Category: Programming Page 16 of 27

Programming

Getting Help With Your Website

On December 31, 2015

Have you ever installed or uploaded something to your website that cause an error? It was working fine and then suddenly it wasn’t. You may have tried to fixed it and nothing seems to work. What do you do now?

Andrew Wikel explains how to get help with your WordPress Site. His tips on detailing your issue, what to send to tech support and staying calm can be applied to any type of website. You don’t have to use WordPress to use his tips.

Getting Help With Your WordPress Site from Andrew Wikel

How to get support?

Slow down and breathe. Getting angry or mean won’t help solve the problem.
Provide as much information as possible.
- List the steps that caused the problem
- Include screenshots. Support techs love getting screenshots.
- If possible, create a video of the problem
- Include links or url’s to the problem
Remember, there is no such thing as too much information.

Don’t forget to say Thanks. You may talk to the same person several times in order to get some problems fixed.

What can I do to minimize issues?

Download themes, plugins or add-ons from sources that you trust. If you download them from anywhere, you could end up with more trouble than you wanted.
Read reviews on the plugins or themes. Do people use it? Would they recommend it to others?
Install plugins or add-ins only as needed. The more plugins you have installed, the greater the chance of one of them causing you trouble.
Make regular backups of your website. A backup could help you restore your website after you install some bad code.
Ask people you trust for their recommendations. Developers and Designers usually have favorite themes, plugins or places to get them from.

Summary

When a problem occurs on your website, remember to stay calm. Take a screenshot or video of the problem. Write down all the step that it took to cause the issue. The more information you provide, the better the chance that tech support or developer can solve the problem. Use code that comes from sources and people that you trust.

What other tips to you have for solving website problems?

Building a theme based on a photo

By djbrensinger

On November 30, 2015

In CSS, Design, Programming, Web Development, WordPress

Where do you get ideas for a theme? Do you start with a color palette, photo or website? I decided to use a photo to create a theme for my blog. I found a free stock photo and started design my new theme.

How Did I Create the Theme?

Found a free stock photo
Generated a color palette from the photo
Start with an HTML Theme
Build the Theme in WordPress
Test and fix issues
Upload and apply the final theme

Generate Color Palette from Photo

I uses Adobe Kuler, now called Adobe Color CC, to create my palette. Here is my palette:

Curiosita Labs Color Palette Choices

Start with an HTML Theme

Using the color palette, I choose a color for the background, heading and more. Next, I built a test page in HTML. HTML makes it quick and easier to design in the browser. You can see your results quickly.

Test Theme In HTML

Once I had the page made, I evaluated the results. Do the colors look good together? Does the overall design do what I want it to do? I had some issues with the colors. They didn’t work well together. I changed out the colors and reevaluated the results. Once I got a design that worked, I started building the theme.

Building the theme

WordPress has starter themes. I wanted a theme that was responsive and simple to work with. At a WordPress meetup, they talked about using Underscores. This starter theme is recommended by local WordPress designers.

Next, I started adding my CSS to the starter theme’s CSS. I had to make adjustments to ensure that the CSS works with WordPress. If you don’t, your theme may have unexpected results. Then, I added my theme to WordPress and started testing. I had to make additional changes. A few tweaks to fix things that didn’t work that way I had planned.

What was the Result?

The result was ok. I went back to tweak the colors because the original colors didn’t work well for me. Working with colors from that photo was challenging. The colors work well in the photo. When interpreted to hex colors for CSS, they didn’t seem to look as good. The challenge was learning how to get the right mix of colors. Some choices worked better than others. The colors may look good in a photograph, but they make not work well in designing a theme.

This was an experiment. Not all experiments work out. From every experiment, you learn something. You learn what to do, what not to do and how to do better the next time.

Have you had success in designing a theme from a photo?

The Importance of Estimating

By djbrensinger

On October 31, 2015

In Miscellaneous, Programming

Importance Of Estimating

Are you good at making estimates? Most developers find that their estimates are usually low, so they add extra time to ensure that they have enough time to get the project done. At WordCamp Milwaukee 2015, Jess Jurick talked about estimating.

The Importance of Estimating – WCMKE 2015 from Jess Jurick

“Estimates: think less as prediction a more of science”

Jess talked about making better estimates, preparing for the estimates, defining the steps involved and how to make an intelligent estimate.

Make Better Estimates

Understand the problem
Define the details
Develop an approach
Identify the variables
Present a level of effort
Revisit and revise as needed

Preparing for an estimate

Determine what we know and don’t know
More minds = more steps
Don’t estimate alone!

Define the steps

Define the steps
Write everything down
Get team members to estimate subject matter tasks

Intelligent Estimation

Identify pain points and low hanging fruit
Define all dependancies
Don’t be too granular
Provide an estimate that the client can understand

Next time you have to make an estimate, use these suggestions to help you make a better estimate. Remember, you want your estimate to be have more science than a prediction.

Making Money with WordPress and WooCommerce

By djbrensinger

On September 30, 2015

In Design, Programming, WordPress

At East Troy WordCamp, Andrew Wikel, talked about Making Money with WordPress and WooCommerce.

Making money with WooCommerce (WordPress e-commerce) from Andrew Wikel

Notes from Andrew’s Talk

1 in 3 uses WooCommerce
“Make it as easy as possible to get people to give you money.”
Your eCommerce platform is just the start

Why you need one platform:

Compatibility
Maintenance
Ease of finding someone to maintain or modify

You need to plan out what you need and express what you need clearly.

Practical Tips

Ease of checkout
Reasonable shipping with alternatives
Multiple payment options
Mobile Friendly experience
User Trust

Do

Have a privacy policy
Use SSL on every page with a form
Foster trust with other methods of communication
Lets encrypt.com

Checkout

Don’t force users to create an account
Use a process indicator

Match checkout to your website’s look and feel
Never send a customer to the outside of the checkout process
Visually Reinforce Sensitive Info

More Tips

Payment Options: Stripe, PayPal or Amazon Payments
Shipping: Have Options, Show Calculated Rates and People Like Free Shipping
Taxes: Ask Your Accountant and Manage Taxes with TaxJar

Summary

When you setup your eCommerce, you want to make it as easy as possible for people to give you money. Your design, payment options, shipping and security should work together to make the customer feel good about giving you money.

How do you build a better WordPress Widget?

By djbrensinger

On August 31, 2015

In Programming, Web Development, WordPress

When you first create a new theme for WordPress, you may forget about widgets. WordPress comes with widgets that you can use. But what if your clients wants to add a widget? Will it work with your design? What if they want to add something that isn’t offered? Josh Leuze at WordCamp Milwaukee talked about how to build better and more interesting WordPress Widgets. In his talk, he explains how to design widgets, plan out your widget, make your widget responsive and how to upgrade your widget with a plugin.

Watch his talk to learn how to build a better WordPress Widget.