Shades of Grey 3 Column

Shade of Grey 2 Column

Natheless

Coxswain

Chicanery

Ebullient

Didatic

Fivestar

Three Quarters

Is your theme not listed here or you know where to find other great Expression Engine Themes? Let us know by commenting below.

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Links in video:

• LG Twitter Extension Page
• Expression Engine’s Extension Page

I used the LG Twitter extension for this tutorial, but the steps for almost all extensions are the same. I wanted to step you thourgh the basic but always refer to the extension developer’s site for more detailed instructions for their specific extension.

Among the information you can receive at the one-day conference being held at the Pravda Studios:

• Developing & Marketing EE Add-Ons

• 10 Ways to Improve Your EE Site Development

• EE 2.0 & The Future of Content Management Systems

There’s a lot more stuff than just these three presentations, all of which you can check out at their site. And to the organizers of this lovely event, a heads up:

Baltimore is a lovely city in the Fall.

If you’ve been looking for the perfect email marketing add-on for your ExpressionEngine site, you may not have to look any further than SmoothFunction’s Boomerang. The idea is simple and the functionality is even simpler.

Boomerang lets you create email campaigns, import your addresses, monitor how many emails are opened and choose templates; all from one location within your site. And before you think that I sound like an infomercial for SmoothFunction, just know that this add-on will save you time and possibly make you more money.

That, and that I’m hoping to get a version of SmoothFunction for a more robust review and installation tutorial.

Bottom line, when you’re email marketing and trying to turn brief messaging into conversions and sales, you want to know what works and what doesn’t You need to know if your headlines are attractive, and that what you are promising looks interesting enough for your consumers to invest in. SmoothFunction does a great job of letting you know exactly what Boomerang does, how you’ll visualize it on your site, and how much it’s going to cost you.

They are honest and up-front about the quality of their product, and for what Boomerang can do for your email marketing, you can afford to do the same.

And then you find a less-than-flattering review of your work. Nothing damaging, nothing worth crying over, but disappointing, nonetheless.

So what do you do? Send a heartfelt email to the proprietor? Look up various ways to spam his comment section? Hack his homepage ESPN style?

Nope. Just fall back on the three C’s of negative publicity, and enjoy the rush of new visitors.

Be COURTEOUS

The better you get, the more content you put out for the world to review, the chances increase that someone is not going to like your work. And sometimes, it won’t be because they are haters looking for web beef. The critical thing to remember is to thank them for their review/commentary, link back to them, and become a regular visitor to their site.

You might find some new strategies, interesting links, or at worst, a new partner in building your own business model.

Be CONSISTENT

You hear all the time that you should give your consumers what they want, right? But they are coming to you because you’ve positioned yourself as an expert. And since you’re the expert, don’t start thinking like a consumer because someone took a jab at you. You know what you’re doing, and your customers trust you to be committed to your work. Don’t change the game up for one dirty player.

Be CONFIDENT

Don’t stop believing. You can make it if you try. There are a number of motivational song titles I could give you, but the point to all of them is to have everlasting confidence in your knowledge and ability to help people. It’s the first bad review in a series of many that will come over your development career. Don’t take it personal.

Nothing is too big or small. We’d love to hear about everything you have been wondering about. We’re here to serve. Thanks for the input.

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Links in video:

• ExpressionEngine Main Site
• Server Requirements (wizard.php)
• Installation Instructions

This is our first video tutorial. If you have any suggestions on how we can make them better in the future or tutorial ideas please let us know.

Earlier this year, Smashing Magazine released ‘15 Essential Checks Before Launching Your Website.‘ And for my money, it’s a resource that you should definitely reference before putting your product or content out for the world to judge harshly enjoy.

But a word of advice; don’t spend too much time perfecting your site before you reveal it to your consumers. You want your site to be flexible, to adjust to new web habits and trends, and for customers to help in its shaping. You want meaningful content to populate the site before eyes are laid on it, but you also want your consumers to have ownership in your development and improvement.

Since Expression Engine allows for fluid coding, there are opportunities for you to listen to reader feedback and make changes that enhance their experiences. They will tell you what works, what doesn’t, and the best ways to improve it. There is a tendency to remain loyal to a site plan, but the only plan that means anything is the plan to attract more attention to your newly-launched Expression Engine site.

One of the most difficult aspects of developing or re-branding a website is picking the right template. No matter what you write, what you’re selling, or your level of expertise, the first thing your customers will recognize about you is the way your site looks.

Here are some key things to remember about picking your Expression Engine template.

Is this Template Functional for My Consumers?

You may just want a new look, but you have to keep your consumers in mind. Will your new Expression Engine template add functionality to the site? Will your products be more attractive and easier to purchase? Will your writing be easier for readers to comment on, or submit to social networks? Will the colors naturally drive attention to specific locations on the page?

Is this Template Flexible?

Many Expression Engine templates are designed to mesh with specific content or products, so before you download a template on looks alone, do your homework. Check out existing sites and the arrangement of their designs. Imitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery, and flattery will go a long way when you take their business in a few months.

Is this Template Static?

You’re already getting rid of a template, so your next choice for design and look should be one that remains for a while. Can your site contain ads without looking like the center field wall of a minor league baseball stadium? Can customers and readers navigate the new site as easily as the old one?

If you can answer each of these questions, you’ll know you have a quality template that will impress your friends and sell your product.

Then, you get results like this. Or this.

Certainly not what you expected, right?

Here’s the deal. Your SEO strength isn’t going to come from certain plugins or meta tag functions. Keyword-specific URLs may help, but they won’t earn you a million hits per day. No, there’s two simple things that will get your site the attention of consumers and crawlers alike.

Good content and linking from other sites.

Good Content

This isn’t even the ‘chicken or the egg’ argument. If you write relevant and helpful content, the big boys will link to you. A couple of readers will send your content and appropriate links to other people. Pretty soon, your site will become a viral sensation. And you’ll become a player in the competition for world wide web dominance. Just remember these three key things to developing good content.

• Is it useful?
• Is it interesting?
• Does it change the reader’s mind or confirm what they already thought?

Getting Links

If the big boys link to you while you continue to write valuable content, your search engine rankings will increase. Dramatically. There are certain strategies you can use to maximize your website’s content and make it more accessible to search engines. And when a professional can integrate these strategies into your site, it can really make the difference between 1,000 and 10,00 regular viewers.

But until they come around, here are some tips on getting people to spread your good news.

• Send Articles – Tastefully email a site moderator, compliment him/her on his work, and politely ask if you can forward an article or two for their review. If they like it, they’ll run it.
• Comment on relative blogs – Commenting on blogs establishes you as an either an expert or a comedian. Being a little of both will make you popular.

The success of your site and its content is always going to rely on how relevant and how regular your content is. That’s it. The bad news is that there is no quick way for you to gain big popularity and become the number one result on Google and Yahoo! search engines.

But the good news is that if you aren’t committed to developing strong SEO habits with quality content and relevant links, you no longer have to waste your time searching for quick fixes for Expression Engine SEO.