So I switched to the Genesis Framework. It’s my first foray into WordPress frameworks. What’s a framework? Here’s how WordPress explains what it calls a “base/starter theme” framework, the kind that Genesis uses:

A “base/starter” Theme framework is stand-alone Theme designed to be a flexible foundation for quicker WordPress development, usually serving as a robust Parent Theme for Child Themes. Some Theme frameworks can also make theme development more accessible, removing the need for programming or design knowledge with options pages.

Huh? Basically, think of a framework as web scaffolding that is already set up and constructed for you. It provides the structure of a website and makes it easier for you to fill in design elements within that scaffolding. The scaffolding is the “parent theme,” and the changes you make generally to the design are—at least if you are doing it right—contained in a child theme. Or, as the folks behind Genesis illustrate, think of frameworks this way:

Or as they explain a framework in the context of Genesis:

A framework (ours is called Genesis) is a powerful type of WordPress theme—the frame and body of the car—that acts as a design, security, and SEO foundation for your website. It also “future-proofs” your site customizations, so there’s no hassle when it comes time to upgrade your software with one click.

A child theme is the pure design element that rests on top of the framework—the cherry red paint job on that car. Or blue. Or black. Pink. Green. You get the idea…

For me, especially in designing my new website, Genesis provides the basic structure, search engine optimization (SEO), and security that I need—which reduces my time and allows me to deliver affordable websites. I’ve now created my own child theme by piecing together code snippets that Genesis aficionados share freely. That’s actually what I find most refreshing about Genesis—folks who design with it or build websites on it are completely open about sharing how they make Genesis do exactly what they want.

So, as I move forward, it’s likely I’ll build websites for folks using the Genesis framework, and likely building on my child theme, modifying it for each client’s needs. Or using “off-the-shelf” Genesis child themes and installing and modifying those.

If you want to see a responsive site in action, head over to one of the more recent sites I built—medievalart.org—and resize your browser down to the smallest size (or view it on your iPhone, smartphone, or other mobile device). When you do, elements of the site collapse on top of each other, making it much easier to read on a small device.

If a site is not responsive, it typically makes it harder to view on a mobile device. Most traditional or “unresponsive” websites, when viewed on mobile devices, require people to squint, to zoom in and out of the site, and to pan around with their fingers or arrow keys. And some people get tired of that.

What’s So Great About Responsive Design?

More and more people are using smartphones and other mobile devices to browse web sites. In fact, some website developers are now designing for mobile devices first, then “retrofitting” the mobile design to fit desktop computers–the reverse of what used to be the norm. For me, I no longer build sites unless it has a responsive design. It’s that important, plus it makes sense today to design for as many viewing devices as you can.

If you are one of my newer clients, you probably already have a responsive design (resize it to see). If, however, I built your website before the spring of 2012 (when responsiveness first started to become the latest rage), it’s likely that you don’t have a responsive design. If you want one, it’s not that hard to do and I can price it out for you, likely about $300 (it really depends on the complexity of your current site). But, no worries, you’ll be fine for now without one—just keep it mind as a future option the next time you want to make some significant changes to your site. Heck, as of this writing my own website is not yet responsive, though it should be within the next month.

For lawyers who blog, comments are often a critical way to build reputation, not only by the content of your blog but also by allowing the public to interact with you to ask questions or to comment on a post. Without something to protect your blog against comment spam, however, you will spend an inordinate amount of time reviewing and deleting spam comments that are generally intended to trick you into linking back to some suspect content somewhere on the web. That’s where Akismet comes in:

Akismet monitors millions of blogs and forums, watching the methods and tricks used by spammers in real time. We know all about their spambots, comment factories, buffer sites and social engineering tricks. Akismet will use this knowledge to warn you when a spammer – automated or human – tries to sneak a spam comment past you. So if you notice a comment in your spam folder from someone you don’t know, or linking to a web site you’ve never seen before, take a good look at it before you hit the Unspam button: in all likelihood, Akismet put it there for a reason.

In other words, Akismet has a vast database of rules and tests that it uses to determine if a comment is spam or if it is legit. And, for the most part, it gets it right. Not always, as you may at times need to mark something as spam or take something out of the spam folder. But it sure does move through thousands of spam comments at a time, some of them directed at your little website that you wish got the same amount of legitimate traffic.

Automattic, the creators of WordPress, also created Akismet, which explains why it is already preinstalled when you install WordPress. The only task remaining is to activate the plugin and obtain an “API Key,” which is a key Akismet uses to verify that you are a legitimate registered Akismet user.

To do that, look for the yellow highlighted text at the top of your WordPress dashboard (“Akismet is almost ready. You must enter your Akismet API key for it to work”) and click on the link.

Then follow the directions to register and get the API key by clicking on “Get your key” (pictured below) and following the instructions on the Akismet site. Ultimately, you’ll get a long string of characters that are your API Key. Copy and paste that into the box and click on “Update Options.” Done. And now protected.

In addition to Akismet, I’ve also used Defensio in the past for comment spam protection. It was fine and worked as well as Akismet. But, because Akismet is already preinstalled on WordPress installations and easy to use, I usually just keep it, grab an API key for the client, and activate the plugin. I’m then good to go.

By the way, most people I know use Akismet for free, which is fine for personal websites. But for business sites like lawyer websites, I recommend that you purchase the Pro Akismet license, which runs $5 per month. It really is the right thing to do for great comment spam protection.

• Akismet or Defensio (blocks comment spam; Akismet is preinstalled)
• All in One SEO Pack
• Broken Link Checker
• Google Analytics Dashboard
• Subscribe to Comments
• Contact Form 7 (if the theme does not have a good contact page built in)
• Google XML Site Maps
• Ozh’ Better Feed
• WordPress Backup
• WP-Database

I wrote the post only six months ago. When sitting down this week to list my new essential plugins, I realized that things have changed. While I still install four of these currently (though it depends on the client), I’ve since found better alternatives or have come up with additional plugins that I like better, some of them commercial (and not free).  So, over the course of the next ten weeks I’ll post on an essential plugin each week, explaining why I install it and why you should too. First up next week: Akismet, which actually comes preinstalled with every WordPress installation.

Gravatar

Call this WordPress 101, but it’s often something overlooked or misunderstood by most of my clients. One of the easiest things you can do to add your image to your web site’s profile is to register your email and photo with the service called gravatar. What’s gravatar? It’s a free service that helps you publish your avatar, the image that appears for you when you participate in blogs or sites, especially WordPress sites. For example, my avatar generally looks like the photo at right, and it’s what appears for me when I sign in to WordPress or comment on a blog with my personal email address.

You can do the same with your own WordPress site by registering with gravatar, and I typically ask clients to do this to assure that their profile pictures appear in their sites correctly. It’s probably the easiest way to include a professional-looking photo next to your author bio.

Registering on Gravatar

Using Gravatar is extremely easy. Just sign in or register here. Once logged in, upload a photo of yourself, typically a headshot such as the one I have in this post, and then link that photo to the email address you use for your WordPress site. In my example, I have three different email addresses: one that is personal (called my primary), one for Lawyerist, and one for gregoryluce.com. Thus, the Manage Gravatars screen for me looks like this (click to enlarge):

Most people, especially attorneys, will have only one gravatar for their sites. But, if you like to separate your personal profile from professional, you may want to establish two different gravatars, one for each email address. In any event, once you register them, most author biographies on well-designed WordPress sites will include your gravatar image. You don’t typically have to do anything else. Plus, when you comment on other sites, your gravatar will also typically appear next to your comment. Easy peasy.

Changes to the Admin Interface

For most users, the biggest change is how the dashboard looks, with changes in the default font as well as some CSS shifts to move things around to make more space. Before 3.2, the default dashboard looked like this (click to enlarge any images):

After upgrading to 3.2, the change in the interface is a bit jarring:

I’m not a huge fan of the change and hate that there is no padding now on the left hand side of the page. It makes me feel off center. But, I can live with it (or, if I can’t live with it later, there are already plug-ins available to revert back to the old style). The other big change for regular users is a better design of the “full screen” editing mode. While there was a full screen mode in prior versions, it was only for folks who used the Visual editor (as opposed to the HTML editor). Now, full screen has been added for both Visual and HTML editors, plus it’s been redesigned to be much easier to use. To use it in WordPress 3.2, just look for the full screen icon and click on it. Both buttons are highlighted below.

Button for the Full Screen in Visual Editor

Full Screen Button in the HTML Editor

For Geekier Folks (or for Self-Hosters)

Finally, for the geekier users (primarily WordPress site developers), WordPress has upped the MySQL and PHP versions required for self-hosting on WordPress. If you self host (as opposed to using WordPress.com), then you’ll need to make sure your hosting service provides at least MySQL 5.0.15 and PHP 5.2.4. A quick email to your hosting provider should get you that answer quickly (or it should be prominent on the providers support or help pages).

The Rest of the Stuff

The WordPress folks highlight about 400 other changes in 3.2, most of those performance based changes and minor fixes. Other than what I’ve already highlighted, the other semi-major changes are a refined admin bar (the gray bar you seen when you are signed into your site) and a new default theme “Twenty Eleven.” WordPress, however, has a list of all the changes in WordPress 3.2. here.

Seriously, it’s for personal reasons, and while “for personal reasons” frequently seems to be the statement given in less than amicable employment partings, it’s the genuine reason. And the parting was very amicable (I continue to do some projects for the bar).

Basically, I wanted complete control over my time, which meant figuring out how to spend at least the next fifteen years hanging out more with my family and my kids (until they are both in or finished with college). I also go to Italy for a month every two years, something hard to do with a 9 to 5 gig. So, I restructured things, am taking a bit of a flying leap, and have now jumped ship.

Where have I landed? Well, for one, I’m doing some limited freelance and consulting work with lawyers on website development and document automation. Thus, my revamped website. But, in bigger news, I’m now one of the three dudes who own Lawyerist, the legal marketing and technology blog (I call Lawyerist’s Sam Glover and Aaron Street the “two dudes.”). I’m digging into work there now and heading up further development of Lawyerist LAB, otherwise known as the Lawyering Advisory Board. I’ve got my hands back on content creation and just helped produce and release the Top Tech Upgrades LAB Report. More stuff is in the works.

I’m starting over in some ways, but starting fairly strong and active. Thanks for those who have been asking about my whereabouts. I’m still hanging around and messing about.

It’s not that I didn’t love iA3, the previous theme I used. It’s a fantastic minimalist theme. But I wanted something with a bit more options and flexibility without having to dig into the code too much. As a huge fan of WooThemes and Elegant Themes, I putzed around with themes from each but ended up going with Platform Pro, which is the theme I also use for my faux legal news site Turnip News.