Category: Web

Web design news stuff

Using Junctions for multi-environment WordPress development

Alt text: Editorial-style illustration of a Windows 11 development workbench where a central ‘plugin code’ crate (D:\GitHub\wp-rename-divi-projects) connects via ‘JUNCTION’ pipes to two WordPress site boxes labelled ‘Divi 4’ and ‘Divi 5 beta’, with callouts ‘Single source of truth’ and ‘no copying’ and a Visual Studio Code window above.
One plugin code directory being pulled into two WordPress environements for testing

If you’ve been building for the Divi ecosystem lately, you know the challenge. We are currently in a ‘dual-world’ phase. We have Divi 4, the reliable workhorse, and Divi 5, the lightning-fast, Gutenberg-compatible future currently in beta.

When I was updating my plugin, WP Rename Divi Projects – which lets users rebrand Divi’s ‘Projects’ custom post type into something more semantic like ‘Books’ or ‘Properties’ – I hit a challenge. I needed to ensure the code worked perfectly on both versions of Divi without constantly switching Git branches or, worse, manually copying files back and forth.

I wanted:

  • One ‘single source of truth’ directory with my plugin code
  • One Visual Studio Code window
  • Two live WordPress sites

Here is how I set up a seamless Windows 11 development environment using a hidden gem of the filesystem: Junctions.

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Rename Divi Projects – now compatible with Divi 5

Marketing image for Digital Shed45's Rename Divi Projects plugin. It reads: Unlock the full potential of Divi Projects and make your site truly unique.

I’ve released a new update for Rename Divi Projects, my plugin that customises Divi’s built-in Projects custom post type so you can use it for content that better fits your site (properties, case studies, books, albums, and more).

Divi 5 compatibility

The big headline: the plugin is now compatible with Divi 5, while continuing to support Divi 4.

If you’re moving to Divi 5 (or already there), you can keep using your renamed Projects setup and continue working with Divi’s project-related modules.

It will soon be available on the Divi Marketplace.

It is now also available on GitHub under a GPL v3 licence.

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Website broken links are marketing

Photo by Eyasu Etsub on Unsplash

Last month, I started working on a new project at the University of St Andrews where my focus is on fixing broken links and correcting misspellings across key areas of the website.

In a conversation with a colleague, I heard myself say something out loud that I’d just realised: “broken links are marketing!”

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Firefox 1.0 advert

This evening, I was looking through some old folders on my PC and I rediscovered a PDF of a Firefox advert that I was involved with.

Mozilla Firefox 1.0 was released on 9 November 2004. To advertise its release, Mozilla took out a two-page advert in the New York Times which featured the names of those who contributed to the crowdfunding for the advertisement, including mine.

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