Wow, it’s been quite an eventful week here at Critiqal – and it’s only Tuesday! Not only did we update the site design once again, we apparently did it just in time for the new version of WordPress!

This week, we decided to share some of the best plugins we use on our site, and the ones we think should be included in any WordPress install.

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So, you’ve read Tip #2: Adding IFilm Video To Your SideBar – The Easy Way and you’ve got a question: But what if I want to add my own videos too? Don’t worry, we’ve got your answer right here…
Converting Your [...]

Critiqal – now available in 11 languages, all thanks to a little WordPress Plugin called – appropriately enough – Language Translator.

I’ve been a big fan of the IFilm.com website since I first ran across it, and wanted a way to add it to the sidebar. Of course, I had a few goals in mind:

1. It has to be easy. I don’t want to be messing around with code every time I want to add a trailer to the site.
2. It has to be foolproof. I don’t want to have to worry about typos.
3. There should be a message if there is no video, rather than just a blank.

With those rules in mind, I came up with the following 2 step process…

When I first was looking to update the site to it’s current snazzy look, I definitely had a few changes in mind. The first and foremost was to provide some sort of “Update” section to let visitors know what had been recently changed/added, etc. Thanks to the new tabs in the sidebar, I had a spot for these updates…now the only question was how to get the changes to show.

As Heather pointed out to me the other day, I always seem to decide to start a site redesign at the most inopportune times. The last one, back in July, kicked off just a few weeks before our wedding. This time around, it’s close to the holidays, and we are busy finishing up the last of our shopping, sending a whole ton of presents via those friendly folks at our neighborhood UPS store, and preparing for a visit from relatives. What can I say? When the urge to redesign overtakes me, I can’t seem to stop it.