What is a blog if not scribbles on a digital wall? We typically post on web design, including behind the scenes peeks at our work, but you’ll also find posts about things that interest us, like books and art, as well.
Pangolin Problems
Woo Themes just released a new version of WooCommerce, their popular eCommerce plugin. Unfortunately, version 2.2.2 (also known as Pangolin) is causing issues with the password reset feature in WordPress. When a user tries to reset their password, WordPress sends an email as normal. After clicking through the link, users receive an “invalid key” error from the site and are unable to complete the password reset. The developer hasn’t released a patch yet, but Chris Harvey provided a manual fix on GitHub. To resolve the...
read moreGraphic Resources
Graphics are the bread and butter of web design. Quite often clients don’t have many (or any) graphics prepared for their site, which is why Google image search can be so valuable. Whenever searching for stock graphics, however, it drives me crazy how much time I have to spend filtering through supposedly “free” images only to find sites that make you buy credits to download free images. Sure, I make it a practice of removing aberrant search results using a little Google-foo. Filters like “-shutterstock -123rf”...
read moreBack to Forever
A funny thing happened midway through 2013. I found Lissie Maurus completely by accident, and she would quickly become one of my favorite artists. Back then, her new album was still forthcoming and wouldn’t be out for months, but her catalog dominated my playlists on Spotify for months leading up to the new album. When BACK TO FOREVER finally dropped, it quickly became the album of the year for me. So I thought I’d share how I actually found Lissie. It’s important to know that I usually tune out my wife’s Pandora....
read moreGoogle Drive Backup
There’s a fantastic plugin called Updraft Plus that we’ve been using to back up client websites. The free version of the plugin allows your WordPress website to back up its files and database automatically to the cloud with no effort on your part once configured. How great is that? You can use UpdraftPlus with Amazon S3, Dropbox, or Rackspace, but for the purpose of this tutorial we’re choosing Google Drive as our backup destination. The instructions are long, but don’t worry. We’ve got you covered with detailed...
read moreLegends of the Fallout Book Trailer
Here is a book trailer I produced for Stephen R. Cox. Artwork by Michael Whelan. Music by Kevin MacLeod.
The combination of visuals and music, I think, convey a sense of action and intrigue that dominates the Mutant Hunter books. LEGENDS OF THE FALLOUT is the first in the series. I’ll have more book trailers coming soon!
read more360 Degrees of Stephen R. Cox
The work done for author Stephen R. Cox involved more than just a website. We updated advertising copy in fresh cover blurbs for Amazon, re-designed the type set and layout of the book covers, and produced a slick online advertising campaign to build traffic for the new site. And there’s more to come. Building a Platform For many authors, connecting with a readership can be daunting, especially the technical work of establishing a web presence. The time and energy it takes to finish a book—and getting it into print—is mind boggling. For...
read morePassages: My Way to Michael Whelan
As a bookstore manager working my way through college, my buying responsibilities meant I often met with publisher reps. These visits included briefings on upcoming titles—sometimes a formality, sometimes the source of a great discovery. My formal introduction to Michael Whelan’s artwork began during a visit with Bantam Books. I’d always been a fan of sci-fi but until the enlightening conversation that day, I’d never put a name to the fantastic covers I’d been drawn to over the years. My friend and co-worker Russ Aceto...
read moreMichael Whelan.com
We soft-launched the new Michael Whelan.com last Friday, mostly spreading the word via social media so far. Press releases and email blasts are still to come, but the new site design has garnered reviews from industry peers already. Dan Dos Santos in his review on Muddy Colors said: Michael’s revamped site is not only pretty, and really functional… but holy cow it’s extensive! There are literally HUNDREDS of paintings to browse. All of them are well scanned and very well categorized. Michael’s illustration work, and...
read moreC.S. Friedman
In September, we launched a stunning re-design of science fiction and fantasy author C.S. Friedman’s website. The client was thrilled with the finished product. In fact, she raved about the smooth and thorough communication process that led to a revitalized presence on the web. There’s an interesting story behind this project. In July, Celia posted on her Facebook page that she was looking for a web designer. I’d read and enjoyed her books, so my interest was piqued from the start. In early discussions pitching the project,...
read moreClick Horse Products
This project began as a redesign of a do-it-yourself site. The client was taking orders through the site, utilizing simple PayPal buy-me buttons, but with patents pending for their product, they wanted to get serious about their web presence. There are pros and cons to redesigning an existing website. On the plus side, the content is there… it’s just a matter of cutting through what’s not needed. That was definitely the case with HockShield.com. Out of the gate, I tackled clutter, shuffled content, and refined the...
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