If you’re using Chrome and want to debug your site's design, this browser already comes with a great built-in feature called Developer Tools.
In this tutorial we will show you how to start using Chrome Developer Tools.
High Signal, Low Noise News for Your Favorite Software
All of us are busy. All of us have over-flowing email inboxes.
It can be difficult to find sources of news that are high on signal and low on noise.
I'm going to recommend some ways that you can keep up-to-date with news about your favorite platform. These newsletters and RSS feeds contain a lots of useful news and few useless ads.
New Class: How to Use LESS
CSS stylesheets can become hard to manage on large projects. It can become a headache to manage hundreds or thousands of styles.
LESS is a solution that designers use to make their CSS much more efficient. LESS allows you to use plain CSS, but also add programming features such as variables, mixins, and functions. You can create CSS code that is easy to re-use and extend. This makes learning LESS a very popular choice for coders, including those who build popular design frameworks, themes and templates.
This week's new class is called "How to Use LESS". You'll learn about all the key features available in LESS.
Joomla Mobile Toolbar Module from JoomForest
A good navigation menu can hugely improve your website user experience. If your site does not have an easy to use navigation menu system, then your customers will most likely get confused and leave to your competitors. Keeping your site navigation menu as simple as possible, will increase your customer satisfaction and make them come back to your site for more.
JF Mobile Bar is a complete mobile navigation solution for Joomla. It can either partially or completely replace your Joomla template's own header or menu. It offers your mobile visitors a flawless browsing experience that is tailored specifically to small screens. This unique Joomla tool can also work on tablet or desktop browsers.
The OSTraining Podcast #5: Chris Wiegman
Chris Wiegman was an airline pilot in Hawaii, before developing iThemes Security - one of the most popular WordPress plugins of all time. Chris is one of world's leading WordPress security experts.
Chris has always built his career on his terms, taking on challenges and making moves that kept him fresh and engaged with work.
This episode touches on several issues we love to talk about: teaching, building businesses, and how to constantly re-invent and re-invigorate your career.
Follow Chris on Twitter via @ChrisWiegman and visit him at ChrisWiegman.com.
Subscribe to the OSTraining podcast on iTunes, or use the podcast player below. We're also on Stitcher, Overcast and other popular podcast apps.
Debugging Your Website with Firefox Dev Tools
In previous years, we often talked about using browser add-ons like Firebug to help bugshoot your websites.
However, the major browsers now all include their own built-in inspect tools to debug websites. Firebug was retired at the end of 2016. If you’re using Firefox, Dev Tools is the tool that will help you to debug your site’s design.
In this tutorial we will show you how to start using Firefox Dev Tools.
Why Gutenberg? Because Everyone Loves Page Builders
If you are tuned into the WordPress world, you've heard one word many times over the last few weeks: Gutenberg.
On stage at WordCamp EU in mid-June, Matt Mullenweg unveiled the first version of Gutenberg. This is the new editor that may replace TinyMCE in the WordPress core.
This would be a mind-boggling radical change for WordPress. In recent years, they have developed a legendary reputation for always keeping backward compatability. Gutenberg would probably shatter that reputation. Gutenberg would likely break a lot of existing plugins. Many people would not be able to update easily.
New Class: How to Develop Joomla Components, Part 2
For quite some time, Joomla development was the most requested topic by OSTraining members.
I'm delighted to release another major class in our Joomla development series. We've worked with Cory Webb, a Joomla developer since 2005, to produce a series of classes on building Joomla extensions.
This new class is called "How to Develop Joomla Components. Part 2: the Frontend", and follows on from "How to Develop Joomla Components, Part 1. The Administrator".
In these videos, you'll finish building the todo list component that was started in Part 1.
Cory shows you how Joomla uses the MVC pattern for component development. You'll learn how to build Models, Views and Controllers in the recommended Joomla way. You'll also see how to create router files and language files, plus how to package your work for distribution.
The Completely Updated Drupal 7 Explained is Here
Today, we're delighted to launch a new version of Drupal 7 Explained.
This is the first major revision for the best-selling and best-reviewed Drupal 7 book.
We originally wrote the book back in 2012, so it's long past time for an update! Drupal 7 is still going strong after all that time.
Using Drupal 7 Explained, you can master Drupal 7 by using step-by-step examples.
The book walks you through a complete site-build, using a city called "Drupalville". You start by planning the site, then you build out content types, fields and Views, before moving on to themes, modules and site management.
Drupal 7 Explained has been used by 10,000's of readers, from individuals learning on their on, to students in university courses and DrupalCon classes.
The OSTraining Podcast #4: Olivier Karfis and WooCommerce Apps
In this episode, I talk with Olivier Karfis who runs FrenchToday.com, a successful site teaching people how to speak French.
Olivier uses WooCommerce as a platform for digital downloads, and increasingly for mobile and desktop apps, based on the WordPress API.
This episode touches on several issues we love to talk about: teaching, e-commerce, traveling and how to constantly re-invent and re-invigorate your career.
Subscribe to the OSTraining podcast on iTunes, or use the podcast player below. We're also on Stitcher, Overcast and other popular podcast apps.
The OSTraining Podcast #3: Justin Sternberg and CMB2
In the third episode of the OSTraining podcast I talk with Justin Sternberg.
Justin started painting houses and is now the lead developer behind CMB2, the framework with powers hundreds of successful WordPress plugins.
We feature CMB2 heavily in the new class, "How to Develop WordPress Plugins". I used CMB2 to power UpStream, a WordPress project management plugin, and can highly recomend it.
I chat with Justin about his career, and why you should use CMB2 for your WordPress development.
The OSTraining Podcast #2: Matt Medeiros
In the second episode of the OSTraining podcast I talk with Matt Medeiros.
We recently launched a new WordPress plugin called PublishPress. I woke up one morning, and Matt had posted a detailed video review of the plugin. It was completely unexpected and offered some great feedback.
That's how Matt rolls. He has built his career and being friendly, helpful and social. He shares everything he learns and as a result has carved out an enviable niche for himself. We talk about how he started working in a car dealership, and slowly transitioned into tech. Check out CraftedbyMatt.com for everything that Matt does.
One thing worth noting: a couple of days after recording this espiode, Matt joined Pagely.
The OSTraining Podcast #1: David Bisset and WordCamp Miami
In the first episode of the OSTraining podcast I talk with David Bisset of WordCamp Miami.
David runs one of the most popular WordCamps in the world. WordCamp Miami is going into it's 10th year and attracts over 800 attendees.
David talks about how he grew WordCamp Miami, how it impacted his career, and what his team is planning for the event's annniversary year.
In addition to running a great event, David's an excellent follow on Twitter.
Say Hello to the OSTraining Podcast
I've had the pleasure of being in the open source world for around 15 years and meeting some incredible people.
Listen to the new OSTraining Podcast as I open my book of contacts to chat with people across the open source world.
The focus is on how people's careers change, mutate and lead them to places they never expected.
Many of the guests started their careers a million miles away from the tech world, and almost accidentally become experts in WordPress, Drupal, and other open source platforms.
Subscribe to the OSTraining podcast on iTunes, or use the links below for individual episodes. We're also on Stitcher, Overcast and other popular podcast apps.
New Class: The Wright Framework for Joomla Templates
Wright is bootstrapped, responsive and lightweight. It's the best Joomla framework you'll find anywhere.
In this week's class, "The Wright Framework for Joomla templates", you'll learn how to use Wright to quickly create your own custom Joomla templates.
Simon Kloostra shows you how to install Wright and use Wright's default styles to quickly set up your template. You'll learn how Wright provides you with many of the Bootstrap's key features and components. You'll also be able to safely customize your template using custom CSS and PHP files that won't be over-ridden during any updates.
How to Customize Colors in JCal Pro Categories
JCal Pro is the premier events calendar for Joomla with a beautiful front end display. By default, JCal Pro assigns the same color to all events categories and events. So, all the categories and events will look the same.
JCal Pro allows you to easily set a unique color for every category instead of the default one. This new category color will be passed to the category events as well. In this tutorial, you will learn how to set your preferred color to all events categories.
