Archive for the ‘cms’ Category

This WordPress page comments tutorial explains how to easily set the WordPress 3.x page no comments setting without code edits. Comment settings for blog posts and pages are controlled under the admin menu option for Settings, and then Discussion, yet the only choice is a check box to allow comments, or not.

People want a better choice to allow or not allow WordPress page comments without affecting blog posts.

Custom web design clients with the WordPress platform as a CMS Content Management System usually want comments on blog posts, but not on pages. As WordPress continues to gain popularity as a CMS solution, it doesn’t make sense to have static looking pages like the Home page, About Us, or Contact forms with an option to leave comments.

The ability to add, edit, or delete content without advanced technical skills means “keep it simple” for novice site owners. Currently as of the date of this tutorial, a formal feature request to set the default for pages and posts independently under the setting for discussions remains open 6 months after the request was made.

Easy Solution for WordPress 3.x Website Page Comments Settings

This illustrated tutorial provides an easy 3 step process for setting “no comments” on WordPress 3.x pages while you are actually creating a new page. Note: Illustrations are smaller than actual size.

Click any illustration for an enlarged full size view.

Step One: Click

Click the “Screen Options” in the far upper right of your admin edit screen next to the Help button.

Step Two: Check

Check the box for “Discussion” from the popup section that appears.

Step Three: Uncheck

Uncheck the box for “Allow comments” further down the page just below the page text edit box.

If you overlooked the settings and notice pages have the comment section, return to the page edit in admin and follow these same steps.

Publish your new page and the comment section will not be displayed at the bottom of the published page. If you are doing an edit of selections on an existing page, select the “Update” button instead of “Publish”. You’re done.

Again, this WordPress page comments tutorial is a fast and easy solution as of the date of this post to the current WordPress version 3.3.1. Once the feature request is implemented in a future WordPress update this tutorial may not be needed.

The best solution is WordPress core files that provide a separate allow comments checkbox for posts, and another for pages, so you never have to remember to reset it for new pages in the future.

Maybe the WordPress team will surprise us and make the default setting already unchecked for allow comments on pages!

Another custom cms website design launched earlier today with a custom cms attorney web design for Komara & Cranton, P.A.

Partners Kenneth Joseph Komara, Esq. and George D. Cranton, Jr., Esq., serve Osceola County and Orange County in Central Florida, and specialize in Family Law, Personal Injury, Criminal Law, Traffic Cases, Juvenile Cases, Forfeitures, or Record Sealing and Expungements.

Komara & Cranton, P.A. has an office in Kissimmee, Florida, one block south of the Osceola County Courthouse.

The initial custom cms web design includes pages for Home, Staff, Individual Profiles, Legal Services, Location, and Legal Links. For now the site navigation includes main horizontal tabs with dropdown menus under the Staff tab with links to individual profiles of each attorney.

This web design was an upgrade to an older site on a different domain with outdated information, and includes a bolder new look appropriate for an attorney or law firm website.

A key advantage of a custom cms web design is the ability to easily add new content for less than the cost of static pages. Advanced features to add easily include video, audio, or contact forms, and the cms website may be expanded in the future with a matching blog if needed.

Wondering if a custom cms, content management system, web design is right for you? Contact us today with any questions.

The website optimization strategy in the SEO for 2012 Report tutorial released last month works, and this case study provides evidence. You must invest time to improve and promote your website to achieve online success.

A recent custom cms web design implementing the principles in that seo search engine optimization strategy blog post has performed beyond expectations in less than 2 months.

Launched on 4 December 2011, the new dog rescue custom cms website for Lifeline Dog Rescue, a division of Central Florida Weimaraner & Dog Rescue, Inc., demonstrates remarkable success.

In summary, the first strategy for attracting search engine traffic begins with providing a positive visitor experience by creating high quality original content often. You cannot launch a new website and then ignore adding fresh content if you want to motivate happy visitors to return.

Likewise, a dynamic site that changes often will attract search engines to return and index updates frequently.

The second strategy is creating off site content in social communities that directs visitors to your website. The seo report recommends becoming active on social network websites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and even Flickr. A key feature on this new custom cms web design is social network icons linking to those sites and social bookmarking sites.

Those icons and links make social interaction easy. Being active on social networks and interacting with your contacts provides real time off site quality content that enhances your positive reputation for visitors and search engines.

Consider the following milestones achieved with the custom cms web design and social network accounts for Lifeline Dog Rescue. Clues to the success may be found by viewing the social site icons and statistics at the bottom of their home page.

In less than 7 weeks as of 31 January 2012, the stats show 92 likes on Facebook, 146 tweets on Twitter, 2 Google plus one shares, and 16 links to social bookmarking sites. Keep in mind those numbers are just for their home page.

Next, consider Alexa traffic numbers for the Lifeline website. Lower ranking indicates higher traffic in comparison to competition between 100+ million other websites. Lifeline launched ranked at 16 million. As of the date of this post the rank is 797,404. Any number under 1 million puts your website in the top 1%.

Stats tracking likewise shows 1) a steady increase in traffic, 2) a very low bounce rate meaning visitors land on one page and continue to expore more pages, plus 3) the rate of return visitors continues to climb which indicates popularity.

Why does this seo search engine optimization strategy work so well? It depends on quality content and natural methods for attracting search engines. The strategy is forward looking and considers the importance of human interaction and not just mathematical algorithms of Google crawlers to determine website ranking.

Is it simple? Yes. Is it easy? Not really. You must still invest time on website content and social connections. Site owners who recognize and implement this simple strategy will reap the benefits of staying ahead of their competitors who do not.

View and download the 2012 SEO Design Strategy Tutorial (pdf, 13 pgs., 96kb) and then apply these principles of website success.

A new web design and matching blog launched earlier this month with a custom CMS for Lifeline Dog Rescue. A CMS or content management system style of web design allows the owner to take control and manage site content without advanced technical skills.

In addition to the main website and blog design, social site pages were created for the client and the site features links to Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube.

Lifeline Dog Rescue is a non-profit caring for Weimaraner and other breeds of dogs providing shelter, fostering, and adoption. They are a division of Central Florida Weimaranaer & Dog Rescue, Inc., a Florida non-profit corporation since 2011.

Headquarters are in Davenport, Florida, and the 3 acre rescue property with private lake and enclosed on all sides with fence, is in Okeechobee, Florida. Plans for the future as early as 2012 include doubling the size of the dog rescue property, and the number of at risk dogs being rescued and placed for adoption.

Visit the Lifeline Dog Rescue Florida non-profit website to learn more about their work and how you may help.

After 15 years in custom web design including the last 7 years full time, the relationship between web design and continuous improvement cannot be denied. The quality principle of continuous improvement is a lesson I learned 40 years ago before any websites existed.

In summary, the concept of continuous improvement means always strive to improve quality and processes in everything you do.

The result of continuous improvement is more efficiency which lowers cost while generating higher profits. At the same time you can balance a better product with price reductions to gain sales momentum and still grow profits based on higher volume.

Customers benefit from your goals of continuous improvement as you become better at what you do. Bigger customers may expect you to strive to lower prices every year, too.

Recent developments in the evolution of custom web design allow creating better websites faster. For my business, that means the price for a custom cms content management system web design at $1500 now costs $1000 less than a year ago.

For static informational sites that the client wants to launch and forget without growing or adding pages, a 5 page site at $500 is also $1000 less than a year ago.

Continuous improvement is a business quality principle that applies universally including the world of custom web design.

The cropped graphic as shown below is from a memorabilia newsletter html design launched within the last week and shows the top portion of the March 2011 edition of the Memorabilia News Bulletin for web design client Mainstream Memorabilia.

Each edition consists of 3 sections including an intro plus opt out info, discount price specials info, and an insider’s view of the memorabilia industry. 3 celebrity photos of autographed memorabilia are used and cropped to fit the format to decorate each section.

Links are included to their website pages for home, specials, contact, and their blog. Additional links across the bottom allow for changing preferences or unsubscribing per CAN-SPAM Act requirements.

For those in web design who work to the latest code standards, learning newsletter design may be a shock because you cannot use all the latest techniques of xhtml and css for a wow first impression. Literally, you must use code and basic html tags from 15 years ago including tables for layout.

This I learned the hard way in the testing phase of the news bulletin design for Mainstream Memorabilia.

The layout for an email newsletter template design must be simple and rigid. The reason you almost have to unlearn how you code is tables for layout and basic html code from 15 years ago will display properly in the widest range of email programs.

A 600 pixel wide standard newsletter layout works best, plus it gives a full view in most preview panes of the majority of email software programs.

For me, and after hit and miss climbing the learning curve, the evidence was in actual results during testing. After a few disasters the final design has the wow factor we wanted despite any code limitations, and the client is very pleased with the look and technical functions.

Mainstream Memorabilia is owned by memorabilia industry insiders with years of past experience in film and television production. They have the contacts for providing quality, selection, and value in celebrity autographed items, so visit their custom online store website that I just happened to design.

While there, you may want to sign up and subscribe to the memorabilia news bulletins, too!

The latest custom cms web design project completed and placed online is the residential and commercial sprinkler and irrigation cms site launch for Hessenauer Sprinkler Repair & Irrigation who services the greater Orlando area and surrounding communities.

The project represents a redesign of their static do-it-yourself website.

In addition to the custom cms main website, the design includes a matching integrated WordPress blog to allow enhanced seo search engine optimization because the customer can add original quality content often without assistance.

A key aspect of this custom cms web design with matching WordPress blog is the files that automate much of the publishing are managed in a single database.

This cuts down on custom web development time, allows automated site backups, and includes advanced features that clients may use without professional web design skills.

Content publishes automatically from plain text to xhtml and meets W3C worldwide standards, plus represents a breakthrough in state-of-the-art evolution for custom cms web design.

Hessenauer Sprinkler Repair & Irrigation has been providing sprinkler and irrigation design, sales, installation, and service to customers in the greater Orlando area since 1979. Links in their home page sidebar take visitors to very favorable reports and customer feedback on Angies List and the BBB Better Business Bureau.

Part of having a WordPress platform to combine a blog format and custom cms web design is the flexibility to create content rich websites for a wide variety of business models.

When considering a suitable custom content management system for an online store, you may want to reference this list and 12 WordPress eCommerce plugin reviews.

Each is a summary of WordPress plugins suitable for running an online store except 1 which is designed to manage online auctions.

7 are free plugins and 5 are premium for sale by the developer.

User ratings are based on votes as of January 2011 on WordPress.org, and I have not yet tested or used any.

Plugins are listed in alphabetical order.

Dippsy User Rated: 3.5
Specialty: Digital Downloads
Author Description: An easy to use PayPal e-commerce solution with only downloadable goods in mind, hassle free installaton and many configurable settings.
Comments: Long list of features. Author is responsive to inquiries.

eShop User Rated: 4.5
Specialty: Products
Author Description: eShop is an accessible shopping cart plugin for WordPress, packed with various features.
Comments: Long list of features. Author is responsive to inquiries.

Image Store User Rated: 4.0
Specialty: Images
Author Description: Image Store(ImStore) is a image gallery and store plugin for WordPress with a slideshow and paypal integration.
Comments: Includes a feature for download after purchase. Author is responsive to inquiries.

PHPurchase User Rated: PAID (from $49)
Specialty: Products, Services, or Digital Downloads
Author Description: PHPurchase has a very rich set of features that lets you easily and powerfully manage your online store with WordPress.
Comments: Well documented online support. Multi-site and developer licenses available.

Shopp User Rated: PAID ($55 base and up)
Specialty: Products
Author Description: Shopp is an e-commerce plugin that adds a feature rich online store to your WordPress powered website or blog.
Comments: Necessary gateway and shipping options may add $50 or more to single (or multi developer) license.

ShopperPress User Rated: PAID ($79)
Specialty: Products, Services, or Digital Downloads
Author Description: This is the ideal solution for anyone starting their own online store selling their own products or services, affiliate products or even ebooks, music or file downloads!
Comments: Discounted from $199 to $79 for unlimited installations. Real Estate, Classifieds, others, too.

StorePress User Rated: PAID (from $50)
Specialty: Products
Author Description: StorePress is a premium WordPress theme, fully coded and packed with scripts that will allow you to transform your WordPress blog into a veritable e-commerce virtual store.
Comments: Single, mixed, or dev license plus offer other niche themes like auctions, classifieds, reviews.

WordPress Shopping Cart Plugin User Rated: PAID ($50 single, or dev $249)
Specialty: Products or Digital Downloads
Author Description: The WordPress Shopping Cart plugin gives you the ability to quickly and seamlessly integrate an online shop with a fully functional shopping cart interface into any WordPress website.
Comments: Excellent online support and documention, plus offer 12 other specialty e-commerce related plugins.

WordPress Simple Paypal Shopping Cart User Rated: 4.5
Specialty: Products
Author Description: Very easy to use Simple WordPress Paypal Shopping Cart Plugin. Great for selling products online in one click from your WordPress site.
Comments: Developer also has premium eStore plugin for digital products or eMember for membership sites.

WP Auctions User Rated: 3.0
Specialty: Auctions
Author Description: WP Auctions is a revolutionary plugin which allows you to host auctions on your blog or website and to sell anything.
Comments: Well documented. Free version is a sidebar widget only. Premium versions allow post/page auctions.

WP E-Commerce User Rated: 3.0
Specialty: Products, Services, or Digital Downloads
Author Description: WP e-Commerce is a free bolt-on shopping cart that lets customers buy your products, services and digital downloads online.
Comments: Excellent support documention, plus premium upgrades are available for downloadable, members, others.

wpStoreCart User Rated: 4.0
Specialty: Products or Digital Downloads
Author Description: Quickly and easily sell your physical and digital downloads using your new or existing WordPress website.
Comments: Well documented help files and forum, plus offer a $29 premium Pro version with bundled extended functions.

My advice is investigating each WordPress plugin that seems of interest. Most have links to demo stores or live websites that are using the plugin, so take the opportunity to do some comparison shopping before making a choice.

Site navigation and usability in your website may be enhanced with a tree structure and cms web design. Besides the home page, about us, or general topics like a blog linked along the top navigation the site layout usually includes additional tabs of broad categories for the cms website.

For illustration purposes, let’s assume you offer products and they fall into general categories of Product A, Product B, Product C, and Product D.

Your website could grow to 10, 100, or 1000 pages yet everything you do falls under one of those broad categories. It would be too confusing for visitors to see a link for each of those 1000 pages in the top navigation.

Instead, this tree structure allows people to follow one link by Product A, B, C, or D for each of those tabs, and takes the visitor to a “directory” of the rest of the content relative to that category.

Think of this tree structure like a funnel that directs a person from the top navigation to general categories and then specific topics under that category. This makes a complicated site easy to navigate to get to content of interest. My site looks simple at a glance yet actually has over 500 pages of content.

The tree structure of navigation and links to more content can be seen on my site if you follow any of the top links. Follow the link to Web Design www.jimdegerstrom.com/web-design-services.html and then study the “tree” structure. This is not an article written about web design, but instead is more like a directory to web design related content on my site with a list of summaries with links to more content by following the “Read more…” hyperlinks.

Consider the lessons on optimizing pages presented in the 50 page seo and do-it-yourself web design tutorial sent to each customer. It teaches the importance of keyword research and then writing proper titles and descriptions for seo optimization, and explains how it is entered into the backend admin of the cms.

As you view my sample tree structure on web design as linked above, note the following important fact.

The headline and description for each item listed on that web design page “directory” is the title and description used in the code. There’s no better way to link to content deeper in the site structure than by using the actual title and description already chosen on the destination page for search engine optimization.

The value of describing what people will find at the destination is good for human visitor usability as well as helping search engines index your overall website content.

Do-it-yourself custom cms web design site owners need to understand the importance of optimizing their text content for search engines. This SEO or Search Engine Optimization tutorial explains free online tools for tweaking content such as testing in DupeFree Pro and SEO keyword density. Watch this video for details. (0:10:34 min./sec.)

Follow these links to download the free resources mentioned in the video:
DupeFree Pro for tweaking and testing keyword density
GridinSoft Notepad Lite customizable text editor review

Learning how to attract search engine traffic using content optimization is important for site owners who choose a cms content management system web design so they can control and manage their website. Optimized content using this tutorial can help.