EDITS.WS

Category: torquemag.io

  • How to Create a Paid Membership Site with WordPress (2 Ways)

    In the past, advertising and affiliate marketing were the best ways to monetize a website. However, these tactics can be time-consuming and disrupt the user experience (UX). As an alternative, you may want to create a membership site to earn income online. Still, you might now know where to begin.

    Fortunately, it’s easy to create a paid membership site with the right tools. Then, you can configure memberships in WordPress, restrict access to specific pages, and sell subscriptions.

    In this post, we’ll take a closer look at membership websites and how they work. Then, we’ll discuss what you need to get started and explore two ways you can do this. Let’s dive in!

    An Introduction to Membership Websites

    Typically, a membership website is an online space that provides exclusive content for its members. Alternatively, some membership sites are accessible to everyone, but feature gated content and additional resources that require a membership.

    Most of the time, memberships are granted in exchange for payment (usually a subscription). However, sometimes users can become members by simply handing over their email address:

    Once users gain membership status, they can log into the site to view exclusive pages/posts, download files, or receive emails and newsletters. 

    There are many benefits to creating a paid membership site. For instance, you’ll get access to a more engaged audience since users have already expressed interest in your content. In turn, you can enjoy higher retention rates and earn recurring revenue.

    What You Need to Create a Membership Site on WordPress

    To create your membership site, you’ll need a place where you can publish and manage content. One of the best options is WordPress since it’s open-source, free, and easy to use. After you’ve selected a domain name, signed up with a web hosting provider, and installed WordPress, you can add membership functionality to your site.

    When creating a paid membership site, make sure you can carry out the following tasks:

    • Create memberships. You’ll need a tool that enables you to create multiple memberships with clear prices and benefits. 
    • Design a signup page. Users need a way to access your membership plans. Generally, visitors can sign up on your web page with an email address. 
    • Add pricing. It’s a good idea to create a pricing page where users can view all your plans. You might prefer to display this information in a pricing table so that visitors can easily compare plans. 
    • Integrate your website with your sales funnel. For instance, you might want to pull your members’ email addresses to your CRM. Or, you could connect your membership site to an email marketing platform.
    • Set up a payment gateway. If you’re accepting fees in exchange for memberships, you’ll need a payment gateway to authorize transactions.

    Carefully considering the above elements at the outset can help streamline your workflow down the line.

    How to Create a Paid Membership Site with WordPress (2 Ways)

    Now that you know the benefits of creating a membership site, let’s take a look at two ways to get started.

    1. With a WordPress Membership Plugin like ProfilePress

    When you use a plugin like ProfilePress, you can easily set up and configure your membership site. Plus, it allows you to continue creating and managing WordPress content as you normally would.

    Before we get started, you’ll need to enable user registration in WordPress. To do this, navigate to Settings > General in your WordPress dashboard. Then, check the box next to Anyone can register:

    Now, you can install and activate the plugin. ProfilePress is an excellent option since you can use it to create custom forms for signup and login pages. 

    To do this, head to ProfilePress > Settings > Pages:

    Here, you can choose the default form options, or select an existing page. Alternatively, you can create a new signup page to gain greater control over your form fields and settings.

    To create your own form, click on ProfilePress > Forms & Profiles. Select your preferred form type, such as LOGIN or REGISTRATION. Then, hit Add New:

    Additionally, you can create membership plans by going to ProfilePress > Membership Plans > Add New:

    You’re able to adjust your plan details, configure subscription settings, and add any digital products.

    To accept payments on your website, navigate to the ProfilePress dashboard and select Integrate a Payment Method:

    You can either choose Stripe, PayPal, or Mollie. ProfilePress also supports the Stripe hosted checkout page and on-site payment form. You’ll need to connect to your account. 

    Then, it’s a good idea to test the payment method by activating Test Mode:

    Lastly, you can restrict access to your content by setting up rule conditions. To do this, head to ProfilePress > Content Protection > Add Protection Rule:

    Here, you can select the specific pages you want to restrict access to using the + AND/+ OR buttons. Under Access Condition, you’re able to choose who the rule applies to. For example, you can make certain posts accessible only to your subscribers. 

    2. With a Learning Management System like MemberPress

    MemberPress is an all-in-one solution that’s ideal for creating and selling courses. It’s not strictly a learning management system (LMS) though. The plugin also provides general membership features:

    After installation, head to MemberPress > Courses > Add New to begin:

    Then, switch to the Curriculum tab to add materials like infographics, video content, and quizzes:

    Next, you can set up multiple membership options and implement your tiered pricing structure. This is advisable since it gives you greater control over the way users interact with your content.

    To create your memberships, go to MemberPress > Memberships > Add New:

    Choose a unique name and set a price for each of your plans. 

    If you head to Membership Options further down the page, you can customize your signup form and enable welcome emails:

    Then, switch to Permissions to establish which user roles can sign up for your memberships:

    You can use MemberPress to restrict access to your paid content such as blog posts, courses, and landing pages. Although, first, you’ll need to create membership rules. 

    You can do this by heading to Memberpress > Rules > Add New. Then, select Single Course from the dropdown menu and choose the course that you want to configure. Next, pick the membership(s) that your users will need in order to access the course:

    Lastly, you’re ready to add a payment gateway to your website. Head to MemberPress > Settings > Payments and specify which payment gateways members can use:

    Currently, MemberPress supports PayPal, Stripe, and Authorize.net. Click on the plus icon (+) to add your payment method. Then, connect to your account.

    MemberPress is a useful plugin, but if you’re simply seeking a way to create a simple membership site, it may be a bit excessive. You could end up paying for a ton of features you don’t need. Plus, it comes with a steep learning curve which makes it less beginner-friendly than the previous option. 

    Conclusion

    Creating a membership website is a great way to nurture a community while monetizing your website. However, it can be difficult to get started. Luckily, with the help of some useful tools, it’s easy to create membership options, accept payments, and restrict access to paid content.

    To recap, here are two ways to create a paid membership site with WordPress:.

    1. With a WordPress membership plugin like ProfilePress.
    2. With a learning management system like MemberPress.

    Do you have any questions about creating a paid membership site? Ask in the comments section below!

    The post How to Create a Paid Membership Site with WordPress (2 Ways) appeared first on Torque.

  • How to Add a Table of Contents in WordPress (3 Ways)

    If you publish long-form articles on your blog, you’ll want to provide a quick way for readers to navigate to different sections of the post. Creating a table of contents can help you achieve this, but you might not know how to get started. 

    Fortunately, WordPress makes it easy to add tables of contents to your posts. For instance, you can use a dedicated plugin or create your tables manually in the Block Editor – no coding knowledge required!

    In this post, we’ll take a closer look at tables of contents and discuss the benefits of using them in your posts. Then, we’ll show you three different ways to create them in WordPress. Let’s get started!

    An Introduction to Tables of Contents in WordPress

    A table of contents is a list of your post’s headings and subheadings. Each heading contains an anchor link that takes the reader to that section in the post.

    For example, if a user wants to read about a particular topic in your article, they can simply click on the relevant heading in the table of contents:

    An example of a table of contents in a blog post

    This way, readers can jump to the sections they’re most interested in and skip the rest. They don’t need to scroll down the page and skim through the post to find what they’re looking for.

    Plus, a table of contents gives users a quick overview of the article so they know what to expect. For example, if you’ve written a post about visiting London, readers can quickly see what’s included in the guide (e.g. where to stay, best restaurants, things to do, etc).

    Therefore, a table of contents can help improve the User Experience (UX) and make your posts more readable. This may in turn help you rank higher for relevant search terms. 

    How to Add a Table of Contents in WordPress (3 Ways)

    As we have seen, using tables of contents in your posts can help improve your site’s performance. Fortunately, creating them is easier than you might think. Now let’s look at three simple ways to add a table of contents in WordPress!

    1. Install a Table of Contents Plugin

    Adding a table of contents plugin to your WordPress site can be a quick and easy way to make your content more navigable. While there are many options to choose from, we recommend Easy Table of Contents:

    Easy Table of Contents plugin banner in WordPress

    This plugin enables you to insert a table of contents into your posts, pages, and custom post types. Plus, it can automatically generate the tables for you!

    Once you install the plugin on your site, navigate to Settings > Table of Contents in your WordPress dashboard. Under the General tab, you can select the type of content you want to create tables for:

    The plugin settings for Easy Table of Contents

    You also have the option to automatically insert them into your posts and pages:

    The auto insert option in Easy Table of Contents settings

    If you’d rather add them manually, you can copy the shortcode and embed it into your posts:

    The shortcode for your table of contents

    For example, you might only want to add a table of contents to specific posts. In this case, you’ll need to uncheck the boxes in the Auto Insert section and use the shortcode to add the table to your preferred content. 

    In the Appearance section, you’ll find several customization options for your table of contents. You can change the font, select the link colors, and more:

    The Appearance settings in Easy Table of Contents.

    Now, let’s see what the table of contents will look like to your readers. If you’ve selected the auto insert option for your posts, you can open a random article on the front end:

    Front-end preview of the table of contents

    By default, the table of contents will appear below your title and introductory paragraph, and before the first H2 heading. However, you can change this in the plugin settings. 

    This plugin is an ideal option if you want to automatically add a table of contents to all of your posts. However, if you only want to use the table on some of them, you may want to consider an alternative. 

    2. Use Custom WordPress Blocks

    You can also add a table of contents as a block. This way, you can insert it directly into your posts and customize it within the WordPress Block Editor.

    At the time of writing, the Block Editor does not offer a table of contents block. However, you can use a plugin like Spectra to add this feature to your site: 

    The Spectra banner in WordPress

    Spectra adds a selection of practical blocks to your site, including a table of contents option. Once you install the plugin, navigate to Settings > Spectra to view a complete list of added blocks. 

    Make sure that the Table of Contents block is activated:

    The list of blocks added by Spectra

    Then, you can open a post in the Block Editor and add the block anywhere you want on the page:

    The Table of Contents block

    As with any block, you’ll get access to some customization settings. For example, you can choose the heading tags that you want to include in your table of contents:

    Customizing the Table of Contents block in WordPress

    To customize the appearance of your table, click on the Style tab. Here, you can change the typography and colors for the title, headings, and more:

    Customizing the style of your table of contents

    Using a Table of Contents block can be a more efficient option if you want to apply the table to certain posts, rather than all of them. Additionally, you can save it as a reusable block, so you won’t have to re-apply the same customization settings every time you use the table in a post. 

    However, you may choose to create custom tables for each post. For example, you might want to include all heading tags in some posts, but only display H2 and H3 headings in others. 

    With the Easy Table of Contents plugin, you’ll have to use the same table for your posts. Therefore, you might prefer Spectra if you want more freedom over the design of your tables. 

    3. Create Your Table Manually in the Block Editor

    You may also choose to create your table of contents manually. Perhaps you want to avoid installing another plugin on your site as you only need to create a table for one or two posts.

    While adding your table of contents manually can be a little tedious, the process is quite simple. First, you’ll want to add a List block to your post. Then, type in your headings and use the Indent option as needed:

    Creating a list in the Block Editor

    Next, you’ll need to create anchor links. This way, when a user clicks on a heading in the table of contents, they’ll be taken to the relevant section.

    To do this, select the Heading block. Then, navigate to the settings panel and click on the Advanced tab. In the HTML anchor field, enter a unique name for this heading, such as “heading1”:

    Adding an HTML anchor in WordPress

    Now, go back to the list, select the corresponding item, and click on the Link icon in the toolbar:

    Adding a link to a list item in the Block Editor

    Next, you’ll need to type in the name that you entered in the HTML anchor field, adding a hashtag at the front. In our example, this will be “#heading1”:

    Entering an anchor link in WordPress

    Once you enter the anchor link, you’ll be able to click on that item to navigate to the corresponding section. You can repeat the same process for the other items in your list.

    When you’re ready, you’ll want to test the anchor links on the front end to make sure they work: 

    Testing the table of contents on the front end

    Remember to add a “Table of Contents” heading above the list. Additionally, you may want to group the heading and list blocks and customize them from the settings panel:

    Grouping the heading and list blocks and customizing them in the Block Editor

    As you can see, you don’t need to install a plugin to create a table of contents. However, if you want to add tables to multiple posts, it may be more efficient than creating them manually.

    Conclusion

    Adding tables of contents to your posts can make it easier for readers to find what they’re looking for. This can help improve the user experience and reduce your bounce rate, which may in turn lead to better rankings in search results.

    In this post, we looked at three ways to add a table of contents in WordPress:

    1. Install a plugin like Easy Table of Contents.
    2. Use a tool like Spectra to add a Table of Contents block to your site.
    3. Create your table manually with the List block. 

    Do you have any questions about adding a table of contents to WordPress? Let us know in the comments section below!

    The post How to Add a Table of Contents in WordPress (3 Ways) appeared first on Torque.

  • Press This: WPGraphQL and Faust.js

    Welcome to Press This, the WordPress community podcast from WMR. Each episode features guests from around the community and discussions of the largest issues facing WordPress developers. The following is a transcription of the original recording.

    Powered by RedCircle

    Doc Pop: You’re listening to Press This, a WordPress Community Podcast on WMR. Each week we spotlight members of the WordPress community. I’m your host, Doc Pop. I support the WordPress community through my role at WP Engine, and my contributions over on TorqueMag.Io where I get to do podcasts and draw cartoons and tutorial videos. Check that out.

    You can subscribe to Press This on Red Circle, iTunes, Spotify, or you can download episodes directly at wmr.fm. 

    On this episode of Press This, we’re talking about Headless WordPress, GraphQL, and Faust.js. How these tools can be used together and what sort of cost could be associated with Headless WordPress. We’re gonna kind of try to dive in deep with this, and I’ve got two great guests joining me today, I’ve got Jason Bahl, a principal software engineer at WP Engine based in Denver, Colorado, where he maintains WPGraphQL. And we’ve got Chris Weigman, an engineering manager working on Faust.js. I usually like to start these shows off asking guests about their WordPress origin stories, but I thought I’d switch things up a little bit here.

    Jason, can you tell us what WPgraphQL is and what its wordPress Origin story. 

    Jason Bahl: Oh yeah, WPGraphQL is a free open source WordPress plugin that brings a GraphQL API to your WordPress site and GraphQL is graph query language. So it allows developers to get content in and out of WordPress using the graph query language.  

    And the plugin originated, I was working at a newspaper a few years ago and we were doing a lot of content syndication. We had a network of something like 54 sites and all across the US and we needed to move content from one side to another. You know, when a news story was published, different newspapers could subscribe to content from other newspapers.

    And so when various events occurred, we needed to move data around this network and we were using the WordPress REST API to do a lot of that data movement. And were having some issues with that technically and like the actual performance technically, but also the developer experience. I found out about GraphQL, the actual graph query language, which was open sourced by Facebook in 2015.

    So I found this technology, did some prototyping, pitched it to my colleagues and then we migrated our contact syndication from REST to GraphQL. And then I continued working on the project as a community project knowing that JavaScript frameworks were becoming the hot thing and that would probably be the primary use case of using GraphQL, like server to server communication isn’t the primary use case. It solved our needs, but I saw a bigger vision for it, so I kept working on it as an open source project for the community. 

    DP: Well, cool. Chris, can you tell us a similar story about what is Faust and how did it come about?

    Chris Weigman: Sure Faust is, recently as of really this week, officially released to the public, re-released to the public framework for building Headless WordPress sites using GraphQL. Well development started on it in 2020, and it was kind of an unofficial project of WP Engine, and this is the third major pivot.

    They had started it as an extension of DevRel, kind of started making it a little more official with and pivoted into something called GQty and a very JavaScript, developer first mentality. And then when I took over the team in December 1st of last year, we realized that that wasn’t our target market.

    We should have been developing for WordPress devs. So we started rebuilding it again, and that’s just finally been able to be re-released recently. 

    DP: Jason you’d recently tweeted that you had launched the new wpgraphql.com on Faust.js. The previous site, I believe was headless WordPress. Can you just tell us about this change that you did and you know, what improvements you’re saying? 

    JB: Yeah. So wpgraphql.com, it’s been a headless site for many years. So I’m using multiple data sources. So I have a lot of content in WordPress, like the blog posts are all in WordPress. 

    Some of the documentation exists in WordPress as well. And then some documentation exists in markdown files in the GitHub repo. For the longest time I was using Gatsby, maybe for like three years, I was using Gatsby, which is a JavaScript framework that at its core has its data layer where you can pull in data from multiple sources.

    So I was using that, it would pull data from GitHub, pull data from WordPress using WPGraphQL as well and allow me to use that data to build my templates. So I was using that for a few years. There’s a lot of pain points with the data layer that I wanted to kind of get out of.

    So I wanted to use Next which is what Faust is built on. It’s another JavaScript framework, but there was a lot of missing pieces, I guess. Next, and a lot of these JavaScript frameworks have the idea that your front end frameworks should define all routing, right? But if you’re using a CMS, your CMS defines routing.

    And so there’s a lot of technical issues of getting those things to play nice, where like your front end has an opinion on something and your back end has a different opinion. So like one of the problems I was trying to solve is getting my front end to recognize that a specific URL was a specific type of thing, and then render a template that represented that thing.

    Like a blog post has a different template than a doc or a user archive or whatever. So I wanted my front end to have the ability to send a URL to the CMS, get data back, but understand what template to return. In WordPress its called template hierarchy. And so when the Faust team was able to get that problem solved, I was like, heck yeah, I’m moving over to Faust.

    So, yeah, I’m able to take some of the concepts that exist in core WordPress, like PHP theming and use them in headless so I can use the benefits of React and whatever JavaScript I want to use on the front end to template my site, but still familiar concepts from the WordPress world. 

    DP: Chris, you were mentioning that Faust kind of underwent some changes. What were those changes? You know, Jason was mentioning them. What were some of those changes that have made this improvement possible?

    CW: It’s always focused on WPGraphQL. It was everything else that was really the issue. For instance, the last major version of Faust used a library underneath to interact with GraphQL called GQty, which on paper sounded really cool. The idea being from the Faust team at the time that, let’s just abstract, people shouldn’t need to know how to build these complex queries.

    This framework should abstract that for you. On paper that looked really good, in practice because of all the complexities of WordPress data. Even a single post type can have so many variations. Maybe you’re mixing that with category, maybe all the different things. GQty just couldn’t power it through.

    On top of that, when it was built with the GQty version, there was really no attention given to the routing problem that Jason spoke of. Who handles the routing? WordPress wants to handle its routing by what the content is, it’s a content management system, so all routing and WordPress is largely content based.

    Next.js is a frontend framework, so all routing is based on, it’s a completely different paradigm for how the routing’s based. What could be /Blog on Next may have nothing to do with content for a blog. It’s going to a set of templates. It’s going to part of the application that can build a blog.

    Whereas /Blog on WordPress could very well mean, these are all the blog posts. And that paradigm when building, if you wanna make WordPress a very solid frontend or headless capable CMS, we had to deal with that routing. Another shift when we made this, like I said with the GQty version, our goal was JavaScript developers who had to use WordPress, which seems noble until you realize this is WP Engine. 

    We’re dealing with agencies who have built on WordPress for years, who now for various reasons that we can get into later, are moving into a headless thing. They know how to do WordPress development. They understand how WordPress template routings work and templates work, things like that.

    We need to bring those features forward, so GraphQL can be more easily used by WordPress devs. And that’s what the goal of Faust here has been. The template hierarchy, just simply rebuilds what WordPress did. Now if you wanna use Next’s routing, there are ways to override it in the app so you’re not losing anything.

    But for people who are using WordPresses as a true content management system, capable of routing content by content management, then Faust is gonna handle that much better for you? Does that make sense? 

    DP: Yeah. Absolutely. You know, I think that’s a good spot to take a quick break here. You’re listening to Press This, a WordPress Community podcast with Chris Weigman and Jason Bahl. We’ll be back to talk about WordPress and headless. Stay tuned.

    DP: We’re back with Press This. And you know, Chris, right before that break you mentioned something, you mentioned kind of more and more companies getting into headless, and I know that WP Engine has done a lot of research kind of showing that is the case. I am kind of wondering, headless definitely has a reputation as something, I think enterprise, when I think headless am I thinking correctly. Is that what headless is? Is it just a tool for enterprise or is this a tool that more sites are gonna be using? 

    CW: Yes and no. Largely headless, especially with WordPress right now, the complexity involved in it means that you probably have a full team building out what you need.

    This isn’t somebody just using WordPress out of the box, that you just want your personal blog. It can do that, but it’s a much heavier lift so far in order to be able to do that. Same with Contentful, same with all these other CMSs. If you just wanted something simple, something that, you know, the type of content that’s been on the web for years, headless is probably more work than you wanna deal with so far.

    Is it strictly enterprise? Look, no. Gatsby’s been working on this problem for years. You’ve got another podcast later, Doc with Mastodon. It’s a community I’ve been involved with for a number of years. Most folks on that are using variations of headless CMSs, especially Gatsby, but there’s Hugo. There’s all kinds of different, that type of technology on a very grassroots level. 

    So you wind up with the grassroots users and you wind up with enterprise users for heavy sites, whereas WordPress traditionally seems to fall with everybody else in between. It’s the person who doesn’t wanna deal with markdown files and code like a Gatsby user might, or you know, just Gatsby out of the box anyway.

    But it’s also not somebody who has a whole team of 10 building their personal branding or personal blog. This takes WordPress out of that middle and expands it to both ends very easily. Now you can easily build between GraphQL, you have all the data and you have an ever-growing set of ways to handle that data.

    And Faust makes it much easier to utilize that and something that you can build in a day instead of a month. 

    DP: Jason, Chris mentioned something I’d like to hear your thoughts on, I hear that this is not maybe great for small teams, small bloggers like myself, which obviously makes sense, I don’t need a headless WordPress, but like, I guess what I’m wondering is, is headless WordPress going to cost me more because I’m gonna have to have an iOS dev and a WordPress dev? Is it more expensive or is it somehow more cost efficient? 

    JB: Probably depends on what you’re producing, I guess. If you are doing, like you mentioned iOS, if you are doing a native mobile app, I mean there’s obviously be costs associated with that regardless, and there’s not really a good way to do it if you’re using data from WordPress, other than doing it headless, cause you know, a native app doesn’t render php, so you would have to do that headlessly.

    But as far as like if you’re building for the web right now in traditional WordPress, you can go find a theme, you know either a free theme or find a theme on a marketplace, download it, install it, and you’re off to the races. Most people are going to customize it in some way or another.

    So you’re gonna have developer cost usually, whether it’s yourself doing it or someone else. One of the things with headless WordPress that differs from traditional PHP theming, Is that for example when I launched the new wpgraphql.com, I was able to use the same instance of WordPress that was powering my Gatsby site.

    I’m getting the data, the data was coming out and going into the Gatsby site, I was able to continue publishing content in the CMS while developing my next frontend for it at the same time. In traditional WordPress development, you have to usually migrate your site into like a staging environment.

    Activate a new theme on that environment, build your theme over there, deal with some sort of like content freeze period where you tell your content creators, “Hey, today you can’t publish content cause we’re gonna migrate and then we’re gonna set the new WordPress instance, the live instance.” And then you have to log in over there and start doing your content right.

    Headless WordPress, I was able to rebuild my site on a completely different frontend stack without disrupting anything in my actual WordPress instance, it’s a separation of data and presentation, right? So I could go, if I wanted to explore the next hot technology tomorrow, like I could put my sight on Svelte instead of Next, and I wouldn’t have to change a thing in WordPress.

    So in some cases it can actually be cheaper because that whole process of spinning up another server, getting your team to stop writing content and then move into a different instance of WordPress, and then start publishing there, doing Delta migrations, things like that, that has a cost too.

    Another thing that’s interesting too is the JavaScript ecosystem is really shipping. The common drive, in my opinion, one of the common motivators for moving headless is component based architectures. And there’s, all sorts of component libraries in the React and VUE ecosystem, which allow you to reuse components across projects.

    And so agencies can build common components that they use in projects and they can update those in a central place, but then install them in multiple projects. With WordPress, that’s not quite as easy cause your PHP template parts and WordPress are usually very tightly coupled with the project they belong to.

    Where with headless you can have an MPM package that has those components and multiple projects can update that package and benefit all at the same time with less effort. So I think at the moment, I would say probably is more costly and more work, but I think tools like Faust, that didn’t exist until recently are, are lowering the overall effort required to build headless.

    And I think in the not too distant future, it might be cheaper to build headless than not headless. 

    DP: Chris, did you have anything you wanted to add to what agencies might need to think about in terms of costs of headless WordPress? 

    CW: I think Jason really hit the nail in the head.

    And that’s one thing I like about WPGraphQL is my team’s working next on extending WordPress that direction with what we call, our working title is the React Gutenberg Bridge, but it’s a problem in WordPress too. How do you reuse these components? I don’t wanna use the word just component, because it doesn’t apply on the WordPress side in the same way that it applies on the JavaScript side, right?

    But how do we reuse code across projects, headless or otherwise with WordPress and headless does enable that. But I think it’s safe to say that the average blogger just trying to get out their foodie blogs, probably not dealing with that themselves. That’s very much an agency problem. Is that more cost?

    Maybe, maybe not, but that’s where it gets complicated when we talk about where’s the cost in this? Because it’s different types of how you want to use data. 

    DP: Yeah, absolutely. You know, coming from a newspaper background, working on Weeklys in the Twin Cities and in Nashville, Jason, I can imagine what it would would’ve been like to tell your 56 newspapers not to publish for a day.

    No news today, because we’re updating the site. 

    JB: Yeah. And I mean, we did go through those periods, right? Like when I was hired there, they weren’t on WordPress and so part of my job was getting them from another system to WordPress. So there definitely were days when it was like, all right, it’s go live on WordPress day. Stop what you’re doing. Right. 

    So there definitely were periods like that or we also had to deal with that issue of like, okay, they were publishing on the old system until midnight last night, but we had the WordPress ready to go two days before that. So now we gotta do like a Delta migration and make sure all the data’s still synced so that, you know, there’s definitely technical and human cost to those processes for sure. 

    DP: Yeah. And I’m thinking there’s also a lot, when you’re still using WordPress, you still get that ecosystem that you can get this cost saving. You don’t have to build the SEO tools.

    You can use Yoast SEO plugin or whatever. Even though you’re a Headless site, I’m assuming, most plugins will still work as long as they’re not front facing. 

    JB: Yeah. That’s actually an interesting thing. So the new Faust is built with a plugin architecture itself. So like out of the box, it’s going to come with a client, it’s using Apollo client so that you can fetch data from WPGraphQL, you can get your WordPress data, but you can create plugins so that, let’s say you did, like you mentioned, install Yoast SEO on your WordPress site.

    You can add a Yoast Plugin. It doesn’t exist yet, but it can soon. You could add a Yoast plugin for Faust on the frontend that knows what to do with that data, right? So there’ll be the ability for folks, some we might produce and support, but some, the community can produce and support plugins for the Faust side of things as well, so that you with just one line of code, add this plugin can get functionality such as Yoast for your headless front end. 

    It’s something that I don’t think any other headless frontend really has the concept of in the same way that Faust is approaching it. So I think the plugin, I think it’s another thing that’s familiar for WordPress developers. It’s bringing familiar concepts from WordPress, but bridging it with the modern JavaScript frontend stack.

    DP: that’s a, that’s a good spot for one final break here on Press This, and when we come back, we’ll wrap up our conversation with Chris Weigman and Jason Bahl. Stay tuned.

    DP: You’re listening to Press This, a WordPress Community podcast. I’m your host, Doc Pop. Today we’re talking about WPGraphQL, Faust, and how you can power your headless WordPress site. Right before the break, we were talking about Faust and plugins and I’m just gonna throw some random questions at y’all and just kind of see if there’s any good answers here that come up. 

    But Chris, I’m kind of wondering with, with Faust, is there any potential, I know it’s a headless platform, but is there any potential for like a WordPress Faust theme that just kind of at least gets you set up with like, here’s the plugins you need and here’s just kind of everything out the box.

    CW: Absolutely. In fact, we already have it. We’re referring to it as Blueprints because it works so heavily with Local. Most people are gonna do some sort of tweaking on this stuff before launching it on a platform like WP Engine. So we borrowed Local’s name of Blueprints. 

    For the new Faust we have one called Portfolio, which is basically a full portfolio theme and we’re working on just a very blank scaffold that agencies can use. Once you get the hang of things, you’re probably gonna wanna customize everything yourself. So a scaffold would be project best practices, spin that up, and then you can do all your own stuff with it. 

    Long term we’ve talked very heavily about a headless theme store, ala Blueprints. We don’t have the manpower so that’s a little ways away, but it’s absolutely something we’re, we’re considering and we’d like to see happen. 

    DP: Yeah that’s cool to think about. That’s a whole different kind of ecosystem to get into.

    And you know, Jason, I’ve interviewed you before, and I’m sure this question comes up all the time, but every time I’m hearing about WPGraphQL, I’m thinking that sounds a lot like what REST API does. Actually, that sounds like a lot more powerful than what REST API does and REST API is part of core and I’m just kind of wondering, do you feel that WPGraphQL should be part of WordPress Core? 

    JB: Maybe someday. I don’t think we’re there yet. When things get merged in WordPress Core, probably with the exception of Gutenberg, innovation halts. The REST API, for example, there’s still a bug that I point out to people that still exists from I think 2016. So I mean, when stuff goes into core, you’re adding a feature set to 40 ish percent of the web and so making changes has to be done at a much slower pace, where if it’s a plugin you can let folks opt into the version that they want to opt into and you can iterate much faster because they can choose what version works best for their project.

    Where in core, if you update core and it includes breaking change, you might have just broke 40 percent of the web. So GraphQL is a specification, it has nothing to do with WordPress as well.

    Right. And so the GraphQL specification is still evolving. And as that continues to evolve, we want to keep up with the latest and greatest of the GraphQL spec. If we were to merge, let’s say, WPGraphQL into Core today, and GraphQL keeps evolving, WordPress would be stuck at the 2022 edition of GraphQL where the rest of the world is on the 2030 version or whatever. To me, I think it might make sense at some point to have it recognized like WPCLI is as like the official way to do X thing.

    Like you can go build your own CLI client for WordPress, but it’s kind of recognized by the community that WPCLI is the official thing. It’s not part of WordPress Core but it’s recognized by the WordPress Foundation and most of the WordPress community as the official thing. So it might be nice at some point for a WPGraphQL to be recognized like that is, like if you’re going to do headless WordPress, do it this way.

    It’s still gonna remain a plugin. That’s my thought. There might be a time where the GraphQL feels perfect and it’s not really being iterated and maybe at that time we consider it. But at this time there’s things coming to the GraphQL spec that will cause the API to have breaking changes.

    So doing it as a plugin to me makes sense still. 

    DP: Right on. And yeah, you’ve mentioned WPCLI and I keep forgetting, like they just, they just feel like it’s part of core. Whatever it feels, it’s like official. So yeah, it’s like, oh yeah, that is like this independent thing, just like WPGraphQL is at the moment.

    That’s a good analogy. So I’m gonna, I’m gonna wrap up here. It’s been really great chatting with both of y’all. If the listeners are interested in following either of you, you can follow @JasonBahl and @ChrisWeigman. We’ll put the Twitter handles in the show description if we can. You’ve been listening to Press This, a WordPress Community podcast on WMR. 

    On next week’s episode, we’re gonna have Anne McCarthy, a product liaison at Automatic, talking about changes to site Editing and 6.1 and what’s coming up with 6.2. Thanks again for listening to Press This.

    You can follow my adventures with Torque magazine over on Twitter @thetorquemag or you can go to torquemag.io where we contribute tutorials and videos and interviews like this every day. So check out torquemag.io or follow us on Twitter. You can subscribe to Press This on Red Circle, iTunes, Spotify, or you can download it directly at wmr.fm each week. I’m your host Doctor Popular I support the WordPress community through my role at WP Engine. And I love to spotlight members of the community each and every week on Press This.

    The post Press This: WPGraphQL and Faust.js appeared first on Torque.

  • Torque Social Hour: CertifyWP

    The Torque Social Hour is a weekly livestream of WordPress news and events. In this episode we talk with Talisha Lewallen about CertifyWP, a new non-profit that aims to create a credentialing process for WordPress.

    Due to a bad storm here in San Francisco, our interview gets cut short after about 25 minutes, but I think we managed to cover a lot in that time. Huge thanks to Talisha for her time. We didn’t get a chance to talk about WP Connects, but that’s another project Talisha is working on that aims to provide WordPress training to veterans to offer new career opportunities.

    YouTube video of the Torque Livestream with Tim Nolte and Matthias Pfefferle

    Join us next Wednesday, January 18th for our Torque Social Hour with David Bisset and Shawn Hooper.

    The post Torque Social Hour: CertifyWP appeared first on Torque.

  • Find WordPress Work: 16 Best Job Boards to Help You Get Hired

    If you’re a WordPress developer or designer, the struggle to find work can feel overwhelming. Not to mention neverending.

    The good news is that there are ways to get your WordPress skills in front of those who need it most. In fact, a good way to do this is to apply to ads on WordPress job boards. Doing so can help you land a high-quality client.

    Of course, you have to know where to look first. That’s what we aim to solve here today. We’ve rounded up some of the best job boards for finding WordPress work currently available. So if you’re a WordPress developer or designer, read on to find your next great gig!

    1. WPHired

    find wordpress work on wphired

    WPHired is a relatively new WordPress job board. However, it has quickly becoming one of the best places to find quality WordPress work. Submitting a listing on the site is free but companies can opt to pay a fee to post a featured listing.

    This ensures that all of the jobs posted on WPHired are high quality and from well-known companies in the WordPress industry. If you’re looking for a great WordPress gig, this is definitely a job board to check out. There appear to be between 5-10 new listings posted each week, so it’s definitely a place to keep an eye on.

    2. Remote OK

    remote ok wordpress job board

    If you’re not limited to working with companies in a specific location, then Remote OK is a great job board to find WordPress opportunities. The site lists positions from all over the world that you can do remotely.

    You can use the search filter to only view WordPress jobs. This makes it easy to find quality WordPress gigs without having to wade through a bunch of other listings.

    WordPress-related work appears fairly infrequently but it’s still worth keeping an eye on. Especially if remote work is something you’re open to.

    3. Authentic Jobs

    find wordpress work on authentic jobs

    Authentic Jobs is a long-running job board that’s been connecting quality companies with quality employees. While the site isn’t WordPress-specific, they do have occasional listings for those in the field. It’s a great source of general development positions as well.

    Listings posted here are top-notch as companies have to pay a premium to list at all — and even more so for a featured spot. That means you won’t ever waste your time wading through poor listings (or fake ones) to find those worth applying to.

    This site also offers a great search feature. So if you’re only interested in WordPress jobs, you can use the search filter to weed out anything else.

    4. Toptal

    toptal wordpress job board

    Toptal is a bit different from other job boards on this list as it’s not primarily for finding open positions. The site is actually a network of top developers, designers, and finance experts from all over the world.

    So if you’re looking to join a team of high-quality professionals, Toptal could be the right place for you. To join, you’ll need to go through a rigorous screening process. However, it’s definitely worth it if you’re looking for top-notch openings. If approved, you’ll have access to some of the best clients in the WordPress industry and can expose your profile to many high-quality companies.

    Toptal is a great option for those who are confident in their abilities and are looking to find some of the best WordPress work available.

    5. Jobs.WordPress.net

    wordpress.net job board

    The official WordPress job board is another great place to find quality WordPress work. The site is curated by the WordPress Foundation. Therefore, you can be sure that all of the opportunities listed are high quality and from reputable companies.

    The listings update several times per week. They are broken into several categories including: Development, General, Design, Performance, Writing, Plugin Development, Contributor, Migration, Support, Theme Customization, and Translation. You can expect to see between 10 – 20 fresh listings posted each week.

    6. Krop

    find wordpress work on krop

    Another source of potential work is Krop, a general job board with a section devoted to WordPress positions. The site doesn’t update as frequently as some of the others on this list but it’s still worth checking out from time to time.

    It’s a good source of open positions for those in the general development space as well as graphic design and marketing fields. Plus, It’s a good resource for listings for both remote and in-person gigs.

    7. FlexJobs

    flexjobs job board

    FlexJobs is a bit different from other job boards as it’s focuses on finding positions that offer some sort of flexibility. This means you can find opportunities with companies that offer remote work, part-time hours, or freelance contracts.

    The site isn’t WordPress-specific but they do have a section devoted to web design and development. You can use the search filter to only view WordPress jobs as well. Plus every opening and company that posts has been researched and verified to be legitimate.

    8. Smashing Magazine Job Board

    smashing magazine job board

    Smashing Magazine is one of the most popular resources for web designers and developers. In addition to articles and tutorials, they also have a frequently-updated job board.

    There are usually at least a few quality listings coming out each week, though not all of them are WordPress-related. Plus, as Smashing Magazine is such a well-respected resource, you can be sure that any company listed here is reputable. A quick glance reveals positions like web developer, senior interactive designer, UX auditor, and more.

    9. Post Status WordPress Jobs

    find wordpress work on post status job board

    Post Status is a popular WordPress news site that also has a job board with quality listings. The site updates daily with new positions and you can use the handy search filter to only view WordPress-related positions.

    In addition to general WordPress jobs, you can also find work in the fields of design, plugin development, support, and more. You’ll find a couple of new listings per week. So if you’re on the active hunt, this is a good one to set a reminder to revisit on a weekly basis just to ensure you don’t miss out on something good.

    10. We Work Remotely 

    we work remotely job board

    As the name would suggest, We Work Remotely is a job board focused on finding opportunities for remote work. This makes it a great option for those who want the freedom and flexibility to work from anywhere in the world.

    This site isn’t dedicated to WordPress alone, but they do have a section for design positions. Other categories you can browse include Full-Stack Programming, Front-End Programming, Back-End Programming, Customer Support, Devops and Sysadmin, Sales and Marketing, Management and Finance, Product, and Other.

    Companies can post a job to We Work Remotely for $299, which is a pretty hefty price tag. However, that’s great for applicants as it means the available positions are definitely legitimate and those hiring are serious about finding qualified professionals.

    11. Brybe

    find wordpress work on brybe

    Brybe is a job board that focuses on positions for web professionals. The opportunities posted here span the gamut of web-related fields including WordPress development, design, support, and more.

    The site updates frequently and you can use the handy search filter to only view WordPress positions. You’ll find that Brybe is a good source of quality job listings. Those looking to hire post “Buyer Requests” with a brief description of the work they’d like completed along with an estimate of what they’re willing to spend.

    This isn’t necessarily where you’d find a long-term role or a full-time position, but it could be a good place to find gigs. For employers, it’s free to post a request but you may need to shell out a fee for premium-level services.

    12. Indeed

    indeed job board

    Indeed is a popular website to find opportunities across every industry, and it frequently has many WordPress positions. Use the search filter on Indeed’s site to only view WordPress-related listings, which update daily.

    This site is such a popular resource that it’s worth a look, even though it’s not dedicated solely to design and development. You can expect to find between 25-50 listings just for WordPress each month, so it’s an active site that’s good to pay a visit to on occasion when you’re on the job hunt.

    Should you find a listing you like, you can apply by uploading your resume directly on Indeed or by following the link in the job listing to an external application.

    13. Upwork

    find wordpress work on upwork

    Upwork is one of the most popular places to find freelance work as of 2023, not just for WordPress. The site lists a large variety of positions, including many that are WordPress-related. You can use the search filter to only view those listings.

    The great thing about Upwork is that it gives you the opportunity to apply for short-term or one-off gigs as well as longer-term positions. It’s also a good place to find opportunities if you’re just starting out in your WordPress career since many of the jobs don’t require a lot of experience.

    To start off, create a free profile on Upwork and then start applying for jobs that interest you. You can also browse through the “Top Rated” freelancers to get an idea of what kinds of rates and skills are in demand.

    14. Codeable

    codeable

    Codeable is a vetted network of WordPress professionals who can help you with everything from developing a custom theme to fixing a plugin issue.

    The site hand-picks the freelancers in their network and only accepts the top 2 percent of applicants, so employers can find quality professionals. However, that does mean it will be a challenge to be accepted on the site. If you have the skills though it’s definitely worth a shot as you’ll gain access to some top-tier job opportunities.

    15. Problogger

    problogger job board

    Problogger is a site devoted to helping people grow their blog and build a successful online business. They also have a job board where employers can post a variety of positions including those centered around content creation. Specifically, you’ll often find listings for writers with WordPress knowledge.

    Problogger has both full-time and freelance positions available, so it’s worth checking back on the site frequently to see what new openings are available. You do have to sign up for an account to apply for openings. As for employers, they can post a job listing for free. However, it does cost money to have a listing featured.

    16. Best Writing

    best writing job board

    Best Writing is a job board that focuses specifically on writing positions. You can use the search filter to only view WordPress related positions and the site updates regularly with new listings. 

    You’ll find a wide range of writing gigs from copywriting to SEO content and everything in between. If you’re a freelance writer who specializes in WordPress content, this is definitely a site you should bookmark as there are tech writing opportunities posted here frequently. In fact, there are about three to five fresh listings daily.

    You do need a membership to the site, however, to apply to jobs.

    Find WordPress Work Today on the Best Job Boards

    Whether you’re looking for a full-time job or just some freelance gigs to help pay the bills, these WordPress job boards will help connect you with employers who are looking for workers with your skills.

    And since many of the listings on these sites are updated frequently, it’s worth bookmarking them and checking back often to see what new opportunities are available. You never know when the perfect position will pop up!

    Which job board have you had the most luck with? Did we miss your favorite? Feel free to sound off in the comments below!  

    The post Find WordPress Work: 16 Best Job Boards to Help You Get Hired appeared first on Torque.

  • How to Create Drip Content in WordPress (In 3 Steps)

    If you sell or create premium content on your WordPress website, you might be searching for different ways to make it more enticing for your audience. It can be challenging to come up with innovative methods to improve user experience (UX) and keep visitors coming back. 

    Fortunately, you can increase user engagement by implementing drip content on your website. When you use this strategy, you release your material little by little instead of all at once. That way, your members will be drawn to return in order to access the next piece of content you make available. 

    In this article, we’ll introduce drip content and discuss how it can benefit your WordPress site. Then, we’ll walk you through how to implement this method on your website using a plugin. Let’s dive in! 

    An Introduction to Drip Content

    Drip content refers to the process of releasing portions of premium content at a time, instead of all at once. This can be for your followers, a broader online audience, or even exclusive members.  

    It can look like dispersing a single chapter of an ebook, a course module from an online class, or one podcast episode at a time. With this method, users receive material little by little over a period of time until they have the entire library.

    If you’ve ever used the language-learning app Duolingo, you might understand the concept of drip content. In order to unlock the next category level, you have to get a certain amount of answers correct in the module you are currently learning:

    A page of Duolingo displaying a locked level

    This model incentivizes users to continue working on their current lesson in order to access the next one. You can use the same concept for your website.

    Many different websites can benefit from this model. However, drip content is particularly well-suited to membership sites. That’s because this kind of website has larger amounts of material that is usually broken up into various segments.

    Why Drip Content Could Benefit Your WordPress Site

    There are many different reasons why you might want to use the drip method for your website. Your motivations will depend on what kind of site you run as well as your ultimate goals.

    For example, let’s say you run a membership website that sells French classes online. By issuing material in small portions, you can help users pace themselves instead of pushing them to get through all of the content at once.

    This can help make the finishing task less daunting, boosting engagement and encouraging participation. Furthermore, some of the advantages of implementing drip content on your site include:

    • Helps users stay committed. Releasing your material on a periodical basis gives visitors a reason to stay devoted to whatever content you are offering them.
    • Boosts site views. If users are consistently being enticed to come back to your website, you’ll grow your page views. This has the added benefit of improving SEO.
    • Keeps attention for the longterm. If you give all your content at once, users might lose interest or tell themselves they’ll come back later. Issuing installments means that there’s a reason for them to come back on a consistent basis.

    As you can see, dispensing your content little by little can bring many benefits to your website. Most importantly, high quality drip content can increase user engagement and interest. This can help grow your blog, program, or business.

    How to Create Drip Content in WordPress (In 3 Steps)

    Now that you know what drip content is and how it can benefit your website, let’s look at how you can implement it on your WordPress site. Keep in mind that this strategy is best used for pages that require users to pay for their content.

    For this walkthrough, we’ll be using the MemberPress plugin. This tool will allow you to create paid subscriptions for your website and make rules about who can access your material. Let’s dive in!

    Step 1: Install MemberPress and Create a Membership

    To get started, download the MemberPress plugin on your WordPress site:

    Installing the MemberPress plugin on WordPress.

    Once you’ve installed and activated the plugin, you’ll need to set up a payment gateway. This will provide users with a way to pay for your material. To do this, navigate to MemberPress > Settings > Payments:

    Settings section in MemberPress.

    Here, you can set up your preferred payment gateway. MemberPress offers numerous popular options, such as Stripe and PayPal.

    To add one or more options, click the Add Payment Option at the bottom left of the page:

    Adding a new payment gateway in MemberPress.

    Once you’ve added a payment method, don’t forget to click the Update Options button.

    Now, let’s create a membership. This will provide a place for your users to subscribe to your content. To do so, go to MemberPress > Memberships and click on Add New:

    Creating a new membership in MemberPress.

    From here, you’re able to edit your membership. You can add a title, choose a price, and add content:

    Adding a new membership using MemberPress.

    In the Membership Terms editing box, you’ll find the field labeled Billing Type:

    The editor box in the membership field.

    This will allow you to choose either a one-time or recurring payment option. Click Recurring, which will activate an ongoing payment model.

    Once you’ve chosen this option, you can select how often you want users to pay for your content under the Interval field:

    Choosing an interval for a membership.

    After you’ve selected your interval, you’re able to decide whether you want to create a trial period or limit your payment cycles.

    These will have additional configuration options depending on your choice. Once you’ve made all your edits, go ahead and click on Publish at the top of the page.

    Step 2: Add a Rule

    Now that you’ve created a membership for your content, it’s time to configure rules. The rules you put in place will determine who has access to your site.

    To do this, go to your WordPress dashboard and navigate to MemberPress > Rules:

    The Rules page in MemberPress.

    Then, click on Add New. This will take you to a page where you can control who has access to your website material.

    Under Protected Content, you’ll find a dropdown menu that allows you to block different pages of your website:

    The Protected Content section in MemberPress.

    Here, you can choose which areas of your website to protect. For example, if you want to protect only a particular group on your site, you can choose the A Single Group option:

    Choosing A Single Group in the rules dropdown menu.

    Then, type in the group you want to protect.

    You can also choose the conditions under which users will have access to your content. The dropdown menu under Access Conditions allows you to set them:

    The dropdown menu under Access Conditions.

    If a user is logged in and matches the conditions you established, they’ll be able to access your protected material. When you’re done making edits, click on Save Rule.

    Step 3: Enable the Drip Feature

    Once you’ve set up your rules, it’s time to enable the drip function. Stay on the Rules page and scroll down until you see the Drip / Expiration section:

    The Drip / Expiration section on the Rules page.

    Check the Enable Drip box:

    Enabling Drip in MemberPress.

    This will trigger additional settings that you can customize. For example, you’re able to choose the amount of time you want users to wait before they can access the next piece of content:

    Editing the time users will wait to receive content.

    You’ll also be able to choose the action that will trigger the “drip.” Just under this section, you can decide whether or not you want the content to expire.

    If you choose this option, you can configure when the content will expire and after what action the user takes:

    Selecting expiration for drip content.

    When you scroll down, you can also choose a message that visitors will see if they try to access your content without proper authorization.

    You can customize this in the Unauthorized Access section:

    The Unauthorized Access section in MemberPress rules.

    From here, you can create a message that notifies visitors that they are not authorized to access certain content. You can also provide them with a login page that allows them to sign up for your membership.

    After you’re done, scroll back up to the top of your page and click on Save Rule:

    Save Rules.

    This will automatically apply all of the criteria that you configured to the front end of your website. That’s it! You have now set up drip content for your WordPress website.

    Conclusion

    Thinking up new ways to increase user engagement isn’t easy. Drip content is a method you can implement on your WordPress site to encourage people to stay interested in your material. This in turn can boost page views and help you grow your program. 

    To recap, here’s how to create drip content in WordPress using MemberPress:

    1. Install the MemberPress plugin and create a new membership for your website.
    2. Create a rule so that only registered users will be able to access your material.
    3. Enable the drip feature for your rule and publish your changes.

    Do you have any questions about how to create drip content in WordPress? Let us know in the comments section below!

    The post How to Create Drip Content in WordPress (In 3 Steps) appeared first on Torque.

  • Web Design Trends 2023: A Preview of the Future of Web Design

    As we move into 2023, it’s important to stay up-to-date on the latest web design trends. Why? Well, for one, it’ll help your website stay relevant and engaging for users. Plus, keeping on top of trends shows that you’re invested in your website and are willing to put in the work to keep it looking its best.

    Besides, allowing your site to fall behind the times can make it look dated and out-of-touch. That’s not exactly the impression you want to give to potential customers or clients.

    What follows is our in-depth examination of some of the most popular web design trends for 2023. They will give you a clear idea of what’s coming as well as how to prepare yourself for them.

    1. Illustrations

    illustrations are part of web design trends 2023
    Image source: Bear CSS

    One of the biggest trends we’re seeing for 2023 is a move away from traditional photography and towards illustrations and graphics. This is likely due to a few factors. Chief among them is the need to stand out in an increasingly crowded online landscape.

    With more businesses than ever before launching websites, it’s becoming more difficult to assert your own space. That’s where illustrations come in. Adding a unique and visually-appealing element to your site can help it sit head and shoulders above the rest.

    What’s more, illustrations can inject personality into your site, something that is often lacking in today’s online world. This is no more apparent than in the resurgence of the use of cartoon characters on websites. It’s a trend that is sure to continue into 2023.

    2. Dark Mode

    Dark mode is an increasingly popular way to view content online, and one likely to continue its rise in popularity in 2023. For those unfamiliar with the term, dark mode refers to a color scheme that uses light-colored text on a dark background.

    dark mode example

    There are a few reasons why dark mode has become so popular. For one, it’s easier on the eyes, especially when viewing content in low-light conditions. Additionally, it can help conserve battery life on devices with OLED or AMOLED screens.

    What’s more, dark mode can also make a website look more modern and sleek and less energy hungry. As such, we expect to see more and more sites adopt this trend in the coming year.

    3. Minimalism 

    If you’ve been involved in web design at all over the past several years, you’re familiar with minimalism already. This trend is all about stripping away unnecessary elements and focusing on the essentials.

    minimalism web design trends 2023
    Image source: WE AIN’T PLASTIC

    The goal of minimalism is to create a clean, clutter-free look that’s easy on the eyes and easy to navigate. This happens by using simple, clean designs and layouts with plenty of white space.

    minimalism second example

    Minimalism is especially popular with businesses that want to convey a sense of sophistication and professionalism. However, you can use it on just about any type of website to great effect.

    4. Neo-brutalism

    Neo-brutalism is a style characterized by its use of stark, geometric shapes and bold, primary colors. It takes its cues from the architectural movement of the same name.

    neo brutalism example
    Image source: Nelson Heinemann

    While neo-brutalism has been around for a few years, it only recently started to gain traction in web design. This is likely due to the fact that it offers a refreshing alternative in terms of appearance.

    If you’re looking to make a statement with your website, then neo-brutalism is definitely worth considering. Just be aware that this style is not for everyone. It’s best suited for sites that are willing to embrace a more avant-garde look.

    5. Skeuomorphic Design

    Skeuomorphic web design was a strong trend nearly a decade ago but looks set for a full-blown resurgence in 2023. The name refers to the use of real-world objects and textures in digital designs.

    skeuomorphic design example
    Image source: Ahoi Bar

    This trend gained traction in the early days of mobile app design, when designers sought to make digital interfaces more intuitive and user-friendly. However, it has since been adopted by web designers as well.

    One of the benefits of skeuomorphic design is that it can make a website feel more immersive and realistic. Additionally, it can help users better understand how to use a site or interface, making it ideal for first-time visitors. Plus, it essentially bridges the gap between digital and physical spaces.

    6. Monochrome Color Palettes

    The monochrome color palette trend involves using a single color for the entirety of a website’s design.

    monochrome color palettes web design trends 2023
    Image source: Heresto Vodka

    While this may sound like a recipe for disaster, monochrome designs can actually be quite striking. When done correctly, they can create a look that is both modern and sophisticated.

    What’s more, monochrome designs are also incredibly versatile. They suitable for just about any type of website, from personal blogs to corporate sites. Plus, using one color means the rest of your design elements get a chance to shine.

    7. Gradients

    If you’re looking to give your website a fresh, modern look, consider adding gradients.

    gradients example
    Image source: Jam3

    Gradients consist of two or more colors that gradually blend into each other. They’ve been gaining popularity in web design over the past few years.

    This trend was popular in the early days of HTML and CSS. Designers used gradients to add color and visual interest to their designs. However, it fell out of favor recently as flat design became more popular.

    Yet, gradients are making a comeback now because they offer a way to add depth and dimension to a design without sacrificing simplicity. Additionally, they can create a sense of visual movement. This can be particularly effective on landing pages with parallax scrolling.

    8. 3D Characters 

    3D-rendered characters are appearing more frequently as a popular design choice and look to be among the web trends of 2023. This involves using three-dimensional images of people or creatures instead of traditional digital illustrations on websites.

    3d characters web design trends 2023
    Image source: ChainZoku

    3D characters can fulfill a variety of purposes. From adding a sense of fun and personality to a site, to helping users navigate their way around a complex interface.

    They offer versatility as well and can skew toward a fun and cutesy style or a more realistic and lifelike look, depending on the needs of the project.

    9. All Things Neon

    The use of neon colors in web design is also something you see more of recently. This involves using bright colors as part of a website’s aesthetic. It’s often accompanied by either the look of neon signs or by other retro-inspired designs.

    neon colors in web design example
    Image source: Bento Box Communications

    Neon colors add a sense of fun and personality to a site. They can also help users navigate their way around a complex interface and divert attention to key content areas.

    Neon colors are also great for invoking retro styles. So, if you’re looking for a way to add a bit of 80s or 90s nostalgia to your website design, this trend is definitely worth exploring.

    10. Interactivity

    Another web design trend that looks set to continue heavy use in 2023 years is interactivity. This trend involves making a website’s design more interactive and engaging for users, giving them a more immersive experience.

    You can add interactivity to a website in several ways. From incorporating games and quizzes to adding chatbots and other forms of artificial intelligence.

    What’s more, interactivity also has the ability to create a more personalized experience for users. For example, you could use data from a user’s previous interactions with your site to customize the content and design of your pages.

    Micro-interactions are on the rise as well. This involves adding small, interactive elements to a website’s design, such as hover effects and animated buttons.

    ladda buttons example microinteractions javascript
    Made with Ladda Buttons

    Adding interactive elements to your website can liven up the user experience and provide a more pleasant way for users to engage with your content.

    For instance, when you add an item to your shopping cart on the Threadless website, you’re greeted by a micro-interaction that confirms the action was a success.

    micro interactions example

    11. Video Backgrounds

    If you’re looking to stay ahead of the curve, consider using video backgrounds for your website design in 2023. This growing trend uses video footage as the background instead of a static image.

    video backgrounds web design trends 2023
    Image source: Oasen.nl

    Use video backgrounds to add excitement and motion to a website or help users understand complex ideas.

    In addition, video backgrounds are perfect for creating a realistic experience. If used correctly, they can make a user feel as if they are in the middle of whatever is happening on-screen.

    12. Integrated Storytelling

    Tell your story through web design with integrated storytelling, a trend set to dominate in 2023 and beyond.

    integrated storytelling example
    Image source: BorgoVeneto

    There are several methods of adding integrated storytelling to a website, such as videos, animations, and interactive elements. Basically, anything that takes the site visitor along for a journey, step-by-step (or click-by-click) through a narrative of some sort.

    13. Animation

    Animations appear more frequently in web design — so much so this is becoming a trend to keep an eye on in the coming year. As you might’ve guessed, this trend involves incorporating animated elements into a website’s design.

    animations web design trends 2023
    Image source: Pete Nottage

    Animations are not only for entertainment purposes; they’re helpful in explaining difficult topics or challenging concepts as well. If used well, users feel like they are in the heart of the action, creating a sense of immersion.

    14. Smart Content Loading 

    If you want your website to be trendy and efficient, consider smart content loading. This design technique only loads the information a reader needs, making it both faster and more user-friendly.

    There are a number of benefits to using smart content loading, from reducing page load times, to saving data usage. Or, you can ise it for personalizing each visitor’s experience.

    For instance, if you were to take the hair quiz on the Aveda website, the content you see on your next visit will adapt based on your previous input.

    personalized smart content loading example

    15. Horizontal Scrolling

    Horizontal scrolling isn’t new but it has seen a resurgence. This trend can create a more immersive experience for users as they scroll through a website’s content.

    vertical scrolling web design trends 2023
    Image source: Prevint

    From adding a sense of movement to a site to helping users navigate through a large amount of content, horizontal scrolling is effective because it catches most site visitors off-guard and holds their attention.

    16. Artificial Intelligence 

    Artificial intelligence in web design is nothing new. However, it’s a trend that looks like it’ll only become more and more popular as time goes on. Using AI to create custom experiences may involve the use of chatbots or taking past user interactions into account.

    Not only can artificial intelligence improve efficiencies on your website, but it can also automate tasks like customer support or lead generation. This makes it a great tool for businesses of all sizes.

    Take the chatbot, Tidio, as an example. It relies on AI to generate life-like conversations for customer service situations.

    artificial intelligence in web design example

    Set Yourself Up for Success by Following These 2023 Web Design Trends

    As you can see, there are a number of exciting web design trends set to take off in 2023. You certainly don’t need to implement all of them on your site. However, by keeping up with the latest trends, you can ensure that your website is always fresh and up-to-date.

    So, if you want to stay ahead of the curve, make sure to keep these trends in mind for your next website design project.

    Are you keeping up with the latest web design trends? Will you be adding any to your site in the coming year? Please let us know below! 

    The post Web Design Trends 2023: A Preview of the Future of Web Design appeared first on Torque.

  • How to Monitor Your Website Performance (5 Ways)

    Nowadays, nearly every business has a website. Therefore, you’ll want to retain your competitive edge by providing an excellent User Experience (UX). However, you might lack the knowledge and skills to measure your site’s performance.

    Fortunately, you can monitor your web performance easily with the right tools. For instance, you can track important data about your site’s accessibility, speed, and database performance. Then, you can make the necessary adjustments to improve your UX.

    In this post, we’ll take a closer look at website performance monitoring. Then, we’ll explore five effective ways to monitor your site. Let’s get started!

    An Introduction to Website Performance Monitoring

    Website performance monitoring is about tracking essential data to make your site more user-friendly. Once you identify areas for improvement, you can take the necessary steps to reduce bounce rates and boost your search rankings. 

    Website monitoring should be a continuous process. This is because factors that affect performance are constantly evolving and changing. This includes your connection speed, operating system, and the number of files on your site. 

    There are different types of website monitoring methods you can use. One of them is synthetic performance monitoring. This is an active approach that evaluates your user journey and measures your availability, functionality, and responsiveness. 

    You could also opt for real user monitoring. This assesses your user interactions, taking note of load time and transaction paths. 

    How to Monitor Your Website Performance (5 Ways)

    Now that you understand a bit more about website performance monitoring, let’s look at five ways you can implement it on your website.

    1. Track Your Uptime

    Uptime refers to your website being available and accessible to users. On the flip side, when downtime occurs, your site is unreachable. This can result in a loss of traffic and revenue.

    The main cause of downtime is a poor hosting service. Other times, unstable plugins and themes can take their toll on your website’s performance. 

    You can measure your uptime using a WordPress monitoring tool like WP Umbrella:

    This management tool provides automatic backups, update management, and maintenance reports. Plus, you’ll be alerted by Slack or email whenever downtime occurs. Better yet, this tool can even prevent PHP errors caused by themes and plugins, which are common causes of downtime. 

    To improve your uptime score, you may need to switch to a quality web host like WP Engine.  Additionally, we recommend that you ditch any unnecessary themes and plugins.  

    WP Enfine and WP Umbrella are by the way compatible and can give you a competitive edge if you want to manage multiple website effortlessly. 

    2. Measure Your Time to First Byte (TTFB)

    Time to First Byte (TTFB) evaluates the responsiveness of your server. Specifically, it measures the time between the browser requesting a page and when it receives the first byte of data from the server.

    A poor TTFB score can be influenced by many factors. For instance, it can be explained by a slow SSL certificate validation, poor network connection, and more.

    To find out your TTFB, you can use a tool like Pingdom. This combines synthetic and real user monitoring to assess your site’s availability, page speed, and transaction paths:

    Alternatively, you could opt for the free Geekflare TTFB tool to find out how fast your TTFB is from three different locations. Simply enter your URL and you’ll get an immediate result:

    To improve your score, you can try implementing a Content Delivery Network (CDN) like Cloudflare. This will ensure that your website loads quickly, no matter where your visitors are located around the world.

    Another way you can improve your TTFB is by using a caching tool. Some hosting companies offer built-in caching with their plans. If yours doesn’t, you can use a plugin like WP Super Cache.

    3. Check Your Page Load Time

    Page load time refers to the average time it takes for your entire page to load, including all text, images, and other elements like JavaScript. It’s an important metric to monitor since it lets you know how fast your server is running.

    It has been found that the bounce rate increases by 32 percent as page load time goes from 1 to 3 seconds. Therefore, keeping a check on this figure can help you retain your visitors. 

    The easiest way to measure your page load time is to use a tool like WebPageTest. This enables you to assess your users’ real experience from different locations:

    Then, you can improve your site speed by reducing image size and quantity. You may also need to compress your media files. 

    4. Keep an Eye on Your Bounce Rate

    As we mentioned earlier, your bounce rate is the percentage of visitors that leave your site after landing on one page. There are several reasons why users may decide not to hang around and explore the rest of your website. For example, they may be put off by slow speeds and poor web design. 

    It’s important that you monitor this metric, as it’s a large teller of your UX. Sites with high bounce rates tend to be slow and unresponsive.

    If you want to keep an eye on your bounce rate, Google Analytics is one of the best tools to use:

    You can also gain insight into your customer journey with features like real-time reporting, funnel exploration, and engagement levels. To boost your bounce rate, you can make sure your site is responsive, your content is readable, and your Calls-to-Action (CTAs) are strong and clear.

    5. Monitor Database Performance (Connection Time and Error Time)

    There are two main ways that you can monitor your database performance. The first is connection time. This refers to the time it takes for the user to make a connection with your server. The second is error time, which measures the percentage of requests that contain errors. 

    These metrics are especially important if your site features lots of dynamic content pulled from your database. Plus, a slow-responding site often has a poor-performing database. 

    SolarWinds Database Performance Monitor is a comprehensive tool that looks for database indicators like Queries Per Second (QPS) and Transactions Per Second (TPS):

    It also identifies the number of open database connections and the number of queries for each error code, enabling you to find frequently occurring errors.

    To improve your database performance, you can increase your memory limit, strengthen your CPU, increase disk space, and optimize queries. Most of these can be done by upgrading to a more powerful hosting plan.

    Conclusion

    The key to a successful website is to prioritize your UX. Otherwise, you risk sending visitors directly to your competitors. With the right tools, you can access important metrics like page load time and bounce rate, and take steps to improve them.

    To recap, here are five ways to monitor your website performance:

    1. Track your uptime using a WordPress monitoring tool like WP Umbrella.
    2. Measure your time to first byte with Pingdom.
    3. Check your page load time using WebPageTest.
    4. Keep an eye on your bounce rate with Google Analytics.
    5. Monitor database performance using a tool like the SolarWinds Database Performance Monitor.

    Do you have any questions about website performance? Let us know in the comments section below!

    The post How to Monitor Your Website Performance (5 Ways) appeared first on Torque.

  • A Look Back at WordPress in 2022

    It is hard to believe 2022 is coming to a close. After two years of learning how to live and work apart, this year allowed for us to start to come back together. There were more in-person events, more contributions to Core, and three massive releases. The uncertainty of the landscape started to fade, and the perseverance of the community was on full display. 

    Though we can never fully predict what will happen next, one thing is for certain, the WordPress community will continue to be a pillar of strength through all of life’s ups and downs. 

    A lot happened this year, let’s get into some of the biggest wins for WordPress in 2022. 

    In-Person Meetups Ruled 

    There’s no denying that COVID took a big bite out of in-person events. In 2020 and 2021, a lot of WordCamps were forced to move online or cancel altogether. That was turned on its head this year. While there were some online events, in-person was definitely king in 2022.

    • 500 meetups doubled their size in 2022
    • 22 WordCamps happened in 2022 (Up from 1 in 2021)
    • 34 WordCamps are currently being planned for 2023

    Let’s look at some of the big ones:

    WordCamp Europe

    Finally, WordPressers descended on Porto, Portugal to celebrate WordCamp Europe. After two years of planning, scheduling, and replanning, the organizers got to see their hard work realized. 

    2,300 people attended the event with 800 of them going to Contributor Day. It was a huge turnout in a beautiful location, with peacocks roaming the venue grounds. 

    As always, talks were top notch with topics ranging from security to eCommerce. If you missed anything, all talks are now live on WordPress.tv. 

    Next year, WCEU will take place in Athens! Get ready for some Olympic-sized learning on June 8-10, 2023. 

    WordCamp US

    Torque Editor Emily Schiola listening to WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg at WCUS

    Another giant among WordCamps returned in 2022, WordCamp US. After two years of cancellations, the conference made its triumphant return in San Diego. This truly felt like a homecoming. While other WordCamps including Europe moved online in 2020 and 2021, US organizers decided to cancel completely. So it wasn’t only the first in-person WCUS but the first one in two years. 

    The weather was stormy but the spirits were high as people attended talks about design practices and accessibility. One of our favorites was when Developer Advocate at WP Engine, Nick Diego, created a block from start to finish in only 15 minutes. A really cool showing of just how easy Gutenberg is to use. 

    Needless to say, we are greatly looking forward to next year’s WCUS which will take place in National Harbor, Maryland on August 24-26.  

    Accessibility Day

    I would be remiss if I didn’t mention at least one killer online conference, and that is Accessibility Day. This 24-hour virtual conference is completely free and focuses entirely on accessibility. There were 24 hours of content from 20 speakers. 40 percent of presentations include a speaker with a disability.

    The event was originally started by the Website Core Accessibility Team back in 2020 and this year volunteers took over organizing.

    According to the website, “Our mission is to demystify website accessibility for WordPress developers, designers, content creators, and users so that they can more easily build websites that work for everyone, regardless of ability.”

    This was such a cool event that pulled in people from all around the community, and we hope to attend again next year! 

    WordPress 6.1 and Site Editing

    There were three big Core releases in 2022 but the most notable came at the end of the year with WordPress 6.1, “Misha”. The release, named for Soviet-Norwegian jazz pianist Mikhail “Misha” Alperin, focused heavily on design in WordPress. 

    Twenty Twenty-Three Theme

    As with every end of the year release, 6.1 shipped with a new default theme but Twenty Twenty-Three is not like other themes. Most notably, this theme comes with 10 style variations designed by community members. These variations act as a reskin of your site. Completely change the color palette, fonts, and more with one click.

    Looking for a fun, pastel vibe for your site? Check out Sherbet made by Brian Gardner, a Developer Advocate, Principal at WP Engine.

    An example of a site made with Sherbet.

    Or if you’re looking for something more muted, more classic, take a look at Whisper by Developer Advocate at WP Engine, Damon Cook. 

    An example of a site made with Whisper.

    These style variations are such a huge win for WordPress. Not only do they offer a quick and easy way for users to switch up their sites, it’s a great opportunity for designers to get their work out there. I’m excited to see which variations ship with the Twenty Twenty-Four theme next year! 

    And That’s Not All 

    Of course, the theme is just one aspect of an incredibly exciting release that leads us closer to finishing Phase Two of Gutenberg, set to be completed in March of next year. Phase Two is all about Site Editing and block themes and boy did 6.1 deliver. 

    6.1 introduced Fluid Typography, which allows fonts to change based on the screen size. There’s nothing more annoying than designing a beautiful site and seeing it break on mobile. Fluid Typography takes the guesswork out of creating for multiple devices. 

    Other huge updates include:

    • Borders: You can now adjust the border on any block from the sidebar.
    • List Block: You can now drag within the list block. No more retyping and formatting.
    • The URL has been moved up right under the Publish date.
    • The Preview button has been changed to just View.

    Looking Forward: State of the Word 2022

    This year wrapped-up with a live streamed State of the Word speech delivered by WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg. 

    WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg delivering the State of the Word.

    You can find a full breakdown of the speech here, but overall the focus was the future of WordPress and leaving something powerful for future generations. 

    Contributions

    After two years of lower than normal contributions, Mullenweg announced an astounding number of people volunteered their time this year. 

    A breakdown of contributions from this year at the 2022 State of the Word address.

    One of the most impressive things about this graphic is that 322 people returned to contributing after taking a break in 2021. WordPress simply cannot exist without volunteers from around the community, so this is very inspiring to see. 

    Gutenberg Phase 3

    As mentioned above, Gutenberg Phase 2 is coming to an end. That means that Phase 3 will begin. This phase will focus on collaborative editing, think Google Docs-like features right in the editor. 

    This will be a huge upgrade for content creators and editors. 

    Plugin Taxonomies

    Another big announcement was regarding plugin taxonomies. Four new default taxonomies were added this month to make it easier for plugin authors to categorize their products. 

    They are as follows:

    • Single-player plugin: Created by an individual, might have paid aspects, not accepting contributions.
    • Community plugin: Completely free, built by the community, for the community. There are no upsells. Contributions are not only encouraged, they are regularly requested.
    • Canonical plugin: A community plugin that has been “blessed” by wordpress.org. The plugin will be featured there, and WordPress core team members will perform frequent security checks. Think Gutenberg. 
    • Commercial plugin: A plugin owned by a company, may or may not accept contributions.

    WordPress Playground 

    Finally, Mullenweg announced Playground, a way to test your WordPress site totally in a browser. 

    You can test out plugins, design choices, updates, and anything else you can think of in real time without using a host, database, or web server of any kind.

    This is a very cool tool that you can start playing with today. 

    Better Together

    Wow, what a year! It is absolutely incredible the things the WordPress community accomplished together. If this year has taught us anything it is that you cannot stop the power of WordPress. The community will not let it fail. 

    Thanks to all the event organizers, content creators, theme and plugin authors, agencies, and contributors who make WordPress the strongest CMS on the web. 

    Here’s to 2023 and getting bigger and better! 

    The post A Look Back at WordPress in 2022 appeared first on Torque.

  • Press This: Word Around the Campfire December 2022

    Welcome to Press This, the WordPress community podcast from WMR. Each episode features guests from around the community and discussions of the largest issues facing WordPress developers. The following is a transcription of the original recording.

    Powered by RedCircle

    Doc Pop: You’re listening to Press This, a WordPress Community Podcast on WMR. Each week we spotlight members of the WordPress community. I’m your host, Doc Pop. I support the WordPress community through my role at WP Engine, and my contributions over on TorqueMag.Io where I get to do podcasts and draw cartoons and tutorial videos. Check that out.

    You can subscribe to Press This on Red Circle, iTunes, Spotify, or you can download episodes directly at wmr.fm. 

    Each month we like to do a community focused episode. We like to call them Word Around the Campfire, where we talk with WordPress friends about events and news within the community. Joining us this week is Mike Davey, a Senior Editor at Delicious Brains. Mike, how are you doing today?

    Mike Davey: Oh, not too bad. Doc and yourself.

    DP: I’m doing really well. And we also have Nick Diego, a Developer Advocate at WP Engine and a WordPress Core Contributor. Nick, how are you?

    Nick Diego: Doing great! Thanks for having me.

    DP: Let’s start off with the biggest news in the community this week. Matt Mullenweg’s State of the Word address. Matt gave this presentation just yesterday. Nick, can you kind of tell us a little bit about the State of the Word and kind of where it happened, set the scene for us?

    ND: Yeah, absolutely. So the State of the Word is something that’s done each year and it’s delivered by the co-founder of WordPress, Matt Mullenweg. And the goal of the event is to kind of share reflections on the progress of the project during the current year or the past year, and also kind of set the scene for what’s gonna be coming in the future of WordPress.

    This year it took place in New York City, and it was actually live again this year to a handful of folks. And we learned a lot of great things about what happened in 2022 and also some things that we can expect this coming year.

    DP: WordPress is turning 20. That was kind of a big eye-opener for me. The other thing to expect is the end of Gutenberg Phase Two. Nick, can you tell us about that?

    ND: This whole block project started, Gutenberg project started, it’s broken into kind of four parts. We’ve been in stage two for quite a long time now. And that’s kind of everything focused around being able to build with blocks. The different supports and controls and functionality, Full Site Editing, all that kind of stuff.

    And we’ve seen huge advancements in 2022 towards that stage two goal. There’s still a little bit of work left to do and that will be completed as we move into 2023, but the goal is that once we get to the end of the year, we will be completely done with the bulk of everything that’s needed for that stage two goal.

    And then we can look forward to stage three.

    DP: So, end of this year or end of next year, we should be done with Phase Two?

    ND: Oh, my apologies for that. End of 2023.

    DP: Okay. So 6.1 was sort of the biggest version of Site Editing so far. Of course, that’s how WordPress releases work. Each version’s gonna be the biggest one or the newest one. But 6.2 I was thinking, was going to kind of book end that at least as best as possible, try to wrap up any of the major issues or bugs?

    Is that still correct or am I just misunderstanding what 6.2 is gonna be doing there?

    ND: No. You’re a hundred percent correct there. I think that there’s a few outstanding items regarding Full Site Editing, and the Site Editor. A lot of work’s being done there. Kind of polishing off some remaining functionality that folks have been looking for. That’s all aiming at 6.2.

    DP: And they talked a little bit about new plugin taxonomies being introduced. And I’m gonna say I didn’t fully understand that part of the talk. Mike, can you help explain to me what Matt was talking about there?

    MD: Sure. Essentially, the idea is that plugin and theme developers sort of self-identify what their project goals are through that new taxonomy. Just looking at plugins though, there’s a few different categories they can put it in. One of them being commercial and I’m in favor of greater transparency.

    My main concern with that is that a lot of users, especially a lot of new users, may skip right over anything that says commercial. And it seems to me like that might be a barrier for the freemium plugins, especially the new ones that don’t have an audience yet. And I mean, just from my personal perspective, the Delicious Brains plugins all have free versions, and those free versions do significantly enhance your capabilities. And so I worry that new users might miss that if the plugins are just tagged as commercial. Right. 

    And speaking of looking just still at new users, I don’t think the current taxonomy scheme that we’ve seen is going to be of much help for them when they need to figure out which plugins to use. Solo? Community? What does that even mean? And don’t get me started on canonical, I seem to recall there was some confusion about that term just a few months ago, even among the WordPress cognoscente. Right? Like it’s not an obvious term to use. 

    And if I were just going in blind, I would see the words canonical plugin assume that that means it’s something you have to have. And then I would question why it wasn’t just included in Core. Right? So I think maybe the way we’re terming them is confusing.

    DP: Yeah, there seems to be a lot of kind of confusion about this. Maybe it wasn’t rolled out great. It sounds like the goal is to help identify a user on the plugin repository of what type of plugin they’re getting. It sounds like that’s the noble goal. And these are supposed to be self applied or self-identified.

    I know that currently there’s some folks who are looking at the way that these have been tagged and not fully understanding ’em, but yeah, you’re bringing up some other points too, just like canonical. I mean, the terminology of that seems pretty off for sure.

    MD: Yeah, I mean, I seem to recall the first time I’d ever seen the term. There was a big discussion a few months back about the plugin download stats being removed. And Matt Mullenweg said that I believe at the time in a comment on WordPress.org that the best way to do this would probably be via a canonical plugin.

    And there were plenty of questions generated from that, like plenty of questions coming from very knowledgeable people saying, what is a canonical plugin? 

    ND: So I think the spirit of the initiative is a good one. I think there are a lot of plugins in the repository. I’ll leave it at that. There’s a lot of plugins in the repository and the more that we can do to categorize them, I think is helpful. How that’s done. You know, there’s always gonna be concerns and questions around that.

    I think that the commercial thing might actually be beneficial personally. I think that there’s a lot of plugins out there that are, it’s hard to tell if they’re being actively supported. Is it just somebody who built it and put it out there and just left it? Who’s actually behind these plugins?

    It can kind of cut both ways. I know, but I think it could also be beneficial to showcase, “Hey, this plugin is free. Use it however you want, but it’s backed up by a company, and they are actively supporting this and they’re putting dev time towards it.” 

    Again, I’m not sure how it’s all gonna play out in the end, but I do think that the plugin repository is a bit of a wild west and what can be done to kind of tame that, I think is in concept helpful.

    DP: Each year we do the Plugin Madness competition over on Torque Magazine. It’s coming up in a few weeks or a few months. When I first heard about the taxonomies, I was like, oh, that sounds a little bit like, we’ve got kind of an enterprise and a maintenance and optimization.

    We’ve brought basically plugins into four kind of pillars, which is not easy to do. And every year we get a lot of complaints about how we do it. It’s not an easy task. So I can kind of see that. And this is obviously something different. It’s not breaking it up into its functionality quite like that. 

    But it is kind of fun seeing other people have to deal with the criticism that we get when we try adding any sort of taxonomy or grouping to things. And Mike actually mentions the developer download issue that came up where stats on downloads were removed.

    I think probably for privacy concerns for users. Both of these things do kind of have that similar vibe where I think plugin developers, I feel like plugin developers are feeling like this kind of came out of nowhere, or maybe they weren’t consulted or they sort of feel like out of the loop on both of these. At least with this one, if I understand correctly they should be able to fix that. Like there’s no fixing the download stats. 

    MD: I’m actually not sure to be honest, like I don’t know that you can, once it’s set, there’s probably some way to change it. Like, for example, because somebody made a side, “This was a commercial Plugin when I developed it five years on, I’m just making it totally free.” So there must be a way to, to change that setting, but I don’t know for sure.

    ND: Yeah, I don’t either. 

    DP: We’re gonna take a quick break and when we come back we’re gonna talk a little bit more about the community as seen through Matt Mullenweg and the State of the Word and what we’ve kind of learned about 2022 and 2023. Stay tuned for more. 

    DP: Welcome back to Press This, a WordPress Community podcast. I’m your host, Doc Pop, and we are doing our Word Around the Campfire segment where we talk about the WordPress community. Today we’re really talking about the State of the Word that happened just yesterday, as we’re recording. I’m joined by Mike Davey from Delicious Brains and Nick Diego from WP Engine. Mike, I’m curious, what was one of your favorite questions during Matt’s famous Q and A segment after State of the word?

    MD: I’d have to say that my favorite question was, “Are we going to get to one universal theme?” Because it mirrors something I was thinking when Matt was showing off some of the new stuff about Gutenberg and he was showing the new Twenty Twenty-Three Theme with I think 10 style variations. Because it really does seem to me that that seems to be the sort of way that it’s driving. Right.

    Is that we may eventually get to the point where we have just sort of one universal theme and you can change so many things about it, right? Fairly easily that it’s the only theme you really need. Now as Matt did say during State of the Word, we’re probably going to see some really weird themes still, no matter how advanced we get with these new themes, right? We’re probably gonna see some niche themes, I think he mentioned one that looks like a terminal, that sort of thing. But I suspect we’re going to see eventually it driving towards one universal theme.

    One of the other things he mentioned, you can create themes just using blocks and style variations, and I really think that that is in line with WordPress’s initial and continual mission of democratizing publishing.

    It seems to me that you can now be a low code or no code person and actually build a custom theme. It’s probably gonna take you a while. There may be some stuff you’ve gotta learn, but you can get in there and start doing it. And I think the more open we make this and the easier we make it to do, the more we fulfill that mission of democratizing publishing.

    ND: Yeah, I agree. And I think that one of the things that we’re looking at as well as maybe there’s a kind of a default base theme for WordPress that people can build on. But I also think that when it comes to businesses, it’s going to be what a lot of people do. They have their own base theme. Then every single client site or every single site that they build is from that base.

    Maybe they have some custom functionality that’s specific to their business. Maybe they specialize in eCommerce or whatever. That may require a bit of a different base. But having a solid base, whatever that might be, whether it’s the WordPress base or their own custom base, you can build so much on top of that, like never before.

    I think we’re gonna see a lot of that especially in the agency framework.

    DP: That makes a lot of sense that if you’re an agency, that you might have a theme that you just kind of like cookie cutter, just to start off everything with and then build around that. I could definitely see that. When I’m looking for themes, I keep finding more and more that themes are actually getting in my way.

    Even with the Twenty Twenty-Three Theme that I got, I still ended up like trying to strip it down to the point where some of the things, I can’t find them. I think like the border around the edges or whatever. I’m kind of looking for just a theme that’s just a blank sheet to start with and I kind of wonder if that’s maybe gonna be what themes start becoming, and then they just have these like patterns and things kind of tucked in on the side.

    If you want that border, it’s gonna be tucked in on the side maybe rather than kind of baked in. I think the more we bake into themes, the more difficult it actually becomes for some users.

    ND: Once you have those controls and you want to be able to to change things, the theme can definitely get in the way of doing them.

    DP: So my favorite question was, I think it was Courtney Robertson asked about certification in the WordPress space. And this has been a highly contentious issue, I think in the 10 years I’ve been covering it with Torque, and I was really surprised when she asked Matt about it, that he said that he’s kind of come around on it.

    Matt was one of the people who felt that the idea of certification, the idea that there’s a global body saying here’s a test to see if you’re qualified, and kind of organizing that, it just didn’t feel very WordPressy. It felt like WordPressy should be a little more self-organized. And even in general, maybe the idea of certification wasn’t really a good idea.

    I got the impression during Courtney’s talk very quickly that Matt was like, I’ve come around on this and I think it’s not a terrible idea and he didn’t say that things are in the works for that, but just the idea that he’s kind of come around on it makes me wonder if there’s possibly some sort of certification process talk happening behind the scenes.

    I know that recently CertifyWP.Com has popped up as one of the newest groups trying to kind of create a certification process. The whole conundrum that they’re trying to solve is these people also hire WordPressers and sometimes they just don’t know what they’re getting when they’re hiring someone.

    They don’t know if they really know what they’re talking about or not and the hope is that if someone has certification in WordPress, whatever that means, that you can hire them knowing that they’ll be able to do what they say they can do. Sort of like a little blue verification badge. Mike, did you have any thoughts on that particular segment?

    MD: Overall, I think certifications are actually a sign of a maturity, which is not necessarily that WordPress needs to have them, but I mean, WordPress is turning 20 next year and certifications do provide some assurance to people outside of WordPress that this person knows what they’re talking about.

    For example, you mentioned that somebody may hire a WordPress developer but they don’t necessarily know if that person’s competent. And I know enough about WordPress that I’m positive I could convince a small business owner that I know it all. But the fact of the matter is I don’t, and I’m not a developer.

    Right? So a certification would help to, I think, alleviate some of those concerns for people outside of WordPress.

    DP: Nick, do you have any thoughts on the WordPress certification as a program that should be adopted or not?

    ND: Yeah, I think it’s an interesting one. I think that you know it. One, it gives something for people to strive towards. It kind of creates this collective idea of what, it’s hard because you gotta say, what is included in that certification? What are the things that you need to know? I think in concept, I like the idea. It’s a little bit gatekeepy, but I do like the idea. 

    The problem I have with it is how fast WordPress is evolving.

    MD: Hmm.

    ND: You know? I couldn’t do what I did last year, what I do now, even though I would be considered a “WordPress expert” last year. So I think that this is something that you kind of gotta work into that process, whether it’s a recertification or hard questions to answer. But in concept, I like the idea, but the how it would work is a bit of a challenging one.

    DP: It seems in general like, a lot of things are changing really quickly with Site Editor and I wonder if two years from now it’ll feel quite as radical or if something else will come around. You know, cause you’re right, like certification a year ago versus now, it seems like totally, it doesn’t mean you know what’s happening in WordPress necessarily cause things have changed so much.

    I’m hoping things settle down because it’s actually getting a little hard to write tutorials on things right now with everything changing so quickly.

    ND: Yeah, and maybe this is a perfect time to revisit certifications cause you’re a hundred percent right. Once we get to the end of Phase Two, things will settle down a little bit more and it might make more sense cause we’ll have a bit more of a solid understanding of what it means to be a certified WordPress professional.

    DP: There we have it, Gutenberg Phase Five, certifications. You heard it here, first. Mike and I were talking a little bit before the show about Matt’s new love of AI. Mike, you want to tell us a little bit about that?

    MD: I mean, I’m also very excited about AI and Matt did seem to be pretty excited about, in particular, OpenAI. He mentioned ChatGPT, which I’m sure by now just about everybody’s heard about it. The current level of technology we have in AI takes me back to nearly a decade ago when an editorial colleague asked me if he thought we would be replaced by AI.

    My answer then is the same as it is now, not completely. There’s too many judgment calls to make, and more fundamentally, you need to really understand your audience on a gut level. And I don’t think that applies to just editorial and content either. I think that applies to just about everything.

    AI is an excellent tool and a lot of work can be automated and we’re rapidly gaining access to the tools we need to do it. And from my perspective, that would free me up to do what really does need human intervention, planning, strategy, and ensuring that what we’re producing is the very best it can be and really meets the reader’s needs.

    However excited as I am about the potential of AI, there are a lot of social implications here that I don’t necessarily think that people that really need to be thinking about it have been. And that would be its societal implications. I’m with Bill Gates on this one. At some point I think we’re going to have to start taxing robot labor. That is a policy intervention that goes far beyond anything Matt was talking about, but eventually I think we will need to do that because we’re going to need fewer people doing fewer things. 

    With that said, I mean, if you’ve looked at what I’ve heard about Open AI’s like ChatGPT can in fact generate code and sometimes the code works like somebody built a working WordPress plugin using ChatGPT. But what I’ve also heard is that the code it produces, while it may work, is not good code. Right. It does need a lot of human editing. Again, it’s not best practice. It’s not necessarily secure. It does things in ways that a human developer probably wouldn’t. 

    So we definitely still need human intervention there and human oversight and to make those judgment calls. But it is a very exciting era. And I think we’re just starting to see the potential.

    DP: Matt certainly seemed excited about it as I think almost every CEO is, they’re at least open to the possibilities. The same thing happened a year ago. Everybody was excited about NFTs. I think AI has a longer lasting potential. During his talk, Matt, used a line that was written in ChatGPT, kind of as a throwaway gag.

    Everyone seems to be throwing that into their speeches now. But at the end, Michelle Frechette asked him about OpenVerse, which is a CreativeCommons project where you can upload images or media, music, video. And these are open for anyone to use, and WordPress has adopted OpenVerse. It’s now something that they’re trying to get people to use and people are contributing.

    But the question from Michelle Frechette was saying that usage isn’t that high. People aren’t using it that much. And during his answer, Matt said some of the rules that they use for OpenVerse include things like no faces can be shown because they don’t wanna get into legal troubles and worry about releases and stuff like that.

    They’re trying to keep it simple and some users do need a face or want an image of someone who has a face. So, Matt’s suggestion, coming back to AI, was talking about using AI to generate images, sort of like ThisPersonDoesNotExist.Com images to help add faces to that category.

    And I know that, Mike, to what you’re saying, this is kind of a contentious thing for some people in terms of ethics, in terms of where are these images being generated from, or, you know, the source material. It’s pretty interesting and it kind of caught me off guard to see Matt really excited about it.

    But I do think there are parts with ChatGPT in particular to help build maybe an article and you can go through and flesh it out more. I think there’s a lot of exciting stuff there. So I get it. We’re gonna take a final break here on Press This, and when we come back, we’re gonna wrap up our Word Around The Campfire segment and talk about Playground. So stay tuned. 

    DP: Welcome back to Press This, a WordPress community podcast. We are doing our Word Around The Campfire segment with Mike Davey from Delicious Brains and Nick Diego from WP Engine. We are mostly talking about the State of the Word address that Matt Mullenweg gave yesterday in New York. And the final thing I think I wanted to talk about was Playground.

    I know both of y’all have interesting things to say with it. Nick, why don’t you just kick us off? What is Playground?

    ND: Oh, that’s such a hard question. So WordPress Playground is a tool where you can spin up WordPress, right in your web browser. How it’s done is a bit beyond me technically, but I understand that it uses web assembly to create PHP and the server. Everything behind the scenes in WordPress, all within your browser.

    So, it’s a pretty fascinating piece of technology. Even Matt said in the presentation, when he first saw it, he didn’t think it was possible. But it’s a really interesting way for you to spin up WordPress sites right in the browser and it really opens the doors for all sorts of interesting things.

    DP: I was understanding that it even allowed you to kind of play with other people’s sites. Mike, do you know if I’m wrong on that?

    MD: I’m actually not sure. I’ve only used it myself a bit in the last couple of days, but I did report on it back in the Delicious Brain Bites newsletter in early October, and I was impressed by it then and I’m even more impressed that it’s already ready for primetime.

    My thought when I first heard about it was, that’s really neat. I can’t wait to see where it is next year. I never expected it to be ready this early. Now it is still experimental and in development, but there’s a lot you can do with it. This is another area that’s gonna be really helpful for people who are just getting started on their WordPress journey.

    You can play and experiment as much as you like, and the only investment is time. You don’t even need to log in, like you do not need to be logged into WordPress org tag. That’s the playground. If you just type in WordPress playground into your search engine, go to that link. You can start right away. You can get right into the backend of the site and see what does what. 

    ND: Well, one of the things I think is also really cool is that if you want to demo something in WordPress, instead of having to have a user, install a local version of WordPress and download the various plugins they need to demo. You can set up an entire WordPress site, all preconfigured what you want to have in it, and then that user can just hop in and start experiencing WordPress with your predefined configuration.

    So, new users, great. Showcasing products and features, great. All sorts of cool things that you could do. So you could take something like ACF, Advanced Custom Fields, and have a Playground instance with it. You go in there, you could play around with ACF, learn how to use it, all that sort of thing, all within the browser.

    So there’s a lot of really interesting implications for this technology.

    DP: Playground is being marketed as a WordPress experience that runs totally in your browser. And as Nick is saying, you can use it to embed a real WordPress site in like a tutorial or a course, or you can use it as part of your pitch when you’re sending something to your client you can kind of put it in there. And then also in the description it says, experiment with an anonymous WordPress website, which is where I was kind of getting the vibe that maybe you could kind of plug in someone’s URL and just kind of play around with it and see if you can modify it and learn how it was made.

    I was suggested to try using Playground specifically, cause I have a weird bug that I can’t tell if it’s in the theme or if it’s something I did and someone was like, “Oh, well, very easily you could just put your site into playground and try switching the theme up a little bit.” It’s sort of like a Local install, but maybe even easier.

    Is it sort of like Local in a way? Is it possible you’re gonna be fitting that need?

    ND: There are echoes of Local in Playground. However, I mean, Local’s obviously a much more advanced tool. All the integrations with Flywheel and WP Engine and all that kind of stuff. But there’s definitely some echoes between the two.

    DP: That’s all we have time for on this episode of Press This. I want to say thank you so much to Nick and Mike, we will drop links to your projects in the show notes. If you enjoyed this episode of Press This, I’d recommend checking out our recent interview with Brian Gardner. He did a predictions about themes and trends for 2023, talking about what we think are gonna happen both with like, themes in general, like how websites look, but also themes like how themes are being used.

    So if you’re interested in that, check out that episode. I also recently talked with Sé Reed and Courtney Robertson on the WP Community Collective, a group that is seeking to fund WordPress contributions and initiatives. You can hear that on the Torque Social Hour Livestream. You can find that on YouTube or on TorqueMag.io

    DP: You can follow my adventures with Torque magazine over on Twitter @thetorquemag or you can go to torquemag.io where we contribute tutorials and videos and interviews like this every day. So check out torquemag.io or follow us on Twitter. You can subscribe to Press This on Red Circle, iTunes, Spotify, or you can download it directly at wmr.fm each week. I’m your host Doctor Popular I support the WordPress community through my role at WP Engine. And I love to spotlight members of the community each and every week on Press This.

    The post Press This: Word Around the Campfire December 2022 appeared first on Torque.