Stephen Burge's Blog, page 49
August 14, 2017
The OSTraining Podcast #7: Alan Hartless
In this week's episode, I talk with Alan Hartless.
Alan is the lead engineer at Mautic, a marketing automation platform that's 100% open source. Alan started his career as a nurse and led a fascinating life in the medical world before becoming a developer. Follow Alan on Twitter at @alanhartless
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://OSTraining.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Alan is the lead engineer at Mautic, a marketing automation platform that's 100% open source. Alan started his career as a nurse and led a fascinating life in the medical world before becoming a developer. Follow Alan on Twitter at @alanhartless
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://OSTraining.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]
August 11, 2017
Alternative to the Co-Authors Plus WordPress Plugin
Co-Authors Plus is an old and popular WordPress plugin.
By default, WordPress allows you to choose a single author for content. Co-Authors Plus was a solution to this, because it allowed you to assign multiple authors to one content item.
However, Co-Authors Plus has only had a small number updates in the last few years. Also, it can be hard to use because it requires you to edit your template files.
The Multiple Authors add-on for PublishPress is a fork of Co-Authors Plus that's worth checking out.
We reviewed the main PublishPress plugin, which is a really good editorial calendar. Multiple Authors is an extra feature for that main plugin.
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://OSTraining.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]
By default, WordPress allows you to choose a single author for content. Co-Authors Plus was a solution to this, because it allowed you to assign multiple authors to one content item.
However, Co-Authors Plus has only had a small number updates in the last few years. Also, it can be hard to use because it requires you to edit your template files.
The Multiple Authors add-on for PublishPress is a fork of Co-Authors Plus that's worth checking out.
We reviewed the main PublishPress plugin, which is a really good editorial calendar. Multiple Authors is an extra feature for that main plugin.
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://OSTraining.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]
August 9, 2017
Our Popular Class "Why Should You Use Joomla?" Is Now Free
We are happy to announce that "Why Should You Use Joomla?" is now a free class.
These videos are ideal if you or your client are in the middle of making a decision what CMS to choose for your next Web project.
The course consists of thirteen short videos. It covers the top 10 reasons why you might want to choose Joomla over alternative CMS.
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://OSTraining.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]
These videos are ideal if you or your client are in the middle of making a decision what CMS to choose for your next Web project.
The course consists of thirteen short videos. It covers the top 10 reasons why you might want to choose Joomla over alternative CMS.
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://OSTraining.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]
The Beginners Guide to Drupal Distributions
One of the most common hurdles that Drupal beginners face is learning to navigate all the modules available on Drupal.org.
With over 38,000 modules, choosing which ones to use can be a daunting experience.
One answer is often to use a distribution.
Building your own e-commerce, intranet or a social networking site in Drupal can be intimidating. Imagine how much easier it would be if an expert had found all the best modules for your purpose and had combined them into one package. Imagine that you could download and install that package as easily as a normal copy of Drupal. That's what distributions can do for you.
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://OSTraining.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]
With over 38,000 modules, choosing which ones to use can be a daunting experience.
One answer is often to use a distribution.
Building your own e-commerce, intranet or a social networking site in Drupal can be intimidating. Imagine how much easier it would be if an expert had found all the best modules for your purpose and had combined them into one package. Imagine that you could download and install that package as easily as a normal copy of Drupal. That's what distributions can do for you.
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://OSTraining.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]
August 7, 2017
The OSTraining Podcast #6: Tessa Mero
In this week's episode, I talk with Tessa Mero. Tessa used to work at OSTraining, and is responsible for some of the most popular posts on our blog. But, that's just one of her many achievements.
Tessa is a developer advocate for Cisco. She also organizes some of the largest open source conferences on the US West Coast. She also runs local meetup groups. She helps to get open source taught in local schools and colleges. And those are just the first couple of lines on her resume.
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://OSTraining.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Tessa is a developer advocate for Cisco. She also organizes some of the largest open source conferences on the US West Coast. She also runs local meetup groups. She helps to get open source taught in local schools and colleges. And those are just the first couple of lines on her resume.
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://OSTraining.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]
July 31, 2017
What New Features May Arrive in Drupal 8.4?
Every six months, the Drupal team get to release new features.
This is a major change in Drupal 8. Whereas Drupal 7 never had any new features, Drupal 8 has had three significant updates, with Drupal 8.1, Drupal 8.2 and Drupal 8.3.
We're now starting to get a clear view of what we can expect in Drupal 8.4.
This week, we'll get the first Alpha version of 8.4. The final release is due on October 4.
So what new features will we see in 8.4? Here's our early overview of what might be included.
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://OSTraining.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]
This is a major change in Drupal 8. Whereas Drupal 7 never had any new features, Drupal 8 has had three significant updates, with Drupal 8.1, Drupal 8.2 and Drupal 8.3.
We're now starting to get a clear view of what we can expect in Drupal 8.4.
This week, we'll get the first Alpha version of 8.4. The final release is due on October 4.
So what new features will we see in 8.4? Here's our early overview of what might be included.
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://OSTraining.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]
New Class: The Drupal Paragraphs Module
Over the last few months we've worked with more and more Drupal 8 sites. Those projects all had one thing in common ... they used the Paragraphs module.
Paragraphs is a very popular module for handling content in Drupal 8. Paragraphs works in a similar way to content fields, but also provides a wide range of options for the design, layout and grouping of your content.
Instead of putting all their content in one WYSIWYG body field, end-users can choose on-the-fly between pre-defined Paragraph Types independent from one another. Paragraph Types can be anything from a simple text block or image to a complex and configurable slideshow.
If you use Paragraphs, you can give your site's content creators a tremendous amount of power and flexibility to create the layouts that they want.
This week's new class is called "How to Use the Drupal Paragraphs Module". You'll learn about all the key features available in Paragraphs.
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://OSTraining.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Paragraphs is a very popular module for handling content in Drupal 8. Paragraphs works in a similar way to content fields, but also provides a wide range of options for the design, layout and grouping of your content.
Instead of putting all their content in one WYSIWYG body field, end-users can choose on-the-fly between pre-defined Paragraph Types independent from one another. Paragraph Types can be anything from a simple text block or image to a complex and configurable slideshow.
If you use Paragraphs, you can give your site's content creators a tremendous amount of power and flexibility to create the layouts that they want.
This week's new class is called "How to Use the Drupal Paragraphs Module". You'll learn about all the key features available in Paragraphs.
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://OSTraining.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]
July 29, 2017
Conditional Logic with Caldera Forms in WordPress
The general rule for building forms is that you should have as few fields as possible, as too many fields can lead to a drop in conversions. But you also have to avoid creating a form that doesn’t gather the information you need. This is where the conditional logic in WordPress form builders is so great -- your form can tailor itself to the exact needs of the person filling out the form.
If you’re looking for a powerful and free conditional logic from a WordPress form builder plugin, Caldera Forms is a great choice. Caldera Forms has a page builder-like drag-and-drop interface and an intuitive conditional logic system. As a free alternative to Gravity Forms and Ninja Forms, Caldera Forms conditional logic is a free feature.
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://OSTraining.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]
If you’re looking for a powerful and free conditional logic from a WordPress form builder plugin, Caldera Forms is a great choice. Caldera Forms has a page builder-like drag-and-drop interface and an intuitive conditional logic system. As a free alternative to Gravity Forms and Ninja Forms, Caldera Forms conditional logic is a free feature.
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://OSTraining.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]
July 27, 2017
Choosing the Best WordPress Editorial Calendar Plugin
If you're writing a lot of content on your WordPress site, you will need an easy way to plan your posts.
An Editorial Calendar provides a single screen where you can see all the content you're going to publish. Ideally, the Editorial Calendar will help keep you organized in a busy schedule.
Think of an Editorial Calendar as a timetable for your content.
If you're a WordPress user, there are several Editorial Calendars that integrate directly into WordPress. These calendars will show your planned WordPress posts and allow you to schedule new content.
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://OSTraining.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]
An Editorial Calendar provides a single screen where you can see all the content you're going to publish. Ideally, the Editorial Calendar will help keep you organized in a busy schedule.
Think of an Editorial Calendar as a timetable for your content.
If you're a WordPress user, there are several Editorial Calendars that integrate directly into WordPress. These calendars will show your planned WordPress posts and allow you to schedule new content.
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://OSTraining.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]
July 25, 2017
Debugging Your Website with Chrome Developer Tools
If you’re using Chrome and want to debug your site's design, this browser already comes with a great built-in feature called Developer Tools.
In this tutorial we will show you how to start using Chrome Developer Tools.
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://OSTraining.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]
In this tutorial we will show you how to start using Chrome Developer Tools.
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://OSTraining.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]
