17th Avenue

Feminine WordPress Themes for Bloggers & Entrepreneurs

Latest News

WordPress 5.0 and Gutenberg

in: Latest News, Wordpress Tips

WordPress 5.0 is being released on December 6th, 2018. This is a major release with the potential to cause issues on a lot of websites, so we’re popping in with a quick post on what’s changing in this update and whether or not you should update.

What is Gutenberg?

The biggest change coming in the WordPress 5.0 update is an all-new post editor called Gutenberg. Gutenberg drastically changes the way you create and publish blog posts in WordPress. While this change is overall a good thing, it’s our opinion (and others as well) that the new editor is being released in a less-than-perfect state.

Before you update to WordPress 5.0, we highly recommend installing the Classic Editor plugin so you still have the option to use the Classic Editor instead of being forced to use Gutenberg.

Are 17th Avenue themes compatible with Gutenberg?

Our themes are compatible with the current version of the Gutenberg beta plugin as of December 5th, 2018. Although we do not foresee any theme-related issues with Gutenberg in WordPress 5.0, it’s not outside the realm of possibility. We will be testing our themes with WordPress 5.0 on December 6th and if we spot any theme-related problems, we will push theme updates ASAP.

Should I Update?

Ah – the golden question. Our advice is to WAIT. Here’s why:

  • This the largest WordPress update in several years. There will be bugs. WordPress developers are already working on bug updates for 5.0 – which means there are things in WordPress 5.0 that already aren’t working.
  • One of the biggest concerns with 5.0 is the potential for plugin conflicts. Waiting to update gives plugin developers time to evaluate issues and push compatibility updates.
  • Our themes will not be tested with WordPress 5.0 until December 6th. At the minimum, give us a couple days to thoroughly test our themes and determine compatibility.

How Long Should I Wait?

It’s the holiday season! Don’t worry about updating immediately. We are waiting to update our website until after the new year, and that’s what we recommend you do as well. It’s not worth stressing about a silly WordPress update during Christmas – go enjoy time with your loved ones!

Advice for Updating to 5.0

When you do decide to update, here’s what we recommend:

  1. Update to G​enesis 2.7.1 before updating to WordPress 5.0 – SUPER IMPORTANT
  2. Update all of your plugins before updating to WordPress 5.0. This will minimize the possibility of a plugin conflict.
  3. Install the Classic Editor plugin so you have the option to use Gutenberg or the Classic Editor, instead of being forced to use Gutenberg.
  4. Make sure that you have a external backup of your website so that you can restore your website to a previous version if WordPress 5.0 causes a problem.
  5. If your hosting company offers a staging site, USE IT! Update your website on a staging site before updating on your actual website.

In Conclusion…

  • Wait a few weeks before updating to WordPress 5.0
  • Our themes are compatible with Gutenberg as of now, but that could change. We are prepared to update our themes if an issue presents itself in WordPress 5.0.
  • Install the Classic Editor plugin before updating

If you have any questions about WordPress 5.0 or Gutenberg, feel free to get in touch!

Introducing Our New Website

in: Latest News

Welcome to the brand new 17th Avenue website! This redesign has been months in the making and we are so incredibly excited to finally share it with you!

Last year, I started to feel that our website just wasn’t working anymore or serving our customers as well as it could be and my heart knew it was time for a change. Our number one goal is to make sure you feel supported and confident in starting your own website or blog. For many, the process can seem a little scary and confusing at first, but it truly doesn’t have to be. You CAN do this and we want to inspire that confidence in you by walking you through every step, from buying your first domain right up to when you launch your beautiful new site.

Everything on this website was designed with that in mind.

This past winter, we really dug deep and evaluated the what’s and the how’s:

What struggles are our customers facing? How can we best address & alleviate those concerns and what tools/resources can we provide?

And some self-reflection too: What are our strong suits as a team and where can we improve? How can we streamline our workflow and interactions to be able to serve clients more effectively?

All roads led to a completely website overhaul and rebrand. We needed to start from the ground up and design something custom-tailored to our processes, our future goals, and most importantly, our wonderful clients. 🙂

Designing and coding the new site was quite an undertaking. It was the biggest and most challenging development project I have ever worked on, but it was also one of the most fun and rewarding experiences ever. Being your own website designer is tough, and I am certainly no exception (I’d be embarrassed to tell you how many iterations of the homepage design there were… let’s just say, a lot!) But I am so, so grateful for the experience and expertise I gleaned through this process. I can’t wait to carry that over into designing new themes!

Let’s take a “tour” of the new website together, shall we?

Support Center

The support system on our previous website was the #1 thing we felt needed improvement. We wanted to design a support solution that was comprehensive and immensely useful, but also convenient and simple to navigate. And that’s just what we tried to do with our new 17th Avenue Support Center.

On the support site, you’ll find a growing collection of over 200 WordPress tutorials, troubleshooting articles, theme documentation, and much more right at your fingertips. It’s a fantastic resource that we hope you’ll find useful as you build your website and grow your blog.

We also refreshed our support ticket form, and behind the scenes implemented a fabulous new support ticket system so we can address your questions more quickly!

New shop

During the website redesign we made the hard decision to switch from EDD to WooCommerce after several years with the same e-commerce plugin. This ended up being one of my favorite changes on the entire site! Everything in the shop was custom coded top to bottom; it was one of the most development-heavy parts of the whole project. I love the way it turned out, particularly the product pages!

Affiliate Program

We’ve had an affiliate program for almost two years now, but it wasn’t something we really invested a lot of time in. We’ve really given it the attention it deserves now, with a gorgeous new affiliate page and signup form, plus a completely redesigned (and much easier to use) affiliate dashboard.

If you’re interested in making a little extra income, we’d love to have you join our affiliate program!

Getting Started Guide

The first steps of starting a website or blog are often the most intimidating for those new to WordPress. We wanted to craft a space where we could walk you through each and every step of staring your website in easy to understand, non-techy terms.

Our new How to Start a Website Guide is full of detailed, digestible information and is easy to navigate (click one of the four buttons at the top to jump to a section). We’re so excited to get this resource into your hands & we hope you’ll find it useful!

Refreshed & Refined Services

So excited to announce that we now offer Theme Customizations! So often you may find a theme you love, but it doesn’t quite fit exactly what you need. This is where we can help, by customizing one of our existing WordPress themes. It’s a cost effective alternative to full custom website.

Our theme installation services and add-ons have also been streamlined and improved.

Resources page

Get a peek “behind the scenes” on our new Resources page. We compiled a categorized list of over 50 incredibly helpful resources for running a blog and business. You’ll find everything from our favorite places to find fonts and stock photography to some of our must-have WordPress plugins. Every single thing on the Resources page we have personally used and love.

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We’ll end with a big THANK YOU. This new website wouldn’t be here without the absolutely incredible bloggers and business owners we get to work with every day. You inspire us like crazy. I hope you love the new site as much as we do!

Lots of new themes are on the way… can’t wait to share more with you soon!

xoxo,

Kate + 17th Ave