The Beginner WordPress Developer’s Guide to wp_enqueue

While WordPress is powerful, there are plenty of under-the-hood features that can help you maximize its efficiency. In fact, overlooking inherent functions such as wp_enqueue could even impact your site’s overall effectiveness. If you optimize your themes and plugins correctly, you can improve your site’s performance while enhancing user experience. The wp_enqueue function is a great place to start. This simple integration can prevent issues with your theme when used with other WordPress plugins. In this article, you’ll learn exactly what wp_enqueue is all about, and how it can be used to improve your WordPress projects. Let’s get started! Introducing WordPress’ […]

The Torque Wapuu Contest

I saw my first Wapuu just a few months back. Since then, I’ve been noticing them all over the WordPress ecosystem, even in the most obscure places. With so many different Wapuus out there, we thought that it’s time to see a Torque-themed one, so we’ve decided to run a contest. What Is A “Wapuu”? Wapuu is the official WordPress Japan mascot—though I am convinced that WordPressers everywhere would adopt it as their own if they only knew about it. Wapuu’s fandom runs deep in certain circles. There are literally hundreds of different variations of the Wappuu—including, but not limited to, the lumberjack Wapuu, the mecha […]

DradCast episode 079: Nerd with a pager

Show notes: Host Sam Hotchkiss has been working with WordPress for the last ten years. Over that time he worked as a freelancer, and built both a successful agency and a product business, BruteProtect, which was acquired by Automattic in 2014. Sam now works on the Jetpack team at Automattic, and lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico with his wonderful wife and their three dogs. You can find Sam on Twitter @HotchkissWeb or on his blog at swh.me! Sippin’ on Brad – Soothing tea Dre – Diet cherry coke Sam – Whiskey from High West Distillery in Utah Pressing topics WordPress 4.2 “Powell“ – WordPress 4.2, nicknamed […]

DradCast Episode 078: Lifestyle Business

Shownotes Host Ryan Sullivan is a WordPress enthusiast, the founder of WP Site Care. When he’s not behind a computer, you can find him playing superheroes with his three boys, or trying to spend quality time the his better half, Jackie. Ryan is from Utah, and he loves to spend time in the mountains. He loves bacon, headbands, and the Utah Jazz. You can contact Ryan on Twitter @ryandonsullivan or on his company’s website, wpsitecare.com. Sippin’ on Ryan – Diet pepsi Brad – Smokehouse Scotch Dre – Water Pressing topics WordPress 4.1.2 security update – This is a critical security release for all previous versions of WordPress. Coordinated plugin update – A coordinated plugin […]

DradCast Episode 076: WordPress Preacher

[y=n89ZbCmlELM height=400] Show notes: Mendel Kurland started his web career as a consultant for local businesses, and quickly found his way to corporate America as a developer, marketer, and inventor. Mendel is a GoDaddy Evangelist which allows him to spend his time hanging out with developers, designers, entrepreneurs, and web pros around the world and making sure their opinions and suggestions are heard. He is an outdoor enthusiast, who loves backpacking, camping, gourmet coffee, and prototyping new web apps. You can find Mendel on Twitter @ifyouwillit, or you can shoot him an email at mendel@godaddy.com! Sippin’ on Brad – Grub Soda Dre – Water Mendel – […]

DradCast Episode 075: It’s a slow burn

[y=Pwxg7WuSdDI height=400] Show notes: Jeffrey Zinn co-founded Pixel Jar, a custom web development firm specializing in WordPress, with Brandon Dove in 2004. He also co-hosts the monthly WordPress meetup in Orange County, and speaks at neighboring WordCamps. You can find Jeffrey online at PixelJar, and on Twitter @jeffreyzinn! Sippin’ on Brad – Captain Morgan Private Stock Dre – Canada Dry Jeffrey – Whiskey Mule Pressing topics ThemeConf ThemeConf, a new conference for theme designers and developers, will be held on June 18-19th in the UK. Press Publish Price Drop Press Publish Price Drop, a conference for bloggers and developers, has significantly discounted the price of its tickets. […]

DradCast Episode 074: Canada, it’s basically America

[y=KIc_HmSqLqI height=400] Show notes: Justin Sainton is the founder of Zao, a web firm based in Portland, Oregon. He is a core contributor to WordPress and a core developer for the WP eCommerce project. Justin is passionate about open source, and the community behind it. You can find Justin online on Twitter @js_zao! Sippin’ on Brad – Captain and Sprite Dre – New Castle Justin – Deschutes Fresh Squeezed IPA Pressing topics Twitter Official Plugin for WordPress Twitter has announced an official WordPress plugin. HeroPress Update HeroPress has failed to get backers and are canceling their Kickstarter. Bar tricks Brad – WP eCommerce Core Contributor Meetup […]

Torque Spotlight: GifDrop

Static images too boring? Wish all videos looped endlessly? Tired of your compressed images having more than 256 colors? If so, then you probably love GIFs! GifDrop is a WordPress plugin that allows you to drag and drop your favorite GIFs onto your own custom page. It’s still in beta, but the current version is pretty slick. In fact, I’ve been running a GifDrop page on my own site to display my 3D animated gifs, and we just added our new page here on TorqueMag.io/gifs. “The inspiration for GifDrop was Norcross’ prolific animated GIF collection,” said Mark Jaquith, one of the creators […]

DradCast Episode 073: Drunken Rubber Duck

[y=gw7Bf2fRrio height=400] Show notes: Joshua Strebel is the founder and CEO of Pagely, a managed WordPress hosting solution. He is also one of the great minds behind PressNomics—a 3-day event where passionate and successful entrepreneurs gather together to create the products and services that drive the WordPress economy. You can find Josh online at Pagely and on Twitter @strebel. Sippin’ on Brad – Old Leg Humper Porter Dre – Diet Coke Josh – Stella Artois Pressing topics First WordPress Video Ad Matt Mullenweg interview comparing WordPress competitor spending, and how it may manifest itself in advertisements. First Dedicated WordPress.com Conference One day conference in […]

Torque Spotlight: Professional WordPress

See details at the bottom of this post for a chance to win a copy of Professional WordPress! At the 2014 State of the Word, Matt Mullenweg, founder of the WordPress project, pointed out that 7,539, or 25%, of 33k survey respondents indicated that they make their living off of WordPress. There’s an obvious need for educational resources within the WordPress ecosystem — there are currently blogs, books, videos, and entire business models focused solely on WordPress education. This week we decided to spotlight the book Professional WordPress, along with an interview with one of the authors, Brad Williams. In 2010, Hal Stern, […]

Behind the Scenes: Joystick Light Switch