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2020Media is a leading UK web host offering Linux and Windows website hosting. The company specialises in WordPress, Joomla and Drupal support.
Tips and Tricks

Best of both worlds

WordPress Migrations

As a well known WordPress hosts, we are often asked to migrate sites from WordPress.com to self-hosted wordpress. Thanks to the tools available this is a painless process, at least to copy the posts and pages. But sometimes clients want to keep the site looking exactly the same and this is not always straightforward.

WordPress.com runs on a pretty standard WordPress platform, but it offers it’s users a number of themes and plugins built in (you cannot install your own choice of theme or plugin in WordPress.com – hence the reason websites outgrow WordPress.com)

So migrating a theme or plugin functionality can be an involved process. So far I’ve found the themes that are available to WordPress.com users have an equivalent version available for hosted WordPress at wordpress.org/themes, sothis it not normally too much of a problem – just re-adding the theme specific options.

However the plugin functionality –  which users may not even realise are plugins, so well integrated are they in the WordPress.com experience – is more difficult to move.

Jetpack to the rescue!

Jetpack web page
Jetpack

This is where Jetpack comes into play. Jetpack is a plugin collection maintained by WordPress that replicates the functionality of WordPress.com. For migrations from WordPress, nothing is copied across so each function will have to be setup from scratch, and the admin usage is often different to  how users remember it in WordPress.com. We recently migrated www.cfliteraryawards.org.uk to our WordPress hosting and this involved replicating various functions that without Jetpack would have been a major headache.

WordPress Gallery Plugin

The other difficulty with using JetPack is that it is so big! It’s like a Swiss army knife of plugins, and sometimes it’s only one feature you want to replicate. In www.geolida.co.uk, we wanted to jazz up the image galleries, and the different sized tiles gallery style appealed. This style is also known as Masonry style. We also wanted the existing ease of gallery use built into WordPress to continue – many of the WordPress gallery plugins use a separate management area which we thought would be confusing to the site owner.

Jetpack holds the answer to this with Tiled Galleries. However, this was the only function of JetPack that we wanted to add to the site – not the 27 other functions! We therefore turned to this plugin, which is just did the Tiled Galleries and nothing else. This is the same code as used in Jetpack, just extracted and packaged as a single function plugin. All WordPress plugins listed on the WordPress site are GPL licences which allows and encourages reuse of code. This worked seamlessly and our client was very pleased with the result:

The only drawback is the possibility that the person who released this cut-down version of Jetpack will give up maintaining it – Jetpack is updated every now and again and as with all WordPress plugins it’s very important to kee them up to date – bad things can happen otherwise!

2020Media’s managed WordPress service is used by many of our WordPress hosting customers so they have peace of mind that their website remains safe and secure at all times.

Domain Names

ICANN50 by the numbers

2020media presents a special infographic called ICANN50 by the numbers.

icann50-by-the-numbers
icann50 by the numbers

The ICANN meeting held in London from Saturday 21 to Thursday 26 June 2014 was the largest ever ICANN meeting and was the first ever in the UK.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is an internationally organized, non-profit corporation that has responsibility for Internet Protocol (IP) address space allocation, protocol identifier assignment, generic (gTLD) and country code (ccTLD) Top-Level Domain name system management, and root server system management functions. Originally, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) and other entities performed these services under U.S. Government contract. ICANN now performs the IANA function.
 
Notes on Stats
Domain Names

UK Domain Launches

DotUK Launch

This week saw the launch of the shorter UK domain name – directly under .uk, you no longer need to choose .co.uk, org.uk or .me.uk. However registration rights have been reserved for 5 years for existing .co.uk, .org.uk and .me.uk holders. Rights are in descending order so .co.uk holders get first choice.

The launch was by all accounts a success, with 50,000 new shorter .uk registrations within the first 24 hours – making it one of the fastest selling new domain releases on record.
This response beats the first day sales for the entire current batch of new generic Top Level Domains by a large margin.

New Top Level Domains in the UK

UK registrants of the new top level domains now top 70,000 in 140 different gtld strings, with the most popular choices being;

new gTLD     Domains     % Share
1.     .email     7,076     9.80 %
2.     .photography     5,010     6.94 %
3.     .guru     3,874     5.37 %
4.     .club     3,004     4.16 %
5.     .technology     2,473     3.43 %
6.     .company     2,104     2.91 %
7.     .today     2,084     2.89 %
8.     .directory     1,960     2.71 %
9.     .solutions     1,747     2.42 %
10.     .clothing     1,453     2.01 %

Full list available at ntldstats.com/country/GB

Tips and Tricks

Choosing to build a business App

3 Comments

This is part 2 of our series on App development. Read Part 1, “Is an App right for your business?”,  here.

black-cellphone-iconIn our last article, we looked at the 4 types of App. In this article, we’ll concentrate on the promotional type of app.

Promotion App

This type of app is used by businesses to promote their product or service. Apps can make excellent promotional tools.

Having an official app helps demonstrate that you are a modern, connected company. When people search for your brand or company name in Google Play or the  App Store, you’d better have an app ready for them. A well designed app can give you access to this pool of motivated fans.

The best promotional apps provide a wealth of information about the product or service, along with direct access to latest news, videos, and social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter. They give users quick access to vital contact information, and usually feature well designed  graphics to reinforce the branding but remain intuitive to use.

What are the key things a promotional business app should contain?

Key Functions of Successful Apps

Making a mobile app to promote a business, product or service is often seen as a no-brainer. It’s a great way to keep in touch with existing customers and to attract new ones. You can make an app with that helps people find shop locations, get directions, share news about upcoming events, coupon codes, menu updates, and much more. But before you invest time and money into an app you should consider the following points

  • Is there a need? What will your app actually be used for.
  • Who will use it? Is there any demand by end users for such an app.
  • Who will build it? Match your expectations with a suitable budget to avoid a disappointing end result.

Will the app be a comprehensive ‘kitchen sink’ for users, meaning they can interact in every way with a brand, similar to a website? Another approach centers on simplicity. Ebay’s mobile app, for instance, is focused on buying transactions rather than for selling used products or customer service.

(The same approach is effective when building business apps for internal use. Rather than create one app to handle document authorization, expense reporting and sick leave requests, it can be more efficient to create isolated apps that integrate when needed)

Businesses must know what their mobile user base wants to accomplish. This is key, as it can be different to how people use the business website. An app can combine actions that normally take place on a website with functions that might be handled by a call centre. However one way to assess the users objectives is to look at the top actions taken by mobile visitors browsing the website. This can be via a webstats addon such as Google Analytics.

One of the most important aspects of creating a value generating mobile app rests with end-user experience and aesthetic design. An average smartphone user downloads around 25 apps and there is a tough competition, your app must stand out in all regards. According to study by PinchMedia, only 3% of people who have downloaded an app use it after 30 days. The lone differentiator between two similar apps is the visual design and user experience. Other aspects such as apps’ performance, data consumption and storage size are crucial too.

First impressions are important not only for people, but also for apps. With between 30-50 apps on their smartphones, users tend to have shorter attention span. So, if the app is not going to grab their attention and keep providing useful information or features, users will stop using the app.

A good app should be easy to use, useful, and provide a positive experience.

download-to-smartphone-icon

Don’t Get Outdated

How will you be able to update the app? A great app today is likely obsolete six months from now. If you’re working with a mobile developer who may not be around in six months time, you need to have a clear picture of what it will take to update your app. Will you have source files? Support? Anything at all to work with? Advice that has applied for years to website design is directly applicable to apps. “Find out now, rather than having to build a whole new app down the road.” recommends Thursday Bram of Hyper Modern Consulting.

App Structure

Apps come in many varieties that address very different needs. For example:

  • Apps that use the camera that are often built around a single focused activity handled from a single screen.
  • Apps such as Maps whose main purpose is to switch between different activities without deeper navigation.
  • Apps such as Gmail or the Ebay that combine a broad set of data views with deep navigation.

Your app’s structure depends largely on the content and tasks you want to offer your users. Ask yourself: “What are my typical users most likely going to want to do in my app?”, and structure your start screen experience accordingly. Deliver the primary function of the app as simply and cleanly as possible without getting distracted by adding irrelevant functions.  The Android developer site offers a useful and detailed guide on structure.

Measure and Improve

Include some metric reporting if you can so you can get feedback from how users are actually using your app once it is is released. App interactions can be tracked down to screen flow, and the right tools measure session length, session interval, and other retention-based metrics that are indicative of engagement behavior. Additional information of mobile analytics can be found at Localytics.

Updating apps is something users are used to doing, so continually improving the functionality and useability of your app is not only easy to deliver to users, but straightforward to deliver.

Releasing an update periodically helps refocus users attention on your app when the release is pushed out through the relevant app delivery store.

App interactions are tracked down to screen flow, and the right tools measure session length, session interval, and other retention-based metrics that are indicative of engagement behavior.  – See more at: http://www.localytics.com/blog/2014/the-key-differences-between-mobile-and-web-analytics-metrics/#sthash.2lll58jk.dpuf

Mistakes to Avoid

On average, only 3% of people who have downloaded an app use it after 30 days. When an app goes live, its beautiful code or visual design often fail to address real customers’ needs. The result: people download it and use it once and then never again. The companys brand or product is forever associated with the bad experience in the users perception.

breakdown of the 500 million apps
Tongue in cheek app downloads breakdown, by Gizmodo. (Copyright: Gizmodo)

5 common mistakes:

  1. Over-blown visuals. Over designed graphics that ignore the carefully crafted built in useability features of the device.
  2. Ignoring technical limitations, such as slow/no internet connection, older devices with slower processors or smaller screens.
  3. Confusing navigation. The built in apps on a device share a  common navigation style. Diverge from this too far and your app will wither and die.
  4. Confusing the mobile device with a computer. Mobile phones and tables don’t have a mouse. But they can be turned and tilted. Users can use one or many fingers.
  5. Disregard of context. Has the app creator understood how, when, where and why the mobile device is being used?

Read the full article on common mistakes at smashingmagazine.com

We hope you’ve enjoyed reading out articles about app design. I’ll be trying to learn from the tips above and avoid the mistakes over the next few months by designing and building an app for 2020Media.

If you have any questions about building a business app, please contact us through our website at www.2020media.com

Tips and Tricks

Is an App right for your business?

3 Comments

black-cellphone-iconApp, App Store, Google Play are all very trendy these days – anyone with a mobile internet device will be familiar with installing apps. It’s likely their device is filled with dozens of apps and the browser is only one of them. Compare that to a desktop computer where a web browser is probably open all the time, and central to much of what that person does on their computer. On a tablet or smartphone it’s very different. Want to buy something on Ebay? Use the Ebay app. Flight booking? Flight app. See what friends are up to? Facebook app.

The key point being, these apps all add value to the experience. No doubt all the services being used have web sites where the same functionality is available – but a well designed app makes it so much easier for the user, they would never willingly use the service on their device web browser.

So if you are considering creating an app, here are some key points to consider.

There are many different reasons you might choose to make an app, but they generally fall into four basic categories:

The Four Categories of App

  • Making Money

  • Promotion

  • Giving Back

  • Having Fun

smartphone-with-globeLet’s look at these in more detail.

Making Money type Apps

When smart phones came along, the applications you could get on them was a new way for developers to use their skills to make money.  Whether the goal is a little extra pocket money on the side, or a full blown career as an app maker, these developers want to make apps that will generate an income. Coming up with an original idea is the key, and some developers have done very well from their creations in a short space of time.

Promotion

This type of app is used by businesses to promote their product or service. Apps can make excellent promotional tools.

Having an official app helps demonstrate that you are a modern, connected company. When people search for your brand or company name in Google Play or the Apple App Store, you’d better have an app ready for them. A well designed app can give you access to this pool of motivated fans.

The best promotional apps provide a wealth of information about the product or service, along with direct access to latest news, YouTube videos, and social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter. They give users quick access to vital contact information, and usually feature well designed  graphics to reinforce the branding.

Giving Back

Some developers want to contribute something back to the world by making software for others to use. Having benefited from such apps in the past, they want to “pay it forward” by creating a free app of their own.

This kind of app is best from someone who has a particular expertise in an area that is also one that others would benefit from, and that they don’t want to monetize, or can’t — for example, because they are a non-profit enterprise. 2020Media has developed various plugins for popular CMS systems like Joomla and WordPress – and these are all given away free.

Having Fun

For some developers, making apps is a fun hobby, a creative outlet that lets them show off their design skills or just make apps to impress their friends. Coming up with ideas for apps, and finding new ways to promote them, are interesting challenges. These new or improved skills can later translate to better job opportunities.

Watching your stats as the number of downloads increase is a rare thrill!

Finally there are combinations of the above – a developer might release a free app to build their reputation or cross-promote other apps.

In Choosing to build a business App, we look at the Promotion type of app in more detail and list the key questions you should ask yourself before investing in an App for your business.

If you have any questions about building a business app, please contact us through our website at www.2020media.com