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Category Archives: Web Design

WordPress School: Text Editors

March 21, 2015 – 2:59 pm

Coming very soon, I’m dedicating a couple weeks to learning about web browsers and HTML and CSS in preparation for moving into the site design and customization aspects of Lorelle’s WordPress School free online course. To help you prepare, today’s tutorial and assignment is to introduce you to text editors. In WordPress, there is a […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Also posted in WordPress, WordPress School, WordPress Themes | Comments (4)

WordPress School: Background Images

March 13, 2015 – 9:48 am

A few days ago the tutorial was on changing and setting the header art in your test site. Today’s tutorial in Lorelle’s WordPress School free online course is about customizing your site with a background image or color. Before I dive into the details, please note that things are a little confusing right now with […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Also posted in WordPress, WordPress School, WordPress Themes | Comments (5)

Blog Exercises: I Don’t Trust That Site

December 5, 2013 – 2:13 pm

I recommended an article to a student and they said they didn’t trust that site, thus shed doubt on my personal integrity. I asked why. “Because it’s on Blogspot.” Wow. I have to say that wasn’t the answer I expected. I didn’t expect someone, not web savvy in the least, would associate a blogger on […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Also posted in Blog Exercises, Blogging, blogging tips, WordPress, Writing | Comments (2)

Blog Exercises: Ingredients of a Professional Site

November 9, 2013 – 4:41 am

Two questions on the same day triggered this blog exercise. I was asked by a student in my WordPress class recently what defined a “professional blog.” I told him it was one that met all the criteria for a well-designed, well-formed site that met web standards. This is a good definition, but lacked specifics. A […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Also posted in Blog Exercises, Blogging, blogging tips, WordPress, Writing | Comments (5)

Blog Exercises: Make a List of Everything on Your Site

September 25, 2013 – 4:05 am

Today’s blog exercise will require a little time, magnifier, and a score card. Well, maybe not one of those items. I want you to grab a piece of paper and load up the front page of your site in a browser. Zoom in so you can really see it up close and personal. Start counting. […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Also posted in Blog Exercises, Blogging, blogging tips, WordPress, WordPress Themes | Comments (1)

Blog Exercises: Start Here Guides

September 4, 2013 – 4:38 am

Training for educators using online learning management systems for high schools and college recommend creating a “Start Here” page to guide the student through the process. If the process is complicated, this makes sense. The question I wanted to know from trainers is why don’t they provide training upon entrance to the school so each […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Also posted in Blogging, blogging tips, WordPress, Writing | Comments (7)

Blog Exercises: When Your Site Design Owns You

August 21, 2013 – 4:46 am

Yesterday a long-time client called me up in tears saying, “I can’t do this any more. My site design owns me, I don’t own it. It’s too confusing. It’s too much work!” Several years ago, she’d chosen a Magazine-style WordPress Theme. The structure was based upon the standard magazine-style, sticky posts for the slider/carousel at […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Also posted in Blog Exercises, Blogging, blogging tips, WordPress, WordPress Themes, WordPress Tips | Comments (7)

Blog Exercises: Don’t Let Your Content Compete With Itself

July 31, 2013 – 4:11 am

I fear for what I’m about to say. Colored fonts are evil. I’m not talking about colored fonts in the website design, nor colored fonts in headings within your content. I’m talking about colorizing the words you are reading as you read, just because, and the because usually isn’t a good enough reason to make […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Also posted in Blog Exercises, Blogging, blogging tips, WordPress, Writing | Comments (11)

Blog Exercises: Own Your Site and Protect Yourself

May 1, 2013 – 4:10 am

I hear it every day. A webmaster, developer, or designer does the site owner wrong and the site owner is victimized, helpless, and frustrated with what to do next. I’ve gotten calls in the middle of the night from people around the world trying to get help recovering their WordPress password because their “web guy” […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Also posted in Blog Exercises, blogging tips, WordPress, WordPress Plugins, WordPress Themes, WordPress Tips | Comments (13)

Blog Exercises: The IKEA Effect for Bloggers

April 30, 2013 – 4:23 am

The Ikea Effect was coined by researchers who found out what we all know but rarely admit, we put too much ownership into our own brainchild ideas and concepts. In other words, we tend to fall in love with our own ideas and creations. If you have ever been around kids, you’ve probably had that […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Also posted in Blogging, blogging tips, WordPress | Comments (3)

Blog Exercises: How to Add Headings to Your Post Articles

April 10, 2013 – 4:48 am

I’ve mentioned using headings in your post articles throughout these Blog Exercises. Let’s look closer at these HTML tags that help you structure and increase the readability of your blog posts. Headings are HTML tags used to set the section or subsection titles within your blog posts. They divide your content into sections, but they […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Also posted in Blog Exercises, blogging tips, WordPress, WordPress Tips, Writing | Comments (26)

Blog Exercises: Does Your Site Look Spammy?

April 5, 2013 – 4:53 am

Does your site look spammy? How would you know whether or not your site looks spammy? It’s time for a spam check. Web design is hard, especially if you aren’t an expert. Yet, in many ways you are an expert if you are a fan of the web. You’ve seen enough sites to know the […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Also posted in Blog Exercises, Blogging, blogging tips, WordPress | Comments (14)

Blog Exercises: Check Your Site Title Tag

March 14, 2013 – 4:40 am

Do you know what the title of your site is? Not the name of your site or the title of your post, but the HTML <title> tag for your site buried in the source code. In HTML, every website is required to have the <title> tag in the <head> of the source code HTML structure. […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Also posted in Blog Exercises, Blogging, blogging tips, WordPress, WordPress Themes, WordPress Tips, Writing | Comments (11)

Evaluating What Makes a Shopping Cart Work Best

September 5, 2012 – 4:45 am

Before you check out your next WordPress shopping cart or ecommerce WordPress Plugin, you need to read this. In April 2011, Smashing Magazine published “Fundamental Guidelines Of E-Commerce Checkout Design” in their UX (User Experience) column exploring what they called the “harsh reality” of e-commerce websites. According to recent e-commerce studies, at least 59.8% of […]

By Lorelle VanFossen | Also posted in WordPress, WordPress News, WordPress Plugins, WordPress Tips | Comments (31)