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If you look at a WordPress page with any of the available developer tools, you might get the impression that it is mainly made up of HTML and CSS with some occasional JavaScript. However, what you see there is only the end product. In the background, much of any given WordPress page is actually constructed from PHP functions and database queries. These get interpreted by the browser who then spits out the page in a viewable form. While CSS works well to make superficial changes (colors, sizes, etc.), if you want to make bigger, structural alterations, you will need to […]

I recently started exercising again, and the gym I joined offered a free fitness assessment. I think almost every gym that offers personal training services offers one of these free assessments to all new members. They say it helps you get started at the gym, but in reality it is designed to sell you personal training. Knowing this full well, I took them up on the offer. Why? I wanted to learn something about user onboarding. The guy who gave me my free fitness assessment asked me a bunch of questions about my goals and habits, showed me some exercises […]

Do you ever feel overworked and underpaid as a freelancer or business owner? I know I have. For many, the primary cause is thinking about your business in the short term rather than the long term. Think about a freelancer who takes smaller, quick paying jobs today instead of leaving time to improve their business so they can get bigger jobs later. It becomes almost like a cycle: they can’t get out of those small paying jobs that just barely pay the bills. To break this cycle, you need to start thinking of your business in the long term. Instead […]

Live interaction with users on your site is a great way to add new functionality that is engaging for your visitors. To be truly live, however, the server needs to correspond with the browser or client directly. Luckily there is a new way to do this using WebSockets, a protocol that allows that direct connection. You can use these instant interactions for administrative purposes, like to show how many visitors are currently viewing your site, and what page they are on. Traditionally, a client communicates with the server by getting or pushing data to it, but what if the server […]

Ah, bitcoin, the totally virtual, decentralized cryptocurrency that nobody really understands (though The Economist comes pretty close). Here’s the basic idea: bitcoin started off in 2009 when created by a mysterious person named Satoshi Nakamoto. This name, however, is just a pseudonym—many have tried to guess at the real identity of Mr. Satoshi but so far there’s been no confirmation. A bitcoin is created when a computer in the P2P coin network accomplishes a certain mathematical task—this process is called mining bitcoins. However, there’s a limit on the number of bitcoins that can ever be created. The system was designed […]

When it comes to WordPress, security is no joke. Like any web software, WordPress can be vulnerable to many attacks. To help keep your site secure, you’ve probably instituted best practices, probably with the help of a plugin like iThemes Security. However, when it comes to website security, the biggest weakness is really us—the users. Just take a look at this story from Wired. Mat Honan, the article’s author, was hacked not through some technologically genius software. Instead, the hacker simply called up tech support numbers and was able to extract info from the support agent about Mat. The hacker then […]

I have a serious problem with the WordPress editor. In my humble opinion, it has one big flaw that I have very little understanding of and that hinders beginners from creating good content. What I’m talking about is that the so-called kitchen sink—a second line of formatting options at the top of the WordPress editor—is hidden by default. To access it, users have to click on the furthest button on the right that says Toolbar Toggle. Only then does the second row of buttons appear. Why do I care so much? Because, besides the ability to indent and underline text, […]