These are resources that I ACTUALLY use! I will not recommend anything without prior knowledge of how it works and the company behind it.  If something changes in regards to how these services work, I will let you know and change accordingly.

 

• Hover  – I recently started to use Hover.com to register my domains. I'll be transferring all of them as well as they come up for renewal.  As they only offer domain registrations and email services they make it really easy to buy domains. No up-selling or confusing options.  Additionally, the price includes privacy vs other services who charge for it.

• ConciergeWP.com – This is a service that comes in very handy if you are running a business and don't want the headache when it comes to making sure your site is backed-up, core is updated, and security are being taking care of. Check it out!

 

• I am currently using Beaver Builder as it serves my purposes well. My Headway Theme update can be found at the bottom of this page

 

• DesktopServer – When I need to work on sites locally — which is just about daily, there is only one piece of software that I use.  That is DesktopServer by ServerPress.  The guys behind the company take service and support to an amazing level.  I think of them as friends, which they have become!  A must have tools for any Web Developer.

• BackupBuddy– Though you can backup within WordPress and other plugins for free.  I use BackupBuddy for the mere fact that its extremely robust and also lets you restore and migrate.

• Looking for a way to shorten repetitive typing tasks? If so, you HAVe to check out TextExpander!  I love this utility as it saves so many keystrokes daily its crazy!

 

• I've recommended the use of AffiliateWP for many clients in the past and use it myself for CWP as well! Totally worth it!

• Pretty Link Pro – Looking for a way to shorten URLS, help with redirection, then  I highly recommend Pretty Link Pro.  Couldn't be easier! A must have on all sites!

 

• MailChimp & AWeber are great ways to create and manage emailing / subscriber lists. I use them both for different reasons.

• Looking to speed up your site, check out my friends over at MaxCDN.  I had David Henzel on the show back on episode 87 & he shared a bunch of great info when it comes to how CDN's work and why you should use one!

• Dropbox ROCKS!  Great for syncing data in multiple places AND sharing info AND very controllable/secure.  oh.. all I get for the referral is additional space – and you will get extra space as well!  Win/Win!

•  BackBlaze – Sure.. you have a copy of your site and entire computer right?  Even if you do and it’s on the hard drive right next to you.. what if that drive dies as well.  Also.. lets consider earthquakes around these parts.. i.e. hard drive gets damaged?   Solution… Backblaze!  Seriously..  offsite cloud storage. Well worth the $60/year for peace of mind!

 

• As I do offer WordPress Development services via ConciergeWP.com, I've gone ahead and signed up for Freshbooks for my estimates and billing.  Saves a ton of time and worth it!  (p.s. you can email me at adam @ silverliningproductions dot net to inquiry about consulting services)

 

Podcasting Resources: 

Per request, here are some of the tools I use for creating my podcasts.

• Audio-Technica ATR2100-USB Cardioid Dynamic USB/XLR Microphone.  This microphone is awesome, with both USB and XLR ports it produced great quality for a really decent price! 
• Mackie Mix Series Mix8 8-Channel Mixer – Nothing too fancy here, just a way to bring in all the audio inputs into a single place (Computer for skype interviews, Soundboard software for bumper music/audio voicemails for Q/A episodes, and the ATR microphone. I can also add 2nd mic if needed. All of this is sent to my Digital Recorder.

• Roland R-05 Studio WAVE/MP3 Recorder  – The one I actually have has been discontinued and replaced by this one.  Super simple to use and is great for when I travel and need to record on location.

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FULL DISCLOSURE:  Some of THESE ARE AFFILATE LINKS.  THAT MEANS I WILL GET A SMALL “PAYMENT” IF YOU USE THEM.  PLEASE NOTE THAT I DO ACTUALLY USE ALL OF THESE SERVICES AND STAND BY THEM.  ALSO KEEP IN MIND THAT THE AMOUNT I GET IS NOT ADDED ONTO THE TOTAL, AND OFTEN TIMES YOU WILL GET A DISCOUNT IF I CAN ARRANGE IT!  FINALLY, I AM NOT RETIRING ON THE FEE THAT I AM SENT!  THANKS!

 

For those of you who know me and wonder what happened to my use of Headway here is a short update. I still use HW in it's latest version 3.8.9, but version for was placed back into beta status. With that, there hasn't been much customer support or information about the status, thus I'm not using it as much these days.  My version does still work, and I have clients sites that are using it just fine, but moving forward using HW is uncertain at this time. There is a a fork of the HW theme that looks promising called BloxTheme.