My thoughts on all things WordPress and the world of front end web development. If you want to browse by a particular subject then go to my categories page.
WebP as Google puts it is “a modern image format that provides superior lossless and lossy compression for images on the web.” If you undertake regular website testing you have probably also seen it recommend by Googles Page Speed Insights tool among others. I wanted to illustrate the difference it makes to our websites speed and bandwidth usage. Therefore I have created a couple of ex...
So apparently the ordered list element has reversed and start attributes. I never knew this before, so decided to have a go myself. Full credit for bringing this to my attention goes to Robin Rendle’s post on CSS Tricks. See the Pen Managing Ordered Lists by James (@jamesevers) on CodePen. ...
Have you ever needed to rollback a WordPress installation to a specific version? If so, WP Downgrade might be the plugin you’ve been missing. It allows you to simply specify the target version of WordPress you want to install. You can then click Save Changes and initiate an update from the provided prompt. As always, remember to backup your website before making any changes. ...
With so much uncertainty at this time I wanted to confirm that I am still working remotely as normal. I am still available for projects, so if you’re in need of a Front End Web Developer and require help with WordPress, Gatsby or CS-Cart get in touch. I would also like say thank you to all my friends and clients who continue to work alongside and support one another during these difficult ti...
It’s a distinct possibility that your website will receive more visitors over the coming weeks than it has previously due to current restrictions in the UK. So make sure your websites page speed is the best it can be, and give your users a good experience. You’ll also be maximising your potential sales and conversions. Mobile page speed is an important ranking factor, but so is your cu...
WordPress makes it easy for us to upload images to our websites, but I wonder how often we stop and consider the impact of these images. Your websites page load time is a key metric that isn’t going away anytime soon, and we’ve seen time and again that lowering it can improve conversions and other KPIs. Image choice and optimisation is an important consideration for the web. Images tha...
To follow up on my previous post regarding the use of passphrases over passwords, I think it is also worth mentioning that an excellent way to improve security is to combine passphrases with the use of two factor authentication. Also known as 2FA. Two factor authentication is effectively a code sent to your phone via SMS or email, or via authenticator apps which are particularly useful as you aren...
If you’re looking to create a new website in 2020 make sure you consider WordPress. Whether your building a website for yourself or your business it’s got some great options to help you achieve more online. Did you know WordPress is the CMS of choice for over 30% of the web? It’s also open-source, has an astonishing list of plugins which give you access to some excellent features...
Remember to be selective over the plugins you choose for your WordPress website. One of WordPress’s biggest appeals is the vast array of plugins available to help achieve the functionality you want. There’s a plugin to do pretty much anything you can think of on WordPress, and there’s definitely a temptation to keep adding plugins to increase what your site is capable of. But the...
This week I wanted to focus on essential (in my opinion) WordPress plugins that you should consider when building a new WordPress website. These suggestions are made with everyone in mind, so if you are a DIYer, a web designer or an agency, these should be useful to you. Now I strongly believe if you’re going to spend your time and effort building a beautiful website and filling it with grea...
WordPress sometimes gets a bad reputation for security but I believe it’s quite often unfair, and that the real issue is in providing better information for everyone about correct WordPress setup. Making sure you have the correct file permissions, unique database prefixes, properly generated salt keys (yes that’s a thing), secure and unique usernames and passwords are all absolute esse...
Today I wanted to talk briefly about improving the performance of your WordPress site. It’s important to remember that page speed has a direct relationship to bounce rates and conversions on your website. So if your website load times are slow your going to loose potential customers and revenue. The best way to achieve a highly optimized site is to hire good quality designers and developers ...