Tag: WordPress (Page 113 of 219)

Articles, tips, and resources for WordPress-based development.

More and More JavaScript in WordPress

December 9, 2015 / Tom / 0 Comments

I wasn’t able to attend WordCamp US (cue jealousy rage! :), but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed many of the blog posts that I’ve read about the conference.

It’s easy to be proud of the software and to continue wanting to work with it, isn’t it?

With all the chatter around Calypso, React, and JavaScript, there’s a lot to cover. If you’re a web developer, this is something that may be overwhelming to take in. For some, this is a natural progression of their career.

Regardless, JavaScript is going to be playing a major role in both WordPress and the web in general. This is holding true to Atwood’s Law:

Any application that can be written in JavaScript, will eventually be written in JavaScript.

Say you’re a WordPress Developer, but you’re just now getting a hold on jQuery. How are you – or we – supposed to pick up on all the new technologies

Looking For a Buyer For Live Theme

December 7, 2015 / Tom

Years ago, the previous team with whom I worked built a theme tailored for a live event. Once the event was over, we refactored a bit of the code and began selling it.

When 8BIT folded, one of the previous team members took it over and has been selling and supporting it. The theme has continued to sell well for the past few years.

So much so that a couple of years ago, Eric approached me about building out the next version of the theme. So, starting from scratch and using newer technologies, that’s what we began to do.

But as our businesses changed and the demands on our time changed, the focus on Live Theme changed, as well.

The short of it? We’re looking to sell the theme.

What is WordPress kses?

December 4, 2015 / Tom / 0 Comments

Work with WordPress long enough and you’re bound to come across something called “kses” or the wp_kses function. Perhaps this comes with writing your own code, or it comes with reading someone else’s source. Or maybe in reading core.

kses

Whatever the case, the function has a weird name, right?

I mean, a lot of the WordPress API functions have clear names so it’s easy to know what you’re doing. This one is more of the exception than the rule. That doesn’t change anything, does it? I mean, it still raises the questions:

What’s the purpose of the function,
Why does it matter,
Why should we use it,
And what purpose do its variations serve?

We should be asking these questions for all functions with which we work. But when the name isn’t clear, the answers aren’t as easy to deduce.

Priority of Ajax in WordPress

December 3, 2015 / Tom / 0 Comments

Let’s say that you’re working with Ajax in WordPress. And let’s say that, whatever you’re building, is using object-oriented programming.

Depending on the complexity of your work, you may find that how you’ve implemented your Ajax functionality doesn’t work.

That is:

You’ve implemented the proper hooks
You’ve got the callbacks defined
You’re `echo`ing the data properly
You’ve got the `wp_die()` call at the end of each request
And you’ve setup `console.log()` or other debugging statements in your Development environment

But you’re still seeing the request return 0 for everything you’ve implemented.

What gives?

All About Freemius For WordPress

December 2, 2015 / Tom / 0 Comments

I’ve written a number of posts about WordPress plugins, their place in the overall WordPress economy, and my perspective as it relates to writing and releasing plugins.

To be sure, it’s a challenging place to be. Arguably, the most popular business model for plugins is freemium. For those who are new to this whole thing, this is basically means:

You offer a version of you product for free. Perhaps it’s a crippled version or it’s a version that’s designed to last for a definitive period of time.
You present the user with the opportunity to upgrade the plugin through the use of prompts throughout the plugin (or your mailing list) or however you’re capturing the leads.
This will grant all of the features and/or greater access to support, licensing, add-ons, etc. (depending on how your plugin is built) for a one time or even a subscription-based period of time.

This model works, but it’s not without it’s challenges. For example, take a look at any of the plugins in the WordPress Plugin Repository and you’re likely to find that many of them have support questions.

That is, people who are granted free software are asking for support for it. Then again, what else is to be expected?

Inherently, there’s nothing wrong with that and I’m not saying this is wrong. If you’re going to offer something for free, then expect to receive some demand for support. How much you choose to offer varies.

Regardless, many plugin authors may be a single person or may be a small number of people all of whom are trying to provide a solid product. And, generally speaking, when you offer a premium version of the plugin, only a small percentage convert.

Some people say only 1%-10% convert (though I’ve read reports where somewhere around 3% might be more correct). Regardless, it’s easy to see that going with the freemium model has its defined set of challenges.

So say you’re a WordPress plugin author, you’re looking to apply the freemium model to your business or to your product, but you want to make sure that you’re doing so with as much insight and strategy as possible.

What do you do?