Many people within the WordPress community are anxiously awaiting the first issue of the WPCandy Quarterly to show up in their mailbox. According to Ryan, that day is soon approaching as the first batches are currently being printed. However, since there is still some time before we’ll be holding the physical copy, Ryan has explained how he went about developing the first issue. Based on the video Ryan published showcasing the various designs that articles have gone through, it looks like the magazine will have an impressive display around the content of each article, giving it that magazine feel.
How Ryan Imel Created The WP Quarterly Page
One comment I have that applies to all of the e-commerce plugins I tried out is this: the initial setup process is quite overwhelming. During my toying process I set up the basic Quarterly sales items and process for each plugin on a testing location. Without exception, each plugin presented me with options I never ended up needing, or didn’t even care about. I realize that WPCandy’s shopping cart needs aren’t as complicated as some, but that made me wish for a simplified setup process even more.
It would be great to see these plugins take more of a “decisions over options” approach. When that isn’t possible, stashing less vital options in an advanced section would lessen the initial impact of a screen full of checkboxes and dropdowns.
Ryan Imel explained in-depth how he created the sales page for the WordPress Quarterly magazine. Within the post you’ll find his thoughts on the various e-commerce systems he tried, code snippets to produce the page, and much more. Definitely worth a read.
WPWeekly Episode 111 – You’ve Been DevPressed
In this jam packed episode of WordPress Weekly back from a long hiatus is an interview with Ryan Imel of WPCandy.com to talk about the launch of Pressed Ads, his new advertising network. We then discussed what’s happening with WordPress 3.3, various news and tidbits from throughout the community, and we ended the show with a 15 minute interview with DevPress developer, Ptah Dunbar.
Stories Discussed:
What’s Happening With WordPress 3.3
Quickest Way to End A WordPress Conversation
How deep or shallow is the WordPress learning curve?
Feedback For The Widget Context Plugin Regarding UI and talk about my ideas for Widget control in WordPress
Best way to be notified of theme and plugin updates
See If you’re Secure With The Timthumb Vulnerability Scanner
Should Automatic Upgrades Be Opt-In Or Opt-Out
Interview With Ryan Imel To Discuss Pressed Ads
Interview With Ptah Dunbar, developer for DevPress
Please check out and comment on the mock up of the proposed redesign of WPTavern.com.
WPWeekly Meta:
Download The Chat Log: WordPress Weekly Episode 111 Chat Log
Next Episode: Friday, September 16th 9P.M. Eastern
Subscribe To WPWeekly Via Itunes: Click here to subscribe
Length Of Episode: 1 Hour 17 Minutes
Download The Show: WordPressWeeklyEpisode111.mp3
Listen To Episode #111:
No More Ad Free WPCandy
WPCandy has announced that they have launched a new service called Pressed Ads. While WPCandy was initially surviving ad free thanks to their Powered By System, reality has sunk in. Their powered by system will now be going in two directions, one for their readers and one for businesses. The unique advertising network will be centered around WordPress centric products and services while also being invite only for advertisers and publishers. It looks like the goal is to have Pressed Ads show up on the most influential WordPress sites which will provide extremely high relevancy with regards to the type of advertising that will be displayed on those sites through the network. Since the beginning of the year, the powered by system, has enabled Ryan to work on WPCandy full time which is amazing in and of itself.
I for one wish Ryan the best of luck. If he can manage to find a way to get paid enough money to live a semi decent life while putting food on the table not made of Ramen noodles which also allows him to work on WPCandy full-time, more power to him. He would then be accomplishing everything I didn’t. I tried advertising and managing that myself, affiliate programs, the botched VIP section in the forum and in fact, donations. None of the revenue was guaranteed and at times, I would go a few weeks without receiving a dime. I think my downfall in the advertising was that I was not a salesman and for the most part, didn’t want to be one. The best situation that could have happened for me was if I could find someone willing to pay me a flat fee on a weekly basis. Sort of like an investment, an investment in ME and the content I publish. That way, WPTavern ended up more like a job for me that I knew I was going to get paid for versus busting my ass and sometimes reaping no rewards. But I could never figure out how I’d convince anyone to go through with that type of investment, at least not anyone with the kind of income that would even consider it valuable to do so. I just wanted to concentrate on generating the content I and my readers/listeners enjoyed without going broke.
Right now, WPCandy is the place to be. It’s the hip spot when it comes to WordPress news and community. Ryan knows the people he needs to know and it’s obvious he has the support of some great companies that are backing him on his work with WPCandy and now, Pressed Ads. Now it’s time to see if his passion and desire along with all that support are enough to get him and the site up to the next level.
WordCamp Miami In Bite Sized Form
WordCamp Miami was held this past weekend and based on the schedule I saw, quite a few awesome sessions took place. Thanks to sponsorship from WooThemes, the WPCandy crew was able to attend the event and live blog most of the festivities, including a few of the sessions. For a bite sized view of of their experience, check out their Live Blog of the event. I stopped by on Saturday and thought the team did a good job not only with live blogging but sprinkling in photos from the event as well.
WPCandy Is Back In Business
Ryan Imel, the same guy who brought you CommentBits.com has announced that he is the new owner of WPCandy.com. WPCandy used to be a definitive resource amongst the WordPress community long before the Tavern was around. In fact, I was a big fan of the website so it’s good to see it brought back from the grave. As part of the announcement, WPCandy now sports a new design with a number of cosmetic updates. Over all, the site has been able to retain its clean and polished look.
While WordPress is a strong niche within the technology industry, we believe it isn’t being done proper service by technology journalism. If you’ve ever been frustrated by a major tech blog misspelling Automattic or mixing up WordPress.com with WordPress.org (or not recognizing the difference at all) then you know what we’re talking about.
But this site isn’t just about blogging, or even blogging well. We have big plans. Fun plans. Big, fun plans.
Vision is far from everything — very far — but it’s also inspiring. And with this vision, I’m inspired
Ryan then goes on to discuss the impact being part of the GooRoo network has for the site. GooRoo is a new business Ryan started near the end of 2009. In essence, GooRoo is slated to become a great content network. Stay tuned to WPCandy.com to see updates on the version four launch, giveaways and what’s going on in the future for the site. Congrats and welcome back WPCandy.