photo credit: Valeriy Poltorak As developers and internet users become increasingly aware of the CO2 footprint of their data usage, renewed interest in carbon offsetting programs has cropped up in recent years. These programs allow individuals and organizations to “offset” their carbon dioxide emissions by funding environmental endeavors, which range from planting trees to clean energy projects, with lots of …
White Labeling WordPress With Branda Just Got a Lot More Free!
White labeling the back-end of your site isn’t as essential as, say, improving your SEO or ensuring your site is well protected. But, if there was a way to do it without spending a cent, then you would, right?? Of course you would! You’d better read on… Think of customizing your WordPress back-end like paying someone to organize your closet. …
9 Top Free WordPress Author Bio Box Plugins
Drawing attention to the author or authors on your site may be a key piece of your overall strategy. Perhaps you’re trying to establish a more personal tone. Perhaps you’re trying to build a reputation. Perhaps you’re trying to attract quality contributors. These are but a few potential reasons why you might want to make sure your readers connect the …
Google Patches Critical Vulnerability in Site Kit Plugin
In late April Wordfence discovered a critical vulnerability in Google’s Site Kit plugin for WordPress that would make it possible for any user on the site to gain full access to the Google Search Console without verifying ownership. Google patched the vulnerability and released the fix in version 1.8.0 on May 7, 2020. Wordfence published a timeline of the vulnerability, …
Jetpack 8.5 Adds New Podcast Player Block
Jetpack 8.5 was released today with a new podcast player block for sharing audio content. Configuring the block is as simple as entering the podcast RSS feed URL. This will automatically bring in the cover art and recent episodes. Block options allow for further customization of the display, including the number of episodes, colors, and the ability to show/hide cover …
Find My Blocks Plugin Shows All Blocks in Use on a WordPress Site
How do you know what blocks are in use on a WordPress site? I recently saw a tweet asking this question in regards to knowing whether it is safe to turn off a plugin. This seems like it could become a common question, especially for those who have hundreds or thousands of blog posts as well as those using WordPress …
Error You Go: How To Create Customized WordPress HTTP Error Pages
You’re excited. You just found an interesting link about a talking giraffe on Google. You click on it. You’re now anxiously waiting for the article to pop up. Instead of an article, a message arrives. ‘Page not found’ is what’s displayed on your monitor. You won’t be learning about a talking giraffe today. HTTP error pages in WordPress can be …
Chatterbox Plugin Uses WordPress Blocks to Show Conversations
Chatterbox is a new plugin with a fun and creative use for the block editor. It displays chat or text threads using blocks that are styled as conversations. Users can type in a record of a chat, including timestamps, with a live preview in the editor. Since written conversations are essentially little blocks of text and media, the block editor …
Gutenberg 7.9 Adds Gradients to More Blocks, Extra Typography Controls, and New Patterns
For Gutenberg junkies, the three-week wait between major releases has been rough, especially during this time when many are looking for new things to fill the gaps in our social calendars. Not to fret, the team dropped version 7.9 of the plugin earlier today. This release includes several goodies such as new typography-related controls for blocks, extra patterns for testing, …
Block-a-saurus Embeds a Side-Scrolling T-Rex Game via the Block Editor
Click to Play It is no secret that I love testing out the sort of fun WordPress blocks that hark back to my early days of the web. I have written on the subject once or twice. Imagine my surprise when I came across a side-scrolling dinosaur game that users could simply plop into the block editor and provide something …