News & Articles

• Revealing the Best Analytics Approach for WordPress Sites (managewp.com)
  Most of us want at least some idea of what our site’s stats look like. As in many areas, WordPress users have more options for analytics than most, because on top of the apps that any site owner can use, we also get plugins. In this post, I’ll compare a few of those choices. I’ll look at Google Analytics – the top service for site statistics – and see how it stacks up against two WordPress-only options: Jetpack’s WordPress.com Stats and ManageWP’s Analytics integration.
• WordPress 3.9.2 Security Release (wordpress.org)
  WordPress 3.9.2 is now available as a security release for all previous versions. We strongly encourage you to update your sites immediately.
• WordPress Core Development Updates [July 2014 Edition] (managewp.com)
  Welcome to another edition of our monthly WordPress Core updates! It’s always useful to keep tabs on what’s been going on in the Core development space. A lot has happened since our last update post so I won’t waste any time with chit-chat this month. Let’s get right down to the details, shall we?
• WordPress, Joomla and Drupal are NOT the Best CMS (www.cmscritic.com)
  As popular in name as these three open source CMS are, the fact of the matter is they are simply NOT the best CMS on the market. Check this article to find the reasons why.
• Learn to Build an Online Store With WordPress (tommcfarlin.com)
  n the post Tom is going to walk you through the process of what he did to launch The Pressware Shop and help you avoid the pitfalls that he encountered along the way.
• SchoolPress: A WordPress-Powered Open Source App for Educators and Students (wptavern.com)
  Jason Coleman, creator of the popular Paid Memberships Pro plugin, launched his new SchoolPress app in beta this week. SchoolPress is an open source WordPress-powered web app designed for educators who want to incorporate a virtual component into their online or offline classes.
• WordPress And H5P : The Future Of Rich Content? (premium.wpmudev.org)
  H5P is not your average WordPress content plugin: it is a genuinely innovative way to create, embed and share rich HTML5 content via your WordPress site. Although it’s perhaps aimed more at educational content, there are content types such as image hotspots, presentations and timelines that will be of interest to any WordPress site owner. So take a peek at what could be the future of rich HTML5 content.

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Plugin News

• An Overview of the Envira Gallery Plugin for WordPress (bobwp.com)
  In this post we want to not only share the features that this plugin gives you, but offer you a comparison view between the free and paid version.
• 20+ WordPress Plugins for Improved User Login and Registration (premium.wpmudev.org)
  This collection of plugins includes free and premium options – including many WPMU DEV plugins – that offers features such as two-factor authentication for a more secure login process, complete rebranding of your WordPress backend, and more simple functionality like login redirects and the ability to replace the image on your login page.
• LaunchKey Plugin Adds Biometric Authentication to WordPress (wptavern.com)
  We’ve entered the future, folks. With the help of the LaunchKey plugin, you can now log into your WordPress site using your phone’s biometric facial and fingerprint scanning capabilities.
• MarkPress Plugin Transforms WordPress into a Markdown-Powered Journal (wptavern.com)
  MarkPress is the newest to join the ranks of Markdown-powered editors. The plugin adds an interesting twist in that it completely transforms your WordPress site to support writing journal notes without being in the admin. The new editor gives a live preview of notes as you compose.

Theme Releases

Minimaliste (wordpress.org)	Floki (wordpress.org)	Indigos (wordpress.org)
Museum (wordpress.org)	Professional (wordpress.org)	Influence (wordpress.org)

Theme News

• 10 Of The Best Of The Best WordPress Themes (premium.wpmudev.org)
  Not a week goes by without another swag of theme posts that list 10,20,50,250 themes for you to sift through. But not this post because that wheat has been sorted from the chaff, the cream has risen to the top and, apparently, even the sheep have been sorted from the goats. Here’s 10 themes covering 10 categories. This is the best of the best of WordPress themes.
• Do Drag And Drop Themes Render Web Designers Useless? (www.wpkube.com)
  With the invention of WordPress and other Content Management Systems (CMS), some have come to view the average web designer as unnecessary. And now, with the release of largely popular drag and drop themes or plugins like Divi or Visual Composer, even more people feel this way. In a very real way, the average web designer has been replaced. But the real question is, does that mean that web design is dead? Are web designers useless?
• Firmness: A Bright and Flexible WordPress Business Theme (wptavern.com)
  While many WordPress theme designers are exploring the stark landscape of minimalist design, the folks at VPThemes have embraced color and animation with their latest free business theme. Firmness is a bright sunflower in a field of trendy white and grey themes, featuring yellow accents and bold typography.
• Radcliffe: A Free Image-Heavy WordPress Theme for Writers (wptavern.com)
  Designer and developer Anders Norén has been making a name for himself with his beautifully minimalist WordPress themes. Radcliffe is the newest of his creations, designed specifically for writers. Ordinarily, themes for writers tend to focus primarily on the typography, but Radcliffe is different in that Norén places images front and center.

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• How Many Plugins Is Too Many? (halfelf.org)
  WordPress is wonderful and beautiful because you can use plugins to do absolutely anything. At the same time, that beauty is it’s downfall, because you can use plugins to do anything. There are over 32,000 active plugins in the WordPress plugin repository. But how many plugins are too many? However many it takes to kill your site.

Tutorials

• How to Upgrade WordPress Themes – Even If They Are Customized (premium.wpmudev.org)
  Upgrading your website’s theme to the latest version is highly recommended, not only because it ensures you have all the latest features, but you’ll also be up-to-date with any security patches. There are many ways to upgrade a WordPress theme. In this post we’ll look at a few different methods, from automatically upgrading to ensuring a customized theme isn’t unintentionally over-written.
• WordPress eCommerce With Selz & Ecwid (code.tutsplus.com)
  Both have excellent features for selling digital and physical products and, when combined with WordPress, offer very practical and cost effective eCommerce solutions. Both can also be used to sell products on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. So, let's learn how to get going with these two services!
• Building an App from Your WordPress Site with AppPresser (code.tutsplus.com)
  This tutorial will focus on the most commonly used tool, AppPresser. AppPresser provides a great mix of ease of implementation with deeper technical control for developers. It uses plugins to integrate with Adobe's Phonegap platform.

Podcasts and Videos

• Pat Flynn: Software as a business (mattreport.com)
  Pat Flynn is not a typical webmarketer. He is expanding his operation into the technology arena of webmarketing. In addition to his website being powered by WordPress, Pat engaged his developer to create a custom function that supported his own need of the for sharing his podcast content. After getting requests from his audience about the podcasting function, Pat decided to offer the function as a plugin.
• Interview With Chris Lema: A Journey to Working Full Time With WordPress (www.poststat.us)
  In this interview, Chris and I talk about his journey to working full time with WordPress. We talk about his career, his entry into blogging and the WordPress community, about the structure of Crowd Favorite, and the WordPress economy in general.
• 192 – Exploring the WordPress 404 Page (yourwebsiteengineer.com)
  The HTTP 404 Not Found Error means that the webpage you were trying to reach could not be found on the server. It is a client-side Error which means that either the page has been removed or moved and the URL was not changed accordingly, or that you typed in the URL incorrectly. Find out more about it in this great podcast.
• EP98 - Everything you need to know to start & run a successful WordPress meetup (www.wpwatercooler.com)
  On this episode of WPwatercooler we'll be discussing all the things you need to know to start and run a successful WordPress meetup.
• WPWeekly Episode 156 – A Crowdfunding Roundtable (wptavern.com)
  In this episode of WordPress Weekly, Marcus Couch and Jeff Chandler are joined by three gentleman who have gone through the crowdfunding experience. Check this great podcast to learn some valuable lessons.
• DradCast - Episode 054 with Chris Brogan (dradcast.com)
  Chris Brogan is an advisor and strategist to professionals and owners. It’s business strategy meets powerful personal development.Through courses, consulting, coaching, and events, he blends clarity of vision with pure action. Chris has consulted with companies you know like Disney, Microsoft, Coke, Titleist, Pepsico, Google, Motorola, and many more. Find out more in this podcast!