YouTube beta app gets unfortunate launch right after major site outage

  • There is now a YouTube beta Android app in which users can test out new features.
  • However, the launch of the YouTube beta app comes directly on the heels of a major YouTube site outage.
  • Hopefully, this YouTube beta app will be a proper beta app with major testing, and not just a facade.

In case you missed it yesterday — although we’re not quite sure how you could — the YouTube site went down for about an hour last night. We wrote about it, various other Android sites wrote about it, even the BBC wrote about it.

It’s not very often YouTube goes down on that level, so it made some serious headlines. Now, hot on the heels of the outage, Google very quietly launched a YouTube beta program for Android.

Despite the unfortunate coincidental timing, the YouTube beta app doesn’t have anything to do with sitewide outages. What it will do is give users access to new and upcoming features within the app for testing purposes. Assuming testing goes well, those features could eventually roll out to the main YouTube app.

Editor’s Pick

However, Google has a bad habit of opening beta programs for Android applications but still conducting the bulk of its testing on the server side, making the beta version of the app little more than a facade (we’re looking at you, Google Maps beta). It’s too early to tell whether the YouTube beta app will be like Google Maps in that regard, or be more like the Chrome browser’s various beta programs, which function mostly as a proper beta user experience.

If you want to check out YouTube beta for yourself, you can sign up as a beta tester by clicking here or on the button at the bottom of this article. Once accepted, you’ll get a notification on your Android device which will download the beta version of the YouTube app. If you want to switch back to the stable YouTube app, you can always opt-out at a later time.

Click the button below to sign up for YouTube beta:

Source: Android Zone

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How to Create a BuzzFeed Like Website Using WordPress

Recently one of our readers asked if it was possible to create a BuzzFeed like website using WordPress? BuzzFeed is one of the most popular websites on the internet known primarily for its viral content. Its success has inspired many bloggers to follow the same model. In this article, we will show you how to easily create a BuzzFeed like website using WordPress.

Making a BuzzFeed like website using WordPress

Why Start a BuzzFeed Like Website?

BuzzFeed is one of the most popular websites on the internet. Popular for its quizzes, listicles, and pop-culture commentary, the website has grown into a massive media company with annual revenue of $250 Million in 2016.

BuzzFeed represents a successful business model that many aspiring bloggers and entrepreneurs can follow. It allows you to make money online while showcasing your creativity and offering value to your users.

What Do You Need to Build a BuzzFeed Like Website?

First, you will need to choose the right platform. There are plenty of blogging platforms that you can choose from, but we recommend using WordPress because it is the world’s most popular website builder and content management system.

Fun fact: WordPress powers over 30% of all websites on the internet.

When we say WordPress, we are talking about self-hosted WordPress.org and not WordPress.com. They are two different platforms. See our article on WordPress.com vs WordPress.org for a side by side comparison of two platforms.

We recommend using WordPress.org because it gives you full control, ownership, and freedom to build your own BuzzFeed like website. To learn more, see our complete WordPress review.

There are three things you will need to make a website like Buzzfeed:

  • A domain name – This will be your website’s address and what users will type in their browsers to see your blog. (For example, wpbeginner.com)
  • Web hosting – This will be your website’s home and where you will store all your website files
  • Your undivided attention for 40 mins

Yes, you can make a BuzzFeed like website in 40 minutes, and we will walk you through it every step of the way.

In this tutorial, we will cover the following:

  • How to Register a Domain Name for Free
  • How to Choose the Best Web Hosting
  • How to Install WordPress
  • How to Find the Perfect BuzzFeed like Theme (website design)
  • How to Add BuzzFeed Like Content to Your Blog
  • How to Get More Visitors to Your Viral Blog
  • How to Make Money from Your Viral Blog
  • Resources to Learn WordPress Grow your Blog

Ready? Let’s get started.

Setting up a BuzzFeed Like Website Using WordPress

First, you will need to register a domain name and purchase hosting.

Normally, a domain name costs $14.99 / year and website hosting $7.99 per month which is usually paid annually.

If you are just starting out, then this is quite a lot of money.

Thankfully, Bluehost has agreed to offer WPBeginner readers a free domain name, free SSL certificate, and a 60% discount on hosting.

Basically, you can get started for $2.75 per month.

→ Click Here to Claim This Exclusive Bluehost Offer ←

Bluehost is one of the largest hosting companies in the world, and they are an officially recommended WordPress hosting provider.

Note: At WPBeginner we believe in transparency. If you sign up with Bluehost using our referral link, then we will earn a small commission at no extra cost to you (in fact, you will save money and get a free domain). We would get this commission for recommending just about any WordPress hosting company, but we only recommend products that we personally use and believe will add value to our readers.

That being said, let’s move on to setting up your domain name and hosting, so you can start building your website.

First, you need to visit the Bluehost website and click on the ‘Get Started Now’ button.

Get started with Bluehost

Next, you will be asked to select a plan. Basic and Plus plans are popular among our users.

After that, you will need to choose a domain name for your website.

Choose domain name for your website

Some tips on choosing the best domain name for a BuzzFeed like website.

Need more advice? See our guide on how to choose the perfect domain name for your website.

After choosing your domain name, you will enter your account information such as name, address, email, etc.

Below that, you will see some extra hosting options that you can purchase. We don’t recommend purchasing these extras because they will increase your hosting bill. You can always add them later if needed.

Hosting extras

Next, you will need to add your payment information to finish the purchase.

After that, you will receive an email with a link to your hosting control panel and login details.

Installing WordPress

Bluehost will automatically install WordPress for you, and you will be able to login to your WordPress site directly from the hosting dashboard.

Bluehost dashboard

Once logged in, you will see the WordPress admin area. From here you will manage your website, change content, and add content.

WordPress dashboard

Choose a BuzzFeed Like Design for Your Website

By default, WordPress comes with a very basic theme which doesn’t look anything like BuzzFeed.

Default WordPress theme

Luckily there are thousands of pre-made WordPress multi-purpose themes that you can choose from. We have hand-picked a few WordPress themes designed for viral content and BuzzFeed like websites.

1. Doberman

Doberman

Doberman is the perfect WordPress theme for BuzzFeed like viral content websites. It boosts user engagement with techniques used by viral content websites like social counts, trending content, popular posts, custom reactions, social sharing prompts, and more.

It has over 80 customization options allowing you to use your own colors, layouts, and styles. You can make it uniquely yours without writing any code. It also includes 1-click installation of demo content, after which you can simply go ahead and replace content with your own.

2. SociallyViral

SociallyViral

SociallyViral is another excellent WordPress theme designed specifically for viral magazine websites. It includes social shares, social media icons, trending posts, social integrations, Google AdSense placements, and more.

It has built-in ‘load more posts’ function with 4 different styles, email subscription box, and a featured post section on the top. It is highly optimized for SEO with Schema rich snippets support.

3. Noozbeat

Noozbeat

Noozbeat is a beautifully designed WordPress theme made for content-rich websites like online magazines and newspapers. It comes with dedicated spots to display ads on your website.

It also includes multiple layouts for homepage, categories, and single articles. It is easy to use with tons of customization options and unlimited color choices.

4. Snapse (Free)

Synapse

Synapse is a free WordPress theme for viral magazines and newspaper websites. It features a multi-color design with a full-width layout which gives it a trendy look.

It includes simple customization options which make it easy to use and quick to set up. Synapse is light-weight and compatible with all popular WordPress plugins.

5. TruePixel

TruePixel

TruePixel is another modern WordPress theme designed for content-rich websites. It is designed to reduce bounce rate and boost user engagement which means more page views for your website.

It is also advertisement ready which allows you to start monetizing your website right away. It comes with a custom theme options panel which will help you easily set up your website.

6. BuzzMag (Free)

BuzzMag

BuzzMag is a free WordPress theme designed for online magazines. It comes with a featured posts section on top, a modern homepage design that puts your content in front and center. It has ready-to-use advertising areas, multiple-sidebars, and easy to use theme options.

Want to look at more themes? See our expert pick of the best WordPress magazine themes that can be used to build a BuzzFeed like website.

Creating Viral Content for Your Website

BuzzFeed started out with viral content like personality quizzes, memes, listicles, and pop-culture commentary. It has now evolved into a large media company publishing different types of content.

You will need to decide what type of content you want to publish on your website.

WordPress makes it easy to add any type of content to your website. You can create listicles, articles, upload images, embed videos and audio, create photo galleries and more.

To learn more, see our beginner’s guide on how to add a new post in WordPress and utilize all its features.

Here are some of our guides that will help you create content similar to BuzzFeed and other viral magazines.

While you are building a website similar to BuzzFeed, it is important to make it your own by giving it a unique voice and style. This will help your brand stand out and capture a loyal audience.

To achieve this, you will need to regularly publish new content. You will notice that larger websites publish a lot of content each day. This is very difficult to do in the beginning, so you need to choose your own frequency.

We recommend starting with three articles a week and then increasing your pace to publish daily.

Now you may think, how would you come up with new ideas for blog posts on a regular basis? See these 73 types of blog posts that are engaging and can easily be used on a viral content website.

Need even more ideas? Make it a habit of visiting websites similar to BuzzFeed for inspiration. We are not saying that you should steal or copy their content.

Instead, collect ideas /topics, get inspired, and learn. Use these ideas with your own blog posts to create something new and original.

Getting More Visitors to Your Viral Blog

Viral content websites like BuzzFeed rely on traffic and user engagement for success. More people visiting your website means more pageviews and higher advertising revenue.

However, most beginners don’t know where to start and how to get more traffic to their website.

Optimize your website for SEO

Most popular websites on the internet get majority of their traffic from search engines like Google. Experienced website owners use SEO (Search Engine Optimization) to improve their websites for search engines.

WordPress is built to be an SEO friendly platform out of the box. However, there is still a lot you can do to make sure your content is found by search engines and is displayed higher in search rankings.

For complete setup, follow the step by step instructions in our WordPress SEO guide for beginners.

Improve your website speed and performance

You will notice that BuzzFeed loads extremely fast and works well even on slower internet connections. A faster website offers users a better user experience, and it also improves your SEO.

You can make your website fast by implementing some best practices to fine-tune its performance.

We have a complete guide on improving WordPress speed and performance with step by step instructions for beginners.

Learn from your users

To make your website popular, you need to know what your users prefer. Most beginners try to make educated guesses instead of getting the actual data.

Simply install Google Analytics on your website, and it will tell you which pages are popular on your site, where users are coming from, how much time they spend, and more.

You can also track user engagement on your website with Google Analytics. This allows you to see exactly what users do when they are on your website and what you can do to increase their engagement.

Making Money From Your BuzzFeed Like Website

BuzzFeed not only has a large audience, it also makes a lot of money. Their primary source of revenue is from online advertisements and selling marketing solutions to businesses and advertisers.

As a beginner, you may not get as high paying advertisers as BuzzFeed, but there are plenty of ways to generate a steady income from your website.

1. Displaying Ads on Your Website Using Google AdSense

Millions of websites on the internet rely on ads to make money. Google AdSense makes it super easy for bloggers to display ads on their websites.

You don’t have to worry about finding advertisers and collecting money. Google deals with advertisers, collects money, and sends it to you after taking a small cut.

For detailed instructions, see our step by step guide on how to properly add Google AdSense in WordPress.

2. Build Social Media Following

Viral content platforms like BuzzFeed have huge social media following, which has made them even more attractive to top brands. These brands approach them for collaboration, brand placement, and other deals to reach their massive social media audience.

However, for this, you need to start building a following on select social media platforms. Instagram and YouTube are the two platforms that attract a lot of big and small businesses.

An easy way to build a social following is by sharing posts on your website. You can share your Instagram posts on your blog and embed your videos in your blog posts.

3. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing allows you to recommend products and get a referral commission when your users purchase a product after clicking on your link.

You will need to find products that compliment your website’s topics and have an affiliate program. The biggest affiliate network you can join is Amazon Affiliates. It has thousands of products that you can choose from.

To get started, see our guide on how to manage affiliate links in WordPress.

There are plenty of other ways to generate revenue from your viral content blog. Take a look at our guide on different ways to make money from your blog for some more ideas.

Resources to Learn WordPress and Grow Your Blog

Building a magazine website like BuzzFeed allows you to experiment with different ways to add content, engage audiences, and grow your business. As you work on your website, you will realize that there is so much more you can do with WordPress.

WordPress is quite easy to use, but from time to time you will come up with questions. Good news is that there is plenty of help available online.

WPBeginner itself is the largest free WordPress resource site in the world. We have tons of helpful resources, guides, and how-tos, written specifically for beginners, bloggers, and business owners.

Following are a few handy WPBeginner resources that you should check out. All of them are completely free.

  • WPBeginner Blog – This is where we publish our WordPress tutorials, how tos, and step by step guides.
  • WPBeginner Videos – These step by step videos will help you learn WordPress FAST.
  • WPBeginner on YouTube – Need more video instructions? Subscribe to our YouTube channel with more than 52,000 subscribers and 7 Million+ views.
  • WPBeginner Dictionary – The best place for beginners to start and familiarize themselves with the WordPress lingo.
  • WPBeginner Blueprint – Check out plugins, tools, and services we use on WPBeginner.
  • WPBeginner Deals – Exclusive discounts on WordPress products and services for WPBeginner users.

Many of our users use Google to find answers on WPBeginner by simply adding wpbeginner after their search term.

We hope this article helped you create a BuzzFeed like website using WordPress. You may also want to see these practical tips to drive traffic to your new website. free

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Create a BuzzFeed Like Website Using WordPress appeared first on WPBeginner.

Source: Wordpres

The post How to Create a BuzzFeed Like Website Using WordPress appeared first on TuneMaster.ml.

New Verizon unlimited plan costs $95 a month and gives you 75GB of LTE data

  • Verizon Wireless is making some changes to its unlimited plans beginning June 18.
  • It will allow family members to each have a different unlimited plan under one account.
  • It will also launch a third plan, Above Unlimited, that will support 75GB of monthly LTE data.

Verizon Wireless brought back its unlimited plans in early 2017, and today it announced the biggest shakeup for those plans since that decision. Verizon now has three “unlimited” plans, and will also allow customers with family or friends on one account to each sign up for different tiers.

Verizon already had two different unlimited plans before today’s reveal. The first, Go Unlimited, costs $75 a month for one line (if Auto Pay is included), and offers unlimited LTE data, but speeds could slow down “in times of congestion,” along with 480p video streaming and 600Kbps speeds for mobile hotspots. The second plan, Beyond Unlimited, costs $85 a month for one line, and only slows down LTE speeds if you use over 22GB of data a month. It also boosts the video streams to 720p and offers 15GB of LTE data per month for mobile hotspots.

Editor’s Pick

Beginning Monday, June 18, the third plan, Above Unlimited, launches for $95 a month for one line. It will offer customers up to 75GB of data at LTE speeds per month, along with 720p video streaming, and 20GB of mobile hotspot LTE data. In addition, it will include 500GB of storage from Verizon’s cloud service and five Travel Passes per month. Each daily Travel Pass allows travelers going to 130 countries to take their domestic talk, text, and data allowances with them. All three unlimited plans also support free talk, texting and data from Mexico and Canada. All three plans also offer discounts if customers pay for more than one line.

The 75GB monthly data limit until speed congestion kicks in for Verizon’s Above Unlimited is higher than T-Mobile’s limit of 50GB for its unlimited plans, although you are paying a higher price for all that extra data.

The other major change that’s arriving on June 18 will allow families to mix and match different unlimited plans under one account. This means kids can be signed up for the cheaper Go Unlimited plan, while their parents can access the more expensive Beyond Unlimited and Above Unlimited plans — all under one account.

What do you think of Verizon’s new Above Unlimited plans? Are you signing up?

Source: Android Zone

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OPPO Realme 1 review: Pretty good, really cheap!

Lately, I’ve reviewed, compared, and previewed a whole host of great smartphones at mid-range price points. My conclusion: you can get a heck of a lot these days without needing to pay those flagship prices. But what about when your budget’s even tighter than that?

From OPPO and partner Amazon India, the Realme 1 will only be available online and aims to deliver a great experience at a very modest price point: starting at 8,990 rupees (~$110) up to 13,990 rupees (~$207). That’s significantly cheaper than the initial rumor of 17,990 rupees that we heard, and makes its otherwise modest spec sheet even more impressive.

Read: Oppo Find X teased: Is a real Oppo flagship coming soon?

I’ve got my hands on a more expensive, 6GB Realme 1 review unit, so let’s find out whether a phone this affordable could do everything I need it to over the course of a standard day. Here’s our Realme 1 review!

What may catch the eye of passersby is the interesting polygonal effect on the back of the device.

OPPO Realme 1 review: Design and display

Starting the day with the Realme 1 is nice enough. I tend to spend my first ten minutes of the day sitting up, reading blogs and checking emails, and the screen here is nice and bright with a decent resolution at 2,169 x 1,080, with a pixel density of 403ppi. It’s also plenty large at 6.0 inches, with an 18:9 aspect ratio. I really appreciate having that kind of real estate on a device this cheap. This is still an IPS LCD panel, rather than an OLED, and the screen feels a little cheap sometimes. I found my finger would drag when swiping, which wasn’t great.

Realme 1 screen

For my next port of call, I’ll usually make breakfast and a packed lunch while watching YouTube. This is a single speaker affair, but it’s loud enough and certainly better than a lot of the competition.

Then I’m off and out, first to drop my wife at work — with Google Maps doing just fine as my GPS and letting me know which traffic jams to avoid — and then to set up shop in a cafe somewhere to get a spot of work done.

Editor’s Pick

What may catch the eye of passersby is the interesting polygonal effect on the back of the device. This subtle pattern is visible only when it catches the light the right way, but it gives the Realme 1 a bit of unique personality. It looks considerably more impressive in press photos than in reality, and to be honest you could achieve the same effect quite easily with a decal, but hey, it’s better than nothing. This is definitely preferable to the bland appearance of most budget phones.

OPPO Realme 1 Review

During use, the Realme 1’s price is most apparent in the build quality. This device feels pretty cheap and hollow due to the mostly plastic body. It’s incredibly light in the way that might lead to someone mistaking it for a toy phone at first. It also has a very by the numbers design on the front. As you’d probably expect, there’s no IP rating either. The phone doesn’t feel the most durable — I’d consider getting a case.

The buttons are a very mushy and plastic-feeling.

The buttons are a very mushy and plastic-feeling. They’re also arranged strangely; the volume rocker is split into two separate buttons (which is annoying) on the left, which to me feels like definitely the wrong side. This obviously isn’t a deal breaker for a lot of people, but takes some of the sheen off of using a new phone.

I said in the hands-on that I would have liked if OPPO went for the notch device it originally showed in early images. That went down like a sack of shit with a lot of you guys, but I stand by it — not because I like the notch, but just because it would have been something interesting and a little more flagshippy for the front of this otherwise very dull device.

OPPO Realme 1 review: Performance

Before I get stuck into work, I often begin my day by calling my mum, my sister, or my pilot buddy Nathan who likewise is available during the working week. The Realme 1 serves its purpose as a phone, with decent call quality and no issues there.

For those very important people, there is also a dual SIM slot. I know a lot of buyers really appreciate that. It’s not a hybrid slot either — you’ll be able to add an SD card and an additional SIM.

From there, it’s on to work. These days, I actually use my smartphone quite a lot during a typical working day. I use it for workflow program and communication apps like Slack and Asana, checking emails, and responding to YouTube comments.

Realme 1 working

Obviously, with its Helio P60, this isn’t the most powerful device around. It’s actually more than enough for the vast majority of tasks, helped by the pretty hefty 3 to 6GB of RAM. 6GB is actually really generous at this price point. The Honor 10 — which I praised for having a lot of bang for your buck — only includes 4GB in the U.K. model and costs 399 pounds. Switching between apps is breezy, navigating the UI is nippy, and even multitasking works just fine — made easier thanks to the larger screen.

Read: These are the best dating apps in India

The phone also packs in the Mali G72 MP3 GPU, which is hardly a high-end gaming chip, but should be able to handle most games from the Play Store with little trouble. This is the reality of Android gaming: these days most chipsets can handle most games. The argument for spending more for more powerful hardware is becoming increasingly difficult to defend.

There are some scenarios where a little more power would’ve gone a long way, but they’re fairly specialized.

I decided to give Google Cardboard a go on my lunch break and found it painfully slow and sluggish, to the point of being nauseating. So there are some scenarios where a little more power would’ve gone a long way, but they’re fairly specialized.

Realme 1 cafe

The Helio P60 is a particularly notable inclusion because it comes with a built-in neural processing unit (NPU), which brings some AI-type features. Unlocking the Realme 1 is very fast, thanks to the very effective face detection. Apparently, the reaction time is 0.1 seconds, which I can believe based on my usage.

The only big bummer is the lack of a fingerprint sensor. That means I have to use a password on PayPal like a schmuck.

Realme 1 Oreo

I don’t love this phone’s UI. It’s got Android 8.1 Oreo – good – and Color OS UI on top – bad. As usual though, any cosmetic imperfections can be eradicated with a fresh launcher.

Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a buttery-smooth performer, but it didn’t stop me doing anything that I wanted to do. That’s pretty remarkable really for the price. Storage is 32, 64, or 128GB with expandable storage up to 256GB via an additional SD card slot.

OPPO Realme 1 review: Camera

Moving on with this day-in-the-life Realme 1 review, in the evening, I will typically hit the gym. This is when the camera becomes an important feature for me, as I will typically use the selfie-shooter to capture my workouts and share on Instagram. I have no shame. For me, a bad selfie-camera is a deal breaker.

Realme 1 camera

The camera on the front has an 8MP sensor. That’s not a bad showing — nothing to write home about but not bad. It can record at 1080p 30fps (as can the rear). There’s no optical stabilization, but it produces just fine videos and images.

For capturing antics in the evening, the rear camera is also serviceable. It’s a single lens setup — which these days actually bucks the trend — but at 13MP it should be capable of capturing some decent detail. The aperture is quite narrow at f/2.2 and photos are distinctly average. There are some fun features here though, including the compulsory portrait mode (and some dubious beauty modes) and even a pro mode!

Realme 1 camera app

Low light performance is definitely sub-par, and there are occasions where photos look washed out or soft. If you live on social media, you may want something a little beefier in this regard. Outside of that, its certainly capable of handling most everyday requirements, and it’s definitely better than it has any right to be.

OPPO Realme 1 review: Final Thoughts

By the end of the day, the 3,410mAh battery still had some juice left in it. With more than five hours screen-on time and a very impressive idle life, it’s actually got some longevity under its belt, too. Apparently we can thank the AI features for this to some extent, as they help with smarter battery management.

It’s hard to imagine how OPPO and Amazon are making any money at all from this one.

Come evening, I was forced to dig for a MicroUSB cable when I needed to plug in — another reminder of the phone’s budget nature. It’s also no surprise there’s no wireless charging here, nor any official quick charging functionality — though I found it powered up at a fairly satisfactory speed nonetheless (around 2 hours to a full charge).

Realme 1 microUSB

For 13,990 rupees, this phone lets me work, game, and take some decent photos. It has a unique appearance, and even a little AI magic thrown in for good measure. That’s a very compelling offer. It’s hard to imagine how OPPO and Amazon are making any money at all from this one.

The plastic build, lack of modern features, middling processor, and average camera mean this was never destined to be the must-have device of 2018. It’s pointless to compare this to current flagships, but it fairs well against other devices in its price category. It actually offers more bang for your buck than a lot of similarly positioned Xiaomi devices, and certainly beats the new line of lower end Nokias we recently covered. That said, those devices also have significantly nicer builds than this, and the Nokia phones have Android One, too. When going budget, it’s always up to you which compromises are important.

Realme 1 review

This feels quite cheap. If you’re willing to cover the cheap feel with a sturdy case, this is also a fantastic option on a budget.

Read next: Best Android phones for under 15,000 rupees

Still, I’ll be glad to go back to my Galaxy S8 Plus, though.

There you have it for our OPPO Realme 1 review! What do you think about this phone? Let us know in the comments.

Source: Android Zone

The post OPPO Realme 1 review: Pretty good, really cheap! appeared first on TuneMaster.ml.