New Features on My Website

My website crashed.

Words you never want to hear or experience.

But that’s exactly what happened to me earlier this year.

And as is usually the case–though it took a week of long, frustrating work–what started off as a disaster ended up being a really good thing. My website got a makeover, and I’m delighted with the results, both in aesthetics and functionality.

Check out @Cathy_Bryant’s new website! (and what she did to change it)
Click To Tweet

My Website Re-Design

For many years I used a free WordPress theme, but as is usually the case, old themes don’t keep up with technology, and they eventually lose support from the people who make them.

This time around I decided to shed my tight-wad skin and spend money on a paid theme. I’m glad I did.

I went with the Genesis framework from StudioPress Themes for WordPress. The theme I chose is called Beautiful Pro, and I think it definitely is just that! Simple, clean, professional, but oh-so functional. What’s not to love?

I created my header, name/tag image, sidebar headers, and slides using  PicMonkey, my absolute favorite place to play around with photos and create images.

My Website Functionality

For you non-bloggers/webmasters out there, we who play around in Blog Land realize the importance of something called plug-ins. These critters allow us to add social share buttons, slideshows, contact forms, analytics, etc. to our websites.

The only problem? Use the wrong ones (or a couple that don’t play well together) and you get the biggest headache ever!

I think I’ve found some that I’ll use for years to come. Below I’ve listed my favorites and how to use them with the content on my site. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

SumoMe

SumoMe is actually a bunch of really cool tools all rolled into one plugin, and I’m a huge fan! This particular photo shows three of the features for my website visitors and users.

First off, the share buttons at the left of the photo allow folks to share the content easily AND leaves a number to show how many people have shared the content and on which site. The thing I’m really stoked about as an author is the Amazon button. If you’re on one of the book pages (in this case, TEXAS ROADS), you can click the Amazon button to add the book to an Amazon Wish List. How cool is that?

The arrow at the bottom right of the photo shows an easy way to share photos from my website. When you hover over the pic with your cursor, you have the option to share the photo to Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest. Easy-peasy!

The arrow pointing upward gives visitors an easy way to sign up for my monthly newsletter and receive their free digital copy of TEXAS ROADS.

Anther feature of this plugin which is useful for my website visitors is the contact form in the footer at the very bottom of the page. (And I won’t even get started on other ways it is useful to me!)

MetaSlider

There are several slider plugins out there, but this is the best I’ve seen. On my website, I use these three slideshows:

A “Welcome” slideshow on the homepage that introduces folks to my website and books. (If you’ll wait a sec, the pics below will change slides.) 
















",
slideshow:true
});
};
var timer_metaslider_4240 = function() {
var slider = !window.jQuery ? window.setTimeout(timer_metaslider_4240, 100) : !jQuery.isReady ? window.setTimeout(timer_metaslider_4240, 1) : metaslider_4240(window.jQuery);
};
timer_metaslider_4240();


A “Book Review” slideshow in the sidebar. I made all the slides at PicMonkey. 


















",
easing:"linear",
slideshow:true
});
};
var timer_metaslider_4270 = function() {
var slider = !window.jQuery ? window.setTimeout(timer_metaslider_4270, 100) : !jQuery.isReady ? window.setTimeout(timer_metaslider_4270, 1) : metaslider_4270(window.jQuery);
};
timer_metaslider_4270();


A “Book Cover” slideshow in the footer. 


















",
easing:"linear",
slideshow:true
});
};
var timer_metaslider_4279 = function() {
var slider = !window.jQuery ? window.setTimeout(timer_metaslider_4279, 100) : !jQuery.isReady ? window.setTimeout(timer_metaslider_4279, 1) : metaslider_4279(window.jQuery);
};
timer_metaslider_4279();



ClickToTweet

I love that I can create an easy tweet for my visitors to share a post. I’ve already used it above. Did you find it?

Here’s another one:

New #ChristianFiction release: CROSSROADS. A soldier battles for the soul of a prodigal.
Click To Tweet

Po.st

I just found this cool tool recently. It’s not a plugin per se, but involves inserting a snippet of HTML code into the page. The top arrow in the photo shows a place where I shared a highlighted piece of a blog post on social media. It leaves behind a star so that others can share the same quote if they wish.

The bottom arrow shows another piece of content that I highlighted. Once you highlight it, the little box pops up for social sharing. Love it!

Wrap-Up

I could go on and on about my favorite tools and plug-ins, and I’ve barely scratched the surface here. (I know, this makes me a bona fide bloggy geek…) But I mainly wanted to share with those who visit and/or subscribe to my website how to use some of the tools featured here on CatBryant.com!

What do you like best about my new website? Sound off in the comments!

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