Questions to Ask Before Buying a WordPress Theme
|

Questions to Ask Before Buying a WordPress Theme

You spy a great-looking WordPress site and want yours to be similar. Or a Google search for WordPress themes yields one that seems perfect. Before investing your money and / or time, answer these questions: Is the Theme Fully Responsive? Sure, it’s 2020 and most theme developers have made their products mobile-ready. But you can’t be sure…

A WordPress Child Theme Alternative
|

A WordPress Child Theme Alternative

You find a knockout WordPress theme. With minor font, color, and layout tweaks, it’ll look great. Add in some custom functions, such as support for certain post types or control over social media thumbnails, and it’ll be almost perfect. Normally, you’d make a child theme for that. A child theme piggybacks off the theme you’re considering, letting you…

Moving From WordPress.com to Self-Hosted WordPress
|

Moving From WordPress.com to Self-Hosted WordPress

You’ve had your own blog on WordPress.com for some time, but you’re ready for more control. Or perhaps you’ve had a business site there but want to push beyond the limitations of WordPress.com, so you can install your choice of plugins or custom themes. How do you go from WordPress.com to a WordPress site on your own hosting? It’s not…

SEO for WordPress: Pretty Permalinks
|

SEO for WordPress: Pretty Permalinks

One key way to make your pages search-engine friendly is to create URLs that contain strong key words. For example, on a WordPress business site that sells ceramic donkeys, instead of having your “About Us” page address look like this: www.acmedonkeys.com/about-us …try making it look like this: www.acmedonkeys.com/about-our ceramic-donkeys In addition to page, title, and meta…

Is Your WordPress Site Ready for Google’s Mobile Algorithm?
| |

Is Your WordPress Site Ready for Google’s Mobile Algorithm?

April 21, 2015 has come and gone – and with it Google’s deadline to ensure that your Web site is mobile-ready. That is, your Web site should display clearly on multiple devices, particularly smartphones and tablets. If it doesn’t, then Google may rank it lower in mobile search results. How to Tell if Your WP Site…

Help! My WordPress Admin Toolbar Is Missing!
|

Help! My WordPress Admin Toolbar Is Missing!

Short one today, but trust me – it’s useful. Have you ever logged into a WordPress site, then clicked “Visit Site” in the upper left-hand corner of your dashboard, only to find that the familiar WordPress admin bar is missing when you’re viewing pages? Specifically, that’s the toolbar you’ll see at the top of this…

Disable WordPress Page Comments by Default
|

Disable WordPress Page Comments by Default

It’s 2014, and WordPress is well into its 11th year of existence. It’s become the most widely-used Web site CMS (content-management system) in the world. So, why do “static” pages still accept user comments by default? Specifically, when you create a new page (a page, not a post) in WordPress, it allows users to add comments…

Make Your WordPress Twenty Ten Theme Responsive
|

Make Your WordPress Twenty Ten Theme Responsive

I know, I know…it’s 2014. WordPress.org has stopped updating the Twenty Ten theme. Most WordPress users have moved on to themes Twenty Twelve and higher. However, you may have well-designed child themes based on the old Twenty Ten theme, a fixed-width parent theme that, nonetheless, has a lot to like. It’s solid and easy to…