WordPress Plugins

15 Free & Premium Resources & Tools for Designers in 2024

29Mar

By SpeckyboyNo Comments

Artificial Intelligence (AI), building website, creating a website, google web designer, illustration, internet design, responsive web design, UX Tools, web design, web design company, web designer, web page design, website builder, Website Builders, website design, WordPress Plugins, WordPress Themes

15 Free & Premium Resources & Tools for Designers in 2024

Too many good things may not actually be a good thing. Modern life is already filled with noise, making it challenging to sift through repeated or similar information without feeling overloaded. This holds true for web design resources as well. The goal here is to cut through the noise, directing your attention towards a curated collection of tools and resources. The big-name options already have plenty of exposure and are easily found, so they were intentionally excluded from this list. Instead, we focus on showcasing 15 outstanding web design tools and resources that fly under the radar. These free and premium picks are less commonly discussed, offering fresh perspectives and solutions in the already crowded web design landscape. Website and page building tools that include a very promis...

Is That Commercial WordPress Plugin a Good Deal?

4Apr

By Eric KarkovackNo Comments

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

Is That Commercial WordPress Plugin a Good Deal?

There are over 60,000 listings in the WordPress plugin repository. And while all are free to use, many offer commercial upgrades. These “pro” versions usually include more robust features and technical support. Free plugins can be quite useful. But inevitably, you’ll run into a scenario where upgrading makes sense. This is particularly relevant when your website relies on a specific plugin for eCommerce or other advanced functionality. The decision to put down your (or your client’s) hard-earned money isn’t always easy, though. Both pricing terms and licensing can vary. It seems like each plugin author has a different strategy. And then there’s the quality of the added features and support. Will they be worth the cost? And will the plugin stick around for the long term? Indeed, there can b...

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...

How WordPress Media Management Can Be Improved

20Feb

By Eric KarkovackNo Comments

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

How WordPress Media Management Can Be Improved

If you want to know what frustrates WordPress users, just ask. Recently I put out a call on Twitter for recommended improvements to its media management features. And I received a virtual earful of gripes and suggestions. True, it’s a thoroughly unscientific sampling. But it appears that the WordPress Media Library is lagging behind the times. There are a couple of potential reasons for this. First is that the open-source project has shifted focus toward the Block and Site Editors. Both are large, complex undertakings. And they require plenty of human involvement. That leaves little time to address other issues. In addition, there are an untold number of plugins for enhancing the Media Library. It’s another example of the WordPress community stepping up to fill gaps in the core software. S...

Why Do WordPress Theme Backends Have to Suck? (Hint: They Don’t!)

22Oct

By WebdesignerDepot StaffNo Comments

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

Why Do WordPress Theme Backends Have to Suck? (Hint: They Don’t!)

Whether you’ve worked with a few WordPress themes to design websites or worked with many of them, you’ll no doubt agree that plenty of WordPress themes that are visually gorgeous on the front end can be terribly unattractive and extremely awkward to use on the backend. Working with a WordPress theme can sometimes be difficult, but it can be different. Want proof? Look no further than with BeTheme. BeTheme, with 260,000+ sales and counting and a 4.83-star user rating, is one of the top 5 best-selling WordPress themes of all time. In this article, we’ll show you one of the many reasons why this is the case by focusing on how BeTheme’s backend is designed to make web design tasks more manageable. Enhance your workflow experience with a WordPress theme backend that won’t stress you out Once...

Making Money with Open-Source Software: What’s Our Responsibility?

31Aug

By Eric KarkovackNo Comments

building website, CMS, creating a website, Freelance Business, Freelance Career, Freelance Design, google web designer, internet design, web design, web design company, web designer, web page design, website builder, website design, WordPress, WordPress Plugins, WordPress Themes

Making Money with Open-Source Software: What’s Our Responsibility?

Free, open-source software powers much of the web. And it’s part of what makes the web design industry so unique. Could you imagine a traditional line of work that relies so heavily on no-cost tools? The concept would likely be unfathomable to anyone from an accountant to a zoologist. Yet it’s something web designers have embraced and, to some extent – expect. Whether it’s building a website with WordPress, crafting a layout with Bootstrap, or storing data via MySQL, it’s an everyday occurrence. And these tools are just a few examples. We have a multitude of free options – each helping us do our job more effectively. This has been the case for years. And things have gone remarkably smoothly. Some tools come and go, but the underlying philosophy of open-source software has endured. But that...

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...

10 Tools & Resources for Building a WordPress Staging Site

5Apr

By Eric KarkovackNo Comments

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

10 Tools & Resources for Building a WordPress Staging Site

It’s no secret that WordPress websites are becoming more complex by the day. With each plugin we install, another layer of intricacy is added. This, of course, boosts our chances of running into problems when performing routine software updates. This is part of the open source bargain we accept with WordPress. You get a magnificent collection of plugins that do all sorts of things. But they all come from different developers. With that, the chance that two disparate parts won’t play nicely together is always in the back of your mind. That’s what makes a staging site such a great resource. It’s an exact copy of your WordPress website that runs independently from your “live” version. This allows you to test updates and other changes to your site without disrupting availability. 5,000+ WordP...

Are Low-Cost WordPress Projects Worth Your Time?

12Jan

By Eric KarkovackNo Comments

building website, creating a website, Design Clients, Freelance Business, Freelance Career, Freelance Clients, google web designer, internet design, web design, web design company, web designer, web page design, website builder, website design, WordPress, WordPress Plugins, WordPress Themes

Are Low-Cost WordPress Projects Worth Your Time?

If you’re a freelancer looking for new clients, you’ll likely find plenty of opportunities to take on low-cost WordPress projects. But pairing the term “low-cost” with WordPress seems like an oxymoron. Sure, it may accurately describe what a client is willing to pay. That doesn’t speak to the challenges involved, though. These projects always tend to be more than meets the eye. I’ve spent over a decade working in the WordPress space. And I can’t recall a single project that didn’t involve multiple revisions and at least some customization. Even a website that uses a third-party theme and a few select plugins will need some tweaks. This process encompasses projects at every pricing level. It begs the question: are low-cost WordPress projects worth your time? The answer depends on what exact...

The 2021 WordPress Year in Review

14Dec

By Eric KarkovackNo Comments

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

The 2021 WordPress Year in Review

Each year, the web is full of new ideas, tools, and trends. But for WordPress, 2021 may be looked upon as one of great foundational shifts. Changes that, while still in their early stages, promise to have a lasting impact on how we work with the content management system (CMS). That applies not only to the core software but to its massive community and ecosystem as well. There were moments when it felt nearly impossible to keep up with the flurry of movement and acquisitions in this space. For a time, WordPress was akin to an open-source Wall Street. Now that we’ve reached the end of the year, let’s take a look at the biggest developments as they relate to WordPress. Blocks Take Over the Back End The Gutenberg block editor was moved into WordPress core way back in 2018 (has it really been ...

8 Free Maintenance & Coming Soon Plugins for WordPress

19Oct

By Jake RocheleauNo Comments

building website, Coming Soon, creating a website, Free WordPress Themes, google web designer, internet design, responsive web design, web design, web design company, web designer, web page design, website builder, website design, WordPress, WordPress Plugins

8 Free Maintenance & Coming Soon Plugins for WordPress

When you run a WordPress website, you will inevitably have to perform essential maintenance that may result in temporary downtime. This could be testing new plugins, theme changes or updates, or some major server issues. Many developers create offline sandboxes for testing, but once you push the updates to your live site, it’s good practice to take the site offline for a brief moment. This is also true with new domains where your site isn’t quite ready to launch, but you want to have something online – a coming soon page – to show potential users, visitors, or buyers. The best solution you need is a good and reliable maintenance or coming soon plugin. Thankfully, WordPress has many of them freely available. We’ve curated the eight best choices here, with each having a different focus and s...

Love a WordPress Plugin or Theme? Pay It Forward.

20Sep

By Eric KarkovackNo Comments

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

Love a WordPress Plugin or Theme? Pay It Forward.

WordPress is an open-source application with an enormous ecosystem. The sheer number of available plugins and themes (many of them free) benefits developers and everyday users alike. If, for example, you need a plugin to help with SEO, you’ll find plenty of options. Even if the first one you try doesn’t do everything you need, you can easily uninstall it and switch to something else. Want to update the look of your site? There are a seemingly endless supply of themes to check out. The process of enhancing your website with a few clicks is something to behold. And it has also become second nature. If you’re a frequent user of the content management system (CMS), it’s easy to take all of this for granted. What’s often missing is the act of sharing some love with WordPress plugin and theme au...

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...

Thoughts on WordPress Achieving 40% Market Share

23Feb

By Eric KarkovackNo Comments

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

Thoughts on WordPress Achieving 40% Market Share

The continued growth of WordPress is something to behold. It seems like just yesterday that we were watching it surpass 30% market share (it was at 29.2% on January 1, 2018), according to the W3Techs survey. Now, the versatile content management system (CMS) has reached a whopping 40%. While there is a wide array of CMS options on the market, WordPress continues to outshine the competition. As of this writing, Shopify occupies second place with a 3.3% share. From January 1, 2020 through February 15, 2021, WordPress usage grew by 3.7% to Shopify’s 1.3%. Even as some competitors grow, WordPress outpaces them. It’s quite an achievement – and one that brings up a few key questions. How did WordPress gain such a massive market share? And what does it have to do in order to maintain its dominanc...

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...

An Ethical Dilemma for WordPress Plugin Developers

15Jan

By Eric KarkovackNo Comments

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

An Ethical Dilemma for WordPress Plugin Developers

I recently discovered that a popular WordPress plugin had enabled automatic updates without explicitly informing users. How did I find out? I received emails from each site where the plugin was installed informing me that an update had been completed. But it gets better. Over a holiday break, a colleague asked me to look at a website that wasn’t loading properly. I turned on debugging to find that – you guessed it – this particular plugin was the culprit. The automatic update failed, and some key files were missing. Thankfully, manually uploading a fresh copy of the code fixed the issue. The incident got me thinking about the ethics behind this move. Not just with a specific plugin author, but all WordPress theme and plugin developers as a whole. So, I reached out to others on the Advanced...