Month: June 2022

Posted on

WordPress Themes Team Releases New Plugin for Creating Block Themes

Category Image 091
photo credit: Artsy Crafty

Two weeks ago, WordPress theme author Rich Tabor tweeted, “Even with my theme developer hat on, I’m finding it easier and easier to create block themes ~ within ~ WordPress. I’m positive one day (soon) this will be the norm.”

It looks like that day has arrived sooner than expected, as Automattic has had a team working on this capability for awhile. Today, a group of eight full-time sponsored Themes Team contributors released a plugin called Create Block Theme that can create standalone block themes and child themes inside the WordPress admin.

The idea is that users can design their own themes using full-site editing features and then export their finished creation as a theme that can be installed on any other WordPress site. Ben Dwyer shared a video called Designing a theme in the WordPress Editor where designer Beatriz Fialho demonstrated the possibilities. She created a unique new theme using full-site editing features in just a couple of hours.

The plugin offers a variety of exports for different use cases. Users can export their work in the following ways:

  • Export the active theme with user changes included
  • Export a child theme with the active theme as the parent theme
  • Export a clone a new theme based on the active theme with user changes
  • Overwrite the theme files to include the user changes as part of the theme
  • Export a blank theme into the site’s themes directory

All of these export options are available under Appearance >> Create Block Theme.

“This plugin is aimed at theme builders – both designers and developers,” Dwyer said in the announcement. “It is useful for sharing your designs between multiple sites or users. If you’re just building a site for yourself you probably don’t need it.”

I tested the plugin with the child theme option and it worked as expected. I was able to install it on another site with its unique name and template changes instantly applied. The export screen allows users to give the theme a name, description, and author information, which is saved to the new theme’s style.css file.

“At the moment the UI of this plugin is totally separate from Gutenberg,” Dwyer said. “In time we expect more integration with the Site Editor UI, to make it easier to access these features.

It would be helpful if the theme creation options allowed users to upload a unique screenshot that would be packaged with the theme download. I added this as an issue on the plugin’s GitHub repository, where anyone is welcome to contribute.

The Create Block Theme plugin makes designing and authoring a WordPress theme more approachable than ever before. It has the potential to rapidly increase the number of block themes available, if designers understand how to use it and submit their works to the Themes Directory. The Training Team is currently working on a course for Learn WordPress that will teach people how to create block themes using this plugin.

Create Block Theme was released under the WordPress.org plugins account and can be installed by searching for the plugin’s name in quotes.

Posted on

5 Benefits of Electronic Data Interchange

Featured Imgs 23

The world of corporations can be difficult if you are not moving with the pace of the industry. Having a solid communication channel while aligning with other organizations is one of the crucial Aspects of the business today. While there was a time when maintaining accurate records and keeping the communication fast was a challenge for many organizations, today, EDI solutions have made it super easy for them.

Electronic data interchange has been one of the most required technologies that have simplified the basic data transfer and communication among two partnered organizations. You see, companies can't handle everything on their own. There are operations that companies prefer to keep in-house, while there are tasks that need to be outsourced. Partnering with other niche organizations is a great way to maintain quality in the operations. However, the basics of such collaborations depend majorly on the quality of communication that these two have. 

Posted on

Quantum Computers Explained

Featured Imgs 23

Human technology, for the majority of our history, was limited to our brains, fire, and sharp objects. The biggest advancement has been made to human brains, while fire and sharp objects evolved into power plants and nuclear weapons.

Since the 1960s, the power of our brain machines has continued to increase dramatically, enabling computers to become smaller while also becoming more potent. But the physical boundaries of this process are about to be reached. Computer components are getting closer to atom size. We must establish certain fundamentals in order to comprehend why this is an issue.

Posted on

How to Add an Author’s Photo in WordPress

Featured Imgs 29

Do you want to add an author’s photo in WordPress?

By default, most WordPress themes show the author’s gravatar as their profile picture. However, authors may want to replace this gravatar with another image.

In this article, we will show you how to add an author’s photo in WordPress.

How to add an author's photo in WordPress

When Do You Need to Add an Author’s Photo in WordPress?

If you run a multi-author WordPress site, then you may decide to add an author info box in WordPress posts. These author bio boxes typically show the author’s profile photo, a brief bio, and link to their website or social profiles.

By default, most WordPress themes use the person’s gravatar as their author photo. However, sometimes you may prefer to use a different image for the author photo.

As a WordPress website owner you may even have rules about the kind of photos you want to show in your author bio boxes. For example, maybe you require your authors to use a professional headshot.

If the author’s gravatar doesn’t meet your rules, then you may want to edit their profile and upload an image that better suits your WordPress blog.

With that in mind, let’s see how you can add an author’s photo in WordPress.

How to Add an Author’s Photo in WordPress

The easiest way to add an author photo in WordPress is by using the PublishPress Authors plugin. This plugin lets authors edit their own profile and author photo by adding a new ‘Author Profile’ area to their WordPress dashboard.

Changing your author photo

It also gives site admins the power to edit the author’s profile including changing their photo.

First, you’ll need to install and activate the PublishPress Authors plugin. If you need help, then please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, head over to Authors » Settings. You can then go ahead and click on the ‘Display’ tab.

PublishPress' author settings

Once you’ve done that, open the ‘Layouts’ dropdown and choose a layout that includes an author photo.

Let’s look at your options.

The default layout is ‘Boxed.’ This shows the author’s information in a box, complete with their author photo.

How to add an author's photo in WordPress

The ‘Centered’ layout is similar to the boxed layout, but with all of the author’s information centered inside the author bio box.

‘Inline with avatar’ and ‘Simple List’ are both layouts that includes space for an author photo. Here’s an example of the Simple List layout.

An author photo displayed in the simple list layout

Just be aware that those two layouts don’t have space for a bio. Even if the author has added a bio, it won’t be shown on your website.

After choosing your layout, click on the ‘Save Changes’ button. You can now visit your website to see the author photos on your WordPress posts and pages.

Anyone who has registered on your site with the Author role will now be able to upload a photo using the ‘Author Profile’s settings in their WordPress dashboard.

How To Change an Author’s Photo in WordPress

As admin, you can also use PublishPress Authors to change any of the individual author photos that appear on your website. This is useful if an author chooses a photo that isn’t a good fit for your site.

To change an author’s photo, simply go to Authors » Authors.

Adding an author's photo to WordPress

You will now see a list of all the authors who are registered with your WordPress blog.

From here, you can click on an author’s ‘Edit Author Profile’ link.

Changing the author's photo in WordPress

Then, just click the ‘Image’ tab.

By default, PublishPress will try to find a gravatar that’s linked to the author’s email address. To use a different author photo, click on the ‘Custom image’ radio button.

Changing the author's profile picture

Once you’ve done that, click on ‘Select Image.’ You can now choose any image from your WordPress media library, or upload a new image.

Then, just click on the ‘Update’ button.

Saving a new author photo in WordPress

Your website will now use this new image as the author’s photo.

We hope this article helped you learn how to add an author’s photo in WordPress. You can also go through our comparison of the best WordPress membership plugins, or see our expert guide on how to install Google analytics in WordPress.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Add an Author’s Photo in WordPress first appeared on WPBeginner.

Posted on

A Complete Guide to Generated Columns in MySQL

Featured Imgs 23

MySQL generated columns pose as a powerful, easy-to-use, and advanced tool for anyone who wants to add automatically generated data to their tables - in this blog, we will learn everything you need to know to master them.

Generated columns allow you to store automatically generated data in a table without using the INSERT and UPDATE clauses. This useful feature has been part of MySQL since version 5.7, and it represents an alternative approach to triggers when it comes to generating data. Also, generated columns can help you make your query easier and more efficient.

Posted on

Purpose-Driven Microservice Design

Featured Imgs 23

Buzzwords aren’t something I expected when I started my career. In those days, most of the technology news arrived in paper-based weekly publications like InformationWeek and Network World. I remember thinking to myself, “Man, they are using these same words over and over again each week.”

That translated to people using buzzwords … all the time. Back then, my two favorite buzzwords were references to the internet as the “world wide web” and the “information superhighway.” I always wondered if there would be a super-duper-highway at some point.

Posted on

How to Import External Images in WordPress

Wp Plugins

Do you want to import external images in WordPress?

If you have recently moved your website from one platform or host to another, then there is a good chance that you may have external images embedded on your pages.

In this article, we will explain how to properly import those external images in WordPress.

How to Import External Images in WordPress

Why Import External Images in WordPress?

External images are images embedded in your content that load from another website or URL different from your main WordPress website.

Most commonly, WordPress users come across external images issue after migrating their website from other platforms like Blogger, Weebly, Joomla, or WordPress.com.

By default, if you use one of the WordPress importers, then it will try to import images. You can see the imported images by visiting Media » Library page in your WordPress admin area.

If you see that all your images are already in the Media Library, but the image URLs in your posts still point to your old website, then you don’t need this article. Instead, you should follow our guide on how to easily update URLs when moving your WordPress site.

However, if you don’t see images imported to your WordPress media library, then continue reading and we will show you how to import those external images.

How to Import External Images in WordPress

The first thing you need to do is to install and activate the Auto Upload Images plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to visit the Settings » Auto Upload Images page to review the plugin settings.

The Auto Upload Images Settings Page

The default settings would work for most users, but you can change them as needed.

For example, the plugin will import images to your default WordPress media uploads folder. You can change that by providing a different base URL. Other than that, it also allows you to set filename, image alt tag, image size, and exclude post types.

If you do make some changes, then don’t forget to click on the ‘Save Changes’ button at the bottom of the page to store the new settings.

Next, you will need to update the posts or pages containing the external images. Since this is a manual process, it can be tedious if you have a lot of content.

Luckily, there’s a quick way to update all posts with external images. Simply go to Posts » All Posts page and then click on the Screen Options button at the top.

Use Screen Options to Display 999 Posts at a Time

You need to increase the number in the ‘Number of items per page field’ field to ‘999’ and click the ‘Apply’ button.

WordPress will reload the page, and this time it will show up to 999 posts at a time.

Note: If you have slow web hosting, your server may not be able to handle updating so many posts at once. In that case, you would want to do smaller batches of posts at a time, or consider switching to better WordPress hosting.

Next, you can select all of your posts on this page by clicking the checkbox next to ‘Title’. After that, you should select ‘Edit’ under the bulk actions menu and click the ‘Apply’ button.

Editing All Posts in Bulk

WordPress will now show you a ‘Bulk Edit’ box with all selected posts.

You just need to click on the ‘Update’ button, and WordPress will update all your posts.

Updating All Posts in Bulk

Remember, don’t change any of the settings in the bulk edit settings that you see. You just need to click the ‘Update’ button.

This will trigger the plugin to check all selected posts and import external images as it finds them.

If you have more than 999 posts, then you will need to visit the next page to select the remaining posts.

We hope this tutorial helped you learn how to import external images in WordPress. You may also want to learn how to create a custom Instagram photo feed, or check out our list of must have plugins to grow your site.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Import External Images in WordPress first appeared on WPBeginner.

Posted on

How to Improve Customer Relationships with Website Intelligence, Status Pages, Incidents Reporting

Featured Imgs 30

This post is originally published on Designmodo: How to Improve Customer Relationships with Website Intelligence, Status Pages, Incidents Reporting

How to Improve Customer Relationships with Website Intelligence, Status Pages, Incidents Reporting

Websites are undoubtedly the cornerstone (or corner store) of online businesses. The technology used to monitor, understand, and optimize their performance, however, has been rather stagnant until more recently. The emergence of Website Intelligence is seeking to put an end …

For more information please contact Designmodo

Posted on

Help Shape the Future of CSS-Tricks!

Category Image 052

Hey, so it’s been a minute since we announced that CSS-Tricks is now part of the DigitalOcean family. Things are pretty much business as usual and hopefully it feels that way to you, too. Now that we’re getting settled, we’re eager to start poking at the future of this site.

What sort of things are we poking at? Well, that’s where you come in. You see, there’s no shortage of ideas for CSS-Tricks, but we only want to work on things that continue to make CSS-Tricks one of the spots you come to time and again for all things front-end (including actual CSS tricks).

So, we put together a short little survey for you. Nothing crazy, just a few questions to help us vet those ideas and ultimately shape the future of CSS-Tricks.

Take the survey!

Thanks so much for your help! And while I have you, thanks for continuing to hang with us. In the seven years I’ve been working here at CSS-Tricks, I know this site wouldn’t even be here today without y’all. Here’s to the future of CSS-Tricks and learning together!

CSS-Tricks Newsletter

Oh, and one more update for all of you who miss the newsletter: it will be back! But we had to drop a ton of you off the list (seriously, like 80% of all subscribers) to be compliant with legal stuff that’s over my head. No worries, though, because you can re-subscribe right down here with your email address.

Help Shape the Future of CSS-Tricks! originally published on CSS-Tricks. You should get the newsletter.

Posted on

Binance Announces Launch of Fast API

Featured Imgs 23

Binance, a cryptocurrency marketplace, has announced the release of the Fast API function, which is intended to help simplify common cryptocurrency integration tasks. This new API is generally available immediately, and users will need to reach out to the company for access. 

The company outlined the value of this new API in stating that it will allow users to:

Posted on

Ambee Announces API to Support Its Pollen Tracking Services

Featured Imgs 23

As per AAFA (Asthma and allergy foundation of America), more than 50 million people have various types of allergies each year and it is the sixth leading cause of chronic illness. Pollen affects human well-being with different seasonal allergies and respiratory ailments, making it extremely important to track, says Ambee's co-founder, Madhusudhan Anand. "The problem is, it requires a complex methodology to gather accurate results.

Posted on

How to Disable Gravatars in WordPress

Category Image 091

Do you want to disable Gravatars in WordPress?

WordPress uses Gravatars to display user profile photos or Avatars. It is a third-party service that allows users to have the same profile photo on different websites.

Gravatars are highly useful, particularly in WordPress comments. However, some users may not want to use Gravatars at all.

In this article, we’ll show you how to easily disable Gravatars in WordPress. We’ll also show you how to use local avatars instead.

Turn off Gravatars in WordPress

Why Disable Gravatars in WordPress

Gravatars are a third-party service that allows users to add a profile photo to their WordPress website and use it across the internet.

Basically, you create an account and then upload your profile photo.

Managing Gravatar profile

After that, whenever you use that particular email address on a website that supports Gravatar, it will automatically show your profile photo from the Gravatar website.

To learn more see our explainer, What is Gravatar and why you should use it.

However, some website owners may not want to use Gravatars for several reasons.

For instance, they may want to turn it off to improve website performance and speed.

Similarly, some site owners may not want to use Gravatar due to privacy concerns.

That being said, let’s take a look at how to easily disable Gravatars in WordPress.

Disabling Gravatars in WordPress

WordPress makes it super easy to customize or turn off Gravatars on your website.

First, you need to login to the admin area of your website and then go to the Settings » Discussion page.

From here, you need to scroll down to the Avatars section and uncheck the box next to ‘Show Avatars’ option.

Turn off Gravatars in WordPress

Don’t forget to click on the Save Changes button to store your settings.

WordPress will now disable Gravatars across your website. You’ll now see a generic user icon in the admin toolbar instead of your Gravatar image.

User profile photo disabled

Similarly, the comments page inside the admin area will also stop showing Gravatars.

Comments page without Gravatar images

WordPress will also stop showing Gravatar images in the comments area under your posts and pages.

Comments without Gravatars

How to Replace Gravatar with Local Avatars in WordPress?

Some users may want to disable Gravatar but still want to display profile photos under author bios and other places.

This allows you to keep the avatar functionality in WordPress and enable users to upload their own profile photos. At the same time, it disables Gravatars and prevents your website to make any requests to Gravatar website.

To do this, you’ll need to install and activate the WP User Avatars plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to visit the Settings » Discussion page and check the box next to the ‘Block Gravatar’ option.

Block Gravatar

Don’t forget to click on the Save Changes button to store your settings.

The plugin will now block any requests to Gravatar.com while allowing you to keep avatar functionality.

To upload profile photos, users will need to upload their own images under their profiles.

Simply go to Users » Profile page. From here, you can upload an image from your computer or use one from the media library.

Local avatar

Don’t forget to click on the Update Profile button to save your changes.

WordPress will now use custom profile photos instead of Gravatars. For all unregistered users it will show the default avatar image you have set in the settings.

For all registered users, it will use the custom avatar image that they uploaded. If a user hasn’t uploaded their custom avatar image, then the plugin will use the default avatar image.

We hope this article helped you learn how to disable Gravatars in WordPress. You may also want to see our guide on how to make a membership website in WordPress, and our comparison of the best WordPress page builder plugins.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Disable Gravatars in WordPress first appeared on WPBeginner.

Posted on

How to Build a Simple CLI With Oclif

Featured Imgs 23

Salesforce developers have contributed much to the open-source community. Among their many contributions is an important, but perhaps lesser-known, project named oclif. The Open CLI Framework was announced in early 2018 and has since grown to become the foundation for the Salesforce CLI and the Heroku CLI.

In this post, we will provide a brief overview of oclif, and then we’ll walk through how to build a simple CLI with oclif.