How To Create A WordPress Plugin With Zero Coding Skills?

In my last post I wrote about creating my new internet marketing product. I decided to take a huge leap into the unknown and create a WordPress Plugin from scratch. In this follow up post I describe how I got ideas and how I designed the plugin from the ground up.

Why did I decide to create a WordPress Plugin? I wanted to come to the market with a cool product. One that would grab attention and give me instant authority and respect in the IM niche. But also a product that is in demand and that my customers would enjoy and get benefits from. Sure, I could have created another ebook or video course and in the future I definitely will be doing both these things but for my first product I wanted to create a bit more buzz. I hope this plugin will do that :-)

How To Find WordPress Plugin Ideas?

Let’s assume you want to follow in my footsteps and get your own WordPress plugin created that you can sell on the internet. First you need an idea for a Plugin!

This is where most people get stuck or stop altogether. Thoughts of “how can I design a plugin?” “I don’t have any ideas?” “All the good ideas have been taken, haven’t they?”

These are all common objections for not getting off your butt and doing something!  These objections probably apply to most things people do online. And if everyone thought like this nothing would get done. So how do you get around these?

Turn objections into objectives!
I will step through each of these objections and show you how easy it is to get over these hurdles stopping your progress. All that needs to be done is a little research and break down each objection into a number of much simpler tasks that can easily be handled.

I don’t Have Any Plugin Ideas?

How to design wordpress pluginSitting looking at a blank screen will not help you come up with any ideas. So start looking at what plugins are available today.

Step 1. Do some research. Go to various websites and see what plugins are being created and sold right now. Which ones are selling the most? What do these plugins relate to? Are they SEO, Social share plugins, Membership site plugin, squeeze page plugins, the list goes on and on.

Research these ideas and put them onto paper. Organise them.

Step 2. New Ideas. Having done your research you should have a nice list of popular and successful plugins. Which ones could be improved? Could you take a number of functions from other plugins and add  it to another to create an entirely new plugin? What missing functionality could you add to an existing plugins? This is how I came up with the idea for mine. I took an already existing plugin and added additional functionality to it, changed the design slightly and had a new plugin! Simple.

How Can I Design A Plugin?

Easily! I designed my plugin idea using a pencil and paper. I had a simple idea of what I wanted and I got to work designing it with simple sketches and notes. You could even start off with a mind map. Use Mind Meister for this (free product)

I then moved these sketches into Keynote or Powerpoint as a way of cleaning them up and getting everything together.Designing a wordpress plugin

You have to design and detail everything. How do you want the front end of the plugin to look? This means what do you want the end user to see on their screen when the plugin runs? Design this with arrows to explain all the details.

Remember a developer is not a designer and you will have to explain every bit of your design and not leave anything down to them. Or what you will get it back not as you expected. So explain everything even the smallest details.

I got a few initial designs back with unwanted elements. See the pic to the right. I wanted the boxes around the social icons to be removed. Looks awful with them there. A simple design issue that was simply resolved.

Design the plugin back end. The back end is all the functions of the plugin that you see in WordPress. What do you want the user to be able to modify? Colours, sizes, menus, social icons, all the options. These need to be detailed out too. So the developer know exactly what you want the end user to be able to control.

All these options need to be designed and laid out to your developer.

By now you should have enough information to 1. research and 2. start designing your plugin. So what are you waiting for?

Plugins are one of the biggest sellers on the Warrior forum and JVZoo. Start creating your own product now.

How to make WordPress Child theme

WordPress Child theme is only Solution for Editing WordPress parent theme. Many bloggers are using Directly Edited Parent themes but it is very difficult to maintain WordPress security updates, For Example you are using a directly customized theme and after update WordPress changes many PHP scripts, Some times updates are partially broken your theme. So always best to make child theme, because child theme is the safest and reliable way.

Child theme is a great functionality of WordPress no doubts. I’m sure you can make awesome templates of WP but you must know about basic Web design languages like CSS and little bit HTML, If Making a Child theme is really easy to you. Two ways we can create a child theme first one is ‘Default Way’ to make a child theme and second one is use a simple way install a ‘child theme configurator plugin’.  So beginners are the best choice to go with WordPress ‘Child theme configurator’ Plugin.

Default Way to Make a Child theme

Go to Host Provider cPanel → File manger →  WP Directory →  wp-content →  themes.
Create a child theme folder in ‘themes’, in my cause I’m using Twenty twelve parent theme and I’m created ‘twentytwelve-child’ folder (Don’t use space between child theme name). Create a CSS stylesheet in the child theme folder Example: twentytwelve-child → style.css
Add Child theme description and Parent theme Path ‘@import url’ (CSS rule)  in ‘style.css’, Otherwise it will not work, Make look like Following Child theme description, Replace theme name and template name with your parent theme name, Example: WordPress Default Twenty Eleven theme users change theme name to ‘Twenty Eleven Child’ and template name is twentyeleven, As ‘@Import url’ CSS rule path is same as below description.
/*
Theme Name: Twenty Twelve Child
Template: twentytwelve

import url-twentytwelve/style.css

4.  Finally Save child theme ‘style.css’ file.

Now Child theme is Added in your WordPress themes, After you can choose the child theme from Appearance → Themes and choose child theme and click to apply.

Above default steps are little hard to beginners, Another Easy way you can build child themes with WP ‘child theme configurator’.

Create a child theme with  ‘Child Theme Configurator’ plugin

It is a simple way to make WordPress Child theme. We have required only ‘Child theme configurator’ plugin and also available many other plugins like ‘One click child theme’ But it have more futures like copy files from parent theme to child theme and available more useful features.

1. Download ‘Child theme configurator’ and activate this plugin, Go to Tools → Child Themes 

2. Select a parent theme and click ‘Create New child theme’, Give a Child theme name and after Click ‘Generate Child Theme Files. You are almost done.

I personally recommend  ‘Child theme configurator’ , because It is free and Easy to use WP Plugin, ‘Child theme configurator’ have more awesome features. Both ways we can make a child theme. You must care about copy whole code from functions.php file because it is broke your theme, So you must make new file like function.php and others files.

10 Must do Things After WordPress Installation

What is the next step after installing WordPress? I guess this is the topmost and a typical question by beginner. Well if you belong to the category of same people then this article would help you for sure as we have collected all the important design regarding the main 10 most essential things you must do after installing WordPress.

Installed WordPress?? These are the steps which should be followed After It –

1. Edit The Title, Time Zone, Tagline and Favicon

The initial three steps can be started together as they belong to the same area i.e WordPress Admin Dashboard. The first step under this topic is to change the title and slogan of your WordPress site. Now how to do it???
Well to change these, go to your Settings in your dashboard and hit the General option. Change both your site title and slogan with some appropriate title which can tell the story of your website. The second step is to change the time zone in WordPress. To do this go to the time setting as it is very important to set the accurate time on your website. It helps in scheduling posts.  The third step is to update the favicon which is a little icon located beside the site title.

2. Change the Permalink Structure

Sadly the default permalink structure — the URL structure that attached the end of your site name. As that is the situation, you ought to make certain to modify this to something else.
Changing Permalinks in WordPress
For this step go to the Settings and select Permalink from the menu. There you will discover a couple of distinctive decisions for setting another structure. The best ones to utilize are either the Day and Name or Post Name choices. Select the one you favour and after that spare your progressions.

3. Edit the Reading Settings

In the Settings zone of your wordPress dashboard, you should design the Reading settings. Here you can set what your front page showcase will be. This part is extraordinary on the off chance that you need to have a custom landing page to show your administrations and have a different page to show all your blog entries. Explore over to the Reading choice in the menu and choose on the off chance that you need your front page to demonstrate your most recent posts or on the off chance that you need to utilize a static page. Settle on your decision and after that spare your progressions. You can simply change this one later, so don’t feel excessively influenced. As a brisk note, you can likewise make a portion of the above-expressed changes utilizing the Customize choice as a part of the front-end of your site in the event that you are logged in.

4. Erase Unused Themes

Most WordPress users will introduce and test a couple of subjects before settling on one that is a guardian. As opposed to leaving those unused topics introduced, make certain to erase them. Topics even ones that go unused, will need upgrades.
Abandoning them there can make the unnecessary task of upgrading them. Furthermore not overhauling them can make a risk to your locales security as it can give programmers a route in. Thankfully, erasing unused subjects is a snap. Basically find the menu thing named Appearance, and afterward go to topics. To erase a given topic, you have to drift over it and select Theme Details. After that, a window will open and the choice to erase the subject will be accessible there.

5. Install a Cache Plugin

Cache plugin helps to accelerate your site. Cache plugin helps take the heap off your server and make your site quicker. This is extraordinary for SEO and also keeps your site from slamming amid overwhelming burden times.
The following are a few store plugins that you can use in your WordPress site:
W3 Total Cache
W3 Total Cache – This plugin can likely make a case for being the most influential reserve plugin accessible for WordPress clients. It has a huge amount of alternatives for boosting your site and is a prevalent plugin of decision for CDN – Content Delivery Network coordination. The plugin truly does pack a punch and can undoubtedly botch things in case you’re not certain how to arrange it appropriately. On the off chance that you’ve never utilized the plugin previously, it might be ideal to begin little before utilizing this one.

6. Enhance WordPress Security

Regarding the matter of your site, it is presumably best to be of the logic that its ideal to be sheltered than too bad.
In the first place security step that you can take is introducing a reinforcement plugin (we will go to that later). After that you have to ensure your WordPress administrator region.
Wpbeginner utilizes Sucuri for security purposes.

7. Install an Anti-Spam Plugin

Nobody preferences spam. Spammy remarks are an enormous migraine for some WordPress site holders. Not just are they disturbing, they’re additionally terrible for SEO. To help ease the issues that originate from this issue, you ought to introduce a hostile to spam plugin on your site. Here are a couple of best choices.
Akismet  – This plugin via Automattic is a premium hostile to spam plugin that does ponders for keeping that disgusting spam stuff out. In the event that you choose to utilize Jetpack as a part of your site, then you can utilize that record to initiate Akismet for your site. If not, you”ll have to take after the prompts for completely actuating the plugin after introduce. The free form is restricted however can be redesigned it you pay.
Hostile to Spam Bee
Antispam Bee – This is an alternate extraordinary free plugin that serves to shut out those bothersome spammers. Despite the fact that the Akismet plugin improves work, this one is an extraordinary alternative as well.

8. Install A SEO WordPress Plugin

SEO is a vital piece of any site. To guarantee that your blog entries are getting most extreme results, you have to streamline them utilizing a SEO plugin. In spite of the fact that these sorts of plugins don’t consequently help SEO, they do help you take advantage of your blog entries. 

Wordpres SEO plugin 

A top decision for some is the WordPress SEO Plugin by Yoast . It’s not difficult to utilize and can even produce a XML sitemap at the click of the mouse.

9. The Use of Sharing Plugin For Social Media Sharing

Is this really important? Yes, totally! You shouldn’t hold up for your site to get movement before improving your site for social shares. The best and most effortless approach to streamline your site for social shares is to utilize a Social Sharing Plugin. There are several these to look over, and some of them shouldn’t be utilized as they have a tendency to ease off site speed. Notwithstanding, there are others that take care of business without hindering you.

10. Begin Scheduling Regular Backups

As you’ve invested all that time setting up and altering your WordPress site, you wouldn’t have any desire to lose any of this privilege? All things considered, you ought to make normal backups each time you update the settings.

Override Theme Functions with WordPress Child theme

Recently posted about Creating a WordPress Child theme and child theme have Some other important things to we must do in child theme.  Child theme have stable security but understand How to manage and creating a parent theme file, So we are spend much time for developing a child theme and we don’t like lost child theme ability and stable security, If we must understand How to develop a solid child theme.

Override Theme Functions with WordPress Child theme

Creating a child theme, Don’t copy a parent theme files completely to child theme,  Just create a file with same name of parent theme file, Example functions.php parent theme file create in ‘yourtheme-child’ folder, Exact name only work. So copy a parent theme file completely, If you face two problems, broken child theme and Parent theme update not affect in child theme.

Recommended :  How to make WordPress Child theme. #Part One

Making Child themes are easy to a Web designers and Programmers but beginners are little struggle, because editing PHP scripts not a easy thing. Basic Ideas of PHP coding, HTML and CSS is required for developing a child theme.

Add a PHP script to Child theme files

Already mentioned in #Part one to customizing child theme style.css ( CSS stylesheet), Sometimes CSS customization not work, That cause use ‘!important’ tag. You can find latest WordPress coding resourse of Codex child theme.

add_filter( ‘excerpt_length’, ‘my_excerpt_length’ )

Rid of a PHP script to Child theme files

Overriding Parent theme function is hard with comparing Add functions. Rare cause I have faced to Overriding Parent theme functions. Parent theme have pluggable functions and normal. Many ways you can modify Parent theme functions.

Remove filter for editing exiting function

remove_filter( ‘excerpt_length’, ‘twentytwelve_excerpt_length’ );

Completely Remove a feature of parent theme

function remove_parent_theme_features() {
    remove_theme_support( ‘post-thumbnails’ );
}
Mange functions are simple but using Actions and filters more difficult, because hook parent theme functions are easy but we need to get detailed documentation of  parent theme functions, hooks and filters, If Easily we can make awesome child theme. Must care for selecting a popular parent theme for developing a child theme, I recommend to use default  WordPress Theme if we can use official WordPress forums for Have any doubts.

I’m using ‘Twenty Twelve’ Child theme , Why I selected ‘Twenty Twelve’? It have many various sources for referring child theme development and Twenty twelve layout is fit to make child theme to BloggingSector, After I’ve started to make child theme.  Find right Parent theme for your blog and make child theme, If your work will be reduce.

Sometimes I Have Problems with WordPress

Checklist when you have problems with WordPress

I have told you so many times that I love using WordPress and I do. That said, there are times when it can be pretty frustrating. In the beginning, just getting a good grasp on how to actually set up a schedule for posting and keeping to it can be a challenge.

It is also updated frequently and that may change the look of the dashboard, and a lot of the tutorials were made awhile ago, so if you are a complete newbie, you may get a little confused. I will do my best to keep any of my videos updated.  So you will have to bear with me if you see a video on something I have already covered. When that happens it will be because there have been changes significant enough to cause confusion.

Yesterday I was totally frustrated with my website!

Frustrated computer userI had a coaching call a week or so ago and the coach was
reviewing my website. She was pointing out that I had
some errors, but then she clicked on the affiliate marketing
tab and discovered it was really messed up. The sidebar
was under the center column. Ouch!
So yesterday I decided to tackle the problem. I stopped in to
ask my friends at Affiliate Blogger Pro for their help. Ros
suggested that perhaps there was some html tag that had
not been closed. Ahhh

So, I took each post in the category that was messed up and looked for any tags that may not have the proper closing tag, that was tedious and painful, especially since I am not “fluent” in html. I know that is probably not the correct terminology, but learning html seems like learning another language. The worst part was that I did not find anything.

Next I removed each post to see if one of them was causing the problem. Then I went so far as to delete the entire category, create a new one and add each post back in checking to with each one to see if the problem still existed – it did. I was at my wits end.

The answer was right in front of my nose.

When all else fails, read the directions. We have all had the experience. I told you in another post about problems I had with the last WordPress update. You can read about that here. In that case, there were plugins that needed to be updated, and when I updated WordPress, the plugins caused a problem.

Well, I am a little embarrassed to tell you that the problem this time was similar. There was a new update for the Genesis theme I use and I had neglected to do the update. It was not an oversight exactly, I was planning on waiting awhile after updating WordPress in case any problems came up, I would know it was WordPress not Genesis.

Well, it was Genesis. As soon as I decided to update the theme, all the problems were resolved. It was an “I could have had a V-8 moment, if you know what I mean. The morale of this story is, keep WordPress, your theme, and your plugins updated. I would advise however that you update each separately to make sure that if there is a problem, you can identify where the cause is.

How to Embed Video in a WordPress Website

I was recently asked how to embed videos on a WordPress website. I love the fact that WordPress makes it so easy. It is really great when you record your own video. I recently connected with someone in a Linkedin group I belong to who has written a book.

He made a video talking about it and put it on the home page of his website. Just from watching it, I am curious about his book. He has discovered his passion. When his book comes out, I will check it out. That is the power of video.

Easy steps to embed videos on your website.
Make sure you click the HTML tab on the top of the toolbar.

Next you add the embed code. If you are using a video from You tube, you can get the embed code by clicking on the share button.

Find the embed code by click on the embed button.
Copy the highlighted html code.

below the highlighted code you will see that you can choose the size you want the video box to be. Usually the smallest choice works well on WordPress. In some cases, you may want to have a custom size. For instance, if you want the video in your sidebar, you want to size it appropriately. In most cases, the sidebar is only 300 pixels wide.

If that is the case, you want to choose the custom option. You add the width, and the height will be proportionate.

Now that you have the embed code, all you have to do is go back to your website and paste it in the post. Remember that you have to have chosen the HTML tab. If you want it centered, simply paste the code between <center></center>. In other words, place <center> before the code and </center> after the code.

How to tutorial on how to embed video

I would love to hear any questions you may have. In addition, I am always available for one on one sessions to get you on your way with WordPress. I like to do a screen share so it is like having me sitting next to you walking you through the process.

How to install Xampp on Windows for WordPress ?

Everyone is in need to find the way where one can try out the themes and plugins as per the requirements offline. There are various ways to do that and one of them is using Xampp.

What is Xampp?

XAMPP is an open source cross-platform web server solution consisting mainly of the Apache HTTP Server, MySQL database. It works on every operating system i.e. Linux, Mac. But here we will look at setting up XAMPP on Windows 7.

Installation of Xampp

Download Xampp for Windows from www.apachefriends.org .Xampp for windows2. After downloading the Xampp for windows, you need to install Xampp with Apache and MySQL services. Installation is simple you just need to do next->next->next->Finish. I think, you understood what to do.
3. Now after smooth installation, you have to run the Xampp Control panel and start Apache and MySql services.

WordPress Plugins

What is a WordPress Plugin?

A WP plugin is some code that you add to your website to add more functions to your website. There is a huge selection of them available, many are free, and some cost money. Don’t be alarmed, I know just the mention of “code” is enough to send you running.

Never fear, using plugins is a very simple process, just a few clicks and you are ready to go. Awhile ago, I wrote about seven “must have” plugins . You can read all about how to install them there. You will probably find others you want to use as time goes on, the process is the same.
I have had questions about how to add a set of icons for social media to your website. By that I mean the buttons for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and lots more.  The good news is that there are quite a few plugins that provide an easy solution. One of my personal favorites is “Social Profiles widget”. All you have to do is go into the add new plugins and search for it.