Thursday, November 28, 2019

How to Add WordPress Push Notifications to Your Site (3 Easy Steps)

Catching the interest of your visitors is a tough endeavor, but nowhere near as difficult as keeping them on board for the long term. One of the newer ways to succeed in doing so  is to figure out the best ways to reach users  outside your website  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ hence the need to consider adding WordPress push notifications.WordPress push notifications enable you to set up a direct line of communication with  your audience. Theyre far more straightforward than emails and are more engaging than regular campaigns. If you learn  how to deploy them, they can become a huge boon to your site.In this article, well explain why WordPress push notifications are so useful. Then, well guide you through the process of setting them up on your site using the free OneSignal plugin. Lets get cracking!What push notifications are (and why you should use them)WordPress push notifications are simple to understand and put in place. If youve used either  Android or iOS, youre familiar with apps send ing you notifications even when theyre closed – those are push notifications. Websites can do the same thing even if youre not browsing them at the moment, as long as youve got your browser running. Heres what a desktop notification looks like  on Mac OS X:Push notifications can come in handy in several situations, like:Notifying users about new posts on your website.Letting subscribers know when you add  a new product to  your eCommerce site.Making significant announcements – concerning events and such – to your user base.Aside from these types of practical reasons, its worth noting that push notifications are a great tool to increase user engagement [*]. The key is to update them only concerning important stuff, so they wont start ignoring your notifications. Dont think about push notifications as a replacement for email lists or social media channels. Theyre simply another means of direct contact, with the added benefit of being able to provide real-tim e updates to your visitors.How to set up WordPress push notifications (in 4 steps)Before we jump into the technical stuff, its important that you back up your WordPress site. You should always do this before adding (or removing) any major features from your website, in case something goes wrong. In fact, you should be doing it regularly, even if you dont implement any significant changes. Check out our  guide on how to back up WordPress  with several options.For the purposes of this tutorial, well use  the OneSignal plugin to set up WordPress push notifications. Its not the only option out there, but its one of our favorites. If youd prefer to check out an alternative, take a look at the  Push Notifications for WordPress  plugin.Step #1: Set up the OneSignal plugin OneSignal Web Push Notifications Author(s): OneSignalCurrent Version: 1.17.9Last Updated: October 1, 2019onesignal-free-web-push-notifications.1.17.9.zip 82%Ratings 1,537,858Downloads WP 3.8+Requires On eSignal is a one-stop solution for WordPress push notifications. It supports both desktop clients (Chrome, Safari, and Firefox) and Android systems (theres no iOS support yet). Once enabled, your visitors can opt-in to receive notifications each time you publish a new post (or custom post types) through the WordPress editor or a third-party platform.The first thing we need to do is install and activate the plugin as per usual:When thats done, a  OneSignal Push tab will appear in your WordPress dashboard. Click on it, and youll be redirected to a setup tab to finish configuring the plugin. Read through the  Overview and then head to the  Chrome Firefox Push tab:The plugin includes step by step instructions (with screenshots) for adding both services, so it would be redundant to repeat them here. Follow the procedures for Chrome and Firefox, and then head to the  Safari Push tab if you want to add those notifications as well. Safari notifications only work on the macOS versio n, though, so keep that in mind.With that out of the way, lets go about adding WordPress push notifications to our website.Step #2: Configure automatic notificationsAs I mentioned earlier, OneSignal WordPress push notifications only appear when you publish new content to your site. That includes both regular posts and custom post types. The plugin enables you to set up notifications manually by ticking a box next to the WordPress editor on your posts:If youd rather automate this process, go to OneSignal Push Configuration in your WordPress dashboard. Now scroll down and locate the  Automatic Notification Settings section.Turn on the first option, as seen above,  et  voilà  . Your subscribers will automatically receive notifications each time you publish a new post. You can also replace the default OneSignal logo on the notifications with your posts featured images, by heading up to the  Sent Notification Settings section:Enable the corresponding option, and youre all set!N ow its time to configure an  opt-in for our notifications.Step #3: Add a notification opt-inOur WordPress push notifications are ready to go, but weve still got one step to complete. Before users start receiving notifications, they need to agree or  opt into the program (hence the term opt-in). Here what a OneSignal opt-in looks like on Safari:To do this, lets return to OneSignal Push Configuration. Inside, locate the  Prompt Settings Notify Button section:The setting we need to turn on is first on the list:  Automatically prompt new site visitors to subscribe to push notifications. Do so and then feel free to play around with the rest of the settings next to it. The Notify button option, for example, enables a small notification button in the bottom right corner of your site, which enables users to check recent notifications.ConclusionWordPress push notifications are an effective tool that can increase your sites engagement with little effort. As long as you keep producin g quality content, it stands to reason that users will be interested in checking it out – all youre doing is providing them with the occasional reminder to do so.If that sounds like a winning formula to you, here are the steps you need to know to add WordPress push notifications to your site:Install the OneSignal plugin.Configure automatic notifications using the plugin.Set up a notification opt-in for your visitors.What do you think about WordPress push notifications – are they a gimmick or a useful tool? Share your opinions with us in the comments section below!

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Dimensions by Alice Munro Essay Example

Dimensions by Alice Munro Essay Example Dimensions by Alice Munro Paper Dimensions by Alice Munro Paper Essay Topic: Literature Dimensions by Alice Munro is a tragic story that talks about self discovery and the courage to start all over again. Doree is a woman who has been broken in every way, but refuses to give her right to continue to live. The story describes Dorees psychological and emotional metamorphosis from an innocent young girl who has to face many difficulties to become a woman. All the circumstances that she goes through helps her mature, think more critically, and find the strength to pursue the happiness that she yearned. Doree was sixteen when her mother died of an embolism; and was sheltered, to a certain point, by Lloyd. Doree was a girl who had to leave her adolescence behind at an early age to become a wife/mother/woman and due to her lack of experience in all aspects, she had to depend on her husband, Lloyd. During their whole marriage Doree was isolated from others; having no social skills due to her lack of interaction, she could not establish a bond with any other person strong enough to overcome her need for Lloyd: â€Å"It was Lloyd and Doree and their family that mattered†¦the bond was not something that anybody else could understand†(Munro,6). At that exact moment in her life, she found in Lloyd the love that she desperately needed; especially after the lost of her mother she felt helpless. Lloyd represented a father figure for Doree; he replaced the family that she had lost to become part of a new one. Throughout the story Doree always acts tactfully and diplomatic, seeking not to provoke Lloyd’s temper, on the other hand, she started questioning his reasoning and behavior that was inappropriate sometimes. Doree’s way of seeing and analyzing life was changing from a child mind to a more mature one, as if someone remove the eye bandage from her: â€Å"he was still the closest person in the world to her, and she felt that everything would collapse if she were to bring herself to tell someone exactly how he was† (Munro, 7). Doree describes Lloyd as a good husband, who as any other person also has defects; she further mentioned that she was happy in her relationship no matter the â€Å"minor† altercations that occurred between them. She deeply inside knew that her husband acted in a way that he could only understand; in other circumstances it wouldn’t be seen as normal. The couple had 3 children: Sasha, Barbara Ann and Dimitri; Doree had finally formed a family of her own. This was a new experience and challenge for her, as she was responsible for the care of her children. Being a parent wasn’t easy, and of course all children are not the same; for the first time Doree had to hide something from Lloyd:â€Å"Little did she know that Doree had been giving him a supplement already† ( Munro, 4). Although she had fear of what Lloyd could think or say, she followed her maternal instinct; what she cared the most was her childs health and nutrition. Doree was controlled by Lloyd in all possible ways, but when it was about the children and what was best for them, she had to become a mother and be capable to take care of them; she was growing emotionally and psychologically into a woman. When it came to the educational field, Lloyd decided that their children should be educated at home: â€Å"I mean they are our kids, not the department of Education’s kids† (Munro,5). Doree wasn’t so sure that she could handle this kind of responsibility; being a mom was hard enough and now also having to teach the children, but it turned out that the department of education had guidelines and lessons plans which guide her through the process. She knew that sooner or later the children will need a higher education level if they wanted to pursue a career, and it was better to make sure that she was aware of current updated status in the educational department; despite of Lloyd’s warning, she decided to pick up the school exercises and return them as soon as the children finished them. This example illustrates Doree’s determination to do what she thought it was best for her children’s benefit; she acted with responsibility and courage because she went against Lloyd ideology. Maggie was Doree’s friend who also did homeschooling; she was an independent woman with a career and a different perspective of life. Doree saw in her a total different woman from what she was; Lloyd did not like the idea of Doree hanging out with Maggie, he saw her as a threat for their relationship: â€Å"she is out to break us up†¦. I’ve got experience of her kind of woman†(Munro,6). He wanted Doree under his control, for her to be isolated from the real world, where he could control and manipulate her. Doree knew that a woman like Maggie did not pretend to break them up, it was only Lloyd’s imagination, he wanted to create this world where anyone that did not fit his criteria was consider to be an enemy or a threat. The hardest situation that Doree had to go through was when Lloyd, her beloved husband, murdered the children and made her responsible for such monstrous event. For her, Lloyd is the only connection she has left to her children and to that unspeakable accident. Even now that she started a new life, away from all memories and connections; she was still not able to talk about the children or even think about them before Lloyds letter: â€Å"But they do exist and it must be that there is another Dimension†¦ what I know is that I have access to whatever one they are† (Munro, 11). It may have been something of a release or a sense of comfort for her what drew her back to Lloyd, not returning to him as wife to husband, but as to the only person she thought could understand her anguish (even though he caused it), to whom she wouldnt have to explain what had happened or hide from what he might think of her for allowing it to happen, and could help her keep the memories of her children alive. Not forgiveness or even love, just that connection that she doesnt have with anyone else. On her way to visit him one evening on the bus, Doree witnesses a car accident and attempts CPR on the victim. Through the CPR she can feel life return to the young boy who is unconscious and almost dying: â€Å"It was a true breath. The airway was open†¦ He was breading†9(Munro, 13). She did not only save the boy’s life but also hers. At some extension she felt that by saving the boy’s life, she could have been saving her children; in a way she forgave herself for not being there for her children when they needed her the most. Doree was the woman who could have done the unthinkable, even go back to Lloyd after all the pain that he had caused her. She lost her whole family : mother, husband and children, but she never gave up her hope and desire to keep living. Now she is a different person, more mature and with experience of life . She needs to forgive herself, to understand that it was not her fault, to heal all her wounds so she could begin a new chapter in her life and find happiness.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

READING OF ARTICLES for CHAPTER 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

READING OF ARTICLES for CHAPTER 2 - Essay Example l have been eÃ'•timated at $96 billion in loÃ'•t income to federal Ð °nd Ã'•tate governmentÃ'• Ð °nd $3 billion in additional welfare expenditureÃ'• (JoneÃ'•, 1977). In general, â€Å"students who do not complete school cost taxpayers billions of dollars in lost revenues, welfare, unemployment, crime prevention, and prosecution† (Joint Economic Committee, 1991 as cited in Lehr, et al., 2004, p. 7). PerhapÃ'• more importantly, on an individual level, thÐ µ failure to complete a high Ã'•chool education haÃ'• been aÃ'•Ã'•ociated with an individualÃ'• increaÃ'•ed likelihood to engage in criminal activity (FitzÃ'•immonÃ'•, Cheever, Leonard, & Macunovich, 1969; Levin, 1972; Ð…trothÐ µr, 2006; Ð…troup & RobinÃ'•, 1972) Ð °nd to live in poverty (Hahn, 2003; HeÃ'•Ã'•, 2006; William T. Grant Foundation, 2004). These assertions have been validated in the last couple of years as Cataldi, Laird and KewalRamani (2009, p. 1) state that high school dropouts â€Å"make up disproportionately higher percentages of the nation’s prison and death row inmates.† Furthermore, dropouts between the ages of 25 and older, regardless of income, have been proven to have worse health than their counterparts who finished high school (Pleis and Lethbridge-Çejku, 2006 as cited in Cataldi, Laird and KewalRamani, 2009, p. 1). These show that in the past and more so at present, a high school diploma is an enabling factor for success. ThÐ µ current work force, driven by a highly technical global economy, haÃ'• different demÐ °ndÃ'• Ð °nd complexitieÃ'• from thoÃ'•e Ð ¾f paÃ'•t agrarian Ð °nd induÃ'•trial economieÃ'•. Today, â€Å"almost 90 percent of the fastest-growing and highest-paying jobs require some postsecondary education, [so] having a high school diploma and the skills to succeed in college and the workplace are essential† (The Alliance for Excellent Education, 2009). And so, studentÃ'• who drop out Ð ¾f Ã'•chool today are confronted with Ã'•ignificant job competition, work environmentÃ'• driven by Ã'•ignificant technical