A Dummies Guide For PSD To WordPress Conversion

The process of converting PSD files to WordPress codes takes a certain level of skills and vision. Lack of the knowledge or experience may lead to rendering the website futile. For getting the desired results, a developer needs to be well-versed with any of the markup languages such as HTML, CSS, jQuery, JavaScript or PHP.



Turning PSD to WordPress theme requires an experienced developer to follow a tried and tested process with the help of which the conversion becomes easier. As a user who wants to know what the conversion is, here are some key aspects that you should know.

What is a PSD file?

A Photoshop Document is termed as PSD. It is a file format in which the Adobe Photoshop files are saved. PSD files are migrated to the desired format, such as WordPress in this case, with the help of related tools and software. This is the reason why such files are called open files. These are easy to edit and flexible to use with web designing tools.

WordPress At A Glance

WordPress is a popular open source content management system. The platform features an elementary level of management which is ideal for non-programmers and beginners. Within a few mouse clicks, you can create an amazing website without any hassle. The CMS is written in PHP, which makes it highly scalable.

Also read this : How Does WordPress Benefit A Business?


How Is a PSD Based Website Converted To WordPress?

Slicing The PSD files

PSD files are decrypted into pieces. This is because a single image is large in the size and takes a lot of time to load on the devices of the users. This also calls for integrating different behaviors according to the segments. So, slicing the PSD images becomes necessary.

Hand-Coding HTML & CSS Programs

This is the main step involved in the entire PSD to WordPress conversion process. Here, the web pages are created and the sliced images assembled in the same way as in the original PSD designs.

Breaking HTML Files Into WordPress Theme Files

In the third step, the HTML markups are converted as per the WordPress theme structure. WordPress automatically stores a predefined set of files which a developer can use at a later stage to create web pages.

Adding WordPress Functions And Tags

In the next step, the web developers convert the PHP files into the desired WordPress theme files. This includes adding the necessary tags into the files. Often the developers refer to the online WordPress documentation as the reference for information to add the required functionality.

Featuring Custom Functionalities

Till now, the WordPress theme has been configured and ready to go. Here, the developer adds all the necessary functionalities to give a unique look and experience to the website visitors.

Conclusion

With the WordPress CMS being a trending web tool, there are many reliable conversion services which provide WordPress based solutions at cost-effective prices. So, it is always advised to pick an experienced firm who can provide you with the desired results.

What is Landing Page and How to build it for WP website?

It has become crucial to establish a strong web presence in this highly competitive business era. Well, doing so can be a bit challenging and a daunting proposition, especially for the startups which usually are low on budget. Even supposing that you have found some great techniques to create a solid online identity, but you still might lack time to follow each technique. Wouldn't it be better if you just concentrate on a single effective way to attract target audience? You can do so, by creating a gorgeous & functional landing page of your website.

What is a Landing Page and Why You Should get One?

A landing page is, basically a single web page which is built to achieve some particular objective like increasing the click-through rate, notifying users about a future product launch, getting user details etc. You can hire Wordpress developer who will provide you with a functional landing page as per your business requirement. Keep this thing in mind that not all web pages could be turned into landing pages. 

How to create a landing page in WordPress CMS?

1. Using Page Template to manually build a landing page

This is a highly recommended way to create a feature-rich and functional landing page. The main benefit of opting for the manual process is that it allows users to construct a tailored page as per the business needs. Irrespective of the WP template you picked for your landing page, you can create a custom page template and place it inside your selected theme. In other words, you can make a customized landing page using a blank template. For this purpose, you need to have expertise in CSS and designing.

2. Using a pre-made Landing Page Theme

The best way to build a landing page is by deploying a pre-built WP theme which is available on the web. At present, the internet is full of so many WordPress ready-to-use themes, which are specifically designed for creating landing pages. These templates come loaded with features such as effective CTA's, attractive sliders and several other great options that allow users to create beautiful landing pages in no time.

Here are some single page WordPress themes suited for building landing pages :

Appster : A lean Minimal App Landing Page for WordPress

Scalia Multi : Suitable for Concept Business, Shop, One-Page, Blog Theme

3. Use a Plugin

Another obvious way to quickly develop a landing page is to make use of a reliable plugin. You can open up the WordPress Directory and search for a suitable plugin which will help you in this process. If you are looking out for an easy way to build landing pages quickly and not much concerned about optimizing the code, then you can use the plugins for accomplishing your objective. At present, there are tonnes of free plugins available in the official WP Directory, and here are some of them which you can use:

• OptimizePress 2.0
• LeadPages
• Thrive Landing Pages

Summing Up

In this article, you will read about three different steps through which you can make a landing page for your business.

Use plugins to remove the Author & Date info from WP posts

By default, most of the WordPress themes will display a set of metadata on the blog posts published in the past. This usually includes at least the author name and the date on which the post was published. This information is useful for the readers but sometimes there are certain instances where the blogger might want to delete or update this information.

In this article, you would be reading about how Wordpress theme development can sort out this process. There are two different ways which would help you in this situation: Using a dedicated plugin or doing it manually by tweaking by your current theme files. If you don't have much technical know-how, hire a skilled & knowledgeable WordPress developer who will help you accomplish this process.

How to remove Author & Date information using a Plugin

If your theme doesn't have a Divi's functionality, you can take help of the plugin. The following two plugins which will assist you in this task. Both these offer slightly different functionality, so you can choose the one that best suits your needs.

1. WP Meta and Date Remover

This plugin enables you to remove both the author and date information from all the of the posts that too in one go. Once the plugin is installed & activated, all the meta info is automatically removed. It uses two methods to remove the data: hiding it from the front-end by using CSS and then removing it from the backend via PHP.

Key features:

Gets installed quickly and easy to setup.

Hides information from both the front & back ends.

Price: FREE

2. WP Old Post Date Remover

The plugin is specifically designed to remove date information only. This plugin comes in handy if you have lots of evergreen content or a website which is not updated regularly. If you like to keep the date only on the newer posts, you can choose the number of days you want the date to be displayed for.

Key Features:

Easy to install & quick to set up

Comes with an option to display the date on newer posts.

Price: FREE

How to Remove Author and Date Information Manually

1. Add CSS Using Jetpack

If you install Jetpack, then you can gain access to the Custom CSS tab where you can add the relevant code. But first, you need to activate the tab present in the Jetpack “Settings” screen. In your dashboard, select Jetpack, choose “Settings”. This would result in opening a new screen where you have to select “Appearance” tab and the scroll down to the Custom CSS button.

2. Delete Code From Your Theme’s Files

Another option is to delete the lines entirely from your theme files. While making the edits to your theme files, using the child theme and backing up your site prior to making changes. It's also good to ask your theme author which files contain the author and date information.

Summing Up

The above-mentioned points will help you in removing the Author and date information from the existing blog posts.

How Does WordPress Benefit A Business?

With dominating more than half of the digital market share, WordPress is undeniably the leading CMS today. The platform lets you create an attractive and highly functional portal which is loaded with all the modern features. The SEO driven elements of WordPress allow the developers to create websites which ensure higher revenues and organic traffic on the website.

WordPress is a well-known CMS for its performance-oriented features. The platform is continually gaining recognition for business website development. Companies are looking to hire WordPress developer who possess expertise at creating custom WordPress solutions. Developing exclusive themes and  plugins is becoming popular these days, given their efficiency and ease of usage.

Hiring a dedicated team of developers from certified web development firms ensures that a business achieves splendid services. Where a business website needs to come up clean in terms of proficiency and reliability, it is important that only professional should be relied on. Being involved with the WordPress sphere on a daily basis, these developers make use of the latest tools and techniques for rendering an amazing web portal.

The skilled and professional WordPress website development companies let their clients manage their business website with ease. The developed is focused on addressing the target audience in mind, hence ensuring the highest ROI.

These companies deliver services which are in sync with the needs of the customers, while keeping website management simple. The WordPress developers keep themselves updated with the latest trends of the market and deliver websites which are bug-free and performs phenomenally well once they go live.

You should always consider the WordPress development services who have a record of delivering services of greatest quality and have helped businesses increase their productivity. Getting in touch with WordPress professionals will offer the following advantages:

All-In-One Services

Hiring dedicated WordPress services ensures a complete solution. The project includes website development, support, maintenance, responsive, theme development, customization and much more.

Web Customization

Although WordPress provides features to perform some basic customization, a skilled developer is always needed to tame this robust technology. Tweaking the WordPress platform as per the needs of the business requires specialized knowledge of the CMS and it becomes crucial to hire a developer for it. It is the duty of the developer to perform various tasks which includes development, integration, extension and support for the website.

Tested Methodologies

Hiring the professional WordPress services isn't just for creating a website. Once the website has been finally launched, it must be able to index higher in the search engine rankings. These services assist you to make the most out of the CMS by ensuring that the site ranks well on the leading web browsers.

Apart from a higher online visibility, the website is also able to achieve features like W3C compliance, crisp content and SEO optimized keywords for making it easier for the search engine crawlers to index the website.

Can A Custom WordPress Plugin Really Make A Difference?

A custom plugin ensures that a WordPress website is able to achieve great results. An ideal custom made plugin is the one that displays improvement in the website’s performance. These plugins ensure that the marketing campaigns, as well as other processes of boosting sales, are a success. From website management to enhancing the user experience, custom plugins have a lot to offer.

To have an edge over your competition, WordPress plugin development is a powerful tool. These plugins are made to ensure that the website helps the business in achieving its goals. Custom WordPress plugins are highly beneficial in creating opportunities for sales.

Let us take an example of a custom live chat plugin. This plugin allows a business to engage with the customers and answer their queries in real time. The visitors would always to hear it from an actual person over a bot. Adding similar custom plugins as a part of your customer support service is an effective way of creating a strong relationship with your customers.

WordPress is a competitive content management system and its potential can be enhanced with the custom plugins. These plugins are helpful especially for the non technical person. It allows the users to perform even the complex of tasks such as changing the overall appearance, creating email forms etc. in a matter of few clicks. These plugins are used by small to large scale business websites as they enhance the data integration and ensures that the website maintains the integrity of the brand.

Plugins allow you to feature social media buttons on your website. This allows your readers to share the web content over various social media channels. Since the main idea behind running a website is to share the information as well as market the products, these custom plugins are quite functional.

When it comes to online marketing, you cannot ignore the impact of social media in drawing more sales. This is where custom plugins help you to install social sharing buttons and expand your audience.

Custom WordPress plugins have made it possible to install world-class security features in a website. The plugins are developed on the grounds of data collected over the years. Unlike the free plugins, the source code of the plugin is classified, making it impossible for the intruders to hack into the database of the WordPress website. This ensures a business that their data is protected at all times and they deliver a secure web experience.

WordPress features a great number of plugins to boost the SEO of the website. The CMS provides a plethora of plugins for an effective and comprehensive website optimization.

SEO is an essential tool for marketing used by websites today. It is one of the reliable ways of drawing more organic traffic to a website. And thankfully, custom WordPress plugin ensures that this goal is achieved by the business.

List of best responsive Menu plugins for WP-based sites

The navigation menus serve as an essential component of the successful website. In simple words, they help the visitors to move around. These menus help in improving the “flow” of your portal and encourages them to stay on the site for a longer time period. More time a visitor will spend on your site, the better will be chances of converting it into loyal customers. More than this, the navigation menus are an integral part of your site's overall design- they are displayed on the every unique page.

One thing that you should keep in mind is that a visually impressive navigation menu can make an average website look great. All this can be possible if you choose a reliable developer who offers superb WordPress plugin development services. Building and styling these menus should not be taken lightly from both an aesthetic or a navigational perspective. Fortunately, there are tonnes of menu plugins available in the WordPress directory.

In this article, you will read about five best responsive menu plugins for WordPress (including both free and premium plugins).

1. UberMenu (Paid- $19)

Let's start with the most powerful menu plugin of all- the UberMenu. With over 60,000+ downloads, this plugin is insanely popular among developers and users. Currently, the UberMenu ranks in third place on the leaderboard of best menu plugins. With this piece of script, you can build some of the most beautiful menus for your site. It offers incredibly simple interface which allows users to add an unlimited level of sub-menus for visitors.

2. Max Mega Menu (Freeware)

The “Mega Menu” functionality is quite advanced, meaning you will only find them in the premium plugins. However, if you have the right search skills, then it's possible to find it for free. The Mega Max Menu is an excellent menu plugin available at the official WordPress plugin repository. With the plugin installed and activated, your existing WordPress menus are automatically upgraded to mega menus.

3. Superfly (Paid- $22)

If you prefer vertical menus over the horizontal ones, then Superfly plugin is just made for you. It doubles up the fantastic space saver and allows you to utilize the full dimensions of the screen. This can be achieved by hiding the menu behind the toggle button in the top corner. When clicked, the menu slides into view, leaving visitors free to browse through your portal. Moreover, you can also choose to permanently anchor the menu to the side of the screen.

4. Responsive Menu (Freeware)

If you have zero budget for web development and want to add vertical menus in your portal then Responsive Menu will be best for you. With this script, you can build great-looking vertical menus and the best part is you can download all these free of charge from the official WP plugin directory.

In addition to this, the Responsive Menu also ships out an impressive amount of modifications, which cover all the usual customizations such as fonts, size, alignment, color, images etc. You can also upload custom backgrounds, logos, and icons, letting you add a personal touch to your menus.

5. Hero Menu (Paid- $19)

This is another plugin which will help you build mega menus. The Hero Menu plugin boasts loads of versatility & tonnes of customization options, meaning it allow users to create nearly endless menu designs. Moreover, Hero Menu also includes 250+ free icons, plus you can also customize your menu with over 650 Google fonts and infinite colors. And those who lack in designing skills, they will come across 60 stunning color pre-sets, build by the team of highly-skilled graphic designers.

A Custom WP Theme Accounts For Uniqueness

Every business aims to having a unique and innovative website, a custom WordPress development is the way to go. With the never-ending options for modification, the content management system takes the web development in a different dimension. The main aspect of such wonderful optimization is the custom themes, which makes a website stand out of the crowd. If you are wondering what a custom theme is capable of and why you should consider it, read along and you will know of it.

With the help of WordPress theme customization, templates and widgets are hand picked to create one of a kind and majestic designs. The customization enables the developers to modify fonts, widgets, graphics, logo and much more. There are a lot of alluring advantages that makes theme customization the ultimate choice for business owners to get a scalable website.

Web templates or themes, which the WordPress content management features are categorized into two main classes: free and premium. Both of the themes are available for the general public to download. Then there are the custom themes, which are tailor-made by hiring WordPress developers of lending out the theme development to offshore development firms. These themes are specifically hand-coded to suit the needs of a particular business.

Templates ready for WordPress theme customization are developed either by freelance developers or full time WordPress development agencies around the world. For the customization to be perfect and rewarding, the hired WordPress theme developer should know the CMS from the inside out and the latest technologies used in it like PHP, CSS, and JavaScript. The custom template must be compatible with the plugins and widgets used on the website.

If you are looking for a theme that ensures a unique feel to the visitors of the website and doesn't resemble any other website on the internet, a custom theme is the only option. Custom designs, which speaks for the motive of the business keeps the user engaged and give them a comfortable space. Moreover, an easy to customize theme gives more control over the appearance of the WordPress website. It allows you to focus on adding or removing the features on the website, which is hectic on free or premium themes.

Just like any other web development, there are certain factors that determine the cost to get a custom theme. The main factor is the level of complexity or specifications of the theme. Other factors include the time to development and extra services required prior to development.

These factors measure the cost for the theme development. Although, buying a premium theme may be cheaper than getting a developer create a custom theme. But in the long run, a custom theme proves to be a wise business investment.

Which one is the best: WordPress vs Blogger

WordPress and Blogger are the two major platforms which can support media & text heavy blogs. They both offer a plethora of features and functionalities that sometimes confuse the new bloggers. Although these two offer eye-catching designs, but the best blogging platform for novice bloggers might not be the best one of the advanced bloggers. Another deciding factor you need bear in mind is the purpose of building a blog.

In this article, you read a comparison of WordPress and Blogger services as well as the list of features that are divided into pros and cons.

WordPress

Created just a year before Google acquired Blogger, WordPress has proven to be the real game changer. With its services such as HTML to WordPress conversion, features, tools and functionalities, WP serves as a perfect platform for blogging and web development. Its simplistic style was welcoming for the users who wished their photos & written content get promoted in right manner. The WP is an open-source tech and is based on the codes of PHP & MySQL.

Pros

Being a self-hosted blog, the users get more control over the appearance, functionality and content that they want to publish on the blog. Moreover, the users also get their own domain name that seriously looks more professional than a blogspot.com sub-domain which you can get from Blogger.

Cons

The technical requirements to setup a self-hosted WP blog is a little more advanced than those of the Blogger. Along with that, you need to pay for the hosting but this comes in quite cheap as low as $3 per month.

Blogger

Since tech giant Google owns the Blogger, the company offers several Google's built-in features such as Adsense, Analytics and Adwords, which makes it extremely useful for the novice bloggers. Originally started in the year 1999, Blogger was the first one in the web sphere to launch a user-friendly interface that helped in boosting collection of blogs on the internet. The Blogger didn't change much and they specialize in an interface that is easy to use for bloggers.

Pros

Blogger's first advantage is that its free which is good especially for amateur bloggers who don't expect much traffic at first. It is easy to use and offers a step by step instructions. Blogger definitely delivers a user-friendly interface with widgets which are easy to customise and master. Besides, Blogger also hosts a broad spectrum of free templates so the users can modify the appearance as per the viewer's experience and can build a visual presence that keeps their brand consistent & reliable.

Cons

While Blogger offers many basic features, but for the advanced level bloggers, these functionalities seem to be useless. Several professionals complain about losing their template customization. While the simple interface is attractive to novice players but it is not good for everyone. Several other things such as post editing options and minimal comments options are also missing for this portal.

Conclusion

It completely depends on your requirements based on this you will choose the portal for your blogging and web development needs.

How To Reveal The Theme Of Any WordPress Website?

Nowadays, the Internet is brimmed with awe-inspiring themes that are perfect to represent the brand and speak for its goals. So, it is quite common that website owners browsing the web come across some themes that they just can’t get over. In this case, all they want to know is what the theme is and who is the author.

If you are looking out for a theme for your website, you would certainly check-out the themes used by WordPress websites of the same category. With the advancements in WordPress theme development, you will come across some amazing themes and would certainly wish to have that for your website. So, the obvious next step is to find out what the theme is.

In order to discover such kind of information, you would need either the assistance of some third party websites or the web browser extensions. One more feasible alternate is to look for the source code of the WordPress website and search the Internet for it.

What Theme

This is a new web based service which helps the Internet surfers figure out the WordPress themes used in some of the popular websites. It also lets you know if the theme is commercial or not. When you search for a WordPress website using What Theme, it checks for the catalog and gives you all the information it can fetch. Presently, it supports Joomla and Drupal and Joomla and will include more content management systems in near future.

WP Theme Detector

WP Theme Detector is yet another website which can help you track down the theme you are impressed with. The search results are more than just the theme name and the author’s name and you get relevant information regarding the theme. The website also keeps a track of WordPress websites checked in the past. In case the theme has been changed or modified from the last time you checked it, the website will notify you of that as well.

WordPress Theme Search

WordPress Theme Search is a wonderful tool which allows you to enter the URL of any WordPress based website. Once you enter the URL, it will show you all the details of the website. WordPress theme search takes a step further by trying to find out the authors of the theme apart from just identifying the theme.

If the website you are considering is using any proprietary theme, WordPress theme search reports that as well. This is a good option to finding out the custom theme you wish to buy in future. The website report will let you know if whether the theme is free to use or you need to pay for it.

Few things to keep in mind during the PSD to WP conversion

In the past couple of years, the business firms have gone global and all credit goes to the availability of in-hand and efficient technological aids. A website has proven to be the notable technological aid among all the other tools available to the business owners. Today the sites are not just confined to the medium that will make your business an online brand, but also helps in pumping out the good of revenues. And if everything goes right you can earn millions without investing much.

WordPress – The best & affordable Web Development Platform

At present, WordPress is considered as one of the most popular and extensively used web development platform which can support any sort of site. Being an open-source content management system, WP is highly customizable and easy to use. If you wish to make your site stand apart then you should opt for PSD to Wordpress conversion services offered by any reputed web development company. Moreover, WordPress also comes loaded with several inbuilt functions that allow users to construct websites in accordance to their business needs.

Most of the users and developers prefer WordPress due to its customization features however it is still not possible to complete the web design without going through the PSD conversion services.

PSD to WordPress Conversion- Few Tips To Consider

Slicing design Files :

Breaking down the PSD files is the first and foremost step in the conversion process. Usually, the design files are divided into layers comprising of banners, business logo, links etc. This slicing process makes the merging process easy and hassle-free.

Converting PSD to HTML/CSS Formats :

Once the developer has completed the slicing phase, the next step involves making the PSD files the web & browser-compatible. And to successfully carry out this step, the developer needs to merge the designs into web-friendly codes such as HTML & CSS. HTML codes help to attract search engine crawlers. By making use of clean and semantic coding, your website can attain a better search engine ranking. Conversely, CSS gives attention to the designing facet of the website that comprises of website theme, color

 scheme, fonts, background images and much more.

W3C Validation :

Today each and every site which is live on the web needs to be compliant with W3C guidelines. These rules help in enhancing the reliability of your website. Therefore, make certain that the developer adheres to all the standards laid down by the World Wide Web consortium.

Integrating the PSD Files into CMS :

As soon as, you have completed the above-mentioned steps, now it's time to integrate those PSD files into WordPress CMS system. The developer should pay optimum attention to this process because integrating files into WordPress can be difficult at times, and by hiring an experienced and expert developer will surely save you from this hassle.

Conclusion

If you are planning to create a site using WordPress, a smart choice is to hire professionals who not only possess right skills but also know in and out of this whole conversion process. Make sure you hire someone that facilitates to deliver a compelling website.

Why custom WP development is becoming famous in web sphere?

Today digital marketing has steered past all the traditional marketing strategies. Almost all the business enterprises are going online so that they can reach out to millions in a hassle-free manner. Not only firms but people are also using various web technologies to stay in touch with web world. As organizations are moving to a virtual environment, the internet marketing sector is growing at a very rapid pace.

New technologies are launched now and then. Every latest development is helping businesses in establishing their strong and powerful presence on the internet. WordPress is one such platform which is has gained a lot of popularity these days. With the assistance of a reliable and highly skilled Wordpress developer, you can quickly develop a robust site for the users. The primary reason behind the popularity of WP is that it has an easy to use architecture and a broad assortment of themes, plugins etc.

You cannot deny the fact that WP is a great platform which can support an eStore, corporate site and a blog. Still, there are times when you need something more advanced and for that, you can opt for custom WP development services in which you can get anything designed as per your requirements. Here is the few reason which makes WP a popular choice of any firm:

Superb Flexibility:

WordPress comes loaded with pretty features and that too right out of the box. Just make sure that you opt for the best Wordpress CMS development service provider who will help you explore all the inbuilt and add-on functionalities of WP so that you can make the most out of its flexibility.

Highly Customizable:

All the WordPress powered sites can be customized to meet the individual needs. In fact, WP is known as the best CMS system in terms of customization. By using plugins, shortcodes and widgets, one can easily get a site customized from a professional. You can also develop various themes/templates from scratch.

Search Engine Friendly:

Sites based on the WP CMS system highly search engine friendly. It doesn't matter you install an SEO plugin or not, but these sites will still run comfortably on the web. WP sites are quite easy to list on the SERPs (search engine results page). The search bots can quickly index and fetch the site if a user feeds in a particular keyword on Google, Yahoo or Bing. By adding Meta tags, descriptions, title, etc. to every page a user can make his site more SEO-friendly.


Social Media Friendly:

When it comes to online promotion, social media plays a pivotal role in enhancing the product exposure. Millions of people have joined social media sites and it has become really easy to pitch them by deploying efficient social media marketing strategies. A social media-friendly site allows users to share your site' content on different platforms.

Conclusion

In this article, you will read few reasons that make WordPress site development services most popular in the web sphere.

5 Simple Tricks To Raise Your WordPress Development Artistry

WordPress is growing at a lightning speed. For a developer dealing with this rising technology, it is next to impossible to get hold of the changing trends. Professional WordPress firms have always been on the conservative side. They prefer to go for the tried and tested techniques for a better result in every development cycle.

Today, new clients are looking for WordPress website development to enhance their business. They want exclusive WordPress solutions, from a new website to modifying any existing one. With the current market trend, companies are always looking out for enthusiastic developers who have the vision and knowledge of the latest technologies. So, being a developer, it is important to keep up the learning curve and sharpen the skills regularly. Here is a list of 5 tricks that will let you stay ahead:

1. WordPress News Subscription

Following or subscribing to the WordPress news is a great way to catch hold of every new trend. You can get all the latest updates by having subscriptions to the websites that regularly post the latest news on WordPress. Following the news feed of such websites is the best way to stay updated because all the latest news and important information can be obtained from a single point. WordPress news subscriptions also let you know about the upcoming WordPress conferences so that you do not miss any.


2. Social Media

Sharpening your skills can be done in your lunch time. This may sound weird but it is a fact. Take advantage of the diversity of social media. You can follow the blogs and posts managed by the blue ribbon WordPress developers  from around the world. A WordPress developer, who has been in the field for long, would share his stories and the tricky projects and how he was able to handle it. Such methods can be used in the upcoming projects because these are tested by the best developers.


3. Online WordPress Training Programs

Many good websites can be found on the web that provides productive training modules with a little or no fee. Many expert developers have agreed to the fact that such programs have helped them to enhance their development skills. These programs also let you know about the different methods used by developers from around the world. And at the same time, you can also evaluate yourself at a global stage.


4. Attend Tech Conferences And WordCamps

Attend WordPress tech conferences that take place from time to time. It is a great way to keep yourself on track about the advanced developments. Such conferences help to make new connections with developers and know the latest practices. WordPress tech conferences are organized in major cities after every six months. If you cannot attend it live, you have the alternative to view it online.


5. Try Out The Newly Acquired Skills

It is advised to practice the new methods and tools before you deploy them on the client’s project. You can try them out on personal projects and once you are confident enough, you can use it on any project. This will help you to further fine-tune the skills and learn as you move forward.

Steps to Import .docx in Your WordPress Blog

There are a lot of people who like to write in Microsoft Word rather than writing on the WordPress editor directly. Moreover, those who wish to import the .docx document in their WordPress and do not wish to copy or paste the document makes the formatting quite bad.

Moreover, with the amount of blogs that we need to put in to the website we can say that  We do certainly need a professional WordPress developer for technical task, but here i have put in efforts to make you understand the process of importing. In this blog, we will discuss how to import the .docx documents in a WordPress website without botching up with the formatting. 

Converting Docx to WordPress

Make sure to import properly .docx Files in your WordPress website. There are several users that prefer to write down their articles that are present in Microsoft Word that offer an inbuilt thesaurus, spell check,  styles, templates, and formatting.

Wherein, WordPress's default visual editor do not offer all these features. Moreover, guest blogging is another possible usage scenario which is required for the development.

There are various publishers that do not want to give guest writers access to the admin area of their WordPress; then they have to receive their guest posts either using the normal HTML as well as a .docx document.

At the end of this, you might require already have some content which is saved in .docx documents. Now the next step if Copying, as well as pasting from the docx file, will be a little difficult, especially if you need to copy the content from more than one document.

Keeping this in mind let us see how one can properly import .docx documents in their WordPress without breaking the formatting.

The next step is to Import .docx Documents in your WordPress

The very first thing you need to do is install and activate the Mammoth .docx which is a converter plugin. Make sure that you know the step by step guide on how to install a plugin. 

After activation, make sure that you create a new post or one can even edit a new one. Looking at the edit screen, you will get the Mammoth .docx converter meta box which is present below the editor.

Use the Mammoth docx converter for your WordPress

All you need to do is click on the choose file button so as to select the .docx file which is needed in the computer. After selecting the .docx file, the plugin will depict the three views for the documents.

In the Visual tab, it will help you see the document on your WordPress website. You will notice that it will ignore any styles applied to your .docx documents such as background color, text color, margin, padding, etc.

Rather than this, it will allow your theme’s stylesheet to control the display items on your screen. 

This also allows you to view the HTML, which was generated by the converter, and this can be done by just clicking on the button that says Raw HTML. Make sure to click on the messages button in order to check out any warnings or errors that one gets on the conversion.

You can check the look of the documents, and if you are satisfied with the way how the document appears in the visual tab, then it allows you to click on the ‘Insert into editor’ button. The plugin will allow you to insert you converted HTML in the post editor of your WordPress post.

Now you can keep on working on the post.

Applying Conditions to Menu For WooCommerce Subscribers

Have you been planning on starting up a WordPress powered membership site? Well, then you might have heard of the difficulties associated with creating membership sites with WordPress. Thankfully, building a membership site using WooCommerce can make the task considerably easier.

But remember, once you've created a membership site it's imperative that everything on your site oozes exclusivity for your logged-in users or WooCommerce subscribers. Thankfully, many plugins are available online that renders the ability to control the pages or portions of your website content that you want to show to active subscribers and hide from inactive subscribers.

Understanding the need to show/hide menu items

Of course, if you don't want certain pages to be accessed by non-members (or non-logged in users), you won't want those pages to be displayed in your site's navigation menu as well. Likewise, there will be some pages that might not be of much use to members. For instance, the pages that sell WooCommerce subscription products and/or services to guests aren't useful for active subscribers. And so, it's better to keep such pages hidden from the subscribers.
In essence, for a membership site, you should consider adding conditional logic to show or hide menu items based on user role. After all, it isn't a good practice to make your members (or active subscribers) shuffle around the content every time they visit your site. Rather, you should make it easy for your members to find quickly the features and services they've signed up for. In short, you must make your site's navigation menu more member focused.

So, what's the solution?

This is where the “If Menu” plugin comes in handy. The plugin helps in controlling the navigation menus for members. Through this tutorial, I'll help you learn how you can create a menu adjusted for your active WooCommerce subscribers. Also, you'll get to know about the plugin and how it can be used to determine whether a subscriber has an active or inactive subscription. In reference to this post, we'll be using the following two plugins:

• If menu plugin
• WooCommerce Subscriptions

Note: Before proceeding with the process of using both of the above mentioned plugins, make sure that they're installed on your site.

Let's get started

For adding conditional logic to menu items you'll need to configure:

• Active or inactive roles of your WooCoomerce subscribers.
• Menu items for members (i.e. active subscribers)
• Menu items for guests (i.e. non-logged in users)

A list of sample memberships included in the image.

Let us now have a detailed overview of all the above listed key points one by one:

Step 1 – Configuring Active / Inactive Roles of WooCommerce Subscribers

Before you configure the menu items for your WooCommerce subscribers, you'll first need to set up the roles of active or inactive subscribers. For this purpose, click on the WooCommerce option from your WP admin navigation menu. Next, click on the Subscriptions tab, and from here set up the active/inactive subscribers roles.

Bear in mind; active subscribers are assigned the “Subscriber” role, and inactive subscribers are assigned the “Customer” role by default as shown in the below image:




Note: You can also choose to set up custom roles for your subscribers, by using WordPress plugins such as User Role Editor.

Keep in mind that the roles we'll assign to active and inactive subscribers will help us in showing or hiding certain menu items.

Step 2 – Configuring Menu Items for Active WooCommerce Subscribers

So, now that you have set up the roles of active (and inactive) WooCommerce subscribers, next you need to decide which menu item you would like to show to your active subscribers. Here, we'll need to make use of the If Menu plugin.

The 'If Menu' plugin lets you show/hide your website primary navigation menu items on the basis of conditional statements, such as user roles, whether a user is logged-in or not, etc. But, to make use of the plugin, you'll first have to make sure that the plugin is enabled.

As soon as the plugin gets enabled, a new checkbox option labeled “Enable Conditional Logic” will be added to each menu item. For this, go to Appearance → Menus, and from there you can start making edits to your navigation menus.

Next, click on any of navigation menu item and then make the ‘Enable Conditional Logic’ checkbox checked. And then, you just need to select whether you would want to show or hide the selected menu item. You will then need to choose any one of the corresponding conditions from the drop down box.

Since we need to show particular menu item just to your active subscribers, we have to choose to show the “Subscriber-only” page link only if “User is Subscriber”:

Once you have selected a condition, just hit the “Save Menu” button.

Step 3 – Configuring Menu Items For Non-Logged in Users

In this section, we'll talk about the process of showing your menu items to guests (or non-logged in users) of your membership website. To do so, you just need to click on the “Hide” option if the corresponding condition is set to “User is logged in.”

Click here, to get more information about subscription


Wrapping Up

Apart from making your membership website pages or part of the content to members, you should also consider adjusting the navigation menu items based on user statuses. Doing so will save the time and efforts of your active subscribers directly shuffle through the useful pages that can be accessed by them. Likewise, you don't necessarily need to show the pages that cannot be accessed by guests or inactive subscribers.

Hope this post will guide you in controlling the navigation menu items of your WordPress membership site with utmost efficiency.

Subscribers aren't enough. Who is reading your Blog?

Well, that's not enough if you own a blog and publishing content on regular intervals. Understanding your audience and keeping a check on them regularly is a crucial step to success. It assists in learning and helps to find out which blog page are very popular among the users. How do the users land on those blog pages? And what else entertained the user?

Undoubtedly, blogging is a huge pond for bloggers to dive. And WordPress is a significant platform to reach millions of audiences across the globe. So here in this article, we shall discuss how to find out who reads your blog and who are the subscribers to your WordPress blog.

Understanding about Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a freemium web analytics service which is offered by the tech giant, Google. It tracks the visitor's site and reports about RSS feed subscribers. First, one is required to visit the Google Analytics websites and signup for an account.

Setting up Google Analytics for WordPress using MonsterInsights

To set up this MonsterInsights plugin you do not need to hire a WordPress developer for it. It is a simple and a quick procedure for the same. And if you've already installed this plugin then you may skip this step.

After installing the plugin, you need to install and activate the Google Analytics by MonsterInsights plugin. Here is a simple guide to building a WordPress plugin.

At the time of activation, you need to visit Insights > Settings page and click on ‘Authenticate with your Google account’ button. It will open a dialog box which will ask you to give permission to the Google Analytics plugins to access the users Google account. You may proceed by clicking the allow button.

Once you are done with this, the plugin will now fetch your account settings from your Google Analytics account. Now you need to select your analytics profile by clicking on select a profile. You may now click to save the changes icon to save your settings.

How to track RSS Links in Google Analytics

In addition to tracking visitors on your website, Google Analytics can also track links to your website from other sources like your RSS feed, email newsletter, social links, etc.

You can add your URL parameters in case you're sharing links manually. Although WordPress automatically generates the links in your RSS feed and newsletter.

You may track your RSS feed links using the Google Analytics by MonsterInsights plugin in WordPress. You may proceed with the following procedure.

To visit the Settings click on to Analytics > Settings in the WordPress admin section and click on the Advanced tab. Check the box next to ‘Tag links in RSS feed with campaign variables’ option and click on the save changes button.

That's all!

Find the subscriber Information

The first major step to find subscriber information is to give your users the ability to subscribe to your blog through an email newsletter. The two primary email marketing platform among our users are MailChimp and AWeber. Both of the subscribers come with its own built-in analytics.

I hope this blog has helped you find who reads and subscribes to your WordPress blog.

Factors to Consider before choosing a WordPress Plugin

WordPress plugins are useful tools that help in extending the functionality of a website or blog. However, with over 37,000 plugins available in the WordPress Plugin Repository, choosing the most suitable ones for your site can be overwhelming and challenging no matter whether you're a beginner or an experienced usee.

In this post, I'll share you with some important aspects that you should consider when choosing a WordPress plugin for your website.

Before Proceeding Further

Remember when you're searching for a plugin, make sure to jot down all your requirements about what you want a plugin to do. In essence, create a checklist containing a set of features that you're seeking in a plugin. Not to mention, choose a plugin that offers features to meet your exact website needs.

You don't necessarily have to choose just one plugin that can do all the work for you. Instead, you can consider installing 2 or more plugins if they together can facilitate you with the desired features. But, avoid installing too many (and unwanted) plugins in your website.

You can easily search for the plugin in the WordPress plugin directory. The plugin directory comes with thousands of free plugins. The official plugin directory looks something like:

As you can see in the above image, you can find all the featured plugins as you scroll down the page. You can also easily find the most popular plugin options, by clicking on the “Popular” tab and so on. Being able to find free to use plugins from one single destination is indeed good for beginners, but the overwhelming number of plugins makes it difficult to pick the best plugin.

Now, let's move ahead to understanding some key aspects to choose the best WP plugin worth considering.

Key Aspects For Selecting a WordPress Plugin Worth Exploring

The best way to know which plugin you should download for your website is to compare the plugins based on information like ratings, reviews, compatibility, etc. In this section, we'll be talking about some of the most important factors you should take into account to decide which plugin will best suit your needs. 

1. Do not scour over the net to get your desired plugin.

Yes, you heard that right! Most of the WordPress users have a habit of scouring the net to learn about the best WP plugins. But, amidst thousands of search results, finding an appropriate plugin for your site can be a tedious process. Instead, one best way to find a good plugin is to know if any bugs are found in a plugin (especially the one you would like to use for your site). To do so, simply head to the plugin's support page on wordpress.org.

The support page for the plugin won't only show the bugs that have been reported by other plugin users, but will also help answer your queries (if any) relating to a WordPress plugin.

2. Be wary of using disallowed plugins.

While a plugin does help in extending a site's functionality, there are a few plugins that can slow down your site because of using excess resources. These kind of plugins are banned from being used on sites. You can know about such plugins, by looking at the WP Engine list of disallowed plugins.

Make sure not use any plugins on the list, as they're banned since WP Engine provides all of the features (offered by different plugins) themselves like caching, creating backups, etc.

3. Consider using plugins of well-established contributors.

Lastly, it's worth looking at who developed the plugin you want to install on your site. Check out if the plugin author is a well-established member of the WordPress community or not. In addition, do make sure if the plugin creator is a contributor to the WordPress core, have they authored other well-regarded plugins and so on. You can find the profile of plugin authors in the WordPress.org plugin repository.

4. How many times a plugin has been downloaded?

The first thing you should consider when choosing a plugin is the number of times it has been downloaded (also referred to as active installs). The more a plugin will be downloaded, the more popular it will be. A popular plugin is the one that best fit users' needs, is well-maintained by its developer, have fewer or no issues and works well compared to the plugins that are downloaded only a few times. 

For example, as you can see when the two shortcode generator plugins, i.e. Shortcodes Ultimate and Easy Bootstrap Shortcode are compared based on the number of downloads, the former one with 4 lakh active installs beat the second plugin with 40 thousand active installs. 

5. Which plugin has a good user rating?

Another key factor that will help you decide which plugin is better compared to other available options in the similar category is to check out the Plugin Ratings give by users. The classic star rating of 1 out of 5 stars is used to rate a plugin; the plugin getting 5 out of 5 stars is the most popular and high-quality plugin. It is advised that you should avoid using a plugin having a low rating (ideally less than 3-star rating) unless it's a new plugin that is yet to be explored by users.

You can check a plugin's rating from the main plugin directory window, as shown in the screen shot below:

Also, you can view the rating of a plugin given by users by opening a plugin page:

6. Which WordPress version the plugin supports?

Not all the plugins will support the latest version of the WordPress platform. And so, make sure that the plugin you want to use is compatible with your WordPress website. In case, the selected plugin does not work on the latest or old version of your website, then it won't possibly work on your WP site's version.

You can know about whether a plugin will work well on your website version or not, by checking out the “Requires WordPress version“ option given in the sidebar section of a plugin page:

7. Read user reviews on a plugin.

One clear way to determine if a plugin can help meet your website needs or not, is to read about users' experiences about the plugin. Reading user reviews regarding a plugin will make you understand things like how a plugin helps in solving an issue or what kind of functionality it adds to a WordPress install.


Final Words

Through this post, I've tried to cover the most crucial aspects that you should consider when you're about to select a plugin for your WordPress site. You can decide on choosing a plugin by viewing the times a plugin has been downloaded, or by seeing the ratings and reviews given by other WP users. Though the above discussed factors might not help you in choosing 100 percent perfect plugin for your site, but will definitely let you make an informed decision.

Note: Avoid choosing a plugin that hasn't been updated since a long time.

Need of Custom PSD to WordPress Coding

When you are about to enter into the web development world to take your business on mobile you need to remember that crux of developing an incredible website , which is: Firstly, make the design interface attractive yet not a maze for the users. Secondly, make sure that the code for your website is quite functional and efficient.


Both these components work in together to render an incredible websites and one is incomplete without the other and you cannot cut slack in any of the two if you want to have a good website.

May people think that creating a good web design is a matter of sheer technical expert but it is quite an artistic job which requires great creative acumen which is quite a rare species;


However the other phase of web design which is converting it into intuitive web enabled components require you to have brilliant coding skills and a strong grasp on web languages such as HTML, PHP, CSS and JavaScript.


This brings to us the conclusion that creating a PSD image of your design is quite an easy but technically coding it into a workable and functional website is an arduous task.

WordPress is a blessing for those who do not have a good hand at programming, being an open source community has gifted or, an open source tool for developing websites quickly and is quite an effective content management system which is great user friendly quotient and can be used efficiently to create a quality website.


Though it is quite easy, but you need to focus on WordPress web development process as it is no cake walk to create a custom website. Those who are not sure about how to go about the process of PSD to WordPress Conversion can read along to get a lucid picture:


Step 1: Slice your PSD images



The process of PSD to WordPress conversion begins with slicing. Slicing implies cutting and dividing the design file of an image into several small files designs in which they will have different component of the holistic design. This process holds quite an important as no one can code the complete design in one single image. One single web design is a unit that comprises of multiple images interviewer seamlessly, and each and every component and design feature render a purpose and functionality of its own.



Step 2: Style.css and Index.html



Following that step is the coding process in which the sliced images are coded into HTML or XHTML web format and designers use CSS to style them. For this process the designers need to have strong hold on languages such as CSS and HTML.


To accomplish this purpose developers make softwares such as Fireworks and Dreamweaver, which are developed to create websites, however on top of it, it is totally dependent on the programmer what they prefer to use.


Step 3: Creating WordPress Theme



When it comes to the process of developing a WordPress website it is actually converting the WordPress theme which is then uploaded into a WordPress software.


Which means the prime focus of converting a PSD image to WordPress process implies to create a PSD image into a WordPress theme and then after making it functional using the tools and plugins to make it a fully functional website.


Thus in order to develop an extremely intelligent WordPress website, you need to design your basic HTML file as per the basic file structure of WordPress theme’s and then breaking down your HTML file into multiple HTML files that fits into the structure of the file.



WordPress comprises of several PHP files for instance Header.php,archive.php, Index.php, Footer.php, page.php, single.php, category.php,Sidebar.php, 404.php, search.php, comments-popup.php and comments.php.



Step 4: WordPress tags


WordPress offers numerous intrinsic functions that one can leverage to add basic functionalities onto your WordPress theme. This do not requires the developer to deal with complex HTML codes. All you need to do is to just incorporate inbuilt functions of WordPress into your theme files and incorporate the requisite functionality to get your job done.



Step 5: Make it functional


As we have now completed the task of creating and activating a theme, you can get to see the complete benefit of your WordPress CMS platform. For those who wish to get any other functionality in their website, or alter a functionality that already you need to just install a plugin or can use the WordPress dashboard to alter the existing structure.

What's In A Store Of WordPress 4.5 Version?

WordPress 4.5, is the next upcoming version of WordPress that is already in development phase and is targeted  to release in the month of April 2016 that is already been set by WordPress team. According to the update, in the month of February 24, 2016, WordPress version 4.5 Beta 1 has been released in the market  and is now accessible to users to download for the purpose of testing.  We just got to see the latest release of WordPress 4.4 with its latest security as well as maintenance version of WordPress 4.4.1 that was released earlier. Working with WordPress alteration process needs an immoderate hard work to make it function in proper ways

Coming to the core development team that has published a brief project agenda referencing the release of WordPress version 4.5 in the month of April 2016; but, according to the WordPress team, the current target release date version 4.5 of WordPress is April 12, 2016. The beta version 1 of WordPress 4.5 is currently scheduled to release by the end of February 2017, and it is great news to know that its three more beta versions are in sync in the releasing process.



Below here is given a planned chart that defines the project schedule for WordPress version 4.5.

Mike Schroder, who is known for WordPress core developer is handling  the release lead for the WordPress version 4.5 and will be well helped by two other release assistants: Mel Choyce and Adam Silverstein. The project schedule that is presented above clearly defines that all new enhancements as well as feature requests  of WordPress version 4.5 definitely needs to be added by the release of Beta 1 version.

All the latest WordPress features are initially prepared as a plug-in and are efficiently managed to be merged properly in the core over the course of alteration stage. There are surely ample of WordPress 4.5 features, but there are few features that are worth mentioning that are implemented to be worked on and surely has made it to discussions in the opening meeting that comprises the following list:

• Betterments with the theme customizer section that includes features such as customize pane resizer tool and customize device preview panel.
• Enhancement of Post Editing process and Publishing activity
• Fixing up of image compression process in the core sector
• Enhancement of HTTPs to fix integrated content sections

Well, apart from above improvement plans of WordPress, I feel that there are various other updated features that are currently taken forward as plug-ins and already offers am exciting look to users. They are:

Two-Factor Authentication mode

 
Background Image Cropper – Enables easy cropping of all types of background images in the Customizer section that are quite similar to header images.

Next we proceed to discuss about Shiny update features that help WordPress users to – remove every ugly scraps of updating plug-ins as well as themes. 

WP Toolbar Experiments are defined as essential UX adjustment properties to the WordPress toolbar. 

WordPress REST API version 2 is defined as one of the complete version of WordPress REST API section.

There are more to happen that touches various reinforced image compressions, HTTPs enhancements and the Two-Factor Authentication system for WordPress.

I hope this latest article about the release of WordPress version 4.5, will fetch you with enough idea that will discuss about all new and latest features of WordPress that will be added to this version. So, what kind of features are you expecting in WordPress 4.5 version?  Please share your comments here.

WordPress 4.5 is expected to release in April 2016

WordPress, the world's most popular blogging software is supposed to give a great surprise this new year. According to, WordPress-ism a new version 4.5 of WordPress will be released in mid of April 2016. Mike Schroder, the WordPress core developer, will be the release lead along with Mel Choyce and Adam Silverstein.

Bloggers, Writers, and WordPress Developers must have already checked the latest security and maintenance version WordPress 4.4.1 which was announced officially via WordPress blog on 6th January 2016. Now let's wait for the next surprise!

You can experience the beta-1 version of WordPress 4.5 in February itself, and  three more beta versions are expected to be released before the final release candidate. 

Check out the chart showing the project schedule for WordPress version 4.5.

The few essential features that are expected shall be: 

1. Improvements with customizer that shall include customize pane resizer and customize device preview.
2. Improvements in post edit and publishing process.
3. Improvements in core compression of images.
4. HTTPs improvements to fix mixed content.

According to the project schedule for 4.5 version, new enhancements and feature requests will need to be added by the release of Beta 1 version. All the new features will be first worked on as plugins and will be decided to merge in the core over the course of development.

The call for feature plugins is beginning early, this time, around and a Feature
Plugin chat is scheduled for Tuesday, January 12, 2016, 3:00 PM CST. The main
purpose of the early chat is for plugins that believe they are ready for merge, and to start up new ones for future releases. Those who have ideas and plugins to put forward will have an opportunity to get feedback from other contributors.

Additionally, some new features, which are currently used as Plugins are: 

- Two-Factor Authentication for WordPress
- Background Image Cropper– It will enable cropping of background images in the Customizer, similar to the header images.
 - Shiny Updates – It removes the ugly bits of updating plugins and themes.
- WP Toolbar Experiments– some potential UX changes to the WordPress toolbar.
- WordPress REST API (Version 2)

Now let's see what how will the team maintain momentum and how 4.5 version will be executed according to the project scheduled.

WordPrax – Your Trusted HTML to WordPress Conversion Service Provider

WordPrax Ltd. is a highly recognized name in the web industry known for offering quality HTML to WordPress conversion services. With more than 10 years of experience and backed by adroit and technically proficient professionals, WordPrax strives to provide WordPress development and customization services that ensures your business growth and betterment. So far, the company has successfully completed over 50,000 projects and continue to deliver cutting-edge development solutions in-vogue demands. WordPress experts ensures to deliver quality-driven and out-of-the-box solutions that help our clients achieve a strong online identity and market presence.

The company provides various services such as:

PSD to WordPress Conversion: Converting PSD to WordPress theme has become the standard way to develop unique looking WP sites with enhanced functionalities. That's because, it gives the ability to create a website theme that is tailored to suit your specific needs.

WordPress Theme Customization: If you have selected a pre-built theme or simply want to customize your already existing WordPress theme, hiring our WordPress Theme Customization will help address your website needs in the most efficient manner possible. 
WordPress Plugin Development Services: The number of plugins that WordPress offers is one of the biggest reasons that makes it so popular among people. But, what if any available WP plugin (whether free or premium plugin) can't meet your particular needs? In that case, it is recommended that you must consider developing a custom plugin using WordPrax Plugin development services.
WordPress Custom Development: No matter whatever your customization needs may be, WordPrax – WordPress Custom Development can help meet your expectations with efficiency. Using this service, you can customize your current theme or develop a new one as you deem perfect.

You can hire dedicated WordPress developers at WordPrax for for affordable price of $18 per hour.

To know more about the company, you can visit their website wordprax.com or send your queries at  sales@wordprax.com.