Imagine, for a moment, that you’re a contestant on one of those crazy reality shows. The kind where they drop you off, blindfolded, in the middle of a thick jungle. Maybe they provide you with a compass and a very rudimentary map. The goal is to find your way to a road that leads to a posh resort.
Well, taking over maintenance on a website you didn’t build can feel a bit like that. While you may have a somewhat foggy understanding of what you’re supposed to do, there are surprises around every corner. Maybe they don’t equate to a hungry lion looking at you as its next meal, but still pretty bad.
It’s an experience that just about every web designer has had. Yet it should never be taken lightly.
In fact, if you decide to take on this sort of project, you should charge accordingly. There should be no special discounts given, even if the site belongs to your Mom. Here’s why:
They Made the Decisions, You Get the Consequences
We often make choices based on what we feel is our best option at the time. And to be truthful, sometimes we just make terrible decisions. Either way, there are consequences.
For example, that WordPress plugin we installed five years ago looked like a winner. But what was fine at the time isn’t necessarily going to stand the test of time.
It’s bad enough if we made this type of decision ourselves. But it’s exponentially worse (or, at least it feels that way) when inheriting the choices made by someone else. The bigger the site, the more of these potential pitfalls you’ll have to deal with.
Every buggy, upgrade-thwarting moment can make you want to throw your hands up and beg for mercy.
Therefore, charge accordingly.
Websites Don’t Age Well
Fine wines and those really fancy collectible cars get better with age. But as time goes on your average website is more likely to break than continue humming along like a Ferrari.
What that means for web designers is dealing with the aches and pains that come along with old age. Sometimes it just requires a little freshening up of some code or a dated design feature. Other times you may need to take a sledgehammer to something and fully rebuild.
Again, this is where those surprises can get you. Remember that you’re working on what was someone else’s vision of how a site should be built. They weren’t necessarily wrong. In fact, they may have done a fantastic job. But it’s not always easy to figure out what someone else was thinking when they added a specific feature in their own unique way.
The hope is that their code was commented so accurately and completely that your job becomes easier. Short of that, it’s often a matter of going line-by-line in an attempt to make sense of it all. It’s not easy.
Therefore, charge accordingly.
It’s Never as Easy as You Think
Clients love to describe things in simple terms. “It’s just a basic shopping cart”, they’ll say. While that may be how they really see their website, it doesn’t always carry over to how it was built. Surprises, you know.
But even giving a cursory look over a site that you’re considering taking on won’t show you everything. It’s often not until something needs fixed or a new feature added that you really start to see the challenge before you.
How many times have you reviewed an existing site and said to yourself, “Oh, this is a piece of cake”? Then, how often have you realized how very wrong you were? It’s happened to this designer more than a few times over the years.
The lesson is that there will always be intricacies and complications that you can’t foresee.
Therefore, charge accordingly.
Despite the Downsides, It’s a Learning Experience
As we’ve seen, inheriting a website built by someone else can be full of stiff challenges. But it’s also an opportunity to learn something.
When you think about it, there may be no better way to improve your skills than by diving into someone else’s code and making sense of it. While there will undoubtedly be some ups and downs along the way, you can come out the other side better at your job.
In between, you may well fear for the survival of your sanity.
Therefore, you know, make sure you earn some money for your hard work!
In part 3 of our series we looked at some common Provider patterns for PSR-14. But the flexibility and complexity of Providers is limited only by your imagination. Today we'll look at a few more interesting examples of Providers that are all equally valid but tailored to particular use cases.
WordPress 5.2 is targeted for release at the end of this month, and with it comes an update to the minimum required version of PHP. WordPress will now require a minimum of PHP 5.6.20.
Beginning in WordPress 5.1, users running PHP versions below 5.6 have had a notification in their dashboard that includes information to help them update PHP. Since then, the WordPress stats have shown an increase in users on more recent versions of PHP.
The dashboard widget users see if running an outdated version of PHP
Why You Should Update PHP
If your site is running on an unsupported version of PHP, the WordPress updater will not offer WordPress 5.2 to your site. If you attempt to update WordPress manually, that update will fail. To continue using the latest features of WordPress you must update to a newer version of PHP.
When updating to a new version of PHP, WordPress encourages updating to its recommended version, PHP 7.3. The PHP internals team has done a great job making its most recent version the fastest version of PHP yet. This means that updating will improve the speed of your site, both for you and your visitors.
This performance increase also means fewer servers are needed to host websites. Updating PHP isn’t just good for your site, it also means less energy is needed for the 1-in-3 sites that use WordPress, so it’s good for the planet.
How to Update PHP
If you need help updating to a new version of PHP, detailed documentation is available. This includes sample communication to send to your host for them to assist you. Many hosting companies have published information on how to update PHP that is specific for them.
5.6 now, but soon 7+
This is the first increase in PHP required version for WordPress since 2010, but may not be the only increase in 2019. The WordPress core team will monitor the adoption of the most recent versions of PHP with an eye towards making PHP 7+ the minimum version towards the end of the year.
WordPress 5.2 is targeted for release at the end of this month, and with it comes an update to the minimum required version of PHP. WordPress will now require a minimum of PHP 5.6.20.
Beginning in WordPress 5.1, users running PHP versions below 5.6 have had a notification in their dashboard that includes information to help them update PHP. Since then, the WordPress stats have shown an increase in users on more recent versions of PHP.
The dashboard widget users see if running an outdated version of PHP
Why You Should Update PHP
If your site is running on an unsupported version of PHP, the WordPress updater will not offer WordPress 5.2 to your site. If you attempt to update WordPress manually, that update will fail. To continue using the latest features of WordPress you must update to a newer version of PHP.
When updating to a new version of PHP, WordPress encourages updating to its recommended version, PHP 7.3. The PHP internals team has done a great job making its most recent version the fastest version of PHP yet. This means that updating will improve the speed of your site, both for you and your visitors.
This performance increase also means fewer servers are needed to host websites. Updating PHP isn’t just good for your site, it also means less energy is needed for the 1-in-3 sites that use WordPress, so it’s good for the planet.
How to Update PHP
If you need help updating to a new version of PHP, detailed documentation is available. This includes sample communication to send to your host for them to assist you. Many hosting companies have published information on how to update PHP that is specific for them.
5.6 now, but soon 7+
This is the first increase in PHP required version for WordPress since 2010, but may not be the only increase in 2019. The WordPress core team will monitor the adoption of the most recent versions of PHP with an eye towards making PHP 7+ the minimum version towards the end of the year.
Just recently, we discussed a tiny trend in mouse cursors, exploring a dozen examples of lonely but eye-catching effects. Today it has come under the spotlight again, this time with another interesting idea.
It seems that web designers have a particular inclination towards playing around with our one and only device for moving across the screen. Undoubtedly, cursors are gaining in popularity these days. Reasons for this can vary: starting from the simple desire of getting away from everything ordinary, and ending with the burning ambition to make the web a better place.
We have stepped into an era of interactive interfaces. The mouse cursor is an integral part of all those grandiose solutions. It is only logical that it undergoes some changes in order to meet the current demands and help to create a seamless experience.
It seems that the time has come to conduct some experiments with its shape by tossing aside the boring arrow and opting for something more elegant and refined, like for example, a circle. The round shape ideally blends into modern interfaces with interactive canvases and animations. It feels natural and gracious. And, it is always looming around – unobtrusively drawing attention.
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Let’s consider Last Art Projects and Maraka, whose teams use this tiny trend to their advantage.
Last Art Projects has a beautiful two-tone theme populated with line style illustrations and hollow decor. Here, the cursor perfectly matches the concept. It consists of two circles. The ring at the front is a cursor, whereas a solid dark circle in the back is a tail. Together they look like a target that naturally focuses attention on the screen.
Maraka has changed the cursor shape, but not just for decorative purposes. Here it is used as a visual cue for online visitors. Thus, it shows a left or right arrow when it senses that you want to cycle through the slides. And it turns into a regular solid circle (with a relatively big, semi-transparent secondary circle) when you hit the targeted area such as links, captions or navigation.
Both examples show us how a simple circular shape can do wonders. It is so natural and elegant in its behavior that it feels like an ideal partner for all of those modern extravagances. Let’s also consider some other fantastic examples.
Kwok Yin Mak has a spacious design with a traditional black and white coloring and vertical rhythm. Japanese characters steal the show here. The atmosphere is refined and authentic. You have to admit, a default arrow shape would look primitive here, but a circular shape is another matter. It plays nicely with all the details and feels at home.
The design of Prime Park Sessions is marked by a beautiful geometric aesthetic. The intricate polygonal elephant, vertical navigation located on the sides, and a ton of white space. Here, the tiny black dot of a cursor fits like a glove, skillfully meeting the theme.
The majestic wave shape sets the tone for Cartesiam. The hero area features a beautiful abstract animation that is bright and flowing. Here the mouse cursor is a relatively big circle with a mid-level of transparency. Thanks to its divine curves and smooth behavior, it naturally catches an eye and at the same time perfectly fits the nifty entourage.
The portfolio of Eum Ray has a certain level of personality. The artist is eager to show his inner genius. So, it is not surprising that everything here is well-thought-out. Even the mouse cursor stands out from the crowd with its hollow style and circular shape.
This trend is also used to identify priorities, adding visual weight to the crucial details. Take a look at Playground.
The team behind Playground employs two circles. The small circle is used as a cursor whereas the large one serves as a “follower”. Together they make movements across the screen more prominent. And that’s not all: the pointer has two types of behavior. When the cursor hits a slider, hamburger button or link – it grows, hinting at the importance of these elements. When it leaves those areas, it shrinks back to the regular size, letting visitors explore the interface without much hassle.
Tappezzeria Novecento has a content-heavy hero area with a big image and lots of content. It is only natural that the team behind the design has decided to make the cursor more prominent. Much like in the case of Playground, it has two circles: one is a cursor itself, and the other one is its tail. It also has a similar coloring, which makes it a perfect finishing touch.
Mallard and Claret proves that a circular mouse cursor can find its place, even in the most common types of websites. Actually, you will find two round shapes. The first one is a link to the footer section, that also happens to be some kind of logotype. And the other one is a mouse cursor. It is small and brisk. It makes the user experience on this blog a bit more entertaining than usual.
The big name here, but unfortunately not a good example to follow. Gift by Gucci also has a circular mouse cursor. It certainly adds its charm here, and interaction with the dynamic canvas feels more natural. However, poor contrast between the background and foreground ruins the user experience. The golden circle is barely perceptible against a pink background. That is a pity.
If you are ready to ditch the generic arrow-shaped cursor, then we have one exciting project to check out. It is called Cursomizer. And it does what it says – lets you customize the cursor. It is a small playground where you can set size, color, hover effect and click effects for the cursor, and enjoy its final look and behavior in a live preview. It is very handy.
There’s Just Something About Circles
It is always a treat to see trivial things, which we sometimes do not give proper credit, get a second wind.
Of course, we have seen many customized cursors. However, there is something divine in circular pointers. It feels like they soar and gently move throughout the screen. In tandem with another little trend, aka circular mouse trails, they look even more sophisticated.
WordPress reached a significant milestone this month. With some exciting developments in Core, an interesting new proposal, and the return of a valuable global event, March was certainly an interesting time.
This growth of WordPress is only made possible by the large team of volunteers working to build the project and community. If you would like to get involved in building the future of WordPress, then check out the Make network for a contributor team that fits your skill set.
With blocks becoming the new way to manage content in WordPress, more and more types of blocks are being developed to cater for different use cases and content types. In an effort to make it easier for content creators to find these block types, there is a proposal for a new type of plugin and a directory to handle it.
The proposal outlines a new type of WordPress plugin that provides blocks and nothing else, named Single Block Plugins. The primary benefit would be to provide content creators with individual pieces of functionality and new types of blocks without the need to search for and install new plugins.
The Single Block Plugins would be hosted in a separate Block Directory section of the Plugin Directory and they would initially be JavaScript-based. Each plugin will register a single block, and they will be searchable and installable from within the editor itself. This puts blocks at the publishers’ fingertips — you no longer have to leave the editor to find them.
On 11 May 2019, the fourth Global WordPress Translation Day will take place. This is a 24-hour global event dedicated to the translation of all things WordPress, from core to themes, plugins to marketing.
Over the course of 24 hours, WordPress communities will meet to translate WordPress into their local languages and watch talks and sessions broadcast on wptranslationday.org. During the last Global WordPress Translation Day, 71 local events took place in 29 countries, and even more communities are expected to take part this time.
With the block editor in WordPress Core, the team has been able to focus on adding some frequently requested features. Version 5.3 of Gutenberg, released this month, includes a new block manager modal, the ability to nest different elements in the cover block, and some UI tweaks to improve the hover state of blocks.
The PHP upgrade notice in WordPress 5.1 has already had a hugely positive effect on thousands of websites.
The Theme Review Team has released their useful Theme Sniffer plugin on the Plugin Directory to help theme developers build more standards-compliant themes.
The Polyglots team has started a discussion about the best way to localize WordPress user documentation.
The schedule for WordCamp Europe 2019 has been published – the event takes place on June 20-22.
A new `wp_body_open` hook has been added to Core in version 5.2, providing more power and flexibility for theme developers.
