Teach Yourself Visually WordPress by Janet Majure My rating: 2 of 5 stars This book is for absolute beginners looking for the most basic essentials of WordPress. If you've graduated from beginner to amateur or above, there's not much for you here. I also wasn't a fan of the cartoony robot pictures infesting the book. […]
Smashing WordPress by Thord Hedengren My rating: 3 of 5 stars This book is for the experienced WordPress designer, not the beginner. Although it does touch on some WordPress essentials, it's mostly a how-to guide for creating WordPress themes and plugins, and generally bending WordPress to your will. The book is laid out well, with […]
Design and Launch an Online Web Design Business by Jason Rich My rating: 3 of 5 stars My long-term goal is for OptimWise to become a web design firm, creating and promoting websites for small businesses. I've been looking for the best books about succeeding in the web design business. I wasn't very impressed by […]
How to Open & Operate a Financially Successful Web Site Design Business: With Companion CD - ROM by Charlotte Evans My rating: 3 of 5 stars After meeting with a few local web designers a few weeks ago, I was inspired to accelerate my plans to move OptimWise into web design. I know how to […]
Note: DownOrNot.com is offline. DownForEveryoneOrJustMe.com is still online. When a website won't load for me, my first question is, "is the site really down, or is it just me?" I use DownOrNot.com to check. It uses a monitoring network to check the site from several different locations, then determines if the site is actually up […]
Update: here's my latest list of WordPress podcasts. These are the best WordPress podcasts I've found so far. Please share your favorites in the comments!
The best way I've found to post audio files (such as MP3s) to WordPress.com sites is to upload the files to the Internet Archive, then link to them from your WordPress.com post. The Internet Archive offers free media hosting, with no file size or bandwidth limits, as far as I could find. You could also […]
When I run across a website that's visually appealing, functional, and fast, I like to find out what technology powers that site. I've found BuiltWith.com a helpful resource for finding this information. Enter a website address, and BuiltWith lists return's the site's Technology Profile. This profile includes details such as the server software, analytics platform, blog […]
Want to know what web host is hosting a particular website? Maybe you're shopping for a web host, or you're just curious who hosts your favorite websites. I use WhoIsHostingThis.com, which answers the question its name poses. Simply type in the website address, and WhoIsHostingThis.com will try to tell you who the host is, as […]
Browser plugins are small programs that enhance your browser. For example, the Flash plugin allows you to play Flash games and watch video on sites like YouTube, and the Adobe Reader plugin lets you open PDFs in your browser. As with any software, it's crucial that you keep your plugins up-to-date. Plugins are often updated […]
Once upon a time, small businesses got along fine without the Internet. They relied on word-of-mouth and traditional media (newspapers, TV, radio) to help customers find them. As the years went by, small business owners discovered they were losing market share to competitors who had basic websites (essentially digital business cards) to direct customers to […]
Think for a second of how many links to websites you see each day. They come through email, Facebook, and Google search results. Especially if you don't recognize the name of the website, how do you know it's safe to visit? Google provides a first line of defense for search results by warning you of […]
