Web Hosting Blog From Pixel Internet » Wordpress

Adding The Google +1 Button To Your WordPress Website

Doug — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 11:35:26 +0000

If you’ve been following the activities of Google in recent months (or you’re an SEO engineer), you’ll have undoubtedly come across the +1 concept recently introduced by the search giant.

Initially an experiment in utilising user-based recommendations to inform search results, Google has rolled out the +1 button more comprehensively by allowing the integration of a +1 button into your blogs and websites.

There will undoubtedly be numerous WordPress plugins in the coming months featuring simple +1 button integration, but in the meantime here’s a simple guide to adding the Google +1 button to your WordPress-based blogs and websites yourself in two simple steps:

1. Editing your WordPress theme files

You will need to add a line of Javascript to your WP theme files, but this isn’t as difficult as it may sound to some people. Simply login to your WordPress dashboard and navigate to Appearances > Editor.

On the next screen, locate and select ‘Footer.php’, which should reveal the coding for your website’s footer. You’ll need to locate the closing body tag, which will look like this:

Then simply paste in the following line of Javascript immediately before the closing body tag:

To help you out, here’s a screenshot of what you’ll need to do:

Once you’ve placed the code in the right place, simply hit ‘update’ and you’re ready to move on to the next step.

2. Adding the +1 button to your website

Once the javascript is added to your Footer.php file, you’ll be able to add the +1 button with a simple shortcode:

This can be added to individual posts and pages easily, by simply adding the shortcode into the body of the post or page. However, you might find it a better option to add the button into the sidebar of your blog, post, page, etc. To do this, simply navigate to Appearances > Widgets in your WordPress dashboard.

From here, you can simply select a widget market ‘Text’, drag it into the appropriate sidebar section and add the +1 shortcode. This will give you a permanent +1 button in the corresponding sidebar, allowing users to recommend your site via the new Google button.

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If you have any questions at all on installing the +1 button on your own WordPress website, simply leave us a comment with the issues you’re having and we’ll do our best to help.

The Best Social Media Plugins For WordPress

Freya — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 18:02:36 +0000

It’s all well and good putting huge amount of efforts into your content and your blog posts, but if nobody’s seeing or sharing that content, then all that hard work could have been for nothing.

Fortunately, if you’re a WordPress user then you don’t need to be an expert with coding or programming to add some social elements to your website; there are a whole host of plugins available with a range of different applications and functionality.

To save you the time of trawling through the seemingly infinite list of WordPress plugins looking for the right one for your website, we’ve put together brief list of some of the best social media plugins available for WordPress:

1. Sexy Bookmarks

Sexy Bookmarks is one of the most exhaustive social media plugins available, with an extremely large number of social networking platforms available for inclusion at the top or bottom of your blog posts. If you’re looking to offer your readers as wide a range of options as possible when it comes to sharing your content, then Sexy Bookmarks should certainly be one of the first plugins you install.

2. Smart Sharing

Smart Sharing is one of my personal favourite social media plugins; whilst it doesn’t have the variety of platforms available via the Sexy Bookmarks plugin, Smart Sharing gives you a social sharing box (pictured above) that scrolls down the left hand side of your blog post with the user. This means the social media options are always available to the reader, rather than just at the top or bottom of the post; resulting in a higher conversion rate (in terms of reader clicks) and increased social sharing metrics.

3. WP Greet Box

WP Greet Box (as you may well have gathered from the name) provides a greeting box to visitors to your blog, post, page or website. What makes the plugin special is that the displayed greeting changes depending on the website that referred the visitor – for example. if you visitor comes to your website via Twitter, then the plugin will display a tailored greeting for Twitter users, as well as offering the reader the option to share the content via whichever platform referred them (see the image above for the Twitter example). What’s great about this is it provides a direct call to action to the reader, which is known to improve conversion rates and should help you get your content out there much more effectively (particularly when combined with other social media plugins such as Sexy Bookmarks or Smart Sharing).

4. Active Share

Active Share is another of my own personal favourites, as it provides an effective call to action for readers who have taken the time to read your blog post. Active Share provides a Javascript drop-down box with social media sharing options – the box drops down as readers reach the end of a post, giving a clear call to action at the perfect time. Whilst Active Share may not offer the same volume of platforms as something like Sexy Bookmarks, it boasts the major platforms, provides a clear call to action and looks particularly impressive (compared to other social media plugins).

There are plenty more social media plugins available for WordPress – a quick search via the plugin section of your WP dashboard will reveal hundreds of options – but these four are the ones I’ve personally found to be most effective (in terms of design, functionality and conversions).

Do you have use a great social media plugin that we’ve missed in this list? Let us know in the comments below!

WordPress Finally Drops Support For Internet Explorer 6

Steve — Mon, 30 May 2011 18:25:15 +0000

As Microsoft continues encouraging people to stop using Internet Explorer 6, yet another high profile web service – the hugely popular WordPress – has now officially dropped support for the outdated internet browser.

IE6 has caused a huge amount of compatibility issues for numerous developers, designers and online services (not to mention security issues for users), but despite this nearly 12% of people round the World were still using the browser in April of 2011.

WordPress.com announced an end to IE6 support earlier last week, with a spokesman telling the press that it was down to “increasingly complicated coding to make the WP dashboard work with IE6″.

WordPress users running IE6 will still be able to log into their WordPress dashboard, although they’ll now be greeted with a message warning them to update their browser:

The dropping of IE6 compatibility will be included in the next WordPress update (WordPress 3.2), which is expected to be fully rolled out sometime next month.

On top of the end to IE6 support, the new WordPress update will feature an improved, redesigned dashboard as well as a new ‘distraction-free’ writing mode. You can find out more about the 3.2 update via the WordPress.com website, or by downloading the 3.2 beta version now.

The Best Places To Find Premium WordPress Themes

Freya — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 18:13:56 +0000

WordPress has become one of the most popular content management systems around over the last few years – and rightly so; it’s extremely versatile and features an incredible range of plugins, widgets, features and access to all the HTML and CSS, making the whole system hugely customisable.

Not everyone is proficient enough at web design to put together their own WordPress theme however, and as a result the market for pre-made, premium WordPress themes has become hugely competitive. No matter what type of website you’re looking for (business, personal blog, portfolio, forum, etc), you’ll be able to find a premium WordPress theme online that gives you all the design elements and functionality you’re looking for.

Searching through the thousands of themes available isn’t always fun however, so to save you a potentially frustrating couple of hours, here are our favourite places for premium, high quality WordPress themes:

WooThemes

WooThemes has an incredible variety of free and paid themes, although the majority of the really good ones will require a paid download. For $125 you can gain access to all WordPress themes (this doesn’t include Joomla or Magento themes), or you can take advantage or their permanent 3-for-the-price-of-1 if you don’t have the budget to join the theme club.
The WooThemes backend editor is particularly strong, making the themes hugely customisable and very easy to use. Along with Templatic, the backend is one of the best I’ve come across.

Templatic

Another particularly strong set of themes, the Templatic themes are excellent and of an extremely high quality. They’re some of the most visually appealing and professional themes I’ve come across, and the backend is particularly well set up.
The only downside to the Templatic themes is that they’re quite expensive – costing $299 for access to all their themes (more than double the price of WooThemes).

Elegant Themes

ElegantThemes contains a good range of themes for a variety of purposes, and they’re all designed by the same guy (who’s really good). ElegantThemes is one of the most affordable premium WordPress options I’ve come across, and is a great place to start for those with a smaller budget.
The downside to the ElegantThemes designs in the backend, which isn’t as easy-to-use as some of the previous options. As a result, customising the themes past a certain points gets a little tricky, but they’re great if you know what you’re doing.

ThemeForest

ThemeForest don’t put together their own themes, but rather it’s a dedicated search engine for finding CMS themes (including WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, etc). All the themes are generally well priced and they have an amazingly wide selection of themes and designers – a great place to start if you’re looking for an idea of the sort of themes available.

How WordPress Themes Work

Doug — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 13:43:19 +0000

WordPress is easily one of the most popular and widely utilised content management systems available in the current market, and considering the collaborative, open-source nature of the project (which is also free), it’s not hard to understand both the versatility of the platform or its subsequent popularity.

Whilst the majority of people are happy to install their theme and get on with running their website, an increasing number of people are trying to get into designing their own themes, or being able to fix their own on-site issues; that requires a knowledge of how a WordPress theme actually works, which is where things start to get tricky.

After considering a mammoth poth attempting to explain the inner workings of a WordPress theme, I came across the following infographic by WordPress master Joost de Valk, which explains the anatomy of a WordPress theme in a far more visually engaging manner:

You can see the original here.

Found any other useful WordPress infographics? Leave us a comment below and let us know!

Tips to Give WordPress a Kick Start

Tanya — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 20:46:28 +0000

Ensuring your WordPress website is fast loading not only ensures your visitors are getting the best possible experience, but it means your performance in the search engines may be better. The following guest article by WHICH ISP explores some helpful WordPress tips to improve page load speed.

Having a fast loading website isn’t just a vanity thing; it has many benefits to both your users and even your performance in the search engines. People often take fast loading Internet connections for granted nowadays, but not everybody has got broadband you’ll be surprised to hear. Catering for dial up users is something that can be done by following even some basic WordPress tips – and here’s how.

1. Reduce Document Size

If you have ever tried to upload a large document, or send one to a friend, then you will know how long it can take – even with fast connections. For visitors to your website it is essentially the same process – the users’ browser has to download the web document (be that HTML or any other type), and it can be made very lengthy by having a large document. To reduce the size of a web page, try:

• Externalising inline code such as CSS, JavaScript and PHP
• Only including files that are necessary in the document (don’t need to load the sidebar on all areas of the site? Then don’t include it all the time)
<• Removing unnecessary whitespace (any line breaks and spaces that aren't needed)

2. Limit Database Interaction
Often with custom WordPress themes you will find that hard-coded links such as the ones to style sheet directories have been replaced by dynamic PHP queries and unnecessary database interaction. In the instances where you know the link destination won’t ever differ, it makes sense to keep the database interaction to a minimum. For example, removing lines of code that look like this:

And replacing with the URL directory to your theme folder, for example:

http://www.example.com/wp-content/themes/mytheme

3. Use Suitable Hosting
If you have a high-traffic WordPress website then you should be using a powerful web host that meets the requirements that your site needs. Hosting is one of the issues that people overlook when setting up websites, as they presume the cheapest option will often be fine, but beware of this tactic. Choosing a proven Linux web hosting package that delivers the maximum performance within your budget is usually the best way to go when using WordPress.

4. Keep up to Date
Although this seems an obvious one, it can often be forgotten with WordPress websites – especially ones in which the backend isn’t being logged in to regularly. With each new update that is released for WordPress, there are often key changes to the security and performance of the software. Keeping up to date is crucial for both speed and security, so make sure you are updating whenever you can. As a side note, here is a quick way to ensure your files are kept safe when upgrading.

i. Take a back up of the complete WordPress database (either via PHPMyAdmin or similar)
ii. Back up the theme folder, which is kept in /wp-content/themes by default
iii. Upgrade WordPress through the automatic upgrade in the admin dashboard
iv. Upgrade any plugins through the automatic plugin upgrade on the plugins page

5. Optimise Image Performance
A final, and often most important, point in speeding up WordPress is the images on a website. If your website is very image-heavy then optimising them can save seconds off page load time (it doesn’t sound like a lot, but it is). To optimise images to load faster, try the following:

• Use image compression when initially saving the images (in Photoshop, for example)
• Compress images even further before setting them live (try Yahoo! Smush.it)
• Set heights and widths on all images across the website

So there you have it. Just because your website may be loading quickly on your home Internet connection isn’t to say that it loads fast for everybody. Try following some of the simple steps listed above and see how much you can squeeze out of your WordPress website.

Author: WHICH ISP – helping find you the best internet provider

Image: J Fry / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

WordPress MU and BuddyPress One Click Installs

Steve — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:27:59 +0000

Were are pleased to announce two brand new one click-install scripts for all our customers to enjoy!

WordPress MU (multi user) and BuddyPress. Both scripts offer a great opportunity for you to add a new social element to your existing website or to create a brand new standalone social networking website.

We’ve taken the headache out of installing them too, with our quick and easy one-click-install feature!

You can find out more about WordPress Mu here: http://mu.wordpress.org/ and Buddypress here: http://buddypress.org/

Upgraded Scripts at Pixel Internet

Doug — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 15:07:17 +0000

Pixel Internet have recently updated a number of our most popular scripts all of which you can install from your Host control panel. These include:

WordPress – upgraded to V2.6.1

PHPCoin – upgraded to V1.4.4

Joomla – upgraded to V1.5.6

Locked Area Lite – upgraded to V6.0

Mambo – upgraded to V4.6.5

RoundCube – upgraded to V0.2-aplha

Website Search – upgraded to V1.5b

AWStats – upgraded to V6.8

ZenCart – upgraded to V1.3.8a

Openads – upgraded to V2.6.0

Web Calendar – upgraded to V2.9.3a

We think it’s important to keep our one-click install scripts up to date for our customers, even though this can be a very time consuming task, with some programmes taking several hours for us to complete the upgrade.

Remember that if you would like to suggest a script for us to install, you can do so via your customer feedback form found in your Control Panel.

Blog Hosting from Pixel Internet

Doug — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:58:45 +0000

Just a quick post….

Thinking about starting your own Blog site?

Well it couldn’t be easier with great value Web Hosting provided by Pixel Internet!

We’ve made it as easy as possible to get your started, and here’s why….

1. Cheap Web Hosting plans starting from just £19.99 per year (that’s less that 6p a day!)

2. One-click WordPress installation from within your control panel – Simply log in, select WordPress, enter your chosen database name and hit the button! It’s as easy as that!

3. Here’s a list of free WordPress templates to help style your blog.

3. Here you can find some great WordPress plugin’s to use on your blog.

4. To help promote your new Blog, check out this list of top blog directories to submit to when your ready to launch.

Easy huh!

One Click Installs from Pixel Internet

Doug — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 07:48:36 +0000

We like to make our customers web hosting experience as enjoyable as possible. That’s why the team at Pixel Internet have added ‘one click’ installations of your favourite software packages including (but not excluding):

WordPress Blog

WordPress is a publishing system that allows you to easily create a complex blog, or web log, on your site. Written in PHP and supported by a MySQL database, WordPress offers intuitive administrative tools and sophisticated design features that make it easy to develop and integrate a personal or professional blog on your site. Now you can easily install the latest WordPress release with ‘one click’ from your Pixel Internet control panel.

Order WordPress Web Hosting now!

Joomla! 1.0 and 1.5 Content Management System

Joomla! is one of the most powerful Open Source Content Management Systems on the planet. It is used all over the world for everything from simple websites to complex corporate applications. Joomla! is easy to install, simple to manage, and reliable. Now you can easily install the latest Joomla release with ‘one click’ from your Pixel Internet control panel.

Order Joomla Web Hosting now!

phpBB 2 & 3

phpBB is a high powered, fully scalable, and highly customisable open-source bulletin board package. phpBB has a user-friendly interface, simple and straightforward administration panel, and helpful FAQ. Now you can easily install the latest phpBB release with ‘one click’ from your Pixel Internet control panel.

Order phpBB Forum Web Hosting now!

MediaWiki

phpBB is a high powered, fully scalable, and highly customisable open-source bulletin board package. phpBB has a user-friendly interface, simple and straightforward administration panel, and helpful FAQ. Now you can easily install the latest MediaWiki release with ‘one click’ from your Pixel Internet control panel.

Order MediaWiki Web Hosting now!

We’ll be adding more great installations over the next few weeks, so be sure to check back soon!