Is Bootstrap the Right Choice for WordPress Theme Development?

Is WordPress theme development with Bootstrap still a valid option? Let’s find out.

When it comes to building a website, there are a few methods you can choose from. The first is the from-scratch approach, which involves hiring skilled developers to create a custom solution tailored to your needs. While effective, this method can be costly.

Alternatively, you can use a site builder that offers pre-designed templates and basic features. This allows you to get your site up and running quickly, but it may lack a professional look and feel.

But what if there was a way to combine the best of both worlds? Enter WordPress theme development with Bootstrap. Many companies are now choosing WordPress as their platform of choice and customizing their themes using Bootstrap.

In this post, we’ll explore whether WordPress theme development using Bootstrap 5 truly provides businesses with the value they desire.

Introducing Bootstrap: The Ultimate CSS Framework

What is Bootstrap?

For those unfamiliar with Bootstrap, it is a CSS framework designed to create responsive user interfaces. Initially developed by Twitter to streamline their back-end engineers’ workflow, Bootstrap’s source code was publicly released in 2011.

Today, Bootstrap reigns as the most popular CSS framework across the internet, with 165k stars on GitHub at the time of writing.

The magic of Bootstrap lies in its responsive capabilities. By providing a collection of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files, it simplifies site development through pre-defined CSS classes (built on Object-Oriented CSS).

Take, for instance, aligning an image using a native Bootstrap class:

<img class="img-fluid" src="example.jpg" alt="Example Image">

Bootstrap achieves flawless responsiveness by incorporating media queries that adapt to specific screen sizes. It effortlessly transforms WordPress themes into mobile-friendly layouts:

@media (max-width: 768px) {

 /* Styles for small screens */

}

 
@media (min-width: 769px) and (max-width: 1024px) {

 /* Styles for medium screens */

}

@media (min-width: 1025px) {

 /* Styles for large screens */

}

Furthermore, Bootstrap integrates a 12-column grid system built on top of flexbox (starting from Bootstrap 4), complete with predefined classes. Below is a code snippet that creates three equal columns across various screen sizes:

<div class="row">

 <div class="col-sm-4">

   <!-- Column 1 -->

 </div>

 <div class="col-sm-4">

   <!-- Column 2 -->

 </div>

 <div class="col-sm-4">

   <!-- Column 3 -->

 </div>

</div>

With Bootstrap, developers can effortlessly craft visually appealing and highly responsive websites.

The Key Advantages of Bootstrap for WordPress Theme Development

Bootstrap offers a range of benefits beyond its ability to create beautifully responsive websites. Here’s a quick overview of these advantages:

Bug-Free and Browser Compatible

Ensuring a website performs flawlessly across different browsers is crucial for any web developer. With traditional approaches, browser incompatibility can be a persistent issue. However, Bootstrap is a game-changer. Thanks to its extensive community of contributors, any reported issues are quickly addressed. This means websites built with Bootstrap render impeccably, regardless of the browser being used.

Efficient Web Development Process

Time is money, and Bootstrap understands that. By taking care of routine tasks like font handling, media queries, and layout, Bootstrap frees up valuable time for developers. This enables them to focus on building custom features without distractions.

Additionally, Bootstrap provides comprehensive documentation, ensuring developers have immediate access to answers and solutions on various forums.

Flexible Customization

One standout feature of Bootstrap is its flexibility. It’s like going shopping – you can choose the elements you need from the Bootstrap library and create a custom collection.

Furthermore, you can customize the standard Bootstrap library by modifying mixins and reassigning variables directly in the framework’s source code. This allows you to tailor Bootstrap to meet your project’s specific requirements. If you encounter any technical challenges along the way, the skilled front-end developers at the Site Slinger are always available to assist.

Seamless Integration, Minimal Plugins

Often, websites require numerous interactive features, leading developers to rely on various jQuery plugins. However, excessive plugin usage can lead to compatibility issues and version mismatches. The latest version of Bootstrap (starting from version 5) has transitioned completely to vanilla JavaScript, making integration with your site effortless and hassle-free.

Now that you understand the power of Bootstrap in speeding up and enhancing the web development process, the question remains: “Is Bootstrap suitable for WordPress Theme Development?”

WordPress Theme Development with Bootstrap: Is It Worth It?

WordPress is powerful and flexible. As the most popular content management system on the market, choosing WordPress for your site is a smart decision.

WordPress offers a wide range of free and paid ready-made themes that even beginners can easily install. If you have some knowledge of HTML and CSS, you can customize a theme to make it unique and stand out from the rest.

However, these cosmetic changes may not bring you the desired benefits. That’s why many site owners prefer to build a custom WordPress theme. A custom theme provides a truly unique interface with all the necessary features for your specific business.

Creating a one-of-a-kind theme can be a time-consuming process that requires knowledge and skill. Developers not only need to build the theme, but also test it for compatibility with different browsers and devices. This is where WordPress theme development with Bootstrap comes in handy.

While Bootstrap was not originally designed for creating WordPress themes, you can integrate it into your custom theme in several ways. For example, you can include links in your project files to retrieve Bootstrap’s compiled CSS and JavaScript from a CDN (Content Delivery Network).

Developing a WordPress theme with Bootstrap involves creating a specific project structure and following essential steps. However, we won’t delve into those details here.

What’s important is that once you have integrated Bootstrap and WordPress, you can leverage all the great features of the framework, including its built-in classes and the responsive grid system using flexbox. The result will be a theme that works perfectly across different browsers and devices.

In addition, there are many WordPress Bootstrap plugins available that can enhance the functionality of your site. For example, you can use a plugin to add a Bootstrap carousel or transform your navigation menu into a Twitter-style one. The possibilities are endless.

Does WordPress Theme Development With Bootstrap Come With Any Challenges?

While there are numerous benefits to using the Bootstrap framework for WordPress site owners, it does come with its own set of limitations. Here are some well-known challenges that you may encounter when using the CDN version of Bootstrap. However, by opting to work with source files, you can avoid these issues altogether.

Excessive Code Bloat

Bootstrap provides a wide range of classes for creating various web page components. However, this can become overwhelming as not every project requires all of the framework’s classes. Why burden your website with unnecessary code when you only need a select few?

Rigid Breakpoints

The framework employs predefined breakpoints in its media queries. Customizing these breakpoints to meet unique design requirements can be a labor-intensive task for developers. If you’re seeking a truly distinct design, be prepared for some unexpected hurdles.

Uniformity Among Themes

While easy WordPress theme development with Bootstrap is a boon, it also has its drawbacks. Due to its simplicity in installation and operation, Bootstrap has gained immense popularity, leading to a plethora of themes that appear strikingly similar. Many users opt for basic, functional themes without delving deeper to make them truly distinctive.

It’s important to note that these limitations should not discourage you from using Bootstrap. Seasoned developers, such as the front-end professionals at the Site Slinger, possess the necessary expertise to overcome these challenges effortlessly.

Wrapping Up

In conclusion, the Bootstrap CSS framework offers a wealth of benefits for WordPress theme development. Among its key advantages are browser compatibility, efficient web development processes, flexible customization options, and seamless integration with minimal plugins.

However, it’s equally important to recognize potential challenges such as code bloat, rigid breakpoints, and theme uniformity. Despite these challenges, the framework’s advantages far outweigh its limitations.

Bootstrap’s potential in enhancing and hastening the web development process, and its compatibility with WordPress makes it an invaluable resource for creating unique, responsive themes.

The Pros and Cons of Developing a React WordPress Theme

In this post, we’ll delve into the details of creating a WordPress theme with React and explore the value it brings to the table.

We all know that content is king, but simply creating content isn’t enough. Efficiently manipulating it – adding, editing, and removing – is equally important.

Back in the early days of the Internet, working with content was a daunting task for regular users. That all changed with the advent of content management systems (CMS), and one of the most popular platforms to emerge is WordPress. With its user-friendly admin panel, WordPress allows site owners to effortlessly handle both back-end and front-end tasks.

However, a monumental shift occurred a few years ago when REST API was integrated into WordPress’s core. This decoupled the front-end from the back-end, enabling developers to use other technologies such as React.js to create custom WordPress themes or enhance existing ones. React.js, released by Facebook in 2013, has become one of the most beloved JavaScript frameworks/libraries for this purpose.

So, what makes building a WordPress theme with React so attractive? It all boils down to the REST API, which serves as the architectural style that enables developers to work with React and WordPress. Let’s discuss it next.

REST API: The Architectural Style That Empowers Developers to Build React-Powered WordPress Themes

Previously implemented as a plugin, the REST API is now an integral part of WordPress, revolutionizing the platform.

REST API, an acronym for Representational State Transfer, defines the rules for manipulating website data in the form of collections and objects. Each data type in WordPress has its own endpoint or URL, which developers can leverage in their code to interact with the database.

Data is exchanged between the back-end and front-end as JSON objects, utilizing JavaScript Object Notation. Think of it like a TV remote control – pressing a button sends a signal to the TV, and information starts flowing. In this analogy, the endpoint is the button, and the corresponding JSON object is the signal.

Using the REST API for a WordPress theme with React (or a similar JavaScript framework) offers several advantages. Firstly, the front-end and back-end are distinctly separated, allowing different development teams to work from different locations and servers. This also means you can create a React app as a WordPress theme, resulting in a Single Page Application (SPA) with a unique design and exceptional user experience.

Moreover, a WordPress React theme is highly dynamic, performs well, and can incorporate animations more easily than other frameworks. It can also store data on the client side for faster performance and even function offline thanks to Service Workers.

While using the WordPress REST API isn’t mandatory, the benefits it brings to your project are undeniable. So, why choose React for your WordPress theme? The answer lies in its ability to create a powerful, interactive, and visually appealing website that stands out from the crowd.

React WordPress Theme Development: The Ideal Choice for Your Website

Let’s delve into why React is an excellent library for building WordPress themes.

Fast Development Speed and Easy-to-Grasp Syntax

React’s syntax, known as JSX, combines JavaScript code with HTML elements. Additionally, React treats everything as a component, housing logic, structure, and visual presentation in one place.

Although this may challenge the separation of concerns principle, developers quickly adapt to this concept and find it convenient. Those familiar with JavaScript and HTML can grasp React’s fundamentals swiftly, while mastering advanced concepts may take some time.

The straightforward syntax and familiar technologies make React WordPress theme development fast and efficient, contributing to reduced development costs. However, certain tasks like implementing server-side rendering may require additional time.

Reusable Components

React WordPress theme development offers the advantage of reusing components from one project in another, similar to Lego building blocks. WordPress developers can extract and insert a single ‘cube’ into different sites seamlessly.

While some features might pose challenges when porting them, simple components can be easily transferred. Best of all, these building blocks are independent, allowing modifications without impacting other elements.

Efficient Redrawing of React.js Theme Components

React.js employs a virtual DOM, unlike manipulating the real DOM, which consumes time and resources. Consider a scenario with six checkboxes, one of which is selected. With Vanilla JavaScript or other frameworks, the entire group of checkboxes reloads to reflect the changes in the DOM.

However, if you choose to create a React app for your WordPress theme, only the selected checkbox will be redrawn in the DOM. React provides a virtual DOM object for each real DOM object, serving as a comparison tool. The lightning-fast virtual DOM is re-rendered without delay.

Afterward, React compares the new virtual DOM with the previous version, redrawing only the selected checkbox in the physical DOM. This approach boosts the performance of your themes significantly.

These are just a few remarkable features of React.js that attract site owners towards using React themes for their WordPress projects. To explore more about React’s advantages, check out this post.

Like any technology, React has a few drawbacks, too, but they are minimal.

Limitations of React for WordPress Theme Development

React.js is Continuously Evolving

While React is fast and efficient, it remains a relatively new tool, first released in 2013. Consequently, ongoing development means occasional issues and bugs.

However, with each new version, React becomes more mature and robust. The thriving React development community ensures developers can find solutions to their problems easily.

Additional Efforts for Implementing WordPress REST API With React Might Be Required

Connecting React.js to WordPress through the REST API doesn’t guarantee instant speed improvements. Extensive data retrieval from the database, particularly for complex user interfaces, can hinder performance.

To create a truly fast WordPress theme with React, developers must go the extra mile. For example, they might need to create an indexer to optimize data retrieval or employ other workarounds to enhance the efficiency of the React-WordPress combination.

If you find this overwhelming, the Site Slinger WordPress development team can handle React WordPress theme development for you. With years of experience in React.js, we have created numerous custom WordPress themes harnessing the power of this advanced technology.

React WordPress Theme Development: Frequently Asked Questions

Does a React WordPress theme work well on mobile devices?

Certainly! React is a versatile solution that ensures seamless rendering across all devices. React apps can be built to deliver a flawless user experience on both desktop and mobile platforms.

What about the SEO-friendliness of React?

Search engine optimization can be a challenge when building React apps due to factors like JavaScript rendering and metadata management. Although Google can crawl and index client-side rendered websites, other search engines and SEO tools may have limitations.

To address these issues, developers can employ techniques such as creating isomorphic React apps or utilizing pre-rendering. Isomorphic apps can render on both the client and server sides, enabling search engines to access content while JavaScript loads in the background. Frameworks like Next.js and Gatsby facilitate the development process and help solve SEO-related problems.

Why Is creating React components so efficient?

When building UIs, developers often rely on modern CSS frameworks like Bootstrap, Tailwind CSS, or Material Design. These frameworks offer pre-built components that can be easily integrated into React apps, saving significant development time. By leveraging these ready-to-use components, developers can focus on customizing and scaling their apps without starting from scratch.

Is React suitable for WordPress theme development?

Yes, React is a viable option for WordPress theme development since the introduction of the REST API functionality in the core system. With the decoupling of the back-end and front-end, developers can leverage various technologies to create custom WordPress themes. React.js stands out as one of the best choices, allowing seamless communication with the WordPress back-end through HTTP calls and JSON objects.

What are the benefits of using React for WordPress theme development?

Simple Syntax: React offers an easy-to-master syntax, making it accessible for front-end developers of any level.
Component Reusability: React components can be easily reused across different applications, making the development process faster and more efficient.
Virtual DOM Implementation: React’s virtual DOM concept enables rendering only the elements that have changed, resulting in exceptionally fast UI updates.

Can React be used to build custom WordPress themes from scratch?

Absolutely! Building a React.js WordPress theme from scratch gives site owners complete control over every aspect of their websites. Rather than relying on pre-designed themes and struggling to customize them, React empowers developers to create tailor-made themes that perfectly align with their business needs.

Why Your Business Should Choose a Custom WordPress Theme: 7 Convincing Arguments

Some twenty years after its initial release, WordPress remains the world’s most popular content management system (CMS). As of now, WordPress version 6.3 has been downloaded over 53.5 million times and continues to grow in popularity.

WordPress is a versatile platform that caters to various types of websites, from personal blogs to online stores. Renowned companies like Mercedes-Benz, Microsoft, and Bloomberg are among its many users.

The secret behind WordPress’s incredible popularity lies in its open-source nature, user-friendly setup and management, and extensive community support. Additionally, WordPress offers a vast selection of plugins and themes to meet the needs of businesses.

While the features of a WordPress website are undoubtedly important, the visual appeal and functionality of the theme can greatly impact the success of a business. In this post, we will explore why choosing a custom WordPress theme is preferable to using a premade free or paid one.

Different Types of Themes: Exploring the Concept and Variants

A WordPress theme consists of files that determine the appearance and layout of a website’s content. These files include CSS stylesheets, templates, images, JavaScript files, PHP files, and more.

There are three options for obtaining themes:

Downloading a free WordPress theme from the official vendor’s website.
Purchasing a premium theme from various sites.
Hiring a professional designer and developer to create a custom theme tailored to your specifications.

While it is possible to customize a premade theme by tweaking its code, building a theme from scratch offers numerous benefits for your business. Let’s explore them.

The Main Benefits of Selecting a Custom WordPress Theme for Your Project

#1: A Custom WordPress Theme Aligns Perfectly with Your Company’s Goals, Vision, and Content

A custom WordPress theme is essential to aligning with your company’s goals, vision, and content. While there are many attractive themes available, modifying their appearance and layout may not accurately reflect your business objectives. This requires the expertise of professional WordPress developers who understand the intricacies involved.

Choosing the right colors and fonts is just the beginning. Before diving into HTML or PHP coding, you must answer several crucial questions:

What are your website’s intended business goals? Is it for representation, lead generation, or sales?
What content will be featured on your main page?
Who is your target audience? What do you know about them, and why would they visit your site?

Only after conducting thorough research, analyzing your business data, and understanding your core needs will a custom WordPress theme developer start coding. Customizing a premade theme to the necessary extent can be time-consuming and may not guarantee the desired outcome.

#2: A Custom WordPress Theme Sets You Apart from Competitors

Even if you alter the colors and content, sticking to the same theme as others will make it difficult for potential customers to remember your website and increase the likelihood of them not returning.

While you may believe that purchasing a premium theme and customizing it to your preferences will differentiate you from other companies in your industry, the unfortunate reality is that five premium themes currently dominate around 25% of the market. As a result, even with significant changes to the purchased theme, its layout and features will resemble those used by many other players in the market.

On the other hand, opting for a custom WordPress theme or a custom WooCommerce theme (for online stores) will set you apart from your competitors. With its unique design that you have personally created, it will enhance brand recognition, customer engagement, and ultimately lead to better sales.

#3: A Custom WordPress Theme Enhances Security

Security is paramount for any business, especially in the face of cyber criminals who exploit website vulnerabilities. One drawback of WordPress’s popularity is that it becomes a prime target for hackers. Shocking statistics reveal that 90% of the sites targeted by hackers a few years ago were powered by WordPress.

So, how do these cybercriminals usually gain access to WordPress websites? They often download free themes or purchase premium ones, then dismantle the code to uncover weaknesses. Once they identify these vulnerabilities, they scour the internet for websites using the same theme and exploit the security holes.

By using a custom theme, you can ensure that hackers won’t be able to access your website’s code. While this doesn’t guarantee complete immunity from cyber attacks, it significantly enhances the security of your WordPress website compared to using free or premium themes.

#4: A Custom WordPress Theme Is Better Optimized for Search Engines

If you want your website to rank high on Google’s search results, having an SEO-friendly website is crucial. While many ready-made WordPress themes come with built-in SEO features, customizing them to meet your specific needs is essential for optimal search engine visibility.

In addition to using relevant keywords, the structure of your website plays a significant role in improving search engine rankings. By building a custom WordPress theme from scratch, you have the opportunity to design a structure that allows search engine crawlers to easily index your content.

#5: A Custom WordPress Theme Is Fast and Well-Performant

Many premium themes come bundled with unnecessary features that may not be relevant to your business. The inclusion of these features adds unnecessary weight to the code, resulting in longer loading times for your website.

For a business website, loading speed is a critical factor. If the loading time exceeds two seconds, visitors are likely to leave and find an alternative. This not only leads to reduced sales but also negatively impacts your SEO rankings as the bounce rate increases significantly.

On the other hand, a custom theme is tailored specifically to your business needs and does not include any extraneous features. This lightweight nature allows your custom WordPress website to run faster, providing a better user experience.

Furthermore, you can have peace of mind knowing that the code of your custom WordPress theme has undergone extensive testing to eliminate any bugs, especially when you outsource WordPress development. This level of assurance is not always guaranteed with premium or free themes.

#6: With a Custom WordPress Theme, You Get Direct and Instant Support From the Developer

Encountering problems with a premade theme, whether free or paid, can be quite bothersome. Incompatibility with plugins could render your website useless, requiring professional assistance.

The catch is, if thousands or even millions of websites are using the same theme, their owners may also face similar issues and need technical help. This means you might have to wait indefinitely for a resolution, a nightmare scenario for any business.

On the other hand, with a custom theme, you can rely on top-notch support that’s only a call away. Through white label WordPress development, the theme’s developer is always ready to address any concerns or fix bugs in your custom WordPress site promptly upon notification.

#7: A Custom WordPress Theme Is Easy to Update

Regular updates are essential for maintaining the functionality and security of your website. While premium theme providers may neglect updates over time, leaving your website vulnerable to cyber threats, a custom WordPress theme offers a different experience.

With a custom theme, updating is as simple as notifying the developer, ensuring that your website always has the latest features and security patches. This provides a stable and secure online presence for your business and an enhanced user experience for your customers.

Conclusion

Selecting a custom WordPress theme for your project is a strategic decision that offers substantial benefits. With a custom theme, you can ensure that your website accurately reflects your business’s unique goals and vision, distinguishing you from competitors.

Custom themes also significantly enhance your website’s security and are better optimized for search engines, making them an ideal choice for businesses aiming for a robust online presence. Furthermore, a custom theme is not only fast and performant but also offers the advantage of direct developer support and easy updates

All these factors combine to provide a seamless and enriching user experience for your customers, making the custom WordPress theme an investment worth considering for every ambitious business.

January Think Piece: Web Design And Development News

In this issue, you will learn more about UX principles, font pairing, new releases of Firefox and Bootstrap, Project Spartan (rebranded IE for Win 10), and you will discover a new collection of design resources as well. We’ve also included several articles for inspiration and entertainment.

Welcome to our January Think Piece. Each month, we’re going to publish some of our favorite articles and resources we’ve discovered. In this issue, you will learn more about UX principles, font pairing, new releases of Firefox and Bootstrap, Project Spartan (rebranded IE for Win 10), and you will discover a new collection of design resources as well. We’ve also included several articles for inspiration and entertainment. Hope you’ll enjoy the reading!

Education

Understanding Web UI Elements & Principles

The design of any commercial website is about conversions, sales and leads. That’s why every good designer should know at least some UX basics. The more principles you know and apply to your designs, the more benefit you’ll bring to your customers and the more new orders you get.

This article talks about some of the most important principles of web UI design. The main idea is that the interface is not just a set of beautiful buttons and elements, but the funnel to guide a user towards some certain and fixed goal to complete (usually sale or lead generation). When drawing some innovative interface, please note that most users are quite close-minded and tradition-bound, and they might not accept some radical innovation, even if it promises them more convenience in the future. Your designs should pass the so-called MAYA-principle test (Most Advanced Yet Acceptable). All practical hints in this article have interesting and funny examples.

6 Tips for Perfect Google Font Pairing

There are no strict rules for fonts pairing; however, there are some basic principles for doing it properly. This article outlines several generic recommendations on how to pair fonts. The first rule is that no font can rescue bad content. Second, keep typography simple so it doesn’t become overwhelming. Third, use contrast fonts, but use them right. Don’t forget about readability; ensure the text remains easily readable. Do not limit yourself with several fonts you are used to working with – use online resources for new fonts, new pairing samples and inspiration. Be creative and do not be afraid of experimenting with new pairings.

Prepare for 2015 with 1000s of New Artistic Resources

This fresh collection of design resources will help you prepare and complete new challenges in 2015. Design effects, custom scene creation packs, Photoshop kits with styles, brushes and textures – these resources will help you create new, beautiful design effects and save you time. This collection has received several enthusiastic comments and you will definitely love it, too.

Photo from Designcuts.com

Inspiration for Text Input Effects

Opportunities for form input customization are undeservedly overlooked in most cases. The majority of input forms are, by default, just dull. Mary Lou shares some experimental styles and effects for text inputs in her post. Almost all of the effects use CSS transitions, pseudo-elements and CSS properties that will work on modern browsers only. The post itself was written more for inspiration rather than for practical use, but it is still worth reading.

Inspiration & Entertainment

How To Transform Your Problem-Solving And Creativity

Creativity is one of the most important things for any designer, but what, actually, is it? Is it some kind of God-given talent, or just a skill that can be trained and improved? Creativity is all about fresh ideas, and ideas are usually generated by thinking. So, theoretically, there is a direct relationship between mental capabilities, the level of creativity, and every person with a strong logic and strong ability for thinking, right? Well, the reality shows that is not always the case. Check out this article with an overview of five books that will stimulate and improve your thinking abilities, creativity and problem-solving skills simultaneously. They will teach you new methods and ways of thinking to remove any barriers and preconceptions of your mind, and free and improve your creativity.

8 Places to Prowl for Creative Inspiration

Every designer knows that inspiration is not something that can be bought or summoned to appear exactly when you need it. That means you need to look for it, and this article will help you in your search for places that waken your creativity. It introduces eight sources for inspiration available in any country, region and environment. The first place is nature, which, for example, inspired Nike to create a modular design of shoes (similar to the structure of microscopic water creatures). Music also works pretty well for inspiration. In some cases, you can use words for inspiration and try a so-called title-first approach (like Sting, who sometimes invents a title for his future song first, and then starts composing the music itself). All sources of inspiration in the article have very interesting, and sometimes funny, practical examples of famous people. We highly recommend you read this article in its entirety.

A Browser-Based Illusion Made all in CSS

As it turned out, CSS is applicable not only for ordinary styling; you can also do some magic with it. James Louis Walker introduces illusions with impressive animated effects. The illusions themselves were inspired by videos with optical illusions made by Brusspup on Youtube. But the feature of James’ illusions is that they are all completely done in CSS. The post gives you some hints on how this illusion was created, so if you want, you can do your own and send them to us for publishing on our blog and in our social groups to get some promotion in our community.

30+ Examples of Login Form Designs

Login and registration forms are very important elements of any design. They have to be easy to notice and easy to use. But when they are creative and beautiful at the same time, it’s a triumph for each designer. Here you can find examples of creative and efficient (and sometimes quite funny) forms. We hope this collection will inspire you and contribute to your own projects.

For Developers

This is Spartan! Project Spartan is Microsoft’s new web browser for Windows 10

It seems Microsoft will give up Internet Explorer in Windows 10 and introduce a new default browser called Project Spartan. According to Christina Warren and Mashable.com, it’s more like an attempt to rebrand IE rather than an intention to develop completely new and different browser. It’s quite logical step, because more and more developers pay little to no attention to IE compatibility at all. They mostly focus on Chrome and Firefox now. The new browser will be based on a new rendering engine with a cleaner user experience and a more streamlined appearance. More information on this topic can be found here.

Firefox Version 35 Has Been Released

Mozilla has also released a new version (version 35) of its Firefox browser recently. In addition to lots of bug fixes, this release contains several features that will make the life of developers easier. For example, they enabled CSS source maps by default. This feature was initially added into Version 29, but now it is enabled by default. Check Mozilla’s developer network for a full list of all the bug fixes, improvements and changes.

Bootstrap 3.3.2 released on January 19

According to the Official Bootstrap Blog, this release contains more than 300 commitments from 19 contributors. It doesn’t contain any significant new features, but it does include lots of bug fixes, accessibility improvements and documentation updates. As always, the post contains a link to a music video. This time, it’s Ace of Base – “The Sign”. Enjoy it!

That’s all for now. Subscribe to our blog updates and we’ll keep you in the loop.

Yearly Think Piece: Best of the Web and Design In 2014

2014 is now over, and that means that it’s high time to see the old year out and the new year in. Let’s have a quick look at what was going on this year and check forecasts on what will be trending in the next year.

Remembering 2014:

Best and Worst Web Design Trends in 2014

Jake Rocheleau, web designer and social media entrepreneur, collected the most propagated design trends for 2014 in his article. According to Rocheleau, minimalist flat design is still popular because it is easy to design and use. Fullscreen responsive background became trendy this year since it can scale naturally with the browser. Mobile responsive navigation is another trend this year, and this trend will persist.

Among the worst trends of this year, Rocheleau mentions modal window promos, as they are annoying and have the same effect as pop-ups. Another thing that you must avoid is overloading your site with social media. If you have too many sharing badges for too many social networks, it is confusing. Preloaders and customized scrollbars are also elements not worth using in 2015.

The Evolution of WordPress in 2014 and Beyond

WordPress remains the most popular CMS in the world, covering around 23% of websites, and will continue dominating the market for at least the next year. One of the reasons for their success is that they are constantly evolving. This article studies the most remarkable WordPress releases and features throughout 2014. The main focus of WordPress 3.9 “Smith” was on improvements to the WordPress Visual Editor and media capabilities. Now you can have media lists and drag-and-drop images directly into the visual editor. WordPress 4.0 “Benny” contained no significant new features, just some minor updates and fixes. According to the author, one of the main focuses for 2015 will be to make working with media files easier. Hopefully, WordPress will finally start to update itself automatically, like Chrome or Firefox. This would help to keep all sites as secure as possible. Moreover, since the whole world is moving towards globalization, WordPress would need a better support for international sites by providing more tweaks for non-English-language users.

The Fifth Revision of the HTML Standard is Finally Out

After 10 years of development (which took more than 50,000 email exchanges and more than 4,000 errors resolving), the W3C finally released the fifth revision of the HTML standard. New features, which simplify multimedia and graphics handling, help to avoid using proprietary plugins and APIs, and also provide additional features to enrich semantic content. In particular, HTML5 introduced <video> and <audio> tags, and implemented 2D graphics rendering via <canvas> tag and corresponding JavaScript API. Forms are improved now and have become more user-friendly without any extra JavaScript code. Thanks to the use of Cache Manifest, the content is stored on the client so that users get fully functional applications, even if they work in an offline mode. HTML5 introduces many new features, markup elements, attributes, APIs, DOM interfaces and extensions. It’s definitely worth to study all of them in detail.

The 5 Most Popular Front-End Frameworks in 2014 – Overview and Comparison

There are plenty of CSS front-end frameworks available on the market. Each framework has its strengths and weaknesses, as well as specific areas of application. Here is an article about the TOP 5 front-end frameworks in 2014. This rating is based on their GitHub popularity, and the TOP 1 is, of course, Bootstrap. Initially released in 2011, Bootstrap is the undisputed leader among frameworks for the moment. It’s hard to tell whether it is technically better, but its main strength is popularity, which means lots of educational resources, manuals, articles,third-party extensions and plugins.The second popular framework is Foundation, and the next one is Semantic UI framework, which utilizes natural language principles. Thanks to this feature, its code is easy to read and understand. Another framework mentioned in the article is Pure, a lightweight modular framework by Yahoo! and written in pure CSS for those who need only specific components instead of a full-featured solution. Last but not least is UIkit, an easy-to-customize set of components written by Yootheme.

The article also contains several tips on how to choose the right framework for your needs. Briefly summarizing a framework should be popular (it usually means lots of tutorials, samples, third-party extensions, etc.) and under active development to keep up with latest web technologies.

Google Subtlest Logo Change in the History of Logo Changes

This year, Google changed their logo a bit. The changes were so slight they were almost invisible. They moved the “g” one pixel to the right and the “l” one pixel down and right. The community says it was done to solve a problem with the kerning of the letter. You can compare “before” and “after” here. Not sure if they really solved the problem, but at least they can be nominated for the subtlest change ever done to a logo.

Preparing for 2015:

Web Design Trends in 2015

It’s important to keep track of current web design trends. However, if you want to outperform your competitors, you have to learn to predict and forecast upcoming trends. Let’s have a look at what the community suggests as the most trending things for the next year. Responsive design can still be considered as a trend, but it’s more like a norm now. Ghost buttons are minimal and stylish, and perfectly suited for fullscreen backgrounds. The author says they will gain more popularity this year, along with large background images and videos. More attention will be paid to typography this year. That’s because type kits became more affordable and do not require larger budgets for website development. At the same time, they allow building really nice websites. Scrolling over clicking will obviously be more and more popular. The reason is with the development of the mobile world, more and more people want to have the same experience on their desktops. Card design will continue, as cards are a clean and simple way to present information. Flat design may remain trendy or grow up into material design, which was introduced by Google this year. Micro interactions in form of pop-ups will continue to grow, as well. Then, there is Personalized UX – this is what we already have on Youtube, for instance, where Google displays more relevant content using our cookies. The idea itself is not new, but more and more websites will adopt it.

HTML6: The Next Big Thing After HTML5

This year, the W3C officially launched HTML5. However, they are always on the move, so moving forward to the sixth revision of HTML will not be long. HTML6 will be more than just creating containers and assigning them IDs. The new language is planned to be more human-friendly and define containers and elements in a way convenient for you. This will be achieved via a combination of HTML and XML. In this new version, you will be able to create any tag you want and W3C will reserve and use namespaces that will call the required HTML APIs. There will also be the introduction of some new tags, like the <carousel> tag. This will help you implement carousels on your web pages in an easier way. Check out this article for more details on the upcoming changes.

Web Development Trends in 2014 and Predictions for 2015

Shiju Varghese shares his observations on web development trends this year, and makes predictions for the next year. Since web development technologies are powering and affecting designs, this article will be useful for both developers and designers. Responsive web design is now a must-have feature, but it doesn’t solve all the challenges and is suitable more for content-rich website. In addition, if you have something more along the lines of a Web app with a lot of UI elements, you should still think of a mobile version. The mobile-first strategy dominates in web development, so APIs become a key component of Web apps. Since Mobile Backend as a Service (MBaaS) solution on the Cloud platforms have been introduced, they are becoming another trend of this year. The author believes that they will be used for both Web apps and Mobile apps in the future. Yet another trend is single-page applications.

As for programming languages, dynamic languages like Ruby on Rails and Python become less relevant for Web development, and many apps initially built with these languages are now being re-engineered due to performance and scalability challenges. According to Shiju, the Go programming language will heavily replace dynamic languages, Java and Node.js soon.

Knowledge Base & Resources:

10 Quick Tips for Re-Designing Your Website as Per 2015 Trends

Don’t think you’ve completed your website once and it will perform efficiently for many years. The Internet is an ever-changing world; smart entrepreneurs monitor web design trends and tweak their websites to meet ever-growing users’ expectations. If you don’t want your website to become out-of-date and lose customers in favor of your competitors, check these 10 tips for re-design of your website and start implementing them. The author writes that content is the king like never before, so you should pay special attention to it. SEO is still not dead, so it is still worth making your website SEO-friendly. An attractive logo and catchy tagline will help your visitors remember your brand and improve brand awareness. Make the navigation on your website as easy as possible and don’t make your audience think. If you don’t want that your visitors to leave your website and go to your competitors because then had no time to wait for your page loading, be sure to optimize your page-load speed. Blog management is one of the most promising methods of your website promotion, so set up a blog (if you don’t have one) and don’t forget about RSS tools. The last, but probably one of the most important, tip is to measure the performance on a regular basis.

10 Must-Read UX Design Books

If you are a web designer and your designs sell the products of your end-customers well, this is your added value and your competitive advantage. Although UX is not rocket science and it’s just about common sense, there are lots of specific processes, tools and techniques that will help you create such designs. Adham Dannaway introduces his TOP 10 UX design books to help you improve your efficiency and increase your value in the eyes of your customers. Some of the books listed are intended for newbies and explain UX basics, and several books deal with UX life-cycle processes and methods. It’s interesting that Steve Krug, with his Don’t Make Me Think is still there.

50 CSS Tools & Resources from 2014

Speckyboy editors have published their 50 favorite CSS resources. The post is huge and contains the most useful CSS resources, tools, libraries, UI kits and frameworks that have been released this year. For more convenience, the resources are categorized into several sections. Enjoy the list and get the most out of it.

Trim your sails to the wind and read our blog in 2015. We’ll work hard to keep you in the loop. Happy New Year!

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