Free and Premium WordPress themes

WordPress Theme Share is another resource for WordPress themes.

Quite a few themes which are available are free to download. It seems that moderation is being done before making a theme available on the site for download. The website has a number of affiliate links as well which are cleverly hidden. To know more about how this can done look out for a future post on this blog.

Here are some screenshots for freeware themes

Meanwhile enjoy the themes that are vailable on the WordPress Theme Share website.

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Free WordPress themes

If you are looking for some WordPress themes which are elegantly designed but free try go to the bloggerwordpressthemes.com and browse through the WordPress section.

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Tweak WordPress to have a faster loading website

The speed at which the website loads add to the usability of the website. Since search engines have started giving importance to the the website speed for Search Engine Page Ranking (SERP) it has become vital that you have a website which loads fast.

If you have a WordPress website then you can take simple steps to make your website faster.

1. Eliminate useless stuff and code from WordPress

   It might happen that there might be some components on your website which are there on your website but you do not use them. Removing this code makes your website faster for example ‘are the Flickr images worth it on the home page’?
   

2. Use the bare minimum plugins

   Sometimes users go overboard as far as using WordPress plugins are concerned. You should try and use the minimum number of plugins on your WordPress site and analyze whether each plugin adds value to the website or not.
   

3. Enabling cache

   Enabling cache helps in loading a WordPress website faster and speeds up load times. W3 Total Cache plugin is a popular plugin that can be used to enable cache. The plugin supports CDN (Content Delivery Network) as well.
   

4. Compress JavaScript and CSS files

   Compressing or minifying JavaScript and CSS files can improve the load time of your website. The option to minify JS and CSS files is available in the W3 Total Cache plugin as well.
   However, I would recommend using stand alone services to minify JS and CSS files. To minify JS use the service at http://jscompress.com/ and to minify CSS files use the service at http://www.cssdrive.com/index.php/main/csscompressor/. Both the services are free and do a better job than other services. Please backup your JS and CSS files before compressing them.
   
5. Combine JavaScript and CSS files
   With the increasing number of plugins and themes when WordPress loads a page it has to load multiple JavaScript and CSS files (each through a different HTTP call) as well to load all the components of the page which takes its toll on the speed of the website.
   To overcome this problem you can combine JavaScript and CSS files thereby reducing the number of HTTP requests and making your website faster. To use single CSS and JavaScript code you will have to disable the calls to the CSS and JavaScript files in the various PHP files and add the CSS and JS code to the main CS and JS files of your blog.
   If tweaking code is not something you would like to do then there is plugin that can help you do that. JS & CSS Script Optimizer plugin for WordPress allows you combine CS and JS code into one file.
   

6. Image Optimization

   Images can be optimized where the file size of the image us reduced while keeping the image quality the same. One of the best tools out there for image optimization (also called image smushing) is Smush it by Yahoo.If you use Firefox then use the Yslow extension to incorporate smush it into your browser and see for yourself how much space can be saved by optimizing the images.
   

7. Add a Content Delivery Network (CDN)

   Moving your WordPress installation to CDN can improve the performance of the website dramatically. A Content Delivery Network, also referred to as Content Distribution Network, is a network of computers around the world that have the same content and when accessing the site the users access the site from the computer that is geographically nearer to them (this happens automatically and the user experience is not affected) which makes the website load faster and with minimum bandwidth usage.
   

8. Optimize database using php MyAdmin

   Since PHP and MYSQL are required for WordPress you hosting control panel should give you access to phpMyAdmin.
   Click on the phpMyAdmin link and go to the phpMyAdmin dashboard. Select the checkbox next to WordPress tables and chose ‘optimize table’ command
   
9. Speed up access to your favorite frameworks via the AJAX Libraries API
   You can speed up a WordPress installation by using CDN (like Google) for popular libraries like
   • Jquery
   • Mootools
   • Prototype
   • script.aculo.us
   • dojo

To use the frameworks from Google CDN use the Google API method which can be implemented using the following code

“<script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.google.com/jsapi"></script> 
<script type="text/javascript">google.load("prototype", "1.6.0.2");</script> “

If you implement the seven suggestions for speeding up your WordPress website I’m sure you will see a big change in the speed of the WordPress installation you have. Please share any tricks and tips for optimizing the load times for a WordPress website if you know of any which have not been covered in the post.

There are some plugins which you can use to improve speed of your WordPress installations I will discuss the plugins in a post in the near future.

If you have a WordPress based website and do not want to get your hands dirty then feel free to contact me pali.madra attherate gmail for a no obligation consultation.

Create a custom iPhone icon for your WordPress site or blog

With the ever increasing number of people accessing the Internet using iPhone and iTouch it has become important to have customized icon for your website or blog to build brand awareness.

Fortunately, for those who use WordPress as a CMS or blogging platform, there are a couple of easy ways create a customized icon for iPhone and iTouch.

Option 1 - Manually create a customized iPhone or iTouch

1. Create a nice looking PNG icon (45 pixels x 45 pixels). Save it on your hard disk.
2. Upload the PNG icon file into the root of folder of the active theme.
3. Edit the header.php file (you can use the WordPress editor in the administation panel or edit the file offline using your favorite PHP editor).
4. Add the following code to the header.php file
   <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="<?php bloginfo('template_url'); ?>/iphone-icon.png" />
   Make sure this is added between the head tags in the header.php file.
5. Upload or save the file
6. Access your website or blog using iPhone or iTouch.
7. Bookmark the website. Viola you have a customized iPhone icon for your website. 

Option 2 - Use a Custom App Icons Plugin

For those who are looking for simpler solution there is a plugin which creates a customized iPhone and iTouch icon for your WordPress website or blog. The plugin is called Custom App Icons plugin.

1. Create an PNG icon file (45 pixels by 45 pixels).
2. Upload the PNG file to the images directory in wp-content
3. All you need to do is download the plugin manually and upload the plugin to the plugins folder in wp-content folder. You can also use the search and install plugin option available in the adminstration area of a WordPress install. 
4. Activate the plugin as normal plugins
5. Go to the settings menu and select the "custom app icons"
6. Add the path to the image you uploaded in the second step
7. Optionally you can select use "use avatars as app icons for author pages" if you want the icon to be different when a user bookmarks the author profile page.

These are simple steps which even a novice can complete but it lends a professional and quality look to your website or blog.

Reference: http://wordpress.org/support/topic/iphone-custom-site-icon-question?replies=9

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Hotel reservations system options in WordPress

One of my customer asked me to build a website for his marriage palace. Marriage palaces are big halls or open grounds which are rented in India for the weddings. Marriage is one 'the event' for the whole family in India and you usually spend the most you can on the arrangements. Given the shortage of space and convenience more and more people are opting for renting out a marriage palace for the weddings.

The customer of mine was looking to build a website for his marriage place which amongst other things would have online reservation system. His requirements were 

• A calendar that shows the availability of the marriage place 
• Option to book the marriage palace
• Options for paying online, in cash or get cash collected
• Option for editing bookings by the admin

Therefore I set about looking for options and I found the following (in no particular order)

• WP-Reservation
  A WordPress plugin which allows you to integrate a booking system into your WordPress site. The plugin is helpful for those who are using WordPress for a hotel or a hostel website. Using this plugin users can make a booking themselves on the website and a notification email is generated as well. Further the administrator has the ability to confirm, delete or edit bookings as well. 
• Online Booking Calendar
   Online Booking Calendar is a plugin which comes with all the whistles and bells. The plugin allows you to make reservations by the hour. Jquery and Ajax lend to the sophistication of the plugin. You can view the demo of Online Booking Calendar plugin for WordPress here. There are different versions of the plugin available. The basic version is free and there are 5 other variations the highest price being $3750. You can see the version comparison here.
• WebReserv Embedded Booking Calendar
  This is a free plugin for WordPress for reservations in different industries or verticals. The plugin can be used by the hotel industry, restaurants, car rentals. There are different views available for the calendar. The plugin has a inbuilt notifications system. You have the ability to add discounted prices and seasonal rates. The payment systems that can be integrated are cash, cheque, credit card, paypal and different processing gateways.  
  The downside of this plugin is that you need to sign up for with Webreserv.eu. Webreserv embedded booking calendar is billed to be a free plugin but I would advise caution as I'm always wary about services which ask you to signup
•  Checkfront Booking Plugin
  Checkfront Booking Plugin is free plugin which can be used amongst others for reservations online. It has multiple gateways integrated like Paypal and Authorize.net.  If you are looking for something simple then this is the plugin for you.

• HotelPress theme
  If you are looking for a full framework for a hotel reservation website using WordPress the HotelPress is for you. Not only do you get a hotel template but a reservation system which has multiple options for payment. HotelPress is not free and it can be downloaded here.

• Staypress
  Staypress is set of plugins for a simple WordPress theme which can help you convert your website into a reservation and property booking website.Staypress is currently not allowing any new signups but keep a tab on the site as they would be back soon.   

• Appointy
  Another reservation plugin for WordPress which has the bells and whistles is Appointy. Appointy is available in different flavors the basic one being free. It has a host of features in addition to the regular ones like send a SMS reminder, Google Calendar Sync and a marketing tool. If you are ready to invest some money into the reservation take a look at the pricing structure of Appointy.

If you have used any of the plugins or any other reservation plugin or theme please share your experience as it would help. As for my customer I would be using WP-Reservation plugin and see if it meets the customer requirements. 

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RSS feed tricks for WordPress users.

Smashing Magazine is one my favorite resource to keep myself abreast of the latest techniques that are being used in the arena of web development. I would recommend it to anyone who is involved in the process of web development. The older posts are also worth going through.

Recently I came across a post on Smashing Magazine about tricks you can do with RSS feeds specially if you are using WordPress. A client was using WordPress as a CMS for their website and wanted to turn off RSS feeds option for his site. On this post I found the solution and thought I would share it with others for their benefit. The tricks and tips that have been addressed as

• Schedule (or delay) inclusion of new posts to RSS feeds
• Integrate Feedburner with your WordPress blog
• Insert customized content (including advertisments) into the RSS feeds
• How to optimize images in content for RSS feeds
• Make following comment discussion easier for commentors by providing separate RSS feeds for comments on each post (this is a built in feature for WordPress!)
• Exclude certain categories from the RSS feed
• Add RSS feeds to a website or a blog running on WordPress
• Provide separate RSS feeds for each category in WordPress
• Disable RSS feeds of your website

I'm sure if you use WordPress some of these tips are helpful.

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Trackback and Pingback - What is the difference?

One of the question that nearly every team member of the web development and sometimes the customer ask is what is a trackback and pingback and should one or both be used. To understand it first lets define what trackback and linkback do.

Linkback and trackbacks are standardised ways to connect similar content on different websites (including blogs) on the Internet. Most of the CMS and blogging platforms usually have the linkback and trackback capabilities.

How can I add a trackback and linkback to my content?

Linkback searches links in the content and if s a link is found a pingback is created automatically. A pingback is created by adding the title of your post (which is linked to the post) as comment to the post or content referred to.

A trackback is little different because a trackback has to be submitted with a content while posting the content. Unlike linkbacks, trackbacks have to be manually submitted with the post even if the actual link is there in the content you posted. The trackback is created like a linkback as well except that with the title an excerpt of your post is added to the comments of the post referred to.

For example if you wrote a post on Google Sky and you come across another post on a blog or website that is interesting, You can post a trackback or pingback (depending what is accepted by the website on which you found the content) to that post from your blog or website using the pingback or trackback feature. Once a trackback or pingback is posted readers of that post would see a link to your post in the comments of that post. 

Difference between trackback and linkback

As mentioned before the difference between a trackback and pingback are very subtle but I will try to make it as simple as possible. The differences are

• A linkback is automatically generated and includes only links that are part of the content published. A trackback has to be appended while posting or after posting the content manually.
• Trackbacks contain the post title which is a hyperlink to the content of your post along with an excerpt. Linkbacks just have the title which is linked to the content posted. 

Accepting trackbacks and pingbacks

• It is advisable to moderate trackbacks and pingbacks to ensure that there is no spam in trackbacks and pingbacks. SEO professionals would advise you to do this if you do not want to dilute your page rank. However, Akismet WordPress plugin, which is installed by default with the WordPress install catches most of the spam including spam tracks and pingbacks. For most of the WordPress users turning on of the Akismet plugin is enough to ward away trackback and pingback spam.
• You can add a "nofollow" link to all trackbacks and pingbacks. To do this you would need to edit code of the CMS or the blogging platform you are using. If you request your web developer to make the changes it can be done easily. 

WordPress and linkbacks and trackbacks

Linkback and pingback features are available when you use a WordPress blog. Pingbacks and linkbacks is a tool that can help you get new readers of your blog.

WordPress by default pingbacks those URL's that are there in the posts. However, some of the other platforms do not support pingbacks, for such platforms you can manually add trackbacks to your posts and they would be pinged. I would be posting details on how to turn off trackbacks and pingbacks in WordPress.

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Install WordPress using command prompt or shell access

Recently one of my clients had bought a server from a company who provided a shell access. Since the server was using Linux (without the GUI) I did not know how to setup a FTP server so that I could upload the files to the remote server using the FTP client.  I contacted the host and was informed that a FTP server would be installed tomorrow during the working hours which would mean that I would have to wait for 8 hours and also getup at a odd time to do the installation as early as possible.

Not satisfied with the solution at hand since my client wanted to make the site live as early as possible, I went to Google to find out if there was tutorial on how to do the installation a linux machine using the console based tools. I found this page which was on the WordPress codex.

The instructions are clear and straight forward and I can vouch that no experience on Linux machines (but some knowledge of MS DOS commands is helpful) is needed to carry out the steps mentioned.