Category: Web

  • Always get a head start – Why should you start your blog with a coming soon page?

    Always get a head start – Why should you start your blog with a coming soon page?

    One always wonders how to start off their site. The simplest thing to do is to prepare, design and then in the end just make it go live. While this is what most people do (create a site and immediately jut make it go live), it is not the most effective way of starting a website.

    When you are finished with the creation of your site, you should first want to create a sort of “hype” when the site is supposed to go live. That is why you need a coming soon page which will create a build-up of fans who are going to come and visit it on day one!

    And that, ladies and gentlemen, is where a coming soon page comes in handy!

    What is a coming soon page?

    A coming soon page is especially a site that consists of a single page. In this page, you can establish your social media accounts, what you are about, and you can add a sort of timer which will countdown when your site is going to go live. With it, you will also be able to establish a brand well before the brand has come out. 

    It will also increase your footprint on search engines like Google or Bing. To be more accurate, you will be getting their attention in hopes of starting off your SEO.

    Stats and analytics

    There is also the purpose of analyzing your audience before they start going through your site. Some plugins can offer you analytical insight into what your audience is about, which browsers they are going to be using and from which device they are going to be visiting your site from. This allows you to further prepare and polish your site taking into accounts such stats. For example, you might notice that a lot of your visitors are using mobile phones to visit your site. With this knowledge, you can then invest more time in optimizing the mobile version of your site in order to accommodate your visitors visiting your site through mobile devices.

    Social media

    The other thing that people forget is your social media accounts. With a coming soon page, you can increase the number of subscribers on your social media accounts by a large margin. If you promote your social media links on the coming soon page and vice versa, you will gain a large enough following in all spheres. This will make promoting your future blog that much easier. 

    It is a simple concept to understand, and if you do it properly you can reap the benefits within a couple of minutes of your site going live.

    Get subscribers sooner

    The coming soon page is also a great way of receiving additional subscribers to your blog well before you have posted any content. The trick is to create the coming soon page to look as professional and as clean as possible. It has to draw attention and curiosity from your visitors to ensure that they will come along when it goes live.

    A coming soon page is also a great front for trying to find potential customers or future advertisers. If you can promote the concept of your product well enough (in this case a blog), you could be selling your product before the launch itself.

    Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode

    This is a great plugin if you are planning on creating a simple and professional coming soon page or maintenance mode page.

    The real beauty of it is its ease of use and the user-friendliness of the layout builder. If you have some time to spare, or if you really want to customize the coming soon page, then you should go to the layout builder. With this powerful tool, you can simply drag and drop features and design boxes to the page to further customize it. It is that easy. You just drag and drop elements in and out until you are happy with the overall design. You can add in things like text, videos, a countdown clock and multiple other elements that will give you absolute control over all of your preferences. The way it accomplishes this is that it supports Elementor, Beaver Builder and, of course, Gutenberg. 

    If you want to change anything with additional pictures and so on, you are free to do so. You can change the background of the entire coming soon page by adding your own images or you can choose any picture from the Unsplash depository (that is something like 100 million images for you to choose from). Heck, if you don’t like how the images are coloured or so on, you can simply add filters to the images before they are added to the background (in the ranks of Instagram filters).

    Now, the coming soon page and maintenance mode is not made to just be a single page site which you use for hyping a site or informing your users that the site is under maintenance. It is also a great tool that allows you to check the stats and see what’s cooking up under the hood. You can track where the hits are coming from (country, which browsers are being used when viewing your site, which devices are visiting your site and so on).

    The plugin also comes with a couple of powerful SEO features that do the job very well when it comes to analyzing the SEO of your site. This can come in very handy since it removes the need to install additional plugins that deal with the optimization.

    Once you have established your coming soon page, you can integrate the plugin with autoresponders like Zapier or Mailchimp. This feature is signed with convenience if you’re going to be receiving a lot of new people subscribing to your newsletter or something of the sorts, and you won’t have the time to respond to all of them. With an autoresponder, the visitor who has subscribed to your newsletter will immediately receive an email thanking them and letting them know when a new product will be coming out (or blog posts if that is what your site is about).

    Early access for clients is another neat little feature that allows you to show the site being built before it gets published. This is a great feature if you are creating a site for a client who wants to be present in the process and have insights on how the project is progressing. You just give them a “Secret Access Link” with which they can access the site to see how it is coming up.

    Rebranding

    The last thing that I’m going to mention is the rebranding feature of this plugin.  The newly introduced brand feature is an awesome addition to a plugin that is already packed with great tools and features. 

    So, the question is: Have you ever wanted to redesign (rebrand) a plugin which you have installed on your WordPress website? Well, the main reason why you would want to do this is to add that additional touch of finesse. It is always a nice addition when you can add your preferred colours to a plugin in which you are going to be spending a lot of time on.

    Before this, the plugin used white labelling which essentially removes all logos and colour schemes from the plugin. This is essential for some companies since they do not want other people’s logos and colours anywhere near their site, or even on the plugins that they are using.

    There are many things that you can rebrand, like the name of the plugin, the plugin’s short name, the URL of the plugin’s site, the company name, the site of the company and you can add additional notes that are only visible in the dashboard.

    Conclusion

    At the end of the day, it really is much more beneficial for your site to have a coming soon page, no matter what your site is about. It creates brand awareness, it gives you insight on your future visitors, it boosts your social media accounts and it is super easy and fast to set up!

  • Pay Attention to these 7 Branding Elements When Creating a Website

    Pay Attention to these 7 Branding Elements When Creating a Website

    Do you want a powerful website that rewards your business by attracting customers?

    Then you need to make sure your website has the right branding elements.

    The only way of ensuring that your website has the right branding elements, one must have a clear and concise branding sense. Don’t have a background in branding? It’s totally fine. If you’re a business entrepreneur belonging to a different professional background and you’re still eager to market your business the right way in the online world, here are some branding elements that are essential for every website.

    So without further adieu, let’s learn about these important branding elements to help you out.

    What Kind of Logo Design Have You Chosen? 

    The first and foremost branding element that you should pay attention to, when investing your budget in creating a brand, is the logo design. A logo is basically a symbol representing who or what your business is about. It is the emblem through which people will recognize your brand. At the same time, a logo reflects the values of what you’re selling on your website. So when it comes to logo designs, don’t settle for a cheap logo design service, but instead hire a professional web design company to design the perfect logo.

    Get a logo design that expresses the unique quality of what business values you have.

    What Colors Are You Leveraging in Your Website? 

    Another important branding element that one must address is the type of colors they will choose to adapt when they are planning to create a website. While, there are plenty of colors which they can use when it comes to website designing, but the right mix will grab the attention of the users. Once again, a color sense isn’t something that you can expect from everybody; hence, it is important that you receive insights from a visualizer first who can express which colors would go best with your product/service.

    Based on your service/product, a visualizer can express what colours will bring out the best in your service because they have spent years in studying colors and design elements to understand what may work best for you.

    Hire a visualizer or usually when you hire a web design agency, they always have one on their team.

    Is the Typeface of Your Website Readable Enough?

    Just as much as the colors and design of your website is important, it is also important to pay attention to the typeface you will use to make your website stand out from the rest. Branding of your business also depends on the primary typeface that you are about to use in your website. The wrong typeface will result in creating readability issues which can easily navigate your target audience to alternate site options.

    While, having a secondary typeface is not a bad option, make sure that the secondary one you choose appears in contrast with your primary typeface. Only then your website will stand a class-apart from the rest. Focus on the main fonts, (primary typeface) and make sure it equally compliments your brand values

    If you won’t then there’s a high chance that people will not consider going through your website.

    What Kind of Images Are You Planning to Put on Your Website? 

    Next, you need to address what sort of images you are planning to put on your website. There are several approaches you can take; for instance, you can use photography (everyday shots) or you can use a custom image; you can use a sprawling background-scenery to consume the overall space, or you can simply go for a packaged thumbnail view, it’s all up to you!

    Whatever images you think will work wonders for your website, go for it. Employ the best photographs and images that speak the same language that your customers understand. When choosing images for branding purposes, make sure they do complement your brand or if they are non-relative, then there’s a high chance people choose to walk away.

    The right photos will leave quite the impact on your viewers so make sure you cherry-pick them.

    What Kind of Graphic Elements are Used in Your Website? 

    When designing a website, another factor that one must focus on is introducing the right graphic elements throughout their digital website. These elements should be strategically placed within your site and should reflect the best views. You can choose things like apertures, patterns, and other stylistic images which can add the perfect flair to your website design. Do you know that many website brands end up producing an entire library of elements which are greatly used for internal and external purposes?

    The right graphic elements will ensure your website adds the perfect brand value to your digital business.

    Use a Single Voiceover All Across Your Website

    Now here’s a common mistake from the branding perspective that many website owners commonly make. They use multiple voiceover artists to create separate audio/video content to put up on their site. This is not a good practice because it sends quite the wrong impression on the people who are visiting. Instead of choosing multiple voiceover artists, it is best that you employ a single one who is capable of representing your brand in the best possible manner. If you’re able to do that, then you’re well on your way.

    So there you go, here are the 6 important branding elements that I believe every website owner should consider when creating a website for his/her digital business.

  • How To Test Out Any Plugin Or Theme On Your Website Without Risk Of Malfunction

    How To Test Out Any Plugin Or Theme On Your Website Without Risk Of Malfunction

    You’re setting up your own website? Fantastic, the wide audience is ready to be reached, and the list of potential clients is getting longer and longer. However, in order to be successful, your website has to be functional and visually appealing. A good idea alone is not enough if its implementation is not on a certain level. To make your website functional and useful, things like WordPress themes and plugins have to be utilized. 

    Choosing the right theme is very important, but it’s often not an easy decision to make. You can choose between plenty of free themes, but when you include the premium ones into the mix, things get even more engaging.

    Don’t dismiss the premium themes just because you have to throw in a few bucks – they often have whole crews working on them and can really boost your website and make people want to visit them again and again.

    Fortunately, there are specialized places where you can easily obtain premium themes and learn all about them, so invest a bit of time and do this simple research before your website takes off.

    Plugins play an equally important role, if not even more so. Many of them have actually become indispensable to any website that’s looking to make a name for itself and are indispensable when it comes to creating any kind of strategy too. Therefore, you would do well to have those ready to go when your website launches.

    These must-have WordPress plugins really set the tone for the overall impression you leave on a visitor and make your life a whole lot easier, and some can even help your website work better and faster.

    Add  WP Reset to the concoction

    Yes, indeed – the community of people working on all sorts of plugins and themes is absolutely massive and very active. Because of that, you are more than likely to come across something (more like many things, to be honest) that will spark your interest and seem to be a good fit for your website. Like any responsible website owner, you will want to test them out, which means you will have to install them and see how you perform.

    This is where a potential problem arises because not all plugins work equally well and not all affect your website in the same way. Maybe there’s a glitch in some of them since they are often created as a passion project. Or maybe you realize that you have too many of them and want to wipe the slate clean and start anew with assembling your array of plugins and themes. Instead of manually having to check every single plugin and fix whatever needs to be fixed the long way, WP Reset allows you to get back to the starting point with a single click.

    Where that starting point is depends on you – you can choose the “nuclear” option to wipe absolutely everything or just get back to the point when everything worked perfectly for you. This is done through snapshots which record the status of your website before anything new is added, so WP Reset functions as a perfect safety net for whenever something goes wrong. You can actually save these snapshots on places like Google Drive or Dropbox so that you’re even more certain nothing can go wrong.

    Set up a website in a flash

    But this plugin works both ways. Not only can you delete things with a click, but you can also reverse the process and install them in a heartbeat.All users also have the option of creating lists of their favorite themes and plugins so that when they’re starting out with a new website they can simply click on a button and have everything they’ve previously used to appear almost instantly there too. Think of the time you can save this way if you have or are planning on having multiple websites!

    You can see how this can be useful, right? As a matter of fact, this is a fantastic tool for people who are overseeing and maintaining websites professionally – webmasters, web-developers, that sort of thing – although it’s also simple enough for anyone who’s just getting started with optimizing their site and adding new functions there, too.

    Mind the images

    To further diminish any risk of malfunction or simply to allow your website to breathe easier and run faster, here’s one more tip – be mindful of the images. You don’t want some huge pictures taking up precious loading time or being uploaded in the wrong format. Don’t you just hate when something like that happens and the mistake is so simple that you don’t see it and instead go digging through the code which may end up causing more damage than benefits to your website?

    To solve this, though, you don’t have to look for a premium plugin or even pay for anything. ResizeMyImage will help you optimize the image you want to upload however you want, and you can actually get quite a few good tips from them on their blog. In just a few clicks, you’ll have the perfect visualization for your website.

    Conclusion

    Making changes and adjustments to your website is an inevitable part of the process. Those tasks can truly be delightful considering the progress that you can make, but it does take a lot of caution since a few wrong buttons clicked can cause severe damage.

    That’s why it’s always necessary to have a few handy helpers by your side that will always watch your back and ensure that your website remains safe and sound.

    Now it’s your move – work your magic and let the experiments begin!

  • How To Spot If Your Website Is Hit By Malicious Redirect Malware

    How To Spot If Your Website Is Hit By Malicious Redirect Malware

    Have you found that your WordPress has started redirecting to another website recently? In most cases, this means that your visitors are being redirected to obscene or spam websites and this is the result of being hacked. If this has happened to your website, then it is absolutely crucial that you fix it immediately. 

    Thousands of different WordPress hosted websites have been infected with malicious code and JavaScript in the past months, with a dramatic spike in January. These hackers exploited vulnerabilities found in a number of different plugins on WordPress sites, with the most popular being the Contact Form which is used alongside PayPal. 

    Whether it be an outdated software, weak password or a flaw or glitch in a currently installed plugin, hackers use these gateways to gain access to a vulnerable website. Once the hackers have accessed the website, they are then able to flood the site and code with JavaScript so that it sets off numerous spam redirects to fraudulent sites where visitors are then tricked into inputting their personal information via “survey for gift” schemes, which then installs the infected malware. 

    Unfortunately for site owners, the JavaScript used by these hackers is then able to make further changes to any existing WordPress files by using the /wp-admin/theme-editor.php extension. This is a way of adding further malware, such as PHP backdoors and hack tools so that they can maintain unauthorized access.

    How to spot if your website has been affected

    If you have noticed this happening on your website, then this is, unfortunately, a result of your website being hacked. If this has happened, then it is vital that you try your best to solve this issue immediately and take back control of your website. 

    If you are pressed for time and need to also clean up your website, then there are some automated malware removals which can do this, but in order to stop this from happening again in the future, you need to understand what has happened and why. 

    The security of your website is important and particularly more so if it is hosted on WordPress. This is because WordPress is a popular hosting choice for many websites, with around 35% of all worldwide websites being hosted on there, so is a popular choice for hackers. According to a recent study, 90% of all WordPress websites have been infected with malware. 

    How do hackers cause a website to redirect?

    There are a few tricks which hackers use in order to get access to your website. Some of the most common ways are:

    • Adding themselves as a ghost admin onto your website
    • Changing the homepage URL
    • Adding malicious malware onto your WordPress database and files

    In most cases, visitors will find that there are being redirected to another website before they land on the homepage of your website. The tricky thing about these kinds of hacks is that they can lie unnoticed and dormant on your website and unless it is bought to your attention, you might be hacked for quite some time. 

    If you have noticed that your website is redirecting, then you need to rectify it immediately, Redirects can have hugely damaging impacts on your website and your visitors and can lead to very severe repercussions. 

    Why you should worry about malicious redirects?

    A malware hack which causes redirects can lead to severe and sometimes irreversible damage to your website for a number of reasons.  

    Your SEO will be affected

    It is no easy task to get your website ranking on search engines and can take a lot of time and effort. Once your website is hacked in this way, hackers will then use your SEO efforts to cause even further damage. 

    Your traffic will drop as your visitors are redirected to malicious sites and hackers can place links inside your website, meaning that if a visitor was to click on it, they’ll be redirected. A malware hack can cause Google to penalise your site for bad backlinks, and recovering your SEO can take months. 

    Google may blacklist your website

    Google prioritises the safety and experience of users above all else. If your website is putting users at risk, then Google may well blacklist your website. Visitors who try to visit your website will be shown a warning sign from Google informing them that the website is at risk, or they will be blocked from entering the website. 

    Your brand image will be affected

    One of the worst parts of being hacked is that your brand image, which you have worked so hard to build, can be shattered in a moments notice. In the majority of cases, customers who see that a website has been hacked are very unlikely to return. 

    How to clean and detect malicious redirects

    Your website is redirecting because of the infected codes which the hackers have added. To remove these redirects, you need to find where the malware and code has been hidden and remove it. But, the issue with this is that this could be hidden anywhere, from your database, “.htaccess” file or even discreetly hidden in your uploads. You can scan your website, either by using a security plugin or by manual search, to find the malicious code.

    Manual scanning

    During a manual website scan, you may find yourself looking for known patterns of code which are often used in a malicious way. Should you find a snippet of this code, then it can be easily removed, but the problem with this method is that it will only ever match a known pattern. This part of the code can be used in a number of different patterns and can be a relatively tedious process. 

    Keyword identification

    Another way that you can search for malicious code is to search for known keywords which are commonly used within malicious code, such as “base64_decode” and “eval”. One of the drawbacks when using this method is that, like manual scanning, you can find that these keywords can be used to form legitimate code. A lot of plugins, especially on WordPress, so searching for these isn’t a foolproof plan. 

    Matching plugin files

    Another way that you can search for malicious redirects on your website is by matching the plugins you have used. Make a list of the different ones installed on your website and then download the same plugins again from the repository. Then you can match the two to look for any differences to spot where the code is hidden. This is a highly effective, but time-consuming, way to search for and identify malware. There are a number of versions of plugins and not all of these are available for public use, so modifications may have been made.

    In an ideal world, you should use a trusted security plugin to scan your site and files for malware and this should then deal with the additional task of cleaning your website too.

    Protecting your website from future malicious redirects

    By simply just locating where the malware is on your website and cleaning up the site, you are not protecting your website against any future malicious hacking attempts. It is vital that you take security measures for your website seriously so that it is protected from future hacks and attacks. There are many recommended security measures across all CMS’, which means that website owners can implement some of, if not all, of those recommended. 

    Manually implementing these measures onto your website may take some form of expertise, especially if you are not too sure as to what you are searching for. You can use some of the WordPress security plugins and features as a first measure to protect and fix your website and then get a professional to look into it further. 

    This is particularly important if you work with other businesses and websites who’s information may also be vulnerable or if you are an investor. Ideally, you should always carry out technical due diligence in these cases – remember that bad technology and practises will guarantee failure. 

    What next? 

    Moving on from your website being hacked in this way can be quite a stressful and time-consuming period, especially if your website is your means of income. You should ensure that the modification of the primary files on your website are disabled so that you can prevent any future hackers from inserting malicious files and code onto your site again. This should be done as part of your website’s best practices and security hardening steps

    If your web host suspended your account following your website being hacked and removed your website, then you can get in touch with the support team and explain the situation to them. You can send them screenshots along with any other important information which they may require. They can verify your website and, once they have the information which is needed, they will un-suspend your account. 

    Every website owner should bear in mind that having a website and presence online which can store valuable user data and information is a big responsibility and one which shouldn’t be taken lightly. Data is a hugely valuable commodity these days and is what hackers are looking for when they carry out these attempts on websites. Take time investing in your website’s security and ensure that you have reliable backups and effective security measures in place to make sure that your website is fully working. 

    Submitted by guest author: Natalie Wilson is a freelance writer for many business and technology publications. With a wide range of knowledge in the sectors, she is an avid researcher and writer in the field, taking particular interest in Northern tech brands.. Having worked with a number of different businesses, Natalie is now a freelance writer looking to specialize in the sector. You can connect with her on Twitter @NatWilson976.

  • The Difference Between Internal And External Hosting?

    The Difference Between Internal And External Hosting?

    To create a website successfully that has high volumes of conversion and increase website traffic, having a secure web hosting provider is paramount either for an organisation or an individual. But, the different types of web hosting will depend on the type of website that is being created.

    A large, corporate business website will differ from that of a small independently owned site, and so will the size and power of their website hosting needs. It is this point where many get confused as to what type of hosting is best for them to ensure the smooth running of the website once it has been built. 

    Because of this, in this article we will be focusing specifically on two different types of web hosting, internal and external hosting, helping to give you a clear understanding on which website will need these and the reasons as to why. 

    Internal Web Hosting- What is It?

    Internal, as based on the name, is a form of website hosting done in house, within the business place or offices and operated by the company. Because of the independent nature of this form of web hosting, the business will have to cover all parts of the job. Helping to ensure that the website continually runs and can be successfully used by anyone around the world. Surprisingly, it is not only about having an internal IT department, the business must have specific assets such as hardware, servers, and the correct softwares for internal hosting, with each alone being on the pricey side. 

    The types of things that the business will need to cover include:

    • Site costs
    • Technical support
    • High-quality system security 
    • Device maintenance 
    • Database control of information

    Benefits Of Internal Web Hosting 

    By hosting the website in house, the business can see quite a variety of benefits, that would not be available if done differently. 

    Complete Site Ownership

    Firstly, through an internal web hosting, the business has full control over access to the website, and everything in between this process. From the back end to all configurations, these can be chosen easily by the business, and directed in the exact way they wish. The website can be accessed and controlled 24/7, so if a new idea arises or an issue decided to spark, it can be changed quickly with no real downtime faced that could harm the traffic and potential popularity of the website. 

    No Additional 3rd Party Fees

    When hosting internally, there is no need to waste money, that would usually be spent on third-party or management, for something as simple as a phone call. Through internal hosting, the business pays for exactly what is needed, and nothing more, where they can usually get caught up in a handful of unnecessary charges if hosting outside of the business place. 

    Keeps Internal Data, Internal

    Another benefit of hosting a website internally is the promise that everything is kept in the house. From decision-making to background data implemented into the site, nothing has to leave the building, decreasing the chance of any fraudulent activity happening. 

    This way, the business can hold the decision to how high they would like their site security to be, giving them the confidence to control as they wish, without any worry of outsiders getting into the system. 

    External Web Hosting

    External web hosting is slightly different from internal, quite clearly being its opposition. External web hosting is done by a third-party source, outside of the office, providing a business with the service needed to run a website successfully, without the hassle of having to do it themselves.

    Benefits Of External Web Hosting

    Price Points 

    External website hosting is the preferred method for many, due to its simplicity, price and usual good deals on offer open to new businesses joining the service. When hosting externally, the business has no need to purchase extensive IT devices, or even a team to take control of the website, which can take a huge toll on company accounts, each costing a large sum within itself.

    Technical Support

    All of the external web hosting services will come with a technical support team at hand, 24/7, to aid their clients when the website begins facing some running troubles. In some cases, problems may never arise if the hosting service is continually up to date with client site checks. But if they were to arise, the support team is on hand to fix the issues as quickly as possible. 

    Easy Upgrade

    Unlike internal hosting, when hosting with a third party business, the service is usually brought within plan sizes. This will allocate the business site with a specific amount of data, network, and overall quality of the service given towards a website, depending on how well the business is wanting it to run. 

    If in time the business grows, and they need to adapt the size of the site, or the running speed and data sizes, they can simply upgrade the package to get more benefits out of the external hosting service, with a little extra charge. 

    Summary

    Each different types of web hosting have some distinctive differences that need to be chosen accordingly to what the business place can handle. 

    That of a slightly large business place may decide to host the site themselves to have complete control over their brand, with a size large enough to bring a quality web team into the mix to run the IT department. But, a slightly smaller business just starting out may choose the simpler route of external hosting, to ensure the smooth running of their website in the early stages of the company, without any additional performance worries. 

    Highlighting the many differences,  the choice of external hosting may seem more appealing, due to its simplicity by taking away an element of stress that some business places just cannot afford to obtain. However, for those with the money to spare, a quality rackmount server will allow businesses to host a team and department to run and maintain the website for themselves.

    Hopefully, we have answered any questions that you may have about the differences between internal and external hosting, however for those questions not yet answered, comment below. 

  • Mobile UX Design – 5 Essential Practices for Designing a Mobile UX

    Mobile UX Design – 5 Essential Practices for Designing a Mobile UX

    Everyone wants to build beautiful apps that look perfect and engages the audience instantly. But very few apps achieve perfect User Experience (UX) that resonates with their target audience. A gamut of apps falls short of the excellence they need to deliver just because of not following the critical UX principles or not evolving with the UX standards and design practices.

    Here we are going to explain the key principles and practices to help mobile app developers to create standout UX.

    Use Custom and Motion Graphics

    Being visually attractive and engaging at a glance should be the primary design objective. To achieve this, there is no dearth of visual experiments and tweaks, but some visual elements remain the winner among the visual design experiments. The custom graphics and motion graphics in recent times have emerged as effective and highly efficient design elements for countless successful apps across the niches.

    When you use custom graphics instead of stock photos, you give your app more visual relevance. Moreover, you can also incorporate a sense of humour or different visual twists with custom graphics. On the other hand, stock photos are like run of the mill visuals that lack depth and context most of the time.

    In the same manner, motion graphics and animation can further add engaging visuals to your app and can ensure better visual engagement of the users. Animation and motion graphics can also deliver an informal look and feel. As the 5G technology is going to launch in 2020, more apps with these attractive visual experiments are about to come. 

    Give Utmost Importance to Button Design

    Creative UX designer designing screens for mobile responsive website development with UI/UX. Developing wireframe sketch layout design mockup on smartphone screen. Image Credit

    Button design in the context of the mobile UX plays a very important role. In respect of achieving maximum traction with the CTA buttons, it is important to follow the developer guidelines of the respective platforms.

    First of all, buttons should look like the buttons and follow the convention. This is why, from size to colour to contrast; every aspect of the button design really matters. The appropriate size of the button helps the users to tap on the buttons easily while the extra-large size can only make the visual clarity suffer. Opting for a balanced button size as per the guideline of Apple iOS and Android is important.

    When it comes to shape, a button shape can differ from one platform to another. For example, Android buttons can be designed as flat and raised from the surrounding by following the material design principle; while for iOS flat button design is the convention.

    Now, for choosing the colours for the buttons, you need to make sure that the buttons look actionable. Proper use of colour based upon the niche and appropriate contrast can play a vital role in engaging more audiences who will end up clicking the buttons.

    Users like familiarity and they associate some colours with some niches and actions. This is why you need to choose button colours that intuitively tell them about the action to take and the course of steps to follow.

    Minimalist Design

    It is true that across the vast majority of the successful mobile apps, minimalist design right now dominates simply because of the ease of use this design principle offers to the users. The main factor behind the popularity of the minimalist design is the demand for visual clarity and dislike for clutter. No wonder, most apps either marginally or in a fully-fledged manner need to conform to this design principle.

    A clutter-free simple design with a lot of white space helps reduce the visual distractions and while helping users to settle their attention on the app content and functions they need. Moreover, the minimalist design prioritizes the content and visual elements to give byte-sized content at a time and thus helps to avoid cognitive overload.

    Stay Focused on User Objectives

    The goal of a person using an app can be a lot different than the person accessing the same content or function through a desktop website. Since mobile app users mostly try to get away with the content and functions that can be accessed at a glance, the user interface and other design elements should help them stay focused on what they need at a particular context or situation.

    For example, when the user needs to order something or get road directions, the app should exactly allow him to do the same without any delay.

    Boost Personalization

    Finally, for great user experience, any app needs to allow scope for personalization as much as possible. As today’s mobile apps, thanks to a host of innovative and cutting edge technologies, can personalize a lot of visual elements and UX attributes, personalization became a must-have UX design element that every app needs to incorporate.

    Personalized UX design will help users get access to content when and where they need depending upon the context. Personalization also helps users get what they want without being exposed to distractions and cognitive overload.

    For example, while using a banking app, if the user isn’t interested in all menu options, he should be allowed to customize the menu options and select favourite transactions to help them use the app most of the time.

    Conclusion

    In the years to come, mobile app user experience is likely to be more fluid, user-centric, and context-focused. The above principles only help you design mobile app UX with these attributes. 

  • How to Create a Custom WordPress Login URL

    How to Create a Custom WordPress Login URL

    During the installation process, WordPress creates two default login URLs. I’m sure you’re already familiar with at least one of these, but the two are:

    • wp-admin.php
    • wp-login.php

    This happens during every WordPress installation. Given that these repetitive login URLs are a potential security risk (more on this later!), it’s somewhat surprising that WordPress doesn’t give users the option to create a custom login URL, don’t you think?

    Well, even if WordPress doesn’t allow you to customize the login URL by default, it is perfectly possible to do so. If you’ve ever wondered how to change the default URLs, read on, as I’m about to show you!

    Why Should I Change the WordPress Login URL?

    Before we begin, though, let’s take a look at three reasons why you might want to create a custom login URL.

    1. Protect Against Brute Force Attacks

    Security is undoubtedly the main reason for webmasters to change their login page – changing login URL protects against the most common type of website security breach, a brute force attack.

    Now, brute force attacks involve exhaustive “guessing” of login credentials until the correct combination is found. This means a brute force attack needs to crack three variables to succeed:

    • Username – don’t choose something obvious, like “admin.”
    • Password – again, avoid the obvious and go for a complex password.
    • Your login URL – the gateway to the WordPress dashboard.

    In other words, when you continue to use the default login URLs, wp-admin and wp-login, you leave yourself more vulnerable – a hacker only needs your username and password to access your site. When you change your login URL, you are making the bad guys work significantly harder.

    It’s also worth pointing out that, even if an attacker can’t correctly crack your login credentials, they can still use a lot of bandwidth in their attempts. Moving your login page combats this problem.

    2. Hides WordPress Vulnerabilities

    Despite powering one-third of the internet, the WordPress platform isn’t perfect. Like any software, WordPress is never 100% immune from bugs and vulnerabilities.

    On one hand, the size of the WordPress community means we have lots of good people working hard to fix any problems. On the other, and largely because of the number of websites covering WordPress news, any security vulnerability gets a lot of press. When news of a known vulnerability breaks, the malicious hackers instantly know where your defences are potentially weak.

    By changing your login URL, you’re protecting yourself against a tell-tale sign that your site uses WordPress, thus distancing yourself from any known problems. This alone won’t keep you safe, of course, but it’s an easy place to start.

    3. Rebrand the Entire Login Screen

    If you run a WordPress-powered membership website, your visitors/customers probably access your content via the login screen. When they’ve paid good money for access, the default login screen is, well, somewhat underwhelming, right?

    The same applies to the login URL – non-WordPress users might also be confused why you’ve gone for wp-admin or wp-login in your URL. It’s not a huge problem, but the devil is in the details, right?

    To solve this problem, many webmasters prefer to switch the default login screen for something more aesthetically pleasing. Hence, they design a custom WordPress login page, complete with a brand new URL.

    How to Change the WordPress Login URL

    With the motivations covered, now it’s time for the practical stuff: In this section, I’m going to walk you through the necessary steps required to customize the WordPress login URL.

    As you’ve probably guessed, this can be achieved with the help of a plugin. There are a number of plugins up to the task, including:

    Today, I’ll be demonstrating how to use the latter: WPS Hide Login. The plugin is super-lightweight, so it won’t slow your website down.

    The plugin doesn’t delete the default URLs; it simply makes them inaccessible. Instead, users will access the WordPress admin via your newly created URLs. This is advantageous as, should you wish to delete the plugin, your website will return to its former state with the default URLs.

    Let’s start by installing the plugin. From the WordPress dashboard, navigate to Plugins Add New > search for ‘WPS Hide Login.’

    It should be the first plugin returned. When you’ve found it, click Install Now Activate Plugin.

    A quick word of warning: as soon as you hit Activate, the plugin will block access to the default login URLs – wp-admin and wp-login. The plugin will change the login URL by default to www.example.com/login. Remember this in case you get locked out. And, as soon as you’ve changed the login to your preferred URL, make sure you take note of it. You will not be able to access your website the standard way.

    That warning might sound scary, but it’s just precautionary. I don’t want to be responsible for anyone getting locked out of their website! Fortunately, the plugin is really easy to use.

    The next (and final) step is to navigate to Settings General. Scroll to the bottom of the screen and you should see a WPS Hide Login section. In the blank field, write your desired WordPress login URL. Then, hit Save Changes.

    Hey, presto! Now, when I attempt to access the default login URLs, my access is denied. Instead, I see this:

    But when I try to visit my chosen login URL, I see the familiar old login screen. And that took, how long to configure? All of 30 seconds?

    It’s also worth pointing out that your new login URL can cause problems if you’re using a caching plugin. To solve this problem, the plugin developer states that you should “add the slug of the new login URL to the list of pages not to cache.” This isn’t necessary for WP Rocket users, as the two plugins are already fully compatible.

    Want More Security?

    It’s worth noting that simply changing your login URL won’t improve your website’s security. It just makes your site harder for the bad guys to detect.

    If you want a plugin with lots of impressive security-enhancing features and functionalities up its sleeve – as well as the ability to customize the WordPress login URL – look no further than iThemes Security Lite.

    A dedicated security plugin like this offers comprehensive all-round protection, which gives you some much-needed peace of mind. And, as one of the best all-in-one security plugins around, I can recommend downloading iThemes Security for a multitude of reasons – you can also consider upgrading to the premium version if you want even more features.

    If you wish to change the WordPress login URL using iThemes Security, here is a quick tutorial. (Because of all the extra security features, this plugin is “heavier” than our first plugin, meaning speed-conscious webmasters might prefer to use the WPS Hide Login plugin. As such, I have presented it as an alternative, rather than the only option.)

    As with before, let’s start by installing and activating the plugin.

    iThemes Security is a far more advanced plugin than WPS Hide Login. Changing the URL is just as easy, but it requires you to sift through a lot more settings to get there. Navigate to the newly created menu item, Security Settings. Next scroll down to the Hide Login Area section, around two-thirds of the way down the screen. To speed things up, the drop-down go to menu on the right of the screen allows you to quick-jump there.

    Check the Enable the hide backend feature box to expand the section. In the Login Slug field, write your new custom login URL. You should also leave the Enable Theme Compatibility box checked – it does exactly as the name implies! Finally, click the blue Save All Changes button.

    Again, remember to note down your new login URL, as you will no longer be able to use the old ones.

    Final Thoughts

    That concludes today’s tutorial. If you’ve ever wondered how to customize the login URL, well, now you know! Best of all, using the plugins featured in today’s post, you’ll find the process to be quick, easy, and painless. If you have any questions, ask away in the comments section below, and we’ll do our best to help!

  • How to Improve Your Website Security

    How to Improve Your Website Security

    Websites are easy targets for hackers and adequate security is crucial in order to not only protect the site itself, but also any personal or business data.

    Here are some practical tips to improve your website security:

    Hosting

    As a technical minded person, I can honestly say even I get confused and baffled by the world of hosting. But your hosting company is your first line of defense and how secure your site is depends on the type of hosting you have.

    This of course is made harder by the huge choice of cheap hosting. However, the cheaper options more often than not mean you are sharing your space with tens, hundreds, if not thousands of other sites and, if one of them does something untoward (SPAM anyone) you’ll also be burdened with the consequences.

    Not to mention the potential of being infected by a virus. So choose wisely.

    Password

    Password strength is something that is very often neglected, but is a vital first line of defense. A good method is to have several difficult passwords for different logins…

    • Bank
    • Blog
    • Email
    • Online Subscriptions

    The ideal password should contain a mix of lowercase, uppercase, numbers and special characters, by doing this you can use names and numbers to create complex and memorable passwords. For example, a wife’s name and date of birth could be:

    Helen1983

    H3l3n_*_1983!

    Here’s a link to check how secure your password is: https://howsecureismypassword.net/

    Essential Plugin

    There will always be attempts to break into your blog. If you have a WordPress blog there are several plugins to stop these attacks, the easiest of which is Login Lockdown. This simple plugin limits the amount of times someone can attempt to log into your blog before blocking them completely.

    Updates

    This is another simple yet all too often overlooked part of managing a blog. For those running a WordPress blog you will have seen the update plugin and update WordPress warnings. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not ignore them, these aren’t merely updates to some functionality issue or some additional feature; more often than not these updates contain security patches which if not updated will leave your blog open to attack! So please check your blog and keep it updated.

    Security

    How often have you gone for a coffee, logged into the free WIFI and typed away the username and password?! Did you know that someone could be snooping and picking up your passwords? My advice would be avoid public WIFI if you need to login to your site.

    Further Measures

    Please note that multiple plugins can and will slow down the speed of your site, so do take care when loading them on your site. However, as with your home PC, a firewall serves as a layer between your site and the outside world.

    These plugins require a little more than a basic install and activation, but they are worth considering:

    WP Simple Firewall:

    http://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-simple-firewall/

    This is a simple yet effective plugin. It is relatively new and the lack of a premium upgrade catch makes this one a good plugin to test and secure your site with. Note that if you do install this, you can uninstall Login Lockdown.

    Dealing with SPAM…

    Spam can slow your site down and fill your comments area with garbage! For this I would recommend one of two plugins:

    1. Akismet

    Built in wordpress plugin. Requires you to register a WordPress account.
    https://wordpress.org/plugins/akismet/

    2. Anti-Spam

    Another simple and effective plugin that works really well at minimising spam.
    http://wordpress.org/plugins/anti-spam/

    Hopefully these tips will help you improve your website security.

  • Google My Business: The Hows and Whys of Getting Your Business Listed

    Google My Business: The Hows and Whys of Getting Your Business Listed

    If you’re like me and you have a WordPress website that promotes your business or service, then you’ll always be on the lookout for new ways to get targeted visitors to your site. In this article are going to look at one such way and that is Google My Business.

    For anyone promoting themselves and their services online, there has never been a better time to be doing so than now. With so many different channels available that can send potential clients and customers your way, the hardest part of generating traffic today can be choosing which method to implement next.

    While focusing on SEO and ensuring you’ve done all you can to increase the visibility of your website in the search engines should be your first priority, after that, you’re spoilt for choice.

    From paid advertising, content marketing, guest posting, social media marketing, and a whole host of other options, there’s always something new to try. I would recommend though to hire a professional company for SEO services since SEO is much more complex these days.

    However, most of those channels for generating more traffic are ongoing and that means your work is never done. Nevertheless, there is another way you can attract more visitors to your site that you might’ve overlooked. That is adding your website to Google’s recently launched My Business service and it’s something you can do today, and then check off your list.

    In this article, we’ll explain the purpose of My Business and how it ties into Google’s new strategy. We’ll also walk you through the process of getting set up on Google My Business. This will help you to start getting more targeted traffic to your website and increase the number of ways you can be found online.

    As well as this being something you can implement for your business website, it’s also another value-adding service you could offer your clients. So let’s get started and find out how to get featured on Google My Business.

    What is Google My Business?

    How your website and listing could look across Google

    From the mouth of Google, My Business enables you to connect directly with your customers. Due to the unparalleled reach of Google and their services, plugging into the My Business network means your customers and clients can now find you more easily through Search and Maps.

    Google My Business doesn’t just serve traditional businesses with a storefront. You can also sign up and instead of listing your business address, add the area you serve or just details of your brand.

    We all know the importance of being ranked prominently in the Google search engine. It’s by far the most popular search engine out there today. Depending on who you ask Google has between 70% and 89% of the global search engine market share – something that isn’t predicted to decline anytime soon.

    However, when it comes to getting noticed in the search engine results pages (SERPS) there’s more to just working on your search engine optimization and aiming for a top spot in the regular results. As we’ll now see, by signing up with Google My Business, there are more ways to be found and connect with your target audience than ever before.

    What Happened to Google Places?

    My Business is the replacement service for Google Places for Business. It’s a key part of their attempt to simplify the process of harnessing the power of the Google suite of tools to get more traffic to your business. This means that Google Ads, Insights, Maps and Search are all closely tied into My Business, making it easier to use and more powerful than its predecessor.

    Benefits of Being on Google My Business

    Right, let’s take a look at some of the benefits of engaging with My Business in order to get a better sense of what this Google service has to offer you.

    Better Search Visibility

    Stand out in the SERPS

    Ever wondered why some businesses you search for are featured in a high-visibility panel that lists their information, right next to the regular search engine results? This isn’t anything to do with paying Google through their PPC Ads service. Instead, it’s a result of being on My Business.

    Once you’ve been included in the service, your most important info will be on display right away, with the rest of your content only a click away from those searching for you. You’ll still be listed in the regular search engine results, but now you’ll also take over the right-hand column, giving you even more exposure.

    Put Your Business on the Map

    While no longer being the world’s most popular smartphone app, Google Maps is still accessed on over half of all smartphones in the US as of July 2019. Apple is making great strides with its own mapping app, but there’s no doubt about the current popularity of Google Maps.

    Therefore, it’s vital that your business – or those of your clients – is listed on the Google Maps platform.

    Google My Business gives you an easy way to verify your business and get it added to Google Maps. Now your customers and clients can find their way to you much more easily. They’ll also be able to view information about your business and check out your ratings and reviews.

    Display More Useful Information

    Once you’ve taken the necessary steps to complete the integration process, useful information about your business will be readily displayed on Search and Maps.

    This business information can include a description of your business; hours of operation; directions; busy periods; and the all-important call now button which are displayed for mobile users.

    Google My Business is fully mobile responsive

    As Google is fully committed to the mobile revolution, your listings will be as easy to access on smartphones and tablets as they are on notebooks and desktops. Your audience will see the same information as they switch devices, delivering a consistent user experience before they even get to your website.

    Another Chanel of Communication

    By creating a My Business profile, you’ll be opening up another new interactive channel of communication with your target audience and existing clients and customers.

    Easily update your listing from anywhere

    How to Get on Google My Business

    Ok, so now that you’re convinced of the need and benefits of being on My Business, let’s look at what you have to do to join the party.

    Sign Up

    Firstly, you’ll need a Google account. If you’re already using a service like Gmail then you should be good to go, if not sign up here.

    Choose Your Listing Type

    Choose the right type of listing for your business

    If your business has physical premises or a storefront, then choosing this listing type this is the best option. But what if you’re an online-only business or operate from a home address? Alternatively, perhaps you serve your local area, but just don’t work from a standard location and instead go and visit your clients and customers. In these cases, you can use the service area or brand options.

    Add your business details

    Whether you want to create your listing with a storefront location or just a service area, you will need to create a business listing first. Once you’ve added your business you can then choose not to display your physical address if that information doesn’t need to be made public.

    Do you operate remotely?

    If you don’t want to display your business address, you can instead enter the area you serve. To prevent your listings from publically displaying your business address, check the box that states that you deliver goods and services to your customers at their location. Then uncheck the box that states you also serve customers at your business address.

    Set the area your business serves

    The service area is a flexible feature of Google My Business. It allows you to enter whole cities and zip codes that you serve, or set a custom radius from your business location.

    Once you’ve completed those steps you will need to verify your business listing to prove your address. Depending on your business type, this usually takes place by mail verification.

    While you are waiting for your postcard from Google, you can get started on setting up your business page. This gives you an opportunity to build out your profile and add your contact information, hours of operation, and upload a selection of photos.

    Make any necessary changes

    Thanks to the new integration features of My Business, through the dashboard you can start promoting your listings with AdWords Express right away. You can use the pay per click service to ensure you listing shows up in more places than it would otherwise. However, this isn’t essential, as by simply having a listing, you’ve already created a new way for your target audience to find you.

    Drive traffic with easy AdWords integration

    Once your account has been verified, you can find out how often your listing has been viewed through the Insights tool. As a verified account holder, you can also read and respond to reviews left for your business.

    Creating a Brand Page

    If you don’t have a physical location that you want to publish and you don’t need to enter a specific area that you serve, the best listing type for you is a brand page.

    When creating a brand page you can get started by entering your details, before verifying your account. You get a few different options for verifying your account, with the default choice being by SMS or a call to your phone.

     

    Create a brand page instead

    Once you’re, in you can create your brand page and start populating your profile with information about your brand and the services you offer.

    View your brand page

    Managing Your Google My Business Listing

    After creating your My Business profile, you have plenty of options for managing your listing. You can do this through the My Business online dashboard, on either your desktop or mobile device. Alternatively, you can download the apps for Android and iOS devices.

    Get the mobile app for management on the go

    These mobile apps make it easy to stay up to date with and respond to customer reviews; update your business details, such as a last-minute change in opening hours; upload photos straight to your listing, and view the Insight visitor analytics data.

    If you are on the go and need to respond to customer queries, feedback, and reviews in near real-time, these apps and their notifications can really help you out.

    Integration with WordPress

    There are a few plugins out there for integrating your Google My Business listing with your WordPress website. However, the best of the bunch seems to be the freemium Google Places Reviews plugin.

    Google Places Reviews plugin

    This plugin gives you the ability to display reviews that have been left on your Google My Business listing in the sidebar and other widgetized areas of your website. You can also embed these reviews into your posts, pages, and other content by using the included shortcodes.

    While the free plugin does get the job done, if you want the ability to filter the reviews that are displayed on your site by their star rating, then you will need to upgrade to the pro version. This commercial version of Google Places Reviews is available from $37.

    By using a plugin like Google Places Reviews, you not only get an easy way to add some social proof and credibility in the form of customer reviews, but it also adds an easily accessible link to your Google My Business listing.

    Following this link gives your visitors a quick and straightforward way to view your listing and location on Google Maps – if you’ve set one in your profile. To really make your listing stand out amongst the competition, you will need to acquire as many positive reviews as possible. Any method that gives you an easy way to send visitors to your Google profile page is welcome.

    Final Thoughts

    Hopefully, you can now see the benefits of engaging with this recently updated service from Google. Getting on board with My Business gives you more opportunities to be found, connect with your audience, and send more targeted traffic to your website or offline premises.

    It’s a free service from a market leader and it’s very easy to setup. What more could you ask for?

  • Top 5 Changes in Asp.Net 5 and MVC 6

    Top 5 Changes in Asp.Net 5 and MVC 6

    large variety of changes have been incorporated in Asp.Net 5 and MVC 6. Asp.Net 5 is rebuilt from scratch for the support of modern services and Web applications.

    It is cross-platform; open-source and works both on the cloud as well as on-premises. Asp.net 5 is considered as the most significant release of Asp.Net over the history of .Net framework.

    Following are the top 5 most changes made in Asp.net 5 and MVC 6.

    1. Asp.Net on Linux and OSX:

    The applications of Asp.Net 5 can be executed on Linux as well as OSX along with Windows. It opens Asp.net to an entirely new audience of designers and developers.

    Traditional Asp.net had professional developers and designers working in a cooperative manner in the Windows machines. However, startups make use of Linux/OSX.

    Enabling application development on Linux/OSX will change everything. Designers and developers can build their apps with Asp.net 5 in their favourite environments like WebStorm and Sublime Text without any difficulty.

    2. No Web Forms and Visual Basic:

    The Asp.Net WebForms are no longer the part of Asp.net 5.  However, it is possible to create apps of Web Forms in Visual Studio by targeting .Net framework 4.6. But these apps cannot take any benefit of the new features in Asp.net 5.

    Asp.Net 5 supports only C#. There is no support for Visual Basic.

    3. Support for Client-Side development-AngularJS, Grunt, Bower, Tag helpers:

    AngularJS is considered as the most significant client-side framework for creating Single Page Applications (SPAs). The templates of Visual Studio version 2015 contain the controllers, directives, modules and factories of AngularJS.

    Another important feature in Asp.Net 5 is the tag helpers. These have greatest impact on creating views in Asp.Net MVC application. Tag helpers can be used in much better way as compared to the MVC helpers used traditionally.

    The new form element in Asp.net MVC 6 has only the HTML elements. As an example, instead of the Html.TextBoxFor () tag helper, it uses the INPUT element. A new attribute asp-for has been added in Asp.Net MVC 6. The main use of these elements is to extend elements with the server side functionality of Asp.Net MVC.

    Moreover, Asp.net 5 gets lots of love from front-end developers because it supports Grunt (Gulp). GruntJS is a kind of task runner that allows developers to create resources such as CSS and JavaScript files.

    As an example, GruntJS can be used for concatenation and minification of JavaScript files while performing a build.

    Many GruntJS plugins are available for performing different tasks.

    Two package managers beyond Nuget need to be supported for supporting GruntJS. Since the plugins of GruntJS are distributed in the form of NPM packages, Microsoft has added support for the same.

    Also, Microsoft has added support for the Bower multiple client-side resources are distributed via Bower.

    4. Unified Web API and MVC Controllers And View Components:

    The Web API controllers were different than the MVC controllers in other versions of MVC. The MVC controller makes use of the System.Web.MVC.Controller class while the controller of Web API uses the System.Web.Http.ApiController class.

    In case of MVC 6, only a single controller class is used for both the Web API and the MVC controllers. The only class available in MVC6 is Microsoft.Asp.Net.MVC.Controller.

    An IActionResult is returned by controllers of MVC6. It may be used as a view when an MVC controller is used. IActionResult may be used as data in case a controller of Web API is used. Moreover, both the Web API and the MVC controllers use same routes in MVC6. Developers can make use of both attribute routes and the routes based and convention and can apply them all controllers of the project.

    MVC 6 no longer contains the subcontrollers. Instead, view components have been added in MVC6.  Previous releases of Asp.Net MVC make use Html.Action () method for invoking a subcontroller. However, the Html. Action helper method is not contained in MVC6 version.

    Rather, an alternative technology termed as View Components is used for the same. View Components are similar to the subcontrollers which have always been odd. They presented as they were actions of controllers but actually they were not. View components seem to be more natural.

    5. Asp.Net Dependency injection and xUnit.net:

    Asp.net 5 has support for the pattern of Service Locator as well as the dependency injection. That is, now there is no need to depend on third party frameworks of dependency injection such as AutoFac and Ninject.

    With the help of dependency injection, the developers just need to declare the required dependency in constructor and it will be passed in with the help of Asp.Net 5 framework.

    However, before it is implemented, one extra step needs to be performed. It is needed to register dependencies in the startup object to inform Asp.net about the same. As soon as a FooService, BazService and BarService is registered, the framework will realize the need to create a BazService and BarService for constructing FooService before it is passed to the controller.

    Moreover, the Visual studio testing framework no longer exists in Asp.Net 5. Rather, it contains the xUnit.net framework for testing purpose.  Two attributes known as [TestMethod] and [TestClass] were used for describing a unit test in unit testing framework.
    However, the xUnit.net framework in Asp.Net 5 makes use of the [Fact] attribute rather than [TestMethod] attribute. No [TestClass] attribute exists in this framework.

    An example of code snippet using xUnit.net framework is shown below.

    public class Tests
    {
    [Fact]
    public void SumofNumbers ()
    {
    // Arrange
    var testcalculator = new Calculator ();
    // Act
    var result = testcalculator. SumofNumbers (1, 1);
    // Assert
    Assert. Equal (result, 13);
    }