Wordpress now a days is being used as more than a blog. People are using it for many different reasons. One of the cool parts of this software or any other blogging software is that it lets you post mark the date the article was published on. Which is great. But what if you have to make updates and still let the readers know that you updated it.

So basically if you are running a contest, and it is one of your featured posts, so your readers can check it. You can use these codes to display the last date the post was modified on, so they know how recent the information on that contest page is.

Well I was thinking about it and I came across a site called Adramis where I found this code.

So basically all you have to do is head over to single.php and/or page.php and search for

Posted on: <?php the_time(‘l, F jS, Y’) ?>

It might not exactly be like that but definitely have something like that. Well now all you have to do is replace it with the codes below:

Posted on <?php the_time(‘F jS, Y’) ?>
<?php $u_time = get_the_time(‘U’);
$u_modified_time = get_the_modified_time(‘U’);
if ($u_modified_time != $u_time) {
echo "and last modified on ";
the_modified_time(‘F jS, Y’);
echo ". "; } ?>

Now when you write a post, it will show the post date, but once you have modified anything the date will change. This looks like a great tool that you guys can use and implement into your site.

Couple weeks ago I wrote about how to identify lazy ass designers. Well I am sure none of the designers really want to be considered in that category. So I got this one coming up for you that shows you how to be a kick ass designer in 24 hours. So is it possible? Heck yes it is. No I am not going to give any photoshop tutorial. I am assuming you can already design. But by using these tips that I discovered form my 6 years of experience, you can make yourself more productive therefore you will be a kick ass designer.

Need to Do’s

1. Learn to accept constructive criticism – As I entered this industry, I was very snobby. I thought my designs were the best even though they sucked as I look back now. But I notice that majority of the new designers have this issue. They can’t take criticism. I have learned to take constructive criticism, or just criticism as a gift. Because people who envy you are very stupid if they find problems in you and tell you. Because then they are telling you how to improve and be even more kick ass. So take criticism as a way you can improve yourself. But don’t let other people interfere in your designs to a limit that you lose yourself from the design. Remember your design is your identity.
2. Seek for help – If you can’t get something done, then ask. There is nothing wrong with asking and getting the work done rather than having the client wait till the deadline and have nothing done. Kill your ego and treat yourself like you know nothing. Because that is the only way you will learn new things.
3. Look for inspiration – I look for inspiration in almost everything I see, and every place I go. I have realized every good design have an inspiration behind it. There will be times that you can’t come up with anything. Take a break and get more inspiration. Heck there are times when I found inspiration from hot sunny days when I was working under a tree on the corner of a lake.
4. Stay updated in the industry – Sometimes you will get so busy that you don’t have time to stay updated, but it is a must that you stay updated. Check out designer blogs that have tutorials. Check out recent news. Web Design Galleries where you can find some inspirations. The bottom line is stay updated with what is going on in the industry because that is the only way you know who your competition really is. You can’t beat your competition and be a kick ass designer without knowing their weaknesses, and the only way to know their weaknesses is to know them, and you can do that only by staying updated in the industry.
5. Get involved and Make Connections – who said talent gets you everywhere? You can have talent and no connections and be no where. Having good connections can even make a monkey rule the kingdom. Get involved in the community. Go to seminars, conferences, attend everything that you can. Get to know top dawgs in your industry. Because they will be the source to your potential clients.
6. Stay Organized – This becomes a big issue as time goes on because the more clients you have the more you are likely to be unorganized. Why because you have too much stuff to keep track of. You need to make sure you clean everything weekly and have it organized. I try to keep all the files off my main computer because just incase anything happens. That is why I have external storage devices. Keep folders for each contract that you sign and each client. Keep dates in records and everything that can possibly help you. Just stay organized. Even when you are designing, name your layers and folders. Because an organized designer always stand out.
7. Get a contract / templates – If you are a designer have a contract. Have your clients sign it and email it to you because this way you have everything in record, so there are no disputes later on. You have everything in hard copy, so you are most likely in advantage. So make sure you have all the quotes, and contracts ready so if a client ask you have it.
8. Time Management – Personally, this is my biggest issue. I don’t know how to do this very well. But I am getting better at this every day. All I am going to say is don’t check your email every 10 minutes. Set a specific time in a day for it. So you can make the most out of your time. Make sure you know all of the shortcuts that can speed up your designing.
9. Enjoy and have fun – Designing is my passion. There is not a moment when I don’t like designing. So all I am going to say is even though with all the rules don’t forget to enjoy and have fun while you are designing. Make sure you take your breaks, go on vacations. Make sure each design you make represents you because that is when you will make the best product.

I am pretty sure by using these tips you can be a kick ass designers. These secrets are no secrets just things that you will learn as you stay in the industry long. So if you are new might as well take advantage of these because I spent 6 years and learn those, and these are here just for you to grab.

If you do all this, you are a kick ass designer.

Hey guys,

I am Atif from Techytuts.com – Computer and Internet Tutorials and Resources this is my first guest blog ever. So I will write it short to avoid mistakes. First of all I personally think that this is something must have to show off your skills in your blog or website. This one has got a good interaction and good visual effects, And today basically I’m going to show you how to create accordions of your wordpress posts for some extra ordinary looks. I will show you up how you can set up the accordions, regarding styling you got to do it your self. We will go in 4 easy steps to accomplish this.

First off you need to download this small file accordian.pack.js and save it into your template directory.

Now open up a typical wordpress theme…and search for <?php wp_head(); ?>

One you find it, add this line just above it. To make it look like this. Make sure the accordian.pack.js file do exists in your template directory.

<script language=”javascript” type=”text/javascript” src=”<?php bloginfo(‘template_directory’); ?>/accordian.pack.js”></script>
<?php wp_head(); ?>

For the third step, go to the body tag and replace it with this one…

<body onload=”new Accordian(‘basic-accordian’,5,’header_highlight’);”>

And for the final step, which is a little tougher one… Search for <?php if (have_posts()) : ?> and add this line above it.

<?php $i = 0; ?>
<div id=”basic-accordian” > <!–Parent of the Accordion–>
<?php if (have_posts()) : ?>

Now search for while <?php (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>
and add these lines below it

<?php while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>
<!– Start of each accordion item –>
<div id=”test<?php if (!($i == 0)) {echo $i;} ?>-header” class=”accordion_headings” ><?php the_title(); ?></div>
<div id=”test<?php if (!($i == 0)) {echo $i;} ?>-content”>
<div class=”accordion_child”>

Finally search for <?php endwhile; ?> and add these lines above it

</div>
</div> <!– End of each accordion item –>
<?php $i++; ?>
<?php endwhile;?>
</div>

Your job’s done. You can do the custom styling using css. You can see the working demo here

PS: Good color combination and best suitable time complexity according to the users you expect on your website will make this script useful an attractive and

Did you guys ever wonder, how people display feedburner stats in text? If you remember, I even did it a while back and then I took it off. Well a lot of people display it in text and have their own styling on it. In this post, I will show you how to display feedburner subscriber count as text on your site.

Why Feedburner Count as Text?

Simple, feedburner buttons are ugly. They don’t match with all the designs, and on most designs they just look ugly. This is the way you can style it and make it look like a part of a design rather than a copy and paste.

How to add Feedburner Count as Text?

This is a two step process.

Step 1

Paste the following codes in your template file where you want to display the count. And make sure you change the feed burner id from balkhis to your feedburner id.

<?php
//get cool feedburner count
$whaturl="http://api.feedburner.com/awareness/1.0/GetFeedData?uri=rss4real";

//Initialize the Curl session
$ch = curl_init();

//Set curl to return the data instead of printing it to the browser.
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1);
//Set the URL
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, $whaturl);
//Execute the fetch
$data = curl_exec($ch);
//Close the connection
curl_close($ch);

$xml = new SimpleXMLElement($data);
$fb = $xml->feed->entry['circulation'];

//end get cool feedburner count
?>

Step 2

Now paste the following codes to display the count wherever you like. Wrap it around the div tags to style it the way you want.

<?php echo $fb;?>

This will allow you to display feedburner subscriber count as text on your site. Credit of these codes goes to 45n5

Thank you all for wishing me happy birthday on the first place. Well, I got a client who wanted me to do few editions on their design. And I came to realize the simple job was so hard just because the original designer was freaking lazy. So I was very pissed. Well therefore I decided to write this post.

There are two types of designers. One that are lazy (often very cheap) and one that are good (often more expensive). Most designers who are just in for a quick buck, or people who sell psds online do this very often. They don’t make any effort in making the design organized.

Identifications of a Lazy Designer

1. They don’t name their layers / folders – You have to name the layers and the folders. If your folder is about header, then name it header. If the layer is for header bg then don’t let it be Shape24 name it to be header bg. It makes it a pain in the ass for another designer to edit. Even if you try to edit yourself later on… It will be tough.
2. Compatibility with Coding – Most Designers don’t take notice of how the design will be coded. Specially ones who don’t know how to code, so they just design and sometimes it is impossible to convert those designs into html.
3. Separate Files – Separate files for different designs are not the way to go. It is much easier for editing if all aspects of the design is in one file.

These are the three things that points out a lazy / unexperienced designer. When you are working with others, you must be aware of that. I try to label all of my folders. I admit that I get lazy on naming the layers, but people who don’t name layers and don’t have any folders are just crazy.