Tech Boosters

Category: WordPress

Tech Boosters

Category: WordPress

Blogs04
December 10, 2021

Top Skills for Front End Developers

With new technologies like HTML5, CSS3, and Bootstrap, front-end developers can create interactive web applications that look and feel like native apps. They’re able to build responsive websites that adapt their design to fit smaller screens, making your website more user-friendly.

Front-end developers have a crucial role in today’s fast-paced digital marketing industry. They can do so much more than just coding a website. Make sure they’re doing it right!

Top skills your Front-end Developers must-have

Front-end developers are the only ones who talk directly to customers, so they must be multi platform communicators. They understand what goes beyond just markup. These top skills that your front-end developer must-have and master, because that’s where the user interacts with the application. Having a front-end team that has these skills will significantly enhance your product experience.

1. Understand HTML, CSS, and JavaScript

Mastering HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript is a MUST. Honestly, not having it at your fingertips is unacceptable for a frontend developer. HTML, the key structural component of any website together with CSS, which is the styling part already allows you to build some basic websites and applications. However, to make it interactive you need JavaScript! But without knowing HTML and CSS, it won’t be possible to implement them into the website or app. This trio is necessary for everyone who considers a career in the front end, but that’s just the beginning! Although, if you are not a fan of styling but you really enjoy all the JavaScript functions and possibilities it gives, you should consider digging deeper into this particular language. There are many offers for purely JavaScript developers and the demand is as high as for general frontend specialists.

2. CSS Frameworks and Preprocessors

Like Bootstrap, Foundation, Bulma, UIkit, Semantic UI, Susy, Materialize and Pure, etc. for CSS – optimizing the workflow. It means, that it is actually better for a developer to know them because you can get the same results in less time and less typing. Another important aspect is a responsive design – sites and apps that work great on each device and in each size are a must-have in 2019. Knowing how to convert a website from a static to responsive one is essential but saving some time by using frameworks that have it already built-in is even better. Win-win.

A top frontend developer should be proficient in CSS3, however, what makes a dev life easier and the whole process faster is knowing preprocessors. Sass and LESS are quite commonly used and often you can find those in job listings. Their duty is to process the CSS written by you, before publishing on the website and turning it into cross-browser-friendly code.

3. Know your JavaScript framework

Depending on the team you are going to work with or on the project, most likely there will be given a framework you should be familiar with. Knowing the language itself is one thing but knowing how to work within a framework is an additional skill and you can’t do much without it, especially if you want to create some real project for a client. The most popular are Angular, React and Vue.js – getting familiar with one of them is a big plus. You can start with this ng2 (Angular) comprehensive guide.

Additionally, libraries are great to minimize the amount of code you have to write from scratch. Being fluent with, for example, jQuery will make not only your life easier but also the workflow way faster! You can find there ready-made plugins and extensions which are customizable like search form autocomplete, how to automatically resize grid layouts or countdown timers, and so on. Why reinvent the wheel and wasting time instead of using a working solution?

Before, JavaScript was only used to enhance the user experience. Now it’s being used to entire power websites. Front-end developers who know JavaScript frameworks like AngularJS and ReactJS can do wonders for your project.

4. Development Best Practices

The Front-end is no place to reinvent the wheel. From best practices, tools, and frameworks to processes and organizational structure, there’s a lot of stuff you can and should learn from the collective wisdom of the web development community.

The chances are that your team will have its own internal set of development best practices. Front-end development is a very dynamic field that changes all the time. It’s hard to keep up with the latest JS frameworks and design trends.

To be a successful front-end developer, you need a strong understanding of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript—and not only the basics. You need to build complex interactive web pages, solve tricky problems and make your users happy.

5. Debugging

The ability to find and fix bugs is an essential part of creating reliable, secure code. Debugging can be done manually or with automated tools. Developers will need to know how to use the debugging functionality provided by their development environment.

Use breakpoints in browsers. Browsers’ developer tools allow you to set breakpoints. When the browser hits a breakpoint, it pauses before executing the line of code that caused the breakpoint to be triggered, allowing for investigation of what is happening then or execution of other statements before resuming normal execution.

Breakpoints are typically used when there’s a problem with page layout or rendering, but they can also be used for general problem-solving. For example, you can put a breakpoint on a function call and step through the code as it executes to see what is happening.

Debugging is an essential skill because it’s the process of finding and fixing mistakes in source code.

Many people think that if their code runs without any visible errors, it means it is error-free. But in fact, there can be hidden bugs in your program that only show up at run-time (that is when the program runs) and cause problems.

6. Teamwork

As it was mentioned above, good communication is key! Teamwork is usually a part of the frontend developer’s everyday life. Even if you work as a freelance dev, you’ll have to communicate well with the clients and work with them on the project to some extent. Knowing how to handle teamwork, support other devs, and ask for advice when needed make the workflow smoother and in the end, you deliver the end product faster.

7. Assets Management

The best assets management skills are essential for your front-end developers because they allow them to view the site as a whole and make changes that won’t affect the rest of the project. This way, they can focus on design and functionality without worrying about inconsistencies between CSS, images, and HTML.

Front-end developers are often asked to manage assets such as images and fonts as part of their job. Although the file management tools that come with your OS may not be as powerful as a dedicated asset manager, they’ll do in a pinch.

Front-end developers are the people who do the visual design, create the graphical interface, and develop the website’s functionalities. They work in close collaboration with the company’s business team to accomplish their goals.

They must have many skills, including HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, and possibly even some server-side languages such as PHP or Python.

8. Develop a Good Understanding of Web Design Principles

Deciphering between design elements and code implementation is crucial to creating a website that doesn’t just look good but works well and is easy for users. Here are some web design principles and techniques that every front-end developer should know:

A. Progressive enhancement

Progressive enhancement is a technique for building websites that ensures content and functionality will display appropriately on all devices, even those with limited capabilities. This ensures no one will miss out on your content or functionality because their device isn’t capable of supporting it.

B. Semantic HTML

Semantic HTML is essential for accessibility because it allows screen readers to correctly interpret the structure of a page and present it to users in a way that makes sense to them – essentially allowing them to browse the website as if they could see it themselves. It also means developers can build one site that works well across different browsers without creating multiple versions of the same site based on additional browser support.

9. Be Familiar With Various Database Layouts

There are different database layouts used in websites today, but most fall under three major categories:

Three-tier architecture. This is probably the most common layout for web applications today. It comprises the following components:

  • User interface (UI) – All the screens that users see when visiting a website or using an application.
  • Business layer – The software responsible for handling business logic, performing data modeling, executing transactions, etc.
  • Data-tier – It is where data persists. Using the above-mentioned three-tier architecture diagram, this would be the database server. Two-tier architecture or fat client architecture. This is similar to three-tier architecture, except it has only two tiers: the UI and the other consisting of both business logic and database management.

10. Creativity and Willingness to Learn

Building the page structures, keeping the design up-to-date, responsive and pleasant for the user requires a lot of creativity and constant learning. Trends and technology are changing, thus it is important for a developer to keep up with the latest news and don’t decrease the learning curve.

December 10, 2021
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Blogs03
December 9, 2021

UI Trends 2021: Top 10 Trends Your Users Will Love

2020 was very unpredictable as covid swept the world, and without exception, every industry was affected by it one way or another. In our trend collection article we wrote last year, we highlighted only trends that solely focused on the looks of a user interface. This time, our 2021 UI trends article has a slight shift in focus. Even though many services and businesses were forced to undergo digital transformation due to the pandemic, user interface trends didn’t change that much compared to 2020.

10 UI Trends 2021

This time I went ahead and asked our designers at UX Studio what they expected the 2021 UI trends to be.

We rolled out this article a bit later than we usually do because we pretty much came to the conclusion that not many NEW UI trends could be highlighted. This year apparently slowed people down in coming up with something that focuses purely on the visual aspects.

Many related articles mention things that have been trending for three years now. And yes, storytelling, dark mode, ethical design, unique illustrations, and bold typography will remain the defining elements on digital platforms. I explained more about these in previous articles.

But, since these elements have been on the radar for a few years now, we can’t say they are “trends” anymore, but rather, common knowledge. In the same way, we don’t mention buttons as continuous trends on platforms.

P.S. We’ve also analyzed the top product design companies to work with within 2021, based on our knowledge and expertise.

1. Unique Illustration and Animation

Digital or hand-drawn, 2D or 3D, custom illustrations, you name it. The free forms, unaligned elements, components, and vast asymmetry, not only help platforms stand out from the generic but also, create a friendly and inviting environment that ensures a better experience for the users. Additionally, to make these pages stand out, these illustrations often come to life with complex motion design.

Moving elements and unexpected animations make users curious, making them scroll further to see what happens next. Nevertheless, we have to be mindful of these bold solutions and take into account the industry that the website represents.

Whenever a change is made it should be tested keeping the conversion rates in mind. But if used right, minimalistic with a touch of neat 3d illustration, a service website can still look professional, while up-to-date.

2. Artificial Intelligence

AI continues to be integrated into almost every possible product. We highly doubt that it will replace designers though. On the contrary, it will benefit and ease our work. Thanks to AI’s data-collecting capability (of collecting huge amounts of data.) we will notice more personalized products that are 100% tailored to each and every individual’s needs.

Google’s AI-powered Smart Reply and Smart Compose tools in Gmail that do the job well by generating accurate responses which is a huge time saver especially if English is your second language. The response suggestions are well distinguished, and noticeable due to their contrast with their surroundings.

You may have noticed that those long and sometimes boring onboardings which were designed to get to know the user, appear less often as they are being replaced by machine learning.

Products will learn more about users based on their behavior, which will help to create a better-personalized user experience. This eventually could lead to a higher conversion rate. Moreover, instead of designing hundreds of onboarding screens, we will be able to focus on delivering smoother experiences.

3. Augmented reality

In 2021, web design trends will involve thinking outside the box, or rather sticking to the grid. Forget the UI that is restricted to screens. Instead, you should emphasize interactions that feel like they take place within the real-world environment.

Google and Apple have already introduced their own AR development platforms, ARCore and AEKit, that blend the physical and digital worlds. AR UI can have different approaches:

  • Object-related, real-world objects that have tethered interaction;
  • Fixed to screen space, where the user has to position the camera in a specific way;
  • Real-world related, which uses the surrounding physical world.

Besides their headset, Apple invests in AR, and there’s a lot of excitement around the Apple Glasses. Therefore, as a designer, if you haven’t already, you should start expanding your knowledge with the upcoming AR UI kits. Additionally, you might also want to think through the context and function of AR experiences carefully.

As designers, we have to consider the fact that we’ll have to get prepared and start learning new tools. The ability to create augmented reality interfaces and 3D elements might become a very useful skill in the upcoming years.

4. Virtual reality

2020 was a year of progress for Virtual reality. We could call it the internet of experiences because of the effect that it has on users. VR headsets bring most of the excitement to the gaming audience for now. Besides slow improvements, I don’t think next year will bring much more to the VR table, but there could be some opportunities opening up for other industries. For instance, it would be a great possibility for enhancing interaction in education, especially during the lockdown.

Designers should look out for opportunities to create virtual spaces for collaborations. While doing so, we have to be mindful that not all users will have a VR headset, so we have to think of a mixed platform solution.

5. Virtual Meetings

Virtual communication tools had a huge breakthrough. Considering our current global situation, this is an area that will probably continue to be explored more from a design perspective.

There are many opportunities in this area. For example: Rethinking a complex communication product and also designing a cleaner, lighter version to avoid disconnection for those who might have slow or limited internet access.

Wonder has already broken out of the conventional boring video chat interface. Pretty much just an MVP, but it is an interesting UX/interaction case.

Since many people have been working from home this year, it would be great if more apps define features that make online video calls smoother. RingCentral, for example, gives you the possibility to integrate other apps like Slack to schedule and begin calls directly from these 3rd party platforms.

6. User Experience

Usability has become the new “UI” trend the same way pink became the new black once.

You have probably heard about Google’s announcement by now that in 2021, they will introduce three new user experience metrics to measure a website’s loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability. They are collectively called Core Web Vitals.UX audit is a proven method to identify usability flaws in your product and improve its online performance. You can also do usability testing with actual users to learn more about their motivations and needs.

Besides the pandemic, this could be another reason why the focus from pretty UI was shifted towards a more intuitive and user-friendly design.

It is good to encourage people to create something unique if they want to show how their brand is one of a kind. If it stands out from the crowd, it will surely grab the attention of visitors. But most of the time, it is not mentioned that this cannot be applied to all types of websites.

Yes, if you’re a creative agency, or you want to present a portfolio as an individual, or want to promote your showroom, it is useful to go crazy to get that wow factor, but if you, let’s say, have an e-commerce platform, it’s probably not the best idea to hide your main navigation under an unfamiliar icon placed in an unconventional part of the page.

7. Glassmorphism

You probably remember seeing this style on the good old Windows Vista or ios 7 but the frosted glass effect seems to have made a comeback and we will probably see more of it in 2021.

While neomorphic elements remained rather eye candies on Dribbble, for many reasons, one of them being poor accessibility, glassmorphic elements are getting more popular by the day.

These glass-looking translucent elements provide a well-defined hierarchy on an interface. They do it by mimicking depth that helps users differentiate what is in the front and what is further back on the screen. Yet it doesn’t look that overwhelming. Also, the new macOS update called macOS Big Sur implemented this style too.

8. 3d Will Be the Ui Rockstar

3D has already been here for a few years now, but 2021 will be its time to shine. Fortunately, we live in an era where technical efforts and achievements, such as rapid improvement of semiconductor production and software optimization in the last decade made even the lower-end devices powerful enough to tackle complex visuals in real-time. Thus, animated 3D UI won’t be a pain to utilize anymore.

In 2021, animated elements like logos, illustrations, and texts will also thrive on web pages and help users distinguish the parts they can interact with.

Adobe XD might also influence the upcoming 3D elements in designs. It introduced a new feature called 3D Transforms which, can now add a whole new perspective to the upcoming designs. As they described it “A 3D Transform allows an object to be manipulated within three-dimensional space, creating tilts and rotations as well as changing the depth of an object on the canvas.”

To put it simply, designers are able to think outside of the traditional X and Y axis when it comes to creating concepts.

It could also open the door towards designing for AR or VR experiences.

9. Similar Icons

I think we’ve all seen the big transformations that famous companies’ logos and icons underwent lately.

And well, people are not happy about it. Why? Because instead of hopping on the latest trend train with flat geometric design or vibrant gradients, these logos should have been treated as icons, as what all the rest of the world considers them to be.

These icons have different purposes. Rather than gaining a fresh and similar look, they should be easily distinguishable from one another.

Google’s former G suite logos or Facebook’s Messenger and Instagram logos are icons that are in daily use. Countless users are clicking and tapping on them more than once a day. They should be able to detect them in less than a second.

People like me who have more than 50 tabs open at once — yes, I have a tab manager, but still… — take longer and struggles to scan through all the favicons and recognize which is which.

This is yet another example of how accessibility should come before pretty UI. Icons should be helping users recognize an action, a command, or a certain state faster rather than making it harder for them to find what they are looking for. So let’s be mindful about how we craft our icons and logos in the future.

10. Retro Aesthetic

While Miley went back to the 80’, with asymmetry, big and bold typography, and wild choice of colors some of 2021’s UI will probably be inspired by the 90’. Other trends in website design will adopt the modernist art movement’s attributes like constructivism or brutalism. We have to be mindful of the purpose of the website and towards which elements we want to navigate the users. If we decide to adopt a UI trend, we have to make sure that after the visitors had their fun on the webpage they will also convert.

December 9, 2021
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Blogs02
December 7, 2021

Must-Haves For Fast, Secure WordPress Shared Hosting

Ready to build your first website? Are you shopping for affordable WordPress web hosting?

There are multiple types of web hosting solutions to choose from: shared hosting, dedicated hosting, cloud hosting, and VPS hosting, to name a few.

If you own a small- or medium-sized business, shared hosting is likely going to be your best fit.

What Should I Look For In a Shared Hosting Provider?

Shared hosting is a great, budget-friendly solution for businesses that don’t need large, dedicated space for their website.

Small- and medium-sized businesses can easily claim a place online without paying hundreds to thousands of dollars per month.

There are dozens of shared hosting providers, but not all of these providers have everything you need to run a high-performance WordPress website.

Selecting the right web hosting company can positively impact the success of your online presence.

Look for these seven must-haves to ensure you have a fast and secure WordPress website.

1. WordPress-Friendly Servers With Easy-To-Use Functionality

The hosting company you select should be clearly labeled as “WordPress-friendly”.

These properly-configured hosting servers typically come with great time-saving services, such as pre-installed WordPress, website building tools, and more.

Pre-Installed WordPress

Look for a shared hosting solution that offers to pre-install WordPress onto your hosting account.

This is a great offer to look for, especially if you are ready to hit the ground running.

Instead of spending time learning about the installation process, you can get started with your website’s design, functionality, and content.

Easy-To-Use Website Builder

In addition to having WordPress pre-installed, look for an easy-to-use website builder.

InMotion offers BoldGrid, a free drag-and-drop builder that includes hundreds of responsive designs for popular industries.

This feature makes it fast and easy for you to design a new website without any coding knowledge.

Flexibility For Advanced Users

Advanced users who would like to dive into the WordPress installation process should have the option to:

  • Manually install WordPress.
  • Use a one-click installation tool for WordPress, like Softaculous.
  • Migrate content from an existing website into WordPress.

Advanced users may also want access to the WordPress Command Line Interface (WP-CLI), which allows you to manage your WordPress website(s) via SSH.

WP-CLI allows you to efficiently maintain your WordPress website without a web browser.

2. Servers Positioned For High Speed

A faster website means better rankings. Better rankings mean more customers. More customers mean a need for higher website rendering and transfer speeds.

Make sure your website lives on a server that is optimized for speed.

Equipped With Solid State Drive Technology (SSD)

Do you know what type of hardware your current hosting company uses to serve your website to your users?

Most hosting companies use Hard Disk Drives (HDD) or SATA SSD as their primary storage option.

InMotion Hosting’s shared hosting plans use NVMe SSD technology and work 6-20 times faster than standard HDD hosting plans.

NVMe, or Non-Volatile Memory Express, is a blazing fast storage protocol designed for next-generation SSDs. Using NVMe drives not only increases performance, but it also uses less energy. These high-efficiency drives are less prone to generating heat, which increases the reliability of the server.

Another advantage of NVMe over SATA SSDs is transfer speed. SATA only allows for a 6 GB/s connection or link speed, whereas the connections for NVMe SSDs allow for a 16 GB/s link speed!

Premium Server Locations

The location of your web host’s servers and data centers can affect your website’s speed and response times.

Data must travel from the data center to your client’s computer. The shorter the distance, the faster the travel and performance.

This is why InMotion has data centers in Los Angeles and Washington D.C., which sit directly on the largest Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) in the U.S.

3. Next-Generation Technology

As WordPress grows with time, your hosting service should, too. You shouldn’t need to uproot your entire website due to outdated technology on your server.

Selecting a host that has next-generation technology means that your shared server will be able to handle all future versions of your website.

Look for a shared hosting service that uses tech such as NGINX, Apache, PHP-FPM, and so on.

Along with high-performance server technology, your shared host should support the latest versions of PHP, MySQL, and MariaDB to ensure your website’s safe and fast performance.

A Future-Proofed Technology Stack

To support the latest versions of WordPress and the plugins used on your website, it’s important to have the best server-side technology possible.

Important components of UltraStack include the following:

  • NGINX – Can be configured as a reverse proxy server, first to receive page requests. It saves resources, CPU processing, and provides a faster page load speed.
  • Apache – This web server does not require any additional coding or modification to be used with your custom website, application, or CMS.
  • PHP-FPM – The Fast Process Manager (FPM) caches PHP pages, resulting in a significant speed increase and a decrease in the number of requests to the Apache server.

The UltraStack server configuration is designed to focus on the composition of a specific content management system (CMS). It was originally designed to work with WordPress, but it now covers other popular CMS platforms.

4. Ease Of Scalability

Does your server give you the ability to expand your online presence without having to search for another hosting service in the future?

Scalability is essential for any web hosting company you choose.

You may be starting out with one website that receives a handful of visitors per day.

In the future, however, you may find yourself running the next major eCommerce brand.

Unlimited Websites

You may find it hard to imagine needing more than one website, but we’ve seen it all.

As your business expands, your website or number of websites will need to expand as well.

For instance, you may find yourself adding a customer support department.

This new department may need its own section on your website. It may need to be powered by a separate customer support platform. You might want to host it on a subdomain (support.example.com) or a separate domain (examplesupport.com).

Keeping all of your websites in one location, on one server is essential.

Unlimited Storage

As your business grows, so will the amount of content on your website(s). More content means a need for more storage space.

You may start to sell more products or services – each of which will require its own photos, sales content, support documentation, videos, etc.

You may branch over into content marketing to bring more visitors to your site. Every new ebook, whitepaper, case study, and webinar will need space on your web server.

Shared hosting should include unlimited storage.

This will allow you to evolve your business content without restriction.

Unlimited Bandwidth

Business growth means traffic growth. Each new person on your site takes up more bandwidth.

Ever had a website crash during a Cyber Monday sale? Oftentimes, this is due to the website not having enough bandwidth.

A scalable shared hosting provider should offer unlimited bandwidth, allowing you to serve your website content to everyone who visits.

Combining unlimited bandwidth with UltraStack’s advanced caching system means you don’t have to worry about a sudden burst of traffic hurting your site’s loading speed or performance.

5. High-Value, High-Impact Offerings

Does your shared hosting plan set you up for success? Do they match or go above and beyond the standard server offerings?

To get the most out of your WordPress website, businesses of all sizes will benefit from:

  • A Free Domain: Most web hosting providers offer a free domain name with the purchase of a shared hosting plan.
  • Free SSL: Web hosts should provide a secure experience for your website visitors and customers by having SSL installed on your website.
  • cPanel Access: Access to cPanel will give you full control of your website’s files, databases, and other configurations.
  • 99% Uptime: A higher uptime percentage means your website is available to convert visitors into customers.
  • A Money-back Guarantee: Web hosting companies typically offer a 14- to 90-day money-back guarantee, if you are unsatisfied for any reason.

Automatic Website Backups

To ensure that your content is protected, look for hosting providers that allow you to backup your website manually or automatically.

Hosting plans with cPanel access usually have an option to backup website files and the database at any time.

6. 24/7 Support

Websites can have issues at any time of the day. Make sure your host’s support team is available when you need them.

Your web hosting company should be there for you, 24/7/365.

To ensure the best possible support for every issue, look for companies that offer live chat, phone, and email/ticket options.

Get Support That Can Truly Help

Unfortunately, not all support is the same. Many hosts will simply tell you to hire a developer when a problem arises.

At InMotion Hosting, support specialists are located in the United States and receive over 160 hours of specialized training on WordPress, WP-CLI, Linux, NGINX, Fail2ban, and everything in between.

7. Multiple Layers Of Security

In addition to SSL certificates, your shared hosting provider should offer a variety of ways to keep your website and its visitors safe.

Here are examples of what to look for when comparing security options on shared hosting plans:

  • Free SSL certificates and cPanel access.
    Access via SSH.
  • Security scanning for protection from hackers and malware.
  • DDoS attack prevention to prevent website performance issues or site downtime.
  • Secured Data Centers that protect your business data.
December 7, 2021
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