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Category: Web Industry News
In Greenville Grok Happens
Just spent the last few days up at the Greenville Grok event. If you’ve never been it’s a small conference where you can meet and talk to almost everyone that attends.
There are no lecture sessions at Grok. Instead they break up the attendees into small groups, called 10/20s, where anyone can start a conversation about any subject.
What are 10/20s?
This is how the event organisers define them:
10/20s are mediated discussions between about a dozen participants. Any participant in a 10/20 can propose a topic for discussion. You can talk about software, your work environment, your personal challenges–anything that’s on your mind.
After 10 minutes of conversation, the session leader can choose to close the topic and ask for another. If the conversation is particularly interesting, the session leader can extend the clock for another 10 minutes, hence the name, “10/20s.”
From the Grok home page: http://greenvillegrok.com/
If you have time and the funds I think you should come down to Greenville SC next spring and hang out at Grok 2016
For me the highlight was meeting Aaron Draplin and hearing his “Tall Tales from a Large Man”.
HostGator Discount
HostGator is releasing a 50% off coupon, valid from 2pm CDT until 6PM CDT – TODAY ONLY! This will be valid on all web hosting packages.
The coupon code is “HG50”. Click here to cash in ! (link: http://bit.ly/1c3M0et )
Two Great Web Pro Deals!
18 Best Web Design & Online Marketing e-Books at a huge discount! Worth $273. Now on sale for just $25
Here is a another great deal from the WordPress world: Get 25% off any WooThemes, themes, extensions and plugins
Read more
WordPress 3.5 Requirements
Congratulations on WordPress 3.5, to everyone on the WordPress Core Development team. This is a truly smashing version.
I did get to spend a lot of time beta testing it so I know that many of my clients are going to love this new update, particularly the image editor.
The WordPress update system worked great on the ten or so WordPress websites I upgraded to day.
Back up your WordPress Website
I did, and recommend to anyone upgrading WordPress to, back up your database and wp-contents directory before you click the update button. 99.9 percent of the time you won’t need this, but if the server decides to go off line or crash during the update, well you know!
A ten minute back up will save you hours of time better spent else where in your life 🙂
WordPress Maintenance
If something does go horribly wrong during your WordPress update call me and I’ll sort it out.
Also if you’re interested I do offer a regular WordPress Back up and upgrade plan. If that’s just what you need call me at Greenville Web Design Tel. 864-735-8378 and I’ll get you fixed up ASAP!
PS: If you’d like to check you current server’s against the minimum requirements to run WordPress 3.5 I have just updated my plugin at WordPress.org’s Plugin Directory.
Here is the link: Is Your Server Ready for WordPress 3.5
Also please have a look at WordPress 3.5’s Change Log @ http://codex.wordpress.org/Version_3.5
Save big on Web Hosting
Starting today, HostGator is offering 40% off on all of shared hosting packages.
This discount will apply to the user’s first invoice (they will renew at the normal, non discounted rate).
Applies to new HostGator customers only.
The coupon code for 40% off is 40off
This promotion wil last until 11:59 PM CST Friday, August 31st 2012.
WordPress 3.4 Update
WordPress.org has finalized WordPress 3.4 and is planning on pushing out the update early next week.
I have tested and confirmed that both the Easy Sign Up plugin (and extras) and the Easy Heads Up Bar are working great in WordPress 3.4 Release Candidate 2.
So that is one less thing for my users to worry about.
I do suggest that you back up your website’s theme, uploads, plugin files and your database before any major update.
If you need help with this we offer a WordPress no Stress back up and upgrade service, just contact me with your details and we’ll get you upgraded the right way!
BundleHunt Spring Mac Apps Bundle
BundleHunt Spring Bundle is here! 7 MAC Apps, for 1 Great Price. This Spring they are selling $371 worth of software for $49.
The app I am most interested in is the HTML5 and Flash animation software, MOTIONCOMPOSER by Aquafadas.
It retails for $149 so at 49 that makes it a 100 bucks off right there.
I am interested in creating an iBook using the free iBooks Author from Apple, and I plan to use the MotionComposer to create the dynamic illustrations and to add a few fun animations into the pages.
So what else are they offering?
This is off their press kit :
BundleHunt Spring Package includes 7 Best Selling Apps with an incredible discount:
RapidWeaver 5 (priced at $80) – A smart and powerful, web design software for Mac.RapidWeaver provides you with the know-how to quickly publish websites to be proud of. Building a gorgeous site is simple with RapidWeaver thanks to more than 45 included themes.
MotionComposer (priced at $149) – Create engaging interactive animations and run itanywhere! MotionComposer’s unique technology plays interactive content Flash in Web browsers that support Flash, and automatically plays a HTML5 version in browsers that don’t support Flash. Now your interactive Web content will play in any browser, includingiPhone and iPad.
FX Photo Studio PRO (priced at $40) – This app has everything you need to make photography one of a kind – loads of high quality photo effects (170 effects), pro tools to edit images, selective masking, variety of import/export tools and more.
Fantastical (priced at $20) – Plan your day in style with the most attractive calendar you’ve ever seen. Color-coding and beautiful design help you quickly make sense of your schedule.The event list and calendar allow you to easily locate and plan all of your events.
ExpanDrive (priced at $40) – ExpanDrive acts just like a USB drive plugged into your computer. Open, edit, and save files to remote computers from within your favorite programs—even when they are on a server half a world away.
KeyCue (priced at $27) – KeyCue helps you to use your Mac OS X applications more effectively by displaying a concise table of all currently available menu shortcuts.You no longer need to memorize and remember key combinations; just press the command keyand KeyCue tells you what you want to know.
IconBox 2 (priced at $20) – IconBox is a helpful organizational tool for Mac. It was thefirst Icon Organizer running on Mac OS X, allowing users to conveniently organize their collection of icons in an iPhoto-like way. With version 2.5, IconBox has been completely rewritten and features a brand new interface.
Check them out @ BundleHunt Spring Bundle
Video introducing WordPress 3.3
This is the official, very quick, video introducing WordPress 3.3.
The video covers:
- The new Welcome Screen
- New Feature Pointers
- Contextual Help
- The new simplified media system featuring Drag and Drop uploads
- The new admin menu system with fly outs eliminating that extra click
- Admin header and the tool bar has merged into one
- WordPress’s admin now supports iPad’s touch interface
WordPress 3.3 is available! Please Don’t update now.
WordPress 3.3 is available and trust me it’s incredibly cool.
But don’t be tempted to update before you back up your current installation.
The not so quick and easy method is to:
- Download all the files on your website
- You’ll need to jump in to your ftp client to do this
- Download a copy of your DataBase
- Login into your website hosting account’s Control Panel
- Some hosts like Godaddy have a built in system to set up a database backup. BUT
- I recommend connecting to your database via phpMyAdmin and downloading a copy of your database to your desktop
- If you don’t have or don’t know what phpMyAdmin is call your host and ask them how to use it
- Now please check that your plugins are compatible with the new wordpress 3.x install
- If all of your plugins are free go to http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/ and search for your plugins by name
- Go to the plugin’s page and check in the right side column for a box called “Compatibility”
- If it works for 3.3 your good to go
- For your premium plugins go to your plugin developers website to find out the status of your plugin