We've already determined that CSS Flexbox is super cool, so let's look at mixing in another super cool CSS tool. Custom Properties (also known as CSS Variables or Cascading Variables) are entities that allow you to assign a value in one location and then simply call it as a variable everywhere else. So, changing the value in one place changes it everywhere the var() function refers to the property, no more Find and Replace needed!

Basically this is a two part operation:

• You define the value of the custom CSS property (eg. --color1: #ff00ff;, --width: 25%; or --box-padding: 10px;)
• You refer to this value within the var() function throughout your CSS (eg. color: var(--color1);, width: var(--width);, padding: var(--box-padding);)

So they are not really variables, but custom properties. For the sake of understanding, this tutorial will use both definitions. 

You can create multiple custom property values, and use them across multiple stylesheets, using the @import rule, for example. Another use case is to apply CSS variables within media queries, to alter the layout and make it responsive. 

This tutorial will explain the use of CSS variables (custom properties) with CSS Flexbox, by creating a grid-like layout. 

Let’s start!

Read more ...

The Easy Image Collage plugin for WordPress allows you to create image collages within your WordPress site and use them everywhere, either on a post, page, or custom post type. 

The plugin is compatible with both the Classic WP Editor and the Gutenberg Editor. Furthermore, it is possible to embed unlimited collages to any post or page, drag the images to accommodate them within their spot in the collage, and to add a Pinterest button to share the collage. 

In this tutorial, we will explain the functioning of this module. Let’s get started!

Read more ...

Drupal is well known for its stability and security out-of-the-box. However, we all know how dangerous the internet can be with all the risks of having your site attacked. There are particular situations in which an extra security measures are needed. This tutorial will deal with specific ways to secure your Drupal site, and the modules involved in this process. 

Let’s get started!

Read more ...

Your local websites are always developed within the same operating system, that is the operating system of your machine (Windows, OSX, Linux). However, the online version of your site is probably hosted on some type of Linux server. Vagrant allows developers to have the conditions to replicate these systems within a Vagrant box. There are multiple kinds of boxes since Vagrant is a very popular alternative amongst developers. One of these boxes is called Scotch Box. Scotch Box is a preconfigured Vagrant Box with a LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySql, PHP) or a LEMP (Linux, Apache/Ngnix, MySql/MongoDB, PHP) stack in it.

This tutorial will explain the basic installation of these tools. Keep reading to learn how!

Read more ...

Session Lifetime

By default, Joomla has a 15 minute session time for logged in users, meaning if a user goes inactive for more than 15 minutes, they are automatically logged out and need to enter their credentials again. But, sometimes you need longer session times, for instance, when you are developing a site and don’t want to be logging in over and over. Or, maybe you have some very long forms for logged in users to complete and you don’t want their session expiring before they can hit the submit button.

So, let’s take a look at changing the session time in the backend of Joomla.

Read more ...

No matter what CMS you might be using, WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Magento, etc., it's of benefit to learn some CSS to make sure you can carry your branding through your site. Buttons on websites are a bit more complex to style, but they really give the site a finished and polished look when you customize them to fit your look and feel.

The <button> tag describes a clickable surface, which triggers an action, a JS method or event when clicking on it. Buttons provide interactivity in your site, that is why they should always be associated with a script (that is not always the case, as we will see later).

You are allowed to embed text and images into a <button> element, in contrast to the <input type=”button”> element. Buttons can be embedded in all HTML content categories, including <form> elements.

Keep reading to learn more!

Read more ...

Some different modules and plugins can alter the display of a view in Drupal, for instance, to alternate the order of image and text every new row, or to build some kind of stacked layout. 

It is possible to alter the display of a view with just some lines of CSS code instead. This approach has many advantages, being the fact of not having to install and update a module, the most relevant one.

Keep reading to learn how!

Read more ...

OSTraining’s tenth anniversary is coming up on November 18th!

This is a meaningful milestone, and we owe a huge “Thank You” to OSTraining’s members, viewers and readers. You made this decade possible. Some of you have been with us since even longer - since 2006 and 2007, when we first started training.

Read more ...

Masonry is a very popular JavaScript library, that stacks items in columns and rows, like a masonry brick wall.

The items reorder themselves according to their size as the viewport size changes with a nice animation effect. For some examples, take a look at the official Masonry site.

It is possible to create a view in Drupal with this style of layout. Keep reading to learn how!

Read more ...

WordPress is an excellent platform for writing, editing and publishing content. So it’s important to know who has permission to do that on your WordPress site.

I’m going to explain the editing permissions for your WordPress posts.

This tutorial starts by explaining the default permissions and in the next two sections we'll see how to customize those permissions.

Read more ...

We've written about the PublishPress plugin before on this blog. In one popular post, we showed how to email WordPress users when a new post is published.

In this guide, we're going to talk more about those notifications. If SEO is really important for your site, we'll explain how to automatically get notified about the Yoast SEO score for new posts.

PublishPress Pro now supports metadata in notifications.

Read more ...

Sometimes, when you start learning how to build websites, you often are confronted with a finished design and you start coding based on it with the available tools. So, you learn the basics of a CSS Framework to avoid the layout “problem” but at the end, editing the styles of such Frameworks can be overwhelming (in my own experience).

With some flexbox rules, it is possible to create different column patterns to use them on the fly by adding these classes to the HTML container tags of your document.

Keep reading to learn how.

Read more ...

WordPress arrives with five user roles that you’ll see on a new site.

• Subscriber
• Contributor
• Author
• Editor
• Administrator

Read more ...

If you have a busy website, you often have a busy menu.

That is why the navigation menus on these sites gradually start to look like user interfaces instead of simple menus. These menus with many features are often called megamenus.

In this tutorial, I will explain how to build a user-friendly mega menu using CSS Flexbox. I'll take you through 6 steps to create this menu.

Read more ...

This week we've published a major update for WooCommerce Explained, the best-selling WooCommerce book.

This book will teach you everything you need to know to make a WooCommerce site. And, it will do it in plain English, with a simple step-by-step approach.

WooCommerce 3.7 was released last week. This new version has lots of improvements and changes, including more Gutenberg blocks.

Read more ...