Justine Allen's Blog, page 22

WordPress.com + Your New Year’s Resolutions = 25% Off All Paid Plans

With just one week left in 2023, time’s running out to lock in a 25% savings on making those New Year’s resolutions happen for your site in 2024. If you saw our last announcement, you’ll know that we’re offering 25% off all annual paid plans until the end of year. So now’s the time—as soon as the clock strikes midnight on January 1st, this deal will be as done as 2023.

As always, your domain name is free for the first year too.

Whether you’re starting your first blog or launching an ecommerce empire, there’s a plan that will help you make it happen. Our upgraded plans are designed to help you take your site to the next level, opening up features that let you:

Give your visitors an ad-free experienceReach new audiences around the world with unlimited social sharingGive your site some extra style with expanded customization options and third-party themesOpen up new ways to earn with our exclusive ad network, WordAds, and advanced but intuitive commerce and payment featuresAdd superpowers to your site by unlocking access to 55,000+ plugins that handle everything from next-level SEO to interactive forms and integrations with the tools you already use

Need a little inspiration for that resolution? How about:

Writing a blog post every week for an entire yearStarting a newsletter to share your passion, hobby, or causeLaunching that new business website or portfolio you’ve been thinking about

Wherever you want to take your site in 2024, we want to help you get there, and save some cash along the way. Lock in your savings now before this deal expires on December 31st.

Save 25% today

We’d love to hear what you have planned for 2024 in the comments below.

Do More in 2024: 25% Off All Annual Plans Until the End of 2023

As you look ahead to 2024, if you’ve been thinking about launching a new business, sharing your passion with a blog, or building an audience with a newsletter, now’s the perfect time to get started. 

To give you a jump start on your goals for the new year, we’re offering 25% off every annual paid plan when you create any new site or upgrade an existing free site before Dec. 31, 2023. Whatever you’re planning to build, there’s a plan that will help you go further, faster—from adding a personal touch with a custom domain to taking your monetization options and site design to the next level.

Your custom domain name is free for the first year too.

We’re all about making WordPress.com the best platform to launch and grow your projects on the web. Whatever plan you’re on, with WordPress.com you get:

Intuitive design and publishing tools so you can go from idea to launch in no timeUnmatched performance so your site is blazing fast and always availableFully managed hosting so you can focus on your goals instead of maintaining your site 

And when you choose a paid plan, new opportunities open up, too:

Give your visitors an ad-free experience and set your site apart with a custom domainTake monetizing your content further with our ads program and range of payment and shipping featuresOr unlock a universe of 55,000+ plugins and themes that cover everything from ecommerce to advanced SEO

Whether you’re ready to start a new website, migrate a site from elsewhere, or upgrade a free site you’ve already been working on, we can’t wait to see what you’ll make happen with WordPress.com in 2024. We’d love to hear what you’re planning to build in 2024 in the comments.

And be sure to grab your 25% discount any time from now until the end of year to make it happen for less. Pick your plan and get started now.

Save 25% today

Official Country-Code Domains for .com.br and .de Now Available on WordPress.com

This year has been a big year for domains on WordPress.com, from offering free transfers for Google customers to an all-new dashboard for managing your domains. We have one more bit of good cheer to spread before the year is through: today we’re excited to share the addition of two new country-specific domain extensions to our domain offerings on WordPress.com. 

Now, you can elevate your online presence with the official domain extensions of two of the most important and influential countries in the world: Brazil’s .com.br and Germany’s .de. Country-code domains like .com.br and .de resonate with local consumers, bringing both authenticity and authority to your online presence. 

For both of these newly available extensions, we provide our own trustee, so you don’t need to be physically located in Brazil or Germany to register either of these country-level domain names. 

Unlock your potential in Brazil with .com.br

The official .com.br domain extension is now available for purchase on WordPress.com for just R$ 99 a year (US$20). Business owners, students, artists, and bloggers alike can harness the power of .com.br to connect directly with Brazilian consumers in one of the Americas’ fastest-growing economies.

With millions of .com.br domains already registered, it’s one of the booming country-level domain extensions in the Western hemisphere. 

Get your .com.br domain Make your mark in Germany with .de

Let’s depart Brazil for now and head north and east across the Atlantic. The official .de domain extension is now available on WordPress.com for just 8€ a year (US$8). Whether you’re a business owner or a content creator, a .de domain is the perfect choice to appeal to German consumers in one of Europe’s strongest economies.

With tens of millions of .de domains already in use, it stands as one of the most popular and respected domain extensions in the world. 

Get your .de domain Why you should choose WordPress.com for your domains 

Every single day, our team is working hard to ensure that there’s no better place on the internet to purchase and manage your domain(s). Here are a few reasons to choose us: 

First Year Free: Secure your domain for free for the first year with the purchase of any annual plan.Geographic Convenience: Own a .com.br or .de domain without being physically located in Brazil or Germany, thanks to our trustee service.Powerful & Convenient Domain Management: Enjoy features like domain forwarding, multi-year registrations, lightning-fast DNS speeds, and free SSL protection.

Elevate your online presence with these impactful domain extensions. Register your new .com.br and .de domain names at WordPress.com today. 

Hot Off the Press: New WordPress.com Themes for December 2023

The WordPress.com team is always working on new design ideas to bring your website to life. Check out the latest themes in our library, including new release Twenty Twenty-Four, as well as a number of other beautiful and versatile designs.

All WordPress.com ThemesTwenty Twenty-Four

Twenty Twenty-Four (aka TT4), WordPress’s brand new default theme, is now available! TT4 is designed to be flexible, versatile, and applicable to any website—whether running a business, writing a blog, or showcasing work.

This beautiful theme comes with a number of style variations and full-page patterns to help speed up the site-building process; it is fully compatible with the Site Editor and takes advantage of all the new design tools introduced in WordPress 6.4.

Click here to view a demo of this theme.

Issue

Issue is a magazine-style theme designed to make blog content more inviting. Its simple homepage displays large featured images and post titles only, with sticky menu navigation that allows users to access pages (or lists of posts) independently. The minimalist layout and generous white space on individual posts gives this theme a modern feel, while still being visually striking.

Click here to view a demo of this theme.

Carnation (Premium)

Carnation is a minimalist blog theme featuring a classic two-column layout, designed to showcase your content with understated elegance. The homepage emphasizes big featured images to draw in visitors. In the single post/page view, we decided to do something different and not include the featured images at all. Large images often take over the most valuable space near the top of the post/page, which we really wanted to dedicate to content alone in this theme. For any writers tackling Bloganuary this year, Carnation is a great option for your site.

Click here to view a demo of this theme.

Ritratto

Ritratto, Italian for “portrait,” offers the perfect design for any kind of showcase, be it for yourself or your favorite historical figure. The prominent header area offers a headshot, large title, brief description, and links. Below that is a grid of posts that’s especially noticeable for its lack of featured image; perhaps counterintuitively, the text-heavy layout helps this theme stand out.

Click here to view a demo of this theme.

Sunderland

Sunderland is a simple theme designed for announcing upcoming events in a visually captivating way. Sunderland’s character lies in its immersive landing page, with an easily replaceable full-width background image. Sunderland is the ideal choice for bands, musicians, artists, or event organizers who want a sleek and eye-catching website to inform and engage their audience.

Click here to view a demo of this theme.

To install any of the above themes, click the name of the theme you like, which brings you right to the installation page. Then click the “Activate this design” button. You can also click “Open live demo,” which brings up a clickable, scrollable version of the theme for you to preview.

Premium themes are available to use at no extra charge for customers on the Premium plan or above. Partner themes are third-party products that can be purchased for $79/year each.

You can explore all of our themes by navigating to the “Themes” page, which is found under “Appearance” in the left-side menu of your WordPress.com dashboard. Or you can click below:

All WordPress.com Themes

Bloganuary Is Just Around the Corner!

It’s hard to fathom, but we’re just a couple of weeks from 2024. It’s been a big year! WordPress celebrated its 20th birthday, “Barbenheimer” won big at the global box office, and generative AI tools for text and video broke through to the mainstream spotlight.

On WordPress.com, we’ve seen a good share of change, too. We launched a new education hub for our free courses and webinars. We made vast improvements to our domain offerings, such as multi-year registration, domain forwarding, and bulk updates. We also continue to regularly release beautifully designed themes and patterns, making it easier for you to create the site of your dreams.

Peering into the very near future, we’re thrilled to announce the return of Bloganuary for its third consecutive year! In January 2024, we’re inviting YOU to join the thousands of bloggers who have previously participated in this month-long writing challenge. 

Participating in Bloganuary is a breeze. Each day in January offers a unique writing prompt, which will be displayed on your WordPress.com dashboard. Click “Post answer” to start a new post, which will automatically include the #bloganuary tag. Let these prompts inspire you to publish blog posts in whatever format you choose. Wordsmiths can write, artists can share their creations, photographers can post photographs–you get the gist.

In a world inundated with digital noise, blogging provides a sanctuary for authentic voices to emerge. Your own blog gives you the space to connect with your readers on a more genuine, human level, which is something that’s often hard to find on ad-filled, algorithmically-driven social media platforms.

To get the most out of this challenge and connect with other writers, follow the #bloganuary tag in the Reader and join the community site.  

If you’ve been considering starting a new blog, take this as your sign that now is the write time! Bloganuary will not only be the perfect kickoff to establish a strong publishing habit, but it’ll also help you connect with a new audience and a global community of bloggers.

Use coupon code bloganuary2024 for 25% off new annual plans. Visit WordPress.com/start or click below to get started:

Get 25% off

If you’d prefer to journal privately instead of blog publicly, check out the Day One app.

State of the Word 2023 Video + Recap

Yesterday, WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg and Gutenberg Lead Architect Matías Ventura took the stage in Madrid, Spain and offered the WordPress community a recap of 2023’s progress as well as a look ahead to what’s coming in 2024 and beyond. If you missed the livestream, it’s well worth watching.

Below, you’ll find the State of the Word video, a short recap of the keynote address, and finally the Q&A session video.

Watch State of the Word 2023Highlights from 2023

Before getting into the future of the WordPress project, Matt and Matías shared a bit about the progress made in 2023. The high points, especially as they relate to WordPress.com:

On May 27th, WordPress turned 20. What a milestone to celebrate! How rare it is to find something that has lasted on the internet for 20 years. The WordPress community hosted 70 WordCamps in 33 countries. WordCamps are events for anyone using or building with WordPress—which includes you! Read our team’s recap of WordCamp US.Openverse won the Open Education Award for Excellence. Openverse is an open-source media library where you can easily access free-to-use images, audio, and more. This library is available right from WordPress.com whenever you insert an image. WordPress launched its incredible Playground tool. This feature allows you to deploy a WordPress environment right within your browser. This is a game-changer for developers and in the future may help beginner WordPress users test new plugins or features. Learn more about WordPress Playground here. Twenty-Twenty Four, WordPress’s new default theme, is now available. Fully customizable, this theme was designed to be flexible, versatile, and applicable to any website. The Site Editor’s capabilities soared this year. On the writing front, we saw the addition of footnotes, distraction free writing mode, and much more. On the design front, we saw more intuitive styling, easier customizations, and a huge number of new themes available. Scroll through our blog archives to explore these various updates. Where WordPress is headed nextSeamless migration. In 2024, WordPress will seek to “unlock the web” with a focus on migration tools. Whether coming from another WordPress host or another platform altogether (like Wix or Squarespace), WordPress is working to make those transitions as painless as possible. Learn more about the Data Liberation project here. Real-time collaboration. Multiple users will be able to edit content and design at the same time, with changes synced in real-time.Next-level patterns. The work on patterns accelerated in 2023 and will grow to new heights in 2024, which includes features like more powerful syncing, more customization, and improvements to the site-wide implementation of patterns. Performance improvements. Typing, uploading media, publishing—all of these actions will happen 2-3 times faster in the upcoming WordPress releases. Dashboard/admin refresh. The backend of your site will get a makeover, taking on more of the look and feel of the Site Editor throughout the course of 2024. Q&A session

After the main presentation, Matt took a number of questions about WordPress and the open source project as a whole:

There were a number of questions that came in during the Q&A portion that Matt wasn’t able to address due to time constraints. Matt instead answered those in a blog post yesterday, which you can check out here.

With WordPress.com, This Novelist’s Success Is No Mystery

Dan Alatorre murders people for a living. Not literally, but literarily: His thrilling mystery novels have captivated audiences around the world, landing him on multiple bestseller lists. 

Like so many authors of the internet age, Dan started his writing journey with a blog. Back then, his posts were focused more on the day-to-day happenings of his life, and they eventually provided the fodder for his first book: a silly autobiographical tale about a father and his daughter. 

Dan has always had many different stories to tell. He published titles in a variety of genres, such as horror, romance, humor, and science fiction, before he tried his hand at murder mysteries. It didn’t take long for his unforgettable characters and unique storytelling to captivate audiences. 

“It is great when some stranger you’ve never met picks up your book and reads it. You wrote words down, they read it, and it changed their life.”

For inspiration when writing his novels, Dan looks to what has piqued his interest throughout his life–1950s film noir classics, modern-day crime shows, and mystery authors like Agatha Christie–and then puts his unique spin on things. In his most popular series, Double Blind, he’s found an equation for success: two detectives, with an underlying current of romantic tension, working to solve a murder. Each case is its own self-contained story, so it not only works as part of the series, but it also makes a good standalone novel. “Good ideas were and are everywhere for an author, so I have about twenty additional story ideas for the characters,” he says. “As long as readers enjoy reading them, I’ll keep writing them.”

His creativity unlocked, Dan was able to concentrate on that all-important but oft-ignored aspect of any creative business: marketing. His website, danalatorre.com, was already his personal space on the web but it also gave his fans a VIP entrance to interact with him. With his Readers Club, Dan is able to go above and beyond simply promoting his books, building an active community of engaged readers. That sense of connection—with other murder-mystery fans as well as with him, the author—makes each new novel even more likely to be a success. 

“It’s a great way to build that rapport with your fan base. If they’re interacting with their favorite author, they’re a fan for life.”

But don’t just take his word for it. If you’re an active (or aspiring) author, there are many other reasons to carve out a corner of the internet just for yourself and your fans. 

Always be writing

Since writing is already something you do, an active blog can help provide insight to your audience about your writing process, upcoming events, story ideas, and so much more. It will position you as a valuable resource for readers and potential collaborators, leaving them eager to hear more from you.

Build your brand

Your website is a distillation of your personal brand, reflecting your unique literary style, voice, and identity. Choosing the right theme for your site—from colors, to fonts, to layout, and more—can help reinforce your work as an author. A good website builds trust, and it can help you stand out like a literary beacon in the vast sea of books.

Control the story

In an age of online reviews and social media commentary, other voices can often shape the narrative. A personal website provides a platform for you to tell your own story, highlighting your work in the way that you want.

Ready to write your success story? Use coupon code wpsuccessda for 25% off annual plans. Visit WordPress.com/pricing or click below to get started:

Get 25% off

State of the Word 2023: Watch Live on December 11

It’s almost time for State of the Word 2023! Join us for this live stream event on December 11th at 10am ET.

State of the Word is the annual keynote address delivered by the WordPress project’s co-founder and Automattic CEO, Matt Mullenweg. Every year, the event shares reflections on the project’s progress and the future of open source. Expect all that and more in this year’s edition.

For the first time ever, this event is venturing beyond North America, bringing the WordPress community to a new and vibrant city: Madrid, Spain! The event will be live-streamed to WordPress enthusiasts and newcomers alike via the WordPress YouTube channel.

Join Matt as he provides a retrospective of 2023, demos the latest in WordPress tech, and comments on the future of the WordPress open source project.

Watch State of the Word 2023 live!

What: State of the Word 2023

When: Monday, December 11, 2023 @ 10:00 am ET (15:00 UTC)

How: The live stream is embedded in this post, just above, and will go live at the time of the event. It will also be available through the WordPress YouTube channel. Additionally, there are a number of locally organized watch parties happening around the world if you’d like to watch it in the company of other WordPressers.

Don’t worry, we’ll post the recorded event early next week if you aren’t able to catch it live.

Enhanced WordPressing With the Updated Jetpack Mobile App

The Jetpack app is getting better and better every single day. We’re excited to share a few updates we’ve made across the mobile experience to make your WordPress.com content creation and management more efficient and enjoyable.

Look for these updates when your app updates to version 23.7.

Posts and Pages improvements Redesigned posts and pages screen

The Posts and Pages screen has a fresh new look. Notably, the “default” and “compact” display options have been consolidated, making the user interface more streamlined. This means that you now have a more intuitive way to navigate your content and find what you need.

New context menu

Navigating to  “Stats,” “Comments,” and “Settings” has been moved to the context menu for a cleaner and more organized look. This enhancement simplifies the user interface, making it easier to access and manage your content.

New swipe actions on iOS

With the introduction of swipe actions, you can now swipe left to view a post or page, and swipe right to share or delete it. This intuitive feature adds a layer of convenience to your workflow, allowing you to perform actions with a simple gesture.

Improved search and filtering on iOS

This Jetpack app update also includes various search and filtering improvements on iOS. You can now perform full-text searches and filter content by “author” or “tag.” This makes it easier to locate specific content within your collection.

Streamlined dashboard and personalizations

We’ve refined the dashboard interface, offering a more personalized experience. You can now customize shortcuts and cards on your dashboard, tailoring it to your specific needs and preferences, so you can easily access the features that matter most to you. 

Updated “Me” tab

By moving the “Me” section to the bottom tab, we’ve simplified the app’s navigation. This means you can now access your profile, account settings, and app settings from anywhere within the app, without interrupting your workflow. 

Optimized site media on iOS

We’ve re-engineered the screen for managing and selecting your site’s media on iOS, focusing on performance optimizations. The previews load significantly faster and use less memory, ensuring a smooth scrolling experience.

We’ve also added three new gestures to help you manage your media on the fly:

Long press on an image to quickly preview a photo and access some of the common actionsQuickly select multiple items by dragging your finger over the imagesWhen checking the media details, swipe from left to right to switch between items

There are many other minor improvements and fixes that add up to a significantly better overall experience of working with your media, and we’ll continue to build on this new foundation in the upcoming releases to deliver the best experience possible.

Download the latest update

Experience the new and improved Jetpack mobile app by downloading the latest update. 

Thank you for being part of the WordPress.com community! We’re thrilled to continue this journey of improvement with you.

Get the app today

Having Trouble Naming Your Business? Let Us Help

A great business name is essential for building a strong brand. It needs to immediately catch the attention of potential customers and become something that stays top-of-mind for the long term.

You could wait until you have a flash of inspiration and stumble upon an excellent brand name. But what if you want something to spark your inspiration right now? Perhaps a tool that could get your creative juices flowing and start you on the path toward success?

That’s where our comes in. We’ve recently revamped this free tool with the power of AI so you can uncover dozens of great ideas in seconds. 

Using the Business Name Generator

Start the process by visiting the and entering a keyword or phrase for your business idea:

Next, you’ll be presented with several options to choose from:

Want to see more options? Try the same keyword or phrase again or enter a different term to get a new set of ideas.

If you see a name that you like, click “Next” to purchase the domain name. You can choose from over 350 extensions to find the one that’s best for your new business.

The Business Name Generator will only suggest business name ideas that match an available domain name.

Once you have a domain name, there’s no better place to host and build your website than WordPress.com. Choose any paid annual plan and you’ll get your domain name free for the first year. If you need help building your website, Built By WordPress.com, our own website design service, has you covered—and you’ll still get your domain name free.

3 tips for choosing your business name

While the Business Name Generator is helpful for effortlessly spinning up tons of ideas, you’ll still need to choose just one that’s going to represent your business. Here are a few tips to choose a name that sticks:

Simplicity is key

If your name has too many words, or is hard to understand, people might not remember what your business is called. Or they might be reluctant to recommend your business to others. Choose a name that isn’t likely to require repeating several times in conversation.

Make it memorable

Once you have a handful of ideas that you like, try sharing them with a trusted friend or two. Then, see if they can remember your ideas a day or two later. 

It’s not a perfect system, but as long as your friend is willing to help with your market research, it might help you determine which of your ideas has staying power. 

Own it everywhere

Once you have settled on your business name, buying the domain name is a clear next step. In addition, you should also make sure matching social media usernames are available across networks that your business might use. 

Be quick to create accounts and claim those handles, even if it might be a while before you’re ready to promote your business. It could save you some disappointment later on.

Try the Business Name Generator

If you’re planning on starting a business soon, then . And if your big idea becomes a world-famous brand and people ask where you found the name? Well, we won’t even ask for any credit. We’ll just be glad we could help.