Learn WordPress - Digital Marketing Journals Hong Kong

Dos & Don’ts for the WordPress Block Editor

10Jan

By Eric KarkovackNo Comments

building website, creating a website, google web designer, internet design, Learn WordPress, responsive web design, web design, web design company, web designer, web page design, website builder, website design, WordPress, WordPress Block Editor, WordPress Gutenberg

Dos & Don’ts for the WordPress Block Editor

The WordPress Block Editor continues to improve. Each new version contains something worth celebrating. The tool has empowered content creators and designers. You no longer need additional plugins to build a functional page layout. WordPress core includes just about all the basics. Need something more? There are plenty of ways to extend the editor, too. None of this makes the Block Editor foolproof, however. It’s still easy to paint yourself into a virtual corner. A simple mistake can mean more difficult maintenance – particularly when clients are involved. I’ve built quite a few sites with blocks. And not every decision was a good one. Yes, I’ve created a few messes. Cleaning them up can be time-consuming. Today, I’m going to share a few things I’ve learned. May these lessons help you avo...

WordPress Offers Two Very Different Paths: That’s a Good Thing

24May

By Eric KarkovackNo Comments

building website, creating a website, google web designer, internet design, Learn WordPress, web design, web design company, web designer, web page design, website builder, website design, WordPress, WordPress Full Site Editing, WordPress Themes

WordPress Offers Two Very Different Paths: That’s a Good Thing

WordPress has evolved steadily. It has added significant features, while somehow maintaining familiarity. But much of the user and developer experiences are based on our choices. Do we go with a battle-tested classic theme or opt for a newfangled block theme? Do we embrace the Block Editor or stick with the trusty Classic flavor? These are defining decisions. They chart a path for how we work with the content management system (CMS). And they influence everything from how we build a website to how content is created. You might even say they’re distinctly different experiences. Here’s why I hope it stays that way. Flexibility To Fit Any Type of Project Flexibility has long been a strength of WordPress. Its open-source code and extensibility make for nearly endless customization. Developers ...

How to Plan a Redesign of a WordPress Multisite Network

8Mar

By Eric KarkovackNo Comments

building website, creating a website, google web designer, internet design, Learn WordPress, web design, web design company, web designer, web page design, website builder, website design, WordPress, WordPress Multisite, WordPress Plugins, WordPress Themes

How to Plan a Redesign of a WordPress Multisite Network

There’s a lot to love about WordPress multisite. It allows for hosting multiple websites on a single installation of the content management system (CMS). And it offers a great way to share themes, plugins, and even content among a related group of sites. For example, multisite is often used by larger organizations like universities, governments, and retail franchises. There’s a level of flexibility and convenience that makes it easy to spin up new sites and perform maintenance tasks. Plus, it’s possible to have a completely different group of users on each site. Be that as it may, WordPress multisite also adds a layer of complexity. That’s especially so when launching a redesign. The larger and more varied the network, the more difficult the process becomes. Putting it all together require...

What I Learned from Building a Multilingual WordPress Website

4Aug

By Eric KarkovackNo Comments

building website, creating a website, google web designer, internet design, Learn WordPress, web design, web design company, web designer, web page design, website builder, website design, WordPress, WordPress Plugins

What I Learned from Building a Multilingual WordPress Website

On the surface, it appears that virtually every website can benefit from being multilingual. But it’s particularly so for organizations that serve the public. When important information is being shared, it needs to reach as many people as possible. Breaking down language barriers can play a vital role. Fortunately, this is an area where WordPress excels. There are several plugins available for crafting multilingual websites. And WordPress core has been translated into over 180 languages. Together, they provide a solid foundation for this type of project. This all sounds pretty amazing. But it wasn’t until recently that I got to experience it firsthand. I found that, much like learning a new language, there are plenty of details and concepts to absorb. And there were a few ups and downs alo...

The Keys to Building Stable & Sustainable WordPress Websites

15Jun

By Eric KarkovackNo Comments

building website, creating a website, google web designer, internet design, Learn WordPress, web design, web design company, web designer, web page design, website builder, website design, WordPress, WordPress Plugins, WordPress Themes

The Keys to Building Stable & Sustainable WordPress Websites

Sustainability should be a goal for every website. It’s critical that what we build today can thrive during its useful life. In practice, it means being able to evolve and grow without being overly burdensome to maintain. That’s always a challenge. But throw in the constant change of a content management system (CMS) such as WordPress, and the game just got a lot harder. Being infinitely customizable is both a blessing and a curse. Sure, you can build just about any type of website imaginable. However, it’s quite possible to take some serious missteps along the way. The result could be a site that’s unstable and always a hair away from disrepair. Because of this, sustainability is a moving target. And while there are no guarantees that even a well-built site will provide years of worry-fre...

The Line between Custom Websites and DIY is Becoming Blurred

22Mar

By Eric KarkovackNo Comments

building website, CMS, creating a website, google web designer, internet design, Learn Web Design, Learn WordPress, web design, web design company, web designer, web page design, website builder, website design, WordPress, WordPress Gutenberg, WordPress Themes

The Line between Custom Websites and DIY is Becoming Blurred

For much of recent history, a sizeable segment of professional web designers turned up their collective noses at DIY website builders. You know, those products that promise literally anyone can build a site with minimal effort. This makes sense on a couple of fronts. First, the marketing hype rarely held up when viewing the results these tools produced. Second, they might also be seen as an existential threat to designers who work with smaller clients. But a funny thing happened along the way: many of the tools we use to create custom websites are adding no-code features. For example, WordPress has joined the party with Full Site Editing (FSE). And page builder interfaces are becoming the default across the board. The line between custom and DIY is becoming increasingly blurred. What does ...

The Ingredients of a Great WordPress Plugin

21Jun

By Eric KarkovackNo Comments

building website, creating a website, google web designer, internet design, Learn WordPress, web design, web design company, web designer, web page design, website builder, website design, WordPress, WordPress Plugins

The Ingredients of a Great WordPress Plugin

There are currently over 58,000 listings in the WordPress Plugin Repository. Beyond that, there are likely thousands of free and commercial offerings available elsewhere on the web. Together, they cover a staggering number of functionalities and use cases. But not all plugins are created equally. Only a relative few are labeled as “great” by their users. And that title doesn’t necessarily last a lifetime. One false move by a developer and those 5-star reviews can quickly turn into something significantly lower. That got me thinking about the ingredients behind a great WordPress plugin. How do you quantify something so subjective? Each person will judge a plugin based on their own needs and experiences. However, I do think that there are some guiding principles that go into building somethi...

Tips for Maintaining a Legacy WordPress Website

15Feb

By Eric KarkovackNo Comments

building website, creating a website, google web designer, internet design, Learn WordPress, responsive web design, web design, web design company, web designer, web page design, website builder, website design, WordPress, WordPress Plugins, WordPress Security, WordPress Tutorials

Tips for Maintaining a Legacy WordPress Website

One of the best ways to measure how far technology has come is to use a legacy product. It’s true of devices like computers and smartphones. And it also applies to websites as well. For instance, compare a WordPress website you built recently with one from a decade ago. You’ll likely notice a lot of differences – both cosmetically and under-the-hood. It can certainly lead you to better appreciate the progress that has been made. This is a process I’ve found myself doing a lot lately. A few websites that I built way back in the early 2010’s are still in use. Beyond keeping those installs updated, part of my job has been to replace abandoned plugins and retrofit for newer features. The experience has been interesting. Not only have these past projects offered perspective, but they’ve also be...

Create a Local WordPress Development Environment for Free with DevKinsta

22Jan

By Eric KarkovackNo Comments

building website, creating a website, google web designer, internet design, Learn WordPress, web design, web design company, web designer, web page design, website builder, website design, WordPress, WordPress Tutorials

Create a Local WordPress Development Environment for Free with DevKinsta

Having a local development environment for WordPress websites is incredibly useful. It allows you to design, develop and experiment with projects – all on your own computer. This is both a powerful and efficient way to create websites. File edits are reflected with a refresh of your browser as opposed to uploading via FTP. Need a new WordPress install? You can deploy one with a single click. Best of all, you can work on a local site without interfering with visitors. Everything is in its own self-contained environment. And you can now bring the power of local WordPress development to your macOS or Windows machine with DevKinsta. This completely free tool from Kinsta has everything you need to start building. And, you don’t even need to be a Kinsta customer to use it! Let’s take a look at w...