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Whether you are using WordPress for your business or for blogging, you need to get people on your mailing list. But, if you also want to increase the number of readers who sign up to your list, then you need to use optin plugins. In this article, you can find out the 10 best optin plugins you can use for WordPress.

Why optin plugins are needed:

Allows you to add popup signup forms to your WordPress site

Allows you to test and monitor the effect it has on readers

1. OptinSkin

Optin Skin

OptinSkin allows you to add beautiful optin forms to your blog in multiple locations. You can also split test different variations of optin form to see which one is the best. Features include:

18 built-in template designs

Performance tracking

Lifetime free updates

Works with Aweber, MailChimp, Feedburner.

The plugin for a single website is available in US$67.

2. OptinMonster

OptinMonster

OptinMonster allows you to create professionally designed optin forms. It enables you to turn your website visitors into subscribers and customers. Features include:

Create unlimited forms for use

Built-in analytical and reporting

Page level targeting

Support and updates

The basic plugin type is available for US$49. Pro version for the plugin costs US$199.

3. Popup Domination

PopUp Domination

This plugin allows you to increase the number of people who optin to your email list. You can change everything from colors and headers, to image. Features include:

Analytics

Page Specific PopUp

Force Subscribers

Entry/Exit PopUps

The plugin is available for US$47.

4. Optin Revolution

Optin Revolution

This plugin allows you to bring visitors to actually join your email newsletter. There is no programming knowledge required for building popup forms. Features include:

Add videos to your popups

Add social follow links on your popups

Zero coding needed

PopUp split testing

The plugin is free to download in lite version. However, the Pro Version for a single site is available in US$47.

5. Ninja Popups

Ninja Popups

This plugin has beautiful popups to convert your website visitors into subscribers. You can offer a discount for leaving customers, or locking content until they share something.

Features include:

Social networking locker

Page level targeting

Sample presets included

Full APi integration with mailing services

The plugin is available for US$18.

6. PopupPress

PopupPress

This plugin is designed to insert any type of content in the popup. It also has a simple system statistics for counting the number of views for popups. Features include:

Slider and Lightbox included

Auto open, Auto close, Cookies

Multiple content, Multiple options

Compatible with Short Codes

The plugin is available for US$15.

7. Pippity

Pippity Popups

Pippity allows you a great level of customization. With ability to handle your popups, the plugin provides an effective way to build the list of email subscribers. Features include:

18 pre-built templates

Targeting of post types

A/B split testing

Supports major email providers

The plugin for single site is available for US$49. Unlimited sites cost US$165.

8. WPSubscribers

WPSubscribers

This is an all-in-one plugin for your WordPress site. You can create unlimited number of subscribe forms including the popup forms, each one of having its own content.

Features include:

Create multiple exit popups

Subscription form of hidden content

Build a LightBox Subscription form

Have your subscription form in the footer bar

The single license for plugin is available in US$47.

9. Pop Up!

Pop Up

This plugin allows you to grab the attention of your visitor with special offers or ads popups. You can control who sees the popups, including logged-out users.

Features include:

Display popups to visitors from specific geographic locations

Compatible with all WordPress themes

Customize the style and layout easily

Set the amount of time for popup display

The plugin is available for US$19.

10. Multi Events

Multi Events Subscription Pop

This plugin allows you to add subscription popup box to your wordppress. Popup window is responsive so it also looks great on small screens. Features include:

Modern Optin form

7 subscribe popup windows

Remember visitors

Show or hide close button

The plugin is available in US$14.

Conclusion

It can be difficult to decide which one is best because each one packs great features. So, what do you think of these optin plugins? Please share your opinion in the below comment section. I would love to hear it!

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Pop Up That Page: 10 Best Optin Plugins for Your WordPress Site

zaterdag 30 augustus 2014

5 things to consider before saying “yes” to a startup

Startups are exciting! It’s something new that may become a multi-billion dollar company like Facebook and you could be in on the ground floor.

They are also risky and after months or years of dedicated hard work, you may end up broke and in the basement. Before you accept that offer from a new startup, here’s some things you should consider very carefully…

1) Hello work, goodbye life!

When you get that offer to work for a startup, you should make sure you believe in the product… Really believe in it, because working on it will fill your life pretty much 24/7. At every startup I’ve ever seen, the crew was carefully selected to become a “family-type” situation because you’ll be around these people for long hours and many days.

At one local startup, the staff is young and without any personal commitments that some people need for those little things in life such as food shopping, sleep and going to the bathroom more than once a day. It’s one big party that runs all day — BBQs for lunch and buckets of cold beers at night. No one drives drunk because no one goes home. In fact you might save money not even bothering to rent an apartment as many startup staff end up taking cat naps on the couch in the corner or, as one guy I knew, setup beds under their desks.

Years ago I interviewed at the hottest startup ad agency in town. They gave me the tour, which included a dark area with a dozen very comfy looking couches, a full, gourmet kitchen, stocked with frozen pizzas and ice cream and a full bar setup that was touted as where the staff would “unwind on Friday and Saturday nights.” Saturday nights?! I had two small kids and couldn’t spend all night at work.

I wonder what kind of life I would have if I worked there. The answer was: no life at all, except for work. The salary offered was good but not for a 24/7 job. I ended up taking another job at a 100 year-old corporation that had a “quality of life” promise and supported family time and other services a startup could never match.

That agency startup went strong for a couple of years but eventually crashed, the remains were bought out by a larger ad agency, but the entire staff was fired. The survivors tried starting their own agencies, getting jobs elsewhere or leaving town to find work. Only the owners made money by selling their client accounts. Still, a lot of people gained some great experience.

2) Who makes money?

Despite the long hours and hard work, startup salaries are not going to help you buy that house, or fancy new car. As every freelancer knows, the offer of an “opportunity” or the promises of “lots of money later” is only slightly better for people on staff (imagine you’re asked to work there for only the promise of future payments).

As many friends of mine who worked for startups found out, sometimes paychecks were two, three or ten weeks late. Many left because they needed regular paychecks for the regular bills that came in for student loans, food, hydro, clothing, etc. Some stayed and would show up one morning to find the office locked and empty, without any hope of receiving the back pay they were owed.

As with the example of the aforementioned startup ad agency, the owners are usually the only people who survive when the startup fails.

3) Watch those red flags

I recently got involved with a startup I knew was doomed from the first minute the owner opened his mouth. I feigned interest and figured I would make some money until everything imploded. That didn’t take long but the income helped as I was paid upfront, which was the only way I would get involved.

The premise was simple… the owner was going to start a website on “how to start a blog.” Not only was it a crappy idea, the competition was fierce and the similar sites were better established with a half dozen dominating the market. Still, there’s always a possibility if the site could find a unique corner of the niche. Naturally, the owner didn’t want to do that.

In every Skype meeting and email, he would ignore my suggestions and lay out a plan that had no chance of success. He was cocky and insisted his MBA from Phoenix University… online, gave him super powers of intuition in business. Although I insisted he have everything in place before going live, he was impatient and published the site with many promises of blogging guides that would be posted for those wanting to start a blog in specialty niches, such as real estate, fashion, music and… well, that’s all he had in mind. The results were obvious — anyone looking for a niche guide on anything else wouldn’t find what they needed and move on to another site that would fulfil their needs. Lost customers and lost income.

Of course, the money-making end was to scam people into taking web hosting from his other business. That hosting company did not have a good reputation, so customers would most probably move on once the “50% off for one year” was over.

If you are normal and have even an iota of knowledge about how the Web works (or business in general, for that matter) you know this was all insanity. It seems hard work, proper evolution of the site and not leaning on others to increase visibility is a ridiculous way to go about building a successful business… of course you don’t have an MBA from an online university!

Sure enough, after six months of headaches and indigestion, he told me I was no longer needed. I breathed a sigh of relief and quickly replaced the income with another client. As for his site, he changed it three times over one weekend not bothering to hire a proofreader, so “How to Strat a Blog” now sits, alone and dying.

4) Can you protect yourself?

Whenever a startup would approach me with no money to pay for my services and the promises of “money later” or being their “go-to guy,” I would ask them for a percentage of the company. I would explain that they were asking me to invest my time and money (because there are always costs, even when you work for free) and I would only invest if I had a piece of the company I was gambling upon for their success. Naturally, no one ever went for that deal.

With any startup or established business, for that matter, listen to what is being offered to you and how it is being relayed to you. If the owner sounds sleazy and you get a bad feeling in your gut, then you should walk away as your first instinct is probably right.

If something doesn’t seem right, ask to see the design area and look at the designers working there. Are they happy and smiling or do they look like they’re serving five to ten years in a Siberian gulag? Then ask yourself if you want to dedicate every waking hour to being among the walking dead.

Expect to work hard, long hours, being flexible as the project evolves and, most of all, to have the utmost confidence in the startup leadership and direction. You won’t receive a contract or written agreement, so trust is a gamble. Most startup employees lose that bet.

So, what will you get out of all of this hard work and dedication? Will you be discarded once the startup becomes a functioning, profitable business? In many cases, because you are owed a reward, the “money later” may very well put you in a position where the owner will find it financially feasible to get rid of all employees to whom favors are owed and hire experienced people who have no other expectations aside from a weekly paycheck.

5) The joy of success

When you believe in what you are building, when it all starts to come together and you are firmly entrenched with a growing company, the rewards are wondrous. Keep in mind that there’s only one Facebook and one Google but thousands of startups out there and 95% of them will fail within the first six to twelve months.

Here’s hoping you find the 5% that make it. If not, accept that this is the business of startups.

Featured image/thumbnail, overworked image via Shutterstock.

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5 things to consider before saying “yes” to a startup

20 Best WordPress Add-Ons You Should Have

Add-ons can extend WordPress to do almost anything you can imagine! On the web you’ll find both free and premium add-ons for your WordPress websites. If you want more features or a more complex add-on, then you should opt for buying a premium one. In this article we selected 20 of the best WordPress add-ons you should have. Browse from add-ons to popular WordPress plugins and add more features to your favourite plugins for WordPress!

Captain Admin – WP Tools & White Label Branding

Captain Admin is a simple but powerful plugin for making your WordPress admin that much better. It features countless options that allow you to make your admin just perfect for you or your client.

WP Search for Comments

This plugin is made for search through comments. Output is separate from the main search loop. It can be added under the search loop automatically or manually at any place on search page.

Waypoint for Visual Composer

Easily customize animation settings: event trigger: scroll or hover, on scroll up trigger, animation duration, animation delay, animation iteration countand more!

Isometric Image Tiles Shortcode for VC

Isometric Image Tiles Visual Compose add-on puts a unique twist for showcasing your images and portfolio. Flexible and easy to use, they add a huge visual boost to your WordPress site.

Premium URL Shortener WordPress Plugin

This WordPress plugin transfers the power of Premium URL Shortener to your own blog or WordPress-powered sites. This plugin comes with a number of functionality such as shortcodes, widgets and automatic URL shortening.

Event Booking Pro : byDay Calendar Add on

This is a great event booking plugin with a calendar. It is great for event websites or tourism sites. It is easy to install and customize.

Image & Video Device Mockups Shortcode

Showcase your products in high resolution mockup wrappers. Wrap your images or YouTube or Vimeo videos in different browser and device graphics.

Visual Composer Popup Notifications

Visual Composer Popup Notifications lets you add the popup notifications to your pages/posts. Notifications are shown on page load. You can customize the look of the popup too!

Redaktor Front-End HTML Editor

Redaktor is an HTML editor that allows WordPress users with proper permissions to update HTML on posts and pages, without hopping back and forth between the admin area and the front-end site.

KK I Like It

Plugin enables users or guests to like the content of our webpage or a webpage itself. If a user is logged in then all the content will be saved in his widget.

Logos Showcase for Visual Composer WordPress

Logos Showcase for Visual Composer is a premium WordPress plugin build to display and manage your logos and clients in many ways as a grid or as a slider. You have multiple special themes and effects that will help you to show your logos in so many different look.

Team Showcase for Visual Composer WordPress Plugin

Team Showcase for Visual Composer is the perfect WordPress plugin build to display and manage your team and clients as a responsive grid or as a dynamic slider.

CSS Animator for Visual Composer

CSS Animator is a Visual Composer add-on that allows you add over 40 animations to Visual Composer elements in your WordPress site.

Parallax & Video Backgrounds for Visual Composer

Ultimate Addons for Visual Composer is the master plugin that includes many features, including all that are in “Parallax & Video Backgrounds for Visual Composer” plugin.

vBulletin Connector

vBulletin Connector is a WordPress plugin that hooks into a vBulletin database and displays vBulletin comments in a WordPress Post page.

Post Expiration – The Countdown Pro Addon

The expiration functionality can easily be added to a content with message before or after the expiration. This supports all custom post type.

Ultimate Addons for Visual Composer

This plugin adds several premium elements in your Visual Composer on top of the built-in ones given by WPBakery. Great features!

Media Grid – Overlay Manager add-on

Overlay Manager does just what its name suggests: lets you create and manage unlimited overlays! Many elements to mix, unlimited colors, hundreds of different possible combinations.

Scroll Animation WordPress Plugin

Animate your WordPress content while user scrolling! It also has an optional jQuery selector of the WordPress content you want to animate.

Flat Styles Addon for SocialBox

With this addon for SocialBox you’ll get 6 additional flat themes for SocialBox. After activating the plugin, the styles integrate seamlessly into the style picker within the options of a SocialBox widget.

The post 20 Best WordPress Add-Ons You Should Have appeared first on Web Design Blog | Magazine for Designers.

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20 Best WordPress Add-Ons You Should Have

New York, Boston and Providence

The tour will be kicked off on Monday, 31 March, at the Cooper Type, for a small typography talk for the students.

On Tuesday 1 April (really!), Peter will speak about rethinking publishing, at the DCRIT, MFA Design Criticism, School of Visual Arts. The presentation at 6.30pm seems to be fully booked, but there is also a magazine launch at 8pm, open for public, where magazine will be available for a special price. Please join us for a drink.

Event details

New York, April 1, 2014, 6.30pm

SVA MFA Design Criticism

136 West 21st Street, Second Floor

New York, NY 10010

On Wednesday 2 April, Peter will speak at the Boston University, together with Matthew Carter.

Event details

Wednesday, April 2, 7pm

Boston University, Jacob Sleeper Auditorium

871 Commonwealth Avenue

Boston, MA 02215

On Thursday, he will talk about typography at the RISD (Rhode Island School of Design).

Event details
Thursday, April 3, 6:30pm

Metcalf Auditorium

Museum of Art Chace Center

20 North Main Street

Providence, RI

Hope to meet you in person

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New York, Boston and Providence

Pitted, Rusty Type Effect

I wanted to create a type effect to go along with the pirate theme for Photoshop World 2014. While finding a swashbuckler-looking font was pretty easy, I also wanted the type to have a very textured, rusty appearance, as if it were a piece of iron or steel that had been exposed to the elements of the high seas for an extended period of time.

STEP ONE: Create a new 17×12.75″, 300-ppi document. Click on the Foreground color swatch near the bottom of the Toolbox to open the Color Picker, choose gray as the color (R:52, G:57, B:65), and click OK. Press Option-Delete (PC: Alt-Backspace) to fill the entire Background with gray. Press D then X to set the Foreground color to white. Choose the Type tool (T) from the Toolbox, click on the center of the document, and enter your text (we used the font Pieces of Eight at 305 pt but you can use any font you like).

Rusty Type Effect

STEP TWO: Open an image of a rusty or worn piece of metal. Our image is courtesy of iStockphoto. Using the Move tool (V), click-and-drag the image into your original document (this will create a new layer, Layer 1), and reposition it over the P and H. Press Enter to place the texture.

Rusty Type Effect
CREDIT: RUSTY TEXTURE: ISTOCK, WRAGG, IMAGE #7286875

Rusty Type Effect

STEP THREE: Command-click (PC: Ctrl-click) on the Layer 1 thumbnail in the Layers panel to make it a selection. Press Command-Option-T (PC: Ctrl-Alt-T) to duplicate the selection and bring up the Free Transform bounding box. Right-click in the bounding box and choose Flip Horizontal. Now, move the bounding box toward the right until the edges of the original texture and the copied texture align (see example). Press Enter to apply the transformation. Repeat until the entire word is covered by the texture.

Rusty Type Effect

STEP FOUR: With Layer 1 active, Command-click (PC: Ctrl-click) on the type layer thumbnail to make the type a selection. Click on the Add Layer Mask icon (circle in a square) at the bottom of the Layers panel. Click on the Eye icon next to the type layer to hide it from view. Click on the layer thumbnail for Layer 1 so the mask isn’t active, and then press D to reset the Foreground color to black.

Rusty Type Effect

STEP FIVE: Click on the Add a Layer Style icon (ƒx) at the bottom of the Layers panel and choose Inner Glow. Select Multiply for the Blend Mode, and lower the Opacity to 50%. Click on the yellow color swatch, choose black, and click OK to close the Color Picker. Enter 5 px for Size. Choose Gradient Overlay from the Styles list on the left side of the Layer Style dialog. Choose Multiply as the Blend Mode, and lower the Opacity to 75%. Click on the Gradient thumbnail, and choose the Foreground to Transparent preset in the Gradient Editor. Click-and-drag the right opacity stop above the gradient ramp toward the center (see example), and click OK to close the Gradient Editor. Enter –90º for Angle. Don’t click OK yet.

Rusty Type Effect

STEP SIX: Choose Outer Glow from the Styles list. Choose Multiply for the Blend Mode, and enter 25% for Opacity. Click on the yellow color swatch, choose black for the color, and click OK to close the Color Picker. Enter 10 px for Size and click OK to apply the layer styles.

STEP SEVEN: Duplicate Layer 1 (Layer 1 copy) by dragging it into the Create a New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel. Click directly on the layer mask thumbnail next to Layer 1 copy to make it active. Now, Command-click (PC: Ctrl-click) on the layer mask thumbnail to load it as a selection. Go to Select>Modify>Contract. Enter 20 pixels and click OK. Press Command-Shift-I (PC: Ctrl-Shift-I) to inverse the selection. Finally, press Command-Delete (PC: Ctrl-Backspace) to fill the selection with black. Deselect.

Rusty Type Effect

STEP EIGHT: Double-click on the words “Inner Glow” under Layer 1 copy to open the Layer Style dialog. Enter 75% for Opacity, click on the black color swatch, choose a light-brown color (R:147, G:139, B:118), and click OK to close the Color Picker. Enter 15 px for Size. Choose Color Overlay from the Styles list. Choose Overlay for the Blend Mode, click on the red color swatch, choose a bluish-gray color (R:114, G:141, B:148), and click OK to close the Color Picker. Now, choose Outer Glow from the Styles list. Choose Multiply for the Blend Mode, and set the Opacity to 75%. Click on the color swatch, choose the same light-brown color used for the Inner Glow, and click OK to close the Color Picker. Enter 25 px for Size and click OK.

Rusty Type Effect

STEP NINE: Click on Layer 1 to make it the active layer. Duplicate Layer 1 again (Layer 1 copy 2) and move it below Layer 1 in the layers list. Click-and-drag the word “Effects” under Layer 1 copy 2 into the Trash icon at the bottom of the Layers panel to remove the layer style. Click directly on the layer mask thumbnail next to Layer 1 copy 2. Now, Command-click (PC: Ctrl-click) on the layer mask thumbnail to load it as a selection. Go to Select>Modify>Expand. Enter 20 pixels and click OK. Press Option-Delete (PC: Alt-Backspace) to fill with white, revealing more of the rusty texture around the edges of the text.

Rusty Type Effect

STEP TEN: Add a new layer (Layer 2). Press Option-Delete (PC: Alt-Backspace) to fill the layer with black. Change the layer blend mode to Overlay near the top left of the Layers panel, and lower the Fill opacity to 0%. Click on the Add a Layer Style icon and choose Bevel & Emboss. Enter 1000% for Depth, 10 px for Size, uncheck the Use Global Light box, enter –24° for Angle and 37° for Altitude. Click on the down-facing arrow next to the Gloss Contour thumbnail and choose Ring – Double. Lower the Highlight Mode Opacity to 35% and the Shadow Mode Opacity to 45%. Click OK.

Rusty Type Effect

STEP ELEVEN: Add another new layer (Layer 3) and move it to the top of the layers stack. Change the layer blend mode to Overlay. Click on the Foreground color swatch near the bottom of the Toolbox. Choose a blue-gray color (R:106, G:117, B:118), and click OK. Press Option-Delete (PC: Alt-Backspace) to fill the selection.

Rusty Type Effect

STEP TWELVE: Add another new layer (Layer 4). Command-click (PC: Ctrl-click) the layer mask for Layer 1 copy 2 to load it as a selection. Change the Foreground color to a light blue (R:149, G:182, B:182).Choose the Brush tool (B) from the Toolbox. Using a large, soft-edged brush, start painting in some rusty areas (see example). The blue color won’t look much like rust, but it will add some discolored areas to the texture that will help enhance the worn, rusty look.

Rusty Type Effect

STEP THIRTEEN: Change the Foreground color to an olive green (R:148, G:128, B:78). Paint in more discolored areas (see example).

Rusty Type Effect

STEP FOURTEEN: Change the Foreground color to a burnt-orange color (R:184, G:127, B:78). Now, paint in your rust areas (see example). Once you’re finished, change the layer blend mode to Overlay to complete the effect.

Rusty Type Effect

We used the same technique on the word “World.” Here’s how the textured type fit into the rest of the logo.

Rusty Type Effect

This article is courtesy of Photoshop User magazine, the official publication of KelbyOne, which provides quality online education for creative people. For more information, visit KelbyOne.com.

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Pitted, Rusty Type Effect

zondag 31 augustus 2014

Why optin plugins are needed:

1. OptinSkin

2. OptinMonster

3. Popup Domination

4. Optin Revolution

5. Ninja Popups

6. PopupPress

7. Pippity

8. WPSubscribers

9. Pop Up!

10. Multi Events

Conclusion

zaterdag 30 augustus 2014

1) Hello work, goodbye life!

2) Who makes money?

3) Watch those red flags

4) Can you protect yourself?

5) The joy of success