Articles

8 Best Free Vue.js Courses for Beginners To Learn Online

,

Hello folks! It’s tough competition these days, and we need to get the right kind of skills from the best resources possible. When it comes to front-end development, ReactJS and Angular are still king and queen, but Vue.js is quickly making its way up to fill the gap.

Vue.js, as you may know, is an open-source view model of the JavaScript framework for building user interfaces. You can also use Vue.js to develop single-page applications. If you are self-teaching Vue.js yourself or want to become a VueJS developer and looking for the best Vue.js resources like free online courses, books, and tutorials then you have come to the right place. In this article, I will share Vue.js online courses and tutorials you can join for FREE, but before that, let’s learn a bit more about what Vue.js is and what benefits it offers.

Source de l’article sur DZONE

/par

12 Best WordPress Themes for 2021

,

If you already have a good idea of what you want a new website to look like, the next step would be to decide on the tools you’ll need to put into play to turn that vision into a reality.

  • Tools enable you to present its content in ways that will engage and captivate its audience and gain their trust.
  • Tools that will make your website perform flawlessly in all respects.

That is why choosing the right WordPress theme to get the job done is so important. You want a theme that features the page building tools and design aids that make your task far easier than anticipated.

The following 12 top WordPress themes and plugins have been selected with those purposes in mind. They will not only get the job done for you but do it better than most of the other website-building tools in the marketplace are capable of doing.

The choice is up to you. Whatever that choice may be, it should prove to be a winner.

1. BeTheme

A website-building toolkit that can boast of 40+ core features sounds like a pretty good-sized toolkit, and BeTheme is just that. In fact, this popular (200,000 sales) theme is the biggest WordPress theme of them all.

It’s unlikely you will need to put every one of these core features to use for your next project, but some will be essential, such as –

  • The Muffin Builder page builder, Admin Panel, and Shortcode Generator combine to make BeTheme easy to use, give you a ton of flexibility, and enable you to build your website without any need for coding.
  • Be’s library of shortcodes together with the many Header, Footer, and Grid options, and the new Header Builder extends your design options even more.
  • The Layout Generator will come in handy if you want to start a page from scratch.
  • You’ll love what may be the most important core feature of them all; Be’s selection of 600+ customizable pre-built websites. They cover most industry sectors and website types plus a variety of business niches.

Click on the banner to learn more.

2. Total Theme

Designed with excellence in mind, Total features an exceptional selection of tools and design aids to work with. Total is also well-known for its speed, ease of use, and the flexibility it offers its users.

  • Since you can disable any feature you want to, you won’t be distracted by or bothered with those you don’t intend to use.
  • Total’s 40+ quick import demos and one-of-a-kind theme cards are designed to get your projects off to a rapid start.
  • The Dynamic Template function is a driving force behind this WordPress theme’s remarkable flexibility.
  • You’re given a wealth of design options to work with, thanks to the live customizer and the advanced theme panel.
  • Total is a WordPress plugin and WooCommerce friendly.

Click on the banner to learn more.

3. Avada Theme

When a WordPress theme has the distinction of being the #1 best seller of all time, you can safely assume that those who created it got it right. Avada’s 450,000+ sales can’t easily be ignored.

Look closer, and you’ll see some of the many reasons behind Avada’s popularity.

  • There’s an impressive selection of one-click import demos, pre-built websites, and a wealth of supporting design elements.
  • The Fusion drag and drop builder and Fusion page and theme options enable designers to create complex websites without resorting to coding.
  • 5-star support and free updates ensure users that they will always be able to follow the latest design trends and create websites as they envision them.

Click on the banner to learn more.

4. MaxCoach – Online Courses, Personal Coaching & Education WP Theme

MaxCoach is a specialty tool that enables web designers to create an online distance learning and/or tutoring platform. This LearnPress theme was last year’s #1 coaching theme, and it will most likely be so in 2021 as well.

  • The platform is learner-centric
  • MaxCoach’s design is modern, trendy, and unique
  • Elementor is the drag and drop page builder of choice

Visit the site to see for yourself why this specialty theme has generated so much interest.

5. TheGem – Creative Multi-Purpose High-Performance WordPress Theme

TheGem, WordPress’s ultimate multiuse toolbox, gives its users:

  • A selection of more than 400 professionally-crafted pre-built multi-page and single-page websites
  • Two popular page builders – WPBakery and Elementor
  • Demos, layouts, and page sections you can mix and match to create a look that’s uniquely yours

The GemBlocks with its 300+ pre-designed section templates to speed up your workflow, plus WooCommerce layouts and design aids

6. Uncode – Creative Multiuse & WooCommerce WordPress Theme

The Uncode multi-use WordPress theme is ideal for entrepreneurs, creative individuals, agencies, and small businesses.

  • Its 80.000+ sales to date have made it a ThemeForest best-seller.
  • Features include a unique WooCommerce Custom Builder you can use to give site visitors a supreme shopping experience.

Viewing Uncode’s showcase of user-built websites is a must. Click on the banner to visit the site and prepare to be impressed.

7. Rey Theme

This highly modular popular theme is definitely worth a close look. It is simply one of the most innovative website building tools you’re likely to find on the market today,

  • Rey’s features include a library of professionally-designed templates and an imposing selection of WooCommerce site-building tools
  • It is easy to set up and easy to use
  • You will be more than satisfied with Rey’s robust performance

Rey has built-in SVG support and is user and developer-friendly.

8. Aurum – Minimalist WordPress Theme

With this multiuse minimalist WordPress theme at your fingertips, you’ll be able to create an online store that will give shoppers a fully satisfying shopping experience.

  • With Aurum, you can design megamenus to accommodate huge selections of products
  • Aurum’s page load times are super-fast, and Aurum’s pages are responsive to every screen size
  • Popular plugins are included, and all the popular WordPress plugins are supported

Click on the banner and check it out.

9. Hongo – Modern & Multipurpose WooCommerce WordPress Theme

Its trendy selections of creative design elements and ready-to-go store demos make Hongo an ideal choice for company, blogging, and eCommerce websites.

  • Premium plugins and WPBakery custom shortcodes are among the most popular of Hongo’s website-building features
  • This multipurpose theme also features an attractive selection of product-related tools that include product compare, quick view, wish lists, and product filter

You can expect and receive exceptional user support.

10. XStore – The Most Customizable WooCommerce Theme Ever

With its $39 price tag, XStore gives you more value for your money than you’ll find in any other WooCommerce theme.

  • For starters, there are 100+ good-to-go shops
  • A full Ajax shop is another popular feature
  • As is XStore’s single product page builder and its selection of product filters and display features

Check XStore out if you’re looking for a way to create an awesome online store in no time at all.

11. KnowAll – Knowledge Base Theme

Have you ever come across a FAQ page you really liked? It doesn’t happen often. 

Visitors that can’t find a good answer might decide to make a phone call (and be placed on hold). That answer is OK, but additional information would be more helpful.

With AI-based KnowAll, customers get answers 24/7, and they can search for other relevant information. They will be happier customers, which is obviously good for business.

12. Pofo – Creative Portfolio, Blog, and eCommerce WordPress Theme

Bloggers, creatives, agencies, and those looking to create an eCommerce site should give Pofo a good, hard look.

Pofo is fast, flexible, SEO optimized, and packed with useful features that include:

  • Trendy selections of pre-built design elements, ready-to-go home pages, and one-click import demo pages.
  • Premium plugins, including Revolution Slider and the WPBakery page builder.

Detailed online documentation is provided, and you’ll be more than pleased with this theme’s customer support.

A modern, fast-loading, and smoothly performing theme is what you need. It will help you create a website that will have a significantly positive impact on your business’ growth.

Themes like those presented here can do just that by enabling you to give your website the professional touch you’re looking for. You can do it without having to rely on a single line of code.

These 12 top WordPress themes are modern, trendy, and easy to work with. Trying to find the “best” of the bunch could admittedly be somewhat daunting. But, you can take comfort in the fact that you really can’t make a wrong or bad choice.

 

[– This is a sponsored post –]

Source

The post 12 Best WordPress Themes for 2021 first appeared on Webdesigner Depot.


Source de l’article sur Webdesignerdepot

/par

Branding 101: How to Get Your Design Business Online

, ,

You’ve named your business. You’ve sorted out the visual branding piece. Now, it’s time to get your business online so you can start making money.

In this post, we’re going to look at where your web design business needs to set up shop online and how to get it up and running quickly.

Step 1: Set Up Your Website

As a web designer or developer, having a website is non-negotiable.

Not only does a website provide prospective clients with all the information they need about you, it can help you automate many of those annoying tasks that get in the way of your actual paid work.

So, let’s start here:

Buy Your Domain Name

If you haven’t done so already, use the business name generator exercise to come up with a domain name. You then have a couple of options for buying it.

To Do:

  • Buy it from a domain name provider like GoDaddy or Domain.com;
  • Or buy it from your web hosting company;
  • Check the next step to see which option makes the most sense for you.

Choose a CMS

Use the same CMS as the one you’ll use to build your clients’ sites. That way, clients don’t wonder why you’d use something like Squarespace for your site, but then recommend WordPress for theirs, for example.

To Do:

  • If you use a self-hosted CMS (like WordPress, Drupal, or Joomla), hold on this until you purchase your web hosting;
  • If you use a hosted CMS (like Wix, Squarespace, or Shopify), you won’t need to do the next step. Instead, just sign up for your website builder and buy your domain name now.

Buy Your Web Hosting

If you’re wondering what the difference is between the various types of web hosting, read this post.

Basically, this is what you’re looking for:

  • A hosting company with a good reputation that provides expert and timely support;
  • An affordable starter plan — either shared or cloud hosting;
  • Server locations near you (at the very least, in the same country as you);
  • Top-notch security features at the server level as well as the physical hosting facility;
  • Caching and other speed optimizations built into the server and on-site equipment;
  • Compatibility with your CMS (look for one-click install, too).

Also, look for add-ons like SSL certificates, CDNs, and, of course, a free domain name.

To Do:

  • Sign up for the hosting plan you want along with your domain name and SSL certificate (this is a must for SEO);
  • Install your CMS from the control panel once you’re ready to go.

Build Your Website

Ultimately, you have two goals here:

  1. To build a website that convinces prospective clients that you’re the real deal;
  2. To build a website that prospects would want for themselves.

So, there’s no need to go crazy with outlandish features or futuristic animations and design. Keep it simple. Keep it neat. And give prospects an honest portrayal of who you are, and what you can do for them.

Design It

The first thing to do is take all that work you did to create your visual branding and use it to design your website.

If you’re building a WordPress website, consider starting with one of these multipurpose themes.

Build Out the Pages You Need

A theme will automatically create the pages you need (most of them, anyway). If you’re not sure which ones to start with, these are the ones your prospects are going to be looking for:

You may also want to add separate pages for Testimonials and Case Studies once you’ve accumulated enough of them to show off. For now, you can include samples of your work in the Portfolio page and testimonials on the Home page.

Fill in the Content

Even if writing isn’t your strong suit, that’s okay. So long as the content you write for your site is free of spelling and grammar errors, your prospective clients are going to focus on what you’re telling them, not on how proficient a writer you are.

That said, if you’re nervous about this piece of your website, here are some tips to help you out:

1. Be concise, it’s not just minimal design that goes over well with modern audiences. Minimal copy does, too.

2. Be transparent. Tell prospects what exactly they can expect when they work with you and why your web design services are going to be different from the competition.

3. Consumers don’t trust companies that use meaningless buzzwords and make empty claims. Instead, focus on writing about the real and very competitive skills you have. According to research from NIDO Student, these are the skills employers look for when hiring a designer:

4. Let your images tell some of the story for you. Just make sure you use (or create) images that will impress your audience.

5. After you’ve written your content, take a step back and tackle the structure and formatting from a designer’s POV.

6. Before you hit the “Publish” button, run your copy through Hemingway Editor to ensure your content is error-free.

Add the Right Features

When I talk about features, I’m referring to anything outside the main design and content on your website. These are usually sales and marketing tools like:

  • Chatbot/live chat
  • Contact forms
  • Pop-ups or notification banners
  • Discovery call scheduler
  • Cookies consent notice

Only add the features you absolutely need. In other words, the features that will automate the marketing and sales tasks you’d otherwise have to manage on your own.

Step 2: Optimize Your Website for Search Engines

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a very important part of the work you do to get your business online. Here’s why:

After you launch your business and website, the next thing you’re going to focus on is getting clients. This can take a lot of work as you pore over the following resources for referrals and leads:

  • Your existing contact list (i.e. family, friends, old employers, colleagues, etc.);
  • Freelance job boards;
  • Industry-specific job boards;
  • Social media posts, pages, and groups;
  • Google search results for “we’re hiring”;
  • And so on…

And when you’re not busy cold-emailing prospective clients or talking to them on the phone, you’re probably going to be working on your business’ processes. Running a business is very time-consuming.

So, what happens when you finally start working on website projects? It’s not like the client search ends there. It’s an ongoing thing. Which is why your website needs to be optimized for search.

Once your site gets indexed by Google and starts to generate authority, your pages will rank better and the increased visibility will start generating leads without you having to actively make the first move.

SEO is a huge topic, so I’m not going to cover it here. However, the links below will do a good job of guiding you towards your next steps.

To Do:

Step 3: Get Active on Social Media

Your website is going to play a lot of roles:

  • Digital business card;
  • Authority builder;
  • Marketing vehicle;
  • Sales platform;
  • Content marketer.

But there’s one very critical thing it can’t do and that’s directly converse with your audience and grow your network. This is why you need to spend time building out your social media once your website is good to go.

As for which social media platforms to use (as there are way too many), here are my thoughts:

Become an authority on Twitter.

Twitter is a good place to share daily thoughts and interesting content you’ve found on the web.

Get discovered on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is useful because it’s another place to get noticed by potential employers, so make sure your relevant work experience and portfolio are up-to-date.

Connect with other creatives on Facebook.

It’s really hard to get noticed on Facebook unless you pay to play. Instead, use it to find groups that you can turn to for support, referrals, and brainstorming.

Share your work on Dribbble.

While you could use Instagram or Pinterest to show off your work, you might get more traction on a design-specific platform like Dribbble. Serve as inspiration for others and potentially get discovered by prospects looking for designers there.

Down the line you might decide to expand your business into recurring revenue opportunities like online courses. In that case, a platform like YouTube would be great. For now, focus your efforts on the main ones above.

To Do:

  • Create your social media accounts;
  • Brand them to match your website — both the visual component as well as the bio;
  • Start sharing content on a regular basis. You can automate sharing with a social media management tool, but remember to log in at least a couple times a week so you can engage with others, too;
  • Be careful not to commit these social media faux pas.

Wrap-Up

I realize this is a ton of information to throw at you. However, if you want to get your new business online and for it to succeed, you need to maximize the opportunities that are available to you.

I hope this three-part guide to starting a new business has been helpful. If you have any questions on the tips provided along the way, let me know in the comments.

 

Featured image via Pexels.

Source


Source de l’article sur Webdesignerdepot

/par

Popular Design News of the Week: November 16, 2020 – November 22, 2020

, ,

Every week users submit a lot of interesting stuff on our sister site Webdesigner News, highlighting great content from around the web that can be of interest to web designers.

The best way to keep track of all the great stories and news being posted is simply to check out the Webdesigner News site, however, in case you missed some here’s a quick and useful compilation of the most popular designer news that we curated from the past week.

15 Best Illustration Tools in 2020

 

Slidepage 1.0 – Create Engaging and Swipeable Stories-on-the-Web, for Free

 

Notion Timeline – More than Gantt, for all your Projects

 

Unslack

 

UX Lessons from Big Sur

 

Pattern Collect

 

Apple Silicon M1 Chips and Docker

 

Difference Between UI and UX Design

 

How Many WordPress Plugins Should You Install?

 

5 Things I Wish I’d Known Before Starting a Design System at Spotify

 

8 Pure CSS Games You Can Play in your Browser

 

We Can do Better than DuckDuckGo

 

Fulljar – Simple and Privacy Focused Analytics

 

Accessibility in User Experience: How to Include People with Disabilities

 

9 Common WordPress Myths Debunked and Explained

 

Impressive Pure CSS Drawings

 

I Took 21 Online Courses, Here’s What I Learned

 

User Experience: Insights into Consistency in Design

 

How to Use Emotion to Make your Brand’s Content More Compelling

 

25 Free Icon Sets You Can Download and Use Today

 

6 Ways 2020 has Changed the Landscape of Design

 

25 Inspirational Quotes for Web Designers

 

9 Tips to Keep You Sane When Working with Multiple Clients

 

Write Code like You Write a Recipe

 

UI Coach – UI Design Challenge Generator

 

Want more? No problem! Keep track of top design news from around the web with Webdesigner News.

Source


Source de l’article sur Webdesignerdepot

/par

5 Best Free Courses and Resources to Level Up As a Web Designer

,

I often see freelancers on social media asking what the secret is to working fewer hours, making more money, and helping new clients to find them. While those things tend to happen the longer you’ve been freelancing, it doesn’t happen without some effort.

If you’re wondering how you can change things so that your business becomes more profitable and easier to manage, education is the key.

But it’s not just mastering new design techniques that will take you to the next level. It’s important to invest your time in a well-rounded education so that you can grow not just as a web designer, but also as a freelancer and business owner.

The good news is that you don’t have to spend a ton of cash on courses or resources. In the following round-up, I’m going to share some of the best free courses to help you level up.

5 Best Free Courses and Resources for Web Designers

Rather than sign up for Udemy, Skillshare and other premium course membership sites, I recommend taking a bootstrapping approach to self-education. I mean, the whole point in learning new skills and strengthening existing ones is so you can run a better business and make more money, right?

Once you have extra funds to throw at premium courses, definitely explore those options. For now, let’s focus on the free courses and resources that’ll help get you to that next level:

1. edX

edX was created by Harvard and MIT in order to provide university-level training and education to anyone, anywhere. While you can’t get certified without paying a few hundred dollars, you can go through entire courses for free.

Courses are offered over a wide range of categories. As a freelance web designer, you’d do well to focus on the following areas:

Design
Learn more than just how to design beautiful interfaces. Learn about the technical side of it, too — things like AI, IoT, and cybersecurity.

Computer Science
Learn web development and coding.

Business & Management
Learn essential business skills like:

  • Project management
  • Finance management
  • Leadership
  • Marketing and analysis

Communication
Learn things like branding, negotiation, reputation management, and critical thinking.

2. Envato Tuts+

Envato Tuts+ might be best known for its succinct step-by-step design and development tutorials. However, it has a new section of free video courses to take advantage of.

Although you won’t learn any soft skills here, this is a great resource if you want to master the tools of your trade.

Free courses give you a deeper look at tools like:

  • HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
  • Adobe’s suite of software
  • Sketch
  • WordPress
  • Video conferencing tools

3. YouTube

YouTube is more than just a place to watch entertaining videos. There are some amazing YouTube channels for web designers at all skill levels.

When choosing a design channel and course to follow, look for ones that are well organized. If they’re just posting videos at random without any rhyme or reason, it’ll be difficult to focus on and master one skill set before moving onto the next.

Here are the channels I recommend you follow:

Flux

Learn skills related to:

  • Web design
  • Getting started as a freelancer
  • Strengthening your processes
  • Building your portfolio
  • Design theory and strategy

CharliMarieTV

Learn skills related to:

  • Web design
  • Building sites with Figma or Webflow
  • Career paths for designers
  • Productivity hacks

NNgroup

Learn skills related to UX:

  • Web design
  • User psychology
  • Usability testing
  • Design thinking
  • Research and data analysis
  • Journey mapping
  • Get access to UX Conference seminars, too

4. Moz Whiteboard Fridays

Even if you don’t offer SEO as a standalone service, it’s important for web designers to understand the role they play in SEO and to stay abreast of the latest and greatest strategies.

If you haven’t tuned in for one of Moz’s Whiteboard Fridays yet, I’d recommend you start now.

Some of the topics might not be relevant to you (like creating a content strategy). However, there are others you’ll get some great tips from, like the one above that talks about creating great visuals, preparing web pages with tags and schema markup, and optimizing for featured snippets.

5. Nir Eyal – Indistractible

Nir Eyal has made a name for himself over the years as an author and presenter on the subject of human psychology and behavior. His first book (Hooked) examined consumer behavior and how to design around it. His second (Indistractible) turned the focus on us — the doers and creators who build experiences and products for consumers.

The first of his free resources to explore is this 30-minute presentation on why we’re so easily distracted and how to keep those distractions (and ourselves) from getting in the way.

The second free resource to snag up is the 80-page workbook available on the homepage. Here’s a preview of what it looks like:

You’ll learn about common distractions, identify those that are specific to you, and then work through exercises to defeat them.

If this is something you’re struggling with, these resources will empower you to make a much-needed change.

BONUS: WebDesigner Depot

Although WebDesigner Depot doesn’t offer video courses, I consider each of the articles contained within this site to be mini-courses of their own. And you’ll learn everything you’ve ever wanted to know about becoming a web designer and growing your freelance business.

 

Featured image via Unsplash.

Source


Source de l’article sur Webdesignerdepot

/par

Choose Your Own Adventure with the Parsons Web Design and Development Certificate

,

Many people dream of a career in web design, but it may actually be more attainable than you think.

There are countless online courses, of variable quality, with little to no academic structure; self-learning is an option, but it doesn’t come with a curriculum. Without a professional structure and a comprehensive curriculum your dream career might never be more than that.

But there is a practical, fast-track option to making a career in web design a reality, and that’s the Parsons Web Design and Development Certificate.

Built around the innovative teaching approach that Parsons is known for, you’ll learn human-centered design, explore the latest tools, evaluate techniques and approaches, and uncover the secrets of UX. The certificate even offers two distinct tracks, one for designers, and one for developers, so you can take control of your own future.

It’s one of the most creative approaches to a formal design education in the world, and what’s more, because it’s entirely online you can study from anywhere.

What Will I Learn?

Parsons offers a flexible curriculum to suit both designers and developers. There are two core courses, followed by three specialist courses.

learn human-centered design, explore the latest tools, evaluate techniques and approaches, and uncover the secrets of UX

The core courses cover the essentials of web and mobile design, plus JavaScript for designers. Each of the core courses lasts nine weeks. When you’ve completed them, you can opt for a design specialism or a development specialism. (You don’t have to make your choice until you’ve completed the core courses!)

If you prefer design work, you’ll spend a total of 21 further weeks learning mobile design patterns, studying emerging platforms, working with interactive typography, and mastering design systems.

If development is more your thing, then on the 21 week development track you’ll cover advanced HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, learn how to work with APIs, and finish up with experimental JavaScript.

To earn the Web Design and Development Certificate you need to complete the two core courses, plus three specialist courses within two years — a total of 39 weeks of study. Parsons recommend that you take two courses per semester, but it’s possible to complete the entire certificate program in one year.

Is This Really For Me?

Parsons Web Design and Development Certificate is a recognized qualification from a reputable institution that will stand you in good stead in future job interviews. But what’s more important, is the knowledge and experience you’ll gain from the course.

Thanks to the creative, flexible approach to learning, the certificate is suitable for designers and developers at any stage of their career

Thanks to the creative, flexible approach to learning, the certificate is suitable for designers and developers at any stage of their career.

If you’re just starting out, the certificate is a superb way of exploring the field, all the while building skills that will make you stand out to employers.

If you’re a print designer, or a programmer, the Web Design and Development Certificate is a great way to supplement your existing skills and make a lateral move into web work.

And if you’re a grizzled industry professional with decades of experience, you’ll benefit from the track you know least well; designers studying development, developers studying design. Not only will it open up new creative avenues to you, but you’ll find project management easier with a broader outlook on the web.

The best thing about the Parsons Web Design and Development Certificate is that because it’s made up of modules, you can still work part-time as you tick off the courses.

Why Choose Parsons?

Parsons College of Design is part of The New School, a New York-based university. Open Campus, the platform that will run the certificate, is the New School’s online system for pre-college, professional, and continuing education courses.

Thanks to Covid-19, most learning institutions are planning online-only courses for at least the next 12 months, so why not enroll in a program run by an institution that already excels at online teaching.

Innovative courses, underpinned by the creative approach to teaching that Parsons College of Design is renowned for, mean the design education you embark on this fall will be second to none.

Individual courses cost between $577 and $850, with the entire Web Design and Development Certificate costing just $3,704.

 

[– This is a sponsored post on behalf of Parsons College of Design –]

Source


Source de l’article sur Webdesignerdepot

/par