Take the Long View with Your Website with a Security and Performance Plan

Security and performance

There’s a widely quoted and (typically misattributed) sentiment that works are never truly completed, only abandoned. This applies to website development as much as any other project but when it comes to the former, it is as much of a warning as a statement of integrity. A website that isn’t being actively maintained is a security risk and potential threat to an organization’s online presence, reputation and the data of their users and clients.

Magento 1 and OpenMage

If you have a Magento e-commerce platform, you have most likely wondered whether to switch to Magento 2 (M2). There are numerous benefits to making the jump, and it’s a jump we have helped many clients make. However, despite those benefits, it can be a daunting task, and it can seem worthwhile to make Magento 1 (M1) work for as long as possible. Unfortunately, because Adobe ended support for M1, it’s not feasible for businesses to remain on the platform.

Linking Gravity Forms to WooCommerce Products on your WordPress Website

Two of our favorite plugins for WordPress are the robust and powerful Gravity Forms and the ubiquitous eCommerce plugin WooCommerce.  Gravity Forms is a premium plugin that we like so much that we provide a free license to our clients as part of our WordPress Security and Performance Plan.  WooCommerce is the backbone of any WordPress eCommerce website, and the core software is free and developed/maintained by Automatic, who are the same folks that started and maintain WordPress itself.  Each plugin is wildly popular, and as such there are many add-ons that allow for integration with other software/plugins.  In this post we’re going to explore how you can use the WooCommerce plugin: Gravity Forms Product Add-ons in order to leverage the power of Gravity Forms to build intricate and conditionally based product configurations which link to a WooCommerce product, allowing you to then enjoy all of the eCommerce specific architecture that WooCommerce provides. 

Removing User Roadblocks From Your Website

Most businesses focus on adding fuel to propel their idea online. They look for ways to attract more visitors and spread their message. But what if your potential customers know about you and appreciate what you are doing but are still not interested in signing up, making a purchase, or any other number of end goals for your site? Consider if the online process which you interact with your customers has any friction or pain points, that stop them from making making that final conversion for you. Here is a list of important stumbling blocks to consider when it comes to your organization’s website, whether you run a WordPress non profit website focused on donations, a high volume Magento eCommmerce website, or any other site that has a specific goal for every user who lands there (which every website should).

What is WordPress Maintenance Mode?

WordPress Maintenance Mode is a way to hide the content of your WordPress website from the general public while it is being updated. This prevents your visitors from seeing errors or work in progress when your development team is working on applying important software updates.

WordPress – Custom Post Types / Custom Fields

Custom Post Type UI and Advanced Custom Fields Pro can combine to provide near limitless possibilities for customizing your WordPress content. Watermelon Web Works is hear to help you utilize these two wonderful plugins to help create and display content on your new or existing WordPress website.

Customer Support Ticket System with WordPress: WSDesk

WordPress is an incredibly powerful and ready to use content management system right out of the box.  What really sets it apart though, is that its code infrastructure creates a basic framework that makes it easy to add additional functionality via plugins.  Add this to the enormous popularity of WordPress, and you create an environment where thousands of brilliant minds are working to create plugins to perform an ever expanding list of functionality for WordPress users.  Event management, learning management systems, forums, and of course eCommerce are just a small sampling of what WordPress is capable of when you pair it with the right combination of these wonderful plugins.  More recently, a growing number of development teams have been working on an exciting new tool:  support ticketing systems built on the WordPress framework.  In our experience the most robust among these is WSDesk.

Here’s Why Small Businesses Need a Website

Why small businesses need a website

If you are a small business owner, you probably know in some sense that you need a website, but you may not be able to say exactly why you need a website. Sure, almost everyone is online these days, and with each passing year the world seems to get more and more digital. But there are also lots of different ways to “be” online. Why does your business need a website when it has a perfectly good Facebook page? Is an entire standalone website really necessary?

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