WordPress has, without a doubt, been very successful. It is by now a powerful content management system powering millions of websites. However, that doesn’t mean that the development of the WordPress platform has come to an end. Quite the contrary, WordPress continues to evolve rapidly, with three majors releases in 2015 alone. Besides code improvements, every new WordPress version also brings new features. Some, like the WP REST API get talked about quite a lot. Others come in more under the radar. Because that is the way it is, in 2014 I wrote an article for Torque on lesser-known WordPress […]
Free WordPress Themes: February 2016 Edition
February has passed, and the shortest month of the year was not short on WordPress themes. February saw the release of many new and impressive free WordPress themes. Let’s take a look at some of the top free WordPress themes released during the month of February 2016. Free WordPress Themes: February 2016 Edition Button Button is a lightweight and stylish WordPress theme meant for hobby sites and personal projects. It is responsive, translation-ready, and supports post formats. Demo | Download One Blog One Blog is a simple and extremely minimal WordPress theme meant for blogging sites. It is responsive, features […]
Connecting An Angular App To The WordPress REST API
In a recent Torque article, I gave a basic introduction to AngularJS using the WordPress REST API. I also had the privilege of presenting on this topic at WordCamp Miami and will be covering AngularJS with WordPress at an upcoming webinar for WP Engine. This topic is important to me because I think that embracing API-driven JavaScript interfaces will help us bring the experience of WordPress forward and ensure that WordPress continues to be known for the quality of its interface. My personal choice in a JavaScript MVC framework is Angular. You may prefer a different one, but for my work, […]
6 Things Google Analytics Can Tell You About Your WordPress Website
Is it possible to run a successful website without an understanding of key web metrics? Possibly, but you would certainly face an uphill battle. The truth is, in today’s increasingly competitive environment, stunning aesthetics and solid content alone won’t cut it. Unless you get very lucky indeed, your chances of success are massively increased by understanding how your audience engages with your website. As the saying goes: knowledge is power. And, if you want a greater knowledge of your website, one tool stands head and shoulders above the rest: Google Analytics. In fact, almost a prerequisite for running a thriving […]
How To Use Cookies In WordPress
Cookies have existed ever since the inception of the internet. While the use of cookies has had its share of debates and discussions, these remain the standard method of retaining settings and providing a more versatile browsing experience for users. Much like any other technology or software that is used to build websites, WordPress too interacts and works with cookies for offering custom settings and features to the users. How does one use cookies in WordPress? Cookies In WordPress What Are Cookies? If you have had a moderate level of experience with the web in general, you might already be […]
Hummingbird, An Optimization And Performance Plugin By WPMU DEV, Now Available For Download
WPMU DEV today released Hummingbird, a performance plugin that addresses many of the issues that slow down your website, including caching, minification, script loading, file compression, and more. ” … it also provides clear and easy to follow instructions on how you can further improve your PageSpeed Insights score, right down to the specific files you need to edit or move to the footer of your site, and even the images you need to compress.” Hummingbird features a new performance tool that analyzes your site and generates a report to show how well it performs. Providing a score out of 100, it […]
Introducing Torque’s 2016 Plugin Madness Competition
WordPressers, get ready. On March 1, we’re launching Torque’s 2016 Plugin Madness, where the first 64 most popular WordPress plugins from the official plugin directory compete against each other for total plugin domination! Modeled after the NCAA college basketball tournament March Madness, we use a bracket-based voting system to pit plugins against one another each week. Head on over to pluginmadness.com to see which plugins are competing and check in weekly to vote on the current round. We randomly placed the 64 plugins into four groups — The Pressers, The Wordees, The Extenders, and The Installers (watch our selection video […]
How To Move WordPress From Localhost To Live Server
The ability to set up and use local development is an important one in any WordPressers skill set. A local WordPress installation enables you to work independently of an online connection, test site changes, themes, and plugins without the risk of breaking your live site, and overall makes your workflow more efficient. So much so that I recently wrote an entire article on how to install WordPress locally with XAMPP. Your site won’t do any good, however, if it’s just lying around on your hard drive. Once you are done with the work, you need to figure out how to […]
Unsurprisingly WordPress Is Great For Small Business
WordPress is the most trusted software for small business according to Alignable’s SMB Index. The study chose 25 national companies and judged them based on the Net Promoter scale. The scale asks one question “how likely is that you would recommend our company/product/services to a friend or colleague?” This is the first time the company has released its findings to the public. WordPress Is Great For Small Business The study included other CMSs as well. Each business was given a number between 0-100, with WordPress receiving a 73, Wix a negative 7, and SquareSpace 11. This study doesn’t come as much of […]
7 Reasons Web Agencies Should Use WordPress
If you search for “Why should I use WordPress?” in Google, you’ll be amazed at the number of results. The web-related software industry is rapidly growing, and the need for a dependable and scalable CMS is at an all time high. Despite this trend, a huge number of web agencies still rely on making custom layouts for development projects. It’s time to change these outdated practices. This article focuses on why WordPress is the best fit for your web solutions. WordPress Is Free And Open Source People say that the best things in life are free. I say, the best […]
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