OpenLampTech issue #62
CF7 has blocks | 7 SQL constraints | WooCommerce customizations | Website authentication deep dive | WordPress certification. Thank you for reading the OpenLampTech newsletter!
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Recently Published on the Digital Owl’s Prose Developer Blog
I am trying my hand at small WooCommerce customizations in a development/testing environment setting in order to learn more about this e-Commerce solution and ultimately put my PHP skills to use. In this article, I am exploring 2 different ways to change the ‘Related products’ wording description on the Single Product page to something else of your choosing. Learn something new with me!
Recently Published in the OpenLampTech Publication
If you are looking for awesome websites to learn SQL from, look no further. I have compiled a list of my 5 favorites.
You’re welcome!
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Below is the content I am sharing I enjoyed this week:
WordPress vs. the Field: Can Any Other CMS Compete?
#wordpress #drupal #joomla #cms
My thoughts: Honestly, I only have experience with WordPress, although I know other CMS options are worthy in their own right.
True enough, WordPress has the largest "Market Share", but I don't necessarily think that is the be-all, end-all metric.
WordPress vs:
Drupal has approx 3.4% market share and is used by many government agencies.
Joomla has less than 7% market share.
Wix is probably the main competition due to its ease of launching a website.
Squarespace is not open-source software such as WordPress and Drupal.
Mastering 7 SQL constraints: The Complete Guide
#sql #mysql #database
My thoughts: SQL constraints are so very important for your data. Constraints basically allow you to control the quality of the data stored in the database.
As the old saying goes, "Garbage in, garbage out."
No, we don't want that at all.
The major constraints we must know are:
NOT NULL
UNIQUE
PRIMARY KEY
CHECK
FOREIGN KEY
Using these available constraints effectively ensures we are storing sound data, under our control.
New CF7 Blocks Plugin Brings Blocks to Contact Form 7
#wordpress #cms
My thoughts: Contact Form 7 (CF7) is the first contact form I used and was so cool to me based on the fact that you use shortcodes to build out the form. I really thought to myself, "I am coding, woot woot!" 😆
CF7 has been around for a long long time.
Now with a different plugin altogether, CF7 Blocks adds blocks into the mix, making them available for the CF7 plugin.
Although I haven't used CF7 Blocks, it sure looks promising to have blocks available now for this staple plugin.
Finding a newsletter workflow for WordPress
#wordpress #cms
My thoughts: This is a good article and does have a lot of valid points. I can say from experience, having migrated a small newsletter for my bass fishing WordPress niche site from ConvertKit to Mailpoet, that WordPress seems to be trying to address the whole ‘newsletter landscape’.
While Mailpoet isn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, I really appreciate having everything in WordPress and it gets the job done for sure. I know ConvertKit is a good product, but I’ve never gotten into it myself. It always seemed too clunky.
If there is ever a Substack clone for WordPress, sign me up.
Understanding Authentication In Websites: A Banking Analogy
#web
My thoughts: Get your pen and paper out. School is in session in this dense article.
We all have (likely) implemented some form of login and authentication system in an application.
But, do we really know what is going on behind the scenes?
I'll be the first to admit; hell no.
I have no idea about the nuts and bolts of the backend of authentication.
But, if I ever do have the chance to learn, it's in this article.
📰 Get your brand, product, or service the attention it deserves with affordable classified ad placement in the OpenLampTech newsletter.
Should WordPress Have a Certification Program?
#wordpress
My thoughts: I think there are both positive and negative components for a WordPress cert. On the positive side, it would absolutely help someone like me who is taking the online 'self-study, figure it out yourself' approach. Which is a challenge in its own right due to the sheer amount of content available online now.
Secondly, on the negative side, how long or valid would the certification be? It seems like there is an update to something every other week in WordPress.
5 Reasons to Use Drupal for Your eCommerce Website in 2023
#php #drupal #ecommerce
My thoughts: When it comes to the eCommerce online industry, there are many household names dominating the space. Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce to name a few of the more popular options. However, the Drupal CMS - with the right module, in the right hands - is more than capable.
As explained in the article, the reasons are:
Mobile-first approach
High level of security
Simple payment gateways
Multilingual support
Flexible shipping
Interesting Tech News and Articles 📰
🔎 How to monetize your newsletter with less than 1000 subscribers?
🔎 5 Best Linux Operating Systems For Chromebooks
🔎 Canva’s Live Database Migration: From MySQL to DynamoDB
🔎 Drupal Releases Security Update to Address Vulnerability in Private Taxonomy Terms (01-12-2023)
🔎 Lettre Newsletter Theme Now Available on WordPress.org
🔎 The Apache Software Foundation Announces Apache® Linkis™ as a Top-Level Project
Interesting Tools
Check out this new tool from WPMU DEV: Announcing… the WPMU DEV Agency Partner Directory!
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Thank you for reading. I hope you have a great rest of your week.
Take care.
Joshua Otwell
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