Author: Eric Hamm

Introducing The Genesis Essentials Plugin

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ca-genesis-essentials-logoIn the same way that our Genesis Extender Plugin is a kind of pared down version of our Dynamik Website Builder Theme, Genesis Essentials embodies the most basic and critical elements of Extender. I removed the more complex Custom Options (.i.e.. Custom Templates, Labels, Conditionals, Widget Areas and Hook Boxes) and made the Front-end CSS Builder an “editor only” version.

This is not to say that Genesis Essentials is lacking in any way, just further refined down to those critically important features that Genesis Child Theme users most utilize. Read more “Introducing The Genesis Essentials Plugin”

My Top 6 Blunders Of Bad Website Design

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web-design-blundersGetting people to point their browsers to your webpages is critically important, but equally as critical is being able to keep them there and create for them a positive and rewarding first impression. This can be done in several ways, but in this post I’m going to be focusing on design and what NOT to do. Read more “My Top 6 Blunders Of Bad Website Design”

A Fresh Focus For Dynamik Website Builder

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Colorful FocusDynamik Website Builder is quite a mature WordPress Theme with regard to code and feature refinements and has been a solid web design tool for some time now. But there has always been a very important missing element that, I believe, has kept it from being as useful and user-friendly as it could be. And before I beat around the bush anymore let me start by getting straight to the point: Dynamik Skins! Read more “A Fresh Focus For Dynamik Website Builder”

New Pricing & Licensing Structure For Cobalt Apps Products

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I’ve had the privilege to be a part of the WordPress community as a developer and seller of Themes and Plugins for over 5 years now. During that time I’ve witnessed many fads, phases and changes in business models. I’ve watched some small companies crop up out of nowhere and then disappear as quickly as they came and I’ve seen others find their stride and grow into quite profitable and reputable businesses.

During this time there has been one common thread that seems to keep winding its way through this short history of WordPress businesses and that is the idea of sustainability and recurring revenue. With a few bold businesses deciding to take the leap and be the first to implement license keys and yearly subscriptions for their products we began to see a new era unfold. Now it’s quite common to find “one year of support and updates” tacked onto the features list of your favorite premium WP products. The obvious reason for this is to ensure sustainability in your company as you strive to provide your current and future customers with the best products and support possible. Read more “New Pricing & Licensing Structure For Cobalt Apps Products”

Dynamik Version 1.6 Takes Skins To A Whole New Level

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Dynamik Skins AdminThis was an exciting Dynamik update to implement as it involved taking an idea for Skins that had been floating around in my head for quite some time and turning it into a reality. This update allowed me to take the idea of the “Dynamik Skin” and solidify it by making the concept more concrete to the end-user, more malleable to the Skin designer and more useful for everyone. Read more “Dynamik Version 1.6 Takes Skins To A Whole New Level”

Introducing Dynamik Website Builder 1.5 and Genesis Extender 1.4

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u-control-snapshotWith one of the biggest updates in quite some time (especially for Dynamik) I’m excited to finally release and share with our community these notable Cobalt Apps product updates!

First, before I touch on a few points I wanted to make it clear that for those wanting to cut to the chase and see all the new changes to Dynamik and/or Genesis Extender you can scroll to the bottom of this post and click on the appropriate changelog links. Also, the screencast just above those links will walk you through the main points of those lists. Read more “Introducing Dynamik Website Builder 1.5 and Genesis Extender 1.4”

Retina Ready Logos: A New Dynamik Feature

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Retina Display

With Dynamik Website Builder 1.4.2 hot off the presses I thought I’d take a moment to share one of the new features found in this latest version of our flagship product.

This new feature gives you the ability to easily add a “Retina-Ready” (High Definition) version of your site’s logo, ensuring a crisp and clear rendering of your brand on high definition displays. From iPhones to iPads to MacBook Pros to Google’s HD tablets, your logo will take full advantage of those extra pixels instead of becoming blurry and pixellated. Read more “Retina Ready Logos: A New Dynamik Feature”

Dynamik Website Builder 1.3: New Default Design And More Responsive Than Ever

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iPhone Dynamik 1.3 Demo Page

The Dynamik Website Builder and Genesis Extender 1.2 update was all about the Custom Options, providing several new powerful tools to display your content and structure your pages and posts. But Dynamik 1.3 is ALL about design, both in the “defaults” department as well as the way it responds to tablets and mobile phones.

Our main emphasis with 1.3 was to not only completely redesign the default styles of Dynamik (check out the updated Dynamik Demo Site), but to refine and enhance both the options that already existed as well as add any necessary options to bring it all together. Previous features like the various mobile menus have been completely reinvented to provide the best possible experience for both the developer as well as the site visitor. And a few new design options have also found their way into Dynamik to provide the end-user with an even more complete package to build their latest custom WordPress websites.

If you’d like to play around with the updated Dynamik Demo site in terms of viewing on various devices you can check it out on the Screenfly tool found over at QuirkTools.com. Read more “Dynamik Website Builder 1.3: New Default Design And More Responsive Than Ever”

Create A Custom Home Slider In Minutes With Genesis Extender

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This tutorial walks through the simple process of creating a Custom Home Slider for your Genesis Child Theme using the Genesis Extender Plugin. All that’s required is the Genesis Framework, your favorite Genesis Child Theme, the Genesis Extender Plugin and your favorite WordPress Slider Plugin (we used Nivo Slider, but any solid Slider Plugin will do the trick).

Note: I just realized that in this screencast I typed -website-box-shadow instead of -webkit-box-shadow. I just wanted to make it clear that I’m aware it’s not -website-box-shadow. 🙂 Read more “Create A Custom Home Slider In Minutes With Genesis Extender”

Dynamik Website Builder vs. Genesis Extender

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We get this questions a lot:

“What are the differences between Dynamik Website Builder and the Genesis Extender Plugin?”

So to answer this just one last time we’ve created this post. The above screencast tells you all you need to know, but let me layout the main points below: Read more “Dynamik Website Builder vs. Genesis Extender”