Handling Spreadsheets in a website

(Introducing TablePress)

I am sure most of you are familiar with tables of data in WordPress sites and how to create one and populate it. I have recently been developing a Community Transport website which is nearing completion. I have done one before, but this was some time ago.

One of the issues with publishing timetables is that the it can be done by simply publishing an image of the timetable. In most cases a JPG or PNG would do the job. It looks ok to people visiting the site, and if we also make a PDF version available as well so someone can download and print a high resolution version, it ticks all of the boxes. Well not quite.

A computer cannot read an image

Continue reading Handling Spreadsheets in a website

Using the Read More icon in the editor

This is particularly important if you are adding POSTS to your website and they are quite long. The icon highlighted in the image above is the Insert Read More tag.

You use it so that when your post is displayed on your news page, you only see the top part of it. When the “Read More tag” is detected the post stops being displayed any further and read more… appears as a link.

Clicking on the link causes the Post to open full screen in it’s entirety.

Why is that a good idea?

Continue reading Using the Read More icon in the editor

Free images for your website

I have been making small numbers of premium Adobe stock images available to my client base. That offer is still open, if you want to take a look at the library which is huge with millions of images available.

I have also come across the following list of sites which offer free images. You need to check the details of each, but of the one or two I have looked at, they do look useful. The article that led me to this was sitting in the dashboard of my WordPress site. Continue reading Free images for your website

Colour inspiration

Palettron.com website — Click on the image to visit the website

I am currently working with a group that have independently created a logo. The logo contains a set of colours that to my eye are not naturally harmonious. The relationships between some of the colours don’t work for me, the problem is I cannot say why.

I have to add here, like most people from an IT/ Engineering background, I should be the last person to question someone’s colour choice. My wife frequently comments on mine, as does my daughter. Continue reading Colour inspiration

New site released

Home-Start Watford is the latest of the Home-Start websites I have built. This one uses the Divi template and has used some new methods for displaying news. This technique can be used on all sites, but using the Divi template makes it a bit easier.

Continue reading New site released

How not to take a photograph

Images on websites can carry subtle messages, and can be used to help push the key messages to viewers. I recently received some images for inclusion in a site that were taken by an enthusiastic supporter of a charity. While there were quite a few images, the ones I felt I could use were only a very small proportion.

The main reason is that a poorly formed image can actually send the wrong message to visitors on your site. Unless the image is impactful and /or appropriate, I will generally not use it.

I have listed some tips and common pitfalls where your volunteers take images for you, or you try to use them on your website.

Focus

A blurred image, particularly that part of the image that should be very sharp will not look very professional on a website. Blurred images often occur because of camera shake rather than focusing on the wrong thing. Indoor images can suffer in this way because the shutter speed is very slow (less than 1/50th of a second). You can get around this by using a flash or by using a higher ISO setting. Panasonic compact cameras offer a feature called intelligent ISO that looks after this for you. Continue reading How not to take a photograph

New Tutorial Videos Added

I often find that I spend a lot of time going over the same things with different people. That was why I set up this website in the first place. If I get enough requests, then I can create a video. I have not added any since the site started, but I have just created some more, and bought some things up to date.

For full details go this page: Video Tutorials (You will need your password to access it).

Of note, particularly for new clients are:

An introduction to Divi, this is the premium template I am using on new premium sites now. It is very flexible and powerful. I give an overview of a website, and show you from the inside how it is constructed. It is different from conventional editing that most of you are used to, but do take a look, it is the future! You can see it in Video Tutorial 11. Continue reading New Tutorial Videos Added

Editing with a cache or …..

Why can I not see my edits?

On some sites I have started using a Cache plugin. A Cache in computer terms is the temporary storage of something that has been built, so that the next person that needs it can pick it up quickly, it does not need to be rebuilt.

The times we are talking about here are measured in 10’s of milliseconds, but they all count.

WordPress is a content management system. The backend is powered by a database. When you request a page, the page has to be built before it is “served” to your browser. This means it is slower than a hard coded HTML page or website, which is built and ready to go but not dynamic.

Caches also work within your browser as well to accelerate the browsing experience. If I have the stylesheet for a website already in my browser because I have visited the home page, I don’t need to download it again the next time I open a page. This saves time as well. The browser makes these decisions, it is transparent to the user.

However while using a cache accelerates the user experience it can sometimes get in the way of editing. Recently I have seen examples where I am pretty sure I have edited something but I cannot see it on the website. Through experience, I know the item has changed and can prove it by using another browser. However it is very frustrating, particularly if you are a newbie, and not that familiar with how these things work. So read on for some tips…… Continue reading Editing with a cache or …..

Event Calendar and Small Screens

A problem has been reported about access to the Events Calendar when editing events. If you are using a Windows 10 laptop, the website may not display the same as it displays on an HD screen even though the screen resolution is the same (1900px x 1080px). I am not sure why this is, but I have seen the symptoms on my Windoze 10 Laptop which is small but has a high resolution screen.

Below I describe the problem and show an example of the problem on a screen and then advise how you can get around the problem.

Continue reading Event Calendar and Small Screens

(Introducing TablePress)

A computer cannot read an image

Why is that a good idea?

Where to put it?

Focus

Why can I not see my edits?