It seems a bit crazy to think that 2016 is just a few months away, and yet… here we are.
With Summer winding down in here in America, there’s a lot to look forward to — like the Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks finally coming back when Fall gets here.
On a more serious note, though, this month has proved fruitful yet again in the world of WordPress. Below is our roundup of some of the best topics we stumbled on this month.
This Month in WordPress
The Twenty Sixteen Theme is Out. Have You Seen It?
The New Twenty Sixteen Theme
It may be hard for all of us to grasp that 2015 is about to come to a close, but the folks behind WordPress have already jumped the gun and released the 2016 theme.
The theme was designed by Takashi Irie, and this is what he has to say about the theme:
Twenty Sixteen is a modernised approach of an ever-popular layout — a horizontal masthead and an optional right sidebar that works well with both blogs and websites. It has custom color options that allow you to make your own Twenty Sixteen. The theme was designed on a harmonious fluid grid with a mobile first approach. This means it looks great on any device.
– @iamtakashi
I haven’t had the chance to dive into the new theme just yet, but I’m excited to see just what the theme really has to offer.
Call Me Billie: The New WP Update
WordPress 4.3 ‘Billie’ Update
Of course, we can’t cover the news about WordPress this month without talking about the new WP 4.3 update that was released this month.
This major update to the CMS platform was named after jazz singer Billie Holiday (one of my all-time favorite singers ever) and made quite a few changes to the WordPress system we all know and love:
- The ability to rearrange and update your menus in the WP Customizer.
- Formatting shortcuts to help speed up the process of editing.
- Easy site icon upload. (Finally!)
- Improvements to password creation for new users on your site.
There are a few bugs that I’ve noticed since upgrading my sites to the 4.3 which have been a little frustrating, but other than that, I like how things are really starting to feel more streamlined and workflow friendly.
Drama with Envato
Seems like Envato is having some issues with more than one avid WordPress user.
Back on the 4th of the month, Kevin Muldoon posted on his blog that his account with Envato was shut down by the company without any word or warning.
This shut him out of access to updates to all the items that he purchased through the Theme Marketplace. In short, the issue was resolved (somewhat), and his account was opened up again. Kevin’s article gives some eye-opening insights on affiliate marketing and definitely worth the read.
But Envato’s name was brought up again in the later in the month regarding another issue regarding the Ultimatum Themes and the Visual Composer plugin by WP Bakery.
In his post, Onur (the Head of Development with The Ultimatum Theme) lists out a situation that is currently unfolding that was instigated via an email from a representative of WP Bakery regarding Ultimatum’s use of the plugin in their theme.
The post on their blog is rather interesting, and you’re free to add your thoughts about the situation.
Highlights from the Elegant Themes Blog
- How to Position Your WordPress Business: The Freelancer Versus Agency Dilemma | No matter what your freelancing niche is, this post by Joe is a great read with compelling insights about the pros and cons of freelancing.
- The Divi Nation Podcast, Episode 01 — Successful Solopreneurship with Eileen Lonergan | Have you heard the news? Elegant Themes launched a brand new Podcast named Divi Nation, and our very own Nathan Weller is at the helm of the ship. The first recording is up on the blog and ready for all to take in.
- WordPress Developers: 13 Ways to Effectively Run Your First Meeting With a Potential New Client | Over the past month or so, we’ve been tackling topics with a bend toward WordPress developers. In this post, Tom discusses 13 points that can help you have a better business meeting with potential clients.
- All You Need to Know About Pinterest Buyable Pins | If you use Pinterest then you’ve likely seen that they have rolled out a new feature that allows people to buy products directly from within the Pinterest platform. Dan, our go-to social media guy, expounds on the topic of these “buyable pins” and if they’re worth using.
- WordPress Professionals: Why You Need Business Insurance | Working from home certainly has it perks, but that doesn’t mean that you can or should go with our business essentials like insurance. Tom gives some interesting insight as to why business insurance is a good idea.
- A Sneak Peek At Divi 2.5, And An Update To The Divi Production Timeline | Last, but not least, is the sneak peek at what Elegant Themes has been cooking up for Divi 2.5. If you haven’t seen what lined up, then be sure to take a look.
- Grow Your Email List with These Top Content Upgrade Plugins | Lead Magnets and Content Upgrades not only add more value to your site, but they can also explode your conversion rate. Elna Cain lists some of the best plugins for your content upgrades on the WP Kube blog.
- How to Create a Welcome Gate in WordPress |What the heck is a Welcome Gate? Good question. If you don’t know and you want to know, you can find out on the WP Beginner blog.
- CoSchedule for WordPress. WOW, It’s Cool! | If you don’t know what CoSchedule is, then you’re about to get super happy. I just dug into this plugin and application, and I’m pretty sure I’m in love. It seems like Bob from BobWP feels the same way. Be sure to check out his review.
- 75+ Stunning Examples of Elegant Themes’ Divi WordPress Theme in Action | Now here’s one to get real excited about. We all know that Divi can be used to create beautiful sites, but wouldn’t it be great to see some live examples of people running their blog with it? The guys over at WinningWP spent long hours trying to find just that, and they have over 75 examples that yu can take a look at right now.
- WordPress Hosting: The Complete Resource Guide on How To Choose a Managed WordPress Host | To be honest, this is probably the most thorough (and complete) online resource that I’ve ever read on the topic of Managed Hosting. And it’s made even better by the fact that there are no affiliate links in the post at all. This one is a bit long but worth bookmarking and reading in your own time.
- 5 Steps to a Successful Social Media Audit | Does this topic get you as excited as it does me? What can I say — I’m a geek. Joking aside, if social media is important to you then this is a must read.
- Using Heat Maps to See Exactly Where Visitors Are Clicking On Your WordPress Site | How can you tell how a visitor reacts on your site? One way to tell is via Heat Maps. Brenda gives a great explanation about what these are and how to use them.
- What 10 Studies Say About The Best Times To Post On Social Media | Out of all the posts I’ve read this month about social media, this one was hands down the best. Seriously. If you’ve been lost in the world of when to post on various social media platforms, this post will help make all the difference.
- How I Got 532 Subscribers in 43 Days Using Cheap Facebook Ads | As far as headlines go, this one just draws you in, and the post keeps you reading from beginning to end. Using Facebook Ads effectively can seem daunting, but Mary did it and she wants to show you how to do it too.
- How to Guest Blog for List Growth | Now here is a guy who is doing it right. I’m not going to lie… I really love the content that Will puts out on this blog. And this post is proof of why I love his stuff.
- How To Generate Blog Post Ideas When It Feels Like Your Brain Is Broken | I’m a mom with two kids under the age of 3 so my brain is always broken. If you’re anything like me, then this post has some awesome tips to help you out when you just can brain for the day. (Yes, I know that sentence doesn’t make sense. I did that on purpose *wink*.)
- How To Grow Your Blog’s Audience (And Keep It) | I save the best for last on this one. Adam has built and helped manage more than one successful blog. This post embodies a lot of tips that has lent to his success. I’ve bookmarked and saved to my Pocket app for future reference because it was just that good.
Wrapping It Up
As always, we turn to you at this point in the post.
What blog post have you read this month that resonated with your soul and just kept your reading? Be sure to share in your comments below.
Article Thumbnail by Author 89studio via Shutterstock
Onur’s post is by all accounts connecting to the wrong place.
you might wanna replace;
A Sneak Peek At Divi 2.5, And An Update To The Divi Production Timeline
with the actual release post of Divi 2.5 🙂
@Ariel: Many thank for this overview, who needs RSS when you have this? 😉
@Nick (or other willing ET blogger): Please do a post on the best way(s) to upgrade to Divi form an existing site.
I’m currently using Nexus and would like to upgrade to Divi. There are a few ways to do it. But I get different answers on what’s best.
I strongly believe many readers would be interested in such an article.
Hope you will consider suggesting it during your next content meeting.
Another ‘must read’ from the ET team!
On the WordPress update, it seems to have turned off comments on web site pages by default. I’m using the phrase “web site pages” rather than 2blog posts” because I tend to make my site in pages, to get a structure, and i do like to offer comments options to site visitors.
I may be wrong, but this may have happened to a lot more sites without people realising.
One of the things I read some time ago is that you should always leave the WordPress default theme available on your site. That way, if you do something to break your theme (never happens, honest!) you can rename the themes folder to something obscure and your site will fall back to the WordPress default. Is this still true?
@Ariel
What is the key features in wordpress 4.3?
Regards
Priyanka
I always think something is missing on themes created by wp. How it looks like!
Great, the free 2016 wordpress theme is out. But I am a premium wordpress theme user.
Wow, Ariel – another bangin’ roundup.
I missed Kevin’s post on the Envato shinanigans and there’s a few others I missed – my Pocket account is filling up fast 🙂
Thanks for mentioning my post too, much appreciated!
Onur’s post seems to be linking to the wrong place.
Here’s the corrected link for that Dave. Thanks! https://ultimatumtheme.com/envato-licensing-and-bully-authors-backed-by-envato/