We’ve looked at a wide variety of industries when choosing sites for awards, but one thing we hadn’t yet considered was the reseller world. Since many resell small businesses are solopreneur operations, it took some time to find a few we felt had excellent website designs for the purpose they were intended. Back on the Rack Consignment Boutique offers a minimalistic look that appealed to us here at Designerly.

With over 1.8 billion websites in the world, it’s tough to narrow down which site we want to feature each month. Narrowing down niches helps considerably and we love to feature small businesses others can start and take toward success. 

It took us some time to narrow down the options to one winner. First, we chose resell businesses. We then moved to clothing categories. Finally, we narrowed down the options and chose the design we liked best that also functioned in a way that was easy for users to interact with. 

Winner: Back on the Rack Consignment Boutique 

The world of consignment resale shops is forever changing. Stores open and close. Inventory fluctuates. Prices rise and fall. However, with some people feeling an economic crunch, buying second hand has become more appealing. 

Many want to buy previously owned items to reduce their carbon footprint. A reporter for Medium took a look at whether reducing consumption of new clothes saves the environment. She reported that the majority of clothing manufactured today is made of polyester or acrylic, taking around 70 million barrels of oil to produce them each year. Buying previously loved items saves the direct consumption as well as pollution during the manufacturing process. It also saves you money. 

We chose Back on the Rack Consignment Boutique for our award because their site features the clothes in beautiful images. It also has a strong navigational and search system, features latest arrivals and makes ordering online simple. 

What Does Back on the Rack Consignment Boutique Do Differently?

Everything about the website is minimalist. Even the About Us page gives a short rundown of the owner, how she got into women’s pre owned fashion and the store hours. To the right is their address, phone number and a map to the store. 

The store got its humble beginnings on eBay about 20 years ago. Today, they have the one location and sell directly to their customers in sizes extra small to 3X. They carry clothing, shoes, handbags and accessories. 

Rather than taking everything brought to them, as a thrift store might, Back on the Rack Consignment Boutique schedules appointments for large batches of clothing or takes 10 items at a time. They inspect each piece to ensure it looks like new and give a preference to designer labels. 

The attention to quality ensures every item in the store speaks to one of the customers entering or shopping online. With more people seeking ways to shop without leaving their homes, they put many of the items on their integrated Shopify store to help people order the items they love most. The store has a no return policy, so people should only buy items by makers they know their sizing in or they’re willing to take a chance on. If it doesn’t fit, you might be able to resell it, but you won’t be able to take it back. 

Why We Chose Back on the Rack Consignment Boutique as Our Site of the Month

If the overall design aesthetic speaks to you as it did to us, you likely see why we chose this one as our Site of the Month. 

Minimalism

As mentioned before, we love the smooth, clean lines of this design. Ample white space puts the focus on the clothing being featured. 

Navigation

The number of navigation options are limited to a handful. It is clear where the user should go to access various areas of the site. Categories include:

• Schedule an Appointment 
• About Us 
• Shop 
• How to Consign
• Contact

The focus is on the calls to action (CTAs) moving users toward the site goal of shopping. 

Social Media

Even though it is only a link on the website, the company has an active Facebook page that pulls the audience in and keeps them updated on new arrivals and hot items. They use their story to share new pieces, including the size and brand and a link to add it to the shopping cart. 

Mobile Responsiveness

The site and their participation in Facebook stories makes the site extremely mobile-friendly. People can order with a single click on the social media photo. The site itself sizes nicely for smaller screens without losing any of its minimalistic qualities. 

Beautiful Images

It would be easy for a smaller business to take quick snapshots of low quality. However, this site takes the time to stage the photos and create lovely images that pull the reader in. The mix of colors and close-up views of various features on each piece make it useful to shoppers. 

Frequent Updates

The owner uses the social media page and the website to post fresh arrivals every day and sometimes several times a day. This keeps the content fresh and engaging for those visiting. People are more likely to get in the habit of checking back frequently to ensure they don’t miss anything. 

What We Would Do Different

There isn’t a lot we’d change about the Back on the Rack Consignment Boutique website. The simplicity of the layout and categories makes it easy to use and find what you’re looking for. 

One thing we might change is adding in a bit more detail to the About Us page. The owner is the personality behind this brand. She’s almost always in the store when one goes into it. Her personality shines through the products offered and the social media posts. Adding some details about her and a photo would be beneficial without overwhelming users. 

We’d also love to see some style tips where she shows ideas for putting together an outfit using various pieces. The tips could be general, such as that wide-legged pants look great with this type of top since the inventory changes frequently. 

We truly loved taking a look at resale sites and finding one with such a stellar design. There’s a lot to learn about creating a small e-commerce or brick-and-mortar retail store by studying this website. 

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Every month, we choose a site to receive our coveted Designerly design award. We’ve looked at e-commerce stores, government websites and hotels. This month, we narrowed our options to the financial industry and finally chose to look at banks, which led us to the vivid colors and intuitive design of Old National.

The color blue isn’t a new feature of bank websites. Forbes Advisor reports nearly eight in 10 people in the U.S. are concerned about whether their bank is sustainable. Since blue is a traditional bank color and promotes feelings of trust, it makes sense for physical and digital banks to include the hue in their designs.

It took us a while to choose the winner for this particular category. As you might imagine, there are thousands of banking websites and the majority of them have some shade of blue in the design. However, we finally landed on Old National because of the navigation, simplicity and user flow.

Winner: Old National

Banking is changing fairly rapidly, with more and more fully digital banks entering the scene. Younger generations are more open to a bank without a single physical branch. Even though, Old National offers both online and in-person banking options, they seem to be on the cutting edge of intuitive design.

We chose them as the winner of this month’s award due to their business to many (B2M) approach that covers categories such as personal, business and digital banking.

What Does Old National Bank Do That’s Special?

As you dig through the “About Us” section of the website, you’ll see that Old National lays out a number of things they care about, such as embracing ESG considerations to try to be inclusive and environmentally conscious.

They share that they are the sixth largest bank with headquarters in the Midwest. They have around $48 billion in assets. They pride themselves on the relationships they form with their clients.

The company dates back to 1834, making it one of the oldest institutions in the country. The bank offers a statement about helping local communities by working on community development projects and offering grants.

Their branches offer personal banking options, including:

• Checking
• Savings
• Home Loans
• Personal Loans

They also provide business banking and offer:

• Small Business Banking
• Commercial Banking
• Treasury Management

Their digital banking features

• Zelle
• Mobile Check Deposit
• Bill Pay

The bank likely has something to suit just about any potential client, so it makes sense they’d represent all these features on their website. What makes their site stand apart, however, is the ability to easily navigate between areas.

Sadly, one of the Louisville branches was hit with a tragedy in 2023, when an armed shooter went on attack.

We want to make it clear that while our hearts go out to the bank staff, our decision to choose Old National for site of the month was based solely on the user friendliness of their website.

Why We Chose Old National As Our Site of the Month

Narrowing the choices down from a long list of possible banks took some time. We decided we wanted to focus on a website that offered areas for each buyer persona and would include personal and business banking at a minimum.

Since digital banking is so popular, we also wanted to select a bank offering digital options for its customers and an app they could download for their on-the-go banking needs. ]

Navigation

The navigation at some banking websites gets bulky. With Old National, they break selections into three main categories and then further subcategories under each.

Color Palette

When you look at what the color blue evokes, you find it elicits trust. It makes sense for a company that takes control of your money to use a color that makes users feel they are capable and reliable.

They also add a pop of yellow to grab attention and give the site a unique look that’s different than their competitors.

Trust Indicators

It’s crucial that the audience trusts a banking website. Old National includes some trust factors that pull the user in. In the footer, they include that they’re a member of the FDIC and an Equal Housing Lender. This shows potential customers their money is guaranteed.

Fresh Content

One thing that drives traffic to a site and keeps users coming back is adding fresh content frequently. Old National features a number of articles on topics of interest to the audience. For example, they talk about money myths, debt consolidation and low down payments to get into your first home.

Calls to Action (CTAs)

The CTA buttons on the website guide the user through the buyer’s journey. By using the pop of yellow to draw attention, the designer makes it clear what next steps people should take.

In addition to sharing the opportunity to get details on a high savings interest rate, they also have CTAs that read, “Open a Checking Account,” “View Savings Rates” and “Ask” to interact a database of frequently asked questions and answers.

Mobile Responsiveness

Old National edged out the competition because of the streamlined look of their mobile site and their app. The site narrows down to the function at hand, making it extremely user friendly for small screen users.

The mobile version focuses a bit more on the image carousel but the buyer has no doubt what their next move might be.

What We Would Do Different

Old National is a study in traditional design and modern conveniences. While users will appreciate the layout of the desktop site, the mobile site scales everything down and serves a different role.

If we were going to change one thing about the website, we would make it easier to find the resources the site offers. There are numerous tools, calculators and articles on crucial investment topics. We’d probably put an area right on the front page to showcase the latest articles. It might be a bit different than some banks, but it highlights the knowledge this one has.

Overall, Old National created a user-friendly design with rich colors that pull the customer in. Study the site to learn how to serve multiple audiences at once and still give them all what they need.

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Each month, Designerly looks at a WordPress plugin we think might interest our small business owners or designers. Some of the programs we choose are Open Source and free to use. Others are commercial or have a Pro option that expands capabilities. One of the most popular shopping cart options for online businesses is WooCommerce, so we decided to dive into it and report back to our loyal readers.

WooCommerce works if you sell products online and need a complete inventory system capable of integrating with other software. It is also a good match for digital service. You could even use WooCommerce to deliver free information such as white papers. Let’s look at what the plugin does and how it can help grow your small business.

WooCommerce Top Features

WooCommerce has 4.5 stars out of five on WordPress.org. Some of the more positive reviews say the product has excellent customer support and it is easy to learn. Some of the negative comments include lack of easy translations to other languages and the cost of add-on products. 

The basic version allows you to start selling out of the box. If you want more advanced features, you’ll have to upgrade. Some of the available upgrades include:

• Payments from extended third-party providers
• Optimized checkout 
• Personalization
• Marketing

WooCommerce offers a number of extensions. For example, if you run a hair salon, you might want to pay $249 and add on the Bookings feature. Your clients can book appointments right on your website. 

What is most exciting about WooCommerce is the number of features built into the free version. While you might have to pay for an extension here and there to meet the specific needs of a client or open up better relationship management, you can get started on a shoestring and scale up at any time. You will need your own domain name and hosting with a WordPress installation to get started. 

Some of our favorite free features of WooCommerce include:

• Free themes (Pro themes available for a fee) 
• Upload inventory, images, specifications 
• Integrate with some third-party payment apps 
• Set shipping

You may have to work around some limitations with the free version, but you can certainly get started. There is a slight learning curve with how to input things for your store. The best way to learn is to experiment with various inputs and then see how it looks on the store page. 

How to Install and Configure WooCommerce

We’ll cover the “get started” basics in this article, but to really embrace the many ways you can utilize WooCommerce, you have to put in time experimenting and trying different methods. You could also hire someone experienced with the plugin to get your inventory online.

You can install WooCommerce from your WordPress Dashboard or download it from WordPress.org or WooCommerce.com. Installation is fairly straightforward. The setup takes a bit more work. There is a fairly steep learning curve to figure the ins and outs of WooCommerce out. We’ll hit on the basics.

Step 1: Settings

In the left sidebar of your WordPress Dashboard, hover over “WooCommerce.” A popup box appears. Click on “Settings.”

This is where you’ll fill in information about your store, such as the address, phone number and currency options. Depending upon whether you sell a service or physical goods, you may need to fill in shipping details, too. Under the “Products” tab, you can choose the page you want your shop to be on, cart behavior and choose a placeholder image.

• Direct bank transfer 
• Check payments 
• Cash on delivery
• PayPal

The “Emails” tab lets you set up where confirmation emails and new orders go. You’ll want to completely test the system, as some servers create issues and you might not receive new order notices. You may have to troubleshoot with your server to figure out where the issue lies.

Step 2: Add Products

Your next step is to add products to your shopping cart.Although you can get quite fancy with your inputs and add custom fields, we’re going to look at the bare essentials to get a few products added and open shop.

The more you play around with the system and try different things, the better you’ll understand how WooCommerce works and be able to accomplish what you most need. 

You will find the button to get to the products area just under the word “WooCommerce” on the left side of your dashboard. Click on it and a page will open with options to add, import or export. Click on the button that says “Add New.”

You’ll notice the layout for adding a new product looks very much like a WP post page. You’ll add it to a category of your choosing, add in the title, description and so on. There are two sections. One appears next to the image you upload (first section) and the other below. You can use both or only one. You might want to try different techniques until you hit on the one that makes the most sense for your needs.

Under the “Product Data” section is where you’ll input the price of your item, insert sales prices and click on the tabs for any advanced features such as adding attributes. For example, if you sell a blouse in pink and blue, you could add the different options under the “Attributes” tab.

The Complexity of WooCommerce

As you can see, there are a lot of different features with the free option. The best way to learn the ins and outs of the software is to jump in and see how things look as you add test pages. For example, you’ll want to both a featured image and a product gallery image. Failing to add to the gallery means your shop page will have blank spaces instead of images.

Play around with WooCommerce and you’ll soon pick up on how to make your product pages look exactly the way you want. The plugin offers a complete, out-of-the-box solution that works well for those on a shoestring budget. It can also scale up as your inventory grows.

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A sitemap is your site’s major and minor pages laid out for automated browser software to decipher. We decided to look at sitemap generator plugins and landed on XML Sitemap Generator for Google.

Website developers often overlook sitemaps as part of their marketing strategy. Yet, Google states a sitemap helps them understand files such as videos, images and news articles.

If you want to appear in search results, a site map lets the browser (and others) crawl your site and index your pages. XML Sitemap Generator for Google is a simple plugin that does the heavy lifting for you. Let’s look at its capabilities.

XML Sitemap Generator for Google Top Features

The sitemap generator plugin has a 4.8-star rating out of five stars on WordPress.org, with over 2,152 reviews. More importantly, the support forum is responsive. For example, at the time of writing this article, someone had posted a question and received a response in under 48 hours. 

An active support forum means you may find the answer to your question already in the files. If not, you can post asking for help and someone should respond. 

Some of the elements we appreciated in this plugin included:

• Free under the GPL 
• Translations available 
• Tutorials on how to submit your site map
• Generate HTML, RSS and other types of sitemaps
• Custom configuration options

You might notice in one heading, the tool is called Google XML Sitemaps and then listed as XML Sitemap Generator for Google in another. We will call it the longer name because that is how it is listed in the Plugins tab of the WordPress dashboard. 

How to Install and Configure XML Sitemap Generator for Google

The easiest way to install the plugin is via the WordPress dashboard

Log into your website’s dashboard. Navigate to Plugins/Add New. Search for XML Sitemap Generator for Google. The plugin will pull up. You want the one authored by Auctollo. Click the “Install Now” button. 

Once the software downloads, click on “Activate.” 

Open the Program

You’ll find the program under the “Settings” tab in the left sidebar. Hover over it and a submenu appears. XML Sitemap appears near the bottom of the list, depending on what other plugins you have installed.  Click on the words and the program page appears. 

Customize the Settings

The creators of XML Sitemap Generator for Google say it is perfectly fine to leave your settings alone and go with what they’ve already defaulted to in most cases. Should you wish to customize, you can choose or toggle on and off the following options:

• Notify Google about updates 
• Add sitemap URL to virtual robots.txt 
• Increase memory limit 
• Increase execution time 
• Add subdirectories 
• Exclude some categories or pages

You can also add subdirectories and make other refinements. Unless you are familiar with the settings or received help from the support community, it is best to leave the settings as they are.

Finished Sitemap

Keep in mind that the sitemap the program generates initially won’t stay the same. As you update your site and add content, your sitemap continuously changes. You’ll want to either automatically or manually notify search engines of anything new. 

Will You Rank Higher in Search Engines?

Creating a sitemap alone won’t help your SEO. However, you’ll have a better chance of being discovered by search engines and included in their search engine results pages (SERPs). 

You must still embrace good SEO practices. Consider the 88,225 advertising agencies in the United States and you can imagine how many websites you might be competing with to grab user attention. Anything you can do to up your rank and grab attention helps. 

At a minimum, a sitemap gives you a chance to index the various sections of your site. Users will be better able to find exactly what they need when seeking a page via the browser. When traffic is more relevant, it’s much more likely you’ll gain users who might make a purchase.

A sitemap also gives you a blueprint to ensure you’re using the best navigational hierarchy possible. Most sitemap generators, including XML Sitemap Generator for Google, give you an HTML map option. Site owners can use the layout to double check everything is where it should be and come up with new categories and ways to organize their pages.

You can also use the map to ensure you don’t have any huge gaps in information. Look for big topics you might not yet have covered and compare to what else is out there. 

When Should You Install a Sitemap?

Now is always the right time to add a sitemap to your website. Search engines can start indexing pages not already in their system and you’ll show up in relevant results. XML Sitemap Generator for Google is an excellent tool to help you achieve this and is easy to use, even for beginners with no coding experience. 

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Finding the best designs imaginable is a fun task each month. We start with a wide net, narrow things down to a design or industry category and then compare features and aesthetics. We wanted to find a site with an immersive shopping experience this time. After perusing different ways to engage customers, we decided to narrow things down to e-commerce stores and we fell in love with Bloomingdale’s 150th anniversary celebration theme. 

Engagement could be the thing that separates your store from thousands of others. When someone lands on your page, give them a reason to stay. Entertain, educate or direct them to the next step in the buyer’s journey. 

The longer you can keep someone on your page, the more likely they will buy something. People tend to remember and share sites that are unique and serve a purpose. 

Winner: Bloomingdale’s

Revenue in the e-commerce industry will increase to $1.4 trillion by 2027. Finding a way to stay fresh in customers’ minds is tough. 

With the upcoming and continued growth of e-commerce, expect sites to do more and more to stand out. They’ll tap into new technologies and feature things such as the immersive shopping experience Bloomingdale’s added. 

We chose them as our winner because they held our attention. We kept browsing around to see what products were featured, find the three elements for their game and because it was almost as much fun as a simulation game. The design was like a cross between virtual reality, where you step into a new world and walk around, and the 360-degree view videos real estate agents use. 

What Does Bloomingdale’s Sell?

The retail giant has been around for decades but is best known for clothing and accessories. Lyman and Benjamin Bloomingdale founded the luxury department store chain in 1860 in New York City. They started with a small bazaar on the east side of the city and expanded from there. Today, they have over 54 different locations. 

The brand has always been and likely always will be about cutting-edge fashions of the day. They continue that tradition by offering designer clothing in stores and online. 

Some of the brands you’ll find in their stores include: 

• Alexander McQUEEN
• Botkier
• Charles David 
• Cartier 
• Dolce & Gabbana 
• Marc Jacobs

You’ll find everything from lingerie to outer wear to shoes and handbags in their offerings. The thing that makes them stand out from other retailers is their commitment to carrying only the highest quality in fashion and function. 

Why We Chose Bloomingdale’s as Our Site of the Month

When it comes to e-commerce stores, you might think this one isn’t anything special at first glance. They have the same types of descriptions, photos and layout as many other online retailers. Although everything is professional, the typical function of the site isn’t the reason we selected this one.

We try to choose smaller businesses when possible to highlight that anyone can learn and create an amazing website for their business. However, Bloomingdale’s immersive online shopping experience is well worth noting. We think you can learn a lot from what they’re doing. We featured Murano Glass as another e-commerce store and went into more detail about what elements to include if you feel unsure for your own site. 

The aesthetics, navigation, images and other elements are spot on for the main site, so we wanted to focus on the immersive experience and how it works. It is set up like a 360-degree interactive video. As you move throughout the images, you can click and interact, add items to your shopping bag, collect objects toward a reward and just have fun. All screenshots were collected from Bloomingdale’s website. Here is the journey:

View of the Building

As you land on the page, you are shown a view of the building. It’s clear where you should enter but you can also pan around and look at the cityscape in the virtual world you’ve just landed in. 

Double click to move forward and follow the arrows on the floor. There is also signage inside the building to point the way. 

Playing Games

As you enter the building, you’re greeted with a bubble that has an object inside of it. The object is a brown bag to signify the shopping bag you can add items to while browsing. We like the clean, crisp look of the design with a lot of white and pops of color from featured products and images.

Pop Ups

Bloomingdale’s also utilizes popups to lead the way. Note when you click on the brown bag, a popup box explains you can win a surprise by collecting three objects. As you click on them in the bubbles, the icons will go from black and white to colored. 

Adding in a task for the user to complete makes the process more interactive. Locating each item turns the journey into a game. The user only has to find three things to reveal the surprise, so they are likely to continue until they collect them all. 

Take a Ride

Bloomingdale’s makes the world quite like a VR game by adding in a shuttle ride where you see what looks like the inside of a subway or tram and you see objects moving past as though you are going to a new location. When you exit the doors, you are thrown into a unique world called Forty Carrots. 

Build New Worlds

Statista predicts the metaverse market will reach $490.40 billion by 2030, with a growth rate of almost 37% annually. People love new worlds and immersing themselves in new, fantastical worlds. 

Bloomingdale’s creates a bright, candy world where you go into a single white building and can serve yourself ice cream. The only real purpose is to have fun and show how unique their store is. You then take the shuttle back to the store.

As you continue to explore the building, you come across rooms with just a few products at a time. By featuring only a handful of objects in each location, Bloomingdale’s gives users a hyper-focus. You can add some items to your shopping bag or interact with them in various ways. 

Once you collect the three bubble objects, you unlock the 59th Street subway ride and get info on how they’ve updated their store to celebrate the anniversary. They also have a video you can watch with a custom message. 

They also use the opportunity to showcase custom items, such as a bear cookie jar, created as anniversary additions. Add them to the bag at the same time and buy them when you checkout. 

As you can see, they create a universe of their own, closely tie it to the brands they feature anyway, celebrate a big milestone and entertain consumers at the same time. We were highly impressed with Bloomingdale’s immersive experience. 

What We Would Do Different

There isn’t much to change about the immersive experience. We would encourage Bloomingdale’s to add more for different events and change the world and specials from time to time. It was so much fun to poke around the virtual building and check things out. The site kept our staff highly engaged for a good hour, which isn’t an easy task with a bunch of design-savvy users.

You could do something similar with your site by creating a 360-degree video or even just adding a game or some objects users click on to reveal various popups with surprises or information. Taking the time to build out such an engaging experience may seem tedious, but the result will be highly engaged users who tell their friends to visit your site.

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Over the past ten years, there has been a significant change in how people communicate, with many individuals now preferring different chat apps over phone calls and email. Messengers are now incredibly common and provide a lot more than just a way to send messages. Chat apps for Android offer customers a variety of communication features, including video calling, sharing, and instant messaging, to stay in touch with friends and family. Individuals choose chat apps they feel comfortable using and delete others because they use messengers on a daily basis. We created this article to highlight our selection of the top all-in-one Android messaging apps because not all messengers are created equal.

How Can a Messenger Be Effective?

No one wants to wait for their messages to be delivered; otherwise, they would have sent a letter. A good messenger must be quick and trustworthy. Also, if a program frequently breaks, its installation won’t last long. In order to allow users to customize their experience, the app should also be user-friendly, with an easy design and adjustable features.

Features that Every Good Messaging Software Must Have Crisp, Clear Voice and Video Calls

Messages don’t always express intent or feelings. In order for users to communicate with their contacts in real time, a messenger software must provide high-quality voice and video call capabilities. Everyone should be able to make free and simple calls.

Encryption From End-to-End

Another essential component of a secure messenger is end-to-end encryption. It makes sure that nobody else, not even the app’s administrators, is able to see the messages transmitted by the sender and the receiver. Users of the app who might share private or sensitive information are protected by this feature.

Security

Security is yet another crucial component. Two-factor authentication, which asks users to enter an additional code the app sends to their mobile device before accessing their account, should be a part of every messaging service. Users ought to be able to report shady behavior and prevent unwanted contact. Furthermore, blocking hazardous content, malicious links, and phishing efforts safeguards users.

Group Conversations

Users can converse with several contacts at once using group chats. A decent messenger should support a large number of users and have an intuitive interface for forming and maintaining groups. The capability to mute discussions, make polls, and share files with the entire group are other must-have group chat capabilities.

Channels

Like a virtual bulletin board, channels are a terrific way to distribute messages to big audiences. This functionality will be included in a good all-in-one messenger app, enabling users to establish and subscribe to channels of interest. This keeps users abreast of news and events.

To ensure that only the appropriate individuals may participate in the debate, it should also offer capabilities for regulating user access and monitoring conversations. Moderators should also have the ability to publish and control content on the channel.

Integration of Chatbots

User conversations are automated by chatbots, who also give them useful information. For consumers to receive prompt responses to their questions, a good messenger offers smooth chatbot connections. Additionally, it should be able to comprehend natural language and respond to queries from people with precision.

Backup and Synchronization of Data

Any messaging software must have data syncing and backup capabilities so that users may view their messages on many devices and maintain a copy of their discussions in case of data loss. Moreover, the software should offer a means to export discussions, so users may save them and view them later.

Edit and Remove Messages

If users want to correct mistakes or erase messages they don’t want to be viewed, messengers should have an opportunity to do so.

Compatibility Across Platforms

A good messenger app should also be cross-platform compatible. Users can chat with contacts who are using iOS or PC on other platforms. This makes it possible for people to communicate with their loved ones no matter what gadgets they use.

Nandbox Messenger

Story

The same firm that created the nandbox native no-code app builder, nandbox Inc., has released its first invention, the nandbox messenger. They began working on the project in 2015, and the app was released in 2016. The company developed the app to demonstrate the power of its app builder. And they succeeded in developing a capable and cutting-edge free chat app. On the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store, the app presently has ratings of 4.1 and 4.6, respectively. The app is also accessible through a web browser.

Significant Qualities

Multiple Profiles

Users of the nandbox Messenger can create several profiles thanks to a special feature. This makes it possible for you to have many profiles for various accounts, making it simple for you to swap between them. Users can upgrade the profile photo and description on their work account, where they communicate with their coworkers, for instance, to make it look more professional.

Integration of Chatbots

Businesses are increasingly using chatbots designed for instant messaging platforms to converse with clients and answer their questions. The ability to create and maintain your bot is one of the numerous capabilities of the Nandbox Messenger API/Bot. Moreover, users may select pre-set options from a menu added by bot builders. Moreover, the bot can be set up to filter and edit pointless communications.

Video and Audio Calls With Excellent Quality

Due to the use of WebRTC technology, which improves voice and video communication, and high bandwidth, which expands connection capacity, the voice and video call quality on the nandbox Messenger is great.

WhatsApp

Story

I’m sure you’ve heard of WhatsApp by now. It was introduced in 2009 and gained popularity right away, amassing 1 billion users by 2016. It was purchased by Facebook in 2014 and has since been included into its app library. It’s accessible on desktop, iOS, and Android.

Significant Qualities

Although not precisely a feature, consumers enjoy that the software is frequently updated with new features in order to remain current and technologically advanced. It demonstrates that the app’s creators pay attention to and value user feedback.

A Modern UI Layout

Whatsapp offers a user interface (UI) that is unique compared to rivals; the company always makes sure the design is up-to-date. It’s not only simple to the eye, but it’s also simple for consumers to understand. WhatsApp introduced its dark mode in 2022 for those who prefer it to the standard style.

Telegram

Story

Since its 2013 release, Telegram has grown to rank among the top messenger services worldwide. It was developed as a WhatsApp substitute, providing a trustworthy and secure messaging service. Its attention to security and privacy as well as its cutting-edge features account for its success.

Significant Qualities

Users can send messages that will automatically disappear after a set amount of time thanks to this distinctive Telegram feature. These transient messages are sent by senders to safeguard their privacy and personal information.

Adaptable Themes

Users can alter the appearance and feel of their app with Telegram’s vast selection of themes, which range from traditional to contemporary. Users can also change the text color, background, and font size.

Bots

Users can complete a variety of tasks with the help of Telegram’s extensive bot library. Using the Telegram bots, they can automate processes like setting reminders and doing searches for music, news, and GIFs. In order to meet the needs of users, custom bots can be made by bot developers.

Signal

The free and open-source messaging program Signal gained popularity after its initial release in 2014. With end-to-end encryption and an extremely secure protocol, it is renowned for placing a strong emphasis on privacy and security.

Significant Qualities of Chat Apps for Android

Obstructing Screenshots

A feature called screenshot blocking enables users to prevent recipients from screenshotting the communications they send. Users that share sensitive information, such as bank information, passwords, or personal information, will benefit from this feature.

Anonymous Keyboard

Signal’s incognito keyboard feature stops the autocorrect and predictive text functions from storing and sharing a user’s private data, such as passwords and credit card details, to outside servers. It’s an additional feature that strengthens the app’s privacy and security.

Messenger on Facebook

The official messaging program of social media behemoth Facebook is called Messenger. Since its 2011 release, it has grown to be one of the most widely used messaging platforms worldwide. More than a billion people use it.

Integration of Chatbots

Users may receive prompt responses to their questions thanks to the easy chatbot integrations in Facebook Messenger. Chatbots are computer programs that can comprehend natural language and give users precise responses to their questions.

Quick Games

Users of Facebook Messenger have access to a huge selection of instant games. Users can easily keep themselves occupied while conversing with their connections thanks to this function. Also, it’s ideal for individuals who enjoy a good challenge.

The all-in-one messenger apps covered in this article provide users with a wealth of tools and features for corresponding with friends and family members as well as a safe, private, and dependable method of messaging.

** The views and opinions expressed in this guest post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Designerly. Any content provided by these guest writers are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individuals.

The post The Best All-in-One Chat Apps for Android, According to Us appeared first on Designerly.

Some people say they hate sliders in web design. While they can bog down a site, most modern users have lightning fast internet speeds and don’t mind scrolling to the side to see additional items. MetaSlider and other slider plugins offer an opportunity to create a streamlined design when you have a gallery of images you need to share with users.

For example, an author might use a slider to showcase books in a series or their latest releases. An e-commerce store can highlight bestsellers and other companies can show off article posts or other news without taking up too much digital real estate on their site. Let’s jump right into what MetaSlider does and if it’s right for your brand image. 

MetaSlider Top Features

The slider plugin has a 4.5-star rating on WordPress.org, with only a handful of lower ratings mixed in. Some of the positive things people say about this plugin is that you can use a picture and add text, translate to other languages and the free version offers a ton of options you won’t get in unpaid options for similar software. 

One of our staff members recently tried this plugin for showcasing novels she writes. She found it to be intuitive and have multiple purposes outside of highlighting a few images. Some of the features we particularly like and think you’ll appreciate as well include:

• Beautiful templates available even with the free version 
• Compatible with Classic Editor or Gutenberg Blocks 
• Responsive to desktop and mobile Integrates with other plugins, in particular WooCommerce
• Can schedule blocks ahead of time for upcoming releases or new product arrivals

MetaSlider is a feature-rich tool that serves the purposes of nearly any industry. The numerous ways to utilize it without upgrading to a pro option make it even more desirable. 

How to Install and Configure MetaSlider

You can install MetaSlider in several different ways. The simplest option is to login to your WordPress Dashboard. In the left side panel, click on Plugins. 

Choose the “Add New” button. Search for “MetaSlider.” The software should pop up as your first option. It looks like the screenshot above. Hit “Install Now” and then “Activate.”

MetaSlider should now appear as an option on your left side panel under Tools and Settings. Hover over the words and icon for more options or click on it to go to Home for the plugin.

If you navigate to “Help & Settings,” you’ll gain access to some basic settings and a help center. You can set up things such as the base image width and height, which is crucial if you’re showcasing products with a narrow width. You can also set some other defaults so you don’t have to constantly make adjustments while building a slideshow.

The help center features in-depth documentations, free basic support via WordPress.org and a paid premium support feature where you can pay and get additional help and customizations. 

How to Build Your First MetaSlider 

To create a slider, start by navigating to the Home tab for the plugin. You can do this by clicking on the word “MetaSlider” in the left sidebar or hovering and clicking on the link to “Home.”

You’ll see a screen like the image above. Click on “Add New.”

To create a slideshow, figure out what images you want to use and then for each one, choose “Add Slide.”

You can add an image by choosing to upload, selecting something from your media library or tapping into the Unsplash library. If you want to use feeds from posts, you’ll need to upgrade to the Pro version, but it’s quite cost effective to do so annually. You can also insert a YouTube video, Vimeo or use an external URL. 

Once you choose an image for a slide, you can link to a URL, add words or descriptions and choose to open a click in a new window. On the right are some additional options. You’ll notice you can set the width and height for each individual image/slide. If you scroll down further, you have some advanced options, such as show dots to move from slide to slide or hide them, automatically move a slideshow or alignment, next arrows and even scrolling speed. 

The best way we found to learn this software is to play around with the different settings until you get the look you want.

How to Place MetaSlider Into a Page or Post

Once you’re happy with the look of your slider, you can insert it anywhere you’d like. Copy the shortcode as shown above. It is the orange text, even though you’ll see some PHP code around it. While you can certainly utilize the PHP code for a permanent header, for most uses, there is no need to highlight anything other than the shortcode or orange text.

Place the shortcode wherever you’d like. If you’re using Gutenberg blocks, you’ll want to click on the plus sign and search for “/shortcode.” The box type should pop up and you can then insert this code in place. For classic editor, simply paste the code into the position you want it to appear, either in the visual or the text editor. 

The plugin is free to install and use. With the free version, you can upload your own images or use royalty free ones from UnSplash. If you need additional features, upgrade to the Pro version to gain access to more templates, add the ability to post from your feed and access features such as inserting YouTube, Vimeo and other elements into your sliders. 

Is it worth an upgrade? If you want to have a bit more flexibility or like starting with a theme and tweaking it, then the Pro version is right for you. One site license costs $79 per year but you can often find it on sale for half off for the first year. If you have multiple sites, you can get an unlimited license for only $99.50 per year. With the Pro plan, you gain access to professional support, which is faster and more in-depth than what you’ll get on the free version. 

Test Other Slider Plugins

While we loved MetaSlider and found it highly intuitive and easy to use, there are many different options for creating a slider on your site. Don’t be shy about testing them out, but be aware that almost all require an upgrade to access particular features. Depending on your needs, you may be able to find the one that offers just what you want for no upcharge. 

As with any update to your site, we highly recommend you create a full backup before adding plugins or tweaking themes. While it is rare to completely destroy a site while completing edits, it is always a possibility. It takes just a few minutes to create a backup and can save you days of headache having to completely rebuild a site.

Why MetaSlider Won Plugin of the Month

We recently wrote a piece on best practices for carousel web design. Carousels/sliders have gotten a really bad wrap from some designers. People either love them or hate them. However, we firmly believe there is a place for the lowly slider to help you showcase certain aspects while not overwhelming the user with lengthy intros.

In a fast-paced world where it’s crucial to get to the point quickly, a carousel does just that. They say a picture is worth 1,000 words, so adding several to the top of a page has a lot of impact on users. 

One thing we’ve noticed in the last year is the number of advice articles firmly stating to never do something or always do something. Web design is much more fluid than never breaking a rule. Instead, we want our readers to know there is a time and a place for almost anything when it comes to web design. There is a time and place for sliders.

After deciding to write on this topic, it was just a matter of testing out a variety of sliders and coming up with the one that we felt hit all the high notes of usability and aesthetics. We hope you enjoy playing around with this plugin as much as we did.

The post MetaSlider appeared first on Designerly.

Designerly finds examples of excellent web design each month. Typically, we start by narrowing down options to a category, a niche within that category and then analyzing top sites. As we give out more awards, finding industries we may have overlooked becomes more challenging. This month, we decided to look at the manufacturing industry and TYMETAL became a clear winner fairly early on. 

As you can imagine, manufacturing covers everything from steel companies to recreational vehicle brands to consumer product factories. With such a broad selection of potential sites to choose from, we felt the need to narrow our options as much as possible to be fair to the sites competing for the award. 

Once we narrowed down the options to companies offering security gates and similar products, it was easy enough to select TYMETAL as the finalist. The site is aesthetically pleasing but also highly functional with excellent user experience (UX). 

Winner: TYMETAL

The Global Smart Security Gate Market Research Report 2023 shows a projected growth rate of 9.9% annually between 2023 and 2029. TYMETAL’s website design embraces the opportunities inherent in the industry and showcases why their product stands out from others of their kind. 

As the market continues to grow, more players will enter the field. We selected TYMETAL as our award winner in this category because the design should stand the test of time as technology enhances the product and the world changes. 

What Does TYMETAL Do?

Although it didn’t factor into our selection, we were impressed that TYMETAL upgraded gate security for the Georgia State Capitol. Some of the cutting edge technology they used included 3D scan site surveys and laser cut templates for exact alignment with the typography of the site. 

The company opened in 1985 and provides around 25 different perimeter security products, such as:

• Telescoping gates
• Swing gates
• Crash fences
• Vertical lift gates
• Pedestrian turnstiles

One of the things that sets TYMETAL apart is that they custom design for each client. They are also utilizing modern technology to plan and produce their security gates. Some of the things they use include robotic welding, CNC bending and special painting options. They provide gates and perimeter security for commercial properties and correctional facilities. 

If you want to see some of the projects the company has worked on, check out their gallery page. They’ve divided it into categories such as airports, government facilities, chemical plants and refineries. 

Why We Chose TYMETAL as Our Site of the Month

Choosing TYMETAL was almost too easy. Not only does the site answer every question a potential user might have, but the overall look has a minimalist quality that appeals to a wide range of users. 

Navigation Bar

The primary navbar breaks the site into key categories. What we like best about it is that as you hover over each tab, a mega menu drops down, including images and additional categories. Expanded menus give the user a chance to see the depth of what the business offers.

Studies show 94% of users prefer a site with simple navigation. The more intuitive you can make your categories, the better site visitors will respond. 

Color Palette

TYMETAL utilizes a blue and orange color scheme, which could be rather garish if used liberally on a website. Instead, they use it as accent colors and have a lot of white space to counteract the vividness of the color combination. The final result is a site that is easy on the eyes but still grabs the user’s attention.

Trust Factors

Users may not realize why they trust or distrust a site, but TYMETAL has a number of factors that put visitors at ease. For example, they list a toll-free number in the upper right corner of the site. Users can find the information and click on it from a smartphone. They also list a number of organizations they belong to at the bottom of the page, such as the American Fence Association and AISC. 

Explainer Videos

Because some of what TYMETAL does is complex, they offer explainer videos via their About page and also on YouTube. Site visitors can see a gate crash test in action, get details on detention security and gather details on how gates work even in a power outage. 

Testimonials

As a manufacturer, TYMETAL mainly works with other businesses. To showcase their clients and how happy they are with the product, they feature testimonials. People like to hear from their peers on how well something works, so showcasing thoughts from those who’ve already worked with them says a lot about the quality of their product. 

Slider

Some people will say sliders shouldn’t be used, but we actually appreciate a well-designed slider in the hero shot. TYMETAL does an excellent job of showcasing their different projects in their slider.

Users will see commercial business gates as they read facts such as how long the company has been in operation. The images include airports, logistics company facilities, custom perimeters and vertical lift gates. 

Call to Action (CTA)

The large CTA button grabs user attention above the fold. The text reads “Contact Us” to indicate they offer custom solutions to leads. When the person clicks on the button, they go to a form they can fill in and send. However, to the right are other ways to get in touch, including a toll-free number and office locations. 

Mobile Responsiveness

Since more people access the internet via their mobile devices than ever before, Designerly staff always looks at how responsive a site is. We were quite impressed with TYMETAL. Not only does the site translate well on a smaller screen, but we think it looks better on mobile than desktop. 

What We Would Do Different

When a site is as well-designed at TYMETAL, it’s hard to find something to criticize. We ran through the list of things we see in a lot of designs that can be improved. The only thing we would change is the additional menu above the primary one. It is too much and it detracts from the overall aesthetic of the site. We’d probably move these links to the footer or into one of the drop down menus and let it live there. 

We would keep the “Contact Us” CTA option but turn it into a button immediately instead of scrolling down. 

Other than one minor change, we are in love with the design of this manufacturer’s website. It’s a good one to study for ideas on how to design a B2B manufacturing website. 

The post TYMETAL appeared first on Designerly.

Website owners want to engage customers and encourage comments. However, the number of spammers and trolls can make even the most positive page turn negative quickly. If you spend more time deleting spam and moderating conversational fires than you do creating new content, it’s time to look at a tool such as Disable Comments.

We looked at another WordPress plugin called AntiSpam Bee in the past. With over 283 spam emails every day, the amount of spam comments isn’t surprising. However, it is crucial for web designers to have various options in their arsenal to combat the aggravating messages and website comment takeovers. 

We decided to test and share Disable Comments as another option to disable scammers from targeting website visitors. You’ll clean up your comment section and keep the focus on the primary topic. 

Disable Comments Top Features

The software has 4.5 out of five stars on WordPress.org, with a breakdown of 241 five-star reviews, three each of three and four-star feedback, one two-star review and 18 single-star ratings. The majority of more than one million users seem to love the plugin. 

We felt this WP plugin worth mentioning as an option for a comment management tool because of these features:

• Override all comments 
• Disable comments on certain pages and posts 
• Remove commenting on multisite networks
• Easy installation
• Compatible with PHP 5.6 and higher
• Over 40 languages

Disable Comments is a simple tool that targets one particular aspect of your WordPress website. Installation requires two simple steps. 

How to Install and Configure Disable Comments

Installing and setting up Disable Comments is simple because the plugin is part of the WordPress repository. While you can download it from their website or WordPress.org, it’s just as easy to navigate to your dashboard and install from the plugins tab. 

Once you’ve installed and activated the plugin, getting to the settings is a little different than some programs. Instead of navigating to “tools,” go to “settings” in the left sidebar. 

Note the numerous tutorials listed on the left side of the settings page. You can go to the WPDeveloper site and read more about issues you might encounter.

Most of the features are a one-click yes or no option. You can make choices such as:

• Disable comments everywhere 
• Disable on specific post types with options for posts, pages and media 
• Exclude disabling based on user roles. For example, editors can have the ability to comment but not site visitors. The system works well with a membership site, too. 

Under the “Delete Comments” tab, you have the option to permanently delete all comments on your WordPress website or from certain types of posts. You can also choose to get rid of pingbacks and spam comments.

The plugin is free to install and use. Many comments plugins don’t require a pro version or any sort of upgrade to function as intended. 

Be Aware of Issues

Before installing and testing the software, make sure you backup your site. As with any plugin, it can break your site and you’ll have to go in and reset some things. As a staffer was testing this particular plugin, her test site went down as having a critical error. The fix to get it back up was fairly simple because she had a backup from just before the update. 

Keeping a backup of your website files and your database is smart any time you install or use a new plugin. Any changes to your site should start with general housekeeping, including backing up and then updating other plugins. It may seem tedious work, but it’s crucial to fixing issues you might encounter along the way.

Why Disable Comments Won Plugin of the Month

We chose Disable Comments this month because the amount of spam comments on websites continues to increase. Spammers and hackers find more ways to target unsuspecting users and website owners each year. 

Around 52% of people use the same passwords on every site they have an account on. If someone gains access to just one password, they have it for everything, which is frightening. While you can add additional security plugins and measures, which we talk about on this site, you also can add things that dissuade spammers and hackers from bothering with your website in the first place. 

One thing we’ve noticed in recent months is an increase on staff member sites where spammers use the comment tool to send spam. Instead of a note with a question from a valid lead, the inbox is filled with daily spam trying to sell a product. Oftentimes, the product is similar to what the site already offers.

Because we deal with it nonstop, we figure our readers do as well. There’s no reason for anyone to wade through endless spam posts to get to the crucial details needed to run a successful business. Disable Comments is just one more tool to improve your site.

Should You Allow Commenting on Your WP Site?

Considering how many spammers try to comment on websites, you might wonder if you should just disable the feature completely. While the plugin provides that option, you might want to reconsider if you have an engaged audience. 

Valid site visitors might have a question about a blog post or want to add their own expertise. If the comment is valuable, it should stay. Utilize tools like Disable Comments to keep cyber-annoyances under control while still creating an engaging website people want to subscribe to.

The post Disable Comments – Remove Comments & Stop Spam appeared first on Designerly.

Take on the role of an app developer and experience the process firsthand. You’ve finished all the prerequisite tasks required to create a usable app. starting with doing research, understanding the function of your app, deciding on the branding, and selecting the features. Even though it might seem like plenty, there is still one crucial step that needs to be done. Publishing would be that. Having an online presence is becoming more and more crucial for businesses. in order to benefit from the numerous instruments at their disposal. Every app developer has a choice between two different platforms. Businesses must have a Google Developer Account in order to publish content on the Google Play Store. This post will go over what a Google Developer Account is, how much it costs, and how a business can use it to its advantage.

What is a Google Developer Account?

App developers can publish their apps on the Google Play Store using a Google Developer Account. Further features and integrations that further improve the app are also made available, including access to the Google Play Store. Developers can make their apps available to millions of users and earn money from them by using a Google Developer Account. For app developers to succeed in the app market and broaden their company’s exposure, it is a crucial tool.

Benefits of Having a Google Developer Account

Get Discovered

You may access the Google Play Store, one of the biggest app shops in the world, if you have a Google Developer Account. among the more than 111 billion downloads and 2.5 billion active users of the Google Play store. This increases your chances of success by allowing millions of potential consumers to view your app.

You may further ensure that the proper individuals are seeing your app by using the sophisticated targeting tools available on the Google Play Store, such as keywords.

Tracking App Performance

All the data and statistics you require to monitor the performance of your app are available through your Google Developer Account. These findings can be used to track trends in the app industry and zero in on promising expansion opportunities. In order to provide your users with the best experience possible, you can use the information provided by your Google Developer Account to make updates and alterations to the current functionality. Making sure your app is always up-to-date and running smoothly can help you stay ahead of the competition and keep your business competitive.

Create Income

A Google Developer Account lets you monetize your app with in-app purchases and ads. This boosts software sales and company revenue. To boost downloads and usage, promote your app on Google Play. If you want to make a premium paid app or monetize your free app, you need a Google Developers account. You set prices and monitor profits.

A Google Developer Account’s price

A Google Developer Account will set you back $25 initially. Access to the Google Play Store requires payment of this non-refundable charge. You can publish your app and make it accessible to millions of users after paying the charge. There is no restriction on how many applications you can publish to your Google Developer Account. The possibilities are endless once the cost is paid. You can utilise all the Google Play Store features, including analytics, advertising tools, and in-app purchases, by using a Google Developer Account.

How to Register as a Google Developer

You will first go to the Google Play Console website and sign into your Google Developer account there. This URL: https://play.google.com/console/signup will take you there.

Remember that you must have a Google account in order to open a developer’s account. Thus, if you don’t already have one, make sure to do so.

You must select your account type after logging into your Google account. You will be given two choices. To start, select “yourself.” If you are creating your software for leisure or as a hobby, this choice is best. Selecting “organization” is the second option. This choice is great if you are creating an app for your company, regardless of the kind. We’ll go over both possibilities.

Your Own Self

You will be taken to a “about you” area after choosing an option. You must list any prior experience you may have had with Android or the Playstation. Then you will be prompted to answer a question about whether you have recently used Play Console to access or use any other Google accounts. Finally, if you have a website or a social media profile, you can submit the URL for it as identification proof. If you don’t have a website or social media account, you can select that option instead.

The next step is to create your account by selecting a developer account name, contact name, contact email address, chosen language for future email correspondence, contact address, and contact phone number. Remember that you must confirm the phone number and email address. You will then click “verify my email address/phone number” after entering each. Once you have both codes, you can proceed.

reaching the “apps” area, the pre-final stage. You would give a general description of the app you made and want to publish in this part. For instance, the number of apps you want to publish and the categories for your apps, if you intend to monetize your apps in the future.

Finally, there would be “terms.” You must read and agree to both the Google Play Developer Distribution Agreement and the Google Play Console Terms of Service before you can finish your account and pay the one-time charge. When you have carefully read and agreed to them. That will immediately take you to the payment page. You are now free to fly and publish as many apps as you wish. Simply follow the Google Play Store standards to avoid reactions and ensure a smooth publishing procedure every time.

** The views and opinions expressed in this guest post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Designerly. Any content provided by these guest writers are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individuals.

The post How to Create a Google Developer Account: Steps and Cost appeared first on Designerly.