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When should I use a CMS?

Posted on January 19th, 2012 by Ryan Lucas:

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Imagine a small, informational website for a company called widgets inc. The website for widgets inc. is 5 pages. A standard site like this may have a Home page, an about page, a contact page, a directions page, and a products page.

Each page follows a similar layout. There is a header area with the logo and navigation, a content area in the middle of the page, and the footer with the navigation and some other relevant links. Building the site out without a CMS, you would have to create 5 separate HTML pages. When you wanted to make a change to the navigation, you would have to edit all 5 files.

Before I get much further, if you do not know anything about building a website, but want a way to change the content on your website, you need a CMS – even for a small site like this.

Now, you can create a webpage like this using PHP as well, cutting down some of the work here. For example, you could create a navigation.php file. You would still have 5 separate files for the content of each page, but you’d include the navigation.php file in each, so if you needed to change the title of the About page to About Us, you’d only have to edit the navigation.php file once, and the changes would appear on all pages of the site. Of course, in addition to the 5 page files, you’ve just created a 6th file for the navigation. This can still be cumbersome when there’s exceptions for different pages, or pages are designed to be very different from each other.

The need for a simpler way to manage the content of your site becomes apparent. A simple site that won’t require many changes doesn’t need a CMS, but say widgets inc. wanted to add a blog page to their site. This would require an update to the navigation in the header and footer on each page, then the creation of the blog page, then any time an article was added, they’d have to go in and edit the file to enter in their blog post. Not very good from a time standpoint, and not very easy for individuals who don’t know how to edit HTML files.

So the need for a CMS arises when you need to frequently update, change, add, or remove content from your website. There are many CMS’s out there, but all of them are designed to assist you with content control of your web site. Programmers started developing their own, some became free, like WordPress and Joomla, others you have to pay for, and you can even pay to have someone develop a completely custom CMS for your business.

Once you’ve determined that you will need to manage your website content frequently, which option should you take? Buy a CMS? Pay to have someone develop one for you? Go for a free CMS? Well, if you are a do-it-yourselfer, the free route is the way to go. If you are a do-it-yourselfer with money and have the time to be on the phone with customer support, buying a CMS is the right option. If you have money and a very specific idea of how you want to interact with your content, having someone develop a CMS for you might be the right idea. Another alternative is to pay to have someone help you with a free CMS.

Now of course, some of this depends on how much experience you have with the web. All of these options come with different price tags, different time tables, and a different level of commitment on your part (YES, you have to be willing to learn how to use the CMS and to manage your content – or pay someone to do it for you) based on the individual project.

We assist clients with choosing when they should use a CMS and which CMS will meet their needs. Contact us at Pacer Design Studios and we will set up a free consultation to help you decide whether or not you need a CMS – and if so which to use. Either way, you will end up with a beautifully built custom website, and a staff on hand to offer support when you need it.

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New JimKrenn.com is live!

Posted on January 17th, 2012 by Jason Bumblis:

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Pittsburgh Comedian/Entertainer Jim Krenn tapped Pittsburgh web design company, Pacer Design Studios to design and launch his new www.JimKrenn.com.

Voted 14 times as the Top Entertainer in the City by Pittsburgh Magazine, Jimmy is recognized throughout Western Pennsylvania as the host of Pittsburgh’s top-rated morning show on 102.5 WDVE-FM. He also makes frequent television appearances and does several Standing Room only concert performances yearly.

Pacer Design Studios provided Jim Krenn with a custom design that incorporates a blog for Jim to connect with his thousands of fans.  His throng of fans can also now leave comments on each story allowing them to speak directly to Jimmy.

Pacer coordinated a photo shoot with Jim, allowing them to get many great new shots of the local comic.  The behind the scenes video of that will be coming soon.

Jim is also in the process of having Pacer create a custom facebook fan page as well.  His official fan page can be viewed at http://www.facebook.com/jimkrennfanpage

Be sure to like Jim’s page, and to check back soon to see his new design.

To see more examples of web design by Pacer Design studios check out our portfolio

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Adding thumbnails to your wordpress theme

Posted on January 17th, 2012 by Ryan Lucas:

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A simple way to add post thumbnails to your wordpress theme.

I’ve been doing a lot of WordPress Development for our clients, and thought I’d share a quick and easy way to add post thumbnails or a featured image to your theme – and create a recent post box that utilizes it. What is also nice about this tutorial is that I will provide some code to set a default image if no thumbnail is set.

Recommended knowledge base for this tutorial: HTML/CSS, PHP, experience with wordpress and template creation. Basic image editing skills (resizing and cropping). I’ll break everything down as the post develops for those looking for a learning experience. For those who just want to grab the code and run – scroll down to the bottom of the post!

When you’re in the WordPress backend and creating or editing a new post, some themes include the “featured image” box on the side beneath the publish button, and some do not. If your theme does not have this box, we’ll need to add it first.

To begin, you’ll need to open up your WordPress theme’s functions.php file.

All you need to do here is insert the the following code:

add_theme_support( ‘post-thumbnails’ );

*Make sure that it is inside the PHP tags (<?php CODE ?>) of the file and is outside any other pre-entered functions (be careful of anything inside {braces} ).

If you’re editing the file through the backend under the Appearances, Editor tabs, be sure to save the changes. If you’re using FTP to update your files, save and upload the file to the server. Now when you go into your posts, you should see the Featured Image box appears if it didn’t before. However, if you add an image in at this point, it won’t display anywhere on your site.

 

Now, say you want to display the 3 most recent posts in your sidebar, and you want a thumbnail accompanying each post, in addition to the title, date, and a short excerpt. You may be currently using the Recent Posts widget from the default WordPress install, but you’ll find that it doesn’t support the thumbnails. Remove that widget, and open up your sidebar.php file.

Start with a WordPress query. We need to identify the posts we want to call. For this tutorial, we’re going to take 3 posts from any category, but you can change this to a single category, or change it to 5 posts instead of 3, or any number of other rules you want. For more information on changing the query to meet your needs, visit the wordpress codex.

I’m going to begin with some HTML code, then plug in the PHP and WordPress functions inside it. The first block of code shows the sidebar HTML setup and the query code:

<div id=”sidebar>

<div id=”custom-recent-posts-with-thumbnail”>

<?php

query_posts( ‘posts_per_page=3′ );

if ( have_posts() ) :

while ( have_posts() ) : the_post();

?>

<div class=”post”>

 

</div><!– CLOSE POST –>

<?php endwhile; ?>

<!– Add something inbetween here for when there are no posts to display –>

<?php endif; ?>

<?php wp_reset_query(); ?>

</div><!– CLOSE SIDEBAR –>

So that’s the basic setup. I set up a few divs to separate the content (you can apply CSS styles to it later), then added in the query to pull the most recent 3 posts, started the loop, and added in an area if your blog is new and there are no posts to display yet (leave it blank if you don’t want to show anything).

Now, we’ll add in the code to call up the post thumbnail, title, date, excerpt, and a read more button. You’ll see the permalink WordPress function appear a few times, and that is so if a user clicks on the thumbnail, title, or read more, it links directly to that post.

<div id=”sidebar>

<div id=”custom-recent-posts-with-thumbnail”>

<?php

query_posts( ‘posts_per_page=3′ );

if ( have_posts() ) :

while ( have_posts() ) : the_post();

?>

<div class=”post”>

<div class=”thumbnail”><a href=”<?php the_permalink(); ?>”><?php the_post_thumbnail( array(80,80) ); ?></div>

<div><a href=”<?php the_permalink(); ?>”><?php the_title(); ?></a></div>

<div><?php the_time(get_option(‘date_format’)); ?></div>

<div><?php the_excerpt(); ?></div>

<a href=”<?php the_permalink(); ?>”>Read More &raquo;</a>

</div><!– CLOSE POST –>

<?php endwhile; ?>

<!– Add something inbetween here for when there are no posts to display –>

<?php endif; ?>

<?php wp_reset_query(); ?>

</div><!– CLOSE SIDEBAR –>

So now I’ve added in a few more classes so you can apply CSS to them later. You see the following WordPress functions: the_post_thumbnail(), the_title(), the_time(), and the_excerpt().

Some parameters appear inside the () of those – for the purpose of this tutorial, we’ll discuss the parameter added inside of the_post_thumbnail() only. The array(80,80) inside of the_post_thumbnail sets the maximum width and height *(in pixels) of your WordPress thumbnail.

I would recommend using a square image, but if you want a rectangular image you may have to play around with the settings. Always adjust both numbers to the largest side of the rectangle because putting array(150,100) doesn’t constrain the image to that size, but will instead make the image 100×100.

If both are set to 150, it will allow the length to be 150, but the height will automatically be left off (it won’t expand the image to fit 150,150). Obviously there are some issues with this, but you really should take time to edit and create a custom thumbnail that will follow any constraints you define beforehand. More information about other parameters and uses for the_post_thumbnail() can be found at the WordPress codex. For now, let’s stick with an 80×80 thumbnail.

The last thing we need to do is define a default thumbnail image to use if no featured image is set. I do this by creating a simple PHP if statement.

<div id=”sidebar>

<div id=”custom-recent-posts-with-thumbnail”>

<?php

query_posts( ‘posts_per_page=3′ );

if ( have_posts() ) :

while ( have_posts() ) : the_post();

?>

<div class=”post”>

<div class=”thumbnail”><a href=”<?php the_permalink(); ?>”><?php the_post_thumbnail( array(80,80) ); ?>

<?php

$thumbcheck = get_the_post_thumbnail();

if ($thumbcheck == “”) { ?>

<img src=”<?php bloginfo( ‘stylesheet_directory’ ); ?>/images/default-post-thumbnail.jpg” width=”80″ height=”80″/>

<?php } ?>

</div>

<div><a href=”<?php the_permalink(); ?>”><?php the_title(); ?></a></div>

<div><?php the_time(get_option(‘date_format’)); ?></div>

<div><?php the_excerpt(); ?></div>

<a href=”<?php the_permalink(); ?>”>Read More &raquo;</a>

</div><!– CLOSE POST –>

<?php endwhile; ?>

<!– Add something inbetween here for when there are no posts to display –>

<?php endif; ?>

<?php wp_reset_query(); ?>

</div><!– CLOSE SIDEBAR –>

You’ll see that before the closing div of the thumbnail class, I add a few lines of PHP. I declare the “$thumbcheck” variable to search for the content of the thumbnail. If $thumbcheck is blank, then call up an image from a predefined location (the location I chose is the images file for the current theme).

Now, when you add an image to the featured post box, it will display in your sidebar. Take some time to style the divs we created appropriately to match your theme. We set out to create our own recent posts area that displays post thumbnails next to the title, date, excerpt, and a read more button. Enabling post thumbnails is fairly simple – just adding 1 line of code to your functions file. Another nice thing, is that if you want to call the post thumbnail elsewhere – you can add the_post_thumbnail() function anywhere in your template files to call the thumbnail for the desired post.

You can see working versions of these practices on this blog and on other custom built Pacer sites. Thanks and good luck!

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Google Gets Personal With Your Data

Posted on January 11th, 2012 by Jason Bumblis:

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Google’s new “Search Plus Your World” rolls out today, marking the most radical change ever in how Google serves up your search results.  The new results now not only find content out there on public websites, they also display content that has been shared privately through Google+.

The new format went live today, and will start showing up for everyone over the next few days.  You can tell if you are seeing the new format because you will see an image like this:

 

 

 

 

HOW IT AFFECTS YOU
Google has been using personalized search results since 2005, with updates in 2007 and 2009, but this is a whole new level.  For instance, when you type in your friends name, their Google+ profile will appear right in your search results.  When you search for a photo of say, “Bermuda”, any photos your friends shared of Bermuda will come up first.  If your neighbor shared a photo of his dog named Bermuda, that would appear.

The personalized results will also creep into your search bar via the autocomplete predictions as well.

For instance, for most users, a search for “chikoo” would show links about and photos of an Indian fruit. But for friends of Google Fellow Mr. Amit Singhal, it would also show photos and posts about his dog, Chikoo. A search for a sports team would show, in addition to the usual links, conversations about the team among a user’s friends on Google Plus.

PERSONALIZED SEARCH RESULTS NOW INCLUDE:

• Listings from the web
• Listings from the web, boosted because of your personal behavior
• Listings from the web, boosted because of your social connections
• Public Google+ posts, photos or Google Picasa photos shared with you
• Private or “Limited” Google+ posts, photos or Google Picasa photos shared with you

While it may freak some people out seeing personal information in their Google results, you must remember that these are not public results.  They are results personalized just for the person viewing them.  If private content has been shared with those people, that is visible.  If it has not been shared, it is not visible.

PUBLIC CONCERNS
This new system seems to have an appeal to certain people, but in the broader scope it seems to have generated more concern than anything.  Right off the bat the anti-trust comments are everywhere because now it seems that Google is giving search preference to its own social network.  Obviously Google and Facebook are not friends anyway (since Facebook partnered with Bing), but now Twitter and other social services are concerned that their information will automatically be pushed below Google’s own network results…which is a no-no.

“We think that’s bad for people, publishers, news organizations and Twitter users,” the company (Twitter) said in a statement.

SHOULD YOU BE CONCERNED
As with nearly every social media, it is very easy for someone with access to private content to re-share it publicly, whether intentionally or not.  So if you share a photo of Grandma sleeping on the couch on Google+ and forget to mark it private, it could potentially show up for anyone searching Google.

DO I HAVE TO SIGN UP?
Unfortunately, Google chose to not go down the Opt-In route, but rather the Opt-Out option.  You can go into you search settings are on Google and choose to permanently opt-out.

“I think this is a much better experience, at the end of the day,” Singhal said, explaining why the default change was made.

CONCLUSION
Overall, I think that the marriage of public and private data is an obvious one, and everyone could see it coming.  I think there are some security concerns that will startle a few people, but for the most part people will adapt to it and learn to like it.

I think this will almost force Facebook and even Twitter to come to the bargaining table with Google and try to get their services included in the same fashion.

It is nice that Google allows you to turn this off, which will help some people avoid it, but long term I think this is the future of search.

The way Google+ is integrated into this gives it a distinct advantage and only further strengthens our stance here at Pacer Design Studios that search engine marketers cannot ignore Google+.

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Do you want an APP…or just a mobile website

Posted on January 5th, 2012 by Jason Bumblis:

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I am constantly approached by customers who want us to write a custom APP for their business.  Are you someone who wants an APP?  Here are 5 questions that you need to ask yourself before you plop down the thousands of dollars needed to create your own custom app.

1. Will you give the app away for free or sell it? If you give it away it will get more downloads, but people are very quick to delete an app they got for free because…well, it was free.  Selling it costs you a cut if you put it into the APP store, plus it will get in less hands than if it was free.
2. Are you prepared for the cost? APP’s cost thousands of dollars to develop, are you ready to spend that?  Mobile websites can often be developed for a fraction of the cost based off your current website.
3. How will you update it? If the data that needs constant updating, then you need to plan for that.  One distinct advantage of a mobile website over an APP is that it pulls the data from the same place as your regular website, which means you do not have to spend extra time updating it.
4. How are you going to market it? An great APP is not going to download itself.  You will need to spend money promoting your APP.  A mobile website gets promoted every time you promote your website, so their is no additional cost.  Your mobile website will spider in the search engines too, your APP will not.
5. Is your APP the next big thing, or just something additional for your customers? If you have the next big thing on your hands then good for you.  Go for it, be committed, market the heck out of it and see where it leads you.  If you just want something else for your customers that is great as well.  It is important that you set your expectations and go from there.  If your APP is an add-on to a service you already provide, then don’t expect to get rich off of it.

Make sure you have looked at all the solutions first.  A mobile website can more times than not solve the same problems that an APP can at a fraction of the initial cost and with less up keep. If you eventually find that a mobile site is not enough, you can always add an APP, while still keeping the mobile site and all of its benefits.

APPs are great things.  It is funny how something we didn’t even know about 5-6 years ago is now so important in our lives now.  If you do your research and set reasonable expectations, then an APP can be a nice addition for you and your customers.

Contact us at Pacer Design Studios and we will set up a free consultation to help you plan out your mobile project…app or mobile site.

 

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