Blog - page 3

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about how themes, as we know them, are going to be ending, and then went on holiday. I wasn’t expecting such a big response but since then a lot of people have been...

It’s been a long time coming.I currently earn a living selling WordPress themes. In a couple of years that won’t be the case. I might be earning something from themes, but themes as we know them will no-longer be made.In...

Over the past few weeks, I have been developing a WordPress plugin called Toolbelt, which is designed to enhance your WordPress website with various helper modules. Inspired by Jetpack, Toolbelt is perfect for those who appreciate Jetpack’s features but prefer...

I’ve tweeted my thoughts on Medium before: I’m not a fan! I work with WordPress but I like competition, and try to be objective, but Medium is not a good solution.Not a day goes by without someone tweeting a screenshot...

This weekend I went to WordCamp London. I think it was my 5th WordCamp London and, as always, it was a really interesting weekend. I learnt a lot, and came away with a bunch of ideas for things to try...

I recently had a theme customer ask how to get rid of the Google plus link on their social menu.My recent themes use a social menu setup similar to the one found in the TwentyNineteen theme. This involves setting up...

This weekend I saw someone link Instant.Page – a small javascript library that prefetches links before you click on them. I’ve seen similar projects before that used Ajax to load the html and then substitute a container with the new...

There has recently been a proposal to introduce a new type of plugin into WordPress. One specifically for editor blocks.I find this an interesting concept, and I can definitely see some benefits, but there are also some downsides. For starters;...

A lot of the internet is powered by open source technology. WordPress being a perfect example. This article looks at the practices behind open source development and considers just how sustainable it all is.One story looks at OpenSSL and how...

As someone who makes a living selling themes the recent outline for Phase 2 of Gutenberg is is an interesting article to read. I’ve been wondering about the long term future of themes for a while; and to be honest...

When I was at school in the 90’s everyone argued about which was best, Nintendo or Sega? You had to be on one side or the other, there was no way you could like both.A few times recently this article...

Recently WordPress has been changing how it’s built. Obviously we have had Gutenberg which was built on Github, which is so much nicer than Trac, but that’s not what I mean. The actual process, and a lot of the decisions,...

Ross Wintle recently wrote an article about who the new WordPress editor has been created for, and it got me thinking.I’ve talked a lot, in past newsletters, about how people are disappointed in the direction the new WordPress editor has...

I don’t often recommend specific WordPress plugins but I rather like Slim SEO for it’s simplicity. SEO plugins is a hotly contested category in the WordPress space and Slim SEO brings something new to the table.The go to plugins these...

I build a lot of stuff, and I release most of it publicly. I have 20 WordPress themes on Pro Theme Design, but I’ve been making themes for over 10 years now so I’m quite confident there. Last year I...

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the frustration and in many cases, arguments, happening between designers (CSS & html specialists) and Javascript developers. Increasingly Javascript developers, who are experts at programming, are taking on CSS and HTML roles....

For many Facebook has lost a lot of it’s allure over the last couple of years. With all the reports of the social giant being used by advertisers to manipulate people, and spread fake news, many are leaving the site.With...

I’ve been thinking about writing about learning javascript for a while now, but seeing Brad Frost and Heydon Pickerings articles appear over the last couple of weeks has really made me consider my approach to the technology.Ever since Matt suggested...

2018 was a mixed bag for me. Initially I didn’t feel like I did much in the last year; but now it’s written down in front of me – perhaps I did more than I realised.2018 in ReviewPro Theme DesignSelling...

I am fortunate enough to live in an area that has fast internet (100Mbps+), and I have a powerful computer. Yet the internet often feels slow. I’m a web developer so I have too many tabs open – but even...

Following the Gutenberg discussions in recent weeks, the Core Gutenberg team have posted an update on accessibility in Gutenberg, in which they try to establish there are some accessibility features in Gutenberg. This is true!However, whilst what has been done...