In the web design industry, it’s rare that a tool stays relevant for a decade or more. Things tend to change so quickly that the useful life of an app or framework usually isn’t very long. However, Twitter’s Bootstrap has defied those odds.
Now in existence for over 10 years, the self-described “front-end open source toolkit” is used on over 22% of all websites. And we see it included everywhere from customized UI kits to WordPress themes.
Why has Bootstrap been able to reach such heights? For one, it comes packed with virtually everything designers need to craft a clean, responsive UI. Plus, the fact that it continues to be actively developed and evolve means that web professionals can reliably come back to it again and again.
With a decade under its belt, this is a good time to look at the overall impact Bootstrap has had on the web. Has it been a blessing, curse, or somewhere in-between?
The biggest advantage Bootstrap provides is the ability to implement an established look and feel. Right out of the box, you have a set of UI elements and components that cover just about every use case. It doesn’t matter if you’re selling t-shirts or blogging about your favorite video games – the framework gives you a massive head start on the design.
In addition, Bootstrap is extensible. It’s built with customization in mind, making it a fairly straightforward process to change various components to meet your needs. Creating your own components is also possible.
That goes beyond individuals performing one-off tweaks for a specific project. It also extends to theme developers. They can leverage the framework to bring a familiar front-end UI to content management systems (CMS).
Yet, customization is still optional. If your goal is to design and deploy a project quickly, just installing Bootstrap (or an offshoot UI kit) and familiarizing yourself with its contents is all you need.
This level of convenience and flexibility has undoubtedly played a large role in Bootstrap’s enduring popularity.
Bootstrap does its intended job quite well. Perhaps a little too well.
As we mentioned, the usage statistics point to nearly a quarter of all websites utilizing the framework. When a UI is so widespread, it’s bound to lead to some sameness when it comes to design.
Much like the early days of the CMS, it’s often easy for the trained eye to pick out elements of Bootstrap within a website. You start to notice the same buttons, navigation styles, and pricing tables. Even sites that don’t use it may well attempt to duplicate certain aspects of the look.
To be sure, it’s generally clean, accessible, and easy to read. While that can be considered a good thing, there’s also a bit of a downside. And it isn’t necessarily an issue with Bootstrap itself.
Rather, it’s about designers either accepting its default styles or changing them only minimally. The result is a web that is becoming increasingly homogeneous.
Perhaps it’s a testament to how well put together Bootstrap is. There aren’t a bunch of shortcomings that need fixed. Everything works as intended right from the start.
With that, some designers may not feel the need to radically change anything. One could even argue that it goes against the very point of the framework in the first place.
Unlike a lot of tools aimed at the web design community, Bootstrap has a universal appeal. There is no particular niche that it can’t fit into. That’s a key to its massive adoption rate. And it has inspired an entire category of CSS and JavaScript frameworks.
Other worthy competitors have popped up in recent years, such as Tailwind CSS. It has a similar appeal. However, it differs in that it’s more “utility” based. The various elements are all there, but depend on the designer to customize them to fit a need.
Bootstrap is unabashedly opinionated in its design. Tailwind CSS goes in the opposite direction. If anything, this provides designers with two great options, depending on their own preferences.
Design from the ground up or implement a completely polished UI – the choice is yours.
Maybe the most impressive aspect of Bootstrap’s 10-year rise is that it’s a completely developer-focused tool. That is, you interact with its code and view the results on the front end. That’s opposed to, say, WordPress, where users create content and install custom functionality via a back-end dashboard.
The framework is generally of interest to professionals. Thus, it relies on web designers for growth. It doesn’t have the same public-facing profile of a CMS.
That says a lot about what Bootstrap has done right over the past decade. To win over a sizeable portion of this industry is no small task. To maintain it and continue to grow for this long is even more telling.
What will the future bring? We don’t have all the answers. But, whatever happens, it’s likely Bootstrap will still play a significant role in web design for years to come.
The post Bootstrap Turns 10: A Look at Its Impact on the Web appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.
Email marketing should be one of the key components of your customer retention strategy. Engaging in regular communication will keep subscribers informed about your latest news and promotions. So it’s vitally important that your website focuses on enticing people to opt-in to your mailing list.
WordPress is an ideal platform for collecting data. There are many plugins available that allow you to connect with your favorite email marketing service. You can even run your own service directly through your website.
Whatever your ideal setup, we’ve collected 10 of the best plugins for managing your email marketing through WordPress.
MailPoet started out as a free/premium plugin that turns your WordPress install into a mailing list service. Their new version continues this (free up to 2,000 subscribers), but also offers to deliver email for you.
This solves one of the tough issues with running your own lists – ensuring messages don’t get caught in spam filters. For that matter, your host server could get blacklisted as well. So sending through your own server in the free version is best left to smaller lists that don’t send very often.
The nice aspect of MailChimp for WordPress is that you have the option of creating signup forms directly through the plugin or integrating with other plugins (Contact Form 7, Gravity Forms, Ninja Forms, BuddyPress, WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads – to name a few).
Advanced WooCommerce integration is one of the features of the premium edition.
Using Constant Contact Forms, you can enable visitors to easily subscribe to your email list. The plugin also lets you create custom fields so that you can collect additional data.
You can even use the plugin without having a Constant Contact account – but obviously, the features are geared towards those who do use the service.
Hustle provides a means to not only connect with popular services such as MailChimp, Campaign Monitor, Constant Contact, GetResponse and Mad Mimi, it also lets you target users through slide-ins, popups, widgets and shortcodes.
So it’s more of a complete marketing suite that you can use to encourage subscriptions, along with other functionality. It also provides nifty features like social sharing and statistical data regarding opt-ins.
It’s fair to say that MailMunch and Hustle are somewhat similar in scope. Where they differ is that MailMunch really is solely focused on email marketing. You can create a variety of different opt-ins ranging from popups, embedded forms, top bar, scroll box and sidebar.
The plugin is compatible with many third-party services (AWeber, Campaign Monitor, Constant Contact, GetResponse, InfusionSoft, and MailChimp). You can also take advantage of A/B testing and analytics.
With Email Subscribers & Newsletters, you can take a more holistic approach to email marketing. You’ll be able to collect user information and send out HTML newsletters through your WordPress website.
But you can also set up automatic email notifications when new posts are added to your site. That provides an incredibly easy way to keep users engaged with your content.
Beyond your standalone opt-in form, it’s a great idea to integrate subscription options into other existing forms on your site. Contact Form 7 Campaign Monitor Extension is one of many available plugins that will do this for you. Compatible with the ever-popular Contact Form 7, users who are filling out a form on your site are just a click away from also subscribing to your Campaign Monitor list.
The very same plugin author has similar offerings for AWeber, GetResponse, iContact and MailChimp.
ConvertKit is a bit of a unique service, as it is geared towards bloggers. It offers some automation features that will help keep your readers in the loop. Their WordPress plugin allows you to connect to your ConvertKit account via API and easily add opt-in forms either globally or on a post-by-post basis.
Overall, it’s a nice option for content creators.
An online store’s checkout is the perfect opportunity to offer your customers a place to subscribe. After all, if someone is willing to spend some hard-earned cash on your site, there’s a mutual interest in forming a relationship.
Yith WooCommerce MailChimp will hook up with the mailing service and enable customers to subscribe to a list of your choosing via a simple checkbox on the front end.
A relative newcomer, Newsletter Glue enables WordPress site owners to create email newsletters directly within the CMS. The unique selling point is that the plugin connects to an outside email service provider via an API. You write the newsletter in WordPress and send it through the provider. The result is a familiar content creation UI and a more reliable way to actually deliver those newsletters.
The free version connects to your MailChimp account. The pro version has more sending options, along with the ability to embed social media and WordPress posts.
MailOptin aims to be a complete solution for email marketing via WordPress. It connects with a wide variety of third-party providers (MailChimp, Constant Contact, etc.). But it also enables you to create list signup forms that can be implemented in several ways and even let you send mail to your lists from within WordPress. You can run your entire email marketing operation without leaving your website. A premium version adds automation capabilities, like sending out new post notifications, enables mail scheduling and more.
The plugins profiled above provide some flexibility with how you collect and distribute information through email marketing channels. Some even allow you to create a channel that’s all your own. This wide array of options allows you to tailor things to match your needs and philosophy.
What’s really great is that you can reach people on any part of your site. Whether through a traditional sidebar widget or an option on your checkout form, you can encourage visitors to build a relationship.
If you’re just getting started with email marketing, think about the various ways you can implement it into what you’re already doing. For example, if people are already interacting with a specific feature (like a contact form), then it makes perfect sense to add an opt-in. But you may also want to approach them at other times, like at the bottom of a blog post or through a popup window.
Wherever and however you want to reach out, there are WordPress plugins out there to help make it happen.
The post 10 WordPress Plugins for Email Marketing Management appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.
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Photoshop Layer Styles are pre-configured commands that will take basic text and quickly create typographical works of art for you.
With just a single click of a button, you can apply unique layer styles to any text in Photoshop, and not only do they speed up the design process, applying these effects is just a simple case of clicking a single button, so you don’t have to be a Photoshop professional to use them.
There are many Photoshop text effect tutorials freely available, but the quickest method for creating beautiful text effects is to download one of the free Photoshop Layer Styles below.
Edit the text or paste in your own design to instantly generate watercolour effects for your artwork from SpoonGraphics.
Thanks to this pack of Photoshop layer styles, you can instantly transform any text into an 80’s style text. The pack contains 18 different styles and is available as a part of your Envato Elements subscription.
Use this layer style to give any text a video game-style appearance. The article will walk you through the exact steps necessary to reproduce this effect, and you can even download the Photoshop file to follow along.
With this layer styles pack, you’ll be able to go back in time and make any text appear vintage. The pack contains 18 layer styles and is available as a part of your Envato Elements subscription.
This free PSD template is a realistic chalk lettering text effect that will transform your text into stunning hand-written typography on a chalkboard.
Give your text a more playful appearance resembling video game titles with this layer styles pack. The pack is available as a part of your Envato Elements subscription.
With this free PSD you can add depth and a colorful effect to your plain text. All you need to do is type your text in the smart layer and save the changes.
Use this layer styles pack to make your text more smokey. The pack contains 11 different smoke effects, and you can get this pack as part of your Envato Elements subscription.
With this free PSD template you can convert regular text into a modern, colorful and stunning typographical style, giving you a unique and fun effect.
Following the original aesthetics of the hugely popular TV show, this free Photoshop text style captures the ambiance and the mood of Stranger Things perfectly.
Add a touch of retro style to your text with this retro vintage styles pack for Photoshop. The pack includes 10 different styles.
These free Photoshop text styles perfectly embody old Hollowood movies, retro ad posters and those vintage street signs from the 1930s, 40s and 50s.
Make your text glow in the dark with the help of this layer styles pack. The tutorial will walk you through the steps necessary to achieve this effect, and you can download the Photoshop file to follow along.
This free PSD template is bundled with three vintage text effects (and photo effects) that are the embodiment of good taste and simplicity.
Have fun with free PSD text layer template and give your text a tasty chocolate effect.
With this free 3D Photoshop text effect you can add depth, as well as a sandwich texture, to your plain text. Type your text in the smart layer and save the changes.
To apply this letterpress effect, type your text and then apply the style from the styles palette. Super-simple.
Use this tutorial to learn how to create casino-style text in Photoshop. As usual, the tutorial includes the Photoshop file so you can easily follow along.
Open the smart object, type in your text, apply the changes and you will quickly have a fun wood text style typographical effect.
A simple, colorful and free 3D text effect, You just need to replace the preview text using the smart object.
Double click the smart-object layer and add your own text or graphic. You can also change the background color, text color and the 3D depth color.
With the help of this layer styles pack, you will instantly give your text a metallic look and feel.
The post 20 Free Photoshop Layer Styles for Creating Beautiful Text Effects appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.
Depending on who you are, building an eCommerce website usually involves different priorities. If you’re a shopkeeper, you will probably think about the big picture stuff. You’ll want your products to look perfect and your content to drive sales.
For web designers, the priorities are more likely to be buried in the details. Sure, our client wants feature x, y, and z – but how do we make it happen? It’s about finding the tools and customizations to get the job done.
Either way, one of the keys to putting a successful eCommerce website together is the payment gateway. Pick the wrong one, and it could be costly or even outright disastrous.
This is among the most important decisions to be made during a project. Yet, it doesn’t always get the level of attention it deserves. Let’s change that!
Here are some tips for helping your clients choose the right eCommerce payment gateway.
The payment gateway should not be the first component chosen in an eCommerce project. Even if your client already has a preference, there’s no guarantee it will be compatible with everything on their wish list.
Before seriously considering gateway providers, you’ll want an outline of project requirements. Discuss the features and functionality the website will need to satisfy your client’s goals.
For example, knowing which shopping cart software will be used is vital. The preferred gateway may not simply plug and play with the cart. In those cases, custom code may need to be written or add-on software purchased.
The same goes for recurring subscription payments, like those on membership websites. Some providers are built to handle this out-of-the-box, while others may require more effort.
And it’s not just a matter of basic compatibility. All of the little details need to be figured out ahead of time. Otherwise, you run the risk of having to go back to the drawing board when something doesn’t work as expected.
It’s better to gain an understanding of a project’s needs before committing to a payment gateway.
Not only do your clients want to make money from their website, but they’ll also want to manage that cash in an efficient way. When it comes to payment gateways, one size does not fit all.
Some of this does have an impact on the website itself. The ability to provide customer refunds is an area that could see a lot of use. Therefore, a gateway that simplifies the process is worth its weight in gold. You may even find one that allows refunds to be created directly within the shopping cart’s back end.
Other aspects are more about interacting directly with the gateway provider. Among the bigger issues here is how funds are transferred to your client’s bank account. There are some gateways that famously require the account holder to make transfers manually. However, others have a more automated approach.
It’s also worth looking into how quickly funds become available. If sales don’t show up within the account for several days, that may not fit your client’s needs.
Every payment gateway has an associated cost. Most take a percentage of each sale and put it in their pocket. This can sometimes be combined with a flat per-sale fee as well.
Shopping around will give your client a good idea of cost-effective providers. However, there’s often more to the story.
In some cases, those per-sale transaction fees can scale. The bigger your revenue, the more money the provider keeps for themselves. Thus, it’s important to look at projections and determine the potential costs if sales take off.
Is your client selling to a global audience? Fees for international transactions and currency conversion could be applicable.
Beyond sales, there are other fees to watch out for. Some providers will charge a fee for “priority” transfers to a bank account. These can become significant if your client is moving a lot of money around.
Monthly or yearly subscription fees might also apply. Providers that offer tiered accounts may require these fees in order to unlock advanced features.
So, while a gateway provider may advertise attractive rates – be careful. The real costs are often spelled out in the fine print.
Choosing the right eCommerce payment gateway isn’t easy. It’s much more than just signing on with the biggest name or the shiniest transaction rate. A lot goes into ensuring that it’s the right option for your project.
That said, it’s not necessarily a web designer’s job to make the final decision. That’s up to our clients. All we can do is guide them along and show them what to look for.
On the technical side, we do need to know whether a specific provider will meet the project’s functionality needs. But when it comes to rates and managing cashflow, clients really need to take the lead. They’re the ones who’ll have to live with the choice. Thus, they should know the subject inside and out.
Hopefully, this guide will help you fill them in on the details. Good luck!
The post How to Help Your Clients Choose the Right eCommerce Payment Gateway appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.