I came across the Impact Page Builder plugin for WordPress a few days back and I thought I’d blog about it.
There is a lot of customization that can be done to WordPress using themes but there isn’t much that can be done without modifying a WordPress theme. There are other CMS systems which let you give a certain page a unique look without having to modify the theme. This is where the Impact Page Builder plugin comes it. It’s an advanced but easy to use template builder which allows users to customize the look of certain posts or pages on their website.
The plugin isn’t theme specific so what that means is, no matter which theme you are using, you can use Impact to create a custom look for any page or post on your website.
After having finished writing the Guide to installing a web server, I have written another guide which deals with the installation of WordPress locally on a Windows computer. To be able to install WordPress on your computer, be sure to have a web server up and running. You can read the guide here: Installing WordPress Locally on Your Computer
If you’re interested in getting attention for your business or have something you want to promote, then you need a blog. Almost every major company has a website that includes a blog. Your website really isn’t complete without one. Here’s why:
The Problem with Your Website
Your company’s website is full of static information. Sure, there may be updates to your products and services, or some new addition to your company’s wares, but, in general, your website says what your company does, how they do it and how to contact them. This isn’t information that is going to necessarily draw traffic to your site, especially after Internet users have already seen it once.
Blogging: The Solution
A quality blog is the solution. A blog gives you the opportunity to continually update your website with new and interesting information. This not only gives people a reason to visit, return and spend time on your site, it also makes your site more attractive to search engines. Everyone knows that better search engine ranking means more traffic and a better ability to meet your company’s goals for its website.
WordPress: The Hosting Solution
Once you understand the importance of a blog, you should consider using WorldPress. WordPress is an easy-to-use platform that has a number of advantages for bloggers, especially those who are just getting started.
One of the advantages of the WordPress platform is that it is free. You’ll still have to pay for the web hosting, but the actual platform you use to create the blog won’t cost you anything. You can get the web hosting for free as well with WordPress.com, but this is not recommended, as it will give your blog an amateurish feel.
Another benefit to the WordPress platform is that it is easy to use. It is designed for simplicity, and uses open-source code so anyone can add modifications or improvements to the software at anytime, which also benefits the user. If you’re starting your company’s first blog, then you should give serious thought to doing it through WordPress. You can go through web hosting search where some wordpress hosting packages are reviewed and listed.
The MadMouse and Ultimate Web Directory have released another free WordPress theme titled Blue Mist which is the second theme from the Unordered Lists series. The Blue Mist WordPress theme features two widgetized sidebars on the left and right and a content area in the center. It uses a fixed width layout, light blue scheme and is XHTML 1.0 and CSS 2.0 valid.
You can view a demo of the theme here: Blue Mist Demo
And it can be downloaded from the following URL: Blue Mist Download
Please be sure to read the TOS before using the theme.
The MadMouse Web Directory and I have released a WordPress theme named Golden Age which is free to use and coded for the latest version of WordPress i.e. v2.7.x. The theme is XHTML 1.0 and CSS 2.0 valid, vivid and vibrant and most importantly it uses a Proof of Concept that I am trying to introduce and promote. You can find more information about it on it’s official page located at the MadMouse Blog. This theme is great for all those of you who are SEO conscious. After all, SEO starts on-page and in-code.
You can view a demo of the theme here: Golden Age Demo
And it can be downloaded from the following URL: Golden Age Download
Please be sure to read the TOS before using the theme.
Also, comments and kind words would be greatly appreciated.
Here is a list of plugins that I find to be very useful and these are the ones I recommend all my clients to install. The list is small but it will eventually grow with time. The idea is not to list a bunch of plugins but to list only those that can be considered essential. Basically the ones you don’t want to leave your home without!
| Name | Comment |
|---|
| All in One SEO Pack | This is by far the most commonly plugin I install for clients |
| Breadcrumb NavXT | Another very useful plugin specially if you have sub categories. It will help the visitor figure out where exactly he is on your blog or site |
| Aksimet | Do I have to say more? This plugin is there by default and I don’t see any reason not to enable it. Note: This plugin requires an API key which can be obtained for free from here |
| Easy Contact | A very nice plugin which adds a contact form to any page of your choice |
| Google XML Sitemaps | Another great plugins. It does a great job at generating sitemaps. It also assigns priority to the posts and pages on your blog |
| ShareThis (also look at the Sociable plugin below) | Very useful if you feel visitors would want to share your post with others. By installing this plugin, you’ll make things easier for them. I won’t recommend installing this one if you are going to install the Sociable plugin because both of them basically do the same thing. They let you share posts on services like FaceBook, MySpace etc |
| WordPress.com Stats | A very useful plugin provided by WordPress.com which is more of a service than a plugin. If you want a simple way of maintaining stats then this is the plugin you are looking for. You can use it to see which posts/pages on your blog or site are popular and which aren’t. What keywords do users use on search engines to reach your site. And ofcourse, there are more. Note: This plugin requires an API key which can be obtained for free from here |
| WP-DBManager | This one is a must for any WordPress user! Using this plugin you can make a backup of your database right from the WordPress admin panel. Using this plugin you will be able to perform a backup of your database in a matter of seconds. Compare this to performing a backup using either cPanel or some other control panel software of PhpMyAdmin. Clearly, using this plugin making backups on a daily basis would become practical too |
| WP Super Cache | WP Super Cache can be a very useful plugin if you get a lot of visitors to your site. Installing this plugin will improve the health of your server significantly by cutting down load |
| Subscribe To Comments | This plugin let’s your visitors subscribe to the comments of a particular post so that they can receive a notification whenever a new comment is posted on it. It also gives the user the ability to unsubscribe |
| Sociable (also look at the ShareThis plugin above) | This plugin lets you automatically add links on your posts to various social bookmarking sites. Again, I won’t recommend installing this one if you are going to install the ShareThis plugin. You don’t need two similar plugins on one site |
| Yet Another Related Posts Plugin | This one is a very interesting plugin. Once installed, it displays a list of posts related to the one that is currently being viewed. It uses a good criterion on which it bases it’s decision of which posts are related and which ones aren’t. |
Please share this post if you find it to be useful. Also, if you are interested in this list, make sure you visit often because I’ll be updating it regularly
Please note, all download URLs in the list point to a section on wordpress.org which is the official website of WordPress.
