Coding and more coding…

I’ve created a number of custom WordPress themes for clients, as well as converted existing static HTML sites into WordPress powered sites. I know my way around XTML, CSS, and how to create WordPress themes.  So much so that I was a little apprehensive about a theme that provided so many layout and design customizations from within the WordPress dashboard.  But I took the leap and am 100+ % satisfied with what I found.

I took my existing WordPress theme design elements and recreated a much improved but similar layout within Frugal in about an hour.  Now that I know my way around Frugal, I could probably do that in half an hour!  And with the Frugal framework now running my (this) site, I have so many layout options. I can change the layout of any page with a few clicks.  And when I’m ready for a new look, just create a new Frugal Skin for my site — all within Frugal’s options and design pages within the WordPress dashboard. It really couldn’t get easier.

But don’t let the easier part fool you.  This is a powerful WordPress framework that allows for unbelievable design and layout customization.

And how about support?

I’ve never experienced more prompt, thorough, solid, and reliable support.  Eric Hamm, Frugal’s creator, obviously loves Frugal and those folks using Frugal.  You won’t be left in the dark with this WordPress theme.  Not only does he respond to questions in the forum within moments, a few hours at the most, but he has tons of video tutorials to get you up and running with your Frugal theme.

Code withdrawals?

Only for a few minutes as you learn your way around. And, you can still create custom styles for the custom style sheet if you prefer to work that way, but once you discover the power built into the theme options, you really won’t need to dive into the code.

Frugal works wonders for designers/coders, as well as for non-designers/non-techy people.

Highly recommended

Well, that’s an understatement.  Seriously, if you are looking for a commercial WordPress theme, then please take a look at Frugal.

And, yes, this is an affiliate link — actually the first affiliate link I’ve ever posted — because Frugal meets and exceeds all my affiliate requirements:

• It must be a product or service that I use myself;
• And I must be delirously ecstatic with the product or service.

Long Live Frugal and much success to Eric for creating such an amazing theme, and for providing such awesome support.

Our writing is an extension of ourselves, and it represents us in absentia.  Writing well is an acquired skill that takes time and practice. Although it may get easier, it always requires thought and careful observation. Free flow writing has value for perhaps helping us access different parts of ourselves, or to generate ideas and creativity, but to then take that knowledge or wisdom and craft it into a well written essay, takes dedicated skill and reflection.

In honor of that dedicated skill and reflection, I offer my own Slow Blogging Manifesto, which is a work in progress.

A Slow Blog Manifesto

1. Slow blogging chooses quality over quantity, rejecting the notion that more is better.

2. Slow blogging respects silence, seeing it not as a void but as a sacred space.

3. Slow blogging values thoughtful analysis and review, rejecting the notion that complicated issues can be expressed or communicated in 5 minute sound bites.

4. Slow bloggers know that while a picture is worth a thousand words, pictures can also be used to create great distortion. Events must be viewed in context and that requires thoughtful analysis and review.

5. Slow bloggers cultivate stillness and space in a very busy and noisy world.

6. Slow bloggers write with an awareness that what we say matters, and that our words can have a far greater impact than we can imagine.

7. Slow blogging aspires to create value in our lives and in our world, rejecting the notion that blogging is simply for increasing revenue.

To read what others have written about slow blogging, see these links:

Matt Caufield

Todd Riesling

A Slow Blog

NY Times:  Blogging at a Snails Pace

You have two types of options — an e-commerce plugin that works with your existing WordPress site or a theme that includes an e-commerce plugin.  And there are a few options for each type.  I’ll start with the stand alone plugin and then look at the theme+plugin options.

E-Commerce Plugins

The two main e-commerce plugins are Shopp and WP-E-Commerce. There are a few other plugins, like eShop, that you may also want to consider.   I’ve spent most of my time, though, reviewing Shopp and WP-E-Commerce and can therefore only make observations on these plugins.  If you want more information on eShop, here’s a  good review on eShop by Tyron Shum.

WP-E-Commerce

WP-E-Commerce seems to be the most used plugin and has been downloaded over 500,ooo times ~ probably the reason it was the first option I found when I started my search.

The Good Stuff

• I downloaded version 3.7.5.3 and installed it with no problem.
• It adds a new menu to your Dashboard called Products and you can easily navigate to the cart options and to your orders.
• It’s really easy to add and customize new products.
• It comes with several widgets that you can easily add to your sidebar — Latest Products, Product Categories, Product Tags, Product Specials, Shopping Cart.
• You can add unlimited categories and subcategories to your shop.
• It integrates with Chronopay, PayPal, PayPal – Express, Google Checkout, and manual payment (for cash or money orders).
• It works with most existing themes, and the cart is easily customized to match your existing theme. Which also means you can easily change the look of your site simply by installing a new theme.

The Not So Good Stuff

This is harder to answer and please note that this is my personal experience and observation. It may change over time, as I will certainly continue to watch WP-E-Commerce and may eventually use the plugin.  But a few initial observations encouraged me to continue my search.

• Although the core plugin is free, you will need to purchase the Gold upgrade to get product search, multiple image upload, gallery view, Grid View and multiple payment gateway options.  Which kind of makes it not really a free plugin, as those are fairly standard functions for an online shop.
• Documentation.  Although there is adequate online documentation, you’ll probably want to purchase the most thorough documentation — WP-E-Commerce Bible —written by a user of the plugin.  If I felt confident with the support forums, I wouldn’t feel it necessary to purchase the WP-E-Commerce Bible but…
• Support.  After spending some time in the support forums and even posting a few questions, I just didn’t feel confident that the support would be there if I really needed it.  I posted a few simple questions and have yet to receive a response.  And I see a number of posts that have gone unanswered.

Overall, WP-E-Commerce does seem to be a very powerful plugin that can easily transforms your WordPress powered site into an online store. But having to upgrade to the Gold cart to get all the needed features, possibly purchase more documentation, and not feeling so secure with the support, I decided to look at other options.

Commercial Solutions

Plugins

There are a few commercial plugins that are worth considering.  I can’t really offer a thorough review, as I haven’t purchased and used each one, but here’s a few that I looked at in my search:

• Shopp has really thorough online documentation, the support forums are active with quick responses to posts, and it is a full featured cart for only $55. Here’s a link to all of  Shopp Features
• WordPress Shopping Cart Plugin I didn’t spend much time here, as their online demo is limited and doesn’t contain any products.  But you may find more information if you dig around on their site.

Plugins+Themes

All the options above require that you already have a WordPress theme, and the shopping cart plugin simply adds the e-commerce functionality to your site.  But another option is to purchase a WordPress theme with an e-commerce plugin built into the theme.  I’ve looked at a few of these options, and I’ve been most impressed with Store from Templatic.

It has all the standard features plus more.

• You can sell tangible or digital downloads.
• Multiple product images.
• Grid view.
• Bulk upload (CSV) to import your products if you’re currently using another shopping cart.
• Coupon codes.
• Easily add and customize your products…

Find all the features at the Store details page.  And after you read through the features, be sure to take a look at the demo.  The shopping cart is smooth, elegant, and simple, and the theme is attractive and well structured.  Also note that this not just an online shop theme; it also incorporates your blog posts as well.

One of the most important things for me, though, is support, and Templatic’s support is rock solid.  I’ve purchased other themes from Templatic, and their support has been quick and reliable.

[see Update at bottom of post]

There are a few other plugin+theme options, like Market Theme , that you may want to investigate, but  I’ve decided on the Store theme+plugin from Templatic for my current project.

The not so good thing about this option, though, is that the e-commerce plugin is tied to the theme, which will make it more difficult to change the look of your site in the future.  But  Templatic continues to release new themes for their plugin, so there will  be new themes to choose from in the future.

[disclosure: none of the links on this page are affiliate links]

Would love to hear your experiences with the various e-commerce solutions for WordPress, as it is truly a dynamic and wonderful combo. And though there may not be an ultimate, ideal solution as yet, there are some very good options out there.

[Update: I actually tried the Store Theme+Plugin and discovered it didn't work as expected. I need to write a part two to this post, as I discovered another plugin that looks very promising -- PHPPurchase -- which I now plan to use to develop next WordPress Ecommerce site.  ]

So What’s the Connection…

Between street crossings and social media? Well, there are times — like this morning — when I go to my computer and feel like I’m on that curbside in Bombay.   So many connections, so much movement and activity that I’m not sure which way to go.

Now, please understand, I absolutely love social media and all the amazing connections that can happen.  Like:

• Finding Deborah Donndelinger through her YouTube videos, which has completely changed my life for the better!
• Discovering  Heart of Business, which has completely changed my relationship to business and money.
• Discovering  Havi’s crazy Dance of Shiva, which is totally rewiring my brain and life patterns.

So the overwhelm is not from the quality of connections that social media facilitates.  Exactly the opposite!  I see so many gifted, creative, deeply spiritual folks who have such amazing gifts to offer that I sometimes  feel overwhelmed by all the available options.

I mean, how do you decide which advice or strategy to follow when it’s all good?  By sorting and sifting and applying some time tested principles.

Know who and where you are

From the cycle of the moon to the tides in the sea, the universe is regulated by cycles, and so are our lives and businesses.  And we need to know where we are before we can get to where we want to be.

For example, if you know that your business is lacking in a specific area, you can connect with others who offer sound advice in that specific business area.  If you’re selective and build connections based on your current life and business cycle, you will have the support and advice you need to move forward.

It also works the other way.  If you know your own gifts and skills and who you are  best able to currently serve, you can create online connections that will be mutually beneficial.

So be aware of your life and business cycles and let them influence and shape your social media activity.

Stay present

No matter how awesome the advice or strategy is, it’s only valuable if it’s relevant to you right now.  If you’re just learning to walk, you need walk training, not marathon training.  The marathon training may be useful for you in the future, but it’s a distraction when you are learning to walk.

Honor where you are now — both in giving and receiving — by being honest and transparent about your present state.

Stay focused

There are hundreds of really great business and personal development models out there.  Which one is right for you?  If you don’t answer that question, you may drown in a sea of information and still not find the tools you need.  Instead, find a path and follow it:

Pick the teaching that picks you and go deep with it — one is quite enough if you see it all the way through. (Adyashanti)

Focus. It’s critical in all areas of learning and development and it’s even more critical with the advent of social media. So, in summary:

• Do the geography — where are you? where is your business? Then build relationships based on your current cycle;
• Stay present — honor your current cycle and build healthy, supportive connections;
• Stay focused —find a model that works for you or your business and follow it through.

And remember to enjoy and appreciate our interconnectedness and the social media venues that allow us to so easily connect with each other.

So the first thing you need if you want to include affiliate code, a paypal button, a newsletter subscription form, etc. into a content item is to download and install Mod HTML for Joomla 1.5.  Once installed, you can add your html, javascript, affiliate code, or paypal code into the Mod HTML and then load that module directly into a content item.

Showing you how to include a module into a content item is much easier than trying to explain, so I created a brief 5 minute screen cast that will walk you through the steps.  I’ll include the embedded youtube video below, but to view a really clear screen cast version, go to my screencast.com account.

If you still have questions, then please post here and I’ll try and point you in the right direction.

Fast Tube by Casper

note: the snippet you need to load a custom module into a Joomla content item — {loadposition position_name} — position_name is the custom position you created when you created the new mod_html module.

For a graphic (as in visual) example, consider a tree. We look at a tree and see a trunk, limbs, perhaps leaves and fruit, and that’s it.  But that’s only half the picture; the real picture is below the surface, under the soil, where the root system of the tree lives.

The root system is where the tree really lives; it’s the source of the trunk, the trees, and the leaves that we see above the surface.  A healthy root system means a healthy tree, and an unhealthy root system means an unhealthy tree.

Seeing the Whole Picture

Being mindful of what’s below the surface can often help us correct or even prevent problems from showing up “above the surface.”  This is true for trees, and it’s also true for websites.

The roots of a website are the code, and it’s the code that actually creates what you see in that web browser.

That’s simple enough… or is it?

Well, there are a few complications:

• “Code behind the site” – uh, what’s that? You’re probably not a web designer, so even if you looked at the code, it may not make any sense to you;
• Not everyone looks at your site in the same browser. Even if it looks great on your browser, it might be totally broken in another browser;
• Appearances can be deceiving. Just because your site may look nice, it may have major problems under the surface.

Depressing, huh! It is, and I’ve felt so bad for folks who contact me wanting to make a few changes to their site only to find a terrible code mess below the surface that makes it impossible to make even minor changes.

But I don’t wanna be a web designer!

So do you really have to learn all the ins and outs of web design to make sure you get a stable, fully functional, happy cross browser friendly, easy to udpate website?

No, absolutely not!  You can dance a jig here if you want

But I would recommend that you consider how your site is built and designed before you decide on a web design solution.

Whether you are using service that provides pre-packaged templates or hiring a web designer, ask them how their templates are built before you sign up.

• Do they use CSS to separate content from presentation?
• Do they use valid HTML/XHTML code?
• Are their templates cross browser compatible?
• Will you have a stable, easy to use Content Management System, so you can update the site yourself?

If you have these four technical pieces in place, chances are you have a fairly stable site solution. But this solution still may not be what is best for you at this stage.  There’s also an organic piece to consider – what you currently need from your website and what you’re ready to invest in the website – but that’s for next time.

And if you can’t decipher what’s being offered, ask for help. Best to get help now before you spend money on a less than optimum solution.

A room holds more than pictures and furniture; it also holds a myriad of events, memories, feelings,  conversations, and conflicts that people have experienced in that room.  And it holds all this in its’ heart.  Yes,  a room has a heart – one that you can feel and sense  – and so does your website.

Where’s the heart of your website?

You may have all the technical pieces in place but still be missing something.  And that something missing may be the heart of the matter.

Kind of like walking in that room and feeling that something was off, a website can appear to have it all together and still be deader than a doornail!

Ever wonder about this phrase?  I mean, what the heck does deader than a doornail really mean? Although there are various explanations, this one makes a lot of sense to me:

If you hammer a nail through a piece of timber and then flatten the end over on the inside so it can’t be removed again (a technique called clinching), the nail is said to be dead, because you can’t use it again. (from World Wide Words).

Something that’s deader than a doornail, then, is of no further use; it had one shot at glory – to be hammered through that piece of wood – and that’s the end of the story.

If your website is missing your heart, then it is very possible that your visitors will not return.

Why? Because we all are looking for connection – real heart connection – and we move on when we don’t find it.  Conscious of it or not, we want to connect.

Ok, great, but how the heck do you put your heart into a website?

Great question, but the answer is really simpler than you might think — the same way you put your heart and soul into anything.

Mindfulness

Be fully present and centered when you are working on your site, and allow both the creation stage and later the maintenance/updates stage to flow organically and from a centered heart place.  Practically, this means not allowing technical challenges to cause emotional upheaval – much easier said than done – but still possible.

If you’re having trouble figuring out how to set up that new auto-responder and feel yourself getting tense,time to take a break and find your way back to calm. Use whatever method works for you – prayer, meditation, a few minutes of quiet, a short walk outside.  It can be as simple as sitting quietly, focusing on your heart and breath, and bringing peace into that inner space.

I personally use a combination of prayer and meditation, but find something that works well for you and return to the task when you are relaxed and peaceful.

If you are working on a new design with a web designer and the design just isn’t coming together, try to get as clear as you can about what you want. One way to do this is to spend some time looking at other sites, as that will help you clarify what you want AND what you don’t want.

And, write the content for your site from a quite, peaceful heart space.  It really does influence the heart and feel of your site, and people will sense it just as you do when you walk into a room and feel either peaceful or uneasy.

Openness

Share your humanity; it’s what connects us all. That means sharing your knowledge and expertise but from a place of humility and gratitude. Thank those who’ve helped you and share your personal mistakes. Who knows – it might save someone else from making the same mistake.

Genuinnesss

Be yourself. No need for makeup and veneers.  We all want to “prettify” our lives at times, especially when we are in business, but leave some raw, unedited material in your site/life/business. It makes life interesting and helps us CONNECT, which really is the point.

He’s also a very colorful and creative soul, and the design definitely reflects that.  The really cool branding image you see with the little wooden signpost and the country roads surrounded with flowers was his idea!

We used WordPress as his content management system, as David’s goal is to share much of his teachings and material in his weekly blog posts.  A custom design to match a custom, one of kind alternative healer.

Visit his site

Stephen had spent some time looking at other legal sites and knew that he didn’t want the standard “legalese” type website.  He wanted a unique site that conveyed his way of practicing law and his way of life.

We worked through a few trial layouts before finding the colors – light soft blue and a stronger, dark blue – to convey both strength and calm. A small site with a small content management system, but with a very clear, calm, yet strong presense.

Visit his site

Since Shoshana wanted to add regular posts and articles to the site, we decided to use WordPress as the engine of her site.

I created a custom theme that reflects the heart and energy of Heliotrope Holistic Health Services and taught Shoshana how to add all her wonderful and inspiring material.

With only a few hours of instruction and some educational screencasts, she’s now a happy blogger and is continuing to learn her way around WordPress.

Visit her site