As web developers go, I’m a pragmatist. I have a core set of development practices that work well for me, and I’m not constantly bounding forward to the bleeding edge of dev technology. If you’re like me, you may feel intimidated by what I’ll refer to as “die-hard” developers—devs who are innately fascinated by development languages, patterns, and tools, particularly new ones. Watching the endless flood of new tools year after year (Grunt? Node.js?) can feel like falling further and further behind the “real” programmers. The test of a new tool. . . My advice for this situation is not to […]
Plugged in: A review of WooSidebars
“Plugged in” is a reoccurring feature on Torque, which will take a closer look at different plugins each week. If you have any suggestions for plugins you’d like to see reviewed, write us at [email protected]. The sidebar performs many important functions for a website – improving navigation, displaying cool widgets, optimizing for SEO, not forgetting it’s an important component of a website’s aesthetic design. Because it’s displayed on almost every page, the sidebar is also one of the most frequently viewed elements of any website. Despite this, many of us will configure our sidebar widgets, then forget all about it. […]
This week in WordPress: A weekly news roundup
Just in case you missed it, here’s a roundup of the latest happenings from this past week. If you have a news tip you’d like to share, write us at [email protected]. WordPress 4.1.1 maintenance release: On Wednesday, WordPress 4.1.1 was released, fixing 21 bugs found in version 4.1. Andy Adams discusses how the WordPress talent shortage might be a problem: The demand for WordPress developers is u. Andy Adams speculates that a reason for this talent shortage may be accredited to the fact that WordPress developers, when compared to Drupal devs or Ruby on Rails devs, for example, are actually paid considerably less. GravityView Plugin is […]
What you need to know before purchasing your next WordPress theme
Are you looking to purchase a new WordPress theme? Whether it is your first time, or you are looking to replace your old theme, selecting a new theme can be a difficult process; there are so many themes available, and it can be challenging to know which are good. So, I’ve assembled this checklist of 12 items I use when selecting a WordPress theme. Go through each point as you review themes to help find the best one possible. 1. Aesthetics & design When selecting a theme, you want one that’s pleasing to the eye. The design should be modern. Nothing […]
Creating location-aware WordPress sites with GeoIP
One of the best things about having an online business is that you can reach customers all over the world. Of course this creates unique complications, as users in different countries and regions have specific needs, and are subject to different laws. For eCommerce sites, knowledge of your site’s visitors is especially important for calculating tax rates. In addition, it’s also important to consider if you are selling something that could be illegal in certain regions. For this, geolocation awareness — i.e., the ability to programmatically be aware of a visitor’s location, by country, region, or even longitude and latitude — […]

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