Web-Development

Node.js is an open-source, cross-platform JavaScript run-time environment that executes JavaScript. It includes npm, which is the package manager for JavaScript code ( installs programs).

There was a Kevin Costner movie where he kept on hearing, “Build it and they will come.”

Great for Kevin, not so good for webpages. If you want to be found on the net, you need more… SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

Duplicator is a WordPress plugin to backup, migrate, copy or clone a site from one location to another.

I wrote a recipe up some time ago to do a localhost database restore using Duplicator, but never prettied it up. Since it might be of use to someone in the future (like me), I’m going to go head and publish it.

Way back in the day, Microsoft gave out a very good offline blogging program called Windows Live Writer. It was an offline WYSIWYG blog editor that allowed you to write, save, and post all from the comfort of your local PC desktop and came bundled in an online package called Windows Essentials. The program stalled out on version Windows Live Writer 2012.

Microsoft opened sourced the program as Open Live Writer at the end of 2015. From there, it was ignored and forgotten… sad story.

On the off chance you’ve entered a time warp, and go back to 2015, here’s how to customize Open Live Writer.

Back in the day, you didn’t have to worry about “devices.” Now, we’re all modern. We have stylish CSS that makes HTML look hipster-good on any screen size you can imagine. To do all this you need css code, lots of code.

You  can punch the code-masters ticket and roll your own CSS or you can attach everything to a CSS framework ( Bootstrap, Foundation, etc.).

These frameworks don’t know what you want, so they give you EVERYTHING. You have a screen the size of you large toenail? Not a problem, but the typical websites uses less than 80% of all the framework css code.

The price you pay for a kitchen sink framework is speed. Luckily, if you have a need for speed, you can trim out the CSS fat using unCSS.

When you’re in development it’s handy to have Wordpress filled up with dummy data.

In order to test out a theme, you need some basic content. WordPress already has some content available for testing so don’t have to dream it up yourself (Yay!) called Theme Unit Test.

WordPress Underscores is an online tool for creating a starter theme.

It saves a lot of time because it inserts the name of the theme with an underscore in the variable names in a boilerplate theme. If you activate this theme, it’s just basic text and nothing else.

There’s still more to do to create a WP theme, but it certainly is better than rolling your own.