How to Control HTML Code to Reduce Bugs

April 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment

As I was designing a site the other day, I realized that the way I have been tracking my code is something I should share.

Most of the projects I work on involve some sort of conversion to WordPress or other CMS system. Anyone who has ever developed a custom WordPress template from novel HTML, CSS, etc… knows how easy it is to run into bugs when it comes to running live code. You install it and something is missing, one of your div floats is outside where you want it to be. Or you are running an IE 6 test and you are totally pissed off that nothing looks right, but you have to make it readable by the 1% jerks (I have a better word) who haven’t yet switched over…I digress.

Anyway, the point I am trying to achieve with this post is that I keep track of my HTML code with HTML <!– comment here –> comment tags. Every time I end a div element: <div id=”nothing”>element</div><!– end nothing –> I comment right after the end div tag. This process has saved me (in some instances) hours when transitioning over to live code.

This application is practical when working with large amounts of nested <div> containers, but thought I would give my two cents :-) .

If anyone else has any special tricks for keeping track of code or improving productivity, comments are always welcome!

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WordPress themes – your choices

March 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment

WordPress.com or WordPress.org – the difference!

WordPress is free open source blogging software that enables you to easily start your own weblog (or blog as it is commonly called).

There are two options available, firstly WordPress.com and secondly wordPress.org.  Whilst the software is the same, with WordPress.com everything is taken care of such as hosting, whereas with WordPress.org you will need to install the software on your own servers (or with a third party provider).  WordPress.com is a good starting point if you are new to blogging and WordPress.org is ideal for those wishing to progress and have more control.

The benefits of WordPress.com is that it is free and easy to set up and there is a choice of over 70 themes.  You do not have to dowload software, pay for hosting or manage a web server. The set up, upgrades, spam, backups and security etc are all taken care of.  Posts are automatically backed up and your log in is secure (SSL).  The servers are also secure and are able to handle high volumes of traffic. You do not need your own domain name as you will get a URL such as “myname.wordpress.com”.

However, with WordPress.com you cannot use custom themes, change the PHP code, nor can you upload plugins.  What WordPress.com does allow you to do is to blog for free!

Once you have become an experienced “blogger” or if you want more flexibility with your blog then you can move on to WordPress.org.

The software is free, however you will need to install it on your own server and will need your own domain name.  Themes and plugins can be uploaded, the database can be edited and the PHP source code can be modified if needed.  You can even run adverts and GoogleAds to generate revenue.

WordPress.org requires a good web host.  More technical knowledge is required to set up and run it as you are responsible for stopping spam and handling backups. Upgrades must be done manually when a new version is released. If you get a huge surge in traffic your site may go down unless your hosting setup is robust. Having said that, hosting your own WordPress software can be rewarding as well as fun.

You can choose from a wide range of themes, many of which come with popular plugins and other features such as social network links, etc.

Many themes are free, but remember other people may have the same one as you.  Free themes do allow you to change your theme as often as you like from the ones you have downloaded. Some free theme providers have a “donate” button so that you can help support them in their ongoing development of free themes; a dollar to the coffee fund is always welcome and shows appreciation for their hard work!

Many providers of free themes provide online support (some will charge for this) and will, for a small fee, tweek the theme to make it more personalised to you or your business.

Premium themes are ones that you pay for and usually have more features than the free themes; you will pay anything from upwards.  They are available for everyone, so will not be totally unique to you, however premium themes will not be as abundant as free themes.

If you require a customised theme then that will cost you; you will of course be the only person with that theme and it will be more complex than free or premium themes, whilst still working on the WordPress principle.

You may like to design your own WordPress theme, or have it professionally designed.  If you do this, then the design will need to be programmed by a coder so that it will work with WordPress.

I hope this article has clarified some points with regard to WordPress.com and WordPress.org, as well as the different levels of themes available.

Happy blogging!

Parotkefalonia is a developer and contributor to open source software. parotkefalonia has free WordPress themes available for ownload, including the new EzeeOne theme which is the only WordPress theme you will ever need.


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WordPress Theme Development Tools

March 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Have you wondered what makes WordPress development so powerful? It is nothing but WordPress themes, which help in creating unique websites. Themes allow quick changes of the visual design and layout of a WordPress site. WordPress developers can help you get the website or blog that you have always dreamed off using these theme development tools. No wonder some of biggest of Fortune 500 companies are using WordPress to manage their official blogs.

 

You can easily create custom theme using these theme development tools. If that sounds a bit tough, you can outsource your WordPress project to offshore development centers, which will do your job in a professional yet cost effective manner. In this article, we shall discuss a few theme development tools used in WordPress.

 

Development Tools That You Need

 

Local Server – Your desktop/laptop is the best place for custom development of WordPress themes. You will need to turn your computer into a local server and create a virtual web server (Apache, MySQL and PHP), which can easily be done by installing WordPress into your computer. You will not need to install these server separately and will be able to do that using the XAMP (for Windows) and MAMP (for Macintosh).

 

WordPress – Although this might seem too obvious, you will need to download and install the latest version of WordPress into your workstation. This needs to be installed into your local test server from where you will be testing your theme. The installation procedure of XAMP and MAMP in your local test server is a bit different and you need to take care of that.

 

Dummy Content –You will need dummy content to create a theme.  Go to the admin panel of WordPress and navigate to Tools > Import and choose WordPress from the list of options of WXR post data file. You can choose among The Theme Development Checklist test data, The Sandbox Dummy Content or WPCandy Sample Content.

 

Text Editor – Mostdevelopers prefer to use special graphics software for creating WordPress themes.You can try Notepad or Notepad++ if you are developing on Windows while Mac users can try Smultron.

 

Browser – You can use any browser for WordPress development but Mozilla Firefox is the most recommended one. The add-ons, which make Firefox the most, preferred choice of WordPress developers around the world. TheWeb Developer toolbar, which gives you a whole host of options for inspecting and debugging your code, and Firebug, which lets you, inspect each element in your theme right up till the code.

 

PHP – This is also commonly used in WordPress theme development. The default WordPress theme contains a functions.php file that defines many of features of the theme. Good WordPress developers use this to modify and create their custom themes.

 

Having these tools at hand will allow you to develop custom themes in WordPress. For more information on WordPress Theme development and associated costs involved, visithttp://www.evontech.com/wordpress-development.html now!

 

Vishal Arora is an iPhone and Flash expert working as a technical writer with Evon Technologies, an offshore development company dealing with mobile, software, and web application development. For  more info, visit http://www.evontech.com

 


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What Makes a Premium WordPress Theme Premium?

March 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment

WordPress has become a hugely popular open source blogging and publishing platform. The abundance of free themes and plugins as well as its ease-of-use have contributed to the attraction and popularity for using WordPress. While there are some great free themes for WordPress, many only offer basic functionality and simplistic designs.

Since late 2007 however an increasing number of WordPress theme developers have been offering premium WordPress themes – themes which are offered for a fixed price. These premium WordPress themes are usually sold for between to 0. Originally only a small number of talented and well-known WordPress theme designers created paid premium WordPress themes which were well designed, highly functional, top-quality themes that transformed a WordPress installation from a simple blog into a powerful content management system. However as the premium WordPress theme business concept spread, more and more WordPress theme designers have hopped on the bandwagon trying to cash on the new trend filling up their portfolio with premium (paid) wordpress themes.

However with greater variety and numbers of paid premium WordPress themes also comes varying levels of quality. So what specifically makes a premium WordPress theme premium? Some characteristics that should set a premium wordpress theme apart from a free theme are listed below:

Quality and Unique Design
Premium WordPress themes should be just that – Premium. They should look better and be of a much higher quality and unique design than compared to those available for free.

Features
While all themes are different, in general premium WordPress themes should have more “Features” than their free counterparts. What that means depends on the theme in question. However some features may include: “Featured Posts” areas, Multiple layout options for the home page, drop down menus, multiple customs templates for pages, custom field options, print style sheets etc.

Customization Options and Fexibility
People want options, so Premium WordPress themes should be customisable. Buying a premium theme will set you apart from the crowd significantly, but since other people will still be using the same theme, premium themes should be able to be easily customized further, whether it be for the layout, colours, images, or all of the above.

Live Preview or Demo
There should be a live demo or preview of the theme so you can test it and check it out before buying. If there is no live preview or demo that should be a warning sign. You should ask why don’t they want you to test the theme first? All reputable premium theme sellers will have a live demo full of content for you to test. Explore the live demo thoroughly, testing all pages to see that the theme works properly and there are no errors or mistakes.

Full Support
If you’re buying a premium WordPress theme it should also come with a certain degree of support from the designer. The level of support can vary however and will range from personalised individual support from the designer, to the provision of forums or blog comment sections for asking questions and obtaining support from the designer and other people who have purchased the theme.

Supporting Documentation
Premium WordPress themes should come with an instruction manual or document. This should explain how to upload and install the theme and how to manage any of the options that are built into the theme.

Free Updates
WordPress is continually being updated and improved and a premium WordPress theme developer should be offering you free updates of the theme when required.

Well Coded and Error Free
There should be no coding errors, misspellings, X images, etc in a premium WordPress theme. The theme has cross browser compatible and been tested to work properly on all the major browsers, plus the theme should have clean and valid code and adhere to strict XHTML and CSS standards.

A comprehensive showcase of premium WordPress themes can be found at Premium WordPress


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Create Professional WordPress Themes With New Book

March 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment

 

WordPress is an open-source blog engine released under the GNU general public license. It allows users to easily create dynamic blogs with great content and many outstanding features. It is an ideal tool for developing blogs and though it is chiefly used for blogging, it can also be used as a complete CMS with very little effort. Its versatility and ease of use has attracted a large, enthusiastic, and helpful community of users.

This book walks through clear, step-by-step instructions to build a custom theme for the WordPress open-source blog engine. The author provides design tips and suggestions and covers setting up the WordPress sandbox, and reviews the best practices from setting up the theme’s template structure, through coding markup, testing, and debugging, to taking it live. The last three chapters cover additional tips, tricks, and various cookbook recipes for adding popular site enhancements to WordPress theme designs using 3rd-party plugins as well as creating API hooks to add custom plugins.

Whether users are working with a pre-existing theme or creating a new one from the ground up, WordPress Theme Design will give them the know-how to effectively understand how themes work within the WordPress blog system enabling them to have full control over their site’s design and branding. Users only need to be comfortable with the basics of web development and this book will take care of the rest.

What you will learn from this book



Set up a basic workflow and development environment for WordPress theme design
Create detailed designs and code them up
Enhance your sites by choosing the right color schemes and graphics
Debug and validate your theme using W3C’s XHTML and CSS validation tools
Customize and tweak your theme’s layout
Set up dynamic drop-down menus, AJAX/dynamic and interactive forms
Download and install useful plug-ins and widgetize your theme
Improve post and page content using jQuery and ThickBox
Add interactivity to your themes using Flash
Includes a reference guide to WordPress 2.0′s template hierarchy, markup, styles and template tags, as well as include and loop functions

Chapter 1 introduces you to the WordPress blog system and lets you know what you need to be aware of regarding the WordPress theme project you’re ready to embark on. The chapter also covers the development tools that are recommended and web skills that you’ll need to begin developing a WordPress theme.

Chapter 2 looks at the essential elements you need to consider when planning your WordPress theme design. It discusses the best tools and processes for making your theme design a reality. The author explains her own ‘Rapid Design Comping’ technique and gives some tips and tricks for developing color schemes and graphic styles for your WordPress theme. By the end of the chapter, you’ll have a working XHTML and CSS based ‘comp’ or mockup of your theme design, ready to be coded up and assembled into a fully functional WordPress theme.

Chapter 3 uses the final XHTML and CSS mockup from Chapter 2 and shows you how to add WordPress PHP template tag code to it and break it down into the template pages a theme requires. Along the way, this chapter covers the essentials of what makes a WordPress theme work. At the end of the chapter, you’ll have a basic, working WordPress theme.

Chapter 4 discusses the basic techniques of debugging and validation that you should employ throughout your theme’s development. It covers the W3C’s XHTML and CSS validation services and how to use the FireFox browser and some of its extensions as a development tool, not just another browser. This chapter also covers troubleshooting some of the most common reasons ‘good code goes bad’, especially in IE, and best practices for fixing those problems, giving you a great-looking theme across all browsers and platforms.

Chapter 5 discuss how to properly set up your WordPress theme’s CSS style sheet so that it loads into WordPress installations correctly. It also discuss compressing your theme files into the ZIP file format and running some test installations of your theme package in WordPress’s administration panel so you can share your WordPress theme with the world.

Chapter 6 covers key information under easy-to-look-up headers that will help you with your WordPress theme development, from the two CSS class styles that WordPress itself outputs, to WordPress’s PHP template tag code, to a breakdown of “The Loop” along with WordPress functions and features you can take advantage of in your theme development. Information in this chapter is listed along with key links to bookmark to make your theme development as easy as possible.

Chapter 7 dives into taking your working, debugged, validated, and properly packaged WordPress theme from the earlier chapters, and enhancing it with dynamic menus using the SuckerFish CSS-based method and Adobe Flash media.

Chapter 8 continues showing you how to enhance your WordPress theme by looking at the most popular methods for leveraging AJAX techniques in WordPress using plugins and widgets. It also gives you a complete background on AJAX and when it’s best to use those techniques or skip them. The chapter also reviews some cool JavaScript toolkits, libraries, and scripts you can use to simply make your WordPress theme appear ‘Ajaxy’.

Chapter 9 reviews the main tips from the previous chapters and covers some key tips for easily implementing today’s coolest CSS tricks into your theme as well as a few final SEO tips that you’ll probably run into once you really start putting content into your WordPress site.

For more details on the book please visit http://www.packtpub.com/wordpress-theme-design/book.

Tessa Blakeley Silver’s background is in print design and traditional illustration. She evolved over the years into web and multi-media development, where she focuses on usability and interface design. Prior to starting her consulting and development company hyper3media (pronounced hyper-cube media) http://hyper3media.com, Tessa was the VP of Interactive Technologies at eHigherEducation, an online learning and technology company developing compelling multimedia simulations, interactions, and games that met online educational requirements like 508, AICC, and SCORM. She has also worked as a consultant and freelancer for J. Walter Thompson and The Diamond Trading Company (formerly known as DeBeers) and was a Design Specialist and Senior Associate for PricewaterhouseCoopers’ East Region Marketing department. Tessa authors several design and web technology blogs. Joomla! Template Design is her first book.


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Understanding the WordPress Theme Editor

March 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Before using a WordPress theme editor, it is important that you understand everything about it. WordPress allows you to easily repurpose new and existing blogs and website posts from your WordPress user interface. There are several reasons for the popularity of the tool. One advantage is that there is a big WordPress community. This means that there are many people dedicated to making the tool better. These people include creator of the core programs, creators of plugins to use with the tool, theme developers, and users of the tool.

The core WordPress files are free of charge. You only need to pay for hosting and for your domain name when using this tool. Another benefit of using the tool is that its dashboard is easy to understand and creating new posts and uploading your images is very simple. You could update a blog or website made using this tool from anywhere in the world if you are a registered member. You can create your member account automatically or manually and you will either be a subscriber, a contributor, an author, an editor, or an administrator.

There are many WordPress theme editors in the market, one of the most impressive being the Impact Plug-in. Impact Plug-in, unlike themes, allow you to have an unlimited number of plug-in installed on a single WordPress site. A theme editor plugin allows you to create themes and edit them without technical support and without any need for JS, HTML, PHP, or CSS knowledge. These Plugins are tools that are mainly used to add extra functionalities to blogs and websites. They are usually free and they have added benefits of helping with your SEO, to determine the number of visitors to your blog or website, to help you backup your database and email, and to help locate any broken links.

A WordPress theme is basically the skin with which you wrap your blog. It is important that you have a good theme because it defines how the blog or website works. Different themes have different functions. As an example, some themes have category lists while others do not. Most themes are available free of charge and you can install and activate them thorough the administrator area of your blog or website. So, how do you go about finding the right WordPress themes? You could do this using a theme generator. Generating a theme involves changing the colours, layout, and settings. Once you have done this, preview live, click on ‘save’, and then download your unique WordPress theme zip-file. Next, extract, upload, and then set. If you do not know how to generate WordPress themes, you could get them as recommendations from people who use them. You could also join an online forum for suggestions.

You could use a WordPress theme editor to design multiple sites. This is important because it means you do not have to spend money on different theme editors. Plugins such as Impact Plugin enable you to do this at no cost. The ‘media’ tab in the tool lets you transfer any kind of media from you computer to your server and then to multiple sites without having to use a traditional FTP client.

Angelo Caceres is the author of this article on WordPress Theme Editor. Find more information about WP Theme Editor here.


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WordPress Theme Designer

March 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment

WordPress which is one of the easiest CMS for a website has its share of lovers. Above all it is the best seo friendly cms.

So if you are searching for a WordPress theme designer you have come to the right place.

A wordpress theme designer should have the following qualities or expertise:

1. Writing or modifying plugins

2. Designing custom templates and themes

3. Developing given PSD into a theme.

4. Loading time and seo friendly theme

5. Custom css which is cross browser friendly and compatible.

6. iPhone, iPad and Android compatible theme

7. Setting up the wordpress theme in a given server and having set of plugins which are compatible with each other.

We do the design, code the theme, install it and support it. We just need you to tell us where to begin!

Process is very simple starts from listening requirements, gathering specifications, giving and evolving ideas, sketching them into wireframes, making the designs, getting them approved and finally coding them to make it live on your server.

Our main aim for any wordpress theme is to develop and design a stylish, modern, and slick theme which reflects your brand and also has all the functionality that you requested.

Yes we do the very complex wordpress themes which have jquery, complex javascripts, and ecommerce plugins, to the simplest blogs.

We develop custom templates as per the design and keep it simple with everything manageable and editable via the admin panel.

Why WordPress?

1. One of the easiest CMS.

2. Has an active forum and large number of developers continuously working on making it better.

3. Open Source so everything is free and editable and hence developers can tweak it as per the requirements.

4. Scalable and flexible and once you think after years that your website looks old just change the theme and it again appears new.

 

Why Us?

1. Seasoned developers with experience of more than 4 years.

2. More than 1000 wordpress websites till date so we have a large portfolio and have taken wordpress to the next level be it shortcodes, developing plugins or developing themes.

3. We are polite, attentive, and understand English.

4. We are available for more than 16 hours a day so getting an update is very easy.

5. Available on Skype, VOIP, IMs and Email.

6. Lifetime bug free support and 90 days training support.

If the above 6 reasons aren’t enough we are affordable and do wordpress themes within your budget.

So are you ready to make business and take your website to the next level with WordPress. Just contact us and we will help you get one.

Shri Krishna Technologies is Web Designing Company undertaking Website design and development projects. It offers web design services which includes web designing, custom WordPress themes, wp themes, and web projects and seo.

WordPress Theme Designer | Web Design Company


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WordPress For Dummies, 3rd Edition and Professional Blogging For Dummies, Book Bundle

February 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment

WordPress For Dummies, 3rd Edition and Professional Blogging For Dummies, Book Bundle

WordPress For Dummies, 3rd Edition and Professional Blogging For Dummies are practical how-to guides for individuals and small business owners who want to use blogs to enhance their reputation, promote their business or build a blog-based business. Practical guidance will be interspersed with interviews with topic experts and bloggers who have built successful businesses, including Elise Bauer, analytics guru and author of Simply Recipes; Matt Kepnes, successful travel blogger widely known as No

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WordPress for Web Designers

February 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment

WordPress for Web Designers

“Discover The Secrets of a Web Developer That Has Been Using WordPress For Years That Will Give You Massive Technological Skills, Deeply Impress Your Clients, And Give You An Edge That Will bring You More Money And Time”

In this 100+ page ebook course I’ll show you everything that I have learned using WordPress for YEARS, you’ll learn in a little over one hour!

Dear Friend,

I was there once. I used to use Microsoft Frontpage Have you been making websites using HTM

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Easy WordPress SEO Reviews

February 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Easy WordPress SEO

Have you ever wished it was easy to set up a perfectly optimized website? That with just a few clicks, you could have your blog ranked in the search engines, without spending days working on improving your search results?

If you don’t have the money to hire an SEO consultant, and don’t really want to spend days, weeks, or even months working to get your site ranked highly in the search engines, than this is the report for you. Discover some of the most essential WordPress tweaks, tips, an

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