I’m currently working on a Web site that offers online courses. I’m using the MemberPress Membership Plugin to restrict course content to registered members, and I’m using MemberPress’ Courses LMS addon for developing the course curriculums. MemberPress Courses does many things very well out of the box. This article describes a small but nagging problem I encountered and how I solved it.
WordPress
How to Override MemberPress Template Files
Since MemberPress version 1.1.7, developers can override MemberPress template files (as well as the template files for MemberPress addons). I have written this article as a supplement to the excellent article in MemberPress’ official documentation so as to attempt to clarify one particular issue. Read on for more.
Give Gutenberg a Chance
The WordPress block editor (aka “Gutenberg”) has come a long way since it was first introduced in WordPress version 5.0 in December of 2018. It just might be time for you to give Gutenberg a chance if you’ve resisted until now.
How To Add Custom Contextual Help Content To The WordPress Dashboard
In this article I explain how to add custom contextual help content to the WordPress dashboard.
If you’re a WordPress developer, you can make your clients more self-sufficient and effective by adding custom contextual help content. And that can make you more valuable to your clients.
Even if you’re not a WordPress developer, this article may be of interest.
WordPress Manual Excerpts: Why, When, & How to Use Them
Your blog’s landing page (aka Blog Archive) is like a magazine’s table of contents. Both have the same purpose: to grab the reader’s attention and to steer him or her to content of interest.
WordPress supports three methods for displaying blog post summaries on archive pages: automated excerpts; excerpts defined by the placement of the WordPress more tag within the body of a blog post; and manual excerpts. Which method should you use? In this article I explain why manual excerpts are always my go-to method.
How to Build Stunning WordPress Photo Galleries Quickly and Easily With FooGallery PRO
Photo (image) galleries are common and popular elements for many Web sites; for some, they’re downright essential. In this article I focus on how FooGallery PRO allows you to create galleries quickly and easily using “Media Tags” as the datasource for a gallery.
I’ve been using and liking the free version of FooGallery for years. Working on several client Web sites with multiple image galleries, I looked for more efficient ways to create and maintain those galleries. The datasource feature of FooGallery PRO is a game-changer. Read on for an explanation of how this works, with detailed instructions and screen captures.
How to Hide the Mai Lifestyle Pro Banner Area With Code
Mai Lifestyle Pro, a popular Genesis child theme, supports banner areas after the header. Banner areas with banner images — much like featured images — can add interest to a post and provide subliminal context. However, the default behavior of the banner area presents a potential problem. Namely, if you want to display the banner area on only some posts, there’s no quick and easy way to hide the banner area from the posts on which you don’t want it to appear. But there’s a solution, involving just a few lines of code.
Strong Testimonials – Problem with v2.40.2
Warning! Strong Testimonials is my go-to WordPress plugin for displaying testimonials. I use it on my own site and on many client sites. Today, after updating WordPress to version 5.4 — and updating Strong Testimonials from 2.40.1 to 2.40.2 — on one of those sites, the WordPress dashboard crashed. The error message: By downgrading back […]
7 Lessons I’ve Learned from Live Chat
I’ve installed Live Chat on the Web sites of a number of clients. Most of those clients — especially those who hadn’t used Live Chat themselves as “consumers” — initially pushed back when I suggested they offer this particular form of customer service.
They had lots of common preconceptions. Now that I have a fair amount of experience as a Live Chat “agent” under my belt (I provide Live Chat support on behalf of most of these clients), I can tell you that most of those preconceptions were misconceptions.
I Built a WordPress Plugin for Downloadable Files
If you’ve ever embedded a PDF file or other downloadable file in WordPress posts or pages using the standard “Add Media” button, you probably know what a pain it can be if and when — but most likely when — that file needs to be updated.
You can’t just upload the newly updated file to the Media Library and expect “voila” to happen.
Even if the updated file has the same filename as the original, WordPress will rename it on upload rather than replace the old one with the new one. (I’ve tried a plugin that offers this replacement functionality, but it wasn’t user-friendly and fell short in other ways.)
So I made my own plugin.