John Hughes | Torque

Designing Demos for Your WordPress Themes and Plugins: 5 Things to Keep in Mind

Author

John Hughes

Filed Under

Development

Published

January 30, 2017

No Comments

As a WordPress developer, it’s important that you set your themes and plugins up for success from the very start. Spending some time creating a high-quality demo is a great way to give potential customers a sneak-peak of your product’s functionality. If you have a high-quality product, a demo is one of the best sales tools available. It helps to get prospective customers interested in your solution and addresses any concerns they may have. Ultimately, a good demo of your WordPress theme or plugin can make your product stand above the crowd. In this post, we’ll cover five things to keep in mind when building […]

10 Fantastic Free WordPress Plugins for 2017 (That You May Not Have Heard Of)

Author

John Hughes

Filed Under

Community

Published

January 23, 2017

7 Comments

When it comes to WordPress plugins, some big names get all the glory (we’re looking at you, Yoast SEO), while others languish in semi-obscurity. Considering there are thousands of plugins available for the platform, you could be missing out on some amazing tools by limiting yourself to the most popular options. The key to identifying a great WordPress plugin goes beyond looking at how many times it has been installed. You need to take into consideration reviews and update history, and ask yourself, Can this tool help me improve my site? In this article, we round up ten outstanding plugins (in no […]

5 WordPress Trends to Look Out for in 2017

Author

John Hughes

Filed Under

Community

Published

January 16, 2017

2 Comments

14 years after its initial release, WordPress continues to get better and better with age. With 2017 now here, we have new trends to look forward to. Although you may have already started noticing some of these (for example, video headers in the Twenty Seventeen theme), some are going to make their mark in the months to come. Our crystal ball has been working overtime to see what’s in store! In this post, we’ll uncover a number of trends to look out for in 2017. Let’s begin with a long-standing topic that’s now coming sharply into focus. 1. The Rise in the Number of Mobile-First Websites […]

What 2017 Will Mean for Your WordPress Workflow

Author

John Hughes

Filed Under

News

Published

January 9, 2017

No Comments

2016 was a big year for WordPress, and 2017 is already set to be even bigger. With Let’s Encrypt changing the SSL landscape, Automattic changing the criteria of their recommended hosting solutions, and the REST API continuing its emergence, there’s a lot to consider in the months to come. So what does all of this mean for WordPress developers and users? In a nutshell, it means a lot! The new year will bring with it huge changes to the world of WordPress, which could take you by surprise if you’re not up to speed. In this post, we’ll dust off […]

Developer’s Checklist for PHP 7: 6 Things to Bear in Mind

Author

John Hughes

Filed Under

Community

Published

January 2, 2017

1 Comment

Powering over 76 million websites and holding a 59% CMS market share, WordPress continues to dominate the web in 2017. However, with the new year comes new challenges. Since PHP 7 could be the minimum requirement for running self-hosted WordPress in 2017, updating your server’s version of PHP to PHP 7 could be a necessary step. In this post, we’ll cover why you should upgrade to the latest version, how to upgrade your server to PHP 7, any new features, inconsistency fixes, its overall performance, any backwards incompatible changes, the compatibility checker, and a note on PHP 7 benchmarks. Let’s […]

WordPress Security in 2017: What It Means for Your Website

Author

John Hughes

Filed Under

Beginners

Published

December 26, 2016

10 Comments

Powering nearly 74.6 million websites, WordPress can be an inviting target for hackers. Much like other services, the platform has been the subject of numerous attacks throughout its existence, but no major vulnerabilities have been discovered inside WordPress’ core since January 2013. Security is (of course) a constant concern for many WordPress developers. Although no website is 100% secure, you can certainly make hacking difficult by maximizing your site’s security. There’s lots of good advice available to protect your website, but with WordPress constantly evolving, do the old methods of staying safe still apply in 2017? In this post, we’ll kick the year […]

A Guide to WordPress Theme Frameworks (And Why You Should Use Them)

Author

John Hughes

Filed Under

Beginners

Published

December 19, 2016

5 Comments

Without a WordPress theme framework, theme development and maintenance could be a major endeavor. Designing a website and customizing a theme – not to mention staying on top of security and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – isn’t always a cakewalk. Simply put, theme frameworks are akin to a starter culture. They feature essential core functionality, and give developers the flexibility to design without worrying about building a foundation with poor coding practices. In this post, we’ll explore the basics of theme frameworks, and discuss the benefits and drawbacks of using them for developing WordPress sites. Finally, we’ll wrap things up with a selection […]

How To Analyze And Boost WordPress Performance

Author

John Hughes

Filed Under

Beginners, Development

Published

December 12, 2016

3 Comments

WordPress is flexible enough to create just about any type of website. It’s also incredibly easy to use, which means the technical knowledge for getting started is pretty low. However, because of this, when issues occur (such as inevitable performance drops) you can be left waving the white flag. Fortunately, there are a few steps you can take to preemptively minimize any serious harm. Depending on the makeup of your site and its content, you can optimize images, dig deeper into caching solutions, and tinker under WordPress’ hood to speed up your website’s loading times. In this post, we’ll present five different ways you can […]

4 Common Mobile App Myths Debunked

Author

John Hughes

Filed Under

Community

Published

December 5, 2016

9 Comments

On the whole, consumers are taking to mobile platforms as their medium of choice for online shopping, web browsing, and interacting on social media networks. Given the huge growth in mobile app usage, it’s a prospect that could have you rubbing your hands in glee at the money-making potential available to you. However, there are certain myths circulating about building a mobile app that could stop you in your tracks. Luckily, these myths are just that. In reality, it’s important to grasp the potential of mobile apps – especially given the advent of the WordPress REST API. Debunking these myths is paramount to increasing […]

A Beginner’s Guide to WordPress Favicons

Author

John Hughes

Filed Under

Featured

Published

November 28, 2016

2 Comments

Your brand is undoubtedly going to suffer if you don’t establish a clear visual identity on your website. People don’t want to revisit sites that offer a poor user experience and incoherent design. Ensuring that your site stands out in a web browser’s tabs and bookmarks list helps strengthen your brand, and favicons are a simple way to do that. Favicons enable website owners to establish a strong visual identity while improving the user experience. In this article, we’ll cover everything you need to know about favicons – what they are, where you use them, and how they help you – and discuss the […]

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