WordPress Security Update
Keeping your website secure is an ongoing battle. Fortunately, most major CMS systems like WordPress have lots of eyes watching for threats and issuing quick fixes. If you keep your WordPress version current, you are protected from a great number of the potential threats. Chris Jean at iThemes (and a former Main Street employee) has written a great blog post talking about some of the current threats in the WordPress world and some fairly simple security steps you can take to reduce the risk of hackers getting into your site. Check it out:...
read moreHappy 10th Birthday WordPress (almost)
WordPress will be 10 years old in May. Yeah, this is a little bit early, but we really love WordPress and don’t mind starting the party early. If you’ve been around the internet for very long, you know that 10 years in the internet is like a billion years in the real world. In the last 10 years WordPress has gone from nothing to running 65% of the top million websites on the internet. Builtwith.com has some fascinating statistics on WordPress and the other major content management systems used today. Besides having the largest installed base, WordPress also is on the receiving...
read moreNew iThemes Builder Customization Training
iThemes has released their new tutorials hub with over 63 new videos ranging from WordPress 101 to Advanced Builder CSS. We are particularly excited about the nine part Builder CSS series as iThemes contracted Main Street to develop and produce those videos. Our own Adam White developed those videos and is the voice you hear on them. This is the most in-depth training available on customizing Builder CSS. The following videos walk you through the Builder customization process: Builder CSS: Overview Builder CSS: Main Background Builder CSS: The Header Module Builder CSS: The Navigation...
read moreWordPress 3.5.1 update released
WordPress has released a minor maintenance and security release. This is a minor update but does include important bug fixes and security updates. We recommend installing this update as soon as possible. As always, backup your WordPress site and the database before installing any updates. It is rare for an update to fail, but when it happens it usually crashes the site and requires professional help to correct if you don’t have a current backup. Contact Main Street if you need help with updates or backups.
read moreUsing Elegant Themes as a base for responsive website design
We recently launched a website for a large Christian publication who was wanting to reach out to a new market with a blog style news site. We knew that mobile and tablet users were the core of the audience that this site would be targeting and that made it a clear choice to use a responsive theme. If you are not familiar, a responsive design is one that adjusts the design slightly to fit at different screen sizes, be it a mobile phone or a mid sized tablet. What makes responsive design so attractive is that everyone is seeing the same site, the same branding and the same content. With other...
read moreA case for building sites with iThemes Builder
Builder is a powerful tool for building custom websites. It offers the most flexibility of any other framework balanced along side a user interface that anyone can learn to use. I often describe it to other developers as a sandwich style layout designer. Kind of like building a hamburger, you can layout any combination of elements stacked up together. There are a few design limitations that come along with that model, but nothing that can not be worked around with a little creative graphic implementations. It works best when you just embrace the simplicity and flexibility of the layout...
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