Old add button

If you don’t have the menu bar added on the Dashboard you won’t see this button anymore. Luckily, there is a way to get it back in an even better way!

Simply go to Users->Your Profile. Where it reads “Show Admin Bar”. Check the box that says “in dashboard”. Then save your settings.

Settings page option preview

Once you add update your profile settings, you’ll see a new admin bar on the top of your dashboard.

Part of the new admin menu

See the new “Add New” link along with several other useful quick links used often.

You can see the official release note here: http://wordpress.org/news/2011/07/gershwin/

Here is a key snippet of text from the release note that you should keep in mind before upgrading:

Under the hood there have been a number of improvements, not the least of which is the streamlining enabled by our previously announced plan of retiring support for PHP4, older versions of MySQL, and legacy browsers like IE6, which allows us to take advantage of more features enabled by new technologies. The admin bar has a few more shortcuts to your most commonly-used actions. On the comment moderation screen, the new approve & reply feature speeds up your conversation management. You’ll notice in your first update after 3.2 that we’ll only be updating the files that have changed with each new release instead of every file in your WordPress installation, which makes updates significantly faster on all hosting platforms.

It is always a good idea to upgrade for security releases and better functionality and speed. As stated that PHP 4 and MySQL 4 and some web browsers are not longer supported, this is no reason not to upgrade, just make sure your server and web browser works before doing so.

Enjoy all the new features and the new look of the back-end!

List of all new features: http://codex.wordpress.org/Version_3.2

Here is a sneak peak:

New WordPress admin style

As a web developer, I have added annoying items to websites of my clients per their needs: popups, auto playing audio/video, a bunch of ads. A website needs to at least pay for itself for people to keep creating them; however, with the internet being a web of free content and software it can be difficult for site owners to regain their investment.

What bothers me

When I’m researching or simply just browsing the web I find these elements I once added to be very annoying, even more so than the ones I’ve added in the past. The worst for me is when I’m reading an article then 10 seconds into it, BAM!, a pop up ad telling me to sign up to a mailing list. I understand the need to pay for the site, but why does it have to be so in-my-face and annoying? Rather than clicking or even reading what the pop has to say, I look for the close button. I then leave the site looking for a less intrusive site. The web used to display what I wanted and searched for, now it seems that owners like to toss too much into my face.

Is there another way?

What else is the site owner to do? Installing these annoying ads have to make them money to pay for their server cost and the development and maintenance of the site. What are other alternatives to forcing information on their visitors?

Subscription sites

Site owners will only display content or desired product of their site with a monthly fee. Users pay a rate each month to have access to the site. The site will most likely not have any ads, it will look and flow well. But, you will have to pay for it.

Sold products or services

Some sites are simply trying to sell a product or service. My business site sells a development service, I have little need for ads. Every once in a while I’ll add one to see if I can get some affiliate sales. But all and all, I do not need to fund my site or service though ads. Other sites do the same, like Microsoft and Apple; they simply sell a product and it pays for all their site cost.

Donations

Sites like wikipedia.org pays for it’s cost through donations. Given that the site is ranked #8 on traffic in the world they must have some pretty strong and expensive servers. All the content is provided by the sites visitors so they save cost in that aspect. But for the cost of the site and it’s team, they need to make money. The site is kept ad free each year by a single donation drive and random user contributions.

So what annoys you?

Here is a small poll to help gain an idea of what the most annoying thing you see on a website. Don’t see it in the list? Leave a comment!

1. Remove the constants from the wp-config.php file. (Should look similar to this if you used my plugin)
   • /* This site was made multi-site enabled by @link http://jgwebdevelopment.com */
   • define (‘MULTISITE’, ’1′);
   • define (‘SUBDOMAIN_INSTALL’, false);
   • define (‘DOMAIN_CURRENT_SITE’, ‘localhost’);
   • define (‘PATH_CURRENT_SITE’, ‘/wp-multi/’);
   • define (‘SITE_ID_CURRENT_SITE’, 1);
   • define (‘BLOG_ID_CURRENT_SITE’, 1);
   • $base = ‘/wp-multi/’;
2. Delete the htaccess and let WP create a fresh single-site one.
   • You can have it create a new one by simply going to your permalink settings page and click save again.
3. Remove the extra tables from the database. (The “wp_” will be replaced with whichever prefix you made during installation”)
   1. wp_blogs
   2. wp_blog_versions
   3. wp_registration_log
   4. wp_signups
   5. wp_site
   6. wp_sitemeta
4. Remove the two extra fields added to the users table.
   1. spam
   2. deleted

Now in WordPress 3.1, when you create a Multi-Site Network, a “Network Admin” dashboard is now created.

In the “Network Admin” dashboard you will:

• Enable/disable Network Plugins.
• Create, Edit, Delete child sites.
• Edit Site-Wide and Network Settings.

There is no longer a mixture of blog Dashboards and Network Settings.

To find the new “Network Admin Dashboard”, just locate the new link in the upper right corner of all blog dashboards. This new link is located next to the “Logout” link. See the image below.

 

Click to view full size image.

Join the forum discussion on this post

Several users have had trouble with the creation of the proper htaccess file. This version provides a fix for this. Among several other enhancements and fixes:

• Users can override the warnings and install Multi-site as subdomain or subfolder if needed.
• Users who do not use the default wp-config-sample.php when setting up Mutli-Site had issues where the defines were not added to the wp-config file properly. This version fixes this issue.
• Functionality has been started for disabling Multi-Site, due for release in v1.6. The ability to remove Mutli-Site will be released in version 2.0.

Hope everyone enjoys the updates and finds them useful!

Several of his customers have come to me and requested help with setting up his products. Some say a license is required while others wonder why my plugin doesn’t set up the content automatically for them. I DO NOT offer support for other peoples products nor do I recommend purchasing the Push Button Cash Site. My plugin is to be used at your own risk and offers zero support.

There is a public support forum that may be able to answer most questions. I check it a few times a week to help those that I can. Please search the forum before posting a new thread. Do not expect free help. And most importantly, DO NOT CALL ME OR EMAIL ME DIRECTLY unless it is direct relation to a current or future web project.

I wish you the best of luck in your online money making lives.

Edit: I found a link to several angry customer comments. Check it out if your still considering buying this product.

Don’t be afraid to use currently developed tools

When one first has a website built they are under the impression that most features of the site are built custom; sometimes this is true. Most web developers, such as myself, have built functions that are commonly used in a wide variety of websites. Also, developers try to use currently existing scripts to lesson the amount of time to build a site (so not to reinvent the internet wheel).

A good tip on how to keep the cost of your current or future website project is to do your research first. For example: if you wish to build a website with a blog in it, look into having WordPress be part of your website. There is software already created for creating subscription websites (aMember). Don’t require your web developer to recreate such features, simply try to suggest alternatives that will fit the needs of your website that they may not already be aware of.

Just remember, you do not have to sacrifice a well rounded professional web developer because of price. Just bring down the amount of hours it will require to build the project.

One person does not have to create the whole website

Rather than looking for someone that can design, plan, and develop your website, look for three separate individuals that do a specific aspect very well. My strong suites are development and planning while my designing skills are limited. So when I start a project for a client I usually give them three options: 1. Hire a professional graphic designer to create your layout. 2. Let us use a free website layout and tweak it to fit their needs. 3. Let me create a design at my standard programming rate and let it take longer than someone else would. Usually number one is selected.

Just remember, no one is great at everything. Either choose someone that is mediocre in full website development or two or three great individuals to create your final great website for you. Odds are that you’ll better budget your website and have it developed a lot quicker.

Sign multiple website agreements at one time

If you are planning on creating more than one website in the near future. A smart idea is try to negotiate the prices for both at one time. There is a good chance that the developer will give a discount on future work when signed upfront rather by promise. About every client I have will promise extra work after their project is complete. Some follow through while others are yet to contact me. For those that sign two or more contracts for a website at once, I give a 10% discount off the project with the lesser quote price. This can be a great savings and also keeps the developer with a vested interest for future work.

Just remember, store products have a bulk discount and so do websites. Play your cards right and built a relationship and website simultaneously.