Trailblazer FM: WordPress without the drama

Insights into WP Engine from David Vogelpohl, their Vice President of Web Strategy. David has a rich history in agency life and shares his journey from agency owner, to VP of one of the world's most exciting WordPress hosting platforms. Visit WP Engine here Get your discounts during web week here . For the WP Engine Developer Program click here . Connect with David  Twitter - @davidvmc WordPress P...

Learn ways you can monetise your site and your client websites. Lee unpacks five core ways to generate income online and shares awesome WordPress solutions to help you get started. Head on over to http://leejacksondev.com/episode55  to download our full guide with links for all the options discussed in this podcast. We made it all pretty and printable. Booya! WordPress Plugins Mentioned Pretty Lin...

Meet David, Freelancer, nomad and massive Beaver Builder fan. An ex UK Civil Servant who turned his back on a safe pension to travel the world, frolic on beaches and make use of 10 years of tinkering with WP. Plugin Recommendations Beaver Builder - click here WP Types - click here Plugin organiser - click here Resources Pro Beaver - click here Beaver Brains - click here Beyond Beaver - click here...

Learn what we include in our contracts, and how you can quickly create your own contracts for your WordPress website builds. This is our journey, and is not to be considered legal advice, but to help encourage you, and empower you to easily put together your own legal framework that will protect you, your business and your clients. Resources There is a lot of talking and a lot of notes below.... s...

Learn epic content creation strategy and how you can help your clients get their sites online quicker as a result. Dave Toomey drops amazing advice, tells us his web agency journey, and also introduces his new white-label content service. Get your free white-labelled guide to the importance of content and more here . Connect with Dave: Website -  http://agencyscribes.com/ Twitter -  https://twitte...

Learn how we create WordPress websites from the client's initial ideas, right through to making the site live. We take you through: The Briefing Process How we take the brief, reverse brief and quote. And also that all important deposit. Wireframing Getting the layout agreed before we get into Photoshop. Check out Google Slides  or Moqups Design Designs and amend rounds based on the wireframes. Co...

Lee grills Brian Jackson from Kinsta all about WordPress hosting from the perspective of a web agency. OH an it is our 50th full episode! Boom :) Recommended themes/plugins My Theme Shop Recommended theme resource. Well coded, lightweight had has used https://mythemeshop.com/ WP Subscribe Pro https://mythemeshop.com/plugins/wp-subscribe-pro/ Beaver Builder (Lee's recommendation... again) http://le...

It's the last episode of the Halloween 2016 Season... Here goes: Membership sites are an amazing way generate income based on your or your client's expertise. With WordPress being such a powerful content machine, it makes sense to let it drive your membership area. We share some great tools to get you started, and stay tuned for our first in a series of pretty BIG and exciting news! Restrict Conte...

Meet Richard Bland of  https://www.bhambrabland.co.uk/ . He is a Wordpress expert, designer & developer and web & email consultant to SMB's. Listen to how he learnt to go with his gut, and also be able to say the word NO when needed. Action today: Find your passion. Simplify your offering and become the master of it.  Resources: Chris Coyier:  http://chriscoyier.net/ Plugins: GeneratePress...

Here is how to collaborate on theme and plugin projects ensuring you have a good change tracked copy. Find out other benefits you might not have thought of, and check out the awesome github updater plugin we share! Lee also has a bit of an argument with himself. Github - https://github.com/ Bit Bucket - https:// bitbucket.org Github Updater - https://github.com/afragen/github-updater --- OUR EVENT...

Learn why you should be updating your site, and how to update it the best way. We also unpack documentation and great tools to help you along the way. Automatic Update Config Use wisely, listen to the podcast first - https://codex.wordpress.org/Configuring_Automatic_Background_Updates Easy Updates Manager - https://en-gb.wordpress.org/plugins/stops-core-theme-and-plugin-updates/ WPBoom - http://ww...

Whether build the site from scratch or with a template, it is essential you check your WordPress website works on multiple devices. So with so many out there, what should you be testing and how!? Let us share how we do it... Blisk - https://blisk.io/ BrowserStack - https://www.browserstack.com --- OUR EVENT: Do you want to make real change in your business? Join us at our in-person event  Agency T...

You might not be making the most of the Media section inside of WordPress. Learn top tips, little known features, SEO tricks and cool tools to help you manage information easily. Add From Server - https://wordpress.org/plugins/add-from-server/ WP Media Folder - https://www.joomunited.com/wordpress-products/wp-media-folder --- OUR EVENT: Do you want to make real change in your business? Join us at...

Social media used right on your WordPress website can help increase your audience as well as raise your credibility. Here are ideas for social sharing, and content showcasing. AddToAny - https://en-gb.wordpress.org/plugins/add-to-any/ Monarch - https://www.elegantthemes.com/plugins/monarch/ Feed Them Social - https://en-gb.wordpress.org/plugins/feed-them-social/ WordPress Social Stream - https://c...

Starting a podcast need not cost a tonne of money, nor need it be difficult. Not starting a podcast is a marketing stream you are totally missing out on! Here is why you should podcast, and how to get going with WordPress. Blubrry PowerPress - https://en-gb.wordpress.org/plugins/powerpress/ Simple Podcast Press - http://leejacksondev.com/spp Smart Podcast Player - https://smartpodcastplayer.com/ L...

Why let Facebook own your community when you can build and control your own. We unpack tools to help you build, grown and monetise your own community on your WordPress websites. BuddyPress - https://buddypress.org/ BBPress - https://bbpress.org/ PeepSo - https://en-gb.wordpress.org/plugins/peepso-core/ Membership Pro 2 - https://premium.wpmudev.org/project/membership/ WooCommerce Membership - http...

Learn all about Project Management from Dan Connors of ( http://danconnors.com/ ). He shares valuable content on how to get more involved in your projects, and also manage clients expectations.   Action today: Outsource your weaknesses to others. Focus on your gut feeling, if something feels wrong take a look and fix it, don't wait to face the consequences. Project Management Software Discussed: M...

Building WordPress websites on cheap reseller hosting can be needlessly slow. Here is how to build multiple WordPress websites on your computer or on a computer in the office that you can all collaborate on. No more internet latency! Woo! XAMMP - https://www.apachefriends.org/add-ons.html AMPPS - http://www.ampps.com/demo Presmattic - Thanks to Stephen Greer in the Facebook Group for suggesting th...

WooCommerce is one of the leading e-commerce solutions for WordPress. It can seem overwhelming at times. Here are some amazing secrets that will make working with WooCommerce a dream come true.  WooCommerce https://woocommerce.com/  Extensions  https://woocommerce.com/product-category/woocommerce-extensions/  GPLDL  http://gpldl.com Remember it is OK for them to distribute open source code BUT, we...

Let's bust the myth about WordPress security and show you how to protect your or your client websites today. In this tipisode we arm you with the answer to the “WordPress is insecure” moan, and we share the tools to help protect you. Force Strong Password - https://en-gb.wordpress.org/plugins/force-strong-passwords/ Bruteprotect - https://en-gb.wordpress.org/plugins/bruteprotect/ All-in-one WordPr...

Solving email deliverability in WordPress can be a pain. Why does it happen? Why do the emails always end up in spam? Not receiving notifications from Form submissions? Let's solve this for you. WP Mail SMTP - https://en-gb.wordpress.org/plugins/wp-mail-smtp/ Send Grid - https://sendgrid.com/ --- OUR EVENT: Do you want to make real change in your business? Join us at our in-person event  Agency Tr...

Choosing a WordPress Theme is a minefield. What are the warning signs that it is going to be more trouble that it is worth? How do you decide on which theme or framework to commit to? Let's unpack that for you. Genesis The Genesis Framework - http://my.studiopress.com/themes/genesis/ Beaver Builder They include an awesome starter theme that is SUPER flexible especially when pared with Beaver Tunne...

From redirecting old pages to creating easy to remember urls, redirection need not be complicated. Plus it's going to really help when you replace an old website! Check out the easiest ways with WordPress: Redirection Our recommended plugin with grouping tools, import and more - https://en-gb.wordpress.org/plugins/redirection/ Pretty Links - https://wordpress.org/plugins/pretty-link/ Page Links To...

Discover Josh's journey into WordPress development. From website "tinkerer" to plugin developer. Learn how to get more involved in the WordPress community, and also stellar advice for keeping on the cutting edge of WordPress technology. CalderaWP Caldera Forms and the suite of plugins from Caldera: https://calderawp.com/ WordPress Plugins Discussed Gravity Forms -  http://www.gravityforms.com/ Adv...

Automating and integrating data between WordPress and other systems your clients use is a massive time saver and value add. Here are some ideas you can implement and tools you can use to implement them. Online Tools Zapier -  https://zapier.com/ IFTTT -  https://ifttt.com/ CloudWork -  https://cloudwork.com/ Self Installed and Managed Tools For those harder to access systems: Apatar -  http://apat...