Common Ninja Blog

A job application form decides who applies and who gives up halfway. Here is what to ask, what to leave out, and what has to happen after somebody presses submit.

Publishing a feed is how your content travels to readers, apps and other websites. Here is how to create an RSS feed, what belongs in it, and how to check it is valid before you publish it.

There are three different things people mean by embedding a PDF in Canva. Here is which one you need, what Canva will accept, and what to do when it will not.

Google News publishes RSS for topics, searches and places. Here is how to build the exact feed URL you want, what the feed does and does not contain, and how to display it on a page.

Facebook recommendations only arrive if the feature is switched on, the ask is timed well, and the path takes one tap. Here is how to build that, without breaking any rules.

A before and after slider is only as good as the two photographs behind it. Here is how to shoot them, pair them, and put the slider on a page so it convinces rather than decorates.

A count up timer runs forward from a moment that already happened and never stops. Here is what it is good for, how to set the start correctly, and the timezone mistake that quietly breaks most of them.

A visitor counter is easy to add and easy to regret. Here is what one actually counts, where it helps, where a small number costs you, and how to set one up properly.

A corner pop-up is the version of this pattern that does not block the page. Here is what it is for, when to trigger it, how to keep it usable on a phone, and what actually matters when choosing software to build one.

A menu is the most-read page on a restaurant site and usually the worst maintained. Here is how to publish one that is readable on a phone, quick to update when prices change, and not a PDF.

Pinterest publishes free embed widgets that need no API key, no account approval and no code beyond one script tag. Here is how to use them, where they stop being enough, and which shortcut to avoid.

Lovable builds the site. It does not build the booking calendar, the cookie banner, or the form that actually delivers an email. Here are seven widgets worth embedding, and the one thing about React that trips everybody up when they paste the code in.

There are two ways to make a Lovable site multilingual and they solve different problems. One serves readers today. The other builds search presence in another language. Picking the wrong one costs you months.

Black Friday lands on November 27 this year. Here are six free widgets that get your site ready for holiday shoppers, what each one is for, and when to switch it on.