Cobalt Apps Community Blog

Why I Hated NodeJS, Gulp, And Sass, And What I’m Doing About It

By Eric HammMarch 18, 2019March 18, 2019

It’s becoming increasingly difficult to tout yourself as a true “Pro” in the WordPress web development scene without some form of contact with these NodeJS powered package managers, task managers, and build tools. We’ve gone from debating our favorite code editors to arguing over which CSS pre-processor is king. Life was so much easier when all we had to deal with was a simple folder filled with CSS, PHP, and JS files. Or at least that’s what it feels like until you realize you’re being left behind, pining over the best practices of 2012.

Top 10 Reasons Why Instant IDE Should Be In The Toolbox Of Every Freelance WordPress Developer

By Eric HammJanuary 29, 2019January 28, 2019

I developed Instant IDE a little over a year ago as kind of a fun side project where I got to experiment with a lot of development concepts that aren’t really possible when working on more traditional WordPress Plugins. Actually, Instant IDE itself is not a WordPress Plugin at all, but it’s Instant IDE Manager that is the Plugin, which makes deploying Instant IDE a snap, but we’ll get to that later on in this article.

Comparing Our Products Just Got A Lot Easier

By Eric HammJanuary 24, 2019January 24, 2019

Over the past few years we’ve really branched out in terms of the WordPress Frameworks we support with our Themes and Plugins and just the overall WP DEV Tools we provide our members. And in this time we’ve received requests to offer some kind of comparison chart to make it a bit easier to determine which tools are best suited for your particular needs.

So today I’m excited to share with you a Cobalt Apps Product Comparison Chart that will hopefully clear up any future confusion when potential customers are making up their minds over all that we offer. So be sure to check it out by clicking HERE and let us know if you have any questions or comments below that might guide us making it even more helpful to our visitors.

Individual Lifetime Licenses Are Now Available!

By Eric HammAugust 14, 2018August 19, 2018

I’m excited to announce that we now offer lifetime licenses for all of our current Cobalt Apps products! The All Access Lifetime license, which includes access to ALL of our products, current and future, has been available for quite some time now, but now you can purchase lifetime licenses for individual products as well. This means, for example, that if you use our Dynamik Website Builder theme for a lot of your DEV projects, but maybe don’t currently have a need for ALL of our tools, you can now purchase (or upgrade to, in this case) Dynamik Website Builder Lifetime. This will give you a Dynamik license that provides support and updates for the life of the theme, with no more need to renew a yearly subscription. This can be especially useful in cases where you use one of our tools for client sites where you know you’ll be leaving that tool on their site, but don’t want to have to worry about renewing your license each year so they can continue to receive updates. Read more “Individual Lifetime Licenses Are Now Available!”

Calling All Dynamik Users! The Dynamik Skin Store Is Here!

By Eric HammJuly 26, 2018July 30, 2018

I can’t wipe this smile off my face. I’m serious, I’ve been grinning for the past week. 🙂 And not just because I’ve been anticipating the launch of this awesome new Premium Dynamik Resource, but because I’ve really had a re-birth of appreciation and excitement regarding this amazing website building theme! I know, it probably sounds corny, but I’ve been like a kid in a candy store with this thing. And what’s crazy is that I haven’t pushed out any new update or anything like that for Dynamik, but have simply re-connected with all that makes Dynamik awesome. And I think the reason for this is because the Skin aspect of Dynamik really provides the foundation for all of the other built-in DEV tools. In other words, if you’re working with solid Skins then you’re already ahead of the game with Dynamik itself.

This is where my excitement for this new Dynamik offering comes into play. Here I get to dedicate some of my web development time to essentially pre-package my expertise into high quality Premium Dynamik Skins. And I’m doing so over at the Official Dynamik Skins Store! There you will find the beginnings of efforts to provide our Dynamik members with the very best design starting points and hopefully helping those Dynamik Freelancers up their game and increase their revenue. I know how much time really is money, and these Skins should save you a ton of time! Read more “Calling All Dynamik Users! The Dynamik Skin Store Is Here!”

How To Add Footer Widgets To The Freelancer Framework

By Eric HammApril 20, 2018April 20, 2018

There are various ways to go about doing this, including using a Page Builder Plugin or using a DEV Tool like our Extender Pro Plugin, but in this tutorial I’m going with the basic custom coding approach so you can see how this all works at the foundation code level. And in this particular tutorial I’ll be creating 3 horizontal Widget Areas, but you can easily tweak the code provided to alter this configuration (i.e.. adding or removing Widget Areas). Also note that in my prep work for this tutorial I used our Freelancer DevKit Plugin to implement this code, but you can do so however you prefer. Read more “How To Add Footer Widgets To The Freelancer Framework”

All New Pricing And Bundles At Cobalt Apps!

By Eric HammApril 17, 2018

With the release of our latest WP Dev tool, Genesis DevKit, I’m happy to announce that we’ve made some notable price changes to account for our all new product bundles as well as to make our tools even more packed with value! You’ll notice that most of our latest Plugin offerings have been reduced to $49/yr and our All Access bundles have dropped a bit as well. In addition to these price changes you’ll now find two new product bundles, Cobalt Power Pack and Cobalt Coder Pack! These bundles offer an excellent set of WP DEV tools at a really solid price to provide the perfect Plugins for Freelance Developers of all skill levels! Read more “All New Pricing And Bundles At Cobalt Apps!”

Genesis DevKit: The Ultimate Genesis Child Theme Development Plugin

By Eric HammApril 17, 2018

That’s a BIG claim, I know, and not one I take lightly. Genesis is one of the most prominent and trusted WP Theme Frameworks out there today with a massive following of both users and 3rd party developers. I’ve been one of such developers for several years now and am keenly aware of the needs of both newcomers and seasoned freelancers alike. It’s a passion of mine, if not a bit of an obsession. 🙂 Read more “Genesis DevKit: The Ultimate Genesis Child Theme Development Plugin”

Introducing The Freelancer DevKit Plugin

By Eric HammMarch 26, 2018

If you’re at all familiar with my products then you know that I try to find a solid balance between “user-friendly” and “best-practices”. My goal is generally to provide tools that make WordPress Web Development more accessible to a larger set of users, while at the same time keeping the end results professional and high quality. I always keep in mind the fact that there’s a good chance that either a business or a client will be on the other end of what our members produce with our tools. So anything less that top-notch is unacceptable. Read more “Introducing The Freelancer DevKit Plugin”