Category: Web Application

Google Core Web Vitals for your WordPress Website

Posted on by galaxy-admin

All WordPress sites are made different, and they all react differently when exposed to different kinds of stress and scenarios. The speed and performance can be attributed to various factors. Fortunately, there are some guidelines for a robust foundation and optimum performance. These guidelines will also help you improve user experience and search rankings. The latest in the line of these guidelines is Google Core Web Vitals, which helps measure User Experience quality. 

Talking of UX, here is a blog that we recommend for UX tweaks to improve customer retention by DesignRush.

Before we go further to understand what Google’s CWV metrics mean for your WordPress websites, here is a primer on Google Core Web Vitals.

Understanding Page Load

Let’s understand the fundamentals before we get down to tweaking for speed and performance optimization. This is what goes behind every page load:

>>Server receives request

>>If HTML is cached the server responds instantly, if not then it takes time to build it

>>Browser reads through the HTML and makes a rough outline

>>Browser loads CSS from the HTML, if any

>>Browser loads JavaScript if required

>>Browser matches styling with the outline

>>Images and other elements load as encountered

>>Font files are applied to the text

While all of this is happening in the backend, it’s easy to take page loads for granted. It only becomes a problem when it’s taking more time than usual. Performance metrics can help you identify problem areas and take actions accordingly and subsequent optimization can shave seconds off of your load times. 

Optimize your hosting environment

Poor performance can be caused by various factors. But in most cases slow page speeds can be attributed to the hosting environments and time it takes for servers to respond. Since the server has to load the WordPress framework, connect the database, and process content into its final structure, all in an instant. 

Cached pages are instantly available to the visitors and the server doesn’t have to generate fresh pages upon each page request. An ideal approach would be to go with a hosting solution that provides a caching facility. WPEngine and Pantheon are such options for WordPress needs.

Keep a check on resources needed to render a page

Even after receiving the HTML, the browser doesn’t show anything until it figures out how everything needs to look. That includes downloading and parsing stylesheet data. These are additional files that can be kept in check to render things faster.

Best practices to keep resource dependency in check:

  • Use a pipeline to compile scripts and styles into single resources. Similarly, you can also combine all of your JavaScript and CSS into single files using plugins.
  • Reduce the number of font file downloads. The lesser the number of custom fonts used the better.
  • Make use of critical CSS/fonts that load in the order of their appearance on the viewport.

Keep everything up-to-date

When the caches expire, the pages regenerate and the page loads all over again. Large monolithic site builders like DIVI or WPBakery add to the loading time as they add numerous database calls to every page on the site. 

Audit your installed plugins and see if they are contributing to slower load times. Update all your plugins for security and performance purposes as bugs or flaws can be used as a backdoor for attacks. 

Hosting and managing WP Servers

Apart from cosmetic optimizations, you can get more control and performance out of your WordPress website by hosting and managing your server. In case you’re thinking of getting your server, these techniques will help. 

  • You can reduce the number of data calls needed to generate a page via object caching.
  • WordPress loads and compiles several PHP files while building a page. Using OPCache to store compiled code will improve your page generation time.
  • Use a reverse proxy for page caching. You could look at tools like Varnish and NGINX for that.

Wrapping Up

We are yet to see the major implications on search rankings of this algorithm update but we suggest that you incorporate all these updates on your WordPress website. The optimizations and tools that we have mentioned here will only help you to keep your site up and running and faster than ever.  

About Galaxy Weblinks

We specialize in delivering end-to-end software design & development services and have hands-on experience with popular front-end and back-end frameworks. Our back-end and front-end engineers also help in improving security, reliability, and features to make sure your business application scales and remains secure.

Our Backend Development Technology Favorites in 2021

Posted on by galaxy-admin

Website development has become critical in business expansion as the business world has become more reliant on digital technology. Backend development plays a pivotal role in the software development process, enabling web developers to create high-quality websites, thereby resulting in business growth. 

Backend development’s role in website development

The server-side of the website is the primary focus of backend development. In general, the backend is made up of three major components:

  • Database 
  • Application 
  • Server

Backend power-ups the website’s operation on the server. Furthermore, the backend developers’ programs are used to communicate database information to the browser.

Backend development will be even more important in 2021 as businesses seek to expand at a rapid pace. We’ll take a look at the five best languages for backend development that will rule the roots in 2021.

#1 Kotlin

Kotlin, which is used by 60% of professional Android developers, has a strong position in the programming world. Some of its advantages include Kotlin being a code-concise language and providing solutions to common developer problems, such as null references. It retains all of the benefits of Java while also providing a condensed version of the language. Kotlin captures the spirit of today’s SSR development as well. According to the Kotlin Roadmap, it will have increased support for server-side development, which is critical for today’s website performance and user interaction.

Kotlin was the fourth most popular language in 2020, according to StackOverflow, with 62.9 percent of the vote. Global companies such as Google, Netflix, Amazon, Trello, and others use Kotlin. Pinterest and Uber are among the companies that have switched from Java to Kotlin.

Since it is compatible with Java, Kotlin will have a significant impact on future backend development. The developers have access to massive libraries, allowing them to write concise code. More than 61 percent of developers, with more than 5 years of experience prefer to work with Kotlin. 

Spring.io is a framework that supports Kotlin.

According to JetBrains, Spring is the most popular Kotlin-supported framework, accounting for roughly half of all JVM-based projects. As per the StackOverflow Survey, it is used by 16.4 percent of respondents. Its popularity stems from the simple and effective solutions it employs. One of them is dependency injection and inversion of control, which allow dependencies to be clearly defined and requirements to be easily resolved.

#2  Python

Python is a high-level dynamically typed programming language that has been gaining popularity in the IT industry for some time. It was conceived and first implemented around 30 years ago, and it is still the third best-known and most in-demand programming language in the modern developer community (according to last year’s CodinGame 2020 Developer Survey).

Python’s popularity is out of this world. It was named the TIOBE programming language of the year in 2020. Its popularity attests to its superior features.

In comparison to other backend programming languages, Python has a more open programming approach. It is an ideal language for new startups due to its flexibility and multiple paradigms. 

Python is the most popular programming language

Python ranks extremely high in community popularity rankings. It was named the TIOBE programming language of 2020 for the fourth time, after experiencing the greatest increase in popularity in a single year (2.01 percent ). The TIOBE Index is a programming language chart based on the number of professional engineers and courses available worldwide. According to the Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2020, Python is also the third most popular programming language (66.7 percent of respondents say it is their favorite).

If you’re about to embark on a software development project, one of the most important considerations is likely to be popularity. Whether you want to assemble a knowledgeable in-house team or find a dependable tech partner to assist you in building your product, choosing a widely used technology will undoubtedly help you start the development process much faster.

Go-to frameworks of Python: Django and Flask

Django includes a plethora of add-ons such as content management, site maps, RSS feeds, and many more. This complete package not only expedites the development of an MVP or proof of concept, but also simplifies the process of tailoring the product to the needs of its users by customizing, adding, or unplugging separate components.

If Django appears to be an overwhelming monolith, you should consider Flask as an alternative. It is a microframework that ensures flexibility and gives developers greater control over which components they use and how they are implemented by providing only the basic tools and capabilities.

#3 Golang

Go, also known as Golang, is a programming language. It was released in 2009 and has already been named the Programming Language of the Year by TIOBE twice. While it is undoubtedly less popular than the aforementioned Python, it has been named the fifth most popular technology by 62.3 percent of Stack Overflow survey respondents in 2020. So, why is it on our list of suggested backend development solutions for 2021?

The learning curve is progressive

To begin with, Go is simple to understand and use for both a novice programmer and an experienced developer. On the one hand, if you look at its specification, you’ll notice that its syntax is simple, and it shouldn’t be too difficult for a young IT specialist. Furthermore, there is an interactive Tour of Go on the Go website that you can use to become acquainted with the language. On the other hand, the simplicity of Golang’s code makes it simple for professionals skilled in other programming languages, such as C# or C++, to adopt.

Google engineers created Go to make their software development process simpler, more reliable, and efficient, which is why more and more programmers are switching to Go to increase their productivity. According to the Go Developer Survey 2020, a whopping 81% of respondents felt very or extremely productive in Go. 

Gin Gonic is one of the best Go frameworks

Golang, like Python, is supported by several frameworks, including Martini, Revel, and Goji. If you want to advance your Go backend development in 2021, we recommend Gin – a minimalistic web framework with 45.2k GitHub stars.

It is simple to learn and ideal for creating efficient REST APIs that are said to be 40 times faster than Martini’s. Furthermore, Gin appears to be a viable option for developing microservices, which, from a business standpoint, have the potential to significantly increase your product’s time-to-market.

#4 Node.js

When it comes to switching to the back-end, developers can reap all of the benefits of JavaScript development. Node.js is one of the best backend programming languages due to its vibrant developer community. The dynamic developer community contributes to the language’s development.

Irresistible microservices in NodeJS

Because it is a lightweight technology, Node.js is ideal for microservices architecture. It allows for the division of application logic into small modules, resulting in greater flexibility. Because developers can add new functions to the existing ones, Node.js has become a popular backend programming language. Furthermore, because the developers can reuse the codes, the website’s performance and productivity improve.

Because it allows for the creation of separate components that easily complement the larger application, Node.js allows for cost savings during the initial development stages, potentially shortening your product’s time-to-market. This feature alone makes Node.js an excellent backend development choice for MVPs and other scalable, high-traffic applications.

When asked about many of the other miscellaneous technologies that developers use, Node.js takes the top spot for the second year in a row, with half of the respondents using it.

Express: The popular framework for Node.js

After deciding on the JavaScript runtime for backend development, you’ll be wondering about the best framework to go with it. Express is our pick for the new decade, as it is currently the most popular Node.js framework, with 76.1k stars on GitHub.

According to the framework’s website, Express.js is a quick, unbiased, and minimalist solution. It gives programmers a thin layer of powerful web and mobile app features: not too many, but just enough to make the backend development process easier.

#5 PHP

In 2021, Ruby on Rails will play a pivotal role as it helps in reducing the time spent on standardized tasks. It minimizes the website development time by 25% as compared to other languages. In addition to it, there are some amazing advantages of Ruby on Rails that will help businesses in the long run.

PHP is a useful backend programming language with excellent features and flexibility. This is why PHP is regarded as the backend development language of the future in 2021. Furthermore, the syntax of PHP is very expressive, giving developers a lot of creative freedom.

PHP includes built-in website development capabilities. It encourages rapid website development by simplifying it with a simple structure. The app’s features can be added by the developers without the need to write complex and lengthy code.

This backend programming language enables developers to interact with a variety of relational databases. Furthermore, PHP automates common web development tasks such as session management, URL mapping, caching, and so on.

Laravel: Best PHP framework to use

Laravel is a web application framework that features expressive, elegant syntax. To be truly fulfilling, we believe development must be an enjoyable and creative experience. Laravel aims to make development easier by simplifying common tasks found in the majority of web projects, such as authentication, routing, sessions and caching.

Conclusion

Backend development programming languages like those listed above will be critical for businesses to grow in 2021. Once business organizations understand their requirements and choose the appropriate backend programming language, they can use them to the core.

Businesses must choose the best language for backend development based on their needs. Aside from the language, you must ensure that your project has the best backend developer. Don’t skimp on backend developer quality because it can make or break your project.

Contact us for a professional consultation on which backend technology will be best for your business project in 2021, and how to put them into action to create a trending product.

About Galaxy Weblinks

We specialize in delivering end-to-end software design & development services and have hands-on experience with popular front-end and back-end frameworks. Our back-end and front-end engineers also help in improving security, reliability, and features to make sure your business application scales and remain secure.

5 Tips to Choose a Low-code Platform for Your Business

Posted on by galaxy-admin

Are you replacing manual coding with a low-code development platform for your app development team? To make an informed decision, you must first understand the common requirements for business apps. Setting the right criteria for selecting a low-code platform to build apps is critical. 

Like every tool, there are free as well as paid versions of low code platforms. Free low code development tools frequently lack the enterprise features and custom code capabilities required to create apps that serve business users. If your new low code software is unable to meet app requirements, you will be forced to hire professional developers. That is why it is critical to establish informed criteria for selecting a low-code application platform.

What are the advantages of using low-code development?

Opening the doors of development to non-technical employees has several benefits. Businesses and organizations can reduce development cycle time by not having to send every new development request to overburdened IT departments. Individuals from all departments and teams can instead take responsibility for developing their applications, freeing up IT for more important tasks.

Low-code application development also aids in the retention of IT teams that are small, agile, and focused on more innovative and complex tasks. Businesses can eliminate the backlog of applications that IT is responsible for by utilizing existing talent from across the organization. Most importantly, low-code application development framework solutions enable IT departments to offload certain development projects to other teams. This makes room to transform customer and employee experiences by dedicating more time to innovation. 

“By leveraging the features available in the platform, an organization can avoid redundancies across solutions, simplify their IT stack, and accelerate time to market by selecting a platform with the broadest feature set.”

– Mike Hughes, Director of product marketing, OutSystems

(OutSystems is one of the top low-code platform vendors as per a Forrester report) 

Below are five key criteria for selecting the right low-code application development framework:

1. Specify who will develop applications

Some low-code platforms are designed for technology professionals and software developers. Others are development platforms that enable business analysts or subject-matter experts to create and maintain applications. A few platforms support both options, but each persona has different tools and capabilities.

The target developers should be eager to learn the platform, build applications, and devote time to ongoing enhancements. Engaging them early in the selection process ensures that they support the tool’s use to support business priorities.

2. Identify and evaluate multiple use cases

Low-code platforms should assist your organization in accelerating application development and making enhancements easier to support. However, this must be balanced against the types of applications desired for end-user experiences, data requirements, workflow capabilities, and other considerations.

When researching and testing low-code platforms, it is critical to consider multiple app development needs and use cases. Most importantly, determine what the platform cannot or cannot easily do, as well as its scope, strengths, and weaknesses. Choosing a low-code approach because it works well for one use case does not imply that it is the best standard for ongoing needs.

3. Define usage requirements and pricing estimates

The business and pricing models of low-code platforms are very different. Some have end-user pricing, which means you pay more for more application users or usage. Other companies price their platforms based on the development scale, which includes metrics such as the number of applications or development seats. Some provide multiple products that must be purchased separately, and the majority use capability-based pricing tiers.

As a result, while many companies provide simple on-ramps to trials and developing proofs of concept, it is critical to understand the end-state development and production requirements.

4. Investigate and prioritize integration needs

APIs, cloud, and data center databases and third-party data sources must all be integrated into applications. If your company is creating IoT data pipelines or machine learning models, chances are you’ll want to integrate them with low-code platforms.

Reviewing IFTTT (If This Then That) platforms to see if they integrate with the low-code platform and the actions and triggers they support is a good place to start. Even if you don’t use these platforms in production, it would prove beneficial to review their capabilities and to implement the integration proofs of concept.

5. Review hosting, and DevOps options

Low code was once synonymous with SaaS and cloud hosting options, with few offering hybrid cloud and data center options. That is no longer true, and low-code platforms are now competing on hosting flexibility.

Another important consideration is to go over your DevOps options. When it comes to DevOps capabilities, not all low-code platforms are created equal, particularly in areas such as:

  • Versioning applications or integrating with a version control system 
  • Assisting with the development life cycle across development, test, and other environments.
  • Enabling an agile development process with links to tools for managing backlogs and road maps.
  • Combining change management processes with continuous integration/continuous deployment, continuous testing, or IT service management.
  • Enabling data snapshots, mirrors, and replications, as well as extract, transform, and load processes, to aid in disaster recovery and data science.

Low-code platforms will not be as adaptable as Java,.NET, or JavaScript DevOps capabilities. Going with a low-code platform has trade-offs because the goal is to simplify all of the scaffolding required to support app development and operations. The question is whether they meet business and technical requirements, not whether they adhere to coding and software development tools and processes.

Conclusion

Low-code platforms are great but they can be time-consuming to set up. You can find the best solution for mobilizing your developers and rapidly delivering apps that meet the needs of both your end-users and your business with a little forethought.

Don’t let code stand in the way of superior app development. Want to consult the development process for your app or web development project? Contact our experts.

5 Key Mobile Metrics to Make Your App Profitable

Posted on by galaxy-admin

When you get an app idea, it’s natural to want to get started on it as soon as possible. While the idea could be the most unique and exciting, developing a mobile application is not cheap—and the harsh reality is that the majority of apps fail. So, before diving in and developing an app, it’s critical to plan out how to make it profitable.

If you have an app idea, or if you’ve already released your product to the App Store, this blog will help you learn how you can use a few metrics to help you build something that makes more money than it costs to build.

1. Acquisition

Downloads: The number of new downloads in a given period (daily, weekly, or monthly)

Download Attribution: The sources of your new users. Utilize this information to optimize marketing spend and increase ROI/customer LTV.

Where do your visitors come from? This is especially important if you are running advertisements or spending money to acquire new users.

You should track downloads daily to gain a better understanding of the impact of your marketing campaigns. Knowing where your users are coming from allows you to direct your marketing resources to increase new user growth.

2. Activations

Activation Rate: The percentage of downloads that resulted in the app being launched.

  • Metric Range: You’re doing well if your activation rate is 85 percent or higher. Anything less necessitates a more in-depth investigation to understand and resolve the problem.
  • Metric Range: For most rapidly growing mobile apps, the ratio of the first-time app launches to total app launches over a rolling 30-day period ranges between 5% and 15%.

You might be surprised at how many people download your app but never use it.

Many seemingly insignificant factors can trigger this decline – from UI typos to lengthy user registrations, but this is the first aspect that you should explore.

3. Retention

The longer you retain users, the more valuable they become to your company. In a nutshell, retention equals revenue. The issue is that the average person has between 60 and 90 apps installed on their phone, but only 10% of them are used daily. With so many other apps vying for your users’ time and attention, how do you break into the top 10%?

By tracking user retention metrics and determining where people are leaving the user journey. Calculating retention based on first logins will reflect the effectiveness of your app’s messaging, onboarding, and UX in keeping people around. 

For example – Day 3 and Day 7 retention after first app launch:

Metric Range: 24% of apps are uninstalled (or not used again) after just one launch.*

Weekly (and monthly) retention cohorts:

Use first-time app launches to create acquisition cohorts. You can then track how long each cohort stays active in your app and find out which in-app behaviors have a positive or negative effect on retention.

4. Engagement

Daily Active Users (DAU) and Monthly Active Users (MAU): The number of app users who are active on a given day or month.

Average Session Length & Frequency: The frequency with which users launch your app, as well as the length of an average session.

How often do users return to your app, and how much time do they spend on it? It is an important factor because not all apps are intended to be used daily. You’ll need to define what an “active user” means for your app. Does this imply launching the app, logging in, or performing a specific action?

These metrics can help you understand the effectiveness of your engagement campaigns, as well as the overall quality of your user experience.

5. Uninstalls

Number of Uninstalls: How many people uninstall your app on a daily or weekly basis?

Churn Rate: Users at the beginning of the period – Users at the end of the period – Users at the beginning of the period / Users at the beginning of the period.

To calculate the net result of your mobile app growth, compare the number of daily uninstalls to the number of daily downloads and daily activations.

If you discover that you have a significant churn problem, examine the performance of your app to rule out bugs, crashes, or latency issues. After only a few uses, 80 percent of users abandon slow-loading apps.

Conclusion

Now that you’ve got these metrics, you’ll want to keep measuring and testing to improve these numbers. One of the most important things you can do is keep these numbers in front of you and your team at all times. See how many different tests you can run in a single month and track that as you would any other metric.

About Galaxy Weblinks
We specialize in delivering end-to-end software design & development services. Our analytics team and UI/UX designers are creative problem-solvers with a decade of experience in all facets of digital and interactive design. We create compelling and human-focused experiences delivered through clean, and minimalist UI. Click here for a free consultation!

10 Tips to Improve Your Website Accessibility

Posted on by galaxy-admin

Have you ensured to follow WCAG 2.1 guidelines before building your website? You may be in for a rude awakening if your beautiful, meticulously planned website is inaccessible to people with disabilities.

You can begin by identifying your most pressing and easily remedied accessibility issues. This will reduce your risk of lawsuits and make an immediate difference for your disabled customers. Of course, this is only the first step in the process.

Consider this blog as an accessibility triage.

Why Web Accessibility is Vital

The first web accessibility ADA lawsuit occurred in 2017, and it went all the way to federal court. Everything because a website was incompatible with screen reading software.

Consider how inconvenient it can be for a visually impaired person to be unable to order a product they require from a website. Especially during a pandemic, when online shopping is the only option to shop safely.

Making your website accessible to people with disabilities is important not only for avoiding lawsuits, but also for better serving your customers. Here are a few quick tips for testing and improving the accessibility of your website.

#1 Take Stock of all Digital Experiences 

The first step is to examine your entire digital profile, just as you would an inventory of your store.

  • Take your time and carefully review all websites (including content behind gateways), mobile apps, videos (on all platforms), and PDFs that are available for download. 
  • Make a list of every digital access point your company has for both internal and external customers.

#2 Test Your Website

You should begin by selecting strategic samples of what to test and focus on. This is important to quickly assess the current state of your site’s accessibility. This also helps identify major issues that your customers are likely to encounter, 

This should include your most popular and valuable pages, such as the following:

  • Your website’s home page
  • The header and footer of your page
  • Your desktop and mobile navigation menus (as well as general navigation)
  • The most important user tasks
  • Forms and templates are frequently used
  • Core business functions that customers may require.

The goal here is to quickly test these high-value pages so that you can triage and address high-risk issues.

ProTip – 

A good place to start is with the Google Lighthouse tool, which allows you to run a free website audit. It checks for website accessibility, among many other things. You can also use the WAVE tool or the aCe accessibility tool, which are designed specifically for testing the accessibility of websites.

#3 Initial Accessibility Tests

After you’ve established your sample, you should put it through these three tests.

  • Allow a screen reader user to read through each page. Request that they attempt to complete basic tasks such as logging in, navigating to different features, and filling out forms.
  • Experiment with only keyboard navigation. 
  • Make use of an automated testing tool to identify easily flaggable issues. However, it is critical to continue running manual tests because automated tests can help but do not catch all issues.

#4 Create Alt-Image Text and Video Captions

This is an easy-to-implement, easy-to-overlook step toward accessibility that you should not overlook.

If your images don’t have alt-text and your videos don’t have either transcripts or closed captions (or both), you’re putting yourself at risk of an accessibility lawsuit. These are extremely simple for automated software to locate, and they also prevent major accessibility issues.

#5 Label Forms and Keep Them Readable

Always use the label tag to associate each field description with its field, as this provides more context about each field to screen readers and other accessibility systems.

The use of placeholder text in form fields is another potential accessibility issue in forms. Placeholder text—the text suggestions that appear by default when no text is entered into a field—is frequently useful.

#6 Enable Font Size Adjustments

One disadvantage of allowing the user to zoom in and out to adjust element sizes is that it changes the size of everything on the page. A better solution would be to include plus and minus icons somewhere on the page that allows the user to change the size of the base text on the fly, and to save that setting on the client. This would be as simple as a JavaScript function that changes the size of the base font for the text styles in the document.

#7 Use Descriptive URLs 

A descriptive URL like https://magazino.com/article/ten-best-harrison-ford-films/2125451 tells us quite a bit at a glance about the destination

A descriptive URL reduces the amount of work a visitor must do to figure out what the article is about. As a result, a well-designed website will devote some of the URLs to a brief textual description of the contents, while the article ID is used by the server to determine which article to serve.

#8 Choose Color Blind-Friendly Visuals

It is something you should always keep in mind when selecting visuals for your website design. Everything from the contrast between the background and the content to the colors used in the images should be carefully chosen to make them accessible to people with various types of visual impairments.

Some websites, for example, use color to emphasize the importance of buttons and links. Those buttons will have completely different meanings for someone who is colorblind.

#9 Use a Content Management System

Web accessibility is also affected by the flexibility of your website. It is much easier to make the necessary changes to improve website accessibility with a more flexible website. Using a content management system (CMS) is an excellent way to accomplish this goal.

CMS software, for example, allows you to easily customize your website in any way you want. You can optimize your design for web accessibility with page builder plugins like Elementor without writing a single line of code.

#10 Document The Process

When working on accessibility, it is critical to meticulously document everything. This not only keeps your team focused, but also establishes that you are working to improve accessibility in the event of a lawsuit.

Here are some things to think about documenting:

  • Your accessibility policy and statement
  • An executive summary outlining your website’s and mobile apps’ budgeting and resource allocation.
  • The items that need to be repaired, organized by specific issues and components.
  • A collection of preliminary feedback from user testers on major barriers and accessibility issues, as well as preliminary audit results.

Conclusion

By making your website more accessible to a wider range of audiences, you will not only increase the number of people who can access your product or service, but you will also gain a competitive advantage over your competitors. You’ll also save a lot of time and money by avoiding potential lawsuits.

Angular v12 Update – All you Need to Know

Posted on by galaxy-admin

The latest update of Angular was released on May 12. It’s got a bunch of major changes that are essentially facilitating the Angular ecosystem’s transition to Ivy. They are calling it “Ivy Everywhere”. Deprecation of IE11 support along with other changes were also announced. 

Let’s check out all these changes-

What is “Ivy Everywhere” 

It means that the ‘View Engine’ will now be excluded in future releases. Existing libraries on View Engine will however still work with Ivy apps. It is supported for now but it’s only a matter of time, so it is advised that library authors start working on the transition to Ivy. 

New Canonical message ID format

According to Angular’s official blog, the team is ditching the legacy message ID formats for a new canonical message ID. A conical message Id is more resilient and intuitive as compared to multiple IDs in the i18n system. 

According to Angular.io

“These legacy message-ids are fragile as problems can arise based on whitespace and the formatting templates and ICU expressions. To solve this problem we’re migrating away from them. This format will reduce the unnecessary translation invalidation and associated retranslation cost in applications where translations do not match due to whitespace changes for example.”

Protractor Pushed Further

The community-driven end-to-end testing framework was given a pass for this release. The angular team is currently working with Cypress, WebdriverIO, and TestCafe to help users adopt alternative testing frameworks until the protractor becomes a part of a future release. 

Nullish Coalescing in Angular 12 

The Nullish coalescing operator is great for clean coding in Typescript classes. It has also made its way to Angular 12 templates to simplify complex conditionals. 

For example:

{{age !== null && age !== undefined ? age : calculateAge() }}

Becomes:

{{ age ?? calculateAge() }}

Stylish Enhancements

  • Angular components now support inline Sass in the styles field of the component decorator. 
  • You can add inlineStyleLanguage”: “scss” to angular.json to enable this feature, otherwise it’s available by default for new projects using SCSS.
  • Angular CDK and Angular Material now use Sass’s new module system. node-sass is no longer maintained, hence ensure that you’ve switched from node-sass to the sass npm package. 

Other Notable Features

  • Angular now supports Webpack 5
  • ng build now defaults to production
  • By default Strict mode is now enabled in the CLI.
  • Language service is also included as a default in the new update
  • Typescript version support updated to 4.2
  • Angular v12 will now show a deprecation warning for IE11 and it plans to end support with Angular v13

Conclusion

It’ll be exciting to see how all these new changes unfold and what Ivy has in store for the Angular v12 platform. With the focus converging towards more modern solutions and an evolving ecosystem, Angular v12 is doing away with certain features while adopting new ones. It’ll only help them better focus on what matters and provide better support to developers and users in the process.


Our Angular team here at Galaxy is also looking forward to testing how migrations and new projects on Angular 13 will turn out. If you’re in the market for Angular development partners then get in touch with us here and let’s discuss your project.

The Cost of Building an Ecommerce Website

Posted on by galaxy-admin

Do you wish to start an online business and would like to know how much it would cost? How we wish there was a simple answer to this question. Numerous factors come into play while developing an Ecommerce website, and each of them will have an impact on the overall cost.

You can overshoot your budget if you do not have a clear action plan. We have penned this blog to give you a clear idea of how much an Ecommerce website costs.

How to Estimate the Cost of Creating an Ecommerce Website?

Several factors contribute to the overall cost of developing an online store. In general, some Ecommerce stores cost a few hundred dollars to set up, while others can cost tens of thousands of dollars to set up.

You will have to pay for the following:

  • Ecommerce software
  • Domain name
  • Ecommerce hosting
  • SSL certificate
  • Store theme and designs
  • Add-ons and extensions
  • Payment Gateway costs
  • Marketing and SEO
  • Maintenance

Ecommerce Software

The cost of Ecommerce solutions varies depending on their out-of-the-box features, the type of software, and the level of service they provide. There are numerous platforms to choose from, and selecting the right one is a critical step in launching an Ecommerce store. Let’s take a look at some of the platforms you might want to look into few platforms:

– Magento:- Magento provides both on-premise and cloud-hosted options, but many businesses are now turning to SaaS models because they provide continuous updates, including security patches. Magento does not include training wheels. There are also no on-site developers to whom you can turn for assistance in building your site. To build your site, you will need either a developer or a team of developers.

You can choose from Magento Community Edition or the Enterprise edition for your Ecommerce website. A Magento website is likely to cost you $5000 onwards. 

– Shopify:- Shopify was created to meet the needs of small businesses looking for an easy way to create online stores. If you’ve never worked with code before, it’s fairly simple to build a site using drag-and-drop areas. You can quickly set up a simple website; however, if you want to add more advanced features, you will need to add additional apps or custom coding. 

Domains purchased through Shopify start at $11 per year. Whereas, the majority of our Shopify website design projects start from $5,000. 

– WooCommerce:- You can use it to build your online store by going through the installation process. However, to make your Ecommerce website attractive, flexible, and functionally operable you need to spend money on other essential things like- hosting, domain registration, themes, extensions, and customization.

However, to run your WooCommerce store, you need hosting, domain name, extensions, and a developer that can charge a monthly/yearly fee. You can build a feature-rich Ecommerce website using this platform for around $3,500. 

Ecommerce Hosting Costs

After you’ve registered a domain name, you’ll need to find a web host. BigCommerce and Shopify, for example, are cloud-based solutions that include web hosting as part of the subscription. That means, unlike Magento, you won’t have to look for third-party hosting or deal with the challenges of managing it.

Hosting Costs for Self-Hosted Ecommerce Website:- A basic website hosting plan can range from $40-$200/year, a domain name can cost $10-$15/year, and an SSL certificate can cost $70-$300/year. All of these expenses add up to a small but significant investment to create a starter Ecommerce store. For example, the Magento domains generally cost you from $10 – $15 per year. 

Hosting Costs for SaaS Ecommerce Platforms:– Shopify offers three membership levels: Basic Shopify ($29.99/mo.), Shopify ($79.99/mo), and Advanced Shopify ($299/mo.).

Note: This cost estimate is intended for small to medium-sized online stores. For high-volume stores, you’ll most likely need to upgrade to Shopify Plus, which costs thousands of dollars per month.

Ecommerce Website Design Costs

Creating a unique user experience with a website design that reflects your brand and keeps customers coming back is an important part of developing your ecommerce store. There are some standard costs associated with the design of your online store.

Store theme and design costs:- Some themes may not cost anything more than what you already pay to use the platform, whereas others may range in price from $60 to $200 per theme.

Add-on, plugin, and extension costs:- No ecommerce solution has everything you need for your online store, no matter how hard you look. This is where add-ons, plugins, and extensions, as well as their associated costs, come into play. For example:

Magento add-ons typically necessitate custom development, which can be costly. Magento’s marketplace has thousands of extensions ranging in price from $0 to $15,000. Whereas, Shopify merchants have access to hundreds of free and premium apps, with prices varying depending on the app.

Cost of Payment Gateway 

When selecting an Ecommerce platform, many beginners fail to consider payment processing fees. This can have a serious impact on your business by significantly increasing your costs and decreasing your profits. You’ll have to pay fees to each payment gateway you want to provide. Here’s an example of how it works:

PayPal charges 2.9 percent plus $0.30 for transactions exceeding $10.

Stripe charges 2.9 percent plus $0.30 per transaction.

They also offer some of the most flexible payment options.

Maintenance

Aside from the costs of technical maintenance, there are also costs for store maintenance. Larger companies may need to train and hire customer-service executives to improve their service. Random bugs and glitches add to the maintenance costs as well.

So, if you own a small to medium-sized business, expect to spend $500 to $1,250 per year on maintenance. 

We hope this article provided you with a good idea of how much an Ecommerce website costs in real dollars. If you want out-of-the-box solutions, you should consider hiring a professional Ecommerce website development agency to create a site for you.

3 UX Gamification Techniques to Boost Engagement

Posted on by galaxy-admin

Retaining your users is just as important as getting them on board for the first time. While curiosity could drive the initial engagements, sustaining those leads is another picture. Here’s where UX practices come into play. Gamification is one of the popular UX techniques that engage users within a challenge and reward cycle. It is primarily used in computer games but is also gaining popularity in the app development world as well. 

In this blog, we’ll cover the top 3 gamification techniques to keep your user engaged. 

1. Challenges

Sometimes people get lost in work when it’s challenging and fun. Most of us like to call this state, the “zone”. Hungarian-American psychologist, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, dubbed this mental state as “flow”. During flow, people typically experience deep enjoyment. 

Solving challenges can be a rewarding experience and hence keep your users engaged. 

You should opt for gamification in your design if you are looking to improve user engagement and make your product fun to use in the process. Learning and fitness apps are great use-cases for this UX engagement technique. If you look closely you can find several products that use gamification to motivate behaviors, Activity Monitor on Apple Watch for example encourages you to close all the rings. 

How to do it right

  • Define and state clear goals in a way that the user understands what and how to do to achieve the goal. 
  • Validate your assumptions for the user’s understanding of the complexity of challenges. Both novice and experienced users should be able to go through the challenges with ease. 
  • There should be a system of levels to provide a sense of progress to the user. You can fine-tune complexity based on the levels, difficulty increases as the user proceeds through the levels.  
  • Alleviate user anxiety by providing immediate feedback for user actions. 
  • Introduce tooltips if the user is having a hard time. Keep a check of user skill and fine-tune challenge complexity based on their responses. Too easy or too hard challenges can result in drop-offs.

2. Unlockable Features/Content

This Gamification technique is most popular among the freemium apps, where the whole experience is free with some content/features restricted to a certain profile level or is only accessible to premium members.

Users don’t shy away from spending time and money on features/content that is of great value to them. Besides, having worked to unlock a feature/content gives users a sense of ownership and as a result, makes them value your product more than before they signed up.

The pursuit to unlock features will encourage users to explore your app, improving engagement and retention in the process. 

How to do it right

  • Unlockable features/content shouldn’t be used exclusively to motivate users to use your product.
  • The path to unlocking the features should be clear and concise. 
  • Only restrict things that are unique and have value.  

3. Achievements

Achievements are the rewards users earn for completing tasks or challenges. It can be in the form of badges, trophies, or in-app currency.  Rewards motivate users to complete their journey and keep moving forward. You can use it in your app to direct users towards a particular goal, like subscribing to a service. LinkedIn for example sets clear expectations on how the profile strength works, and hence encourages you to complete your profile.

How to do it right

  • You need to have an end goal. What you want your user to do at the end of their journey.
  • Map out expectations and communicate progress. Also ensure that user is aware of remaining steps to complete for rewards, at all times.
  • Carefully define the gap between two milestones, as to where to reward your users to keep them invested in the app.

Conclusion

Getting users to stick to your app can be a great challenge. Most of them drop off from the onboarding if they find it cumbersome or uninteresting. Gamification techniques mentioned in this blog solve the retention problem with age-old lessons from games.

 

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People find games engaging because it’s progressively challenging and rewards for completing certain tasks and journeys. You can also boost your app engagements from a cycle of challenge and rewards. We have done gamification for an excellent fitness/wellness app for our client at University of Vermont. You can also get in touch with us if you’re looking for design and development assistance for your project.

5 WordPress Trends For Business Growth in 2021

Posted on by galaxy-admin

Regardless of the stiff competition, WordPress has been growing steadily since its inception. It is constantly evolving with new trends and technologies. 

Our blog uncovers the most significant WordPress trends that will help future-proof your business. As a business owner, adopting these practices can give you an edge over your competitors.  

1. AI in CMS

Our lives are faster than ever. Chatbots, voice search, and other AI-powered utilities have become essential for our need for speed. 

Modern CMS platforms are now equipped with AI-powered functionalities that seamlessly integrate backend to a website’s front-end. Wix for example utilizes AI to help web developers and designers to create custom web templates based on their preferences. 

These CMS platforms are so advanced that a headless CMS can deliver content using chatbot interfaces on mobile devices just through API integration.

2.  Hybrid CMS

To make up for the lack of a visual interface to design and preview content in a Headless platform, businesses are adopting the hybrid way.  

The hybrid approach comes with the scalability of a headless CMS architecture and at the same time keeps things traditional with a content control perspective. WordPress paired with REST APIs is a great example of this hybrid approach. 

A hybrid approach offers the best of both worlds with a structured presentation while giving the essential content control to marketers to manipulate content for customers.

3. Focus on Accessibility

Smart speakers with voice capabilities have dramatically improved access to online content, as has captioned media, simplified navigation, and increasingly accurate voice search technology. With increased dependency on IoT for work, school, entertainment, commerce, and social connections, the importance of maintaining and improving accessibility for people with disabilities is more profound than ever. 

WordPress offers integrations for accessibility and encourages development for the same in the community. There are millions of accessibility themes and plugins like WP accessibility that highlight accessibility issues within your website. 

4. Motion UI

According to a rough estimate by Siteefy, 547200 websites are registered daily. With these many websites being released every day, the competition for user’s attention is a great challenge. You cannot rely on the traditional ways of gaining user’s attention. 

Users need visual stimulation, and we recommend Motion UI to do just that. You can offer a unique experience in a motion user interface by adding movement, animated elements, and transitions to your design.

Motion UI is not just for the aesthetic and edginess, you can also use it to direct visitor’s focus on important things. 

For instance, this website of a music band does a great job of grabbing one’s attention. It is interactive, keeps you engaged, and ticks the right boxes, helping them achieve their business goals. 

5. Voice Interface

Voice-based experiences are no longer just some novelty feature that companies use to sell their products. It facilitates web accessibility, thereby making the web more inclusive than it was 10 years ago. And besides everyone just loves interacting with their phones and other mobile devices via voice interfaces. Google reports that 27% of the online global population is using voice search on mobile.

Summing Up

These trends are reshaping the web and the way we use it. Your WordPress website can also take advantage of these trends to change your content management strategy for the better and drive your business. 

You can get in touch with us if you’re looking to partner with WordPress experts. Our team will understand your requirements and provide you with a robust and cutting-edge solution that puts your business on a fast track to success. 

About Galaxy

We are your offshore CMS development partner and have state-of-art infrastructure and development expertise on the latest CMS technology trends. We have hands-on experience in end-to-end WordPress CMS development solutions catering to different business needs. We offer assistance from building custom CMS websites to website migration and maintenance processes.

Dos and Donts to Keep in Mind for Building an Ecommerce Website

Posted on by galaxy-admin

Despite stiff competition from the brick-and-mortar stores, the Ecommerce space is thriving. 

  • Digital Commerce 360 estimates that the consumers worldwide spent nearly $4.29 trillion online in a pandemic-fueled 2020, up from $3.46 trillion in 2019. 
  • By 2023, Ecommerce sales are expected to double to an astounding $6.5 billion.

In the post-pandemic world, people are likely to opt for online shopping for their regular and not-so-regular shopping. If you currently run an online business or plan to launch an Ecommerce venture soon, you have a great chance of success. 

We would however like to point out that attracting and retaining customers largely depends on how your Ecommerce website is built and the user experience. Failing this, your customers are likely to abandon their efforts to purchase your products or services. 

How can you ensure that your Ecommerce website meets (or even exceeds) the expectations of your customers? We have listed 8 ‘Dos and Donts’ that you must keep in mind while developing your Ecommerce website. 

Do These Things When Developing an eCommerce Site 

#1 Failing to Plan = Planning to Fail 

Whether you’re starting an online store, redesigning your website, or preparing to launch a new marketing campaign, solid execution needs careful coordination of numerous activities. Therefore, we recommend that you start with a plan that covers all the contingencies. Your plan should include key objectives as well as a timeline for when you want to reach certain milestones. Aside from that, it should include key metrics for measuring your progress and success. Don’t forget to plan financially to help get your business off the ground and save for future investments.

#2 Ensure Your Website is Responsive

A web search accounts for approximately 39 percent of global Ecommerce traffic — and with more people using their mobile devices than ever before, you’ll likely have a good number of prospective customers who will try to visit your site from their smartphones. If you’re wondering why you need a mobile-friendly website, one good reason is that a non-responsive website will immediately deter anyone who finds your site on their phone or tablet. When you hire a company to create a custom web design for your Ecommerce business, make certain that their work is responsive. Otherwise, you risk alienating mobile customers who are otherwise eager to place an order.

#3 Focus on Shopping Cart Design

Customers will not take the risk of checking out if the shopping cart does not function properly. It is preferable to have a cart that allows the customer to easily add different products and quantities as well as make revisions or deletions. You must provide pricing transparency, especially when discount codes or gift vouchers are used, and allow customers to get a clear idea of the shipping charges they may incur before proceeding to the next step in the process. If a product in a customer’s shopping cart sells out before they can buy it, it’s a good idea to include special notifications. 

#4 Open Source or SaaS – Choose wisely

You’ll have a significant decision to make as you enter the world of Ecommerce, depending on a variety of factors such as your company’s current and future needs, as well as budgetary and other constraints. Should you host your online store on an open-source or SaaS platform?

If you don’t need a highly customized online store and instead want to focus your energy and time on running and scaling your business rather than managing technology, a SaaS platform will suffice. It will save you a lot of time and money while allowing you to focus on your business goals. 

If you want a highly customized shopping experience, open-source is a good option.

Avoid These Habits When Building an Ecommerce Site

#1 Don’t Make Customers Do the Work

You’ll want to make the customer’s journey as clear as possible with any type of custom web design. This is especially true for Ecommerce websites, where any confusion or frustration can cause a customer to abandon their cart. Make certain that your website is simple to use and that there are no inherent complications that would cause anyone to reconsider placing an order. Your custom web design should be created in such a way that achieving any specific result requires only a few clicks. In general, you should not waste the customer’s time.

#2 Don’t Forget Call to Action

A call-to-action is essential, especially when encouraging customers to make an immediate purchase. While you should avoid overcrowding your custom web design with too many buttons, links, or pop-up advertisements, you should also not pass up an opportunity to create an incentive. Weigh your options carefully and ensure that all calls to action serve a specific purpose and can demonstrate real pay-off.

#3 Don’t Think Ecommerce as a One-time Project

Setting up Ecommerce for your business requires a great deal of care and attention to detail to ensure that everything is perfect. You must update your website regularly to reflect the most recent products and their prices. Check that all of the pages and links are functional and that the checkout process is working.

#4 Don’t Try To Do Everything at Once

While it is true that juggling multiple activities is required to achieve online success, keep in mind that you cannot do everything at once. Attempting to accomplish everything right away will work against you, leaving you feeling overwhelmed, overworked, and discouraged. Instead, plan wisely, set realistic goals, and carry out your activities per your pre-established schedule. 

Wrapping Up

An Ecommerce website has the potential to completely transform your business. It can not only increase your sales but also help you establish your company on a global scale – all without the hassle of opening a physical store.
Developing an Ecommerce website indeed necessitates a significant amount of sweat, time, effort, and money. A good Ecommerce site, on the other hand, can not only increase sales but also retain more long-term customers than you could ever expect if you know the right techniques.

Our team at Galaxy prides itself in designing some of the best Ecommerce solutions for businesses globally. Contact Us right away for a free consultation!