WordPress comes ready to use as soon as it installs. However in order to properly leverage the power of WordPress you need to customize WordPress so that it works and performs at its peak. Here are a few WordPress tips that should help you get off to a flying start.

Remove the version number

By default WordPress adds the version number to the header of your blog. The information in your header might prove to be a goldmine for a hacker who are trying to take down or take over your blog since you are using an older version of WordPress which is not as secure as the latest version. All you need to do to remove this is to add this line: <?php remove_action(‘wp_head’, ‘wp_generator’); ?> to the functions.php file which is located in your themes folder.

Prevent snooping in your WordPress files:

With the default options people can easily browse through your WordPress folder and files using explorer view within their web browsers. In order to prevent this you just need to add the following line of code: Options All –Indexes to your .htaccess file that can be found the main worpress directory.

Filter out spammers:

Spammers love to include .html code in their comments so that they can some how attract people to their comments. Even if you aren’t targeted by spammers it’s always a good idea to reduce the load on your blog especially as a result of spam comments. The best way to disable html code in the comments box is to add the following line of code in your functions.php file: add_filter( ‘pre_comment_content’, ‘wp_specialchars’ );.

Speed up sitemap creation:

This tip is for those who use the XML sitemaps plug-in. usually its set to “rebuild sitemap if you change the content of your blog”, you need to change that to “enable manual sitemap building via GET request. The reason you should do this is because in auto mode every time you make a post its going to take a very long time for your post to process because your entire sitemap is going to be redone from the very beginning. For very large blogs it can even take up to half an hour.

                          

The familiar color picker from Photoshop.

This is not the be-all end-all guide for color modes, just best practices from my experience designing for the printing industry.

The only thing that matters is the output.

The simple rule is: web=RGB, print=CMYK.
If you are designing for print, what will the final output be? What kind of press will this be printed on?

Offset: CMYK
Offset presses print from plates. Process printing uses cyan, magenta, yellow and black, or CMYK. It is an offset press that will print spot colors or varnish. Offset presses are for large print runs of single sheet printing like letterhead, cards or fliers.

Web press: CMYK
Newspapers and magazines are printed on a web press.

Ink jet: RGB
Desktop ink jets utilize the RGB data for printing. If you send a CMYK document, it will actually convert it to RGB so it can process it. Converting the color twice in this case will likely print unexpected color.

Digital: CMYK or RGB, not both.
Digital presses have a RIP that can process color data and make it printable. It can process RGB data and make it printable and it can process CMYK. If you have RGB and CMYK data on the same document, the RIP gets confused as to how it should handle the data and something will not look right. Pick a color mode and stick to it. Digital presses are similar to a color copier in function. They have a set number of colors, no spot inks and they print on very limited paper stocks. Formats larger than 12×18 inches are rare and costly. Digital presses are cost effective on runs up to about 500 before you are better off printing offset. If you are printing variable data, like addresses or names, this is what a digital press was made for.

Large format: RGB
Large format printers are ink jets. They usually have seven or more inks which allow a very wide color gamut. If you narrow your document down to only CMYK, you will not be using those seven inks to your best advantage.

Why use CMYK?

CMYK

You know what your color breakdowns are and you know what the end result will be. You are able to monitor your ink mixes exactly throughout the design process and there are no surprises.

If you design in RBG and convert to CMYK, no matter what conversion settings you use, your colors will shift. There is no black in RGB, so anything that is meant to be black will be washed out and probably print on all four plates. If you have small type, this will be a huge problem. Press registration will have to be dead on to match up all four plates of tiny type to make it look black and that never happens. With CMYK, you can use pure 100% black for the type and avoid any problems.

RGB has a much wider color gamut than CMYK. There are millions more colors available on screen than can be mixed using four inks. Any out of gamut colors will be estimated to something that is within the printable range. If you are using bright colors on screen, specifically greens, blues and purples, you are probably going to be disappointed. This applies whether you are converting final images in Photoshop or exporting a PDF with print settings.

The only drawback I can think of to designing in CMYK is the limited filters in Photoshop.

My monitor only shows RGB.

RGB

RGB is colored light, CMYK is colored ink. Any screen shows RGB because it has to. There is no ink in your monitor. However, a good calibrated monitor will show simulated CMYK. Working in CMYK mode will not display electric blues or radioactive greens. The final printed result will be much closer to what you see on screen.

                          

Organizing files in general is important. Photoshop files can become unwieldy after adding a couple dozen layers, paths and alpha channels if you don’t maintain an organization system. Files are archived for later use or handed off to another design for some reason or another. Taking over a Photoshop file, or any file from a disorganized designer can be a nightmare, so just take a few extra seconds while you are working to tidy up the file. The sanity you save may be your own.

Do your Photoshop layers look like this? Take five minutes more and organize the files before archiving or handing off to a service bureau or another designer.

Recently, a designer sent me a Photoshop document with over 130 unnamed, unorganized, scattered shape layers.  It took 45 minutes to organize the layers before I could start working.

Here are some tips to keep your files neat and organized.

Name your layers.

Yes, all of them. Give them unique, meaningful names that will be easy to recognize later.

Group related layers.

If you have twelve layers of type, put them in a layer group called “type”. Not too tough. If you have a tree, branches, apples and a drop shadow on seventeen different layers, put them in a group called “apple tree”. Simple.

Collapse expanded layers or groups.

Yes, I know Photoshop defaults to expand everything all the time. Yes, it’s a pain to click that extra time. Yes, I have requested that Adobe change this. Just take the fraction of a second necessary to collapse each expanded layer as it is created. You will gain the benefit of seeing more layers in the panel at one time making it easier to edit.

Always save the original PSD.

Seems like common sense, but you would be surprised how often the original file is unavailable when revision time comes around. Save the original layered PSD and send a flattened file to clients for approval.

Delete empty layers

As you are working, you may copy text from one layer to another leaving the first layer empty. Deleting an object in Photoshop does not make the layer containing it to go away. The shape or text may be gone, but the layer is left behind.

Work in the correct color mode.

This may not seem like an organization issue, but it is a common mistake. If you designing for print, work in CMYK. Designing for web, RGB. It really doesn’t seem like a big deal when you are printing from your desktop ink jet, but when you send your file out to a commercial printer you might find this to be a costly oversight.

Happy Photoshopping.