18 4-17April 2018 [email protected]
Orbitfox is an add-onfrom WordPressthememanufacturer ThemeIslethatprovidesnewthemes(including
manyfreeones), integrates GoogleAnalytics,alertsyouifyour sitegoes offlineand has somegreattemplatesTHISISSUE’SEXPERT:
Kieran Rowlinson,
DigitalMediaSpecialist,
PlanetHippo(www.planethippo.co.uk)Googleupdatesits Web
Designertool
Google haslaunchedanew beta
versionof its WebDesigner
software, whichyoucan
downloadforfreefrombit.ly/
gowd446.Now on version3.0, the
softwarelets youcreateblocksof
interactive, animatedHTML5to
add interesting visualeffectsto
your website. There’saselection
of newtoolsavailable(seebit.ly/
gwdup446),including3D object
manipulation,alongwithvarious
improvementsto performance.
However,someof the tools will be
rollingout to usersslowly during
the software’sbeta phase.
LetAdSense
choose your ad
positioning
Google’s AdSense
program is agreat
way to makeabit
of moneyfrom
your sitebut
choosingthe numberof ads and
theirpositioningcan be tricky.
If you’drather leave the work
to AdSense,ithas anew tool
calledAuto Ads(bit.ly/adse446),
whichautomaticallyplaces ads
in locationswherethey’ll perform
best, usingmachinelearning
to test newpositions.1
Install the pluginby searchingfor
it from Plugins,^1 AddNew.The
themeand stock photodirectory come
pre-installed,as doesthe menu-icon
tool. To add the latter to your existing
menus,clickAppearance, Menus.^2
Clickthe plusicon next to your existing
menuoptions^3 to choosean icon
from the pop-uplist.^42
To activatethe otheroptions,go to
OrbitFox, General Settings^1 and
flickthe switchesto activatethe tools
youwant.^2 Youcan also deactivate
the default tools if youwish. TheUptime
Monitor needsyour emailaddressifyou
want it to sendalertsand Analytics
needsyoutosign in withaGoogle
account.3
As youactivatemodules,the
settingsforthemappearbelow.
Forexample,the SocialSharingModule
lets youdecidewhereand howthe
linksto socialnetworksarepresented,(^1) whichservices shouldbe included 2
and whethertheyshouldbe restricted
to desktopormobileusers.^3
Q
What’s best –hostingvideos
onmyownsiteor embedding
themfromaYouTubelink?
HarryReed,via email
A
If youhave sufficientstorage space
withyourhosting account, it’s often
better to uploadand host your
ownvideostoget greatercontrol overthe
content. Youcan decide theplaybacksize,
theplayerusedand what controls are
available.You canalso stop visitors
downloadingorlinkingdirectlytothe videos.
On theother hand,YouTube provides
unlimitedstorage and makesiteasyto
embedyourvideos. Thedownsideisthat
whileyou canset videosasprivate,they
canbeviewedwithouthavingtovisit your
website. It’s also very easy foranyone
to download or link to thecontent.
Specialisttips, toptoolsand practicalhelp
BuildaBetterSite
TopTipsofthe Fortnight Web-buildingHelpdesk
MINI WORKSHOP|GetlotsofWordPress toolsin oneadd-on
OrbitFox: bit.ly/orbf446| 10 mins|Self-hostedWordPresswebsite
DealoftheFortnight
EUKhost (www.eukhost.com)isoffering
agreat dealonits affordable Basicpackage.
For£3.33 permonth,you getafreedomain
name,2GB storage, unlimited bandwidth
and 10 databases.
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