This tutorial is specifically for those who are just diving into web development. If you have one year of experience or less, hopefully some of the tips listed here will help you to become better, quicker!

1. Always Close Your Tags

Back in the day, it wasn't uncommon to see things like this:

<li>Some text here.
<li>Some new text here.
<li>You get the idea.

Notice how the wrapping UL/OL tag was omitted. Additionally, many chose to leave off the closing LI tags as well. By today's standards, this is simply bad practice and should be 100% avoided. Always, always close your tags. Otherwise, you'll encounter validation and glitch issues at every turn.

Better

<ul>
  <li>Some text here. </li>
  <li>Some new text here. </li>
  <li>You get the idea. </li>
</ul>

2. Declare the DOCTYPE

Declaring a DOCTYPE was a cumbersome process in the past. However, HTML5 has made things a lot simpler. Now, you can just add the following line at the top of your webpage to let browsers know that it should be interpreted as HTML5.

<!DOCTYPE html>

Some old websites that have not been updated in quite some time might still be using older standards to declare DOCTYPE. Don't be confused by all that. Using the above line is the correct way to do it in HTML5. Just remember that it has to go before everything, even the <html> tag.

3. Never Use Inline Styles

When you're hard at work on your markup, sometimes it can be tempting to take the easy route and sneak in a bit of styling.

<p style="color: red;">I'm going to make this text red so that it really stands out and makes people take notice! </p>

Sure, it looks harmless enough. However, this points to an error in your coding practices.

When creating your markup, don't even think about the styling yet. You only begin adding styles once the page has been completely coded.

It's like crossing the streams in Ghostbusters. It's just not a good idea. -Chris Coyier (in reference to something completely unrelated.)

Instead, finish your markup, and then reference that P tag from your external stylesheet.

Better

#someElement > p {
  color: red;
}

4. Place All External CSS Files Within the Head Tag

Technically, you can place stylesheets anywhere you like. However, the HTML specification recommends that they be placed within the document HEAD tag. The primary benefit is that your pages will seemingly load faster.

While researching performance at Yahoo!, we discovered that moving stylesheets to the document HEAD makes pages appear to be loading faster. This is because putting stylesheets in the HEAD allows the page to render progressively. - ySlow Team

<head>
<title>My Favorites Kinds of Corn</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="screen" href="path/to/file.css" />
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="screen" href="path/to/anotherFile.css" />
</head>

5. Consider Placing JavaScript Files at the Bottom

Remember—the primary goal is to make the page load as quickly as possible for the user. When loading a script, the browser can't continue until the entire file has been loaded. Thus, the user will have to wait longer before noticing any progress.

If you have JS files whose only purpose is to add functionality—for example, after a button is clicked—go ahead and place those files at the bottom, just before the closing body tag. This is absolutely a best practice.

Better

<p>And now you know my favorite kinds of corn. </p>
<script type="text/javascript" src="path/to/file.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="path/to/anotherFile.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

6. Never Use Inline JavaScript. It's Not 1996!

Another common practice years ago was to place JS commands directly within tags. This was very common with simple image galleries. Essentially, an onclick attribute was appended to the tag. The value would then be equal to some JS procedure. Needless to say, you should never, ever do this. Instead, transfer this code to an external JS file and use addEventListener or attachEvent to "listen" for your desired event. Or, if using a framework like jQuery, just use the click() method.

$('a#moreCornInfoLink').click(function() {
  alert('Want to learn more about corn?');
});

7. Validate Continuously

I once blogged about how the idea of validation has been completely misconstrued by those who don't completely understand its purpose. As I mentioned in the article, "validation should work for you, not against."

However, especially when first getting started, I highly recommend that you download the Web Developer Toolbar and use the "Validate HTML" and "Validate CSS" options continuously. While CSS is a somewhat easy language to learn, it can also make you tear your hair out. As you'll find, many times, it's your shabby markup that's causing that strange whitespace issue on the page. Validate, validate, validate.

8. Use Browser Developer Tools

I can't recommend this one enough. Using developer tools that come with all major browsers will help you resolve all kinds of layout problems and save a lot of time. Take a couple of hours and scour the web for every worthy tutorial you can find on the subject. The knowledge you gain will be well worth the time you invest.

9. Keep Your Tag Names Lowercase

Technically, you can get away with capitalizing your tag names.

<DIV>
<P>Here's an interesting fact about corn. </P>
</DIV>

Having said that, please don't. It serves no purpose and hurts my eyes—not to mention the fact that it reminds me of Microsoft Word's HTML function!

Better

<div>
<p>Here's an interesting fact about corn. </p>
</div>

10. Use H1 through H6 Tags

Admittedly, this is something I tend to slack on. It's best practice to use all six of these tags. If I'm honest, I usually only implement the top four; but I'm working on it! For semantic and SEO reasons, force yourself to replace that P tag with an H6 when appropriate.

<h1>This is a really important corn fact! </h1>
<h6>Small, but still significant corn fact goes here. </h6>

11. If Building a Blog, Save the H1 for the Article Title

Just this morning, on Twitter, I asked our followers whether they felt it was smartest to place the H1 tag as the logo or to instead use it as the article's title. Around 80% of the returned tweets were in favor of the latter method.

As with anything, determine what's best for your own website. However, if building a blog, I'd recommend that you save your H1 tags for your article title. For SEO purposes, this is a better practice—in my opinion.

12. Download ySlow

Especially in the last few years, the Yahoo team has been doing some really great work in our field. They released an extension for all major browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Opera etc. called ySlow. When activated, it will analyze the given website and return a "report card" of sorts which details the areas where your site needs improvement. It can be a bit harsh, but it's all for the greater good. I highly recommend it.

13. Start Using New HTML5 Tags

In the old days, different sections of a page were all wrapped inside div tags. This is because there was no way to provide a more semantic structure to our page. This is no longer true. HTML5 comes with a lot of new tags that we can use to provide structure to the content on our webpage. This includes tags like nav, section, article, aside, etc.

Read about them and start using them in your new projects.

14. Wrap Navigation With an Unordered List

Every website has a navigation section of some sort. While you can definitely get away with formatting it like so:

 <div id="nav">
  <a href="#">Home </a>
   <a href="#">About </a>
   <a href="#">Contact </a>
 </div>

I'd encourage you not to use this method, for semantic reasons. Your job is to write the best possible code that you're capable of.

Why would we style a list of navigation links with anything other than an unordered LIST?

The ul tag is meant to contain a list of items. We also get rid of the wrapper div and replace it with the nav tag.

Better

<nav>
    <ul>
      <li><a href="#">Home</a></li>
      <li><a href="#">About</a></li>
      <li><a href="#">Contact</a></li>
    </ul>
</nav>

15. Check Browser Support for Modern Features

New features are added to the HTML and CSS spec all the time. Some of these features might not be available in all browsers. Therefore, it makes sense to figure out what browsers are used by your target audience and then plan accordingly.

You might be able to provide polyfills for browsers which don't support a feature or warn users they are using an incompatible browser if that feature is necessary for the functioning of the website. In any case, knowing which features are commonly available across browsers can be helpful. The Can I Use website is a great resource for that kind of thing.

16. Choose a Great Code Editor

There are a lot of great code editors available for you to use now, from something basic and lightweight like Notepad++ to full-fledged IDEs. My personal favorite among them all is Visual Studio Code. It is free, built upon open source, and comes with lots of extensions to help you write better code fast.

There are a lot of other code editors available as well, like Atom, Brackets, and Vim. Just pick one that you like best and start coding.

17. Once the Website Is Complete, Compress!

By zipping your CSS and JavaScript files, you can reduce the size of each file by a substantial 25% or so. Please don't bother doing this while still in development. However, once the site is more or less complete, use a few online compression programs to save yourself some bandwidth.

JavaScript Compression Services

• Javascript Compressor
• JS Compressor

CSS Compression Services

• CSS Optimiser
• CSS Compressor
• Clean CSS

18. Cut, Cut, Cut

Looking back on my first website, I must have had a severe case of divitis. Your natural instinct is to safely wrap each paragraph with a div, and then wrap it with one more div for good measure. As you'll quickly learn, this is highly inefficient.

Once you've completed your markup, go over it two more times and find ways to reduce the number of elements on the page. Does that UL really need its own wrapping div? I think not.

Just as the key to writing is to "cut, cut, cut," the same holds true for your markup.

19. All Images Require "Alt" Attributes

It's easy to ignore the necessity for alt attributes within image tags. Nevertheless, it's very important, for accessibility and validation reasons, that you take an extra moment to fill these sections in.

Bad

<IMG SRC="cornImage.jpg" />

Better

<img src="cornImage.jpg" alt="A corn field I visited." />

20. Stay Up Late

I highly doubt that I'm the only one who, at one point while learning, looked up and realized that I was in a pitch-dark room well into the early, early morning. If you've found yourself in a similar situation, rest assured that you've chosen the right field.

The amazing "AHA" moments, at least for me, always occur late at night. This was the case when I first began to understand exactly what JavaScript closures were. It's a great feeling that you need to experience, if you haven't already.

21. View Source

What better way to learn HTML than to copy your heroes? Initially, we're all copiers! Then slowly, you begin to develop your own styles/methods. So visit the websites of those you respect. How did they code this and that section? Learn and copy from them. We all did it, and you should too. (Don't steal the design; just learn from the coding style.)

Notice any cool JavaScript effects that you'd like to learn? It's likely that they're using a plugin to accomplish the effect. View the source and search the HEAD tag for the name of the script. Then Google it and implement it into your own site! Yay.

22. Style ALL Elements

This best practice is especially true when designing for clients. Just because you haven't used a blockquote doesn't mean that the client won't. Never use ordered lists? That doesn't mean they won't! Do yourself a service and create a special page specifically to show off the styling of every element: UL, OL, P, H1–H6, blockquotes, etc.

23. Use Twitter

Initially, the idea behind Twitter was to post "what you were doing." Though this still holds true to a small extent, it's become much more of a networking tool in our industry. If a web dev writer that I admire posts a link to an article they found interesting, you better believe that I'm going to check it out as well—and you should too!

24. Learn Photoshop

Photoshop is open pretty much 24/7 on my computer.

In fact, Photoshop may very well become the most important tool you have. Once you've learned HTML and CSS, I would personally recommend that you then learn as many Photoshop techniques as possible.

25. Learn Each HTML Tag

There are literally dozens of HTML tags that you won't come across every day. Nevertheless, that doesn't mean you shouldn't learn them! Are you familiar with the "abbr" tag? What about "cite"? These two alone deserve a spot in your tool-chest. Learn all of them!

By the way, in case you're unfamiliar with the two listed above:

• abbr does pretty much what you'd expect. It refers to an abbreviation. "Blvd" could be wrapped in a <abbr> tag because it's an abbreviation for "boulevard".
• cite is used to reference the title of some work. For example, if you reference this article on your own blog, you could put "30 HTML Best Practices for Beginners" within a <cite> tag. Note that it shouldn't be used to reference the author of a quote. This is a common misconception.

26. Participate in the Community

Just as sites like ours contribute greatly to furthering a web developer's knowledge, you should too! Finally figured out how to float your elements correctly? Make a blog post to teach others how. There will always be those with less experience than you. Not only will you be contributing to the community, but you'll also teach yourself. Ever notice how you don't truly understand something until you're forced to teach it?

27. Use a CSS Reset

This is another area that's been debated to death. CSS resets: to use or not to use; that is the question. If I were to offer my own personal advice, I'd 100% recommend that you create your own reset file. Begin by downloading a popular one, like Eric Meyer's, and then slowly, as you learn more, begin to modify it into your own.

If you don't do this, you won't truly understand why your list items are receiving that extra bit of padding when you didn't specify it anywhere in your CSS file. Save yourself the anger and reset everything! This one should get you started.

html, body, div, span,
h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, p, blockquote, pre,
a, abbr, acronym, address, big, cite, code,
img, ins, kbd, q, s, samp,
small, strike, strong,
dl, dt, dd, ol, ul, li,
fieldset, form, label, legend,
table, caption, tbody, tfoot, thead, tr, th, td {
	margin: 0;
	padding: 0;
	border: 0;
	outline: 0;
	font-size: 100%;
	vertical-align: baseline;
	background: transparent;
}
body {
	line-height: 1;
}
ol, ul {
	list-style: none;
}
blockquote, q {
	quotes: none;
}
blockquote:before, blockquote:after,
q:before, q:after {
	content: '';
	content: none;
}

table {
	border-collapse: collapse;
	border-spacing: 0;
}

28. Line 'em Up!

Generally speaking, you should strive to line up your elements as best as possible. Take a look at your favorite designs. Did you notice how each heading, icon, paragraph, and logo lines up with something else on the page? Not doing this is one of the biggest signs of a beginner. Think of it this way: If I ask why you placed an element in that spot, you should be able to give me an exact reason.

29. Slice a PSD

Okay, so you've gained a solid grasp of HTML, CSS, and Photoshop. The next step is to convert your first PSD into a working website. Don't worry; it's not as tough as you might think. I can't think of a better way to put your skills to the test. If you need assistance, review these in-depth video tutorials that show you exactly how to get the job done.

• Slice and Dice that PSD
• From PSD to HTML/CSS

30. Don't Use a Framework... Yet

Frameworks, whether they be for Javascript or CSS, are fantastic; but please don't use them when first getting started. Though it could be argued that jQuery and Javascript can be learned simultaneously, the same can't be said for CSS. I've personally promoted the 960 CSS Framework, and use it often. Having said that, if you're still in the process of learning CSS—meaning the first year—you'll only make yourself more confused if you use one.

CSS frameworks are for experienced developers who want to save themselves a bit of time. They're not for beginners.

This post has been updated with contributions from Monty Shokeen. Monty is a full-stack developer who also loves to write tutorials, and to learn about new JavaScript libraries.

Do you need a way to book appointments on your website? Do you need a way to show your business's upcoming events? Use high-quality WordPress calendar plugins and widgets for events, bookings, and appointments. 

These versatile WordPress calendar plugins and widgets allow you complete flexibility over the calendars and functionality of the calendars that you show your audience. Here a few of the notable features of the calendar widgets and schedule plugins listed here:

• create custom events, classes, bookings, and meetings
• appearance editor
• filterable, sortable, and searchable booking list
• Google Calendar integrations
• WooCommerce integration
• several online payment gateways
• sharing on social media 

By adding a premium WordPress calendar plugin or WordPress schedule plugin to your website, you can provide your customers and potential customers with important information about your business and even collect payments for bookings.

Before you head over to CodeCanyon and Envato Elements to find the right user interface plugin to make your website even more user-friendly, let's explore the benefits of a subscription to Envato Elements. 

Envato Elements: Unlimited Downloads

Envato Elements is a service that provides an unlimited download subscription, meaning that you are free to download as many items as you like from millions of digital assets. This includes premium WordPress themes and plugins, stock photography, royalty-free audio, stock video, and graphics.

The subscription is covered by simple commercial licensing that gives you the rights to use the item in a broad variety of projects, including those of a commercial nature.

The licensing is future-proof, meaning even if you unsubscribe and can't download items from Envato Elements any more, any existing uses that you registered are still covered.

Subscribe Today 

Subscribe today and start creating or learn more about why Envato Elements is Great for WordPress Developers! 

Calendar Plugins and Widgets on Envato Elements 

1. WordPress Pro Event Calendar

The Pro Event Calendar plugin adds a professional and sleek calendar to your posts or pages. Custom CSS allows you to edit the calendar styles. It works on different types of devices, and you can use it inside a widget.

Users can submit events on the front-end, book events, and subscribe to newsletters via the calendar. You can add special dates to your calendar like holidays and also import events from ICS feed or Facebook. This calendar works across all modern browsers and supports Mailchimp and WPML translator. 

2. EventoZilla: Event Calendar WordPress Plugin

With this WordPress event calendar plugin, you can create a detailed events calendar that can adapt to the width of any device, screen, and orientation. You can create single-day and multi-day events and configure the colors of your event calendars to match your website colors. The events are shareable on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest. Users can register for an event on a defined URL that has a 'Book Now' button. You can translate or customize the button text.

There are two versions of the event calendar plugin. The extended version has a complex tile calendar where the events are highlighted and can also be navigated by months and years. The compact version has a simple calendar with months, navigation, and search. The calendars can be set to fit in the sidebar area of your website.

3. EventoZilla Event Calendar: Addon For WPBakery

If you build websites using WPBakery Page Builder, the EventoZilla addon will help you add elegant event calendars. This WordPress interactive calendar plugin comes in an extended version, a compact version, and a sidebar version. They each have search options, loads of customization by color options, and a complete tile calendar navigation system.

4. EventoZilla Event Calendar: Elementor Widget Addon

For those using Elementor, this Event Calendar Widget for Elementor allows you to build detailed and interactive event calendars on your websites. This WordPress calendar plugin comes in an extended version, a compact version and a sidebar version. They each have search options, loads of customization by color options, and a complete tile calendar navigation system. The events are shareable on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest

5. FullEvents: Event Plugin for WordPress

With this events plugin for WordPress you can create and display attractive and attention-grabbing event listings. The plugin has a user-friendly admin dashboard where you can add unlimited categories such as music, sports, clubs, or dance, and assign events to these categories.

You've got a variety of customizable event listing layouts to choose from. You can add images that grab the attention of visitors. It also comes with outstanding features that optimize users’ experience: advanced event search filter, AJAX filter, simple calendar, and full calendar.

The plugin works with all WordPress themes has two versions of event calendars. With the single calendar view, users have to click on an event to see the details. The full calendar view displays all your events and details. 

The Best Calendar Plugins and Widgets on CodeCanyon

Explore over 7,000 of the best WordPress plugins ever created on CodeCanyon. With a low-cost, one-time payment, you can purchase one of these high-quality WordPress plugins and improve your website experience for you and your visitors. 

Here are a few of the weekly best-selling and up-and-coming calendar WordPress plugins and widgets available on CodeCanyon for 2021.

Top 20 WordPress Calendar Plugins and Widgets (From CodeCanyon for 2021

Here are 20 of the best-selling WordPress calendar and schedule plugins that are available for you to download on CodeCanyon:

6. Bestselling: EventOn—WordPress Event Calendar Plugin

EventOn is a multipurpose WordPress event calendar plugin that gives you all the things you need in a calendar. Not only can you customize each event with images, maps, icons, colors, and more, but you can also configure your calendar to search and sort in several different ways.

It has a clean, minimal design, and you'll be up and running quickly and easily.

EventOn is a nice, easy-to-use event calendar plugin that also offers a unique slider addon. 

7. Bestselling: Bookly—WordPress Appointment Booking Plugin

Bookly is an incredible appointment booking system that blurs the line between a WordPress website and a web application. It is well designed, fully responsive, and even supports gestures. It also has free integration with Zoom.

It allows customers to book and cancel appointments, update personal information, and send payments. Bookly's customization options and useful features make it more than just a way to serve customers well—it also helps a website owner keep track of staff and appointments at the same time. 

You can create schedules for each staff member—you can even block out holidays. 

8. Trending: Stachethemes Event Calendar

This WordPress event calendar plugin offers everything you need to get started creating events. It has a built-in booking system where users can book and pay for tickets and appointments. 

You can easily create single, multiple, and all-day events, or events that last for more than one day. You can showcase events in different ways, including a grid, box, map, agenda, and more. 

It also comes with a front-end submission form where users can submit events. Users can also share events via Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Viber.

9. Trending: WooEvents: Calendar and Event Booking

If you want to create and sell events on WooCommerce, then the WooEvents plugin is the perfect choice. Using this event calendar plugin, you can create event bookings, calendars, classes, and schedulers, manage all your online events, and even delete events that have passed. 

Visitors can register, submit, and book events. They will receive email notification of their transactions. All your events will have Google event schema support, so they can rank on search engines. You can export attendee data to CSV. The plugin seamlessly integrates with iCal and Google Calendar.

The plugin also supports both PDF invoices and barcodes, and it can be integrated with multiple payment gateways.  

10. Calendarize it!

Calendarize it! supports WPBakery Page Builder, but it can also be used with any other popular page and layout builder by using shortcodes. 

In addition to its simple design, it comes with a powerful CSS editor that allows you to change the colors, fonts, and style to match your brand. 

This WordPress calendar plugin supports single events, recurring events, arbitrary recurring events, and recurring events with exceptions. It also has advanced filtering with custom categories. 

11. Booked: Appointment Booking for WordPress

Booked is another great appointment booking option. It features an advanced appointment calendar which allows you to manage appointments easily. It also gives you endless color possibilities when it comes to the design. 

Besides guest booking and customer profiles, it has customizable customer and admin emails. Additional features include custom login and registration pages, time slots, and custom fields.  

12. Events Schedule

Events Schedule is a simple yet powerful WordPress event calendar that lets you schedule classes and events in seconds. It's the perfect plugin for any event organizer.

When it comes to search and filter, Events Schedule offers five filter categories: type, location, instructor, day, and time of day.  

This fully responsive WordPress event calendar can integrate with Google Maps and WooCommerce. It also includes a countdown feature. 

Learn how to use the Events Schedule plugin with our hands-on, step-by-step tutorial.

• 
  WordPress
  How to Add a Calendar to Your WordPress Site With the Events Schedule Plugin
  Jessica Thornsby

13. Timetable Responsive Schedule for WordPress

Timetable Responsive Schedule for WordPress offers a new approach to WordPress calendar plugins. It includes plenty of event options, many shortcode options, and a great widget lineup, making it one of the best WordPress calendar plugins you'll find.

With it, you can create a timetable of events easily! Use the Timetable shortcode generator to create timetable views for classes, medical departments, nightclubs, tutoring, and so on.

Quickly create a timetable by:

• adding a new event with day, time, category, and more
• adjusting and configuring the design and appearance
• generating your shortcode and placing it into a post or page

And that's it!

14. HBook: Hotel Booking System

The HBook hotel booking system is specifically built for hotels and B&Bs. It has a clean design that makes it very easy for customers to book directly from your website. 

The WordPress hotel booking plugin features powerful booking management that lets you view bookings and reservations. You can also synchronize your bookings with Airbnb. This snappy plugin includes seasons and rates tables, availability calendars, and customizable booking forms. 

It also comes with multiple payment gateways such as PayPal, Stripe, Square, and Mollie. 

15. WordPress Pro Event Calendar

WordPress Pro Event Calendar stands out from the pack. What really sets it apart is the ability to import events from ICS feeds and Facebook. Best of all, WordPress Pro Event Calendar accepts events submitted by front-end users, making it easy for users to add events.

Other great features of this well-designed and fully responsive plugin include WPML support, fully responsive layouts, flexible event settings, and the ability to subscribe to a calendar. 

16. Event Booking Pro

Event Booking Pro is an impressive WordPress calendar plugin that boasts over 600 settings! This WordPress calendar plugin is always adding more great features. 

There's no shortage of shortcodes. It supports CSV. Everything can be customized and styled as you like, making it fit into your WordPress theme design perfectly.

It also comes equipped with user-friendly event creation, unlimited events, offline and multiple bookings, and the ability to create coupons. Finally, it integrates with PayPal. 

It's a great option for setting up a fully functional event booking system. 

17. Amelia

Amelia is a simple and powerful plugin for accepting online appointments and bookings. It is fully customizable and has a smooth UX that provides a seamless booking experience on just one page. 

It features a good range of elements and components that make it easy to create beautiful layouts, even when you have no coding experience.

Amelia also allows for Google Calendar synchronization. It's the perfect plugin for gyms, spas, law consultants, fitness experts, etc.

On top of multiple payment options, other key features include a powerful admin dashboard and real-time SMS notifications.

18. gAppointments: Appointment Booking Add-On for Gravity Forms

If you're already using Gravity Forms and need to integrate appointment booking, this date and time picker plugin is certainly worth a look. It comes with many options for service intervals and slots. 

It supports paid and non-paid booking and accepts any payment gateway. Combined with Gravity Forms, gAppointments is a powerful plugin for booking appointments.

19. Chauffeur Booking System

As the name suggests, Chauffeur Booking System is a car reservation system suitable for companies of all sizes. It provides an easy way to book a vehicle based on distance, hourly rate, or a flat rate. It also supports WooCommerce and Google Calendar integration.

Other features include:

• live route preview
• unlimited booking forms
• multiple payment methods
• multiple currencies
• geofencing and geolocation

20. Events Shortcodes and Templates Pro Addon for The Events Calendar

This WordPress event calendar is a premium add-on for The Events Calendar, a free website calendar plugin from WordPress. This was designed to extend the design and shortcode builder limitations of the free plugin. 

One of the best features of this WordPress event calendar plugin is that it's SEO-optimized, so your events can appear in Google search results. This add-on provides 15+ premium templates and comes with an easy shortcode builder and settings panel. 

21. SantaPress: WordPress Advent Calendar Plugin and Quiz

A cheerful addition to our list of best calendar plugins for WordPress is this seasonal WordPress event calendar. SantaPress is an advent calendar plugin to surprise your visitors every day with a small gift until Christmas. 

This WordPress calendar comes with eight beautiful layouts, over 200 door images, and more great features (such as snowfall, hidden mode, quiz mode, etc). This cute WordPress event calendar makes your visitors want to come back every day!

22. Noo Timetable: Responsive Calendar and Auto Sync WordPress Plugin

Noo Timetable is a super flexible WordPress event calendar with a fully responsive interface. This WordPress calendar is best for fitness, yoga, and dance classes, but it can be easily adapted to any kind of event or office, like a medical clinic.

Some of the best features of this WordPress event calendar are:

• modern, up-to-date style
• iCal file exporting
• event filters
• event navigation
• event popups
• unlimited color options

23. Eventer: All-in-One Event Management Plugin for WordPress

Eventer is your all-in-one event management WordPress plugin, with all the essential and premium features you could need. 

The Eventer plugin allows your website visitors to register for events online. Multiple ticket types can be made for any event: free or paid. Payments can be done via your choice of offline payment mode or online via PayPal. Recurring events for multiple dates have their own count of available tickets.

Use Eventer’s shortcode generator to show your events in multiple styles. Everything's fully responsive for all devices. It is also compatible with WooCommerce and WPBakery Page Builder. 

24. Calendarista Premium: WordPress Appointment Booking and Calendar Plugin

Calendarista promises you will fall back in love with booking! 

It's fast and easy for businesses to add this WordPress booking and calendar plugin to their websites. They will quickly and easily be able to take online bookings. This versatile system works for all kinds of businesses: hotel, car rental, apartment rental, travel agency, beauty salons, restaurants, and more.

The plugin offers ten booking modes out of the box, three payment gateways, a custom form builder, a back-end calendar to view your appointments, and support for Google Maps and WooCommerce.

25. FAT Event: WordPress Event and Calendar Booking

FAT Event is a great WordPress event calendar. With this event manager plugin, you can create a full calendar, timetables, upcoming events, and recurring events. You can also use multiple layouts like list, grid, and carousel.

This WordPress event calendar plugin is perfect for many events and purposes. You can use it for school timetables, upcoming events in a venue, conference programs, agendas, and more.

This year's update features:

• email reminders
• email notification for admin
• QR code in email notification
• WooCommerce integration
• coupon codes 

26. Elegant Calendar: WordPress Events Calendar Plugin

With this responsive event calendar plugin, you can easily create and manage events in a calendar on your website using premade layouts. The plugin works with major theme frameworks like Avada, Divi, Enfold, Genesis, and others.

You can create event calendars on your pages using shortcodes and show events in list view. Events can also be viewed by day, week, or month. Users can search events using the search bar, which you can show or hide. You can filter events by categories and customize event colors.  

This event calendar scheduler WordPress plugin supports comments on a single event page. The comments can be disabled anytime. 

5 Free WordPress Calendar Plugins and Widgets for Download in 2021

While the premium plugins and widgets listed above have the most features, buying a premium plugin or widget may not be in your budget. That's why I've compiled a list of the top five free calendar plugins and widgets for 2021:

1. The Events Calendar

With this free plugin, you can create and manage events with ease. The features available in this plugin allow you to completely customize your calendar to fit your business's needs.

2. Simple Calendar

Simple Calendar is the easiest way to add Google Calendar events to your WordPress site. The WordPress calendar plugin has a ton of great features, including design templates, time zone settings, fully responsive calendars, and much more. 

3. All-in-One Event Calendar

The All-in-One Event Calendar offers a clean visual design with a comprehensive set of features to create an advanced website calendar system. Give this free plugin a try! You won't be disappointed. 

4. Sugar Calendar

Sugar Calendar is a simple and lightweight calendar that provides you with all the necessary features for event management. The easy-to-use interface and the minimal set of features in this plugin will help you get your event calendar up and running in no time. 

5. Booking Calendar

Whether you're running a real estate business, yoga class, or personal training, the Booking Calendar plugin can help you implement a great booking system. Add this plugin to your collection today!

How to Create a Calendar for a Yoga Class With WordPress Pro Event Calendar

Now that I have gone over all of the best free and premium event calendar plugins, I will show you just how easy it is to create a calendar with one of the premium plugins. We are going to go over how to create a simple calendar that displays the times of our yoga class on a calendar with the WordPress Pro Event Calendar plugin. 

1. Create a Calendar

Once you have installed the Pro Event Calendar plugin, we will head on over to WP Dashboard > Event Calendar > Calendars so we can create the calendar that we want to be displayed on our yoga studio website. Next, click the Add new calendar button to create a new calendar. We will fill in the Title field to say Yoga Calendar. Next, click the save button at the bottom of the calendar editor. 

2. Create an Event

Now that we have created our calendar, it's time to add our event. Navigate to WP Dashboard > Event Calendar > All Events. Click the Add New button to create a new event. We will title this event Yoga Class. 

In the right-hand column, we will set up the details for this event. Our yoga class is every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 2 p.m., so we need to reflect this in the event. Under Start Time, we will type in 2 p.m. Under Frequency, select Weekly. Then select the checkboxes next to Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. 

Finally, hit the Publish button, and the event will now be present on the yoga calendar. 

3. Add the Calendar to Your Website

Now it's time to add the calendar to the website. WordPress uses shortcodes to add the calendar to your website, so we will go back to WP Dashboard > Event Calendar > Calendars and copy the shortcode that is under Default Shortcode. We will then click WP Dashboard > Pages > Add New and title it Calendar. 

In the text editor, we will paste this shortcode. Hit the Publish button, and that's it. We have successfully created our yoga calendar, and it's now displayed on a new page that we created. 

This short tutorial only scratched the surface of what this plugin can do. I also have a more in-depth tutorial on this powerful plugin, so be sure to check it out!

• 
  WordPress Plugins
  Insert a Calendar Into WordPress With the Pro Event Calendar Plugin
  Daniel Strongin

Effective Calendar Management for Remote Teams 

Choosing the right calendar tools from Envato Elements and CodeCanyon is only the first step. Use these tips to guide you in the best way to use a Calendar plugin.

1. Pay Attention to Time Zones

When it comes to scheduling meetings, consider the time zones where your team members live and find a time that works for everyone. 

2. Let Participants Know in Advance

Give enough notice for meetings and conference calls for video or phone. Two weeks is usually sufficient. 

3. Expect Changes

Be prepared for sudden changes of plan. Make sure to inform all participants about any changes, and let them know the new date and time. 

4. Use Notifications

Take advantage of notifications to remind you of important dates and events. 

5. Use Roles and Permissions

Consider different users' needs for accessing the calendar. Consider restricted access that allows them to see but not make changes to scheduled meetings and events. 

Discover More WordPress Plugins and Resources

Now, you've seen our best calendar plugins for WordPress and how to install and customize an event calendar plugin. But I'm sure you'd like to see more WordPress plugins and learn more about how to use WordPress. I've got some useful resources for you:

• 
  WordPress
  What Is a WordPress Plugin?
  Rachel McCollin
• 
  WordPress
  How to Add Plugins to WordPress
  Jessica Thornsby
• 
  WordPress
  20+ Best WordPress Booking and Reservation Plugins
  Franc Lucas
• 
  WordPress
  22 Best WordPress Gallery Plugins
  Monty Shokeen
• 

  HTML5 is the thing to talk about these days. Today, we have a collection of ridiculously impressive HTML5 canvas-based experiments that will make you say, "Wow!" Let's take a peek at some of the latest, cutting-edge examples out there.

  Warning: The animations in some of these canvas experiments may potentially trigger seizures for people with photosensitive epilepsy. Viewer discretion is advised.

  Before browsing through these experiments, have a look at our HTML5 templates and HTML5 scripts, as a quality script or theme might be a good option for your next project.

  

  Now for the experiments!

  1. Orbital Trails

  Beautiful swirling rainbow particles!

  

  2. Neon Hexagon Patterns

  Glowing lights and particles trace this hexagonal, honey-comb pattern.

  

  3. Long Shadow

  Simulates a movable light source amongst boxes.

  

  4. Animated Particle Background

  A cosmic network of nodes and lines, with animation and a spotlight effect.

  

  5. Click Response

  Click anywhere on the canvas below to see a cute explosion of circles.

  6. Heart Particles

  A vast cloud of shining falling hearts.

  

  7. Colorful Ribbons

  Watch these colorful bands of light fill the screen.

  

  8. Draw With Text

  Click and keep dragging on the canvas to draw with random words.

  9. Rotating Spiral

  A 3D spiral, rendered with lines. You can even rotate it with the mouse!

  

  10. Shape Shifting Text

  View this one in full-screen mode. Type in text and watch it appear in a cool particle effect.

  

  11. Falling Confetti

  A pretty falling confetti effect. Perfect for a background!

  

  12. Parallax Skyline

  A minimalist side-scrolling parallax. This one would be perfect for an old-school video game.

  

  13. Ambient Background

  Fuzzy bokeh spots swirling around. View this one in full-page mode for the best effect.

  

  14. Fizzy Sparks

  Just hover the mouse over the canvas and see shiny sparks go off everywhere.

  15. Anime.js Fireworks

  Click for a simple, but stylish and colorful fireworks effect.  

  

  16. Mechanical Grass

  Watch the "grass" grow wherever you move your mouse. Be sure to view this one in full screen to see the effect.

  

  17. Interactive Stars

  Watch stars and constellations appear in the night sky as you move your mouse.

  

  18. Gravity Points

  Click anywhere on the canvas and see all the particles gravitate towards that point.

  19. Particle Swarm

  Simulated particles swirl around in a simulated magnetic field.

  

  20. Crowd Simulator

  This amusing animation simulates a busy crowd of people walking.

  

  21. Birds of a Feather

  A beautiful and serene animated flocking simulation.

  

  22. Lightning

  Connect two points anywhere on the screen and watch the electricity arc!

  

  23. Noise Abstraction

  A unique animated algorithm for generating stylish and colorful abstract backgrounds. 

  

  24. Liquid Lights

  A screen full of animated flashing lights, reminiscent of a nightclub or concert.

  

  25. Rainbow Spider

  Can you move quickly enough to make the spider fall down from the web? Give it a try.

  So what do you think? Getting your own ideas for a neat canvas application?

  Well, now you have more than one reason to create HTML5 apps: CodeCanyon has an HTML5 category! Browse through it and see what's available, or have a look at our HTML5 Templates on ThemeForest.

  This post has been updated with contributions from Monty Shokeen. Monty is a full-stack developer who also loves to write tutorials, and to learn about new JavaScript libraries.

  ]]> 2021-05-14T01:30:48+00:00 //shineyrock.com/blog/read/http-headers-for-dummies https://shineyrock.com/blog/read/http-headers-for-dummies#When:09:16:54Z

  Whether you're a programmer or not, you have seen it everywhere on the web. Even your first Hello World PHP script sent HTTP headers without you realizing it. In this article, we are going to learn about the basics of HTTP headers and how we can use them in our web applications.

  What Are HTTP Headers?

  HTTP stands for "Hypertext Transfer Protocol". The entire World Wide Web uses this protocol. It was established in the early 1990s. Almost everything you see in your browser is transmitted to your computer over HTTP. For example, when you opened this article page, your browser probably sent over 40 HTTP requests and received HTTP responses for each.

  HTTP headers are the core part of these HTTP requests and responses, and they carry information about the client browser, the requested page, the server, and more.

  

  Example

  When you type a URL in your address bar, your browser sends an HTTP request, and it may look like this:

  GET /tutorials/other/top-20-mysql-best-practices/ HTTP/1.1
  Host: code.tutsplus.com
  User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-US; rv:1.9.1.5) Gecko/20091102 Firefox/3.5.5 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)
  Accept: text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,*/*;q=0.8
  Accept-Language: en-us,en;q=0.5
  Accept-Encoding: gzip,deflate
  Accept-Charset: ISO-8859-1,utf-8;q=0.7,*;q=0.7
  Keep-Alive: 300
  Connection: keep-alive
  Cookie: PHPSESSID=r2t5uvjq435r4q7ib3vtdjq120
  Pragma: no-cache
  Cache-Control: no-cache

  The first line is the "Request Line", which contains some basic information on the request. And the rest are the HTTP headers.

  After that request, your browser receives an HTTP response that may look like this:

  HTTP/1.x 200 OK
  Transfer-Encoding: chunked
  Date: Sat, 28 Nov 2009 04:36:25 GMT
  Server: LiteSpeed
  Connection: close
  X-Powered-By: W3 Total Cache/0.8
  Pragma: public
  Expires: Sat, 28 Nov 2009 05:36:25 GMT
  Etag: "pub1259380237;gz"
  Cache-Control: max-age=3600, public
  Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8
  Last-Modified: Sat, 28 Nov 2009 03:50:37 GMT
  X-Pingback: https://code.tutsplus.com/xmlrpc.php
  Content-Encoding: gzip
  Vary: Accept-Encoding, Cookie, User-Agent
  
  <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "https://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
  <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
  <head>
  <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
  <title>Top 20+ MySQL Best Practices - Nettuts+</title>
  <!-- ... rest of the html ... -->

  The first line is the "Status Line", followed by "HTTP Headers", until the blank line. After that, the "content" starts (in this case, the HTML output).

  When you look at the source code of a web page in your browser, you will only see the HTML portion and not the HTTP headers, even though they actually have been transmitted together, as you can see above.

  These HTTP requests are also sent and received for other things, such as images, CSS files, JavaScript files, etc. That's why I said earlier that your browser sent at least 40 or more HTTP requests as you loaded just this article page.

  Now, let's start reviewing the structure in more detail.

  How to See HTTP Headers

  I used Firefox Firebug to analyze HTTP headers, but you can use the Developer Tools in Firefox, Chrome, or any modern web browser to view HTTP headers.

  In PHP:

  • getallheaders() gets the request headers. You can also use the $_SERVER array.
  • headers_list() gets the response headers.

  Further in the article, we will see some code examples in PHP.

  HTTP Request Structure

  

  The first line of the HTTP request is called the request line and consists of three parts:

  • The "method" indicates what kind of request this is. The most common methods are GET, POST, and HEAD.
  • The "path" is generally the part of the URL that comes after the host (domain). For example, when requesting "https://code.tutsplus.com/tutorials/top-20-mysql-best-practices--net-7855" , the path portion is "/tutorials/top-20-mysql-best-practices--net-7855".
  • The protocol part contains HTTP and the version, which is usually 1.1 in modern browsers.

  The remainder of the request contains HTTP headers as Name: Value pairs on each line. These contain various information about the HTTP request and your browser. For example, the User-Agent line provides information on the browser version and the Operating System you are using. Accept-Encoding tells the server if your browser can accept compressed output like gzip.

  You may have noticed that the cookie data is also transmitted inside an HTTP header. And if there was a referring URL, that would have been in the header too.

  Most of these headers are optional. This HTTP request could have been as small as this:

  GET /tutorials/other/top-20-mysql-best-practices/ HTTP/1.1
  Host: code.tutsplus.com

  And you would still get a valid response from the web server.

  Request Methods

  The three most commonly used request methods are GET, POST, and HEAD. You're probably already familiar with the first two from writing HTML forms.

  GET: Retrieve a Document

  This is the main method used for retrieving HTML, images, JavaScript, CSS, etc. Most data that loads in your browser was requested using this method.

  For example, when loading an Envato Tuts+ article, the very first line of the HTTP request looks like so:

  GET /tutorials/other/top-20-mysql-best-practices/ HTTP/1.1
  ...

  Once the HTML loads, the browser will start sending GET requests for images that may look like this:

  GET /wp-content/themes/tuts_theme/images/header_bg_tall.png HTTP/1.1
  ...

  Web forms can be set to use the GET method. Here's an example.

  <form method="GET" action="foo.php">
  
  First Name: <input type="text" name="first_name" /> <br />
  Last Name: <input type="text" name="last_name" /> <br />
  
  <input type="submit" name="action" value="Submit" />
  
  </form>

  When that form is submitted, the HTTP request begins like this:

  GET /foo.php?first_name=John&last_name=Doe&action=Submit HTTP/1.1
  ...

  You can see that each form input was added to the query string.

  POST: Send Data to the Server

  Even though you can send data to the server using GET and the query string, in many cases POST will be preferable. Sending large amounts of data using GET is not practical and has limitations.

  POST requests are most commonly sent by web forms. Let's change the previous form example to a POST method.

  <form method="POST" action="foo.php">
  
  First Name: <input type="text" name="first_name" /> <br />
  Last Name: <input type="text" name="last_name" /> <br />
  
  <input type="submit" name="action" value="Submit" />
  
  </form>

  Submitting that form creates an HTTP request like this:

  POST /foo.php HTTP/1.1
  Host: localhost
  User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-US; rv:1.9.1.5) Gecko/20091102 Firefox/3.5.5 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)
  Accept: text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,*/*;q=0.8
  Accept-Language: en-us,en;q=0.5
  Accept-Encoding: gzip,deflate
  Accept-Charset: ISO-8859-1,utf-8;q=0.7,*;q=0.7
  Keep-Alive: 300
  Connection: keep-alive
  Referer: http://localhost/test.php
  Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
  Content-Length: 43
  
  first_name=John&last_name=Doe&action=Submit

  There are three important things to note here:

  • The path in the first line is simply /foo.php, and there is no query string anymore.
  • Content-Type and Content-Length headers have been added, which provide information about the data being sent.
  • All the data is now sent after the headers, with the same format as the query string.

  POST method requests can also be made via AJAX, applications, cURL, etc. And all file upload forms are required to use the POST method.

  HEAD: Retrieve Header Information

  HEAD is identical to GET, except the server does not return the content in the HTTP response. When you send a HEAD request, it means that you are only interested in the response code and the HTTP headers, not the document itself.

  With this method, the browser can check if a document has been modified, for caching purposes. It can also check if the document exists at all.

  For example, if you have a lot of links on your website, you can periodically send HEAD requests to all of them to check for broken links. This will work much faster than using GET.

  HTTP Response Structure

  After the browser sends the HTTP request, the server responds with an HTTP response. Excluding the content, it looks like this:

  

  The first piece of data is the protocol. This is again usually HTTP/1.x or HTTP/1.1 on modern servers.

  The next part is the status code, followed by a short message. Code 200 means that our GET request was successful and the server will return the contents of the requested document, right after the headers.

  We've all seen 404 pages. This number actually comes from the status code part of the HTTP response. If a GET request is made for a path that the server cannot find, it will respond with a 404 instead of 200.

  The rest of the response contains headers just like the HTTP request. These values can contain information about the server software, when the page/file was last modified, the MIME type, etc...

  Again, most of those headers are actually optional.

  HTTP Status Codes

  • 200s are used for successful requests.
  • 300s are for redirections.
  • 400s are used if there was a problem with the request.
  • 500s are used if there was a problem with the server.

  200 OK

  As mentioned before, this status code is sent in response to a successful request.

  206 Partial Content

  If an application requests only a range of the requested file, the 206 code is returned. It's most commonly used with download managers that can stop and resume a download, or split the download into pieces.

  404 Not Found

  

  When the requested page or file was not found, a 404 response code is sent by the server.

  401 Unauthorized

  Password-protected web pages send this code. If you don't enter a login correctly, you may see the following in your browser.

  

  Note that this only applies to HTTP password-protected pages that pop up login prompts like this:

  

  403 Forbidden

  If you are not allowed to access a page, this code may be sent to your browser. This often happens when you try to open a URL for a folder that contains no index page. If the server settings do not allow the display of the folder contents, you will get a 403 error.

  For example, on my local server I created an images folder. Inside this folder I put an .htaccess file with this line: "Options -Indexes". Now when I try to open http://localhost/images/, I see this:

  

  There are other ways in which access can be blocked and 403 responses can be sent. For example, you can block by IP address, with the help of some htaccess directives.

  order allow,deny
  deny from 192.168.44.201
  deny from 224.39.163.12
  deny from 172.16.7.92
  allow from all

  302 (or 307) Moved Temporarily & 301 Moved Permanently

  These two codes are used for redirecting a browser. For example, when you use a URL shortening service, such as bit.ly, that's exactly how they forward the people who click on their links.

  Both 302 and 301 are handled very similarly by the browser, but they can have different meanings to search engine spiders. For instance, if your website is down for maintenance, you may redirect to another location using 302. The search engine spider will continue checking your page later in the future. But if you redirect using 301, it will tell the spider that your website has moved to that location permanently. For example, https://net.tutsplus.com redirects to https://code.tutsplus.com—that is the new canonical URL.

  500 Internal Server Error

  

  This code is usually seen when a web script crashes. Most CGI scripts do not output errors directly to the browser, unlike PHP. If there are any fatal errors, they will just send a 500 status code. And the programmer then needs to search the server error logs to find the error messages.

  Complete List

  You can find the complete list of HTTP status codes with their explanations on Wikipedia.

  HTTP Headers in HTTP Requests

  Now, we'll review some of the most common HTTP headers found in HTTP requests.

  Almost all of these headers can be found in the $_SERVER array in PHP. You can also use the getallheaders() function to retrieve all headers at once.

  Host

  An HTTP request is sent to a specific IP address. But since most servers are capable of hosting multiple websites under the same IP, they must know which domain name the browser is looking for.

  Host: code.tutsplus.com

  This is basically the host name, including the domain and the subdomain.

  In PHP, it can be found as $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] or $_SERVER['SERVER_NAME'].

  User-Agent

  User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-US; rv:1.9.1.5) Gecko/20091102 Firefox/3.5.5 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)

  This header can carry several pieces of information, such as:

  • browser name and version
  • operating system name and version
  • default language

  This is how websites can collect certain general information about their surfers' systems. For example, they can detect if the surfer is using a cellphone browser and redirect them to a mobile version of their website which works better on smaller screens.

  In PHP, it can be found with: $_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'].

  if ( strstr($_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'],'MSIE 6') ) {
  	echo "Please stop using IE6!";
  }

  Accept-Language

  Accept-Language: en-us,en;q=0.5

  This header displays the default language setting of the user. If a website has different language versions, it can redirect a new surfer based on this data.

  It can carry multiple languages, separated by commas. The first one is the preferred language, and each other listed language can carry a "q" value, which is an estimate of the user's preference for the language (min. 0 max. 1).

  In PHP, it can be found as: $_SERVER["HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE"].

  if (substr($_SERVER['HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE'], 0, 2) == 'fr') {
  	header('Location: http://french.mydomain.com');
  }

  Accept-Encoding

  Accept-Encoding: gzip,deflate

  Most modern browsers support gzip and will send this in the header. The web server then can send the HTML output in a compressed format. This can reduce the size by up to 80% to save bandwidth and time.

  In PHP, it can be found as: $_SERVER["HTTP_ACCEPT_ENCODING"]. However, when you use the ob_gzhandler() callback function, it will check this value automatically, so you don't need to.

  // enables output buffering
  // and all output is compressed if the browser supports it
  ob_start('ob_gzhandler');

  If-Modified-Since

  If a web document is already cached in your browser, and you visit it again, your browser can check if the document has been updated by sending this:

  If-Modified-Since: Sat, 28 Nov 2009 06:38:19 GMT

  If it was not modified since that date, the server will send a "304 Not Modified" response code, and no content—and the browser will load the content from the cache.

  In PHP, it can be found as: $_SERVER['HTTP_IF_MODIFIED_SINCE'].

  // assume $last_modify_time was the last the output was updated
  
  // did the browser send If-Modified-Since header?
  if(isset($_SERVER['HTTP_IF_MODIFIED_SINCE'])) {
  
  	// if the browser cache matches the modify time
  	if ($last_modify_time == strtotime($_SERVER['HTTP_IF_MODIFIED_SINCE'])) {
  
  		// send a 304 header, and no content
  		header("HTTP/1.1 304 Not Modified");
  		exit;
  	}
  
  }

  There is also an HTTP header named Etag, which can be used to make sure the cache is current. We'll talk about this shortly.

  Cookie

  As the name suggests, this sends the cookies stored in your browser for that domain.

  Cookie: PHPSESSID=r2t5uvjq435r4q7ib3vtdjq120; foo=bar

  These are name=value pairs separated by semicolons. Cookies can also contain the session id.

  In PHP, individual cookies can be accessed with the $_COOKIE array. You can directly access the session variables using the $_SESSION array, and if you need the session id, you can use the session_id() function instead of the cookie.

  echo $_COOKIE['foo'];
  // output: bar
  echo $_COOKIE['PHPSESSID'];
  // output: r2t5uvjq435r4q7ib3vtdjq120
  session_start();
  echo session_id();
  // output: r2t5uvjq435r4q7ib3vtdjq120

  Referer

  As the name suggests, this HTTP header contains the referring URL.

  For example, if I visit the Envato Tuts+ Code homepage and click on an article link, this header is sent to my browser:

  Referer: https://code.tutsplus.com/

  In PHP, it can be found as $_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER'].

  if (isset($_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER'])) {
  
  	$url_info = parse_url($_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER']);
  
  	// is the surfer coming from Google?
  	if ($url_info['host'] == 'www.google.com') {
  
  		parse_str($url_info['query'], $vars);
  
  		echo "You searched on Google for this keyword: ". $vars['q'];
  
  	}
  
  }
  // if the referring URL was:
  // http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&=&q=http+headers&aq=f&oq=&aqi=g-p1g9
  // the output will be:
  // You searched on Google for this keyword: http headers

  You may have noticed the word "referrer" is misspelled as "referer". Unfortunately it made into the official HTTP specifications like that and got stuck.

  Authorization

  When a web page asks for authorization, the browser opens a login window. When you enter a username and password in this window, the browser sends another HTTP request, but this time it contains this header.

  Authorization: Basic bXl1c2VyOm15cGFzcw==

  The data inside the header is base64 encoded. For example, base64_decode('bXl1c2VyOm15cGFzcw==') would return 'myuser:mypass'.

  In PHP, these values can be found as $_SERVER['PHP_AUTH_USER'] and $_SERVER['PHP_AUTH_PW'].

  More on this when we talk about the WWW-Authenticate header.

  HTTP Headers in HTTP Responses

  Now we are going to look at some of the most common HTTP headers found in HTTP responses.

  In PHP, you can set response headers using the header() function. PHP already sends certain headers automatically, for loading the content, setting cookies, etc. You can see the headers that are sent, or will be sent, with the headers_list() function. You can check if the headers have been sent already with the headers_sent() function.

  Cache-Control

  Here's the definition from w3.org:

  The Cache-Control general-header field is used to specify directives which MUST be obeyed by all caching mechanisms along the request/response chain.

  These "caching mechanisms" include gateways and proxies that your ISP may be using.

  For example:

  Cache-Control: max-age=3600, public

  public means that the response may be cached by anyone. max-age indicates how many seconds the cache is valid for. Allowing your website to be cached can reduce server load and bandwidth, as well as improving load times in the browser.

  Caching can also be prevented by using the no-cache directive.

  Cache-Control: no-cache

  For more detailed info, see w3.org.

  Content-Type

  This header indicates the "MIME type" of the document. The browser then decides how to interpret the contents based on this. For example, an HTML page (or a PHP script with HTML output) may return this:

  Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8

  text is the type, and html is the subtype of the document. The header can also contain more information, such as charset.

  For a GIF image, this may be sent:

  Content-Type: image/gif

  The browser can decide to use an external application or browser extension based on the MIME type. For example, this will cause Adobe Reader or the browser's built-in PDF reader to be loaded:

  Content-Type: application/pdf

  When loading directly, Apache can usually detect the MIME type of a document and send the appropriate header. Also, most browsers have some amount of fault tolerance and auto-detection of the MIME types, in case the headers are wrong or not present.

  You can find a list of common MIME types in the MDN Web Docs.

  In PHP, you can use the finfo_file() function to detect the MIME type of a file.

  Content-Disposition

  This header instructs the browser to open a file download box, instead of trying to parse the content. For example:

  Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="download.zip"

  That will cause the browser to do this:

  

  Note that the appropriate Content-Type header should also be sent along with this:

  Content-Type: application/zip
  Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="download.zip"

  Content-Length

  When content is going to be transmitted to the browser, the server can indicate its size (in bytes) using this header.

  Content-Length: 89123

  This is especially useful for file downloads. That's how the browser can determine the progress of the download.

  For example, here is a dummy script I wrote, which simulates a large download.

  // it's a zip file
  header('Content-Type: application/zip');
  // 1 million bytes (about 1megabyte)
  header('Content-Length: 1000000');
  // load a download dialogue, and save it as download.zip
  header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="download.zip"');
  
  // 1000 times 1000 bytes of data
  for ($i = 0; $i < 1000; $i++) {
  	echo str_repeat(".",1000);
  
  	// sleep to slow down the download
  	usleep(50000);
  }

  The result is:

  

  Now I am going to comment out the Content-Length header:

  // it's a zip file
  header('Content-Type: application/zip');
  // the browser won't know the size
  // header('Content-Length: 1000000');
  // load a download dialogue, and save it as download.zip
  header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="download.zip"');
  
  // 1000 times 1000 bytes of data
  for ($i = 0; $i < 1000; $i++) {
  	echo str_repeat(".",1000);
  
  	// sleep to slow down the download
  	usleep(50000);
  }

  Now the result is:

  

  The browser can only tell you how many bytes have been downloaded, but it does not know the total amount. And the progress bar is not showing the progress.

  Etag

  This is another header that is used for caching purposes. It looks like this:

  Etag: "pub1259380237;gz"

  The web server may send this header with every document it serves. The value can be based on the last modify date, the file size, or even the checksum value of a file. The browser then saves this value as it caches the document. The next time the browser requests the same file, it sends this in the HTTP request:

  If-None-Match: "pub1259380237;gz"

  If the Etag value of the document matches that, the server will send a 304 code instead of 200, and no content. The browser will load the contents from its cache.

  Last-Modified

  As the name suggests, this header indicates the last modify date of the document, in GMT format:

  Last-Modified: Sat, 28 Nov 2009 03:50:37 GMT

  $modify_time = filemtime($file);
  
  header("Last-Modified: " . gmdate("D, d M Y H:i:s", $modify_time) . " GMT");

  It offers another way for the browser to cache a document. The browser may send this in the HTTP request:

  If-Modified-Since: Sat, 28 Nov 2009 06:38:19 GMT

  We already talked about this earlier, in the If-Modified-Since section.

  Location

  This header is used for redirections. If the response code is 301 or 302, the server must also send this header. For example, when you go to https://net.tutsplus.com, your browser will receive this:

  HTTP/1.x 301 Moved Permanently
  ...
  Location: https://code.tutsplus.com/
  ...

  In PHP, you can redirect a surfer like so:

  header('Location: https://code.tutsplus.com/');

  By default, that will send a 302 response code. If you want to send a 301 instead:

  header('Location: https://code.tutsplus.com/', true, 301);

  Set-Cookie

  When a website wants to set or update a cookie in your browser, it will use this header.

  Set-Cookie: skin=noskin; path=/; domain=.amazon.com; expires=Sun, 29-Nov-2009 21:42:28 GMT
  Set-Cookie: session-id=120-7333518-8165026; path=/; domain=.amazon.com; expires=Sat Feb 27 08:00:00 2010 GMT

  Each cookie is sent as a separate header. Note that cookies set via JavaScript do not go through HTTP headers.

  In PHP, you can set cookies using the setcookie() function, and PHP sends the appropriate HTTP headers.

  setcookie("TestCookie", "foobar");

  Which causes this header to be sent:

  Set-Cookie: TestCookie=foobar

  If the expiration date is not specified, the cookie is deleted when the browser window is closed.

  WWW-Authenticate

  A website may send this header to authenticate a user through HTTP. When the browser sees this header, it will open up a login dialogue window.

  WWW-Authenticate: Basic realm="Restricted Area"

  Which looks like this:

  

  There is a section in the PHP manual that has code samples on how to do this in PHP.

  if (!isset($_SERVER['PHP_AUTH_USER'])) {
      header('WWW-Authenticate: Basic realm="My Realm"');
      header('HTTP/1.0 401 Unauthorized');
      echo 'Text to send if user hits Cancel button';
      exit;
  } else {
      echo "<p>Hello {$_SERVER['PHP_AUTH_USER']}.</p>";
      echo "<p>You entered {$_SERVER['PHP_AUTH_PW']} as your password.</p>";
  }

  Content-Encoding

  This header is usually set when the returned content is compressed.

  Content-Encoding: gzip

  In PHP, if you use the ob_gzhandler() callback function, it will be set automatically for you.

  How to Send HTTP Headers

  After reading the tutorial up to this point, you should have a good idea of what HTTP headers are and what their different values mean. Some headers are sent and received automatically when you make a request to a server and get a response back.

  However, there will be situations where you want to send your own custom headers besides the ones sent by the client or server.

  One of the most common ways of sending your own headers in a request is by using the cURL library in PHP. The library comes with a bunch of functions to handle all your needs. There are four basic steps involved:

  1. You use curl_init() to start your cURL session. You can pass it the URL you want to request.
  2. The curl_setopt() function is used to configure the request according to your needs. This is where you can set your own headers by using the CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER option.
  3. After you have set all the options, you can execute the request by calling curl_exec().
  4. Finally, you can close the session by calling the curl_close() function.

  Here is a basic example that sends a request to https://code.tutsplus.com/tutorials.

  <?php
  
  $ch = curl_init("https://code.tutsplus.com/tutorials");
  
  curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, array(
      "User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64; rv:88.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/88.0",
      "Accept-Language: en-US,en;q=0.5"
  ));
  
  curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1);
  $output = curl_exec($ch);
  
  curl_close($ch);
  
  echo $output;
  ?>

  You can learn more about cURL by reading these two tutorials. They cover all the basics of the library to help you get started.

  • 
    PHP
    Techniques for Mastering cURL
    Burak Guzel
  • 
    PHP
    How to Use cURL in PHP
    Sajal Soni

  If you want to send response headers in PHP, then you should use the header() function. Among other things, one common use is redirecting visitors to other pages. This can be done by using the Location header. Here is an example:

  <?php
  
  header('Location: https://code.tutsplus.com/tutorials');
  
  // Other PHP or HTML code.
  ?>

  You have to remember to call the header() function before any kind of output either in HTML or in PHP. Even blank output is not permitted. Otherwise, you will get the Headers already sent error.

  Conclusion

  Thanks for reading. I hope this article was a good starting point for learning about HTTP headers. If you want to take your web development further, check out some of the popular files on CodeCanyon. These scripts, apps, templates, and plugins can save you precious development time and help you add new features quickly and easily. 

  The Best PHP Scripts on CodeCanyon

  Explore thousands of the best and most useful PHP scripts ever created on CodeCanyon.

  

  Here are a few of the best-selling and up-and-coming PHP scripts available on CodeCanyon for 2021.

  • 
    PHP
    11 Best PHP Event Calendar and Booking Scripts... and 3 Free Options
    Monty Shokeen
  • 
    PHP
    13 Best PHP URL Shortener Scripts (Free and Premium)
    Monty Shokeen
  • 
    PHP
    18 Best Contact Form PHP Scripts for 2021
    Monty Shokeen
  • 
    PHP
    Comparing the 5 Best PHP Form Builders (And 4 Free Scripts)
    Monty Shokeen
  • 
    PHP
    Create Beautiful Forms With PHP Form Builder
    Ashraff Hathibelagal

  This post has been updated with contributions from Monty Shokeen. Monty is a full-stack developer who also loves to write tutorials, and to learn about new JavaScript libraries.

  ]]> 2021-05-12T09:16:54+00:00 //shineyrock.com/blog/read/how-to-implement-email-verification-for-new-members https://shineyrock.com/blog/read/how-to-implement-email-verification-for-new-members#When:14:39:02Z

  Have you ever created an account with a website and been required to check your email and click a verification link sent by the company in order to activate it? Doing so highly reduces the number of spam accounts. In this lesson, we'll learn how to do this very thing!

  Looking for a Shortcut?

  This tutorial teaches you to build an email verification script from scratch, but if you want something that you can use on your website right away, check out some of the great email forms and scripts on CodeCanyon.

  • 
    PHP
    20 Best PHP Email Forms
    Esther Vaati

  After you learn how to verify email addresses in PHP in this tutorial, check out a small selection of these script templates that you can download today.

  Building an Email Verification and Sign-Up Script

  What Are We Going to Build?

  We are going to build a nice PHP sign-up script where a user can create an account to gain access to the "members only section" of a website.

  After the user creates their account, the account will then be locked until the user clicks a verification link that they'll receive in their email inbox.

  1. Build a Sign-Up Page

  We first need a simple page where our visitors can sign up for their accounts.

  index.php: This is our sign-up page with a basic form.

  <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "https://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
  
  <html xmlns="https://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
  <head>
      <title>NETTUTS > Sign up</title>
      <link href="css/style.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" />
  </head>
  <body>
      <!-- start header div -->
      <div id="header">
          <h3>NETTUTS > Sign up</h3>
      </div>
      <!-- end header div -->
  
      <!-- start wrap div -->
      <div id="wrap">
  
          <!-- start php code -->
  
          <!-- stop php code -->
  
          <!-- title and description -->
          <h3>Signup Form</h3>
          <p>Please enter your name and email addres to create your account</p>
  
          <!-- start sign up form -->
          <form action="" method="post">
              <label for="name">Name:</label>
              <input type="text" name="name" value="" />
              <label for="email">Email:</label>
              <input type="text" name="email" value="" />
  
              <input type="submit" class="submit_button" value="Sign up" />
          </form>
          <!-- end sign up form -->
  
      </div>
      <!-- end wrap div -->
  </body>
  </html>

  css/style.css: This is the stylesheet for index.php and other pages.

  /* Global Styles */
  
  *{
      padding: 0; /* Reset all padding to 0 */
      margin: 0; /* Reset all margin to 0 */
  }
  
  body{
      background: #F9F9F9; /* Set HTML background color */
      font: 14px "Lucida Grande";  /* Set global font size & family */
      color: #464646; /* Set global text color */
  }
  
  p{
      margin: 10px 0px 10px 0px; /* Add some padding to the top and bottom of the <p> tags */
  }
  
  /* Header */
  
  #header{
      height: 45px; /* Set header height */
      background: #464646; /* Set header background color */
  }
  
  #header h3{
      color: #FFFFF3; /* Set header heading(top left title ) color */
      padding: 10px; /* Set padding, to center it within the header */
      font-weight: normal; /* Set font weight to normal, default it was set to bold */
  }
  
  /* Wrap */
  
  #wrap{
      background: #FFFFFF; /* Set content background to white */
      width: 615px; /* Set the width of our content area */
      margin: 0 auto; /* Center our content in our browser */
      margin-top: 50px; /* Margin top to make some space between the header and the content */
      padding: 10px; /* Padding to make some more space for our text */
      border: 1px solid #DFDFDF; /* Small border for the finishing touch */
      text-align: center; /* Center our content text */
  }
  
  #wrap h3{
      font: italic 22px Georgia; /* Set font for our heading 2 that will be displayed in our wrap */
  }
  
  /* Form & Input field styles */
  
  form{
      margin-top: 10px; /* Make some more distance away from the description text */
  }
  
  form .submit_button{
      background: #F9F9F9; /* Set button background */
      border: 1px solid #DFDFDF; /* Small border around our submit button */
      padding: 8px; /* Add some more space around our button text */
  }
  
  input{
      font: normal 16px Georgia; /* Set font for our input fields */
      border: 1px solid #DFDFDF; /* Small border around our input field */
      padding: 8px; /* Add some more space around our text */
  }

  Here's what the HTML and CSS look like when they're rendered in the browser.

  

  As you can see, I've added a comment to each line that describes what they do. Also, you might have noticed the following comment in the index.php file:

  <!-- start php code -->
  
  <!-- stop php code -->

  We are going to write our PHP between these two lines!

  2. Input Validation

  The first thing we are going to build is a piece of code that's going to validate the information. Here is a short list detailing what needs to be validated.

  • the name field is not empty
  • the name is not too short
  • the email field is not empty
  • the email address is valid with the form #censored#@xxx.#censored#

  So our first step is to check that the form has been submitted and that the fields are not empty.

  <!-- start PHP code -->
  <?php
  
      if(isset($_POST['name']) && !empty($_POST['name']) AND isset($_POST['email']) && !empty($_POST['email'])){
          // Form Submited
      }
  
  ?>
  <!-- stop PHP Code -->

  Time for a breakdown! We start with an IF statement, and we are first validating the name field:

  if(  ){ // If statement is true run code between brackets
  
  }
  
  isset($_POST['name']) // Is the name field being posted; it does not matter whether it's empty or filled.
  && // This is the same as the AND in our statement; it allows you to check multiple statements.
  !empty($_POST['name']) // Verify if the field name is not empty
  
  isset($_POST['email']) // Is the email field being posted; it does not matter if it's empty or filled.
  && // This is the same as the AND in our statement; it allows you to check multiple statements.
  !empty($_POST['email']) // Verify if the field email is not empty

  So if you submit the form now with empty fields, nothing will happen. If you fill in both fields, then our script will run the code between the brackets.

  Now we're going to create a piece of code that will check if an email address is valid. If it's not, we'll return a error. Also, let's turn our post variables into local variables:

  if(isset($_POST['name']) && !empty($_POST['name']) AND isset($_POST['email']) && !empty($_POST['email'])){
      $name = mysql_escape_string($_POST['name']); // Turn our post into a local variable
      $email = mysql_escape_string($_POST['email']); // Turn our post into a local variable
  }

  We can now reach our data via our local variables. As you can see, I also added a MySQL escape string to prevent MySQL injection when inserting the data into the MySQL database.

  The mysql_real_escape_string() function escapes special characters in a string for use in an SQL statement.

  Regular Expressions

  Next up is a small snippet that checks if the email address is valid.

  $name = mysql_escape_string($_POST['name']);
  $email = mysql_escape_string($_POST['email']);
  
  if(!eregi("^[_a-z0-9-]+(\.[_a-z0-9-]+)*@[a-z0-9-]+(\.[a-z0-9-]+)*(\.[a-z]{2,3})$", $email)){
      // Return Error - Invalid Email
  }else{
      // Return Success - Valid Email
  }

  Please note that I did not personally write this regular expression—it's a small snippet from php.net. Basically, it verifies if the email is written in the following format:

  #censored#@xxx.#censored#

  In the eregi function call, you can see that it checks if the email contains characters from the alphabet, if it has any numbers, or a phantom dash (_), and of course the basic requirements for an email with an @ symbol and a . in the domain. If these characteristics are not found, the expression returns false. 

  Okay, so now we need to add some basic error messages.

  if(!eregi("^[_a-z0-9-]+(\.[_a-z0-9-]+)*@[a-z0-9-]+(\.[a-z0-9-]+)*(\.[a-z]{2,3})$", $email)){
      // Return Error - Invalid Email
      $msg = 'The email you have entered is invalid, please try again.';
  }else{
      // Return Success - Valid Email
      $msg = 'Your account has been made, <br /> please verify it by clicking the activation link that has been send to your email.';
  }

  As you can see, we have made a local variable $msg, which allows us to show the error or the success message anywhere on the page.

  And we're going to display it between the instruction text and the form.

  <!-- title and description -->
  <h3>Signup Form</h3>
  <p>Please enter your name and email address to create your account</p>
  
  <?php
      if(isset($msg)){  // Check if $msg is not empty
          echo '<div class="statusmsg">'.$msg.'</div>'; // Display our message and wrap it with a div with the class "statusmsg".
      }
  ?>
  
  <!-- start sign up form -->

  Finally, we'll add a bit of CSS to style.css, to style our status message a bit.

  #wrap .statusmsg{
      font-size: 12px; /* Set message font size  */
      padding: 3px; /* Some padding to make some more space for our text  */
      background: #EDEDED; /* Add a background color to our status message   */
      border: 1px solid #DFDFDF; /* Add a border arround our status message   */
  }

  

  3. Creating the Database & Establishing a Connection

  Now we need to establish a database connection and create a table to insert the account data. So let's go to PHPMyAdmin and create a new database with the name registrations and create a user account that has access to that database in order to insert and update data.

  Let's create our users table, with six fields:

  

  Now we must enter details for these fields:

  

  For those who don't want to input this data manually, you can instead run the following SQL code.

  CREATE TABLE `users` (
  `id` INT( 10 ) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY ,
  `username` VARCHAR( 32 ) NOT NULL ,
  `password` VARCHAR( 32 ) NOT NULL ,
  `email` TEXT NOT NULL ,
  `hash` VARCHAR( 32 ) NOT NULL ,
  `active` INT( 1 ) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0'
  ) ENGINE = MYISAM ;

  Our database is created, so now we need to establish a connection using PHP. We'll write the following code at the start of our script, just below the following line:

  <!-- start PHP code -->
  <?php
  // Establish database connection

  We'll use the following code to connect to the database server and select the registrations database with a basic MySQL connection.

  mysql_connect("localhost", "username", "password") or die(mysql_error()); // Connect to database server(localhost) with username and password.
  mysql_select_db("registrations") or die(mysql_error()); // Select registrations database.

  Now that we've established a connection to our database, we can move on to the next step and insert the account details.

  4. Insert Account

  Now it's time to enter the submitted account details into our database and generate an activation hash. Write the following code below this line:

  // Return Success - Valid Email
  $msg = 'Your account has been made, <br /> please verify it by clicking the activation link that has been send to your email.';

  Activation Hash

  In our database, we made a field called hash. This hash is a 32-character string of text. We also send this code to the user's email address. They can then click the link (which contains the hash), and we'll verify if it matches the one in the database. Let's create a local variable called $hash and generate a random MD5 hash.

  $hash = md5( rand(0,1000) ); // Generate random 32 character hash and assign it to a local variable.
  // Example output: f4552671f8909587cf485ea990207f3b

  What did we do? Well, we're using the PHP function rand to generate a random number between 0 and 1000. Next, our MD5 function will turn this number into a 32-character string of text, which we'll use in our activation email. 

  MD5 is a good choice for generating random strings. It also used to be a common choice for hashing passwords, but it has been shown to not be secure for passwords. Instead, use the password_hash function.

  Creating a Random Password

  The next thing we need to is to create a random password for our member:

  $password = rand(1000,5000); // Generate random number between 1000 and 5000 and assign it to a local variable.
  // Example output: 4568

  Insert the following information into our database using a MySQL query.

  mysql_query("INSERT INTO users (username, password, email, hash) VALUES(
  '". mysql_escape_string($name) ."',
  '". mysql_escape_string(password_hash($password)) ."',
  '". mysql_escape_string($email) ."',
  '". mysql_escape_string($hash) ."') ") or die(mysql_error());

  As you can see, we insert all the data with a MySQL escape string around it to prevent any MySQL injection.

  You also might notice that the password_hash function changes the random password into a secure hash for protection. This way, if people with malicious intent gain access to the database, they won't be able to read the passwords.

  For testing, fill in the form and check if the data is being inserted into our database.

  5. Send the Verification Email

  Right after we have inserted the information into our database, we need to send an email to the user with the verification link. So let's use the PHP mail function to do just that.

  $to      = $email; // Send email to our user
  $subject = 'Signup | Verification'; // Give the email a subject
  $message = '
  
  Thanks for signing up!
  Your account has been created, you can login with the following credentials after you have activated your account by pressing the url below.
  
  ------------------------
  Username: '.$name.'
  Password: '.$password.'
  ------------------------
  
  Please click this link to activate your account:
  http://www.yourwebsite.com/verify.php?email='.$email.'&hash='.$hash.'
  
  '; // Our message above including the link
  
  $headers = 'From:noreply@yourwebsite.com' . "\r\n"; // Set from headers
  mail($to, $subject, $message, $headers); // Send our email

  In the PHP send email verification code above, we send a short description to our user which contains the username and password—using the local variables we created when the data was posted. Then we create a dynamic link. 

  The result of all this will look as follows:

  

  As you can see, it creates a URL which is impossible to guess. This is a very secure way to verify the email address of a user.

  6. Account Activation

  As you can see, our URL links to verify.php, so let's create that file using the same basic template we used for index.php.

  However, remove the form from the template.

  <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
  
  <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
  <head>
      <title>NETTUTS > Sign up</title>
      <link href="css/style.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" />
  </head>
  <body>
      <!-- start header div -->
      <div id="header">
          <h3>NETTUTS > Sign up</h3>
      </div>
      <!-- end header div -->
  
      <!-- start wrap div -->
      <div id="wrap">
          <!-- start PHP code -->
          <?php
  
              mysql_connect("localhost", "tutorial", "password") or die(mysql_error()); // Connect to database server(localhost) with username and password.
              mysql_select_db("registrations") or die(mysql_error()); // Select registration database.
  
          ?>
          <!-- stop PHP Code -->
  
  
      </div>
      <!-- end wrap div -->
  </body>
  </html>

  The first thing we need to do is check if we have our $_GET variables (for the email and hash).

  if(isset($_GET['email']) && !empty($_GET['email']) AND isset($_GET['hash']) && !empty($_GET['hash'])){
      // Verify data
  }else{
      // Invalid approach
  }

  To make things a bit easier, let's assign our local variables. We'll also add some MySQL injection prevention by, once again, using the MySQL escape string.

  if(isset($_GET['email']) && !empty($_GET['email']) AND isset($_GET['hash']) && !empty($_GET['hash'])){
      // Verify data
      $email = mysql_escape_string($_GET['email']); // Set email variable
      $hash = mysql_escape_string($_GET['hash']); // Set hash variable
  }

  The next thing is to check the data from the URL against the data in our database using a MySQL query.

  $search = mysql_query("SELECT email, hash, active FROM users WHERE email='".$email."' AND hash='".$hash."' AND active='0'") or die(mysql_error());
  $match  = mysql_num_rows($search);

  In the code above, we used a MySQL SELECT statement and checked if the email and hash matched. But besides that, we also checked if the status of the account is inactive. Finally, we use mysql_num_rows to determine how many matches have been found.

  So let's try this out. Just use a simple echo to return the results.

  $search = mysql_query("SELECT email, hash, active FROM users WHERE email='".$email."' AND hash='".$hash."' AND active='0'") or die(mysql_error());
  $match  = mysql_num_rows($search);
  
  echo $match; // Display how many matches have been found -> remove this when done with testing 

  

  We have a match! To change the result, simply change the email, and you'll see that the number returned is 0.

  So we can use our $match variable to either activate the account or return an error when no match has been found.

  if($match > 0){
      // We have a match, activate the account
  }else{
      // No match -> invalid url or account has already been activated.
  }

  In order to activate the account, we must update the active field to 1 using a MySQL query.

  // We have a match, activate the account
  mysql_query("UPDATE users SET active='1' WHERE email='".$email."' AND hash='".$hash."' AND active='0'") or die(mysql_error());
  echo '<div class="statusmsg">Your account has been activated, you can now login</div>';

  So we use the same search terms for the update as we used in our MySQL select query. We change active to 1 wherever the email, hash, and active fields have the right values. We also return a message telling the user that their account has been activated. You can add a message like we did here to the "no match" part.

  So the final code should look similar to the following:

  mysql_connect("localhost", "tutorial", "password") or die(mysql_error()); // Connect to database server(localhost) with username and password.
  mysql_select_db("registrations") or die(mysql_error()); // Select registration database.
  
  if(isset($_GET['email']) && !empty($_GET['email']) AND isset($_GET['hash']) && !empty($_GET['hash'])){
      // Verify data
      $email = mysql_escape_string($_GET['email']); // Set email variable
      $hash = mysql_escape_string($_GET['hash']); // Set hash variable
  
      $search = mysql_query("SELECT email, hash, active FROM users WHERE email='".$email."' AND hash='".$hash."' AND active='0'") or die(mysql_error());
      $match  = mysql_num_rows($search);
  
      if($match > 0){
          // We have a match, activate the account
          mysql_query("UPDATE users SET active='1' WHERE email='".$email."' AND hash='".$hash."' AND active='0'") or die(mysql_error());
          echo '<div class="statusmsg">Your account has been activated, you can now login</div>';
      }else{
          // No match -> invalid url or account has already been activated.
          echo '<div class="statusmsg">The url is either invalid or you already have activated your account.</div>';
      }
  
  }else{
      // Invalid approach
      echo '<div class="statusmsg">Invalid approach, please use the link that has been send to your email.</div>';
  }

  

  If you visit verify.php without any strings, the following error will be shown:

  

  7. Create the Login 

  In this final step, I'll show you how to create a basic login form and check if the account is activated. First, create a new file called login.php with the basic template we used before, but this time I changed the form into a login form.

  <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
  
  <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
  <head>
      <title>NETTUTS > Sign up</title>
      <link href="css/style.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" />
  </head>
  <body>
      <!-- start header div -->
      <div id="header">
          <h3>NETTUTS > Sign up</h3>
      </div>
      <!-- end header div -->
  
      <!-- start wrap div -->
      <div id="wrap">
          <!-- start PHP code -->
          <?php
  
              mysql_connect("localhost", "tutorial", "password") or die(mysql_error()); // Connect to database server(localhost) with username and password.
              mysql_select_db("registrations") or die(mysql_error()); // Select registration database.
  
  
          ?>
          <!-- stop PHP Code -->
  
          <!-- title and description -->
          <h3>Login Form</h3>
          <p>Please enter your name and password to login</p>
  
          <?php
              if(isset($msg)){ // Check if $msg is not empty
                  echo '<div class="statusmsg">'.$msg.'</div>'; // Display our message and add a div around it with the class statusmsg
              } ?>
  
          <!-- start sign up form -->
          <form action="" method="post">
              <label for="name">Name:</label>
              <input type="text" name="name" value="" />
              <label for="password">Password:</label>
              <input type="password" name="password" value="" />
  
              <input type="submit" class="submit_button" value="Sign up" />
          </form>
          <!-- end sign up form -->
  
      </div>
      <!-- end wrap div -->
  </body>
  </html>

  The form is basic HTML and is almost the same as the signup form, so no further explanation is needed. 

  Now it's time to write the code for the login script. We'll add this just below the MySQL connection code. We start with something we also did in the signup form.

  We first check to see if the data is being posted, and we make sure that it's not empty.

  if(isset($_POST['name']) && !empty($_POST['name']) AND isset($_POST['password']) && !empty($_POST['password'])) {
      $username = mysql_escape_string($_POST['name']); // Set variable for the username
  
      $result = mysql_fetch_assoc(mysql_query("SELECT password FROM users WHERE active = '1' AND username = '" . $username . "'"));
      $password_hash = (isset($result['password']) ? $result['password'] : '');
      $result = password_verify($_POST['password'], $password_hash);
  }

  Next, we've created the connection to our users table and verified if the entered data is correct. We wrote a MySQL query which would select the password hash from the database associated with the entered username. Finally, we've used the password_verify function to verify the input password. The $result contains TRUE if the user has entered the correct password; otherwise, it would be FALSE.

  And the active condition is important! This is what makes sure that you can only log in if your account has been activated.

  if($result){
      $msg = 'Login Complete! Thanks';
      // Set cookie / Start Session / Start Download etc...
  }else{
      $msg = 'Login Failed! Please make sure that you enter the correct details and that you have activated your account.';
  }

  In the code above, we check if the login was a success or not.

  Top PHP Form Scripts on CodeCanyon in 2021

  Setting up an email verification code generator is a useful skill to have in your arsenal. But if you don't have the time, then grab a professional template. They'll save you time and are designed to suit many website types. You can find some of the best PHP form script downloads with user email verification from CodeCanyon.

  1. Quform: Responsive AJAX Contact Form

  Quform is an excellent AJAX contact form that can be implemented on a number of websites. This download works without reloading the page, letting visitors finish your forms smoothly and quickly. Quform is also easily adapted to all types of forms, including registration and quote. This PHP form is a no-brainer if you want an easy-to-use script for your site.

  

  2. Secure PHP Login and Registration System

  What this PHP script download does well is all in the name. Set up secure login and registration processes for your site that visitors can use easily. You can set up user email verification thanks to the built-in module. Forms made from these scripts can also be validated without refreshing the page.

  

  3. Easy Forms: Advanced Form Builder and Manager

  Building the forms your site need don't get easier than with this PHP script download. It's packed with useful features, too many to list in this article. But here are a few features of Easy Forms you and your users will like to have:

  • spam filtering and reCAPTCHA
  • theme designer for forms
  • email verification sent to users
  • support for smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices

  

  4. PHP Form Builder

  Build contact forms, dynamic fields forms, and everything in between with PHP Form Builder. It has everything to make the process smooth, including a drag-and-drop builder. You can set up a registration and login form with a PHP send email verification code with no coding knowledge needed.

  

  Find Even More PHP Scripts From CodeCanyon

  You can explore thousands of the best and most useful PHP scripts ever created on CodeCanyon.

  

  Here are a few of the best-selling and up-and-coming PHP scripts available on CodeCanyon for 2021.

  • 
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  • 
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  Conclusion

  And that's all it takes to create a complete email validation and login system in PHP! I hope you enjoyed the post, and if you did, please leave a comment below!

  Coding your own PHP is great fun, and of course it's the foundation for a good app. However, to save time creating more specialized features, or for complete applications that you can use and customize, take a look at the professional PHP scripts on CodeCanyon.

  PHP is a powerful scripting language that is used to keep all types of web functions ticking. If you're interested in learning more about PHP, you'll want to give these articles a look. They were written by the outstanding instructors of Envato Tuts+:

  • 
    PHP
    How to Send Text Messages With PHP
    Kevin Jensen
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  • 
    PHP
    Create a PHP Login Form
    Monty Shoke]]> 2021-05-06T14:39:02+00:00 //shineyrock.com/blog/read/how-to-create-a-simple-web-based-chat-application https://shineyrock.com/blog/read/how-to-create-a-simple-web-based-chat-application#When:11:45:22Z

    In this tutorial, we will be creating a simple web-based chat application with PHP and jQuery. This sort of utility would be perfect for a live support system for your website.

    This tutorial was updated recently to make improvements in the chat app. 

    Introduction

    

    The chat application we will be building today will be quite simple. It will include a login and logout system, AJAX-style features, and support for multiple users.

    Step 1: HTML Markup

    We will start this tutorial by creating our first file, called index.php.

    <!DOCTYPE html>
    <html lang="en">
        <head>
            <meta charset="utf-8" />
    
            <title>Tuts+ Chat Application</title>
            <meta name="description" content="Tuts+ Chat Application" />
            <link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css" />
        </head>
        <body>
            <div id="wrapper">
                <div id="menu">
                    <p class="welcome">Welcome, <b></b></p>
                    <p class="logout"><a id="exit" href="#">Exit Chat</a></p>
                </div>
    
                <div id="chatbox"></div>
    
                <form name="message" action="">
                    <input name="usermsg" type="text" id="usermsg" />
                    <input name="submitmsg" type="submit" id="submitmsg" value="Send" />
                </form>
            </div>
            <script type="text/javascript" src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.5.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
            <script type="text/javascript">
                // jQuery Document
                $(document).ready(function () {});
            </script>
        </body>
    </html>
    

    • We start our HTML with the usual DOCTYPE, html, head, and body tags. In the head tag, we add our title and link to our CSS stylesheet (style.css).
    • Inside the body tag, we structure our layout inside the #wrapper div. We will have three main blocks: a simple menu, our chatbox, and our message input, each with its respective div and id.
      • The #menu div will consist of two paragraph elements. The first will be a welcome to the user and will be on the left, and the second will be an exit link and will be on the right. We are using flexbox instead of floating elements for the layout.
      • The #chatbox div will contain our chatlog. We will load our log from an external file using jQuery's ajax request.
      • The last item in our #wrapper div will be our form, which will include a text input for the user message and a submit button.
    • We add our scripts last so that the page will load faster. We will first link to the Cloudflare jQuery CDN, as we will be using the jQuery library for this tutorial. Our second script tag is what we will be working on. We will load all of our code after the document is ready.

    Step 2: CSS Styling

    We will now add some CSS to make our chat application look better than with the default browser styling. The code below will be added to our style.css file.

    * {
        margin: 0;
        padding: 0;
      }
    
      body {
        margin: 20px auto;
        font-family: "Lato";
        font-weight: 300;
      }
    
      form {
        padding: 15px 25px;
        display: flex;
        gap: 10px;
        justify-content: center;
      }
    
      form label {
        font-size: 1.5rem;
        font-weight: bold;
      }
    
      input {
        font-family: "Lato";
      }
    
      a {
        color: #0000ff;
        text-decoration: none;
      }
    
      a:hover {
        text-decoration: underline;
      }
    
      #wrapper,
      #loginform {
        margin: 0 auto;
        padding-bottom: 25px;
        background: #eee;
        width: 600px;
        max-width: 100%;
        border: 2px solid #212121;
        border-radius: 4px;
      }
    
      #loginform {
        padding-top: 18px;
        text-align: center;
      }
    
      #loginform p {
        padding: 15px 25px;
        font-size: 1.4rem;
        font-weight: bold;
      }
    
      #chatbox {
        text-align: left;
        margin: 0 auto;
        margin-bottom: 25px;
        padding: 10px;
        background: #fff;
        height: 300px;
        width: 530px;
        border: 1px solid #a7a7a7;
        overflow: auto;
        border-radius: 4px;
        border-bottom: 4px solid #a7a7a7;
      }
    
      #usermsg {
        flex: 1;
        border-radius: 4px;
        border: 1px solid #ff9800;
      }
    
      #name {
        border-radius: 4px;
        border: 1px solid #ff9800;
        padding: 2px 8px;
      }
    
      #submitmsg,
      #enter{
        background: #ff9800;
        border: 2px solid #e65100;
        color: white;
        padding: 4px 10px;
        font-weight: bold;
        border-radius: 4px;
      }
    
      .error {
        color: #ff0000;
      }
    
      #menu {
        padding: 15px 25px;
        display: flex;
      }
    
      #menu p.welcome {
        flex: 1;
      }
    
      a#exit {
        color: white;
        background: #c62828;
        padding: 4px 8px;
        border-radius: 4px;
        font-weight: bold;
      }
    
      .msgln {
        margin: 0 0 5px 0;
      }
    
      .msgln span.left-info {
        color: orangered;
      }
    
      .msgln span.chat-time {
        color: #666;
        font-size: 60%;
        vertical-align: super;
      }
    
      .msgln b.user-name, .msgln b.user-name-left {
        font-weight: bold;
        background: #546e7a;
        color: white;
        padding: 2px 4px;
        font-size: 90%;
        border-radius: 4px;
        margin: 0 5px 0 0;
      }
    
      .msgln b.user-name-left {
        background: orangered;
      }
      

    There's nothing special about the above CSS other than the fact that some ids or classes, which we have set a style for, will be added a bit later.

    

     

    As you can see above, we are finished building the chat's user interface.

    Step 3: Using PHP to Create a Login Form

    Now we will implement a simple form that will ask the user their name before continuing further.

    <?php
    session_start();
    
    if(isset($_POST['enter'])){
        if($_POST['name'] != ""){
    		$_SESSION['name'] = stripslashes(htmlspecialchars($_POST['name']));
    	}
    	else{
    		echo '<span class="error">Please type in a name</span>';
    	}
    }
    
    function loginForm(){
    	echo'
    	<div id="loginform">
          <p>Please enter your name to continue!</p>
          <form action="index.php" method="post">
            <label for="name">Name &mdash;</label>
            <input type="text" name="name" id="name" />
            <input type="submit" name="enter" id="enter" value="Enter" />
          </form>
        </div>
    	';
    }
    ?>

    The loginForm() function we created is composed of a simple login form which asks the user for their name. We then use an if and else statement to verify that the person entered a name. If the person entered a name, we set that name as $_SESSION['name']. Since we are using a cookie-based session to store the name, we must call session_start() before anything is outputted to the browser.

    One thing that you may want to pay close attention to is that we have used the htmlspecialchars() function, which converts special characters to HTML entities, therefore protecting the name variable from falling victim to cross-site scripting (XSS). Later, we will also add this function to the text variable that will be posted to the chat log.

    Showing the Login Form

    In order to show the login form in case a user has not logged in, and hence has not created a session, we use another if and else statement around the #wrapper div and script tags in our original code. In the opposite case, this will hide the login form and show the chat box if the user is logged in and has created a session.

    <?php
    if(!isset($_SESSION['name'])){
    	loginForm();
    }
    else{
    ?>
    <div id="wrapper">
        <div id="menu">
            <p class="welcome">Welcome, <b><?php echo $_SESSION['name']; ?></b></p>
            <p class="logout"><a id="exit" href="#">Exit Chat</a></p>
        </div>
    
        <div id="chatbox">
        <?php
        if(file_exists("log.html") && filesize("log.html") > 0){
    
            $contents = file_get_contents("log.html");
            echo $contents;
        }
        ?>
        </div>
    
        <form name="message" action="">
            <input name="usermsg" type="text" id="usermsg" />
            <input name="submitmsg" type="submit" id="submitmsg" value="Send" />
        </form>
    </div>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.5.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript">
    // jQuery Document
    $(document).ready(function(){
    });
    </script>
    <?php
    }
    ?>

    

    Welcome and Logout Menu

    We are not yet finished creating the login system for this chat application. We still need to allow the user to log out and end the chat session. If you remember, our original HTML markup included a simple menu. Let's go back and add some PHP code that will give the menu more functionality.

    First of all, let's add the user's name to the welcome message. We do this by outputting the session of the user's name.

    <p class="welcome">Welcome, <b><?php echo $_SESSION['name']; ?></b></p>

    

    In order to allow the user to log out and end the session, we will jump ahead of ourselves and briefly use jQuery.

    <script type="text/javascript">
    // jQuery Document
    $(document).ready(function(){
    	//If user wants to end session
    	$("#exit").click(function(){
    		var exit = confirm("Are you sure you want to end the session?");
    		if(exit==true){window.location = 'index.php?logout=true';}
    	});
    });
    </script>

    The jQuery code above simply shows a confirmation alert if a user clicks the #exit link. If the user confirms the exit, therefore deciding to end the session, then we send them to index.php?logout=true. This simply creates a variable called logout with the value of true. We need to catch this variable with PHP:

    

    if(isset($_GET['logout'])){
    
    	//Simple exit message
    	$logout_message = "<div class='msgln'><span class='left-info'>User <b class='user-name-left'>". $_SESSION['name'] ."</b> has left the chat session.</span><br></div>";
        file_put_contents("log.html", $logout_message, FILE_APPEND | LOCK_EX);
    
    	session_destroy();
    	header("Location: index.php"); //Redirect the user
    }

    We now see if a get variable of 'logout' exists using the isset() function. If the variable has been passed via a URL, such as the link mentioned above, we proceed to end the session of the user's name.

    Before destroying the user's name session with the session_destroy() function, we want to write a simple exit message to the chat log. It will say that the user has left the chat session. We do this by using the file_put_contents() function to manipulate our log.html file, which, as we will see later on, will be created as our chat log. The file_put_contents() function is a convenient way to write data to a text file instead of using fopen(), fwrite(), and fclose() each time. Just make sure that you pass appropriate flags like FILE_APPEND to append the data at the end of the file. Otherwise, a new $logout_message will overwrite the previous content of the file. Please note that we have added a class of msgln to the div. We have already defined the CSS styling for this div.

    After doing this, we destroy the session and redirect the user to the same page where the login form will appear.

    Step 4: Handling User Input

    After a user submits our form, we want to grab their input and write it to our chat log. In order to do this, we must use jQuery and PHP to work synchronously on the client and server sides.

    jQuery

    Almost everything we are going to do with jQuery to handle our data will revolve around the jQuery post request.

    //If user submits the form
    $("#submitmsg").click(function () {
        var clientmsg = $("#usermsg").val();
        $.post("post.php", { text: clientmsg });
        $("#usermsg").val("");
        return false;
    });

    1. Before we do anything, we must grab the user's input, or what the user has typed into the #submitmsg input. This can be achieved with the val() function, which gets the value set in a form field. We now store this value in the clientmsg variable.
    2. Here comes our most important part: the jQuery post request. This sends a POST request to the post.php file that we will create in a moment. It posts the client's input, or what has been saved into the clientmsg variable.
    3. Lastly, we clear the #usermsg input by setting the value attribute to blank.

    Please note that the code above will go into our script tag, where we placed the jQuery logout code.

    PHP: The post.php File

    At the moment, we have POST data being sent to the post.php file each time the user submits the form and sends a new message. Our goal now is to grab this data and write it into our chat log.

    <?
    session_start();
    if(isset($_SESSION['name'])){
    	$text = $_POST['text'];
    
    	$text_message = "<div class='msgln'><span class='chat-time'>".date("g:i A")."</span> <b class='user-name'>".$_SESSION['name']."</b> ".stripslashes(htmlspecialchars($text))."<br></div>";
    
        file_put_contents("log.html", $text_message, FILE_APPEND | LOCK_EX);
    }
    ?>

    Before we do anything, we have to start the post.php file with the session_start() function as we will be using the session of the user's name in this file.

    Using the isset boolean, we check if the session for 'name' exists before doing anything else. We now grab the POST data that was being sent to this file by jQuery. We store this data into the $text variable. This data, like all the overall user input data, will be stored in the log.html file. We simply use the file_put_contents() function to write all the data to the file.

    The message we will be writing will be enclosed inside the .msgln div. It will contain the date and time generated by the date() function, the session of the user's name, and the text, which is also surrounded by the htmlspecialchars() function to prevent XSS.

    Step 5: Displaying the Chat Log Contents

    Everything the user has posted is handled and posted using jQuery; it is written to the chat log with PHP. The only thing left to do is to display the updated chat log to the user with log.php.

    In order to save ourselves some time, we will preload the chat log into the #chatbox div if it has any content.

    <div id="chatbox"><?php
    if(file_exists("log.html") && filesize("log.html") > 0){
    
    	$contents = file_get_contents("log.html");
        echo $contents;
    }
    ?></div>

    We use a similar routine as we used in the post.php file, except this time we are only reading and outputting the contents of the file.

    The jQuery.ajax Request

    The AJAX request is the core of everything we are doing. This request not only allows us to send and receive data through the form without refreshing the page, but it also allows us to handle the data requested.

    //Load the file containing the chat log
    function loadLog(){
    	$.ajax({
    		url: "log.html",
    		cache: false,
    		success: function(html){
    			$("#chatbox").html(html); //Insert chat log into the #chatbox div
    	  	},
    	});
    }

    We wrap our AJAX request inside a function. You will see why in a second. As you see above, we will only use three of the jQuery AJAX request objects.

    • url: A string of the URL to request. We will use our chat log's filename of log.html.
    • cache: This will prevent our file from being cached. It will ensure that we get an updated chat log every time we send a request.
    • success: This will allow us to attach a function that will pass the data we requested.

    As you see, we then move the HTML data we requested into the #chatbox div.

    Auto-Scrolling

    As you may have seen in other chat applications, the content automatically scrolls down if the chat log container (#chatbox) overflows. We are going to implement a simple and similar feature, which will compare the container's scroll height before and after we do the AJAX request. If the scroll height is greater after the request, we will use jQuery's animate effect to scroll the #chatbox div.

    //Load the file containing the chat log
    function loadLog(){
    	var oldscrollHeight = $("#chatbox")[0].scrollHeight - 20; //Scroll height before the request
    	$.ajax({
    		url: "log.html",
    		cache: false,
    		success: function(html){
    			$("#chatbox").html(html); //Insert chat log into the #chatbox div
    
    			//Auto-scroll
    			var newscrollHeight = $("#chatbox")[0].scrollHeight - 20; //Scroll height after the request
    			if(newscrollHeight > oldscrollHeight){
    				$("#chatbox").animate({ scrollTop: newscrollHeight }, 'normal'); //Autoscroll to bottom of div
    			}
    	  	},
    	});
    }

    We first store the #chatbox div's scroll height into the oldscrollHeight variable before we make the request. After our request has returned successfully, we store the #chatbox div's scrolled height into the newscrollHeight variable.

    We then compare both of the scroll height variables using an if statement. If newscrollHeight is greater than the oldscrollHeight, we use the animate effect to scroll the #chatbox div.

    Continuously Updating the Chat Log

    Now one question may arise: how will we constantly update the new data being sent back and forth between users? Or to rephrase the question, how will we keep continuously sending requests to update the data?

    setInterval (loadLog, 2500);	//Reload file every 2500 ms or x ms if you wish to change the second parameter

    The answer to our question lies in the setInterval function. This function will run our loadLog() function every 2.5 seconds, and the loadLog function will request the updated file and autoscroll the div.

    

    Complete Code

    The chat app might not work properly for you if the right code is not placed inside the right files and in the right order. To avoid any confusion, I am posting the whole code that will go into two separate files called index.php and post.php.

    Here is the code for index.php:

    <?php
    
    session_start();
    
    if(isset($_GET['logout'])){
    
    	//Simple exit message
        $logout_message = "<div class='msgln'><span class='left-info'>User <b class='user-name-left'>". $_SESSION['name'] ."</b> has left the chat session.</span><br></div>";
        file_put_contents("log.html", $logout_message, FILE_APPEND | LOCK_EX);
    
    	session_destroy();
    	header("Location: index.php"); //Redirect the user
    }
    
    if(isset($_POST['enter'])){
        if($_POST['name'] != ""){
            $_SESSION['name'] = stripslashes(htmlspecialchars($_POST['name']));
        }
        else{
            echo '<span class="error">Please type in a name</span>';
        }
    }
    
    function loginForm(){
        echo
        '<div id="loginform">
        <p>Please enter your name to continue!</p>
        <form action="index.php" method="post">
          <label for="name">Name &mdash;</label>
          <input type="text" name="name" id="name" />
          <input type="submit" name="enter" id="enter" value="Enter" />
        </form>
      </div>';
    }
    
    ?>
    
    <!DOCTYPE html>
    <html lang="en">
        <head>
            <meta charset="utf-8" />
    
            <title>Tuts+ Chat Application</title>
            <meta name="description" content="Tuts+ Chat Application" />
            <link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css" />
        </head>
        <body>
        <?php
        if(!isset($_SESSION['name'])){
            loginForm();
        }
        else {
        ?>
            <div id="wrapper">
                <div id="menu">
                    <p class="welcome">Welcome, <b><?php echo $_SESSION['name']; ?></b></p>
                    <p class="logout"><a id="exit" href="#">Exit Chat</a></p>
                </div>
    
                <div id="chatbox">
                <?php
                if(file_exists("log.html") && filesize("log.html") > 0){
                    $contents = file_get_contents("log.html");
                    echo $contents;
                }
                ?>
                </div>
    
                <form name="message" action="">
                    <input name="usermsg" type="text" id="usermsg" />
                    <input name="submitmsg" type="submit" id="submitmsg" value="Send" />
                </form>
            </div>
            <script type="text/javascript" src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.5.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
            <script type="text/javascript">
                // jQuery Document
                $(document).ready(function () {
                    $("#submitmsg").click(function () {
                        var clientmsg = $("#usermsg").val();
                        $.post("post.php", { text: clientmsg });
                        $("#usermsg").val("");
                        return false;
                    });
    
                    function loadLog() {
                        var oldscrollHeight = $("#chatbox")[0].scrollHeight - 20; //Scroll height before the request
    
                        $.ajax({
                            url: "log.html",
                            cache: false,
                            success: function (html) {
                                $("#chatbox").html(html); //Insert chat log into the #chatbox div
    
                                //Auto-scroll
                                var newscrollHeight = $("#chatbox")[0].scrollHeight - 20; //Scroll height after the request
                                if(newscrollHeight > oldscrollHeight){
                                    $("#chatbox").animate({ scrollTop: newscrollHeight }, 'normal'); //Autoscroll to bottom of div
                                }
                            }
                        });
                    }
    
                    setInterval (loadLog, 2500);
    
                    $("#exit").click(function () {
                        var exit = confirm("Are you sure you want to end the session?");
                        if (exit == true) {
                        window.location = "index.php?logout=true";
                        }
                    });
                });
            </script>
        </body>
    </html>
    <?php
    }
    ?>
    

    Here is the code for post.php:

    <?php
    session_start();
    if(isset($_SESSION['name'])){
        $text = $_POST['text'];
    
    	$text_message = "<div class='msgln'><span class='chat-time'>".date("g:i A")."</span> <b class='user-name'>".$_SESSION['name']."</b> ".stripslashes(htmlspecialchars($text))."<br></div>";
        file_put_contents("log.html", $text_message, FILE_APPEND | LOCK_EX);
    }
    ?>

    The code that goes into style.css is already available in Step 2 of the tutorial.

    If the code you have does not seem to be working, make sure it matches the code provided here. Please note that all three files—index.php, post.php, and style.css—are located in the same directory.

    Awesome Online Chat PHP Scripts From CodeCanyon

    Would you rather download an online chat PHP script instead of creating one yourself? Then you'll want to check out these premium templates from CodeCanyon:

    1. Live Chat Unlimited

    Live Chat Unlimited is a bestselling simple PHP chat box for a reason. It's very lightweight to keep your site load speeds down and can be installed on unlimited domains. The online chat PHP script also offers multi-lingual support through the WPML and Polylang plugins. You can also enable email notifications so you can be ready to chat with visitors.

    

    2. PHP Live Support Chat

    This PHP chat script template download lets you offer live chat support to all of your site's visitors. It's easy to set up and has a 4.5-star rating on CodeCanyon. Embrace PHP Live Support Chat's features like:

    • installation wizard
    • mobile support
    • full-screen mode
    • emoticons and avatars

    

    3. TotalDesk: Helpdesk, Live Chat, Knowledge Base and Ticket System

    TotalDesk is a complete help desk solution for your business. Not only does it let you make your own chat box, but it also includes a ticket and notification system, among other things. You can create a searchable knowledge base for your site's visitors, so they can solve common problems on their own. TotalDesk also integrates well with WooCommerce and Slack.

    

    4. XeroChat: Facebook Chatbot, eCommerce and Social Media Management Tool

    If Facebook Messenger is part of your business's marketing strategy, you'll want to learn about XeroChat. It's designed with the messaging platform in mind and integrates well with it. This online chat PHP script lets you build responsive and interactive chatbots with ease. It's so fully featured that you can even set up eCommerce stores with the included code. Add XeroChat to your online business strategies.

    

    5. Chat Support Board: PHP Chat Application

    Finally, there's Support Board, a PHP chat script that uses artificial intelligence to help serve your customers. Communicate directly with your audience with ease thanks to its smooth integration with other platforms. You'll save time and increase engagement with this simple PHP chat box.

    

    Even More PHP Script Templates

    PHP forms and scripts are a great way to round out your website. If you're looking for more templates that will save you time, check out some of these items from Envato:

    • 
      PHP
      14 Best PHP Help-Desk Scripts and 5 Free Options
      Franc Lucas
    • 
      PHP
      12 Best CRM & Project Management PHP Scripts (+ 3 Free)
      Franc Lucas
    • 
      PHP
      10 Best PHP Chat Scripts on CodeCanyon
      Franc Lucas
    • 
      PHP
      11 Best PHP Event Calendar and Booking Scripts... and 3 Free Options
      Monty Shokeen

    Learn About PHP Scripts From Envato Tuts+

    Are you looking to learn even more about the PHP scripting language? Then Envato Tuts+ is the best place to start (and finish). Our talented instructors have put together many PHP courses, tutorials, and guides that you can use to grow your knowledge base. Here are a few to get you started:

    • 
      PHP
      Create a Contact Form in PHP
      Monty Shokeen
    • 
      PHP
      How to Replace Strings in PHP
      Monty Shokeen
    • 
      PHP
      How to Use PHP in HTML
      Sajal Soni
    • 
      PHP
      How to Work With Cookies in PHP
      Sajal Soni

    Finished

    We are finished! I hope that you learned how a basic chat system works, and if you have any suggestions on anything, I'll happily welcome them. This chat system is a simple as you can get with a chat application. You can work off this and build multiple chat rooms, add an administrative back end, add emoticons, etc. The sky is the limit!

    Also, if you need a professional app or plugin for your next project, you can take a look at one of the many chat scripts we have for sale on CodeCanyon.

    Below are a few links you might want to check out if you are thinking of expanding this chat application:

    • Secure Your Forms With Form Keys: prevent XSS (cross-site scripting) and cross-site request forgery.
    • Submit a Form Without Page Refresh Using jQuery: expand on our AJAX request.
    • How to Make AJAX Requests With Raw JavaScript: learn how requests work behind the scenes with raw JavaScript.

    

    This post has been updated with contributions from Monty Shokeen and Nathan Umoh. Monty is a full-stack developer who also loves to write tutorials, and to learn about new JavaScript libraries. Nathan is a staff writer for Envato Tuts+.

    ]]> 2021-05-06T11:45:22+00:00 //shineyrock.com/blog/read/30-popular-wordpress-user-interface-elements https://shineyrock.com/blog/read/30-popular-wordpress-user-interface-elements#When:11:46:47Z

    Are you looking for interfaces that will help your WordPress website run smoothly?

    User interface elements are one of the most important parts of your website's design. They help your users understand what your website is about and provide a way for them to interact with it. 

    The feature-rich user interface plugins that are offered on CodeCanyon and Envato Elements will help you to create a visually appealing and fully functional website. 

    With these premium WordPress interface elements, you will be able to:

    • create nested menus
    • add customizable popups
    • create eye-catching timelines
    • showcase your media through sliders and carousels 

    

    Before you head over to CodeCanyon and Envato Elements to find the right user interface plugin to make your website even more user-friendly, let's explore the benefits of a monthly subscription to Envato Elements. 

    Envato Elements: Unlimited Downloads

    Envato Elements is a service that provides an unlimited download subscription, meaning that you are free to download as many items as you like from millions of digital assets. This includes premium WordPress themes and plugins, stock photography, royalty-free audio, stock video, and graphics.

    The subscription is covered by simple commercial licensing that gives you the rights to use the item in a broad variety of projects, including those of a commercial nature.

    The licensing is future-proof, meaning even if you unsubscribe and can't download items from Envato Elements any more, any existing uses that you registered are still covered.

    

    Subscribe Today 

    Subscribe today and start creating or learn more about why Envato Elements is Great for WordPress Developers! 

    • 
      WordPress
      40 Reasons Envato Elements Is Great for WordPress Developers
      Daniel Strongin

    WordPress User Interface Elements on Envato Elements 

    1. Smooth Scrolling for WordPress

    

    This WordPress interface element gives visitors an incredibly smooth experience when scrolling through your website.

    Features included:

    • lightweight and fast
    • native JavaScript without jQuery
    • suitable for all kinds of layouts
    • automatic detection of mobile devices
    • works both for the entire website and for individual pages.
    • all major browsers supported: Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, Internet Explorer, Opera
    • compatible with major WP plugins: Yoast SEO, Contact Form 7, WooCommerce, BuddyPress 
    • works with popular website page builders: Elementor, WPBakery, Gutenberg, etc.

    2. Page Preview Plugin for WordPress

    

    This plugin allows users to see the contents of a post in a popup window before going to the page. This is incredibly convenient for WordPress sites with a large number of articles. 

    You can easily control the display of featured images, excerpt size, and the position of information about the author, category, and the comments count.

    Features include:

    • multiple popup styles
    • five beautiful initial animations
    • built-in interface for binding the plugin to categories and single page
    • included pot file for quick translation on any language
    • perfect for RTL direction

    3. Tabs for Elementor

    

    This plugin for Elementor allows you to quickly and easily create responsive tabs with any content. The tabs are responsive, so they work on all devices. 

    You can display the tabs in any possible style like at the top, bottom, left, right, or even custom positions. You can also add images, audio, video, or shortcodes to the tab content.  

    Other features of this tab widget for Elementor:

    • adding icons or images for each tab
    • multiple tabs for one page and anywhere on the site
    • adjustable tabs content height
    • customizable fonts, colors, borders, backgrounds, etc.
    • WooCommerce compatibility

    4. Navigation Menu for Elementor

    

    This plugin comes with everything you need to create a unique and user-friendly website navigation menu for mobile, tablet, or desktop. You can simply add vertical or horizontal responsive menu blocks anywhere on your website page in just a few clicks. The menus work well across all browsers. 

    Features included:

    • customizable mobile menu 
    • supports horizontal or vertical layout
    • custom mobile menu logo
    • flexible settings of a submenu display position
    • included POT file for quick translation on any language
    • perfect for RTL direction
    • works well with all WordPress themes built on Elementor
    • SEO-friendly
    • WooCommerce compatibility

    5. Price List for Elementor

    

    This plugin allows you to create attractive pricelists and price tables for the pricing page on your website. You can create outstanding customizable price blocks, add the information to the necessary fields, and display it both horizontally and vertically. 

    Features include:

    • five pricing templates 
    • customizable pricing layout
    • text and background gradient
    • flexible style settings for price elements
    • includes design layouts for Photoshop, Sketch, Figma, and Adobe XD
    • works well with all WordPress themes built on Elementor

    6. Image Slider for WPBakery

    

    This plugin allows you to create slides and slide-sets for your website in order to make it more engaging and interactive. 

    Features included:

    • two slider elements with different types of displays 
    • add and display custom content to slide
    • customizable slider height
    • flexible content settings
    • ability to manage the number of columns for different devices

    7. Accordion Slider PRO 

    

    Accordion Slider PRO is a full-featured, fully responsive, and touch-enabled accordion slider plugin. It offers a modern, intuitive, and engaging user experience. It works on both iOS and Android devices. 

    Here is a list of this plugin's top features:

    • multiple accordions on your website or on the same page
    • multimedia support—images, YouTube video, and Vimeo video
    • lightbox support—images and videos will be opened in a lightbox window
    • share the large image opened in the lightbox on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest
    • supports deep linking to an image which will be opened in lightbox automatically
    • SEO—description for each image which will be indexed by the search engines

    8. WordPress Pro Event Calendar

    

    The Pro Event Calendar plugin adds a professional and sleek calendar to your posts or pages. Features include:

    • 100% responsive
    • easy to manage events
    • let users submit events from the front end
    • add special dates to your calendar, like holidays
    • allow users to book events
    • export bookings list to Excel (XLS)
    • limit the number of bookings in an event
    • Google Maps support

    9. Loading Progress Bar for WordPress

    

    This plugin adds a "page loading" progress bar to your website. The plugin automatically detects the loading progress percentage and indicates it on the progress bar. You can use any color or gradient for the bar and display it in a convenient place on the page.

    10. WordPress Author Box for Elementor

    

    When your website content is linked to an actual person, it increases the level of interest and engagement of your visitors. The Author Box WordPress plugin allows you to introduce the author of the posts in a nice author info box. This allows readers to learn more about the authors and contact them personally through social media or other available means of communication. 

    The Best WordPress User Interface Plugins on CodeCanyon

    Browse through over 7,000 of the highest-quality WordPress plugins ever created on CodeCanyon. With a low-cost one-time payment, you can purchase these high-quality WordPress plugins and improve your website experience for you and your visitors. 

    Here are some of the best-selling user interface WordPress plugins on CodeCanyon for 2021.

    

    Top 20 WordPress User Interface Plugins (From CodeCanyon for 2021)

    In today's digital world, website users are accustomed to seeing and interacting with modern user interfaces. These elements will help your website be more user-friendly.

    1. UberMenu: WordPress Mega Menu Plugin

    

    Mega menus are a WordPress user interface element that I really like but can be difficult to implement. But it's easy with the UberMenu WordPress mega menu plugin!

    • enhanced mobile experience
    • easily add images and icons
    • build beautiful menu layouts
    • columns, rows, maps, forms, and more

    Tabbed submenus? Google Fonts? Vertical or horizontal? UberMenu has it all.

    2. Slider Revolution Responsive WordPress Plugin

    

    When you need a slider—especially if you want an easy way to build it—you have to consider the Slider Revolution Responsive WordPress Plugin.

    • animations, color pickers, layers—it's got them all baked in.
    • social media feeds
    • media galleries
    • hero blocks
    • carousels
    • sliders
    • and more

    The number one feature that makes this slider appealing is the powerful visual editor. Sliders are sliders, but the Slider Revolution Responsive WordPress Plugin brings a complete, robust slide designer suite.

    3. Green Popups

    

    As much as I hate popups, sometimes you just need a popup. The Popup Plugin for WordPress is the easiest way to build and display popups on your WordPress site.

    Features include, but are certainly not limited to:

    • jQuery and CSS3 animations
    • social network integration
    • A/B campaign stats
    • 200+ popup library
    • mobile-friendly design

    Popups can be triggered by onLoad, onScroll, onClick, onExit, or onIdle events.

    And also features:

    • sidebar widget
    • link locker
    • inline form
    • and more

    Green Popups is a robust solution that looks great to users and proves useful for admins.

    4. Cool Timeline Pro: WordPress Timeline Plugin

    

    Add a timeline to blog posts, organization history pages, and more with the Cool Timeline Pro plugin. Create both horizontal and vertical timelines with its built-in designs and beautiful animation effects.

    • convert any post type into a timeline
    • pagination for long timelines
    • create multiple timelines
    • add icons
    • simple, clean, and flexible

    The Cool Timeline Pro WordPress Timeline Plugin is a great way to build a timeline from your current content or to create a new, standalone timeline to help communicate to your reader.

    5. Responsive FlipBook Plugin

    

    Deliver web content within a beautiful UI with this incredible WordPress plugin.

    At first glance, the Responsive FlipBook Plugin looks like a nice way to display content with its cool bookshelf design. But it's so much more.

    Features include:

    • mobile zoom
    • PDF wizard
    • easy print
    • lazy load
    • and more!

    Create and present a complete collection of online eBooks with the Responsive FlipBook Plugin. It's pretty amazing.

    6. Superfly: Responsive WordPress Menu Plugin

    Replace your current WordPress menu or enhance it with the Superfly responsive menu plugin. This plugin is power packed and easy to use.

    Menu design options include:

    • side, skewed, and fullscreen menus
    • image backgrounds
    • static or anchored
    • icon bar
    • and more

    The Superfly Responsive WordPress Menu Plugin also includes display options, making it super easy to build the right menu for the right user interface.

    7. The Team Pro: Team Showcase WordPress Plugin

    The Team Pro team showcase WordPress plugin claims to be “the most versatile WordPress plugin available to create and manage your Team page.”

    I think they're right.

    • slide-ins
    • drawer
    • circles
    • modal
    • table
    • cards
    • grid
    • list

    With these 8 presets, over 20 style options, and clean designs, your team never looked so good with The Team Pro WordPress plugin.

    8. Progress Map WordPress Plugin

    

    The Progress Map WordPress Plugin is feature-rich. I most certainly can't do it justice with this short summary. The vision behind this WordPress user interface plugin is this:

    “The aim is to help users having websites like hotel listings, real estate listings, restaurant listings, job listings, store listings & more… to list their locations on Google map and to easily navigate through the map using a carousel.”

    • search filter and distance search
    • custom post type support
    • custom markers
    • 70+ map styles
    • geo-targeting
    • retina ready
    • and much, much more

    Progress Map WordPress Plugin is easily one of the most robust map plugins you're going to find. 

    9. Content Timeline: Responsive WordPress Plugin

    

    This WordPress user interface is unique, and I love it! The Content Timeline plugin is the perfect solution for a large array of content presentation types.

    • fully responsive with swipe function
    • 7 embedded script control methods
    • 11 settings for easy customization
    • keyboard bindings
    • and more!

    Your timeline doesn't have to be a single string, either. This plugin allows for more than one element per spot in your timeline.

    The Content Timeline plugin is unique, beautifully designed, and the perfect WordPress user interface for presenting in a timeline format.

    10. Testimonials Showcase WordPress Plugin

    

    Display and manage your client, customer, and supporter testimonials easily with the Testimonials Showcase WordPress plugin. Testimonials never looked so good. 

    Features you will find include:

    • over 15 layout customization options
    • grid or slider layout
    • star rating system
    • and more

    The Testimonials Showcase WordPress Plugin also includes front-end submissions.

    11. Team Builder

    

    Here are a few notable features of this plugin:

    • grid, slider, table, and widget support
    • drag and drop builder
    • skill and stat bars
    • social icons bar

    Add this plugin to your website today!

    12. UberChart: WordPress Chart Plugin

    

    If you want to share data visually, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better way to build and present it than the UberChart plugin.

    It's highly customizable and ready to drop into your WordPress install.

    Its feature set includes:

    • 240 customizable options for each chart
    • embedded spreadsheet editor
    • import and export data
    • fully responsive

    And it includes ten different chart types: line, area, bar, horizontal bar, pie, doughnut, radar, polar area, scatter, and bubble.

    UberChart WordPress Chart Plugin is impressive.

    13. Kreatura Slider Plugin for WordPress

    

    Kreatura Slider Plugin was built with user experience in mind. This plugin is a fully responsive and touch-enabled WordPress slider plugin that allows you to create professional and elegant sliders. The slider plugin focuses on simplicity and performance, while still providing a wide range of customization possibilities.

    Here are a few of the plugin's features: 

    • animated layers
    • carousel layout
    • infinite scrolling
    • SEO friendly

    14. Slick Menu: Responsive WordPress Vertical Menu

    

    Slick. Responsive. Vertical. Menu.

    The Slick Menu is exactly that, with a little extra on the side.

    Customize your:

    • background colors
    • custom fonts
    • patterns
    • overlays
    • images
    • videos
    • and more

    Each level is independently customizable, making it super easy to build great WordPress user interfaces without expensive design apps or code knowledge. 

    Slick Menu is an awesome option for vertical menus and more!

    15. LoftLoader Pro: Preloader Plugin for WordPress

    

    Sometimes you need more time for something to load. Videos? Lots of HD images? Easily add a loading animation to your pages with the LoftLoader Pro Preloader Plugin for WordPress.

    It's pretty fancy.

    • adjust minimum load time
    • 18 CSS3 animations
    • works on all devices
    • built-in editor
    • and more

    The LoftLoader Pro plugin makes it easy to add an animated loading screen—no coding required.

    16. Ultra WordPress Admin Theme

    

    There's customizing the WordPress Admin. And then there's the Ultra WordPress Admin Theme.

    This WordPress user interface takes admin customizations to a whole new level.

    • admin menu management
    • create your own theme
    • import/export settings
    • and much, much more

    From the login screen to the top admin bar, the Ultra WordPress Admin Theme makes the entire WordPress Admin experience fully customizable.

    17. Different Menu]]> 2021-04-27T11:46:47+00:00 //shineyrock.com/blog/read/top-18-best-practices-for-writing-super-readable-code https://shineyrock.com/blog/read/top-18-best-practices-for-writing-super-readable-code#When:14:38:56Z

    Code readability is fundamental for development—it is key to maintainability and working together with a team. This article will detail the 18 most important best practices when writing readable code. 

    1. Commenting & Documentation

    IDEs (Integrated Development Environments) and code editors have come a long way in the past few years. This has made commenting your code more useful than ever. Following certain standards in your comments allows IDEs and other tools to utilize them in different ways.

    Consider this example:

    

    The comments I added to the function definition can be previewed whenever I use that function, even from other files.

    Here is another example where I call a function from a third-party library:

    

    In these particular examples, the type of commenting (or documentation) used is based on PHPDoc, and the IDE is Visual Studio Code.

    2. Consistent Indentation

    I assume you already know that you should indent your code. However, it's also worth noting that it is a good idea to keep your indentation style consistent.

    There's more than one way of indenting code.

    Style 1

    function foo() {
    	if ($maybe) {
    		do_it_now();
    		again();
    	} else {
    		abort_mission();
    	}
    	finalize();
    }

    Style 2

    function foo()
    {
    	if ($maybe)
    	{
    		do_it_now();
    		again();
    	}
    	else
    	{
    		abort_mission();
    	}
    	finalize();
    }

    Style 3

    function foo()
    {	if ($maybe)
    	{	do_it_now();
    		again();
    	}
    	else
    	{	abort_mission();
    	}
    	finalize();
    }

    I used to code in style 2 but recently switched to style 1. But that is only a matter of preference. There is no "best" style that everyone should be following. Actually, the best style is a consistent style. If you are part of a team or if you are contributing code to a project, you should follow the existing style that is being used in that project.

    The indentation styles are not always completely distinct from one another. Sometimes, they mix different rules. For example, in PEAR Coding Standards, the opening bracket "{" goes on the same line as control structures, but they go to the next line after function definitions.

    PEAR Style:

    function foo()
    {                     // placed on the next line
        if ($maybe) {     // placed on the same line
            do_it_now();
            again();
        } else {
            abort_mission();
        }
        finalize();
    }

    Also note that they are using four spaces instead of tabs for indentations.

    On Wikipedia, you can see samples of different indent styles.

    3. Avoid Obvious Comments

    Commenting your code is fantastic; however, it can be overdone or just be plain redundant. Take this example:

    // get the country code
    $country_code = get_country_code($_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR']);
    
    // if country code is US
    if ($country_code == 'US') {
    
    	// display the form input for state
    	echo form_input_state();
    }

    When the text is that obvious, it's really not productive to repeat it within comments.

    If you must comment on that code, you can simply combine it to a single line instead:

    // display state selection for US users
    $country_code = get_country_code($_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR']);
    if ($country_code == 'US') {
    	echo form_input_state();
    }

    Comments should ideally explain why you were doing something the way you did it. If you have to write more than a one-line comment to explain what the code is doing, you should consider rewriting the code to be more readable.

    4. Code Grouping

    More often than not, certain tasks require a few lines of code. It is a good idea to keep these tasks within separate blocks of code, with some spaces between them.

    Here is a simplified example:

    // get list of forums
    $forums = array();
    $r = mysql_query("SELECT id, name, description FROM forums");
    while ($d = mysql_fetch_assoc($r)) {
    	$forums []= $d;
    }
    
    // load the templates
    load_template('header');
    load_template('forum_list',$forums);
    load_template('footer');

    Adding a comment at the beginning of each block of code also emphasizes the visual separation.

    5. Consistent Naming Scheme

    PHP itself is sometimes guilty of not following consistent naming schemes:

    • strpos() vs. str_split()
    • imagetypes() vs. image_type_to_extension()

    First of all, the names should have word boundaries. There are two popular options:

    • camelCase: The first letter of each word is capitalized, except the first word, like parseRawImageData().
    • underscores: Underscores between words, like mysql_real_escape_string().

    Having different options creates a situation similar to the indent styles, as I mentioned earlier. If an existing project follows a certain convention, you should go with that. Also, some language platforms tend to use a certain naming scheme. For instance, in Java, most code uses camelCase names, while in PHP, the majority of code uses underscores.

    These can also be mixed. Some developers prefer to use underscores for procedural functions and class names, but use camelCase for class method names:

    class Foo_Bar {
    
    	public function someDummyMethod() {
    
    	}
    
    }
    
    function procedural_function_name() {
    
    }

    So again, there is no obvious "best" style. Just be consistent.

    6. DRY Principle

    DRY stands for Don't Repeat Yourself. Also known as DIE: Duplication is Evil.

    The principle states:

    "Every piece of knowledge must have a single, unambiguous, authoritative representation within a system." — Wikipedia

    The purpose for most applications (or computers in general) is to automate repetitive tasks. This principle should be maintained in all code, even web applications. The same piece of code should not be repeated over and over again.

    For example, most web applications consist of many pages. It's highly likely that these pages will contain common elements. Headers and footers are usually the best candidates for this. It's not a good idea to keep copying and pasting these headers and footers into every page. Instead, put that header and footer code in separate source files to be included wherever they are needed.

    $this->load->view('includes/header');
    
    $this->load->view($main_content);
    
    $this->load->view('includes/footer');

    7. Avoid Deep Nesting

    Too many levels of nesting can make code harder to read and follow.

    function do_stuff() {
    
    // ...
    
    	if (is_writable($folder)) {
    
    		if ($fp = fopen($file_path,'w')) {
    
    			if ($stuff = get_some_stuff()) {
    
    				if (fwrite($fp,$stuff)) {
    
    					// ...
    
    				} else {
    					return false;
    				}
    			} else {
    				return false;
    			}
    		} else {
    			return false;
    		}
    	} else {
    		return false;
    	}
    }

    For the sake of readability, it is usually possible to make changes to your code to reduce the level of nesting:

    function do_stuff() {
    
    // ...
    
    	if (!is_writable($folder)) {
    		return false;
    	}
    
    	if (!$fp = fopen($file_path,'w')) {
    		return false;
    	}
    
    	if (!$stuff = get_some_stuff()) {
    		return false;
    	}
    
    	if (fwrite($fp,$stuff)) {
    		// ...
    	} else {
    		return false;
    	}
    }

    8. Limit Line Length

    Our eyes are more comfortable when reading tall and narrow columns of text. This is precisely the reason why newspaper articles look like this:

    

    It is a good practice to avoid writing horizontally long lines of code.

    // bad
    $my_email->set_from('test@email.com')->add_to('programming@gmail.com')->set_subject('Methods Chained')->set_body('Some long message')->send();
    
    // good
    $my_email
    	->set_from('test@email.com')
    	->add_to('programming@gmail.com')
    	->set_subject('Methods Chained')
    	->set_body('Some long message')
    	->send();
    
    // bad
    $query = "SELECT id, username, first_name, last_name, status FROM users LEFT JOIN user_posts USING(users.id, user_posts.user_id) WHERE post_id = '123'";
    
    // good
    $query = "SELECT id, username, first_name, last_name, status
    	FROM users
    	LEFT JOIN user_posts USING(users.id, user_posts.user_id)
    	WHERE post_id = '123'";

    Also, if anyone intends to read the code from a terminal window, such as Vim users, it is a good idea to limit the line length to around 80 characters.

    9. File and Folder Organization

    Technically, you could write an entire application's code within a single file. But that would be a nightmare to read and maintain.

    During my first programming projects, I knew about the idea of creating "include files." However, I was not yet even remotely organized. I created an inc folder, with two files in it: db.php and functions.php. As the applications grew, the functions file also became huge and unmaintainable.

    10. Consistent Temporary Names

    Normally, the variables should be descriptive and contain one or more words. But this doesn't necessarily apply to temporary variables. They can be as short as a single character.

    It is a good practice to use consistent names for your temporary variables that have the same kind of role. Here are a few examples that I tend to use in my code:

    // $i for loop counters
    for ($i = 0; $i < 100; $i++) {
    
    	// $j for the nested loop counters
    	for ($j = 0; $j < 100; $j++) {
    
    	}
    }
    
    // $ret for return variables
    function foo() {
    	$ret['bar'] = get_bar();
    	$ret['stuff'] = get_stuff();
    
    	return $ret;
    }
    
    // $k and $v in foreach
    foreach ($some_array as $k => $v) {
    
    }
    
    // $q, $r and $d for mysql
    $q = "SELECT * FROM table";
    $r = mysql_query($q);
    while ($d = mysql_fetch_assocr($r)) {
    
    }
    
    // $fp for file pointers
    $fp = fopen('file.txt','w');

    11. Capitalize SQL Special Words

    Database interaction is a big part of most web applications. If you are writing raw SQL queries, it is a good idea to keep them readable as well.

    Even though SQL special words and function names are case insensitive, it is common practice to capitalize them to distinguish them from your table and column names.

    SELECT id, username FROM user;
    
    UPDATE user SET last_login = NOW()
    WHERE id = '123'
    
    SELECT id, username FROM user u
    LEFT JOIN user_address ua ON(u.id = ua.user_id)
    WHERE ua.state = 'NY'
    GROUP BY u.id
    ORDER BY u.username
    LIMIT 0,20

    12. Separation of Code and Data

    This is another principle that applies to almost all programming languages in all environments. In the case of web development, the "data" usually implies HTML output.

    When PHP was first released many years ago, it was primarily seen as a template engine. It was common to have big HTML files with a few lines of PHP code in between. However, things have changed over the years, and websites have become more and more dynamic and functional. The code is now a huge part of web applications, and it is no longer a good practice to combine it with the HTML.

    You can either apply the principle to your application by yourself, or you can use a third-party tool (template engines, frameworks, or CMSs) and follow their conventions.

    13. Alternate Syntax Inside Templates

    You may choose not to use a fancy template engine, and instead go with plain inline PHP in your template files. This does not necessarily violate the "Separation of Code and Data," as long as the inline code is directly related to the output and is readable. In this case, you should consider using the alternate syntax for control structures.

    Here is an example:

    <div class="user_controls">
    	<?php if ($user = Current_User::user()): ?>
    		Hello, <em><?php echo $user->username; ?></em> <br/>
    		<?php echo anchor('logout', 'Logout'); ?>
    	<?php else: ?>
    		<?php echo anchor('login','Login'); ?> |
    		<?php echo anchor('signup', 'Register'); ?>
    	<?php endif; ?>
    </div>
    
    <h1>My Message Board</h1>
    
    <?php foreach($categories as $category): ?>
    
    	<div class="category">
    
    		<h2><?php echo $category->title; ?></h2>
    
    		<?php foreach($category->Forums as $forum): ?>
    
    			<div class="forum">
    
    				<h3>
    					<?php echo anchor('forums/'.$forum->id, $forum->title) ?>
    					(<?php echo $forum->Threads->count(); ?> threads)
    				</h3>
    
    				<div class="description">
    					<?php echo $forum->description; ?>
    				</div>
    
    			</div>
    
    		<?php endforeach; ?>
    
    	</div>
    
    <?php endforeach; ?>

    This lets you avoid lots of curly braces. Also, the code looks and feels similar to the way HTML is structured and indented.

    14. Object-Oriented vs. Procedural

    Object-oriented programming can help you create well-structured code. But that does not mean you need to abandon procedural programming completely. Actually, creating a mix of both styles can be good.

    Objects should be used for representing data, usually residing in a database.

    class User {
    
    	public $username;
    	public $first_name;
    	public $last_name;
    	public $email;
    
    	public function __construct() {
    		// ...
    	}
    
    	public function create() {
    		// ...
    	}
    
    	public function save() {
    		// ...
    	}
    
    	public function delete() {
    		// ...
    	}
    
    }

    Procedural functions may be used for specific tasks that can be performed independently.

    function capitalize($string) {
    
    	$ret = strtoupper($string[0]);
    	$ret .= strtolower(substr($string,1));
    	return $ret;
    
    }

    15. Read Open-Source Code

    Open-source projects are built with the input of many developers. These projects need to maintain a high level of code readability so that the team can work together as efficiently as possible. Therefore, it is a good idea to browse through the source code of these projects to observe what these developers are doing.

    

    16. Use Meaningful Names for Variables and Functions

    You will save a lot of your precious time by using meaningful names for variables and functions. This may not seem like a big deal when you are just starting out and the programs you write are just a couple of dozen lines long. However, things get very confusing fairly quickly for code that has hundreds or thousands of lines.

    Consider an example, where you have two variables $is_vaccine_available and $iva. In a large program, it won't be easy to guess what purpose $iva serves without looking through some relevant lines of code. On the other hand, you can guess that the variable $is_vaccine_available is almost certainly being used to store the status of vaccine availability.

    Trying to save time by using very short names for variables and functions is counter-productive in the long run, especially when there are a lot of capable code editors and IDEs available to help you write code.

    17. Avoid Using Magic Numbers

    The concept of magic numbers in programming refers to the use of hard-coded numerical values in your code. Using such numbers might make sense to you while you are writing the code. However, you or someone else will most probably have a hard time figuring out what that number was supposed to do when they look at the same piece of code in future.

    <?php
    
    while($egg_count > 400) {
        // Do something
    }
    
    $container_capacity = 400;
    while($egg_count > $container_capacity) {
        // Do Something
    }
    ?>

    Considering the code above, in the first case, we have no idea what the 400 signifies. Is it the count of people who will be served eggs, or is it something else? On the other hand, we know very clearly in the second case that we are checking if our egg count is over the container capacity.

    It is also easier to update the $container_capacity by changing its value in one place. This will not be possible when using magic numbers as you will have to go through the whole code.

    18. Code Refactoring

    When you "refactor," you make changes to the code without changing any of its functionality. You can think of it like a "cleanup," for the sake of improving readability and quality.

    This doesn't include bug fixes or the addition of any new functionality. You might refactor code that you have written the day before, while it's still fresh in your head, so that it is more readable and reusable when you may potentially look at it two months from now. As the motto says: "refactor early, refactor often."

    You may apply any of the "best practices" of code readability during the refactoring process.

    Conclusions

    I hope you enjoyed this article! Code readability is a huge topic, and it's well worth thinking more about, whether you work alone, with a team, or on a large open-source project.

    This post has been updated with contributions from Monty Shokeen. Monty is a full-stack developer who also loves to write tutorials and to learn about new JavaScript libraries.

    ]]> 2021-04-20T14:38:56+00:00 //shineyrock.com/blog/read/best_affiliate_woocommerce_plugins_compared https://shineyrock.com/blog/read/best_affiliate_woocommerce_plugins_compared#When:13:45:48Z

    WooCommerce and WordPress are, together, a powerful and winning combination for online commerce.

    Together they run 37% of eCommerce business online. Leveraging these two is the perfect combination for selling physical products, digital goods, and services online. 

    But having the most awesome WooCommerce storefront and the best products is just a tiny part of what you need for online business success. 

    You may want also to consider an affiliate program to help spread the word and get your business in front of as many eyes as you can. Also, if you run a blog, you may want to monetize it through affiliate marketing. 

    On CodeCanyon you can find affiliate marketing plugins for the WooCommerce store owner who wants to start his or her own affiliate network and for the blogger who wants to earn some money as an affiliate marketer.

    5 Best Affiliate WooCommerce Plugins

    

    • 
      WordPress
      How to Build an Amazon Affiliate Website With a WooCommerce Affiliate Plugin
      Jessica Thornsby
    • 
      Theme Development
      Envato Market in 60 Seconds: Becoming an Affiliate
      Adi Purdila
    • 
      WordPress
      The Beginners Guide to WooCommerce: Adding an External/Affiliate Product
      Ahmad Awais

    Let's take a quick look at some of the best affiliate WooCommerce plugins and how they compare.

    Understanding Affiliate Marketing

    There are billions of products—physical or digital—that are sold every day. This makes affiliate marketing one of the most popular ways of earning money. Affiliate marketing is a very reliable way of generating more leads and sales. It is based on revenue sharing.

    Here is how it works:

    The Merchant

    Let’s say you have a beautiful WooCommerce store with lots of beautiful products. In this case you are the merchant: you have a product, and you’re a seller. You want to sell more products. That is the goal. 

    The best way to get the word out about the products you’re selling would be revenue sharing.

    You get other people to promote your products, and for every product that is sold, you pay them a commission. 

    The Affiliate Marketer

    You have no product to sell. You have an active blog and/or social media account. You can become an affiliate marketer by promoting the products other people or businesses are selling. For every product sold, you earn a commission. 

    The Drop Shipper

    You are a newbie. You set up a WooCommerce store. You register with different affiliate networks. You populate your online store with products from different merchants represented by the affiliate network. You earn commissions when the products sell, and the products are shipped directly from the merchants in the network. 

    You get the picture: affiliate marketing is getting paid to promote and sell other people’s products. You earn a commission for every product sold through your website. 

    As a merchant—producer and seller—who has a product to sell, you can create an affiliate program that affiliate marketers can join in order to promote and sell your products.  

    As an affiliate marketer, you can promote one product from a single merchant or many products from many merchants. You promote the products through paid ads, landing pages, blogs, social media, or whatever means you have of getting the word out. 

    It’s highly recommended that you diversify your affiliate income sources.

    Affiliate Networks 

    There's another big wheel in the affiliate marketing business that happens to be very important: affiliate networks. 

    Affiliate networks are big players in the affiliate marketing game. There are thousands of affiliate networks. They act as intermediaries between merchants and affiliate marketers. 

    Here is what happens. 

    Because affiliate networks have a very extensive ground game developed over a very long time, merchants let affiliate networks handle everything to do with affiliate marketing. 

    If an affiliate marketer is interested in marketing particular products by particular merchants, they will have to go through the affiliate networks. 

    In this case, affiliate networks are affiliate marketing platforms that:

    • bring together offers from different vendors under one roof 
    • develop directories with listings of products and offers affiliate marketers to choose from
    • take care of all the administrative details of running an affiliate network

    Some networks give you tools like ads of their products to display on your blog, website, or social media. Some give pre-built landing pages of their products, and all you have to do is market. Other networks give you tools to create your own ads and landing pages of their products. 

    Examples of Affiliate Networks  

    There are thousands of affiliate networks. 

    There are affiliate networks that just specialize in digital products. Examples of affiliate networks in this category include MaxBounty, JVZoo, ClickBank, and 2Checkout.

    Other affiliate networks specialize only in physical products. Examples of affiliates in this category include Target Affiliates.

    Then there are those that specialize in both physical and digital products. Examples include AWIN, Amazon, and Shopify. 

    Other affiliate networks specialize in internet marketing, financial products, health and fitness products, or link share, especially deep linking. The list goes on! 

    Types of Affiliate Payout

    There are different payment types and models in affiliate marketing. Lots of it depends on the affiliate network and what payment model works best for them. 

    If you are looking to create your own affiliate program, these models should give you some ideas on how to structure your payouts.

    If you’re looking to be an affiliate marketer, the brief description of each payout type will give a clear picture of how you get paid. 

    Commission-Based Payment 

    A commission model for payment is the most popular. Some ways in which commission are determined: 

    • Cost per sale: you get paid when you produce a sale for the product or service you’re promoting.
    • Cost per click:you get paid when visitors click the ads displayed on the website, and it doesn’t matter if a sale is generated or not. 
    • Cost per lead:you get paid when you send potential customers (leads) to other businesses. Specialized niches, like law firms, doctors offices, and tax accountants, use this model. 
    • Cost per action: you get paid for each action an individual takes, such as filling in their personal details, answering survey information, or applying for a credit card.

    Other Affiliate Program Payment Models 

    • Single-tiered program: The affiliate is paid based on a direct sale they make.
    • Two-tiered affiliate program: This affiliate model allows you to make commissions not only on your own sales but the sales from others—sub-affiliates—that you recruit into the program as an affiliate. This has two levels of affiliates. 
    • Multi-tiered affiliate program: Similar to the model above but with more than two levels of affiliates. In this program, your affiliates recruit affiliates who recruit affiliates–the levels can go on and on.
    • Flat rate program: You get paid a flat rate for each lead, sale, or action your promotion generates for the business. 
    • Performance-based program: You get paid based on measurable results. You put in the work—and lots of it—and if it results in sales, you get paid. 
    • Revenue share program: You don’t get paid per lead or per signup. Instead, you get paid based on future spending by a lead you referred who registers with the merchant you are promoting. If this future spending becomes regular, you receive payments indefinitely. It's called lifetime value. A good example of this situation is online casino affiliate programs.

    Why a WooCommerce Store Needs an Affiliate Program

    • It’s the easiest and fastest way to drive traffic to your store.
    • It’s the most reliable way of generating leads and sales.
    • It’s the least costly way to advertise and promote your store.

    You can even get new customers to spread the word for you by making them your affiliates. 

    Affiliate Plugins Explained 

    There is a lot that goes into building a custom affiliate program from scratch. Putting together all the moving parts is time-consuming and costs a lot of money. Developers who create affiliate plugins have put a lot of thought into what an affiliate program needs and have incorporated all that into a plugin.

    An affiliate plugin is a piece of software specifically made to allow you to set up your own affiliate program. It comes out of the box ready to get started immediately. You just need to install it and customize it to suit your needs.  

    What Affiliate Plugins Do

    • Provides you with a platform to manage your affiliate network by registering affiliates, setting up payout rates and payments methods, and more. 
    • Allows tracking, using unique URLs, of clicks, referrals, and sales by your partners

    How to Choose an Affiliate Plugin

    The following are things you should consider when looking for an affiliate plugin to suit your needs:

    • easy to use, with customizable templates and color swatches
    • integration with payment gateways like PayPal and Stripe for easy payouts to affiliates 
    • integration with email marketing platforms like Constant Contact, Mailchimp, and AWeber 
    • integration with social share for easy sharing on social media

    Finally, you need to make sure the hosting service you’re using can handle large databases. 

    Affiliate WooCommerce Plugins for the Store Owner

    If you’re a merchant or store owner and you want to run your own affiliate marketing program, these self-hosted affiliate WooCommerce solution plugins allow you to register affiliate marketing partners and determine commissions for your affiliates. 

    1. Ultimate Affiliate Pro WordPress Plugin 

    Let's start with the Ultimate Affiliate Pro WordPress Plugin.

    It is easily one of the most robust affiliate WooCommerce plugins as it is integrated with WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads, PayPal, and Stripe, and it includes a complete feature set to get your own affiliate program up and running.

    

    You'll find all sorts of useful features such as:

    • performance bonuses and banner management
    • unlimited affiliates and special offers
    • rankings and commission levels
    • referrals and social shares
    • PayPal and Stripe payouts
    • and much, much more

    This is one of the best affiliate WooCommerce plugins you'll find on Envato Market.

    If this all wasn't impressive enough, this also includes free login, register, and account page templates, and connects with the top email marketing platforms like Mailchimp, Constant Contact, and many more.

    Ultimate Affiliate Pro WordPress Plugin is the ultimate affiliate WordPress plugin.

    2. SUMO Affiliates Pro—WordPress Affiliate Plugin 

    

    SUMO Affiliates Pro is a comprehensive WordPress Affiliates Plugin that allows you to run an affiliate system on your existing WordPress site. And you can fully integrate it into your WooCommerce store. 

    You can award affiliate commissions for actions such as affiliate signup, form submission, and product purchases.

    Some features of this plugin include: 

    • separate tables to capture the URLs that were accessed using an affiliate link
    • separate tables to capture the referral actions which got converted
    • approve the referrals automatically or approve the referrals after review
    • award lifetime commission to the affiliates for the purchases made by their referrals
    • allow affiliates to generate readable affiliate links (pretty affiliate links)
    • create unique landing pages for affiliates

    Check out the live preview and see why this is one of the best affiliate plugins available on the market. 

    User CeeM123 says:

    "Very quick and outstanding support and awesome plugin that provides all possibilities we were searching for."

    3. SUMO Affiliates—WooCommerce Affiliate System

    The SUMO Affiliates: WooCommerce Affiliate System is simple and straightforward.

    Its approach is on point:

    "...logged in users can apply and become Affiliates and promote the products in the site. Whenever a user purchases a product by using an Affiliate Link, the Affiliate associated with the link will earn commission for the purchase."

    

    This solid solution works with WooCommerce supported themes and also includes:

    • CSV export for unpaid commissions
    • translation and WPML ready
    • affiliate cookie validator
    • affiliate link generator
    • highly customizable
    • affiliate applications
    • affiliate dashboard
    • and much more

    If you're just looking for an affiliate WooCommerce plugin, look no further.

    The SUMO Affiliates: WooCommerce Affiliate System hits all the right marks.

    4. WooCommerce Multilevel Referral Plugin

    Interested in building a strong referral chain?

    The WooCommerce Multilevel Referral Plugin allows affiliates to earn credit points while their followers purchase your products from the existing online store.

    Build your affiliate perks through sales.

    

    Features you'll find here:

    • set custom credit and redemption limits
    • full admin reporting of registered users
    • global or product specific settings
    • shortcode support
    • and much more

    This is a multilevel referral system for WooCommerce, something that's outside of the typical affiliate transactional system.

    WooCommerce Multilevel Referral Plugin is unique in approach and may be exactly what you're looking for. 

    Solutions for Affiliate Marketers

    WooCommerce is also perfect for affiliates. With the help of these plugins, you can create a niche storefront that has the look, feel, and convenience of a WooCommerce shopping experience, while serving users products from Amazon and other affiliate networks. 

    5. WooCommerce Amazon Affiliates WordPress Plugin

    

    If you want to set up an affiliate site and import products directly from Amazon, then WooCommerce Amazon Plugin for WordPress is your best choice. It pulls all product information, specs, images and reviews together in one place. 

    Your site will look and function like an eCommerce website, but at checkout, customers will be redirected to Amazon. 

    Also, you can import and synchronize products without the need for PA API (Product Advertising) keys! The sync occurs automatically, every 15 minutes, and the recurrence is every 24 hours. 

    Go to the live preview and see for yourself what this plugin can do! 

    User Abundance_For_All says this about WooCommerce Amazon Plugin for WordPress

    "Great plugin easy to use! A must-use plugin if you are an Amazon affiliate! Highly recommended."

    6. Content Egg 

    

    For an affiliate marketer, diversifying is the best business model. This means curating affiliate products sourced from different affiliate networks. In short, creating a website that promotes products from different merchants. 

    This, sometimes, may not be as simple as you think. You may need to have separate plugins to import products and information from separate networks. 

    Content Egg is unique because it is an affiliate and content curation plugin that brings together and supports many affiliate networks under one roof. Content Egg uses network APIs. 

    Here is how it works: 

    1. Activate your modules by adding your API keys to access each network.
    2. Add offers by searching by keyword. Import offers to your page with special shortcodes.
    3. Start to earn: The plugin will add your affiliate ID to all links. You will earn affiliate commissions according to the rules of the given network.

    This plugin works with all WooCommerce themes. You can easily import offers for WooCommerce products and also import specifications to WooCommerce attributes. 

    It’s easy for novices and professionals. It has has a clear interface and saves significant time and effort when creating affiliate websites.

    It has everything you need to effectively manage and create affiliate monetization on your websites and quickly find content and products to monetize.

    Other features of this great plugin include:

    • Up-to-date products: offers, deals, and prices will be updated automatically.
    • Price drop alerts: email alerts for price drops and price history.
    • Links cloaking: add redirect to your affiliate links.
    • Use Autoblog to fill your site with different content: text, video, and pictures.
    • All pages will be search optimized because Content Egg functions like search engines and uses search keywords.

    The proof is in the pudding. Go to the live preview and try it for yourself!

    User ManjuPmf says:

    "Includes almost every affiliate network and works great. I highly recommend it."

    7. Affiliate Egg: Niche Affiliate Marketing Plugin 

    

    Local shops usually have better prices, better partnerships, and better commissions for local regions. I highly recommend Affiliate Egg if you want to create a successful affiliate website by taking advantage of the best conversions and commissions offered by local popular shops. 

    Why Local Affiliate Marketing?

    • You know your local merchants better than the online giants.
    • Local SEO is easier and much more effective. 
    • Present better prices with fewer competitors.

    How Affiliate Egg Works 

    1. Create storefronts: Just copy links from the original online store and insert them into the plugin. You can also use category or search links for bulk imports.
    2. Add shortcodes: Choose an output layout and insert the shortcode anywhere on your site.
    3. Start to earn: Set your partner's affiliate ID to make a simple affiliate link.

    The Affiliate Egg plugin:

    • can get products directly from webshops 
    • can be easily integrated into your WooCommerce site 
    • has price update functions 
    • automatically adds affiliate IDs to links 

    User cmv925 says:

    "You run an affiliate site and need an easy solution to automate your inventory upload, this plugin is for you. Easily create storefronts in minutes."

    8. Rakutenomatic—Rakuten Affiliate Network Plugin

    

    This best affiliate plugin for WordPress enables you to earn a passive income from being enrolled in multiple affiliate programs from Rakuten, earning percentages on sales that you generate.

    Rakutenomatic uses the Rakuten Market API to turn your WordPress website into a money-making machine. Import affiliate products based on search queries to maximise earnings.

    Tested on WordPress 5.6.x and Gutenberg-ready, this plugin has been developed by an Envato Elite Author and is regularly maintained and updated.

    What's more, you can try it before you buy it.

    9. WordPress and WooCommerce Affiliate Program

    

    WordPress and WooCommerce Affiliate Program is an affiliate marketing plugin to help you to market products through an affiliate team.

    Through two-way commision, the site admin can give commissions to users in the form of product discounts which is a portion of the commission referred by the Affiliate. Or choose a manual referral commission or experiment with social media share using social media icons.

    Furthermore, this WooCommerce affiliate plugin is compatible with digital downloads and you can reward your affiliates for marketing these.

    Generate more income from an eCommerce site by having more visibility and increased traffic by installing this plugin. This is the WooCommerce affiliate system.

    10. Affiliate Management System—WooCommerce Amazon

    

    If you're looking for the best affiliate plugin for WordPress, you probably can't go wrong with one that allows you to import drop-shipped or affiliated Amazon products directly into a WooCommerce store.

    If you're looking for a WooCommerce affiliate plugin, this one enables you to use a WooCommerce store to sell Amazon products from all Amazon country stores.

    This is a compelling WooCommerce affiliate plugin and comparison with others is recommended.

    Conclusion

    These are some of the affiliate plugins that I recommend if you're looking to start your own affiliate program or you're an affiliate yourself. Check out more affiliate WooCommerce plugins on CodeCanyon.

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    ]]> 2021-04-19T13:45:48+00:00 //shineyrock.com/blog/read/18-best-wordpress-star-rating-plugins https://shineyrock.com/blog/read/18-best-wordpress-star-rating-plugins#When:15:34:43Z

    Star ratings are used by websites to review all kinds of products and services. You can use them to rate pretty much anything your users are interested in: a movie, the food in a restaurant, the quality of service provided by a mechanic, etc.

    One of the reasons star ratings are so popular is that they allow users to quickly determine the quality of a product or service based on the experience of people who have used it.

    It is also very common to find businesses asking people to rate their services or products. This is because people are more likely to buy something if they see real reviews from other people who have actually used it.

    If your website sells something, it is a good idea to include a star rating system somewhere so that your customers can review your products.

    In this post, I'll list the best WordPress star rating plugins on CodeCanyon and Envato Elements that you can use today.

    

    Before we look at the star rating plugins, let's explore the benefits of a monthly subscription to Envato Elements. 

    Subscribe to Envato Elements

    For designers and developers, access to unlimited digital assets makes it easy to focus on creating unique products. There are countless tools and resources that you can download, all with an Envato Elements subscription.

    Envato Elements is a service that provides an unlimited download subscription, meaning that you are free to download as many items as you like from millions of digital assets.

    The subscription is covered by simple commercial licensing that gives you the rights to use the item in a broad variety of projects, including those of a commercial nature.

    

    The licensing is future-proof, meaning even if you unsubscribe and can't download items from Envato Elements any more, any existing uses that you registered are still covered.

    You can cancel or upgrade your Envato Elements subscription at any time.

    Subscribe today and start creating! 

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    Star Rating Plugins on Both Envato Elements and CodeCanyon

    Here is a brief review of the best WordPress star rating plugins that you can buy on Envato Elements and CodeCanyon. In the descriptions, we'll mention plugins that appear on both marketplaces. 

    1. Star Rating for WordPress

    

    Star Rating is a simple star rating plugin for WordPress that gives you the option to create and save ratings for each WordPress entry like a post, page, or product.

    The review microdata is also visible in search results, so you will get a boost in visibility. It is fully compatible with all popular WordPress themes.

    It comes with a lot of customization options. You can easily change the color, size, and shape of icons that are used to display the rating to users. The rating assigned to each post or page is also visible on the search page.

    The plugin has cross-browser compatibility and does not rely on jQuery to work properly. You can download it with a subscription to Envato Elements. 

    2. Testimonials Showcase

    

    This WordPress testimonial plugin with star ratings gives you an easy way to display testimonials, reviews, and quotes from users in an attractive layout.

    It is very flexible in terms of customization options and offers a responsive design. It's compatible with rich snippets and structured data used by search engines to display reviews and ratings in search results.

    The reviews and testimonials can be showcased on the front-end either as a grid or as a slider. Each of these layouts comes with its own settings to control the look and feel of the reviews.

    There are five different themes that you can use with this plugin: rounded speech bubbles, flat speech bubbles, flat card box, quote marks, or simple separator. With a low-cost monthly subscription, you can download this plugin and many others from Envato Elements. 

    3. WordPress Facebook Reviews Plugin

    

    The WordPress Facebook Reviews Plugin is a star rating plugin that allows you to add business reviews from your Facebook page to your website. This highly customizable plugin comes with a clean and flexible interface to suit any website style and is packed with features including four predefined layouts, three review templates, a flexible header, and more.
     
    The review widget has six switchable elements: author name and picture, recommendation, date, Facebook icon, and star rating. The widget also allows filtering of your reviews and has a review-request button. You also have the option of showing your star rated reviews in a slider layout. 
     
    The plugin supports 22 languages and works perfectly with many WordPress themes, including the most popular on ThemeForest. It is available on both CodeCanyon and Envato Elements. 

    4. Epic Review WordPress Plugin 

    

    Epic Review, which has three post rating systems including star, point, and percentage, is perfect if you write review articles that show your opinion of products, movies, etc.

     

    You can add responsive review boxes or blocks by the side or at the bottom of the article. You can showcase your best reviews. A widget shows a list of recent reviews on the sidebar so users can navigate through other reviews. There is also a special search feature that allows users to easily search and navigate through your review articles.

     

    You can monetize your posts by adding referral and affiliate links for the items you're reviewing. You can add multiple affiliate sources, and the plugin will automatically calculate which seller has the best price for the item you're reviewing. 

     

    Available on both CodeCanyon and Envato Elements, this WordPress post rating plugin is also an add-on for Elementor and WPBakery Page Builder. 

    5. Excited! Testimonial Showcase for WordPress

    

    Excited! Testimonial Showcase is​ a premium multi-use WordPress plugin with the ​main purpose of building an awesome testimonials showcase on your website or blog. 

     

    This WordPress testimonial plugin with star ratings, available exclusively on Envato Elements, is packed with exciting features like:

    • beautiful layouts and templates that you can customize to your heart's delight
    • testimonial builder with eye-catching presentation styles: classic grid, grid with tooltips, single testimonial with or without slider, and widgets
    • rating submission with approval system
    • supports rich snippets for search engines 
    • shortcode to place a submission form anywhere on your website

    The plugin is 100% responsive, and the summary block fits any container. In addition, it's compatible with Visual Composer, Mailchimp, and the WPML translation plugin. 

    Star Rating Plugins Exclusively on CodeCanyon

    There are currently about 70 premium WordPress star rating plugins available on CodeCanyon. All of them serve some unique purpose, like adding a star rating field to different forms or allowing users to review a product or service on your website.

    

    The price for some of these star rating plugins starts from as low as $7. The fact that you get free lifetime updates and six months of free support makes buying them a very good deal.

    Here is a brief review of the best star rating plugins that you can buy on CodeCanyon:

    6. Rating Form

    

    This is one of the best WordPress star rating plugins on CodeCanyon. It is highly rated and receives updates at regular intervals. Each update also adds a lot of new features to the plugin.

    The ratings are updated using AJAX, and a nice spinning animation is shown while the plugin updates the rating in the database. The results are immediately visible on the webpage once a user submits the ratings.

    You can choose from different rating images provided by the plugin or upload your own custom images. You can add star ratings to any post or webpage using shortcodes. It is also possible to use the ratings with comments by using the comment_id attribute in shortcodes.

    7. AP Custom Testimonial Pro

    

    The AP Custom Testimonial Pro plugin also allows you to showcase reviews and testimonials from your clients and customers on your website.

    The WordPress testimonial plugin with star ratings comes with 12 different layouts to display the user reviews. It also offers some other unique features like embedding videos in the testimonials or only displaying certain user reviews based on their ID. You can also optionally add links to the social media accounts of clients who write a review.

    The plugin gives you granular control over all aspects of the review. This includes things like the image border color, review title color, review content color, etc.

    The shortcode generator that comes with this plugin makes it incredibly easy for you to create custom shortcodes to display the testimonials exactly the way you want.

    8. BNE Testimonials Pro

    

    You can use the WordPress BNE Testimonials Pro plugin to display testimonials and reviews anywhere on your website.

    The plugin offers a large variety of customization and layout options for the reviews. You can choose from four different layouts: list, slider, thumbnail slider, and masonry grid. There are also four different themes: simple, default, bubbles, and cards.

    The star ratings incorporate Schema.org tags to make sure that the rich snippets for the review are visible in search results.

    One big advantage of using this plugin is that it offers the ability to import reviews from other platforms like Facebook, Google, and Yelp. So, if your users have written any reviews about your business on Facebook, they will be automatically pulled and added to your own website.

    9. Ratings and Reviews Plugin for WordPress

    

    Ratings and Reviews plugin for WordPress allows you to set up a single rating or multi-ratings for a review. The plugin displays a list of reviews and adds a review button, submission form, stars, and ratings.

    For multi-rating, you can configure any number of rating criteria like usability, comfort, size, price, service, and so on. Users will rate each criterion separately.  

    You can also place ratings and reviews on any WooCommerce products and display the product price along with the review rating in the reviews slider widget on the product page or a separate single review page. 

    10. WP Facebook Review Showcase

    

    Using WP Facebook Review Showcase, you can add your starred Facebook reviews on your website. You can display them in eye-popping fashion thanks to ten beautifully designed templates for page reviews with user ratings and ten beautifully designed badge templates with ribbons attached. Each template is fully equipped with a variety of animation styles.

    You can configure the reviews display to showcase only five-star reviews from Facebook on your website. Reviews can also be displayed by pagination to give your audience the freedom to view as many as they want. 

    Use shortcodes to embed your reviews on any of your pages. And you also get the chance to display your reviews in widget areas in the sidebar or footer.

    A caching option is also built into the plugin to help you optimize your site and make the pages load faster. The plugin is completely responsive to all screen sizes and resolutions.

    11. Gravity Forms Star Rating Field

    

    Gravity Forms Star Rating Field is a rating form plugin that allows you to add star rating fields to all your Gravity Forms.

    12. Contact Form 7 Star Rating Field

    

    Contact Form 7 Star Rating Field lets you add star rating fields to any of your Contact Form 7 forms. There are 12 different customization options available.

    This rating form plugin works with all versions of the Contact Form 7 plugin, and you can also make the rating field required for form submission. The plugin also allows you to set a default rating value for the field.

    One more feature that you will find useful is the ability to include rating results in an email using a shortcode.

    13. Rating Stars Messages for WooCommerce

    

    Rating Stars Messages for WooCommerce allows you to create flexible and catchy messages on the product page based on the product rating. This plugin can be used both as a complete rating stars replacement or as an addition to it. This creates engagement and a positive mood for the customer and can help you increase sales.

    Free WordPress Star Rating Plugins

    Before listing some free WordPress star rating plugins, I would like to mention that using premium plugins comes with its own advantages. The premium plugin developers are more likely to provide regular updates and solve any issues that you might be facing with the use of these plugins. This is especially true for the best-sellers on CodeCanyon or Elements.

    Also, the premium plugins generally offer a more polished design to give your website a professional look. But sometimes a free plugin is the right choice for a limited budget—I've pulled together a few of these free plugins below.

    14. GD Rating System

    

    With GD Rating System, you can rate anything—including posts, custom posts, comments, users, and more. You can also rate one or more categories. It supports rich snippets, post integration, and comment integration. With shortcodes, you can place ratings anywhere on your website. 

    15. WP Customer Reviews

    

    Get ratings from users using WP Customer Reviews. This multisite and multiuser star rating plugin allows you to set up a specific page on your blog to receive testimonials from customers about your business or service. Customers can write reviews about products you carry. All reviews are moderated and can include images. Widgets can be customized, and there is spam protection. In addition to rich snippet support, this lightweight plugin has caching to help your pages load faster. 

    16. Site Reviews

    

    This plugin is more suited for people who want to allow users to provide reviews in a manner similar to websites like TripAdvisor or Yelp. It comes with a nice set of features that you can see on the plugin description page.

    17. Yasr—Yet Another Stars Rating

    

    This plugin comes with two different types of ratings. The first type is provided by the post author. This is ideal for websites that publish reviews of different products and services. The second type gives your visitors the ability to vote.

    18. Rate My Post—WP Post Rating

    People who are only looking for a WordPress star rating plugin so that they can allow users to rate their posts and pages should consider using the Rate My Post WordPress plugin. It will allow you to easily add ratings to all your posts and pages using shortcodes.

    Benefits of Using Star Ratings

    A website with a built-in customer review and star rating component is easily recognized by search engines. Allowing users to leave their reviews and star ratings on different aspects of your business like products, blog posts, etc., has many benefits for your business. 

    Star Ratings Increase Engagement and Traffic

    They can vastly increase engagement and traffic to your website by boosting your site's search engine rankings for certain searches. 

    Star Ratings Are Easily Picked Up by Search Engines

    Reviews are a source of fresh content to search engines. It's why search results include customer reviews and star ratings from websites. This builds your credibility. 

    Star Ratings Offer Great Opportunities for Improvement

    A customer may like your delicious food but they are not impressed by your customer service. For this reason, they give you three stars instead of five. You now have a chance to take their feedback and improve where your services are lacking. 

    Ways You Can Use Star Ratings on Your Website

    Having looked at best practices, let's now explore ways you can use star ratings on your website.

    The most popular use of star ratings is to rate products or blog posts. But you can expand the uses of star ratings to include many other aspects of your business by doing the following:

    • Let customers upload photos of themselves using your products and allow other users to comment and give star ratings for the photos.
    • Let customers upload videos of themselves using your product and allow other users to leave comments and rate the videos.
    • Let customers rate reviews written by others. Use prompts like: was this review helpful?

    This is how you create engagement that makes the website active in the eyes of search engines that are always looking for fresh content. 

    Promotion

    If you're running a sales promotion, how about letting customers rate the promotion? It creates a lot of buzz that helps your promotion take off and become successful. Also, ratings help give social proof to the promotion, letting other customers know if it's worth their time. 

    Blog Topic Suggestions

    You can ask customers to suggest topics for your blog and have other customers weigh in with their ratings. This way, you can keep your content fresh by writing something that's relevant to your customers. In addition, you build a community of users who feel their feedback is valued. 

    How to Get Customers to Submit Ratings

    Prominently Display Review Tools

    Let customers know they can leave their reviews and make it easy for them to do so. It's easy. Prominently display tools that invite them to leave ratings or reviews. You can use prompts like "rate this product", "review this product", and so on.  

    Email Reminders

    Send email reminding customers to review products they've purchased. Knowing the lead times allows you to send out the email after customers have received their products. You can ask them to rate different aspects: customer service, delivery time, the product itself, and more. 

    Incentives Are a Win-Win

    When you offer customers coupons for their next purchase in exchange for their reviews and ratings, it's a win-win for both you and your customers. 

    Best Practices to Keep in Mind When Using Star Rating Plugins

    The ultimate goal of using these star rating plugins is to help your website visitors. So here are some guidelines that you can follow to use them in a way that benefits the visitors. 

    1. Place Ratings Only in Important Places

    If you are reviewing a product or service for your visitors, make sure that you don't place the same ratings in ten different places. If you are writing a detailed review of the product, it is acceptable to provide different ratings for different aspects like the design, quality, pricing, etc. However, don't use the same overall 8/10 rating in six different places in a post.

    2. Use Rich Snippet Data With the Correct Attributes

    Search engines usually display star ratings in their search results only when they think that it will provide some useful information. For example, let's say you use rich snippets that display star ratings for products but use attributes that indicate that the rating is for posts. In such cases, the search engines might not show the ratings in their search results at all. So make sure that the rich snippet data to show the ratings has the correct attributes.

    Final Thoughts

    In this post, we have briefly reviewed both free and premium WordPress star rating plugins that you can add to your website. The aim of the post was to include the best WordPress star rating plugins for certain tasks like user testimonials, form fields, and product reviews.

    The Best WordPress Plugins on CodeCanyon

    If you are looking for a WordPress plugin for any use, take a look at the premium WordPress plugins on CodeCanyon. Hopefully, one of the plugins listed there will meet all your needs.

    

    Here are a few of the best-selling and hot new WordPress plugins available on CodeCanyon for 2021.

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    This post has been updated with contributions from Franc Lucas. Franc is a writer for Envato Tuts+ who enjoys exploring the world of SaaS.

    ]]> 2021-03-30T15:34:43+00:00 //shineyrock.com/blog/read/10-best-wordpress-twitter-widgets https://shineyrock.com/blog/read/10-best-wordpress-twitter-widgets#When:14:13:12Z

    As a website owner, you should always try to use all the tools at your disposal to increase visitor traffic to your website. For many websites, more traffic drives up revenue to further expand business or improve the quality of the services you currently provide. Social media plays an important role when it comes to driving traffic to a website.

    Proper use of social media helps businesses in two ways:

    1. First, it brings visitors and clients from sources other than search engines.
    2. Second, it gives followers a way to interact with you in places other than your website.

    One of the most popular social media platforms for engagement with customers is Twitter. In this post, I'll list the best WordPress Twitter widgets that you can start using today.

    WordPress Twitter Widgets on CodeCanyon

    There are currently over 250 WordPress widgets related to Twitter available on CodeCanyon. You can use them to do all kinds of things like showing tweet and follow buttons, fetching the feed of a Twitter user or hashtag, or automatically posting tweets about the latest article on your website.

    

    The price of these plugins starts from as low as $6. The best sellers offer regular updates and a lot of features. You also get six months of free support. This should be enough to help you get started with your website.

    Best WordPress Twitter Widgets and Plugins

    Here are the top seven WordPress widgets and plugins that you can buy on CodeCanyon and add to your website:

    1. Twitter Feed—WordPress Twitter Plugin

    This Twitter feed plugin by Elfsight displays a Twitter feed for a specific profile or a hashtag directly on a website. As a result, people start engaging more with your website as well as the Twitter profile.

    

    The plugin has multiple templates to display Twitter feeds on your website. You can display these feeds for any username you want or any hashtag that your website visitors and clients are likely to use.

    Sometimes, visitors might not directly express their satisfaction with your service on your website. If your clients usually tweet good things about you on Twitter, you can use this plugin to display those tweets on your website as testimonials.

    The plugin is fully compatible with WordPress and works with all WordPress themes, including many popular ones that you find on CodeCanyon. Ensure that you take a look at the Elfsight Twitter Feed plugin!

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    2. AccessPress Twitter Feed Pro

    The AccessPress Twitter Feed Pro WordPress plugin also allows you to showcase Twitter feeds on a website. The feed may come from a single user account, multiple user accounts, or specific hashtags.

    

    The plugin has three different modes or layouts—called default mode, slider mode, and ticker mode—to display the latest tweets from your feed.

    There are more than 20 different templates for displaying the feed, and they all look absolutely stunning. You can easily choose a template that looks great on your own website.

    The plugin also added a lot of new features with its recent update. This includes things like showing user cards, displaying retweet information, and a shortcode generator to make the plugin as user-friendly as possible.

    If users click on a video or image inside your Twitter feed, it will open in a nicely designed lightbox.

    3. Twitter Plus

    The Twitter Plus WordPress plugin makes it incredibly easy for you to add Twitter buttons to any post or page on your website. It will automatically add Twitter buttons for tweet, follow, mention, or hashtags on all pages and posts that you select.

    

    There are a couple of customization options that are available for each type of button. For example, you can set the tweet text to the page title or some other custom value for the tweet, hashtag, and mention buttons.

    You can also choose to show either the username or the follower count (or both) on the follow buttons.

    The plugin lets you choose the buttons that you want to show on different posts. You don't have to show all four of them everywhere. Just pick the ones you like and tell the plugin to add them either at the top or bottom of your page or post.

    4. WordPress to Twitter—Twitter Bot

    Running and maintaining a website takes a lot of work. Therefore, it makes sense to automate some simple tasks and use the time you saved to improve the website.

    The WordPress to Twitter plugin allows you to do exactly that. Once you purchase and install the plugin, you can set it up to tweet different types of posts from categories that you select.

    

    You can specify the delay time that will determine the interval between different tweets. You can also tell the plugin if it should include the post title or link in the tweets. Each tweet can also contain some custom additional text, a mention, or hashtags.

    It is possible to specify the time interval within which a post has been published to shortlist it for automated tweets.

    All these features make this plugin a good tool to save time and automate some of your social media outreach workload.

    5. Twitter Feed Grid With Carousel for WordPress

    This is yet another plugin that you can use to show the Twitter feed for any particular user or hashtag. However, there are a few things that make this one different from the others.

    

    You can either show the Twitter feed as a grid or as a carousel. When shown as a grid, the plugin comes with a bunch of options to control things like the number of columns on desktops, tablets, and mobile devices. You can also choose to use a box layout or a full-width layout.

    The plugin comes with seven different grid styles to display the feed. When visitors hover over any tweet in the feed, the plugin will display social share buttons to allow users to directly share the tweets on their favorite social media platform.

    

    The Carousel also offers eight more completely different layouts to display a bunch of tweets on the website. You should definitely check out the live preview of this plugin.

    6. WP Tweet Selection—Twitter Highlighter

    The WP Tweet Selection plugin gives your users a way to share the articles from your website on Twitter by selecting the text that they like the most.

    

    For example, if a user likes a statistic that you mentioned in your article, they could select it using regular text selection, and then the plugin will show them a prompt to share the selected text on Twitter.

    This is a great way to increase the engagement of visitors with your website and give them the ability to customize the tweet. It can also bring more traffic back to your website than simply displaying the title of the article with each share.

    You can control the appearance of the prompt by setting values for options like its color, size, and the text that appears inside it—for example, "Share on Twitter".

    7. Social Locker for WordPress

    Almost every website places social share buttons somewhere on its pages in the hope that users will share the content that they like. While some people do click these share buttons, most visitors just ignore them.

    

    This plugin, called Social Locker for WordPress, can actually help you get more people to share your articles. The basic idea is that some of the content on the webpage is hidden behind a message that asks people to either tweet about the article, like it, or follow you on Facebook. Whichever option they choose, it will help you get more visibility on social media platforms.

    Besides articles, you can use it to lock all kinds of things like videos, PDFs, videos, and download files. Give the plugin a try, and see your Twitter followers go up!

    8. Easy Twitter Embedded Feed

    Sometimes all you need is something simple and simplicity works best.

    

    If you're looking for a simple WordPress Twitter Widget to display your recent tweets, some solutions are overkill and a little too complex.

    Easy Twitter Embedded Feed is a great little plugin that enables the use of shortcodes for embedding a Twitter feed. Customize the height and width. This comes with multi-language support.

    9. Social Stream Designer

    

    Social Stream Designer is a WordPress Twitter plugin that's extremely versatile if you're looking for a WordPress Twitter plugin to showcase your tweets.

    Made by an Envato Elite Author, Social Stream Designer gives you four templates with variations and six layouts. Choose from grid, list, masonry, horizontal slider, vertical slider and timeline. And customize further with drag-n-drop functionality. Great if you're looking for a twitter feed carousel.

    It's not just Twitter, Social Stream Designer is the go-to plugin for integrating social networks on your WordPress site.

    10. Twitter Tweets Pro

    

    Twitter Tweets Pro is an advanced Twitter plugin for WordPress Twitter feeds. It displays Twitter feeds on a WordPress site and can be customized to match the site.

    It may support multiple Twitter accounts without limitation. Features and benefits include:

    • Multiple Twitter feeds with no limitations
    • Feeds of multiple Users, hashtags or search terms
    • Filter Tweets by hashtag or words
    • Display Tweets in Slider
    • Configurable number of tweets to display
    • Load more tweets
    • Feed background color
    • Tweet background color
    • Tweet font color
    • Tweet font size
    • Date text size
    • Date font weight
    • Link color
    • Link font size
    • Google Fonts
    • Tweet Actions (reply, retweet, like)
    • Share Tweets on Social Media
    • Update Twitter Status

    11. WordPress Any Contact Us

    

    WordPress Any Contact Us is a simple and powerful WordPress Twitter widget that gives you the ability to add awesome social shortcode buttons to any WordPress site.

    This means that websites visitors can contact you easily via Twitter. 

    And it also includes contact methods via a range of other popular social media platforms, too!

    Increase your revenue by connecting with clients wherever they are:

    • Direct Email
    • Schedule Call
    • Shortcode and HTML In Popup
    • Typing Animation
    • Smart Message Popup
    • Fully Customizable
    • Smooth Animations
    • GDPR Ready
    • Beautifully Responsive
    • WhatsApp, Skype, Telegram, Twitter and much more…
    • Unlimited Social Contact
    • 24/7 premium support.
    • Automated updates
    • And more…

    Free WordPress Twitter Plugins

    If you are not sure about buying premium plugins right now, there are also many free WordPress Twitter plugins. However, they generally have some downsides like fewer features and slow support—if it's provided at all.

    Now, here are some free WordPress Twitter plugins that you can try.

    12. Custom Twitter Feeds

    You can use the Custom Twitter Feeds plugin to display customizable and responsive tweets. The content of these tweets is also crawlable by search engines. The source of the feed can be any user or a specific hashtag.

    13. WP to Twitter

    The WP to Twitter plugin helps post tweets from WordPress to Twitter. You can also do a couple of other things with it, like displaying your recent tweets in the sidebar, etc.

    14. OnePress Social Locker

    The OnePress Social Locker WordPress plugin is simply a free version of the premium Social Locker plugin on CodeCanyon. It has limited features, but it should give you an idea of its capabilities.

    Tips for Using Twitter Widgets and Plugins

    There are a couple of things that you should be aware of when using these WordPress Twitter plugins on your website.

    1. Don't Fill Your Website With Twitter Feeds

    It may sound tempting to add Twitter feeds from different accounts and hashtags on your webpages because you get automatically generated content. However, don't overdo it. The feeds have to add some value to the website. If the visitors only wanted to see the Twitter feeds, they would just go to Twitter!

    2. Don't Put All Your Content Behind Social Lockers

    It is also important to not put all your content behind a social locker. Use it only when you have something unique and useful to offer. If every article on your website is behind a social locker, people will just start visiting your competition.

    3. Don't Use Too Many Social Sharing Buttons

    Unless you are focusing your marketing campaign exclusively on Twitter, you should not put the tweet, follow, mention, and other such buttons on every page. This, when combined with like and follow buttons from other networks, will become very distracting.

    Final Thoughts

    I hope that this article helped you find the perfect WordPress Twitter plugin for your website.

    This small list of plugins covers all the important things that you might want to do, like showing your Twitter feed on your website or giving users an easy way to share your content on Twitter.

    If you're looking for something that isn't covered in this article, make sure you check out some of the other best-selling WordPress social networking plugins and widgets on CodeCanyon.

    

    Which plugins do you use to increase your social media presence? Let us know in the comments below.

    ]]> 2021-03-25T14:13:12+00:00 //shineyrock.com/blog/read/20-best-wordpress-booking-and-reservation-plugins https://shineyrock.com/blog/read/20-best-wordpress-booking-and-reservation-plugins#When:01:21:16Z

    Are you looking for an automated booking or reservation plugin that saves you and your customers time? Are you tired of losing business to your competitors? Are you looking for a way to streamline your online appointments and bookings?

    Your website should make it easy for guests to view, reserve, and book available appointments. This is where WordPress booking and reservation plugins can help you meet your online business goals.

    So whatever your business—from haircuts to hotels, and from health salons to consulting firms—WordPress booking and reservations plugins help customers book appointments on your site any time of day or night.

    

    In this post, I'll share the best reservation plugins for WordPress today.

    The Best WordPress Booking and Reservation Plugins

    CodeCanyon offers a huge variety of WordPress booking and reservation plugins you can download and install.

    

    Some of the best features include:

    • easy customization and integration
    • translation-ready
    • ability to integrate with payment gateways like PayPal, Stripe, Square, or Mollie.

    20+ Best WordPress Booking and Reservation Plugins for 2021

    Check our selection of some of the best booking plugins for WordPress. Here you'll find the WordPress booking plugin you need for your website:

    1. Best-Selling: EventON—WordPress Event Calendar Plugin

    

    Looking for the best booking plugin for WordPress? Check out EventON, our best-selling WordPress booking plugin. 

    EventON is packed with 200+ useful features, such as highly customizable repeating events, multiple event images, unlimited event creation, and various calendar layout designs.

    With a 4.5-star rating and more than 50,000 sales, customers are very happy with this WordPress booking plugin. User EAAcalendar says:

    This calendar system is very, very all-encompassing. They made it extremely flexible and, to be honest, I have barely scratched the surface on all the features customizations that are possible.

    2. Best-Selling: Calendarize it! for WordPress

    

    Calendarize it! is another top-selling WordPress booking plugin. With more than 11,000 sales, users like it because it's packed with useful features and add-ons you can download with your purchase:

    • WP Bakery Page Builder (Visual Composer) compatibility
    • event tickets with WooCommerce integration
    • Eventbrite tickets
    • external event sources 
    • payment options
    • RSVP events

    User hiegl says:

    After two years of using this great plugin, I happily renew my 5 stars review and want to thank Richard and his team for the best support I got here on Envato. If you need a really flexible calendar, this is the best solution!

    3. Best-Selling: Booked—Appointment Booking for WordPress

    

    Booked is a powerful WordPress booking plugin that makes online booking a simple process. You can add as many calendars as you need and easily customize them.

    Some of the best features of this WordPress reservation plugin are:

    • front-end calendar as shortcode or widget
    • fully responsive
    • customer profile and appointment management
    • guest booking
    • lifetime updates
    • add-ons (included)
    • payments with WooCommerce 
    • front-end agents
    • calendar feeds

    4. Best-Selling: Bookly Pro—Booking & Scheduling System

    

    Bookly Pro WordPress Booking Plugin is a full-featured plugin that's easy to install, getting you up and running in a matter of seconds. It is fully customizable and mobile-ready, so customers can book appointments on the go. This WordPress booking plugin comes with an easy scheduling process that walks the user from booking to payment in a few simple steps.

    The inclusion of SMS notifications, online payments, and Google Calendar sync sets it apart from many others.

    Other notable features of this plugin include:

    • compatible with WooCommerce
    • multi-language support
    • unlimited number of staff members and services
    • integration with most payment systems
    • ability to allow or prevent caching of pages with booking form

    5. Best-Selling: Timetable Responsive Schedule for WordPress

    

    Timetable is a powerful and easy-to-use schedule plugin for WordPress. It will help you to create a timetable view of your events in minutes!

    It comes with booking functionality. You can take online reservations for any event within the available number of free slots.

    Other awesome features include an events manager, event occurrences shortcode, timetable shortcode generator, and upcoming events widget. You can generate PDFs from your timetable view.

    Fully compatible with Visual Composer, this WordPress booking and reservation plugin is perfect for your gym classes, school or kindergarten, medical departments, nightclubs and pubs, class schedules, meal plans, you name it.

    6. Trending: Advance Seat Reservation Management for WooCommerce

    

    Advance Seat Reservation Management for WooCommerce is suitable for businesses such as cinemas, trains, airlines, event venues, movie theatres, bus companies, and more.

    Your customers can reserve seats through this WordPress reservation system plugin for WooCommerce. It works with WooCommerce products, carts, orders, and WordPress posts.

    7. Trending: Hotel Booking WordPress Plugin

    

    Hotel Booking is a complete hotel and vacation rental booking system. You can use this WordPress booking system for hotels, bed and breakfast, guest houses, apartments, villas, and even hostels.

    It comes with all the functionality you need to run a fully functional hospitality business website and manage reservations. You can create beautiful listings of all your properties, control seasonal pricing and rates, and rent properties out online, with or without payment.

    In addition, you can synchronize direct site reservations with popular travel channels via iCal through the admin channel manager.

    8. Book An Appointment Online Pro (With Video Conferencing)

    

    You can now provide remote services directly from your appointment booking plugin. You can do it from a phone or computer via video conference with built-in live chat. Video conferencing is between one employee and one customer.

    This is what makes Book An Appointment Online Pro the WordPress appointment plugin of choice for medical centers, beauty and hair salons, or car services.

    While this feature is available only to users with active support, the benefits you reap are immeasurably more than the extra cost you invest in extended support.

    You can create three different types of schedules: regular working hours, custom schedule, and shifts. To help avoid double booking, users can book an appointment only by available time slots. They get SMS reminders, and they can also pay using PayPal or Stripe.

    9. Bookme WordPress Booking Plugin

    

    Bookme is a multi-purpose WordPress booking plugin that can be used by all kinds of businesses, ranging from beauty salons and fitness centers to educational institutions and medical centers.

    You can set up a wide range of services at different prices and build custom fields depending on your requirements.

    You can offer numerous booking types, including default booking, group booking, consultant booking, add to cart booking, free booking, and booking with WooCommerce.

    Customers can receive SMS notifications via Twillio API. They can also pay with multiple payment systems such as Stripe or PayPal.

    10. RnB—WooCommerce Booking & Rental Plugin 

    

    If you want to build a booking business, then WooCommerce Booking and Rental Plugin will help you do just that. You will able to rent cars, bikes, dresses, tools, gadgets, and more.

    You can add unlimited rental products, set your own pricing, block rental days and hours, set minimum and maximum booking days, have single-day booking, and set up a maximum time penalty.

    You can set custom pricing for particular customers. The plugin also offers inventory management, and it's fully compatible with the latest WooCommerce and WordPress versions.

    This WordPress booking plugin supports WPML, which allows your website to become multilingual.

    11. Trending: Salon Booking WordPress Reservation Plugin 

    

    Salon Booking is a complete and easy-to-manage appointment booking system for busy salons. It will make it easy for customers to make reservations on your website, and it will save you a lot of time with management tasks.

    Salon Booking is perfect for hairdressing salons, barber shops, beauticians, therapists, spas, clinics, sport facilities rentals, and more.

    12. HBook Hotel Booking System

    

    HBook is a powerful and versatile plugin that is ideally suited for anybody who owns a business in the hospitality industry: a hotel, B&B, holiday apartment, or campground.

    It comes equipped with a drag-and-drop form builder that lets you choose what customer details you want to gather. Its efficient booking management system includes:

    • calendar view to see your bookings at a glance 
    • reservation list in a table form to view details of all bookings, add comments, change accommodation, update remaining balance, or send emails.
    • multiple payment methods: Stripe, PayPal, Square, Cardlink, Mollie, and more. 

    You can also synchronize your bookings with websites such as Airbnb, HomeAway, VRBO, and Booking.com. Finally, shortcode support allows you to add availability calendars, table rates, and booking forms anywhere on your website in seconds.

    13. Amelia—Enterprise-Level Appointment Booking

    

    Like the other plugins in this list, Amelia lets your customers make appointments at any time of day and night. This plugin is easy to customize, helping you build your appointment booking forms in no time. What stands apart with this plugin is that you can keep your customers and employees notified and reminded of their appointments in real time with SMS notifications.

    Some features include:

    • supports multiple employees, each with their services and availability schedule
    • supports multiple business locations
    • step-by-step appointment wizard makes booking easy
    • options to upsell during appointment booking 
    • integration with WooCommerce, PayPal, and Stripe 
    • supports on-site payments so your customers can pay in cash when they arrive

    14. Events Plus—WordPress Events Calendar Registration & Booking

    

    Events Calendar Registration and Booking plugin has got you covered if you want to:

    • promote classes, seminars, workshops, conferences, or concerts on your WordPress website
    • set ticket prices for your events, create recurring events, or even accept donations for your events

    It gives you a quick glimpse of the latest events created, letting you sort them by categories, view payments, and keep track of your attendees.

    Visitors will be able to register and pay online for those events via PayPal, Stripe, or Authorize.net. The plugin also comes with shortcodes for calendars and single events.

    15. Trending: Car Rental Booking System for WordPress 

    

    To run a robust car rental business, you need an efficient, powerful online booking system. This is where Car Rental Booking System comes in. It is designed to support an unlimited number of locations, vehicles, and booking forms.

    In addition to pricing rules for different cars, it has booking add-ons to order custom vehicle attributes and service restrictions related to the driver's age.

    The booking process—together with multiple payment options—is simple and includes email and SMS notification.

    16. Chauffeur Booking System for WordPress

    

    Chauffeur Booking System is a powerful limo reservation WordPress plugin for companies of all sizes. It can be used by both limo and shuttle operators. It provides a simple, step-by-step booking process with online payments, e-mail and SMS notifications, WooCommerce, Google Calendar integration, and an intuitive back-end administration.

    17. LatePoint—Booking Reservation Plugin for WordPress 

    

    Complicated booking software takes forever to set up, slows down your website, and puts off customers. LatePoint to the rescue.

    LatePoint is a simple, intuitive WordPress appointment booking plugin that makes it incredibly simple for your customers to schedule appointments.

    The setup process takes less than five minutes. After that, you can create agents, add services, and set working hours. The rest is just a matter of inserting the booking shortcode button anywhere on your page, and your customers will be able to book appointments right away.

    Customers can log in using popular social networks to pre-fill their personal information. Once they create an account, they can manage their reservations online.

    LatePoint also has a powerful, clean, and modern admin dashboard for business owners to easily see reports of agent performance and manage services and customers.

    18. Bookmify—Appointment Booking WordPress Plugin 

    

    Bookmify is the go-to WordPress booking plugin for businesses in many sectors: health and wellness, government, education, fitness and recreation, entertainment, and more.

    It is simple, functional, versatile, powerful, and modern. The online scheduling system is equipped with a powerful user interface to help manage your day-to-day events, keep up with your schedule and billing, and send email campaigns—all from one online app.

    19. ARB - Appointment Reservation Booking Plugin 

    

    The ARB Reservations plugin is the most flexible WordPress booking plugin for WooCommerce. It is perfect for businesses that require appointment booking: hotel rooms or resorts, appointments for courses, doctors, salons, renting products, and more.

    What's really interesting about this WordPress booking plugin is that it has a "request for quote" feature, in which a customer can request a particular price and you can set custom pricing for that person.

    20. Booknetic—WordPress Appointment Booking & Scheduling System 

    

    This is an online appointment booking plugin which supports WooCommerce, PayPal, Stripe, and SMS and email notifications. It also has:

    • reminders
    • manageable calendar
    • customizable templates
    • built-in form builder
    • multiple category levels
    • and many other features

    21. Trending: Stachethemes Event Calendar - WordPress Events Calendar Plugin

    

    This WordPress reservation plugin is a unique approach to the classic event calendar concept. It's fully responsive with a modern design. This WordPress booking plugin will display your events in a layout that's easy to read and navigate.

    The WordPress booking plugin is trending thanks to its cool features, including:

    • compatible with Elementor
    • event filter
    • single event page
    • multiple calendar views: month, week, day, grid, map, agenda and more
    • mobile ready
    • WooCommerce integration
    • social media integration for event sharing

    22. Trending: Events Schedule - WordPress Events Calendar Plugin

    

    We close the selection with another trending WordPress booking plugin. Event Schedule is a simple and versatile plugin that offers 12 schedule styles, each of them with a different design and features.

    It's a great WordPress reservation plugin. You can sell tickets with WooCommerce, and it's 100% responsive and retina ready.

    See what user lizYA01 says about it:

    Beautifully designed and elegant plugin backed by the best customer support I have ever had from Envato. I recommend this plugin to anyone looking for a classy looking events calendar. Can't say enough about the professional support received!

    4 Free Booking and Reservation Plugins Available for Download

    As much as premium plugins offer more benefits and more features, there are a couple of free plugins that can help you with your business if you're on a tight budget. If you're just starting, a free plugin can give you time to gain recognition and build your brand without committing to a premium solution.

    1. Hotel Booking Lite

    

    Hotel Booking Lite is the perfect booking plugin for anybody in the hotel and accommodation space. It allows you to simplify the booking experience of your customers. It offers real-time search, custom pricing, multiple currencies, and other excellent features.

    Hotel Booking Lite also integrates seamlessly with most themes.

    2. Booking Calendar

    

    Booking Calendar is a flexible plugin for any business that operates on a booking basis. It is also fully responsive, so users on mobile, tablet, or desktop devices can book on the go. Booking Calendar also allows you to import .ics feeds from services that use that format, such as Airbnb and TripAdvisor.

    3. WP Simple Booking Calendar

    

    Simple Booking Calendar is the perfect plugin to show the availability of your properties or equipment. With the free version of this plugin, you can responsively feature available space and save time you would otherwise spend on manually communicating with customers.

    4. Sagenda

    Sagenda allows you to book appointments and meetings with your clients online. Sagenda allows an unlimited number of bookings or customers. It also integrates with the popular PayPal payment system to enable customers to pay for bookings.

    Tips for Choosing a Booking and Reservation Plugin

    An online booking is a must if you wish to succeed in business in this digital age. Here are some suggestions for choosing the right plugin:

    • Simplicity: a good plugin should be user-friendly and easy to customize.
    • Budget: you should select a plugin that will not strain your operating costs or eat up profit margins.
    • Support: you need to go with someone who will walk you through any issues that might arise, especially during the initial stages.
    • Features: you might not always get a plugin that meets every need. However, make a checklist of features you can't do without—such as payments, analytics, and reminders.

    Explore More Awesome WordPress Plugins and Resources

    Looking for more premium and free WordPress plugins? Try our free course, which introduces you to the best WordPress plugins out there. Secure your site, make it run faster, optimize it for the search engines, and more.

    • FREE
      
      WordPress
      Essential WordPress Plugins
      Rachel McCollin

    And you can read more about WordPress event and booking calendars here on Envato Tuts+!

    • 
      WordPress
      Guide to WordPress Event Calendar and Booking Plugins
      Franc Lucas
    • 

      In this two-part series, you will learn about the ins and outs of working with tabular data in React using the React Bootstrap Table2 component. You'll be able to create sophisticated and professional-looking tables with little effort and yet be able to customize every aspect. In this part, we'll continue the journey by expanding rows, pagination, cell editing, and advanced customization.

      Overview

      This is part two of a two-part series about React Bootstrap Table2. In part one, we created a simple React application using react-create-app and created the table shown below.

      

      We also populated a table with data, worked with columns, styled the table, and selected rows. 

      In this part, we'll continue the journey by creating expanding rows, allowing cell editing, and doing some advanced customization.

      Expanding Rows

      Expanding rows is one of the coolest features of React Bootstrap Table2. When displaying tabular data, you may want to see additional data on one or two rows, but you might clutter the display if you show all the data for all the rows. 

      One option is to show tooltips, but tooltips require that you hover with the mouse over the target area, and you can only see one tooltip at a time. Expanding the rows lets you display additional data for each row in a kind of drawer that stays expanded as long as you want, and you can collapse it back when you're done. You can expand as many rows as you want at the same time. Here is how it's done with React Bootstrap Table2.

      Let's take a look at our data. 

      const product = [
        {id: 1, name: 'Headphone  Fusion', value: '100'},
        {id: 2, name: 'Headphone Beats', value: '80'},
        {id: 3, name: 'Headphone Modus', value: '70'},
        {id: 4, name: 'Headphone Jam', value: '100'}
      
      ];

      We'll use the prop expandRow to specify how rows will expand on click.

      const expandRow = {
        renderer: (row, rowIndex) => (
          <div>
            <p>{ `This Expand row is belong to rowKey ${row.id}` }</p>
            <p>You can render anything here, also you can add additional data on every row object</p>
            <p>expandRow.renderer callback will pass the origin row object to you</p>
          </div>
        )
      };

      We then add the expandRow property to our table.

       <BootstrapTable
              // striped
              hover
              keyField='id'
               keyField='id'
                data={ product }
                 columns={ columns }
                 // apply the expandRow property here
                expandRow={ expandRow }
      />

      This is how the table will look when you click on a row.

      

      Pagination

      So far, we've displayed just four rows of data. Tables are designed to display a lot of data that doesn't necessarily all fit on the screen simultaneously. That's where pagination comes in. React Bootstrap Table2 supports many pagination options. 

      Let's populate our table with additional data by adding a few entries, as shown below.

      const product = [
        {id: 1, name: 'Headphone  Fusion', value: '100'},
        {id: 2, name: 'Headphone Beats', value: '80'},
        {id: 3, name: 'Headphone Modus', value: '70'},
        {id: 4, name: 'Headphone Jam', value: '100'},
        {id: 5, name: 'Headphone Auto', value: '50'},
        {id: 6, name: 'Headphone Byte', value: '70'},
        {id: 7, name: 'Headphone Duo', value: '150'},
        {id: 8, name: 'Headphone Modular', value: '80'},
        {id: 9, name: 'Headphone Pivot', value: '150'},
        {id: 10, name: 'Headphone Optimizer', value: '70'},
        {id: 11, name: 'Headphone Rave', value: '50'},
        {id: 12, name: 'Headphone Mach', value: '40'}
      ];

      Let's now implement pagination on our table. First, use NPM to install the react-bootstrap-table2-paginator package.

      npm install react-bootstrap-table2-paginator --save

      Next, open App.js and import the paginationFactory function.

      import paginationFactory from 'react-bootstrap-table2-paginator';

       Customize the pagination by declaring the following configurations.

      const options = {
          page: 1,
          sizePerPage: 5,
          nextPageText: '>',
          prePageText: '<',
          showTotal: true
        };

      We then apply the property to the table, as shown below.

      <BootstrapTable
              // striped
              hover
              keyField='id'
               keyField='id'
                data={ person }
                 columns={ columns }
                expandRow={ expandRow }
                //apply the pagination function here
                pagination={ paginationFactory(options) }
      
      
                  />

      The table will be displayed starting from the first page and will show five entries per page.

      

      Cell Editing

      Another form of data manipulation is in-place editing (a.k.a. cell editing). Cell editing can be triggered by a click or double-click. To enable this property, first install the react-bootstrap-table2-editor.

      npm install react-bootstrap-table2-editor --save

      Then import it at the top of App.js.

      //App.js
      import cellEditFactory from 'react-bootstrap-table2-editor';

      This is how you enable cell editing on a table.

      <BootstrapTable
       hover
       keyField='id'
       data={ product }
       columns={ columns }
       expandRow={ expandRow }
       pagination={ paginationFactory(options) }
       cellEdit={ cellEditFactory({ mode: 'click' }) }
      
          />

      You can also specify non-editable rows and hook functions. For example, the code below restricts cell editing on row 3.

      <BootstrapTable
       hover
       keyField='id'
       data={ product }
       columns={ columns }
       expandRow={ expandRow }
       pagination={ paginationFactory(options) }
       cellEdit={ cellEditFactory({
                           mode: 'click',
                           blurToSave: true,
                           nonEditableRows: () => [0, 3] }) }
      
      
       }) }
      
          />

      

      Exporting Your Data

      Sometimes, viewing your data in a web UI is not enough, and you need to take your data and feed it to other tools. Import the exportCSV attribute (and optionally a filename), and an export button is added to the table. When you click the button, it allows you to save your data to a CSV file.

      Install react-bootstrap-table2-toolkit.

      npm install react-bootstrap-table2-toolkit --save

      The export feature is available via the exportCSV prop in the ToolkitProvider wrapper. To display and enable CSV export, wrap the BootstrapTable in a ToolkitProvider.

      import ToolkitProvider, { CSVExport } from 'react-bootstrap-table2-toolkit';
      
      const { ExportCSVButton } = CSVExport;
      
      //  the rest of the code here
      
      <ToolkitProvider
        keyField="id"
        data={ product }
        columns={ columns }
        exportCSV
      >
        {
          props => (
            <div>
              <ExportCSVButton { ...props.csvProps }>Export CSV!!</ExportCSVButton>
              <hr />
              <BootstrapTable { ...props.baseProps } />
            </div>
          )
        }
      </ToolkitProvider

      

      Table Search

      This property works the same way as the Export feature.  First, import the Search property, enable it on  ToolKitProvider, and wrap the SearchBar as a child of ToolkitProvider.

      import ToolkitProvider, { CSVExport} from 'react-bootstrap-table2-toolkit';
      import { Search } from 'react-bootstrap-table2-toolkit';
      
      const { ExportCSVButton } = CSVExport;
      const { SearchBar } = Search;
      
      class App extends Component {
        render() {
          return (
            <div className="App">
              <p className="Table-header">REXO</p>
             <ToolkitProvider
              keyField="id"
              data={ product }
              columns={ columns }
              exportCSV
              search
       >
           {
          props => (
            <div>
              <ExportCSVButton  { ...props.csvProps }>Export CSV!!</ExportCSVButton>
              <h3>Search anything below:</h3>
              <SearchBar { ...props.searchProps } />
              <hr />
      
              <hr />
              <BootstrapTable
      
                      pagination={paginationFactory()}
                      {...props.baseProps}
                    />
            </div>
          )
           }
      </ToolkitProvider>

      

      Summary

      We covered a lot of material in this tutorial, but React Bootstrap Table2 has a lot more in store. Practically every aspect of the table can be customized. Read the full documentation on how to customize a table.

      Here are all the features offered by React Bootstrap Table2:

      • row customization
      • column customization
      • table sort
      • table search
      • row selection
      • column filter
      • cell edit
      • pagination
      • expandable row
      • overlay
      • remote tables

      Conclusion

      React Bootstrap Table2 packs a powerful punch. It provides a pleasant user interface for displaying, searching, and manipulating tabular data out of the box. The API is very consistent—major features can be enabled by specifying a simple attribute and optionally customized with additional attributes that often can be dynamic functions. While the default behavior and the basic configuration should satisfy most users, if you need more advanced features and customization, the official documentation has lots of examples of how to go about it.

      • 
        React
        19 Best JavaScript Admin Templates for React, Angular, and Vue.js
        Franc Lucas
      ]]> 2021-02-26T03:49:01+00:00 //shineyrock.com/blog/read/best-css-animations-and-effects-on-codecanyon https://shineyrock.com/blog/read/best-css-animations-and-effects-on-codecanyon#When:16:29:04Z

      In the past few years, browsers have come a long way when it comes to supporting newer CSS properties that allow developers to create nice effects and animations using just pure CSS.

      There is a lot of browser support for using different transitions and keyframe animations in your projects now. You no longer have to rely on JavaScript libraries to add basic animations. You can animate your web pages with CSS alone!

      

      Animating different elements on a webpage is now easier than ever. However, it can still be very confusing or daunting for absolute beginners. In this post, we will cover some of the best CSS animation libraries on CodeCanyon that you can use to add fancy CSS animation and stunning CSS effects to your webpages today.

      CSS Animations and Effects on CodeCanyon

      If you head over to the CSS Animations and Effects section on CodeCanyon, you will see that there are currently over 140 different libraries related to CSS animations.

      

      New libraries are added periodically to the collection, and you can select one from the best-sellers or apply your own filters to fine-tune the results.

      There are libraries to animate all kinds of elements or apply different kinds of effects to elements like buttons.

      Best CSS Animations Libraries (On CodeCanyon for 2021)

      1. CSS3 Image Hover Effects

      The first one on our list is CSS3 Image Hover Effects. You can use it to add around 17 different kinds of image hover animations.

      

      This includes basic CSS effects like fading and sliding overlays, as well as more advanced animations like splitting overlays and joining overlays. Other interesting effects include corner ribbons and image stacks.

      Visit the description page to find out more about the library. The video on the description page shows all the animations in action.

      2. CSS3 Mega Tooltip Animation Pack

      This CSS3 Mega Tooltip Animation Pack offers a great solution for people who want to integrate nice animations with different tooltips on their website.

      

      This great CSS animations pack comes with ten different tooltip animations. There are eight predefined color options. However, you can change the CSS files to add your own unique colors.

      There is support for all major browsers. You can even support browsers as old as IE8 with a fix included in the download files after purchase.

      The download files also contain detailed documentation and HTML samples that illustrate how to use the animation pack effectively.

      3. tFigure—Image Captions

      The tFigure—Image Captions library offers five different hover animations to display image captions.

      

      You can use them to show nicely animated captions for different images. The overlays for each animation are available in four different colors.

      The animations themselves are pretty simple. However, the way in which the captions are laid out on the overlays makes them very attractive.

      These animations are framework independent, so you can install them on any website you want. They are also easily customizable, so you can make sure that the color scheme of the overlay matches the theme of your website.

      Check out the animation's live preview page to see the awesome image caption animation in action.

      4. Animated Loaders Kit

      There are a lot of times when users might have to wait a while for a process to complete. This might be a very large image that has to load or some other computational process that needs to complete.

      

      If the process takes a few seconds, it is a good practice to let users know that you are working on it. A good way to do that is with simple animated loaders.

      The Animated Loaders Kit is perfect for this situation. It comes with ten CSS-only animated loaders.

      There are many advantages of using these pure CSS-based animated loaders. They are easy to customize. It will take only a couple of minutes to change the color, font, and size of the loaders. You can also change the animation speed. They have a very small file size compared to using GIF files.

      The best way to appreciate how nice they are is to see the live preview on the description page.

      5. Image Hover Effects Collection

      This Image Hover Effects Collection kit was added fairly recently to CodeCanyon and comes with 20 different awesome CSS animation styles.

      

      They follow a responsive design philosophy and support all major browsers. So you can rest assured that any effects you use on your website will look good on all devices and all screen sizes.

      The animations are also fully customizable, and you can easily change the overlay and text colors for all animations to better align them with the overall theme of your own website.

      The code is well documented, so it will be easier to make changes whenever necessary. You should definitely check out the live preview to see how good these hover animations are.

      Free CSS Animation Libraries for 2021

      Generally, you can expect these paid CSS animation libraries to have a lot of variety in the animations compared to free alternatives. They also come with free support for six months and lifetime updates.

      Many times, these premium libraries also support old browsers. However, this might not be the case with free animation libraries.

      It might be easier for anyone who is just starting out to simply use these paid libraries. However, if you don't have the budget to purchase these paid plugins, we have also listed some free alternatives below.

      Here are four free CSS animation libraries that you can use in your projects:

      SlipHover

      This free image hover animation library only comes with basic sliding animations. The unique feature of this library is that the hover animations are aware of the cursor direction. So the overlay will appear to move in from the left side if the user hovers over the image from the left side.

      animate.css

      This animation library is not aimed at a specific use case like image hover animations or tooltips. It is simply a general-purpose library that you can use to animate different elements on a webpage. There are a bunch of classes that you can add to different elements to control the speed and delay of the animation.

      imagehover.css

      This library gives you the option to add simple image hover animations from different directions. It comes with 40 different hover animations.

      

      loaders.css

      This library consists of pure CSS-based loading animations. You can use them in your project if you are looking for some nice preloader animations.

      

      Additional Resources

      It can be hard to figure out where to start for an absolute beginner. We are listing some tutorials here which will make it easier for you to understand how CSS animations work and how you can start using them in your own projects.

      You could start by reading this beginner-level introduction to CSS animation. After that, you should consider learning how to use CSS variables for animation.

      • 
        CSS Animation
        A Beginner’s Introduction to CSS Animation
        Catalin Miron
      • 
        Animation
        How to Use CSS Variables for Animation
        Dennis Gaebel

      Using different pre-built CSS animation libraries is not hard at all. However, having a basic understanding of the concepts will go a long way when it comes to making changes to these animations or trying to create something of your own in future.

      You should also consider reading a couple of tutorials that teach you how to create your own CSS-based animations from scratch. The first tutorial is for basic hover effects, while the second one is a quick tip for page loading animations. And here are some other great options:

      • 
        Animation
        How to Use CSS Variables for Animation
        Dennis Gaebel
      • 
        CSS Animation
        A Beginner’s Introduction to CSS Animation
        Catalin Miron
      • 
        CSS
        How to Create 7 Different CSS Hover Effects From Scratch
        George Martsoukos
      • 
        CSS Animation
        Enhance the Way a Web Page Loads With CSS Animations
        George Martsoukos
      • 
        Animation
        10 Examples of Animation on CodePen You Can Learn From
        Donovan Hutchinson

      Final Thoughts

      Using a bit of animation for different elements on your website can make the content more interesting and engaging.

      Coming up with our own unique animations from scratch can take some time. So we listed some of the best free and premium CSS-based animation libraries that will help you get started in no time.

      New animations and effects are added all the time to CodeCanyon—you can choose one of the best-sellers or try something fresh and new!

      This post has been updated with contributions from Franc Lucas. Franc is a writer for Envato Tuts+ who enjoys exploring the world of SaaS.

      ]]> 2021-02-25T16:29:04+00:00 //shineyrock.com/blog/read/30-css-best-practices-for-beginners https://shineyrock.com/blog/read/30-css-best-practices-for-beginners#When:05:50:18Z

      CSS is a language that is used by nearly every developer at some point. While it's a language that we sometimes take for granted, it is powerful and has many nuances that can help (or hurt) our designs. Here are 30 of the best CSS practices that will keep you writing solid CSS and avoiding some costly mistakes.

      1. Make It Readable

      The readability of your CSS is incredibly important, though most people overlook why it's important. Great readability of your CSS makes it much easier to maintain in the future, as you'll be able to find elements quicker. Also, you'll never know who might need to look at your code later on.

      2. Keep It Consistent

      Along the lines of keeping your code readable is making sure that the CSS is consistent. You should start to develop your own "sub-language" of CSS that allows you to quickly name things. There are certain classes that I create in nearly every theme, and I use the same name each time. For example, I use .caption-right to float images which contain a caption to the right.

      Think about things like whether or not you'll use underscores or dashes in your IDs and class names, and in what cases you'll use them. When you start creating your own standards for CSS, you'll become much more proficient.

      3. Start With a Framework

      Some design purists scoff at the thought of using a CSS framework with each design, but I believe that if someone else has taken the time to maintain a tool that speeds up production, why reinvent the wheel? I know frameworks shouldn't be used in every instance, but most of the time they can help.

      Many designers have their own framework that they have created over time, and that's a great idea too. It helps keep consistency within the projects.

      At the same time, I would also like to say that you should use frameworks only if you already know a good deal of CSS. There will almost certainly come a time when you will have to create a certain aspect of some layout all by yourself, and your deep understanding of CSS will help you get things done.

      • 
        CSS
        Introduction to Tailwind CSS: A Utility-First CSS Framework
        Adi Purdila

      4. Use a Reset

      Most CSS frameworks have a reset built in, but if you're not going to use one, then at least consider using a reset. Resets essentially eliminate browser inconsistencies such as heights, font sizes, margins, and headings. The reset allows your layout to look consistent in all browsers.

      The MeyerWeb is a classic reset. Normalize.css is another very popular reset.

      5. Organize the Stylesheet With a Top-Down Structure

      It always makes sense to lay your stylesheet out in a way that allows you to quickly find parts of your code. I recommend a top-down format that tackles styles as they appear in the source code. So an example stylesheet might be ordered like this:

      1. Generic classes (body, a, p, h1, etc.)
      2. #header
      3. #nav-menu
      4. #main-content

      It also helps if you keep track of different sections of the website in the stylesheet with comments.

      /****** main content *********/
      
      styles go here...
      
      /****** footer *********/
      
      styles go here...

      6. Combine Elements

      Elements in a stylesheet sometimes share properties. Instead of rewriting previous code, why not just combine them? For example, your h1, h2, and h3 elements might all share the same font and color:

      	h1, h2, h3 {font-family: tahoma, color: #333}

      We could add unique characteristics to each of these header styles if we wanted (i.e. h1 {size: 2.1em}) later in the stylesheet.

      7. Create Your HTML First

      Many designers create their CSS at the same time they create the HTML. It seems logical to create both at the same time, but actually you'll save even more time if you create the entire HTML mockup first. The reasoning behind this method is that you know all the elements of your site layout, but you don't know what CSS you'll need with your design. Creating the HTML layout first allows you to visualize the entire page as a whole, and allows you to think of your CSS in a more holistic, top-down manner.

      8. Use Multiple Classes

      Sometimes it's beneficial to add multiple classes to an element. Let's say that you have a div "box" that you want to float right, and you've already got a class .right in your CSS that floats everything to the right. You can simply add an extra class in the declaration, like so:

      	<div class="box right"></div>

      You can add as many classes as you'd like (space separated) to any declaration.

      This is one of those situations where you have to take individual cases into account. While it is helpful to create class names that provide some hint of how they affect the layout, you should also avoid using class names that require you to constantly switch between HTML and CSS.

      Be very careful when using ids and class-names like "left" and "right." I will use them, but only for things such as examples in blog posts. How come? Let's imagine that, down the road, you decide that you'd rather see the box floated to the left. In this case, you'd have to return to your HTML and change the class name—all in order to adjust the presentation of the page. This is unsemantic. Remember: HTML is for markup and content. CSS is for presentation.

      If you must return to your HTML to change the presentation (or styling) of the page, you're doing it wrong!

      9. Use the Right Doctype

      The doctype declaration greatly affects whether or not your markup and CSS will validate. In fact, the entire look and feel of your site can change greatly depending on the doctype that you declare.

      Learn more about which doctype to use at A List Apart. You can simply start using <!DOCTYPE html> when creating pages based on HTML5.

      10. Use Shorthand

      You can shrink your code considerably by using shorthand when crafting your CSS. For elements like padding, margin, font, and some others, you can combine styles in one line. For example, a div might have these styles:

      	#crayon {
      		margin-left:	5px;
      		margin-right:	7px;
      		margin-top:	8px;
      	}

      You could combine those styles in one line, like so:

      	#crayon	{
      		margin: 8px 7px 0px 5px; // top, right, bottom, and left values, respectively.
      	}

      If you need more help, here's a comprehensive guide on CSS shorthand properties.

      11. Comment Your CSS

      Just like any other language, it's a great idea to comment your code in sections. To add a comment, simply add /* behind the comment, and */ to close it, like so:

      	/* Here's how you comment CSS */

      12. Understand the Difference Between Block and Inline Elements

      Block elements are elements that naturally clear each line after they're declared, spanning the whole width of the available space. Inline elements take only as much space as they need, and don't force a new line after they're used.

      Here are the lists of elements that are typically inline:

      span, a, strong, em, img, br, input, abbr, acronym

      And the block elements:

      div, h1...h6, p, ul, li, table, blockquote, pre, form

      13. Alphabetize Your Properties

      While this is more of a frivolous tip, it can come in handy for quick scanning.

      	#cotton-candy {
      		color: #fff;
      		float: left;
      		font-weight:
      		height: 200px;
      		margin: 0;
      		padding: 0;
      		width: 150px;
      	}

      This is a bit controversial because you have to sacrifice speed for slightly improved readability. However, you should not hesitate in trying it out if you think it will help you.

      14. Use CSS Compressors

      CSS compressors help shrink CSS file size by removing line breaks, white spaces, and combining elements. This combination can greatly reduce the file size, which speeds up browser loading. CSS Minifier and HTML Compressor are two excellent online tools that can shrink CSS.

      It should be noted that shrinking your CSS can provide gains in performance, but you lose some of the readability of your CSS.

      15. Make Use of Generic Classes

      You'll find that there are certain styles that you're applying over and over. Instead of adding that particular style to each ID, you can create generic classes and add them to the IDs or other CSS classes (using tip #8).

      For example, I find myself using float:right and float:left over and over in my designs. So I simply add the classes .left and .right to my stylesheet, and reference it in the elements.

      	.left {float:left}
      	.right {float:right}
      
      	<div id="coolbox" class="left">...</div>

      This way, you don't have to constantly add float:left to all the elements that need to be floated.

      16. Use margin: 0 auto to Center Layouts

      Many beginners to CSS can't figure out why you can't simply use float: center to achieve that centered effect on block-level elements. If only it were that easy! Unfortunately, you'll need to use this method to center a div, paragraphs, or other elements in your layout:

      	margin: 0 auto; // top, bottom - and left, right values, respectively.

      By declaring that both the left and the right margins of an element must be identical, the browsers have no choice but to center the element within its containing element.

      17. Don't Just Wrap a div Around It

      When starting out, there's a temptation to wrap a div with an ID or class around an element and create a style for it.

      	<div class="header-text"><h1>Header Text</h1></div>

      Sometimes it might seem easier to just create unique element styles like the above example, but you'll start to clutter your stylesheet. This would have worked just fine:

      	<h1>Header Text</h1>

      Then you can easily add a style to the h1 instead of a parent div.

      18. Use Browser Developer Tools

      Modern web browsers come bundled with some vital tools that are must-haves for any web developer. These developer tools are now part of all the major browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. Among the many features that come bundled with the Chrome and Firefox developer tools (like debugging JavaScript, inspecting HTML, and viewing errors), you can also visually inspect, modify, and edit CSS in real time.

      19. Hack Less

      Avoid using browser-specific hacks if at all possible. There is a tremendous pressure to make sure that designs look consistent across all browsers, but using hacks only makes your designs harder to maintain in the future. Plus, using a reset file (see #4) can eliminate nearly all of the rendering irregularities between browsers.

      20. Use Absolute Positioning Sparingly

      Absolute positioning is a handy aspect of CSS that allows you to define where exactly an element should be positioned on a page to the exact pixel. However, because of absolute positioning's disregard for other elements on the page, the layouts can get quite hairy if there are multiple absolutely positioned elements running around the layout.

      21. Use Text-transform

      text-transform is a highly useful CSS property that allows you to "standardize" how text is formatted on your site. For example, say you want to create some headers that only have lowercase letters. Just add the text-transform property to the header style like so:

      text-transform: lowercase;

      Now all of the letters in the header will be lowercase by default. text-transform allows you to modify your text (first letter capitalized, all letters capitalized, or all lowercase) with a simple property.

      22. Don't Use Negative Margins to Hide Your h1

      Often, people will use an image for their header text and then either use display:none or a negative margin to float the h1 off the page. Matt Cutts, then head of Google's Webspam team, has officially said that this is a bad idea, as Google might think it's spam.

      As Cutts explicitly says, avoid hiding your logo's text with CSS. Just use the alt tag. While many claim that you can still use CSS to hide a h1 tag as long as the h1 is the same as the logo text, I prefer to err on the safe side.

      23. Validate Your CSS and XHTML

      Validating your CSS and XHTML does more than give a sense of pride: it helps you quickly spot errors in your code. If you're working on a design and for some reason things just aren't looking right, try running the markup and CSS validator and see what errors pop up. Usually you'll find that you forgot to close a div somewhere or missed a semi-colon in a CSS property.

      24. Rems and Ems vs. Pixels

      There's always been a strong debate as to whether it's better to use pixels (px) or ems and rems when defining font sizes. Pixels are a more static way to define font sizes, and ems are more scalable with different browser sizes and mobile devices. With the advent of many different types of web browsing (laptop, mobile, etc.), ems and rems are increasingly becoming the default for font size measurements as they allow the greatest form of flexibility.

      25. Don't Underestimate the List

      Lists are a great way to present data in a structured format whos style is easy to modify. Thanks to the display property, you don't have to just use the list as a text attribute. Lists are also great for creating navigation menus and things of the sort.

      Many beginners use divs to make each element in the list because they don't understand how to properly use lists. It's well worth the effort to use brush up on learning list elements to structure data in the future.

      26. Avoid Extra Selectors

      It's easy to unknowingly add extra selectors to our CSS that clutters the stylesheet. One common example of adding extra selectors is with lists.

      body #container .someclass ul li {....}

      In this instance, just the .someclass li would have worked just fine.

      .someclass li {...}

      Adding extra selectors won't bring Armageddon or anything of the sort, but they do keep your CSS from being as simple and clean as possible.

      27. Add Margins and Padding to All Elements

      Modern browsers are fairly uniform in the way they render elements, but legacy browsers tend to render elements differently. For example, Internet Explorer renders certain elements differently than Firefox or Chrome, and different versions of Internet Explorer render differently from one another.

      One of the main differences between versions of older browsers is how padding and margins are rendered. If you're not already using a reset, you might want to define the margin and padding for all elements on the page, to be on the safe side. You can do this quickly with a global reset, like so:

      	* {margin:0;padding:0;}

      Now all elements have a padding and margin of 0, unless defined by another style in the stylesheet.

      28. Use Multiple Stylesheets

      Depending on the complexity of the design and the size of the site, it's sometimes easier to make smaller, multiple stylesheets instead of one giant stylesheet. Aside from being easier for the designer to manage, multiple stylesheets allow you to leave out CSS on certain pages that don't need them.

      For example, I might having a polling program that would have a unique set of styles. Instead of including the poll styles to the main stylesheet, I could just create a poll.css and the stylesheet only to the pages that show the poll.

      However, be sure to consider the number of HTTP requests that are being made. Many designers prefer to develop with multiple stylesheets, and then combine them into one file. This reduces the number of HTTP requests to one. Also, the entire file will be cached on the user's computer.

      29. Check for Closed Elements First When Debugging

      If you're noticing that your design looks a tad wonky, there's a good chance it's because you've left off a closing </div>. You can use the XHTML validator to help sniff out all sorts of errors like this.

      30. Try to Use Flexbox and Grid Layout Instead of Floats

      In the past, it was very common and necessary to use floats to create any kind of layout. Unfortunately, floats come with a lot of problems. You can instead start using the much more powerful layout modules called flexbox and grid layout. Flexbox will help you create one-dimensional layouts, and grid will help you with two-dimensional layouts.

      • 
        CSS Grid Layout
        Flexbox vs. CSS Grid: Which Should You Use and When?
        Anna Monus
      • 
        Flexbox
        How to Build a Full-Screen Responsive Page With Flexbox
        George Martsoukos
      • 
        CSS Grid Layout
        New Course: A Quick Introduction to CSS Grid Layout
        Andrew Blackman
      • 
        CSS Grid Layout
        CSS Grid Layout: A Quick Start Guide
        Ian Yates

      31. Use !important Sparingly

      The keyword !important is used to bypass any styling rules specified elsewhere for an element. This allows you to use less specific selectors to change the appearance of an element. As a beginner, this might seem like an easy way to style elements without worrying about what selectors you should be using. However, you should avoid that because using !important with a lot of elements will ultimately result in !important losing its meaning, as every CSS rule will now bypass the selector specificity.

      One possible use for !important is to specify the style of third-party elements added to a webpage where you cannot alter the original stylesheet, its loading order, etc.

      You Might Also Enjoy...

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      This post has been updated with contributions from Monty Shokeen. Monty is a full-stack developer who also loves to write tutorials and to learn about new JavaScript libraries.

      ]]> 2021-02-25T05:50:18+00:00 //shineyrock.com/blog/read/how-to-create-a-custom-wordpress-plugin-from-scratch https://shineyrock.com/blog/read/how-to-create-a-custom-wordpress-plugin-from-scratch#When:16:51:48Z

      Every WordPress site needs a theme to pull content from the database and display that in a design. And theoretically you could run a site with just a theme and nothing else. But that site would be very limited without the addition of plugins.

      Plugins add extra functionality to your WordPress site over and above what comes with WordPress core. Everything from a booking calendar or animated slider to a full-featured learning management system or online marketplace—you can add them all to your site with plugins. 

      In this guide, I’ll show you how to create your own WordPress plugin. I’ll show you how to use best practice in plugin development, how to get the code in your plugin to run, and how to structure your plugin’s code and files. I’ll also walk you through the process of creating your first plugin and answer some FAQs.

      Free and Paid WordPress Plugins

      If you want to add some specific features to your website, there are plenty of places you can buy or download plugins. The WordPress plugin directory includes thousands of free plugins that’ll help you create the site you need. But if you’re looking for more advanced features, a better user interface, or improved support, it’s worth buying premium plugins from authors on CodeCanyon.

      

      But sometimes you might need to code your own plugin! This can be more efficient than using a third-party plugin, as you might only need a part of the code provided by those. It also means you can develop a plugin that meets your needs more precisely, or you can customise an existing plugin to adapt it for your site.

      What Do You Need to Make a Plugin?

      To build your own plugin and run it on your WordPress site, you’ll need:

      • a code editor
      • a development WordPress installation with a copy of your live site for testing

      Don't test your plugin on your live site until you know it works!

      If you don’t already have a local WordPress installation, follow our guide to copying your site to a local install. Or if you can’t install WordPress locally, use a duplicate of your site on a testing installation on your server. Find out how to copy your site.

      • 
        WordPress
        How to Set Up a Killer WordPress Testing Environment Locally
        Harley Alexander
      • 
        WordPress
        How to Migrate a WordPress Site
        Rachel McCollin

      Types of WordPress Plugin

      Plugins can carry out lots of tasks. What they all have in common is that they add extra functionality to your site. Types of WordPress plugin include:

      • site maintenance plugins for things like security, performance, or backups
      • marketing and sales plugins for things like SEO, social media, or eCommerce
      • content plugins such as custom post types, widgets, shortcodes, forms, galleries, and video feeds
      • API plugins that work with the WordPress REST API or pull in external content from services like Google Maps
      • community plugins that add social networking features

      … and lots more! For an idea of what plugins can do, check out the WordPress plugin directory and the CodeCanyon marketplace.

      

      What Goes Into a Plugin? 

      Before you get started building your plugin, it’s worth knowing what goes into a plugin. Exactly what the plugin code will look like will depend on your plugin: some are small, with just one plugin file, while others are massive, with multiple include files, scripts, stylesheets, and template files. And there are plenty that fall somewhere in the middle.

      The elements you’ll probably have in your plugin are:

      • the main plugin file (this is essential)
      • folders for different file types
      • scripts
      • stylesheets
      • include files to organise the code

      Let’s have a look at each of these.

      The Main Plugin File

      The main plugin file is essential. It will always be a PHP file, and it will always contain commented-out text that tells WordPress about your plugin.

      Here’s an example, from the Akismet plugin:

      <?php
      
      /**
      
       * @package Akismet
      
       */
      
      /*
      
      Plugin Name: Akismet Anti-Spam
      
      Plugin URI: https://akismet.com/
      
      Description: Used by millions, Akismet is quite possibly the best way in the world to <strong>protect your blog from spam</strong>. It keeps your site protected even while you sleep. To get started: activate the Akismet plugin and then go to your Akismet Settings page to set up your API key.
      
      Version: 4.1.7
      
      Author: Automattic
      
      Author URI: https://automattic.com/wordpress-plugins/
      
      License: GPLv2 or later
      
      Text Domain: akismet
      
      */

      This tells WordPress what your plugin does, where to find out more about it, and who developed it. It also gives information about the version number and the text domain and path for internationalisation, as well as the license.

      WordPress takes this information and uses it to populate the plugins screen in your site. Here’s how Akismet looks on that screen:

      

      You can see that the information provided in the plugin file is used to populate this entry and provide links.

      Other information about the plugin is contained in the README.txt file, which is used to populate the plugin's page in the plugin directory:

      

      The main plugin file will also contain the code that makes the plugin run. Sometimes that will be all the PHP for the plugin, but for larger plugins, there’ll be calls to include files containing extra code. This helps you organise your code and means you don’t have one long, disorganised file that’s difficult to work with. I’ll show you how to use include files later in this guide.

      Folder Structure

      While there are no hard and fast rules on how you organise the folders in your plugin, it makes sense to adopt the same structure that other plugin developers use. This will familiarise you with the way other plugins are built and mean that if you share your code in future, it will make sense to other people.

      Folders in your plugin might include:

      • css or styles for stylesheets
      • scripts for JavaScript
      • includes for include files
      • templates for template files that your plugin outputs
      • assets for media and other asset files
      • i18n for internationalisation files

      You might find you need to use more folders if your plugin is large or complex. For example, WooCommerce has folders for packages, sample data, and more. These in turn include subfolders for things like blocks and admin files.

      

      Scripts and Stylesheets

      If your plugin outputs content that needs styling, either in the front-end or in the admin screens, you may need stylesheets. And if your plugin will use scripts, you’ll need files for these.

      It makes sense to keep these in their own folder, even if you only have one of each. You’ll need to enqueue these scripts and stylesheets using a dedicated function in your main plugin file. I’ll show you how to do this when we’re building the plugin.

      Include Files

      If your plugin needs organisation, you can do this by splitting your code into multiple files, called include files. You then put these files into their own folder and call them in your main plugin file using an include or require function.

      This way, you can keep the bulk of your code in a well-organised file structure while your main plugin file remains lean and minimal.

      If your plugin isn’t all that big, you don’t need to use include files: just add your code to the main plugin file. But you might find you need to organise this file and reorder functions within it as you add them, to maintain a logical structure.

      These are the most common elements of a plugin. We’ve seen in the WooCommerce example that there can be many more. Or in smaller plugins there can be many fewer. But as you develop more plugins, you’ll find yourself using these elements more and more.

      How to Run Your Plugin Code: Options

      When you add code to your plugin, it won’t do anything until you activate it in some way. There are a few methods you can use to activate your code or pull in code from WordPress:

      • functions
      • action and filter hooks
      • classes

      Let’s take a look at each of these.

      Functions

      Functions are the building blocks of WordPress code. They’re the easiest way to get started writing your own plugins and the quickest to code. You’ll find plenty of them in your themes' files too.

      Each function will have its own name, followed by braces and the code inside those braces.

      The code inside your plugin won’t run unless you call the function somehow. The simplest (but least flexible) way to do that is by directly calling the code in your theme or somewhere else in your plugin.

      Here’s an example function:

      tutsplus_myfunction {
      
      // code goes here
      
      }

      To directly call that function in your theme, you’d simply type tutsplus_myfunction() in the place in your theme template files where you want it to run. Or you might add it somewhere in your plugin... but you’d also need to activate the code that calls it!

      There are a few limitations to this:

      • If the function does something that isn’t just adding content somewhere in a theme template file, you can’t activate it this way.
      • If you want to call the function in multiple places, you’ll have to call it again and again.
      • It can be hard to keep track of all the places you’ve manually called a function.

      It’s much better practice to call functions by attaching them to a hook.

      Action and Filter Hooks

      By attaching your function to a hook, you run its code whenever that hook is fired. There are two types of hook: action hooks and filter hooks.

      Action hooks are empty. When WordPress comes to them, it does nothing unless a function has been hooked to that hook.

      Filter hooks contain code that will run unless there is a function hooked to that hook. If there is a function, it’ll run the code in that function instead. This means you can add default code to your plugin but override it in another plugin, or you can write a function that overrides the default code that’s attached to a filter hook in WordPress itself.

      Hooks are fired in three ways:

      • By WordPress itself. The WordPress core code includes hundreds of hooks that fire at different times. Which one you hook your function to will depend on what your function does and when you want its code to run. You can find a list of WordPress hooks in the developer handbook.
      • By your theme. Many themes include action and filter hooks that you can use to add extra content in key places in your website’s design. And all themes will include a wp_head and wp_footer hook. Combine these with conditional tags, and you can run specific code on certain types of pages in your site.
      • By your plugin or other plugins. You might add an action hook to your plugin and then add functions in your include files that attach code to that hook. Or you might write a filter hook and then have a function that overrides its contents under certain circumstances. Alternatively, if you’re creating a plugin to complement another plugin, you can hook your functions to the existing hook in the third-party plugin. I’ve done this with WooCommerce, for example, to customise what’s output on product pages.

      Some of this is more advanced, but with your first plugin, you’ll probably be hooking your functions to an action or filter hook output by WordPress itself, most likely an action hook.

      Classes

      Classes are a way of coding more complex features, such as widgets and customizer elements, that make use of the existing WordPress APIs. 

      When you write a class in your plugin, you’ll probably be extending an existing class that’s coded into WordPress. This way, you can make use of the code provided by the class and tweak it to make it your own. An example would be the customizer, where you might write a class including a color picker, making use of the color picker UI that’s provided in the existing class for the customizer.

      Using classes is more advanced than functions, and it’s unlikely you’ll do it in your first plugin. To find out more, see our guide to classes in WordPress.

      If you do write classes, you’ll still have to use actions or filters to get them to run.

      Plugin Best Practices

      Before you start coding your plugin, it helps to understand best practices for plugins so your code can be high quality right from the start. 

      These include:

      • Write your code according to WordPress coding standards. If you want to submit your plugin to the plugin directory, you’ll have to do this.
      • Use comments throughout your code so other people can work with it—and so you remember how your code works when you come back to it in the future.
      • Name your functions, hooks, and classes using prefixes so they are unique to your plugin. You don’t want to give a function the same name as another function in a different plugin or in WordPress core.
      • Organise your folders logically, and keep your code separated so other people can understand it and so you can add to it over time without it becoming a mess.

      You might think that using best practice isn’t necessary because it’s just you working with the plugin. But your plugin might grow over time, you might let other people use it, or you might sell it. Or you might come back to it in two years and not be able to remember how the code is organised!

      Creating Your First Plugin in 4 Steps

      At last! You have a grounding in how plugins work, and it’s time to roll your sleeves up and create your first plugin. I’m going to take you through the process of creating a simple plugin that registers a custom post type.

      This is a very common use of a plugin, and something you might then build on over time to add custom template files for your custom post type or other functionality.

      I’ll show you the basic code for the plugin and give you an introduction to how you might add to it over time.

      1. Create the Plugin Folder and File

      Even if your plugin is starting out small with just one file, it’s good practice to give it its own folder. Start by creating a folder in your wp-content/plugins directory. Inside that, create a PHP file for your plugin.

      Give them both a name that makes sense and includes a prefix. I’m calling my folder tutsplus-register-post-types and my file tutsplus-register-post-types.php.

      Now open your plugin file and add the commented-out information at the top. You can take mine below and edit it to reflect the fact that this is your plugin, not mine.

      <?php
      
      /*
      
      Plugin Name: Tuts+ Register Post Types
      
      Plugin URI: https://tutsplus.com/
      
      Description: Plugin to accompany tutsplus guide to creating plugins, registers a post type.
      
      Version: 1.0
      
      Author: Rachel McCollin
      
      Author URI: https://rachelmccollin.com/
      
      License: GPLv2 or later
      
      Text Domain: tutsplus
      
      */

      Now, if you save your file and go to the Plugins screen in your development site, you’ll see the plugin on the screen:

      

      You can activate it if you want, but it won’t do anything yet because you haven’t added any code to it. Let’s do that.

      2. Add Functions

      Now it’s time to write the first function in our plugin. Start by making your plugin and adding the braces which will contain the code. Here’s mine:

      function tutsplus_register_post_type() {
      
          // movies
      
          $labels = array(
      
              'name' => __( 'Movies' , 'tutsplus' ),
      
              'singular_name' => __( 'Movie' , 'tutsplus' ),
      
              'add_new' => __( 'New Movie' , 'tutsplus' ),
      
              'add_new_item' => __( 'Add New Movie' , 'tutsplus' ),
      
              'edit_item' => __( 'Edit Movie' , 'tutsplus' ),
      
              'new_item' => __( 'New Movie' , 'tutsplus' ),
      
              'view_item' => __( 'View Movie' , 'tutsplus' ),
      
              'search_items' => __( 'Search Movies' , 'tutsplus' ),
      
              'not_found' =>  __( 'No Movies Found' , 'tutsplus' ),
      
              'not_found_in_trash' => __( 'No Movies found in Trash' , 'tutsplus' ),
      
          );
      
          $args = array(
      
              'labels' => $labels,
      
              'has_archive' => true,
      
              'public' => true,
      
              'hierarchical' => false,
      
              'supports' => array(
      
                  'title',
      
                  'editor',
      
                  'excerpt',
      
                  'custom-fields',
      
                  'thumbnail',
      
                  'page-attributes'
      
              ),
      
              'rewrite'   => array( 'slug' => 'movies' ),
      
              'show_in_rest' => true
      
          );
      
      }

      This includes all the labels and arguments for your post type and (crucially) the register_post_type() function which is provided by WordPress.

      I’ve used movies as my post type here as I’m creating an imaginary movie review site. You might want to use something different.

      Now, if you save your file and go back to your site, you’ll see that nothing has changed. That’s because you haven’t activated your code. The method we use to activate the function here is by hooking it to an action hook provided by WordPress, the init hook. When you use a function provided by WordPress (such as register_post_type), you’ll find that there’s a hook that you should use. You can find details in the WordPress handbook entry for registering custom post types.

      So let’s add the hook. Under your code, and outside the braces, add this line:

      add_action( 'init', 'tutsplus_register_post_type' );

      We use the add_action() function to hook our code to an action hook, with two parameters: the name of the action hook and the name of our function.

      Now try saving your files and going back to your site. You’ll see that the custom post type has been added to your admin menu (assuming you’ve activated the plugin).

      

      Nice!

      Now let’s add an extra function, to register a custom taxonomy. Below the code you’ve written so far, add this:

      function tutsplus_register_taxonomy() {
      
          // books
          $labels = array(
              'name' => __( 'Genres' , 'tutsplus' ),
              'singular_name' => __( 'Genre', 'tutsplus' ),
              'search_items' => __( 'Search Genres' , 'tutsplus' ),
              'all_items' => __( 'All Genres' , 'tutsplus' ),
              'edit_item' => __( 'Edit Genre' , 'tutsplus' ),
              'update_item' => __( 'Update Genres' , 'tutsplus' ),
              'add_new_item' => __( 'Add New Genre' , 'tutsplus' ),
              'new_item_name' => __( 'New Genre Name' , 'tutsplus' ),
              'menu_name' => __( 'Genres' , 'tutsplus' ),
          );
      
          $args = array(
              'labels' => $labels,
              'hierarchical' => true,
              'sort' => true,
              'args' => array( 'orderby' => 'term_order' ),
              'rewrite' => array( 'slug' => 'genres' ),
              'show_admin_column' => true,
              'show_in_rest' => true
      
          );
      
          register_taxonomy( 'tutsplus_genre', array( 'tutsplus_movie' ), $args);
      
      }
      add_action( 'init', 'tutsplus_register_taxonomy' );

      Again, you might want to change the name of your custom taxonomy. Here, I’ve made the taxonomy apply to the post type I’ve just registered (the third parameter of the register_taxonomy function). If you gave your post type a different name, make sure to edit that bit.

      Now save your file and take a look at your admin screens. When you hover over your post type in the admin menu, you’ll see the new taxonomy.

      

      You now have a working plugin. Well done!

      Let’s take a look at how you might add to it.

      3. Enqueue Stylesheets and Scripts

      If you need to use custom styling or scripts in your plugin, you could add them right into your plugin file—but that’s not best practice. Instead, you should create stylesheets and scripts as separate files in your plugin folder and enqueue those, using a function provided by WordPress.

      Let’s imagine you want to add styling for your custom post type. You could add this to your theme, but you might want to add some specific styling to the plugin to make the post type stand out from other post types in any theme.

      To do this, you create a new folder inside your plugin folder called css (or styles, it’s up to you). Inside that folder, create a stylesheet called style.css, or you can give it a more specific name for clarity. I’m going to call mine movies.css.

      You then need to enqueue that file in your plugin so that it can be used by WordPress. Add this to your main plugin file, above the functions you already have. I like to add enqueuing and includes first in my plugin file so I can see what other files are being activated.

      function tutsplus_movie_styles() {
          wp_enqueue_style( 'movies',  plugin_dir_url( __FILE__ ) . ‘/css/movies.css’ );
      }
      add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', ‘tutsplus_movie_styles' );

      If you save your file, you won’t see any difference in your admin screens—but if you’ve added posts of the custom post type and your stylesheet includes styling for them, you’ll now see that in the front-end of your site.

      Note that the hook used for enqueuing both stylesheets and scripts is the same: they both use wp_enqueue_scripts. There isn’t a separate hook for styles.

      Enqueuing scripts works in a very similar way. Follow these steps:

      • Add a scripts or js folder to your plugin folder.
      • Save your script files in that folder.
      • Enqueue the script in the same way as the stylesheet above, replacing the wp_enqueue_style() function with wp_enqueue_script().

      4. Using Include Files

      Another option as you develop your plugin is to create extra PHP files, known as include files. If you have a lot of these, you might create multiple folders for different types of include file, or you might just create one folder called includes.

      There are a few functions you can use to include files, which you’ll find in our comprehensive guide to including and requiring files.

      • 
        Creative Coding
        How to Include and Require Files and Templates in WordPress
        Tom McFarlin

      For example, in our custom post type plugin, we might create some code to vary the way the content of the page is output, using the the_content filter hook to amend the code being run each time the content is output on a product page.

      Instead of adding this code to the main plugin file, you could add it to a separate file called movie-content.php and then write the code in that file for the way the content is output for movies.

      To include this file in your plugin, you add a folder called includes to your plugin, and then inside that folder you add the content-movie.php file.

      To include that file in your plugin, you add this code at the beginning for the main plugin file:

      include( plugin_dir_path( __FILE__ ) . ‘includes/movie-content.php' );

      You don’t need to hook this to an action or filter hook—just use the include_once() function in your plugin file. That will then call the code from the include file as if it was in your main plugin file at that point.

      How to Extend or Edit an Existing Plugin

      Sometimes you might find a plugin in the plugin directory or from a plugin vendor that does most of what you need a plugin to do, but not quite all. Or you might be running a plugin and want to make some tweaks and customisations.

      The fact that WordPress is open source makes this possible. You can take another plugin’s code and extend or edit it to make it work the way you want it to.

      There are two ways to do this:

      • Take an existing plugin and fork it—i.e. edit it so it works differently, is more reliable, or has extra features.
      • Write your own plugin that extends the original plugin.

      Taking an existing plugin and editing it is fairly straightforward: you make your own copy on a development site (never live!) and make edits to it as needed. Make sure you use version control to track your changes in case something goes wrong.

      Extending a plugin by writing your own plugin is slightly more complicated, and won’t work with every plugin, but is a more robust way of doing things in my opinion.

      Many of the most popular plugins will make extensive use of hooks and classes in their code. You can hook into action and filter hooks and extend classes to write your own code, which uses the existing plugin’s code as a base but then adds to or edits it.

      For example, WooCommerce has so many functions, hooks, and classes that it has its own API and developer documentation. Each part of the WooCommerce system is powered by one or more of these functions, hooks, or classes. To make changes, you need to identify which code is driving the part of the system you want to change, and then write your own plugin which either attaches to the same hook(s) or extends the classes.

      You’ll find you can create significant customisations to a plugin like WooCommerce in this way: I once used it to power a listings site that didn’t even include a checkout. I used hooks to remove all the elements I didn’t want and add new ones.

      For some examples of how you can hook into WooCommerce and extend or edit it with your own plugin, see our guide to adding product descriptions to archive pages and to adding a product-based blog to your store. These examples just scratch the surface of what you can achieve, but they'll give you an idea of how to start.

      • 
        WordPress
        WooCommerce: Adding the Product Short Description to Archive Pages
        Rachel McCollin
      • 
        WordPress
        Create a Blog for Each Category or Department in Your WooCommerce Store
        Rachel McCollin

      Taking It Further: Plugin Features

      In this guide, I’ve shown you how plugins are coded and how to get started building a simple plugin.

      Once you’ve got the hang of plugin development, you can build more complex and full-featured plugins to carry out more complex tasks on your site.

      Let’s take a look at some examples.

      Widget Plugins

      Widget plugins involve working with classes but are a good introduction to the topic. Our guide to creating a widget plugin will help you do it.

      • 
        WordPress Widgets
        Creating Your Own Widgets Using Various WordPress APIs: Introduction
        Bonang Salemane

      You can also find plenty of widget plugins on CodeCanyon, which will save you coding them yourself. On our blog, we’ve identified the best widget plugins for 2021, the best Facebook widgets, and the best Twitter widgets.

      • 
        WordPress
        Best WordPress Widgets for 2021
        Daniel Strongin

      

      Shortcode Plugins

      Creating a shortcode is a great place to start creating plugins as they’re relatively simple and very useful. Find out how to create them with our guide to coding shortcodes in WordPress.

      • 
        Plugins
        Getting Started With WordPress Shortcodes
        Rohan Mehta

      CodeCanyon also has a bunch of useful shortcode plugins you can use to add extra functionality to your site.

      

      Social Media Plugins

      Social media plugins are incredibly popular as they let you display your Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram feed on your site and let your visitors share your content via their own social media accounts.

      CodeCanyon has dozens of social media plugins. Learn about the best social media plugins and how to create an online community for your WordPress site.

      • 
        WordPress Plugins
        Best WordPress Social Media Plugins of 2019
        Daniel Strongin
      • 
        WordPress
        Create an Online Community for Your WordPress Site With UserPro
        Jessica Thornsby

      Gallery and Media Plugins

      If you want to optimise the media on your site and display galleries or video feeds, a plugin will make everything look more professional. Find out how to find the best gallery plugins for images or video and how to code your own gallery plugin. Or browse the professional gallery and video plugins on CodeCanyon.

      • 
        WordPress
        How to Find the Best WordPress Gallery Plugins for Images or Video
        Franc Lucas
      • 
        WordPress
        Create a WordPress Image Gallery: Code the Plugin
        Rachel McCollin

      

      Form Plugins

      Adding forms to your site lets your visitors get in touch and helps build a relationship. CodeCanyon has plenty of premium form plugins that will make it easy for your visitors to contact you. Learn how to create a form with the bestselling QuForm plugin.

      • 
        WordPress Plugins
        How to Create a Form With the Quform WordPress Plugin
        Daniel Strongin

      FAQs

      Here are the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about WordPress plugins.

      Why can’t I just add the code I need to my theme functions file?

      It’s tempting to simply keep on adding code to the functions.php file, and there is some code that should be there.

      But if your code is related to functionality in your site, rather than the design or the output of content, then you should code it into a plugin. This means that if you switch themes in the future, you still have that functionality. And you can use the plugin on another site running a different theme.

      I’ve added code to my plugin. Why is nothing happening?

      This is probably because you haven’t hooked your code to an action or filter hook. Until you do that, nothing will happen.

      When I edit my plugin and check my site, I get a white screen. Help!

      You’ve probably added some code that’s got an error in it somewhere. PHP is an unforgiving language, and this might be as minor as a semicolon in the wrong place.

      Try turning on WP_DEBUG in your wp-config.php file, and you’ll see a message telling you where the error is. Then you can fix it.

      • 
        WordPress
        Fixing the WordPress White Screen of Death
        Sam B.

      When I activate my plugin, I get an error message telling me too many headers have been output. What does this mean?

      All this normally means is that there are too many empty lines in your plugin file. Go back and check there are no empty lines at the beginning of the file.

      If that doesn’t fix it, try turning on WP_DEBUG.

      Where can I find out more about developing plugins?

      We have lots of tutorials and courses helping you to build all kinds of plugins here on Envato Tuts+. See if you can find anything that inspires you.

      

      Where can I download plugins for my site?

      You can choose from thousands of free plugins in the WordPress plugin directory. You can also buy third-party plugins from CodeCanyon. Always buy plugins from a reputable supplier so you can be sure they follow WordPress coding standards and don’t contain malicious code.

      Summary

      Plugins will turn your site from a simple blog into a powerful website that includes advanced features and is secure and robust. Try adding plugins to your site today and coding your own to see how you can use plugins to improve your WordPress site.

      The Best WordPress Themes and Plugins on Envato Market

      Explore thousands of the best WordPress themes ever created on ThemeForest and leading WordPress plugins on CodeCanyon. Purchase these high-quality WordPress themes and plugins and improve your website experience for you and your visitors. 

      

      Here are a few of the best-selling and up-and-coming WordPress themes and plugins available for 2020.

      • 
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        23+ Best WordPress Portfolio Themes for Creatives
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      • 
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        25 Best WordPress Slider & Carousel Plugins of 2021
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        20 Best WordPress Calendar Plugins and Widgets (+5 Free Plugins)
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        31+ Best Responsive WordPress Themes (For Sites in 2021)
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        22 Best WPBakery Page Builder (Visual Composer) Addons and Extensions of 2021
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      • 
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      ]]> 2021-02-22T16:51:48+00:00 //shineyrock.com/blog/read/10-best-responsive-html5-sliders-for-images-and-text...-and-3-free-options https://shineyrock.com/blog/read/10-best-responsive-html5-sliders-for-images-and-text...-and-3-free-options#When:14:50:57Z In this post, I'll show you some of the best free and paid HTML5 sliders. We'll see responsive text sliders, responsive image sliders with text, banner sliders, and more. All built with HTML5 and CSS.

      Why Use a Responsive HTML5 Slider?

      HTML5 enables users to have a better and more consistent web experience across several devices. Now that smart devices are the number one way that people access the web, your site needs to be responsive. That is, it needs to work on varying screen sizes and resolutions—from a smartphone right up to a full-size computer.
      

      A professional, responsive HTML5 and CSS slider will look great and work great on all these devices. If you have image-rich content or want to present key text in an interesting way on your website, then you just can't go wrong by using an HTML5 slider.

      HTML5 Sliders on CodeCanyon

      There are currently over 230 premium HTML5 based content sliders available on CodeCanyon. You can start using them on your website right away. Once you purchase a plugin, you will be eligible for free lifetime updates and six months of free support.

      The large variety of scripts, widgets, and plugins available in the market should meet almost all your needs. You can use them to create sliders for your most popular posts, your best products, or customer testimonials. They are easy to use and look great on all devices.

      The Best HTML5 Sliders on CodeCanyon for 2020

      Because there are so many sliders out there to choose from, I've pulled together a list of the ten best HTML5 sliders for images and text available at CodeCanyon.
      

      1. Ultimate 3D Carousel

      If you’ve ever seen or used an actual slide carousel, you’ll appreciate the design and aesthetics of the Ultimate 3D Carousel. This carousel slider allows you to display multimedia content with a unique 3D layout that mimics the carousels of film photography days. 

      There are a number of effects you can apply to your carousel style if you choose, and if you prefer a more traditional slide effect, you can also opt for that instead of the carousel style.

      The carousel supports images, MP4 videos, MP3 audio, Google Maps, and more. It runs on all major browsers and uses a responsive layout with auto-scale function so that it works well on all mobile devices.
      

      2. Simple 3D Coverflow

      Simple 3D Coverflow is a fully 3D multimedia slider plugin. You can use the plugin to display multimedia content on the website in an original and catchy layout that uses 3D perspective.

      You can include all kinds of content in a single slide. This includes images, videos from YouTube and Vimeo, etc.

      Here are some of its awesome features:

      • responsive image slider with text that looks great on mobiles as well as desktops
        
      • navigation support for mouse wheel and the left/right arrow keys on the keyboard
      • ability to classify thumbnails into categories in a slideshow
      • two skins, with nine different layouts for each of them

      The plugin comes with the Revolution lightbox, which can display all kinds of content like images, videos, iFrames, Google maps, etc.

      Make sure you go and see the live preview of this fantastic plugin.
      

      3. Creative BS-4 Carousel Slider

      This slider is ideal for anyone who is already using Bootstrap 4 on their website. The framework already provides a lot of features and capabilities. It makes sense to take advantage of this fact and create a multi-functional slider.

      This is a fully responsive HTML5 slider and has great cross-browser compatibility.

      You will be getting 33 different carousels with their own animations. This plugin can create carousels for everything from products to testimonials and portfolios to video carousels.

      The live preview of the plugin covers all these use cases, so do check it out.
      

      4. Vertical Ultimate 3D Carousel

      This ultimate vertical 3D carousel offers a unique solution when it comes to sliders and carousels. Instead of presenting the carousel content horizontally, the slides are laid out vertically. This makes it a better option for mobile devices because they have more space available vertically.

      The responsive HTML5 text and image slider is incredibly user friendly. It has implemented drag-and-swipe-based navigation for desktop and mobile devices. It also lets you navigate through all the slides using a mouse wheel or with the left and right keyboard keys.

      It offers a bunch of parameters to control the alignment and separation of different slides in both horizontal and vertical directions. There are three different skins, each of which can be used with three unique layouts to create a slider.

      You can see how all the skins and parameters look and work in this live preview.
      

      5. CSS3 Cube Slider

      If you’re looking for a slider with a bit of a difference, check out the CSS3 Cube Slider. This slider shows off your images in a gorgeous slider like the other sliders here, but it does so with one of six cool 3D cube transition effects. 

      The plugin works best in Chrome, Firefox, or Safari, but if the browser doesn’t support CSS3 then the slider falls back to the standard vertical or horizontal slide transition. The plugin is responsive and will adapt to any screen size for the user’s devices.

      This is one of the best CSS sliders you will find!

      6. Simple Image Slider Carousel

      This simple image slider carousel actually comes with a lot of awesome layouts that you can use to showcase all your images. It's "simple" because it's easy to integrate into your own website.

      It comes with quite a few important features. The responsive image slider with text layout has multiple display types to fit with all kinds of website designs. You can add lazy loading to the slider so that it only loads images when the user is about to scroll to the slider in the visible area.

      You can create the image playlist using either HTML markup or JSON data. There are a lot of other features such as navigation based on swipe gestures and keyboard arrow keys. You can read about all of them on the product description page.

      7. HTML5 Canvas Carousel

      The HTML5 Canvas Carousel gives you another great option to display images on your website. This 3D photo gallery offers six different options for presenting your images. 

      Features include touch-screen navigation support for mobile, support for PNG, JPEG, and GIF image files, ability to set the carousel position, and the possibility of featuring multiple carousels on the same page of your website. 

      This responsive HTML5 carousel is highly customizable, and all options can be modified inside the XML file. It is optimized for both Android and iOS mobile devices, and the download file comes with a comprehensive help file explaining all configuration tags and installation.

      8. Ultimate Media Gallery

      The Ultimate Media Gallery is unique among the sliders in this list because it can display not just images but also video and audio files from a number of external content sources, including YouTube, Vimeo, Google Drive media, Podcast, and SoundCloud.  

      This highly customizable gallery is fully responsive and mobile friendly. It takes full advantage of Font Awesome Library icons, and all demo examples are included in the download package for quick and easy setup.

      9. HTML5 Canvas Cover Flow

      The HTML5 Canvas Cover Flow slider is a 3D photo gallery that takes its inspiration from the Mac Finder viewer of the same name. The slider has tons of features and allows you to present your images in any way you want: horizontal, vertical, oblique, etc. Alternatively, you can make use of the predefined movements and styles if you prefer.

      In addition, almost every aspect of the slider, including colors and graphic elements, can be customized to fit your site, and all the options can be easily modified from the configuration XML file, making maintaining the carousel much easier.

      Optimized for mobile devices, it acts like a native app where you can touch, drag, and rotate the controls.

      10. Shopping HTML5 Banners With Interactive Slider

      These HTML5 banner sliders are meant to be used for creating HTML5 banner ad templates for AdWords, DoubleClick Studio, AdRoll and other ad platforms. This is the perfect plugin for people who want to create interactive ad banners to sell different products.

      It is created with and fully editable in Google Web Designer. You can also change the colors and background with just a few clicks.

      You can create ad banners in seven popular sizes: 160×600, 250×250, 336×280, 300×250, 728×90, 200×200, and 300×600. See them all in action in the live preview of the plugin.

      The detailed documentation included with the plugin will provide a step-by-step guide to editing the template and creating your own interactive banner ads with sliders.

      Free HTML5 Sliders for Images and Text

      Some of the best HTML5 and CSS sliders are found on CodeCanyon. However, if you just want something simple, you can try out some of the free options first. Here are some of the most popular free HTML5 sliders for images and text.

      bxSlider 4

      This is a fully loaded, responsive slider built with jQuery. The slides can contain images, video, or other HTML content. You can get all the bxSlider 4 files from its GitHub page.

      Swiper

      Swiper is a free and modern responsive HTML5 slider which is designed as a mobile-based touch slider. It is usable on desktops as well. However, it does not implement keyboard- and mouse-based navigation.

      Slick

      Slick calls itself "the last carousel you'll ever need." It relies on jQuery and works in browsers as old as IE8. There are plenty of attributes to precisely control how the carousel behaves.

      Tips for Using Sliders on Your Website

      Here are a few tips to keep in mind to help you get the most value out of any slider carousels that you use on your website.

      1. Use Sliders to Showcase Important Products and Services

      Sliders and carousels will take up a large portion of the user's screen when they visit your website. This makes them ideal for pitching your best product or service. Also, make sure that you avoid clutter. Each slide in the carousel should focus on just one aspect of the product and do it well.

      2. Include Call to Action Buttons

      It is also important to include a direct call to action button somewhere on the carousel itself. If a visitor likes one of your products, they should not have to go somewhere else to make the purchase.
      

      Other HTML5 Scripts and Templates
      

      These ten best responsive HTML5 sliders are by no means the only ones available at CodeCanyon. You can find HTML5 widgets, scripts, and templates of every kind!

      • HTML5
        19 Best HTML5 and JavaScript Game Engines and Templates
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      • HTML5
        19 Best HTML5 Audio Players
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      • HTML5
        20 Best HTML5 Game Templates of 2020 With Source Code
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      • JavaScript
        How to Use Easy Video Player for JavaScript
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      ]]> 2020-05-14T14:50:57+00:00 //shineyrock.com/blog/read/16-best-tab-and-accordion-widget-plugins-for-wordpress https://shineyrock.com/blog/read/16-best-tab-and-accordion-widget-plugins-for-wordpress#When:15:35:19Z Your website's content should be organized and beautiful. By adding a tab or accordion widget plugin to your WordPress website, you will be able to display your website's content in an elegant way. 

      An interactive accordion and tab plugin can tidy up the design and readability of your webpages. 
      

      Accordions and tabs are great ways to communicate text-heavy information in a stylish and condensed way. Keeping your website clutter-free and interactive should be the main priority for your website, and accordions and tabs help you accomplish this. 
      

      At CodeCanyon, you will be able to choose from a library of premium plugins available and find a tab and accordion plugin and widget that will fit your website's theme and allow you to display your website's information without crowding your page's designs. 

      The Best WordPress Tab and Accordion Plugins on CodeCanyon
      

      Discover CodeCanyon's extensive library of the best tab and accordion WordPress widgets and plugins ever created. With a cheap one-time payment, you can purchase these high-quality WordPress widgets and plugins and draw in more traffic to your website. 
      

      Here are a few of the best-selling tab and accordion WordPress widgets available on CodeCanyon for 2020.

      These powerful tab and accordion plugins allow you to display your website's text and media in a systematic order that fits your particular website. These widgets and plugins come with plenty of features that can enhance your website, including:
      

      • pagination
      • animated layers
      • customizable columns and rows
      • touch-enabled mobile functionality 
      • lightboxes

      Head on over to CodeCanyon and choose from the premium tab and accordion plugins available now! 

      11 Best Tab and Accordion WordPress Widgets for 2020

      Here are 11 of the top-rated WordPress tab and accordion widgets and plugins that are available for you to download on CodeCanyon:

      1. Accordion Slider—Responsive WordPress Plugin

      The Accordion Slider plugin combines two great functions in one handy plugin. First it functions as an accordion, and secondly it functions as a slider.

      Best features:

      • add as many panels as you want, without worrying about screen space
      • touch-enabled to work well with mobile screens  
      • loads images and content from posts, galleries, and Flickr
      • accordions are automatically cached to improve the load time
      • can be placed anywhere: in posts/pages, template PHP code, or widgets

      Accordion Slider—Responsive WordPress Plugin is a great two-in-one plugin that will appeal to those looking for a great way to present images or text.
      

      2. Grid Accordion—Responsive WordPress Plugin

      One of the best-looking accordions out there, Grid Accordion adds a fresh feel to your site by offering a feature not found in other plugins: an accordion that works in two directions. While most plugins let you open and close tabs or similar UI elements either horizontally or vertically, with this plugin, you can do both. Not only does it handle text content well within its accordion grid, but you can even fill your content areas with images and other media for a more stunning effect.

      Make sure to check out the demo for Grid Accordion here.

      This plugin also comes with a host of other features, such as:

      • a fully responsive and touch-enabled design
      • support for dynamic content from posts and galleries
      • available hooks for actions and filters
      • JavaScript API endpoints for maximum customization

      3. WP Responsive FAQ With Category

      The WP Responsive FAQ With Category plugin is specifically designed for users who have or want to add a Frequently Asked Questions area to their site and don’t want their visitors to have to scroll through an endless stream of text to get to the questions and answers that are relevant to them.

      Best features:

      • FAQs can be arranged by category
      • 15 customizable different designs to choose from
      • compatible with Visual Composer page builder and WooCommerce
      • two types of FAQ toggle icons: arrow or plus sign

      There’s no question that WP Responsive FAQ with Category is the answer to all your FAQ needs.

      4. WooCommerce Category Accordion

      The WooCommerce Category Accordion is designed specifically for WooCommerce users. It can be used as a widget or shortcode to list product categories and subcategories.

      Best features:

      • supports unlimited categories and subcategories
      • 14 Font Awesome icons included
      • ability to highlight current category option
      • sort by ascending or descending order

      WooCommerce Category Accordion is ideal for users who want to organize their products or services into categories and subcategories to make it easier for customers to navigate their site.

      5. Responsive Searchable 3 Level Accordion

      Responsive Searchable 3 Level Accordion is a simple plugin that can be used anywhere on your WordPress site. It will appeal to users who are looking to arrange content in accordion style within a post, sidebar, footer, etc.

      Best features:

      • can be used as a widget or shortcode
      • three nesting levels available
      • five ready-made styling options
      • allows users to type in searched phrase

      Responsive Searchable 3 Level Accordion For WordPress is a low-fuss plugin, and its standout features like three-level support and searchable content really set it apart.
      

      6. Accordion FAQ WordPress Plugin

      FAQ pages are an important part of almost any website, and with this plugin, you can fit a mountain of text behind a sleek and easily digestible display. This accordion plugin focuses on doing one thing, creating FAQ-style content easily, and it does it well.

      Here’s what you can expect to get with this plugin:

      • ability to quickly add multiple FAQ accordions throughout your site
      • easy drag-and-drop interface for reordering
      • color, icon, and font customization
      • built-in generator for creating shortcodes

      If you’re looking to add an FAQ section to your existing design, then the Accordion FAQ WordPress Plugin has you covered.

      7. WordPress Tabs and Accordions DZS

      WordPress Tabs and Accordions DZS is another plugin that gives users access to both tab and accordion functions.

      Best features:

      • full skins to fit every brand
      • WYSIWYG editor
      • unlimited color options for customization
      • iPhone, iPad, and Android optimized
      • and more

      So if StackTabs doesn’t appeal, WordPress Tabs and Accordions DZS is another great two-for-one option.

      8. Side Tabs—Layered Popups Add-on

      A little different than most of the plugins on this list, Side Tabs delivers the features you’d expect from a tab plugin, but instead of existing within your site’s content, they live at the edge of your screen. This unique presentation creates a number of unusual uses.

      One of the most interesting ways you can use Side Tabs is to present a constant access point to content throughout an entire page (or several pages). Besides that, it also makes a great tool for offering Calls to Action and similar content without being too intrusive.

      With a ton of customization and animation options available out of the box, this plugin works brilliantly for anyone looking to add a fresh way of presenting information to their site.

      9. WooCommerce Tabs Pro: Extra Tabs for Product Page

      If you have a WooCommerce site, the WooCommerce Tab Pro plugin will allow you to create and manage 11 different types of tabs to display your products.

      Best features:

      • ability to add unlimited tabs to a single product page
      • WYSIWYG editor for editing custom content
      • ability to enable or disable tabs
      • ability to create a global tab that can be used with all products

      When you have an eCommerce site, making improvements to your layout can really boost sales. With WooCommerce Tabs Pro: Extra Tabs for Product Page, the tills will soon be ringing.

      10. Elegant Tabs for Visual Composer

      Elegant Tabs for Visual Composer is an add-on for the WPBakery WordPress plugin (formerly Visual Composer). It lets you add any shortcode to multiple tabs and offers loads of customization like different colors, icons, and backgrounds for different sections or tabs.

      Best features:

      • vertical tabs
      • drag and drop any WPBakery elements inside the tab content
      • supports deep linking
      • ten different styles of tabs and unlimited variations
      • and more

      Elegant Tabs is also available for Fusion Builder, WooCommerce, Cornerstone, and Beaver Builder.

      11. PullOut Widgets for WordPress

      Like the Social Network Tabs for WordPress, the PullOut Widgets is a different take on tabs. It is specifically designed to turn any widget on your site into a pullout tab.

      Best features:

      • 289 icons for pullout tabs
      • 32 sliding animation effects
      • unlimited pullout widget positioning on the top, right, bottom, or left side
      • unlimited widget colors

      The most successful websites are interactive, and PullOut Widgets for WordPress gives your visitors plenty of chances to engage with your content.

      5 Free Tab and Accordion WordPress Widgets and Plugins for Download in 2020

      The best features and most beautiful interfaces are found in the premium plugins from CodeCanyon. But, if you're on a budget or just want something simple, check out these free tab and accordion plugins for WordPress.

      1. Arconix Shortcodes

      Arconix Shortcodes is a very versatile plugin and is a must-have if you cannot afford any of the premium plugins. With this plugin, you can add not only accordions but styled boxes, buttons, tabs, unordered lists, columns, and much more.

      2. Easy Accordion
      

      Easy Accordion is a responsive drag-and-drop accordion builder that will help you to display multiple accordions on your WordPress website. No coding is necessary to add the accordions to your website as everything is added through shortcodes.

      3. Accordion

      This Accordion plugin can help you create different sections of your website, including but not limited to FAQs, a knowledge base, and a question & answer section. You can change colors, font size, and icons for each accordion.
      

      4. Squelch Tabs and Accordions Shortcodes

      With the use of shortcodes, you can add horizontal accordions, vertical accordions, and tabs. This free plugin will help you save space on your webpages, make your website look more professional, and add an interactive component to your website.

      5. Shortcodes Ultimate

      Shortcodes Ultimate allows you to add many tools to your website. You can easily create tabs, buttons, boxes, sliders and carousels, and responsive videos. The plugin comes with over 50 shortcodes for you to implement. 

      How to Add an FAQ Accordion to Your Website

      In this example, we are going to create an FAQ section for our online store. 
      

      First, we need to create a category for our FAQ accordion so the plugin knows what content to add to each specific accordion. Once you have installed the Accordion FAQ WordPress plugin, head on over to WP Dashboard > FAQ > Categories. In the name field, we will type "Online Store" and click the Add New Category button. 

      Next, we will click on WP Dashboard > FAQ > Add New. We will add our three FAQ entries this way. We will include the question in the title and the answer in the text editor. 

      For each of our entries, we will make sure to click the checkbox next to the category, Online Store, that we created to make sure we group the entries together. 

      Once we have added our three FAQ entries for our online store, it is time to add the accordion widget to a page. On an existing or new page or post, click on the Add Shortcode button on the top of the text editor. Choose Insert FAQs from the Select a Shortcode drop-down menu. From here we will be given a basic group of settings for us to change. We will choose the Online Store category from the Faq Category option and change the Icon Background Color to blue. 

      Click the Insert Shortcode button, and the shortcode will be added to the text editor. The FAQ accordion will now be displayed on your webpage for all your users to see!

      Install a Tab or Accordion WordPress Widget Now! 

      By adding a premium tab or accordion plugin to your website, you will be able to simplify your web page's design and display your text and media in an easy-to-understand way. 

      These handy widgets and plugins allow you to integrate interactive displays for your website's content that can be styled to fit your website's theme. 

      In addition to all the high-quality tab and accordion widgets available, there are also thousands of other high-quality WordPress plugins on CodeCanyon that can help enhance your website. Take look through this massive collection of plugins and you will find all types of plugins, including gallery, newsletter, eCommerce, and marketing plugins.

      ]]> 2020-05-13T15:35:19+00:00 //shineyrock.com/blog/read/18-best-wordpress-membership-plugins-and-5-free-plugins https://shineyrock.com/blog/read/18-best-wordpress-membership-plugins-and-5-free-plugins#When:11:53:59Z Do you want to start earning money from your WordPress website?
      

      There are lots of ways that you can turn your site into an additional revenue stream, but many of these options revolve around one-off payments. You could build an online store, sell advertising space, or fill your website with affiliate links—or you could sell membership subscriptions that'll guarantee you a steady income for the next few weeks, months, or potentially even years.

      In this article, I'll be sharing my favourite free and premium plugins that you can use to transform your WordPress website into a thriving online community. 

      Integrating a membership plugin into your WordPress website gives you the power to lock certain sections of your website and charge recurring payments for access to these members-only sections. Whether you are running a fitness website or looking to offer videos for your tutoring business, a premium WordPress membership plugin will help you grow and scale your business.

      The Best WordPress Membership Plugins on CodeCanyon
      

      Discover over 7,000 of the best WordPress plugins ever created on Envato Market's CodeCanyon. With a cheap one-time payment, you can purchase one of these high-quality WordPress plugins. 
      

      Here are a few of the best membership WordPress plugins available on CodeCanyon for 2020.

      Without these WordPress membership plugins, you will have to hire a web developer to implement this functionality. This can be very expensive and time-consuming. By purchasing the premium membership plugins available on CodeCanyon, you will be able to create a membership website in no time. 

      Here are some of the features that you can expect from the WordPress membership plugins:
      

      • WooCommerce integration
      • paid and free membership levels
      • periodic billing
      • email opt-ins
      • multiple payment gateways

      Now let's take a look at some of the best-selling membership plugins on CodeCanyon.
      

      Top 18 WordPress Membership Plugins (From CodeCanyon for 2020)

      1. Ultimate Membership Pro WordPress Plugin

      Ultimate Membership Pro WordPress Plugin doesn't get its name solely for marketing purposes.

      It really is the ultimate.
      

      This WordPress membership plugin offers a wide variety of options, making it very agile. Some of the options include:

      • multiple login, register, and locker templates
      • multiple payment options
      • conditional logic
      • social login
      • and much, much more
        

      You can also create multiple levels, drip content, restrict pages, create custom account pages, and the list goes on.
      

      No matter what kind of membership site you're trying to build, Ultimate Membership Pro WordPress Plugin should deliver without a problem.

      No wonder it's the #1 selling membership plugin!
      

      2. Multi-Vendor Marketplace Membership for WooCommerce

      Marketplace Seller Membership Plugin for WooCommerce allows you to create memberships on the basis of time and or products. You will need to have the WordPress WooCommerce Multi Vendor Marketplace in order for this plugin to work. Adding this membership plugin to your already existing marketplace will help you bring in recurring revenue, so don't miss out on this plugin!

      3. SUMO Memberships

      SUMO Memberships is a complete WooCommerce membership system. It allows you to sell memberships from your existing WooCommerce store and give your members access to pages, posts, content blocks, and certain products. 

      Here are a few important features of this plugin:

      • content and product restriction
      • transferrable memberships
      • multiple membership plans
      • free trial of membership

      4. Ultimate Learning Pro

      Ultimate Learning Pro is a membership plugin that was specifically designed for businesses providing courses. You can easily sell courses and have instructors manage your students with this powerful plugin. 

      Here are some of the plugin's top features:

      • intuitive course builder
      • control enrollment
      • Stripe, WooCommerce, and PayPal payments
      • student grade books

      5. PrivateContent

      PrivateContent has one of the best restriction engines on the market. In addition to the standard account locking that membership plugins provide, there are many other powerful features that will help improve your membership website. Here are a few of the features that differentiate this plugin from others:

      • multilanguage support
      • Google Analytics integration
      • Mailchimp integration
      • discount coupon support

      6. UserPro—User Profiles With Social Login
      

      Not all WordPress membership plugins are about making revenue on your content.

      UserPro—User Profiles with Social Login does include content restriction, but focuses on the community aspects of a membership website.
      

      Features include:

      • unlimited membership custom fields
      • set up badges and achievements
      • manually approve new users
      • well-designed user profiles
      • and more!

      There's also some great integration with WooCommerce, BuddyPress, Mailchimp, and others.

      And if UserPro—User Profiles with Social Login doesn't have enough features for you, there are over a dozen different User Pro add-ons that are worth a look.
      

      7. User Profiles Made Easy—WordPress Plugin

      The User Profiles Made Easy WordPress plugin is an excellent plugin for membership directories and user profiles.

      Features include:

      • full-featured membership directory
      • private content and custom fields
      • front-end login and registration
      • well-designed user profiles
      • and more!

      There are also content restriction options, but the membership user profile management is where this really shines. It also includes the ability to search users based on built-in custom field types or custom search filters.
      

      User Profiles Made Easy is one of the best WordPress user profile membership plugins you'll find.
      

      8. Youzer—BuddyPress User Profiles

      Youzer is one of the best WordPress user profiles and membership plugins on the market. It has all the features you need and more to build a community where users can express themselves and interact with each other. Here are just a few of the many features that this plugin offers:

      • public and private profiles
      • 14 header styles
      • fully customizable membership and profiles
      • custom tabs
      • custom widgets

      See for yourself just how feature-rich this plugin is by viewing the live preview.

      9. ARMember 

      ARMember is a one-stop solution to sell WordPress subscriptions without having to type in a single line of code. This plugin has many advanced features such as conditional redirection, IP-based restrictions, and URL-based locking. The level of control that you have over the membership is unparalleled. This powerhouse plugin is a must-have if you are serious about creating a membership website.  

      10. Good LMS—Learning Management System WordPress Plugin

      Unlike some of the previous WordPress membership plugins, Good LMS focuses on online learning.
      

      With Good LMS you can:

      • create online and onsite courses and quizzes
        
      • set up commission rates for instructors
      • sell learning courses via PayPal
      • course ratings
        
      • and more!
        

      Good LMS includes everything you need to develop an online education system, from payment and registration to quizzes and certificates.
      

      11. Ultimate Member Community Plugin

      UM Profiler enables you to create new designs for your member cards. The plugin comes with nine template designs to ensure that you find a design that works with the theme of your website. What's even better about this plugin is that it's free if you own the Ultimate Member plugin. The UM Profiler is sure to create a stunning-looking profile system for your membership website. View the live preview of this plugin to see if it's right for you! 

      12. WPGYM—Wordpress Gym Management System

      Developed by the same author as the previous plugin, WPGYM works in the same fashion, but with a focus on gym memberships.
      

      Features include:

      • workout, activity, nutrition, and other modules for members
        
      • full-featured dashboard
        
      • membership payment
      • member profiles
      • and much, much more

      WPGYM—Wordpress Gym Management System is nothing short of impressive.
      

      13. WooCommerce Membership

      This simple but effective membership plugin gives you a quick and affordable way to convert your website into a membership site. The admin dashboard allows you to add as many plans as you see fit for your business, and a dedicated support team will help you with any questions or concerns that you have about the plugin. 

      Here are the features you can expect with this plugin:

      • create unlimited online membership plans
      • add or remove members manually
        
      • convert any product to a membership product
        
      • restrict access to any post or page, including custom WordPress post types

      14. Custom Login and Access WordPress Plugin

      Easily restrict content, but add some style with the Custom Login and Access WordPress Plugin. It's simple and easy to use.
      

      Block users from pages, posts, post types, categories, and taxonomies. Redirect users when they log in and log out. You can also:

      • add login, registration, and forgotten forms to a page
      • style the default WordPress login page
      • allow users to set their own password
      • and more
        

      Custom Login and Access WordPress Plugin is a great way to simply restrict content to registered users, and it also includes helpful redirects and design.
      

      15. Modal Login Register Forgotten WordPress Plugin

      Modal Login Register Forgotten WordPress Plugin is much like the previous offering, but comes in modal form.

      Features include:

      • custom register email
        
      • unlimited color styles
        
      • login widget
      • and more
        

      Modal Login Register Forgotten WordPress Plugin is an excellent way to extend any WordPress membership plugin, helping users recover their forgotten logins in style.
      

      16. WordPress Expire Passwords
      

      Membership websites can often be subject to security risks, as users neglect to update their passwords.

      That's where WordPress Expire Passwords can be a lifesaver.
      

      You can easily:

      • select password expirations based on user roles
        
      • option to prevent users from using the same password
      • select how long before a password expires
      • view last password reset
      • and more

      WordPress Expire Passwords is a great plugin not just for membership sites, but also for any WordPress site with multiple users.
      

      17. WP Private Content Pro

      WP Private Content Pro gives you a simple and easy-to-use interface for protecting your important site content. This plugin allows you to restrict content on your website based on various types of users including guests, members, user roles, user groups, and Mailchimp subscriptions. Unlike other membership plugins, it can provide additional restrictions on menus, widgets, searches, private groups, and products. 

      18. Institute Management Pro

      This cheap membership plugin has plenty of powerful features that make this a must buy. Institute Management Pro helps you manage the multiple institute-related activities such as courses, batches, enquirers, registrations, fees, students, and staff. 

      Here are a few notable features of this plugin: 

      • exam results management
      • generated receipts, reports, and ID cards
      • institute noticeboard widget
      • send notifications to students
      • accepts PayPal or Razorpay

      Feel free to check out how this plugin works by viewing the live preview.

      5 Free Membership Plugins for Download in 2020

      By purchasing a premium WordPress membership plugin, you will receive the highest quality plugins available on the market. The number of advanced features that these plugins will have and the overall user experience for both you and your customers will much higher than with free membership plugins.  

      If you are on a budget and still need to add membership functionality to your WordPress website, then take a look at these five free membership plugins.

      1. s2Member

      Protect your WordPress posts, pages, tags, categories, and URLs with this free plugin. s2Member is powered almost entirely by WordPress shortcodes, making it quick and easy to add member features.

      2. Mini Membership

      If you're looking for a basic membership plugin without any advanced features, this is the plugin for you. All this plugin does is lock specific content on your website to users who are not part of the membership. 

      3. WP-Members Membership Plugin

      The WP-Members plugin puts the registration process on the site's front end so it is part of your content instead of the WP login page. This is a great tool for sites offering premium content to subscribers.

      4. Simple Membership

      This plugin allows you to set up unlimited membership levels and protect your posts and pages through the different membership levels that you create. You can also configure it to have free and/or paid memberships on your site. 

      5. Paid Memberships

      Paid Memberships features an all-in-one solution for your membership site needs. The back-end dashboard is filled with features that will help tailor your membership needs to your specific business. It even includes six popular payment gateways!

      Take Your Membership Website to the Next Level

      The premium and free membership plugins mentioned in this article are guaranteed to get your membership site up and running. However, just installing the plugins is not enough to create a profitable business. You need to retrofit your WordPress website to draw in potential customers and customize the membership plugin to fit your business's needs. Below are three Envato Tuts+ tutorials that will help you implement membership plugins into your WordPress website. 

      In addition to the three tutorials below, feel free to check out the membership plugin tutorials available on Envato Tuts+.

      • WordPress
        Monetize Your Content: Create a Membership WordPress Site With UMP
        Jessica Thornsby
      • WordPress Themes
        How to Design the Front Page of a Subscription Website
        Stelian Subotin
      • WordPress
        Protect Paid Content on Your WordPress Site Using a Free Membership Plugin
        Sajal Soni

      Add a Premium WordPress Membership Plugin to Your Website Now!

      Transforming your WordPress website into a fully functional membership website will be very costly and time-consuming if you hire a web developer. CodeCanyon offers you a quick and affordable solution by hosting a marketplace full of membership plugins for you to choose from. 
      

      Whether you need to lock certain pages on your website or create cyclical payments through the WooCommerce payment gateways, CodeCanyon has plenty of high-quality membership plugins that can help you grow your business. 

      While you are on CodeCanyon, feel free to browse through the best-selling WordPress plugins. New plugins are added weekly and can help you improve your website's functionality not only for you but also for your customers. 

      Dive into CodeCanyon's library of premium WordPress plugins today! With a low-cost, one-time payment, you can purchase one of these high-quality WordPress plugins and improve your website experience for you and your visitors. 

      Here are a few of the best-selling and hot new WordPress plugins available on CodeCanyon for 2020.

      • WordPress
        22 Best WPBakery Page Builder (Visual Composer) Addons & Plugins of 2020
        Daniel Strongin
      • WordPress
        17 Best WordPress Slider & Carousel Plugins of 2020
        Daniel Strongin
      • WordPress
        20 Best WordPress Calendar Plugins and Widgets
        Daniel Strongin
      • WordPress Plugins
        25+ Best Popup & Opt-In WordPress Plugins
        Daniel Strongin
      ]]> 2020-04-28T11:53:59+00:00 //shineyrock.com/blog/read/25-best-woocommerce-plugins-for-products-pricing-payments-and-more https://shineyrock.com/blog/read/25-best-woocommerce-plugins-for-products-pricing-payments-and-more#When:14:36:59Z Take your WooCommerce online store to the next level by adding extra features with WooCommerce WordPress plugins. 

      WooCommerce is a free solution for all of your WordPress eCommerce needs. This free eCommerce platform has all the basic functions needed for an online store, but to tailor the store to your specific business you need plugins. The WooCommerce plugins available on CodeCanyon give you the power to extend out the platform's functionality and give your customers a specialized online store.

      The Best WooComerce Plugins on CodeCanyon
      

      Discover CodeCanyon's extensive library of the best WooCommerce WordPress plugins ever created. With a low-cost one-time payment, you can purchase these high-quality WordPress plugins and draw in more traffic to your website. 

      Here are a few of the best-selling WooCommerce WordPress plugins available on CodeCanyon for 2020.

      These diverse and powerful WooCommerce plugins allow you to add valuable eCommerce features to your online store such as:
      

      • email service provider integration
      • currency switchers
      • affiliate marketing add ons
      • product filters
      • product designers

      CodeCanyon has a whole library of full WooCommerce plugins. At least one of these plugins will help you improve your online store and help generate more sales so head on over to CodeCanyon now!

      Top 20 WooCommerce Plugins (From CodeCanyon for 2020)

      Here are 20 of the best-selling WooCommerce plugins that are available for you to download on CodeCanyon:

      1. Fancy Product Designer—WooCommerce Plugin

      There are many product printing services on the web whereby users upload images, add text, and create their own unique t-shirt, mug, or just about any other product that can be printed on.
      

      With WooCommerce and the Fancy Product Designer, you can do the same thing and build your own custom eCommerce storefront.
      

      This is one of the best online solutions for custom printing businesses:

      • customers can create text layers or upload images—even images from social media accounts
      • customers can color individual layers or choose those set by the store owner
      • smart pricing based on layers, layer types, product types, etc.
      • sell just about any type of product
      • and much, much more!
        

      This HTML5 WordPress WooCommerce plugin works with many themes and is easy to translate.

      You can't get much fancier than the Fancy Product Designer .

      2. WooCommerce Dynamic Pricing & Discounts

      This WordPress WooCommerce plugin is a must have for anyone interested in offering discount pricing.

      The WooCommerce Dynamic Pricing & Discounts plugin lets you determine pricing rules and cart discounts with ease.
      

      Whether you're selling shippable or digital products, you'll find everything you need:

      • provide quantity discounts, special offers, percentage discounts and more
      • create an almost unlimited number of discount pricing types
        
      • conditional cart discounts
      • customer loyalty pricing
      • and much more
        

      Start boosting your sales and increasing customer loyalty with the WooCommerce Dynamic Pricing & Discounts.

      3. Table Rate Shipping for WooCommerce

      For wholesalers and retailers shipping products, you know how complicated shipping can be. Multiply the number of different products with the number of shipping destinations and you'll quickly realize how crazy it can get.
      

      With the Table Rate Shipping for WooCommerce WordPress plugin, however, you can set up a system that will help you charge less for shipping and sell more product.
      

      This WordPress WooCommerce plugin is one of the best-selling WooCommerce extensions for good reason:

      • set up zones based on country, state, or postal codes
      • base rates on price, quantity, weight or dimensions
      • generate one or multiple shipping cost options
        
      • supports volumetric shipping
      • and much more
        

      The fact that this plugin is also WPML compatible and has a tax inclusion option makes this a stellar choice.
      

      Need to ship? Table Rate Shipping for WooCommerce delivers.
      

      4. WooCommerce Extra Product Options

      WooCommerce Extra Product Options is a great plugin for eCommerce stores that need to offer extra product options.

      This WordPress WooCommerce plugin offers:

      • check-boxes, radio buttons, select boxes, textareas, input boxes, upload, date, range picker, and color picker
      • the ability to replace check-boxes, radio buttons, and select boxes with images
      • hide or show prices
        
      • form fields builder
      • and more
        

      WooCommerce Extra Product Options is a solid and simple way to bring extra product options to your WooCommerce-powered storefront.
      

      5. WooCommerce Product Filter

      If you're selling many products using WooCommerce, you're going to need a good way for customers to search, sort, and find what they're looking for.

      A product not found is a sale lost.

      The WooCommerce Product Filter is one of the best plugins for searching, sorting, and filtering products.
      

      This WooCommerce product plugin is impressive:

      • filter using taxonomies, price, range, and in-stock filters
        
      • unlimited filters and easy integration
      • widget filters and filter layouts
      • impressive design options
      • and much more
        

      My favorite feature has to be the filter analytics. Track your customer search behavior to improve your storefront or develop new products.
      

      The WooCommerce Product Filter is one of the best product search filters you'll find.
      

      6. WooCommerce Advanced Shipping

      Here's another nice option for those shipping products.
      

      The WooCommerce Advanced Shipping plugin is very advanced, but also easy to use.
      

      WooCommerce Advanced Shipping

      Features include:

      • customize with cart, user, and product based conditions
      • volume based pricing and table shipping
      • create unlimited shipping methods
      • set up worldwide shipping zones
        
      • and more
        

      WooCommerce Advanced Shipping also includes conditional logic.
      

      7. WooCommerce PDF Invoice

      Providing a PDF invoice with your eCommerce sales is not only a nice service to the customer, but adds a really professional touch.
      

      The WooCommerce PDF Invoice WordPress plugin is the perfect WooCommerce add-on to do that.
      

      It's hard to find any other option with all these features:

      • supports custom checkout fields and multiple custom content blocks
        
      • offers regular and proforma invoices
      • complies with accounting standards
      • excellent design layout and style
      • automatic invoicing
      • and much, much more
        

      It's feature rich and well designed, and you'd be hard pressed to find anything better.
      

      WooCommerce PDF Invoice is made by professionals, and it shows.
      

      8. WooChimp—WooCommerce MailChimp Integration

      Automatically build your customer email list by connecting WooCommerce and MailChimp with the WooChimp mailing list plugin for WooCommerce.

      It's pretty nifty.
      

      You'll find just about every option you could ever want in a WooCommerce MailChimp  plugin.

      • subscribe customers automatically and sign up on checkout
      • includes widget and shortcode support
      • campaign-to-order tracking
        
      • Ecommerc360 support
        
      • and much, much more
        

      Leveraging the power of MailChimp with your WooCommerce storefront extends your reach and marketing in a powerful way.
      

      And you'll “go bananas” over the great support, documentation, and clean code the WooChimp plugin offers.
      

      9. WooCommerce Advanced Bulk Edit

      If you want to do bulk editing  of your WooCommerce products, or to export your WooCommerce product list to a CSV file, you need to take a look at WooCommerce Advanced Bulk Edit.

      Some of the features include:

      • bulk edit, add, and remove attributes
      • create, duplicate, and delete products
        
      • many ways to filter products
      • supports 40+ fields
        
      • and more
        

      WooCommerce Advanced Bulk Edit is simple, straightforward, and gets the job done.
      

      10. Subscriptio—WooCommerce Subscriptions

      The Subscriptio WooCommerce subscription plugin gives you everything you need to give your WordPress WooCommerce website the ability to sell and manage subscriptions.

      This feature-rich solution is all you'll need:

      • options for cancellation warnings, suspended subscriptions, and more
        
      • PayPal and Stripe payment gateways are built in
        
      • recurring payments with any billing cycle
      • set up free trials or set-up fees
        
      • and much, much more
        

      For magazine subscriptions, online memberships, or e-learning packages, there's hardly a better WordPress WooCommerce plugin solution.
      

      Subscriptio is solid.
      

      11. WooCommerce Customer Relationship Manager

      This is a cool WordPress WooCommerce plugin.
      

      WooCommerce Customer Relationship Manager turns your eCommerce site into a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) solution.
      

      Track all your customer interactions:

      • create new customers and place orders by taking orders over the phone
      • easily search and filter through your customers
      • send emails individually or bulk
      • assign customer status
      • log calls and emails
      • and much, much more
        

      This plugin makes it possible to sell products and services online, over the phone, or even face-to-face, making it a solution for both online and brick-and-mortar businesses.
      

      The WooCommerce Customer Relationship Manager plugin is impressive and unique.
      

      12. Wordpress Meta Data & Taxonomies Filter

      The WordPress Meta Data & Taxonomies Filter WooCommerce plugin gives you the ability to query multiple taxonomies and meta fields at the same time.
      

      Features also include:

      • create new meta fields with checkboxes, drop-downs, range-sliders, and more
        
      • includes widgets and shortcodes
      • AJAX searching support
      • and more
        

      If you need a simple and flexible search plugin for your WooCommerce store, take a look at the WordPress Meta Data & Taxonomies Filter plugin.
      

      13. WooCommerce Currency Switcher

      If your customers are international or even if you're selling to one other country, you're going to need the WooCommerce Currency Switcher plugin.

      This is a great way for users to change the currency being used and for the price to be converted in real time.
      

      You'll find just the right features:

      • rate conversion using Yahoo, Google Appspot Aggregators, or manually
      • display currency switcher via widget or shortcode
      • five UI currency switcher options
      • GeoLocation by IP
      • and much more
        

      The WooCommerce Currency Switcher is simple, powerful, and well designed.
      

      14. WooCommerce Upload Files

      This WooCommerce file upload plugin allows you to upload any file at any size from the product, cart, checkout, or order details pages! This is a must-have plugin if you are offering any sort of digital download!

      Here are a few of the features of this powerful plugin:

      • Dropbox support
      • email notification and attachments
      • add additional costs base on files
      • file restrictions

      Check out the live demo of this plugin to see if it is right for you!

      15. WooCommerce Custom Fields

      The WooCommerce Custom Fields plugin allows you to create a custom product, checkout, and user fields. Depending on the product you are selling, these extra fields may be necessary. These custom fields can also be used to help upsell a product as well and increase your revenue. 
      

      Here is what you can expect from this plugin:

      • create unlimited product fields
      • selectable product options
      • charge customers for selected options
      • provide additional user fields on checkout

      View this plugin in action by checking out the live preview.

      16. WooCommerce PDF Vouchers

      Gift vouchers can be a great way to bring in new customers. You can use this plugin to create gift vouchers, rewards, and promotions that fit your business model. The WooCommerce PDF Vouchers plugin is ideal for connecting your online business with your on the ground business by providing a redeemable voucher system that you control. 

      Not sure if this is the right plugin for you? Take a look at the back- and front-end demo.

      17. SUMO Reward Points—WooCommerce Reward System

      Build your own loyalty reward program using the SUMO Reward Points plugin.

      This is a unique and powerful WooCommerce WordPress plugin to help increase customer engagement.
      

      Reward customers for:

      • social media shares
      • product purchases
      • writing reviews
      • signing up
      • referrals

      You can then offer points at a product, category, or global level. Points can have set expiration dates and much, much more.
      

      There are many different ways to configure SUMO Reward Points!
      

      18. WooCommerce Recover Abandoned Cart

      Stop losing sales from abandoned carts and start recovering them with the WooCommerce Recover Abandoned Cart plugin.

      Send an email—and even follow-up emails—to recover abandoned carts.
      

      "Recover Abandoned Cart monitors carts that are abandoned by Members and Guests to capture Abandoned Carts. It automatically sends mails using the mail templates at specified times to Recover the Abandoned Carts."

      Create and customize your email follow-ups. Add coupons, and schedule how many, how often, and when emails are sent.
      

      Using the WooCommerce Recover Abandoned Cart plugin is a great way to follow up and salvage sales that are otherwise already lost.
      

      19. Woo Badge Designer

      Woo Badge Designer is the most feature-rich badge plugin on the market. You can insert unique and attractive badges to liven up your product listings. This plugin is sure to help you boost your sales. 

      Here are the plugins most notable features:

      • countdown timer badge
      • auto-calculated discount percentages
      • set multiple badges
      • complete styling customization of badges

      20. WooCommerce Bulk Edit Variable Products & Prices
      

      The WooCommerce Bulk Edit Variable Products & Prices plugin makes it super easy to make bulk edits.
      

      “You can edit as many products as you want in just one step and edit fields such as SKU, Stock, Regular Price, Sale Price, Weight, Height, etc. You can even increase or decrease all prices in a category by a set percentage % or dollar value $ for quick sales or product price increases/decreases all in one step.”
      

      Make big changes quickly and easily with WooCommerce Bulk Edit Variable Products & Prices and its easy-to-use Admin interface.

      5 Free WooCommerce Plugins for Download in 2020

      The premium WooCommerce plugins available on CodeCanyon will give your store the most advanced set of features. If your business is on a limited budget, though, you might not be able to afford to purchase these premium plugins. 

      This should not stop you from upgrading your WooCommerce store and giving your customers the eCommerce shopping experience they need. 

      Below are a collection of the five best free WooCommerce WordPress plugins available.

      1. WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway

      Stripe is one of the most popular payment gateways.  This WooCommerce Stripe plugin extends the WooCommerce payment gateway functionality to allow you to take payments directly on your store via Stripe’s API. If you are using Stripe to collect payments, then this is a must-have!

      2. Direct Checkout 

      Direct Checkout lets you simplify the checkout process by skipping the shopping cart page. The Add to Cart button is added to each product which then redirects customers to the checkout page. This simple addition of the button and redirect can help increase sales tremendously.
      

      3. WooCommerce Menu Cart

      This plugin installs a shopping cart button in the navigation bar. You will be able to display price, the number of items, and the cart menu. This simple menu will help encourage your customers to check out sooner. 

      4. TI WooCommerce Wishlist

      The free WooCommerce Wishlist plugin can help you convert your website visitors into loyal customers.  You will be able to add wishlist buttons next to each product to give your customers a chance to return to your website and remember what products they were considering buying. This is another great plugin to help you generate sales.

      5. YITH WooCommerce Zoom Magnifier
      

      Online shoppers are used to having many features on webstores. One important feature that is not present on the default WooCommerce plugin are zoom magnifiers. Zoom magnifiers help your customers see the quality of your product and make informed purchasing decisions.  

      Take Your WooCommerce Store to the Next Level!

      By making use of the premium and free plugins available, you can start to create an eCommerce store that users will love to visit and shop on. However, there is more running a successful WooCommerce site than just adding on a few premium features. You must make sure that your website theme matches your business's brand identity, your payment gateway must be set up properly, and you must customize your store in a way that gives it the best possible chance to succeed. 
      

      Below is a list of articles that will help you get the most out of your WooCommerce store. Combining the premium WooCommerce plugins available on CodeCanyon and applying the knowledge in these articles, you will have an online store that you are confident in and an online store that gets you excited for the future of your business.

      • WooCommerce
        Top 10 Tips for a Better WooCommerce Store
        Franc Lucas
      • WooCommerce
        25+ Best WooCommerce Themes: To Make a Better Online Store
        Brenda Barron
      • WordPress
        Add Payment Gateways to Your WooCommerce Store
        Rachel McCollin
      • WooCommerce
        Choosing a WooCommerce Plugin for WordPress eCommerce Success
        Franc Lucas

      Take Advantage of the WooCommerce Plugins Available on CodeCanyon Now!
      

      WooCoomerce is a powerful online store solution for your WordPress website. While the basic installation of WooCommerce will help you get your store up and running, it won't contain all the necessary features and functionality that your online store will need. 

      CodeCanyon offers the most flexible and feature-rich WooCommerce WordPress plugins on the market and will add another dimension of functionality to your online store that users are accustomed to.
      

      Whether you need to implement custom fields and uploads, display multiple currencies, or offer memberships, the diverse WooCommerce plugins available on CodeCanyon can help you accomplish these tasks. 

      In addition to all the high-quality WooCommerce plugins available, there are also thousands of other high-quality WordPress plugins on CodeCanyon that can help enhance your website. Take look through the extensive library of plugins and you will find all types of plugins including forum, media, and SEO plugins.
      

      Take advantage of the massive library of high-quality WordPress plugins on CodeCanyon now!

      
      

      
      

      ]]> 2020-04-17T14:36:59+00:00 //shineyrock.com/blog/read/10_best_wordpress_twitter_widgets https://shineyrock.com/blog/read/10_best_wordpress_twitter_widgets#When:13:52:51Z As a website owner, you should always try to use all the tools at your disposal to increase your website traffic. More traffic will usually drive up your revenue and allow you to further expand your business or improve the quality of the services you currently provide.

      Social media can play an important role when it comes to driving traffic to your website. Proper use of social media will help your business in two ways. First, it will bring visitors or clients from sources other than search engines. Second, it will give your followers a way to interact with you in places other than your website.

      One of the popular social media platforms that you can use to engage your followers and website visitors is Twitter. In this post, we will list the best WordPress Twitter widgets that you can start using today.

      WordPress Twitter Widgets on Codecanyon

      There are currently over 250 WordPress widgets related to Twitter available on CodeCanyon. You can use them to do all kinds of things like showing tweet and follow buttons, fetching the feed of a Twitter user or hashtag, or automatically posting tweets about the latest article on your website.

      The price of these plugins starts from as low as $6. The best sellers offer regular updates and a lot of features. You also get six months of free support. This should be enough to help you get started with your website.
      

      Best WordPress Twitter Widgets and Plugins

      Here are the top seven WordPress widgets and plugins that you can buy on CodeCanyon and add to your website:
      

      1. Twitter Feed—WordPress Twitter Plugin

      This Twitter feed plugin by Elfsight allows you to easily display the Twitter feed for a specific profile or a hashtag directly on your website. As a result, people start engaging more with your website as well as your Twitter profile.

      The plugin gives you multiple templates to display Twitter feeds on your website. You can display these feeds for any username you want or any hashtag that your website visitors and clients are likely to use.

      Sometimes, visitors might not directly express their satisfaction with your service on your website. If your clients usually tweet good things about you on Twitter, you can use this plugin to display those tweets on your website as testimonials.

      The plugin is fully compatible with WordPress and works with all WordPress themes, including many popular ones that you find on CodeCanyon.

      • WordPress Themes
        28+ Best Responsive WordPress Themes (For Sites in 2020)
        Brenda Barron

      2. AccessPress Twitter Feed Pro

      The AccessPress Twitter Feed Pro WordPress plugin also allows you to showcase Twitter feeds on your website. The feed can come from a single user account, multiple user accounts, or specific hashtags.

      The plugin has three different modes or layouts—called default mode, slider mode, and ticker mode—to display the latest tweets from your feed.

      There are more than 20 different templates for displaying the feed, and they all look absolutely stunning. You can easily choose a template that looks great on your own website.

      The plugin also added a lot of new features with its recent update. This includes things like showing user cards, displaying retweet information, and a shortcode generator to make the plugin as user-friendly as possible.

      If users click on a video or image inside your Twitter feed, it will open in a nicely designed lightbox.

      3. Twitter Plus

      The Twitter Plus WordPress plugin makes it incredibly easy for you to add Twitter buttons to any post or page on your website. It will automatically add Twitter buttons for tweet, follow, mention, or hashtags on all pages and posts that you select.

      There are a couple of customization options that are available for each type of button. For example, you can set the tweet text to the page title or some other custom value for the tweet, hashtag, and mention buttons.

      You can also choose to show either the username or the follower count (or both) on the follow buttons.

      The plugin lets you choose the buttons that you want to show on different posts. You don't have to show all four of them everywhere. Just pick the ones you like and tell the plugin to add them either at the top or bottom of your page or post.
      

      4. WordPress to Twitter—Twitter Bot

      Running and maintaining a website takes a lot of work. Therefore, it makes sense to automate some simple tasks and use the time you saved to improve the website.

      The WordPress to Twitter plugin allows you to do exactly that. Once you purchase and install the plugin, you can set it up to tweet different types of posts from categories that you select.

      You can specify the delay time that will determine the interval between different tweets. You can also tell the plugin if it should include the post title or link in the tweets. Each tweet can also contain some custom additional text, a mention, or hashtags.

      It is possible to specify the time interval within which a post has been published to shortlist it for automated tweets.

      All these features make this plugin a good tool to save time and automate some of your social media outreach workload.

      5. Twitter Feed Grid With Carousel for WordPress

      This is yet another plugin that you can use to show the Twitter feed for any particular user or hashtag. However, there are a few things that make this one different from the others.

      You can either show the Twitter feed as a grid or as a carousel. When shown as a grid, the plugin comes with a bunch of options to control things like the number of columns on desktops, tablets, and mobile devices. You can also choose to use a box layout or a full-width layout.

      The plugin comes with seven different grid styles to display the feed. When visitors hover over any tweet in the feed, the plugin will display social share buttons to allow users to directly share the tweets on their favorite social media platform.

      The Carousel also offers eight more completely different layouts to display a bunch of tweets on the website. You should definitely check out the live preview of this plugin.
      

      6. WP Tweet Selection—Twitter Highlighter

      The WP Tweet Selection plugin gives your users a way to share the articles from your website on Twitter by selecting the text that they like the most.

      For example, if a user likes a statistic that you mentioned in your article, they could select it using regular text selection, and then the plugin will show them a prompt to share the selected text on Twitter.

      This is a great way to increase the engagement of visitors with your website and give them the ability to customize the tweet. It can also bring more traffic back to your website than simply displaying the title of the article with each share.

      You can control the appearance of the prompt by setting values for options like its color, size, and the text that appears inside it—for example, "Share on Twitter".

      7. Social Locker for WordPress

      Almost every website places social share buttons somewhere on its pages in the hope that users will share the content that they like. While some people do click these share buttons, most visitors just ignore them.

      This plugin, called Social Locker for WordPress, can actually help you get more people to share your articles. The basic idea is that some of the content on the webpage is hidden behind a message that asks people to either tweet about the article, like it, or follow you on Facebook. Whichever option they choose, it will help you get more visibility on social media platforms.

      Besides articles, you can use it to lock all kinds of things like videos, PDFs, videos, and download files. Give the plugin a try, and see your Twitter followers go up!

      Free WordPress Twitter Plugins

      If you are not sure about buying premium plugins right now, there are also many free Twitter plugins for WordPress. However, they generally have some downsides like fewer features and slow support—if it's provided at all.

      Now, here are some free WordPress Twitter plugins that you can try.
      

      Custom Twitter Feeds

      You can use the Custom Twitter Feeds plugin to display customizable and responsive tweets. The content of these tweets is also crawlable by search engines. The source of the feed can be any user or a specific hashtag.

      WP to Twitter

      The WP to Twitter plugin allows you to easily post tweets from WordPress to Twitter. You can also do a couple of other things with it, like displaying your recent tweets in the sidebar, etc.

      OnePress Social Locker

      The OnePress Social Locker WordPress plugin is simply a free version of the premium Social Locker plugin on CodeCanyon. It has limited features, but it should give you an idea of its capabilities.

      Tips for Using Twitter Widgets and Plugins

      There are a couple of things that you should be aware of when using these WordPress Twitter plugins on your website.

      1. Don't Fill Your Website With Twitter Feeds

      It may sound tempting to add Twitter feeds from different accounts and hashtags on your webpages because you get automatically generated content. However, don't overdo it. The feeds have to add some value to the website. If the visitors only wanted to see the Twitter feeds, they would just go to Twitter!

      2. Don't Put All Your Content Behind Social Lockers

      It is also important to not put all your content behind a social locker. Use it only when you have something unique and useful to offer. If every article on your website is behind a social locker, people will just start visiting your competition.

      3. Don't Use Too Many Social Sharing Buttons

      Unless you are focusing your marketing campaign exclusively on Twitter, you should not put the tweet, follow, mention, and other such buttons on every page. This, when combined with like and follow buttons from other networks, will become very distracting.

      Final Thoughts

      I hope that this article helped you find the perfect WordPress Twitter plugin for your website.

      This small list of plugins covers all the important things that you might want to do, like showing your Twitter feed on your website or giving users an easy way to share your content on Twitter.

      If you're looking for something that isn't covered in this article, make sure you check out some of the other best-selling WordPress social networking plugins and widgets on CodeCanyon.

      Which plugins do you use to increase your social media presence? Let us know in the comments below.

      ]]> 2020-04-09T13:52:51+00:00 //shineyrock.com/blog/read/12-best-contact-form-php-scripts-for-20201 https://shineyrock.com/blog/read/12-best-contact-form-php-scripts-for-20201#When:12:25:15Z Contact forms are a must-have for every website. They encourage your site visitors to engage with you, while potentially lowering the amount of spam you get. 

      For businesses, this engagement with visitors increases the chances of turning them into clients or customers and thus increasing revenue. 

      If you're looking for an easy and cost-effective contact form PHP script, read on!

      Why You Need a Form on Your Website

      Web forms contribute more than 60% of lead generation on a site, which means contact forms lead to higher conversions. Online forms also allow you as a business to collect data, which is crucial for any marketing success. 

      The good news is that forms are also easy to add to any website and can be customized to match your brand. Plus, they act as a security measure against spammers and bots.
      

      The Best Contact Form PHP Scripts on CodeCanyon in 2020
      

      CodeCanyon features over 200 Form PHP Scripts that you can purchase today. Below are some of the popular and best-selling PHP form scripts in the CodeCanyon library.

      Some of the features you are guaranteed to get from these PHP contact form scripts include:
      

      • multiple file upload
      • ability to design any form
      • beautiful pre-designed templates
      • notifications
      • Ajax-enabled submission and validation
      • CAPTCHA options such as Google reCAPTCHA, Honeypot, etc.
      • auto-emailing
      • responsive design
      • form validation

      12 Best Contact Form PHP Scripts at CodeCanyon

      1. Quform: Responsive AJAX Contact Form

      Quform is a versatile AJAX contact form that can be adapted to be a registration form, quote form, or any other form needed. It even has the option to save data to a database.

      Best features:

      • three ready-to-use themes with six variations
      • ability to integrate into your theme design
      • ability to create complex form layouts
      • file uploads supported
      • and more

      With tons of other customizations available, Quform: Responsive AJAX Contact Form is bound to keep the most discerning user happy.  

      2. PHP Form Builder

      A CodeCanyon top seller, PHP Form Builder includes the jQuery live validation plugin. It enables you to build any form and connect a database to insert, update, or delete records. It also allows you to send your emails using customizable HTML/CSS templates.

      Best features:

      • over 50 pre-built templates included
      • highly customizable layout
      • accepts any HTML5 form elements
      • default options ready for Bootstrap 4
      • email sending with advanced options
      • Material Design and Foundation forms
      • and more

      With loads of options for creating a variety of elegant contact forms and extensive documentation to help you on your way, PHP Form Builder is a top choice for PHP site owners.

      3. Easy Forms: Advanced Form Builder and Manager

      Easy Forms features an advanced drag-and-drop PHP form builder that lets you design and develop forms quickly without any coding or programming skills. It also features amazing themes and templates and the ability to send instant notifications. Easy Forms also includes a form analytics dashboard where you get to see an overview of form statistics, including conversions.

      Other features include:

      • multi-language support
      • double opt-in for users
      • password protected forms
      • ability to export data
      • submission reports
      • advanced field validation
      • auto-responder and email notifications

      4. Just Forms Full Version

      Just Forms is a PHP framework that helps you create any form quickly and painlessly, without any programming knowledge. It features 120+ fully-functional forms, which you can build on to create your form. It has advanced features like the ability to save form data to a PDF and even create order forms with calculations.
      

      Other features include:

      • fully responsive
      • social icons and buttons
      • 120+ AJAX PHP forms with client-side and server-side validation
      • 100+ ready-to-use templates
      • ability to export data to a CSV file and PDF document
      • ability to save data to a database 
      • PHP CAPTCHA
      • protection against XSS, CSRF, and SQL injection attacks
      • jQuery enhancements such as date picker, date and time picker, color picker, numeric stepper, sliders, and many more

      5. Ultimate PHP, HTML5 and AJAX Contact Form

      The Ultimate PHP form script lets you create an AJAX-based contact form with built-in Google reCAPTCHA to protect against spam robots. It also lets you create both custom and mandatory fields, as well as adding multiple validations on custom fields. This system also supports file uploads for formats such as PNG, MS Word, and others.

      Some of its best features include:

      • easy to install and mobile-friendly
      • SMTP authentication for user verification
      • custom thank you messages
      • AJAX-enabled (no page reloads for validation)
      • CSS animations 
      • cross-site scripting (XSS) attack prevention

      6. ContactMe: Responsive AJAX Contact Form

      ContactMe is another bestseller that is extremely customizable and allows site owners to create different versions of contact forms to fit their needs. Besides, it is fully responsive and mobile-friendly. If you're looking for some inspiration, it features 28 combinations of ready-to-use forms and seven concrete examples to spark your creativity. 

      This is a script to consider for your next project.

      Best features:

      • beautiful themes
      • easy to install
      • no database required
      • file attachment supported
      • secure
      • ability to set different language messages for each form

      7. Zigaform PHP Form Builder: Contact and Survey

      If you're looking for a universal PHP form builder, Zigaform is the right script for the job. It can be integrated with Joomla, Magento, PrestaShop, and any other PHP website. It lets you organize your form elements with a grid system and even enables you to assign conditional logic to your forms. When it comes to customizations, you are spoilt for choice as Zigaform comes with 42+ elements, over 650 fonts, and 769+ font icons, ensuring your forms are as attractive as you need them to be.

      Other features include:

      • ability to filter and search submitted data
      • graphic charts of submitted data
      • notification email for users 
      • file upload support
      • export form data to CSV and PDF 
      • AJAX powered
      • spam protection

      Zigaform is the perfect script to create a contact form for any website.

      8. Universal Form Builder

      Universal Form Builder is easy to use and can be integrated into any website, including Joomla, Magento, OpenCart, and so on. It is the perfect script to build your forms in seconds with the aid of a drag-and-drop system. It also lets you change the appearance of any element, thus ensuring your forms are consistent with your website theme.

      Main features include:

      • multi-language support 
      • fully responsive design
      • full skin customizer
      • background images
      • live preview during customizing
        
      • support for all browsers, including older versions of Internet Explorer
      • form and visit statistics

      9. Multi-Purpose Form Generator

      Just like the name suggests, Multi-Purpose Form Generator is an advanced web application that provides an easy drag-and-drop interface to build simple or complex forms in seconds. It also includes the ability to integrate your forms with Google reCAPTCHA to prevent spam submissions and bots.

      Other features include:

      • ability to export form data
      • customizations according to your needs
      • Ajax-enabled forms
      • 5+ different types of validation support
      • file upload support
      • preview forms before publishing
      • fully responsive

      10. Multi-Step Form

      The Multi-Step Form responsive PHP form script is suited for any business or organization. It is the perfect form to ensure that your visitors or clients will submit their quotes and also get valuable information regarding your business. Multi-Step Form uses PHP, jQuery, and Ajax, so no page reload will occur between steps. It also has the option of capturing the IP of the user and includes an anti-spam check.
      

      Main features:

      • no database required
      • attractive design
      • popup alert for validation errors
      • file attachment support
      • calendar date picker
      • security guaranteed
      • multi-language support

      11. KONTAKTO: AJAX Contact Form with Styled Map

      KONTAKTO has only been around for a few years, but has already won a name for itself as one of the top-rated scripts in this category. The standout feature of this beautifully designed contact form is the stylish map with location pin that comes integrated into the form.

      Best features:

      • required field validation
      • anti-spam with simple CAPTCHA math
      • defaults to PHP mail but an SMTP option is available
      • repeat submission prevention
      • and more

      Simple yet stylish, the KONTAKTO: AJAX Contact Form With Styled Map can be easily integrated with your HTML or PHP page and will be a fast favorite with many PHP site owners.

      12. ContactPLUS+ PHP Contact Form

      ContactPlus+ is another clean and simple contact form. It comes in three styles: a blank slate, unstyled version that you can build to suit your taste, a normal form with just the essential information needed on a contact form, and a longer form to accommodate an address.

      Best features:

      • CAPTCHA verification
      • successful submission message
      • two styled and one unstyled version
      • and more

      If you’re looking for a clean and simple contact form that will integrate easily on your PHP website, ContactPLUS+ PHP Contact Form is the one for you.

      The Best PHP Scripts on CodeCanyon

      Explore thousands of the best and most useful PHP scripts ever created on CodeCanyon. With a low-cost one-time payment, you can purchase one of these high-quality PHP scripts and improve your website experience for you and your visitors.

      Here are a few of the best-selling and up-and-coming PHP scripts available on CodeCanyon for 2020.

      • PHP
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      • PHP
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      ]]> 2020-03-05T12:25:15+00:00 //shineyrock.com/blog/read/using-bootstrap-to-create-material-design-web-apps https://shineyrock.com/blog/read/using-bootstrap-to-create-material-design-web-apps#When:15:24:11Z 2019-11-28T15:24:11+00:00 //shineyrock.com/blog/read/20_popular_wordpress_user_interface_elements https://shineyrock.com/blog/read/20_popular_wordpress_user_interface_elements#When:14:05:02Z User interface elements are one of the most important elements of your website's design. They help your users understand what your website is about and provide a way for them to interact with it. 

      Add a high-quality user interface plugin to your WordPress website from CodeCanyon to give your users an enjoyable website experience. 
      

      Your user interface can make or break your website. Even if you have a great layout, colors, and content, a poor user interface will ultimately drive away your visitors, and your business will suffer. By taking advantage of the plugins available on CodeCanyon, you will be able to implement professionally built user interface elements to your website quickly and easily. 

      The Best WordPress User Interface Plugins on CodeCanyon
      

      Browse through over 7,000 of the highest-quality WordPress plugins ever created on CodeCanyon. With a low-cost one-time payment, you can purchase these high-quality WordPress plugins and improve your website experience for you and your visitors. 
      

      Here are some of the weekly best-selling user interface WordPress plugins on CodeCanyon for 2020.

      In today's digital world, website users are accustomed to seeing and interacting with modern user interfaces. The feature-rich user interface plugins that are offered in CodeCanyon will help you to create a visually appealing and fully functional website. 
      

      With the premium plugins offered on CodeCanyon, you will be able to:

      • create nested menus
      • add customizable popups
      • create eye-catching timelines
      • showcase your media through sliders and carousels 

      Head on over to CodeCanyon and find the right user interface plugin now!

      Top 20 WordPress User Interface Plugins (From CodeCanyon for 2020)

      1. Responsive FlipBook Plugin

      Deliver web content within a beautiful UI with this incredible WordPress plugin.

      At first glance, the Responsive FlipBook Plugin looks like a nice way to display content with its cool bookshelf design. But it's so much more.

      “Create any FlipBook with ease. Comes with: bookshelf, zoom, print, PDF to FlipBook, table of content, hard covers, flat design, custom styles, lazy load.”

      Features include:

      • mobile zoom
      • PDF wizard
      • easy print
      • lazy load
      • and more!

      Create and present a complete collection of online eBooks with the Responsive FlipBook Plugin. It's pretty amazing.

      2. Content Timeline - Responsive WordPress Plugin

      This WordPress user interface is unique, and I love it! The Content Timeline plugin is the perfect solution for a large array of content presentation types.

      Included features:

      • fully responsive with swipe function
      • 7 embedded script control methods
      • 11 settings for easy customization
      • keyboard bindings
      • and more!

      Your timeline doesn't have to be a single string, either. This plugin allows for more than one element per spot in your timeline.

      The Content Timeline plugin is unique, beautifully designed, and the perfect WordPress user interface for presenting in a timeline format.

      3. UberChart—WordPress Chart Plugin

      If you want to share data visually, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better way to build and present it than the UberChart plugin.

      It's highly customizable and ready to drop into your WordPress install.

      “UberChart is an advanced WordPress Chart Plugin which gives you the ability to create a great variety of charts with exceptional customizability.”

      Its feature set includes:

      • 240 customizable options for each chart
      • embedded spreadsheet editor
      • import and export data
      • fully responsive

      And it includes ten different chart types:
      

      1. Line
      2. Area
      3. Bar
      4. Horizontal Bar
      5. Pie
      6. Doughnut
      7. Radar
      8. Polar Area
      9. Scatter
      10. Bubble

      UberChart—WordPress Chart Plugin is impressive.
      

      4. Slider Pro

      Slider Pro was built with user experience in mind. This plugin is a fully responsive and touch-enabled WordPress slider plugin that allows you to create professional and elegant sliders. Slider Pro focuses on simplicity and performance, while still providing a wide range of customization possibilities.

      Here are a few of the plugin's features:

      • animated layers
      • carousel layout
      • infinite scrolling
      • SEO friendly

      Check out the live preview of Slider Pro.

      5. Progress Map WordPress Plugin

      The Progress Map WordPress Plugin is feature-rich. I most certainly can't do it justice with this short summary. The vision behind this WordPress user interface plugin is this:

      “The aim is to help users having websites like hotel listings, real estate listings, restaurant listings, job listings, store listings & more… to list their locations on Google map and to easily navigate through the map using a carousel.”

      And it delivers:

      • search filter and distance search
      • Custom Post Type support
      • custom markers
        
      • 70+ map styles
      • geo-targeting
        
      • retina ready
      • and much, much more

      Progress Map WordPress Plugin is easily one of the most robust map plugins you're going to find. 

      This plugin is all over the map.

      6. Slider Revolution Responsive WordPress Plugin

      When you need a slider—especially if you want an easy way to build it—you have to consider the Slider Revolution Responsive WordPress Plugin.

      Animations, color pickers, layers—it's got them all baked in.

      Slide types include:

      • social media feeds
        
      • media galleries
      • hero blocks
      • carousels
      • sliders
      • and more

      The number one feature that makes this slider appealing is the powerful visual editor. Sliders are sliders, but the Slider Revolution Responsive WordPress Plugin brings a complete, robust slide designer suite.
      

      7. Slick Menu—Responsive WordPress Vertical Menu

      Slick. Responsive. Vertical. Menu.

      The Slick Menu is exactly that, with a little extra on the side.

      “Slick Menu is more than just a menu plugin. It can be used to create unlimited multi level push menus or content sidebars with rich content, multiple style options and animation effects.”

      Customize your:

      • background colors
      • custom fonts
      • patterns
      • overlays
      • images
        
      • videos
      • and more

      Each level is independently customizable, making it super easy to build great WordPress user interfaces without expensive design apps or code knowledge. 

      Slick Menu—Responsive WordPress Vertical Menu is an awesome option for vertical menus and more!
      

      8. Cool Timeline Pro—WordPress Timeline Plugin

      Add a timeline to blog posts, organization history pages, and more with the Cool Timeline Pro plugin. Create both horizontal and vertical timelines with its built-in designs and beautiful animation effects.

      Features include:

      • convert any post type into a timeline
      • pagination for long timelines
      • create multiple timelines
      • add icons
        
      • and more

      Simple, clean, and flexible.

      The Cool Timeline Pro—WordPress Timeline Plugin is a great way to build a timeline from your current content or to create a new, standalone timeline to help communicate to your reader.
      

      9. LoftLoader Pro—Preloader Plugin for WordPress

      Sometimes you need more time for something to load. Videos? Lots of HD images?

      Easily add a loading animation to your pages with the LoftLoader Pro Preloader Plugin for WordPress.

      It's pretty fancy.

      Features include:

      • adjust minimum load time
      • 18 CSS3 animations
      • works on all devices
      • built-in editor
        
      • and more

      The LoftLoader Pro plugin makes it easy to add an animated loading screen—no coding required.
      

      10. Superfly—Responsive WordPress Menu Plugin

      Replace your current WordPress menu or enhance it with the Superfly responsive menu plugin. This plugin is power packed and easy to use.

      “Superfly is a responsive WordPress menu plugin that generates space efficient vertical push/sliding/static navigation, icon toolbar or fullscreen menu on your choice.”

      Menu design options include:

      • side, skewed, and fullscreen menus
      • image backgrounds
      • static or anchored
      • icon bar
      • and more

      The Superfly—Responsive WordPress Menu Plugin also includes display options, making it super easy to build the right menu for the right user interface.

      11. Ultra WordPress Admin Theme

      There's customizing the WordPress Admin. And then there's the Ultra WordPress Admin Theme.

      This WordPress user interface takes Admin customizations to a whole new level.

      White label branding is just the start of it:

      • admin menu management
      • create your own theme
      • import/export settings
      • and much, much more

      From the login screen to the top admin bar, the Ultra WordPress Admin Theme makes the entire WordPress Admin experience fully customizable.

      12. Different Menu in Different Pages

      If you need different menus in different pages, you'll want to use Different Menu in Different Pages.

      It also supports bbPress, WPML, WooCommerce, and BuddyPress.

      Easily create multiple menus and locations based on:

      • custom taxonomies
        
      • categories
      • pages
      • posts
      • and tags

      It also includes a shortcode option to show your menu within content as well.

      The Different Menu in Different Pages plugin is lightweight and proves useful in any WordPress toolbox.
      

      13. Popup Plugin for WordPress - Layered Popups

      As much as I hate popups, sometimes you just need a popup. The Popup Plugin for WordPress is the easiest way to build and display popups on your WordPress site.

      “[The] internet is full of boring popups. So, it’s a time to break this trend.”

      Features included, but certainly not limited to:

      • jQuery and CSS3 animations
      • social network integration
      • A/B campaign stats
      • 200+ popup library
      • mobile friendly
        
      • and much, much more

      Popup types include:

      • onLoad popup
      • onScroll popup
      • onClick popup
      • onExit popup
      • onIdle popup

      And also features:

      • sidebar widget
      • link locker
      • inline form
      • and more

      The Popup Plugin for WordPress—Layered Popups is a robust solution that looks great to users and proves useful for admins.
      

      14. The Team Pro—Team Showcase WordPress Plugin

      The Team Pro team showcase WordPress plugin claims to be “the most versatile WordPress plugin available to create and manage your Team page.”

      I think they're right.

      Style options include:

      • slide-ins
        
      • drawer
      • circles
      • modal
      • table
      • cards
      • grid
      • list

      With these 8 presets, over 20 style options, and clean designs, your team never looked so good with The Team Pro—Team Showcase WordPress Plugin.

      15. UberMenu—WordPress Mega Menu Plugin

      This is a WordPress user interface element that I really like but can be difficult to implement.

      But it's easy with the UberMenu WordPress mega menu plugin!

      Your WordPress menu will never be the same again:

      • enhanced mobile experience
      • easily add images and icons
      • build beautiful menu layouts
      • columns, rows, maps, forms, and more

      Tabbed submenus? Google Fonts? Vertical or horizontal? UberMenu—WordPress Mega Menu Plugin has it.

      16. Accordion Slider

      Accordion Slider is a full-featured and touch-enabled accordion slider plugin. It offers a modern, intuitive, and engaging user experience. The accordion will look great on any website!

      Here is a list of this plugin's top features:

      • pagination
      • animated layers
      • caching
      • keyboard and mouse navigation
      • lazy loading

      Find out how this plugin will look on your website by viewing the live preview.

      17. Alter 2

      This plugin is a bit different than all the other user interface plugins as it allows you to customize your WP dashboard instead of the front end of your website. This plugin can help you create a more visually appealing and clutter-free dashboard that will help you be more productive. Give the old WP dashboard interface an upgrade with this handy plugin!

      Take a look at the Alter 2 demo video to see how you can transform the back-end of your website. 

      18. Team Builder
      

      Team Builder allows you to build a team showcase and display it on your website. Not only can you create a creative and eye-catching team page, but you can also create testimonials or logo showcases. 
      

      Here are a few notable features of this plugin:

      • grid, slider, table, and widget support
      • drag and drop builder
      • skill and stat bars
      • social icons bar

      Add this plugin to your website today!

      19. Testimonials Showcase—WordPress Plugin

      Display and manage your client, customer, and supporter testimonials easily with the Testimonials Showcase WordPress plugin.

      Testimonials never looked so good.

      Features include:

      • over 15 layout customization options
      • grid or slider layout
      • star rating system
      • and more

      The Testimonials Showcase—WordPress Plugin also includes front-end submissions.

      20. WP Logo Showcase Responsive Slider Pro

      It's time to amp up your portfolio page. It's time for WP Logo Showcase Responsive Slider Pro.

      This WordPress plugin is designed to showcase a designer's work, but it can also be used to display client and partner logos or anything else that fits within this type of user interface.

      This responsive slider features:

      • includes both a slider and a grid widget
      • tooltip and custom animation options
      • over 15 predefined designs
      • drag and drop admin
      • and more

      Some sliders try to offer everything, while the WP Logo Showcase Responsive Slider Pro focuses on one particular niche and style of slider and nails it perfectly.

      5 Free WordPress User Interface Plugins for Download in 2020

      By purchasing a premium user interface plugin, you will receive the best plugins on the market. The premium plugins will contain more features and come with customer support. If you are serious about giving your users the best possible website experience, these premium plugins should be your first choice. 
      

      However, your current budget could restrict you from purchasing one of these premium user interface plugins. That is why I have collected a list of five of the best free WordPress user interface plugins available.

      1. Google Map

      This simple and lightweight plugin will help you display Google maps on your website. The map is fully responsive, customizable, and won't display any ads. This is a go-to plugin if you need to display maps on your website. 

      2. NextGEN Gallery

      NextGEN Gallery is a simple, easy-to-use photo gallery plugin that can display your images beautifully on your website. Included is a complete management system with the ability to batch upload photos, import metadata, edit thumbnails, and group galleries into albums.
      

      3. SlickNav Mobile Menu

      The menus on your website are the gateway to your website's content. If your menus aren't configured for mobile users, then you are not catering to a large part of your website's traffic. The SlickNav Mobile Menu will allow you to create a menu that works perfectly for mobile users. 

      4. eDS Responsive Menu

      eDS Responsive Menu allows you to easily and intuitively create a slick and professional WordPress menu. You can generate vertical and horizontal navigation, an icon toolbar, or a fullscreen menu. This makes navigation much more user-friendly. Give this powerful plugin a try on your WordPress website!

      5. Poptin

      This free plugin is a high-quality exit-intent popup builder and lead generation platform for your website. You can create beautiful popups, opt-ins, and forms within minutes! Grow your audience with this complete tool. 

      How to Add a Popup to Your Website With Layered Popups

      Popups are an integral part of any website. They are a great tool to use to generate sales and collect email addresses without being intrusive and while fitting into the design of the website. These popups help shape a user interface that your visitors will be accustomed to and receptive to.

      In our example, we are going to be the owners of a clothing eCommerce store that is looking to let our visitors know that there is a sale on one of our shirts to help with our sales. We will create a center screen popup that will appear on our entire website so users can quickly spot this sale and take action on it.

      Once you have installed the Layered Popups plugin, head on over to WP Dashboard > Layered Popups > Create Popup. This will take us to the main popup editor, where we can begin the popup creation process. We will first type in "Shirt Popup" in the title editor.  Next, we will adjust the position of the popup to be in the center so the user is sure to see the sale ad. 

      Next, we will create the actual popup. Scroll down to the Popup Constructor section and click on the +Add Layer widget on the right-hand side of the screen. You will then be presented with a menu of options to choose from, and we will select the Image tab. We have a specific graphic that was created for this particular sale, so we will add that from our media library by clicking the Media Library button.

      Once our image is added, we will add a URL to the popup so the user will be redirected to the product page of the shirt we have for sale. We will enter the product URL in the URL field in the Image editor. Finally, click the Create Layer button at the bottom of the editor. Our popup is now ready to go. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the Save Popup Details button.

      Next, we need to activate the popup on our entire website. Navigate to WP Dashboard > Layered Popups > Targeting. Click the Create link in the Active Targets field. The edit target editor will now be displayed, and we will select Shirt Popup from the drop-down menu called Desktop. This will activate the plugin on the entire website. Scroll down to the bottom of the menu and click the Save Target button.
      

      That's it! Our popup sale ad will now be displayed on the entire website!
      

      Install a User Interface WordPress Plugin Now! 
      

      Whether you are running an eCommerce website or a blog, you will need to have a user-friendly user interface that gives your website viewers a modern website browsing experience. CodeCanyon offers the most complete user interface element plugins on the web to help give your website the best tools available to succeed.

      You can integrate advanced menus, sliders, timelines, graphs, and much more from all of the premium plugins available on CodeCanyon.

      Remember to browse through the thousands of other high-quality WordPress plugins on CodeCanyon that can help take your website to the next level. This massive collection contains all types of plugins, including advertising, newsletter, eCommerce, and social network plugins.
      

      Find the perfect WordPress plugin to give your website and business the best chance to succeed. 

      Here are a few of the best-selling and up-and-coming WordPress themes and plugins available for 2020.

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      ]]> 2020-02-25T14:05:02+00:00 //shineyrock.com/blog/read/10_best_wordpress_star_rating_plugins https://shineyrock.com/blog/read/10_best_wordpress_star_rating_plugins#When:13:27:10Z Star ratings are used by websites to review all kinds of products and services. You can use them to rate pretty much anything your users are interested in: a movie, the food in a restaurant, the quality of service provided by a mechanic, etc.

      One of the reasons star ratings are so popular is that they allow users to quickly determine the quality of a product or service based on the experience of people who have used it.

      It is also very common to find businesses asking people to rate their services or products. This is because people are more likely to buy something if they see real reviews from other people who have actually used it.

      If your website sells something, it is a good idea to include a star rating system somewhere so that your customers can review your products.

      In this post, I'll list the ten best WordPress star rating plugins that you can use today.

      WordPress Star Rating Plugins on CodeCanyon

      There are currently about 75 premium WordPress star rating plugins available on CodeCanyon. All of them serve some unique purpose, like adding a star rating field to different forms or allowing users to review a product or service on your website.

      The price for some of these star rating plugins starts from as low as $7. The fact that you get free lifetime updates and six months of free support makes buying them a very good deal.

      Best Star Rating Plugins on CodeCanyon

      Here is a brief review of the best star rating plugins that you can buy on CodeCanyon:

      Stellar—Star Rating Plugin for WordPress

      Stellar is a simple star rating plugin for WordPress that gives you the option to create and save ratings for each WordPress entry like a post, page, or product.

      The review microdata is also visible in search results, so you will get a boost in visibility. It is fully compatible with all popular WordPress themes.

      It comes with a lot of customization options. You can easily change the color, size, and shape of icons that are used to display the rating to users. The rating assigned to each post or page is also visible on the search page.

      The plugin has cross-browser compatibility and does not rely on jQuery to work properly.

      Testimonials Showcase WordPress Plugin

      This plugin gives you an easy way to display testimonials, reviews, and quotes from users in an attractive layout.

      It is ideal for situations where you have to display testimonials from your clients and customers. You can also use it to display reviews for different products on your website.

      It is very flexible in terms of customization options and offers a responsive design. It's compatible with rich snippets and structured data used by search engines to display reviews and ratings in search results.

      The reviews and testimonials can be showcased on the front-end either as a grid or as a slider. Each of these layouts comes with its own settings to control the look and feel of the reviews.

      There are five different themes that you can use with this plugin: rounded speech bubbles, flat speech bubbles, flat card box, quote marks, or simple separator.

      BNE Testimonials Pro

      You can use the WordPress BNE Testimonials Pro plugin to display testimonials and reviews anywhere on your website.

      The testimonials and reviews are made up of multiple elements like a featured image of the person or company writing the review, the actual review content, and additional fields for the name, website link, and the rating from the reviewer.

      The plugin offers a large variety of customization and layout options for the reviews. You can choose from four different layouts: list, slider, thumbnail slider, and masonry grid. There are also four different themes: simple, default, bubbles, and cards.

      The star ratings incorporate Schema.org tags to make sure that the rich snippets for the review are visible in search results.

      One big advantage of using this plugin is that it offers the ability to import reviews from other platforms like Facebook, Google, and Yelp. So, if your users have written any reviews about your business on Facebook, they will be automatically pulled and added to your own website.

      Gravity Forms Star Rating Field

      This Gravity Forms Star Rating Field plugin allows you to add star rating fields to all your Gravity Forms.

      You can choose from 14 different styles for the star rating field. There are also some other customization options like showing the current rating value on hover or click and showing some custom rating text in tooltips. Customize the rating label and the value saved in the database.

      Contact Form 7 Star Rating Field

      This Contact Form 7 Star Rating Field plugin offers the same functionality provided by the previous plugin. However, it has been developed for Contact Form 7.

      This lets you add star rating fields to any of your Contact Form 7 forms. There are 12 different customization options available.

      It works with all versions of the Contact Form 7 plugin, and you can also make the rating field required for form submission. The plugin also allows you to set a default rating value for the field.

      One more feature that you will find useful is the ability to include rating results in an email using a shortcode.

      Rating Form

      This is one of the best WordPress star rating plugins on CodeCanyon. It is highly rated and receives updates at regular intervals. Each update also adds a lot of new features to the plugin.

      It comes with a long list of features. For example, the plugin works perfectly with right-to-left (RTL) languages and cache plugins. You can also edit previously submitted ratings, allowing people to change their reviews at a later date.

      The ratings are updated using AJAX, and a nice spinning animation is shown while the plugin updates the rating in the database. The results are immediately visible on the webpage once a user submits the ratings.

      You can choose from different rating images provided by the plugin or upload your own custom images. You can add star ratings to any post or webpage using shortcodes. It is also possible to use the ratings with comments by using the comment_id attribute in shortcodes.

      AP Custom Testimonial Pro

      The AP Custom Testimonial Pro plugin also allows you to showcase reviews and testimonials from your clients and customers on your website.

      This plugin offers a lot of options for displaying the testimonials on the site. You can also create your own custom layout to showcase the testimonials based on some predefined templates.

      The plugin comes with 12 different layouts to display the user reviews. It also offers some other unique features like embedding videos in the testimonials or only displaying certain user reviews based on their ID. You can also optionally add links to the social media accounts of clients who write a review.

      The plugin gives you granular control over all aspects of the review. This includes things like the image border color, review title color, review content color, etc.

      The shortcode generator that comes with this plugin makes it incredibly easy for you to create custom shortcodes to display the testimonials exactly the way you want.
      

      Free WordPress Star Rating Plugins

      Before listing some free WordPress star rating plugins, I would like to mention that using premium plugins comes with its own advantages.

      The premium plugin developers are more likely to provide regular updates and solve any issues that you might be facing with the use of these plugins. This is especially true for the best-sellers on CodeCanyon.

      Also, the premium plugins generally offer a more polished design to give your website a professional look.

      But sometimes a free plugin is the right choice for a limited budget—I've pulled together a few of these free plugins below.

      Rate My Post—WP Post Rating

      People who are only looking for a WordPress star rating plugin so that they can allow users to rate their posts and pages should consider using the Rate My Post WordPress plugin. It will allow you to easily add ratings to all your posts and pages using shortcodes.

      Site Reviews

      This plugin is more suited for people who want to allow users to provide reviews in a manner similar to websites like TripAdvisor or Yelp. It comes with a nice set of features that you can see on the plugin description page.

      Yasr—Yet Another Stars Rating

      This plugin comes with two different types of ratings. The first type is provided by the post author. This is ideal for websites that publish reviews of different products and services. The second type gives your visitors the ability to vote.

      Best Practices to Keep in Mind When Using Star Rating Plugins

      The ultimate goal of using these star rating plugins is to help your website visitors. So here are some guidelines that you can follow to use them in a way that benefits the visitors. 
      

      1. Place Ratings Only in Important Places

      If you are reviewing a product or service for your visitors, make sure that you don't place the same ratings in ten different places. If you are writing a detailed review of the product, it is acceptable to provide different ratings for different aspects like the design, quality, pricing, etc. However, don't use the same overall 8/10 rating in six different places in a post.
      

      2. Use Rich Snippet Data With the Correct Attributes

      Search engines usually display star ratings in their search results only when they think that it will provide some useful information. For example, let's say you use rich snippets that display star ratings for products but use attributes that indicate that the rating is for posts. In such cases, the search engines might not show the ratings in their search results at all. So make sure that the rich snippet data to show the ratings has the correct attributes.
      

      Final Thoughts

      In this post, we have briefly reviewed both free and premium WordPress star rating plugins that you can add to your website. The aim of the post was to include the best WordPress star rating plugins for certain tasks like user testimonials, form fields, and product reviews.

      The Best WordPress Plugins on CodeCanyon

      If you are looking for a WordPress plugin for any use, take a look at the premium WordPress plugins on CodeCanyon. Hopefully, one of the plugins listed there will meet all your needs.

      Here are a few of the best-selling and hot new WordPress plugins available on CodeCanyon for 2020.

      • WordPress
        22 Best WPBakery Page Builder (Visual Composer) Addons & Plugins of 2020
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      • WordPress
        17 Best WordPress Slider & Carousel Plugins of 2020
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      • WordPress Plugins
        25+ Best Popup & Opt-In WordPress Plugins
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      ]]> 2020-02-14T13:27:10+00:00 //shineyrock.com/blog/read/12-best-css-animations-on-codecanyon1 https://shineyrock.com/blog/read/12-best-css-animations-on-codecanyon1#When:12:52:01Z In the past few years, browsers have come a long way when it comes to supporting newer CSS properties that allow developers to create nice effects and animations using just pure CSS.

      There is a lot of browser support for using different transitions and keyframe animations in your projects now. You no longer have to rely on JavaScript libraries to add basic animations.

      Animating different elements on a webpage is now easier than ever. However, it can still be very confusing or daunting for absolute beginners. In this post, we will cover some of the best CSS animation libraries on CodeCanyon that you can use to add fancy CSS animation to your webpages today.

      CSS Animations and Effects on CodeCanyon

      If you head over to the CSS Animations and Effects section on CodeCanyon, you will see that there are currently over 140 different libraries related to CSS animations.

      New libraries are added periodically to the collection, and you can select one from the best-sellers or apply your own filters to fine-tune the results.

      There are libraries to animate all kinds of elements or apply different kinds of effects to elements like buttons.

      12 Best CSS Animations Libraries (On CodeCanyon for 2020)
      

      CSS3 Image Hover Effects
      

      The first one on our list is CSS3 Image Hover Effects. You can use it to add around 17 different kinds of image hover animations.

      This includes basic effects like fading and sliding overlays as well as more advanced animations like splitting overlays and joining overlays. Other interesting effects include corner ribbons and image stacks.

      Visit the description page to find out more about the library. The video on the description page shows all the animations in action.

      SolidEffects—CSS3 Image Hover Effects

      The SolidEffects CSS3 animation library is perfect for people who want to add truly unique image hover animations to their websites.

      There are over 150 pure CSS-based animation effects that look fantastic. They will definitely help you grab the attention of your visitors.

      The image hover effects generally fall under the following categories:

      • image integration effects (horizontal and vertical)
      • image dispersion effects
      • Venetian blinds effects
      • slide and sweep effects
      • fold effects
      • zoom effects
      • blur, saturate and mosaic effects 
        

      Each of these animation categories includes multiple animation effects that animate the overlay with different speeds in directions.

      The customization is really easy because the downloaded product includes LESS files to help you quickly change different aspects of the animation like the overlay color.

      CSS3 Image—Text Hover Effects

      The CSS3 Image—Text Hover Effects library is ideal for people who want to use a combination of image hover effects with some text effects.

      There are eight standard background animations that you can use with 14 different text effects. You can also combine multiple animation effects to show them on a single hover.

      There is an option to choose between light and dark overlays for images to blend with your website theme.

      Images can be displayed in eight different types of boxes. This includes full-width images as well as image thumbnails.

      Make sure you check out the live preview on the description page to see all the nice animations in action.

      CSS3 Mega Tooltip Animation Pack

      This CSS3 Mega Tooltip Animation Pack offers a great solution for people who want to integrate nice animations with different tooltips on their website.

      The animation pack comes with ten different tooltip animations. There are eight predefined color options. However, you can change the CSS files to add your own unique colors.

      There is support for all major browsers. You can even support browsers as old as IE8 with a fix included in the download files after purchase.

      The download files also contain detailed documentation and HTML samples that illustrate how to use the animation pack effectively.

      tFigure—Image Captions

      The tFigure—Image Captions library offers five different hover animations to display image captions.

      You can use them to show nicely animated captions for different images. The overlays for each animation are available in four different colors.

      The animations themselves are pretty simple. However, the way in which the captions are laid out on the overlays makes them very attractive.

      These animations are framework independent, so you can install them on any website you want. They are also easily customizable, so you can make sure that the color scheme of the overlay matches the theme of your website.

      Check out the animation's live preview page to see the awesome image caption animation in action.

      Animated Loaders Kit

      There are a lot of times where users might have to wait a while for a process to complete. This might be a very large image that has to load or some other computation process that needs to complete.

      If the process takes a couple of seconds, it is a good practice to let users know that you are working on it. A good way to do that is with simple animated loaders.

      The Animated Loaders Kit is perfect for this situation. It comes with ten CSS-only animated loaders.

      There are many advantages of using these pure CSS-based animated loaders. They are easy to customize. It will change only a couple of minutes to change the color, font, and size of the loaders. You can also change the animation speed. They have a very small file size compared to using GIF files.

      The best way to appreciate how nice they are is to see the live preview on the description page.

      Image Hover Effects Collection

      This Image Hover Effects Collection kit was added fairly recently to CodeCanyon and comes with 20 different animation styles.

      They follow a responsive design philosophy and support all major browsers. So you can rest assured that any effects you use on your website will look good on all devices and all screen sizes.

      The animations are also fully customizable, and you can easily change the overlay and text colors for all animations to better align them with the overall theme of your own website.

      The code is well documented, so it will be easier to make changes whenever necessary. You should definitely check out the live preview to see how good these hover animations are.

      Dex Preloader Kit

      This Dex Preloader Kit also contains over 30 different preloaders that you can easily integrate in your projects.

      They are completely different in style from the Animated Loaders kit we covered above. For instance, these ones are created using a single background color. You can easily change this preloader color to the dominant color on your website.
      

      The animations are also different, and the preloaders use a variety of shapes like circles, squares, and lines to create the animation.

      You can also add a little bit of text under each preloader to let users know what is going on in the background.

      This kit was also added fairly recently to CodeCanyon and has a lot to offer for a very low price.

      Free CSS Animation Libraries for 2020

      Generally, you can expect these paid CSS animation libraries to have a lot of variety in the animations compared to free alternatives. They also come with free support for six months and lifetime updates.
      

      Many times, these premium libraries also support old browsers. However, this might not be the case with free animation libraries.

      It might be easier for anyone who is just starting out to simply use these paid libraries. However, if you don't have the budget to purchase these paid plugins, we have also listed some free alternatives below.

      Here are four free CSS animation libraries that you can use in your projects:

      imagehover.css

      This library gives you the option to add simple image hover animations from different directions. It comes with 40 different hover animations.

      SlipHover

      This is also a free image hover animation library. However, it only comes with basic sliding animations.

      The unique feature of this library is that the hover animations are aware of the cursor direction. So the overlay will appear to move in from the left side if the user hovers over the image from the left side.
      

      animate.css

      This animation library is not aimed at a specific use case like image hover animations or tooltips.

      It is simply a general-purpose library that you can use to animate different elements on a webpage. There are a bunch of classes that you can add to different elements to control the speed and delay of the animation.

      loaders.css

      This library consists of pure CSS-based loading animations. You can use them in your project if you are looking for some nice preloader animations.

      Additional Resources

      It can be hard to figure out where to start for an absolute beginner. We are listing some tutorials here which will make it easier for you to understand how CSS animations work and how you can start using them in your own projects.

      You should start by reading this tutorial that provides a beginner level introduction to CSS animation. After that, you should consider learning how to use CSS variables for animation.

      Using different pre-built CSS animation libraries is not hard at all. However, having a basic understanding of the concepts will go a long way when it comes to making changes to these animations or trying to create something of your own in future.

      You should also consider reading these two tutorials that teach you how to create your own CSS-based animations for scratch. The first tutorial is for basic hover effects, while the second one is a quick tip for page loading animations.

      • A Beginner’s Introduction to CSS Animation

        In this tutorial I am going to introduce you to CSS animations; a highly performant way of animating on the web which is becoming more and more popular as...

      • How to Use CSS Variables for Animation

        Not only are CSS variables a real and tangible option for developers, they can also be used in animation scenarios. Still skeptical? Follow along to find out...

      • How to Create 7 Different CSS Hover Effects From Scratch

        In today’s tutorial, we’re going to create 7 different CSS hover effects. We’ll learn loads along the way, including how to animate font icons, borders, and...

      • Enhance the Way a Web Page Loads With CSS Animations

        In a previous tutorial we created a full-screen responsive page with flexbox. Today, we’ll make this page more attractive by adding a few CSS animations to it.

      Final Thoughts

      Using a bit of animation for different elements on your website can make the content more interesting and engaging.

      Coming up with our own unique animations from scratch can take some time. So we listed some of the best free and premium CSS-based animation libraries that will help you get started in no time.

      
      

      New animations and effects are added all the time to CodeCanyon—you can choose one of the best-sellers or try something fresh and new.

      ]]> 2020-01-31T12:52:01+00:00 //shineyrock.com/blog/read/12-best-wordpress-booking-and-reservation-plugins1 https://shineyrock.com/blog/read/12-best-wordpress-booking-and-reservation-plugins1#When:12:46:21Z Are you looking for an automated booking or reservation plugin that saves you time as well as your customer's time? Are you tired of losing business to your competitors? Are you looking for a way to streamline your online appointments and bookings?
      

      Your website should make it easy for guests to view, reserve, and book available appointments. This is where WordPress booking and reservation plugins can help you meet your online business goals. 
      

      So whatever your business—from haircuts to hotels, and from health salons to consulting firms—WordPress booking and reservations plugins will help you extend what your business can do. 

      The Best WordPress Booking and Reservation Plugins

      CodeCanyon offers a huge variety of WordPress booking and reservation plugins you can download and install. 

      CodeCanyon offers a great collection of booking and reservation plugins to choose from. Some of the best features include:
      

      • easy customization and integration
      • translation-ready
      • ability to integrate with payment gateways like PayPal, Stripe, Square, or Mollie
        

      Think about this for a moment. You run a consumer-oriented website. You want your customers to book appointments on your site any time of day or night. You know that without this, you’re losing business. But how do you make your website capable of taking appointments? You need an appointment booking plugin, also known as a booking and reservation plugin.

      8 Best WordPress Booking and Reservation Plugins for 2020

      Bookly PRO

      Bookly Pro WordPress Booking Plugin is a full-featured plugin that's easy to install, getting you up and running in a matter of seconds. It's fully customizable and mobile-ready; thus, customers can book appointments on the go. This plugin comes with an easy scheduling process that walks the user from booking to payment in a few simple steps.
      

      The inclusion of SMS notifications, online payments, and Google Calendar sync sets it apart from many others.
      

      Other notable features of this plugin include:

      • compatibility with WooCommerce
      • multi-language support
      • unlimited number of staff members and services
      • integration with most payment systems
      • ability to allow or prevent caching of pages with booking form
        

      Bookme WordPress Booking Plugin

      The Bookme WordPress booking plugin is a multi-purpose booking plugin that can be used by all kinds of businesses, ranging from beauty salons and fitness centers to educational institutions and medical centers.
      

      As an admin, you can set up a wide range of services at different prices. Bookme also allows you to build custom fields depending on your requirements. Customers can pay with multiple payment systems such as Stripe or PayPal. If you require numerous booking types, Bookme is the right plugin for you. It offers:

      • default booking
      • group booking
      • consultant booking
      • add to cart booking
      • free booking
      • booking with WooCommerce

      Other notable features include:

      • WooCommerce integration
      • clients can book several appointments at once
      • integration with Google Calendar
      • SMS Notification via Twillio API

      Webba Booking Plugin

      As a service provider, saving time and money while at the same time offering convenient services to your customers is super important. Webba Booking Plugin is built with this in mind.
      

      First, it’s one of the best-looking WordPress booking and reservation plugins. Secondly, it’s a robust system that has a long list of features to help you customize the appearance of the system to express your unique vision and business identity. 

      Other features include:

      • make multiple reservations in the same session
      • 80+ options for customizations
        
      • make reservations of several people or services at the same time
      • secure online payments with platforms such as PayPal, Stripe, and WooCommerce
      • export CSVs
      • and more

      Booki—WordPress Booking Calendar

      Booki is the best plugin if you're looking to run both appointment-based and reservation-based bookings. Customers can see bookings in their time zone. It is also integrated with PayPal, has a shopping cart, and can issue discount coupons. It is also easy to integrate with Mailchimp.

      Other notable features of this plugin include:

      • You can specify the booking period with start and end dates as well as excluding specific days and time slots.
      • You can determine prices at the day, hour, or minute level.
        
      • The system can also adapt to allow single or multiple bookings depending on your project's needs.
        
      • Include costs as a list of checkboxes. 
      • It allows you to create an unlimited number of extra features that your customers can check out along with their booking.

      Team Booking 

      Use the power of Google Calendar for your bookings and reservations by using the Team Booking system for WordPress. All the availability planning is coordinated via Google Calendar! 
      

      1. Create “availability” events on Google Calendar.
         
      2. These events appear on the front-end as open slots for booking.
         
      3. When the slot is booked, the Google Calendar updates automatically.

      If you’re working as a team, you can let your coworkers plan their availability from their own Google Calendars.

      Other features include:

      • three levels of notification—to the customer, service provider, and admin
      • Google Calendar and Google Maps support 
      • translation-ready
      • approval and cancellation system for both provider and customers
      • customize reservation forms and email notifications

      HBook Hotel Booking System

      HBook is a powerful and versatile plugin that is ideally suited for anybody that owns a business in the hospitality industry: a hotel, B&B, holiday apartment, or campground. It will allow you to enable an online reservation on your WordPress website easily. It comes equipped with a customizable booking form with a drag-and-drop form builder that lets you choose what customer details you want to gather. Shortcode support allows you to add availability calendars, table rates, and booking forms anywhere on your website in seconds.
      

      It has an efficient booking management system with features that include:

      • calendar view to see your bookings at a glance
      • reservation list in a table to view details of all bookings, add comments, change accommodation, update remaining balance, or send emails
      • synchronize your bookings with websites such as Airbnb, HomeAway, VRBO, and Booking.com
        
      • export your bookings to CSV files
      • integration with multiple payment methods: Stripe, PayPal, Square, Cardlink, Mollie, and more 
      • invoices and document templates
        

      Amelia—Enterprise-Level Appointment Booking

      Like the other plugins in this list, Amelia lets your customers make appointments at any time of day and night. This plugin is easy to customize; hence you can build your appointment booking forms. What stands apart with this plugin is that you can keep your customers and employees notified and reminded of their appointments in real time with SMS notifications. 

      Some features include: 

      • supports multiple employees, each with their services and availability schedule
      • supports multiple business locations
      • step-by-step appointment wizard makes booking easy
      • options to upsell during appointment booking 
      • integration with WooCommerce, PayPal, and Stripe 
      • supports on-site payments so your customers can pay in cash when they arrive

      Events Calendar Registration and Booking

      Do you want to promote classes, seminars, workshops, conferences, or concerts on your WordPress website? Do you want to set ticket prices for your events, create recurring events, or even accept donations for your events? If so, the Events Calendar Registration and Booking plugin has got you covered. 

      With Events Calendar, you can easily create and manage your events online through the WordPress admin interface. Then, visitors will be able to register and pay online for those events via PayPal, Stripe, or Authorize.Net. It gives you a quick glimpse of the latest events created, letting you sort them by categories, view payments, and keep track of your attendees.

      Other essential features of this plugin include:

      • multilingual 
      • integrated with Google Maps
      • countdown timer
      • confirmation emails
      • shortcode support for calendars and single events

      Free Booking and Reservations Available for Download

      As much as premium plugins offer more benefits and more features, there are a couple of free plugins that can help you with your business if you are on a tight budget. If you are just starting, a free plugin can give you time to gain recognition and build your brand without committing to a premium solution. 

      Hotel Booking Lite

      Hotel Booking Lite is the perfect booking plugin for anybody in the hotel and accommodation space. It allows you to simplify the booking experience of your customers. It offers real-time search, custom pricing, multiple currencies, and other excellent features.

      Hotel Booking Lite also integrates seamlessly with most themes.

      Booking Calendar

      Booking Calendar is a flexible plugin for any business that operates on a booking basis. It is also fully responsive, so users on mobile, tablet, or desktop devices can book on the go. Booking Calendar also allows you to import .ics feeds from services that use that format, such as Airbnb and TripAdvisor.

      WP Simple Booking Calendar

      Simple Booking Calendar is the perfect plugin to show the availability of your properties or equipment. With the free version of this plugin, you can responsively feature available space and save time you would otherwise spend on manually communicating with customers.

      Sagenda

      Sagenda allows you to book appointments and meetings with your clients online. Sagenda allows an unlimited number of bookings or customers. It also integrates with the popular PayPal payment system to enable customers to pay for bookings.

      Tips for Choosing a Booking and Reservation Plugin

      An online booking is a must if you wish to succeed in business in this digital age. Here are some suggestions for choosing the right plugin:

      • Simplicity: a good plugin should be user-friendly and easy to customize
      • Budget: you should select a plugin that will not strain your operating costs or eat up profit margins
      • Support: you need to go with someone who will walk you through any issues that might arise, especially during the initial stages.
      • Features: you might not always get a plugin that meets every need. However, make a checklist of features you can't do without—such as payments, analytics, and reminders.

      Conclusion

      There are many different kinds of WordPress appointment, booking, and reservation plugins available today. Choosing the right one can be crucial to the smooth running of your business. You need to select a plugin that fits your requirements. While this list is in no way exhaustive, we’ve chosen plugins with a solid reputation. All these plugins are available on CodeCanyon.
      

      Free Course on Essential WordPress Plugins
      

      Looking for more premium and free WordPress plugins? Try our free course, which introduces you to the best WordPress plugins out there. Secure your site, make it run faster, optimise it for the search engines, and more.

      • FREE
        WordPress
        Essential WordPress Plugins
        Rachel McCollin

      And you can read more about WordPress event and booking calendars here on Envato Tuts+!

      • WordPress
        Guide to WordPress Event Calendar and Booking Plugins
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      • WordPress
        Show Course Schedules and Timetables With a WordPress Calendar Plugin
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      • WordPress Plugins
        Insert a Calendar Into WordPress With the Pro Event Calendar Plugin
        Daniel Strongin
      ]]> 2020-01-15T12:46:21+00:00 //shineyrock.com/blog/read/20-best-wordpress-calendar-plugins-and-widgets https://shineyrock.com/blog/read/20-best-wordpress-calendar-plugins-and-widgets#When:13:17:19Z Use high-quality WordPress calendar plugins and widgets for events, bookings, and appointments. These plugins are easy to set up and will help you meet all your calendar needs for your business. 

      By adding a premium calendar plugin or widget to your website, you can provide your customers and potential customers with important information about your business and even collect payments for bookings.  
      

      In this article, we will feature a selection of the best-selling calendar WordPress plugins and widgets from CodeCanyon. These premium calendar plugins and widgets are designed to give you complete control over the calendar creation process and help you set up a calendar or booking system that fits your particular business. We'll also cover some of the best free calendar plugins and widgets for you to download if you're on a tight budget. 

      The Best Calendar Plugins and Widgets on CodeCanyon
      

      Explore over 7,000 of the best WordPress plugins ever created on CodeCanyon. With a low-cost one time payment, you can purchase these high-quality WordPress plugins and improve your website experience for you and your visitors. 

      Here are a few of the weekly best-selling and up-and-coming calendar WordPress plugins and widgets available on CodeCanyon for 2020.

      These versatile calendar plugins and widgets allow you complete flexibility over the calendars and functionality of the calendars that you show your audience. Here a few of notable features of the calendar plugins and widgets offered:
      

      • create custom events, classes, bookings, and meetings
      • appearance editor
      • filterable, sortable, and searchable booking list
        
      • Google Calendar integrations
      • WooCommerce integration

      If you need to implement any type of calendar, booking, or scheduling into your WordPress website, then head on over to CodeCanyon and choose from the premium plugins available. 

      Top 20 WordPress Calendar Plugins and Widgets (From CodeCanyon for 2020)
      

      Here are 20 of the best-selling WordPress form plugins that are available for you to download on CodeCanyon:

      1. EventOn

      EventOn is a multipurpose WordPress event calendar plugin that gives you all the things you need in a calendar. 

      It has a clean, minimal design, and you'll be up and running quickly and easily.

      Major features include:

      • set unlimited images for an event
        
      • Google Maps integration
      • calendar widgets and shortcode generator
      • event categories with custom color assignments
      • social share

      Not only can you customize each event with images, maps, icons, colors, and more, but you can also configure your calendar to search and sort in several different ways.

      EventOn is a nice, easy-to-use event calendar plugin that also offers a unique slider addon. 

      2. Bookly

      You can book and schedule just about anything with this WordPress plugin.

      Bookly is an incredible appointment booking system that blurs the line between a WordPress website and a web application. It is well designed, fully responsive, and even supports gestures.

      You'll also find:

      • a form builder
        
      • Google Calendar sync
        
      • WooCommerce integration
      • SMS and email notifications
        
      • several online payment gateways
      • and a whole lot more

      This plugin allows customers to book and cancel appointments, update personal information, and send payments.
      

      There's also the ability to create schedules for each staff member—you can even block out holidays.
      

      Bookly's customization options and useful features make it more than just a way to serve customers well—it also helps the website owner keep track of staff and appointments at the same time.
      

      3. Amelia

      Amelia is a simple and powerful plugin for accepting online appointments and bookings. It features a good range of elements and components that make it easy to create beautiful layouts, even when you have no coding experience.

      Amelia also allows for Google Calendar synchronization. It is the perfect plugin for gyms, spas, law consultants, fitness experts, etc.

      Other key features of this plugin include:
      

      • powerful admin dashboard
      • real-time SMS notifications
      • smooth UX that provides a seamless booking experience in just one page
      • fully customizable design
      • Google Calendar sync
      • multiple payment options

      4. Calendarize it!

      This plugin supports WPBakery Page Builder, but it can also be used with any other popular page and layout builder by using shortcodes. 

      It comes with features that can be configured however you like, and its simple design makes it a good fit for any theme or style.

      You'll find many useful features, including, but not limited to:

      • events by user role
      • sidebar widgets and shortcodes
      • Custom Post Types support
      • advanced filtering with custom taxonomies
      • single events, recurring events, arbitrary recurring events, and recurring events with exceptions

      Calendar it! also features a powerful CSS editor that allows you to change colors, fonts and style to match your brand theme

      5. WordPress Pro Event Calendar

      There are certain features that you expect with a WordPress calendar plugin; however, there are a few features that set a plugin apart. Take a look at WordPress Pro Event Calendar, and you'll see some advanced features that make it stand out from the pack.
      

      Well designed and fully responsive, this plugin has some great features:
      

      • WPML support
      • fully responsive layouts
      • flexible event settings
      • Google Maps integration
      • subscribe to a calendar
      • custom fields and date range support
        
      • and more

      But what really sets it apart is the ability to import events from ICS feeds and Facebook.

      Best of all, WordPress Pro Event Calendar accepts events submitted by front-end users, making it easy for users to add events.

      6. Event Booking Pro

      Here's another great option for setting up a fully functional event booking system.

      Event Booking Pro is very pro as it boasts over 600 settings!

      There are a lot of features with this WordPress calendar plugin, and they are always adding more. Here are a few:
      

      • user-friendly event creation
      • very customizable, including text, emails, color, size, padding, and borders
      • unlimited events
      • AJAX control panel
      • offline and multiple booking
        
      • PayPal, coupon, and CSV integration
      • and many, many more

      There's no shortage of shortcodes, it supports CSV, and everything can be customized and styled as you like, making it fit into your WordPress theme design perfectly.
      

      Event Booking Pro is an impressive WordPress calendar plugin.

      7. Events Schedule

      Events Schedule is a simple yet powerful WordPress events calendar that lets you schedule classes and events in seconds. It is the perfect plugin for any event organizer.

      When it comes to search and filter, Events Schedule offers five filter categories: namely type, location, instructor, day, and time of the day.

      Other features include:

      • daily cron job for event updates
      • 12 timetable styles to choose from
      • custom labels and messages
      • live filters
      • Google Maps integration
      • fully responsive
      • event countdown feature
      • WooCommerce integration

      Learn how to use the Events Schedule plugin with our hands-on, step-by-step tutorial.

      • WordPress
        How to Add a Calendar to Your WordPress Site With the Events Schedule Plugin
        Jessica Thornsby

      8. Timetable Responsive Schedule for WordPress
      

      The Timetable Responsive Schedule for WordPress plugin offers a new approach to WordPress calendar plugins.

      With it, you can create a timetable of events easily! Use the Timetable shortcode generator to create timetable views for classes, medical departments, nightclubs, tutoring, and so on.

      Quickly create a timetable by:

      • adding a new event with day, time, category, and more
      • adjusting and configuring the design and appearance
        
      • generating your shortcode and placing it into a post or page

      And that's it!

      There are plenty of event options and many different shortcode options—a color picker and font configuration are included.

      Timetable Responsive Schedule for WordPress also includes a great widget lineup, rounding out one of the best WordPress calendar plugins you'll find.

      9. Booked: Appointment Booking for WordPress

      Booked is another great appointment booking option. It features an advanced appointment calendar which allows ease of management of appointments. It also gives you endless color possibilities when it comes to the design.

      Other features include:

      • guest booking
      • looks great on any device
      • customer profile pages
      • custom login and registration pages, time slots, and custom fields
      • customizable customer and admin emails
      • displays your calendar with a shortcode or widget
      • and more

      10. WordPress Events Calendar Registration and Booking

      The WordPress Events Calendar Registration and Booking plugin is feature-rich, offering some options you'll only find in plugin addons.

      Everything you need (and maybe more) for successfully setting up a fully functional registration and booking system is right here.

      This "out of the box" solution includes:

      • shortcodes
      • a color picker
      • multilingual support
      • Google Maps integration
      • recurring events, tickets, and coupons
      • social media sharing
      • responsive design
      • and more

      One of the best features of this plugin and others is the countdown timer for all your events. It also features a stats dashboard that lets you keep track of payments and attendees and view the latest events and event categories.

      Beautifully designed and leveraging Bootstrap 3.0, the WordPress Events Calendar Registration & Booking plugin should not be overlooked.

      11. Booki

      Like several of the above-mentioned WordPress calendar plugins, Booki offers a full booking system using WordPress.

      There are so many great applications for this type of plugin, with each plugin offering a unique perspective on the appointment management process.

      You can set up unlimited booking projects and service providers. Options include:

      • add optional extras for bookings
      • online payments via PayPal Express
      • offline payments—book now, pay later
        
      • admin stats page with summary information
      • sync bookings to a provider's Google Calendar
      • and more
        

      As for the calendar itself, it displays your booking and appointment calendar with a popup, inline calendar, and more. It also has a stats page where you can view bookings and other information.

      Booki is an excellent solution for booking appointments with multiple projects and service providers.

      12. Team Booking: WordPress Booking System

      This calendar plugin doesn't try to reinvent the wheel. Instead, Team Booking ties directly into something you're already probably using: Google Calendar. Team Booking's mission is to:

      Use Google Calendar to schedule availability.

      Additional features include:

      • team booking
      • ability to add discount coupons
      • keep and export your data
      • supports Stripe and PayPal
      • appointment approval system
      • customized forms for each booking type
      • maps
      • and more
        

      There are also a lot of great customer features, like displaying reservations and the option to cancel their appointments.
      

      Team Booking is a fresh take on appointment booking calendars and leverages Google Calendar to the fullest.

      13. Stachethemes Event Calendar

      This event plugin looks good and comes with out-of-this-world features. You can easily create single, multiple, and all-day events, or events that last for more than one day. You can showcase events in different ways including a grid, box, map, agenda, and more. 

      It also comes with a front-end submission form where users can submit events. Users can also share events via Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Viber.

      This event calendar plugin offers everything you need to get started in creating events. 

      Other key features include:
      

      • customizable event sections
      • a built-in booking system where users can book and pay for tickets and appointments
      • beautiful designs
      • Facebook and Disqus comment section
      • social share
      • Google Maps location and maps

      14. HBook: Hotel Booking System

      You can use a one-size-fits-all booking plugin for hotels and B&Bs, or you can use a solution built specifically for them. With the HBook hotel booking system, customers will be able to book directly from your website. 

      The plugin features powerful booking management that lets you view bookings and reservations. You can also synchronize your bookings with Airbnb. This snappy plugin includes:

      • seasons and rates tables
      • multiple payment gateways such as PayPal, Stripe, Square, and Mollie
      • availability calendars
      • customizable booking forms
      • booking forms and rules
      • and more

      HBook has a clean design and is best configured for hotels, B&Bs, and more!

      15. Responsive Event Scheduler

      The Responsive Event Scheduler plugin is one of the best options for publishing event schedules on your website. It is suitable for music festivals, conferences, conventions, meetings, training, exhibitions, etc.

      Features include:
      

      • built with standards-compliant HTML5 and CSS3—including SVG icons
      • one-click color customization
      • event image options
      • fully responsive
      • WPML ready
      • and more

      Responsive Event Scheduler is not only impressive from a feature standpoint, but it's one of the best-looking options you're going to find.

      16. Facebook Events Calendar

      Facebook is where everyone is at, but how do you integrate it with your website?

      The Facebook Events Calendar plugin is a great way to display your Facebook events on your WordPress site in a super-easy way.

      Features include:

      • displays all events from your Facebook page on the calendar
      • two layout versions—full and compact
      • using a widget or shortcode, placing this in the page is super easy
      • and more

      Facebook Events Calendar is a great way to connect your Facebook with your website.

      17. gAppointments: Appointment Booking Add-On for Gravity Forms

      If you're already using Gravity Forms and need to integrate appointment booking, this solution is certainly worth a look.
      

      Features include:

      • supports paid and non-paid booking
      • accepts any payment gateway
      • many options for service intervals and slots
      • and more

      Combined with Gravity Forms, gAppointments is a powerful plugin for booking appointments.

      18. Chauffeur Booking System

      As the name suggests, Chauffeur Booking System is a car reservation system suitable for companies of all sizes. It provides an easy way to book a vehicle based on distance, hourly rate, or a flat rate. It also supports WooCommerce and Google Calendar integration.
      

      Other features include:
      

      • live route preview
      • unlimited booking forms
      • multiple payment methods
      • multiple currencies
      • geofencing and geolocation

      19. Webba Booking

      Webba Booking is specially designed and optimized for service providers, making it possible for them to save time and money. It provides a real-time, two-way Google Calendar synchronization. It also allows you to set different time zones, hence catering to customers all over the world.

      Other key features are:
      

      • integrations with services such as PayPal, Stripe, and WooCommerce
      • unlimited appointment schedules
      • unlimited number of staff appointments and staff members
      • users can perform multiple bookings simultaneously

      20. Responsive Timetable for WordPress

      Responsive Timetable for WordPress is a flexible calendar plugin that can adapt to different types of businesses. This plugin offers the ability to create and showcase events with a clean and responsive interface. You can also create advanced filters for easy event filtering.
      

      Other key features include:

      • customized fields
      • a built-in live editor
      • responsive interface
      • event popups
      • a custom CSS and color picker

      5 Free WordPress Calendar Plugins and Widgets for Download in 2020
      

      While the premium plugins and widgets listed above will give the most comprehensive set of features, purchasing a premium plugin or widget may not be in your current budget. That's why I've compiled a list of the top five free calendar plugins and widgets for 2020:

      1. The Events Calendar

      With this free plugin, you can create and manage events with ease. The features available on this plugin allow you to completely customize your calendar to fit your business's needs.

      2. Simple Calendar

      Simple Calendar is the easiest way to add Google Calendar events to your WordPress site. The plugin has a ton of great features including design templates, time zone settings, fully responsive calendars, and much more. 

      3. All-in-One Event Calendar

      The All-in-One Event Calendar offers a clean visual design with a comprehensive set of features to create an advanced website calendar system. Give this free plugin a try! You won't be disappointed. 
      

      4. Sugar Calendar 

      Sugar Calendar is a simple and lightweight calendar that provides you with all the necessary features for event management. The easy-to-use interface and the minimal set of features in this plugin will help you get your event calendar up and running in no time. 

      5. Booking Calendar

      Whether you are running a real estate business, yoga class, or personal training, the Booking Calendar plugin can help you implement a great booking system. Add this plugin to your collection today!

      How to Create a Calendar for a Yoga Class With WordPress Pro Event Calendar

      Now that I have gone over all of the best free and premium plugins available on CodeCanyon, I will show you just how easy it is to create a calendar with one of the premium plugins.  We are going to go over how to create a simple calendar that displays the times of our yoga class on a calendar with the Wordpress Pro Event Calendar plugin. 
      

      1. Create a Calendar

      Once you have installed the Pro Event Calendar plugin, we will head on over to WP Dashboard > Event Calendar > Calendars so we can create the calendar that we want to be displayed on our yoga studio website. Next, click the Add new calendar button to create a new calendar. We will fill in the Title field to say "Yoga Calendar." Next, click the save button at the bottom of the calendar editor. 

      2. Create an Event

      Now that we have created our calendar, it is time to add our event. Navigate to WP Dashboard > Event Calendar > All Events. Click the Add New button to create a new event. We will title this event "Yoga Class."
      

      In the right-hand column, we will set up the details for this event. Our yoga class is every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 2 p.m., so we need to reflect this in the event. Under Start Time, we will type in "2 p.m." Under Frequency, select Weekly. Then select the checkboxes next to Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. 

      Finally, hit the Publish button, and the event will now be present on the yoga calendar. 

      3. Add the Calendar to Your Website

      Now it is time to add the calendar to the website. WordPress uses shortcodes to add the calendar to your website, so we will go back to WP Dashboard > Event Calendar > Calendars and copy the shortcode that is under Default Shortcode. We will then click WP Dashboard > Pages > Add New and title it "Calendar".
      

      In the text editor, we will paste this shortcode. Hit the Publish button, and that's it. We have successfully created our yoga calendar, and it's now displayed on a new page that we created. 

      This short tutorial only scratched the surface of what this plugin can do. I also have a more in-depth tutorial on this powerful plugin, so be sure to check it out!

      • WordPress Plugins
        Insert a Calendar Into WordPress With the Pro Event Calendar Plugin
        Daniel Strongin

      Unlock the Power of CodeCanyon's WordPress Calendar Plugins & Widgets

      To create a fully functional calendar and booking system on your WordPress website, download one of the many premium calendar plugins and widgets from CodeCanyon.

      The feature-rich plugins on CodeCanyon will help ensure that the booking process is quick and easy, not only for your customers but also for you in the WordPress dashboard.

      What are you waiting for? Get a calendar or booking plugin on your WordPress website today!
      

      
      

      
      

      ]]> 2020-01-09T13:17:19+00:00 //shineyrock.com/blog/read/12-elegant-css-pricing-tables-for-your-latest-web-project1 https://shineyrock.com/blog/read/12-elegant-css-pricing-tables-for-your-latest-web-project1#When:12:25:11Z Pricing tables are an important part of any website that sells some kind of services and products. You can use them to quickly list the features, similarities, or differences between two, three, or four different products at once.

      These tables give users all the information they need when choosing between different products and services. This, in turn, can result in more business for you. In a way, tables are a win-win tool for both businesses and consumers.

      One common problem that you might face when trying to add tables to your own website is that creating them from scratch can be a bit difficult. The table has to look good, and it should also be responsive.

      In this post, we have listed some of the best CSS pricing tables available on CodeCanyon that you can start using in your projects right away.

      CSS Pricing Tables on CodeCanyon

      There are currently over 110 CSS pricing tables listed on CodeCanyon. Many of them follow a unique approach when it comes to designing pricing tables. This means that you can easily pick a unique responsive pricing table design that makes you stand out from the competition.

      The price of these tables starts from as low as $3. New tables are added to the collection every month. You can pick the right table for your business from the best-sellers or the trending section.

      We will also list briefly review some of these tables below to give you a head start.

      Best CSS Pricing Tables on CodeCanyon

      Here are the top eight CSS pricing tables that you can buy right now from CodeCanyon:

      CSS3 Responsive Web Pricing Tables Grids

      This pack of CSS3 Responsive Web Pricing Tables is one of the highest-rated and top-selling pricing tables on CodeCanyon. It offers a lot of features to back this popularity.

      The tables are available in 20 different colors and two different styles. They are responsive and retina ready, so they will look good on devices with different screen sizes and resolutions.

      You can make one of the columns active so that it pops out by default. This is useful if you want to highlight a popular plan or product on the website.

      The columns have an extra hidden ribbon. You can display it on individual columns and edit its appearance using CSS.

      Other features of the table include tooltips, yes/no icons, and animated hover states. The table fully supports old browsers like IE9.

      The plugin description page links to a video that showcases all the features of this table.

      Responsive Clean Simple Pricing Tables

      Depending on the look that you are going for, sometimes simple tables with minimal use of colors can look great, instead of tables with lots of animation and elements.

      These responsive clean simple pricing tables will be perfect for you if you want to create some basic tables.

      As the name suggests, they are fully responsive and built entirely using CSS. There are seven different color options available. The main accent color of the tables can also be changed easily.

      The tooltips are created using HTML custom data attributes with CSS tooltips. The table supports all major browsers and comes with jQuery fallbacks for older browsers.

      Round Pricing Tables

      These round pricing tables are ideal for people who want to display multiple products or services on a single page.

      These tables take very little space and still convey all the necessary information. This is because the services or features of a plan are shown only when the users hover over the tables.

      The tables have a clean design without a lot of clutter. The animations are powered entirely by CSS, and you can easily change the color of different elements in the CSS itself. The tables are very lightweight because they don't rely on images to create the layout.

      You should visit the description page and take a look at the screenshots of the table or the preview video.

      Kote—Featured Tables Collection

      If you are looking for modern and responsive CSS tables, then Kote—Featured Tables Collection is perfect for you.

      This collection has 34 different tables that should cover almost every scenario where you can use a pricing table.

      The first set of templates contains tables that are packed closely together, with the middle column popping out from the group. The middle column of the pricing table also has a subtle pulsating animation applied to it to draw attention.

      The second set of templates contains tables with a distinct header, body, and footer. They have a simpler design with properly separated columns.

      The third set of templates uses fully colored tables with background images that blend perfectly with the background. The downloadable zip archive contains separate SVG files for these backgrounds and other icons.

      Overall, this collection of tables is suitable for anyone who wants to have a lot of design options available when creating a pricing table.

      Colorful Pricing Table

      Most pricing tables use different colors for only the header and the footer of a column. However, colorful pricing table uses a unique approach of adding a nice background color over the entire table. This gives the tables a catchy look.

      These tables have four distinct layouts to showcase your plans and products. All these styles are fully responsive, so they look great even on mobile devices.

      The smooth animation, fully colored columns, and flat design used in creating these tables make them unique among all the tables listed in this post.

      You should visit the table description page and check out the preview video to see if the tables are suitable for your projects.

      Horizontal and Vertical Pricing Tables

      If you are looking for unique layout options to display pricing tables on your website, then these horizontal and vertical pricing tables are definitely worth checking out.

      Two things make these tables stand out. First, they allow you to create pricing tables that are laid out horizontally. Most CSS pricing table solutions only focus on vertical layouts. Second, the tables rely on a well-thought-out combination of colors and animation to give you that feeling of professionalism.

      The smooth transition of colors when you hover over different tables is very satisfying to watch. The tables are divided into three distinct sections for the header, the main body, and the footer. The tables are also fully responsive, so they look great on all devices. Take a look at the live preview to experience it all yourself.

      Modern—Bootstrap 4 Pricing Tables

      Bootstrap is a popular framework used by many websites to quickly create their front end. If your website has also been created using Bootstrap, then it makes sense to use pricing tables that were made specifically for Bootstrap. This will make their integration into existing websites a lot easier and keep the size of the CSS file a bit smaller.
      

      One of the best ways to quickly add Bootstrap based pricing tables to your website is to use the modern Bootstrap 4 pricing tables.

      There are nine different table layouts, with six different color options. The tables are fully responsive, just like their parent framework.

      You can present your products and services with a modern, clean, and unique design using these Bootstrap 4 pricing tables.

      Loki Pricing Table Generator

      Not everyone is comfortable when it comes to making changes to HTML and CSS to customize a pricing table. The Loki Pricing Table Generator solves this problem by giving you the tools to easily customize the basic features of the pricing tables.

      There are eight different table layouts. However, you can change various aspects like the primary, secondary, and background color to make them unique. Similarly, you can change the font size for the pricing, features, title, etc.

      The generator also gives you the option to change the text of different rows and columns without actually touching the pricing table markup. In the end, you can simply click on the Code button to directly download the HTML and CSS files for the table created.

      Free CSS Pricing Tables

      Before I start listing a few free CSS pricing tables, there are a few things that I should clear up.

      There aren't a lot of dedicated libraries and frameworks out there created specifically to generate fancy pricing tables. You will have to look around for a while before you can find some pricing tables that look professional and go well with the overall design of your website.

      Keeping these points in mind, it might simply be easier for you to buy one of the premium pricing tables, which come with different templates and clean, professional design. You also get lifetime free updates for any pricing tables you download.

      If you still want to give some free CSS pricing tables a try, then the ones I listed below will be a good start.

      Pricing Table With Hover Animation

      This pricing table enlarges the table that users are hovering over with a nice, smooth animation.

      Responsive Pricing Table

      This responsive pricing table uses Flexbox to create the layout. Minimal use of colors and other styling elements makes it very easy to integrate with the design of existing websites.

      Pricing Table With a Prominent Header

      This multi-colored pricing table comes with prominent headers to display a big title for the product or service as well as its price.

      The pricing columns are properly separated from each other, and they don't have hover animation applied to them. There is a little badge that you can add to the top of a column to indicate the most popular plans, etc.

      Pricing Table With Enlarged Column

      A common practice to highlight a popular product or service in a pricing table is to enlarge its column to make it stand out. This pricing table helps you do exactly that. It has a very simple layout with a subtle background animation on hover.

      Best Practices to Keep in Mind When Creating Pricing Tables

      Pricing tables are generally placed in a prime location on a website, and they are used to highlight the main products and services that you offer. Therefore, it makes sense to follow all the best practices when you create these tables.

      Here are a few things that you should remember when creating pricing tables:

      1. Make the Tables Responsive
      

      A lot of traffic to a website generally comes from mobile devices nowadays. There is no fixed resolution that you can target when creating pricing tables. Therefore, it is important to make sure that your pricing tables look good on all screen sizes. The premium CSS pricing tables from CodeCanyon are already responsive, so you won't even have to worry about it when using them.

      2. Use Fewer Words

      Pricing tables are meant to give users all the necessary information they need about different products at a glance. Use them to list the most important distinguishing features of these products. Other details can be mentioned somewhere else on the website.

      3. Include a Prominent Call-to-Action Button

      Hopefully, the pricing tables that you create will give users all the necessary information that they want before making a purchasing decision. Once they decide to buy one of your products and services, you should make it as easy as possible for them to complete the purchase. The best way to do that is to include a button to make the purchase somewhere in the pricing table itself.

      Final Thoughts

      As we discussed at the beginning of this post, pricing tables are a great way to drive more business by allowing users to quickly compare different products and services.

      Creating a responsive and nicely designed pricing table from scratch can be a daunting and time-consuming task. That is why you should consider using one of the premium CSS pricing tables available on CodeCanyon.

      
      

      Which pricing table do you like the most from the ones we mentioned in the post? Let us know in the comments.

      ]]> 2019-12-30T12:25:11+00:00 //shineyrock.com/blog/read/24-best-wordpress-form-plugins-for20201 https://shineyrock.com/blog/read/24-best-wordpress-form-plugins-for20201#When:12:21:52Z Add a feature-rich and easy-to-use form plugin to your WordPress website to help you collect information that is vital to the functionality and growth of your business.

      The form WordPress plugins available on CodeCanyon will allow you to seamlessly integrate a customized form that your business needs to collect valuable information on your customers and potential customers. 

      The Best WordPress Form Plugins on CodeCanyon

      Explore over 7,000 of the best WordPress plugins ever created on CodeCanyon. With a low-cost one time payment, you can purchase these high-quality WordPress plugins and improve your website experience for you and your visitors. 

      Here are a few of the weekly best-selling and up-and-coming form WordPress plugins available on CodeCanyon for 2020.

      These powerful form-creating plugins allow you to capture the most important information from your visitors. The flexibility and feature-rich form plugins allow you to add a wide variety of forms on your website, such as:

      • contact forms
      • quizzes
      • article submission forms
      • price estimations
      • booking forms

      At the bare minimum, you will want to have a contact form on your website regardless of what type of website you have, so head on over to CodeCanyon and choose from the premium plugins available. 

      Top 19 Form WordPress Form Plugins (From CodeCanyon for 2020)
      

      Here are 19 of the top-rated WordPress form plugins that are available for you to download on CodeCanyon:

      1. FormCraft—Premium WordPress Form Builder
      

      If you need to craft a form that's more than your standard contact form, this is what you're looking for.

      FormCraft's feature set includes powerful options that are sure to meet almost anything you need to build a WordPress form.

      Here are some of the highlights:

      • form validation
      • conditional logic
      • customized notifications
      • AJAX-powered interface
        
      • submissions in your inbox
      • drag-and-drop form builder
      • forms presented as popup, slide up, fly in, or widget
      • and much more
        

      You'll find it fully responsive, with retina-optimized images for fields. And if you need to integrate multi-page forms and payment gateways? You can look to the available FormCraft - Premium WordPress Form Builder add-ons.

      2. Quform—WordPress Form Builder
      

      Quform does a good job setting itself apart from other WordPress form plugins.

      The simple drag-and-drop interface and flexible styling are where this WordPress form plugin shines the most.

      Fully responsive and with the new Google reCAPTCHA, you'll find this and more:

      • conditional logic
      • fully translatable
      • live design preview
      • drag-and-drop interface
      • edit CSS in the form builder admin
      • includes three themes with five variations
      • export submitted data to Excel/OpenOffice
      • entries submitted within WordPress and via email

      The unique theming system makes it easy to make your forms look great, but without sacrificing many of the features users are looking for in a premium WordPress form plugin like Quform.

      3. eForm—WordPress Form Builder
      

      eForm (Previously FSQM Pro) is an advanced and flexible form builder that can be integrated into your existing WordPress site. This is a complete form management solution for quizzes, surveys, data collection, payment/cost estimation, and user feedback of all kinds. 
      

      But don't let the "easy to use" tools deter you from its functionality.

      Options include, but are certainly not limited to:
      

      • fully responsive, state of the art design
      • intuitive form builder—no coding required
      • heavy on security, hard on bots
      • automated quiz system
      • survey system
      • ecommerce system
      • login, registration, and guest blogging
      • mathematics powerhouse
      • reports and statistics

      With the quick and easy drag-and-drop form builder, you can build unlimited forms and manage them from your admin dashboard. All submissions are stored in your eForm database, so you can view, track, analyze, and act on the data you have captured. A user portal also allows registered users to review and track their submissions.
      

      eForm - WordPress Form Builder is a robust and comprehensive form builder with the perfect combination of style and functionality: packed with all the elements you need, while clean and elegant to use.
      

      4. NEX-Forms—The Ultimate WordPress Form Builder
      

      NEX-Forms—The Ultimate WordPress Form Builder may be just that.

      The ultimate.

      At first glance, you'll see features you would expect:

      • math logic
      • drag and drop
      • fully responsive
      • conditional logic
      • multi-step forms
      • email autoresponder
        
      • etc.

      But when you begin to dig a little deeper, you'll see “the ultimate” isn't just over-zealous marketing.

      More notable features include:

      • popup forms
      • 660+ vector icons
      • 50+ form elements
      • 1200+ Google Fonts
      • Font Awesome integration
      • more
        

      Finally, it's the NEX-Forms—The Ultimate WordPress Form Builder grid layout system that gives you a lot of drag-and-drop control with your form layout.

      5. ARForms: WordPress Form Builder Plugin
      

      This WordPress form plugin hits a nice mix of features and easy customization.

      ARForms is integrated with Twitter Bootstrap, supports seven autoresponder systems, and is fully compatible with WPML.org.

      You can embed your forms in the page or choose to have them fly, stick, or pop up on page load. A great option for newsletter signups and announcements.

      Additional features include:

      • CSV export
      • form analytics
      • conditional logic
      • supports Google Fonts
        
      • multi-column form support
      • password strength indicator
        
      • collection of commonly used form templates
      • and more

      There are 24 elements and 500+ icons included with ARForms: WordPress Form Builder Plugin as well as a full-featured styling tool for CSS customization.

      And if this isn't enough to get the job done, there are many helpful add-ons available for this full-featured form builder.

      6. Usernoise Pro Modal Feedback & Contact Form
      

      Capturing user and customer feedback is quick and easy with this modal feedback form.

      The Usernoise Pro Modal Feedback & Contact Form has a great minimal style and is highly configurable.

      You can:

      • Use the four built-in categories or edit them as you like.
      • Reply to feedback via email when you receive a notification.
        
      • Insert a shortcode into any page to display feedback discussions.

      And it integrates with Akismet to handle spam.

      There aren't a lot of bells and whistles with the Usernoise Pro Modal Feedback & Contact Form, but it is a powerful way to connect and collect feedback.

      7. Ninja Kick: WordPress Contact Form Plugin
      

      Ninja Kick: WordPress Contact Form Plugin puts an extra kick into your WordPress forms.

      You can use this as a stand-alone contact form or use its unique styling and effects in conjunction with popular form plugins like Contact Form 7, Gravity Forms, and others.
      

      Website users can immediately call up the contact form without having to wait for a page to load—complete with slide-in animation.

      It features:

      • Mailchimp opt-in
      • responsive design
      • 30 built-in backgrounds
      • color picker for easy styling
      • supports swiping on mobile devices
      • and more
        

      This form plugin does support WPML, but it should be noted that RTL needs to be customized to work properly in Google Chrome.

      Ninja Kick: WordPress Contact Form Plugin is a stylish, fast-loading plugin that works great as a contact or newsletter submission form—or even more complicated forms built using more robust WordPress form plugins.

      8. WP Cost Estimation & Payment Forms Builder

      This WordPress form plugin is more eCommerce centric. If you are selling any service or product, you can create your own responsive cost calculator or payment forms. 

      Having this form is invaluable if you need to provide estimations for your potential customers as it saves you time from having to talk to customers that are not interested in your service. The popular payment platforms, PayPal, Razorpay, or Stripe are all available to use with this form. 

      In addition to all of these great features, there is also a booking system that is included to help you manage your calendars, events, and reminders. This plugin is one of the best-selling form plugins on CodeCanyon for a reason!

      9. PrivateContent—User Data Add-On
      

      The User Data add-on boosts your PrivateContent plugin, allowing you to create and use unlimited fields to record more information from your users.
      

      Each field is dynamically validated and is also really flexible, letting you target what will be required. String length, numeric ranges, multi-option checks, preset texts (integer and floating numbers, e-mail address, dates, URL, etc.) and also room to use advanced regex. Say goodbye to fake data being stored!

      Features include:
      

      • extend your user database
      • custom forms builder
      • forced password reset system
      • import system integration
      • manage and export data
      • conditional data restriction shortcode
      • user data shortcode
      • automatic updates
      • walkthrough videos

      The PrivateContent - User Data add-on is an add-on. You must have at least PrivateContent v6 to use it.

      10. TotalPoll Pro—WordPress Poll Plugin
      

      One does not simply set up a poll on WordPress.

      TotalPoll Pro is a pro poll plugin for WordPress—boasting over 70 features.

      Fully responsive and easy to include in WordPress using a shortcode, widget, or direct link, additional features include:

      • custom fields
      • beautiful templates
      • six different anti-cheating layers
      • reCaptcha service to protect against bots
      • display archived poll results and export results as CSV
      • and much more

      Several language translations are available, and if you're planning on publishing many polls or building a site focused on polling, TotalPoll Pro is SEO friendly.

      11. ez Form Calculator—WordPress Plugin
      

      The ez Form Calculator can be used with WooCommerce and PayPal.

      A few use case scenarios include:

      • real estate
      • event managers
      • media agencies
      • charity organizations
      • freight costs
      • photography studios
      • etc.

      Build your forms using the drag-and-drop editor or use the import/export feature.

      Additional features include:

      • discounts
      • file uploads
      • conditional logic
      • Mailchimp integration
      • advanced calculation and back-end security verification

      Whether you're using ez Form Calculator - WordPress Plugin as your primary form or along with WooCommerce, you'll find that it really adds up.

      12. Super Forms—Drag & Drop Form Builder

      Super Forms is an incredibly powerful form plugin that allows you to design a form that functionally and stylistically fits your needs. The different options available for you to create your form are as follows:

      • layout elements
      • form elements
      • HTML elements

      You can adjust the form settings to send out a confirmation email to the user that filled out the form and send an email to notify you that a form was submitted. Super Forms lives up to its name with all of its advanced editing options. 

      13. Event Booking Pro: Forms Manager Add On
      

      Event Booking Pro: Forms Manager Add On extends the power of Event Booking Pro, giving you the ability to add custom fields to your event booking pages.

      This is an add-on, so Event Booking Pro is required for this to work.

      The Event Booking Pro: Forms Manager Add On includes many input types, including:

      • text
      • email
      • select
      • text area
      • static text
      • check box
      • radio buttons
      • terms and conditions
        

      If you are already using Event Booking Pro, using the Event Booking Pro: Forms Manager Add On really expands its usability.

      14. Contact Form 7 Pipedrive CRM Integration

      This contact form is a bit more advanced than the others listed due to its integration with the customer relationship manager Pipedrive CRM. If you are running any type of eCommerce store, this form plugin will be a valuable addition to your website. 

      By integrating this form with Pipedrive CRM, you will be able to automatically create new contacts and store information about these contacts and can send them down a sales funnel. If you are looking to take your eCommerce store seriously, then Contact Form 7 and Pipedrive CRM integration is a must-have. 

      15. Storage for Contact Form 7
      

      Extend the power of Contact Form 7 with Storage for Contact Form 7.

      This plugin add-on is a good way to avoid servers mishandling Contact Form 7 submissions and losing them into the Black Hole of the Internet.

      Just to be clear, Contact Form 7 is required for this to work.

      All form submissions are stored in your WordPress database—including attachments. You can also have submissions sent to you via email, but all data is collected in the Admin and can also be exported to CSV.

      Additional data collected by Storage for Contact Form 7 includes:

      • time
      • date
      • email
      • subject
      • IP address
      • attachments
      • URL referrer
      • and more

      This plugin add-on is a great way to extend Contact Form 7's usability.

      16. Exporter for eForm—Reports & Submissions
      

      This is an add-on plugin; a very nice addition to eForm—WordPress Form Builder.

      Exporter for eForm—Reports & Submissions takes the user data collected and imports it into a number of useful formats.

      Exportable formats include:

      • PDF
      • HTML
      • CSV
      • XLS
      • XLSX

      You can also include charts with most export formats.

      There are some extra customizations you can make to your PDF exports—handy for quick reports—but most users will find the raw data exports extremely useful.

      Exporter for eForm—Reports & Submissions is a very useful add-on for the eForm WordPress Form Builder plugin.

      17. AccessPress Anonymous Post Pro
      

      Building a WordPress site that allows visitors to submit standard WordPress posts or post types, whether they're logged in or not, requires a particular set of features.

      AccessPress Anonymous Post Pro has that exact feature set.

      In full HTML5 responsiveness, you can customize a front-end posting form with all the right options. It's like having several plugins in one.

      The included options and features are:

      • captcha
      • post details
      • custom fields
      • email notifications
      • field type selectors
      • media uploading tools
      • media library integration
      • drag and drop form builder
      • post types and taxonomies
      • templates and styling features
      • select or exclude categories and tags
      • and more
        

      There are other plugins like this, but you'll be hard-pressed to find one that offers this much flexibility and options.

      AccessPress Anonymous Post Pro does a great job of bringing everything that's in the post admin side of WordPress and bringing it to the front end.

      18. Frontend Publishing Pro
      

      Much like the previous plugin, Frontend Publishing Pro brings the back end of WordPress to the front.

      Configure an unlimited number of forms—with your settings and restrictions for each form—and easily add them to any page using a shortcode.

      You have the option to give users full access to their own post-management, including view, edit, and delete. Users can upload files within the limits you put in place, such as max upload size and file type.

      Other features include:

      • custom fields
      • layered security
      • email notifications
      • CopyScape integration
      • drag-and-drop form builder
      • supports any post type and custom taxonomies
      • more!
        

      Quickly and easily set up front-end publishing with Frontend Publishing Pro.

      19. WordPress Form Builder—Green Forms

      Green Forms for WordPress allows you to create multi-purpose, stylish forms that match the design of your website. Here are a few of the features that you can adjust in this plugin:

      • fonts
      • colors
      • conditional behavior
      • integrations with marketing, newsletter, and CRM systems

      Each of the forms created can be embedded into posts, pages, and even sidebars, so you can find the perfect placement for them. Download this powerful form plugin now!

      Free Form WordPress Plugins for Download in 2020
      

      By purchasing a premium WordPress form plugin, you will receive the most comprehensive set of tools available. The number of features that these plugins will have and the overall user experience will be much higher with a premium plugin. 

      If you are currently on a budget, you might not be able to afford to purchase these premium form plugins, but still need to have these forms on your website. 

      That is why I have collected a list of five of the best free WordPress form plugins available.

      1. Forminator

      Forminator is quite a diverse form creator. Besides the normal contact form, you can create interactive polls, quizzes, service estimators, and registration forms with payment options including PayPal and Stripe.

      2. Contact Form 7

      With Contact Form 7, you can manage multiple contact forms. The form supports Ajax-powered submitting, CAPTCHA, and Akismet spam filtering.

      3. Ninja Forms

      Ninja Forms allows you to use their drag-and-drop form editor to quickly put together a simple form. There are no limitations on the number of forms, fields, emails, actions, or submissions that can be included in these forms.

      4. Very Simple Contact Form

      By adding the plugin's dedicated shortcode, you can add a simple form to your website. The Very Simple Contact Form has fields for name, email, subject, and messages. 

      5. Caldera Forms

      Caldera Forms visual editor helps you create a form for your website in minutes. You can set up your form with multiple columns, add additional pages, and filter user responses with conditional logic to get more relevant information from your website visitors. 
      

      How to Add a Contact Form to Your Website Using Quform
      

      To help show you just how easy it is to create a form with one of the premium form plugins available, we are going to go over how to create a simple contact form with the Quform WordPress form plugin. 
      

      1. Creating the Form

      Once the plugin is installed, head on over to WP dashboard > Quform > Add New. We will then title our form "Contact Form." This will create our contact form and take us to the form editor.

      2. Adding Content to the Form

      Once we are in the editor, we will want to add three different fields to the form: first name, last name, and text area. These fields will allow us to capture all the information we need from the website user. First, we will add the first and last names to the form by clicking on the person icon in the Quform editor. This will automatically insert the first and last name fields in our form. 

      Lastly, we will add the text field to the form so the user can insert a message to us. Click on the left align paragraph icon in the Quform editor to add this to your form. Next, click on the text area tab named Untitled on the left-hand side of the Quform editor and type in "Message." This will change the text in the form to say "Message" instead of "Untitled."

      3. Adding the Form to Your Website

      Now that we have created the form, it's time to add it to your website. At the top of the form editor, you will see a shortcode. 

      Copy this shortcode and create a new page or post. Paste this shortcode where you want the form to appear on the page, and you are all set. You can view this page or post and see that the contact form was added.

      For a more detailed tutorial on how to create a form with the Quform plugin, check out the How to Create a Form With the Quform WordPress Plugin article.

      • WordPress Plugins
        How to Create a Form With the Quform WordPress Plugin
        Daniel Strongin

      Install a Form WordPress Plugin Now! 

      Regardless of what type of website you are running, you will need some type of form to add to your website. CodeCanyon offers the most flexible and feature-rich form WordPress plugins available that will help you implement the perfect form for your website.  

      Whether you need to integrate a simple contact form, obtain files and documents from your website visitors, or even accept payments, the diverse plugins available on CodeCanyon can help you accomplish these tasks. 

      In addition to all the high-quality form plugins available, there are also thousands of other high-quality WordPress plugins on CodeCanyon that can help enhance your website. Take look through this massive collection of plugins and you will find all types of plugins including gallery, newsletter, eCommerce, and marketing plugins.
      

      Find the right WordPress plugin to help your website succeed and generate more traffic and sales!

      
      ]]> 2019-12-19T12:21:52+00:00 //shineyrock.com/blog/read/14-best-php-event-calendar-and-booking-scripts https://shineyrock.com/blog/read/14-best-php-event-calendar-and-booking-scripts#When:17:50:17Z There are several reasons PHP calendar, booking and event scripts might be a great addition to your website. If you’re a service provider, then it makes sense to have an appointment booking system on your site that allows potential customers to see your availability and select an appointment time and date that is best for them. This could cut down on needless calls to your business to make appointments and free up your time or your staff’s time.

      Online calendars are also handy for organisations of any size to help team members share events and tasks and keep each other abreast of what other members are working on.

      Their usefulness isn’t just limited to companies, however. Artists, writers, performers, bloggers and anyone else with an active public life could make good use of online calendars to let followers and fans know the whens and wheres of public appearances.

      What Type of Script Do You Need?

      When it comes to scripts in the event calendar and booking space, choosing the right one can get a little nebulous. They can take dozens of forms, and finding the right one for you can be a daunting task.

      To help narrow the solutions down a bit, here’s a few questions to ask yourself before you get started:

      • Do I need to focus on events, which occur at specific times, with a large number of tickets to sell? Or on bookings, with a smaller number of services that could occur at any time?
      • Will I need to support only my business? Or are there others that will be included in my listings? For example, a business cooperative might need to handle bookings for multiple service providers.
      • Will there be a single entity that events or bookings are attributed to, or several—as in a hair studio, with several stylists available?
      • Do I need a script to embed into a current site, or do I need something that stands on its own?

      With all this in mind, we’ve compiled 14 of our best PHP calendar, booking and events scripts available for download today at CodeCanyon. This post will help you choose the one that’s right for you.

      1. Cleanto

      Cleanto is ideal for many different types of service companies looking for a reliable way to provide clients with full-featured online booking.

      Standout features:

      • PayPal, Authorize.Net, and Stripe payment methods
      • email reminders
      • auto confirm bookings
      • ability to add breaks in schedule
      • and more

      User Crossera says:

      “Amazing customer support. These guys came back to me within a day with a fix for all the problems I faced. The plugin can be customized to whatever your needs are.”

      2. Appointo—Booking Management System

      An end-to-end solution for booking, Appointo Booking Management System takes the heavy lifting off your CMS or static site. This script provides a front-end calendar and booking system that can be easily used to mark appointments or events. Then, on the administrative side, you can manage the events and services that are available, and keep track of customers or attendees.

      Standout features:

      • front-end booking calendar
      • ability to manage services and booking
      • point-of-sale support
      • customer management
      • support for both PayPal and Stripe

      User moffei says:

      “Cool and Clean Customer Support. The fastest customer support I've ever had on CodeCanyon, plus a better script for the job. I definitely recommend it.”

      3. Vacation Rentals Booking Calendar

      The Vacation Rentals Booking Calendar is an online vacation rental booking calendar script that allows property owners or management agencies to create and manage rental availability calendars for their vacation rental properties.

      Standout features:

      • highly customizable
      • email notifications to site owner or administrator
      • XML and JSON availability feeds
      • export calendars to iCalendar format
      • and more

      User Craignic says:

      “Great product and quick support given when I had a query.”

      4. SaaSAppoint

      A little different from the rest of the scripts on this page, SaaSAppoint allows users to book appointments from multiple businesses in one place. Co-ops, business partnerships, and more can benefit from its directory style setup and single interface for booking from multiple vendors.

      Standout features:

      • multi-business booking support
      • time padding for appointments and blocked-off days
      • discount and coupon code support
      • email and SMS notifications
      • CSV report exporting

      User travis-taylor says:

      “This product is awesome, and just keeps getting better and better”

      5. NodAPS Online Booking System

      The NodAPS Online Booking System promises to help you manage your appointments more easily. You can create unlimited accounts with administrative, assistant, and staff permission, and add unlimited languages to the system. You can also change the booking time and date with a drag-and-drop feature.

      Standout features:

      • multi-provider system
      • seven different booking type forms
      • multilingual
      • easy to install
      • and more

      User Jam79 says:

      “Very simple to use. Fast and effective support!”

      6. Facebook Events Calendar

      A large number of businesses use Facebook as their community hub, posting and sharing most of their events to the platform. Facebook Events Calendar exists to help close the gap between Facebook and your website, letting you embed many of the functions right into your site.

      Standout features include:

      • versions for standalone, WordPress, and Joomla platforms
      • display Facebook events directly on your site
      • calendar and list styles
      • several layout options
      • expand event information using a tooltip hover

      7. Bookify

      Bookify is one of the newest apps at CodeCanyon, but it is already proving to be quite popular with features such as an installation wizard that doesn't require any knowledge of code to use. Bookify also has Google Calendar sync, live chat, and detailed documentation.

      Standout features:

      • Stripe and PayPal are supported
      • live chat
      • multi-language support
      • Google Calendar sync
      • and more

      User Teatone says:

      “Great customer support. Great code quality! If you are looking for something that works with great support, Bookify is the one.”

      8. Laravel Booking System

      The Laravel Booking System with live chat offers a great online system for booking and making appointments. Users can buy credits as a payment option and view available services, total transactions, their total credits, and administrator contact information via their dashboard.  

      From the administrative side, the system administrator can manage all things system related: general settings, payment settings, and user management. Admins can also manage bookings and respond to inquiries from their dashboard. 
      

      Standout features include:

      • live chat
      • multi-language support
      • booking and transaction history
      • PayPal integration
      • and more

      User brentxscholl says:

      “This plugin works great. Great code. Customer service is fantastic. We asked for extended features and they were delivered for a reasonable price.”

      9. Tiva Timetable

      Fully responsive, easy to set up, and very customizable, the Tiva Timetable is a good choice for those who are looking for a calendar with a clean, simple, modern design.

      Standout features include:

      • responsive design
      • customisable theme
      • well-documented
      • three layouts available
      • and more

      User mandrake62 says:

      "Very good script, easy to install. Customer support at the top!"

      10. Ajax Calendar 2

      Ajax Calendar 2 is a highly customisable personal calendar designed to help you keep organised. This is a best-selling update of another popular script, the Ajax Full Featured Calendar.

      Standout features include:

      • PHP and JS versions with PHP classes and object-oriented programming
      • ability to auto-embed YouTube, Vimeo, Dailymotion, or SoundCloud media
      • ability to export calendar or events to iCal format
      • supports recurring events
      • and more

      User sv_fr says:

      “Great script. Practical uses. Helpful support.”

      11. Event Calendar

      Built with jQuery FullCalendar and integrated into Bootstrap’s grid layout, the Event Calendar plugin allows users to organise and plan their events.

      Standout features:

      • create new types of events
      • ability to add fields such as title, colour, description, link, and photo
      • Google Fonts and Font Awesome icons
      • and more

      User teddyedward says:

      “Really enjoy using your script—it's perfect for my needs. It's also well documented and easy to use.”

      12. eCalendar

      Quite simply, the eCalendar script is designed to keep individual users or companies organised with a calendar that allows users to add as many events as needed, as well as updating details like the event title, location, or time.

      Standout features:

      • choice of two designs
      • cross-browser compatibility (IE8+, Safari, Opera, Chrome, Firefox)
      • events are saved in your MySQL database
      • fully responsive design
      • and more

      User levitschi says:

      “Everything works perfectly! Support was better than I ever expected!”

      13. Event Manager

      Event Manager is an online booking system that has the advantage of displaying your events in three forms—calendar view, list view, or map location view using Google Maps.

      Conceived for PHP and MySQL, built with the very popular jQuery Full Calendar plugin, and integrated into the Bootstrap grid layout, Event Manager is easy to add to your existing site.

      Standout features:

      • fully responsive
      • highly customisable
      • three views available
      • well documented
      • and more

      14. BookMySlot

      Focusing largely on event bookings, BookMySlot takes it up a notch by allowing your site to handle multiple vendors, with their individual events nested underneath. This script is thorough and self-contained, so if you are looking for a turnkey solution, rather than something to add to an existing website, this could be the script for you.

      Standout features:

      • thorough documentation
      • separate dashboards for admins and vendors
      • supports Stripe payments
      • built-in messaging system

      User aungoo says:

      “Outstanding customer support. I'm also happy with the quality of coding. ”

      Conclusion

      These PHP event calendar and booking scripts just scratch the surface of products available at CodeCanyon. So if none of them catch your fancy, there are plenty of other great options to hold your interest!

      • PHP
        9 Best CRM & Project Management PHP Scripts
        Lorca Lokassa Sa
      • PHP
        8 Best PHP URL Shortener Scripts
        Eric Dye
      • PHP
        Comparing the 5 Best PHP Form Builders
        Nona Blackman

      And if you want to improve your PHP skills, check out our ever so useful free PHP tutorials.

      You might also be interested in some of our posts about WordPress calendar and booking plugins:

      • WordPress
        How to Add a Calendar to Your WordPress Site With the Events Schedule Plugin
        Jessica Thornsby
      • WordPress Plugins
        Choose the Best WordPress Event Calendar Plugins
        Nona Blackman
      • WordPress
        Get Started With a Free Booking Calendar Plugin in WordPress
        Sajal Soni
      ]]> 2019-09-06T17:50:17+00:00 //shineyrock.com/blog/read/getting-started-with-django-newly-updated-course https://shineyrock.com/blog/read/getting-started-with-django-newly-updated-course#When:08:00:00Z If you like the elegance of the Python programming language, Django is the web framework for you! Django is a powerful but pragmatic framework, with an emphasis on getting work done. Learn how to use it to create your own web apps in our freshly updated course, Getting Started With Django.
      

      What You’ll Learn

      In this course, Derek Jensen will teach you all the basics of creating a web app with Django. You'll learn how to create a new app from scratch and how to code Django views, models, URL paths, migrations, templates, and more. Along the way, you'll build a complete web app to support one of Derek’s biggest passions: lawn care.

      This is a newly updated version of our popular Django course, so you can be sure that it's based on the latest version of the Django framework and teaches you how to take advantage of all the changes and improvements.
      

      Watch the Introduction

       

      Take the Course

      You can take our new course straight away with a subscription to Envato Elements. For a single low monthly fee, you get access not only to this course, but also to our growing library of over 1,250 video courses and industry-leading eBooks on Envato Tuts+. 

      Plus you can download unlimited items from the huge Envato Elements library of more than 1.3 million creative assets. Create with unique fonts, photos, graphics and templates, and deliver better projects faster.

      
      
      
      ]]> 2019-09-02T08:00:00+00:00 //shineyrock.com/blog/read/create-a-blog-for-each-category-or-department-in-your-woocommerce-store https://shineyrock.com/blog/read/create-a-blog-for-each-category-or-department-in-your-woocommerce-store#When:21:02:33Z