WordPress Plugins « Lorelle on WordPress

Code Standards Project to Take WordPress Into the Future

July 29, 2014 – 9:57 am

WP Tavern reported recently that WordPress Developers are organizing a community initiative to standardize common post types, taxonomies and meta data. Led by Justin Tadlock, popular WordPress developer and author of Professional WordPress Plugin Development, the goals of the community project are to name these common parts of WordPress to create a more stable and […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in WordPress, WordPress News, WordPress Plugins, WordPress Themes | Tags: code standards, custom post types, taxonomies, wordpress, WordPress News, WordPress Plugins, wordpress post types, wordpress standards, WordPress Themes | Comments (6)

Blog Exercises: The Domino Effect

September 3, 2013 – 4:24 am

I recently created a domino effect on one of my sites. The Domino Effect is based upon the traditional game of domino pieces stacked standing upright in rows, typically in a straight or curved path carefully spaced close together. Knock over the first one and it falls against the second, and third, knocking down each […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in Blog Exercises, Blogging, blogging tips, WordPress, WordPress Tips, Writing | Tags: 404, blog changes, blog exercises, changes, domino effect, dominoes, how to change your blog, how to change your site, link errors, linking, links, page not found, permalinks, redirects, Web Design, website changes, wordpress, WordPress Plugins, WordPress Themes, WordPress Tips | Comments (3)

Blog Exercises: Patterns in the Stats

August 27, 2013 – 4:06 am

As we proceed through this year of blogging tips and exercises, we’ll talk more about statistics and web analytics to help you check in with yourself that you are on the right track. Today’s blog exercise is to familiarize yourself with tracking your site’s stats, learning the key numbers and data to watch. I introduced […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in Blog Exercises, Blogging, blogging tips, WordPress, WordPress Plugins, WordPress Tips, Writing | Tags: analytics, blog exercises, blogging tips, clicks, data, demographics, numbers, popular posts, referrerals, referrers, statistics, stats, stats plugins, traffic, visitors, web analytics, web stats, wordpress, WordPress News, WordPress Plugins, WordPress Tips, wordpress.com stats | Comments (2)

Blog Exercises: Under the Hood Spring Cleaning

June 5, 2013 – 1:50 pm

One of my students in my Portland Community College WordPress class reminded me that clutter is clutter, no matter where you find it. Peter Smith reminds us that too many WordPress Themes is a waste of resources. Today, I feature his post to remind us all to clean up our sites under the hood. I […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in Blog Exercises, Blogging, blogging tips, WordPress, WordPress News, WordPress Tips | Tags: blog exercises, blogging tips, cleaning, maintenance, publishing tips, site maintenance, spring cleaning, wordpress, WordPress News, WordPress Plugins, WordPress Themes, WordPress Tips | Comments (7)

Blog Exercises: Own Your Site and Protect Yourself

May 1, 2013 – 4:10 am

I hear it every day. A webmaster, developer, or designer does the site owner wrong and the site owner is victimized, helpless, and frustrated with what to do next. I’ve gotten calls in the middle of the night from people around the world trying to get help recovering their WordPress password because their “web guy” […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in Blog Exercises, blogging tips, Web Design, WordPress, WordPress Plugins, WordPress Themes, WordPress Tips | Tags: blog exercises, hiring, jobs, site developers, site development, Web Design, web developers, web development, webmasters, wordpress, WordPress News, WordPress Plugins, WordPress Themes, WordPress Tips, writers agreement | Comments (13)

WordPress Course at PCC-Rock Creek in Beaverton

March 6, 2013 – 5:44 am

I will be teaching a WordPress Introduction college course at Portland Community College in Beaverton, just west of Portland, Oregon, starting April 3 – June 12, 2013. The course is a hybrid online course meetings Wednesdays from 6-9PM with a minimum of two hours online per week. Called “CMS Website Creation: WordPress,” this 3 credit […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in Announcements, WordPress, WordPress Events, WordPress News, WordPress Tips | Tags: blogging, blogging lessons, blogging tips, classes, college, education, learn wordpress, pcc, portland community college, training, Web Design, wordpress, wordpress classes, wordpress development, wordpress help, WordPress News, WordPress Plugins, WordPress Themes, WordPress Tips, wordpress training | Comments (2)

How Many is Too Many WordPress Plugins?

September 27, 2012 – 2:17 pm

In “How Many WordPress Plugins Should You Install on Your Site?” WPBeginner asks a question I bring up in my workshops, training programs, and college courses: How many WordPress Plugins are too many. The article brings up some valid points worth considering when choosing WordPress Plugins. Are WordPress Plugins a security risk? How would you […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in WordPress, WordPress News, WordPress Plugins, WordPress Themes, WordPress Tips | Tags: choosing a plugin, how to use wordpress, installing a plugin, plugin performance, plugin security, plugins, site performance, themes, wordpress, wordpress help, WordPress News, WordPress Plugins, WordPress Themes, WordPress Tips, wordpress tutorials | Comments (52)

Evaluating What Makes a Shopping Cart Work Best

September 5, 2012 – 4:45 am

Before you check out your next WordPress shopping cart or ecommerce WordPress Plugin, you need to read this. In April 2011, Smashing Magazine published “Fundamental Guidelines Of E-Commerce Checkout Design” in their UX (User Experience) column exploring what they called the “harsh reality” of e-commerce websites. According to recent e-commerce studies, at least 59.8% of […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in Web Design, WordPress, WordPress News, WordPress Plugins, WordPress Tips | Tags: carts, e-commerce, ecommerce, shopping carts, Usability, Web Design, wordpress, wordpress carts, wordpress ecommerce, WordPress News, wordpress orders, WordPress Plugins, wordpress shopping carts | Comments (31)

What You Most Need to Know About WordPress

August 24, 2012 – 6:48 pm

At the recent WordCamp Portland 2012, I was asked by several attendees to cover the basics of WordPress and we came up with What You Most Need to Know About WordPress. Here are the “notes” from that unconference presentation. The Difference Between Categories and Tags I hear this question at WordCamps, from readers, students, and […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in blogging tips, WordCamps, WordPress, WordPress Events, WordPress News, WordPress Plugins, WordPress Themes, WordPress Tips, Writing | Tags: blog writing, blogging tips, hacked, hacking, headings, how to blog, how to blog with WordPress, how to use wordpress, images, links, multimedia, post content, security, security vulnerability, seo, vulnerability, what you most need to know in wordpress, wordpress, wordpress and seo, wordpress essentials, wordpress help, WordPress News, WordPress Plugins, WordPress Themes, WordPress Tips, wordpress tutorials, Writing, writing tips | Comments (18)

201 WordPress Books

April 26, 2012 – 12:01 pm

As part of my project to bring WordPress into colleges nationally, I did a quick survey of how many books have been published about WordPress. I was asked by several major publishers to publish the first book in English on WordPress but had to decline due to my traveling schedule and work load, so it’s […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in WordPress, WordPress News, WordPress Tips | Tags: books, books about wordpress, books on wordpress, how to use wordpress, wordpress, wordpress advice, wordpress books, wordpress codex, wordpress design, wordpress development, wordpress help, WordPress News, WordPress Plugins, wordpress techniques, WordPress Themes, WordPress Tips, wordpress tutorials, wordpress writing | Comments (25)

WordPress Stats Infographic of WordPress World

April 16, 2012 – 11:16 am

Using some of the stats from my recent article on WordPress Stats, Yoast did some more research and created a new WordPress Stats Infographic to feature the statistical information on WordPress visually. What is most interesting about the new research his team found, building upon my own research, are the following: 48% of the top […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in WordPress, WordPress News, WordPress Tips | Tags: why wordpress, wordpress, wordpress community, wordpress economy, wordpress information, WordPress News, WordPress Plugins, wordpress statistics, wordpress stats, WordPress Themes, WordPress Tips, wordpress world | Comments (11)

What are the Essential WordPress Plugins You Can’t Live Without?

April 2, 2012 – 5:18 pm

In my WordPress session at Barcamp Portland this past weekend, one of my favorite questions started the discussion: What are the most essential, must-have WordPress Plugins? My answer? None. Okay, not really. My honest answer is one: Akismet. Spam is the bane of our web experience. It comes in our emails and site comments. While […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in WordPress, WordPress News, WordPress Plugins, WordPress Tips | Tags: accessibility, akismet, backup, blog reminders, blubrry, cache, cache wordpress plugin, choosing wordpress plugins, comment forms, comment spam, database, database search and replace, feed readers, how to use wordpress, mobile, mobile access, mobile theme, mobile version, multiple bloggers, multiple contributors, mysql, next of kin, phpmyadmin, plugins, podcast, podpress, reminders, search and replace, site maintenance, spam, subscribe to blog, subscribe to comments, subscriptions, which wordpress plugins to choose, wordpress, wordpress help, WordPress News, WordPress Plugins, WordPress Tips, wordpress tutorials | Comments (50)

Campaign 2011: Prove It!

December 29, 2011 – 1:30 pm

Every year I create a personal campaign. It’s my own personal soap box that I stand on throughout the year to make a point. In the past I tackled copyright issues, freedom of speech, breaking global language barriers on the web, creativity, education, and more. You helped me spread the word and slowly, the world […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Posted in blogging tips, WordPress Tips, Writing | Tags: brag, bragging, career, employer, employment, expert, how to blog, how to get a job, job, proof, prove it, proving yourself, resume, social media, validation, web publishing, WordPress Plugins, WordPress Themes | Comments (41)

Counting Number of CMS Downloads with beCounted WordPress Plugin

November 15, 2011 – 1:37 pm

I’m often asked which content management system for web publishing I recommend. While I’m clearly biased towards you-know-what, at last there is a WordPress Plugin that can help you show others which one they should consider. My friends at beAutomated have taken their powerful beCounted WordPress Plugin to new heights with a live stats comparison […]