Happy new year to all my readers!
You might think, on the global stage, that 2017 was probably the worst year ever. But that’s because 2018 has not begun, so just you wait.
On the small screen of WordPress, web design, and blogging, 2017 can be remembered as an interesting year of technological accelerations as well as one notable policy regression.
Here at Blogsite Studio, my readers paid attention to the impeding implementation of Gutenberg, issues surrounding web designers, Twitter followings, security, and the rise of the SSL certificate.
Let’s take a look back at the posts that Blogsite Studio readers paid the most attention to, just for fun.
Our top 10 posts of 2017
10. Blogsite Studio Channel Launches on YouTube
9. WordPress 4.8 Named for Piano Genius Bill Evans
June 13, 2017 in Jazz, WordPress
The WordPress folks honored jazz giant Bill Evans by naming WordPress 4.8 for him. He would’ve been happy, had he any conception about WordPress or the Internet.
8. Will Gutenberg Revolutionize WordPress or Drive Users to Medium?
September 21, 2017 in Design, WordPress
Named for the man who invented the printing press, Gutenberg is essentially a built-in page builder. Gutenberg creates content blocks on the page and fills them with text or images that users can format in different ways. But the question remains, will WordPress users go for it.
7. Secure Your WordPress Website Ebook is Released
April 18, 2017 in Ebooks, Secure Your WordPress Website
My new ebook, Secure Your WordPress Website, shows what evil can befall an unprotected website and offers a road map to protecting yours. It also offers tips on how to recover from a hack. And right now it’s free with subscription!
6. My Experience With an SSL Expiration from Hell
July 19, 2017 in Security
If you weren’t sure how important a current SSL certificate is to your site’s traffic, let me just tell you about the shock I experienced while on vacation. Without the functioning SSL, my site was not only scaring away readers, the SSL expiration made it a pain to log into and virtually unworkable inside.
5. Let’s Talk About the Top 7 Chat Plugins for WordPress
October 19, 2017 in Ecommerce, Plugins
Being a method blogger, a client’s request to install a chat plugin drove me to research the most current chat plugins on the market and report them to you. Spoiler Alert: we picked WP Live Chat Support.
4. Six Assets Your Web Designer Needs to Build A Killer Website
June 27, 2017 in Design
Unless you’re paying your web designer for copywriting, photo research, or video production on your new site – basically everything – here is a list of the assets your designer needs from you.
3. Web Design Trends for 2017 Make You Wonder Which Will Endure
May 18, 2017 in Design
As a web designer, I like to stay on top of the current thinking on how to deliver online content more beautifully, efficiently, and with the best results. So I go to the occasional webby Meetup to find out what my colleagues know about the state of web design. Here’s what I learned at a recent Vancouver Web Design Meetup.
2. My Trouble with Twitter Followers and Unfollowers
January 11, 2017 in Social Media
What’s really bugging me about Twitter community now is this bait-and-unfollow trick where someone follows you one week, only to unfollow the next week. Everybody wants more followers than they are following, but this tactic is ridiculous.
1. How SSL Certificates Give Your URL the Cone of Silence
March 8, 2017 in Security
You’ve seen it before, the “s” at the end of “http” and the tiny green lock icon with the word, “Secure” next to it. This basically creates a “cone of silence” between the website and the user. To create this secure cone of silence, you need to create a SSL certificate (or “digital certificate”) and install it on your web server. Here’s how.
Onward toward 2018!
2018 will indeed be interesting, especially in regards to the repeal of Net Neutrality. Experts are also looking at the continued use of video and cinemagraphs on web pages, the paramount importance of mobile first technology, and the all-consuming concern about security.
As far as social media goes, look for a crackdown on Twitter bots (thank god!) and an increase of personalized advertising on Instagram and Facebook (arghh!).
And then there will be AI (artificial intelligence) like Sophia, as well as yet more Push Notifications to keep you distracted.
It’s a wild world on the Internet and I hope you are able to keep your hats on!
Happy blogging in 2018!
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Secure Your WordPress Website:
How to Protect Yourself from Hackers, Spammers, Scrappers, and Imbeciles
A field guide to stopping evildoers from breaking into your website, stealing data, and injecting malware.
Plus, what to do after a hack!