Showing posts with label Software. Show all posts

Thursday, January 5, 2023

My Personal Guide to All the Best Features in Nicepage - Part 3

My Personal Guide to All the Best Features in Nicepage – Part 3

This is my third article in a four-part series about my favorite web builder, Nicepage. In the first article, “My Personal Guide to All the Best Features in Nicepage, Part 1,” we discussed the Nicepage subscription plans. We also mentioned its desktop app for Windows and Mac allows you to design and edit your website offline. Then, in my second article, “My Personal Guide to The Best Features in Nicepage Part 2,” I highlighted special design features in Nicepage that I especially like. Some are even unique to Nicepage.

In this third article, we will discuss the options available on Nicepage, allowing you to publish your site to your website from the desktop app.

Publication Options

I have provided screenshots to help you visualize the comments, but there is also a video further down you can view.

So let’s go to the desktop app for Nicepage. In this case, it is in Windows, but there is also a version for Mac computers. The website showing on the desktop is one I have been working on in the second video for demonstration purposes. We demonstrated some animation, grids, and how they contribute to a responsive website. We also presented a modal, accordion, and tab feature.

Assuming that we are ready to publish our website on the internet, let’s look at our publication options. These methods export the site from our desktop app to our online website. So we go to the publication feature, where you can see the following options:

Website. This option uploads the site directly to the Nicepage server. This is a simple way to post the site online and allow clients to view it before launching it publicly.
HTML. For those who prefer a simple, straightforward website rather than a CMS such as WordPress or Joomla.
WordPress. This is the most popular website option, and Nicepage is a leading theme builder for WordPress.
Joomla. Though less popular than WordPress, Joomla offers another CMS option.
Image. Publish a one-page image of the site.
Website project. This packages the website project for transfer to another computer.

View Video

Website Publication

Starting with the first option, we will publish to a website. The subdomain to which it will be posted is shown in the window. Use this URL to view the site once it’s published. A custom domain name that you have registered can also be configured to direct viewers to the Nicepage subdomain. A few other options can also be selected in the window, but we will skip them and go straight to “Publish Website.”

Now we can use the subdomain URL to view the site. As you scroll down the home page, you can observe the animation in action with the various page elements as they zoom out or slide in. Click on the button for the modal to have it pop up with the photo slider. And then, you can see how the accordion and tab look and operate. Both are good options for offering viewers an opportunity to view the data or not.

HTML Publication

With the option to publish to HTML, we can export the site to a folder, a zip file, or directly to our website using FTP. I use my FTP client, so I take the Folder option and select where to export it.

I will go over to Filezilla, connect to the export folder, and then to my website folder online. I will select all files and folders in the export folder, then drag and drop them into the online folder on my hosting site.

There is no further configuration necessary. I can go to my browser, enter the URL of my website, and immediately view the site. This assumes that my domain is set up with the hosting site and has propagated across the internet.

WordPress Publication

Finally, we will choose the WordPress option for publishing. Again, we can export to a folder, zip file, or FTP. Selecting the zip file option is the most straightforward choice. You will need a more advanced understanding of WordPress to use the folder or FTP approach.

By choosing to export to a zip file, I will install the site on my WordPress website as with any other theme. The only difference will be the import of content and installation of a plugin. The Nicepage plugin will serve as your editor in WordPress to work with your Nicepage web pages.

Before exporting the WordPress zip file, choose which features you want to export to your website. You will want to include the Theme along with pages and Editor Plugin. If you are planning an eCommerce site, retain the templates. If you want to export your site to the desktop app, choose to have the Nicepage Project. Now we are ready to export.

Next, we will go to the wp-admin section of our WordPress website to install the zip file. Once you are in the wp-admin area, select “Appearance” from the left menu and select themes. At the top of the page, click on “add new” and then on “upload theme.” You will locate the exported zip file on your computer and click “install.”

Now that we have installed our website, we need to activate it. Having done that, click on customize, and you will need to go to self-identity. In this section, you will insert your logo and Favicon from your media library or upload them from your computer. Then go further down to insert the site icon.

Now click the back arrow, then go down to the menus. Under menus, you will need to select the menu you will be using. Most likely, it will already be set.

Next, click the back arrow and go to “Homepage settings.” Here you will choose whether the homepage will use the latest post or will be a static page. Although posting is a significant function of my Digital Chowder website, I use a static homepage with links to posts.

At this point, you’re ready to click publish and view your WordPress website online.

In my fourth and final Nicepage-oriented article, I will discuss working with your Nicepage-generated website within WordPress. In addition, I will show how to go back and forth between your online and offline versions of the site. You can view all four articles on YouTube for a better visual demonstration of this presentation.

Website Building and Repair

Do you find all this a bit overwhelming, or do you not have the time to work with a site? Let me make a suggestion. Go over to Elite Web Presence for some help. Whether you need a complete website build and update, or some cleanup and maintenance, they can do the job for you. They can also help with SEO, along with website backup and security.

Conclusion

Has this series been helpful? Building a website with Nicepage is an easy and efficient way to get your site up and running quickly. Using the tools it offers, you can create an attractive design that drives traffic to your pages and gives customers what they need.

Finally, does all of this sound too daunting or time-consuming? In that case, Elite Web Presence can help build, update or maintain your website to optimize it for success.

Have questions or comments? Please leave them in the comment section below.

Thursday, December 29, 2022

My Personal Guide to The Best Features in Nicepage Part 2

Welcome to the Digital Chowder blog! It is part two of my guide to all of Nice Page’s most impressive features.

I talked about the Nicepage subscription plans and desktop app in the first video. The app is available for both Windows and Mac. The app allows you to do your design work offline on your computer and do as much as you want online. Just an excellent feature that I have not seen with any other web builder in part two.

In this video, we’ll talk about some of the design features of Nice Page that I like. This article will not be a how-to but will highlight features I like about Nicepage.

Nicepage App Dashboard:

So here we are at the dashboard for the Nice Page app. I use the Windows version. You can see on the left side a list of the websites I am working with on Nicepage. I will select this site I set up as a demo site. So click on it, and we go to the front page of the website design.

Simple Format:

From here, we will talk about the simple Nicepage design format. With some builders, I need clarification on the format and help to know what to do. Also, with some builders, I feel locked into a structure that only sometimes works best for what I want to do. But Nicepage is different.

Websites these days are being built using blocks of content. And that is the case with Nicepage. You can see two blocks in this design in the image above, in addition to the header and footer.

Adding and Designing A Block:

Adding a block is a simple matter of clicking on the add block link and then choosing a design template from the library or adding elements of my choice for a preferred design.

We can see in this first block that an image is in the block as an independent element. Behind it is another separate element called a shape. To the right is a list element comprised of three items called cells.

On the right is a box element. And within the box are a heading, text, and a button. And all of these are in the box. The box ties these elements together. The components within the box move with it, going where it goes. This functionality is essential for a responsive website. We are working within a desktop view, but we also want these elements to remain aligned in a phone view.

Another feature that helps to tie elements together for a responsive website is the grid. We can use 2, 3, or more cells in a grid. These cells can be independent of each other or can duplicate one another.

And here is what the grid looks like with images in desktop view.

And here is what the grid looks like with images in mobile view.

Modal:

Next, we will look at the modal. I am still looking for the modal in other builders, but it is a feature I like to use. It is one of several ways to offer more information but allows the viewer to choose whether to view it. This feature helps keep a more straightforward and cleaner page rather than cramming in information viewers may want to avoid seeing. By so doing, we can prevent losing visitors who become impatient wading through content they don’t want to get to the content they do want.

Here is what a modal might look like, but view the video below to demonstrate how it functions.

Three choices are available for launching a modal:

Button: Launch the modal by clicking a button.
Timer: Schedule the modal to pop up a certain number of seconds after the page opens.
Exit: Set the modal to pop up when the visitor intends to exit the page.

Modal Plus Slider:

A modal will allow the use of any element. I like to use the slider in modals. I suggest using an image linked to a modal so the viewer can click the image and have a slide show pop-up of other related images.

Animation:

Another neat feature of Nicepage is animation. You will need to view the video to see this in action. Two blocks in the sample web page utilize animation, activated by scrolling. As the block emerges on the screen, the animation is triggered. Scrolling triggers the main image in the block shown below to zoom in. Each cell in the grid also uses zoom animation.

Accordion:

The next feature to highlight is the accordion. If you are unsure what the accordion feature is, you may have seen one without realizing it was an accordion. The modal is often used for FAQs, though that is only one use for them. Shown below is a FAQ accordion.

Reordering Blocks:

Web page blocks serve as units of related content. As such, blocks can serve as visual highlights of their content by using different backgrounds and other graphic design features. An excellent quality of Nicpage is the ease with which you can reorder blocks. Without moving individual elements on the page, you merely need to click an up or down arrow on the block to reorder it above or below the surrounding blocks. Moving a block can amount to significant page editing with the click of an arrow.

Additionally, there may be a block with content that is temporarily unwanted. Will you delete that block you have spent time designing? After all, you will eventually want to include it on the page again. No problem. Hide the block so it does not appear publicly.

Tab:

A similar feature to the accordion is the tab. The tab, like the accordion, allows information to remain hidden until a visitor chooses to view it. So as the example below shows, the tabs identify the data contained under that tab. It is much like a file folder. Clicking the tab reveals its contents.

Conclusion:

I hope this article has been helpful. If you haven’t already seen the video or article for part one of this series, I encourage you to read, “My Personal Guide to All the Best Features in Nicepage, Part 1.”

Also, I hope you will use this link for a free download of Nicepage and check it out yourself.

If you have found this article to be helpful, please leave a comment below.

Friday, December 23, 2022

My Personal Guide to All the Best Features in Nicepage, Part 1

Introduction

Hello, and welcome to the Digital Chowder blog. I’m Wayne, and this is the first of four posts and videos I will be doing about All the Best Features of Nicepage, my favorite website builder. This post will not be a how-to about how to use Nicepage. Nor will it be a review comparing Nicepage alongside other web builders. Instead, I will highlight some of my favorite features found in Nicepage.

This first post/video will address the Nicepage subscription plan, why I like it, and why it is a good fit for me. Then I will touch on the desktop app with Nicepage, giving an overview. Finally, I will discuss the options for publishing your website after designing it in the desktop app.

Nicepage Subscription Plans:

If you go to the Nice Page website and then to their premium page, you will see four subscription plans outlined. Each plan has two options: a subscription and a license. So what is the difference? With the license, you’re paying a one-time fee to purchase the software; with that, you’re getting one year of updates for the software. But beyond the first year, there will be an additional fee if you want any updates. I have chosen the subscription approach. With the subscription, you pay an annual fee and receive the software and all updates during the year. And it is ongoing.

When I started with Nice Page, I used the Personal plan since I only needed one website for my business plus a personal site. With the Personal plan, I could have as many as five websites. So that was quite adequate. But now I design websites for other businesses besides my own. So I need to use Nicepage for more than five websites. However, I don’t need an unlimited number of sites.

So, let’s jump over to the Elementor website and look at their plans to understand why the Nicepage subscription is a good fit for me. With Elementor, three plans start with the Essential plan, which is $59 a year. This plan allows you one website. If you jump to the Expert Plan, which is $199 a year, you are allowed 25 websites.

Now let’s go back to the Nicepage website. Back there, the Business plan offers a middle ground between the Personal and Pro plans, which Elementor does not have. The Business plan for $129 a year allows me 50 websites and additional features. This is just right for me. I need more than the Personal plan offers, but I don’t need all that the Pro plan provides. So the Business plan is the one I use. I would pay $199 annually at Elementor and only get 25 sites.

Desktop App:

The next feature I want to highlight is the desktop app with Nicepage. There is a desktop app for both Windows and Mac computers. If you’re building a WordPress website, then you also get a WordPress plugin, or if you’re doing a Joomla site, you get that Joomla plugin.

You can do the whole website on your computer before you import it to your WordPress website. But it is not required. Creating the site layout is the only portion of building a website that requires the desktop app. Once you have created a layout for your website, you can export the site to a zip file and install it as a WordPress theme. You can do the remainder of the design online. Or not! You can also build the complete site on your desktop before installing it online.

Once you have installed the design theme on your WordPress site, you can work back and forth between online and offline.

Once your site is online, you can edit it on the desktop or do it online, whichever you choose. I do both. I like to be able to do major edits on my desktop, knowing that when I do a save, it’s not going to go public.

Next, let’s look more closely at the desktop app.

You can check the video above to see what I’m talking about in the following comments.

As you view the desktop application listed in the left-hand column, you will see a list of your websites. Click the appropriate icon to open the site you want to work with. You can also delete a website you are no longer working with from this page. To create a new website, use the “New Site” button.

If you are creating a new website, you can start with a blank website and build the site from scratch, adding elements as you go. Or, you can use your graphics to form the bases of the site. Yet another option is to select a design template from the various categories listed. Once you choose a template, you can stay close to the template design or use it only as a starting point.

Publishing The Website:

When you are ready to export my website to an online host, I can click the “Publish” button. You can publish a temporary Nicepage-hosted site, an HTML format, or a WordPress theme.

The temporary “Website” option is quick and easy. Press the publish button to install the site on the Nicepage server. Then share the subdomain with a client for their review of the site. There is no configuration or installation or uploads to do to have a site looking like the one on your desktop.

Another option is an HTML site. This choice requires an FTP app to upload to the host server.

If you publish a WordPress site, use the output zip file to install in WordPress as you do with any other theme.

Conclusion

In this post, I have given an overview of Nicepage. In the next post, I will detail some of my favorite design features in Nicepage. Meanwhile, I encourage you to get a free Nicepage download and try it. Then come back to the other posts for further help.

Friday, November 4, 2022

14 Online Apps & Services for Freelancers

Many online apps and services can help make you more productive if you’re a freelancer. This article will discuss 14 of these tools, including three writing tools, four website-building tools, three creative tools, and four productivity tools.

Writing Tools

Grammarly

Grammarly is a grammar-checking tool that helps improve writing skills. Before I learned about the app, I struggled to write clearly and concisely, but Grammarly has helped me greatly. My sentences used to be too long and complicated, but now I feel better about my writing skills. I use Grammarly for everything from blog posts and emails to website copy. It’s the best tool around for polishing up your writing!

Grammarly is constantly active, no matter what application I am using. As I write, it will suggest changes to improve spelling, style, and tone. Sometimes, it will rewrite sentences to make them neater and simpler.

I am confident in the quality of my work, free of typos, misspellings, and bad grammar.

Grammarly has indeed been a lifesaver for me and my writing.

Try Grammarly

Jasper

Before I publish anything, I use Grammarly to check my writing for errors. However, when actually creating content, Jasper AI is where I turn to spark my creativity.

Jasper AI is the perfect tool to help me quickly and easily develop original, engaging content. With Jasper‘s help, I can come up with dozens of ideas for blogs, product descriptions, and web copy.

This can all be done in a fraction of the time it would normally take, and because Jasper integrates directly with social media platforms, I can publish content on these platforms without any hassle.

Try Jasper

Sqribble eBook Creator

Artificial intelligence is increasingly automating tasks that have here-to-fore been time-consuming. Sqribble eBook Creator is a leader in using AI to automate the process of eBook creation. With just a few clicks, you can create amazing eBooks that will educate, inform and entertain your readers. And best of all, you don’t need any design, technical or writing skills to start!

Sqribble provides over 50 alluring eBook templates belonging to 15 distinct niche categories. So, no matter what book you want to write – whether it’s a cookbook, a self-help guide, or an eBook on your pastime – we have your back.

With customizable templates, you can make your eBook unique by adding photos, videos, and text. And if you need help along the way, a support team is always available.

Try Sqribble

Website Tools

Nicepage

Nicepage is a website design app capable of turning out sites in WordPress, Joomla, and HTML.

Nicepage is my choice for web design. It is the tool I use for my website and to build sites for other businesses.

With Nicepage, you can create stunning websites without writing a single line of code! Just use its easy drag-and-drop website builder software to implement your ideas. Install its desktop app and get started designing your website. There are over 10,000 designer-made templates to choose from, so you can find the perfect one for your business. And if you want to customize anything, it’s easy to do with no coding required. Websites created in Nicepage are mobile-friendly, so they’ll look great on any device.

If you want a website that runs on WordPress or Joomla, design the general layout in the Nicepage desktop application. Afterward, export it as a template file and install it onto either WordPress or Joomla. A Nicepage Plugin will be included with the installation to enable you to continue the design and do editing from within the CMS.

Although I recommend Elementor, I prefer Nicepage because it is more flexible and gives me more freedom. With Nicepage, my creative ideas aren’t restricted by its capabilities. This saves me a lot of time not having to find a way to make my ideas work — they do.

Try Nicepage

Elementor

With Elementor, you can create a stunning website without any coding! With its easy-to-use drag-and-drop editor, you can create beautiful pages in no time. And with 100+ full website Kits and endless possibilities, you can let your creativity shine. Plus, Elementor‘s world-class hosting and robust security features will give you the peace of mind you need to focus on creating the website of your dreams.

Elementor attempts to do it all with its own built-in features that eliminate the need for other plugins and thus do away with plugin clutter. And with 90+ widgets and countless built-in capabilities, you can create any website you can imagine.

You won’t go wrong with Elementor as your choice for website creation.

Try Elementor

Pretty Links

Pretty Links isn’t just for those looking to make money from their content with affiliate links. It has plenty of other benefits, too. Pretty Link’s main purpose is link shortening, but it also tracks clicks for each link created within the program.

While this obvious perk is especially enticing to affiliate marketers, anyone wanting to see how many people are clicking on certain parts of their website can benefit from Pretty Links‘ click-tracking feature. Use Pretty Links as a link shortener for every link on your website, and you will easily track what parts of your website people are viewing or interacting with.

Plus, Pretty Links makes it a breeze to put links on your site. Just add a keyword or phrase when you create the link using Pretty Links. Then, Pretty Links will automatically insert that link any time the keyword appears. And if you ever need to change a link, you will not have to go through your site to change every link usage. Simply update it in one spot – Pretty Link – and it’ll be good to go sitewide!

Try Pretty Links

Pond5

Pond5 is a great resource for finding professional content at an affordable price. It has everything you need for your project, with millions of royalty-free photos, videos, audio clips, and more. And their license allows you to use their content without worry.

The main reason I use Pond5 is that a subscription isn’t required to access the media library- you can pay for each item separately. Most of the photos I purchased cost less than $5.00. If you would rather have a subscription, though, they are available at different price points depending on the content you want to access. You can also buy Credit Packs, which offer a 20% discount off the total purchase price.

Try Pond5

Creative Tools

Snagit

Techsmith’s Snagit is a screen capture software that lets you quickly and easily share what’s on your screen with others, so you don’t have to waste time with back-and-forth emails or messy file attachments. Just share a link to your Snagit capture, and they can view it in their browser.

With Snagit, you can not only take screenshots and mark them up, but you can also record a video of your screen. This is especially useful if you want to show someone how to do something or navigate a process step-by-step. Plus, once you’re done recording, Snagit will automatically turn it into a shareable video that’s easy for anyone to understand.

Snagit is my favorite tool to use when I need help with website design or illustrations for blog posts. The video screen capture feature also comes in handy whenever I need to show someone how a particular software works.

Try Snagit

Camtasia

Camtasia is another app created by Techsmith. With Camtasia, you can quickly and easily create professional-looking videos without prior video editing experience. Camtasia is quick to learn and easy to use, so you’ll be up and running in no time. It is the ideal tool for creating high-quality videos that engage your audience and help them learn more than text alone. Camtasia is perfect for creating video tutorials, how-to videos, software demo videos, meeting recordings, training videos, and lessons.

Try Camtasia

Canva

Canva Pro is an excellent choice to up your design game. This design software makes design simple, convenient, and reliable. With time-saving tools that make anyone look like a professional designer, you can create anything you need in no time.

Need to add some curved text, photo effects, or image enhancer? How about adding frames to photos or even text to videos? It’s all covered. And if you want to take your content to the next level, the online video recorder and converter let you record, edit, trim, and splice videos — all in one place. Plus, you can easily convert them to MP4 format for easy sharing.

When it comes to design, I’m a novice. But with Canva‘s array of templates and tools help my ideas take shape by imitating the professionals. Not only does Canva have great samples that spark creativity, but their design tools are user-friendly. Whenever I need graphics for product promotion or to design a logo, business card, or flyer, I go to Canva.

Try Canva

Productivity Tools

Keeper

Keeper Security offers a top-notch solution to protect your passwords and personal information from cybercriminals. With Keeper you will be Joining millions of people who use Keeper to protect their online identities. You’ll never again have to remember or worry about a password.

Powered by cutting-edge technology, Keeper offers unparalleled protection against ransomware attacks by generating high-strength, random passwords for each website, application, and service you use. In addition, BreachWatch® monitors the dark web 24/7 and alerts you if your credentials are detected in a public data breach so that you can take action immediately.

I have depended on Keeper for several years. Not only does it enable me to retrieve a saved password quickly, but it will also manage the process of registering a new user account and storing the necessary username and password for later use. It is not only for passwords, though. You can also use it to store credit card accounts, driver’s license numbers, and health insurance credentials.

I use Keeper’s Chrome extension to quickly locate the URL of any website I frequent from Keeper’s database. Once the desired website launches, Keeper is on standby to automatically enter my username and password so I can easily log in.

Try Keeper

Todoist

As my task manager and to-do list app, Todist is my choice to keep me more focused, organized, and calm. With Todoist, you can add tasks like “read work emails every day at 10 am” in seconds using natural language recognition and recurring dates. Plus, your to-do lists are automatically sorted into Today, Upcoming, and custom Filter views to help you focus on your most important things.

Todoist allows you to break big tasks into smaller ones, share projects with your team, and add reminders. You can also use Todoist’s apps, extensions, and widgets on any device or platform, so you’re never far from your to-do list.

Todoist seamlessly integrates with your voice assistant, calendar, and over 30 other tools to make productivity effortless, whether at home or on the go. Todoist also has the added bonus of promoting a sense of calm by letting users know that they won’t forget any new tasks that come to mind–enter them into Todoist!

Try Todoist

Hubspot CRM

CRM stands for “customer relations management,” but at Hubspot, it means much more than managing your contacts. With the easy-to-use HubSpot CRM, you’ll never have to manually update reports or wonder how your team tracks toward quotas. Get a real-time view of your entire sales pipeline on a visual dashboard.

Access detailed reports on sales activity, productivity, and individual performance. Then use those insights to track team performance and spot opportunities for growth. Enjoy unlimited users, data, and up to 1,000,000 contacts with no time limit or expiration date — whether you’re a team of 1 or 1,000.

Using Hubspot‘s WordPress plugin, people who sign up to join our email list are automatically added to our Hubspot list. Their activity on our website is tracked so we can track preferences and habits.

Try Hubspot

ezyCollect

ezyCollect has cutting-edge technology to help you get paid faster and protect your business from unpaid invoices. What’s even better, their system is fully automated so that you can save time and effort. You’ll feel like you have an extra person on your team! And with their humanized automation, you can connect with customers more personally.

Within the first 12 months of using ezyCollect, businesses typically see a 43% reduction in outstanding overdue bills. That’s huge! And with their easy-to-use payment portal, customers can view and download invoices, pay one or more invoices on the spot, part-pay, or pay later while they get paid upfront. This makes it super easy for them to pay their invoices and means you don’t have to chase them up for payment.

Try ezyCollect

Thursday, January 5, 2023