Category
Technology
Own Your Plugins (Rather Than Vice Versa)
Last time we looked at why you want to rely on plugins for adding functionality to your WordPress site, rather than letting your theme do the heavy lifting for you. Flexibility is the word! At the same time, it’s very easy to go plugin-happy and install way more than you need on your site. Every… Read more
Plug It In, Plug It In
Today’s lesson deals with an issue that is endemic to WordPress, so we’ll stray from our usual general-interest Web topics for just a moment and focus on this one issue on this one platform. A few weeks back we briefly alluded to a best practice on WordPress sites, concerning whether advanced functionality like e-commerce should… Read more
Cool New Features of WordPress 3.6
Things are a little hectic at MWD Web this week, so today’s post is a short one. We’re doggedly committed to posting every week, though, so by gum we’re going to post! The team of developers behind WordPress released their latest version, 3.6, earlier this month. We’ve had a few weeks now to play around… Read more
Safe and Secure
By now we’ve seen that there’s a lot that goes into getting an e-commerce store online. And we’ve only just started scratching the surface! Before we close the book on this crash course, there’s one more thing we have left to address: the security of your payment processing system. Anyone who places an order on… Read more
Pay Up!
Once you’ve decided on which platform to build your e-commerce venture on, you’ll also need to decide how you’ll accept payments for your stuff. The obvious answer is by credit card, but there are a few other possibilities to be aware of as well. Check/Money Order Some customers don’t like using their credit cards for… Read more
How to Sell My Stuff?
Last week we looked at the pros and cons of selling products online. In this and the rest of the posts in this series, we’ll assume you’ve made the decision to tackle e-commerce, and that you’re going to be selling through your own Web site as opposed to renting space on someone else’s site. Our… Read more
Editing Your Pictures
In the last three weeks we’ve seen that it’s a very good idea to have pictures on your blog; looked at ways to think of unique and interesting images to use; and explored options for where to find said images. So now that you’ve got that perfect picture picked out, it’s time to get it… Read more
Mobilize Your Site, or Suffer the Consequences
Last week Google made a big announcement that might affect you. What it boils down to is this: if your site is not mobile-friendly, your rankings on Google’s mobile search will suffer. We’ve been harping on the need to give your mobile visitors a good experience, and this announcement only solidifies our position. What does… Read more
Oil Changes for Your Web Site
Last week we painted a word picture comparing a Web site to a car. You can drive your site well enough if it’s built on a content management system, but most business owners (like car owners) lack the technical know-how to handle the required upkeep. Oil changes, tune-ups, tire rotations, all those little things that… Read more
The Web Garage
Last week we mentioned that a Web site is a complex organism. This week, an illustration of just how complex… Take a moment and go out to your garage. Put your key in the ignition, and turn it. What happens? Unless you’ve got a broken down hoopty, the engine magically roars to life. Now take… Read more