Blog | Media317

How To Add Image Sizes to WordPress Theme

May 18, 2013 By Alan Smith

WordPress by default creates three image sizes when you upload an image to the media library, Large, Medium and Thumbnail. By going to Settings > Media, you can see what the settings are for your install. Sometimes, you need more image sizes. The default images work, but what about an image that's not square or in between 1024 pixels and 300 pixels? Often times your theme will include a piece of code to add additional images sizes to the site. To add a new image size to WordPress, you simply add the following to your functions. php file [NOTE: … [Read more...]

Filed Under: HOW TO, StudioPress, Web Design, WordPress Tagged With: Image, Image Size, Wordpress, Wordpress Themes, Your Wordpress Theme

15 WordPress Errors that Kill Your Reputation

May 16, 2013 By Alan Smith

WordPress is a powerful CMS. It has advanced over the years to be the platform that powers more websites than any other CMS. It has a simple to use interface making it ideal for non-tech users. I have used it exclusively for my clients because it is just easy for them to use. As is the case with any system, there are issues that arise occasionally that need to be addressed. And if you have ran WordPress for any length of time, you have ran into one or more of the following errors. Knowing what to do is critical if WordPress powers your business … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Infographic, WordPress

How to Steal Content and Why You Should!

May 15, 2013 By Alan Smith

Content creation on a regular basis is hard work. It is even more difficult when we try to come up with content out of thin air. We think and think about what we should tell our audience only to waste days or weeks without adding to the conversation. This is an area that I have struggled, to be honest with you. I have always found the prospect of content creation to be a difficult task. After all, I'm spending all of my available time trying to grow my business. I have to make the decision to work on a project, find a new project or write some awe … [Read more...]

Filed Under: HOW TO, Marketing, Small Business Website 101, StudioPress, WordPress

Is Your Branding Relevant?

April 30, 2013 By Alan Smith

Regardless of your business, you have to stay relevant. One of the ways you can do that is by keeping your branding current. As you evolve and your business changes, consider making changes to your website and logo's to reflect those changes. I thought this was a pretty cool infographic showing the evolution of some corporate logos through the years. Can you imagine the perception of Pepsi or Apple if they were still using the mark they began with? Your mark does not define your business, but it is often the first thing people notice about your business. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Infographic, Marketing, Small Business Website 101

Have A Website You Can Be Proud Of!

April 30, 2013 By Alan Smith

If you have a website, you should be proud of it. It should not only reflect your brand, but it should really work for you. Do you have a site that looks like it came out of the 80's? Is your website built with Flash? Did you 13 year old niece build your site when she took "Web Design" in high school? Your website is often the first impression a potential customer has with your business. And as they say, you don't get a second chance at that. People make snap decisions about your website based on looks alone. Have a Website You Are Proud of! You may … [Read more...]

Filed Under: HOW TO, Small Business Website 101, Web Design Tagged With: A Website, Web Development, Website Build, Your Website

Which CMS to Use For Your Website? [Infographic]

April 18, 2013 By Alan Smith

Infographic: The Most Popular CMS for Your Business Needs by Dot Com Infoway – CMS Development Company

A CMS (Content Management System) is a system designed to help you manage the content of your website. It is the software that lets you publish, edit and monitor your website content from a central location. They are user friendly and are intended to help a "non-tech" user control the content of their website. My Preferred CMS is WordPress There are three major CMS options to choose for your business website, WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal. All three are good. They help users manage the content of their website in a fairly efficient manner. At Media317, we … [Read more...]

Filed Under: WordPress Tagged With: Business Website, Cms, Top Cms, Wordpress, Your Website

WordPress Brute Force Attacks 2013

April 15, 2013 By Alan Smith

Fact or Fiction? If you are on WordPress like I am, some of the reports that I've seen about the increase in hack attempts can be alarming. I received a notification yesterday from my host that there have been a significant increase over the past month. Because WordPress powers close over 20% of the websites on the internet, it is an easy target. Since the core of every WordPress site is the same, there are obvious areas of attack. Upon installation, WordPress defaults to "admin" for the username and since users tend to use simple passwords, brute force attacks are … [Read more...]

Filed Under: HOW TO, WordPress Tagged With: Brute Force Attack, Password Strength, User Admin, Wordpress, Your Password

How to Add a Custom Avatar in WordPress

March 4, 2013 By Alan Smith

Have you noticed the rather odd looking default Avatars that WordPress ships with? And who is Mystery Man? Change that Avatar You can add a default avatar of your choice. Add the following to you functions.php and upload the avatar to your images directory. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: HOW TO, WordPress Tagged With: Custom Avatar, The Avatar, Wordpress

How to Style the TinyMCE Visual Editor in WordPress

February 7, 2013 By Alan Smith

When editing content in the TinyMCE editor, it would be nice for the text to look like it will once you publish the content. In previous versions of WordPress, there was no easy way to do this. You had to do some hacks to get the visual editor to display your style sheet. Style the TinyMCE Visual Editor To style the editor so your content in the dashboard looks like the content your publishing, you simply add the following to you functions.php file of your theme: … [Read more...]

Filed Under: HOW TO, Small Business Website 101, StudioPress, Web Design, WordPress Tagged With: Code, Tinymce, Visual Editor, Wordpress

5 Features to Consider when Choosing a WordPress Theme

January 18, 2013 By Grace Beckett

There are so many advantage of using WordPress websites over static HTML ones. WordPress websites are cheaper and easier to build, can be easily updated and edited and allows users to add a number of social plug-ins. This makes WordPress websites the ideal solution for any small business looking to build a formidable online presence without breaking the bank. As WordPress is open source, small business owners can save a lot of money as they do not have to pay licensing fees for installing and using WordPress websites. Moreover, this open source nature allows … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Marketing, Small Business Website 101, Social Networking, StudioPress, WordPress Tagged With: Premium Wordpress Themes, Wordpress, Wordpress Themes