Articles

How to add an inline plugin update message

I was inspired to find out how to add an inline plugin update message when I saw a recent update notification from WooCommerce. They have quite a fancy customized message that expands on the basic notification that a new version is available:

WordPress plugin update notice

By sheer concidence, I recently had a situation where I needed to advise users of a critical update to a plugin. I had assumed that the Upgrade Notice section in the readme file would take care of that automatically but it seems that’s no longer the case. So I took a look into how it’s possible to alert users to upgrade a plugin.

In my opinion, this code snippet is vital for any plugin because it appears that WordPress doesn’t currently offer a method for plugin authors to communicate with their users regarding essential updates. Read more

Refund policies for WordPress businesses

I started writing this post because I’ve been thinking a lot about what kind of refund policy to have for my own products. Logically, I’ve always felt that offering a refund makes sound business sense but I can’t help the nagging feeling that refunds on digital products are just an invitation for people to steal your work.

Initially I thought I would just write up some thoughts on the subject and maybe include some best practice examples of refund policies. In fact, I ended up contacting nearly 100 theme and plugin shops and as I found out more about how other people approached the subject, I started to change my mind about my own approach.

So, if you’d like to find out more about refund policies and refund rates, read on. Read more

5 practical SEO tips for WordPress developers (from someone who hates SEO)

In the last six months, July 2017 to December 2017, I managed to double the number of page views on my site at Catapult Themes. I can tell you that no one is more surprised by that statistic than I am. I always found it very difficult to motivate myself to perform any kind of marketing effort and just hearing the letters ‘SEO’ can make me physically sick.

However, half way through 2017, I made a conscious decision to work harder on content marketing and SEO and the results speak for themselves: Read more

Code

Interview with Igor Benić

Igor Benić is building a formidable set of resources for WordPress. He publishes regular tutorials and technical articles on his blog, and supports this with several downloadable books, online courses, and web seminars.

He was kind enough to answer some questions about his WordPress plugins and courses. Read more