Today I was the guest on Elegant Theme’s Divi Nation. We discussed writing content about Divi and how I got started as a content provider.
https://www.elegantthemes.com/blog/divi-resources/creating-effective-content-for-your-brand-with-randy-brown-the-divi-nation-podcast-episode-54
Development brings all of the design elements together to build a workable website. Since it’s a content management system complete with database, content creation tools, and media storage, WordPress greatly eases the pain of development. The backend already exists and the frontend uses themes that are pre-made, customized, or built from scratch built on top of the WordPress system. Many themes and plugins include drag and drop tools that make it easy to place the elements where you want them. Let’s take a look at the steps involved in development.
Comps are the mockups that many designers create in Photoshop that show the design of the layout. Lots of designers skip Photoshop and build the mockup using tools such as Divi to build the wireframe. The comps or wireframes are used to build the site.
The developer, which can be the same person as the designer and sometimes does both jobs simultaneously, places all of the elements in their proper locations, adds the CSS (by hand or by using plugins), adds any PHP needed (or plugins) to create any special features for the theme, adds backgrounds, graphics, fonts, menus, buttons, social plugin, newsletter plugin, security, backups, eCommerce, analytics, etc., for both frontend and backend.
This work is sometimes done on the actual server while others prefer to develop the site on a private server and move it to the live server when the site is ready. Either way the domain name and hosting are prepared, sometimes with WordPress installed and security plugins in place, and a coming soon page displays to visitors and provides an email opt-in and social follow and sharing buttons.
The content team will create the first round of written content for the website based on the direction decided in the design phase. This includes any copy for the pages and the first set of articles. This content is based on a spreadsheet called a content matrix.
Many use tools such as Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets to keep the list for the content matrix. Content creators use these tools as a checklist to produce the content. The blog manager will create the user accounts and have each user upload their content.
Media includes podcasts, video production, slideshows, etc. The media development team create podcasts and videos (which are sometimes the same content). This also includes any videos to be produced such as company introductions, tutorials, product information, etc. This may require high-end recording equipment and software. The material is often written by the content team.
This will also include storing and presenting the media. For example, the design phases answers the questions of will the media be stored on the website itself or another site such as YouTube and then embedded within the content. In this phase those tools and accounts are gathered and prepared to store the media.
The blog manager will publish the pages and posts as they are approved. At this point the website will still display a coming soon message to visitors, so they won’t see the content until the site is ready to go live.
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Featured image by Tirza van Dijk
The second step in developing a WordPress website is Design. Fortunately WordPress, being an amazing content management system, takes care of handling content database and other parts of the website under the hood, so you’re not designing from the ground up. Instead, you’re designing on top of an already powerful platform. Fortunately, this platform doesn’t place heavy restrictions on the design.
There are several steps to designing the website. Be sure to include the client in every step – getting their feedback and explaining design choices. This will help keep the project on time and within budget, and will reduce surprises while ensuring you’re creating the website the client needs.
A sitemap is a diagram of the website. It will show what the pages are and how they’re connected. It will show the navigation structure and the categories for the content.
One of my favorite tools for building sitemaps is a mindmap tool called Coggle.
A wireframe is a series of diagrams that show the details of each page. It shows the page’s navigation, the content such as text and images and how they relate to each other, and the interactive portions such as calls to action and links. (The image above shows Divi Wireframe Kit Vol. 3)
Many designers use tools such as Photoshop, Gimp, etc. I prefer to create wireframes directly within the page itself using Divi. Other building themes and page-building plugins are great too.
The wireframe shows where the content will go within the page’s design. The content plan will show what the content is, where it comes from, will it include snippets that link to blog posts, will those snippets include images and if so what size, what is the character limit of the snippet and posts’ title, will it include meta information, how will the user interact with the snippet, what categories will be included, etc.
The types of content, writing style, length, types of images, video, etc., should also be included within the content plan.
The look of the site is what we usually think of when we talk about design. Once the client has approved the sitemap and wireframe design, the visual designers can add visual elements on top of the wireframes. This includes choosing colors, fonts, and adding graphics.
Be sure to test the site on multiple screen sizes and devices, and in multiple web browsers.
Once the design is in place it’s a good idea to test the site with a small group, taking their feedback and making improvements. Some prefer to test multiple designs from the same wireframes in order to get the best design possible. This will help ensure that you provide the best design to the client and you’ll also be able to provide feedback from the test group if needed.
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Featured image by Galymzhan Abdugalimov
Like any successful project, developing a website should follow a proper sequence of steps. The steps, often called phases, help keep the project on track and within budget. They also help ensure that the website that’s built is the website the client needs – without bugs and scalable. This requires breaking the project down into a series of steps. In this series we’ll look at the steps of developing a WordPress website.
Many developers use a five-step process:
There are lots of variations on these steps, but this is a simple plan that moves the project from concept to finished product. The steps follow a common-sense methodology. Let’s take a look at each of the steps.
Before starting on the website’s design you must first define the website. This includes the site’s business goals and customer requirements. Before designing the site’s structure you need a clear definition of what the site is for.
Clearly define the top 3-5 goals that the website needs to meet. These goals will help determine the layout, visuals, navigation, and content requirements per page.
For example, a site for a local handyman business might only need to have a one-page layout to specify the services provided and give contact information, or it might need multiple pages with detailed information about each service and include purchasing through the site with recurring payments. Those are two vastly different levels of design for the same type of business.
Meet with the internal stakeholders and have them help you create a list of the site’s business goals. Make statements for them to finish, such as “the site must be able to…”. This isn’t the look of the site. Rather, it’s the functionality of the site. It will answer the question “what are the site’s primary abilities?”
Create a list of all of these abilities the site must have and then have them prioritize the list. The first few should be the most important that the site must have at start-up and the rest can be added later.
In this meeting try not to discuss how something will be accomplished. The focus should be on what needs to be done rather than how it will be done.
The client will need to create an RFP. It will include the project overview, the site’s business goals, and the site’s requirements.
This will be the roadmap for the project. It will list all of the steps required and specify the time, people, and budget required for each step. Break the steps down into milestones with a time and budget for each. Most recommend adding a little extra time and budget for unforeseen issues.
The project should be tracked using a Gantt Charts or similar tracking tool. Microsoft Project is a popular tool for project management. You can also get templates for Microsoft Excel or other spreadsheet apps.
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Featured image by rawpixel.com
Stay tuned for Step 2 – Design
Developing a website, especially large website, often requires a team. However, WordPress now has many themes, plugins, and features that have helped to reduce the work required to the point that a single person can develop high quality websites, making it possible to run a WordPress development business by yourself.
This is a look at the people, tasks, and skills involved in developing a website with WordPress. If you’re doing this alone these are some of the hats you’ll wear or some of the people you’ll hire. Every project won’t need all of these people and tasks, but they are typical in one form or another.
Someone needs to be in charge of keeping the project on task. Without a project manager it’s likely the scope of the project will grow (scope creep), due dates will be missed, and budgets will be broken. This person should be able to determine what can be done when and for how much.
Many clients don’t have a realistic idea of what’s possible at what cost. They may think that a website with 1000 items in a store can be developed from scratch by tomorrow for $100. The PM will help set the clients expectations and keep the project on track (both on time and within budget).
There are too many websites out there trying to get everyone’s attention. We can’t just set up a site and expect people to find it. Even if you’re not involved with marketing the website, those who are need to be involved with the web design from the beginning. They will perform tasks such as:
This person will determine the pages that the site will need and the navigation structure. They will create a sitemap diagram that will be used to create a wireframe diagram for each of the pages to show the navigation structure. They will test this navigation structure and streamline it according to usability.
The Visual Designer will take the sitemap and wireframes and design the look of the site, with the company’s branding, into the wireframes – modifying the layout as needed. The use best-practices for layout, color, fonts, buttons, animation, etc., to determine the best user experience with the content. It will look great while remaining practical and loading fast. Photoshop is a popular tool for visual design.
The web developer creates the design in WordPress. In many instances this is the same person as the visual designer and many visual designers work with WordPress rather than other design tools (although a lot do use Photoshop to create their wireframe). Many use tools such as Divi, Beaver Builder, or Elementor to create the design.
Once the design is created in WordPress they add the HTML, PHP, and CSS that’s needed to make the site unique. They will use API’s to connect WordPress to other services, integrate with various platforms such as forums and learning platforms, etc. Sometimes they focus on front-end or back-end development.
WordPress programmers add features that are not normally available such as creating plugins and theme development. They use languages such as PHP, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, and SQL. They should be familiar with React, Node, API’s, etc.
Also known as content developer, content provider, copywriter, or simply writer, content creators provide what is known as copy. This isn’t the same as print copy. This is copy that is designed specifically for the unique nuances of the web. (this is my profession btw)
This is usually two different tasks or roles:
Content Strategist – also known as a blog manager, they identify the types of text required including articles (which will include text, images, illustrations, etc.), text for buttons, menus, product descriptions, etc. This requires knowledge of SEO, content design (including word choices, sentience and paragraph style, headlines, lists, descriptions, etc.), character limits, word counts, etc.
Copy Writer – they write the text itself. They will use good structure which places the major points first followed by supporting text, laying out the content in a design that’s easily scanable, using action words rather than passive words, making the best use of the word count, and driving the readers toward the call to action.
Media Specialist – they create media such as podcasts and video. These are usually tutorials, interviews, training, etc.
eCommerce Specialist – they create product pages including descriptions, images, video, demonstrations, etc. Online stores can have as few as a single product to many thousands of products. This person may be required to manage the store.
Many soloprelancer’s (solo-entrepreneur-freelancer. I don’t know if that’s a real word, but it is now) have done these tasks for so long that they don’t even think of them as separate jobs. Unless you’re an expert in all of these fields and have the time to invest, don’t try to go at it alone. It’s better to get help in your weaker areas and focus on what you do best. Use tools that we have at our disposal.
WordPress is not hard to learn, it’s in high demand, and the business possibilities are endless. Become familiar with a few good tools, such as an all-purpose theme like Divi and learning CSS, and use them instead of trying to build from the ground up. Fortunately there are many plugins and themes that do much of the work for you.
Whether you focus on just one thing and become part of a team, or become good at several things and start your own solo business, the skills covered here are crucial to a successful WordPress website.
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Featured image by Helloquence
Web design and development are among the fastest and best careers today. The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that web development will grow 27% through 2024 with an average wage of over $66k per year. The typical entry position only requires an associate’s degree. Many developers are self-taught and self-employed. Others are part of teams where they perform part of the tasks in a team environment. Most work full time.
Needless to say, a career in web design and development is a good idea. In this series we’ll look at what it takes to launch a successful career in web design. We’ll look at the people involved, the skills needed, and the process from start to finish.
Let’s look at some of the tasks that are required for designers and developers. If these tasks sound good to you then you will most likely enjoy this career choice.
Some of the tasks include:
If you’re a freelancer that works alone you’ll be responsible for all of these tasks. If you work with a team (either as part of a team or as a team that you hire), and depending on your role, you could be responsible to manage the project and the team. Freelancers will have business management tasks as well, which include:
Designers and developers must be driven to meet client’s deadlines and they must take goals seriously. This requires:
There are lots of related careers that designers and developers can move into. They include:
Most of these careers require bachelor’s degrees. The pay ranges from around $50k to over $100k. Most are in high demand. Even if you decide that web design and development is not for you, you have similar careers to move into that use your skills.
Let us know what you think in the comments. Thanks for reading. Please subscribe if you haven’t already.
Featured image by Lee Campbell
When most people consider buying something they usually search for reviews online. For many products there simply aren’t enough reviews, or not detailed enough reviews, to help readers make an informed decision. This opens an opportunity to create your very own product review website. Fortunately, Elegant Themes’ Extra is the perfect theme to create a product review site.
Product reviews are a great way to bring in traffic and help establish your credibility. They even let you talk about things you like and bring in some extra cash through affiliate programs. In this article we’ll discuss how to build a review site using Extra, how to develop your own review structure, and look at some examples. I’ve also included some tips that I’ve learned from my many years of reviewing products (I even use Extra for my review site).
In this article I’ll provide mock reviews of laptops. Images are taken from Unsplash.com.
Extra has a built in review system allowing you to develop your own review structure, give each item within the structure a score, and Extra calculates a total score automatically. Extra can be used as an online magazine or a blog.
The homepage needs to be designed so that categories are easy to find. Extra has a great system for building homepages designed around categories, which in turn highlight your product reviews. Products can be placed within their categories in tabbed boxes, sliders, or individual posts. Extra excels at product categories because of the layouts and modules within the Category Builder.
The Category Builder uses the Divi Builder and is unique to Extra (in the dashboard, go to Extra and select Category Builder). This is the Divi Builder with a special library of layouts and modules. It has several layouts that are great for getting started with a homepage including blogs and magazines.
The Category Builder has several modules that highlight your posts. Modules include:
These can be used to create category layouts with sections that focus on specific products. Once you’ve created your layout select to use the layout as the homepage under Layout Usage on the right of the screen.
A review needs to be structured so that it tells the information in a scanable way that’s easy to follow and makes sense for the product. Typically, the sections of the review are the major features of the product. It’s a good idea to browse through your favorite review sites and structure your reviews similarly.
Sites that have a nice review structure include:
A good overall structure might look like this:
The review itself needs to be easy to follow. It will discuss the major points of the product, a few minor points, performance, provide comparisons and example uses, and then have a conclusion with recommendation. Also provide a link where they can make a purchase as your call to action.
The review should be easy to follow and scan, helping readers to quickly find the information they’re looking for. This is done by giving each major point its own section heading. H2 is a good choice to divide the sections. For example, if a reader looking at a laptop review is more interested in the gaming performance of a graphics chipset than the battery life, they should be able to find it just by scanning the page.
Of course there’s more than one way to structure a product review. I recommend experimenting with structures that you like and see what works the best for you and your audience. Divi Leads is a great tool for testing article structure elements. I recommend creating several templates that you can save to the library.
For the typical product, media such as images, and possibly videos, can be an essential part of the review. Usually, an image for each major feature is all that’s needed. You might not want to cover every feature because your content could end up being filled with information and images that your audience doesn’t need. Save images with the name of the product. This helps with SEO and for image searches.
It’s a balancing game to find the exact amount of images to include. On one hand you want to include enough images to give your readers the information they need to make a decision. On the other hand you want your content to look clean and neat, and to load fast as possible. Fewer images that look amazing are better than a lot of images that look bad.
If you need a lot of images then consider using a gallery. This would allow you to display a single image for each section of the review, keeping the overall look uncluttered, and your readers could see more images if they want.
Extra has a review system built in that allows you to define your own review elements and give each review item a score. From this score it calculates a final score for you. The scoring system shows a graph that appears below the article’s content and places the overall score on the post in the homepage.
To create the scoring structure, look at the major features of the product and then add the features that matter the most to your audience. Also consider including those that you get a lot of questions about.
Going back to our example of reviewing laptops, you might want to score items such as:
Once you’ve determined your review structure type the items into their own Breakdown boxes. Click Add Breakdown to add a new review element. You can add as many items as you want and delete them if you decide you don’t need them. Create as many elements you need but keep is as simple as you can.
Each of the review items in this example have been given an individual score and they combine to create an overall score. Each of these elements should have information within the review itself. For example, I’ve given Keyboard Responsiveness an 84%. The review should talk about the keyboard responsiveness, explaining what I liked and didn’t like about it. You might also consider explaining your rating system on an About page.
Extra comes with a review widget to show your latest reviews. It shows the title of the articles and a bar chart with the final score of the review. The post titles are clickable links. You can choose the number of reviews to show.
To see an excellent example of review site using Extra, let’s look at a child theme from Michelle Nunan called Review.
This is a child theme that’s made specifically to be a review magazine. The homepage layout includes:
The sidebar includes:
The review structure steps the reader through the product and its features in a real-world environment. It’s visually appealing, switching between text and imagery while remaining relevant.
I’ve ran Bible Buying Guide since 2011. It started with Elegant Theme’s Delicate News and I changed it to Extra a few months after it released. It’s gone through a few layout changes since moving to Extra. The current form displays a post slider with a single post followed by the most recent posts in a two-column blog layout and a sidebar. It uses the rating’s system so readers can rate my articles and the trending bar so readers can know what the most popular articles are.
It’s a good idea to analyze reviews and see what works and what doesn’t. Utilize the good practices in your own reviews and avoid the bad practices. Look at what engages the audience compared to what turns them off.
For example, how many times have you seen reviews like this?
I’ve seen these very same comments on the exact same product. This is conflicting information and doesn’t really give the potential buyer the information they need about the product.
I’m sure your grandson told you he loves it. The question is why does he love it? Does he love it because you gave it to him? What about it makes me think I will love it?
‘Too heavy’ is subjective. What is it too heavy for? Holding in one hand for three hours? Carrying in a backpack? Sitting on your lap? Be specific and give the weight. Your readers can decide if it’s too heavy for them or not. If you think it’s too heavy for you, tell why it’s too heavy. Your readers can relate to you and this will help them to know if the weight works for them.
The same goes for the size. Rather than saying it’s too small, tell the size and the let the reader decide for themselves of it’s too small or not. The shipping doesn’t tell me anything about the product itself. The fact that a product didn’t work may not be a reflection on the product itself.
Be completely honest about the product. If there’s something you don’t like then tell that you don’t like it, but also be specific and tell why you don’t like it. You owe it to your audience to tell both the good and the bad. If they buy a product and you haven’t told them about a glaring negative then they will feel cheated and you will lose trust – and trust takes time to build.
For extensive products don’t try to cover everything. It doesn’t have to thoroughly cover every single minor feature. For example, in a product such as Photoshop your readers just want the basics that set it apart from the others.
A review has to answer the question of why or why not. Why should I buy this? What are the benefits if I do? What am I missing out on if I don’t? Is there a better choice? Will this product suit my needs? If you get a lot of questions about a certain feature or aspect of a product then include that information in your reviews.
Be consistent and realistic in your ratings. Determine what is worthy of a specific rating and rate accordingly. If everything is 5/5-star then the rating loses its value.
Supplement your reviews with information that your audience will care about. This brings them back and ensures that you’ll always have content that they need. This can be anything from tips to using their products, to accessories, to gift ideas. Other articles could include Top 10, Best of, etc., and could cover multiple products within the same article. They could even link back to the original reviews. Review related products. Laptops and lawn mowers are not a good match, but laptops and tablets are.
Establish your credibility as a reviewer by being completely honest. Know the products well. Don’t review products you’ve not seen in person or used yourself. Use your experience with the product to develop authority. Develop your own style and opinions. Readers will know they can trust your opinions and you’ll be able to answer their questions.
Don’t recommend products just for their affiliate links. Your audience will realize your bias and you’ll lose credibility. Don’t give a shining review just because you got the product for free. Readers will catch on to this and will question your motives. This will reduce your credibility and authority in your industry.
Show pros and cons – not just pros. This way you won’t come across as a pushy salesman. Be realistic in how the product works and the problems it solves. Don’t fall into the “as seen on TV” line of sales tactics where no one in the world can possibly crack open an egg without getting it all over their kitchen until they use this product.
Tell who you think the product is best suited for and why you think they would benefit from it the most. If possible show examples of the product being used.
Find a niche with products you love and an audience interested in those products. Don’t try to niche it down too much. If your goal is to make money then make sure there are plenty of affiliate programs. It’s difficult to write about products you don’t care for and it’s discouraging to write about products that you love but there isn’t a large enough audience to keep the site going. Use tools such Google’s Keyword Planner to find niches and products that potential readers are searching for.
Write clearly and concisely but don’t worry about perfection. Aim high. Develop and write for a large audience.
It’s possible to make money from your review site, but don’t expect to make fast money. If that’s your goal then I wouldn’t advise starting a review website as it can take months, or even years, to bring in enough traffic to make money.
There are several ways to make money from your review site. Here’s a look at the most popular methods.
Affiliate Programs – When someone buys through your link you get a portion of the sale. Many online retailers have affiliate programs. This is one of the most popular ways to make money online. Many retailers pay around 5% while other programs pay up to 50%.
Ads – Ads are another popular way to bring in revenue. Make sure ads are relevant to your audience and topic. The typical ad pays by the click or by the number of views, so to make good money from ads you’ll need lots of traffic.
Sponsored Posts – Companies will pay you to write about their products or services. Just like any review you must be honest in showing both the pros and the cons or your readers will not trust your opinions.
Selling Products – Add a store to your website. If you do you’ll have to be extra careful to be as thorough as possible in your reviews or your readers will assume you’re just trying to make a sale. I don’t recommend selling review copies that you’ve gotten for free.
The Federal Trade Commission has specific requirements for bloggers when discussing products. Be sure to disclose if you’ve gotten a free review copy, have affiliate links, etc., in order to comply with Federal regulations. The laws do change from time to time, so be sure to check ever so often to ensure you’re following the rules.
Reviewing products is a great way to establish your authority in an industry and increase your income. Developing a review site is not that difficult when using themes such as Extra. Extra includes a review system with title, summary, total score, bar charts, and total scores on posts and in the sidebar. Extra makes it easy to develop your review system and the Category Builder is great for developing a homepage that includes your reviews or is built around your reviews.
Extra is part of Elegant Themes’ subscription.
Have you developed a review website using Extra’s review system? Let us know about your experience in the comments.
Featured image from Michelle Nunan’s Extra child theme Review.
Divi has recently gone through a series of updates and one of those updates added some interesting background features including gradients. As you may know, I’m partial to gradients (see the article WordPress Design Trends 2017 – Gradients) and I see them becoming more popular throughout the year. As you can imagine I was excited when I heard that Divi was getting a gradient tool. Does it meet my expectations? In this review we’ll take a look at the new gradient tool as see what it can do.
(Note – this article contains affiliate links to help keep this site running)
The new background settings includes four tabs: Color (for solid colors), Gradient, Image, and Video. Gradient is the second tab. To create a gradient, click the plus in the center.
You’ll see the default gradient with two colors with boxes labeled Select Color. Click on these boxes to choose your colors.
From here you can move the circle to the color you want or select the color from the circles at the bottom. Once you’ve chosen your color you’ll see the hex code that you can copy if you want. You can also paste hex codes into the code field. If you move the circle, a circle will appear filled with the color to help you decide if that’s the color you want. The sliders on the right change intensity and opacity.
Once you’ve chosen your first color, select the box for the second color and make your choice.
Once you’ve chosen your colors select somewhere outside the gradient color box and you’ll see your gradient. If you don’t like the colors you can select the color boxes and choose another color.
Under the gradient is a section with settings that include Gradient Type (choose from Linear or Radial), Gradient Direction, Start Position, and End Position. These controls allow you to change the direction the gradient flows and how the colors blend together.
You can even keep them from blending if you want. Playing around with the controls can create some interesting backgrounds.
Choosing Radial gives you another set of options called Radial Direction which includes center, top, bottom, left, right, and several combinations.
You can even place a gradient over an image using the Image Blend tool. Click on the Image tab and load the image you want. Go to the drop-down box at the bottom called Background Image Blend and select Overlay. Your gradient will appear over the image as an overlay. (I took this photo of a log cabin at Cades Cove here in TN).
You can adjust the gradient controls to create some interesting effects. You’ll see the results in real-time.
The gradient tool is intuitive to use. It’s easy to create and modify gradients. There are enough adjustments and features that you can create dozens of gradients and none of them would look alike. You can even have a different gradient for each column in a row. You can place the gradients over images, which opens up a lot more possibilities. For example, you could use an image of a texture behind your gradient. By themselves the gradients are visually interesting. Throw images into the mix and the possibilities are endless. Since they’re created within the modules you can save the module to your library and reuse the gradients.
The gradient tool is fun to play with. I like adjusting the colors to see what I can create and I like seeing how they look over the images. The gradient tool is a welcome addition to Divi and I highly recommend using it for your designs. Now, if they were to throw particle animation in there I would probably not have time to write.
The example shown uses the text module. The background options are also available in rows, sections, and many other modules. The background gradient tool comes with many of the modules in Divi, Extra, and the Divi Builder plugin. You can get them at ElegantThemes.com.
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Disclaimer – I am a contributor to the Elegant Themes blog. I am also a customer. This in no way affects my opinion of Elegant Themes’ products. I take pride that all of my reviews are unbiased and fair. Honesty and credibility are my highest priority.
Elegant Themes recently updated Divi with an interesting feature for their front-end builder (called Visual Builder). One of the reasons I like building with Divi is the Divi Builder makes it easy to create a layout fast. You can place sections, rows, and modules, chose the number of columns per row, and customize every element and rearrange them by drag-and-drop.
The front-end builder works similarly, but I found it more difficult to visualize the layout than with the back-end builder because the sections, rows, and modules were almost invisible. I didn’t use it. Instead, I used the back-end almost exclusively. When I did use the Visual Builder I would change to the back-end to make layout changes, add modules, etc. This back and forth motion made me stick with the back-end builder. Until now.
The Wireframe View lets you clearly see the sections, rows, and modules that build your page. You don’t have to mouse over them to make them appear, and you can see more modules at once. You can easily switch between views while staying on the same page. The example above is the same page as the one above it. You can see how the longer pages are much easier to see and deal with from a design standpoint when looking at them in the Wireframe View.
The Wireframe View also lets you take advantage of the extra features in the front-end options windows. Features that are not available in the back-end such as collapsible options, a powerful option search, and the ability to edit labels directly where you see them. The Wireframe View sits next to the desktop, tablet, and phone views and switches almost as quickly.
The Wireframe View solves a lot of my complaints about the Visual Builder. There are still some things we can’t do from the Visual Builder, such as use most third-party modules or use post settings, but the recent updates have added enough to make me use it. Elegant Themes has even more views planned, so the Wireframe View is just the start of something bigger, and I’m sure better, that’s to come. Divi now has excellent back-end and front-end builders. No matter what style of building you prefer, Divi has a mode to fit with your style.
The Visual Builder and Wireframe View come with Divi, Extra, and the Divi Builder plugin. You can get them at ElegantThemes.com.
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Disclaimer – I am a contributor to the Elegant Themes blog. I am also a customer. This in no way affects my opinion of Elegant Themes’ products. I take pride that all of my reviews are unbiased and fair. Honesty and credibility are my highest priority.
Footer are often ignored when it comes to website design. Often, they’re just left as the default footer of the theme. Sometimes they get some sprucing up as an afterthought. Most visitors never scroll down that far, so any hard work you put into it will probably go unseen. However, the readers who do scroll down that far are looking for something specific. They’re usually looking for links or other information. Great web design includes the footer and it can be used in interesting ways. Let’s look at creating interesting footers for your WordPress website.
The key to good footer design is determining its purpose. This means deciding what you want to readers to do once they reach the footer. Do you want them to read more about your website, yourself, or your services? Do you want them to contact you, or follow you? Do you want them to sign up for something? Footers are actually a great place to keep some important information:
Don’t try to place everything in the footer though. Keep it clean and simple, only including the most important elements. Choose the few things that matter the most. A good footer design would also be visually appealing.
Here’s a look at Elegant Themes. They have a large footer area with recent posts, categories, and social follow buttons followed by an animated call to action (CTA), security and business certificates, social follow buttons with stats, a menu with different links than the primary menu, and a copyright notice. The footer items are centered.
EvangelicalBible.com shows the logo, contact info, small newsletter signup form, social buttons, copyright notice, store hours, and a back-to-top button.
This one is from CNet.com. It uses a full screen image with a CTA, copyright notice, menu, and links to top brands.
Avada’s Shop demo provides contact info, social buttons, top rated products with star ratings, latest posts, tags, copyright notice, and payment info.
Divi has built-in footer editing features. The Theme Customizer includes features for layout, widgets, footer elements, footer menu, and bottom bar. Choose from 10 layouts, customize the widget area, show social icons, create your own copyright notice, style the footer menu, style the footer credits, and disable or create your own footer credits.
There are several plugins to help you create footers. Here are a few popular free and premium plugins:
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Featured image by Jacob Rank