export default "data:image/svg+xml;base64,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"
Torque
Since
July 02, 2013

Michelle Oznowicz

The End of WP App Store

Filed Under

Community, News

Published

September 24, 2013

2 Comments

WordPress entrepreneur Brad Touesnard announced on his blog today that he has shut down his premium plugin marketplace project, WP App Store, which has been in the works for roughly two years. I had the chance to chat with Touesnard about his decision, and he explained that it was “time to kind of clean house.” The last change made to WP App Store was over two months ago, and with no plans for future changes, the project was stagnating—neither growing nor evolving. On finally making the decision to pull the plug, Touesnard confides that the choice wasn’t based on numbers, […]

New Home for Standard Theme

Filed Under

News

Published

September 19, 2013

12 Comments

After 8BIT recently closed shop, many people expressed concern over the destiny the company’s core product, Standard Theme. Was it going to be retired…discontinued? No one seemed to know. On 8BIT’s blog—which has been notably silent as of late—an announcement was just made: Standard Theme has been acquired by WooThemes. It lives on! 8BIT’s been working on a “transition” strategy behind the scenes, and as they explain in their post, WooThemes will be providing support for Standard Theme and its customers moving forward. Existing customers will receive more information from 8BIT soon, and new customers can go straight WooThemes in the near future […]

The Year Without Pants: Reviewed

Filed Under

Community

Published

September 17, 2013

4 Comments

I discovered this eye-catching book amidst my mail, and of course it sparked instant curiosity. A bright red book with a suggestive cover…who wouldn’t push their boring bills aside to further investigate? First Impressions I have to admit, American Apparel is what immediately came to mind. An urban art school grad, I’m among American Apparel’s prime demographic, so the fact that I instantly thought of the overpriced hipster brand speaks more to the brand’s aggressive (though clearly effective) marketing than to the design of the book cover. But many WordPress users are in this same cultural sphere, subjected to the same references, so it’s worth […]

Episode #24: DradGram – Be the Cloud

Filed Under

Community

Published

September 12, 2013

No Comments

Show Notes Host The guest host of Episode #24 was Cody Landefeld of codyL. Contact him on Twitter. What were they sippin’ on? Dre and Cody were sippin’ on water. Brad was sippin’ a chub soda. How did the host get into WordPress? Cody has been building websites since about 2000. Cody was always drawn to design, but he learned to code out of necessity. Cody has brought great developers into his company to create the perfect harmony of code and design. CodyL has been around for a while now, has 5-6 people, and is looking to expand. Pressing Topics […]

Move Over Instagram, Here Comes Pressgram

Filed Under

News

Published

September 5, 2013

7 Comments

In an over-simplified nutshell, it’s WordPress + iOS + Filtered Photos. Described simply as “the best way to filter and publish photos to your WordPress powered site,” Pressgram is now available for download, for free, on iTunes. But what exactly is Pressgram and why would we want to use it instead of…say…Instagram? For starters, Pressgram is more philosophically aligned with the core values of the WordPress community. The target users for Pressgram are publishers. Creative control lies solely in the hands of the user. Publishers own —and always will own—all of their images. There is no fine print and no big […]

WP Avengers Dashboard

Filed Under

News

Published

August 28, 2013

14 Comments

Looks like WP Avengers has taken the next step in their GPL-fueled coup attempt. This link was sent to me a few minutes ago over instant message via Facebook group—it’s original source unknown at this time. Which, by some standards, would make this gossip hearsay. I followed the link and since it does, in fact, exist, I thought I should share it with you all as “news” (with a little hesitation, admittedly). So take it for what it’s worth, with: When you go to WP Avenger’s website, all it really says is: “Revolution Starts Soon!” and gives you an option to […]

Will Write for Clicks

Filed Under

Community

Published

August 27, 2013

6 Comments

So far this week has felt like an all time low—content-wise—for the internet at large. And it’s only Tuesday! Yes, I’m talking about the incessant VMA coverage we were bombarded with from all angles over the course of the day yesterday. The last thing I want to do is contribute to the attention it’s getting, but I do want us all to at least stop and think about why it’s getting this absurd amount of attention, from a content strategy perspective. I bet on Monday you didn’t visit one major “news” source, or even get through ten lines of your […]

What is Tidy Repo?

Filed Under

Community

Published

August 25, 2013

2 Comments

Looking for a compilation of the best and most reliable WordPress plugins? Well you’re in luck because Tidy Repo, a new site built and managed by WordPress developer Jay Hoffman, delivers just that. Jay was nice enough to chat with me about his passion project. Here’s what he had to say: Michelle: Tell us a little bit about your site. How long has it been in the making? When did it go live? Jay: I’ve been frustrated with the plugin discovery process for a long time. I’ve had too many experiences where a plugin has brought down my site, or caused […]

Who’s In?

Filed Under

Community

Published

August 23, 2013

No Comments

After a little more discussion and feedback, we have decided to start the Torque Book Club with a Google Hangout format, while also using our “community” section for posts and comments, section by section. This way, we can all meet “in person” for the first book. We’ll see how that goes and then—as a group—we can decide the direction we want to go for the upcoming books. Sound good? I think so. I want to see all of your faces and hear you speak! At least for the first book. Then we can talk about experiementing with a more asynchronous process. But […]

Episode #23: Smitten with the Mitten

Filed Under

Archives

Published

August 22, 2013

No Comments

Show Notes Host The guest host of Episode #23 was Brian Richards. What were they sippin’ on? Brian and Dre were drinking water. Brad was drinking a chub soda. How did the host get into WordPress? Brian has been working with WordPress since 2007 (version 2.3) and has done a lot of fun and interesting things with it since then. In 2010, he shared his starter theme framework, StartBox, with the world. In 2012, he joined the ranks of WebDevStudios, where he had the privilege of working on many cool projects. In 2013, he launched WPSessions.com, a site focused on […]

How do you stay on top of your WordPress game?

A good way to start is to sign up for our weekly newsletter. We keep you up to date by bringing you the freshest WordPress content from the brightest minds in the industry.