Torque
Since
June 28, 2018

Tom Rankin

Tom Rankin is a key member of WordCandy, a musician, photographer, vegan, beard owner, and (very) amateur coder. When he's not doing any of these things, he's likely sleeping.

How to Use the Gutenberg Migration Guide to Deliver Modern WordPress Plugins

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September 3, 2018

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Love it or loathe it, Gutenberg is here to stay. As such, getting your WordPress themes and plugins to work with the new editor should be a primary concern. Truth be told, if you’re only just thinking about this aspect now, you’re cutting things pretty close. However, there’s still enough time to prepare your products, especially with some third-party help. Daniel Bachhuber’s Gutenberg-related projects have been featured on the Torque blog previously, and this is another one that warrants attention. Tweaking your plugins to be compatible with Gutenberg could prove to be a tricky task, but the Gutenberg Migration Guide […]

How to Create a Compelling Image Gallery for Your WordPress Site

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Beginners

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August 27, 2018

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If you want to show off a collection of images on your website, a gallery is the ideal solution. Fortunately, WordPress makes it simple to put together a basic image gallery, but if you really want yours to stand out you may need to go beyond the basic option. To do that, you can install a WordPress gallery plugin. This lets you personalize your galleries to meet your exact needs. The NextGEN Gallery plugin, which provides various gallery and album styles along with a host of customization options, is a perfect example. In this article, we’re going to talk briefly […]

The Real Story on Cookies: Dispelling Common Myths About the GDPR and Consent

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Security

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August 20, 2018

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Security, privacy, and related topics have been all over the news in recent months. Much of this is due to the roll-out of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) – a new set of legal rules regarding the way personal data must be handled. Of course, the GDPR isn’t the only topic of discussion. Cookies are also a popular topic once again. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of misinformation about how cookies relate to the GDPR, and what your responsibilities are as a website owner when it comes to consent and security. In this article, we’ll aim to clear up the […]

A Simple Introduction to CSS Grids

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August 13, 2018

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The advent of CSS grids has been described as “the internet finally getting its driver’s license“. In a nutshell, this is a web design technique that steps away from print-based design philosophies by using a responsive-style grid. It’s ultimately the most powerful layout system that’s currently available with CSS. Developers are often creatures of habit (and opinion), meaning that a new technique can easily be dismissed out of hand. However, CSS grids offer a way to create multi-dimensional, asymmetrical layouts that consistently display well across browsers. As such, it’s worth considering what this technique has to offer over solutions such as […]

Getting Started With JavaScript (And How It Compares to PHP)

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August 6, 2018

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JavaScript has been in the news a lot lately, and for good reason. There’s a growing need for WordPress developers to “learn JavaScript deeply.” However, making the switch from PHP can seem overwhelming at first glance. In our opinion, even if PHP is your only programming language, you should find the switch to JavaScript comfortable enough to begin hacking away at a few scripts in no time. Once you understand how the basic building blocks of JavaScript are put together, you’ll have a solid grounding that will enable you to explore the more complex aspects of the language. In this […]

Who Is Going to Win the Gutenberg Arms Race?

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July 30, 2018

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2018 has been dominated by the Gutenberg editor – WordPress’ attempt to overhaul the user’s writing experience. This (of course) brings change to the platform. Consequently, developers are just beginning to embark on an ‘arms race’ to see who will get the upper hand with early adopters. This may seem like an inconsequential battle to partake in. To many, however, being first means the entire market is available. This means there’s more business to win, and a greater cash supply to tap into. For a lot of WordPress developers, those reasons are plenty of motivation. This piece will briefly look […]

4 Excellent Resources for Learning JavaScript ES6

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July 23, 2018

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Given the growing connection between WordPress and JavaScript, there will likely be more and more JavaScript elements added to the platform over time. Therefore, the pressure to learn the language fluently is high. This can be somewhat challenging, since many older resources haven’t been revised in light of the most recent update. The answer, of course, is to focus on the resources that do look at the ES6 version of JavaScript, and ignore everything else. This may seem extreme, and there’s definite long-term value in starting from a solid foundation. For developers looking to code with the latest version of […]

How to Create an Advanced Scrolling Design for Your One-Page Website

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July 16, 2018

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A one-page website is an excellent way to communicate a specific purpose to your visitors, without overwhelming them through lots of clutter and information. However, if you only have one page with which to impress people, you’ll need to pull out all the stops. If you’re looking for a way to make your one-page site truly stand out, you may want to consider implementing a scrolling design. This divides your page into distinct sections and lets visitors navigate from one to the next by simply scrolling their mouse. There are a lot of benefits to using this particular feature – […]

3 Ways to Learn and Experiment With JavaScript (Without a Local Install)

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July 9, 2018

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The future for WordPress and JavaScript is looking bright. This is in large part due to projects like Gutenberg, which are leading to JavaScript usage blossoming. Many existing WordPress developers will, therefore, need to learn the language to design modern websites. However, to do so you’ll require a WordPress install full of content to work with, and you’ll almost certainly come across a myriad of files that could play havoc with your learning. Fortunately, there are a number of tools available that don’t require a full WordPress installation. These are essentially sandboxes that let you code snippets without having the other elements in […]

How to Install WordPress on a Subdomain

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July 2, 2018

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The standard way of installing WordPress is to do so through your full domain – the regular address that leads to your home page. However, there are some situations where that isn’t the most optimal way of presenting your content or site. In those situations, you’ll want to turn to ‘subdomains’ instead. We’ll go into more detail later, but a subdomain essentially lets you add a second installation of WordPress on your server, and associate it with the same domain you’re already using. For example, you could use this technique to create a blog and connect it to your existing […]

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