I had a quick skim over the Magento For Designers Series on NetTuts+. (Not all parts had been posted when I started reading them), I read up to chapter 4. If you’ve read them then you can imagine my confusion when parts weren’t working and I couldn’t get the shop to show what I wanted.

Magento, at it’s core is quite hard to get the hang of at first. Just setting it up locally can be tricky for someone who isn’t at all familiar with eCommerce solutions such as me. I managed to get there in the end though.

The Back-End Interface

The back end interface is something that took me by surprise at first. The main things that I didn’t like straight of the bat were the navigational links. Nine links, almost each with at least 5 – 10 sub-links. On top of that, there is also another layer of links that appear from time to time. Yes, three levels worth!

Apart from the navigation the back-end admin panel is rather nice once you get the hang of it. It’s very clear what each page does, (that’s if you know a bit about eCommerce or just Commerce in general), and the design isn’t half bad either, although it’s no WordPress. There are also some warning dialog boxes which come up exactly where and when you need them, very helpful, especially on a live site.

The Products and Categories

The main things I’m going to go over are the Products and Categories. Adding products can be a nightmare at first, there must be at least 30+ to 50+ options on each new item and just getting the basic info put in can be a bit of bother. However, there is and upside, all of these options give you incredibly freeing functionality over how your store and products in general are run and displayed.

The Categories. The categories are, in a way, the same as the products; They can be hard to set up when you’re new to it all but in the end the amount of options are incredibly useful. The problem that plagues the categories interface is a simple problem, which isn’t that hard to fix, the copy. The copy really does bring that old feeling of:

It’s a problem that brings Magento down to a level it doesn’t need to go. I would like to see and interface that didn’t ask me for a URL Key or which CMS Block to add a new product to.

The Code

The code is surprising easy to understand. It reminds me of WordPress. As with WordPress you would just type the name of a PHP Function to get what you wanted here it’s just a matter of:

[sourececode language="php"]
getChildHtml(‘topMenu’) ?>
[/sourcecode]

The above code would get the list of categories that you’ve set up for the shop from the back-end. Please remember that they’ll only show up if you enable it with the back-end options.

The XML Side of Things

The XML is something you’ll have difficulty with. At first they seem a little bit pointless but as time goes on you’ll notice that quite a lot, if not all the functionality of you’re site is done through these. There’s a vast amount of XML files that you can use, ranging from the basic page template to the code for the wish list and even Google Checkout. I won’t pretend I know what the more advanced files are for because I honestly have no clue

If you’re a developer then I would suggest going through a few tutorials which teach the basics of theming for Magento, like the Magento For Designers Series on NetTuts+. Then just go for it and dive straight it. I found it easiest to find out what each file, (that I actually needed of course), did, then I would strip away the the few I didn’t need one by one, until I had my own basic Magento version of Starkers for WordPress.

The Conclusion and My Final Thoughts

Although this has obviously been a short post compared to others I hope you either now have a reason to use Magento or have decided to go somewhere else. I know that this review seems a touch negative in most places but when using Magento the benefits are obvious. You get a free piece of incredibly powerful eCommerce software. I hope that by showing you the things I disliked then you can decided on whether these things can be put up with, because to me, Magento is what I’ll be using for the future.

If you haven’t yet checked it out, WPBundle is a brand new WordPress Themes bundle. Here is a little info directly from the site:

My first impression was WOW! Very excited about this, I’m also eager to see the sorts of designs Liam has ready for us. You can actually read more about the project over on his blog, I’m especially happy now I’ve found out what the following images from Liam’s Dribbble account are all about:

WPBundle – Info Video

Also be sure to tweet the post so that everyone gets the chance to hear about it. From one designer to another, great job and good idea to Liam and the rest of his team!

Hot Flash Files

First we have a marketplace from the ever growing Envato Network. Formerly known as Eden. This is actually one of the first marketplaces online and it’s still going strong. Some of you might know it as, FlashDen and some of you might only know it by it’s new name, ActiveDen. Either way, you’re still looking at a site that’s going as strong now as it was a couple of years ago. If not even stronger. But what makes this site so popular? Well, today we’re gonna have a closer look at it and try to uncover the secrets to Envato’s success that never seems to stop.

To measure what’s going strong today isn’t that hard. Envato has been kind enough to show everyone a link to the most popular files this week. And I just love it, makes my work a whole lot easier and it saves me alot of time.

The images comes from the “most popular files” tab on ActiveDen So lets see what files and actions are the most popular ones this week shall we?

First we have – XML Flip Book / AS3 (The name says it all)

We even have – Black & White Deeplinking Template. (Yet again, the name says it all)

WordPress And Blogging

Belive it or not, one of the most popular platform to work from today is actually WordPress. And I just have to say, Wow. I remember a number of years back when WordPress first came, and I was impressed on what cool features it had. But to be honest, who ever expected WordPress to become the number one platform to use for all kinds of sites? I guess no one did, but it’s still not a surprise either. Because what platform are as easy to customize to whatever you need as WordPress is today?

Unless you build your own CMS (content management system) I guess no platform will ever be as easy to use as WordPress. Which can only bring us to one conclusion, WordPress is the CMS everyone uses. Everyone from big companies to a beginner in blogging. Just take a look at Envato. They use WordPress for all their blogs, except the marketplaces blogs.

But why you might ask? Well, just because it’s so easy to work with, almost everyone uses it today. And it’s so easy to customize for what you need and what you already have. So this brings us to ActiveDen´s big brother, ThemeForest, and it’s authors.

Just take a look at the sales difference for WordPress themes against Flash files this week and you’ll see what I mean.

Answers From The Expert Himself

And if that’s not enough for you, just take a look at the most popular author on ThemeForest, Kriesi. He’s been making a little over $25K a month selling only WordPress themes on ThemeForest. What’s his secret? Well, to get an answer on that question you just have to ask him. And this is exactly what I did.

And here’s his answer:

And as friendly as a top author can be, Kriesi even gives you new authors/designers out there a little help to why you should never be discouraged from doing what you love.

Conclusion

Thank you Kriesi for answering these questions for us. We know you are really busy with everything so this is strongly appreciated by us here at, BeCreative Magazine and our awesome readers.

This has to conclude the first part of this 3 part series on what’s hot and what’s not. So stay tuned for next part by subscribing to our feed today.

See you all in part II

Short answer: Yes! If you’ve been to this awesome site before then you’ll know that I’m terrible at starting posts off. So I usually just start off with something totally random! However my main point here is to inform you that this is the first post of what will be a lengthy series on Beginner Mistakes in WordPress. You’ll see where I got the inspiration from by clicking that link

The Settings: Home? Front Page? Blog? Posts Page?

I know that everyone has been troubled by this since the dawn of…Well the first time it was added to WordPress. The thing I’m talking about is on the Settings -> Reading page.

Yes, choosing what goes where in these settings can be a little troubling. The thing you have to understand first is why have these options in the first place? Because at its core WordPress is not a CMS, I know most people like to think of it as a CMS but its really not. Its a blogging platform, just like Blogger; WordPress is just ten times better with much more custom functionality.

So considering that I’ll explain which to choose for your site, in an easy to understand diagram of which settings work when and where.

Okay then I’ll be the first to admit that its not really a diagram, more of list; But you have to say, it does look pretty cool!

So as you can see, and maybe to your surprise, WordPress is so customizable that with only 3-4 options you can really have any type of site you want. Now obviously for something such as the Twitter Update Service you would need the help of some outside coding but never the less it can be done.

Knowing What Goes Where and When

If you wish you can just keep coming back to our site everytime you want to know What Goes Where and When then by all means go right ahead. However it would be much more productive if you knew. Any WordPress coder worth his salt should instinctively know; So what you need to do is go an try out a few of the options above and see what works in your situation. After a while you should hopefully have leaned the difference. Also try coding a different style of site everytime you whack out the Starkers WordPress Theme to get to know when and where!

Conclusion

Although this has been a rather short post, I do hope that you subscribe to our site by e-mail to be updated when part two and beyond is released. If you’re more of an RSS type person we have one of those as well, just click here to subscribe to our RSS Feed. Could you also say if I messed anything up; I would like to be told, wouldn’t you?

Enjoy this post? Then say in the comments! Hate it? Then still say in comments!

As you probably gathered from the preview image above, this article is featuring some of the best/worst client requests of the past year from a site named nothing more than, Clients From Hell.

We decided to do this because quite simple it’s a favourite of ours, which should soon show up in the footer links section, so site back and enjoy!

1.) Shitlistr – September 23rd

2.) Fantasy Land…Rover?

3.) …So, it’s a calculator right?

Initial email from a client:

When asked to elaborate:

4.) A Little Too Soon

5.) Yeah…Sureeeeee

Another entertaining first-contact with a no-go project proposal…

“I wanted a theme for a blog that I would need. I need the blog to be very tacky, very web2.0-ish. I need in similar layout (layout, not colors and style) like http://psdtuts.com/ I am willing to pay $150 for this.

But I will need a lot of designing since this is a blog which will be hooked on to several other things. If you want to help me out, you will get 15% of what I make, here is my business plan. I am already working in the field and I have 2 years of experience, as well as idea regarding business planning, hosting, wordpress diagnostics, marketing. All I need is a developer.. Again, here’s the plan. User gen. Review website The mini pitch: ‘You write, we pay’ “

6.) Add Flash To The Newsletter

7.) Lorem Ipsum…

8.) Radiation? No Need To Worry

9.) Don’t Trust Your Son

These were the days of the Netscape navigator.

We prepared a photoshopped design proposal for the upcoming brand-new website of a corporation: Black text on white pages, with headlines and links using the corporate design colors.

10.) The..Ummm…Googles?

11.) How About We Try Blue?

12.) Photoshop vs. Paint

13.) Dipped In Gold Please

14.) Need A Gardener?

15.) The New Age Of The Web

16.) He Knows What He’s Talking About

17.) Words Have Failed Me On This One…

18.) Sorry But THEY’RE DEAD!

19.) You Cheap…

20.) Standing Out From The Crowd

This is a Bonus One

What’s Next?

If you enjoyed this little post then be sure to check back often or subscribe to our RSS Feed for future updates on our content. Maybe if enough people like it I’ll do another one in time to come. Comment, rate and subscribe…Ohh wait…Comment and subscribe!

Now, I’ve noticed on a few blogs lately the one hurdle that many new wordpress developers stumble on is the whole set up of the blog it’s self, the code as well as the Behind-The-Scenes Dashboard.

Here’s A Big Stumbling Block For Some:

The main problem is how to use the files you have, for example: Do you use the ‘page.php’ file or the ‘archive.php’ file, (used for the categories), as the file to display your most recent posts on the site?

The answer is the ‘archive.php’ file, Do not mix this up with the ‘archives.php’ file, (used for an archive index like on Digging Into WordPress).
The reason is because wordpress is much easier to handle if you show a page listed with certain posts from certain categories, rather than just using the wordpress pages creator. Because the wordpress page creator makes pages that are, in a sense, very static compared to the use of the categories.

Can I Explain Deeper?

Why yes, yes i can, one of the best ways to show you what i mean is by explaining what the ‘Pages’ should be used for, then I’ll explain why the categories page, (‘archive.php’), is better for showing a list of certain posts.

Here’s a few examples:

1. Net.TutsPlus.com: Go to a page like ‘Tutorials’ and look at the URL, says /category/tutorials right?
2. Tutorial9: Go to the ‘Photoshop Tutorials’ tab, guess what it says?…yup that’s right /category/photoshop
3. Noupe.com: Go ahead and check out the ‘CSS’ nav link.

OK i think you get my point now, the basics of it are that ‘Categories’ work better than pages because they were designed to showcase recent posts in chronological order, however pages where designed to be static-ish pages, used for ‘About Info’ and ‘Favourite Links’ etc..

More examples coming up, and the same sites for more emphasis!:

1. Net.TutsPlus.com: The, (very well done), About page.
2. Tutorial9: The Write For Us page
3. Noupe.com: And the About page for Noupe.

As you can see, in wordpress there’s a place and a use for everything. Although some things just work better in certain places rather than others. As you can see. If you have any problems with this then drop a comment below and I’ll go into even more detail for you

Design of Thou Blog

You won’t see this very much, if at all, but there are a few cases where wordpress blogs are designed by some who wants to be different…but for all the wrong reasons.

Can’t You Be Different?

YES!, the most important thing to understand is that your blog should be and individual, just as you are, and everybody you know. Every blog should have it’s own personality.

However there are some people who tend to make these two classic mistakes:

1. Thinking that by copying another design and changing it up a bit, they’ll have 1 billion readers with the first month. Let’s face it, we’ve seen quite a few Tutorial9 & Noupe knock-offs over the past year or so.
2. Is thinking that by copying content then spamming people with it you’ll get readers…again, NOPE!

The main things to consider when creating a new wordpress blog are the following, Design, Development & Content. Then comes Social Media and Guest Writers etc… You’ll need to be heavily prepared to undertake the challenge of it all, you think that Collis & Cyan made a truck load by sitting there and waiting for the views? No, they took the initiative and got their name out there.

What If You Can’t Design or Develop?

Then find someone who can, i know your probably thinking:

Here’s where the Social Media comes in handy, there are always people who will do the job for you, hell, I’ll do it for you. But my point is that there are always freelancers out there looking for work.

Another good place to go are to freelance job boards, the few i know are the infamous FreelanceSwitch.com Job Board and the DesignM.ag Job Board.
Now i havn’t used either yet, however i hear from reliable sources that the FreelanceSwtich Job Board is the more premiere of the two. I only discovered the DesignM.ag Job Board a ffew days back so i can’t really give my professional opinion yet.

Conclusion/What More To Expect

Is that, you should use ‘Categories’ instead of pages to display your posts. Pages are for about, services and contact info etc… And that your design/content should be unique, if not, then that’s your fault I’m afraid.

By the way, did you all know that Bill Gates has got a new website out? You can read all about it here Anyway i hope you enjoyed my little article, i hope it has given you some insight.

Also I’ll be posting regular articles and tutorials, and maybe even screencasts. That’s right, I’m going to try and rival Jeffrey Way in the screencast department. Look out for it.

Hey everybody, i would just like to announce the winner of our $50 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway, ALfredo Arriaza, congratulations my friend!

Wave Invites?

Your still going to get them, don’t worry, but we’ll have to announce those in a few days because of work, site updates etc…, but trust me, Patrik and i have some big plans for BeCreative Magazine in 2010, so stay tuned by Subscribing to our RSS Feed or by Subscribing by E-Mail Notifications.

What’s Next For BeCreative Magazine?

I can’t give too much away, all i can say is this:

• 2010 is going to be awesome!
• We have a number of posts in the works for you all.
• More giveaways in the future, of course!
• What about more Interviews? – you loved the last one so of course.

That’s the only top secret info i can give out at the moment, enjoy 2010 and thank you everyone who participated!

• $50 USD Amazon Gift Card
• 20 Google Wave Invites

About the Prize

We all need to stay inspired, and with this gift card you are able to purchase whatever you like. Whether it´s a game, music, book or maybe even a new mouse for your computer. The choice is yours to make!

As a bonus to everyone, we have included 20 Google Wave Invites as well. If you want one, just leave a comment below letting us know why you want one. Feel free to re-tweet this post while you´re at it.

How to enter

For the chance to win a $50 USD Amazon Gift Card, all you need to do is comment and re-tweet this post. Just make sure that you´ve included your correct email address when commenting, this way we are able to contact you if you are the winner.

Our giveaway are open to people worldwide, just make sure to have your comment and re-tweet in place, before January 7th 2010. Don´t forget that we use Pacific Standard Time, so make sure to enter our giveaway right now.

With 2010 closing in, some of you might wonder what the new year has in store for us here at, BeCreative Magazine. I know that I certainly do wonder what will happen, ever since we launched December 4th 2009, we have gotten bigger for each day.

With almost 10 000 pageviews this month alone, we are very pleased with how much this site has grown in just under a month. There´s been news such as, Twitter Hacked tonight, Facebook Unveils Top Status Trends of 2009 and we have already got our very first guest written post, Creative Commons – What does it mean?.

With all this and so much more to come, we hope that all our readers, soon to be readers and our awesome subscribers will have an awesome christmas and a Happy New Year! Drive safe, drink responsibly but most important, stay Creative for the upcoming year of 2010.

What to be expected for 2010

As we mentioned earlier, we have alot in store for BeCreative Magazine, in 2010.

• New features
• Great posts
• Alot of tutorials
• Freebies
• A whole new section
• More guest posts
• New feed options
• Round-Ups
• Social Media news
• How to´s
• And so much more

With all this in store, and alot more to come, we aim to reach more than one category of readers. As some of you might have seen and understood, we don´t just focus on design and web, but also Social Media. With everything happening in 2010, we guarantee that we will have alot more than just this for you. So stay tuned for more posts, social media news, tutorials and so much more, by subscribing to our feed and follow us on Twitter.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you All

Grab our totally free christmas background today!

As some of you might not know, free items are also protected by the Creative Commons Attributions. These attributions are somewhat the same as copyright laws for selling files. A set of rules meant to protect the item author’s rights.

Here is what you should know when using, modifying, or redistributing a free item off the web, keep in mind that all of the following attributions when used by users must not infinge the author’s moral or normal rights. In the attributions where a permission to sell or redistribute in a comercial project is not shown, it’s strongly suggested that you contact the author before using the file for these purposes.

Creative Commons

Attribution

This Common states that the item may be shared, adapted, or transmited, reminded that the notes of that particular item are respected. What does this mean? For example, if the item description states ” Please link back to this site if … ” this not must be respected and followed

Attribution-NoDerivs

These attributions states that the item used, may be redistributed, transited, but must not be edited or modified in any way, neither is continuing where the author left off. If a item is incomplete or is missing elements users are not allowed to modify it.

Attribution-Non Commercial – NoDerivs

These attributions states that the item used, may be redistributed, transited, but must not be edited or modified in any way, neither is continuing where the author left off. If a item is incomplete or is missing elements users are not allowed to modify it.

Attribution-Non Commercial

Items can be shared and give to others as they are ( not sold ) also users may edit or modify the work to their free will and purpose, but the item, altered by the user or in original state must not be used for commercial projects or sold.

Attribution-Non Commercial-ShareAlike

This is the most restrictive attribution of all, users being allowed just to share the item and distribute the item to others (as is , not sold!)If the user plans to modify, or alter this work, the item must be given away as it was received. A good example for this is Linux, there are a lot of versions, each made by someone else yet all have maintained their original free-source status.

Attribution-ShareAlike

Last but not least, this attribution offers users the possibility to share, redistribute ( as is , not sold ) the item, also modify and edit it to their needs, but if the item will be redistributed as a modified version, users must give this version as the original file. If the item was free, no matter what improvements were added users may not sell it.

More Info?

This data is international, if you wish to see the data from your specific country go to Creative Commons and you will find all the information you need for your specific country. Also, feel free to check out Copyright Laws to learn more about the copyright laws and how they apply.