Traditionally WordPress only allows a single theme to be activated on a WordPress website, that is until now. ThemeSwitcher Pro is a new WordPress plugin that makes it easy to use more than one theme in WordPress!

ThemeSwitcher Pro really brings an interesting solution to many WordPress websites:

• Start using a modern block theme on a legacy classic WordPress website
• Launch landing pages using a block theme specifically built to convert in minutes
• Run themes designed for WooCommerce, LMS, Forms, Membership areas, and more without changing your main theme

Watch the demo video below to see a classic legacy WordPress site instantly create a modern landing page using a block-based theme!

ThemeSwitcher Pro really is a game-changer in the WordPress space. Whether you’re a freelance developer, agency, or website admin, ThemeSwitcher Pro is a tool you should consider for your WordPress website.

The post How To: Use Multiple Themes on a WordPress Website appeared first on Brad Williams Blog.

Justin Tadlock is returning as a co-author on the new book. We have also enlisted the truly brilliant John James Jacoby to help round out the author team for the 2nd edition! The Technical Editor on this new version is Greg Rickaby, the Director of Engineering at WebDevStudios.

The 1st Edition was released almost 9-years ago and, as you can imagine, so much has changed in WordPress. This book is a deep dive into building plugins for WordPress the correct way. Every single chapter has been updated with the latest techniques and tips. We have also created entirely new chapters covering newer features including the REST API and the Gutenberg Block Editor!

Professional WordPress Plugin Development 2nd Edition is for anyone wanting to learn how to create powerful plugins for WordPress, whether just starting out, or you want to advance your skills, this book is for you!

This book has been years in the making, so I’m really excited to see it become a reality! You can track our progress on Twitter using the hashtag #PluginDevBook and pre-order on Amazon today!

The post Announcing Professional WordPress Plugin Development 2nd Edition! appeared first on Brad Williams Blog.

The holiday season is upon us, which means it’s the perfect time of year to give back! Every year my company, WebDevStudios, has a charity drive where we raise money for one or more charities through a company competition.

This year we are raising money for a charity called Child’s Play Charity. They focus on improving the lives of kids by donating toys and games to children’s hospitals worldwide. Our company goal is to raise $5,000 by the end of the month. You can read more about our charity drive on the Official WebDevStudios Blog.

In an effort to help increase contributions I came up with an idea. I receive a number of requests to review people’s products, so this is your opportunity to make that happen! If you donate $50 to the Child’s Play Charity I will give your plugin, theme, product, or service a professional review. This includes testing out your product, reviewing how it works, peaking under the hood at the code (if necessary), and providing my honest feedback on what I think works and what doesn’t. I will even give your product a nice shout-out on Twitter! 

Here how it works:

• Donate $50 USD to our Child’s Play Charity Fundraiser page
• Send me a copy of your receipt on my contact form
• I will reach out via email to gather all relevant info for the product or service to start my review
• Once completed (within a week or so) I will contact you to schedule a 30-minute phone call to discuss my thoughts and recommendations about your product or service
• That’s it!

Why should you do this? Easy, it’s for a great cause! If that isn’t enough to inspire you to donate then check out my credentials! I am the Co-founder and CEO of one of the oldest WordPress focused design and development agencies, WebDevStudios. I also Co-authored some of the highest rated WordPress development books ever: Professional WordPress and Professional WordPress Plugin Development. I’m also a father, husband, and US Marine.

Christmas is a time of giving and I hope you will take me up on this offer to help a really great Charity this year. I hope to hear from you soon!

The post I Want to Review Your Products and Services for Charity! appeared first on Brad Williams Blog.

After his first year I decided to stop taking the monthly picture, mainly because Lucas was quickly growing a dislike for cheesesteaks. I tried to take a picture of him with a cheesesteak for his 2nd birthday, but as you can see below he wasn’t having it.

Hopefully I haven’t scarred the kid for life. We’ll see how it goes when he turns 3!

The post Cheesesteak for Scale appeared first on Brad Williams Blog.

New Blog Design

After years of my old design I decided to change things up a bit for 2018. I just activated a new WordPress theme for my blog, which is now running the Fixed theme from Array Themes. A number of people recommended Array Themes on Twitter and so I far I can totally see why. The design is clean, the code looks solid, and overall it’s a nice experience.

Stay Tuned

Stay tuned for more regular blog posts as we kick off this new year!

The post Blogging in 2018 appeared first on Brad Williams Blog.

I think Jeff Chandler put it best…

the sound clips are etched into my head, never to be forgotten

— Jeff (@jeffr0) March 2, 2017

I thought it would be fun to post all of our show bumpers as well as some of the more popular sound effects we used when recording the DradCast. Enjoy!

Original (Seasons 1 and 2)

Intro

Outro

Pressing Topics of the Week

Bar Tricks (my personal favorite!)

Whatcha Sippin On?

 

Refresh (Season 3)

Intro

Outro

Pressing Topics of the Week

Mergers and Acquisitions

DradCast First

Breaking News

 

Sound Effects

Boxing Bell

Car Crash

DRAD

Hi there, I’m Dre Armeda

PEW!

Monster

Godzilla

Gun Fire

The post Sweet Sounds of the DradCast appeared first on Brad Williams Blog.

Check out my episode and some of the other episodes John has released. I’m hoping to do more podcasting in 2017 and might even start a new show! Stay tuned…

The post Commit Access Conversations with JJJ appeared first on Brad Williams Blog.

Blogging

This year I published 1 blog post (not including this post). That’s terrible! In 2015 I challenged myself with publishing 100 blog posts in a year, which I failed at. My goal for 2017 is to publish 1 blog post a week, for a total of 52 blog posts. I feel this is a much more reasonable goal for myself. I use to blog pretty regularly and I really enjoy looking back through my old archives of posts. What am I going to blog about? Good question! WordPress (derp), growing a business, life, random thoughts, who knows, but I do know I will start clicking the publish button more regularly in the new year!

Chess

One of my favorite games to play since I was a kid was chess. It’s a thinking game and one of the main reasons I’m drawn to it. Even though I love the game, I’ve never been great at chess. My goal for 2017 is to play one game of chess per day. I’m going to use the Lichess website, which is free and open source chess server software project. The site allows you to play against online players all over the world, which will make the game more interesting than a computer opponent. If you want to challenge me to a game you can find my profile at: williamsba.

Weight

Everyone’s favorite resolution is around losing weight, right? A few years ago I made a huge lifestyle change and lost some weight. Since then going to the gym and working out have been a regular part of my life. Over the years I’ve switched gyms a few times and now am a regular at T1 CrossFit. I have gained some of the weight back, but I have also added more muscle in the process. The one area I haven’t been good at is eating healthy. I have a 1-year old son now, which makes the excuse of ordering unhealthy delivery food that much easier. My weight goal for 2017 is to get closer to a weight of 200lbs and stay there. This will include hitting the gym more often, getting back into running (ugh!), and maintaining a healthier diet.

I want to set very reasonable goals for 2017 and I think I have done that. I am going to push myself to make sure I stick to my goals and will report back with how I’m doing throughout the new year!

The post My 2017 New Year’s Resolutions appeared first on Brad Williams Blog.

The CrossFit Open is an annual event where each week for 5 weeks the global CrossFit community does a series of workouts (1 per week) and we all track our scores against online against each other.

I really didn’t know what to expect going into the Open, but I quickly learned it was a very fun and extremely challenging event. Each week the workout was announced at 8pm ET on Thursday and you had until 8pm ET on Monday to complete your workout and submit your score. The anticipation of the workout announcement each week was actually an unexpected highlight of my week. Not knowing what was coming made it even more exciting, albeit a bit nerve-racking, and I found myself waiting and watching the live announcement posts.

I also didn’t expect how nervous I would be going into each workout. It truly did feel like a competition, especially since everyone had a judge assigned to them to track their score. I found myself pushing hard towards a better score and while my scores weren’t amazing, I truly felt like I did a good job for the level I’m at.

At the end of it all there was a huge sense of accomplishment and ultimately I was very proud of myself for completing the event. My goal for next year is to compete in the CrossFit Open at full RX.

Below are the 5 CrossFit Open 2016 workouts and my scores for each.

Workout 16.1 – Scaled

Complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 20 minutes of:

• 25-ft. front rack walking lunge – 45 lb
• 8 burpees
• 25-ft. front rack walking lunge – 45 lb
• 8 jumping chin-over-bar pull-ups

My Score: 161

Workout 16.2 – Scaled

Beginning on a 4-minute clock, complete as many reps as possible of:

• 25 hanging knee raises
• 50 single-unders
• 15 squat cleans, 95 / 55 lb.

If completed before 4 minutes, add 4 minutes to the clock and proceed to:

• 25 hanging knee raises
• 50 single-unders
• 13 squat cleans, 115 / 75 lb.

This workout keeps going for 5 rounds stopping at 20 minutes, but I didn’t make it past the second round.

My Score: 171

Workout 16.3 – Scaled

Complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 7 minutes of:

• 10 power snatches – 45 lb
• 5 jumping chest-to-bar pull-ups

My Score: 75

Workout 16.4 – Scaled

Complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 13 minutes of:

• 55 deadlifts – 135-lb
• 55 wall-ball shots – 20 lb 9-ft target
• 55-calorie row
• 55 hand release push-ups

My Score: 130

Workout 16.5 – Scaled

21-18-15-12-9-6-3 reps for time of:

• Thrusters
• Burpees

My Score: 28:55

The post My First CrossFit Open appeared first on Brad Williams Blog.

Funny Wifi Names

• Wu Tang LAN
• The LAN Before Time
• LAN of the Dead
• Your Wifi is in Another Castle
• Bill Wi the Science Fi
• It Hurts When IP
• Hide Yo Kids, Hide Yo Wifi
• A LAN Down by The River

Do you have a funny wifi name not listed?  Leave it in the comments!

The post Funny Wifi Names appeared first on Brad Williams Blog.