SitePoint Podcast Interview with Authors of Wicked WordPress Themes

August 31, 2010 By Brad 1 Comment

Last week I had the pleasure of interviewing two of the authors of SitePoint.com’s new book Build Your Own Wicked WordPress Themes on the SitePoint Podcast. I had a great time talking WordPress themes with Allan Cole and Jeffrey Way.

During the podcast we covered some great topics including:

  • Intro to WordPress themes
  • Where to start when building a theme
  • Theme frameworks
  • Theme options
  • Selling themes and what to consider
  • GPL and split-license

I had a chance to read the new book prior to the interview. I would classify this book as a must read for any designer looking to learn how to develop amazing WordPress themes. The chapter on selling themes is worth the book price alone!

If you haven’t done so be sure to pick up a copy of Wicked WordPress Themes and starting creating beautiful themes today!

Filed Under: Podcasts, WordPress Tagged With: book, review, themes, WordPress

Best Wings in Philadelphia?

August 22, 2010 By Brad Leave a Comment

Last night April and I decided to try the winner of the “Best Wings in Philly” as awarded by Philadelphia Magazine.

Cinnamon Wings

The winning wings were from Teresa’s Next Door Bar in Wayne, PA. When I heard the wings were cinnamon I was a bit skeptical, but being the best wings in Philly I had to try them.

The first thing I noticed is the wings are whole wings. So even though the serving is only 5 whole wings, it’s actually 10 traditional wings. When the waitress brought the wings we immediately smelt the warm cinnamon aroma. Even the guy sitting next to us asked if they were cinnamon flavored.

The wings were extremely delicious! The meat was juicy and cooked perfectly. The cinnamon was better than I expected, but I still felt like I was missing out on my normal hot wings.

Overall the wings at Teresa’s Next Door Bar were really good and I would recommend them to anybody. Now I need to go back and try the hot wings!

Filed Under: Personal, Philadelphia Tagged With: review, wings

Managing Online Forums by Patrick O’Keefe

September 30, 2008 By Brad 2 Comments

By StrangeWork.com: I recently received a copy of Managing Online Forums, a new book by my friend Patrick O’Keefe. As most of you know I am an Advisor on SitePoint Forums with Patrick, so I couldn’t wait to dive into this book and see what Patrick had written.

Managing Online Forums Book ImageOne of the first things I noticed is this book can be read by beginners and experts alike. I’ve been around internet communities for well over 10 years now and would consider myself a semi-expert in the field. Patrick was able to not only write for a beginner enthusiast wanting to learn all about community management, but also the seasoned community veteran who thinks they have seen it all.

Patrick breaks down every aspect of community management including developing community guidelines, promoting your community, managing forum staff, dealing with bad members and chaos, and how to make money from your community.

My favorite chapter of the book is one of the more sensitive subjects, Banning Users and Dealing with Chaos. One of the quickest ways to lose control of a community is to handle chaos incorrectly. Patrick does a great job of giving real world community examples and solid solutions on how to handle each.

Another great chapter is Developing Guidelines. I’ve started more than a few communities, and not once have I stopped to think about my communities guidelines before launching. Not only does Patrick go into great detail on what type of guidelines you should have, but he also provides a blank guideline template section demonstrating exactly how he lays out his guidelines for reference.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it to anyone, beginner and expert alike, that is interested in increasing their knowledge on community management. So get out there and buy this book!

Filed Under: Personal Tagged With: book, community, review