On Becoming a WordPress Professional

How does one become a certified WordPress professional indeed? Earning your stripes as a WordPress professional does not come from a course you enroll in and study for X number of years in your regular university. Neither do you get a degree or a diploma for the numerous WordPress conferences, seminars or webinars you attend. In truth, becoming a WordPress professional is not age bound, race bound, location bound, language bound or educational background bound. One key ingredient is the willingness to learn, make mistakes, and learn all over again.

Many current WordPress professionals and practitioners did not start out as such. Perhaps some have come out from the corporate world and taken a radical sabbatical from their daily grind while others probably started out in their dorm room or garage. Maybe others began tinkering with WordPress while they were in their teens while some are going through a second wind in their careers. The Internet has this built-in democratic leveling quality where anyone can make it regardless. Since the year is about to end, maybe some of you are considering a quiet change or transition into something else – a new career path of sorts. You don’t necessarily have to be a developer or a designer to be a WordPress professional. Here are a few options for you to think of if you are considering a shift into the exciting world of WordPress:

Developer

Web development is the back-end of the website, the programming and interactions on the pages. A web developer focuses on how a site works and how the customers get things done on it. Good web developers know how to program CGI and scripts like PHP. They understand about how web forms work and can keep a site running effectively.A good web developer will have excellent programming skills and be able to use a range of programming tools. He or she will be able to provide solutions to give a website the functions required. Web developers will use a range of programming tools such as ASP, Javascript, XML and SQL. The focus is more on the backend and the functionality of the site.

Designer (Themes)

Web design determines the look and feel of a website. It covers the layout, navigation and colors of a website. Web design is more concerned with aesthetics and user experience than functions. A web designer will make a website easy to use and fit for purpose. A good web designer will have graphic design skills and a good understanding of marketing. He or she will know how to grab the attention of visitors and encourage them to explore a website. A web designer is concerned with how a site looks and how the customers interact with it. Good web designers know how to put together the principles of design to create a site that looks great. They also understand about usability and how to create a site that customers want to navigate around in.

Developer (Plugins and Widgets)

Plug-ins and widgets are a great way to enhance the functionality of your site by adding in extra features. These can be placed anywhere inside your template by function hooks. You can start creating and eventually selling stand-alone plugins that add value to existing or new themes.

Support Professional

One of the most common deficiencies in the WordPress themes marketplace is the lack of or absence of theme support. You can start a career by being part of a support team that is responsible for providing after-sales support to customers who have purchased specific themes.

Consultant/Marketing

Providing consultancy services, networking, and hooking up clients with designers and developers is another option to becoming a WordPress Professional. Many times, a lot of great designers do poorly sales-wise because of a lack of marketing skills. You can offer your services to acts as a marketing consultant to WordPress designers and developers who have little or no time to do the marketing themselves.

Blogger/ Theme Description Writer

With the explosion of WordPress themes in the marketplace, there is very little difference between one theme to the next and a lot of them look like clones. You can offer your services as a writer to create a marketing hook for designers and developers who would rather write code than a marketing spiel.

Documentation Writer

Providing appropriate and useful detailed documentation that is easy to understand even by WordPress beginners is another option. Transcribing the installation and setting up process in easy to follow steps adds value to the theme and a well written piece will mean less resources spent on support.

WordPress Trainor

If you have acquired a certain level of proficiency in WordPress and you are confident enough about what you know, you can also try going into teaching and training.

These are just a few ideas to think of as you consider starting or shifting to a career as a WordPress professional.

10 Useful WordPress Add-ons for Firefox

Almost in all our blog posts we need to add external links, images, etc. to enhance the quality of our posts. The traditional method to do that is to first write the complete article and then search for the relevant data on the Internet and, when found, insert it in the blog post. But you can save a lot of time by using the Zemanta WordPress add-on. If Zemanta is installed and you are writing an article in WordPress then the add-on displays relevant articles, links and images that match with your text and you can choose which ones to insert right from the WordPress dashboard. Zemanta will also display the attribution details of the image. Obviously this is a great help in your blogging journey.

This is just one example on how add-ons can help you in blogging. If you want more of these fantastic add-ons then you have come to the right place. In this article I present you  10 useful WordPress add-ons for Firefox.

The add-ons collected below have different purposes. For example Deepest Sender, can be used to post to your WordPress website even when you are on a different page. This can be of a great help when,  you are reading an article on the Internet and you think you can build upon the idea presented there in a better way. All you have to do is to hit Ctrl+ and you will be in your WordPress dashboard and can start typing.

So scroll down and find which one suits you best.

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Rules of Engagement – Writing to Engage your Audience

Content is the lifeblood of the information age and attracting the audience you want is only a result of the content you provide. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. The popularity of your blog is highly dependent on the quality of “pudding” you provide.

Below is a list of articles that may be helpful to those who want their content to be more engaging:

8 Great Blog Writing Ideas for Engaging Content (Amanda diSilvestro)

This article outlines ways to engage the audience based on the premise that people comment in order to disagree. This writing style should involve a good understanding of the audience and a deliberate introduction of controversy into the post. The post usually ends with a question and begins with a question.

5 writing tips for engaging your blog audience (Laryssa Wirstiuk)

To engage your audience, your post has to be written such that narrations are as concrete and specific as possible. This appeals to an audience that has itching ears for a beautiful story. In addition, writing has to be in conversational-dialog fashion, as opposed to a monologue or lecture. It incorporates the use of thought provoking quotes, good transitions and appropriate multimedia.

How to write engaging blogs people want to read – (Beanstalk, Inc.)

People go to the internet primarily to seek information, to find meaning or engage in a dialogue rather than to be lectured upon. A good blogger must be aware of this and must address his/her audience directly. Writing must be active and made up of shorter sentences to sustain reader interest. The general objective is to help out a “neighbor” seeking information rather than to write a self-absorbed literary soliloquy.

How to write great blog content @Problogger

Sometimes all you need to start is a finger to point you in the right direction. This is a great resource shares different resources on how to: get started writing, explore different writing techniques, establish your own writing workflow, find and sustain your motivation, and make your blog stand out by following basic content creation principles.

78 Reasons To Join Elegant Themes

Since around 2008, Elegant Themes has been producing beautiful, and well designed WordPress themes. Each theme has always been a balance between beauty and function.We have always felt that for a website to have a substantial following on the web, it also has to look good on top of working well. Visitors are first drawn to the visual and each theme must be a feast for the eyes. After that initial encounter, they need to be able to find what they are looking for with ease. The experience must be pleasant as this will determine whether they will stay beyond the 30-second time frame and continue going through your content, whether it be reading text posts, watching videos or looking at images. By that time, these visitors need to be fully persuaded that they need to keep coming back for more or eventually subscribe to stay up to date.

Elegant Theme’s latest theme release, Origin, embodies this design and function philosophy. The visuals are indeed stunning and undoubtedly beautiful. As you go through the theme’s demo, it is as equally delightful to discover little design elements and functionalities carefully and thoughtfully dispersed throughout the theme.

Prior to the release of the Origin theme, Elegant Themes also released the business theme Nimble. Nimble’s bold and beautiful play on whitespace and typography created a very professional looking and yet creative theme. The mixture of bold fonts and mildly subdued colors provide a relaxed, calming effect even if the theme were to be used for a business website. Color coordinated sections on the homepage help direct readers to sections most important to them. What is most notable with this theme is the sophistication in managing the amount of detail presented to visitors. The home page does not cram all the information but rather presents design elements in samples, snippets and teasers to whet the appetite of the visitors.

These two themes are part of the growing inventory of 78 and are representative of the quality of themes that Elegant Themes churns. Not only are all 78 themes aesthetically outstanding but they are all also functionally excellent in keeping with WordPress code standards. Nothing pretentious. Just good design and honest code. More than a million and a half customers speak for itself.

If you are on the fence and still thinking of one good reason to sign up with Elegant Themes, you already have two – Origin Premium WordPress Theme and Nimble Premium WordPress Theme. Imagine having access to all 78 themes – 78 reasons to create stunning websites for you and your clients. Membership starts at only $39, approximately $.49/theme. Even a Happy Meal costs more. With Elegant Themes membership, you will definitely bring happiness to your clients and put a smile on their faces because they simply can’t help “Lovin’ It!”

Join Elegant Themes for Only $39

The Beginner’s Guide to Learn Almost Everything About WordPress

So you’ve been blogging for quite sometime now and you’ve been posting random personal and business stuff on one of those free hosted sites. Everything has been going on well so far until one day this free hosted site suddenly announces that it is shutting down and all your content including all your contacts, posts and thousands of images will no longer be available after a certain date. Horrors! You now scramble to download every last post you’ve made and backup all your data before the clock strikes twelve or else everything disappears forever. Have you ever had that happen to you?

And then you stumbled upon WordPress. The thing is you know very little about it and so you start googling about it which is also probably why you ended up here and you are now reading this post. You want to know more.

Below are some useful resources to help jumpstart your WordPress journey. These resources are mainly aimed towards the novice or beginner level so WordPress savvy professionals might find some of these a bit elementary. Nevertheless, these references can someday come in handy whether you are a beginner or a true blue WordPress guru. We would also like to ask our readers to join the conversation by leaving a comment, any helpful suggestions or additional resources to add to our list.

For those who are about to begin their WordPress journey, check out these resources we have compiled to help you get started:

Websites to Bookmark

  • WordPress.com – A blog web hosting service (free) powered by the open source WordPress software. A good starting point on how to learn the how WordPress actually works at the backend and also to familiarize yourself with running a WordPress site. You can always upgrade to Premium status once you know your way.
  • wpmu.org – The number one source for WordPress news, tips, plugins, and theme reviews.
  • WPBeginner.com – A WordPress resource site providing quality tips, tricks, hacks and other resources for the WordPress community.
  • Speckyboy.com – Web design magazine that offers tutorials, time-saving techniques, inspiration, and useful resources for the web including WordPress.
  • wp.tutsplus.com – A site dedicated to teaching people how to use WordPress, develop widgets, plugins and themes.

Books to Read

Channels/Videos to Watch

  • WordPress.tv – A visual resource for all things WordPress including tutorials, updates, and the latest news.
  • WordCamp.tv – Presentations, highlights, and behind-the-scenes look at WordCamps around the world.
  • Lynda.com – Online courses and tutorials on anything WordPress.
  • StudioPress.tv – Step by step video tutorials for the Genesis Framework for WordPress.
  • Youtube WordPress tutorials

Authors/Developers to Follow

Straight from the Source

  • WordPress.org – the ultimate source for all things WordPress.

There are so many resources out there and so many tutorials that can help you get started. These are just a few to help point you in the right direction.

Free WordPress Themes 2013: Trends

Free WordPress themes have come a long way since Kubrick. Twenty Ten, Twenty Eleven, and the latest – Twenty Twelve – is the newest Kubrick as far as Free WordPress themes go. Twenty Twelve is the current default WordPress theme.

Let’s take a look at some of the features of this free default WordPress theme:

  • Front Page Template where you can add text, images, video
  • Responsive, Mobile-first Layout
  • Custom ”Open Sans” Font
  • Custom post formats: links, quotes, asides, statuses, images
  • Widgets and No-sidebar layout
  • Custom menu, custom header image, custom background color and image
  • Multi columns
  • Sidebar
  • Flexible width
  • Editor style
  • Flexible header
  • Featured images
  • Full width template
  • Post formats
  • Sticky post
  • Theme options
  • Infinite Scroll

Those are a lot of features coming from a free WordPress theme, don’t you think? And most of these features are what you also get from a lot of Premium WordPress themes. If we use Twenty Twelve as our standard, what then can we expect in 2013, as far as Free WordPress themes are concerned?

  • All of the features listed above will become standard features
  • More Premium-like features
  • eCommerce options
  • Typography options
  • Drag and drop options
  • Page-builder options
  • More Single Page Themes
  • Free themes for email, mobile, etc.
  • HTML5 and CSS3 and adhering to WordPress Coding standards

Many WordPress themes authors, providers and developers give away free themes as samples of their work. These samples, albeit free, are not necessarily inferior to Premium themes being sold in the marketplace. In truth, some of them are even better (or Best – shameless plug). The fact that these free samples are marketing tools to introduce these new authors to the market should be a weighty incentive for them to release high quality products that will catch the attention of WordPress professionals who are always on the lookout for something fresh.

WordPress Theme Marketplaces 2013: Trends

A good way to spot emerging trends in the WordPress themes market would be to look at the behaviour of theme marketplaces like Themeforest, Mojo Themes and other boutique WordPress marketplaces. Here are some of our observations of what is currently ongoing and our take on what is to be:

Themeforest – The WordPress Marketplace Giant

With about 2500 themes in its inventory, Themeforest is probably the largest theme marketplace there is. Collis Ta’eed, founder of Envato which runs Themeforest, observed that the main trends on theme sales for 2012 have been: responsive, e-commerce and app themes (themes that have app like functionalities).

These trends are indeed reflective of trends observed by developers in the industry. With mobile platforms taking their place as the new mainstream it is just fitting to find responsive themes becoming more of a necessity rather than a trend.

The introduction of Jigoshop and WooCommerce plugins are making people realize the viability of turning WordPress themes into robust e-commerce solutions.

Specialized app themes will remain and will continue to flourish because of the specific niches they service. These niche WordPress app themes will continue to evolve as the themes market matures.

Mojo-themes and other WordPress Boutique shops

A look at the top 10 sellers on Mojo Themes similarly shows 4/10 themes are already responsive indicating that the trend towards mobile friendly themes is indeed a phenomenon. Their top selling theme is an e-commerce theme validating the emergence of WordPress as an e-commerce solution. The rest of the themes are multi-purpose or portfolio themes which target professionals, small or medium scale businesses and corporations.

Boutique theme shops and clubs such as StudioPress, Thematic, Press75, iThemes, WooThemes, Templatic and many others continue to thrive with their own loyal following.

Outlook for 2013

Major and minor WordPress theme marketplace vendors are experiencing the trends towards responsive themes and e-commerce. The question is how will these trends influence these marketplaces as they prepare for 2013 and beyond?

It is our opinion that responsive themes will continue to be in high demand as the transition to mobile platforms is still ongoing. About 6.1B mobile subscriptions are still yet to convert to internet ready smartphone subscriptions. The recent introduction of WooCommerce and Jigoshop indicates that the market is also only in the early stages of adaptation and mainstreaming of this technology. 2013 will be a year for continued acceptance as more sites exploit the democratization of e-commerce with these two plugins. Perhaps more eCommerce plugins will be introduced into the market and WordPress users will have more options and solutions to choose from.With a big year ahead for responsive themes and e-commerce, developers now have to bid for the best products to serve these markets as well as look at what lies ahead in 2014.

As ThemeForest continues its commitment to evolve and improve its review standards on what WordPress themes are made available in the marketplace we can expect higher quality WordPress themes that will satisfy even the strictest Code gurus out there. The renewed commitment to become more involved in the WordPress community is also a welcome move that will surely benefit us all.

WooThemes: The Reboot

Just this month, WooThemes introduced a club revamp and implemented new tiered licensing and support packages. Previously you could purchase one theme for $70. With it you get 2 bonus themes plus lifetime support. Now, with the new tiered licensing scheme, WooThemes introduces 3 more packages in addition to its Standard Package offering: the Developer Theme Package, the Standard Club Package, and the Developer Club Package.

Standard Package – $70

WooThemes retains this package everyone has gotten used to. You still get the theme you want with unlimited domain usage plus two other themes of your choice. Previously, however, you got lifetime support for your purchased theme while in the new scheme only 1 year of support is included. WooThemes has explained that revenues gotten from the initial purchase 3 years ago will not sustain the support services obtained during the lifetime of the product. Users have the option to purchase lifetime support service for an additional $30. This package does not include PSD files.

Developer Package – $150

This package is similar to the Standard package. You get unlimited domain usage for the theme you purchased plus 3 other themes. The Developer package includes PSD files for additional customization capabilities. Service is likewise for 1 year with the option for lifetime support for an additional $30.

Standard Club Package – $20 per month + $125 start-up fee

This package gives you access to all 82 themes in the WooThemes inventory with unlimited domain uses as well as an additional of at least 1 theme a month. It gives you access to support services as long as membership is current. This package does not include access to PSD files.

Developer Club Package – $25 per month + $200 start-up fee

This package also gives you access to all 82 themes in the WooThemes inventory with unlimited domain uses as well as an additional of at least 1 theme a month. PSD files are included with this package. Support access available as long as membership is current.

Similarly extensions of the popular WooCommerce plugin are now under a tiered licensing scheme. You can purchase single site use, usage for up to 5 sites or unlimited site usage.

While a lot of folks have accepted the changes in WooThemes some have expressed dissatisfaction with the new setup. One user stated that from his point of view WooThemes jacked the prices up and lowered the support quality. Another user lamented the shutting down of support forums as support is not email based in response to the new system. The majority of users, however, still think WooThemes needs to do what is necessary to sustain its business in response to the growth the WordPress industry.

Sometimes, in order for businesses to survive in an ever evolving business environment, changes have to be undertaken to ensure the viability and profitability of such. Otherwise, to remain in business without profitability is a futile endeavor. Any change, especially in businesses, does not happen at a whim. Surely, the people behind WooThemes have put in the thought process before they arrived at their new scheme. The tricky part is in the area of providing support and for how long. Unless there is a guarantee that every theme that comes out of WooThemes is fail-proof (all things remaining constant) up to a certain point, no matter how many updates and plugins come out, – people will still expect to receive support. And if they don’t they will simply switch providers. It’s as simple as that.

See the WooThemes Reboot

3 Top Photography Templates for WordPress

Check out some of the latest photography templates in the WordPress market today:

The Folio Elements WordPress Theme by Press75

Folio Elements Premium WordPress Theme is a video/photography theme that would be great for photographers who simply want to create an online gallery of their photos and videos using WordPress. Folio Elements is a fun and fresh theme. This is not a cookie cutter theme and it is a departure from the typical photo/video theme but its design and code quality cannot be dismissed. This responsive WordPress theme is translation ready and is also a fully responsive theme which means that your site & photos will look amazing on any device. It is always refreshing to see something different in the WP themes market. Jason Schuller’s avant garde approach to design is evident in all his themes (this one included) and is always a welcome intermission to the regular programming.

Folio Elements Theme: $75 | Demo & Download

MediaBook Multimedia WordPress Theme from ThemeForest

MediaBook Premium WordPress Theme is a wonderful and unique theme that can be used by photographers and creative professionals. If you need a theme that combines Minimalism and Focus/Simplicity and Function into one, then MediaBook is an excellent solution for you. If you’ve had big, flashy, slider overload, MediaBook is a sight for sore eyes. This easy to setup premium WordPress theme delivers the goods straight to the point. Some of the key features of this theme are: Dynamic Content Loading, Global Loop Showcase System, accepts Multimedia Content, can be configured as a Blog or as a Single Page site, and the Gallery can be color customized if you prefer to. If you want to try something different and fresh, check out MediaBook today.

MediaBook Theme: $40 | Demo & Download

Photographer Theme by Organic Themes

Are you a professional photographer looking for a complete online solution for your photography business? Would you like to be able to do more than just showcase your photographic skills and portfolio on your website and be able to sell your prints as well? If that is you, then take a look at this fully responsive WordPress theme from Organic themes simply named Photographer Theme. Not only can you showcase your images and multiple portfolios in a professional manner, you also can take advantage of the built-in WooCommerce functionalities to sell turning your simple online gallery into a full-blown money making site as well. Most photography templates are simply online galleries to display images. With Photographer Theme, not only do you have full control of your images, you also have full control over your earnings as well. Check out Photographer Theme by Organic Themes today.

Photographer Theme: $69 | Demo & Download