I'm getting spoiled by self-published authors and the services that cater to them. Big publishers are increasingly disappointing in comparison. One of the most baffling aspects of big publishing is that publishers generally don't know who their readers are. Other than people … [Read more...] about How publishers could get more of my money (and make me happy to give it)
Web Design
Why “click here” is a terrible link, and what to write instead
An astonishing percentage of what I do with my clients' web copy involves eradicating the phrase "click here" from their links. For more information, click here. You see it everywhere. Everyone's doing it, so it must be a best practice, right? Wrong. It's the worst possible … [Read more...] about Why “click here” is a terrible link, and what to write instead
Tuesday giveaway: CSS3 for Web Designers
Today I'm giving away a copy of Dan Cederholm's CSS3 for Web Designers, published by A Book Apart. I adore this book. It's the best concise introduction to all the CSS tricks I use on a daily basis: gradients, opacity, animation. This is one of the books I recommend in WordPress … [Read more...] about Tuesday giveaway: CSS3 for Web Designers
Monday giveaway: HTML5 For Web Designers
I'm kicking off a week of book giveaways with the best brief introduction to HTML5: Jeremy Keith's HTML5 For Web Designers, published by A Book Apart. My own book, WordPress for Web Developers, shows you how to build WordPress themes with the assumption that you already know … [Read more...] about Monday giveaway: HTML5 For Web Designers
Speaking at BEA Bloggers Conference, May 29
I'm delighted to be going to New York City in May to speak at the BookExpo America Bloggers Conference. I'll be on the Blogging Platforms panel, talking about how book bloggers can make the most of WordPress. Plus I'll be, you know, wandering around BEA for three days! I'm so … [Read more...] about Speaking at BEA Bloggers Conference, May 29
I feel busy, oh so busy…
I've been whingeing about deadlines on Twitter, so I thought I'd take a moment and catch you up on what I'm doing. First up, I'm turning in a chapter every Thursday on the second edition of the book. That goes until mid-April. Because all my fiction projects turn into … [Read more...] about I feel busy, oh so busy…
Saying goodbye to Textile
I came to WordPress after using TextPattern for a while, and when I switched, I didn't want to give up Textile formatting, so I found a plugin and kept using it. That was six years ago. These days I do a lot more code samples, and trying to get characters escaped properly is … [Read more...] about Saying goodbye to Textile
moving the furniture
If you follow me on RSS or LiveJournal, you probably just saw a flood of new posts. Sorry about that! When I started wordpress-as-cms.com last summer, I meant it to be a place where I could write about all my geeky technical WordPress stuff without boring you all here. But, since … [Read more...] about moving the furniture
Howdy, stranger.
I know, it's been ages! How are you? You look thinner. Have you done something different with your hair? Me? Well, I was sick for a while there. No, not hamthrax. Not even a virus, really; turns out the stuff I was on for back pain had some unlisted side effects. I'm better now. … [Read more...] about Howdy, stranger.
Keynote ruckus at HighEdWeb
If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I spent the week attending the HighEdWeb conference. I've been a presenter and a member of the programming committee for the last few years. I adore this conference because the quality of the presentations is outstanding, the attendees … [Read more...] about Keynote ruckus at HighEdWeb
