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2018 This Months Posts

WordPress Notes and Links: May 2018

It was an exciting May for the Vegas WordPress Meetup group. Not only did we have our regular meeting, but we also had a WordPress 15-Year Anniversary Party, too! Let’s start with the meeting held on May 16, 2018.

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Synced Browser Testing

Emanuel “Manny” Costa helped the group get our geek on by showing us the benefits of browser testing. What will your website look like on various browsers? Manny showed us how to test that. 

Testing browsers and what your site will look like on various devices can be a daunting a time-consuming process, albeit necessary. However, Manny introduced the group to synchronized browsing tools that lets you accomplish all of this at once! 

Most of these tools are premium and expensive, but Manny introduced us to some free options: Responsinator, LiveReload, and, his personal favorite, Browsersync. Here are some of the things he appreciates about Browsersync:

  • Easy to use
  • Compatible with Windows or Mac
  • Saves time
  • Changes can be viewed simultaneously

View Manny’s entire presentation on Synced Browser Testing here.

Advanced Custom Fields Plugin

Robert Gillmer showed us the benefits of Advanced Custom Fields (ACF), which is a WordPress plugin that allows you to add any kind of field you want to the backend. ACF makes content organization easier for the backend user or website admin. You can read a basic tutorial here.

When ACF is used along with Admin Columns Pro (ACP), then the magic really happens. If you’re a heavy content person, the combo allows for even greater organization and management, including the media library. ACP lets you sort, filter, and edit your Admin Columns.

Using these two plugins can greatly enhance your user experience when managing your content. They empower you to keep things organized and help to give you a clear overview of your content.

Audience Q&A

Q: When you redirect your HTTP to HTTPS, do you lost SEO juice?

A: For a short time, yes. Really Simple SSL will handle redirects for you. Another audience member recommended SSL Insecure Content Fixer.

Q: Is there a plugin to help edit CSS as you would a plugin without having to monkey around with the code?

A: John Hawkins says to use the Customizer in WordPress. He also says that Gutenberg might solve some of these issues, and maybe look into page builders. (For more on page builders, check out John’s WordCamp Orange County presentation.)

Q. How can you tell which plugin is causing any errors you have on your website? How does one troubleshoot?

A. John says to always have a staging site. He says that usually the best way to find the problem and is to deactivate your plugins. Start off by deactivating half of your plugins and then refresh. If the problem that you’re experiencing on your site persists, then deactivate more plugins and hit refresh. Just keeping doing that until you have found the right one. Often, errors may be stemming from a combination of plugins and not just one single one.

Bonus Tip: At WordCamp Orange County, this plugin called Plugin Detective won the Plugin-a-Palooza competition! This could be the savior to finding what is causing errors on your website.

WordPress 15-Year Anniversary Party

It was a worldwide party celebrated on May 27th. The Las Vegas WordPress Meetup group gathered at Work In Progress to reminisce, eat pizza, play games, network, and support one another. John walked us through WordPress by the Numbers. Did you know that…

  • There have been 317 versions of WordPress?
  • There are 5,823 available themes? (Or, there were on May 27, 2018.)
  • There are (on May 27th, that is) 55,257 plugins in the WordPress repository?
  • There are 91 countries with WordPress Meetups?
  • There are 1600 members in our Las Vegas WordPress Meetup group?

Look at those smiling faces below. Thank you to everyone who came out to the celebration. You can view John’s WordPress by the Numbers presentation here.

Our next meeting is TOMORROW, Wednesday, June 20, from 6 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. at InNEVation Center, 6795 Edmond St. See you there!

WordPress Vegas Meetup Group 2018

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