Transients are such a powerful part of WordPress, yet are overlooked and under utilized. Using the transients API, you can store values in a standardized way, giving them an expiration time. This frees up space in the database and can lead to significant load time improvements. In this article, I’ll show you everything you need to know to use transients, and a few examples to show you just how powerful they can be! Why use expiring data? ... The first question that might be on your mind is, “Why would...
Every day, we, as developers, use a wide array of tools to finish our tasks. And as we all differ in preference, so too do the tools we use. However, there are a lot of tools to choose from and trying them one by one will be counterproductive, and not to mention, difficult. So wouldn’t it be nice to have something like a Swiss knife for developers? You know, handy tools that you could just pull out from your bookmarks section? This saves you the trouble of doing a lot of Google searches that could lead to procrastination....
With support for CSS3 increasing with each new release for every browser, and those tiresome CSS2-only browsers slowly dropping off the usage charts, we have far more options for hover effects and transitions in general. Almost all the calls to action that you see on the Web use some form of hover effect, because they draw the eye and make a website feel more engaging. Last year I brought you a set of 8 simple transitions that will wow your users, and today we’re going to look at 8 more… Getting started...
It’s been a while since there has been a change in the landscape for Content Management Systems. Recently, an interesting player emerged in the market: a new CMS that launched in open beta earlier this year called October CMS. Building a CMS website with any sort of out-of-scope features can be notoriously complicated, but these guys tout themselves as a platform that gets back to basics. A curious and bold statement, so let’s take a look and see if your reaction is “great… just what we need,...
In the digital era, less and less people rely on paper books. That obviously doesn’t mean people have stopped reading books, just that ebooks have largely flooded the market. There are numerous reasons for this, but the most prevalent is that ebooks can be brought to market quickly whilst their content is still relevant. There are millions of ebooks available, teaching you everything from typography to apps. And incredibly some of the best are available absolutely free. Check out my list of essential...
There are a whole host of Sass mixin libraries out there: Bourbon is a personal favourite, Compass is hugely popular. But sometimes, actually always, it’s better to pick and mix your mixins to suit yourself. It’s never good to rely too heavily on a tool, and if you think Sass mixins begin and end with the @include statement then you should probably try writing out a few of your own. Sass mixins are available for a huge range of tasks, here’s 15 that no developer should be without: box-sizing...
Once upon a time, someone decided to see what would happen if you merged a powerful open source PHP framework with a drag‘n’drop content editor designed for non-technical users. As it turns out, you get ImpressPages. ImpressPages began as more traditional CMS, with an emphasis on user-friendliness. The content editor was also drag‘n’drop, but I recall that the rest of the interface seemed confusing to me. It seemed as though they were trying to cram in everything anyone might need in a CMS,...
With Halloween just a few days away, this seems like the perfect time to explain how to create an incredibly simple ghost button, in pure CSS. These buttons are referred to as ghost buttons because they have just an outline and let whatever is behind them show through. They’re incredibly popular with startups, because they have a minimal simplicity that fits that style of site. They’re also super easy to make, and can add real impact with just a few lines of CSS. To build one, the first thing you need...