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Everyone who collects subscribers and regularly runs email campaigns can benefit from sending out festive greetings. It is customary to congratulate your devoted users by presenting them with bonuses, discounts, special offers or other unique material.
On the one hand, it is a marketing trick that lures users in and helps to foist goods. On the other hand, it is a way to thank regular readers or clients. What’s more, not everyone is up to promoting goods, products or services – there are many website owners that share stuff and run campaigns for selfless purposes. For them, a digital greeting is a mere part of a long-lasting dialogue.
Digital greetings are applicable for any official or unofficial celebration. Whether it is the geeky May 4th (dedicated to the Star Wars universe) or Resurrection Sunday (one of the biggest events for Christians). Speaking of which, when it comes to the most beloved and anticipated holidays, Christmas is an absolute winner. And, it is already looming on the horizon.
These splendid Christmassy code snippets will certainly come in handy. Our collection of pure CSS Christmas projects is a perfect start for your festive greeting. It is divided into several parts, covering the essentials of this enjoyable holiday. Let’s explore!
“You better watch out! You better not cry…Santa Claus is coming to your inbox”.
When it comes to Christmas, we all expect miracles and presents. And there is only one man in the world who can make the dreams come true, and it is Santa Claus. Whether you are four or eighty, you still believe in this guy.
So, you do not even need to sign your greeting card if it has a paunchy grandpa in a red suit with white fur trim, a long white beard and sack of presents. This man speaks for himself.
In our collection, we have featured code snippets with the adorable man of a Christmas hour. Just take a look at the project by Narendra N Shetty, is not he nice? There is a certain geometric appeal: You can easily delineate circles and rectangles here. The pen feels joyful and merry.
Matt Harris shows us a fantastic take on flat realization where sharp angles, vivid edges, lots of geometric shapes and clear boundaries bring about an outstanding result. Simple, elegant, nifty and techy.
The beauty of old-timey 8-bit graphics inspired Henrique Rodrigues to create a modern, oversimplified Santa. His “Merry Christmas” project has a powerful digital vibe that goes perfectly well with our computerized era and online greetings.
Unlike the previous three concepts, this project by Ryan Mulligan has some action. When you hover your mouse cursor over the closed box, Santa jumps out. The idea is simple and the realization is pure HTML and CSS. The general impression is fantastic.
“Rockin’ around the Christmas tree. Let the Christmas spirit ring…”
From Santa Claus to another absolute classic and the essential of the Yule: The Christmas tree. Here we have included several code snippets with lovely Christmas trees. Some of them are traditional, while others are ultra-modern. Some of them are static while others are enhanced with excellent mouse interactions.
Merry Christmas by Rachel Bull is a traditional greeting card with classic aesthetics. It has a red background, typography with swirls, a Christmas tree with a topper, garland and lights. There are glitters in a background that twinkle and garland whose lights change colors every second.
From classic to abstractionism, Christmas Tree by Andrew Hawkes is composed of numerous colorful triangles where each one is supplied with a flip effect triggered by the cursor. The key feature of the solution is that the tree has a different look every time SCSS is recompiled. This pen also features falling snow that sets a lovely wintery mood.
From abstractionism to ultra-modernism, 3D Christmas Tree Animation by Jon Kantner has a certain Minecraft quality. There is nothing fancy. But namely, this simplicity and cubism separate this solution from the others. It is perfect for all the geeky email newsletters out there.
Happy Holidays! by Ana Travas is ideal for some magical greetings. Much like the solution by Rachel Bull, it is built with the help of the classic elements. Although the Christmas tree is neither fluffy nor green, this bokeh realization is certainly worthy of attention.
“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Everywhere you go…”
Christmas scenes are great for situations when you need to make a significant impact and turn your newsletter into a real work of art. The more so, there is a trend of creating illustrations only with the help of HTML and CSS. You can find some excellent lightweight solutions. For example, Christmas Animation by Texx Smith.
If you want a more detailed landscape, then you should set your eyes on Merry Christmas! by Matsui. This pen features lovely scenery with Christmas trees, small buildings, mountains with snow caps, snowmen, lots of snow and of course Santa Claus, who is coming to town.
“Decorate the Christmas tree. Fa la la la la, la la la la. Hang the stockings, 1, 2, 3. Fa la la, la la la, la la la….”
If you think that Santa Claus and Christmas scenes are too much and you need to add a subtle hint of Christmas to your digital greeting, then you can always go for code snippets that exhibit festive decorations. There are a ton of things these days that can be associated with Christmas.
For example, the Christmas Blend by ilithya shows a white steamy mug with a tree illustration on it. Indeed, it is very Christmassy.
A home can’t be fully decorated without a beloved Christmas wreath that is hanging on the front door. And there is one in our collection that you can add to your digital greeting. Jerry Low’s Christmas wreath is not as bushy as we are accustomed to seeing, yet it certainly has a festive spirit.
Christmas lights by Chris Doble are perfect for enriching the header and footer of your email newsletter design. They are blinking and changing colors – imitating the traditional Yule dance of lights.
It may be banal; however, greetings whose aesthetics are built around Santa Claus, Christmas Trees and wintery landscapes always do the trick. It is the tradition that never gets old. We wait for them to appear here, there and pretty much everywhere.
It is Christmas, the most wonderful time of the year, after all. So, whatever you choose for your newsletter, your subscribers will undoubtedly appreciate it.
The post Send Holiday Cheer with these Christmas Code Snippets appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.
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When you build a WordPress website, you open yourself up to an entire world of possibilities. That is both a good and bad thing.
The built-in conveniences and ability to extend functionality with just a few clicks make site owners feel at ease. The bright side is that this allows us to do more with a shoestring budget than we may have thought possible. But it can also lull us into a false sense of security.
The result is that we may be putting our websites at risk without fully realizing it. WordPress, after all, is not a set-it-and-forget-it CMS. On the contrary, it requires us to develop good practices and constant vigilance.
Here are five bad habits that, while innocent in intent, can bring unwanted drama to your WordPress install. We’ll cover both what can go wrong and provide simple solutions that will help you avoid future problems.
It’s a pretty common practice. We search through the WordPress Plugin Repository and find something of interest. We install it and plan on seeing what it can do. However, maybe it isn’t a great fit, or maybe we never test it at all. Still, it sits there.
Keeping unused plugins around can be costly. From a security perspective, it can be dangerous. A vulnerable piece of code could very well lead to malware being installed on your server. This could, in turn, do untold amounts of damage to your site.
The unfortunate truth is that not all plugins are well-written or maintained. Some are even abandoned by their authors. If you happen to be the unlucky person who still has one of these plugins installed, you are a target.
Beyond that, the more plugins you have installed, the harder it is to troubleshoot any errors that arise. Clutter only serves to complicate the process.
It’s okay to install plugins and test them out (preferably on a staging site). But make a habit of removing unwanted plugins – even those that aren’t currently active on your website. Routinely browse through your WordPress back end to check for items you don’t need.
Security is an area where a lot of us tend to have a blind spot. Not that we ignore it completely, mind you. But it is easy to become lax.
This can happen for a number of reasons. If your website hasn’t been hacked (to your knowledge, at least), you may think everything is just fine. Or maybe your web host boasts that it’s the most secure platform on Earth. Or perhaps you’ve taken a few minimal steps and feel that’s enough.
Whatever the reason, we are often more reactive than proactive. This means learning our lessons the hard way – after something bad has already happened.
Don’t ever assume that your website is fully secure. Just think, some of the most sophisticated systems in the world have been hacked. Your website, by comparison, is easy pickings for a malicious actor.
Take security seriously at all levels. Use strong passwords, utilize a firewall or security plugin and make sure your install is up-to-date. It won’t stop every potential attack, but it can thwart the basic stuff.
Sure, there are tons of free WordPress plugins and themes available. But there are times when commercial software just makes more sense. It might be a better fit for your needs or offer more powerful functionality. Plus, commercial-grade support is always welcome when it comes to mission-critical tools.
However, these items take often take a sustained financial commitment, as one-time purchases are becoming rare. Much of the commercially-available plugins and themes for WordPress tend to require yearly license renewals.
This recurring cost helps the developer provide support, add new features and fix bugs. It means that the software will continue to be actively developed, which benefits everybody.
Yet, I am still amazed at how often I see websites using software with long-expired licenses. This can be both a security and functionality nightmare. Eventually, something is going to either become vulnerable or break altogether as new versions of WordPress are released.
Do some research before you buy a plugin or theme. Determine what the future costs will be and if they are manageable. Just as importantly, inform your clients about these licenses! Quite often, a license will expire simply because a client doesn’t know about it.
Another potential complication of becoming a “plugin collector” is an overlap in functionality. This can result in your website taking a performance hit. If you’re running unnecessary code, it stands to reason that it will have a negative impact on page speed. And it can also create functionality conflicts, as multiple bits of code are fighting for the same space, so to speak.
This particular issue is often one that takes time to rear its head. For example, you may start out with a do-it-all plugin like Jetpack. After a while, you might seek out more niche plugins, some with functionalities that overlap the aforementioned Swiss Army knife of WordPress.
But this could be applied to literally any category of plugin. Contact forms, security, eCommerce, SEO – there are so many options for each. Collect enough of these plugins and eventually, a few are going to patrol the same territory.
When possible, choose a definitive path for the functionality you need in any particular category. Either find a plugin that does just about everything you want, or piece together a few niche items.
This is where a plugin with its own ecosystem, such as WooCommerce, makes life easier. Through its many extensions, you can add just the capabilities you really need – thus avoiding overlap.
Maintaining backups of your important files is a good practice that goes well beyond WordPress. But not everyone thinks about the risks associated with not having a copy of their website on hand at all times.
It is reasonable to assume that your web host will back up your website (both files and database) each and every day – and the responsible ones do. This can be a lifesaver. That is, unless something goes wrong.
As experience has taught me, you can’t rely solely on others for this duty. A poorly-timed mistake can leave you in a bad situation, should the worst happen. Missing critical files could mean filling in a lot of gaps or starting over from scratch.
There are a number of ways to back up a WordPress website. The easiest and most direct method is by using a backup plugin. There are also a number of third-party services such as ManageWP, InfiniteWP or even Jetpack that offer similar functionality.
Whichever you choose, be sure to keep a copy of your site somewhere other than your web host. That could be a cloud storage service or even your local machine. That way, you’ll always have access – just in case.
Long after the thrill of your website’s launch, WordPress still needs a lot of attention. The good news is that, even though there are some potential pitfalls, it doesn’t take a tremendous amount of effort to keep things running smoothly.
By developing an awareness of what you’ve installed and performing routine maintenance, you can often avoid the most serious kinds of problems.
Not sure you’re up to the challenge? Start off with something simple, like setting a weekly reminder to update your installation. From there, set a monthly reminder that urges you to take inventory of plugins and security.
Follow that plan and, pretty soon, your website will be in tip-top shape.
The post 5 Bad Habits That Can Hurt Your WordPress Website appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.