Kategorie: technology

WordCamp US 2023: Celebrating 20 Years of WordPress

Last week, the WordPress.com team joined nearly 2,000 WordPress creators and users at WordCamp US in National Harbor, Maryland. If you’ve never been, a WordCamp is an informal, volunteer-organized event where everyone who knows, loves, and builds with WordPress is welcome. 

Automatticians Antonio, Daniel, and Alex

The talks ranged from how whitehouse.gov was relaunched in six weeks (supported by our VIP division) to the work/life tightrope of a woman working in technology leadership. There was plenty of space for hallway conversations and the memorable closing social was held at the beautiful Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Overall, it was an action-packed couple of days!

At WordPress.com, we were especially excited about Matt Mullenweg’s announcement of the 100-Year Plan. One of Matt’s inspirations is the Long Now Foundation, which is designing a clock to keep accurate time for the next 10,000 years. Thinking about a similarly aspirational goal is a worthy exercise. What does it mean to provide web services for 100 years? How do you register a domain for 100 years? Will people buy it at the beginning of their lives or at the end? 

As WordPress hits 20 years, we’re thinking deeply about how it can continue to be a thriving software and community for the decades to come.

Our colleagues from Woo, Jetpack, and the WordPress Project also participated in WordCamp US.

At the Woo booth, attendees experienced what it’s like to be a merchant with the Woo Mobile app. They used magic credit cards to “pay” for swag from the Woo Store. 

Meanwhile, at Jetpack’s booth, attendees explored the Jetpack Pro Dashboard as well as Jetpack AI, and left with a custom-engraved battery pack. 

The WordPress Project helped produce the very first WordCamp art gallery: Open Source, Open Canvas.

When it comes to the talks, one of the clear favorites was sci-fi author Ken Liu’s “Tell the Story You Want To Tell”:

You can view all of the talks over on the WordPress YouTube channel, or via WordCamp.tv (where they’ll be uploaded shortly). 

Keep an eye out for WordCamp US 2024 dates and location — we’d love to see you!  

Quelle: RedHat Stack

Even More New WordPress.com Themes for August 2023

The WordPress.com team is always working on new design ideas to bring your website to life. Check out the latest themes in our library, featuring beautiful new options for bloggers and creators of all stripes.

All WordPress.com Themes

Negai

Negai (which means “hope” or “wish” in Japanese) is a bold blogging theme built on unadorned simplicity and minimalistic elegance. With monochromatic hues and oversized headlines, its straightforward and unapologetic style stands out in a world saturated with visual overwhelm.

Negai comes in nine color variations if blue/white isn’t the style you’re looking for.

Click here to view a demo of this theme.

Sten

Sten is a minimal blogging theme with a simple, straightforward homepage that displays a headline-only list of posts. Pages and posts are similarly spare, displaying a text-forward style that will appeal to writers and readers alike.

Click here to view a demo of this theme.

Overlaid

Overlaid is a theme that displays large titles and post excerpts that scroll over an image on the homepage. Text over an image doesn’t always work, but we solved that with large, center-aligned, and capitalized headings. Its blog post pages are crafted especially for users who want their writings to be simple yet beautiful.

Click here to view a demo of this theme.

Reverie

Reverie is a theme inspired by the work of Mark Rothko. It features four style variations, one for each season—Spring (default), Summer, Fall, and Winter. Use it to illuminate your prose, poetry, stories, photos, and more. Reverie is based on WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg’s site at ma.tt, which was designed by Joen Asmussen.

Click here to view a demo of this theme.

DOS

DOS is a blog theme designed for the nostalgic creators of the ’80s and ’90s, as a tribute to the folks who invented computing as we know it today. With its monotype font and contrasting hues of green or amber over black, you’ll be transported back to the early days of coding when anything on a computer screen was inviting and exciting.

Click here to view a demo of this theme.

To install any of the above themes, click the name of the theme you like, which brings you right to the installation page. Then click the “Activate this design” button. You can also click “Open live demo,” which brings up a clickable, scrollable version of the theme for you to preview.

Premium themes are available to use at no extra charge for customers on the Premium plan or above. Partner themes are third-party products that can be purchased for $79/year each.

You can explore all of our themes by navigating to the “Themes” page, which is found under “Appearance” in the left-side menu of your WordPress.com dashboard. Or you can click below:

All WordPress.com Themes

Quelle: RedHat Stack

More Control Over Your Domain—Introducing Forwarding 

Ever wished you could seamlessly guide visitors from one domain to another? That’s precisely what domain forwarding does. 

We frequently use it here at WordPress.com. For instance, when you type in ownyouridentity.online—a catchy and memorable URL, if we do say so ourselves—you’re taken straight to our page at WordPress.com/domains. 

Today, we’re happy to let you know that domain forwarding is available and easily accessible on WordPress.com. 

This feature is perfect for folks who want to utilize a unique domain name that will lead visitors to a specific site or page. Forwarding can be used for a number of purposes: 

E-commerce Campaigns: Launching a product? Secure a catchy domain and point it directly to your product page.

Rebranding: If your long-established domain isn’t snappy, mask it with a more memorable one.

Social Media Simplification: Make it easy for people to find your Facebook or LinkedIn by redirecting a unique domain straight to your profile.

Set up domain forwarding in minutes

You can use a domain already registered at WordPress.com, transfer a domain from an existing registrar (like Google), or purchase a brand new domain. 

To set up domain forwarding today, follow these three easy steps:

Visit your domain management dashboard at WordPress.com/domains/manage.

Click the domain you’d like to forward, which will bring you to that domain’s settings page.  

Click the “Redirect Domain” section, enter the URL you’d like to forward to, and hit save. 

Set up forwarding now

Use WordPress.com for all your domain needs. If you’re looking for a Google Domains alternative due to their recent sale to Squarespace, we’re offering seamless transfers to WordPress.com and paying all your fees (which also extends your registration by one year).  

Out of the box you’re getting:

A faster domain than you’ll get at GoDaddy, DigitalOcean, or Google

Free privacy protection 

Free SSL certificate (when you host with us) 

Learn more at ownyouridentity.online. 
Quelle: RedHat Stack

Fan the Flames of Blog Post Promotion: 5 Tips for Creating Compelling Ads on Our Blaze Network

If you haven’t yet tried out Blaze, our incredible advertising wizard that helps to promote your blog posts across the WordPress.com and Tumblr networks, there’s no better time than now.

The beauty of Blaze lies in its automation capabilities. Our tool effortlessly creates the initial ad draft for you, making use of your blog post’s title, its featured image, and a short excerpt of the post.

But to get the most out of Blaze, it’s worth taking a couple extra minutes to make sure the ad is compelling enough to be worth a visitor’s click. Blaze ads are fully customizable, allowing you to tailor them to better reach and resonate with your audience. 

Let’s explore five proven ways you can maximize your ads’ impact.

1. Use your audience’s language

It’s not enough to know who your audience is; you must also understand their language. By language, we mean the specific jargon, phrases, and expressions your target audience uses. Incorporating audience language into your Blaze ads makes them more relatable, thus increasing engagement.

For example, if your blog is about fitness, use phrases like “HIIT,” “macros,” or “strength training.” These are terms your audience will be familiar with, and seeing them in an ad will likely grab their attention.

2. Add a unique image

While Blaze does an excellent job of selecting your post’s featured image for your ad, it doesn’t know the whole story. If you have a more impactful, compelling image, don’t hesitate to swap it out. Remember, a picture can speak a thousand words and can often be the difference between a user clicking on your ad or scrolling past it.

3. Create a compelling headline

Blaze automatically uses your blog post title as the headline for your ad. However, you might want to consider creating a new, more compelling headline specifically for the ad. This headline doesn’t need to match your blog post title exactly; it just needs to capture attention and entice readers to want to learn more.

For instance, if your blog post title is “Top 10 Gardening Tips,” a more enticing ad headline could be, “Transform Your Garden With These Expert Tips.”

4. Craft a convincing call-to-action

While the post snippet gives readers a preview of your blog content, a strong call-to-action (CTA) can encourage users to engage further. For example, using words that imply exclusive benefits, such as “secret” or “new,” makes readers want to know more. In our gardening example, a CTA like “Discover the five simple secrets to a lush garden that only the pros know,” is enticing and gives readers a good reason to click on your ad.

5. Test and learn

Lastly, always remember the importance of testing different ad variations. Blaze’s customization capabilities allow you to try out other headlines, images, post snippets, and CTAs. You can even select different audiences to see which respond more favorably to your ads. See which combinations work best and refine your approach based on your learning.

Blaze is an incredibly powerful tool for boosting your blog post promotions, and with these customization tips, you can ensure your ads make the biggest splash possible. Don’t just set it and forget it—use Blaze to its fullest potential and watch your blog’s reach grow like never before.

Blaze your first post today

Quelle: RedHat Stack

The People Have Spoken (About Our Free Domain Transfers)

Since launching our domain transfer offer to Google Domains customers just over two weeks ago, we’ve been overwhelmed and heartened by the response of those who’ve made the switch. 

If you haven’t heard about this incredible deal and are one of the millions of folks looking for a Google Domains alternative, here’s why you should make the switch to WordPress.com ASAP: 

We’re paying transfer fees for the first million domains that move from Google to WordPress.com 

In addition to that transfer fee is an additional year of domain registration 

Free privacy protection — your contact information will stay private 

You’ll get a free SSL certificate if and when you choose to host your website with us 

We’re matching (or beating) all of Google’s prices for the long haul 

No website or hosting plan needed, ever, to keep your domains on WordPress.com  

Don’t take our word for it, though. Here’s what folks are saying: 

To be clear, there’s no catch! WordPress.com has been a domain registrar for over a decade.

(By the way, we’ve made a bunch of improvements to the Reader in the last handful of months. Check it out!)

It’s not just customers who are taking notice. The domains industry is weighing in too. DomainInvesting.com noted: 

“I would imagine there are many Google Domains customers who use WordPress for their website, so this offer makes sense.”

WPTavern, an outlet that covers WordPress news, commented: 

“WordPress.com is putting the heat on with a new offer to pay transfer fees and an additional year of registration for the first million domains moved from Google Domains. WordPress.com is also guaranteeing Google Domains customers the same pricing or lower for 400+ top-level domains.”

Search Engine Journal, the top spot for SEO news, compared our new offering directly to GoDaddy: 

Are WordPress.com Domain Registrations Cheap?

Yes, registering a domain with WordPress.com is very low priced, matching the low prices that Google Domains charges.

GoDaddy charges $21.99 per year for registering a dot com domain.

WordPress.com only charges $12 per year for the same dot com domain.

If you’re a Google Domains customer, be sure to move to WordPress.com today to take advantage of this incredible deal. If you’re not a Google Domains customer, we hope you’ll consider WordPress.com for your domain(s) management. You won’t find better long-term prices or support anywhere. 

Move your domain(s) now

Quelle: RedHat Stack

The WordPress Site Editor Is More Powerful Than Ever

The WordPress Site Editor has come a long way since it was first introduced in early 2022. In the last couple of months alone, the WordPress project has added a handful of game-changing features that give you even more control and convenience in customizing your site to be exactly what you need. 

Below, we lay out how you can manage, create, and edit your content and design directly from this handy tool. 

Easily view and organize your menus  

When you click the “Navigation” tab in the Site Editor, you’ll get a great high-level view of your menus with the ability to preview, edit, and switch between each as you’d like. From here, you can organize menu links by simply dragging them with your mouse into the desired order. 

You can also click the three-dot menu and organize your navigation that way; from there you can also click through to the individual post or page that you’re moving around, in order to make changes on the fly. 

Create new pages; edit existing pages

You can now also access pages from the Site Editor — whether you want to edit existing content or add a brand new page. When you first click into a page from the Site Editor you’ll see some data on the lefthand side (date published, word count, time to read, etc.) and the page itself to the right of that. 

When you click the page, you’ll be brought into editing mode for that page with the option to edit the template as you’d like.

Change up your style  

Not only is streamlined content management here, but so is design editing. There’s now a top-level Styles section in the Site Editor which allows you to experiment with and apply various color and font combinations, when they’re available for your theme. You can also open the Style Book from the Site Editor to get an idea of what various blocks look like with the different styles.   

Style revisions are also now accessible from the Site Editor, at the bottom of the left hand column, allowing you to easily see and revert to changes you’ve made in the past.  

Work in peace with distraction-free mode 

The popular distraction-free writing mode has been available for editing posts and pages for some time and we’re excited that it’s now available in the Site Editor as well. Work on your home page and templates without other controls or menus getting in your way. 

Distraction-free mode is accessible via the keyboard shortcut “Shift + Cmd + ” for Mac and “Shift + Ctrl + ” for Windows, or in the top right options menu. 

Resize the editor for quick previews 

If you’re curious about how all these changes you’re making will appear on various devices,  WordPress has added the ability to resize the Site Editor. With a simple click and drag, you’ll see what your site looks like on mobile devices, tablets, and desktops. If you resize to engage the full screen, you’ll automatically be placed in Edit View to begin editing. 

Try out the Site Editor and let us know what you think in the comments. We’re always listening to your feedback.

Get started

Quelle: RedHat Stack