value Archives - The Rough Diamond Academy

Page Builders & WordPress Themes

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Themes and Page Builders

If you're a business owner and you're building or maintaining your own website in WordPress, you should take a moment to consider how best to get a flexible, light weight and easy to use theme and page builder combination. What you say?! A page builder, what the?!

A Quick Recap

WordPress uses a combination of core code, plugins and a theme to create a website. You can read more about that structure in this post. For now its enough to know that every site has these elements. Every site has a theme.

So, What's The Best Way To Build A WordPress Website?

Ask a room full of WordPress developers and you'll probably get a whole raft of opinions about the best way to build a WordPress site. Some will say that you should build you own theme, others will say page builders are the way to go, and so on... But I'm not talking to a room full of developers. I'm talking to a business owner that is building their own site for whatever reason. And so, for me there are only two ways forward in this situation:

Buy a ready designed theme
Build your own

Buy a Ready Designed Theme

There are a myriad of ready to go themes available for WordPress, ranging from free to relatively inexpensive. The upside is that you just plug it in and fill out the available customisation options and you are good to go! It's fast and a good option if you need to get a site up quickly. The downside is that you are limited to the structure that the theme imposes on you. You can work around some of this with a good page builder, we'll come back to these, but even then you can't really change the layout dramatically. Another downside is that you aren't the only person with that theme. It's not exactly unique. In addition to this most of these themes come with a lot of code that is never going to be used if you don't use those options. This makes for bloated code and this can impact the speed of your site. It can also be a tad frustrating when you are forced to fit into the box you are given!

Build Your Own

In reality, you are unlikely to have the skills required to code your own theme. And personally, I haven't built a theme for years. It takes too long, and I would not generally be able to charge enough to make it a profitable option. But, there is a way to have the best of both worlds, ie a flexible, lightweight theme with the ability to design your own layout without code. Do I have your attention?

A Light Weight, Practical Approach

This is the exact approach I use when building sites. I want a site to be as lightweight as possible, that is not bloated with a bunch of unnecessary code, but I also need to be able to design with freedom. I use a specific theme with two specific plugins to achieve this.

Page Builders

I've already mentioned page builders, and this is the first of the plugins I use. My choice of page builder is Beaver Builder. I've used it for years now, and I've built some enormous sites using this method, including a recent site in excess of 500 pages. But there's a couple of others you might like to look at; Elementor and Divi.

Do your own research to decide what works for you best. For me Divi is out of the question because it leaves behind a mess of code in the content in the event you ever decide to move away from it and use a different builder. I have been in the position of rebuilding more than a few Divi sites, and quite frankly I hate it! There, I've said it! But I know many developers that love it. Then again, it's not their problem if it leaves behind a trail of rubbish code, is it?!

Elementor by all accounts is an excellent builder, however, I have been put off by a history of security issues with this plugin, and that's enough reason for me to give it a wide birth. So, it's Beaver for me all the way!

But Beaver Builder is only part of the story. The second plugin is Beaver Themer. To really create the full design experience I need the ability to design more than on page content. I need to be able to design and build every element of a site, eg headers, footers, etc. And so, Beaver Themer is a must! It's developed by the same people that developed Beaver Builder and they work brilliantly together.

Now, like I said, the choice of builder is up to you, and you can get a idea of comparison here: Elementor vs Divi vs Beaver Builder

Theme

Every WordPress site has a theme and the variety is huge! The builders I have mentioned will work on just about any theme, but for me, my go to theme is GeneratePress. I've used this as my base theme for years and it would take a lot to move me away from it. It's lightweight and well supported. In and of itself it has little in the way of design, it's just a framework that supports the builders I use. And thats great, because the last thing I want is a bunch of bloat in my theme. I don't want a theme telling me how my design has to look or define a structure that I can't alter easily. GeneratePress, no issues!

Another theme that gets a good mention in the forums is Astra theme. It along with GeneratePress are both amongst the recommended themes by Elementor. Beaver Builder also has their own theme and so does Divi. You might need to experiment a bit to work out what's best for you.

So my setup is Beaver Builder, Beaver Themer with GeneratePress. As part of the coming Rough Diamond Academy courses I will be building a website from scratch with this structure. If you are interested in being one of the first to join the Academy and benefit from the courses and support community that comes with them, you can register your interest here.

David Fuller

CEO - Rough Diamond Academy

For over 21 years David has been building websites for clients. In 2013 he pivoted from running a web design agency to working hands on with clients to help them build their businesses by reaching their ideal clients. Going beyond the website. The experience of working at the coal face is the foundation of The Rough Diamond Academy. Real life experience for real life businesses. It starts with building a site, but that's only the beginning!

Cheap Is Often Very Expensive

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Cheap vs Value

If you are working with a sub contract web developer, how do you know you are getting value? Value can be a difficult thing to define, but value and cheap are quite often very different things, and cheap is often very expensive in the long term. Have a look at the image below. The Cheap/Fast/Good triangle. For me it's the simplest way to explain the cheap versus value equation. When faced with someone looking for a bargain, it's easier to point at the triangle and say, of the three options here, you can only pick two!

So:

Cheap and Fast ≠ Good
Cheap and Good ≠ Fast
Good and Fast ≠Cheap

So, it's possible to get cheap and good, you just won't get it quickly! The question for you is always going to be what matters the most. The issues, or disappointments, come with the expectation that you can have it all!

Hourly Rates

Value and hourly rates is another area that is difficult to define. I gave up using hourly rate years ago. I don't do piece meal work, and I only do project work occasionally. By and large I work with my clients on an ongoing basis. The issue for me is that an hourly rate doesn't really account for value. What ZI can achieve in an hour doesn't necessarily equate to the what other people can achieve in an hour. So, if you are always looking for the cheapest hourly rate you may actually end up paying more in the long run. I've seen jobs I can do in a few hours take days, or longer, by others. They may have a cheaper rate, but they charge more!

If you are going to use contractors on an hourly rate basis it pays to get a considered estimate of the time it is likely to take to complete the work. At least you will get a rough ideas in advance of what you are likely to pay.

And hourly rates definitely don't tell you anything about quality. What someone charges for an hours work doesn't really tell you how good they'll be. It that triangle again. Good, cheap and fast.

And this is the dilemma. Going for cheap can end up costing you a lot more in the long run if the quality is poor or the job never gets finished. Look for developers with a portfolio of quality work and happy customers to refer to. Ask them for the expected delivery time and expected cost, and keep your expectation realistic.

David Fuller

CEO - Rough Diamond Academy

WordPress – Should I Pay For Plugins?

Should I Pay For WordPress Plugins?

Should I pay for WordPress Plugins? Given that you can get free plugins for WordPress, and WordPress itself is free, why should I pay for a plugin? It seems to be at odds with the whole WordPress 'free' thing, doesn't it?

Well, not really. In fact, not at all!

Plugins Are Addons, Not WordPress

The architecture of WordPress allows for third party developers to create code that extends the features of the core. Some of these developers create plugins for free, or a 'lite' version of a plugin that is free. But at the end of the day, developing is how they make their living. And like anyone creating a value add it's not at all unreasonable to be paid for that added value. In fact I would argue that payments for plugins are not only supporting the developer, they are supporting the ongoing viability of the entire WordPress environment. A developer that is paid for their work can continue to developer further functionality, additional plugins, and support existing plugins they've developed. And so, there is often a premium version of the same plugin with additional functionality. Support of the plugin is often limited with the free version, but available with the premium version. It all comes down to whether you need the additional functionality, or like to support the developers if you don't.

It's A Business

Just like you, developers are running a business. I'm sure you like to get paid and so do developers. It's a mistake to treat software like the WordPress ecosystem as 'only' free. I use many premium plugins, and in many cases I won't build a site without them. Most of my go to plugins are premium. I also use free plugins, but I'm always wary about the quality of any plugin. I limit plugins to ones I know are quality. That usually means premium, but not always. Stability of code and support are of incredible value to me, and hopefully is to you too.

Your website is a huge part of the marketing of your business, so if that means paying for a premium plugin to achieve results, it should be a no brainer! But, of course, is a call for you 🙂

David Fuller

CEO - Rough Diamond Academy

Is WordPress Free?

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WordPress - Is it Free?

Is WordPress Free? The simple answer to that is YES! But like most things in life it's a little more complicated than it looks at first glance. Let's take a closer look.

WordPress Core

The core software that is at the heart of WordPress is free to download and use. There are no user licenses or yearly fees. No matter how big your website is. None. Nada. Zilch. Zero!
That's great news, because it's hard to get cheaper than free!

So, What's The Catch? There's always a catch, right? Well, yes... and no.

Plugins

The core is free, but there's more to WordPress than just the core. There are also plugins. Plugins are extensions to the core. They allow for additional functionality to be plugged in to WordPress. Now, a lot of these are free, just like the core, but there are also many commercial plugins, or premium plugins. These attract either a one-off fee or an annual subscription. Now if you only use free plugins - it's all still free 🙂 (Duh, obviously!)

Themes

And then there's themes! Every WordPress site has a theme. Yep, every single one of them! Just like plugins, there are lots of free themes around, and just like plugins there are lots of premium themes. So, use a free theme, and free plugins, and... you guessed it, it's still free!

Yes, But Is This Realistic?

Is it a realistic expectation to never use premium themes or plugins. Probably not, but it is totally possible. At some point you're probably going to want to use a premium plugin. And you still have to factor in hosting and associated costs. So, plan to pay a little bit! 🙂

David Fuller

CEO - Rough Diamond Academy

Your New Life Requires the Death of Your Old Life

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There Is No Change Without Pain!

Your New Life Requires the Death of Your Old Life! It's impossible to change and remain the same, yet that's exactly what so many of us try to achieve. Whether it's adopting a new business structure, or getting fit, or letting an idea go, or adopting a new one... we try to maintain the status quo with all our might! We want change, we want better outcomes, but we don't want to change a thing. We don't want to do the work. We want easy. We wan't magic. And surprise, surprise, we are left wishing things could be different. And as the saying goes, a goal without action is just a wish!

One of my mentors, the wonderful Mel Robbins, says it like this: The Cost of Your New Life Is Your Old Life! We hang on to the old because change is painful. It's hard to let go, but you can't change and remain the same. That just isn't possible! Another way of saying it is; “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.”

Today marks 4 years to the day I let my old life die. Sounds dramatic doesn't it?! But in reality my old life died on a walking track at Mt Macedon, an hour north of Melbourne. We'd called in to visit an old friend who lived in the area and he took us on 'quick' walk up a mountain track. It damn near killed me! I was struggling with every step, out of breath, uncomfortable and sweating bullets despite the mild weather. I quickly fell behind as my friend raced up the track. In that moment I knew I had to make changes. In that moment I killed that overweight unfit guy and began rebuilding him. I killed him with a decision. A 5 second decision. I'd recently ready Mel's book, The 5 Second Rule, and employed the rule in that moment. That decision killed my excuses as surely as if I'd ambushed them on that track and left them in the bush. By the time I returned to the car old me was gone, even though I still looked exactly the same. Every day since them has been a process of employing the action I knew I needed to take in order to be the guy that could race up a mountain track with relative ease. A course of action I'm still taking and modifying.

Change Starts With A Decision, but It Doesn't End There

Today I'm 37 kilos lighter and significantly fitter. I walk 4-5 kms most days and weight train under the supervision of a coach 4 days a week. My diet is nothing like the diet I consumed 4 years ago. I track my food, my weight, my measurements and I report these to my coach. I am accountable to the decision I made all those years ago! It started with one quick decision, and continues with daily, hourly and momentary decisions. I continue to refine myself by letting go of the behaviours and habits that no longer serve me. As they comes to light, as I have the clarity around what needs to change, I change! The cost of my life today was letting go of bad food choices, alcohol, laziness and excuses. I am more alive today because I chose to kill the old me!

This Is True In Business!

It's the same with business. We avoid change because it's hard! We hang on to routine, comfort, what we know, because it's easier than doing the work to get where we say we want to go! We do this even when we know things aren't working. We hang on to ur excuses when we should move on. I am coming up to 22 years in this business. It looks nothing like the business I started all those years ago. As I have had clarity around the direction I wanted to take, I have had to let go of old ideas and structures to recreate my business on many occasions. Each time creating a better business. When you know better, do better. I am in the process of doing this right now with the creation of The Rough Diamond Academy. The cost of this new business is the old business. The prospect of what this new business will bring fills me with excitement and energy.

And so I ask you, are you hanging on to a life that no longer serves you? Are you missing opportunities because you are afraid of change? Are you trying to hang on to the old but wanting the new? If so, let it go, you can't be different and the same. If it's calling you, go toward it. If it excites you, even if it's daunting, go toward it. Embrace the new life and let go of the old life. That's the price!

David Fuller

CEO - Rough Diamond Academy

How Often Should You Update WordPress?

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Keeping Your Website Secure

How Often Should You Update WordPress? WordPress is an incredible platform for developing websites. I've been using it for close to 14 years now as my go to CMS. It's flexible and powerful. Having said that the very things that make it incredible can also make it vulnerable. Managed well though, this is nothing to fear. It's only when we ignore the basic maintenance of the software that runs WordPress that things get problematic. So, what is that software?

WordPress Core, Plugins and Themes

A basic understanding of the structure of a WordPress site helps to highlight where vulnerabilities can occur. There are 3 areas you need to be aware of:

WordPress Core
Plugins
Themes

1. WordPress Core

At the heart of WordPress is the core. This the software that is initially installed when you install WordPress, and is a part of every WordPress site. The core is regularly updated as improvements are made to functionality and new features are added. It is also updated to patch security issues as they are discovered. These security patches are of particular importance.

2. Plugins

Every Website has a uniques set of requirements. To try and have all the code required to cater for these requirements in the core would be impossible, not to mention making the code enormous and clumsy. So to keep a website running as lean as possible, additional functionality can be added in the form of Plugins. Plugins are code that interact with the WordPress Core to extend its functionality. Just like the core, plugins are regularly updated to extend functionality and patch security issues.

3. Themes

Every WordPress website has a theme. This is code that determines the layout, or look, of the website. And guess what? Themes are as updated with functionality and security patches too!

So, how often should you update WordPress then?

I'm not sure there is a definitive answer to this, but you should have a regular process in place to check the current status of your core, plugins and themes. I have all my sites on a weekly schedule of automated updates. But, be warned! Updates can break a site! Not often, but it most definitely can happen.

Not all Plugins are Created Equally

There are currently, at the time of writing this article, in excess of 58000 plugins to choose from. These plugins are developed by 3rd party developers, and they range in quality. Sometimes things go wrong and plugins conflict with each other, or even the WordPress core. This can lead to unexpected results! Like the dreaded white screen of death!

Backup Before Updating!

So, before you do any updates, whether it's the core, plugins or themes, make sure you have created a complete backup of your site. There are a number of ways to do this, but that a whole other article. I use an automated system called managewp.com to do my backups, updates and various other tasks. No matter how you achieve it, don't skip the backup!

In addition to my weekly schedule I keep a lookout for any urgent security issues, for example, I subscribe to services like WordFence to keep me informed. This alerts me to individual issues that I may need to address urgently in a manual fashion, like an urgent patch to a specific plugin that's just been released.

In short, keep an eye on updates and do them as often as possible.

Why Should I Update Though? Won't My Site Keep Working?

Look, you might get lucky for years with an old WordPress core and out of date plugins and themes. I know of several sites right now that haven't been updated in forever! Obviously these aren't sites I manage. To date, they've been lucky, but it's just a matter of time. It's a roll of the dice! Out of date software that has potential security exploits is a great way to get hacked. And nobody wants or needs that! So yes, your site may not stop working if you don't update it, but you are risking your business on a wing and a prayer! I've also seen many sites hacked with software that is only months out of date. I just don't take that risk.

Here's an example of a release in the last 24 hours from WordPress.

WordPress 5.7.1 is now available!

This security and maintenance release features 26 bug fixes in addition to two security fixes. Because this is a security release, it is recommended that you update your sites immediately. All versions since WordPress 4.7 have also been updated.

Note here that even previous versions if WordPress have been patched. So even if you for so specific reason want to stay with an old version, you can still apply security patches.

Summary

A regular update program for your website is vital to keeping it running smoothly and free of security issues. As an important part of your marketing, it's worth considering having someone manage the site for you to ensure updates are being managed and backups are taken care of. Experience has taught me that it's never an issue, until it's an issue! And then it's a disaster!

PS. This applies to all CMS software, not just WordPress!

David Fuller

CEO - Rough Diamond Academy

When To Give Up Blogging?

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When To Give Up Blogging? Hint: Don't!

It can be disappointing when you write a great article and get no response. But, is that a reason to quit? At what point do you throw in the towel and call it a day? Well, I would argue that no response is not a great yard stick to go by, or reason to quit. It's silence, not rejection.

A huge problem with expecting an immediate response is that it assumes your blog is relevant to everyone all the time. This goes for social media posts as well. But if you're writing to provide information of value to your audience there's several things you don't know, and may never know.

Who's Listening? (Or reading)

You never know when someone is reading your words. An assumption that everyone who does will respond in some form or fashion is misplaced. Most people will never tell you they are following you, or may not tell you for some time. This happens all the time with social media. I'm often told by people in person that they loved a certain post, or series of posts, and yet they have never liked said posts or left a comment, etc. They are the shadow watches, the lurkers (in the nicest of possible ways) You are having a quiet impact and you don't even know it! How sad would it be if you gave up and lost having that impact?!

Context

I've mentioned this before. Your content is not always relevant in the moment. It's a matter of context and timing. Just because you were ready to push publish doesn't mean your audience was ready to read! You are creating content for future reference. This is probably more true of blogs than social media posts, but even then I'm often surprised when when an old social post is liked followed by a follow. The audience was ready, and my content was there. Context. Timing.

It's a Service

If you are writing for the purpose of providing value to your audience that is reason enough, or should be. Yes, it's nice to get feedback, but keep believing you are providing that service, that value to your community and keep writing. The feedback will come, and often in the most unexpected form and times. You are creating a library of value and that takes time.

It's For You Too

Writing is a great way to think through your business products and services. The very act of writing a blog is consolidating ideas that will lead to value not only for your audience but for you as a business owner. It's amazing how often writing blogs leads to a clarity around a direction or idea.

It's a Great Discipline

Creating a habit of writing is a great discipline that helps develop the resilience muscle. It's easy to quit, but a small business owner need to develop a learn term vision and the patience and belief to create it. It takes discipline! Hang on there, keep writing, keep growing, keep learning, keep providing value!

David Fuller

CEO - Rough Diamond Academy

Who Wants To Read About My Business?

Who Wants To Read About... (Insert Your Service or Product Here)

My business is boring, who would want to read articles about it? I've heard this more than once over the years and it always makes me chuckle. I mean, the first thing that comes to mind is if it's so boring why the hell are you doing it?! The second thing that follows it immediately is, you're dead wrong!

Only Your Audience is Interested

The answer to that question is so simple, so blindingly obvious, that it is often overlooked. The only people interested in reading articles about your business, what it does, how it provides value, are the people who need your products or services. Please, read that again slowly, and understand it, because it contains the only motivation you will ever need to write blog posts for your business!

Say your business is plumbing. I have no interest in reading about plumbing... until my hot water unit breaks down. Then I am highly motivated to read up on hot water systems! I suddenly became your audience!

If you run a Bed and Breakfast getaway retreat I only become interested in your articles when I'm looking for a getaway! Duh!

If you are a mechanic and my car has broken down, or my old mechanic has retired, I'm suddenly in the market for a mechanic. Guess what? Your articles are now in my area of interest.

If you are a lawyer and I'm suddenly looking for legal advice... well you get the picture. I hope!

No matter what your business is, someone is looking for it. If not, you don't have a business!

Context and Timing

So, we write articles about our business, products and services so that they are available for our audience at the moment they are ready. On any given day that same audience may find reading about us and our business a great yawn, but when they need us, or they're researching to find 'us', they are focused on the very thing we have dismissed as boring!

Not for the first time let me say that we should write to provide value to our ideal audience. Of course, that value is a question of timing and context. If we've already written the answer to the question they are looking for as they sit down and start typing into Google, well... it's our lucky day. Then again,

Luck is the intersection of preparation and opportunity - Seneca

Be prepared, get writing!

David Fuller

CEO - Rough Diamond Academy

Canva – Photoshop for The Rest of Us

Made with Canva

Editing Images with Canva

If you're lucky enough to own a copy of Photoshop, and know how to use it, then it will most likely be your go to tool for photo editing. For quick image resizing and cropping it's where I go. But, if you are flush with Photoshop skills then you should wrap your head around canva.com!

Photo Editing Made Easy

Canva makes photo editing easy! It doesn't have the functionality of Photoshop, but it is a really easy platform to use for creating and editing images for your website or blog. It's also my number 2 place to go for sourcing stock images. Depending on your membership level, photos are either free or very reasonable. (Like $1 US). A pro level membership will get you everything for Free (Well, for the price of membership that is, but everything is included)

Canva comes with a large number of templates as well to help you on your creative journey. Easily design invites, brochures, and even logos! Plus it has built in templates for Social Media images, presentations, videos, etc.

The Right Size Images

On a website the right size images matter. While images will scale, if you upload full resolution images it will significantly slow your website, harming your ranking. So, having a tool like Canva to easily size your images for upload is gold! All it takes is a few simple steps:

Create a design to your required dimensions, either using one of the available templates, or your own custom dimensions
Upload your photo
Drag the photo into the design
Adjust to suit your needs
Export again.

Simple!

So, if you are looking for a simple photo editing software, you can't go past canva.com

David Fuller

CEO - Rough Diamond Academy

Unsplash – Images For Everything

Photo by Alexander Sinn on Unsplash

Images for Blogs, Websites... Everything!

They say a pictures is worth a thousand words, and when it comes to websites, blogs, etc, this is certainly true! A website or blog without images is just plain boring! I don't know about you, but I'm less likely to read through a page or article that is lacking imagery. Images help tell the story, they help attract the reader and engage them. The right images can make a site!

Sourcing Images

There are a number of places you can source images online, but for me the starting point is always the same: unsplash.com
Why? Because all images on Unsplash are free to use without restriction and are license free. In fact, to quote the license agreement on the Unsplash website:

Unsplash grants you an irrevocable, nonexclusive, worldwide copyright license to download, copy, modify, distribute, perform, and use photos from Unsplash for free, including for commercial purposes, without permission from or attributing the photographer or Unsplash. This license does not include the right to compile photos from Unsplash to replicate a similar or competing service.

That's hard to beat!

Crediting

Crediting the photographer is not a requirement, but it is nice to do if you can. They make that pretty easy with a simple copy and paste on download. But, it's completely up to you!

So, if you're looking for images to spice up your next article or web page, head to unsplash.com!