We needed to add the Bridge – Creative Multi-Purpose WordPress Theme meta boxes to a custom post type. This article helped to get us started but there were a few edits, updates, and clarifications as well. Read more
Adobe Kuler
Choosing colors for a web, logo, or creative project in general is a step of first importance. Adobe® Kuler helps. Use the iOS App alongside the website for inspiration and color combos you’re bound to be glad to explore. Read more
Jolidrive
Jolidrive is a simple and elegant way to access your online data.
There is one basic question the guys have attempted to answer: “If the cloud is the online hard drive containing all my data, why don’t I have a simple access to it?”
Get to know Jolidrive. I think it’s worth taking a look!
All-in-One Event Calendar by Time.ly
It’s easy to see these guys have been hard at work.
The All-in-One Event Calendar is a
…user-friendly, flexible, and feature-rich plugin for publishing and promoting events on your WordPress website.
Learn how they sync Facebook Events, theme the calendar, import .ics feeds, and display the Posterboard format. We’ve been enjoying it.
Delicious – The world’s leading social bookmarking service
Delicious helps you “keep, share and discover the best of the web.”
I use it mainly for the “keep”/”remember” feature. Delicious has been home for my bookmarks since 2009, and though it’s history has been semi-rocky, it remains a valuable option for social (or non-social) bookmarking on the web. Read more
Hojoki
Update: Hojoki closed as of September 2014.
The highlights of Hojoki?
- Notifications of actvity in cloud services (i.e.Dropbox, Google Drive, Evernote) via daily briefings by email or handy iOS app.
- Workspaces that bring related things from all your apps into one space.
- Discussions and comments on every object from my apps.
In essence, modern day web projects often require sharing larger images, files and documents that aren’t suitable any more for email. It is preferable to use a service like Dropbox. Initial dilemma, however, is being notified as to when a client drops something in there. I often miss a desktop notification that the file has been put in there. Hojoki prevents that and provides a place for comments (team messaging) and collaboration on what is to be done with that file.
Check out the video – it really sums it up. Read more
Do you remember signing up for email? I was in high school. In the 90s.
Have you signed up for Twitter?
Okay, okay. I’ll take it easy. Read more
Web Inspector
There’s a little gift inside of every web browser, and it’s called the “web inspector”. Take a moment to learn about them. You’ll get to see how a website is really made.
UberMenu – WordPress Mega Menu Plugin
Uber.
denoting an outstanding or supreme example of a particular kind of person or thing
UberMenu (for WordPress)?
I fully agree. Read more
Buffer App
Timely tweets, posts, and updates; analytics, integrations, teamwork; from a web page, from your phone, from an app, from an email – they like to call it awesome.
Buffer is a smarter way to share what you want to share on Social Media.
Why use Buffer instead of regular Social Media posting?
Ah, yes. Great question.
You might be thinking to yourself, “What is going on with my mouse?! It’s moving!”
LinkedIn – it’s something I recommend if you’re in a professional field, which tends to be most working adults (teachers, business owners, authors, writers, artists, etc.).
In a perfect world, everyone would know the best things about each other at a moment’s notice, but we need resumés and recommendations to “verify” a history of honesty, excellence, and/or performance.
Officially,
LinkedIn operates the world’s largest professional network on the Internet in over 200 countries and territories.
Sometimes it’s a first step in the right direction. Sometimes, it’s a platform on which to influence.
Either way, if you’re going to be online and like the idea of “professional”, it’s a good place to start.
SugarSync
It’s helpful to at least know your options.
In a world of ever-changing technology and science, one particularly noticeable category has been the “cloud” and “syncing” data. Maybe it’s not “ever-changing” in this case as much as “still getting going”.
SugarSync is on Version 2 (November 2012). The field is continuously changing.
As they like to say, “Sync just got sweeter”:
- Access – desktop, web, mobile.
- Sync – SugarSync does not just store your data but keeps everything in sync.
- Share – file or folder sharing/collaboration.
- Backup – can backup any file on your computer.
It’s a great and competitive game out there. Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud (if you have a Mac), and others if you have the time.
If you’re looking for a clear backup solution, you might check out this post.
Skydrive
Microsoft has been busy.
I recommend you check out SkyDrive:
- 7 GB free
- Mac or PC – iPhone or Android – web login
- Syncs across devices – folder on each
- Pricing structure for upgrades in storage capacity (up to 100GB)
Like Dropbox, the folder exists on your Mac/PC. You can even place it where you like. Everything syncs. You can access it online.
Nice.
For so long we’ve been hearing about Mac OSX, Apple, iPhones, Dropbox, SugarSync, Google Drive, “Switch to a Mac”…it’s actually almost kind of nice to see some excitement with Windows 8 and the Windows Phone design and style.
And SkyDrive.
Microsoft has been busy.
AddThis | Social Sharing Plugin Platform
You’ve probably seen the little orange icon. Over 14 million domains trust AddThis.
There’s a few things I like about them and some reasons why I think you could too, as you also consider other services like DiggDigg or Shareaholic: Read more
BrandYourself
Winners of the 2012 Best Bootstrapped Startup at SXSW (South By Southwest Accelerator Competition), BrandYourself helps individuals control their personal online reputation, without spending thousands on an online reputation company.
This is a “Just For People (Not Businesses)”, Do-it-Yourself, Free (or Premium), Integrity-based (“White-Hat”), Open Service. You can check out their process and philosophy regarding SEO to see what I mean.
In a summary:
Manage your Online Reputation, Google Ranking, and Personal Branding. The free and easy way to control your own search results.
The concept might not apply to you right away, but “If you aren’t happy with what people see when they look you up on Google, BrandYourself is here to help” (NBC/ABC news).
DomainTools.com
The Domain Name System has been in existence since 1983. Though not commercially available until 1985, the domain names idea would lay the groundwork for what would grow into and become the global internet.
DomainTools helps us research and monitor the now over 200 million registered domain names.
Read more
SoundCloud | Audio Plugin Platform
So…if musicians, publishers, and businesses alike incorporate audio into WordPress sites, why is there no one plugin that is the clear winner to satisfy a world of listening?
The answer? Because there are now platforms, not plugins, that are delivering audio content around the web.
Read more
CodeCanyon
CodeCanyon, like ThemeForest and other Envato Marketplaces, has made available some complex and time-saving code at a competitive price. In their words, you can search for:
PHP, Javascript, ASP.NET and Java starting at $3.
It’s a place, especially, for the WordPress user/designer to explore premium Plugins.
Who knows, maybe an item in their marketplace will be just what you need for your next (or current) project.
Fontcase
“Fontcase: iPhoto for fonts.”
That’s how Fontcase 1.0 was introduced to the world. We loved it!
Video Hosting: YouTube & Vimeo
And so the world went viral.
Vimeo and Youtube aren’t the only two video hosting services out there, but they are the “big two” in my mind. Update: Check out the post on Wistia.
Google Voice
It’s good to know about Google Voice. Their widget and Live Chat could fit nicely into your own site, not to mention simply calling from your computer at any time during the day.
Mail Designer
First came Apple Mail Stationery and tutorials on how to create our own.
Then came the Stationery Packs from equinux – over 300 total – but were we really going to use all those?
Then MailChimp, free template layouts or professionally designed templates for customers, and a world of email expertise and advice.
And finally, the combination of them all: Mail Designer.
BuiltWith.com
Sometimes it’s cool to know what a site is built on/with.
Giving results in a list summary format, BuiltWith has come in handy with a right-click or by entering a URL.
BuiltWith is a web technology information provider, tracking over 147 million active websites and performing over 900 billion technology lookups each year, BuiltWith is a leader in the web technology research field.
Fontsquirrel: a @font-face time saver
Whoever thought of the @font-face CSS rule has the thanks of us all, whether we know it or not.
Namecheap Hosting and WordPress email with Google Apps
Trying to get your WordPress to send emails via Google Apps on a Namecheap Shared Hosting account? This post might help if the SMTP plugins didn’t do the trick.
We use and love Namecheap. We also recommend and encourage WordPress. The two are great for the groundwork of a website: domain registrar, shared hosting, and open-source (free) web software on which to build it all (and it’s fun, too).
Including Google’s Services through Google Apps is something we also like to consider and offer. The Standard Edition, with up to 10 users, is free for anyone. However, a little trick may be required if a site would like to combine Namecheap Shared Hosting, WordPress software and Google Apps.
Google Drive
We know Google offers much more than just a search engine.
Google Drive is one step closer to “anytime, anywhere” for our files that Google Docs and Dropbox (to name just two) has helped usher in.
This should be fun (and helpful)!
Google Drive. Keep everything. Share anything.
Google Analytics
Google Analytics. It’s a great place to start (and easily stay).
Google Apps
If you’re building a website or even just working with your own domain, I recommend that you consider Google Apps.
The main thing I want you to know is that using Google’s services (or “apps”) with your own domain is free for individuals and small teams of less than 10.
UPDATE
As of 12/2012 Google changed their business model to a “for-fee”. Unfortunately, most of the excitement in this post is no longer pertinent.
Google (yup, Google)
Google is a web designer’s best* and most used tool. The sheer volume of searches is overwhelming. How many millions of searches are made in a month? The answer is actually billions. Almost anything related to web design or development (learning or earning), could be initiated from Google Search. And “Search” isn’t their only service.
DISQUS Comment System
It’s not that the WordPress comment system has anything entirely lacking for a basic site, but that the DISQUS comment system adds much more.
Read more