WordPress is the most desirable platform. It is widely used by businesses worldwide, all for good reasons like marketing tools, reliability, etc. Almost 42.9% of sites use WordPress.
Leading businesses like The Home Depot, and The New York Times use WordPress. In fact, millions of SMEs choose WordPress because of its versatility.
Top reasons to choose WordPress
Custom themes
Mobile Responsiveness
SEO friendly
Plugins
Publish anywhere
Open-source
How you can grow your small business with WordPress?
1. Advertising
Have you seen banner ads while browsing through websites? The website owners needs to give permission to the advertisers to park their content.
The advertisers get benefited from the website’s traffic. While the owners of the website get paid commission for every click on the advertisements.
So, if you get plenty of traffic on your content then you must try this method.
You can sign up with popular advertising networks like Amazon Native Ads and Google AdSense. You can use the WordPress plugins like AdSanity, Easy Google AdSense, etc., to manage the efforts.
2. Hire established WordPress developers
It is a good move to hire WordPress developers for your small business. They can help you add specific functionality and build a unique experience for your users.
The Hacker News published an article on May 12, 2022. It reported that thousands of WordPress websites were hacked recently. These hacks redirect the visitors to scam websites.
Even though, WordPress is highly known for its security. Still, you cannot flag the vulnerabilities and malware. You need a partner who can support you with services like WordPress errors, support for WooCommerce, etc. So, hire the credible WordPress team today!!
3. Affiliate Marketing
Affliate marketing can help you to earn commissions on the promoted product. Please note this commission will be attributed for every sale you make.
In place of ads, you can manage through the links. This you can include on your website.
You get the privilege to choose the product you promote. With Amazon Associates Program by your side, you can marvel with the profits.
They will give you customized linking tools. This will allow you to keep track of the purchases. You can use these links in your promotional efforts.
You can use WordPress plugins like EasyAzon, PrettyLinks, etc.
4. Online Courses
This is yet another way to grow your business with WordPress. It mainly covers digital products like in-selling online courses. The main reason why businesses take to the internet is because it offers educational and informational opportunities.
If you hold a specialization area with a unique perspective, then developing the courses is a promising avenue.
You must ensure to develop content centered around your topic choice. You can offer the course/ courses to your website visitors.
You can use plugins such as LearnDash and LearnPress to build a good learning management system.
5. Guest posts
There are plenty of guest posting sites that allow posting the content for free. It is basically for user-generated content. But, can charge for the guest posts.
Please note that you must have enough traffic on your website. Your WordPress website must be large. Then only, it will be considered worth paying for guest posts. But ensure to check the dupliacy of the content before publishing.
6. Podcast
You can simply make your audience fall in love with your brand by using this. You can use WordPress podcasting plugins to develop websites. Over your podcast, you can share the affiliate codes.
7. Portfolio
Want to entice your potential audience? Build portfolio. Nowadays, people are more advanced. They love to see your past work. So, display your work today!!
If you have not showcased your work, then you are missing a big chunk of profits.
With this superlative platform, you can build your own custom portfolio. You can display your projects, results, case studies, etc.
8. eCommerce
If you are not one of those who loves to share your traffic profits, you can open an eCommerce storefront. You can make your WordPress website-your shop to offer goods/ products/ services to the customers.
Whether you sell tap into the drop selling model or sell your creations, WordPress can lend you great support. You can make use of the plugins such as eCommerce store, Shopping Cart, and WooCommerce. These plugins will help you to construct and manage the store.
9. Facebook tracking plugin
Retargeting is an excellent way to expand your business with WordPress. Even though, it is low-hanging method but it is profitable and affordable.
WordPress can by itself solve plenty of SEO issues.
These plugins can make SEO easy for people who are non-technical. It can help you to analyze the duplicate content. SEO plugin will give you reminders for best content update. It will assists in checking the posts for readability.
11. Embed a video
You can grow your business well with video marketing. WordPress will allow you to embed the video from Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, etc. It is a good idea to place educational video on your website and blogs.
You can share the overview about your company on About Us page.
Similarly, there are plenty of other ways to grow your business, they are:-
Choose alluring themes
Install messenger button
Encourgae social shares
Grow the email lists
Speed you your website
Monitor the analytics
Craft custom landing pages
Giveaway
Test various types of conteact forms
Tease the best content
In a conclusion
It is a challenging situation to set up and start a small business for budding owners. With WordPress by your side, you do not have to worry about your business performance.
Check right WordPress themes that works well with your business domain. Make sure that your website loads faster.
One way or the other you can monetize from your WordPress website. Try experimenting these methods and earn good profits.
So, take all the advantage that WordPress has to offer and flourish in the market.
Modern people are constantly in a race, trying to match the rhythm of our frenzied lives. In this cycle of affairs and events, it’s very difficult to concentrate, which leads to stress and lack of coordination. Smart thoughts, which are so important for our work, study, and creativity, as a rule, come suddenly and, most often, at the wrong moment.
For a long time, an ordinary notebook, or a piece of paper helped to not miss great thoughts. But these days, most often a smartphone or computer are at our fingertips! Gadgets allow us not only to save important thoughts but also to arrange them correctly. One of these useful applications is Notion. This article will tell interested users how to apply their own Notion templates.
How to Add Your Own Notion Templates on Windows, Mac, or Chromebook: Simple and Quick Instruction
If you want to add aesthetic Notion templates to your computer, follow the instructions below:
Add a special button to the screen (click on the corresponding symbol on the panel).
Change the name of the button.
Include the elements that you want to use in the future template. Users have the opportunity to add text, checkboxes, markers, headers, and other tools for comfortable use.
Just like that, free Notion templates have been added to your profile. The scope for the personal use of the app is huge. You can use it as a service for taking notes, making a to-do list, keeping a personal diary or a habit tracker, organizing household chores, or keeping a list of goals for the year, and so on.
How to Create a New Template in Notion on an iPhone or Android Device
Using your favorite app from a mobile device is convenient and simple, but creative fans of Notion are out of luck in this case — it’s impossible to create your own templates from gadgets (phone, tablet). However, there are many high-quality templates that can be used for free!
Among them are a variety of options:
various kinds of notes (reminders of scheduled meetings, for example)
the intended list of books to read
plans (schedules of classes, lessons)
to-do lists for the day
Despite the lack of ability to work from a phone with your own options, you can experience the full functionality of the application using the built-in free Notion templates.
How to Edit the Content on Your Template Button in Notion
This process is as simple as creating a new template and it’ll be completed in a few minutes if you follow the instructions:
Click on the gear icon.
In the configuration settings, enter the required parameters (you can remove some existing elements there or add your own).
When all the parameters are saved, the changes will take effect on the selected templates.
What Other Actions Can Be Performed with a Template Button?
In fact, a template button is a universal tool. It can be used on one or several different pages. Also, the client can easily delete it altogether if the button is no longer needed. To get access to a wide range of functions, use this instruction:
Swipe the computer mouse pointer over the button and click on the gear icon, which is located to your right. To view the list of functions offered for use, just click on the right mouse button.
Open the comments. To do this, tap on the corresponding button from the list.
The “Copy Link” function will help you copy the links to the button and paste them anywhere else in the template. To connect, just click “Copy link.”
If necessary, the template button can be completely removed. It’s easy to do — there’s a “Delete” button for this. Click on it.
As you can see, there are enough functions to quickly and efficiently solve any issues and create the necessary templates. Users should only give free rein to their inspiration!
How to Generate Nested Content Templates
Nested content is the content that is included in other elements of the template (it can be text or an image, for example). To create this, a user needs:
Come up with your own content that you plan to duplicate later in the template.
Move all the content to the switch list or to the page itself.
Generate a template button and add a list of radio buttons or a separate page to it. This should be included in the segment of the configuration section.
By clicking on the “Close” button, you’ll save the changes and your template will have multifaceted content, which will greatly simplify working with it!
Can Weekly Agendas Be Created Using Notion Templates?
A weekly plan is an important element of a person’s life, allowing you to distribute things and find free time for hobbies, family, and self-care. Notion offers the option to create a weekly to-do list as follows:
Create a new page in the app.
Generate the template you need.
Add a link called “Start a new day” to the “Button Name” field.
Click on the button with the “+” sign. In the template field, include another page.
On a blank page, write “Day/Date.” Fill the page with all the necessary content (calendar, planner, notes).
Go back to the “Agenda for the Week” page.
Click on the “Start a New Day” function bar every morning.
This template and its wide functionality will greatly simplify your day and streamline all your daily activities.
Top 5 Best Notion Templates
Not every user can create an original high-quality template due to different circumstances. That’s why there are special services for such cases. MasterBundles offers customers the Top 5 Best Notion Templates:
Minimalist Weekly Planner — create plans and free up the day for your favorite things simply and quickly!
Meal Planner + Groceries List Generator — a convenient option for anyone who carefully monitors nutrition. Now your entire diet for the day is on your smartphone or computer!
Weekly Planner — a high-quality calendar where you can take notes and make plans every day of the year.
Reader’s Template — bookworms can organize their favorite process and even set goals related to reading.
Weight Tracker — set goals, record your weight, and achieve the desired results conveniently!
This is just a small list of what the service offers. On the site, everyone, even the most demanding client, will find a suitable template!
Conclusion
As a service for working on a team project, Notion will bypass many competitors. This is a great tool for putting things in order in your notes and affairs. We hope this article helped you to understand how to quickly and easily create or install the necessary templates.
Every day design fans submit incredible industry stories to our sister-site, Webdesigner News. Our colleagues sift through it, selecting the very best stories from the design, UX, tech, and development worlds and posting them live on the site.
The best way to keep up with the most important stories for web professionals is to subscribe to Webdesigner News or check out the site regularly. However, in case you missed a day this week, here’s a handy compilation of the top curated stories from the last seven days. Enjoy!
The healthcare industry has undergone significant and unexpected changes in the past two years. The pandemic has led to the development of new healthcare administration methods that have long term benefits, and have become a mainstay for many patients.
If you can flow with the tide of changing patient needs, you will be successful in this new climate and consistently generate new leads. The following short list of healthcare marketing trends in 2022 will bring you up to speed on what potential clients are looking for, so you can provide it.
1. Breath New Life into Old Relationships
Hearing from an old friend is always a delight. That is how you ought to approach your old clients, even if they haven’t heard from your practice in a while. You are, after all, responsible for changing their lives by helping them improve their health.
Leave a message or a note to remind them that you’re still available to provide high-quality care, to help them get the most out of life. Even a birthday or holiday greeting has the potential to jog a client’s memory, reminding them that their health should always be a priority. Let them know that now is the best time to stop putting off those appointments!
You can create scripts for your employees that they can use when sending text messages, voicemails, and emails to old clients. These messages can say something like:
“If you missed your scheduled visit, we’d love to welcome you back!”
“How many appointments did you miss last year? We’ll help get you back on track.”
“That joint pain you’re feeling could be a sign that your chiropractic adjustment is long overdue. Call us for an appointment now.
2. Build New Connections with Google My Business
To attract more foot traffic to your practice, you need to make it easy for new clients to find you. Developing a rich Google My Business (GMB) profile is the first step in making yourself searchable.
GMB helps you to make an instant personal connection with potential clients who are searching the web for physical therapy and similar services. With quality photos from your practice and concise information about your areas of expertise, you can make an impact that beats out the competition within seconds—and seconds are precious on the web.
Make sure your profile has your clinic’s most current and accurate information, to make it easy for Google Maps to locate you when people need directions to your clinic. This will come in handy for all the events you’ll be planning, like health expos, community information sessions, and picnics! These types of “Welcome Back” events are sure to attract new faces, giving you the chance to showcase your expertise and build new relationships.
3. Keep Your Clients Safe When Using Telehealth
The US Department of Health and Human Services has reported that the use of Telehealth tools has increased by 63 times since the pandemic began. This also means that your patients’ personal data is much more at risk of theft by cyber criminals.
When you provide Telehealth services, you need to be just as vigilant about HIPAA compliance as you are in your clinic. Your protective measures should extend to include information that is shared via email, in video conferencing, during an online chat, and even over the phone. Use software that encrypts digital data, and be sure your staff understands what information is okay to share in conversation.
4. Be Laser-Focused with Search Engine Optimization
What better way to create a roadmap to your practice than directly answering patient questions? Whether you practice in a region with a high population of older retirees, or an area filled with military veterans who have particular needs around combat injuries, your SEO strategy should target the common healthcare concerns in your area.
Know which keywords and phrases patients use when they conduct searches online. Then, incorporate their exact questions into your social media content, blogs, and online ads, to highlight patient concerns and point to your services as the solution.
5. Let Clients Know that They Come First
You understand that bedside manner is important whether patients are actually present in your office or receiving help from you across a screen. A high level of care involves understanding that every client is unique, and each has dealt with recent challenges in their own way. Some have cooperated with lockdowns and community restrictions with a sense of extreme caution, while others have rebelled against them in the name of freedom.
As a healthcare practitioner, knowing how to keep every patient informed and healthy is your gift. Understanding and serving a wide range of client perspectives will make your practice stand out. Address these issues in your content and marketing, to let potential clients know that you have compassion and a practical care plan to meet their needs.
6. Let the Pros Help You
No one can go it alone, and these times have taught many of us the value of community. If you need help building your website and creating an effective online marketing plan for your clinic, let the pros help you. Web development experts can help you build your healthcare marketing strategy and generate regular new leads.
When you launch a new business you need to conduct three types of research. These include market research, audience research, and competitor research. Out of all these, competitor research is probably the most important one.
Digging deep into what your competitors are up to will unearth heaps of useful data that you can use for many purposes within your businesses. To show you the importance of competitor research, we have listed some of its benefits below.
Helps create better products
A big mistake some amateur entrepreneurs make is creating products simply because the entrepreneur needs them. Sometimes this might work because the general public also had a need for the product, but a lot of the time it fails.
This is why the easiest way to be successful in any industry is to create products that are similar to what your audience is already buying, only making it better or more affordable. This will give it an edge and help you sell more, and it’s something that smart brand managers know how to do well.
When you are determining which products to offer, you can simply go to your competitors’ websites and see what products of theirs have the most reviews, and who they are targeting with their advertising. You can also use a company research tool to obtain further details.
Research tools can unearth information such as the keywords your competitors rank for on search engines, which web pages they send the most traffic to, how much they spend on ads, and which influencers they work with.
If they are spending a lot of money to promote certain products on their website, it’s definitely one of their best-selling ones. You should think about creating something similar, but better. You can use the data from the audience research to see what your audience wants and incorporate features that will satisfy them and make your product different.
Sometimes you might want to think about removing features and making the product cheaper as Amazon did with its tablet. When Apple launched the iPad, everyone was trying to make a better tablet and beat Apple, but they were all failing. Amazon, on the other hand, made a cheaper tablet with fewer features and drove a ton of sales, because this is what their audience wanted.
Makes it easy to create better offers
A lot of people think that the success of a company chiefly hinges on how much traffic it generates or how much social proof it has. These factors matter, but they won’t work well enough if your product offering doesn’t resonate with your audience. You’ll struggle to get clients to sign a contract or even be noticed in a crowded niche.
When a brand has a poor offer, it disappears in the sea of competition.
If you have a good offer, you will generate the highest ROI no matter which marketing method you use. This is why you should conduct some competitor research to figure out your top competitors’ offers and then adapt their offers to your own sales strategy.
Here are the different things to look for while assessing an offer:
Product: As discussed in the first point, you need to create products similar to the ones your competitors are selling, but with key differentiators that are communicated clearly. You also need to make sure there is an audience that wants to buy them.
Price: Your product needs to be at the right price. If it’s cheaper than your competitors’, you will naturally generate more sales, but you might drive away customers who think that it is cheaper because it’s inferior. So, think about this and come up with a price that shows that you are selling a good product. Also, make sure that you generate a minimum 10% profit. Don’t price yourself out of the market.
Benefits: Your offer messaging needs to display the benefits of your product in a unique way, especially when compared to your competitors. So, look at the way your competitors present their products and use that information to inform your unique selling proposition and sell it with good copywriting.
Bonuses: If your competition is giving away bonuses for buying their products, you should too. For best results, give buyers something that complements the product.
Guarantee: When your product has a guarantee or warranty (or both), it makes potential customers feel more confident about the purchase. It shows that you believe in your product so much that you are willing to give a solid guarantee such as a no-questions-asked refund or a free replacement. Analyze the guarantee your competition offers and come up with something that will ensure you outdo them.
Discovers threats
Nowadays, the market is constantly evolving. Many of the products that sold like hotcakes just a few years ago aren’t even available anymore, and the marketing techniques that worked are today considered invasive or easily ignored.
Regularly keeping tabs on the competition will help you figure out how to adapt and survive in the short term and in the future by either coming up with new products or modifying your marketing strategy.
Sometimes you will also learn about companies you can acquire and quickly grow your business.
Helps you set benchmarks
One of the keys to business success is setting the right benchmarks. Quite often people don’t consider the industry benchmarks and set unrealistic goals and end up disappointed when they don’t reach them.
One way to ensure that you set realistic goals is by checking out the industry benchmarks. There are tons of studies like this one from GetResponse on email marketing statistics, that show you the targets that you can aim for.
You can always do the research by yourself and start from scratch, but studies like this can give you a headstart. Your first goal should be to reach average performance levels for your sector. You can later focus on exceeding them.
Improves your marketing
It takes time to get successful marketing correct. Very few people get it right the first time, as you need to conduct several experiments with techniques such as A/B testing to see which landing page converts better, which ads generate the most traffic, and which copywriting style generates the most sales.
This will usually take up months. But you can cut short the time by copying some of the techniques that your competitors are using. This won’t help you always get it right the first time, but it can help you reach your marketing goals quicker.
For example, if you want to use SEO to market your business, you can analyze your competitors’ websites to see what they rank for and try to rank for the same keywords. Before trying to organically rank for these keywords you can also take advantage of features such as responsive search ads and see if traffic obtained from these keywords converts.
Moreover, if you are using ads, you can see which ad creatives and landing page design styles are working for your competitors.
Now invest in competitor research
If you aren’t doing any competitor research, it can negatively impact your business. This is true whether you are just launching or are already established. As you can see above, there are many strategic benefits of doing competitor research.
Yes, it does take a lot of time to do the research, but this is what separates the top companies from the rest. They regularly analyze their audience, the industry, and the competition and modify their products and marketing strategies to stay relevant and thrive in the ever-changing business atmosphere.
It is an undeniable fact that the global business environment is ever-evolving. In the bid to be more competitive, organizations are now giving up on conventional business approaches to make way for innovative advantages. Is your organization doing enough to keep pace with the paradigms emerging in the corporate world? Is your organization doing enough to embrace change through effective change management strategies?
Today, for your business to scale new heights, staying aware of the prerequisite changes and implementing them in time has become a necessity that you cannot overlook. As a business leader, you have to keep the momentum of transformations going and also facilitate their smooth incorporation into the organization. In fact, it would not be wrong to say that today, effective change management is synonymous with a sustainable competitive advantage. The better your organization embraces crucial transitions the greater will be the success.
Defining change management
Moving forward, to be on the same page, let us for once looking at a simple definition of change management. Change management is simply the spectrum of methods and procedures that an organization applies to define and implement transformation in either internal or external processes. Besides, transformations can also arise in the core values, organizational structure, or strategic goals of an organization and they need to be facilitated effectively for the desired success.
Since transformation is the way ahead for businesses to excel, your organization needs to embark on the journey of change management more frequently than ever before. However, relying on the right approach to change implementation is as crucial as the very notion of change management. As a business leader, you need to ensure that positive changes are implemented and managed with positive outcomes.
The success rate of organizational change management
Do you think all organizations undertake change management objectives? Of course, from a small business to a big shot multinational enterprise, every organization is pursuing change management to thrive in a changing environment. But the real question is, are all of them doing well at bringing and managing change? As per Gartner, the success rate in organizational change management is a mere 34 percent. Now, this clearly hints at the fact that for most businesses, effective change management still remains a hard nut to crack.
So clearly, it is crucial for businesses to identify the right approach to successful change management and stick to it. Having said that, this blog delineates a stepwise approach to worthwhile change management for organizations to stay ahead of their contemporaries. So, let us change gears and get started without further ado.
A delineated approach to successful change management
1. Conducting effective strategic analysis to recognize change
What do you think is the most basic aspect of effective organizational change management? What is the first step on the ladder of steering your organization toward positive transitions? The answer lies in the effective identification of prerequisite changes at regular intervals.
Organizations need to know which changes are crucial for them to cultivate great momentum for greater future success and they need to know this in a timely manner. Your success prospects linked to a change will by default be on the lower side if your competitors have already deployed them. Having said that, you need to act smart and more importantly act fast.
The significant question here is, how can organizations recognize the prerequisite changes in real-time? For that, you need to effectively apply strategic analysis methodologies to identify the opportunities and threats in the external business environment. ‘’
You need changed strategies for exploiting opportunities as well as mitigating threats before they translate into hazards. Moreover, the need for change may also arise from the internal analysis of the company’s strengths and weaknesses.
The bottom line is that organizations need to conduct frequent strategic analyses both externally and internally to identify changes in real-time. As long as you succeed in doing so for your organization, you will always stay one step ahead of your competitors. Needless to say, you should only allocate time and resources to changes that are actually necessary or offer sustainable competitive advantages.
2. Defining change parameters
When you have recognized the change that your organization needs to incorporate immediately, the next step is to define the crucial change parameters. The following are the relevant and vital change parameters that you need to be looking at.
The need for the transformation
The vision and values behind the change
The impact of the change
The success metrics of the change
The scope of the change
Accountability for implementing the change
Composition of change management teams
Contingencies in change
Strategic communication strategies
Defining the above parameters is salient to the further steps in the change management process. These parameters define the change in terms of its impact and success. Further, they enable the identification of the key players in change implementation and how communication strategies will work. This is essential for you to set SMART objectives for successful change implementation.
In fact, collectively, clearly defining these elements of the change management process gives a perfect head start to the ambition of successful change management. You have to make it a point that these aspects are defined well before you proceed further in the pursuit of cultivating positive transformations in the organization. Your vision and values coherent to change should be absolutely clear so that you can persuade others to be on board. Fair enough, isn’t it?
3. Building consensus among stakeholders
Stakeholders have a great influence to assert in the course of business decisions. As a change leader when you propose a change, it is essential to winning the confidence of the investors, top executives, and the customers. Having said that, you first need to carry out a stakeholders’ analysis to identify the key people who have a significant role to play in supporting the change initiative.
Subject to how you have defined the need for the transformation and its expected impact, you need to communicate the same to the stakeholders. This is where strategic communication and transparency will play a salient role. You cannot drive massive organizational changes until your investors are not on board, right? Driving organizational changes can be an exorbitant affair after all and the entire bandwagon of investors and C-suite executives needs to be involved.
So, to foster that consensus, your effectiveness as a communicator and your persuasive skills have to be at their best. The greater the cohesion you are able to create between the idea of change and the stakeholders the smoother will be the implementation. Makes complete sense, right?
4. Initiating the planning phase
When you reach this stage in the change management process, you would have defined all parameters of the change. Moreover, you would have also built consensus among stakeholders on the need for transitions within the organization.
From hereon, you need to plan comprehensive measures for incorporating the change into the organization. From the introduction of the change to its institutionalization organization, you need a clear roadmap based on meticulous planning. Besides, everyone who is a part of the change management team should be clear with their roles and responsibilities. As a leader, you should also plan for ways in which you will foster high engagement and motivation among your team.
Having said that, you need to develop strategies on how you are going to communicate the vision and values of the change to your team members so that they can actively participate in the change process. Further, you need to clearly define the key performance indicators that will track the performance of employees with respect to their contribution to the change.
Parallel to your plan A for implementing and sustaining the transformation, you should also work on a contingency plan to account for unprecedented challenges in the entire process. Also, it is recommended that once you have made a clear plan for change implementation, you should conduct an effective gap analysis to identify any shortcomings before the plan is put to execution. Having open discussions with your team members on the plan can also be a great way to make the plan far more accurate and actionable. What do you think about it?
5. Extending support to employees
When the status quo changes and massive transitions transpire in the organization, it is natural for employees to feel perplexed. Employees are likely to show resistance to change and may also feel nervous about coping with the new status quo. This is where the top management needs to extend complete support to the employees. Winning the confidence of your team is as significant as convincing your investors that the change is transpiring for the better. After all, your employees are the ones who will make the transformation a part of the new normal by working around it relentlessly.
Besides, explaining the need for the change and how employees too will benefit from it may not be enough. The change may also require the employees to upskill or reskill to build new core competencies that are essential for sustaining the new status quo.
The responsibility lies with the management to introduce efficient training and mentoring programs in the workplace to assist employees in aligning their skills with the new ways of doing things.
However, learning initiatives without high learning engagement would only be redundant, isn’t it? As a leader, you need to find great ways in which you can help your team members get rid of their resistance and actively participate in the change process by manifesting greater openness to learning. This is indeed going to be a crucial cog in the wheel of successful change implementation and management. As far as training is concerned, you can reap the benefits of LMS (Learning Management Systems) to foster a culture of advanced remote learning with a high scope of engagement.
6. Setting control measures
Establishing control measures for monitoring and measuring the progress of the change implementation is the key to sustaining the change within the organization. With the application of effective and relevant metrics, you need to consistently track the different stages of change management.
As a leader, it is one of your key responsibilities to monitor and supervise any new changes that occur within the organization. It is always better if the monitoring is done in terms of quantifiable measures of performance and progress hence, the establishment of key metrics is essential.
You can simply segregate the control measures into two segments. The first segment is linked to the implementation of the change while the second is about institutionalizing it within the organization. The control measures too may be largely different for these two phases in successful change management.
Effective monitoring will assist you in driving consistent refinements in strategies and actions linked to successful change management. Monitoring will offer you a clear picture of how successful or unsuccessful a change turned out to be in terms of its business benefits and institutionalization within the organization. If there are any lapses, you can briskly identify them and address them to improve the pace of progress. Eventually, success in terms of sustaining the change within the organization will be measured in terms of your control over the entire process.
7. Establishing measures for continuous improvement
Successful change management merely does not stop at the integration of the change into the processes within the organization. As a change leader, you also need to create a roadmap for driving continuous improvements in the new status quo once a transformation is institutionalized.
Having said that, effective strategies for continuous improvement of the newly incorporated transitions have to be formulated. Also, you need to fix accountability at all levels to make the change far more successful in the future such that the objectives linked to the change are met. For that, key performance indicators related to continuous improvement also need to be established and explained to those responsible for driving enhancements in the embedded transformation.
Of course, your idea of change is linked to the long-term benefits and strategic goals of your organization. Do you think those goals can be accomplished in a few days after a change has been smoothly implemented? The change has to go through different stages of optimization for its benefits to reflect in the long–term goals of your organization.
Therefore, framing continuous improvement strategies is as salient as any other step in the course of successful change management that can help an organization build sustainable competitive advantages.
To encapsulate, business success in contemporary times is a lot dependent on organizations’ ability to adapt to the prerequisite changes with respect to the internal or external environment.
Traditional ways are no longer enough for business success and to keep pace with the ever-evolving business world, organizations need to run against each other in the bid to inculcate positive changes before their counterparts. This explains why change management is such a key process in the modern workplace. The above strategies will surely help you a great deal to drive great business outcomes with exemplary success in change management.
It is an undeniable fact that the global business environment is ever-evolving. In the bid to be more competitive, organizations are now giving up on conventional business approaches to make way for innovative advantages. Is your organization doing enough to keep pace with the paradigms emerging in the corporate world? Is your organization doing enough to embrace change through effective change management strategies?
Today, for your business to scale new heights, staying aware of the prerequisite changes and implementing them in time has become a necessity that you cannot overlook. As a business leader, you have to keep the momentum of transformations going and also facilitate their smooth incorporation into the organization. In fact, it would not be wrong to say that today, effective change management is synonymous with a sustainable competitive advantage. The better your organization embraces crucial transitions the greater will be the success.
Defining change management
Moving forward, to be on the same page, let us for once looking at a simple definition of change management. Change management is simply the spectrum of methods and procedures that an organization applies to define and implement transformation in either internal or external processes. Besides, transformations can also arise in the core values, organizational structure, or strategic goals of an organization and they need to be facilitated effectively for the desired success.
Since transformation is the way ahead for businesses to excel, your organization needs to embark on the journey of change management more frequently than ever before. However, relying on the right approach to change implementation is as crucial as the very notion of change management. As a business leader, you need to ensure that positive changes are implemented and managed with positive outcomes.
The success rate of organizational change management
Do you think all organizations undertake change management objectives? Of course, from a small business to a big shot multinational enterprise, every organization is pursuing change management to thrive in a changing environment. But the real question is, are all of them doing well at bringing and managing change? As per Gartner, the success rate in organizational change management is a mere 34 percent. Now, this clearly hints at the fact that for most businesses, effective change management still remains a hard nut to crack.
So clearly, it is crucial for businesses to identify the right approach to successful change management and stick to it. Having said that, this blog delineates a stepwise approach to worthwhile change management for organizations to stay ahead of their contemporaries. So, let us change gears and get started without further ado.
A delineated approach to successful change management
1. Conducting effective strategic analysis to recognize change
What do you think is the most basic aspect of effective organizational change management? What is the first step on the ladder of steering your organization toward positive transitions? The answer lies in the effective identification of prerequisite changes at regular intervals.
Organizations need to know which changes are crucial for them to cultivate great momentum for greater future success and they need to know this in a timely manner. Your success prospects linked to a change will by default be on the lower side if your competitors have already deployed them. Having said that, you need to act smart and more importantly act fast.
The significant question here is, how can organizations recognize the prerequisite changes in real-time? For that, you need to effectively apply strategic analysis methodologies to identify the opportunities and threats in the external business environment. ‘’
You need changed strategies for exploiting opportunities as well as mitigating threats before they translate into hazards. Moreover, the need for change may also arise from the internal analysis of the company’s strengths and weaknesses.
The bottom line is that organizations need to conduct frequent strategic analyses both externally and internally to identify changes in real-time. As long as you succeed in doing so for your organization, you will always stay one step ahead of your competitors. Needless to say, you should only allocate time and resources to changes that are actually necessary or offer sustainable competitive advantages.
2. Defining change parameters
When you have recognized the change that your organization needs to incorporate immediately, the next step is to define the crucial change parameters. The following are the relevant and vital change parameters that you need to be looking at.
The need for the transformation
The vision and values behind the change
The impact of the change
The success metrics of the change
The scope of the change
Accountability for implementing the change
Composition of change management teams
Contingencies in change
Strategic communication strategies
Defining the above parameters is salient to the further steps in the change management process. These parameters define the change in terms of its impact and success. Further, they enable the identification of the key players in change implementation and how communication strategies will work. This is essential for you to set SMART objectives for successful change implementation.
In fact, collectively, clearly defining these elements of the change management process gives a perfect head start to the ambition of successful change management. You have to make it a point that these aspects are defined well before you proceed further in the pursuit of cultivating positive transformations in the organization. Your vision and values coherent to change should be absolutely clear so that you can persuade others to be on board. Fair enough, isn’t it?
3. Building consensus among stakeholders
Stakeholders have a great influence to assert in the course of business decisions. As a change leader when you propose a change, it is essential to winning the confidence of the investors, top executives, and the customers. Having said that, you first need to carry out a stakeholders’ analysis to identify the key people who have a significant role to play in supporting the change initiative.
Subject to how you have defined the need for the transformation and its expected impact, you need to communicate the same to the stakeholders. This is where strategic communication and transparency will play a salient role. You cannot drive massive organizational changes until your investors are not on board, right? Driving organizational changes can be an exorbitant affair after all and the entire bandwagon of investors and C-suite executives needs to be involved.
So, to foster that consensus, your effectiveness as a communicator and your persuasive skills have to be at their best. The greater the cohesion you are able to create between the idea of change and the stakeholders the smoother will be the implementation. Makes complete sense, right?
4. Initiating the planning phase
When you reach this stage in the change management process, you would have defined all parameters of the change. Moreover, you would have also built consensus among stakeholders on the need for transitions within the organization.
From hereon, you need to plan comprehensive measures for incorporating the change into the organization. From the introduction of the change to its institutionalization organization, you need a clear roadmap based on meticulous planning. Besides, everyone who is a part of the change management team should be clear with their roles and responsibilities. As a leader, you should also plan for ways in which you will foster high engagement and motivation among your team.
Having said that, you need to develop strategies on how you are going to communicate the vision and values of the change to your team members so that they can actively participate in the change process. Further, you need to clearly define the key performance indicators that will track the performance of employees with respect to their contribution to the change.
Parallel to your plan A for implementing and sustaining the transformation, you should also work on a contingency plan to account for unprecedented challenges in the entire process. Also, it is recommended that once you have made a clear plan for change implementation, you should conduct an effective gap analysis to identify any shortcomings before the plan is put to execution. Having open discussions with your team members on the plan can also be a great way to make the plan far more accurate and actionable. What do you think about it?
5. Extending support to employees
When the status quo changes and massive transitions transpire in the organization, it is natural for employees to feel perplexed. Employees are likely to show resistance to change and may also feel nervous about coping with the new status quo. This is where the top management needs to extend complete support to the employees. Winning the confidence of your team is as significant as convincing your investors that the change is transpiring for the better. After all, your employees are the ones who will make the transformation a part of the new normal by working around it relentlessly.
Besides, explaining the need for the change and how employees too will benefit from it may not be enough. The change may also require the employees to upskill or reskill to build new core competencies that are essential for sustaining the new status quo.
The responsibility lies with the management to introduce efficient training and mentoring programs in the workplace to assist employees in aligning their skills with the new ways of doing things.
However, learning initiatives without high learning engagement would only be redundant, isn’t it? As a leader, you need to find great ways in which you can help your team members get rid of their resistance and actively participate in the change process by manifesting greater openness to learning. This is indeed going to be a crucial cog in the wheel of successful change implementation and management. As far as training is concerned, you can reap the benefits of LMS (Learning Management Systems) to foster a culture of advanced remote learning with a high scope of engagement.
6. Setting control measures
Establishing control measures for monitoring and measuring the progress of the change implementation is the key to sustaining the change within the organization. With the application of effective and relevant metrics, you need to consistently track the different stages of change management.
As a leader, it is one of your key responsibilities to monitor and supervise any new changes that occur within the organization. It is always better if the monitoring is done in terms of quantifiable measures of performance and progress hence, the establishment of key metrics is essential.
You can simply segregate the control measures into two segments. The first segment is linked to the implementation of the change while the second is about institutionalizing it within the organization. The control measures too may be largely different for these two phases in successful change management.
Effective monitoring will assist you in driving consistent refinements in strategies and actions linked to successful change management. Monitoring will offer you a clear picture of how successful or unsuccessful a change turned out to be in terms of its business benefits and institutionalization within the organization. If there are any lapses, you can briskly identify them and address them to improve the pace of progress. Eventually, success in terms of sustaining the change within the organization will be measured in terms of your control over the entire process.
7. Establishing measures for continuous improvement
Successful change management merely does not stop at the integration of the change into the processes within the organization. As a change leader, you also need to create a roadmap for driving continuous improvements in the new status quo once a transformation is institutionalized.
Having said that, effective strategies for continuous improvement of the newly incorporated transitions have to be formulated. Also, you need to fix accountability at all levels to make the change far more successful in the future such that the objectives linked to the change are met. For that, key performance indicators related to continuous improvement also need to be established and explained to those responsible for driving enhancements in the embedded transformation.
Of course, your idea of change is linked to the long-term benefits and strategic goals of your organization. Do you think those goals can be accomplished in a few days after a change has been smoothly implemented? The change has to go through different stages of optimization for its benefits to reflect in the long–term goals of your organization.
Therefore, framing continuous improvement strategies is as salient as any other step in the course of successful change management that can help an organization build sustainable competitive advantages.
To encapsulate, business success in contemporary times is a lot dependent on organizations’ ability to adapt to the prerequisite changes with respect to the internal or external environment.
Traditional ways are no longer enough for business success and to keep pace with the ever-evolving business world, organizations need to run against each other in the bid to inculcate positive changes before their counterparts. This explains why change management is such a key process in the modern workplace. The above strategies will surely help you a great deal to drive great business outcomes with exemplary success in change management.
What does a positive company culture look like? If you are to ask Southwest Airlines, they will tell you their culture entails creating an environment in which every employee knows they matter. They go further to state that they lean on the elements of appreciation, recognition and celebration.
Company culture, although implemented differently by many companies, is the set of practices that guide how people are led and nurtured in an organization. In many instances, the company’s core values will be reflected in the culture.
It has become increasingly important for businesses to pay close attention to their culture. Here are seven benefits of a positive company culture.
Increased job satisfaction
A positive company culture plays a large role in determining how content employees will be with their jobs. Culture determines how people are treated, how they treat each other and how the company deals with both internal and external stakeholders.
When the culture is positive, employees are happy to come to work, they will gladly recommend the company and will stick around in tough times.
Improves teamwork and collaboration
One of the benefits of a positive company culture is improved teamwork. When teams are strong, people share ideas readily, they help each other achieve the common goal, stress levels reduce and employee well being improves.
Employees spend a lot of time at work with their colleagues, it is important that team member relationships are healthy. Research now shows that it is beneficial for workmates to go beyond simply being cordial, to being friends.
A positive company culture, one that emphasizes caring for colleagues as friends, supporting each other, compassion and understanding, treating one another with respect and gratitude will improve both teamwork and collaboration.
Positive company image
Perception matters. Another benefit of positive company culture that businesses can enjoy is an improvement in how their external environment perceives them. A company that is known to have fair policies in dealing with their customers and their community will be more attractive to new customers.
Just like social media can be used to signal a positive company culture to potential hires, it has the same effect with your customers.
Increased productivity
With improved teamwork, you can expect to see an improvement in productivity and communication which in turn impacts productivity.
In a Harvard Business Review article titled “Proof That Positive Work Cultures Are More Productive”, co-authors Kim Cameron and Emma Seppala point out that “a large and growing body of research on positive organizational psychology demonstrates that not only is a cutthroat environment harmful to productivity over time, but that a positive environment will lead to dramatic benefits for employers, employees, and the bottom line.”
When you have developed a positive company culture, you will find that you will have employees who are confident enough to communicate their ideas and to ask questions where they need clarity. Employees will also be comfortable enough to speak up when they make a mistake, knowing that they are in a learning versus punitive environment.
Reduces stress in employees
Who hasn’t had a stressful week or month at work? It happens. However in a toxic workplace, stress is chronic. The signs of a stressed out workforce are easy to see: loss in productivity, staff absenteeism, increased illnesses, and over time, an increase in employee turnover.
Another benefit of a positive company culture is a reduction in stress. Because there is open communication and prioritization of employees, they will be able to speak up when they feel overwhelmed.
The responsibility for mitigating stress also lies with supervisors and managers. Employees should be encouraged to take their breaks, for instance. Having employees who work 10 hours, seven days a week isn’t a sign of productivity, rather it is a precursor for stress, loss of morale and burnout.
Good leaders should be encouraging their team to try developing a daily walking habit, or undertake regular meditation or some other form of relaxation.
Remember that managers will be the drivers of culture in the company so they should lead by example. As they encourage employees to take their breaks and annual leave, they should do the same.
Ability to attract top talent
A positive company culture is of benefit when it comes to attracting talent. And that culture can be seen right from the initial hiring stages. If teamwork is a part of your culture, you can go ahead and introduce job candidates to the people they might work with.
Another way culture can be used to attract talent is through employees. Today, job candidates are able to do a lot of background research on a job before they walk in for the interview.
Sites that feature online reviews from employees, the company website, your social media platforms and those of your employees all provide an accurate window into your company culture.
For example, if an employee shares about a reward they received to their LinkedIn profile, it can indicate that your company culture is one that values and rewards people.
Talent will also learn of your company culture from former employees. It can be through word of mouth or through sites like Glassdoor where employees review their employers.
More streamlined decision making
Let’s go back to the example of Southwest Airlines. Their corporate culture puts employees first, ahead of profits and ahead of customers. Should management find themselves in a situation that, for instance, would compromise their employees but earn the company more money, the decision to choose their employees isn’t a hard one to make. Their culture guides them.
Taking this kind of stance shows employees that they are valued and this will in turn increase employee morale.
In the same way that positive company culture guides the behavior of employees, it also makes it easier for them to make decisions. Employees can refer to the culture guidelines when it comes to making tough decisions or choosing between competing choices.
In Summary
It is no longer enough to only provide employees with a decent workplace and a salary. In the modern work world, the needs of the employee and so the responsibilities of the employer have expanded.Managers and business owners need to work on creating a positive company culture that inspires their teams and leads them to do their best work. The benefits of a positive company culture can be enjoyed by remote teams and by companies both big and small.
Block patterns, also frequently referred to as sections, were introduced in WordPress 5.5 to allow users to build and share predefined block layouts in the pattern directory. The directory is the home of a wide range of curated patterns designed by the WordPress community. These patterns are available in simple copy and paste format, require no coding knowledge and thus are a big time saver for users.
Despite many articles on patterns, there is a lack of comprehensive and up-to-date articles on pattern creation covering the latest enhanced features. This article aims to fill the gap with a focus on the recent enhanced features like creating patterns without registration and offer an up-to-date step-by-step guide to create and use them in block themes for novices and experienced authors.
Since the launch of WordPress 5.9 and the Twenty Twenty-Two (TT2) default theme, the use of block patterns in block themes has proliferated. I have been a big fan of block patterns and have created and used them in my block themes.
The article assumes that readers have basic knowledge of WordPress full site editing (FSE) interface and block themes. The Block Editor Handbook and Full Site Editing website provide the most up-to-date tutorial guides to learn all FSE features, including block themes and patterns discussed in this article.
Section 1: Evolving approaches to creating block patterns
The initial approach to creating block patterns required the use of block pattern API either as a custom plugin or directly registered in the functions.php file to bundle with a block theme. The newly launched WordPress 6.0 introduced several new and enhanced features working with patterns and themes, including pattern registration via a /patterns folder and a page creation pattern modal.
For background, let’s first briefly overview how the pattern registration workflow evolved from using the register pattern API to directly loading without registration.
Use case example 1: Twenty Twenty-One
The default Twenty Twenty-One theme (TT1) and TT1 Blocks theme (a sibling of TT1) showcase how block patterns can be registered in the theme’s functions.php. In the TT1 Blocks experimental-theme, this single block-pattern.php file containing eight block patterns is added to the functions.php as an include as shown here.
A custom block pattern needs to be registered using the register_block_pattern function, which receives two arguments — title (name of the patterns) and properties (an array describing properties of the pattern).
Here is an example of registering a simple “Hello World” paragraph pattern from this Theme Shaper article:
title(required): A human-readable title for the pattern.
content(required): Block HTML Markup for the pattern.
description(optional): A visually hidden text used to describe the pattern in the inserter. A description is optional but it is strongly encouraged when the title does not fully describe what the pattern does. The description will help users discover the pattern while searching.
categories(optional): An array of registered pattern categories used to group block patterns. Block patterns can be shown on multiple categories. A category must be registered separately in order to be used here.
keywords(optional): An array of aliases or keywords that help users discover the pattern while searching.
viewportWidth(optional): An integer specifying the intended width of the pattern to allow for a scaled preview of the pattern in the inserter.
blockTypes(optional): An array of block types that the pattern is intended to be used with. Each value needs to be the declared block’s name.
inserter(optional): By default, all patterns will appear in the inserter. To hide a pattern so that it can only be inserted programmatically, set the inserter to false.
The following is an example of a quote pattern plugin code snippets taken from the WordPress blog.
/*
Plugin Name: Quote Pattern Example Plugin
*/
register_block_pattern(
'my-plugin/my-quote-pattern',
array(
'title' => __( 'Quote with Avatar', 'my-plugin' ),
'categories' => array( 'text' ),
'description' => _x( 'A big quote with an avatar".', 'Block pattern description', 'my-plugin' ),
'content' => '<!-- wp:group --><div class="wp-block-group"><div class="wp-block-group__inner-container"><!-- wp:separator {"className":"is-style-default"} --><hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-default"/><!-- /wp:separator --><!-- wp:image {"align":"center","id":553,"width":150,"height":150,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none","className":"is-style-rounded"} --><div class="wp-block-image is-style-rounded"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img src="https://blockpatterndesigns.mystagingwebsite.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/StockSnap_HQR8BJFZID-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-553" width="150" height="150"/></figure></div><!-- /wp:image --><!-- wp:quote {"align":"center","className":"is-style-large"} --><blockquote class="wp-block-quote has-text-align-center is-style-large"><p>"Contributing makes me feel like I'm being useful to the planet."</p><cite>— Anna Wong, <em>Volunteer</em></cite></blockquote><!-- /wp:quote --><!-- wp:separator {"className":"is-style-default"} --><hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-default"/><!-- /wp:separator --></div></div><!-- /wp:group -->',
)
);
Using patterns in a template file
Once patterns are created, they can be used in a theme template file with the following block markup:
An example from this GitHub repository shows the use of “footer-with-background” pattern slug with “tt2gopher” prefix in TT2 Gopher blocks theme.
Early adopters of block themes and Gutenberg plugin took advantage of patterns in classic themes as well. The default Twenty Twenty and my favorite Eksell themes (a demo site here) are good examples that showcase how pattern features can be added to classic themes.
Use case example 2: Twenty Twenty-Two
If a theme includes only a few patterns, the development and maintenance are fairly manageable. However, if a block theme includes many patterns, like in TT2 theme, then the pattern.php file becomes very large and hard to read. The default TT2 theme, which bundles more than 60 patterns, showcases a refactored pattern registration workflow structure that is easier to read and maintain.
Taking examples from the TT2 theme, let’s briefly discuss how this simplified workflow works.
2.1: Registering Patterns Categories
For demonstration purposes, I created a TT2 child theme and set it up on my local test site with some dummy content. Following TT2, I registered footer-with-background and added to the following pattern categories array list in its block-patterns.php file.
In this code example, each pattern listed in the $block_patterns = array() is called by foreach() function which requires a patterns directory file with the listed pattern name in the array which we will add in the next step.
2.2: Adding a pattern file to the /inc/patterns folder
Next, we should have all the listed patterns files in the $block_patterns = array(). Here is an example of one of the pattern files, footer-with-background.php:
Let’s reference the pattern in the footer.html template part:
<!-- wp:template-part {"slug":"footer"} /-->
This is similar to adding heading or footer parts in a template file.
The patterns can similarly be added to the parts/footer.html template by modifying it to refer to slug of the theme’s pattern file (footer-with-background):
Section 2: Creating and loading patterns without registration
Please note that this feature requires the installation of WordPress 6.0 or Gutenberg plugin 13.0 or above in your site.
This new WordPress 6.0 feature allows pattern registration via standard files and folders – /patterns, bringing similar conventions like /parts, /templates, and /styles.
The process, as also described in this WP Tavern article, involves the following three steps:
creating a patterns folder at the theme’s root
adding plugin style pattern header
pattern source content
A typical pattern header markup, taken from the article is shown below:
In the following steps, let’s explore how a footer-with-background.php pattern registered with PHP and used in a footer.html template is refactored.
2.1: Create a /patterns folder at the root of the theme
The first step is to create a /patterns folder at TT2 Gopher theme’s root and move the footer-with-background.php pattern file to /patterns folder and refactor.
2.2: Add pattern data to the file header
Next, create the following pattern header registration fields.
A pattern file has a top title field written as PHP comments. Followed by the block-content written in HTML format.
2.3: Add Pattern Content to the file
For the content section, let’s copy the code snippets within single quotes (e.g., '...') from the content section of the footer-with-background and replace the :
The entire code snippet of the patterns/footer-with-background.php file can be viewed here on the GitHub.
Please note that the /inc/patterns and block-patterns.php are extras, not required in WordPress 6.0, and included only for demo purposes.
2.4: Referencing the patterns slug in the template
Adding the above refactored footer-with-background.php pattern to footer.html template is exactly the same as described in the previous section (Section 1, 2.2).
Now, if we view the site’s footer part in a block editor or front-end of our site in a browser, the footer section is displayed.
Pattern categories and types Registration (optional)
To categorize block patterns, the pattern categories and types should be registered in theme’s functions.php file.
After the registration, the patterns are displayed in the pattern inserter together with the core default patterns. To add theme specific category labels in the patterns inserter, we should modify the previous snippets by adding theme namespace:
The footer-with-background pattern is visible in the patterns inserted with its preview (if selected):
This process greatly simplifies creating and displaying block patterns in block themes. It is available in WordPress 6.0 without using the Gutenberg plugin.
Examples of themes without patterns registration
Early adopters have already started using this feature in their block themes. A few examples of the themes, that are available from the theme directory, that load patterns without registration are listed below:
Section 3: Creating and using patterns with low-code
The official patterns directory contains community-contributed creative designs, which can be copied and customized as desired to create content. Using patterns with a block editor has never been so easier!
Any patterns from the ever-growing directory can also be added to block themes just by simple “copy and paste” or include in the theme.json file by referring to their directory pattern slug. Next, I will go through briefly how easily this can be accomplished with very limited coding.
Adding and customizing patterns from patterns directory
3.1: Copy pattern from directory into a page
Here, I am using this footer section pattern by FirstWebGeek from the patterns directory. Copied the pattern by selecting the “Copy Pattern” button and directly pasted it in a new page.
3.2: Make desired customizations
I made only a few changes to the color of the fonts and button background. Then copied the entire code from the code editor over to a clipboard.
If you are not familiar with using the code editor, go to options (with three dots, top right), click the Code editor button, and copy the entire code from here.
3.3: Create a new file in /patterns folder
First, let’s create a new /patterns/footer-pattern-test.php file and add the required pattern header section. Then paste the entire code (step 3, above). The pattern is categorized in the footer area (lines: 5), we can view the newly added in the pattern inserter.
<?php
/**
* Title: Footer pattern from patterns library
* Slug: tt2gopher/footer-pattern-test
* Categories: tt2gopher-footer
* Viewport Width: 1280
* Block Types: core/template-part/footer
* Inserter: yes
*/
?>
<!-- wp:group {"align":"full","style":{"spacing":{"padding":{"top":"100px","bottom":"70px","right":"30px","left":"30px"}}},"backgroundColor":"black","layout":{"contentSize":"1280px"}} -->
<div class="wp-block-group alignfull has-black-background-color has-background" style="padding-top:100px;padding-right:30px;padding-bottom:70px;padding-left:30px"><!-- wp:columns -->
<div class="wp-block-columns"><!-- wp:column -->
<div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:heading {"style":{"typography":{"fontStyle":"normal","fontWeight":"700","textTransform":"uppercase"}},"textColor":"cyan-bluish-gray"} -->
<h2 class="has-cyan-bluish-gray-color has-text-color" style="font-style:normal;font-weight:700;text-transform:uppercase">lorem</h2>
<!-- /wp:heading -->
<!-- wp:paragraph {"style":{"typography":{"fontSize":"16px"}},"textColor":"cyan-bluish-gray"} -->
<p class="has-cyan-bluish-gray-color has-text-color" style="font-size:16px">One of the main benefits of using Lorem Ipsum is that it can be easily generated, and it takes the pressure off designers to create meaningful text. Instead, they can focus on crafting the best website data.</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->
<!-- wp:social-links {"iconColor":"vivid-cyan-blue","iconColorValue":"#0693e3","openInNewTab":true,"className":"is-style-logos-only","style":{"spacing":{"blockGap":{"top":"15px","left":"15px"}}}} -->
<ul class="wp-block-social-links has-icon-color is-style-logos-only"><!-- wp:social-link {"url":"#","service":"facebook"} /-->
<!-- wp:social-link {"url":"#","service":"twitter"} /-->
<!-- wp:social-link {"url":"#","service":"instagram"} /-->
<!-- wp:social-link {"url":"#","service":"linkedin"} /--></ul>
<!-- /wp:social-links --></div>
<!-- /wp:column -->
<!-- wp:column -->
<div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:heading {"level":4,"style":{"typography":{"textTransform":"capitalize","fontStyle":"normal","fontWeight":"700","fontSize":"30px"}},"textColor":"cyan-bluish-gray"} -->
<h4 class="has-cyan-bluish-gray-color has-text-color" style="font-size:30px;font-style:normal;font-weight:700;text-transform:capitalize">Contact Us</h4>
<!-- /wp:heading -->
<!-- wp:paragraph {"style":{"typography":{"fontSize":"16px","lineHeight":"1.2"}},"textColor":"cyan-bluish-gray"} -->
<p class="has-cyan-bluish-gray-color has-text-color" style="font-size:16px;line-height:1.2">123 BD Lorem, Ipsum<br><br>+123-456-7890</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->
<!-- wp:paragraph {"style":{"typography":{"fontSize":"16px","lineHeight":"1"}},"textColor":"cyan-bluish-gray"} -->
<p class="has-cyan-bluish-gray-color has-text-color" style="font-size:16px;line-height:1">sample@gmail.com</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->
<!-- wp:paragraph {"style":{"typography":{"fontSize":"16px","lineHeight":"1"}},"textColor":"cyan-bluish-gray"} -->
<p class="has-cyan-bluish-gray-color has-text-color" style="font-size:16px;line-height:1">Opening Hours: 10:00 - 18:00</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph --></div>
<!-- /wp:column -->
<!-- wp:column -->
<div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:heading {"level":4,"style":{"typography":{"fontSize":"30px","fontStyle":"normal","fontWeight":"700","textTransform":"capitalize"}},"textColor":"cyan-bluish-gray"} -->
<h4 class="has-cyan-bluish-gray-color has-text-color" style="font-size:30px;font-style:normal;font-weight:700;text-transform:capitalize">Newsletter</h4>
<!-- /wp:heading -->
<!-- wp:paragraph {"style":{"typography":{"fontSize":"16px"}},"textColor":"cyan-bluish-gray"} -->
<p class="has-cyan-bluish-gray-color has-text-color" style="font-size:16px">Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur ut labore et dolore magna aliqua ipsum dolor sit</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->
<!-- wp:search {"label":"","placeholder":"Enter Your Email...","buttonText":"Subscribe","buttonPosition":"button-inside","style":{"border":{"width":"1px"}},"borderColor":"tertiary","backgroundColor":"background-header","textColor":"background"} /--></div>
<!-- /wp:column --></div>
<!-- /wp:columns --></div>
<!-- /wp:group -->
3.4: View the new pattern in the inserter
To view the newly added Footer pattern from patterns library pattern, go to any post or page and select the inserter icon (blue plus symbol, top left), and then select “TT2 Gopher – Footer” categories. The newly added pattern is shown on the left panel, together with other footer patterns and its preview on the right (if selected):
Registering patterns directly in theme.json file
In WordPress 6.0, it is possible to register any desired patterns from the pattern directory with theme.json file with the following syntax. The 6.0 dev note states, “the patterns field is an array of [pattern slugs] from the Pattern Directory. Pattern slugs can be extracted by the [URL] in single pattern view at the Pattern Directory.”
This short WordPress 6.0 features video demonstrates how patterns are registered in the /patterns folder (at 3:53) and registering the desired patterns from the pattern director in a theme.json file (at 3:13).
Then, the registered pattern is available in the patterns inserter search box, which is then available for use just like theme-bundled patterns library.
In this example, the pattern slug footer-section-design-with-3-column-description-social-media-contact-and-newsletter from the earlier example is registered via theme.json.
Page creation pattern model
As part of “building with patterns” initiatives, WordPress 6.0 offers a pattern modal option to theme authors to add page layout patterns into block theme, allowing site users to select page layout patterns (e.g., an about page, a contact page, a team page, etc.) while creating a page. The following is an example taken from the dev note:
register_block_pattern(
'my-plugin/about-page',
array(
'title' => __( 'About page', 'my-plugin' ),
'blockTypes' => array( 'core/post-content' ),
'content' => '<!-- wp:paragraph {"backgroundColor":"black","textColor":"white"} -->
<p class="has-white-color has-black-background-color has-text-color has-background">Write you about page here, feel free to use any block</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->',
)
);
The page creation pattern modal can also be disabled completely by removing the post-content block type of all the patterns. An example sample code is available here.
You can follow and participate in GitHub’s discussion from the links listed under the resource section below.
Using patterns directory to build page
Patterns from the directory can also be used to create the desired post or page layout, similar to page builders. The GutenbergHub team has created an experimental online page builder app using patterns directly from the directory (introductory video). Then the codes from the app can be copied and pasted in a site, which greatly simplifies the building complex page layout process without coding.
In this short video, Jamie Marsland demonstrates (at 1:30) how the app can be used to create an entire page layout similar to page builder using desired page sections of the directory.
Wrapping up
Patterns allow users to recreate their commonly used content layout (e.g., hero page, call out, etc.) in any page and lower the barriers to presenting content in styles, which were previously not possible without coding skills. Just like the plugins and themes directories, the new patterns directory offers users options to use a wide range of patterns of their choices from the pattern directory, and write and display content in style.
Indeed, block patterns will change everything and surely this is a game changer feature in the WordPress theme landscape. When the full potential of building with patterns effort becomes available, this is going to change the way we design block themes and create beautiful content even with low-code knowledge. For many creative designers, the patterns directory may also provide an appropriate avenue to showcase their creativity.
Websites haven’t always been as adaptable as they are today. For modern designers, “responsivity” is one of the most significant defining factors of a good design. After all, we’re now catering to a host of users who frequently jump between mobile and desktop devices with varying screen sizes.
However, the shift to responsive design didn’t happen overnight. For years, we’ve been tweaking the concept of “responsive web design” to eventually reach the stage we’re at today.
Today, we’re going to take a closer look at the history of responsive web design.
Where Did Web Design Begin?
When the first websites were initially created, no one was worried about responsivity across a range of screens. All sites were designed to fit the same templates, and developers didn’t spend a lot of time on concepts like design, layout, and typography.
Even when the wider adoption of CSS technology began, most developers didn’t have to worry much about adapting content to different screen sizes. However, they still found a few ways to work with different monitor and browser sizes.
Liquid Layouts
The main two layout options available to developers in the early days were fixed-width, or liquid layout.
With fixed-width layouts, the design was more likely to break if your monitor wasn’t the exact same resolution as the one the site was designed on. You can see an example here.
Alternatively, liquid layouts, coined by Glenn Davis, were considered one of the first revolutionary examples of responsive web design.
Liquid layouts could adapt to different monitor resolutions and browser sizes. However, content could also overflow, and text would frequently break on smaller screens.
Resolution-Dependent Layouts
In 2004, a blog post by Cameron Adams introduced a new method of using JavaScript to swap out stylesheets based on a browser window size. This technique became known as “resolution-dependent layouts”. Even though they required more work from developers, resolution-dependent layouts allowed for more fine-grained control over the site’s design.
The resolution-dependent layout basically functioned as an early version of CSS breakpoints, before they were a thing. The downside was developers had to create different stylesheets for each target resolution and ensure JavaScript worked across all browsers.
With so many browsers to consider at the time, jQuery became increasingly popular as a way to abstract the differences between browser options away.
The Rise of Mobile Subdomains
The introduction of concepts like resolution-dependent designs was happening at about the same time when many mobile devices were becoming more internet-enabled. Companies were creating browsers for their smartphones, and developers suddenly needed to account for these too.
Though mobile subdomains aimed to offer users the exact same functions they’d get from a desktop site on a smartphone, they were entirely separate applications.
Having a mobile subdomain, though complex, did have some benefits, such as allowing developers to specifically target SEO to mobile devices, and drive more traffic to mobile site variations. However, at the same time, developers then needed to manage two variations of the same website.
Back at the time when Apple had only just introduced its first iPad, countless web designers were still reliant on this old-fashioned and clunky strategy for enabling access to a website on every device. In the late 2000s, developers were often reliant on a number of tricks to make mobile sites more accessible. For instance, even simple layouts used the max-width: 100% trick for flexible images.
Fortunately, everything began to change when Ethan Marcotte coined the term “Responsive Web Design” on A List Apart. This article drew attention to John Allsopp’s exploration of web design architectural principles, and paved the way for all-in-one websites, capable of performing just as well on any device.
A New Age of Responsive Web Design
Marcotte’s article introduced three crucial components developers would need to consider when creating a responsive website: fluid grids, media queries, and flexible images.
Fluid Grids
The concept of fluid grids introduced the idea that websites should be able to adopt a variety of flexible columns that grow or shrink depending on the current size of the screen.
On mobile devices, this meant introducing one or two flexible content columns, while desktop devices could usually show more columns (due to greater space).
Flexible Images
Flexible images introduced the idea that, like content, images should be able to grow or shrink alongside the fluid grid they’re located in. As mentioned above, previously, developers used something called the “max-width” trick to enable this.
If you were holding an image in a container, then it could easily overflow, particularly if the container was responsive. However, if you set the “max-width” to 100%, the image just resizes with its parent container.
Media Queries
The idea of “media queries” referred to the CSS media queries, introduced in 2010 but not widely adopted until officially released as a W3 recommendation 2 years later. Media queries are essentially CSS rules triggered based on options like media type (print, screen, etc), and media features (height, width, etc).
Though they were simpler at the time, these queries allowed developers to essentially implement a simple kind of breakpoint – the kind of tools used in responsive design today. Breakpoints refer to when websites change their layout or style based on the browser window or device width.
Viewport Meta tags need to be used in most cases to ensure media queries work in the way today’s developers expect.
The Rise of Mobile-First Design
Since Marcotte’s introduction of Responsive Web Design, developers have been working on new ways to implement the idea as effectively as possible. Most developers now split into two categories, based on whether they consider the needs of the desktop device user first, or the needs of the mobile device user. The trend is increasingly accelerating towards the latter.
When designing a website from scratch in an age of mobile-first browsing, most developers believe that mobile-first is the best option. Mobile designs are often much simpler, and more minimalist, which matches a lot of the trends of current web design.
Taking the mobile first route means assessing the needs of the website from a mobile perspective first. You’d write your styles normally, using breakpoints once you start creating desktop and tablet layouts. Alternatively, if you took the desktop-first approach, you would need to constantly adapt it to smaller devices with your breakpoint choices.
Exploring the Future of Responsive Web Design
Responsive web design still isn’t perfect. There are countless sites out there that still fail to deliver the same incredible experience across all devices. What’s more, new challenges continue to emerge all the time, like figuring out how to design for new devices like AR headsets and smartwatches.
However, it’s fair to say we’ve come a long way since the early days of web design.
