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A proposal to drop browser vendor prefixes is a post from CSS-Tricks

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Digging Into WordPress 3.3 is a post from CSS-Tricks

Sometimes the very least can say the most, which seems to be what these minimalist Mario and Link posters are going for.

Apparently there’s been a bit of a fade these days to depict heroism by only showing a character’s close up chest. It’s kind of like some of those posters …
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The Morse Code might have lost its relevance in the real world, but geek-dome still continues to be fascinated by it.  Morse Code aficionado,  Martin Kaltenbrunner has designed a fascinating contraption, that may look archaic, but completely taps into to the current twitter trend

Meet the Tworse Key, which is just …
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Had Batman’s utility belt been available for sale, the following 7 keychain accessories would have given it a run for its money.

Bushnell BackTrack Point-3: Keychain GPS for Tracking Villains

Most if …
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You know that something is fishy in the US when you see an army of flying robots in attack formations going through the frame of a door.

These quadrotors were developed by KMel Robotics at The University of Pennsylvania’s GRASP Lab, but given the way the developers decided to demonstrate the …
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Hey PSDFans! We’ve been working really hard to improve our network lately, whether it’s bringing on talented new tutorial authors at PSDFAN, launching our new network blog Blogs.FanExtra or working on our main network site FanExtra.

We were sat around considering investing thousands in fancy user analytics software and then we had a brainwave – why not simply ask you guys what you think?

So that’s what we’ve done .

If you fill out the brief reader survey below then you stand a chance of being randomly selected to win a free 6 month membership to FanExtra (that means access to over 1700 quality design resources, including nearly 40 advanced members-only tutorials!). As an extra bonus, I’ll personally email everyone who takes this survey a coupon for 70% off their first month’s membership with us. That means you’ll get access to all those great goodies for just $2.70 your first month. I’ve never before offered a discount like this, but I’m really keen to get a lot of feedback from you guys so we can continue to give you exactly what you want.

The survey will expire in 7 days time (Friday 10th February) and I won’t be able to give out any more coupons after that time.

This Portal 2 musical take on one of the most memorable songs from The Nightmare Before Christmas will have you humming it all day.

What do Valve’s Portal 2 and Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas have in common? Until now, absolutely nothing — but thanks to a creative collection of …
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The legendary Simpsons Arcade Game is finally being digitally released on February 7 — and lucky PlayStation Plus subscribers get to play it first, for free.

Xbox Live achievements found earlier this month, might have speculatively pigeon-holed this forthcoming title as a platform exclusive for the Microsoft service – but surprise, surprise …
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If you’re active in social media, you may have recently heard of Pinterest, a new social media site that is gaining popularity. In fact, it seems like everyone is suddenly talking about Pinterest. From all the talk it’s hard to tell whether it’s a trend or a fad.

You may even wonder if there is any way that your freelancing business could possibly benefit from using Pinterest. You may be asking yourself whether you should get involved in Pinterest.

In this post, I’ll take a look at Pinterest from a freelancer’s perspective. I’ll explain what it is and also take a look at some benefits and drawbacks of the site for freelancers.

Of course, ultimately every freelancer needs to make their own decision about Pinterest.

What It Is

Pinterest is known as a pinboard. Offline, a pinboard is a type of bulletin board that you pin photos and other images to.

Online, a pinboard is basically a bookmarking service that lets you save the images of things that you are interested in. While Pinterest is currently the best known pinboard, others include Pinboard and Trello.

One thing that distinguishes pinboards from other social sharing sites is the visual aspect. Members are invited to share and comment on images that interest them. Pinboards (and especially Pinterest) are heavy on the images and light on the text.

If you’ve ever visited Pinterest, you’ll find a variety of topics. Here’s a small sampling of what you might find:

• Recipes
• Decorating Ideas
• Fashion Ideas
• Organizing tips
• Inspirational quotes

There’s even a category titled “Design,” although it’s not necessarily just about graphic or web design.

Benefits of Pinterest

I can see four possible benefits of Pinterest for freelancers:

1. Great for finding inspiration–Whatever it is you need to be inspired about, there are probably images of it out there. Do you want to do a design based on a sunset? With Pinterest, you can see hundreds of photos of sunsets. What about creating a design based on leaves? Again, with Pinterest you can find lots of different leaf images.
2. Visual emphasis–Pinterest has a visual emphasis and as such it’s great for visually oriented freelance professions such as design, art, and photography. Of course, you will find some quotes out there and other short bits of text, but for the most part the content on Pinterest is graphics and photos.
3. Good for branding and building an image–Pinterest can be great for building a brand or an image. Pinterest is still in its early days, so for the most part big name brands aren’t out there yet. However, I can see some visually oriented freelancers creating a gallery of their work and possibly referring clients to it.
4. Links to Facebook–Right now it’s easy to share to your Facebook account when you pin an item to Pinterest. All you need to do is check a box. Currently, there are no links to other social media sites, but who is to say what the site has planned for the future?

Now that we’ve looked at the benefits of Pinterest for freelancers, it’s time to look at the drawbacks.

Drawbacks of Pinterest

I can also see four possible drawbacks of Pinterest (based on the current version) for freelancers.

1. Privacy–Right now, as I understand it, there’s no way to restrict who can view your pinboard. That means that right now it’s really not a good tool to work on or share proprietary materials. With such a restriction in place, however, Pinterest could possibly be used for collaboration.
2. Possible copyright issues–Of course, any time that you share something that is copyrighted online you run the risk of it being stolen. When I discussed Pinterest with some of my Google+ friends, they expressed concern that sharing on Pinterest somehow transferred the rights of what was being shared to the platform. (I’m not a lawyer, so I don’t know if this is true.)
3. Not widely available–Probably one of the biggest drawbacks for freelancers who want to use Pinterest is that it’s not widely available. You have to ask for an invitation. In fact, to write this post I had to look on with a friend to get an idea of what Pinterest is about since I haven’t received my login yet.
4. Limited user profiles–The final drawback that I see for freelancers is that user profiles seem to be very small–just a photo and a few lines. So, Pinterest isn’t really about meeting and getting to know people so much as it is about sharing things that you are interested in.

More Resources

Are you ready to learn more about Pinterest? Here are five more resources:

• 5 Ways to Use Pinterest as a Community Building Tool from Deb Ng at Kommein
• Online Pinboards–Is This the New Way to Facebook? from Eli Goodman at Search Engine Watch
• Pinterest for Brands: 5 Hot Tips from Lauren Drell at American Express Open Forum
• Pinterest: A Tool to Curate Relevant Visual Content for Your Audience from Beth Kanter at Social Media Today
• How to Use Pinterest for Marketing from Monika Jansen at Grow Smart Biz

Your Turn

Are you already using Pinterest? If so, how are you using it? Share your answers in the comments.

Image by 7263255

  

Custom post types add a level of flexibility to WordPress that makes this open-source Web development platform more useful on many levels. Whenever I have been faced with a Web-based task, especially one that involves organizing information, the first thing I do is examine WordPress to determine if it can handle the job. It usually can.

Image Source

As an Internet marketer and analyst, I need to be able to organize online marketing campaigns in a way that is trackable in Google Analytics. This is the perfect task for WordPress custom post types.

In this article, we’ll explain how to create a WordPress plugin that enables you to organize Internet marketing campaigns using trackable URLs, shortened versions of those URLs, and trackable QR codes that you can also use for offline marketing activities.

We’ll show you how to create this plugin in a way that maximizes ease of use and functionality. If you have other methods that you have found useful, please share them in the comments. Also, let’s remember that we are standing on the shoulders of WordPress developers who have laid the foundation for easier coding.

Here are the criteria for our custom post type plugin:

• It must provide a form in which users can specify a landing page to be tracked, the anchor text or content, the term (if this link is a PPC ad), and any additional information about this link.
• It must provide three custom taxonomy types, so that users can select the URL variables for source, medium and campaign name. This is a taxonomy type because they will be reusable across campaigns and posts.
• It must be organizable in the admin area and be displayed in the user interface.
• The output must include a Google Analytics campaign-trackable URL, the information about the URL in human-readable format, a shortened version of the URL using a URL shortener, and a QR code of the shortened URL.

The File Structure

This plugin will use three files. To set up the structure, create a plugin folder named campaign-tracker. Inside the campaign-tracker folder, create the following three PHP files:

• campaign-tracker.php
• ga-functions.php
• campaign-template.php

After you have created the files, we are ready to start adding the code.

The Plugin File

The main plugin file will be campaign-tracker.php. The content of this file will begin the standard way, by providing WordPress with the information that it needs to recognize it is as plugin. We then dive into setting up the CampaignTracker10 class and functions. We will set up our campaign custom post type and register the taxonomies that we will need. We will also initiate our admin interface.

   <?php
   /*
   Plugin Name: Campaign Tracking 1.0
   Plugin URI: http://www.convergeconsulting.org
   Description: Google Analytics Campaign Tracking system for WordPress 3.0 and above.
   Author: Joshua Dodson
   Version: 1.0
   Author URI: http://www.convergeconsulting.org
   */

   // Include the ga-functions.php helper functions
   include_once('ga-functions.php');

   if(!class_exists('CampaignTracker10'))
   {

      class CampaignTracker10 {

         var $meta_fields = array("gaca10-gaurl","gaca10-gaterm","gaca10-gacontent","gaca10-gadescription");

         // This function will create the custom post type. Thanks to Konstantin Kovshenin's example for additional examples of how to construct custom post types (http://kovshenin.com/2010/03/custom-post-types-in-wordpress-3-0-2089/), which inspired much of this.
         function __construct(){
            // Register custom post types
            register_post_type('campaign', array(
            'label' => _x('Campaigns','campaigns label'), // We're labeling the custom posts as Campaigns and also accounting for gettext appropriately
            'singular_label' => _x('Campaign','campaign singular label'), // Each post will be called a Campaign
            'public' => true, // These will be public
            'show_ui' => true, // Show the UI in admin panel
            '_builtin' => false, // This is a custom post type, not a built in post type
            '_edit_link' => 'post.php?post=%d',
            'capability_type' => 'post',
            'hierarchical' => false,
            'rewrite' => array("slug" => "campaign"), // This is for the permalinks
            'query_var' => "campaign", // This goes to the WP_Query schema
            'supports' => array('title'/* We only need the default title field, but we could use others such as 'author', 'excerpt', 'editor' ,'custom-fields'*/)
            ));

            add_filter("manage_edit-campaign_columns", array(&$this, "edit_columns"));
            add_action("manage_posts_custom_column", array(&$this, "custom_columns"));

            // Register custom taxonomies gasource (for the Campaign Source), gamedium (for the Campaign Medium), and ganame (for Campaign Name)
            // Campaign Source
            register_taxonomy("gasource", array("campaign"), array("hierarchical" => true, "label" => _x( 'Campaign Sources', 'campaign sources taxonomy label' ), "singular_label" => "Campaign Source", "rewrite" => true));
            // Campaign Medium
            register_taxonomy("gamedium", array("campaign"), array("hierarchical" => true, "label" => _x( 'Campaign Mediums', 'campaign mediums taxonomy label' ), "singular_label" => "Campaign Medium", "rewrite" => true));
            // Campaign Name
            register_taxonomy("ganame", array("campaign"), array("hierarchical" => true, "label" => _x( 'Campaign Names', 'campaign names taxonomy label' ), "singular_label" => "Campaign Name", "rewrite" => true));

            add_action("admin_init", array(&$this, "admin_init"));
            add_action("template_redirect", array(&$this, 'template_redirect'));

            add_action("wp_insert_post", array(&$this, "wp_insert_post"), 10, 2);

         }

Let’s give the columns on the admin screen some headings:

   function edit_columns($columns)
   {
      $columns = array(
      'cb' => '<input type="checkbox" />',
      'title' => _x('Campaign Title','campaign title label for edit columns'),
      'gaca10_ganame' => _x('Campaign Name','campaign name label for edit columns'),
      'gaca10_gasources' => _x('Campaign Source','campaign source label for edit columns'),
      'gaca10_gasmedium' => _x('Campaign Medium','campaign medium label for edit columns'),
      );
      return $columns;
   }

Let’s specify which columns we would like to show up on the admin screen for this custom post type. We’ll have columns for campaign source, medium and name, in addition to the post’s title.

   function custom_columns($column)
   {
      global $post;
      switch ($column)
      {
         // The campaign source
         case "gaca10_gasources":
         $gasources = get_the_terms(0, "gasource");
         if ( $gasources && ! is_wp_error( $gasources ) ) :
         $gasources_html = array();
         foreach ($gasources as $gasource)
         array_push($gasources_html, '<a href="' . get_term_link($gasource->slug, "gasource") . '">' . $gasource->name . '</a>');

         echo implode($gasources_html, ", ");
         endif;
         break;

         // The campaign medium
         case "gaca10_gasmedium":
         $gamediums = get_the_terms(0, "gamedium");
         if ( $gamediums && ! is_wp_error( $gamediums ) ) :
         $gamediums_html = array();
         foreach ($gamediums as $gamedium)
         array_push($gamediums_html, '<a href="' . get_term_link($gamedium->slug, "gamedium") . '">' . $gamedium->name . '</a>');

         echo implode($gamediums_html, ", ");
         endif;
         break;

         // The campaign name
         case "gaca10_ganame":
         $ganames = get_the_terms(0, "ganame");
         if ( $ganames && ! is_wp_error( $ganames ) ) :
         $ganames_html = array();
         foreach ($ganames as $ganame)
         array_push($ganames_html, '<a href="' . get_term_link($ganame->slug, "ganame") . '">' . $ganame->name . '</a>');

         echo implode($ganames_html, ", ");
         endif;
         break;
      }
   }

Once our columns are set up appropriately, we should see the following columns (note that this example is with one campaign already added):

The next section enables us to specify which template we would like to use to display this custom post type. We will be using the campaign-template.php template:

   function template_redirect()
   {
      global $wp;

      // If the post type is set and is campaign…
      if (isset($wp->query_vars["post_type"])) {
         if ($wp->query_vars["post_type"] == "campaign")
         {
            // Then use the campaign-template.php file from this plugin directory
            include WP_PLUGIN_DIR.'/campaign-tracker/campaign-template.php';
            die();
         }
      }
   }

If a post is inserted or updated, then loop through the array and update or add the post’s meta data.

   function wp_insert_post($post_id, $post = null)
   {
      if ($post->post_type == "campaign")
      {
         foreach ($this->meta_fields as $key)
         {
            $value = $_POST[$key];
            if (empty($value))
            {
               delete_post_meta($post_id, $key);
               continue;
            }

            if (!is_array($value))
            {
               if (!update_post_meta($post_id, $key, $value))
               {
                  add_post_meta($post_id, $key, $value);
               }
            }
            else
            {
               delete_post_meta($post_id, $key);

               foreach ($value as $entry){
                  add_post_meta($post_id, $key, $entry);
               }
            }
         }
      }
   }

With the following function, we can add custom meta boxes for the admin screen where we edit the campaign:

   function admin_init()
   {
      // Add custom meta boxes for the edit campaign screen
      add_meta_box("gaca10-meta", "Campaign Information", array(&$this, "meta_options"), "campaign", "normal", "core");
   }

The following function is for the admin post meta contents. This lets us create the form in which we specify some of the variables for our trackable URL (except for the taxonomies). It also provides a read-only field that shows the shortened URL after the URL variables have been saved.

   function meta_options()
   {
      global $post;
      $custom = get_post_custom($post->ID);
      if($custom["gaca10-gaurl"][0]){
         $gaurl = $custom["gaca10-gaurl"][0];
      }
      else{ $gaurl = ''; }
      if($custom["gaca10-gaterm"][0]) {
         $gaterm = $custom["gaca10-gaterm"][0];
      }
      else { $gaterm = ''; }
      if ($custom["gaca10-gacontent"][0]) {
         $gacontent = $custom["gaca10-gacontent"][0];
      }
      else { $gacontent = ''; }
      if ($custom["gaca10-gadescription"][0]) {
         $gadescription = $custom["gaca10-gadescription"][0];
      }
      else { $gadescription = ''; }

      $url = trackable_url();
      if ($custom["campaign_tinyurl"][0]) {
         if($gaurl == '') { $shortenedurl = ''; }
         else{ $shortenedurl = create_tiny_url($url); }
      }

      ?>
      <label><?php _ex('Website URL:','website url label'); ?></label><input name="gaca10-gaurl" value="<?php echo $gaurl; ?>" /><br />
      <em><?php _ex('(e.g., http://www.google.com)','website url example'); ?></em><br /><br />

      <label><?php _ex('Campaign Term:','campaign term label'); ?></label><input name="gaca10-gaterm" value="<?php echo $gaterm; ?>" /><br />
      <em><?php _ex('(identify the paid keywords)','campaign term information'); ?></em><br /><br />
      <label><?php _ex('Campaign Content:','campaign content label'); ?></label><input name="gaca10-gacontent" value="<?php echo $gacontent; ?>" /><br />
      <em><?php _ex('(use to differentiate ads)','campaign content information'); ?></em><br /><br />

      <label><?php _ex('Campaign Description:','campaign description label'); ?></label><input name="gaca10-gadescription" value="<?php echo $gadescription; ?>" /><br />
      <em><?php _ex('(use to remind yourself about this specific link)','campaign description information'); ?></em><br /><br />

      <label><?php _ex('Shortened URL:','shortened URL label'); ?></label><input name="gaca10-gashortened-url" value="<?php echo $shortenedurl; ?>" readonly="readonly" /><br />

      <?php
   }
}

}

Here is how the “Add/Edit Campaign” screen will appear:

If CampaignTracker10 exists, then we initiate the plugin:

   if(class_exists('CampaignTracker10')){

      // Initiate the plugin
      add_action("init", "CampaignTracker10Init");

      function CampaignTracker10Init() {
         global $gaca10;
         $gaca10 = new CampaignTracker10();

      }
   }

Combine these functions into the campaign-tracker.php file.

The following taxonomy examples should also be on the “Add/Edit Campaign” screen after everything has been added. Here is the “Campaign Names” taxonomy:

Here is the “Campaign Mediums” taxonomy:

Here is the “Campaign Sources” taxonomy:

Similar to how traditional post categories are set up, you can create new categories or select previous categories.

A note on usage: When you begin to use the system, try to select only one category each from name, source and medium. One category per taxonomy type will prove to be most useful in your actual analysis in Google Analytics. So, as a general rule: one name, one source and one medium per URL.

The Helpful Display Functions

Each of the functions in this section is part of the ga-functions.php file. The functions have been separated from the other functions in order to keep the display functions together.

Our file will begin with the formatted_utm_taxonomy_terms function, which will display a URL-friendly version of the taxonomy terms:

   <?php
   /* Some Helpful Display Functions */

   function formatted_utm_taxonomy_terms($the_term) {
      global $post;
      $post_terms = get_the_terms( $post->ID, $the_term );
      if ( $post_terms && ! is_wp_error( $post_terms ) ) :
      $encoded_terms = array();
      foreach ($post_terms as $term ) {
         if(!$encoded_terms[] = $term->slug){
            $encoded_terms[] = urlencode($term->name);
         }
      }
      $return_terms = implode('+',$encoded_terms);
      return $return_terms;
      endif;
   }

The trackable_url function generates the trackable URL from the fields on the admin screen as well as the taxonomies. This appends the appropriate tracking criteria to the URL so that Google Analytics can use the variables and provide information based on these specific variables. To do this, we will use the add_query_arg WordPress function.

   function trackable_url() {
      global $post;
      $custom = get_post_custom($post->ID);

      // the url
      if ($custom["gaca10-gaurl"][0]) {
         $gaurl = $custom["gaca10-gaurl"][0];
      }
      else { $gaurl = ''; }

      // the term(s)
      if ($gaterm = $custom["gaca10-gaterm"][0]) {
         $gaterm = $custom["gaca10-gaterm"][0];
         $gaterm = urlencode($gaterm);
      }
      else { $gaterm = ''; }

      // the content(s)
      if ($custom["gaca10-gacontent"][0]) {
         $gacontent = $custom["gaca10-gacontent"][0];
         $gacontent = urlencode($gacontent);
      }
      else { $gacontent = ''; }
      $arr_params = array ( 'utm_campaign' => formatted_utm_taxonomy_terms('ganame'), 'utm_source' => formatted_utm_taxonomy_terms('gasource'), 'utm_medium' => formatted_utm_taxonomy_terms('gamedium'), 'utm_term' => $gaterm, 'utm_content' => $gacontent);
      return add_query_arg( $arr_params, $gaurl );

   }

The following functions take the campaign-trackable URL and shortens it with TinyURL. This method uses wp_remote_get to generate the shortened URL. It then saves the shortened URL to the post’s meta data when a post is saved. The trackable_url_tiny function enables us to retrieve the shortened URL in the template.

   // Save the shortened trackable URL to the post meta
   function save_shortened_meta($post_ID) {
      $url = trackable_url();
      $shortened_url = create_tiny_url($url);
      update_post_meta($post_ID, "campaign_tinyurl", $shortened_url);
      return $post_ID;
   }

   // Add an action to save it when the post is saved.
   add_action('save_post', 'save_shortened_meta');

   // Retrieve the shortened URL from post meta
   function trackable_url_tiny($url = null, $post_ID) {
      global $post;
      $custom_fields = get_post_custom($post->ID);
      $campaign_tinyurl = $custom_fields['campaign_tinyurl'][0];
      return $campaign_tinyurl;

      return $post_ID;
   }

   // Create shortened trackable URL through the wp_remote_get function
   function create_tiny_url($strURL) {
      $tinyurl = wp_remote_get( 'http://tinyurl.com/api-create.php?url='.$strURL );
      if( is_wp_error( $response ) ) {
         return 'Something went wrong!';
      } else {
         return $tinyurl['body'];

      }
   }

The trackable_url_report function is what provides the human-readable version of the variables. These are broken out by each section. The landing page, campaign name, source, medium, terms and content are all separated and displayed individually if they exist.

   function trackable_url_report() {
      global $post;
      $custom = get_post_custom($post->ID);

      // get the url
      if ($custom["gaca10-gaurl"][0]) {
         $gaurl = $custom["gaca10-gaurl"][0];
      }
      else { $gaurl = ''; }
      // get the term(s)
      if ($gaterm = $custom["gaca10-gaterm"][0]) {
         $gaterm = $custom["gaca10-gaterm"][0];
      }
      else { $gaterm = ''; }

      // get the content(s)
      if ($custom["gaca10-gacontent"][0]) {
         $gacontent = $custom["gaca10-gacontent"][0];
      }
      else { $gacontent = ''; }

      // The Landing page
      $url_info ='';
      $url_info.= "<strong>". _x( 'Landing Page:','landing page label') . "</strong> ";
      $url_info.= $gaurl;
      $url_info.= "<br />";

      // The campaign name
      $url_info.= "<strong>". _x( 'Campaign:','campaign label') . "</strong> ";
      $url_info.= formatted_utm_taxonomy_terms('ganame');
      $url_info.= "<br />";

      // The Source
      $url_info.= "<strong>". _x( 'Source:','source label') . "</strong> ";
      $url_info.= formatted_utm_taxonomy_terms('gasource');
      $url_info.= "<br />";

      // The medium
      $url_info.= "<strong>". _x( 'Medium:','medium label') . "</strong> ";
      $url_info.= formatted_utm_taxonomy_terms('gamedium');
      $url_info.= "<br />";

      // The term
      $url_info.= "<strong>". _x( 'Term:','term label') . "</strong> ";
      $url_info.= $gaterm;
      $url_info.= "<br />";

      // The content
      $url_info.= "<strong>". _x( 'Content:','content label') . "</strong> ";
      $url_info.= $gacontent;
      $url_info.= "<br />";

      return $url_info;
   }

The display_description function displays the description of the URL. We’ve broken this part out here in order to keep all of the pieces that are specific to the URL together. This is also the last function in the ga-functions.php file.

   function display_description(){
      global $post;
      $custom = get_post_custom($post->ID);
      $description = $custom["gaca10-gadescription"][0];
      return $description;
   }

   ?>

Combine these functions into the ga-functions.php file, and then we can move onto creating the template file.

The Template File

The final file that we will use to generate the view of the trackable URL is campaign-template.php. You will remember from the campaign-tracker.php file that we have a call in the template_redirect() function to redirect users to this template when viewing the custom post type of campaigns.

For display purposes, we will use the single.php file from the current default WordPress theme, TwentyEleven. You can, of course, use another theme and different styles.

First, we include the ga-functions.php file so that we can use some of our display functions. The campaign template also uses the Google Charts API to generate the QR code.

The following code will do all of the heavy lifting to display our campaign-trackable URL, the information about the URL, the shortened URL and the QR code. It will also allow us to edit the post if we need to change a variable. Simply drop this code into the loop.

   <h1 class="entry-title"><?php the_title() ?></h1><br />

   <?php
   echo "<strong>". _x( 'Description:','description label') . "</strong> ";
   echo display_description();
   echo "<br />";
   echo trackable_url_report();
   echo "<br />";
   echo "<strong>". _x('Trackable URL:','trackable URL label') . "</strong> ";
   echo "<a href=".trackable_url()." target='_blank'>".trackable_url()."</a><br />";

   echo "<strong>" . _x('Shortened Trackable URL:','shortened trackable URL label') . "</strong> ";
   echo "<a href=".trackable_url_tiny()." target='_blank'>".trackable_url_tiny()."</a><br />";
   ?>

   <br />
   <img src="https://chart.googleapis.com/chart?chs=150x150&amp;cht=qr&amp;chl=<?php trackable_url_tiny(); ?>" /><br />
   <?php edit_post_link( __( 'Edit', 'twentyeleven' ), '<span class="edit-link">', '</span>' ); ?>

When we combine the code, the campaign template will be as follows:

   <?php
   /**
   * The Template for displaying all single posts.
   *
   * @package WordPress
   * @subpackage Twenty_Eleven
   * @since Twenty Eleven 1.0
   */

   // Include the ga-functions.php file so that we can easily display the results
   include_once('ga-functions.php');

   get_header(); ?>

   <div id="primary">
   <div id="content" role="main">

   <?php while ( have_posts() ) : the_post(); ?>

   <nav id="nav-single">
   <h3 class="assistive-text"><?php _e( 'Post navigation', 'twentyeleven' ); ?></h3>
   <span class="nav-previous"><?php previous_post_link( '%link', __( '<span class="meta-nav">&larr;</span> Previous', 'twentyeleven' ) ); ?></span>
   <span class="nav-next"><?php next_post_link( '%link', __( 'Next <span class="meta-nav">&rarr;</span>', 'twentyeleven' ) ); ?></span>
   </nav><!-- #nav-single -->

   <h1 class="entry-title"><?php the_title() ?></h1><br />

   <?php
   echo "<strong>". _x( 'Description:','description label') . "</strong> ";
   echo display_description();
   echo "<br />";
   echo trackable_url_report();
   echo "<br />";
   echo "<strong>". _x('Trackable URL:','trackable URL label') . "</strong> ";
   echo "<a href=".trackable_url()." target='_blank'>".trackable_url()."</a><br />";

   echo "<strong>" . _x('Shortened Trackable URL:','shortened trackable URL label') . "</strong> ";
   echo "<a href=".trackable_url_tiny()." target='_blank'>".trackable_url_tiny()."</a><br />";
   ?>

   <br />
   <img src="https://chart.googleapis.com/chart?chs=150x150&amp;cht=qr&amp;chl=<?php trackable_url_tiny(); ?>" /><br />
   <?php edit_post_link( __( 'Edit', 'twentyeleven' ), '<span class="edit-link">', '</span>' ); ?>

   <?php comments_template( '', true ); ?>

   <?php endwhile; // end of the loop. ?>

   </div><!-- #content -->
   </div><!-- #primary -->

   <?php get_footer(); ?>

When the template is set up and a campaign has been added, then it should display the following page:

In Conclusion

By using WordPress custom post types in the method described, it is possible to organize marketing campaigns with the relevant Google Analytics campaign-tracking URL, shortened URL and QR code. This makes organizing marketing campaigns much simpler and more effective.

Custom post types make it very easy to set up a system by which to organize content. And we can get creative in how we use custom post types. They can be very useful when organizing content outside of the normal structure of WordPress and other content management systems (i.e. posts, pages, etc.).

Other possible uses of custom post types include the following:

• Manage client contacts,
• Create an employee directory,
• Keep an inventory of items,
• Organize other data.

Resources

You may be interested in the following resources and articles:

• “Custom Post Types in WordPress 3.0,” Konstantin Kovshenin
• “Custom Post Types in WordPress,” Justin Tadlock
• “Creating a TinyURL With TinyURL’s API,” Richard Castera
• “Getting Started With Infographics” (QR Codes with the Google Charts API), Google Code
• “Post Types,” WordPress Codex
• URL Builder tool Google Analytics
• “IQ Lessons,” Google Analytics

(al)

© Joshua Dodson for Smashing Magazine, 2012.

There are a lot of stories written about home-based businesses—trust me, I just did a Google search. Working from home has changed drastically over the years, thanks to technology.

If you think back not even 20 years about home-based businesses, you might envision a low-tech service business such as a daycare or landscaping company. To run a professional business, you needed to be located in commercial office space. Not only did commercial space provide the technical services you needed, but it also provided a professional atmosphere appropriate for meeting with clients. —seacoastonline.com

Luckily, for us freelancers, that is no longer the case.

I have a computer, high speed internet, printer, and cell phone that allow me to do my work at home. And I have a nice office/laundry room to do it in. I know a bunch of people who work from home and I have some tips on how to run it right. See if you agree.

Find Your Own Space

Working from your kitchen table is hard. Especially if you have a spouse and/or children who like to use that kitchen table. My desk is chaos to an outsider, but I know exactly where everything is and no one is allowed to touch it.

I work on a desktop computer (an iMac)—if I didn’t I’d undoubtedly work in bed or in front of the television, and that’s not very productive. I have an ergonomically correct chair and lots of natural light pouring in all day.

Having a space all to yourself is important. You can shut the door when you need to and focus. You don’t need to rely on a noisy coffee shop or the hours at your public library to get things done.

Schedule Kid-Free Time

A lot of people who work at home make the mistake of thinking they can also take care of their children during the day, saving on the cost of child care for younger children. More often than not, you end up working in spurts when (and if) your child goes down for a nap. And since that’s only a couple of hours (if you are lucky) during the day, you are playing catch-up at night after the kids have gone to bed, leaving you no time to socialize with your spouse.

Depending on the amount of freelance work you have, this arrangement may work out fine. If you are busy, however, it could prove to be your downfall.

Also, I can’t tell you how annoying it is when you are on the phone with someone and your child is howling in the background. I have had several conference calls where this has happened. I didn’t appreciate it, and your client won’t either. If you are going to take important phone calls, make sure your lovely children aren’t causing a ruckus in the background. It’s unprofessional.

Find Someplace Where You Can Have a Client Meeting

If your clients are local, you may have to meet them face to face on occasion. Please don’t invite them to your house if it is a catastrophe. I know several professional photographers who work from home that have a separate meeting space where they can sit down with their clients that is a part of their home, oftentimes with a separate entrance.

If you need to have a meeting, and it can’t be at your client’s office, try to find a quiet place outside of your home to have it. Scope out some coffee shops in the area and find out when they aren’t busy (i.e., quiet) and schedule a meeting there. Many co-working spaces and libraries have designated conference areas—see what it would take to use these spaces if you have frequent meetings.

Hire A Virtual Assistant

If having a professional presence is important to you, a virtual assistant can be a great help. It’s like having a secretary that doesn’t work in your office. This person works remotely, and can help you with your bookkeeping, scheduling, and even answer your phone calls and forward them to your phone or voicemail.

Create Separation Between Work and Home Life

The downside to working from home is that you can feel like you should be working all the time. It’s nice to have an office door that you can close to create a literal barrier between your work space and home space.

Trying to keep regular office hours can help with this, but, as any freelancer knows, that can be a tall order. Set your alarm to get up at the same time every day and have a routine. The later in the day you start your work, the later in the evening you will be spending on finishing up.

Just because you are working from home doesn’t mean you can’t run a professional office. Do you have any tips on ways to make freelancing from home even more successful?

Photo credit: Some rights reserved by xilius.

Jessica Hische made her Inker Linker searchable by location (worldwide, but with US focus).

Lovely as a Tree contains a UK database of commercial printers.

Rob Giampietro published a list of mainly US print vendors (some within Europe).

Tina Roth Eisenberg shared US-based letterpress studios (with many more in the comments).

Designers & Printers is a free directory where print companies list their services.

Here’s a Google Map from the archives showing your recommended UK commercial printers.

If you know of any other print vendor resources, your comment’s appreciated.

Woodtype specimen photo by Grant Hutchinson.

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

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In this issue of Ask FreelanceSwitch, we look at growing into an agency and freelancing internationally. Ask FreelanceSwitch is a regular column here that allows us to help beginners get a grip on freelancing. If you have a question about freelancing that you want answered, send an email to askfreelanceswitch@gmail.com.

Question 1

I have been a successful freelancer for many years now, and I had such a successful year last year that I’ve realized it’s time for me to start hiring and building my own team. I am looking to start my own agency, but could use some advice on funding to help cover the initial hiring and marketing expenses to boost up from a freelancer to a full-blown agency.

Believe it or not, I am having a hard time finding any type of information on this subject online or in forums. How does one take your successful freelance business and officially move it forward to the “cooler” side of the creative corporate world?

The funding options available to a freelancer looking to grow her business are extremely varied, and you’re going to have to decide what really works for you. That said, here are a few ways to get started.

Hiring Your Own Freelancers: The greatest portion of freelancers who have built up businesses beyond themselves have done so by bringing in other freelancers when there was work available, rather than hiring on a permanent basis right away. It’s not a perfect situation, since you can wind up spending a lot of time on finding freelancers when new projects come along. But it’s probably the cheapest option.

Getting a Small Business Loan: Provided that you’ve been building up your business credit as you’ve freelanced, you may be well positioned to take out a business loan to make the transition. This option is attractive because you can get a lump sum and just get everything done, but it can also be tough to get through all the layers of lenders to actually get money.

Build Up Some Savings: Just as you might be advised to sock away some cash before striking out as a freelancer in the first place, you might consider setting aside a certain portion of your freelance income every month until you’ve built up the amount you need to launch your agency right.

Question 2

I am a freelancing wanna be based in Egypt. I know it’s hard to freelance internationally, especially from a third world country, what with scams and lack of trust along side with different culture and lifestyles. I have lived in the U.S for a year as an exchange student so I kinda understand the culture better, but my question is: Is it possible to freelance from the other side of the world, especially a third world country?

It absolutely is possible. One of the most reliable freelancers I’ve had the pleasure of working with is based in the Philippines. The thing is that I don’t think most of her clients really realize where she’s based. It’s not a question of lying to her clients — she simply presents herself as a professional and doesn’t bring up the matter of location unless it actually impacts her work.

If you’re looking to freelance and want to land clients from other countries that typically pay more, the first thing to focus on is presenting yourself as a professional. If you have a great website and portfolio, written perfectly in the local idiom of the clients you want to attract, you’re going to be more attractive to them — most people want to work with freelancers that seem like they’ll be easy to explain a project to, so not only is a shared language crucial, but so is a shared dialect.

Simply leave off your address in Egypt — or wherever — from your website. if a client asks, be truthful. You’ll be surprised how many people don’t ask, though.

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