget, a section or module that is adaptable to multiple sites, or custom code that you use to personally extend the functionality of WordPress, but every developer worth their salt has them. But over and over again I keep…
Adding a featured image (or a post thumbnail) to WordPress is one of the easiest ways to add some spark to your blog post. Most modern themes support at least some form of the featured image, and any custom-made themes can implement a featured image fairly easily, and with just a small bit of code. But some themes only scratch the surface when it comes…
No site is complete without having a contact form of some kind on it. Whether you use it for lead generation, user submitted content, or just to have people stop and say hello, having a form visitors can easily fill out to send you a message is crucial. WordPress is privileged to have an amazing selection of contact forms, both free and paid, that…
If I were to mention to a casual WordPress user something about the WordPress Heartbeat API, most would have never even heard of it, much less know that it's been in WordPress since version 3.6(!) with very little fanfare. But, as it turns out, the Heartbeat API has gained traction in the developer community, as people are starting to utilize it to create some…
Jetpack - WordPress' popular "modular" plugin - released a major update on May 20th, and with it came a slew of major design changes and a few additions to the plugin, dubbed "Jetpack 3.0". Those familiar with Jetpack will recognize a lot of the same great functions you know and love - just wrapped in a nice, pretty shell. Let's dive in and see just what's changed,…