How did I not know of this before?
I don’t know how I ever missed this WordPress plugin, but tonight as I was browsing the web, I found a plugin that was amazing.
If you don’t know, I fell Friday and broke my wrist, and so typing isn’t a lot of fun right now. But that’s not a big deal, because I decided to create a little video for you instead.
Just so I could show you this plugin, called CSS Hero.
Stop worrying about your CSS abilities
If you’ve ever been one of those folks that worries that you don’t know enough CSS to make a site look like you want it to, you can stop stressing right about now.
Check out how CSS Hero works – using the theme I use – Make by Theme Foundry.
Spending $29 has never felt so good
I found it. I saw it. I tried it. And then, just like you might do, when I saw how easy it was, I bought it.
And I’ll be honest with you. It reminded me of the day I bought Gravity Forms. I knew right away this would make a lot of my life a lot easier.
So go check it out – but only if you’d like to make your life easier. Much easier.
Very nice, so many times I tweak and write CSS right in google inspector, and have wished there was a way to get it to stick. This looks like a nice timesaver, even if it isn’t a complete replacement for CSS knowledge.
Hey Chris
I bought this plugin yesterday and it is amazing. It will save me tons of hours! The only thing one has to consider: If you switch off the css hero plugin all css changes are gone. But: (1) css hero gives you the possibility to export the css code built with the plugin and (2) there is a button that – by clicking on it – shows you all css that has been built by the plugin. From there you can copy and paste it if you need to do so.
Bottom line: I will never do it without css hero.
Best
– Dominic
Does this work with Studiopress child themes ?
I think so
Well, that comment was too short and too cheap.
The REAL value in making your writings more legible is in having more people read them. I read you posts everyday because I respect your opinions and you present them in very interesting ways.
However,,, with nearly perfect vision, I prefer to read your material through a proxy such as an RSS feed or the readability.com “Read Comfortably” service. Did I say nearly perfect vision? Yes, that was after the marvel of today’s cataract surgery that gives a person brand new, perfectly fitted lenses. Before that, your pages would be mostly blank.
Ask your eye doctor, at your next exam, how many people use corrective lenses and you’ll find the figure I cited not far off. A LOT of people have some degree of low vision, and I’m certain there are many who would enjoy your writings if they were easier to read.
As an aside, my experience includes about 10 years of improving web site accessibility. You can go check color contrast for the color of the font you use and find it well within the range recommended by the W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. The down side, is that those guidelines were developed before CSS3 gave us the ability to weight (or un-weight) fonts. The recommended contrast ratio was intended for “normal” font weight (at that time about 600), not the 300 weight you use.
Invite more readers. Be BOLDer.
Holy Crap! What the?? This is amazing!!! And THIS is the kind of thing that can eventually make my job obsolete as a web designer/front-end developer. :-O
Love it! Gonna buy it.
Hi Chris,
Thanks for this demo.
This is a great plugin. I’m just wondering if you can actually save what you have done and apply it to the entire site? If yes, that’s a killer feature.
If not, you’ll need to repeat those changes all over again…
Have a great day !
Yes, you can. BOOM!
Chris, this is terrific! I’ve been looking for something like this for ages! I was ready to pay 10x the price (hush, don’t tell anyone). Thanks for sharing!
Hi there Chris.
I must agree that CSS Hero is very good as long as you have the plugin’s it recognises and there are some it does not. I have been working with it for about 3 months now and find it very helpful.
I have also been looking at another product, this one seems to work with more plugins , Microthemer works in the same way as CSS hero, but you don’t have any limitations. CSS Hero will only run on 999 sites but Microthemer is unlimited. Something to think about when buying.
At the end of the job, when the client is entirely happy, I copy the CSS code from CSS Hero or Microthemer and add it to the child themes folder.
John
Thanks for the Microthemer recomendation! I’m giving it a try.
The issues I have with CSS Hero is that it’s an online only tool (even though it can installed into self hosted WP) and you’re not given the full / 100% version source of the product at purchase.
I think it should be noted in the article that CSS Hero is a CLIENT only solution that requires and always on internet connection and only works when their server is up. If you look into the partial source code you’re provided with at purchase, it’s easy to see that it requires additional code stored on their server to actually run.
If anyone decides to depend on this otherwise powerful solution, just be prepared for it fail / not to work in the following situations at least…
1) When you have no internet access but would like to work offline.
2) When you do internet access but their server is down or their server is blocked by a content filter / firewall.
3) Unlike many WordPress plugins, the license entry / activation isn’t optional and isn’t just for updates. The product will totally refuse to work unless activated which again requires Internet access. The license is then verified each time the product is used through your connection.
The aggressive licensing system makes using local and staging server environments a no go unless you license them separately as well which borders on the ridiculous for me.
Don’t get me wrong. This a wonderful, powerful product that is sadly handicapped on purpose by it’s creator out of fear. I could never feel comfortable handing this off to a client when it’s possible that they be I unable to make CSS for one reason or another. It’s just not reliable enough for me but I know many (will) still use it regardless.
Thanks for reading this.
Chris, you are the absolute “BEST”! You are the first person I have ever subscribed to. Everything that you have recommended has been a “Jewel”. Love to hear you speak when dissecting different themes, plugins, and how stay on top of the WordPress sphere. Thanks for making my WordPress experience an “AWESOME” one.!