Codecademy and Learning how to build websites.

In the last couple of years a wealth of web building software has arrived on the market that allows even the most technically challenged to build a pretty sophisticated website. Software like WordPress is even used by professionals to achieve pretty remarkable and sophisticated websites, sometimes though, a person will want more control they will want to start to lean how to actually code.

Years ago, short of going back to school this was a option that was not realistic to the average novice. These days however the game has changed. http://www.codecademy.com/ is a internet learning tool that will guide you step by step through the process of learning how to code almost every major web based language currently in use. I myself have used it to enhance and build upon the skills I already have.  The lessons are easy to follow, dynamic, and well constructed. Best of all they are free!

If you are a up-and-coming web developer and are looking to expand your skills so you can lean how to build your own sites from scratch I recommend this tool wholeheartedly.

How to Embed Your Facebook Posts

Facebook has debuted another fun new feature: post embedding. Embedded Facebook posts will allow you to take a post from your Region's Facebook page (or AYSO's National Facebook page) and embed it on a website, blog and more.

Once the post is embedded, users will be able to view the post anywhere you embed it, and engage with it by sharing, liking or leaving a comment. The above is a preview of what an embedded Facebook post looks like.

Embedding your Facebook posts on other websites is a great way to get your community engaged with your Region and drive valuable traffic to your Facebook page. Here's why:

WordPress for Websites & the 7 plugins you will need.

WordPress has become a increasingly popular method to create a website due to its ease of use, fantastic and helpful developer community, and the sheer number of high-quality free modules and plug-ins that can add fantastic features and security to your website. Here is list of the seven I recommend everyone start with.  

Akismet Spam Protection
Akismet is a spam filter plugin for comments. It is automatically installed with WordPress, so you simply need to go to your WP-Admin Dashboard and click on Plugins, find Akismet in the list and click Activate. A message will appear asking for your WordPress.com API key, simply click the link and create a WordPress.com account and then copy and paste the key back into your Dashboard.
 
Quick Cache
When a page is accessed on your site, WordPress performs some database lookups and executes a bunch of code. Ordinarily this isn’t a problem, however if you happen to have a lot of traffic all at once, this can slow your site right down. Quick Cache is a plugin that caches your pages periodically to dramatically reduce the load on the WordPress server. You can find the plugin at http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/quick-cache/
Once installed, click on Plugins in the Dashboard and click Activate. You then need to click on Options in the dashboard menu and find WP-Cache in the menu. This leads you to a page where you can enable the caching. Don’t enable just yet, because it’s best to do this after you install your theme and have everything working, otherwise you can sometimes have trouble testing changes.
Note that to get WP-Cache working you may need to create some directories for it to write to. The plugin will give you details of what to do.

Clubspaces Customers: Don't Forget Pending Dark Date!

Don't forget! If your Region uses Clubspaces, you will need to convert your Region website to a new vendor before Sept. 3. As of Sept. 3, all Clubspaces websites will go dark and all information, such as pictures, calendars, and documents, will no longer be available.

Active.com, the owner of Clubspaces is converting its website platforms to eTeamz. For a coupon code for free year of eTeamz, please contact Shea McLaughlin.

Click here for other website options, or for help converting your website.

How Searchable is Your Facebook Page?

I hope that you promote your Facebook page to all of your Region’s families and volunteers during registration events and the like. But if someone is out there on Facebook searching for your Region page, is it easy to find?

For example, if a user goes into the search bar, and types in “Region 32…” Region 32, Region 320, Region 3204 should all automatically populate in the drop-down predicted results. Or, if a user searches for their local AYSO by city and/or state, that should also automatically bring up results.

Here’s how to ensure that your Facebook page is searchable:

Catch common usability problems before user testing.

There is a saying I always liked: "Don't try to say again what has already been said better," With that on my mind, I present to you the following link. http://userium.com/ This a excellent checklist/tool in your web development arsenal that allows you to catch common usability problems before user testing. Enjoy, and happy coding.

Click Me!

CSS Button Generator

Building a website can be a time consuming and stressful task. one of the hardest aspects of design for many people is assets. Something as simple as a button can be a hassle when you don't know where to get the assets to design and eventually code your own. This being the internet some industrious individual has come along and given us a simple CSS Button Generator.

CSS Button Generator will create beautiful  simple CSS buttons for you to use on your web pages without the need for any images. These time saving tricks and tools can turn what was once an arduous task into a painless procedure. remember; work hard, but work smart.

Happy coding.