• How they function
• How easy it to use them
• What are their features?
• What is their price range?

This blog brings all the information that you need to know about each WordPress web development tool, this helps you make a smart choice. Here are some of the leading WordPress development tools of 2021.

MAMP( My Apache, MySQL, PHP)

This development tool is very similar to XAMPP that enables you to set up an environment based on Apache, MySQL, and PHP. It is a software stack that lets you create WordPress websites and any other type of site. It is available only for Windows and macOS. MAMP supports a lot of additional languages, including Python and Perl. In addition, it provides the option to set up local WordPress websites manually. It is easier to manage than XAMPP.

There is also a MAMP Pro version available which comes with advanced options such as the ability to set up Nginx servers, a mobile testing tool, and a built-in editor. All these features make this tool an excellent choice out of the many local WordPress development tools available.

XAMPP

XAMPP stands for cross-platform(X), Apache(A), MySQL(M), PHP(P) and Perl(P). This simple and lightweight solution lets you build a WordPress site offline, on a local web server on your computer. It works on Windows, Linux, and Mac. As WordPress is not a stand-alone application, XAMPP provides two important components for its installation-Apache and MySQL. Apache is used to create the local server, and MySQL can be used as a database for your website. The reason why the developers are using WordPress local server is that it allows them to create a local copy of the site in which they can try out new plugin updates before implementing them on its live version. Thus, they can avoid and spot potential errors and problems that may occur.

Notepad++

It is extremely fast and has an intuitive interface. You can customize it in any way you want. Notepad++ has built-in FTP client and great extensibility. This makes this tool one of the best text editors for WordPress development. This powerful text editor is especially beneficial for newbies. It is completely free and comes with an impressive selection of components. It comes with the following features.

• Plugins for extending and improving editor functionality
• Customizable user interface
• Syntax highlighting and folding
• Search and replace tool
• Multiview editor
• Autocompletion and multi-document switching

Notepad++ can be a handy tool for an advanced developer. It is very easy to understand and runs on Microsoft Windows.

ReactJS

This tool is a JavaScript library for building user interfaces and reusable UI components. With this tool, it is very convenient to break developing applications into several simple parts. It is a popular Facebook-designed JavaScript library that powers many of the modern WordPress elements. The WordPress.com backend as well as the Block Editor use React. The style of application code derived from the use of React components can be applied to any program’s interface, that speeds up the development process. It is an ideal solution for any project with a modern, dynamic User Interface (UI). It utilizes a syntax extension to JavaScript called JSX to create elements, which are then delivered to the Document Object Module (DOM).

 The following are some of the features of ReactJS

• It performs optimization while drawing up code to JavaScript this makes it faster 
• During compilation, all technical errors are detected, which makes it error-free 
• If you are familiar with HTML, then that makes it easier for you to write templates 
• It is entirely automated.

VUE.JS

It is another modern front-end framework that can be used in conjunction with WordPress. Vue utilizes the power of WP REST API to manipulate data in the back-end. It has all the good features of React. This tool is a well-documented and lightweight JavaScript framework that uses standard web technologies to build all kinds of projects. 

Conclusion

A large part of your WordPress development experience depends upon the tools you use to carry out your job. If you use the right web development WordPress tools, then you will be able to complete projects quickly and with more ease.

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You may be aware that the WordPress creators had intentionally kept off several functions that a regular user may need. This ensured that the website wasn’t straddled by unnecessary blather that will affect its performance. A website owner can add functionalities of his choice with the help of plugins and by using widgets.

Most people tend to confuse plugins and widgets because they discharge similar duties and are difficult to define. Nonetheless, it is imperative that you know their function so that you can look in the right place when searching for some added utilities. 

Difference between widgets and plugins

What are plugins?

Plugins are pieces of code that are used to add new features or extend the functionality of a WordPress website. Plugins can be compared to apps that you can add to your smartphones. Each plugin had a set function alone.

Like we mentioned before, a vast majority of the functionalities required by an average user were kept off from WordPress to keep it light. Users could ‘plug in’ a plugin for any functionalities that they may need. 

There are currently more than 58,000 plugins available on the website. Some examples of plugins are – 

• Yoast SEO – to improve the SEO score of your website.
• Akismet – for spam protection.
• Wordfence – for giving security alerts regarding anything wrong with your website. 

The plugins that are currently in use on a website may not be obvious to a casual visitor because they run in the background and are managed by site administrators or website owners.

What are widgets? 

Widgets are content blocks that are added to the site’s sidebars, footer, and other widget-enabled areas. Widgets are connected with the design and generally are predefined by the theme used. 

Widgets were designed to help non-tech-savvy users that want to customize their website design. Examples of widgets are as follows- 

• Recent posts widget – for displaying a list of recent posts. 
• Social icons – a tray with links of major social media platforms. 
• Google maps widget – for displaying the map of a business location. 

What is the difference between plugins and widgets? 

In simple terms, plugins predominantly work behind the scenes and provide powerful functionalities. It is not associated with the aesthetics of the website, although there are certain exceptions. 

On the contrary, widgets help control the appearance and how certain items are displayed on the site. 

However, there are instances where widgets and plugins are interconnected. For instance, the Ninja Forms plugin comes with a dedicated widget for a contact form. The Testimonials Widget plugin makes testimonials appear in a professional manner, with support for images, texts, and video feedback. 

In a nutshell, widgets and plugins differ in their purposes. An average WordPress user will be using a combination of plugins and widgets to provide a smooth experience for their visitors.

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• WooCommerce

It is a powerful WordPress e-commerce plugin that offers greater flexibility and customization. In fact, this free tool is the driving force behind 30% of all online stores. 

The key features of this tool are

• It has hundreds of extensions and themes that make it very easy for you to add new features to your WooCommerce store
• It supports physical products and digital downloads
• It allows affiliate marketers to add affiliate or external products to your site, thereby providing users a better experience
• It enables you to easily manage your inventory or even assign it to a store manager
• It offers built-in support for popular payment gateways 
• It helps you to automatically calculate taxes, shipping costs, and other expenses
• It provides excellent support including documentation, a knowledge base, help desk, and community forums.

• Shopify

It is a cloud-hosted e-commerce solution that allows you to quickly get started with selling online. To get started with Shopify, you need to first sign up and then proceed. With Shopify, you no longer have to worry about setting up different gateways, handling, shipping or taxes, or making sure the site is secure, as it handles it all. This hassle-free, the all-in-one solution comes with a plugin that lets you create a WordPress site to manage your content and helps you drive more sales.

The following are the features of Shopify

• It supports both digital and physical products
• As it comes with an inventory editor, bulk importer, and an order tracker, tracking of inventory is very easy
• Support multiple payment options 
• It has a streamlined shipping system and direct integration 
• It integrates with everything

• BigCommerce

This e-commerce solution is designed to help businesses with online sales. It is cloud-hosted and provides seamless integration with your WordPress website. This stand-alone platform offers scalability, enterprise-grade security, and high performance. BigCommerce has a powerful integration plugin for WordPress that makes it very easy to embed your products in WordPress. It is capable of creating the sign-in, cart, account, and other important pages for you.

Its features are

• It requires less maintenance 
• BigCommerce can be used to sell on other channels like Facebook, Instagram, and Amazon
• It allows you to choose from dozens of the top payment gateways and you have to pay only to the payment service provider 
• It offers a wide range of shipping and fulfillment options
• It comes with 80+ predesigned, responsive templates to help you design the best storefront
• It helps you to easily customize your store with BigCommerce apps

• Member Press

It lets you sell subscription-based digital products and services. It is considered the best WordPress membership plugin as it comes with tons of integration options. It is capable of integrating with WooCommerce.

The key features of Member Press include

• It lets you easily sell subscription-based products, membership plans, pay-per-view content, and more.
• It has a powerful access control that allows you to define user access levels and content restrictions. 
• It has a course builder that lets you create and sell courses by offering your users an interesting online learning platform.
• It lets you release paid content over time 
• You can connect Member Press with third-party services.

• Easy Digital Downloads

It lets you easily sell digital downloads online using WordPress. This WordPress e-commerce plugin is very easy to use and comes with powerful features to create a beautiful and functional digital goods store. Software like WPForms and MonsterInsights can be sold using Easy Digital Downloads.

Key Features

• It offers a much better experience for selling digital goods
• It is very easy to use and you will instantly realize how to add products and display them. This is beneficial for the first-timers.
• It comes with hundreds of extensions including add-ons for payment gateways, marketing platforms, and services.
• It performs well with almost any WordPress theme. In addition to that, it has themes built specifically for the plugin.
• Easy Digital Downloads is very well documented, and it has free support forums, videos, tutorials, and even an IRC chatroom. It provides a priority support option for premium users.

With all these WordPress eCommerce plugins., you will be able to easily and successfully build outstanding online stores in WordPress.

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Read on to know more about why WordPress is perfect for business websites.

Reasons Why You Should Use WordPress for Your Website

1. It is free

You read it right – one of the most trusted CMS is free to download and use. For small business owners, WordPress is a godsend for two primary reasons:

• You don’t need to worry about the extra expenses.
• Time spend is exponentially lesser than building a website from scratch.

2. Easily customisable

A large percentage of people that are currently using WordPress for their website needs have no coding skills to speak of. WordPress is the perfect platform for these groups since it has a wide host of plugins and themes to choose from, and many of them are free. 

Themes can be easily adapted to your requirements via the options panel. You can alter the colour schemes, upload your company logo and create sliders.

Plugins are tools that add specific functionalities to your website. You can add complex features such as setting up an eCommerce website, creating reports and analytics, marketing tools, etc.

3. SEO friendly

WordPress has SEO compliance built into its platform. This makes WordPress websites rank higher than other websites on the web. Here are the top reasons why:

• WordPress themes and plugins work together to provide a sleek and professional-looking website, which in turn provides a great user experience and decreased site bounce rate.
• You can create permalinks with keywords plugged in. this will also aid in improving your search rankings.
• WordPress automatically generates title tags and metadata. This makes it easier for search bots to understand and index your website.
• WordPress optimises images used in websites, either by providing an “alternative text” for each image (which helps search bots crawl your website) and resizes pictures (to prevent slow load speed). 
• Certain plugins found in the WordPress repository helps you optimise the load speed. This makes search engines rank these websites higher.
• WordPress websites are 100% mobile responsive.

4. Easy to manage

WordPress allows you to manage a large number of activities from the admin dashboard. This includes updating WordPress as well as protecting information from data breaches. You can also manage your website from your smartphone.

5. Secure platform

The developers at WordPress take security very seriously. This is why they release frequent updates and security patches to provide their users with a secure platform to work on. Additionally, you can also opt to use security-based plugins to further safeguard your private data.

6. Open-source

WordPress is an open-source platform. This means that anyone can access the source code in the WordPress Codex and add specific enhancements to the code. You can also extend and reprocess the code.

7. Online support and community

WordPress has a well-developed support system and a large online community to assist its users. One can find solutions to any problem by either searching for a solution in the forums or by connecting with the support team. Moreover, WordPress regularly publishes blogs and guides that will steer users in the right direction.

As you understand now, WordPress is a nifty CMS platform that can create an extensive range of websites. WordPress keeps on evolving to tackle challenges faced by its users and help businesses achieve new heights.

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You may be wanting a form to gather vital information about your visitors, and it could be for either of the following purposes – 

• A means by which a visitor can contact you.
• Subscribe to a newsletter.
• Fill out a questionnaire.

Whatever be the reason, a contact form is a great way to achieve these objectives. Before we dive into the best form builder plugins, let us have a clear perception of the benefits of a WordPress contact form.

Perks of a contact form 

• Improved user experience

UX is one of the critical aspects of your website, and contact forms add to it. Visitors who may want to ask you questions will find it infinitesimally easier to send you a message while on the website than sending an email. 

• Protection against spam

You cannot eliminate spam, but you can at least contain it. As opposed to a public email that gives spammers a chance to bombard your mailbox with unsolicited mails, a contact form gives you greater command over the messages you receive.

Another way by which you can deter spambots is with the help of the reCAPTCHA function. 

• Showcasing a business in a professional manner

Having a clear cut contact form makes your website look professional, which will boost your business’s image. This is because a contact form will highlight your organisation skills and the time invested in your business.

• Easily track messages

When a customer emails you, there is a possibility that the email might get filtered out as spam. This will lead to unsatisfied customers that haven’t received any reply.

On the contrary, you’ll get an alert whenever someone contacts you via the contact form. This ensures that you can send replies as soon as possible, and are on top of the messages that you receive.

• Easier for customers

If a potential customer has to send you an email, he/she will have to go out of his/her way to drop you a line. A contact form will allow a customer to send you a message directly without any additional steps. 

• Get all the data needed

While sending an email, a customer may not provide you with all the necessary information that you need to help him. A contact form that has all the essential boxes will help you comprehend their issues better and guide them.

• Grow email list and boost sales

A contact form that lets your customers subscribe is one of the most cost-effective ways of boosting your email list. You can also deploy email marketing to inform customers about new deals.

Let’s get on with our list.

Top 8 Best WordPress Form Builder Plugins

1. WPForms

WPForms is a drag and drop WordPress form builder that is beginner-friendly and robust. It allows you to create an extensive number of forms such as registration, order, log in, and other tailor-made forms. This is perfect for website owners who don’t necessarily know how to code.

Features:-

• Easy to build contact form builder
• Contains more than 100 pre-built form templates where you can add or remove fields as necessary. The different types of forms are – 
  • Simple contact form
  • Registration form
  • Payment of order form
  • Subscription
  • Marketing form
  • Form for requesting a quote
  • Donation form
• Optimised for speed, SEO and mobile devices
• Unlimited types of fields such as star ratings, integration with email marketing etc.
• Conduct surveys and polls
• Crete membership forms that give access to people with correct credentials.
• Integrated with both PayPal and Stripe.
• Conversion optimised forms that include Conversational Forms®, dynamic contact forms, multi-page contact forms with progress bar, etc.
• Anti-spam protection and custom captcha.

WPForms comes in two formats – the free but limited WPForms Lite and the premium version that comes with a host of benefits. 

2. Formidable Form Builder 

Formidable Form Builder is a powerful drag and drop WordPress form builder plugin which can be used to create complex forms like profile forms, payment forms, etc. The forms built using Formidable looks elegant and functions perfectly on all devices.

Features:-

• Build a form faster with with the drag and drop feature.
• 100% GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) form builder.
• Equipped with advanced form styler that lets you completely customise your forms.
• Create survey forms with the in-built survey feature that also lets you analyse and display data.
• Integration with PayPal, Stripe and Authorize.net. 
• Formidable View allows users to display data from databases to the front-end of your website.
• Create powerful calculators such as mortgage calculator, health and fitness calculators, financial calculators, price calculators etc.
• Generate multi step forms with progress bars.

…and much more.

3. Ninja Forms 

You don’t have to be a coding ninja to use Ninja Forms WordPress Form Builder. They boast of having a support team that’ll help you with any questions you may have. 

Features:-

• Drag and drop fields into your form. 
• SEO and mobile friendly as well as fully responsive. 
• 100% GDPR compliance. 
• Allows users to to upload files as well as send emails from any form. 
• Accept PayPal and other card payment options. 
• Fully integrated with Salesforce CRM, Zoho CRM, MailChimp, Constant Contact, etc. 
• Utilise the pre-built templates for simple forms. 

4. Gravity Forms 

Gravity Forms is a paid plugin, but it comes with a host of benefits that users swear by. 

5. Form Maker by 10Web

6. Caldera Forms

7. Visual Form Builder

8. weForms

9. Contact Form 7

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Adding New Content

You can add new content to your website by creating a post entry. Your post is actually the material you want to present. It can be your thoughts on a topic, an article, a video, your products, and its description. You can also include pictures, links, and anything you want which you think may interest your target audience. It is also possible for you to modify the way your posts need to appear on your website. In fact, these posts are entries that are being displayed in reverse chronological order on your home page and are included in your site’s RSS feed.

To create a new blog post in WordPress, the first thing you have to do is to log in to your WordPress administration area ie, Dashboard. On the top left-hand corner of the Dashboard, there is Dashboard Menu (navigation menu). From the Dashboard menu, you need to select “Posts” and then click the Add New button. You can also enter the Title of your post in the upper field. 

Just below the Title field, you can add the Body of the post. You can make your text bold, italicize, and underline. You can insert symbols, add hyperlinks, create headings, change text alignment, and use bulleted or numbered lists to organize your text. In addition to that, you can upload images and embed videos. For uploading images and embedding videos, you need to click on the Add Media button in the top right corner of the Body toolbar. When you click on the button, your Media Library will open and you can select images and files, which you like to put into your post.

After selecting the image, you can decide its alignment and size and then click the “Select” button to bring it into the post. 

For embedding a video, you need to go to the right-hand side of this window and click Insert from the URL. At that time, a field will appear where you can enter the URL of the video you like to insert. When you enter the link, a preview of the video will appear and you have to click the Insert into post button in the bottom left-hand corner. Once you insert the URL, the video will appear in the Body of your blog post.

You can categorize your blog posts by creating and selecting custom categories. You can also add tags and select a featured image to use as the main image if you have the plan to share it on social media. Once you are ready to go live with your post, just hit the Publish button in the left-hand corner of the Publish window.

Creating a New Page and Editing Existing Pages

This works just as same as posts. Any differences in layout or features are connected with how your development team has built the various page templates that appear on your site. In fact, developers are able to design page templates with custom fields in order to make it very simple for non-tech-savvy users.

Customizing the Display of Any Page in the WordPress Administration 

When you log in for the first time, the first thing you may see will be editing fields. The Screen Options area at the top of your screen will let you choose which post fields to be displayed or hidden from your editing area. You need to check the box for each post field that you want to display or uncheck it to hide that module. You need to click the Screen Options tab again to close the tab.

Creating Subpages

It is also possible to create subpages within your pages.

 To create a subpage,  

Go to your administration area -> click Pages -> Add New.

Click the Page Parent drop-down menu in the Page Attributes section on the right. This menu consists of a list of all the pages already created for your site. You need to select the suitable parent page from the drop-down menu to make the current page a subpage. Then, add content to the subpage. Once it is ready, hit publish.

Editing and Deleting Comments

These are feature blogs that let readers respond to Posts. Usually, readers provide their own thoughts about the content of the post, but users are likely to provide links to other resources or generate discussion. It is possible to control and regulate the comments through the use of filters for language and content and can be queued for approval before they appear on the website.

You can edit and delete comments or mark them as spam on the Comments Screen. You can mark approve those comments that are awaiting moderation or mark unapproved previously approved comments. You can also select and approve, mark as spam, or delete multiple comments. 

Conclusion

Even though, are a lot to know about your WordPress site, knowing how to manage and create content is key.

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For those of you who are venturing into setting up a digital store for the first time, paying a monthly fee for using an e-commerce platform (such as Shopify) isn’t feasible. This is where WordPress comes in.

WordPress is one of the most preferred open source platforms by most business owners for setting up your fully functional e-store. When it is combined with the robust WooCommerce plugin (that powers more than 28% of e-commerce websites), you can rest assured that you are getting value for money. Moreover, it is suitable for small businesses since both WordPress and WooCommerce are free (although you’ll have to shell out some bucks for premium functionalities). 

Step by Step Guide to Building an e-commerce website using WooCommerce Plugin

1. Choose your domain name

A domain name is your website’s exclusive address, and choosing it is the first step to setting up a digital store. You will need to look around and buy your domain name from a reputed domain name registrar. Your URL will appear as www.businessname.com. Do remember that you will have to renew your domain name annually.

Note:- ‘.com’ is by far one of the most widely known domain extensions that provide businesses with an option to cater to a worldwide audience. A country-specific extension (such as .us, .uk, or .au) will help companies that want to focus on the local market.

1.  Choose a hosting provider and SSL certification

Web hosting is a fundamental feature of every website. In simple terms, web hosting is comparable to renting a space on the world wide web. Choose a web hosting provider that is suited to your online store requirements, be it shared or individual plans. 

There are certain web hosting service providers that include an SSL certificate as an add-on to the hosting plan. SSL certificates are what makes your website secure, and it will be reflected in the URL (it will appear as https:// instead of the standard http://.

1. WordPress installation

There are two methods of installing WordPress:

1. “One-click” installation via the hosting dashboard

This is by far one of the simplest options available to a website owner. Certain hosting providers offer the option of one-click install. 

Once you have signed up with the hosting provider that offers this feature, go to the hosting dashboard and press the “Install WordPress” button. It’s as simple as that!

1. Manual installation

This method isn’t difficult but is also not as straightforward as the option mentioned above. All you have to do is download WordPress onto your computer and then uploading it onto the hosting dashboard.

1. WooCommerce installation and configuration

WooCommerce is one of the most powerful (and free) e-commerce plugins on the internet. Even though you may need to pay for certain extensions, WooCommerce still offers a lot of free extensions. That includes – 

• Customised product pages
• Show verified reviews
• Book accommodations

• Shopping cart and checkout
• Numerous secure payment methods
• Different shipping options and printing of labels
• Automated tax calculations
• Easily integrated with Google Analytics, Facebook, email marketing platforms, etc

Check out the WooCommerce extensions page here.

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We’ll be answering a few questions regarding plugins. We’ll also talk about how to install and update plugins in WordPress. 

WordPress Plugins – About, Installation and Updating

What are plugins? 

In WordPress, plugins are pieces of software that add or extend the functionality of the website. You can choose from thousands of free and paid plugins available in the WordPress plugin directory. 

How do plugins work?

In layman’s terms, plugins are like the apps found on our smartphones. Just as we download apps onto our mobile devices to add new enhancements (such as being able to play games or improve productivity), we also “plugin” plugins for WordPress to augment or widen the functionality of a WordPress website.

There is a plugin for almost anything on WordPress. There are plugins to create contact forms to improve the website’s load speed and improve the website’s load speed set up an e-commerce store.

Every installed plugin is recorded in the WordPress register. You can activate or deactivate plugins according to your convenience. When you log into your WordPress dashboard, WordPress connects to the database, loads the main software and the active plugins onto the user’s computer.

How to install a WordPress plugin?

There are three ways of installing a plugin.

1. Automatically install plugins from the plugin directory
2. Manually install plugins by uploading the file
3. Manually install a plugin using FTP (File Transfer Protocol)

Let’s review each of the options in detail.

1. Install plugins from the plugin directory

This is the easiest way of installing a plugin in WordPress. The steps are as follows:

1. Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
2. From the left-hand menu, select Plugins and then Add New.
3. Browse through the directory, or use the search box in the top right corner. 
4. Click on the Install Now button after you get your desired plugin.
5. After the installation is complete, you can either click on the Activate button. If you prefer activating the plugin later, you can always do that by going to Plugins and then choosing the Installed Plugins option.

One of the shortcomings of automatic installation is that it doesn’t grant the user access to paid plugins. Users can only install free plugins using this technique.

2. Manually install plugins by uploading the file

This method is applicable to instances when a user needs a paid plugin from either the WordPress directory or third-party sources. Here is the process:

1. Download the plugin from either the WordPress website or a reliable third-party website.
2. Log in to your WordPress dashboard and select Plugins > Add New.
3. Click on the Upload Plugin button found at the top of the page.
4. Click on the Choose File button, select the .zip file and then click on the Install Now button.
5.  Click on the Activate Plugin button.

3. Manually install a plugin using FTP (File Transfer Protocol)

This method is applicable in extremely rare cases when the hosting provider has certain file constraints that inhibit you from uploading and installing a plugin from the dashboard. Here are the steps:

1. Download the plugin from either the WordPress registry or trusted third-party sources. The downloaded file will be in the .zip format.
2. Unzip the plugin file (aka extract the files). The folder will bear the same name as that of the .zip file.
3. Connect your WordPress website’s server with FTP. You can opt for a free or paid FTP client software that will do this for you.
4. After opening the FTP client, connect to your website using a username and password that will be provided by your hosting platform. If you don’t have the necessary credentials, contact your hosting service.

1. Open the wp-content folder and then the plugins folder in your WordPress file directory.

1. Transfer the unzipped plugin folder to the plugins folder.
2. Go back to your WordPress folder. Select Installed Plugins from the Plugins option.
3. Click on the Activate button.

As you can see, this is the least beginner-friendly option available.  

After installation, configure the plugin settings.

How to update a WordPress plugin?

Plugins are generally developed by third-party sources. The developers regularly update the plugins for the following reasons- 

• Either improve the quality of the program.
• To add new functionalities.
• To include security patches that tackle any susceptibilities and issues that could be (or has been) exploited.

A word of caution: Unless the version info specifically mentions that it is a security patch, we’d suggest that you wait for a week before updating the plugin. This gives the developers time to catch and correct any errors. 

WordPress lets you update plugins using the following methods:-

1. Opt-in for automatic updates.
2. Manually update individual plugins
3. Manually update plugins in bulk

1. Automatic updating

Administrators now have the opportunity to opt-in for automatic updates from WordPress 5.5 version onwards. Automatic updating happens twice a day and is applicable for both plugins and themes.

To opt-in for auto-updating, 

• Click on the Appearance option from Menu.

• On the Appearance page, navigate to the Plugins screen.

• There is an individual Enable auto-updates option for each plugin. Click on this link to auto-update a specific plugin.

• On the other hand, you can auto-update plugins in bulk. This is done by – 
  • Select multiple plugins using the checkboxes adjacent to the plugin name.
  • Use Bulk actions from the drop-down menu located on top of the table.
  • Choose Enable Auto-updates from the drop-down menu.
  • Click on the Apply button. 

2. Manually update individual plugins

WordPress has a system to automatically check and display notifications to the user of any new updates available. 

You can also check out the updates by selecting the Updates option in the dashboard menu. This is a general page that shows updates for the core software, themes, and plugins.

If you just want to update plugins, you’ll see notifications on the Plugins menu. 

How to update plugins from the Plugins page:

• Select the Plugins menu from the dashboard.
• Click on the Update now link that is shown under the available plugins.

3. Manually update plugins in bulk

Conversely, if you have multiple plugins that need to be updated, you can use the following steps – 

• Click on the Plugins menu from the admin dashboard.
• Click on Update Available which is right on top of the page. This page will show all the updates that are currently available.

• Select the ones you want to update in bulk (or select all) using the checkboxes.
• Click on the Bulk Actions drop-down menu and choose Update.

If you are confident that the plugins you have installed are from reliable sources and won’t cause your WordPress website to misbehave, you can opt for the auto-update option. Nonetheless, we’d recommend that you select the auto-update option for only a select few plugins, and manually update the rest of the plugins.

This concludes our post on how to manage WordPress plugins. If you have any queries or would like to share any additional tips, drop us a comment below.

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WordPress is not only for blogs. Nowadays, many small, medium, and large businesses are using WordPress to build their website. If you are planning to grow your business with WordPress, then it is certain that you are in good company. This blog discusses some of the specific strategies you can use to grow your business with WordPress. 

Create your Blog

Several businesses use WordPress for their full site build-out, while others use WordPress for their blogging platform. Whatever the case may be, a Word Press blog can help accelerate the growth of your business.

However, simply starting a blog is not enough; instead, you need to lay out a blogging strategy and calendar. In your strategy, you need to pinpoint who it is you want to target and ask questions like:

• What do my customers look for?
• What all questions do my customers ask?
• What do I want to rank for in Google?

After determining your topics, you need to set a schedule and follow it. You should write a blog once per week, and publish it on time. In fact, a good blog can gradually bring in thousands of visitors to your website.

Install an SEO Plugin

Matt Cutts, the former head of the webspam team at Google, stated that WordPress is capable of automatically solving tons of SEO issues. While setting up your WordPress website, one of the first things you need to do is to install an SEO Plugin. A lot of SEO plugins are available today; you need to choose the right SEO plugins for your WordPress website in order to improve your site’s discoverability and ranking. 

Use Contact Form Plugins 

You should use the contact form Plugins for WordPress. A good contact form Plugin is capable of collecting a wide array of information from your potential customers. It is advisable to perform an “A/B test” and set up a contact form with minimal information required at first, and then after a month, swap it with a more detailed form. You will find more people filling out the form, however, those leads will be less qualified. You should always monitor the results and choose a form that is best for your business.

Create Landing Pages

It will be very difficult to get landing pages up quickly, especially if you are not a developer. Many a times, business owners have to turn to software for the sake of time. However, in the case of WordPress, this is not necessary. You can quickly build landing pages in WordPress and easily test campaigns, drive traffic from specific websites to specific pages and get hyper-targeted with your offering.

Track Your Analytics

Easy integration with a host of tools, including Google Analytics is another benefit you can enjoy by running your business on WordPress. Install the right WordPress Analytics Plugin and follow the steps. This will help you track your site visitors in a matter of minutes. It does not require any development skills.

Use Image Optimizer Plugins to Speed up Your Website

Even though, large images look great on your website, those images may take a long time to load for your website’s visitors. A slow page load time causes a greater number of visitors to leave your website instead of waiting for it to load. This sends a signal to Google that your website is not the best resource for its searchers.

Here, the WordPress Image Optimizer Plugins plays an important role. The plugin optimizes the images on your site to ensure that your page load time is quick. 

Sell More Products

Expand your business by selling more products with WordPress. You need WordPress 

E-commerce Plugins to sell digital or physical goods, affiliate products, and handle shipping all from one place. 

Use Affiliate Links on your Website

Affiliate links can bring in revenue to your business, especially if you plan on bringing in large numbers of visitors to your blog. When you place an affiliate link on your website from Amazon, Audible, etc. Visitors may likely click your link and they are taken to the merchant’s website. This helps you to earn a commission that is usually a percentage of the sale. When you are writing a blog about social media tools, always make sure to add an affiliate link to one of the tools to the blog and earn a commission on anyone who purchases.

Create a Portfolio

Your potential customers want to see your past projects to make sure it falls in line with what they want for themselves. If you fail to showcase your work, then you will be missing out on a big chunk of business. WordPress lets you easily build your own custom portfolio. You must show your past projects, case studies, and results on a page and make sure to include a contact button.

Accept Payments on Your Website

WordPress integrates smoothly with almost all major payment processing software. You must build a page with a specific offering and allow your customers to pay or subscribe directly to your website. 

Get More Social Shares

Lots of plugins are available for WordPress that help grow your social media following and increase social shares. If you want to expand your business, you must take advantage of some of these tools. When your social audience increases, the potential customers who are looking at your brand on a day-to-day basis will also increase. Make sure to use the social media share button to make content sharing easy, fast, and beautiful. 

Show Your Customers that others are enjoying Your Products and Services

Your potential customers are always looking for social proof. They want to see whether your past customers are happy, whether other people are signing up for your service. So, try using Social Proof Plugins for WordPress to show your customer that others are using and enjoying your products and services. This in turn helps in increasing your conversions and getting more customers.

Embed Your Videos

Video marketing helps expand your business. It allows your customers to see from whom they are buying and what they are purchasing and can also provide entertainment and build trust. Once you have created videos for Facebook, Vimeo, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, or any other major platform, you need to embed those videos right within your website. It is also possible to place educational videos on your blog, company overview videos on your about us page, or quick product demonstrations within your website’s main slider.

Conclusion

Setting up and starting a business is very challenging, especially for these budding business owners. However, with WordPress, these business owners no longer have to worry about issues that hinder their business performance. Instead, they can easily build their own responsive business website. All they have to do is, try using WordPress in the ways mentioned above, and start promoting their business offerings, right away.

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Picking the right platform to start your online store is crucial because it offers more possibilities for expansion. There is a wide range of options to choose from, and your choice should reflect your requirements. WordPress is generally favored over other platforms for its versatility, with over 40% of all websites powered by WordPress. It is also equipped with powerful plugins that will help you convert your WordPress website into an eCommerce site and establish a fully functional digital shop effortlessly.

How to choose a WordPress e-commerce plugin?

Like we mentioned previously, you will need to choose a plugin based on your requirements. Here are some of the factors that should be taken into consideration.

• The type of product you intend to sell
• Level of technical expertise
• Plugin costs
• Support base, user reviews and regular updates
• Integration with third-party applications
• Payment and shipping options
• Customisation and design options

Before we select a plugin, we need to do the following – 

• Choose a website hosting provider that will host your website.
• Get SSL certification, and 
• Choose a domain name.

Let’s now look at the eCommerce plugin competitors that are vying for your attention.

The Top WordPress Plugins for Setting up an eCommerce Store

1. WooCommerce

WooCommerce is the platform that powers more than 28% of all e-commerce websites, and for a good reason. Since it is owned by Automattic (aka the creators of WordPress), you can be sure of the fact that you will get regular updates and support for your e-store.

Features:-

• Open-source, free and flexible digital platform.
• Can handle both physical and digital sales.
• Set up your store within minutes.
• Supports a wide range of payment and shipping options.
•  Integrated with major third-party apps such as MailChimp, Google Ads, Facebook etc.

2. BigCommerce

BigCommerce is an open SaaS platform with a plugin that seamlessly integrates with the WordPress ecosystem, BigCommerce allows you to expand your business on a much larger scale than what was possible for WooCommerce.

Features:-

• The plugin comes with many advanced features, such as complex catalogue creation, currency handling, taxation and shipping support, etc.
• The plugin handles the resource-heavy commerce part, which leaves WordPress to focus on managing content. This demarcation ensures that speed is not affected.
• Handles PCI (Payment Card Industry) compliance by taking control of the checkout.
• Provides more than 65 payment gateway options.
• Allows you to sell across multiple marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay, etc.

  3. Easy Digital Downloads

If you only plan on selling digital products such as software, documents, photographs, ebooks, audio files, graphics, videos, or any other type of media file, Easy Digital Downloads is the plugin for you. This is a free plugin whose functionalities can be improved with the purchase of any one of the Passes available, or by acquiring extensions.

Features:-

• Buy digital products directly from the product page (using the “Buy Now” button), or purchase multiple items from the shopping cart.
• Multiple payment options including Stripe, PayPal, Google Pay and Apple Pay.
• Manage customers’ purchase history as well as keep track of important metrics with the help of reports.
• EDD prevents unapproved access to your files.
• Easily create discount codes to drive up sales.

4. WP EasyCart Shopping Cart and eCommerce Store

WP EasyCart has been gaining a lot of traction recently because many small business owners have turned to this plugin for setting up their stores. This can be attributed to the fact that the other plugins that we have mentioned previously need certain knowledge to leverage their power, and small businesses don’t have the luxury of learning these skills. 

Features:-

• Supports a broad range of products – physical, digital, subscriptions, etc.
• Create a store that is compatible with all devices.
• Multiple payment options such as PayPal Express, Square, and Stripe.
• SCA and GDPR compliance.
• The premium version is jam-packed with advanced add-ons that won’t put a dent in your pockets.

We hope that this post has helped you find the best WordPress eCommerce plugin for your business needs. If you have any questions or want to share something, please drop us a comment below.

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