I’ve just finished reading WordPress 3 Ultimate Security by Olly Connelly, which aims to help you make sure your WordPress installs are as protected as you can make them. Security is often one of the most intimidating pieces of running your own site, which is one of the major contributors to the popularity of shared hosting since many people are not comfortable managing their own server. Unfortunately though, shared hosting is often a false sense of security and can expose you further than a more segmented environment.

That doesn’t take away from the importance of being a responsible and reliable source of information for your clients. It’s very likely that your clients have no idea how their website works or how it’s even online, they just know who to call when something isn’t working properly. If you’re in charge of that environment, it would be a disservice to your client to cut corners or take a quick way out when it comes to their server setup. WordPress 3 Ultimate Security aims to help you harden your WordPress installs, resulting in a more stable, longer lasting website powered by WordPress.

Content summary

WordPress 3 Ultimate Security is quite a comprehensive guide. I wasn’t sure what to expect when reading the first chapter but it quickly became apparent that the content was going to sprawl the entirety of security as much as it were applicable. The chapter list is as follows:

1. So What’s the Risk?
2. Hack or Be Hacked
3. Securing the Local Box
4. Surf Safe
5. Login Lock-Down
6. 10 Must-Do WordPress Tasks
7. Galvanizing WordPress
8. Containing Content
9. Serving Up Security
10. Solidifying Unmanaged
11. Defense in Depth

Each chapter is further subdivided into a number of dense subsections covering a multitude of topics. The breadth of coverage impressed me from the start. Additionally, the tools and topics covered were modern, up-to-date, tried, and tested. I’ve read a number of security books and it’s rare to find one with comprehensive coverage of tools that will all be useful as you read through the chapters. Chapter 2 is especially interesting in this regard, as you’re guided through the process of analyzing and scanning a possible target as though you yourself were the hacker (or cracker in this case).

Chapter 3 provides extensive coverage on securing your local machine, which is a significant portion of every good security policy. Many times people forget that the biggest security vulnerability could have absolutely nothing to do with your server or the network it’s on, but instead your local computer. The one that insecurely stores you WordPress administrator login information.

WordPress-specific content doesn’t really ramp up until Chapter 5 of the book. SSL and security-oriented Apache modules are the focus of the chapter, leading up to Chapter 6 which outlines a number of smaller tasks that can help with WordPress security through obscurity.

The book moves into the server side of things in Chapter 9. The author gives advice on choosing the right host based on a number of criteria, outlines the pros and cons of popular control panel software solutions, explains how users and permissions work, all the way down to implementing a useful logging system.

The book gets even more detailed from there by discussing lower level server administration steps that can be taken in an effort to minimize the various ways a cracker may be able to obtain unauthorized access to your system. Through Chapter 11 I became increasingly impressed with the level of detail the author went to in discussing the vast number of responsibilities required when it comes to server administration tied into ways they can be exploited and ways you can thwart those attacks.

While I couldn’t consider this title to be the last one you should read on modern server security, I would highly suggest it as a starting point for things to look into as time goes on.

Overall reaction

After making it through the nearly 400 pages of content I was honestly impressed with the amount of content offered in the book. The author does a fantastic job of covering an extremely wide variety of angles which makes complete sense with such a diverse topic as security. If you were to follow the advice offered in the book you’d be left with not only a strong server environment, but a more secure local environment as well.

If you’re the person responsible for your client’s WordPress installs, or responsible for your own, taking a read through WordPress 3 Ultimate Security by Olly Connelly will very likely teach you a few things in a number of areas concerning your install. My take home message is an overall feeling of being impressed with the volume of content covered in under 400 pages. That said, the book may prove to be a bit overwhelming to some people who are less technical, but if that’s the case, unmanaged hosting might not be the place for you.

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With the focus being on the latest and greatest CSS3 snippet to replicate something we’ve done with images for years, it’s rare to read a solid discussion on the fundamentals of CSS. It was completely refreshing to read just that in Scalable and Modular Architecture for CSS (SMACSS) by Jonathan Snook.

I’ve had a long time respect for Jonathan. I remember reading his articles as I was teaching myself CSS, he was then just as much as he is now involved in the community and sharing his knowledge. I found his advice not only to be sound, but also referencing stuff he was currently working on. For one reason or another, that’s really rare with the more “Web famous” designers/developers out there, and I really like that.

The book is preempted on the site like so:

I’ve been analyzing my process (and the process of those around me) and figuring out how best to structure code for projects on a larger scale. What I’ve found is a process that works equally well for sites small and large.

Learn how to structure your CSS to allow for flexibility and maintainability as your project and your team grows.

A bit later, the premise is wrapped up with:

SMACSS (pronounced “smacks”) is more style guide than rigid framework. There is no library within here for you to download or install. SMACSS is a way to examine your design process and as a way to fit those rigid frameworks into a flexible thought process. It is an attempt to document a consistent approach to site development when using CSS. And really, who isn’t building a site with CSS these days?!

Refreshing. Much of what we read about lately is the latest CSS framework or boilerplate whatchamacallit. Fact of the matter is, while those tools can be useful, they’re only part of the solution. It’s up to you to fulfill the rest with your own know-how, and you need a plan of action.

Scalable and Modular Architecture for CSS

The book is broken down into easily digestible chapters.

• Four Types of CSS Rules
• Themes and Typography
• Depth of Applicability
• Selector Performance
• State Representation
• HTML5 and SMACSS
• Prototyping
• Formatting Code

There are a few additional sections, but for the purpose of this review I’d like to focus on the overall structure and message of the book and try to explain why I think it’s so valuable.

Jonathan is trying to explain his fundamental approach to CSS as a whole. We’re far beyond simple tips and tricks and instead focusing on the big picture approach, how you’d handle the overall architecture of the way you style an entire site from start to finish.

Jonathan begins by explaining that he’s broken down CSS into four parts:

1. Base
2. Layout
3. Module
4. State

This is the foundation of SMACSS and the segmentation is discussed throughout the book. Jonathan focuses on the fact that writing effective CSS means cutting down the amount of CSS while striking a balance with specificity. Thinking about CSS in these four parts is fundamental to SMACSS. Jonathan outlines specific definitions for each of the four categories of CSS.

Base

The defaults. They are almost exclusively single element selectors but it could include attribute selectors, pseudo-class selectors, child selectors or sibling selectors.

Layout

Divide the page into sections. Layouts hold one or more modules together.

Module

The reusable, modular parts of our design. They are the callouts, the sidebar sections, the product lists and so on.

State

Ways to describe how our modules or layouts will look when in a particular state. Is it hidden or expanded? Is it active or inactive?

Understanding this segmentation is essential to the SMACSS concept. The naming rules for each of the four categories are explained in the chapter as well. From there, a much more elaborate explanation of each is offered, putting more context to the reasoning behind the classification. Additionally, working examples are provided along the way, offering some context as to why Jonathan has come to these conclusions surrounding his method of writing CSS.

Perhaps the most complex category in the group is that of state. I’d be willing to bet that while most people do (correctly) use CSS classes to control the state of various elements on page, most do it with the sledgehammer called specificity. Jonathan takes the time to thoroughly explain a targeted approach to styling state that will help avoid both frustration and confusion down the line.

One of my favorite sections of the book is Depth of Applicability which outlines at length the necessity of finding a balance between dependency on HTML structure and specificity of your CSS. The fact of the matter is, you don’t want the way you’ve written your CSS to grossly over-effect the way you need to maintain your HTML.

Jonathan also touches on what appears to be a growing topic, Selector Performance. While changes are often negligible, performance will continue to grow in importance as the CSS layer is doing more complex things like border radii, box shadow, and other more intense operations.

I could outline why I like each and every chapter of SMACSS but instead I’d like to encourage you to give it a read. By far one of my favorite additions is the recently added screencast outlining how Jonathan would apply SMACSS to someone else’s project after he had become frustrated with implementing SMACSS on his own. Additional members-only features look to be added in the future, so that’s something to consider after you’ve perused the contents of the book.

Overall reaction

SMACSS started out (and continues to be) a free ebook. A pricing model was introduced that gets you access to platform versions (PDF, Kindle) and there’s also a Lifetime Membership available with additional benefits, including a discount on the workshop Jonathan has built from this endeavor.

SMACSS can be read in a single sitting, and I think it should be. In fact, reading it a couple times over a couple of months would be a great idea in my opinion. It’s important to take the advice into account while working, and the only way to do that is to pick a piece out that you think will integrate well and try it.

Breaking habits is hard, especially when it comes to work. People get settled in their ways and if it works, it works. Don’t fix what’s broken. It’s important, though, to qualify your methods from time to time in an effort to make sure you’re still doing not only your clients justice, but yourself by producing the best work possible. What better way to do that than to compare your workflow to a highly respected professional?

I can’t say enough how refreshing it was to read SMACSS as Jonathan has put into words something I’ve struggled to vocalize for some time now, and done a better job than I could have hoped to do. His recent experience at Yahoo! really puts the book into perspective and shows the application to working among teams on very large scale projects, something you don’t often get a look into as an observer.

While Jonathan isn’t touting SMACSS as the end-all-be-all for CSS, he rightly explains that CSS deserves a targeted process, a style guide, some sort of structure. He doesn’t think that everyone should use his, but hopes a glimpse at how he works will help you refine (or define) your own.

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I’ve just finished reading Internet Marketing with WordPress by David Mercer. The book, like a number of Packt books I’ve read lately, takes a more abstract approach to its title. The majority of the information is useful aside from the niche (in this case, WordPress) and only becomes restricted to it periodically.

I’ve read a few books that follow this line, and I can see the reasoning for it. We say all the time that the tools don’t really matter, it all comes down to what works for you. The core principals are what matter, the philosophy behind what you’re doing, the premise of good and bad when it comes to something specific. That said, I really like when authors choose to write books in this fashion, but on the flip-side it could be a detriment when a potential reader doesn’t fit the mold of the niche.

That criticism aside, this book might not seem appropriate for my library, but I try to read as much about our industry as I can. My company provides a client service, and our client service directly applies to this industry, so to help my company become a better asset, a better partner to our clients, I do my best to keep up to date not only with the technical aspects of Web development and design, but also the areas in which my clients will focus once our project has been completed.

Building a website is going to become easier for our potential clients as time goes on. Eventually the tools are going to become so powerfully easy the lower hanging fruit in our industry is going to fall to the ground. It’s important to be well rounded in your approach to client work to remain relevant, and researching beyond your comfort zone comes with that.

Internet Marketing with WordPress

This book is for the people who want to get their website out there. In particular, it’s for those website owners that have a site powered by WordPress and would like some advice on how to market it to the world. It’s meant to help people expose their site without requiring a large ad budget.

The book opens by talking about the importance of finding a niche. The Web is supersaturated with a lot of noise, and the hardest part of your job is getting a signal through. The author gives a brief introduction to the world of Internet marketing and covers the circular, reiterative process necessary to become successful.

Preparation and business objective research are important topics early in the book. From there, target audience dissection is discussed and then David moves into a large discussion on content creation. He explains that essentially content creation is marketing, and it’s very important to have a plan in place that produces effective, valuable content.

SEO in WordPress

It wouldn’t be much of an Internet marketing book if Search Engine Optimization wasn’t covered, and all of Chapter 3 discusses the implications of SEO in your marketing plan. Here’s where some more WordPress-specific context comes into play. David explains the purpose of SEO in relation to searching on the Internet, and illustrates how much of the work WordPress takes off your plate.

David speaks about site and page (URL) structure in WordPress, and explains what effect it may have on SEO for your site. He goes so far as to explain how you should be constructing your content by using appropriate headings and taking advantage of the SEO-rich content insertion of an image can provide.

Socializing WordPress

David appropriately picks right up with the fact that simply having lots of optimized content won’t necessarily get you a successful marketing campaign, it takes more work than that. After beginning with a light overview of the current status of social networking on the Web, we’re guided into a number of ways you can directly integrate your WordPress site with any number of existing social networks you’re likely to take advantage of.

While this isn’t my favorite practice in the world, knowing how to appropriately take advantage of the ease of integration can be beneficial when used properly.

Being social yourself

The remainder of the book talks about ways of organically promoting your website as part of your marketing plan. What I like about David’s explanation is that he speaks about natural, grassroots, white hat approaches to socializing yourself. Making the most of your RSS feeds, asking other authors to collaborate on content generation in the form of an article or review, and forum participation to name a few.

Reader conversion

The book then moves into actual traffic conversion. This is where marketing does what it can to prove itself: metrics. When it comes to marketing, many people want to see results, but that’s not the most straightforward thing to slap a number on and call it a success.

The book covers conversions both in the concept of ‘followers’ (your readership) as well as converting customers (e.g. you’re making money through readers). Advertising, landing pages, calls to action, visual appeal, and copywriting are all discussed as methods of increasing these conversions.

The job is never done

One of the most important sections of this book is the final chapter titled “Analyze, Refine, and Repeat”. David explains that a marketing plan is never complete, it needs constant attention and revision and your job as a marketer is never finished. Assessment of performance is an essential part of the process, so that you can make changes to hopefully help the next round go that much smoother and be that much more effective.

Here’s where analytics come in. Metrics are a great way to compare and contrast moves in marketing over time, and having an established plan for analysis and review is essential to a plan’s longevity. Both Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools are discussed in the book, and David touches on how they can be directly integrated with your WordPress install.

In summary

Overall, I think Internet Marketing with WordPress by David Mercer is a great book to potentially recommend to clients should they be interested in becoming more serious about their marketing plan for a project. It’s well read, up to date, and quite comprehensive. As with everything, it’s not the single resource that should be used on a particular subject, but I see it as great overview material that goes into just enough detail without being overbearing. It incorporates WordPress to an appropriate extent as well which makes it not only useful on that level, but valuable to someone looking to refine their Internet marketing skill as a whole.

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I’ve recently had the pleasure of reading Master Mobile Web Apps with jQuery Mobile by Matt Doyle for Elated. Admittedly, this has been my first in-depth experience with jQuery Mobile and I’m beyond inspired to start work on a mobile Web application in one form or another just as soon as humanly possible.

jQuery Mobile is an optimized JavaScript framework that sits on top of jQuery and enhances the environment in the mobile context. It builds upon the foundation provided by jQuery by providing a set of encompassing functions that make creating a mobile Web app nearly trivial.

With Master Mobile Web Apps with jQuery Mobile being my first experience with jQuery Mobile, I need to take a minute to explain how truly impressed I am with the work done so far by the jQuery Mobile team. From start to finish I was increasingly impressed with the breadth and depth of planning that must have gone into the features of jQuery Mobile. With just a few additions to your HTML5, you can have a fully functioning mobile optimized version of your app in a very short amount of time.

Master Mobile Web Apps with jQuery Mobile is an ambitious project, with jQuery Mobile being at Beta 3 at the time of this writing, and at Beta 2 at the time of it’s publishing. The great thing here is that the book is an eBook, so updates will be made available as circumstances change over time. The book covers the major conventions of jQuery Mobile, and I would consider the information to be extremely reliable and unlikely to change in any sort of debilitating degree between now and jQuery Mobile Final.

Book content

This book is a great technical resource, reference piece, and walkthrough of jQuery Mobile. Code samples and documentation are littered throughout, and the author goes into just enough context when it comes to extraneous details about implementation.

The book is broken up into three main sections followed by an elaborate set of appendices. Part I is a couple of chapters on the introduction and explanation of jQuery Mobile and some very basic usage of the framework. Part II gets into a lot more detail through seven chapters of jQuery Mobile Essentials. In these chapters a number of big picture ideas are explained including the concept of ‘pages’ in jQuery Mobile, button creation and usage, toolbars, dialogs, forms, list views, and content formatting. The third part of the book focuses on theming in jQuery Mobile, it’s API, and covers the complete Web app example “Task Tango”, a well rounded mobile task manager.

I couldn’t have asked for the book to be organized in a better way. I can usually guess what’s going to be covered next throughout a book, but in this case I was so surprised by the coverage of jQuery Mobile itself I was consistently thinking about the impressiveness of the framework itself. I recall consistently thinking ‘whoa, they even included that?’ as I read through a number of sections in the book.

In true jQuery fashion, jQuery Mobile has thought of so many things when it comes to customization. A ton of really smart defaults have been set, but customization has been left completely open, and you can override pretty much every aspect of the standard implementation. I can only hope we begin to see more and more Web applications follow the conventions set by jQuery Mobile though, there is a lot of really great stuff within.

Overall reaction

I’m thrilled to have had the opportunity to read Master Mobile Web Apps with jQuery Mobile by Matt Doyle for a number of reasons. First and foremost, it’s a really elaborate manual for jQuery Mobile. I’ll be using it repeatedly as a reference in tandem with the jQuery Mobile Docs.

The book is full of code examples, including a fully documented to-do application built on PHP, MySQL and jQuery Mobile. That alone provides an extremely valuable first-hand look at the implementation and usage of jQuery Mobile in a targeted fashion. I try to learn by example as much as possible, so capping off the end of the book with a fully functional Web app was a genius move in my opinion.

I highly recommend Master Mobile Web Apps with jQuery Mobile by Matt Doyle if you’re looking for an in-depth look at the ins and outs of jQuery Mobile, even if you’ve worked with it before.

Giveaway details

Matt Doyle has been super generous in providing two copies of Master Mobile Web Apps with jQuery Mobile to raffle off here on Monday By Noon. Since it’s an eBook, there are no geographical limitations in place, so anyone can enter! The rules for entry are pretty simple: retweet the announcement for the giveaway and link to it in a comment below explaining your experience with jQuery Mobile so far and what you’d like to do with it after reading the book should you win.

You’re limited to one retweet/comment combination and entries will be closed October 3rd, 2011 at 11:59am ET. Good luck!

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SEO has come up in nearly every client meeting I’ve had for the past five years or so. Everyone who at one point or another was involved in the building or population of a website has heard the term and wants to know your insight about it. I keep things simple and subscribe to the idea of whether or not your site is built well and facilitates good (not spammy, keyword packed) content that can be expanded upon will determine how optimized you are over time. Sure, I go to the level of making sure page titles and heading tags are appropriately used and populated, even images have a keyword or two in them, but beyond that I try to let the content do the work for me.

A big reason I’m able to do that is because of WordPress. WordPress lets me build client sites that cater to on page SEO. The fact that I don’t have to worry about the CMS messing about with what I’m trying to accomplish is a big deal, and something many developers have been burned on while trying to find their CMS of choice. WordPress (when combined with a choice plugin or two) facilitates SEO in a way that any client would be happy with; it’s a matter of how you take advantage of that as you’re building your themes.

WordPress 3 Search Engine Optimization

I’ve just finished reading WordPress 3 Search Engine Optimization by Michael David. It’s explained as:

WPSEO will show you the secrets that professional SEO companies use to take their websites to the top of search results and proliferate their business. You’ll be able to take your WordPress blog/site to the next level, as well as brush aside even the stiffest competition with this book in hand.

This book is written for anyone using WordPress, ranging from owners of business sites to website developers and blog owners. Any WordPress user who wants to sell products or services., or send out a message to the world will find that getting better rankings in the search engines will help them reach their goal faster.

Some prior knowledge of WordPress is expected but no prior knowledge of search engine optimization is needed for this book. Readers will get a deeper level of knowledge on how to make their website rank better and attract more visitors.

What originally struck me about WPSEO was that instead of this being a book for me at this point, it’d be a perfect reference for my clients. That said, I think this book still makes an extraordinary amount of sense for WordPress developers to read for the reason that it will help you present the effectiveness of WordPress and SEO to them.

WPSEO on SEO

The bulk of the content in this book is surrounding SEO, which in this case is a good thing. SEO isn’t directly tied to WordPress and the author isn’t trying to make it sound like it is. All of the SEO tips detailed in the book can be applied to any site powered by any CMS and the author does a great job of presenting his techniques. The usual formula is to give some background on a segment of SEO, show how it applies in the real world (sans CMS) and then show how it correlates with WordPress. After reading through the book, I really liked that approach and found it very effective and useful.

What’s more is that the author didn’t focus on the technicalities of SEO, and I really love that. SEO, in my opinion, is equally organic as it is technical, and Michael David talks a lot about content strategy and relating to your audience. I think those factors are going to become even more important as SEO becomes more ‘commonplace’ and the search engines need to adapt to the inevitable fact of spammers.

Every facet of SEO is covered in enough detail for me to be impressed. The book weighs in at over 300 pages of content, and there’s not much (if any at all) fluff doing little more than taking up space. I don’t mean to have a negative connotation when talking about SEO, but the low barrier to entry to the field in combination with the money involved over the past few years has saturated the industry to an abusive extent in my eyes. I like the fact that Michael David is straightforward and professional in his opinions throughout the book and backs up his explanations with fact and common sense. That’s when I like reading and talking about SEO.

Two whole chapters are devoted to avoiding black hat techniques and SEO mistakes. I think this is a worthy addition to the book because everyone who gets into SEO has ideas not covered by white hat articles and feels like it’d be a creative approach to solve a problem when in fact the results could be disasterous. Giving these poor techniques an appropriate amount of attention is well executed in WPSEO.

WPSEO on WordPress

As mentioned in the quote about the book, some WordPress background is required for the book, but not much. The author details that the only real experience in WordPress is that you’re able to work on a self hosted version (for plugin installation) and have at least seen the administration area a couple times. That’s a great thing, WordPress is an easy system to pick up and the UI itself facilitates exploration and the choice made to not cover using the admin in any sort of extraneous detail was very smart.

The fact of this book is, though, that there isn’t all that much WordPress specific information compared to SEO information. This is also very smart. Again, it’s not WordPress that’s performing the SEO, it’s just facilitating it. If I had to gauge at this point, I’d say that only about 20% of the book is tied to WordPress itself. The other 80% is all SEO all day.

Conclusion and giveaway details

I think WPSEO is a unique resource and it’s a topic that deserves the light a book can shed on the subject. WordPress has a number of built in SEO benefits that rarely get used, but can have a large effect on overall SEO. I think it’s a great resource for someone working with WordPress that’s trying to step up their professional game by being an asset to their client in a new way. There’s a ton of good information in the book about up-to-date SEO practices that don’t walk the gray hat line I so fervently dislike. There’s a lot for developers to learn about SEO in the book, and it’s nice to read about the strategies being directly tied to WordPress.

As has become nearly standard around MBN, I’m going to give away my copy of WPSEO to a reader. There are a couple of rules for entry, but not many. The contest will run for exactly one week, ending July 25 at 11:59am ET and the only way to enter is by leaving a comment below that outlines something you’ve become frustrated with when it comes to WordPress and SEO. Multiple comments will count as one entry, and due to shipping costs you must be in the continental US to enter. Good luck!

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On the other side of that coin lies a strategic, clear, and hopefully concise method to learning, however. That too is really important when learning to do things the proper way or get some insight into your own practices by comparing and contrasting to someone else’s. Books tend to fill that void quite nicely for me. It was great to read a book on WordPress targeted towards someone who may not have even used it before.

Who WordPress 3 Complete is for

Narrowing down an audience for this book was pretty straightforward. I would suggest this book to a developer who caught wind of WordPress at some point and was interested in finding out more about it. I’d even suggest this book to a seasoned developer looking to give WordPress a trial run to see how it compares to their system of choice.

The biggest barrier to entry here would be that you’d need to have existing experience with HTML/CSS, and written at least some PHP before reading. It would also help if you’ve had some first hand experience using WordPress. Not necessarily developing a theme or plugin, but interacting with a WordPress install prior to reading the book will be that much more helpful.

Subject matter

WordPress 3 Complete is divided into 11 chapters, but could also be divided into two parts. The first ‘part’ consists of chapters 1-5 and lays the foundation of WordPress, what it’s all about, and how to use it out of the box. Chapters 6-11 get you writing code and discusses theme building, plugin development, and other more intermediate subjects. What I like about that format is that WordPress’ core nature is put flat out on the table for exploration from the start. The author discusses where WordPress came from and shows what WordPress does best.

Chapter 1 guides you through the background of WordPress, and since the book is titled WordPress 3 Complete, the author takes the time to point out what it is about WordPress 3 that sets it apart from previous versions. Not completely necessary, but since WordPress 3 was truly a ground-breaking release, I’m glad the subject was given the attention it was.

The next chapter covers getting up and running with a WordPress website, whether it be on wordpress.com or a self-hosted solution. The author does a good job describing the differences between the two options, and carefully guides first timers through installing a self-hosted version of WordPress on their own server.

The third chapter is all about content generation. We’re walked through creating posts, working with advanced post options, comments, categories and more. The chapter (and book as a whole) is full of up-to-date screenshots which are always helpful to beginners when walking through something technical.

Chapter 4 continues passed Posts and covers Pages, Plugins, image management, and Menus. Each of these features deserve the attention they’ve been given by the author, as WordPress has refined the process has some of the best systems in place to managing content or plugins. The author does take this opportunity to plug WPtouch to make your site ‘mobile friendly’ which follows a trend of recommending specific plugins throughout the book. More often than not they’re quite popular and trusted plugins, which can help beginners put the new knowledge of installing Plugins to the test.

Chapter 5 continues where chapter 4 left off and discusses the location, installation, and activation of additional WordPress themes. The WordPress Theme Directory is referenced, and you’re walked through the retrieval and implementation of a theme.

In Chapter 6, the book shifts into a new gear and we’re finally able to get our hands dirty with actual PHP. I like how the author approached relating an existing design and making it “WordPress friendly.” It’s sometimes tough to explain to someone very new to the field how to design “for” WordPress. In this case, the author took a very blog-centric approach to explaining how you should design a WordPress friendly site, and I think that’s the best way to go about it. I like that you’re walked through the creation of the site in static form first, and it is in turn broken out into the pieces that make a WordPress theme. That’s how I build themes, and I think it’s a great way to go about it.

Feeds and podcasting are examined at good length in Chapter 7. Truth be told I’m in a way surprised to see an entire chapter dedicated to feeds, but after reading it I think it was a smart decision to help those beginners looking to start a site for their podcast. All of the proper details are covered, including mention of a few popular podcasting plugins to check out.

Chapter 8 is full of material covering how to develop your own plugins and Widgets. This is arguably the most technical chapter of the book, and the author walks through the development of a plugin from the ground up to show how it’s done. The plugin isn’t too elaborate, which is great for beginners, but it does utilize some regular expressions which those new to PHP may find a bit confusing. It’s really no big deal, but something I felt worth mentioning none-the-less.

User management is discussed thoroughly in Chapter 9, focusing on the aspect of community blogging. While community blogging seems to have gone away in the majority, in favor of single-author blogs, WordPress really does user management well, so it’s great to have this covered too.

Much of the WordPress 3+ goodness is covered in Chapter 10, which details how to use WordPress for a ‘non-blog’ website. Custom Post Types make their appearance here, and even more plugins are introduced by name (e.g. Contact Form 7) for the purpose of building a more standard website powered by WordPress.

The final chapter is titled Administrator’s Reference and it covers things like backing up your WordPress site, upgrading, migrating, and other things WordPress site administrators should be aware of. It sounds like the author may have used personal experience here in covering questions that were likely repeatedly asked over time. Such details as file permissions are covered, as well as some common PHP errors that beginners are likely to bump into.

Overall reaction

One of the things I liked most about this book was the fact that it covered just about every angle WordPress had to offer without going too far over the line and becoming overbearing. The target audience (beginners) was kept in mind throughout and the author did a great job of going just far enough in her explanations of features or procedures. More often than not someone will pick up this book with the intention of utilizing WordPress as a blog platform, and the book caters to that. I spend most of my time defending the fact that WordPress moved beyond being a simple little blogging platform years ago but that’s just a bias I’ve got personally. I’m glad WordPress 3 Complete took this approach because the fact remains that most people are introduced to WordPress as their blogging platform, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

I would definitely recommend this book to newcomers to WordPress development, specifically those who have decent experience in front end development and some experience in PHP. I like that the book is structured well, easy to read, and can act as a nice reference from time to time. The instruction offered is solid and I think it makes a great addition to the WordPress educational resources available to date.

Giveaway details

I do have a couple of eBooks of WordPress 3 Complete if you’re interested. Without getting too fancy, if you’d like to enter to win one of the eBooks, leave a comment below indicating what you hope to learn from WordPress 3 Complete. Entries will be accepted for 168 hours, ending June 6, 2011 at 11:00am ET. Best of luck if you enter!

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Then there’s Dribbble. Seriously, if I don’t stop now I’ll never get to the book review. On top of the many reasons I respect Dan Cederholm professionally, he seems like a great person outside the modern Web. He’s a guy we can look up to in the most widespread of ways, and I’m appreciative that I’ve been following Dan for as long as I have.

CSS3 for Web Designers

I received my copy of CSS3 for Web Designers, the latest release from A Book Apart, just yesterday; it jumped the (ever growing) lineup of books I’d like to read and went straight to the top. I sat down with a cup of coffee near our freshly set up Christmas tree and got down to reading.

If Dan has a writing style, I’d have to label it consistent. He has a way with words that truly educates as much as it entertains. It’s a really difficult balance to find, something I strive for in my own way. It’s particularly admirable to hit such a stride with technical books. Dan has done it again with CSS3 for Web Designers.

Before talking about the book itself, I’d just like to express how delightful it is to read a printed copy of a book that primarily (and, in this case, singularly) focuses on such modern Web technology. I read a lot online. I appreciate the speedy delivery of a PDF, but I also enjoy sitting down and reading printed copy. I’m happy to see the increase in traditional publications on up-to-date subjects.

On the subject of CSS3

I’ve written before about the real impact of using CSS3 on client work, and much of what I wrote still rings true for me. One of the initial themes I quickly related to in CSS3 for Web Designers was Dan reiterating that while CSS3 can (and should) be implemented today, it should be used with a purpose, and the author should recognize the impact of the decision to use CSS3. Dan is always sure to include the acceptable fallback approach, and he also covers the aspect of future-proofing your styles to ensure forward compatibility.

I’m happy to report that CSS3 for Web Designers covers the exact set of properties I’ve been playing with both on client projects as well as personal work. Properties such as border-radius, text-shadow, box-shadow, multiple background images, opacity, and RGBA are covered from purpose to implementation.

Dan took the time to design a pseudo-site to walk us through the enhancements made to various elements within the design, explaining why and how each property is applicable. I love this approach to education, and in Dan’s traditional style, it worked out well.

In the newly defined A Book Apart style, CSS3 for Web Designers looks beautiful. The type is great, the quality of the book itself is awesome, and there is no shortage of code to check out. I can’t wait to see more of the A Book Apart collection in my library, CSS3 for Web Designers is an excellent addition that I’m sure will be reread at least a few times more if for nothing else than enjoying the quality.

My recommendation

I loved reading CSS3 for Web designers. If an up-and-coming designer asked me what they should know about CSS3, I can confidently say that I’d recommend CSS3 for Web Designers. It truly echos my sentiments regarding CSS3 at this point and with it being such a quick read, designers are sure to be brought up to date rapidly, with the only prerequisite being a basic working knowledge of HTML and CSS (2.1).

Seasoned designers and developers should give the book a read as well. It’s a great reminder that CSS3 should be used for good, not evil. Even professionals need to be reminded of the basics sometimes, and this book does a great job of that.

Giveaway details

If you haven’t had a chance to pick up CSS3 for Web Designers quite yet, I’d love to have the chance to send you one of my copies for free. To enter, just tweet the following:

Looking to win a free copy of CSS3 for Web Designers from @jchristopher /via /x/30

Entries are open for 7 days and will close at 11:59pm Eastern on December 5, 2010. The winner will be announced the following day. I’m sorry to say, but unless you’re willing to pay shipping, the contest is limited to those living the continental US. Each entry on Twitter will be counted once and only once. Good luck!

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WooThemes, though, has been a large inspiration for me. In my eyes, a lot can be learned from WooThemes, not only because I live and breathe WordPress just like that company does, but because they seem to be ahead of the curve and setting trends on a consistent basis. Every time I read about what that company is doing I think that it’s a solid decision and I can’t wait to see what comes of it. It’s rare to be able to follow a company for a lengthier bit of time and not notice any honest-to-goodness hiccups along the way.

It’s hard to learn about WooThemes without hearing about Adii, and such was the case with me. I’d follow what he was doing because his personal brand was smart too. He was hiring big name designers to help propel his presence in the design community and it was working for him. The “Rockstar” mantra was already in full swing when I first started reading from Adii and it was obvious that he had a particular way of going about life and business.

Needless to say, I was intrigued about Adii’s thoughts on the subjects, and when he announced his first book I was quick to take a closer peek. I’ve always had an interest in business; particularly an interest in Web-based businesses. The low barrier to entry has every market flooded with businesses looking to make a quick buck, but only the passionate ones survive. Adii’s businesses seem to be thriving, and I was looking forward to getting some insight on that.

Rockstar Business

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I originally read about Rockstar Business. It’s self-described as

… a special collection of inspirational stories, thought-provoking reflections, and take-it-from-me advice from author and self-described “rockstar,” Adii Pienaar.

So my first thought was that the book may be much less business oriented, and maybe something more like The Four Hour Workweek. That’s okay, there were a number of things I took home from that book, and a new angle on something like that should provide some good advice. As I began reading though, it seemed like Adii wanted to make a point that Rockstar Business was in fact designed to be completely different than The Four Hour Workweek. As I read through Rockstar Business I was convinced that Adii does in fact have his own unique way of approaching life, and it is a bit different than Timothy Ferriss.

Rockstar, Rockstar, Rockstar!

Adii is attached to the phrase Rockstar in a big way. He speaks to great lengths about where it came from and that it’s a mindset, a philosophy, and something he’s become very comfortable and identifies with. I will give a bit of a warning; if you have distaste for the phrase, you’ll likely not be able to put it aside in an effort to make it through the book. It’s rare that a paragraph sneaks by without mentioning “the R word” and it’s without a doubt the focal point from cover to cover.

I must admit that I’m not in love with the term ‘Rockstar’ and I don’t believe I’ve ever so much as typed it until it came to this book review. The term has a stigma of cockiness, how could it not? A lot of people are turned off by overconfidence but Adii ran with it. Adii does his best to explain that’s not how he views it, that the rockstardom he’s defined for himself closely parallels itself with professionalism and sound business practices with a touch of vision and risk. I actually found myself replacing the occurrences of ‘rockstar’ in the book with the word ‘Web professional’ as I read.

What’s to learn?

Adii offers a lot of advice throughout the book. I’ve got to say that it’s really sound advice, most of which focuses on not becoming a pretentious success, contrary to the weight the word ‘rockstar’ carries. Truthfully, that was a relief to hear. I knew before buying the book that even though Adii has branded himself a Rockstar, he doesn’t carry himself around like he’s better than anyone else. Although I’ve only corresponded with Adii a time or two, I’ve heard nothing but great things about him, his personality, and his businesses. The times I have reached out to him he’s been responsive and timely. He touches on the importance of that in Rockstar Business.

Adii speaks a lot about finding the right people to work with, something really important to cultivating good work. There are a lot of people in our industry out there to make money and that alone. A big part of Adii’s vision is that ‘Rockstars’ care. They don’t spend all day looking at numbers and how to make them grow, Adii stands behind curating what happens on the bleeding edge, and to me that’s inspirational. There’s nothing worse than a business owner that hasn’t a clue about their business and instead depends on others for their greatness. It seems like Rockstar Business is an antithesis to something like that ever happening; I like that.

Much of the book surrounds brand. Brand yourself, brand your business, brand everything. Adii explains that it’s much more important that the right things be said about you and what you’re up to and the best way to get that done is to focus on it every day. I’m a big proponent of that as well. Adii explains his reasons behind doing so and I agree. You need a name for yourself, your company needs to stand on its own two feet. Coat tails can only be ridden for so long and it’s important that you’re active and involved.

Overall opinion

Rockstar Business is a quick read. I went through it in about a single sitting and it’s easy reading for the most part. That’s a good thing. I must say though, that if you’re not used to (and acceptive of) the “rockstar” mantra, the book may in fact be difficult to get through. Again, I only say that because I share the skepticism of many that someone can be a rockstar without the baggage that comes with it. I think that’s entirely part of Adii’s angle, though. He’s set out to destroy the stigma by doing what he’s doing and from what I can see, he’s doing it well.

Adii will definitely continue to inspire me, specifically as I continue with my company as well as projects like Monday By Noon. The fact that he’s my age, running multiple successful companies, and has already published a book is definitely inspiring. If you’re looking to pick up a positive vibe for your entrepreneurial spirit, I say give Rockstar Business a read.

Giveaway details

As has become the tradition around Monday By Noon, I picked up a second copy of Rockstar Business to share with a reader. I like paying it forward, especially with books, because this community has provided so much knowledge for me, the least I can do is pass along a book from time to time. That said, if you’d like to get your hands on a free copy of Rockstar Business by Adii Rockstar, we’re going with the Tweet entry method this time around. To enter, just tweet the following:

Looking to win a free copy of Rockstar Business  from @jchristopher /via /x/29

Entries are open for 7 days and will close at 11:59pm Eastern on November 28, 2010. The winner will be announced the following day. I’m sorry to say, but unless you’re willing to pay shipping, the contest is limited to those living the continental US. Each entry on Twitter will be counted once and only once. Good luck!

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We’re hearing more about HTML5 as each week goes on, and it’s not without reason. If HTML5 isn’t something you’ve determined as important enough to deserve your attention, that’s problematic. HTML5 is way more than <audio> and <video> and it’s so much more than saying ‘Flash stinks.’

The number of blog posts, articles, and other writings surrounding HTML5 must far outnumber those on any other single Web design-centered subject so far this year, and I’m happy to say that most are very informative and forward thinking. There is still the issue, though, of some designers not truly understanding what we should expect as HTML5 becomes increasingly prevalent.

HTML5 for Web Designers

Enter HTML5 for Web Designers, the first A Book Apart written by Jeremy Keith. As summarized by A Book Apart:

The HTML5 spec is 900 pages and hard to read. HTML5 for Web Designers is 85 pages and fun to read. Easy choice.

HTML5 is the longest HTML specification ever written. It is also the most powerful, and in some ways, the most confusing. What do accessible, content-focused standards-based web designers and front-end developers need to know? And how can we harness the power of HTML5 in today’s browsers?

In this brilliant and entertaining user’s guide, Jeremy Keith cuts to the chase, with crisp, clear, practical examples, and his patented twinkle and charm.

I can confirm that the HTML5 spec is quite long and arduous to take on in an reasonable amount of time if you’re expecting to learn the big picture surrounding HTML5 and how it will affect you and your work. HTML5 for Web Designers is a supreme alternative if I may say so myself.

What you’ll learn

In all honesty, HTML5 for Web Designers is a fantastically comprehensive introduction to HTML5, and it keeps everything to 85 pages. If you’ve read about HTML5 here and there and you can’t stop hearing other people talk about it, HTML5 for Web Designers will get you into those conversations.

This is not a technical book by any stretch of the word. I say that as someone who has been working with HTML for a number of years and knows the basics; it’s a markup language, certain elements are meant for certain things, and elements have attributes that change various characteristics about said elements.

This book is not for someone learning HTML, it’s for someone who currently writes either HTML or (X)HTML by choice and has an opinion for doing so. It’s aimed for professionals looking to educate themselves on the next version of the most important markup language in the world.

What you won’t learn

Continuing on the basis that this is not a technical book, you’re not going to hear mention of the really geeky stuff surrounding HTML5. Web Workers, WebSockets, Web SQL and Storage, and geolocation (to name a few) are nowhere to be seen, but it’s not without reason:

The JavaScript APIs in HTML5 are very powerful. They are also completely over my head. I’ll leave it to developers smarter than me to write about them. The APIs deserve their own separate book.

Truth be told, there are a number of misconceptions surrounding a number of those technologies, some of which have absolutely nothing to do with the HTML5 spec in the least. I’m super glad Jeremy took this approach. That decision alone made HTML5 for Web Designers the top notch book to overview and introduce someone to HTML5 without becoming overbearing.

Overall impression

I honestly loved the book. It’s small enough (85 pages) that you can read it in a sitting or two and it’s written in such a style that doesn’t come close to that of a lethargic textbook. If you’ve had the opportunity to read any of Jeremy’s other books (DOM Scripting, Bulletproof Ajax) this definitely follows suit, but with a bit more personality. Definitely a bonus.

I liked that the book went into more detail than the spec alone. It talked about actual application as well. There were bits and pieces about how we’ll be able to style these new elements which is super important. There was also some advice given regarding certain element attributes surrounding best practices which will steer readers in the right direction from the get-go.

Additionally, Jeremy devoted just enough time to the history of HTML5, how it came to be, and even touched on the politics surrounding its development. These facts are important to know if you’re looking to truly harness and refine your knowledge.

You’re going to learn a ton from this book, and I definitely recommend picking it up if your job title is Web Designer, Web Developer, Front End Developer, or anything else that has you writing HTML at any point in time.

Giveaway details

It’s that time again. Giveaway time. I last caught wind that the book was sold out currently, so I’m hoping to send the book to someone who didn’t get an order in before there were none left. Rules for entry are again quite simple:

• You must live in the continental US (or be willing to pay shipping otherwise)
• You can enter by leaving a comment below explaining what you’re most excited about when it comes to HTML5

• You can enter a second time via Twitter if you’d like by tweeting the following:

  Looking to get a free copy of HTML5 for Web Designers from @jchristopher! /x/23 #MBNhtml5

Entries via Twitter are not required but a comment here is. An entry via Twitter is just doubling your chances. Entries will be open and accepted until August 9, 2010 at 11:59am EDT. Good luck!

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