Articles

How does your WordPress server stack up?

March 20, 2025February 15, 2013 by Bill Forsyth III

Just found an extremely handy tool. We are assisting a new client and their WordPress install just seemed sluggish. We weren’t sure if we were imagining things or just being impatient. As we like to say: “There’s a plugin for that”, so after searching we found a plugin simply and aptly titled “Benchmark” by Mark …

Use visual editor for widgets!

March 20, 2025December 14, 2012 by Bill Forsyth III

One of our few disappointments with WordPress is that the Text Widget is pure HTML. That makes it really hard to turn over any sidebar text for the end users to manage. Here’s a plugin to make that worry go away: Black Studio TinyMCE Widget. This plugin simply creates a widget called “Black Studio TinyMCE” …

A Powerful Point about SOPA and PIPA

March 20, 2025January 18, 2012 by Bill Forsyth III

You hear everybody talking about the dangers of SOPA and PIPA, but Wikipedia has taken it a step further and gives us all a vivid example of what the internet could look like if SOPA and PIPA are enacted. Wikipedia has shut down the english language encyclopedia for a 24 hour period. I never realized …

Handy Plugin – Proper Network Activation

March 20, 2025November 18, 2011 by Bill Forsyth III

Ever had a plugin that worked wonderfully in “single site” WordPress, but when switching to multi-user mode (WPMU), it doesn’t work on any other site than the initial site? Here’s why. And even better “there’s a plugin for that!” This handy plugin will make some of those stubborn plugins work beautifully under WPMU. http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/proper-network-activation/ From …

Alternative to EventBrite?

March 20, 2025November 2, 2011 by Bill Forsyth III

Stumbled across an interesting possible alternative to EventBrite. It’s called “Event Expresso“, and it looks like it can be a completely self-hosted equivalent to EventBrite. In some ways, it may be more trouble than it is worth, but if you run a number of paid events through EventBrite, it will definitely be cheaper to buy and host your own version of Event Expresso, rather than paying EventBrite’s transaction fees.

Color Choice Can Make the Difference on a Sale

March 20, 2025June 14, 2011 by Bill Forsyth III

Minuteman Press in Stow, OH offers one of the best summaries of how color affects buyers:

Whether you know it or not, your buying decisions are oftentimes based on color. The next time you’re looking at an advertisement or packaging for an item you’re considering, pay special attention to the colors you see. Observe how those colors make you feel. Once you understand the effects of color on buying habits, you can make marketing decisions based on that knowledge.

Easily tidy up your video posts — and it’s free!

March 20, 2025May 20, 2011 by Bill Forsyth III

Adding video to a website can make it easier to get your message across. Nowadays you can record video on many handheld devices. Unfortunately, many times there’s additional material in your video clip that is unnecessary and distracting.

Beat Techozoic Fluid into Submission

March 20, 2025May 18, 2011 by Bill Forsyth III

One of our favorite off the shelf themes is Techozoic Fluid. It is extremely customizable and very easy to use.

Every once in a while we come across something that we wish Techozoic Fluid could do and we’ve found the author of the theme to be very accommodating. We’ve seen many of our suggestions and requests incorporated into the theme.

Low Cost or Free Stock Photography sites

April 15, 2025May 14, 2011 by Bill Forsyth III

When developing a website, it’s always very handy to have stock photography to work with. Problem is, the starting costs at big-name stock photography sites can be $20-$50. If you’re searching for that perfect image for an ad campaign, it’s worth every penny. If you’re looking for some filler images for your website, that can get quite expensive quickly.

Here’s where “Microstock Photography” comes to the rescue. Listed are some less expensive stock photography sites that we’ve come across. We’ll catalog them as we use them. At the bottom of the list are sites we’ve stumbled across but haven’t actually used yet.