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	<title>Lisa Sabin-Wilson</title>
	
	<link>http://lisasabin-wilson.com</link>
	<description>design..life..culture..whatever... a mishmash blog about my personal bits and goings on in my life, and sometime posts about design of the web kind.</description>
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		<title>Vivid Yoga Studio in Menomonee Falls, WI</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Lisas-Blog/~3/TGd2ebmdcnw/</link>
		<comments>http://lisasabin-wilson.com/vivid-yoga-studio-in-menomonee-falls-wi/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 10 May 2012 22:55:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Lisa Sabin-Wilson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Self Employment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WordPress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yoga]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[menomonee falls]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Milwaukee]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yoga]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yoga studio]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lisasabin-wilson.com/?p=3125</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve become the owner of a business that is completely unrelated to WordPress &#8211; do you believe it? As a matter of fact &#8211; it&#8217;s completely unrelated to internet publishing or any type of web development or design work at all! Months back, I posted about how I found yoga (or maybe how yoga found me?) and SO much has happened since then! I met a good friend, Michelle Schultz, who has been a yoga ...</p> <p class="read-more"><a href="http://lisasabin-wilson.com/vivid-yoga-studio-in-menomonee-falls-wi/">Read the Rest &#187;</a></p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;ve become the owner of a business that is completely unrelated to WordPress &#8211; do you believe it? As a matter of fact &#8211; it&#8217;s completely unrelated to internet publishing or any type of web development or design work at all! Months back, I posted about how I found yoga (or maybe how yoga found me?) and SO much has happened since then! I met a good friend, <a href="http://vividyogaandwellness.com/about/">Michelle Schultz</a>, who has been a yoga instructor in this local area for the past 6-8 years. She&#8217;s a super teacher and I cannot say enough about her teaching style and classes. Michelle has been making her living by teaching classes at several different yoga studios in the area and she really wanted to find one place to settle in and call her own. When opportunity came knocking &#8211; she wanted to go for it in a BIG way, but lacked the financial backing and entrepreneurial experience to feel fully confident in making it happen, completely.</p>
<p>That&#8217;s where I came in. Several long talks, pots of coffee and bottles of wine later &#8211; Michelle and I are now the proud owners of <a href="http://vividyogaandwellness.com" target="_blank">Vivid Yoga studio in Menomonee Falls, WI</a> &#8211; and our doors officially open for business on June 4, 2012. It&#8217;s been an exciting flurry of activity over here while we get things ready. We found a cute little place to call home for our new studio &#8211; but <a href="http://vividyogaandwellness.com/vivid-studio-updates/" target="_blank">renovations need to happen</a> before we move in completely. Over the next several weeks there are coats of paint to be added, a beautiful wood floor to be laid down and supplies to obtain and the rest. I would say we are about 85% of the way there right now. If you&#8217;re local &#8211; check out our web site where you can <a href="http://vividyogaandwellness.com/class-schedule/" target="_blank">sign up for individual classes online</a>, or <a href="http://vividyogaandwellness.com/store/" target="_blank">purchase a 5-Class or 10-Class pass, unlimited membership</a> or enjoy a <a href="http://vividyogaandwellness.com/summer-of-yoga-2012/" target="_blank">Summer of Yoga package</a> with our latest grand opening special.</p>
<p>For my WordPress geeks who venture onto this blog and wonder what the heck I am doing &#8211; it&#8217;s simple diversification. I&#8217;m not giving up my web site/development work, nor am I abandoning my writing (as a matter of fact, I am currently in the middle of writing <em>WordPress For Dummies, 5th Edition</em> AND <em>WordPress All In One, 2nd Edition</em>!). The web site for Vivid Yoga is, of course, powered by WordPress &#8212; I like to call it the yoga studio that WordPress built because without my work in the WordPress world, the financial backing for this studio would not have been possible!</p>
<p>The <a href="http://vividyogaandwellness.com">Vivid Yoga web site</a> went live earlier this week. Along with WordPress, I used the <a href="http://lisasabin-wilson.com/event-espresso" target="_blank">Event Espresso</a> plugin to power the sign-up and purchase of our individual weekly classes; <a href="http://ewebscapes.com/cart66" target="_blank">Cart66</a> to power the purchase of our class passes, unlimited package and other items; <a href="http://ewebscapes.com/gravity-forms" target="_blank">Gravity Forms</a> for use with several forms we use for the site, as well as our newsletter sign-up. The event sign up and e-commerce combination with WordPress really solves a lot of problems that a lot of yoga studios in this area (and nationally) with that type of functionality. So many yoga studios use the same third party solution to provide them with class scheduling, e-commerce and user accounts &#8212; and it costs between $75-200.00 per month for the benefits of enabling online scheduling, purchase and e-commerce. With the plugins I listed combined with the powerful WordPress platform &#8211; we&#8217;ve eliminated the monthly costs, making the one-time cost of those premium plugins pay for themselves within the first 2 months of our operation. Yay <a href="http://wordpress.org" target="_blank">WordPress</a>!</p>
<p><small>(disclaimer: the links to Event Espresso, Cart66 and Gravity Forms are affiliate links.  I use those plugins regularly in my own, and in my client, projects and wholeheartedly support them)</small></p>
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		<title>You made a difference in my life.  I love you.</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Lisas-Blog/~3/v87N0U5d64Q/</link>
		<comments>http://lisasabin-wilson.com/you-made-a-difference-in-my-life-i-love-you/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 29 Apr 2012 17:00:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Lisa Sabin-Wilson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Family/Friends]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lisasabin-wilson.com/?p=3112</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[On July 12 of 2011, my father died. He was the most important person in my life &#8211; I now (and will forevermore) define my life as &#8220;Before&#8221; and &#8220;After&#8220;. We had his service 5 days after his death, but we never buried him. He was cremated, per his wishes. His family burial plot is located in Blue Rapids, Kansas and everyone in the family wanted to go down together to hold a burial service ...</p> <p class="read-more"><a href="http://lisasabin-wilson.com/you-made-a-difference-in-my-life-i-love-you/">Read the Rest &#187;</a></p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<span class='embed-youtube' style='text-align:center; display: block;'><iframe class='youtube-player' type='text/html' width='580' height='385' src='http://www.youtube.com/embed/ML_-d-UFOkg?version=3&amp;rel=1&amp;fs=1&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;wmode=transparent' frameborder='0'></iframe></span>
<p>On July 12 of 2011, my father died.  He was the most important person in my life &#8211; I now (and will forevermore) define my life as &#8220;<em>Before</em>&#8221; and &#8220;<em>After</em>&#8220;.</p>
<p>We had his service 5 days after his death, but we never buried him.  He was cremated, per his wishes.  His family burial plot is located in Blue Rapids, Kansas and everyone in the family wanted to go down together to hold a burial service to reunite Dad with his mother, father and sister &#8211; who are already there.  It took some time to coordinate everyone&#8217;s schedule, and we finally have. This Saturday on May 5th, Dad will finally be laid to rest with his family.  It&#8217;s been a long 9 months since his death.  I sometimes wish we would have made the trip down to Kansas back then, because it just feels like this has been an open issue and looming for so long &#8211; - closure would have been welcome long before now.  But, it is important that everyone in the family can attend, though, so the wait was necessary.</p>
<p>We are making the 10 hour drive down on Friday and then back home on Sunday.</p>
<p>Find that person in your life today, and tell them&#8230;</p>
<blockquote><p>You made a difference in my life.</p>
<p>You mean everything to me.</p>
<p>I could not have done it without you.</p>
<p>I love you.
</p></blockquote>
<p>I love you, Dad.  I miss you so much.</p>
<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Lisas-Blog/~4/v87N0U5d64Q" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Speaking at WordCamp Milwaukee on WordPress Multisite</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Lisas-Blog/~3/1hAnQSiNlGA/</link>
		<comments>http://lisasabin-wilson.com/speaking-at-wordcamp-milwaukee-on-wordpress-multisite/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 29 Apr 2012 13:56:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Lisa Sabin-Wilson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Web Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WordCamp]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WordPress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Milwaukee]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lisasabin-wilson.com/?p=3117</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I am excited to say that I will be speaking at WordCamp Milwaukee on June 2-3, 2012.  A WordCamp in my hometown &#8211; that&#8217;s something new!  All WordCamps I&#8217;ve ever attended have included flights (except Chicago &#8211; I drove), hotels, room service and sometimes car rentals.  THIS time, however, WordCamp Milwaukee is in my backyard and that is so cool!  WordCamp is a conference that focuses on everything WordPress. WordCamps are informal, community-organized events that ...</p> <p class="read-more"><a href="http://lisasabin-wilson.com/speaking-at-wordcamp-milwaukee-on-wordpress-multisite/">Read the Rest &#187;</a></p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I am excited to say that I will be speaking at <a title="WordCamp Milwaukee 2012" href="http://2012.milwaukee.wordcamp.org/">WordCamp Milwaukee</a> on June 2-3, 2012.  A WordCamp in my hometown &#8211; that&#8217;s something new!  All WordCamps I&#8217;ve ever attended have included flights (except Chicago &#8211; I drove), hotels, room service and sometimes car rentals.  THIS time, however, WordCamp Milwaukee is in my backyard and that is so cool!  WordCamp is a conference that focuses on everything WordPress. WordCamps are informal, community-organized events that are put together by WordPress users like you. Everyone from casual users to core developers take part, share ideas, and get to know each other. WordCamps are open to WordPress.com and WordPress.org users alike.  Having WordCampers here in Milwaukee is awesome &#8211; I&#8217;m really looking forward to it.  Big thanks to the <a href="http://2012.milwaukee.wordcamp.org/volunteer/">WordCamp Milwaukee planning committee</a> for putting it together.</p>
<p>As an added benefit, I was asked to speak at WordCamp Milwaukee on the topic of WordPress Multisite &#8211; a topic that is near and dear to my heart.  I will be presenting &#8220;<em>WordPress Multisite Basics</em>&#8220;, a nice introduction to the use of Multisite which covers topics such as:</p>
<ul>
<li>What exactly IS Multisite?</li>
<li>Who uses WordPress Multisite?</li>
<li>Why would I want to use the Multisite feature?</li>
<li>Installing and configuring Multisite</li>
<li>And, a look at Multisite deployments in the wild &#8211; - or how are other people using Multisite in their projects.</li>
</ul>
<p>My talk is mainly for beginners to the Multisite feature (regular WordPress experience and knowledge is assumed) &#8211; for users who are interested in using the Multisite feature in their space to developers looking to brush up on the Multisite feature in order to confidently deploy Multisite for their clients.</p>
<p>I have deployed gobs of Multisite environments for clients over the years &#8211; - dating back to when the Multisite feature was its own piece of (separate) software called WordPress MU.  So I have a bit of experience with the use, set up, hosting and challenges that come along with the use of Multisite.  And, of course, I write all about WordPress Multisite in my book, <a title="WordPress For Dummies by Lisa Sabin-Wilson" href="http://www.amazon.com/WordPress-Dummies-Computer-Tech/dp/1118073428/ref=pd_rhf_ee_p_t_2" target="_blank"><em>WordPress For Dummies</em></a>.</p>
<p>If you are planning on attending WordCamp Milwaukee &#8211; I hope to see you there!  Make sure you come and say HI <img src='http://lisasabin-wilson.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>- <a href="http://2012.milwaukee.wordcamp.org/location/">The 2012 Milwaukee WordCamp will be held at Bucketworks on 706 S 5th St, Milwaukee, WI 53204 on June 2-3, 2012.</a> - </em></strong></p>
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		<title>Yoga Barn Web Site Launch</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Lisas-Blog/~3/iTAFfmB0E0c/</link>
		<comments>http://lisasabin-wilson.com/yoga-barn-web-site-launch/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 15 Feb 2012 19:50:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Lisa Sabin-Wilson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog Design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WordPress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yoga]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yoga]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lisasabin-wilson.com/?p=3103</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Every once in awhile, I need to do a site project for fun and entertainment.&#160; One that I am not working with a committee or answering to a board of multiple people, a site project that is fun and enjoyable.&#160; Not that there is anything wrong with my professional projects, it just doesn&#8217;t hurt to do one for fun, ya know what I mean?&#160; In August of last year, I started a regular Yoga practice ...</p> <p class="read-more"><a href="http://lisasabin-wilson.com/yoga-barn-web-site-launch/">Read the Rest &#187;</a></p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Every once in awhile, I need to do a site project for fun and entertainment.&nbsp; One that I am not working with a committee or answering to a board of multiple people, a site project that is fun and enjoyable.&nbsp; Not that there is anything wrong with my professional projects, it just doesn&#8217;t hurt to do one for fun, ya know what I mean?&nbsp; In August of last year, I started a regular Yoga practice for my own personal well-being.&nbsp; I first started at my local YMCA, and quickly met a few folks who I now call friends.&nbsp; One of those people was Leslie -&nbsp; one of the yoga instructors at the YMCA.&nbsp; I was showing up at class regularly &#8211; - 2-3 times per week and Leslie and I got to talking after class and sharing stories about life, work and just getting to know one another.&nbsp; One night, I was telling her that I wished the YMCA had classes on Fridays, because that day would fit better into my schedule and that is when Leslie told me that she was starting her own studio, in partnership with two of her friends, in Germantown &#8211; - not only that, but they&#8217;d be having classes on Fridays.</p>
<p>PERFECT!</p>
<p><img class="alignleft  wp-image-3108" title="Yoga Barn Germantown Wisconsin" src="http://lisasabin-wilson.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/yb3-550x736.jpg" alt="Yoga Barn Germantown Wisconsin" width="330" height="442" />Their new studio is called the &#8220;Yoga Barn&#8221; &#8211; because it&#8217;s an actual barn (in Wisconsin, no kidding).&nbsp; It&#8217;s a really beautiful space &#8211; the barn is gorgeous, rustic and warm and the studio is kept warm in the cold Wisconsin winters by a wood burning stove and beautifully lit with candles throughout.&nbsp; I started attending Leslie&#8217;s class there on Monday and Friday nights, but quickly started going on Wednesdays, as well.&nbsp; I credit Leslie with inspiring me in my yoga practice and I have learned so much from her so far &#8211; I really like her yoga style.&nbsp; She&#8217;s patient and explains everything thoroughly and her practice is just athletic enough to challenge me &#8211; but not so much that it kills me.&nbsp; Very quickly, I was hooked at the Yoga Barn &#8211; both to the practice of yoga, itself &#8230; but also to the Barn and it&#8217;s environment, and very quickly to the other instructors, Shel and Gayle &#8211; as well as the other people who come to take the class.&nbsp; I feel as much a part of the Yoga Barn as Leslie, Shel and Gayle are.</p>
<p>It did not take long for friendships to develop between myself and these lovely yogis at the Yoga Barn &#8211; to the point that we often meet for coffee at the local Starbucks after class, and have met for dinner/drinks recently and am enjoying getting to know them, as people, as well as learning from them as yoga instructors.&nbsp;&nbsp; Leslie started noticing that some weeks, I was not present in class at all &#8211; - sometimes for an entire week, which, to her, must have seemed weird because I was such a regular.&nbsp; Upon my return, she would say &#8220;We missed you, Lisa!&nbsp; Where have you been??&#8221; &#8211; so I&#8217;d say something like &#8220;Oh, I was in San Diego last week &#8211; missed you guys too!&#8221;</p>
<p>Then another week, I was absent &#8211; and again Leslie would ask &#8220;Lisa, where were you?&nbsp; We missed you last week&#8221; &#8212; and I&#8217;d respond with &#8220;Oh, I was in Atlanta&#8230;.&#8221; &#8230; or Phoenix, or Oklahoma, or somewhere.&nbsp; That naturally turned into questions about what I do for a living that has me traveling so much &#8211; which lead to discussions about web sites, design and WordPress.&nbsp; You can see where this is leading, right?&nbsp; A brand new Yoga business with a web site developer/designer student &#8230; it seemed like kismet!</p>
<p><img class="alignleft  wp-image-3109" title="yb4" src="http://lisasabin-wilson.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/yb4-550x733.jpg" alt="" width="308" height="410" /></p>
<p>Shortly, we were having conversations about their web site needs, social media and marketing &#8212; which turned into a &#8220;Hey, Lisa &#8211; would you be interested in doing our web site??&#8221;</p>
<p>The answer was easy &#8211; - of course I am interested!</p>
<p>That conversation happened a month ago.&nbsp; Three trips, 20 different logo iterations, a few conversations on color choices, one site layout and a WordPress installation later &#8211; I am happy to announce the launch of <a href="http://yogabarn.org">the brand new Yoga Barn web site</a> &#8211; powered by WordPress and Yoga.&nbsp; Leslie, Shel and Gayle chose a warm green and purple color scheme, and I used a nice barn-board, wooden background to tie in the rustic-ness of the Barn, itself.&nbsp; I decided to use the <a href="http://allurethemes.com/genesis">Genesis framework</a> (from StudioPress) for this site to make it easy for them, moving forward, to make changes to the design, if they want to.&nbsp; Using&nbsp; the <a href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/weekly-class-schedule/">WC Schedule</a> plugin &#8211; they can easily keep their weekly Yoga class schedule updated and the <a href="http://ewebscapes.com/cart66">Cart66 e-Commerce plugin</a> that allows them to sell their Yoga Class Passes online, making commerce just that much more easy for them to manage.&nbsp;&nbsp; On their new site, they can maintain their blog, integrate their social media and keep their Yoga community updated on what is going on at the Yoga Barn on a regular basis.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m excited to finally launch this site for them &#8211; - more than happy to see their new yoga studio thriving.&nbsp;&nbsp; My Yoga practice has made a pretty dramatic difference in my life &#8211; and I have Leslie, Shel and Gayle to thanks for helping me make that happen.&nbsp; I am more than a little happy to help play a small part in helping their new yoga studio grow more and more each day.&nbsp; I treasure my friendship with them, and for completely selfish reasons &#8211; really want to see the Yoga Barn thrive.</p>
<p>Leslie, Shel and Gayle &#8211; you&#8217;re a light in my life, thank you for allowing me to be involved in your success!&nbsp; Best to you and your continued success at the Yoga Barn!</p>
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		<title>Quayle For Congress on WordPress</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Lisas-Blog/~3/gaLxLxpbKhI/</link>
		<comments>http://lisasabin-wilson.com/quayle-for-congress-on-wordpress/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:23:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Lisa Sabin-Wilson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog Design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CSS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[E.Webscapes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Geeky Things]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WordPress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ben Quayle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[political web site]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lisasabin-wilson.com/?p=3100</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Thrilled to see a site that I worked pretty hard on finally launched and live:  Quayle For Congress.    Ben Quayle is the son of former Vice-President, Dan Quayle; and he is running for Congress in the state of Arizona.  I completed this project in partnership with Red Yawp Digital &#8211; - they provided the PSDs and I developed the site using WordPress with custom post types and jQuery work.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Thrilled to see a site that I worked pretty hard on finally launched and live:  <a title="Ben Quayle for Congress Arizona" href="http://quayleforcongress.com/" target="_blank">Quayle For Congress</a>.    Ben Quayle is the son of former Vice-President, Dan Quayle; and he is running for Congress in the state of Arizona.  I completed this project in partnership with <a href="http://redyawp.com/" target="_blank">Red Yawp Digital</a> &#8211; - they provided the PSDs and I developed the site using WordPress with custom post types and jQuery work.</p>
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		<title>Stop American Censorship</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Lisas-Blog/~3/F3281PIPZl4/</link>
		<comments>http://lisasabin-wilson.com/stop-american-censorship/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 17 Jan 2012 23:58:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Lisa Sabin-Wilson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Current Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Web Events]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.&#8221; ~ Margaret Mead Join me, and countless others, in protesting SOPA/PIPA (Stop Online Piracy Act and the PROTECT IP Act) on January 18th, 2012. This site, and my other web properties, will go dark on 1/18/12 in protest of this freedom-robbing bill. BONUS: If you are a Wisconsin resident, please urge Senator ...</p> <p class="read-more"><a href="http://lisasabin-wilson.com/stop-american-censorship/">Read the Rest &#187;</a></p>]]></description>
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<p><em>&#8220;Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.&#8221;</em> ~ Margaret Mead<br />
<span id="more-3089"></span><br />
<img class="alignleft  wp-image-3090" title="SOPA-Blackout" src="http://lisasabin-wilson.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/SOPA-Blackout-550x322.jpg" alt="" width="308" height="180" />Join me, and <a href="http://mashable.com/2012/01/17/sopa-companies-dark-list/">countless others</a>, in protesting SOPA/PIPA (Stop Online Piracy Act and the PROTECT IP Act) on January 18th, 2012. This site, and my <a href="http://ewebscapes.com">other</a> web <a href="http://allurethemes.com">properties</a>, will go dark on 1/18/12 in protest of this freedom-robbing bill. <strong>BONUS</strong>: If you are a Wisconsin resident, please urge <a href="https://www.facebook.com/herbkohl">Senator Herb Kohl</a> to discontinue his support of SOPA/PIPA immediately! Call his offices: (202) 224-5653.</p>
<p>Take Action: <a href="http://americancensorship.org/">AmericanCensorship.org</a></p>
<p>And while you&#8217;re at it &#8211; find something else to do on the internet tomorrow since <a href="http://mashable.com/2012/01/17/sopa-companies-dark-list/">many of your favorite sites</a> are going dark to protest this horrible bill. Take that time and speak out about this – <strong>loudly</strong> – to your representatives in Congress.</p>
<p>Find and write to your Senator <a href="http://api.viglink.com/api/click?format=go&amp;key=a11821d6fe22e9a5446fb2b7416d564e&amp;loc=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.feld.com%2Fwp%2Farchives%2F2011%2F10%2Fprotect-the-internet.html&amp;v=1&amp;libid=1326844302055&amp;out=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.senate.gov%2Fgeneral%2Fcontact_information%2Fsenators_cfm.cfm&amp;ref=http%3A%2F%2Famericancensorship.org%2F&amp;title=Protect%20The%20Internet&amp;txt=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.senate.gov%2Fgeneral%2F...&amp;jsonp=vglnk_jsonp_13268445992771">here</a>.<br />
Find and write to your Congressperson <a href="http://api.viglink.com/api/click?format=go&amp;key=a11821d6fe22e9a5446fb2b7416d564e&amp;loc=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.feld.com%2Fwp%2Farchives%2F2011%2F10%2Fprotect-the-internet.html&amp;v=1&amp;libid=1326844302055&amp;out=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.house.gov%2Frepresentatives%2F&amp;ref=http%3A%2F%2Famericancensorship.org%2F&amp;title=Protect%20The%20Internet&amp;txt=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.house.gov%2Frepresent...&amp;jsonp=vglnk_jsonp_13268446168852">here</a>.</p>
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		<title>WordPress Developers Course: Multisite Workshop</title>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 10 Jan 2012 01:49:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Lisa Sabin-Wilson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Geeky Things]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Web Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WordPress]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lisasabin-wilson.com/?p=3086</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This week I&#8217;m leaving on a jet plane. &#160;Destination: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. &#160;On Thursday, January 12th, I am kicking off a 4-day WordPress Developers Course for WebDesign.com at TheDIV in OKC by providing a FULL day workshop on WordPress Multisite. &#160;This workshop is scheduled for 6 full hours of Multisite goodness &#160;- &#8211; really, who knew that I could talk for 6 straight hours?? &#160;But! There is a lot of information to cover when it ...</p> <p class="read-more"><a href="http://lisasabin-wilson.com/wordpress-developers-course-multisite-workshop/">Read the Rest &#187;</a></p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This week I&#8217;m leaving on a jet plane. &nbsp;Destination: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. &nbsp;On Thursday, January 12th, I am kicking off a 4-day <a href="http://ithemes.com/member/go.php?r=5749&amp;i=l171">WordPress Developers Course for WebDesign.com</a> at <a href="http://thediv.org">TheDIV</a> in OKC by providing a FULL day workshop on WordPress Multisite. &nbsp;This workshop is scheduled for 6 full hours of Multisite goodness &nbsp;- &#8211; really, who knew that I could talk for 6 straight hours?? &nbsp;But! There is a lot of information to cover when it comes to Multisite, believe it or not &#8211; - have &nbsp;a look at my outline for the workshop:<br />
<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Hour 1: &nbsp;Multisite Introduction</span></strong></p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Discovering the Who, What and Why of WordPress Multisite<br />
</strong>Who are the type of people using Multisite, what are they using it for and why are they using it, versus regular single-user WordPress.</li>
<li><strong>Exploring Multisite Use Case Scenarios<br />
</strong>Taking a look at a few real world examples and case studies of the Multisite feature in practice today.</li>
<li><strong>Multisite versus Single-User WordPress<br />
</strong>A frank look at the differences between the two &#8211; - what features are you actually getting when you activate the Multisite features in WordPress? &nbsp;This section provides a run down of a list of features and helps users decide if the Multisite approach is what they want and need for their site/project.</li>
<li><strong>Question/Answer</strong><br />
Time allotted for question/answer session regarding information presented in Hour 1.</li>
</ol>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Hour 2: &nbsp;Multisite Preparation</span></strong></p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Important Considerations Before Taking the Multisite Challenge<br />
</strong>Exploring concepts of running a Multisite network, what that means to the site owner and what is involved in running a network of sites. &nbsp;This section of the presentation explores community management, combating spam and Site Administration versus Network Administration.</li>
<li><strong>Exploring Hosting Environments &#8211; Tips and Recommendations<br />
</strong>There are many considerations when approaching a solid hosting environment to manage and run a network of sites using WordPress Multisite, this section explores options for best practices.</li>
<li><strong>Pre-Installation Considerations<br />
</strong>This part of the session takes the user through a discovery process of how they would like to manage their network of sites. &nbsp;Decisions made within this discovery process will determine how to approach installation and setup of the Multisite feature in WordPress.</li>
<li><strong>Question/Answer</strong><br />
Time allotted for question/answer session regarding information presented in Hour 2.</li>
</ol>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Hour 3 &amp; 4: &nbsp;Enabling and Configuring Multisite</span></strong></p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Activating the Multisite Feature<br />
</strong>With WordPress already installed on your server, this part of the session takes the user through the steps necessary to activate the Multisite feature.</li>
<li><strong>Becoming a Network Admin<br />
</strong>With Multisite enabled, site owners now have access to the Network Admin Dashboard &#8211; this part of the session takes the users through a walk-through of the Network Admin Dashboard and explores each of the settings and options; tips and realistic advice provided on best practices and specific use case methods. Includes information on:</p>
<ol>
<li>Overall Network Options/Configurations</li>
<li>Managing Network Users</li>
<li>Managing Network Sites</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><strong>Exploring the Multisite Database<br />
</strong>The WordPress database undergoes significant changes with Multisite activation &#8211; this section of the presentation familiarizes the user with the Multisite database schema so they have a clear understanding of how data is stored and delivered in a Multisite Environment.</li>
<li><strong>Exploring the Multisite Fileserver<br />
</strong>With a WordPress site that is capable of running multiple sites, its important for users to understand where files are stored on the users fileserver &#8211; this section explores the file structure and discovers how images and media files are organized in a Multisite Environment.</li>
<li><strong>Question/Answer</strong><br />
Time allotted for question/answer session regarding information presented in Hour 3 &amp; 4.</li>
</ol>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Hour 5: &nbsp;Using Themes and Plugins within a Multisite Environment</span></strong></p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Installing/Activating Themes in a Multisite environment<br />
</strong>The process of installing and activating themes on WordPress site with Multisite enabled is slightly different than the single-user WordPress, this part takes the user through that process and the decision to activate themes per site, or network-wide.</li>
<li><strong>Installing/Activating Plugins in a Multisite Environment<br />
</strong>The&nbsp;process&nbsp;of installing and activating plugins on a WordPress site with Mulisite enabled is different than regular WordPress, this part takes the user through that process and the decision to activate themes per site, or network-wide. &nbsp;Additionally, this section gives the user valuable information in helping them determine which plugins require Network Activation.</li>
<li><strong>Question/Answer</strong><br />
Time allotted for question/answer session regarding information presented in Hour 5.</li>
</ol>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Hour 6: &nbsp;Extending WordPress Multisite</span></strong></p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Reviewing Different Use Case Examples<br />
</strong>A brief review of different methods and ways people are using Multisite including: domain mapping, membership sites, social community, etc.</li>
<li><strong>Domain Mapping<br />
</strong>Get rid of the subdomain / subdirectory default&nbsp;structure&nbsp;of URL&#8217;s and allow each site to have it&#8217;s own domain name with the use of the Domain Mapping plugin.</li>
<li><strong>Blog Network<br />
</strong>Use the main (installation) site as a portal to display the content and activity happening within the full network through the use of plugins and widgets that display posts and comments from sites within the network.</li>
<li><strong>Memberships and Upgrades<br />
</strong>Utilize a set of recommended plugins to provide a network where users can sign up and obtain different paid upgrade levels.</li>
<li><strong>Social Community<br />
</strong>Turn your Multisite web site into a social community complete with blogs, profiles, groups and forums using the BuddyPress plugin.</li>
<li><strong>Question/Answer</strong><br />
Time allotted for question/answer session regarding information presented in Hour 6.</li>
</ol>
<p>While this is an in-person workshop in Oklahoma &#8211; it is also being streamed live on the web, if you&#8217;re interested in attending you can <a href="http://ithemes.com/member/go.php?r=5749&amp;i=l171">sign up for the WordPress Developers Course at WebDesign.com</a>.  You&#8217;re able to register for the Multisite Workshop only &#8211; or, you can register for the WHOLE entire course (which is a pretty valuable offering, by the way!) &#8211; - the choice is entirely yours.</p>
<p>I&#8217;ll be in Oklahoma City Wednesday, January 11 &#8211; Sunday, January 15th &#8211; after giving a full day workshop on WordPress Multisite, I get the opportunity to co-work, collaborate and spend time with my favorite geeks over at <a href="http://ithemes.com">iThemes</a>.  I spend so much time in Oklahoma City over the years, it&#8217;s become a home away from home for me lately!</p>
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		<title>Speaking at WordCamp Atlanta on WordPress Theme Basics</title>
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		<pubDate>Sat, 07 Jan 2012 20:07:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Lisa Sabin-Wilson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Atlanta]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Web Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WordCamp]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[atlanta]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[themes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WordPress]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;m excited to be presenting at WordCamp Atlanta on February 4th, 2012! &#160;Atlanta holds a special place for me because I was supposed to be living there by now &#8211; -but life intervened and I ended up staying here in Wisconsin. &#160;During my &#8216;moving to Atlanta&#8217; moving phase, however; quite a few members of the WordPress community in Atlanta displayed so much of that famous southern hospitality and reached out to see if they could ...</p> <p class="read-more"><a href="http://lisasabin-wilson.com/speaking-at-wordcamp-atlanta-on-wordpress-theme-basics/">Read the Rest &#187;</a></p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;m excited to be presenting at <a href="http://2012.atlanta.wordcamp.org/">WordCamp Atlanta</a> on February 4th, 2012! &nbsp;Atlanta holds a special place for me because I was supposed to be living there by now &#8211; -but life intervened and I ended up staying here in Wisconsin. &nbsp;During my &#8216;moving to Atlanta&#8217; moving phase, however; quite a few members of the WordPress community in Atlanta displayed so much of that famous southern hospitality and reached out to see if they could help in any way &#8211; - offering everything from moving boxes to shacking me up in the area while visiting Atlanta, trying to settle details &#8230; down to the offer of beer delivery on the weekend of the big move (somehow, they knew I&#8217;d be accepting of beer gifts, go figure!). &nbsp;So, doing Atlanta&#8217;s WordCamp was a no brainer for me.</p>
<p><a href="http://2012.atlanta.wordcamp.org/"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3084" title="I am speaking at WordCamp Atlanta" src="http://lisasabin-wilson.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/speaker-atl.png" alt="" width="160" height="160" /></a>I am speaking on the topic of WordPress Themes and in the short time I have available to talk, hope to cover the information I wish I had years ago when I first started dipping my toe into the world of WordPress Themes.  Themes are very popular with users of WordPress, primarily because the theme defines the look and feel of your web site, and the functions within the template carry your content forward to the eyes of your readers. &nbsp;Yet, themes still remain a mystery to many new users of WordPress, especially getting started in creating your own theme. &nbsp;This session covers the basics of WordPress themes and provides practical tips on how to get started creating your own theme.</p>
<p>In this session you will learn the basic templates (index, header, sidebar, footer), including the stylesheet with basic CSS information to help you with styles and formats; additionally, you will learn how to connect the template files together to create a basic WordPress theme that you can build on from there. &nbsp;Discover basic template tags to help you accomplish your goals of content delivery and even learn how to make sure your theme supports basic WordPress features such as widgets, featured images, custom header and custom backgrounds.</p>
<p>At the end of the session, I will provide attendees with a link where you can download the example basic theme for you to work with long after WordCamp Atlanta is over, as you continue your journey towards becoming a master of WordPress themes!</p>
<p>If you&#8217;re planning on attending WordCamp Atlanta this year &#8211; be sure to let me know, or at the very least &#8211; look me up while you&#8217;re there and say hi!</p>
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		<title>Yoga talked me off the ledge</title>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Dec 2011 06:01:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Lisa Sabin-Wilson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[That's Life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Exercise]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yoga]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lisasabin-wilson.com/?p=3061</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[My 2011 has been like no other year. Good, in most ways &#8211; - but also one of my worst years, at the same time. It started out pretty decent and strong with the launch of my new theme shop at Allure Themes and the release of a whopping three books in April, June and October. As if that weren&#8217;t enough to keep me busy, the work I do at E.Webscapes and Convertiv kept me ...</p> <p class="read-more"><a href="http://lisasabin-wilson.com/yoga-talked-me-off-the-ledge/">Read the Rest &#187;</a></p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>My 2011 has been like no other year. Good, in most ways &#8211; - but also one of my worst years, at the same time. It started out pretty decent and strong with the launch of my new theme shop at Allure Themes and the release of a whopping three books in April, June and October. As if that weren&#8217;t enough to keep me busy, the work I do at E.Webscapes and Convertiv kept me hopping and on my toes. In this economy, I am grateful to have so much work and to be able to do work that I really love; being able to do it in my PJ&#8217;s if I want to is definitely a bonus.</p>
<p>So, yea &#8211; business-wise, 2011 has been pretty stellar and I cannot complain. Personally, however&#8230; well, let&#8217;s just say that 2011 is a year that I would rather not repeat again, thank you very much. In March, my daughter left home .. not on good terms and not because I wanted her to. It&#8217;s a long story full of dramatic details that only matter if you&#8217;re the person(s) involved, so I&#8217;ll just leave it at this: I miss her, a lot..and I heavily grieve the the loss of the relationship, for the moment and how it will change our relationship in the future. I wholeheartedly hope that someday, sooner rather than later, we can come back together and that our relationship will be stronger for it &#8211; - forever changed, but maybe for the better. In the meantime &#8211; I&#8217;m practicing the art of letting go, which is easier said than done, most days.</p>
<p>In April, my father was diagnosed with liver cancer. I&#8217;ve written about it on this blog in recent months, including the eulogy that I gave at his funeral in July. He passed away on July 12, 2011 at 5:35am. To say that my life will never be the same is an understatement, as I cannot begin to put into words how much that man meant to me and how very much of an empty space is left with his absence. It was the greatest privilege in my life to take care of him through the final months of his life. We were fortunate to be able to take care of him in his own home, and with the help of a home hospice agency, my father was able to live through the worst of his illness and spend his last remaining hours on this earth in the privacy and comfort of his own home, with his family.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s been 5 months now and not a day passes by that I don&#8217;t think of him. Not a day passes that my heart does not ache. I never knew it was possible to cry so hard. People tell me that it eventually gets better, and while I do believe that is true &#8211; I am patiently waiting for the day that it does. As I wait, I am trying to help my Mom put the pieces of her life back together, although, I don&#8217;t ever think we&#8217;ll get there 100%. They were married for 50 years. She met him when she was 15 years old and married him when she was 17. She&#8217;s never known a life outside the life she had with Dad &#8230; so this time is challenging and redefining on so many levels. Learning how to live life without him is something her and I are learning together, slowly.</p>
<p>So, during the time that I was taking care of my Dad &#8211; I hurt my back pretty bad. I was lifting him and transferring him from bed to chair and back again, every day and then again every night. It got so bad that I finally broke down and visited my Doctor in the early days of July. I explained my aches and pains and told him what I had been doing for Dad at home and he gave me a prescription for some anti-inflammatory meds and told me to come back in a month, which I did. When I returned to his office &#8211; I wasn&#8217;t taking care of Dad anymore. He asked me about Dad and I broke down and sobbed like an idiot and told him that Dad had passed the week prior. He sat and talked with me about it for good long time before we got back onto the topic of my back pain. He told me when I was in his office a month prior, it would not have done any good to tell me to stop the activity that was causing the pain &#8211; because he knew that I wouldn&#8217;t. He also told me that it wouldn&#8217;t have done any good to have the discussion that we needed to have about other contributing factors &#8211; such as my sedentary lifestyle (writing books and designing web sites isn&#8217;t exactly good cardio activity, who knew?) and my need to drop some weight.</p>
<p>He asked if I&#8217;d ever tried Yoga, and recommended it as a good way to start getting some decent exercise and that it would help with the back pain because it focuses on strengthening core muscles (back and abdominals) and the flexibility and stretching would also help me work through the pain and help heal the sore, pulled and tight muscles. He added that it would help with weight loss and finally, that as a secondary benefit, I would probably start to enjoy it as a stress reliever.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m not really one for group activity &#8211; and definitely have never tried group exercise classes before. But, I was desperate with the back pain issue &#8211; - and if it would help with the stress&#8230;all the better. I guess I must have really been desperate to resolve this because within the week, I was at my local YMCA class participating in a class called &#8220;Body Flow&#8221; which is a combination of Tai Chi, Pilates and Yoga. I enjoyed it so much &#8211; I actually went back. It&#8217;s now December and I&#8217;ve been going to class about 3-4 times a week since the end of July. 28lbs later &#8211; I&#8217;ve dropped some weight and my back pain is virtually non-existent. There are days that it flares up once in a while &#8211; - but I would say about 4 weeks into my Yoga practice, I noticed a distinct difference in the intensity and level of pain and now, almost 5 months later &#8211; it&#8217;s not a daily issue any longer.</p>
<p>But aside from the pain relief and weight loss &#8211; probably the greatest enjoyment I get out of practicing yoga is the relaxation and stress relief. It could be that I&#8217;m taking 4-5 hours per week and, selfishly, doing something just for myself that doesn&#8217;t involve taking care of anyone or work &#8211; - it has also given me a greater clarity and perspective, which I attribute to the meditation practice that goes along with it. During yoga, I am in tune with my mind and body and focusing only on those things that matter to me, personally &#8211; which is something I have not paid any kind of attention to in decades. It has helped me work through my grief and is a big part of helping me let go and keep things in perspective when it comes to my relationship with my daughter. Yoga has become as much therapy for my mind as it is for my body. I&#8217;m actually quite surprised with how much I absolutely love it and now cannot imagine my life without it.</p>
<p>So much so that my goal for 2012 is to incorporate a daily yoga practice. Because it&#8217;s not feasible for me to attend the YMCA 7 days a week (plus they don&#8217;t have classes every day) &#8211; this meant that I needed to start a home practice, if I was serious about practicing yoga every day. Over the holidays, since I have been enjoying a little down time from work &#8211; I started in on creating a space in my home that would allow me to do this. This actually killed two birds with one stone because I turned my daughter&#8217;s bedroom into a yoga/exercise room &#8211; which was actually somewhat cathartic for me. Instead of sitting around and grieving her absence in my life and obsessing over where I went wrong and what I could do to make it all better &#8211; - which is something I&#8217;ve been doing for many, many months, I decided that it was time to let it go and accept what&#8217;s happened .. realize there is nothing I can do to control the situation or even change it, for now. Turning her bedroom into a studio where I can practice yoga, exercise and meditate is healthier for me, overall .. and cleaning it out and turning it into my space was symbolic in letting go.</p>
<p>It was a big project because her room had become &#8216;that&#8217; room &#8211; - you know the one? That room  (or closet&#8230;or basement &#8230; or garage .. ) in your house that you put everything that you don&#8217;t want to look at and close the door so you don&#8217;t see it? Yes, that one. It had become storage for clothes I don&#8217;t wear, boxes of stuff that had accumulated and was beginning to take on a very kind of &#8220;Hoarders&#8221; feel (I kid you not). It had become too easy to put things in there and close the door, then pretend that the mess was not there. So, for the past week, that has been my project and tonight, I finally finished it! Here are a few photos of my modest yoga room &#8211; - I officially christened it earlier this evening with a one-and-a-half hour yoga session in candlelight &#8211; and it was beautiful!</p>
<div id="attachment_3071" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 560px"><img class="size-medium wp-image-3071" title="2011-12-29_19-07-41_97" src="http://lisasabin-wilson.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/2011-12-29_19-07-41_971-550x412.jpg" alt="" width="550" height="412" /><p class="wp-caption-text">I had a little helper with me as I created my Yoga room</p></div>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-3074" title="2011-12-29_19-23-42_834" src="http://lisasabin-wilson.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/2011-12-29_19-23-42_8341-e1325232586776-550x733.jpg" alt="" width="550" height="733" /></p>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-3076" title="2011-12-29_19-37-54_718" src="http://lisasabin-wilson.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/2011-12-29_19-37-54_7181-550x412.jpg" alt="" width="550" height="412" /></p>
<div id="attachment_3078" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 560px"><img class="size-medium wp-image-3078" title="2011-12-29_19-38-59_852" src="http://lisasabin-wilson.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/2011-12-29_19-38-59_8521-550x412.jpg" alt="" width="550" height="412" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Some Yogis stress the importance of a comfortable meditation space. I call them &quot;Yoga Naps&quot; (complete with cat)</p></div>
<div id="attachment_3075" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 560px"><img class="size-medium wp-image-3075" title="2011-12-29_19-28-57_835" src="http://lisasabin-wilson.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/2011-12-29_19-28-57_8351-550x412.jpg" alt="" width="550" height="412" /><p class="wp-caption-text">It was exhausting work - the cat has the RIGHT idea!</p></div>
<p>I wish you could have seen what it all looked like before I got this all accomplished &#8211; it was quite a workout just getting it cleaned up and set up!  There&#8217;s not much there &#8211; - lots of candles, lots of space &#8211; a nice sound system to plug my Macbook into for some good tunes &#8211; - and my elliptical machine, just so I can throw a little cardio in there for good measure!  Oh and the mattress on the floor &#8211; with lots and lots of throw pillows, perfect for moments of meditation &#8211; - or a place to collapse after a hard workout!  Naps are essential, too!</p>
<p>So, wish me luck on my goal for 2012 for incorporating yoga into my daily routine.  Now that I have set up my space &#8211; I have no excuses!</p>
<p>Oh, and happy new year!</p>
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		<title>The Economy of WordPress (speaking of that … need work in 2012??)</title>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 15 Dec 2011 05:06:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Lisa Sabin-Wilson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog Design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[E.Webscapes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Geeky Things]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WordPress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hiring]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Multisite]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lisasabin-wilson.com/?p=2996</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[First, big thanks to WordPress for keeping me busy and in business.&#160; I recently completed a video interview (publish date T.B.A.) where I was asked about the WordPress economy and the commercial ecosystem that has evolved around the WordPress platform.&#160; One of the points I made in my answer was that if it were not for the insane popularity and success of the WordPress software, as well as its open source nature and the GPL, ...</p> <p class="read-more"><a href="http://lisasabin-wilson.com/the-economy-of-wordpress/">Read the Rest &#187;</a></p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://lisasabin-wilson.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/blue-xl.png" alt="" title="WordPress Development" width="250" height="250" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-2997" />First, big thanks to WordPress for keeping me busy and in business.&nbsp; I recently completed a video interview (publish date T.B.A.) where I was asked about the WordPress economy and the commercial ecosystem that has evolved around the WordPress platform.&nbsp; One of the points I made in my answer was that if it were not for the insane popularity and success of the WordPress software, as well as its open source nature and the GPL, the &#8216;<em>WordPress Economy</em>&#8216; (as it was put to me) would not be nearly as successful and strong as it now is today &#8211; - thank you, <a href="http://wordpress.org">WordPress</a>!</p>
<p>Yes, I used &#8220;<em>Economy</em>&#8220;, &#8220;<em>Commercial</em>&#8220;, &#8220;<em>Open Source</em>&#8221; AND &#8220;<em>GPL</em>&#8221; in the same paragraph &#8211; don&#8217;t judge!&nbsp; Imagine if WordPress wasn&#8217;t open source &#8211; - WORSE, imagine if the code were not accessible to you &#8211; - if you run a commercial WordPress business, step back and imagine where that business would be today if WordPress were not free, open and accessible to you &amp; your brain?&nbsp; Would it be easier&#8230;harder?&nbsp; What challenges would you come up against?&nbsp; Or would you still be working for <em>the man</em> in a cubicle 9-5?&nbsp; It&#8217;s not only the open sourceness of it all &#8211; - but it is the environment of sharing, learning and collaboration that you find so hearty in the WordPress community, overall.&nbsp; Step back and think about it for a second &#8211; there&#8217;s a lot to be thankful for if you are a commercial WordPress developer, designer, consultant (or whatever you&#8217;re calling yourselves these days).</p>
<p>I digress &#8211; - the reason for my post is to talk about a few projects that have kept my fingers busy over the past few months &#8211; several of them Multisite deployments, along with extensive work with custom post types and taxonomies &#8211; which I&#8217;m pretty excited about. Earlier on this blog, I mentioned recently launching the <a href="http://news.cheapflights.com">Cheapflights.com</a> and <a href="http://news.cheapflights.co.uk">Cheapflights.co.uk</a> sites for the London-based group, Cheapflights, which was a really fun project!</p>
<p>Recently, I&#8217;ve also helped launch <a href="http://bostinno.com">Bostinno.com</a>, a Boston-based tech news/resources site for all things tech in the greater Boston area &#8211; they plan on using Multisite to branch out into other cities such as NYC, Philly, etc. Both sites use Custom Post Types and Custom Taxonomies with WordPress, along with the Multisite implementation to make it easy for them to add new sites to their network as their efforts and reach grow. Working on this site was a fantastic experience as the team at Bostinno are also developers, themselves, so it was an interesting mix of development and design collaboration with a client that I don&#8217;t get very often.&nbsp; As a result, both sides had much to offer and learn from the other and I consider it to be one of my more priceless development experiences of 2011.</p>
<p>Both sites are utilizing WordPress Multisite &amp; Custom Post Types in different ways:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://news.cheapflights.com">Cheapflights</a> &#8211; uses Multisite with domain mapping so they can easily control each of their different regional properties under one installation of WordPress (.com, .co.uk, .ca, etc) &#8211; as they add new properties, they can easily map their domains and go!&nbsp; The custom post type implementation here can be found on their <a href="http://news.cheapflights.com/airlines">Airline News page</a> &#8211; that page pulls in the individual taxonomies created (in this case, different airline brands) along with the logo and the last 3 most recent posts and a &#8216;read more&#8217; link that takes you to an individual airline news page that brings in not only the posts from that taxonomy &#8211; but the specific airline twitter feed, logo and information (using some custom field magic).</li>
<li><a href="http://bostinno.com">Bostinno.com</a> &#8211; uses Multisite, also with domain mapping, so they can add their different tech news sites based on different US cities while maintaining one install of WordPress across the board and they utilize the <a href="http://gigya.com">Gigya</a> social solution to create community, sharing and social logins from Twitter, Facebook, etc.&nbsp; Custom Post Types were implemented in two different ways for Bostinno.&nbsp; First, their Series section allows them to create a grouping of posts that exist within the same series and has a custom template that pulls in a featured image to serve as a header image for that particular Series section (example: the Bostinno <a href="http://bostinno.com/series/tech-mafia/">Tech Mafia Series</a>).&nbsp; The second implementation of Custom Post Types can be seen in their Channels section where they feature different Boston-based tech companies (example: the <a href="http://bostinno.com/channel/wistia/">Wistia</a> Channel), also with a custom template that pulls in a featured image so they can include a photographic header per channel, along with some custom widgets that pull in top posts from the individual channel, social media information for the channel company and featured writers from that channel.&nbsp; Fun, fun!</li>
</ul>
<p>Check out the post I recently wrote over at Convertiv &#8211; just a little primer about <a href="http://www.convertiv.com/the-power-of-wordpress-multisite/">the power of WordPress Multisite.</a></p>
<p>I completed both these sites over the past few months in a partnership with my good friends, and colleagues, over at <a href="http://convertiv.com">Convertiv.com</a>.&nbsp; Last month, <a href="http://convertiv.com/leadership">I took on a more official role with Convertiv</a> as their lead dev on these projects and VP of development &#8211; as they continue to grow their team and take on more and more enterprise level clients, my role expands into development oversight and implementation.&nbsp; With projects rolling in and 2012 looking very promising at keeping me insanely busy, I have been putting out some feelers here and there to build a bit of a dev team to work with me on some of these larger scale projects for Convertiv and if you have an interest, <a href="/contact">please drop me a line</a>.&nbsp; Requirements?&nbsp; Advanced WP development experience, plugin dev, PHP, MySQL knowledge and solid knowledge and demonstrated experience working with WP hooks, filters, functions, and such.&nbsp; Also looking to work with a few theme devs with extensive experience in CSS, XHTML (HTML5, CSS3, and responsive design a total plus).</p>
<p>I also continue to maintain my own business at <a href="http://ewebscapes.com">E.Webscapes</a>, as well, getting custom work done for our clients &#8211; - doing both simultaneously keeps me off the streets and outta trouble (no, really)!&nbsp; I am also looking for a few skilled freelancers to do WordPress project work there, both in design and development. Requirements?&nbsp; Graphic Design, XHTML, CSS, WordPress themes (be prepared to show what you&#8217;ve done through examples).</p>
<p>It&#8217;s entirely possible that the positions could overlap both for Convertiv and E.Webscapes &#8211; - the projects differ slightly (at Convertiv, we do some pretty high level, large scale work with corporate clients, whereas at E.Webscapes I do a lot of small business and personal sites) &#8211; if you have an interest, don&#8217;t be afraid to reach out and <a href="/contact">get in touch</a>.</p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">NOTE</span></strong>:&nbsp; Please be advised that I <em>probably</em> will not respond to inquiries until after the New Year (as the holidays creep up on me, my schedule has gotten ever so slightly impossible) &#8211; so have a happy, and <strong>SAFE</strong> holiday season and let&#8217;s chat in 2012!</p>
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