Most of the websites I have worked on over the last couple years have been built using WordPress, one of the best Content Management Systems available. It is extremely flexible and powerful, with great tools for Search Engine Optimization already built in. For a new user, however, it can be a little overwhelming once they log in for the first time. The WordPress backend is a little bit heavy and offers so many tools that it can be confusing for those new to the system. At first I was spending a lot of time on the phone talking clients through the same basic issues over and over. How do I add a new post? How do I create a new category? While these were new issues for them, I had to repeat myself over and over. So I put together a document that provides basic instructions for using WordPress and I have

Posted In: Articles, Blog, Downloads, Resources, WordPress, WordPress Tutorials.
Tags: custom web design, how to, Resources, web design resources, web design tips, WordPress

This is a list of WordPress Plugins that I use and recommend for almost every WordPress site I work on. I will try to keep it up to date with the best that I can find in each category. There are plenty of great plugins out there, but I find myself using these ones over and over again. If anyone knows of better options or can add ones that I missed, please leave a comment below and I will try to add them in. Best Plugins for Spam: Askimet - One of the default plugins. It has been all I have needed for spam so far. Activate this right away. Best  Plugins for SEO: All in one SEO Pack - Lets you control metadata on everypage and post. Google XML Sitemaps - Automically generates a sitemap and submits it to Google, MSN, and Ask.com. KB Robots.txt - Easily control your robots.txt file and help search engines

Posted In: Articles, WordPress, WordPress Resources.
Tags: plugins, web design resources, web design tips, WordPress, WPJumpStart

WordPress has become one of the most powerful and most-used blogging and Content Management Systems in the world in part due to its incredible flexibility and ability to be customized. So it is surprising to learn that the default installation is lacking in a few ways. But because of the great flexibility of WordPress, this is easy to fix in just a few minutes. After any WordPress installation, there is a series of steps that I take in order to optimize the site, before I even think about what it will look like. Remove or edit the Placeholder Content There is a placeholder post titled 'Hello World'. DELETE that, or edit it to be your actual first post. There is a placeholder page called 'About'. DELETE it or edit it to say what you want it to say. Delete the user 'admin' If you used a one-click installation or had someone do it for you, you

Posted In: Articles, SEO, WordPress, WordPress Tutorials.
Tags: SEO, web design resources, website starters, WordPress, WPJumpStart

WARNING: If you're not a CSS or WordPress geek, this post could be a little boring and tech-heavy to you. You can read the quick and easy version here. Or... VIEW LIVE DEMO DOWNLOAD (.zip) Why yet another Free WordPress Theme? As I have developed more and more sites, I have found myself repeating a lot of steps just to get started. I tried a few themes that other designers have made available with the promise of being a good starting point but was never happy with any of them. The Problem with other starting point themes The inspiration for this theme came because I saw others attempting to offer emptied out, basic themes as a starting point, or complex theme frameworks. Some were out of date and needed updating to be compatible with the latest versions of WordPress. Some were packed with options and settings within the admin area. These are great for someone with out

Posted In: Articles, WordPress, WordPress Themes.
Tags: blogstarter, free downloads, Free WordPress Themes, photoshop templates, web design, WordPress, WordPress Themes, WPJumpStart

Has anyone else been hearing the controversy over the new DiggBar? Digg has been one of the biggest names in blog and website listing sites for years. Most sites now have the share buttons or even a specific link to 'Digg This', allowing visitors to vote on a sitIf your article or site was 'Dugg' enough, it could result in a flood of traffic to your site. Recently, they unveiled a new DiggBar feature, which looks and sounds great. It provides a bar at the top of the browser allowing you to share content, 'Digg' the page your on, even create the all popular shortened url. The problem is that when your site is visited from a link on the Digg site, it is now hidden within this bar as if the visitor is on Digg. There is no record of the visit to your site, because it was actually a

Posted In: Articles, SEO.
Tags: diggbar, programming, SEO