It’s time to update your Divi!! Before I update this theme in your Web Care Subscriptions, I let a week or two go by for two reasons. Sometimes major updates can have a few bugs that will be found and corrected within a week. Another reason is I need to check out all the new updates on my personal website first. Which I did!  I’m happy to say there are no major issues. Stay tuned for more blog posts and possibly a DIvi class. Here is a Elegant Themes VIDEO you can watch to see what’s new with DIvi! And go to their website page on Divi for more info:

What I Know So Far

Some great new features are FASTER, IMPROVED MENUS, CUSTOM HEADERS & FOOTERS, BLOGS and WOO COMMERCE MODULES! See three header options below. UPDATE: The main problem Divi users are experiencing is the custom headers such as below are not sticky. As a user scrolls the menu scrolls up out of the screen. But as long as we use the standard headers we are fine.

Header 1: Note Search bar at right and custom Social Media buttons at left and a CTA button on second line, right.

Header 2: Note Logo aligned with Phone and Email, Socials at right and a Join Today section.

Header 3: Great for E-Commerce and lots of area for information.

Here is a way to circumvent the WP builder, which is not at all user friendly. Divi users are already have a beautifully working builder and why would we want to change? Divi also, in answer to this new WP update, went ahead and reworked the design of their interface and it is slightly less user friendly than the Classic, but will be fine once you get used to it.

[Be aware that I may have already changed your settings. If you don’t see any difference, then you are all set.]

Now for the instructions: In your Divi Theme Options, you will see the default General area, turn off the two Minify options which are just above the black css panel. Save. Then go to the Tab labeled “Builder” and open its Advanced tab. Here you turn off what is currently on and enable the New Divi Builder Experience and The Classic Divi Builder. Save.

Now, when you go to your pages, look for the Return to Classic Builder button on the bottom right hand side. Immediately you will return to the familiar interface of the Classic Builder.

During the updating process, a couple of clients, including me, lost some recent edits in their website. I’ve talked to both BlueHost and the Elegant Themes people (who design Divi), and no one seems to know why. Remember, though, that I have monthly backups and can revert you back in time to that version. Some clients may want to consider weekly backups. Let me know if you prefer that service. It is only $2 more per month. All Pro Users now get this in their package as part of their subscription.

For those of you who do not use the Divi Theme, there is a plugin (https://wordpress.org/plugins/classic–editor/) that will get you back to the classic editor. Support will continue for the Classic Editor into 2021.

Here’s to a happy and healthy New Year with no more big WordPress updates!

We all know that cell phone use in the United States (and worldwide) continues to increase each year. Statistica.com states that “…73 percent of the population in the United States were actively browsing the internet from their mobile device.”  So, if you are hobbling along without a responsive website, you are falling behind. An article on the Five Reasons You Need a Responsive Website, they list three additional important points.

• Great User Experience is a Must.
• Responsive Website Design is Ideal for SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
• Speed of Your Responsive Website is Key

The tendency to use plugins to fix your lack of a modern theme runs a risk of it not working well. It can take several hours better used to build a new site and lastly, it sets up a scenario where the plugin causes conflicts and the site breaks. The free versions are far from perfect.  The plugin may not include a tablet version. Pro versions are costly. And why would you pay to have a band-aid option?

Meet Divi. Our modular theme includes all the tools to customize both cell and tablet versions. You can resize text and remove sections or images. It is built into the theme and completely compatible.

Since DIvi is constantly being updated and improved, you won’t need to change themes ever again. There are thousands of designers and developers that can help you make changes and even alter the look and feel of the site.

So for me, it’s a no brainer. Switch to Divi and take control of your website for the rest of your life. (Divi can be purchased by you at https://elegantthemes.com or through your web designer…me.  😉

At first it was mostly graphics for magazines and other publications, then I did more general graphic design projects such as annual reports, brochures, invitations, logos, etc. Technology was changing and I grasped the ring that came my way and started making html websites.

But as I reflect on the changing technology for design and marketing, I can appreciate what we have now that is so affordable or even FREE! I am a WordPress web designer. I (and my clients) get the WordPress software absolutely free thanks to Matt Mullenweg and his company, Automattic. I also get my favorite 80 themes cheaply, thanks to a special lifetime deal from Elegant Themes which I pass on free to clients. Many plugins that bring amazing functionality to your website are free as well.

Fonts, that we used to spec and order from Type Houses was expensive. And every new line of copy added up. Now, many fonts are free. In addition, clients enjoy free use of my font library. If you want to market your services, all you have to do is Blog (free) or use Social Media (free). Free Newsletters are possible with Mail Poet in your WordPress dashboard.

Are you noticing the word FREE a lot? Does anyone remember the days of news or magazine ads? Yes, you still have to be clever to convert visitors to customers, but the inbound marketing opportunities are there for the taking.

So, no, I don’t mourn for the Good ‘Ol Days. I’m happy for the Good New Days! I just wish they had come sooner!

1. Best Buy is the largest speciality retailer of consumer electronics in the United States. The company, which is based in Minnesota, has more than 150,000 employees and $40 billion in revenue.
2. The mission of The Walt Disney Company is to be one of the world’s leading producers and providers of entertainment and information. Using our portfolio of brands to differentiate our content, services and consumer products, we seek to develop the most creative, innovative and profitable entertainment experiences and related products in the world.
3. Sony Music Entertainment is a United States music corporation owned and operated by Sony Corporation of America, a subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sony Corporation, and includes such music labels as Columbia Records, Epic Records, RCA Records, and numerous Sony Music national companies.
4. The official site for rapper and actor LL Cool J.
5. The engaging UX/design and the large scale of the Bates.edu site powered by WordPress – over 130 networked sites and over 100,000 pages/posts.
6. The Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) was founded by Dr. Jane Goodall with the inspirational message that the well-being of our world relies on people taking an active interest in all living things.

The most amazing experience working with WordPress is the open source community. Designers, Developers and people all over the world design and create sites, develop plugins, create themes or build websites from the ground up. Just within the relatively small community of one particular theme, DIVI by Elegant Themes, are 8000 + members in a Facebook Forum from all over the world. If you have a specific question, you can post it at midnight and it is someone in Portland, Oregon or Pakistan will answer your query within a few hours. We help each other. It is free.

Some developers have created plugins to enhance the already great features of the aforementioned DIVI Theme. For a small one time fee of $20 you can extend the rather static form module in the theme with DIVI KK Modules, by James King. Elegant Themes Marketplace has many other plugins and Child Themes you can buy to add even more design features and functionality. You can also chat with them online in the Facebook group or email them through the website.

Last but not least, the website you build is yours. You don’t have to pay monthly fees (except for hosting and domain fees). You can switch host companies and migrate your site whenever. You can decide to add a shopping cart. You can blog or not. You can edit your text and posts or not. You can rant. You can sell. You can save the environment. Ain’t it Awesome?

The post is written by Tom Ewer, a professional writer, blogger and longtime WordPress enthusiast. He’s written over 1,000 articles across the web on the world’s most popular Content Management System.  (I’ve edited the post a little for your reading pleasure! – D.P.)

1. The DIYer

You want full admin privileges to tinker under the hood a bit. However, its possible to mess everything up, and my bet is you won’t want to pay for fixes.

2. The Minimizer

You think that moving your WordPress site to a different host is simply a quick FTP job – just a matter of downloading all the files, then uploading them on the new server. But it’s much more complicated. WordPress is database-driven, with intricate relationships that will break if files are simply moved. We can offer site relocation as a separate service.

3. The Uninformed Business Owner

You don’t understand why anyone pays for hosting when WordPress.com, Weebly and Wix are perfectly good alternatives. These sites add advertising and credits that free hosting mandates, along with limitations in function – including the funky URL the site will likely have, which will impact your business. For these reasons, WordPress.com and other free hosts may be fine for just a personal blog. However, for a business site for which credibility, flexibility and scalability are important, you need only pay as little as $12 for a small business site.

4. The Big Picture Fan

The images you send are in high resolution, and you insist they stay that way on the site – after all, visitors to your site want the highest quality possible. A week later, you call to ask why the site is loading so slowly. Resolution past a certain limit is a hindrance, not an enhancement. High-res images load far more slowly than typical images – and that costs you visitors. We can show you previous examples of optimized images that have been provided for previous sites – and train you to optimize images yourself for the web.

5. The “Budget? What Budget?” Guy

You react negatively when asked what the budget is – and you have no idea – and believe that all WordPress sites require the same amount of work, aside from content. We need at least a rough number so we can tell you what that amount will buy.

We will ask, “Please tell me the purpose of your website, what you want visitors to do, and what your budget is so I can then tell you what services I can provide for that amount”. This approach ensures you get the most value for your money.

6. The Project Manager Who Thinks WordPress Is a Word-Processing Program

You think WordPress is just for blogging on WordPress.com, or worse yet, you confuse it with Microsoft Word. (Yes, this really happens). Worse yet, you don’t think WordPress developers are “real” developers at all. Please know that WordPress powers some big-name sites, from BBCAmerica to The Harvard Gazette. WordPress “Open source” means  – constant development, security updates and an enormous support community. Using WordPress means that you are essentially leveraging not just our talents, but also those of hundreds of brilliant coders.

7. The Cheapskate

You are hellbent on using a poorly coded free theme that’s full of malware (such as Base 64 injections), sneaky credits in the footers, and customizations coded right into the functions file rather than as plugins. Unfortunately, you just doesn’t understand the problems this causes. These issues can affect site performance and produce embarrassing gaffes that erode credibility. If you insists on picking your own theme, let us direct you to some reputable premium theme providers (like Elegant Themes of course ;-)).

8. The Wannabe

WordPress is popular for its usability, among other things. It’s no bad thing when a client can add posts and make minor changes on their own. However, this particular client asks questions – a lot of questions – in a barely disguised (and misguided) attempt to learn the skills that have taken you years to hone. His ultimate goal is to go the DIY route because, hey, it’s “just” WordPress. If you want to learn more, go to the WordPress Codex. But, If you are going to jump in yourself, you are going to have to do it without a free life ring. If you break the site, you will have to pay for fixing it!

9. The Elitist

You’ll find this guy lurking in forums, writing in blogs, attending networking events. He is a Web Programmer, aka Internet Engineer, Website Architect, or any number of other lofty titles. No jQuery for him: He codes only in pure JavaScript. He never cuts and pastes that line of code at the top of any HTML document. In fact, he cuts and pastes nothing; it’s all there in his magnificent mind. And he looks down on you because you “rely” on WordPress.

In contrast, I am an efficiency expert who prefers not to write the same code over and over again. Why reinvent the wheel when a secure, SEO-friendly, extendible platform like WordPress already exists? Using WordPress is not cheating; it’s bending proven code to do your creative bidding – and that’s just smart.

10. The Generalist

You think that, since we “work in computers” we can fix yours, from a simple browser issue all the way to hard drive issues. Hardware just isn’t our thing, and I’d hate to give you bad advice. Instead, go to (a) Google, or (b) the Yellow Pages. This goes for email accounts too. IT professionals are there to help you with your personal choices in email software and computer set up. We will aid them however we can!