org/openverse/2022/08/30/openverse-remote-contributor-day-at-wordcamp-us-2022/\">Openverse Remote Contributor Day at WordCamp US 2022</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-performance\"><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/performance/\">Performance</a></h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Proposal: <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/performance/issues/455\">Database performance Health Checks</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-plugins\"><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/plugins\">Plugins</a></h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/updates/2022/08/29/plugin-review-team-29-aug-2022/\">Plugin Review Team: 29 Aug 2022</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-polyglots\"><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots\">Polyglots</a></h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/2022/08/22/polyglots-monthly-newsletter-august-2022/\">Polyglots Monthly Newsletter: August 2022</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-test\"><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test\">Test</a></h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2022/08/13/fse-program-testing-call-16-back-to-basics/\">FSE Program Testing Call #16: Back to Basics</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/test/2022/08/16/week-in-test-16-august-2022/\">Week in Test: 16 August 2022</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-themes\"><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/themes\">Themes</a></h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>FEEDBACK REQUESTED:</strong> <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2022/08/15/testing-and-feedback-for-the-fluid-typography-feature/\">Testing and Feedback for the Fluid Typography Feature</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/updates/2022/08/16/themes-team-update-august-16-2022/\"></a><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/themes/2022/08/23/themes-team-meeting-notes-august-23-2022/\">Themes Team Meeting Notes –&nbsp;August 23, 2022</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/updates/2022/08/30/test-team-update-30-august-2022/\">Test Team Update: 30 August 2022</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-training\"><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/training\">Training</a></h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/updates/2022/09/01/whats-new-on-learnwp-august-2022/\">What’s new on LearnWP – August 2022</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/training/2022/07/27/information-sources-for-wp-6-1/\">Information Sources for WP 6.1</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/training/2022/08/31/august-24th-30th-supplemental-sme-meeting-recap/\">August 24th / 30th Supplemental SME Meeting Recap</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/training/2022/08/29/august-2022-monthly-faculty-meeting/\">August 2022 Monthly Faculty Meeting</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/training/2022/08/29/meeting-agenda-for-august-30-2022/\">Meeting Agenda for August 30, 2022</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/training/2022/08/29/training-team-meeting-recap-august-23/\">Training Team Meeting Recap –&nbsp;August 23</a></li><li><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/training/2022/08/27/documenting-the-successful-launch-of-japanese-online-workshops/\">Documenting the Successful Launch of Japanese Online Workshops</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"h-video-tutorials\">Video Tutorials</h3>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://learn.wordpress.org/tutorial/creating-a-new-header-with-blocks/\">Creating a new header with blocks</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"h-online-workshops\">Online Workshops:</h3>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://learn.wordpress.org/?meeting=what-is-the-domain-name-system-2\">What is the Domain Name System?</a></li><li><a href=\"https://learn.wordpress.org/?meeting=introducing-domains-2\">Introducing… Domains!</a></li><li><a href=\"https://learn.wordpress.org/?meeting=showcasing-content-with-query-loops-4\">Showcasing Content with Query Loops</a></li><li><a href=\"https://learn.wordpress.org/?meeting=the-beginners-guide-to-full-site-editing\">The Beginner’s Guide to Full Site Editing</a></li><li><a href=\"https://learn.wordpress.org/?meeting=a-personal-site-in-1-2-3-with-patterns\">A Personal Site in 1, 2, 3 with Patterns</a><a href=\"https://github.com/courtneyr-dev/make-wp/#test\"></a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-wptv\">WPTV</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://wordpress.tv/category/year/2022/\">Latest WordPress TV videos</a></li></ul>\n</div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" />\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-related-news\">Related News:</h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https://thephp.foundation/blog/2022/08/30/php-core-roundup-5/\">PHP Core Roundup #5</a></li><li><a href=\"https://tc39.es/#proposals\">ECMAScript Proposals</a></li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-theme-palette-7-background-color has-background\">Thanks for reading our WP dot .org roundup! Each week we are highlighting the news and discussions coming from the good folks making WordPress possible. If you or your company create products or services that use WordPress, you need to be engaged with them and their work. Be sure to share this resource with your product and project managers. <br /><br /><strong>Are you interested in giving back and contributing your time and skills to WordPress.org?</strong> <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f64f.png\" alt=\"🙏\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /> <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/article/contributing-to-wordpress/\">Start Here ›</a><br /><br /><strong>Get our weekly WordPress community news digest</strong> — Post Status\' <a href=\"https://poststatus.com/news/week-in-review/\">Week in Review</a> — covering the WP/Woo news plus significant writing and podcasts. It\'s also available in <a href=\"https://poststatus.com/newsletter\">our newsletter</a>. <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f48c.png\" alt=\"💌\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /></p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text alignwide is-stacked-on-mobile has-background\"><a href=\"https://poststatus.com/\"><img src=\"https://cdn.poststatus.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/vertical-post-status-logo-250.png\" alt=\"Post Status\" class=\"wp-image-85823 size-full\" /></a><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left has-normal-font-size\" id=\"h-get-ready-for-remote-work\">You — and <a href=\"https://poststatus.com/business-membership/\">your whole team</a> can <a href=\"https://poststatus.com/post-status-membership-club/\">Join Post Status</a> too!</p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left has-small-font-size\"><strong>Build your network. Learn with others. Find your next job — or your next hire.</strong> Read the <strong>Post Status</strong> <a href=\"https://poststatus.com/newsletter/\">newsletter</a>. <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/2709.png\" alt=\"✉\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /> Listen to <a href=\"https://poststatus.com/podcasts/\">podcasts</a>. <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f399.png\" alt=\"🎙\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /> Follow <a href=\"https://twitter.com/post_status/\">@Post_Status</a>. <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f426.png\" alt=\"🐦\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /></p>\n</div></div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-spacer\"></div>\n<p>This article was published at Post Status — the community for WordPress professionals.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Wed, 31 Aug 2022 16:16:35 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:18:\"Courtney Robertson\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:38;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:82:\"Post Status: New pricing model at Business Bloomer aims at Purchasing Power Parity\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:32:\"https://poststatus.com/?p=113971\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:93:\"https://poststatus.com/new-pricing-model-at-business-bloomer-aims-at-purchasing-power-parity/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:1268:\"<p><strong>Rodolfo Melogli</strong> has changed the pricing structure at bto be more affordable to people around the globe. He\'s done this by calculating &#8220;Purchasing Power Parity.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p><a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purchasing_power_parity\">Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)</a> is a metric that can be used to determine the actual “purchasing power” of a given country. A basket of goods purchased in the USA with USD is compared to the price of that same basket in a given country, in that country’s local currency. This ratio is never identical to the actual local currency exchange rate against USD. In fact, in some countries it’s much lower, which means that those goods can only be purchased using less USD than would be required in the USA.</p><p>Based on this metric, the PPP value helps with redefining prices. To better illustrate this, based on PPP data from the last 5 years, those in India may receive discounts of up to 75% on Business Bloomer WooCommerce online courses, those in South Africa may receive a 59% discount, Norway students may receive no discount, and so on. </p></blockquote>\n<p>This article was published at Post Status — the community for WordPress professionals.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Wed, 31 Aug 2022 14:51:00 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:10:\"Dan Knauss\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:39;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:71:\"WPTavern: #41 – Laura Nelson on How To Create a Profitable Newsletter\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:48:\"https://wptavern.com/?post_type=podcast&p=137279\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:85:\"https://wptavern.com/podcast/41-laura-nelson-on-how-to-create-a-profitable-newsletter\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:42472:\"<p>On the podcast today, we have <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/laurora/\">Laura Nelson</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Laura is a Content Marketer at WooCommerce where she’s responsible for creating and planning engaging content for their users.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prior to WooCommerce she worked at <a href=\"https://www.mailpoet.com/\">MailPoet</a>, an email marketing plugin for WordPress, and before that, she worked at Pragmatic, a UK based WordPress agency.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>She’s on the show to share her experience about how you can, and why you might want to, set up a paid email newsletter.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I hear the word newsletter, I’m typically thinking of the information which drops into your inbox on a regular basis. We’ve all surrendered our email addresses in return for some product or service. We agree to receive emails on the understanding that we can unsubscribe at some point. Perhaps a few of these emails really resonate with you, but it’s likely that you&#8217;ve unsubscribed from many as the content is no longer wanted.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This kind of email marketing is not always viewed favourably, and is not the kind of technique that Laura is on podcast to talk about.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Her pitch is that email newsletters can themselves be a product. That people will pay to receive your emails, and she’s got data and examples to back it up.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I suppose that the closest analogy would be people who create an online course. You have an area of expertise; you do the hard work of creating the course and people will pay for a membership to have the benefit of learning from your expertise.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Laura is describing something similar to that. The only difference being that instead of a course, people will pay to receive your emails, knowing that you’re going to bring value to them regularly.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I know that this can be done, because, as you will hear, I’m a subscriber of some of the emails which Laura mentions.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is not a get rich quick scheme. It’s hard work and you’ve got to cultivate your audience and give them something of value, repeatedly.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Typically, when we record the podcast, there’s not a lot of background noise, but that’s not always the case with these WordCamp Europe interviews. We were competing against crowds and the air-conditioning. Whilst the podcasts are more than listenable, I hope ‌you understand that the vagaries of the real world were at play.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Useful links.</h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://jacksflightclub.com/\">Jack&#8217;s Flight Club</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://www.densediscovery.com/\">Dense Discovery</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://www.dailycodingproblem.com/\">Daily Coding Problem</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://www.litmus.com/email-testing/\">Litmus Email Testing</a></p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://www.emailonacid.com/\">Email on Acid</a></p>\n\n\n\nTranscript<div>\n<p>[00:00:00] Nathan Wrigley: Welcome to the Jukebox podcast from WP Tavern. My name is Nathan Wrigley.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jukebox is a podcast which is dedicated to all things WordPress. The people, the events, the plugins, the blocks, the themes, and in this case how WordPress can be the backbone of a profitable newsletter.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;d like to subscribe to the podcast, you can do that by searching for WP Tavern in your podcast player of choice, or by going to WPTavern.com forward slash feed forward slash podcast. And you can copy that URL into most podcast players.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have a topic that you&#8217;d like us to share on the podcast, I&#8217;m keen to hear from you and hopefully get you all your idea featured on the show. Head over to WPTavern.com forward slash contact forward slash jukebox, and use the contact form there.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So on the podcast today, we have Laura Nelson.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Laura is a content marketer at WooCommerce, where she&#8217;s responsible for creating and planning engaging content for their users. Prior to WooCommerce she worked at MailPoet, an email marketing plugin for WordPress, and before that she worked at Pragmatic, a UK based WordPress agency.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>She&#8217;s on the show to explore her experience of how you can, and while you might want to set up a paid email newsletter.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I hear the word newsletter, I&#8217;m typically thinking about the information which drops into your inbox on a daily basis. We&#8217;ve all surrendered our email addresses in return for some product or service. We agree to receive emails on the understanding that we can unsubscribe at some point.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Perhaps a few of these emails really resonate with you, but it&#8217;s likely that you unsubscribed from many as the content was no longer wanted. This kind of email marketing is not always viewed favorably, and it&#8217;s not the kind of technique that Laura is talking about on the podcast today. Her pitch is that email newsletters can themselves be a product? That people will pay to receive your emails, and she&#8217;s got data and examples to back it up.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I suppose that the closest analogy would be people who create an online course. You have an area of expertise. You do the hard work of creating the course and people will pay for a membership to have the benefit of learning from your expertise.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Laura is describing something similar to that. The only difference being that instead of a course, people will pay to receive your emails, knowing that you&#8217;re going to bring value to them regularly. I know that this can be done because as you will hear, I&#8217;m a ,subscriber to some of the emails which Laura mentioned.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is not a get rich quick scheme. It&#8217;s hard work and you&#8217;ve got to cultivate your audience and give them something of value, repeatedly.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Typically when we record the podcast, there&#8217;s not a lot of background noise, but that&#8217;s not always the case with these WordCamp Europe interviews. We were competing against crowds and the air conditioning. And whilst the podcasts are more than listenable, I hope that you understand that the vagaries of the real world were a play.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>One last thing to mention is that I&#8217;ll be attending WordCamp US next week. And as a result there won&#8217;t be a podcast episode. If you&#8217;re going to be there. I do hope that our paths cross.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;re interested in finding out more about the podcast, you can find all the links in the show notes by heading to WPTavern.com forward slash podcast. And you&#8217;ll find all the other episodes of there as well.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so without further delay, I bring you Laura Nelson.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I am joined on the podcast by Laura Nelson. Hello.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:04:19] Laura Nelson: Hello.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:04:20] Nathan Wrigley: Laura did a talk yesterday?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:04:23] Laura Nelson: Yesterday afternoon. Yep. So I&#8217;m feeling pretty good today.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:04:27] Nathan Wrigley: You&#8217;re feeling happy. Yeah, she did a talk at WordCamp Europe, 2022. What was it entitled? What was it about?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:04:32] Laura Nelson: It was how to create a paid newsletter subscription in WordPress.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:04:35] Nathan Wrigley: Okay, and did it go well?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:04:38] Laura Nelson: I think so.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:04:39] Nathan Wrigley: So we&#8217;re gonna be talking today about newsletters. Obviously newsletters, they do seem to be all the rage.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:04:45] Laura Nelson: Yeah, every so often you hear like, email is dead, it&#8217;s all about TikTok and in fairness it is all about TikTok at the moment. But email marketing is amazing way to speak to your customers or your audience.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:04:57] Nathan Wrigley: Does the data back that up then? Reliably over the last 20 years, we can say email still works?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:05:02] Laura Nelson: Yeah, yeah. And conversion rates are far higher from email marketing than they are from like, if you tweet about your product or your services. Email marketing is golden in terms of conversion rates.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:05:13] Nathan Wrigley: That&#8217;s interesting. Just the interface is a little bit more, how to describe it? TikTok&#8217;s a bit more ephemeral. There&#8217;s a lot going on, and there&#8217;s a lot making you wish to scroll past all of the things. I think it&#8217;s the only thing that&#8217;s been with me for 20 years.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:05:26] Laura Nelson: Exactly. People are familiar with it. They know how it works, they know what to expect from an email. I think you&#8217;re capturing people at a good time, because generally they&#8217;re not gonna open their emails unless they have time to read your email. Whereas if you are like on Twitter and you&#8217;re like idly scrolling or you&#8217;ve got like two minutes, it forces them to stop, but they might not have time to take that information in. So email, it&#8217;s nice. It sits there. If you don&#8217;t have time to read it properly when you first open it, you can come back to it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:05:53] Nathan Wrigley: Yeah, that&#8217;s a good point. I was just thinking about that. And if I don&#8217;t log into Twitter for a few days, there&#8217;s almost no chance that I&#8217;m gonna see the things from three days ago, because I&#8217;m gonna start at the top. Yeah, that&#8217;s a really good point.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, when you&#8217;re talking about newsletters, presumably we&#8217;re talking about a piece where people have subscribed to a newsletter, and you are then offering content to them. Is that basically the model?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:06:16] Laura Nelson: That&#8217;s right, yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:06:17] Nathan Wrigley: Okay, and you are talking about getting paid and generating revenue, and it almost sounds like it&#8217;s too good to be true. You throw together a newsletter and suddenly, you become incredibly wealthy. Of course that&#8217;s not the case. There&#8217;s probably a lot of hard work. There&#8217;s probably a lot of expertise required. Is that true?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:06:33] Laura Nelson: Yes. I&#8217;d say the hardest part of this is building your list. So if you don&#8217;t already have people in your community or your audience available, you probably have to put a bit more effort into marketing. But in terms of expertise, you can write a newsletter about anything you want.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The example I gave in my talk yesterday was a newsletter about cats, and that&#8217;s an interest. I&#8217;m not an expert on cats, I just think cats are cute. And so, you can use them in whatever ways you want. I definitely don&#8217;t think you have to be an expert in a specific subject. If you are good at writing, or if you have interesting or unusual opinions about things, you can easily make an email newsletter.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:07:11] Nathan Wrigley: Before we pressed record, we talked about the fact that there is a rival platform, which I think by now probably most people have heard of. It&#8217;s called Substack. And you likened what you were describing in the talk and probably what we&#8217;re gonna be talking about as a, kind of an alternative to that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:07:26] Laura Nelson: Yes. That&#8217;s right. Substack is huge now, and I can&#8217;t remember the figures off the top of my head, but there are millions of subscribers across all the Substack newsletters, I guess you&#8217;d call them. And the solution that I&#8217;m gonna be talking to you about is an alternative to keep that in WordPress, rather than outsourcing that to a different platform.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:07:46] Nathan Wrigley: Is there a strong reason in your head why you would not wish to go with the, it&#8217;s the SaaS versus WordPress argument. You could have this about a thousand different SaaS platforms. But is there a strong reason in your head why you wish to do it in WordPress and not just pay Substack the fee and get on with it over there?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:08:00] Laura Nelson: I think WordPress, I mean, WordPress lends itself to content. Like WordPress is where you publish content. And we&#8217;re talking about sharing content in a newsletter. And I think like this method, what most appeals about it to me is the fact that everything is in one place, and it&#8217;s familiar.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So if you already have a WordPress website or a business that&#8217;s using WordPress to power it then you don&#8217;t have to learn something new, it&#8217;s already, it&#8217;s just there. It can be extended onto what you are already doing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:08:27] Nathan Wrigley: The payment bit, we&#8217;ll probably unpick the payment puzzle, but is this basically a paywall thing? In other words, are you restricting content? Are you only sending out to people who&#8217;ve paid? Or is it that you embed other things inside the newsletters, you know, upsells and subscriptions that people might join and so on?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:08:44] Laura Nelson: No, no, you are only sending the content to those who&#8217;ve paid. So it&#8217;s like a subscription, like you would, sign up to like a, I think you can get them for like dog and cat food, where they get delivered regularly. Then you, yeah, just like that. But instead you&#8217;re receiving content in your inbox.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:08:58] Nathan Wrigley: So you are going to describe to us a system built where you go to the website, you&#8217;re engaged, you sign up, you begin receiving emails and if your subscription payment is cancelled, the emails fail, and it stops.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:09:09] Laura Nelson: Yeah, that&#8217;s exactly it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:09:11] Nathan Wrigley: Okay, so what plugins are you using?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:09:13] Laura Nelson: Yeah, so in addition to like being on a WordPress website, so disclaimer, I mean, if you&#8217;re not on WordPress, I don&#8217;t know why you&#8217;re listening to this.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:09:19] Nathan Wrigley: No, that&#8217;s probably fair.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:09:21] Laura Nelson: You&#8217;ll need like WooCommerce, MailPoet, which is an email marketing plugin for WordPress, and WooCommerce subscriptions.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:09:28] Nathan Wrigley: So the basic WooCommerce to sort of bind the whole subscription thing together. You add the subscription thing on top. And then there&#8217;s MailPoet. Is there any cost to any of that?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:09:36] Laura Nelson: Yeah, so WooCommerce subscriptions is $199 per year. MailPoet is free to use up to a thousand subscribers. So when you get beyond that, there&#8217;s tiered plans. But I think the lowest plan starts at around $12 or $15 per month. It&#8217;s quite reasonable.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:09:53] Nathan Wrigley: I&#8217;ve heard, and I don&#8217;t know where this number comes from, but I&#8217;ve heard that if your email list is a thousand people, roughly you can become profitable. And what I mean by that is that you can become profitable enough for it to become an important part of what you do. And it always felt that that was like a really, quite a low number.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But then having tried to create email lists in the past, I quickly realized actually a thousand is pretty hard to get to. It&#8217;s difficult to get people to surrender their email address. So is there any advice that you give to people essentially to give you their email address?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:10:25] Laura Nelson: Yeah. I think what works best is honesty. Be upfront and honest about what you&#8217;re gonna be sending to them. That you&#8217;re not gonna pass on your, their email to somebody else. And when you&#8217;re going to, like the frequency that they can expect to receive emails from you.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And then it&#8217;s just a case of making sure that the content that you&#8217;re including in it is really valuable, offers something a bit different or unique that they might not be able to read elsewhere. I mean, that&#8217;s like solid advice for if it&#8217;s a paid newsletter or not paid. And then it&#8217;s just another form of marketing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So I recommend including, including a link to sign up in all of your normal email signatures, like from your Gmail or whatever you use. Use your social networks. If you have a good community on Twitter, let them know about your newsletter. Basically, plug it everywhere that you possibly can.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:11:13] Nathan Wrigley: Does the MailPoet solution, does it allow you to create, so forgive me, first of all, I&#8217;ve not used MailPoet, so I don&#8217;t know how the UI works, but does it allow you to basically create a post in WordPress, which is then fired out as an email?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:11:25] Laura Nelson: Yes and no. So if you mean like a post in WordPress that you&#8217;d be able to go onto a WordPress website and see it in like the blog section. It wouldn&#8217;t work that way around. If you had published a blog post on WordPress and then use MailPoet to send an email, it&#8217;s a tick, like a widget, that you drag in and a tick that and you can include that entire blog post in your email.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:11:45] Nathan Wrigley: Okay. So you create a normal blog post. Tick a box. When you click publish, it is converted to an email and sent out?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:11:52] Laura Nelson: Yeah. Or you drag it into like your email template, and you can add other stuff around it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:11:56] Nathan Wrigley: Oh, okay. So you could put a different header and a different footer in? Okay.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:11:59] Laura Nelson: And in the case of the paid news letter though, you&#8217;d probably, in order to get people to sign up and pay for this, you don&#8217;t want that content being available on your website for free. So you&#8217;d probably want to write the post within the email itself. So it only lives there and not elsewhere.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:12:16] Nathan Wrigley: Yes, that wouldn&#8217;t make sense, would it? If it was a paid newsletter, and the content was available on your website.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:12:21] Laura Nelson: But you could use WooCommerce memberships. You could guard that and make it a private post and then link to it it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:12:27] Nathan Wrigley: Okay. So as with all things WordPress, there&#8217;s a way.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:12:30] Laura Nelson: Yeah. You can add another layer to this if you want to do that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:12:32] Nathan Wrigley: If somebody was to begin a completely new website. You know, they wanna talk about, I dunno, volcanoes or something. Then would you be able to do this on pretty modest hosting? Because it doesn&#8217;t feel like there&#8217;s a lot going on. Basic WordPress, basic WooCommerce, a couple of extra plugins, maybe really cheap hosting?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:12:50] Laura Nelson: Uh, yeah. Really, unless you are planning on adding loads of other products to your store or adding loads and loads of other content to your website. You can keep this really lean and get away with really cheap posting. It wouldn&#8217;t take much, you just need a product page really.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:13:05] Nathan Wrigley: The difficulty I think maybe is trying to get people to find your newsletter in the first place. And then of course there&#8217;s the problem of getting them to separate their email and give it to you. Have you got any advice for how you market your newsletter? Anything around there?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:13:21] Laura Nelson: Yeah. It&#8217;s funny. Someone asked me this yesterday after the talk and I, I said I could probably do an entire other presentation on this exact topic.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:13:30] Nathan Wrigley: Go deep, it&#8217;s good.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:13:31] Laura Nelson: So, what I was saying earlier about being really upfront about what you&#8217;re gonna be sending, when you&#8217;re gonna be sending it. Know what you&#8217;re doing with their email address. And you just really need to show some value. So you need to make sure that the content that you are creating is unique or if you do have an expertise in a certain area, really let people know, like why that&#8217;s important to them.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Content is all about problem solving for people. So you need to find out what problems people have. And if you can solve that in content, then let them know.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:14:03] Nathan Wrigley: I&#8217;m guessing that some things are going to be more of a labour of love than other things. Again if you&#8217;re producing the volcano newsletter, I&#8217;m expecting in the low single digits.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:14:12] Laura Nelson: Well you know, it&#8217;s a niche market I imagine. Maybe that would be more successful because you know, you get people who are really into something like that. You know, there&#8217;s probably not a lot. I dunno, I&#8217;m not, I&#8217;m not familiar with the volcano market. I&#8217;m not gonna lie, but, um, I kind of imagine there will be those niche areas like that, where if there&#8217;s not content being published about that or at least readily available to you, then you probably would pay. It&#8217;s like, oh yeah, I love that, and I&#8217;m really interested in that. So I would pay to receive.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:14:40] Nathan Wrigley: Yeah. It&#8217;s interesting because of course you&#8217;ve gotta think about the person reading the content and whether volcanoes are gonna be of any interest to them, but also your ability to sustain this, is directly related to how interested you think it is.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, you know, if you genuinely have no interest in volcanoes and you embark on that mission, probably it&#8217;s gonna dry up fairly quickly, and so I wonder if often people in this chase the big thing, the big shiny, exciting thing only to discover, you know, what, actually on a deep, personal level, I&#8217;m not interested in this, and the newsletter dries up and falters and fails.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:15:16] Laura Nelson: If you&#8217;re thinking about starting this up, you need to remember, it&#8217;s not just one email. It&#8217;s not just two. It has to have like longevity to it. So whatever it is, whatever topic you&#8217;re choosing, obviously you can&#8217;t possibly know what you might like to talk about or write about in six months time, but you need to make sure that the topic is either big enough or is like new things are happening in that area enough in order to sustain a long term newsletter.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:15:42] Nathan Wrigley: I wonder if this is like a perfect extension to people who are already doing things. They might have got a YouTube channel. They might have a WordPress website and they&#8217;re producing things. Or in this case here we are on a podcast. It may be that you&#8217;ve got that kind of thing. It feels like a bit of a no brainer to just add this on as a kind of value add. So you could have, well, I don&#8217;t know, content that only subscribers get, or things like that. Is that where the market seems to be leading.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:16:08] Laura Nelson: Absolutely. You obviously can start from scratch and it, technically it&#8217;s pretty easy to do so, in that respect. But, you&#8217;re gonna have more success if you already have, you need to make sure you already have an audience. And if you already have a business, you already have a customer base or an audience that are, are listening to you, and you&#8217;re communicating with. So yeah, I think it&#8217;s an obvious, like an easy fit for established businesses.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:16:34] Nathan Wrigley: Yeah. So if you&#8217;ve got something going already. It&#8217;s almost like a missing piece of the jigsaw if you&#8217;re not doing it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:16:39] Laura Nelson: It&#8217;s not to be used to like plug your products or services. It&#8217;s not like, I guess if you were to run a, an eCommerce store and you sell products, it&#8217;s not to be used like that. It&#8217;s like a highlight of, oh, we got these new trainers in stock etc. You have to be adding something of value, like an opinion or some content that they can&#8217;t get elsewhere. I think one of the, um, examples I gave yesterday was digital downloads. Like if you&#8217;re really good photographer, you could share your photos in an email newsletter and let have access to use your photos, you know? Like on a weekly basis like, 10 new photos every week or fortnight or something.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:17:18] Nathan Wrigley: So this is subscription, which means we must decide on a subscription term. Do you typically, would you say like go monthly? Is that, is that the easiest, least friction way to do it? Sort of asking people to separate money from their wallet, monthly, annually.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:17:34] Laura Nelson: I&#8217;d offer both a monthly option and then a yearly, maybe it would just slightly discounted. Because it&#8217;s great. If you have people signed up for a year or they&#8217;ve committed to that year, that&#8217;s excellent. But I&#8217;d always give people the option of monthly.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:17:45] Nathan Wrigley: My fear of offering an annual plan would be that I just dry up. You know, I&#8217;d be eight months in and I&#8217;d be, ah, I&#8217;ve got nothing else to say, and then I&#8217;ve got to think about the, the sort of refund process.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:17:58] Laura Nelson: Yeah. If you do that, you would probably have to refund people, but offering a yearly option is something you could consider after you&#8217;ve got into the groove of creating a newsletter and you think you can see it has a longer life to it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:18:10] Nathan Wrigley: Yeah I know this, what we&#8217;ve been talking about is a WordPress thing. The piece that you described, the MailPoet and the WooCommerce bit is the way to get paid for that. Just briefly talking about alternative ways of doing that. The sponsorship bit, or the payment bit outside of WordPress. There&#8217;s things like Patreon and Ko-fi is that, an angle you&#8217;ve ever looked at or explored?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:18:30] Laura Nelson: Yeah, and like Substack. They&#8217;re all like really great platforms to use. But they&#8217;re outside of WordPress. So, I think the kind of unique angle here or for this approach is, if you want everything to be all in one place, if you&#8217;re already creating content in WordPress, don&#8217;t spend your time copying and pacing it over to a different piece of software. You can have it all like in one dashboard, basically. Ownership is a big part of that.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:18:59] Nathan Wrigley: Thorny question.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:19:01] Laura Nelson: Mm-hmm.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:19:01] Nathan Wrigley: Where are the email addresses stored?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:19:03] Laura Nelson: Right? So in MailPoet, no one else can see your subscriber&#8217;s email addresses. MailPoet takes, email best practices and security very seriously. We don&#8217;t even see the emails that get sent out via MailPoet. So they&#8217;re stored on, I think it&#8217;s like your server, they belong with you.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:19:22] Nathan Wrigley: Mm-hmm.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:19:23] Laura Nelson: They don&#8217;t come to MailPoet at any point. They are yours.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:19:26] Nathan Wrigley: That&#8217;s an interesting thing. And I guess you would need to be mindful of GDPR if you are storing people&#8217;s email addresses. Do you have any insight into whether those are in the database? Do you know whether they&#8217;re in an encrypted, in an encrypted form or not?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:19:40] Laura Nelson: This is a technical question that I am not able to answer, I&#8217;m afraid. At least not confidently. I think I know the answer, but I absolutely wouldn&#8217;t want to go on a podcast and tell everybody the wrong thing if that&#8217;s okay.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:19:51] Nathan Wrigley: That&#8217;s okay we could could look at that another time. And so have you got any good examples of newsletters where you could say, go and have a look at that one. Two or three that you think are really worthwhile where somebody&#8217;s done it just right. They&#8217;re doing really well.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:20:03] Laura Nelson: So the first one&#8217;s called Dense Discovery. None of these examples are actually of paid, well, actually I can give some paid newsletter examples. Let me start with Dense Discovery, which you can pay for, but they handle the payment a slightly different way. It&#8217;s more like a tip based system. Like if you enjoy this, you know, become a friend of the newsletter. But from a content perspective, I would pay to receive Dense Discovery.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If they offered it up as a subscription, I would do that. Cause I tip on a regular basis. It has a really good balance of the guy who&#8217;s created the newsletter called Kai, like his opinion, and his take on what&#8217;s happening in the world. There are some lovely resources for like design. He often shares like an illustrator and their work, as well as some like handy tools for like productivity at work.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So it&#8217;s kind like a nice, a nice blend of content. And it&#8217;s really regular. I know when I&#8217;m gonna receive it. It&#8217;s the same time each week, and I know the quality of the content&#8217;s gonna be really, really good.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:21:01] Nathan Wrigley: Can I just pause you there, and just go on a bit of a segue and we&#8217;ll come back to some other ones in a minute, because that just suddenly occurred to me. There&#8217;s something a bit meta going on there, because he&#8217;s not asking for a subscription, but what if you had an email newsletter, which was a, the sort of upsell for the paid newsletter?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:21:17] Laura Nelson: Oh yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:21:18] Nathan Wrigley: If you know what I mean? So the newsletter itself contains a proportion of the content. Is that a thing?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:21:24] Laura Nelson: Yeah, absolutely. And actually the next example I was going to give. I&#8217;d like to like add to disclaimer it, this isn&#8217;t of my interest but&#8217;s I can see it&#8217;s done really, really well, which is why I&#8217;m gonna mention it. It&#8217;s called Daily Coding Problem. So it uses this paid newsletter technique really interestingly. It&#8217;s basically they send like a coding problem. It&#8217;s designed to help programmers prepare for technical interviews. And if you are only a free subscriber, you don&#8217;t get to see the answer.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:21:53] Nathan Wrigley: Oh.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:21:53] Laura Nelson: Uhhuh.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:21:54] Nathan Wrigley: That is intriguing. Yeah, that&#8217;s kind of like using the annoyance style isn&#8217;t it? Yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:21:58] Laura Nelson: So I mean, if you&#8217;re really confident with these, maybe you don&#8217;t, maybe you don&#8217;t need to see them, like the mystery. Yeah, you have to become a paid subscriber to see the solution.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:22:07] Nathan Wrigley: That&#8217;s fascinating. So throw something out there. It&#8217;s a bit like if Wordle didn&#8217;t give you the answer.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:22:12] Laura Nelson: I know. How annoying would that be?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:22:14] Nathan Wrigley: Well, you&#8217;d pay.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:22:16] Laura Nelson: Exactly.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:22:17] Nathan Wrigley: And you&#8217;d get the answer every, every day. Yeah, that&#8217;s fascinating. So I mean that&#8217;s really unique isn&#8217;t it? But presumably most of it is about just the kind of stuff that you would ordinarily put on your website. You just make sure that the content&#8217;s really good, but you indicate they&#8217;ve got to the end of this newsletter, but there&#8217;s more.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:22:32] Laura Nelson: Yeah, yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:22:32] Nathan Wrigley: You could find out more.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:22:33] Laura Nelson: Absolutely. And another example, um, which I mentioned yesterday actually was Jack&#8217;s Flight Club.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:22:38] Nathan Wrigley: Oh. I pay for Jack&#8217;s Flight Club.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:22:40] Laura Nelson: You&#8217;re newsletter subscriber.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:22:42] Nathan Wrigley: That&#8217;s fascinating. I hadn&#8217;t connected. I use the app.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:22:46] Laura Nelson: Yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:22:47] Nathan Wrigley: But it is a newsletter, is and he got me through the newsletter. You&#8217;re right. Go on, tell them about Jack&#8217;s Flight Club.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:22:52] Laura Nelson: Yeah, so Jack&#8217;s Flight Club, as we just heard, is, it&#8217;s a really popular one, uh, in the UK and Europe. And it sends you like error fairs and cheap flight deals. But if you&#8217;re not a paid subscriber, you don&#8217;t get all of the deals. And when you get the free version of email, they tell you which deals that you missed. So it really plays on that, like FOMO, like, you know, you&#8217;ve missed these incredibly cheap flights to Canada. You didn&#8217;t get that because you&#8217;re not a paid subscriber.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:23:18] Nathan Wrigley: That&#8217;s right. And the interesting thing about that one is. That&#8217;s kind of opened my eyes up actually about where the price points may be. And maybe, maybe Jack is different, but it&#8217;s about if I recall, I think I paid about $40, something like that per year. So it was not really a lot. If you spread that over the, you know, it&#8217;s like $3 80 or a month</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:23:40] Laura Nelson: Yep.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:23:40] Nathan Wrigley: That&#8217;s really not a significant amount, but presumably if Jack, I&#8217;m guessing there is a Jack, I don&#8217;t know, but presumably if Jack&#8217;s into the tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands. This</p>\n\n\n\n<p>is incredible… a million.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:23:52] Laura Nelson: He&#8217;s got a million subscribers, million plus, yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:23:55] Nathan Wrigley: We can work the maths out there. Okay Jack&#8217;s doing well from newsletters.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:23:58] Laura Nelson: Jack&#8217;s doing alright. Well, it&#8217;s the success of a newsletter that enabled him to take it to an app and, you know, grow this beyond just email content.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:24:06] Nathan Wrigley: I want to be Jack.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:24:08] Laura Nelson: Yeah, me too. I bet he&#8217;s on a yacht somewhere lovely, right. He&#8217;s not looking up cheap flights.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:24:12] Nathan Wrigley: He&#8217;s no longer looking, but that really illustrates it perfectly. So it was something most people probably don&#8217;t care about flights at all. They&#8217;ll just look the flight when they&#8217;re going on holiday but here&#8217;s me, I&#8217;m intrigued. I want if there is a cheap deal out there. So it&#8217;s got me on that niche thing. Like the coding chap.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And, I don&#8217;t know how long it took me. I think he was probably giving me the free one for six months.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:24:35] Laura Nelson: Yep.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:24:36] Nathan Wrigley: Do you know what he also did, which was curious, which was actually the hook. He offered a 20% discount in one of his emails. So that&#8217;s another interesting pricing strategy. He had his annual price and then he, for a week only, I think it was 20% off. That was the, the fishing rod that I happily bit on. And, and I think he&#8217;s got me for years to come.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:24:56] Laura Nelson: Yeah. You can do that with this, and I&#8217;d recommend exploring things like that. Just jumping back to your question earlier about how to get paid subscribers. If you already run a successful newsletter, you can drop in the bit about you having a paid newsletter too, give &#8217;em a little taster of what they&#8217;ve missed or what they will miss if they don&#8217;t pay to subscribe and yeah, it got you.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:25:17] Nathan Wrigley: It works. And interestingly enough, I am pretty difficult to get, and yet he got me. So it is, it is about the niche I think.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:25:25] Laura Nelson: Yeah, yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:25:25] Nathan Wrigley: Well, let&#8217;s talk about the actual email itself. So we open up the email. Are there any sort of top tips about the way you should present things? I mean, are we looking for bright and colorful? Are we looking for more words than images? Are there trip wires that prevent the email clients from opening things? Because there&#8217;s just way too much text and it truncates it. Just give us what the email actually should be looking like.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:25:47] Laura Nelson: Well, I mean, it does completely depend, like what you&#8217;re including in it. I wouldn&#8217;t be, if you are selling a like long form content style email, don&#8217;t be afraid of including lots of words. Because that&#8217;s what people are paying for. But in terms of spam filters, if you&#8217;re offering a paid newsletter subscription, I don&#8217;t think you&#8217;d have any issues because it&#8217;s usually things like the word free and like capital letters, lots of exclamation marks.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:26:09] Nathan Wrigley: Emojis in the subject line, yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:26:12] Laura Nelson: Emojis in the subject line are okay, as long as they&#8217;re not overused. Yeah. Basically emails like don&#8217;t overdo anything.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:26:20] Nathan Wrigley: Okay.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:26:21] Laura Nelson: A good, combination of yeah, different things that works well. In terms of layout, I mean, just take a step back and think about what you&#8217;d like to read. If it&#8217;s a big wall of text, would that entice you to read it? I mean, some people maybe, but not no. So, and you can format the newsletter to look how you want. So you could add spaces, you can add some images, you can use columns if that&#8217;s better for your content, so.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:26:45] Nathan Wrigley: The last time I was fiddling with email, I think we&#8217;re still stuck in tables. Are there big constraints still about the way that you can present things? So obviously on the web, our own WordPress websites, we can literally put anything anywhere, pixel by pixel, more or less. Are we confined with emails still? I mean are we still thinking about email clients from the year 2004 as a thing?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:27:06] Laura Nelson: Yeah. Well, I mean email&#8217;s tricky because it will look different according to different email clients, and Outlook is forever a bug bear for those who create emails. But if you&#8217;re using email marketing software, I mean, I can only speak to MailPoet, and I&#8217;m not just trying to plug here. It&#8217;s just the one I&#8217;m most familiar with. Their templates are already fully responsive. Their templates are tested on all the different email clients. So you can kind of be pretty confident that unless you&#8217;ve gone in and really messed with that, they&#8217;re gonna work in most email clients.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Litmus is a great tool if you&#8217;re not sure. Email on Acid to test your emails, to see what they&#8217;re going to look like on Outlook, on Gmail, all the big email.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:27:47] Nathan Wrigley: And how do they work? You send Email on Acid an actual email and it then tells you, it gives you a rating or things to improve and so on.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:27:54] Laura Nelson: It will show you how they look across the different email clients.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:27:58] Nathan Wrigley: Tell us about the actual UI, about how you build email. I&#8217;ve logged into all sorts of services. Typically there&#8217;s a bunch of modules for want of a better word, a bit like in Gutenberg with blocks now. So you drag in a, an image and you could drag in a couple of columns and put the image to the left, and text to the right. Is it what you see is what you get kind of builder?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:28:18] Laura Nelson: Yeah. Yeah. It is a WYSIWYG builder. It doesn&#8217;t use Gutenberg but I know the MailPoet team are looking to explore that option. But the email itself is a WYSIWYG editor where you drag and drop.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:28:30] Nathan Wrigley: So it&#8217;s familiar? You&#8217;ll be right at home. Yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:28:32] Laura Nelson: I don&#8217;t like describing things as easy because I think different people have different perceptions of what&#8217;s easy, but this is the easiest email editor I&#8217;ve ever used, because it is simply you drag it and you drop it where you want it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:28:46] Nathan Wrigley: Do you get an opportunity to inspect it before you commit?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:28:51] Laura Nelson: Yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:28:51] Nathan Wrigley: So it will send you a version you can inspect make sure the links are all working and so on.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:28:56] Laura Nelson: Yeah, absolutely.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:28:18] Nathan Wrigley: And does it check that stuff as well? So in other words, it will see that for example, you&#8217;ve overused images, Nathan. Stop with the images volcanoes. Or that there&#8217;s too much text typically. Does it give you any metrics about, what is that called even? Because I&#8217;ve seen that before, they do some sort of test in the background and give you a rating.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:29:14] Laura Nelson: Like a readability.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:29:15] Nathan Wrigley: Something along those lines, yeah.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:29:17] Laura Nelson: It doesn&#8217;t, no. I think because the way MailPoet&#8217;s built and we don&#8217;t see your email content.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:29:23] Nathan Wrigley: That&#8217;s interesting because it&#8217;s your WordPress site. So it&#8217;s your email. So it&#8217;s not phoning home any to any third parties.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:29:29] Laura Nelson: It&#8217;s not but that&#8217;s a pretty interesting idea. Maybe I&#8217;ll pass it onto the team.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:29:32] Nathan Wrigley: Oh okay.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:29:33] Laura Nelson: That would be useful.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:29:34] Nathan Wrigley: Can I take credit for that?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:29:35] Laura Nelson: The feature will be called email read, readability by Nathan.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:29:40] Nathan Wrigley: That&#8217;s great. Okay I&#8217;m happy with that. So Laura, just before we wrap up, where&#8217;s the best place to find out about, well, in this case, MailPoet, where do we go?</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:29:48] Laura Nelson: MailPoet.com. If you head to the blog, there&#8217;s some really great articles there about email marketing in general. How to build your list. There&#8217;s even a blog post about creating a paid newsletter. Like what my talk was on yesterday. Fantastic resource for all things email marketing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:30:04] Nathan Wrigley: Well Laura, well done for getting through your talk at WordCamp Europe.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:30:07] Laura Nelson: Thank you. Thank you.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:30:08] Nathan Wrigley: A nice relief and, very happy to have you on the podcast today.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[00:30:12] Laura Nelson: Thank you so much for having me. It&#8217;s been a pleasure.</p>\n</div>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Wed, 31 Aug 2022 14:00:00 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:14:\"Nathan Wrigley\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:40;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:61:\"Post Status: Naming is Hard: Content Types on Learn WordPress\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:32:\"https://poststatus.com/?p=113897\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:71:\"https://poststatus.com/naming-is-hard-content-types-on-learn-wordpress/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:1257:\"<p>Based on a <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/training/2022/07/03/discussion-naming-content-types-on-learn-wordpress/\">public discussion</a> led by <strong>Hugh Lashbrooke</strong>, <a href=\"https://learn.wordpress.org/workshops/\">Workshops</a> (5-15 minute instructional videos) are going to be called <strong>Tutorials</strong>, moving forward while <a href=\"https://learn.wordpress.org/social-learning/\">Social Learning Spaces</a> (live and collaborative learning sessions) have become <strong>Online Workshops</strong>. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>No change to <a href=\"https://learn.wordpress.org/courses/\">Courses</a> (long-form content with multiple lessons in multiple media formats) and <a href=\"https://learn.wordpress.org/lesson-plans/\">Lesson Plans</a> (structured plans that trainers can use to teach others).</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Definitely seems to move things toward greater simplicity and clarity. </p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/training/2022/07/03/discussion-naming-content-types-on-learn-wordpress/\">Discussion: Naming content types on Learn WordPress</a></blockquote>\n</div>\n<p>This article was published at Post Status — the community for WordPress professionals.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Wed, 31 Aug 2022 04:28:00 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:10:\"Dan Knauss\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:41;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:39:\"Post Status: LearnDash: Plugin or SaaS?\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:32:\"https://poststatus.com/?p=113919\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:48:\"https://poststatus.com/learndash-plugin-or-saas/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:883:\"<p>Or both — if you want both. It\'s <a href=\"https://www.learndash.com/pricing-and-purchase/\">LearnDash — and LearnDash Cloud</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I don\'t think I\'ve ever seen a WordPress plugin priced and marketed this well as both a <em>product</em> and a <em>service</em>. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>At least that\'s how most people think of it&#8230; A plugin is really a product with updates and support as a service. A SaaSified plugin is still the underlying WordPress product. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>What the customer cares about is what they can (or don\'t have to) do — as a site builder or developer, or as someone who wants all the technical details and heavy lifting to be taken off their plate. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Both are open source. Both introduce different kinds of people to a community and ecosystem. </p>\n<p>This article was published at Post Status — the community for WordPress professionals.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Tue, 30 Aug 2022 23:09:44 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:10:\"Dan Knauss\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:42;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:70:\"WPTavern: WP-Optimize Denies Allegations of Cheating Performance Tools\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:30:\"https://wptavern.com/?p=137433\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:81:\"https://wptavern.com/wp-optimize-denies-allegations-of-cheating-performance-tools\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11452:\"<p>Yesterday, we <a href=\"https://wptavern.com/wp-optimize-plugin-accused-of-cheating-pagespeed-and-other-performance-testing-tools\">published</a> allegations from Gijo Varghese against UpdraftPlus, the makers of WP-Optimize. Varghese is founder of FlyingProxy, a competing company, and identifies himself as a &#8220;performance enthusiast.&#8221; He accused the plugin of &#8220;cheating Pagespeed and other tools&#8221; by hiding JavaScript files from loading when users test their sites through popular performance testing tools. The code uses an odd set of obfuscated names for the testing tools, which drew his suspicion. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Varghese neglected to mention in his <a href=\"https://twitter.com/GijoVarghese_/status/1563097754322501632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1563097754322501632%7Ctwgr%5Ebf97b211fb13920391541b64137000b5ea1edc0c%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwptavern.com%2Fwp-optimize-plugin-accused-of-cheating-pagespeed-and-other-performance-testing-tools\">tweet</a> that this is what happens when one of the plugin&#8217;s settings under Minify > JS is set to defer JavaScript. There are two radio button settings but they are confusing.  </p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first radio button allows users to defer selected JavaScript files. It says the files will be loaded asynchronously (not the same as defer), and then it also says that users should select the first radio button if they want to exclude scripts from page speed tests. It is not clear how the scripts will be loaded for the user or for testing sites. Excluding is not the same as deferring, so in this case the settings UI is somewhat misleading and should be more clear.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n<p>The second radio option is for users who are simply looking to defer all JavaScript. If one selects <em>&#8220;Defer using JavaScript (Use this method if you require support for <a href=\"https://www.w3schools.com/tags/att_script_defer.asp\">older browsers</a>),&#8221;</em> it should do exactly what it describes in the link:</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>If the <code>defer</code> attribute is set, it specifies that the script is downloaded in parallel to parsing the page, and executed after the page has finished parsing.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p> Even though the UI says it is deferring all files, WP-Optimize never loads the JavaScript for performance testing sites. In this second option, the exclusion of testing sites happens without the users&#8217; permission. If users had wanted that, they would have selected the previous radio button and explicitly identified which scripts to exclude.</p>\n\n\n\n<img />\n\n\n\n<p>Varghese left out some significant details in his original report, but it was accurate in that certain settings are misleading about what they actually do. He demonstrated this in a follow-up video where there is no manual entry of any scripts to exclude and the second radio option is checked.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n\n</div>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;They&#8217;re providing an option for users to cheat testing tools,&#8221; Varghese said. &#8220;Also, using names like &#8216;ighth&#8217; for Lighthouse and &#8216;tmetr&#8217; for GTmetrix clearly shows what they&#8217;re trying to do.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Most of the users try disabling and enabling different features to see which one is increasing the speed/scores in testing tools.&#8221; </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Varghese contends there is no need to do things differently for testing tools and humans, as this can be confusing for site owners. His allegation left out significant details and implied that all of this is hidden in the code. It is for one of the settings but not the other one. The interface implies that you must enter scripts manually to exclude from testing, but this is also misleading. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>WP-Optimize <a href=\"https://getwpo.com/wp-optimize-completely-rejects-false-allegations-of-gaming-page-speed-results/\">published a public response to the allegations</a> today, but has not revealed any of the results from the code investigation they completed. Instead, the company cited a video created by Peter Wilkinson from <a href=\"https://diviengine.com/\">Divi Engine</a>, who claims that users must manually enter scripts to make testing sites exclude them.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wilkinson is quoted as concluding that &#8220;Gijo Varghese has used deception to promote Flying Pages and Flying Press&#8221; in bringing this issue to public attention on Twitter.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>“In reality (from my research) WP-Optimize do not &#8216;cheat&#8217; Pagespeed tools when you install or Minify your JavaScript,&#8221; Wilkinson said.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>“To &#8216;cheat&#8217; the tools, you need to manually add the JS files you want to asynchronous load to a setting that clearly has the label &#8216;Use this if you have a completely independent script or would like to exclude scripts from page speed tests (PageSpeed Insights, GTMetrix…)\'&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is not the case. The easiest way to test is to install the plugin, turn on &#8220;defer all JavaScript,&#8221; and then view the source to see that performance tools are excluded.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since WP-Optimize&#8217;s public response to the issue did not include anything from their code investigation, I contacted them again. Their deputy lead Venkat Raj was not available to answer why other settings in the plugin silently remove JS for performance testing tools with the click of a radio button. Joe Miles, head of strategy for the company, shared the last information he received on the issue from Venkat Raj: </p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>&#8220;The advanced setting used in the allegation is actually useful to find out whether the essential js/css files are actually slowing down the web page or not.  This feature is by default, turned ‘off’ and only enabled by advanced users who know what they’re doing.<br /><br />&#8220;You may use this feature if you have a completely independent script or would like to exclude scripts from page speed tests (PageSpeed Insights, GTMetrix&#8230;)<br /><br />&#8220;Independent scripts are for example &#8216;analytics&#8217; or &#8216;pixel&#8217; scripts. They are not required for the website to work. &#8216;<em>Use this if you have a completely independent stylesheet or would like to exclude stylesheets from page speed tests (PageSpeed Insights, GTMetrix&#8230;)</em>&#8216;</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>This applies to the first radio button. The second button does not have any indication that it will turn off all scripts when using testing tools &#8211; nor does WP-Optimize&#8217;s team seem to be aware that it is available with the click of a radio button. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Miles could not confirm whether this is how it is intended to work or if it is a bug. He also could not account for why the names of the popular testing sites were obfuscated in the code, but said the original developer &#8220;doesn&#8217;t work for us as it&#8217;s open source code repurposed from elsewhere.&#8221; </p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;However, we believe this is a distraction from the false allegations, and what matters is that the UI is very clear for the settings are for, so users aren&#8217;t deceived,&#8221; Miles said.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Raul Peixoto, author of the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/fast-velocity-minify/\">Fast Velocity Minify</a> (FVM), the plugin from which WP-Optimize copied the code, said he can confirm that this code was part of FVM but said it was not used in the same way:</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>The purpose of such code on FVM was completely different than the one on WP Optimize and furthermore it required for the users to manually enable this option via wp-admin (it was disabled by default).</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The purpose of that code was to selectively test the impact of new scripts or plugins in performance, and help developers decide if they should refactor, remove or replace heavy plugins or scripts.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This existed on FVM to answer questions like these:<br />“I have a production site and my performance is low. What would be the performance if this plugin was simply not here, but without actually removing it from the site for regular users yet?”<br />“What would the performance be if I could defer all scripts, or specific scripts that are not currently compatible with defer, before actually doing that change for everyone?”</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>An official explanation regarding its use on FVM is <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/topic/why-are-some-scripts-not-loaded-for-speed-testing-sites/\">available in the plugin&#8217;s support forum</a> as of this morning.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I suppose that the developers hired by WP Optimize did not understand what this was doing on FVM or under what settings, or perhaps, they may have felt tempted to use it as a hack,&#8221; Peixoto said.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We should also carefully remember that at that time, there were still no web vitals metrics publicly available, so using something like this would have yield better &#8216;measurable&#8217; results, thus offering a product advantage.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Piexoto said he &#8220;felt compelled&#8221; to remove this code two years ago because of how often it was abused by developers who were cheating on tests for their clients:</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>Fast forward some time, and I realized that some developers were actually using this to cheat on the tests for their clients, so I felt compelled to make the decision on FVM 3 (already late 2020) to remove this feature, which was met by a lot of protests of angry developers when their clients started complaining that their scores went down.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I tried at that time, to explain that having a good score was not the same as having good web vitals metrics, but eventually I gave up on that, as some people cared more about the test results than the actual performance.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>After FVM 3 release, I am basically just maintaining it and doing small bug fixes when reported, as I have to focus on other things. I have removed that function and fixed a couple of bugs that were pending on version 3.2.9 and pushed an update, so thank you for referring this to me.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>For whatever reason, UpdraftPlus chose to merge this code into WP-Optimize in 2020 and, as reported yesterday, hasn&#8217;t touched the code since. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>What appeared to be a black and white issue yesterday is a more nuanced situation. WP-Optimize&#8217;s implementation of FVM&#8217;s code is poorly documented in the UI and misleading about how the scripts are loaded. It can lead site owners to activating it without being advanced users, and historically has a high potential for abuse. When Varghese discovered it, he exposed it in an inflammatory way, feeling certain he had found wrongdoing because of how inexplicably obfuscated the code is. This compounded the issue but started a broader, important conversation. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Should users have this kind of easy access (two clicks) to turning off scripts for performance testing tools? How can developers in the same industry better communicate about potential harms to users that they see in others&#8217; products? What kind of code documentation requirements should agencies implement to prevent a situation like this where code needs to be investigated over the span of days in order to find out what it is intended to do?</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Tue, 30 Aug 2022 22:41:34 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"Sarah Gooding\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:43;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:53:\"Post Status: Naming is Hard: Social and Schema Images\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:32:\"https://poststatus.com/?p=113879\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:63:\"https://poststatus.com/naming-is-hard-social-and-schema-images/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:799:\"<p>This was <a href=\"https://joost.blog/social-schema-images-naming-considerations/\">a neat post</a> from <strong>Joost de Valk</strong> back in July where he did some thinking out loud about the challenges of naming in <strong>Schema.org</strong> image standards to distinguish between featured and poster images on social networks:</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>I’ve been playing a lot with Schema and Social images recently and one thing has become clear: we need better naming of these images and we should probably improve the Schema.org image standards a bit. In this post I want to briefly discuss the different needs and my proposed (very simple) naming scheme.</p></blockquote>\n<p>This article was published at Post Status — the community for WordPress professionals.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Tue, 30 Aug 2022 22:17:15 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:10:\"Dan Knauss\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:44;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:35:\"Post Status: Talk about edge cases!\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:32:\"https://poststatus.com/?p=113837\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:45:\"https://poststatus.com/talk-about-edge-cases/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:935:\"<p>On August 8, <strong>wordpress.org</strong> was <a href=\"https://status.wordpress.org/2022/08/05/all-wordpress-org-services-are-currently/\">down for a few hours</a> after a Chicago data center outage. During the outage, a user of <strong>Salt Shaker</strong> reported the plugin <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/topic/white-screen-after-outage-of-wordpress-org/\">replaced salt keys with an outage notice</a>, leading to a WSOD on a customer\'s site:</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>Probably the plugin just scraped and copied what was displayed at <a href=\"https://api.wordpress.org/secret-key/1.1/salt/\">https://api.wordpress.org/secret-key/1.1/salt/</a>.</p><cite><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/topic/white-screen-after-outage-of-wordpress-org/\">wordpress.org support forum</a></cite></blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p></p>\n<p>This article was published at Post Status — the community for WordPress professionals.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Tue, 30 Aug 2022 21:35:38 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:10:\"Dan Knauss\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:45;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:68:\"WordPress.org blog: WordPress 6.0.2 Security and Maintenance Release\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:35:\"https://wordpress.org/news/?p=13346\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:84:\"https://wordpress.org/news/2022/08/wordpress-6-0-2-security-and-maintenance-release/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5700:\"<p><strong>WordPress 6.0.2</strong> is now available!</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This security and maintenance release features <a href=\"https://core.trac.wordpress.org/query?milestone=6.0.2\">12 bug fixes on Core</a>, <a href=\"https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/commits/wp/6.0\">5 bug fixes</a> for the Block Editor, and 3 security fixes. Because this is a <strong>security release</strong>, it is recommended that you update your sites immediately. All versions since WordPress 3.7 have also been updated.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress 6.0.2 is a short-cycle release. You can review a summary of the main updates in this release by reading the <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/08/23/wordpress-6-0-2-rc1-is-now-available/\">RC1 announcement</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The next major release will be <a href=\"https://make.wordpress.org/core/6-1/\">version 6.1</a> planned for November 1, 2022.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have sites that support automatic background updates, the update process will begin automatically.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/wordpress-6.0.2.zip\">download WordPress 6.0.2 from WordPress.org</a>, or visit your WordPress Dashboard, click “Updates”, and then click “Update Now”.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information on this release, please <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/wordpress-version/version-6-0-2\">visit the HelpHub site</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Security updates included in this release</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The security team would like to thank the following people for responsibly reporting vulnerabilities, and allowing them to be fixed in this release:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Fariskhi Vidyan for finding a possible SQL injection within the Link API.</li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https://hackerone.com/entropy1337\">Khalilov Moe</a> for finding an XSS vulnerability on the Plugins screen.</li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/johnbillion/\">John Blackbourn</a> of the WordPress security team, for finding an output escaping issue within <code>the_meta()</code>.</li>\n</ul>\n\n\n\n<h2>Thank you to these WordPress contributors</h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The WordPress 6.0.2 release was led by <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/sergeybiryukov/\">@sergeybiryukov</a> and <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/gziolo/\">@gziolo</a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>WordPress 6.0.2 would not have been possible without the contributions of more than 50 people. Their asynchronous coordination to deliver several enhancements and fixes into a stable release is a testament to the power and capability of the WordPress community.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/xknown/\">Alex Concha</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/andraganescu/\">Andrei Draganescu</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/annezazu/\">annezazu</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/antonvlasenko/\">Anton Vlasenko</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/aristath/\">Ari Stathopoulos</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/scruffian/\">Ben Dwyer</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/poena/\">Carolina Nymark</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/costdev/\">Colin Stewart</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/uofaberdeendarren/\">Darren Coutts</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dilipbheda/\">Dilip Bheda</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/dd32/\">Dion Hulse</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/martinkrcho/\">eMKey</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/fabiankaegy/\">Fabian Kägy</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/mamaduka/\">George Mamadashvili</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/gziolo/\">Greg Ziółkowski</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/huubl/\">huubl</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/ironprogrammer/\">ironprogrammer</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/audrasjb/\">Jb Audras</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/johnbillion/\">John Blackbourn</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/desrosj/\">Jonathan Desrosiers</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/jonmackintosh/\">jonmackintosh</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/spacedmonkey/\">Jonny Harris</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/ryelle/\">Kelly Choyce-Dwan</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/0mirka00/\">Lena Morita</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/rudlinkon/\">Linkon Miyan</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/lovor/\">Lovro Hrust</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/marybaum/\">marybaum</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/ndiego/\">Nick Diego</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/ntsekouras/\">Nik Tsekouras</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/oglekler/\">Olga Gleckler</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/swissspidy/\">Pascal Birchler</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/paulkevan/\">paulkevan</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/peterwilsoncc/\">Peter Wilson</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/sergeybiryukov/\">Sergey Biryukov</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/sabernhardt/\">Stephen Bernhardt</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/tykoted/\">Teddy Patriarca</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/timothyblynjacobs/\">Timothy Jacobs</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/tommusrhodus/\">tommusrhodus</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/shimotomoki/\">Tomoki Shimomura</a>, <a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/hellofromtonya/\">Tonya Mork</a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/webcommsat/\">webcommsat AbhaNonStopNewsUK</a>, and&nbsp;<a href=\"https://profiles.wordpress.org/zieladam/\">zieladam</a>.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Tue, 30 Aug 2022 19:39:47 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11:\"Dan Soschin\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:46;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:66:\"Do The Woo Community: Builder Tips from WordCampUS Speakers Part_1\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:28:\"https://dothewoo.io/?p=72834\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:65:\"https://dothewoo.io/builder-tips-from-wordcampus-speakers-part_1/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:418:\"<p>Listen in to these WooCommerce / WordPress builder tips from Chris Lubkert, Michelle Schulp, Joey Daoud, Maddy Osman and Phil Crumm.</p>\n<p>&gt;&gt; The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://dothewoo.io/builder-tips-from-wordcampus-speakers-part_1/\">Builder Tips from WordCampUS Speakers Part_1</a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://dothewoo.io\">Do the Woo - a WooCommerce Builder Community</a>	.</p>\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Tue, 30 Aug 2022 09:17:00 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"BobWP\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:47;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n	\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:2:{s:0:\"\";a:5:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:94:\"WPTavern: WP-Optimize Plugin Accused of Cheating PageSpeed and Other Performance Testing Tools\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:30:\"https://wptavern.com/?p=137404\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:105:\"https://wptavern.com/wp-optimize-plugin-accused-of-cheating-pagespeed-and-other-performance-testing-tools\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:9158:\"<p><a href=\"https://wpspeedmatters.com/\">Gijo Varghese</a>, a developer who calls himself a &#8220;web performance enthusiast,&#8221; shocked WordPress users around the world over the weekend when he tweeted a screenshot of how <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-optimize/\">WP-Optimize</a> is allegedly preventing select JavaScript files from loading when users test their sites through popular performance testing tools.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;When a site is loaded, the JavaScript files are loaded only when the user-agent/browser is not Lighthouse/GTmetrix/Headless Chrome/Pingdom,&#8221; Varghese said. &#8220;No JS = high scores. But for real users, these JS files are loaded!&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p> </p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f6a8.png\" alt=\"🚨\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /> How \"WP Optimize\" is cheating PageSpeed and other testing tools <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f447.png\" alt=\"👇\" class=\"wp-smiley\" /><br /><br />When a site is loaded, the JavaScript files are loaded only when the user-agent/browser is not Lighthouse/GTmetrix/Headless Chrome/Pingdom.<br /><br />No JS = high scores. But for real users, these JS files are loaded! <a href=\"https://t.co/uuOiAOgvoo\">pic.twitter.com/uuOiAOgvoo</a></p>&mdash; Gijo Varghese (@GijoVarghese_) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/GijoVarghese_/status/1563097754322501632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 26, 2022</a></blockquote>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<p>Varghese confirmed that he was testing the free version of WP-Optimize, which is used on more than a million WordPress sites. UpdraftPlus acquired WP-Optimize in 2016 and claims that the tool &#8220;has everything you need to keep your website fast and thoroughly optimized.&#8221; A <a href=\"https://getwpo.com/\">commercial version</a> is also promoted through the free plugin that is hosted on WordPress.org.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Tell me, UpdraftPlus, how I&#8217;m supposed to continue trusting your company with my clients&#8217; backups when you use these deceptive and fraudulent practices?&#8221; one customer Adam Lowe <a href=\"https://twitter.com/adamslowe/status/1564325514319466503\">said</a> in response to Varghese&#8217;s discovery of the plugin not loading JS for performance tools. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Wow, all I can say is what an utter disappointment,&#8221; WordPress agency owner and developer Brian Jackson said.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This type of alleged deception is eerily similar to a <a href=\"https://metacoffeedata.com/manipulating-google-lighthouse-results-scam-by-upwork-freelancer/\">scam</a> reported by someone who contracted a performance freelancer on Upwork who artificially manipulated Google Pagespeed results. Others participating in the discussion on Twitter compared it to the <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_emissions_scandal\">Volkswagon emissions scandal</a> where the carmaker was found to activate its emissions controls only during laboratory testing in order to meet the EPA&#8217;s requirements after a violation. The vehicles on the road emitted up to 40 times more nitrogen oxides while driving, as compared to how they performed in the rigged laboratory tests.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Varghese and several other participants in the conversation concluded that this is why site owners should focus on what real world users are experiencing, instead of performance tool test scores.</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Hopefully they wonder why their CrUX report data (or better, RUM data) didn\'t budge. The whole reasons we release CrUX publicly is to give developers some ground truth. There\'s endless ways to trick yourself into believing your lab data is representative of real users <img src=\"https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/14.0.0/72x72/1f61b.png\" alt=\"😛\" class=\"wp-smiley\" />.</p>&mdash; Rick Byers (@RickByers) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/RickByers/status/1564300948130123787?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 29, 2022</a></blockquote>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<p>Even when focusing on real user experiences, site owners often rely on the tests to diagnose issues and see how a site&#8217;s performance can be improved. They don&#8217;t expect that a plugin will be hiding JS files from performance tools. Tricking the tests has eroded WP-Optimize&#8217;s credibility.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Wow. If true, this is as short sighted as it is inexcusable,&#8221; UpdraftPlus customer Johnathon William <a href=\"https://twitter.com/johnofhousejohn/status/1563216460737966080\">said</a>. &#8220;And it makes me wonder if I can trust their other product, UpdraftPlus, which I use to backup several client sites.&#8221; </p>\n\n\n\n<p>I contacted UpdraftPlus and lead developer David Anderson said the company was not aware of the issue with the code but related some of the backstory. UpdraftPlus was briefly in talks with the author of the <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/fast-velocity-minify/\">Fast Velocity Minify</a> plugin about the possibility of combining forces, in which he would maintain the minification module within WP-Optimize and gain more users. Ultimately they could not come to an agreement, but during that time WP-Optimize&#8217;s developers forked and adapted Fast Velocity Minify under the GPL. The developers who worked on that adaption are no longer with the company.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;In the commit to our own source repository, 2.5 years ago (Jan 2020), the commit was labelled &#8216;Resolve &#8216;Add CSS and JS Minification GPL code from &#8216;Fast Velocity Minify&#8217; &#8211; Part 6&#8242;,&#8221; Anderson said. &#8220;Part of a series of initial merges of code that was re-factored to be cleaner and use our coding style preferences (but not change any functionality). So the apparent intention of the merge of those lines was to bring over refactored code without at that stage making any changes.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;According to the commit history (i.e. the &#8216;git blame&#8217; function) no changes have been made to that code since, i.e. it is as-imported. (The history for WP Optimize is public in WordPress SVN too).&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>After a cursory examination of the code, Anderson concluded that his team may need to reexamine it, as they were not aware of what was added two years ago.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;As I try to trace that function through the code within the plugins, the intention&nbsp;<strong>on the face of it</strong>&nbsp;appears to be that if the website visitor is a &#8216;bot,&#8217; then code that is pointless for bots won&#8217;t be carried out,&#8221; he said.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;However having said that, 1) the bot names look to be heavily obfuscated/redacted, which is strange (why?), and&nbsp; 2) there are plenty of more obvious bots that aren&#8217;t listed there, such as the Googlebot itself. If that function was being put before me for review today, I&#8217;d certainly question why that is so. I can&#8217;t mind-read myself back 32 months ago, but, I remember it as being a long series of large patches, so it wasn&#8217;t being closely analysed on a line-by-line basis. We knew that we had identified FVM as a good plugin and our main focus was on adapting it to our structure and style, and those were the things I personally was looking at as the final reviewer.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In summary, UpdraftPlus&#8217; development team was not aware of this code until the Twitter thread was published over the weekend.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m certainly glad to have it brought to our intention,&#8221; Anderson said. &#8220;The associated code comment on a related fragment in its original source that it&#8217;s intended to prevent unnecessary requests for bots, but on a closer examination than that line got at the time, that&#8217;s something we&#8217;ll want to look at, as it does look questionable/strange, and we&#8217;ll be doing that by assigning it to a team member who&#8217;s our expert in JavaScript optimizations.&#8221;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anderson also said that if the JavaScript optimization experts cannot find any legitimate purpose for the code, &#8220;it will certainly be removed,&#8221; with a clear and unambiguous disclosure for the reasoning behind it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the meantime, UpdraftPlus has <a href=\"https://wordpress.org/support/topic/code-under-investigate-in-wp-optimize/#utm_medium=referral&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_content=social\">published a notice</a> in the plugin&#8217;s support forum to inform users that the code is currently under investigation.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;To be clear and set users’ minds at rest: the code in question is not dangerous, a virus, an infection, useful to hackers, or anything of that kind,&#8221; Anderson said. &#8220;The allegation is that its only purpose in existing is effectively to cheat on speed tests. Such code, if so, does not belong in WP Optimize and we will remove it with a new release. 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(Second reason would be seeing <a href=\"https://burningman.org/about/10-principles/\">the principles in action</a>.) This year I am particularly excited to support two pieces, the first being the <a href=\"https://sonicsphere.art/\">Sonic Sphere</a> which has this great video introducing it:</p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n\n</div>\n\n\n\n<p>I got a chance to try out a smaller prototype of this and it was a great experience. You can read a bit about the history of the Kugel Auditorium that this is based on on <a href=\"https://ed.blog/2021/02/28/which-is-better-a-bitcoin-or-a-spherical-concert-hall/\">Ed Cooke&#8217;s blog post Which is more memorable, a Bitcoin or a Spherical Concert Hall?</a> The Sphere will be in <a href=\"https://what3words.com/circulation.later.chart\">Deep Playa (what3words)</a>. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another exciting new project is the <a href=\"https://www.entheosrising.org/empyrean-gate-art-installation\">Empyrean Gate at the Entheos camp</a>, which will be at 3 and Esplanade. 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Backup, restore and migration plugin for WordPress.</a></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:12:\"Shane Gurney\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:10584:\"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">AIOS 5.0 is the first major release of ‘All-in-One Security’, since the popular WordPress Plugin was acquired by UpdraftPlus in August 2021. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Joe Miles, Director at UpdraftPlus said:</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“We’re thrilled to build on the good work already done with All-In-One Security (AIOS), the only five-star rated WordPress security plugin with more than 1 million active installs. Release 5.0 brings significant new features, tweaks and fixes to our loyal customer base.”</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">AIOS 5.0 includes the launch of a new PHP firewall. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Previous versions used .htaccess files to provide firewall rules. This new release extends AIOS server compatibility beyond apache based servers. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">AIOS also includes the addition of Two-Factor Authentication (TFA). TFA supports TOTP + HOTP protocols and so supports Google Authenticator, Authy and various other authentication tools.</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The UpdraftPlus team is also working on an AIOS Premium product which will bring active scanning for downtime and malware as well as response time monitoring, advanced two factor authentication, country blocking, smart 404 blocking and premium support at a competitive price point.</span></p>\n<p>Looking to install the all new AIOS? Visit: <a href=\"https://en-gb.wordpress.org/plugins/all-in-one-wp-security-and-firewall/\">https://en-gb.wordpress.org/plugins/all-in-one-wp-security-and-firewall/</a></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The full change log for AIOS 5.0 log is included below </span></p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FEATURE: Two-Factor Authentication (TFA) functionality &amp; related settings.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FEATURE: Set up a mechanism to load the firewall PHP file early.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FEATURE: PHP firewall rule engine.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FEATURE: Add WHOIS lookup functionality.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FEATURE: Implement 6G firewall rules in the new PHP-based firewall.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FEATURE: Disable WordPress application passwords.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FEATURE: Remove the plugin&#8217;s tables and options when uninstalling the plugin according to configuration settings.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FEATURE: Trash spam comments after n number of days as per configuration set in Admin Dashboard &gt; WP Security &gt; SPAM Prevention &gt; the &#8220;Comment SPAM&#8221; tab &gt; the  &#8220;Comment Processing&#8221; section &gt; the &#8220;Trash Comments After&#8221; settings.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FEATURE: Brute force Cookie-based Firewall Protection based on the PHP code instead of htaccess rules so that it also works with Nginx, IIS etc servers.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FEATURE: Allow multiple email addresses for the User Login &gt; Notify By Email setting.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FEATURE: IPv6 range support in CIDR Format enabled.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FIX: The WooCommerce customer was redirected to the wp-login page after payment with an external payment gateway if forced logout configured after a specific number of minutes.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FIX: If the WordPress language was set to something other than English, then auto-update core, plugin, and theme emails sent in English instead of the configured language.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FIX: Database error for multisite when creating a new site solved.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FIX: Captcha options should not be autoloaded.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FIX: Database error for multisite cronjob column name.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FIX: The plugin clogs up the database with lots of rows. Delete old data after 90 days.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FIX: Rename Login issue with wp plugin list command solved.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FIX: Rename Login breaks logout functionality if WP_HOME is set to a different URL than the WordPress core files URL.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FIX: PHP Fatal error:  Uncaught Error: Class &#8216;AIOWPSecurity_Admin_Init&#8217; not found in html/wp-content/plugins/all-in-one-wp-security-and-firewall/wp-security-core.php:366.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FIX: The Spam comment blocked IP address remains blocked even after spammed comments are approved.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FIX: Admin Dashboard &gt; WP Security &gt; Security Points Breakdown Section piechart tooltips flickering.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FIX: The &#8220;Time Length of 404 Lockout&#8221; option doesn&#8217;t do anything.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FIX: Search did not work for the 404 Event Logs list table.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FIX: Search did not work for Failed Logins list table.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FIX: Search did not work for the Account Activity list table.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FIX: Bulk deletions did not work for the Account Activity list table.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FIX: Warning when bots make malformed requests.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FIX: When the user had pressed the bottom bulk action button of the list table, the bulk action was confirmed by two confirm alerts.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FIX: Unblock link in 404 Event Logs list table redirected to wrong tab.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FIX: Temp Block, Blacklist IP and Delete links in 404 Event Logs list table didn&#8217;t work.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FIX: Rename login page and Cookie based brute force login prevention configurations didn&#8217;t work simultaneously.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FIX: Fatal error when activating using older PHP versions</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FIX: If auto_prepend_file is already pointed to the firewall bootstrap file from php.ini manually, the bootstrap file try to include itself.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FIX: The custom logo wasn&#8217;t displayed on the login lockdown unlock request form.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TWEAK: Allow taking database backups via the UpdraftPlus backup plugin.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TWEAK: Make lockout reasons more specific.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TWEAK: Update notice class.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TWEAK: If the user has not performed the cookie test, the brute force attack prevention configuration fields remain disabled in the Admin Dashboard &gt; WP Security &gt; Brute Force &gt; Cookie Based Brute Force Prevention.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TWEAK: Display locked IP addresses lockout date and release date in WordPress settings format.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TWEAK: Improve success or messages when performing bulk actions on the table list.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TWEAK: 404 events date is displayed in WordPress settings format.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TWEAK: Account activity login date and logout date are displayed in WordPress settings format.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TWEAK: Add a label for each setting field.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TWEAK: JQMIGRATE: jQuery.fn.click() event shorthand is deprecated.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TWEAK: Fix typos at Admin Dashboard &gt; WP Security &gt; Firewall &gt; Basic Firewall Rules &gt; Block Access to Debug Log File.</span></span>&nbsp;</li>\n</ul>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com/updraftplus-marks-anniversary-of-all-in-one-security-acquisition-with-major-release/\">UpdraftPlus Marks Anniversary of All-in-One Security Acquisition with Major Release</a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus</a>. <a href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus - Backup, restore and migration plugin for WordPress.</a></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:36:\"http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/\";a:1:{s:10:\"commentRss\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:113:\"https://updraftplus.com/updraftplus-marks-anniversary-of-all-in-one-security-acquisition-with-major-release/feed/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:38:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/\";a:1:{s:8:\"comments\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:1:\"0\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:1;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:82:\"\n		\n		\n					\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n					\n			\n		\n		\n			\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:5:{s:0:\"\";a:7:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:102:\"UpdraftPlus completely rejects false allegations of WP-Optimize plugin ‘gaming’ page speed results\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:114:\"https://updraftplus.com/updraftplus-completely-rejects-false-allegations-of-wp-optimize-gaming-page-speed-results/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:8:\"comments\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:122:\"https://updraftplus.com/updraftplus-completely-rejects-false-allegations-of-wp-optimize-gaming-page-speed-results/#respond\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Tue, 30 Aug 2022 18:21:32 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:8:\"category\";a:4:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:20:\"Other WordPress news\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:1;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:9:\"Site news\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:2;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11:\"WP Optimize\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:3;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11:\"WP-Optimize\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:34:\"https://updraftplus.com/?p=1543890\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:923:\"<p>On Friday 26 August, Gilo Varghese, founder of Flying Proxy, a CDN, tweeted the following allegation about WP Optimize: https://twitter.com/GijoVarghese_/status/1563097754322501632 . We were not contacted directly but learned of it a few days later when we were asked by a &#8230; <a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/updraftplus-completely-rejects-false-allegations-of-wp-optimize-gaming-page-speed-results/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&#8594;</span></a></p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com/updraftplus-completely-rejects-false-allegations-of-wp-optimize-gaming-page-speed-results/\">UpdraftPlus completely rejects false allegations of WP-Optimize plugin ‘gaming’ page speed results</a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus</a>. <a href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus - Backup, restore and migration plugin for WordPress.</a></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:12:\"Shane Gurney\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:7935:\"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On Friday 26 August, <strong>Gilo Varghese</strong>, founder of Flying Proxy,</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> a CDN, tweeted the following allegation about WP Optimize: </span><a href=\"https://twitter.com/GijoVarghese_/status/1563097754322501632\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https://twitter.com/GijoVarghese_/status/1563097754322501632</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> . We were not contacted directly but learned of it a few days later when we were asked by a WordPress news site to comment.<br />\n</span></p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-360326 \" src=\"https://getwpo.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Untitled-design-8-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Gijo Varghese tweet\" width=\"484\" height=\"272\" /></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In short, the allegation is that WP-Optimize are deliberately deceiving its users by appearing to use page speed tools like GTMetrix to be faster than sites actually are, and are doing this secretly for the purpose of making WP-Optimize look better.<br />\n</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Varghese then proceeded to respond to users who responded to his Tweet to &#8216;plug&#8217; his company, Flying Press, which is a competitor to WP-Optimize, with a competing plugin product:<br />\n</span></p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-360328 \" src=\"https://getwpo.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Gijo-Varghese-Shameless-Plug.png\" alt=\"Gijo Varghese - \'Shameless Plug\'\" width=\"390\" height=\"146\" /></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The tweet was widely circulated, and resulted in a WP Tavern </span><a href=\"https://wptavern.com/wp-optimize-plugin-accused-of-cheating-pagespeed-and-other-performance-testing-tools\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">article </span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">yesterday on the allegations.  This was a UK public holiday, when many of our team were away and we didn’t have time to fully investigate the allegations. We were given a few hours before publication to respond, but at that time our main WP Optimize developer was already, in his time zone, asleep.<br />\n</span></p>\n<p><b>The team at UpdraftPlus (owners of WP-Optimize) investigated today and found the allegations to be completely false.</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">  The truth is actually the reverse &#8211; it is the allegations which have been presented deceptively, missing out obvious and key facts.<br />\n</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The most fundamental is that feature used to construct the claim clearly says in the user interface “…if you would like to exclude scripts from page speed tests”.  The allegation by contrast implies this is hidden only in the code.<br />\n</span></p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-360334 \" src=\"https://getwpo.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/WP-Optimize-Plugin-1.png\" alt=\"WP Optimize Plugin\" width=\"558\" height=\"170\" /></p>\n<p>Secondly, the advanced setting used in the allegation is a valid feature, useful to find out whether the essential JS/CSS files are actually slowing down the web page or not.  i.e. It has a proper use. <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This feature is by default, turned ‘off’ and only enabled by advanced users who know what they’re doing.  </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Joe Miles, a manager at UpdraftPlus said “the claim is the plugin is being deceptive, but it’s actually an explained setting in advanced settings which a site owner would have to decide to use, which have been used to falsely claim that WP-Optimize is manipulating things.  The setting is a valid tool for testing.  So UpdraftPlus will not be removing it and we’ve asked for the false accusations to be deleted.”</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Peter Wilkinson from </span><a href=\"https://diviengine.com/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Divi Engine</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> who developed </span><a href=\"https://diviengine.com/product/divi-nitro/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Divi Nitro</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, (a speed performance plugin which is not affiliated with WP-Optimize, but actually a competitor), investigated the claims and said “</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Initially I was shocked at the news and as a competitor, thought it was bad practice to be deceiving customers.”</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Upon further investigation, I found out that it was actually far from the truth. In reality (from my research) WP-Optimize do not &#8220;cheat&#8221; pagespeed tools when you install or minify your Javascript. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“To &#8220;cheat&#8221; the tools, you need to manually add the JS files you want to asynchronous load to a setting that clearly has the label &#8220;Use this if you have a completely independent script or would like to exclude scripts from page speed tests (PageSpeed Insights, GTMetrix&#8230;)&#8221;</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wilkinson made this very clear video to show how the untrue allegations have been unfairly presented in a way that misleads people:</span></p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Is Wp-Optimize Cheating PageSpeed and Other Performance Testing Tools? My Opinion!\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/6Nb2ddy97qY?start=21&#038;feature=oembed\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br />\n“It just goes to show that you should not believe everything you read or hear. Test everything to make sure it is the truth.”  Wilkinson added.</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“In my view, Gijo Varghese has used deception to promote Flying Pages and Flying Press.”</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Adam Lowe, President of PeakPerformanceDigital.com who was initially quoted in WP-Tavern as asking UpdraftPlus “how are we </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">supposed to continue trusting your company with my clients&#8217; backups when you use these deceptive and fraudulent practices?” replied today <em>in support</em> of WP-Optimize.  He said:</span></p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-360330 \" src=\"https://getwpo.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Adam-Lowe-tweet.png\" alt=\"Adam Lowe tweet\" width=\"321\" height=\"117\" /></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Meanwhile, Andrew Palmer of WP Plugins Plus, tweeted that he believed the original claims to be false:</span></p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-360332 \" src=\"https://getwpo.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Andrew-Palmer.png\" alt=\"Andrew Palmer tweet\" width=\"432\" height=\"94\" /></p>\n<p>Summary: Gijo achieved the result that he did by using a clearly labelled expert feature with explained possible use cases to do something else. He then presented this as the normal but dishonestly hidden result of using WP-Optimize. This should never have been made a news story. We do not encourage anyone to try to &#8220;game&#8221; PageSpeed scores, and Gijo&#8217;s allegations that this is our secret intention that people would do so is unworthy, and we hope he will do the honourable thing and retract it. If any other users are puzzled by anything else in WP-Optimize, we hope that instead of stirring outrage on Twitter, they will ask us about it in a support channel.</p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com/updraftplus-completely-rejects-false-allegations-of-wp-optimize-gaming-page-speed-results/\">UpdraftPlus completely rejects false allegations of WP-Optimize plugin ‘gaming’ page speed results</a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus</a>. <a href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus - Backup, restore and migration plugin for WordPress.</a></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:36:\"http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/\";a:1:{s:10:\"commentRss\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:119:\"https://updraftplus.com/updraftplus-completely-rejects-false-allegations-of-wp-optimize-gaming-page-speed-results/feed/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:38:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/\";a:1:{s:8:\"comments\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:1:\"0\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:2;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:91:\"\n		\n		\n					\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n					\n			\n		\n		\n			\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:5:{s:0:\"\";a:7:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:54:\"Which is the best image format for your WordPress site\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:79:\"https://updraftplus.com/which-is-the-best-image-format-for-your-wordpress-site/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:8:\"comments\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:88:\"https://updraftplus.com/which-is-the-best-image-format-for-your-wordpress-site/#comments\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Thu, 21 Apr 2022 10:47:33 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:8:\"category\";a:7:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11:\"WP Optimize\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:1;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:17:\"best image format\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:2;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:3:\"BMP\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:3;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:4:\"JPEG\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:4;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:4:\"WebP\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:5;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:17:\"what image format\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:6;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:9:\"wordpress\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:34:\"https://updraftplus.com/?p=1422739\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:754:\"<p>Having engaging, clear and fast loading images on your WordPress site is one of the most effective ways to draw a user/customer in. There is a reason that car dealerships spend so much time making sure that the new models &#8230; <a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/which-is-the-best-image-format-for-your-wordpress-site/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&#8594;</span></a></p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com/which-is-the-best-image-format-for-your-wordpress-site/\">Which is the best image format for your WordPress site</a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus</a>. <a href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus - Backup, restore and migration plugin for WordPress.</a></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"Wayne Mullins\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:17102:\"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Which is the best image format for your WordPress site\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/oZA-ktvnLJg?feature=oembed\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Having engaging, clear and fast loading images on your WordPress site is one of the most effective ways to draw a user/customer in. There is a reason that car dealerships spend so much time making sure that the new models are spotless and sparkling. The visual impact of a product can often be the make or break decision between success and failure. Online showrooms are no different, plus there is the added complication of how an image can impact your loading speed. It is a well used and famous metric, that a user will leave a website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. If a website does take more than 3 seconds to load, then there is a good chance that the images you have on your site are part of that reason. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So as a WordPress site owner, what can you do to ensure that the images you have on your site are both appealing to users and allow your site to load quickly. Your initial instinct might just be to shrink the image down from a 1800&#215;1400 size image to 300&#215;200 size image. This would be the wrong course of action to take, as while your image file size might now be a lot smaller, the quality of the image and user experience has suffered as a result. If you have a car showroom sales website for example, customers will want to get a really good look at the car and be able to see all the features and detail. By making the image so much smaller, any detailed inspection of the car is now impossible &#8211; leaving the potential customer frustrated and looking elsewhere. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So what are your options? Thankfully, there are dozens of different image file options you can choose from, ranging from the high quality, but large file size BMP, the tried and tested JPEG, to the new and widely unknown WebP format. Along with choosing the right format, it is important to remember that regardless of what format you choose, you can additionally reduce the image file size by employing a process via </span><a href=\"https://getwpo.com/buy/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WP-Optimize</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> known as “compression”. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Site speed is one of the top 10 most important factors Google bots crawling your website observe when they are ranking your site in the search results. Having poor loading speed can badly impact on the ranking of your site and can easily take your site from the first page, to failing to be indexed by Google. Google is very strict on how they rank sites in their search algorithm and if they find that the site offers a poor user experience due to slow loading times, they might not even go through the trouble of even crawling it and making it discoverable via Google search.</span></p>\n<p><b>Which image format should you choose?</b></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As high quality images are so important for any modern WordPress website, you need to know which format to use, how they affect the performance of your site and how to get the best out of your file selection. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The two most popular image file formats for websites are PNG and JPEG/JPG. According to </span><a href=\"https://w3techs.com/technologies/overview/image_format\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">w3techs</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, more than 70% of all websites use these file types. Around 30% of sites use SVG and 22% use GIF.</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is where image file types would come into play as the type of file you use to upload your images play an important role. As there are so many different file types, we will go through the most popular ones and their pros and cons down below:</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before we jump into the type of file we need to understand some concepts before, like what a raster and a bitmap image are? What is compression? What is the difference between a lossy and lossless compression?</span></p>\n<h1><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Compression &#8211; Lossy Vs Lossless</span></h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Both of the compression types are aimed at reducing the file size, but it’s what they remove that really matters. In Lossy compression; important data that is relevant to the quality of the image is removed. This can be reflected in the image being pixelated in some cases as your computer can have trouble reconstructing the image.</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In lossless compression, irrelevant data that is present in the image (such as metadata) is reduced, which helps reduce the file size. The image quality is not affected at all in this process.</span></p>\n<h1><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Raster Vs Vector</span></h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The most commonly used image file types are typically raster-based. This means that they have a fixed RGB color value associated with every pixel and all of those pixels are combined and used to create a whole image.</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Examples of such file formats include jpg, png, and gif.</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Alternatively, a vector image is created using shapes and lines that can be scaled infinitely without them ever being pixelated. The vectors are created using mathematical formulas that allow users to change the values, while not affecting the quality of the image.</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now that we have gone over the basics of the images, we can now look at the details of the different file types.</span></p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">JPEG:</span></h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is a digital image format that contains compressed image data. With a 10:1 compression ratio, JPEG images are used as they are very compact. JPEG format contains important image details and is the most popular image format for sharing photos and other images on the internet. The small file size of JPEG images can also let users store thousands of images (for example on <a href=\"https://artfromwales.com\">an art site</a>) without the need for extra storage space on your site. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">JPEG is a lossy compression file type that works well for photos, but it is recommended that you use another format when working graphics, such as PNG.</span></p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1422761\" style=\"width: 589px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Vincent_van_Gogh_-_Sunflowers_-_VGM_F458-scaled.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1422761\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-1422761\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Vincent_van_Gogh_-_Sunflowers_-_VGM_F458-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"579\" height=\"759\" /></a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1422761\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A JPEG image file example. You can see that the detail and quality has been maintained when uploading.</p></div>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">PNG:</span></h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">PNG is a popular bitmap image format and is short for “Portable Graphics Format”. This format was created as an alternative to Graphics Interchange Format (GIF). PNG has some great features like containing 24-bit RGB color palettes, greyscale images and displaying transparent backgrounds. A lossless data compression method is also used in PNG images when working on high quality images or graphics. PNG images are also frequently used in Image editing as they can give the user more control and options on the image over traditional JPEG format.</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">PNG also uses a lossless compression algorithm, which means this format can retain more data than JPG. When using a PNG image file, users can also save these images with a transparent background. By using this format, users have the option of working with layered images that can show a clear background (for example &#8211; just the flowers in the image below and not the background wall), enabling users to add the image to other images without the need to cut it out and remove the existing background &#8211; as you would have to with a JPEG image. This is one of the main reasons why it is the preferred choice for graphics like diagrams and illustrations. PNGs are known to be more popular for users working with graphics, rather than uploading standard photos.</span></p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1422764\" style=\"width: 612px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/New-Project-2022-04-13T143350.979.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1422764\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-1422764 size-full\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/New-Project-2022-04-13T143350.979.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"602\" height=\"670\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/New-Project-2022-04-13T143350.979.jpg 602w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/New-Project-2022-04-13T143350.979-480x534.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 602px, 100vw\" /></a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1422764\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A PNG image maintains high quality, while also allowing you to have more control over the image</p></div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333; font-size: 26px;\">GIF:</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You probably know the term “GIF” best from the countless short clips you are sent on messaging apps. GIF stands for “Graphics Interchange Format” and is mostly used to support animation without audio </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unlike JPEG and PNG, GIFs are used in a more niche case and are not typically used for static images (although this is possible). If you use a GIF on your WordPress site, it is most likely in order to show you visitors a simple animation or process. GIFs have a limited color range and are best used for simple graphics. They use lossless compression and tend to be smaller than JPGs. It is generally recommended that you only use GIFs sparingly in your site, as they can increase loading times (given the file size) and are limited to 256 colours. </span></p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1422760\" style=\"width: 659px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/25ec2f1ccda14617fca4c84862ccbafd.gif\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1422760\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-1422760\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/25ec2f1ccda14617fca4c84862ccbafd.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"649\" height=\"823\" /></a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1422760\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">An example of a GIF image. The quality of the original image has been greatly reduced in order to produce the animation.</p></div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333; font-size: 26px;\">SVG:</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) is a web-friendly vector file format. As opposed to pixel-based raster image files like JPEGs, vector files store images via mathematical formulas based on points and lines on a grid. This means that vector files like SVG can be significantly resized without losing any of their quality, which makes them ideal for logos and complex online graphics. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vectors are best only for simple graphics, shapes, and illustrations. SVGs are a good choice for logos, especially if you need your logo to be responsive and are supported by most browsers including Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Opera.</span></p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1422765\" style=\"width: 561px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/nice-sunflower-icon-simple-style-vector-20433870-e1650536573773.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1422765\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-1422765\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/nice-sunflower-icon-simple-style-vector-20433870-e1650536573773.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"551\" height=\"546\" /></a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1422765\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">An example of the sunflowers in a SVG format that you would use for a logo.</p></div>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">BMP:</span></h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">BITMAP is now considered an outdated image format. BMP loads the images in a lossless image format which can result in huge file sizes due to the lack of compression. Considering the importance of loading speed and how site creators want to keep the image sizes to a minimum (not to mention the popularity of SVG and JPEG formats), this format has become largely unused for online images. </span></p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1422766\" style=\"width: 786px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/vangoghtournesols-10.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1422766\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-1422766\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/vangoghtournesols-10.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"776\" height=\"582\" /></a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1422766\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The original quality of the image is maintained when uploading in the BMP format, but the file size will badly slow down your site and is not recommended.</p></div>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WebP:</span></h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This image format was created by Google in 2010 and is starting to prove popular with people who upload lots of images to their site as it has several advantages over JPEG and PNG, such as having better lossy and lossless compression performance.</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WebP also typically uploads in smaller file sizes than JPEG or PNG formats given its improved compression performance and will take up less space on your site &#8211; allowing it to load faster. While it isn’t supported by all browsers, it is supported by all the most popular browsers &#8211; including Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Opera. </span></p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1422767\" style=\"width: 770px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/MEXD5IEE3RGGBAVIV4EKKATKQI.webp\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1422767\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-1422767 size-full\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/MEXD5IEE3RGGBAVIV4EKKATKQI.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"760\" height=\"507\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/MEXD5IEE3RGGBAVIV4EKKATKQI.webp 760w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/MEXD5IEE3RGGBAVIV4EKKATKQI-480x320.webp 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 760px, 100vw\" /></a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1422767\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Though not as well known as JPEG and PNG, WebP could prove to be the image format of choice in the future.</p></div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333; font-size: 30px;\">Conclusion:</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are many types of image formats that can be used on your WordPress site, but it is important to evaluate the purpose of the image. If your site is for a wedding photographer for example, you will want to maintain high quality images that still load quickly and are user friendly (</span><b>JPEG</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">). However, if you are selling images in an online poster store, then you will want to maintain as much detail and image information as possible (</span><b>PNG</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">).  </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a general rule of thumb, if you are just uploading standard images for your online store, blog, portfolio, social media or social media site &#8211; then it is recommended that you upload you images in a standard JPEG format and then use WP-Optimize to further compress your images</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, should you wish to future-proof your images and improve your loading speed as much as possible, then WebP can offer superior lossy and lossless compression, while still maintaining high levels of details. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whatever you decide, remember to always compress your images using <a href=\"https://getwpo.com\">WP-Optimize</a> for the market leading compression. </span></p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com/which-is-the-best-image-format-for-your-wordpress-site/\">Which is the best image format for your WordPress site</a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus</a>. <a href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus - Backup, restore and migration plugin for WordPress.</a></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:36:\"http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/\";a:1:{s:10:\"commentRss\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:84:\"https://updraftplus.com/which-is-the-best-image-format-for-your-wordpress-site/feed/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:38:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/\";a:1:{s:8:\"comments\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:1:\"1\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:3;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:81:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:3:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:63:\"Improve your WordPress user experience: 7 strategies to succeed\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:87:\"https://updraftplus.com/improve-your-wordpress-user-experience-7-strategies-to-succeed/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Fri, 08 Apr 2022 14:06:19 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:8:\"category\";a:9:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:20:\"Other WordPress news\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:1;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"guide\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:2;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6:\"How to\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:3;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:7:\"Improve\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:4;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:4:\"list\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:5;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:4:\"tips\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:6;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:15:\"user experience\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:7;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:2:\"UX\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:8;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:9:\"wordpress\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:34:\"https://updraftplus.com/?p=1410380\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:783:\"<p>Now that you have contributed so much of your time and money to your shiny new WordPress website and have showcased your talents to the world, it is important to ask the questions; “Did you pay close attention to perfecting &#8230; <a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/improve-your-wordpress-user-experience-7-strategies-to-succeed/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&#8594;</span></a></p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com/improve-your-wordpress-user-experience-7-strategies-to-succeed/\">Improve your WordPress user experience: 7 strategies to succeed</a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus</a>. <a href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus - Backup, restore and migration plugin for WordPress.</a></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11:\"Jessica Day\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:19464:\"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now that you have contributed so much of your time and money to your shiny new WordPress website and have showcased your talents to the world, it is important to ask the questions; “Did you pay close attention to perfecting the WordPress user experience?”</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today’s tech-literate consumers have high expectations, which is why a website that feels clunky and awkward, just isn’t good enough. Providing the best user experience for your WordPress site should be paramount. No matter how professional or high quality your products or services are, if your site showcase doesn’t give a high standard of customer user experience, you will be doomed to failure.</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this blog, we have put together a guide on how to greatly improve user experience in your WordPress site with 7 strategies to succeed. </span></p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why is the user experience so important? </span></h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In a world filled with so many digital options and distractions, providing a good user experience can be one of the main keys to success. Take Uber for example. Uber revolutionized the taxi industry with a new way to order and track cabs by using an intuitive and simple-to-use app on your mobile phone. Uber is now a world-wide multibillion-dollar company with services in most cities &#8211; largely thanks to its innovation and consideration of the end-user. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The same theory applies when creating your WordPress site. Whether it’s a blog, an online store, a marketing hub, or a portfolio for your services; your chances of success are intrinsically tied to the positive level of user experience you provide. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are some of the most obvious and measurable benefits of a good user experience:</span></p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Set a good first impression of your brand </span></h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Setting a good first impression is important for showing potential customers you’re the real deal. It doesn’t matter how good your products, services, or content are, if your WordPress website isn’t aesthetically coherent and functional, no one will want to use it. Users must be able to navigate your pages with ease so that they get an immediate sense of direction and understanding on how your site operates. </span></p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Increased sales</span></h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Any website that makes the purchasing process straightforward and easy to follow iis more likely to see an increase in sales and revenue. To put it simply, the easier it is to browse and take action, the quicker users will be able to act on impulse and purchase products and services from you. Simple features like search filters and recommendations can enhance the user experience by giving them multiple options to begin the buying journey. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It’s a win-win. A positive experience for the customer and more sales for your business. </span></p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Increase user retention rates </span></h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Offering the best user experience keeps customers coming back for more. Satisfied customers will not feel the need to look elsewhere if you’re meeting their expectations. Existing customers are also likely to recommend your site to others and become brand advocates if you offer a professional and friendly UX. </span></p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Improve search engine optimization (SEO)</span></h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Take a look at the top-ranked sites on a search engine like Google and you’ll find they all have a professional high end user experience design. The days of cramming as many keywords as possible into your content to rank via SEO are long gone. Google has expanded how it ranks websites and how it views SEO requirements by including such elements as UX design. It is important to remember this when it comes to setting and designing your site using WordPress. </span></p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to improve user experience in your WordPress site: 7 strategies to succeed</span></h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Creating a popular and (potentially) profitable website means putting the user experience first. Try putting yourself in the shoes of a new customer, and design your site around their experience, rather than how ‘amazing’ your product is. The user experience goes hand-in-hand with usability and functionality. </span></p>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-65.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1410414\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-65.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"438\" height=\"371\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-65.png 438w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-65-300x254.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 438px) 100vw, 438px\" /></a></p>\n<p><a href=\"https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Aidan-Kehoe/publication/301843724/figure/fig6/AS:669045342883855@1536524248407/Functionality-usability-and-user-experience-From-McNamara-N-and-J-Kirakowski.png\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Image Source</span></a></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let’s now look at 7 actionable strategies to help improve the user experience of your WordPress site. </span></p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1. Opt for a simple design </span></h3>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-66.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1410415\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-66.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"368\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-66.png 700w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-66-480x252.png 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 700px, 100vw\" /></a></p>\n<p><a href=\"https://www.statista.com/forecasts/961919/important-design-characteristics-for-online-shops-for-us-consumers\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Image Source</span></a></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is important to remember that sometimes less, really is more. Don’t sacrifice functionality for an overly pretty and complex design. Ask yourself, ‘Would I find this website easy to follow if I came here for the first time?’ </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Users value usability and useful features over crowded visuals. For example, always put buttons where you would expect to find a button. Make your potential customers&#8217; life as easy as possible, as they will quickly abandon your site if they struggle to perform a simple task or have to go looking for the ‘buy button’.</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A conventional blog format is suitable in many instances, that is, a header, followed by the main body and a sidebar, completed with a footer. From here, you can make subtle tweaks to enhance the overall design. Be sure to give it a quick </span><a href=\"https://www.globalapptesting.com/blog/top-10-mobile-usability-testing-methods-every-qa-tester-should-know\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">mobile friendly test</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to ensure it’s appearing correctly on mobile devices. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It’s all about getting that balance between form and function. </span></p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2. Ensure navigation is easy</span></h3>\n<p><a href=\"https://www.paperstreet.com/blog/how-site-navigation-affects-seo/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Navigating through your WordPress website</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> should feel natural and effortless for the user. Try to build your site to incorporate the following features: </span></p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>A navigation bar</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (this is a must-have)<br />\n</span>Naming key pages for your navigation bar is simple with WordPress. Simply click <i>(Appearance &gt; Menus) </i>in your sidebar to customize your menu’s order and page names.</li>\n</ul>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>A list of categories in your sidebar<br />\n</b>Having an easily viewable list of categories will allow users to quickly navigate to their general area of interest. For example, if they are in the market for a new TV, they can browse all TVs available on your site, without having to also view Laptops.</li>\n</ul>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>A search tool<br />\n</b>Imagine a customer has come to you specifically for a <a href=\"https://www.dialpad.com/blog/best-bluetooth-headset/\">bluetooth headset</a>, give them a search bar to find them fast. WordPress has several search bar plugins for you to try. Some are free while others are paid for.</li>\n</ul>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>An archives page<br />\n</b>For an Archive page, let users search previous content by date, category, and keyword. This will help users find content fast while also helping your <a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/9-tips-and-tactics-for-building-a-solid-wordpress-site-seo-strategy/\">WordPress SEO strategy</a></li>\n</ul>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Breadcrumbs<br />\n</b>Breadcrumbs are the navigational links found at the top of a page to tell you where you are on the site. For example, (<i>Home &gt; Blog &gt; January 2022 &gt; How to nail your WordPress website.</i>)</li>\n</ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Utilizing these common design features on your WordPress page is a great way to create a familiar experience for users. </span></p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">3. Make sure your homepage is useful and informative</span></h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your homepage is almost certainly going to be the most viewed page on your website. Think of it as your personal shop window for what goods and services you have to offer. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Feature boxes can be a useful addition to the homepage. A feature box pops up on the homepage and can include content of your choice. A popular strategy is to use an ‘Opt-in’ box to introduce yourselves and encourage users to sign up for deals, information and discounts. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, your feature box could say:  </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">‘</span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Want to know the best </span></i><a href=\"https://www.dialpad.com/blog/alternatives-to-magicjack/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">magicjack competitors</span></i></a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">? </span></i></p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sign-up now to receive advice on: </span></i></p>\n<ul>\n<li><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The best in VoIP call center solutions. </span></i></li>\n<li><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The best alternatives out there for your favorite tools.</span></i></li>\n<li><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The best tools for collecting and analyzing key data…’, </span></i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">etc. </span></li>\n</ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A well-placed feature box involves the visitor right away and tells them what to expect and how to get more from your site. This can add to a better user experience. However, it is important to make sure your feature box contains legitimate and valuable information and doesn’t just present as an ad attempting to get the visitors email address. </span></p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">4. Is your content easy-on-the-eye? </span></h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content that looks visually appealing is more likely to attract visitors and keep them engaged. Remember to take inspiration and design cues from other popular websites in your niche area to get an idea of how their visual layout enhances the user experience. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When designing your site, also be sure to pay attention to design elements, typography choices and formatting. Have a look at other popular websites to see what they look like and what choices they made. Once you’ve found inspiration, you can use a pre-existing layout template to start from, or design your own layout from scratch. </span></p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In terms of formatting, consider the following: </span></h4>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Keep sentences and paragraphs short and sweet. </span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Use sub-headers to break sections up and make navigation easier. </span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Use bold to highlight keywords and phrases. </span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Italics are useful for emphasis and speech. </span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Images are useful for adding variety and color to a piece. </span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Other visual elements such as tables, lists and quotes help break up the site and provide extra information. </span></li>\n</ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Creating a good user experience means nailing a design that’s easy-on-the-eye, while also being practical. </span></p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">5. Deliver fast page speeds</span></h3>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-67.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1410422\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-67.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"636\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-67.png 700w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-67-480x436.png 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 700px, 100vw\" /></a></p>\n<p><a href=\"https://www.goodfirms.co/resources/web-design-research-small-business\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Image Source</span></a></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today’s website users expect fast page speeds and sites that load in a second or two at most. In fact, having a slow loading site is the top reason visitors will leave. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ways to increase page speed include: </span></p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Using only necessary plugins</b><b><br />\n</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Running multiple plugins is one of the leading sources of slowing your site down.</span></li>\n<li><b>Watch your image sizes</b><b><br />\n</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Image compression plugins like </span><a href=\"https://getwpo.com/buy/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WP-Optimize</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> reduce the file size of images to boost loading speeds. </span></li>\n<li><b>Use a Content Delivery Network service (CDN)</b><b><br />\n</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This adds a level of protection against </span><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/crucial-wordpress-security-issues-you-should-be-aware-of/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WordPress security issues</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> too. </span></li>\n<li><b>Enable caching</b><b><br />\n</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Saves user data to reduce future loading times. </span><a href=\"https://getwpo.com/buy/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WP-Optimize</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is also one of the leading caching plugins available for WordPress </span></li>\n</ul>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">6. Include plenty of negative space </span></h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Also known as white space, negative space refers to the parts of your page that have no content.</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Somewhat ironically, negative space usually leads to a positive experience. Utilizing negative space lets users focus on the important aspects of your content without being distracted. </span><a href=\"https://www.goodfirms.co/resources/web-design-research-small-business\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">84.6%</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of web designers believe crowded web design is the most common mistake by small businesses. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today’s consumers visit dozens of web pages a day. It’s likely they’re going to scan through your website anyway. A clever use of negative space lets them do this at their leisure without becoming bored. </span></p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">7. Have a clear call-to-action</span></h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What use is your website if you don’t tell users what to do next? </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Far too often, visitors will leave a website without taking action simply because there was no clear CTA. A well-placed and well-worded CTA is key for boosting your </span><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/8-ways-to-boost-your-wordpress-website-conversion-rates/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WordPress conversion rates</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Modern users want fast results, so placing your call-to-action button immediately after or halfway through your written content is a good way to go. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Effectively, you want to make it easy for the user to take the desired action without them having to search around for what’s next. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WordPress has some useful plugins for managing CTA’s, have a look and see what works for you. </span></p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Final thoughts</span></h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now that you have reviewed all the potential ways you can help improve the user experience for your WordPress site, these tips have got you thinking about the ways you can employ them to help boost your performance and SEO score. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The strategies above are commonly used across successful business websites all over the world on both WordPress and non-WordPress sites. Failing to have your own strategy could see you fall behind the rest and struggle to gain a foothold in your particular niche. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Start building your next WordPress website today, and remember to keep the user experience in mind in everything that you do.  </span></p>\n<h4><b><a href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicad5989/\">Jessica Day</a> &#8211; Senior Director, Marketing Strategy, <a href=\"https://www.dialpad.com/features/voice-transcription/\">Dialpad</a></b></h4>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com/improve-your-wordpress-user-experience-7-strategies-to-succeed/\">Improve your WordPress user experience: 7 strategies to succeed</a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus</a>. <a href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus - Backup, restore and migration plugin for WordPress.</a></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:4;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:78:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:3:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:63:\"How to build a small WordPress business website using Gutenberg\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:88:\"https://updraftplus.com/how-to-build-a-small-wordpress-business-website-using-gutenberg/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Fri, 01 Apr 2022 13:51:00 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:8:\"category\";a:8:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:20:\"Other WordPress news\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:1;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"business site\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:2;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6:\"Create\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:3;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:5:\"guide\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:4;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:10:\"Guttenberg\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:5;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6:\"How to\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:6;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:12:\"setup set-up\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:7;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:14:\"small business\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:34:\"https://updraftplus.com/?p=1403337\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:783:\"<p>Whether your business is purely based online, or in the real world, building an online presence for your business, no matter how small, has become a necessity. In this blog, we will look at how to build a WordPress business &#8230; <a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/how-to-build-a-small-wordpress-business-website-using-gutenberg/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&#8594;</span></a></p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com/how-to-build-a-small-wordpress-business-website-using-gutenberg/\">How to build a small WordPress business website using Gutenberg</a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus</a>. <a href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus - Backup, restore and migration plugin for WordPress.</a></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"Wayne Mullins\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31745:\"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whether your business is purely based online, or in the real world, building an online presence for your business, no matter how small, has become a necessity. In this blog, we will look at how to build a WordPress business website using Gutenberg. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thanks to the consistent rise of eCommerce, </span><a href=\"https://www.oberlo.com/statistics/how-many-people-shop-online\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a record 2.14 billion people</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> shopped online in 2021, compared to just 1.24 billion digital buyers in 2020. With the increase in the popularity of online shopping and the mass adoption of smartphones all over the world, it is clear that online shopping is here to stay.</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you’re looking for one of the easiest and fastest ways to build a business website, </span><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/the-history-of-wordpress/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WordPress is definitely an option to consider</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. While in the past, the platform required third-party page builders to create elegant designs, with the advent of the new Gutenberg block editor, WordPress now allows you to quickly build almost any type of website out of the box. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With the new Gutenberg building options, you can use ‘blocks’ to put together a professional and stunning looking business site in just a few hours. In this blog, we’ll walk you through the entire process of building a small WordPress business site from scratch using Gutenberg. We will also endeavor to answer some of the most important questions you might have about the default WordPress editor.</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let’s get to it!</span></p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why you should build a WordPress site for your small business</span></h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A good website can significantly impact the success of your business. While your business may already be performing well without a website, offering your customers products and services online can help you achieve even more sales, improve customer engagement and increase brand awareness.</span></p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A few stats</span></h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let’s look at some of the numbers that show the power and importance of owning a business site:</span></p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">84% of consumers think businesses with websites are more credible. In fact, 56% of people asked said they won’t trust a business without one. (S</span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ource: </span></i><a href=\"https://blog.verisign.com/getting-online/verisign-2015-online-survey-97-percent-of-smbs-would-recommend-having-a-website-to-other-smbs/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Verisign</span></i></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">)</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">81% of shoppers worldwide make a purchase decision only after researching the business, product, or service online. (</span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Source: </span></i><a href=\"https://www.adweek.com/performance-marketing/81-shoppers-conduct-online-research-making-purchase-infographic/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Adweek</span></i></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">)</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">88% of people who search for a particular type of business on their mobile phones visit or call a related store within a week. (</span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Source: </span></i><a href=\"https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/consumer-insights/consumer-trends/local-search-to-store-visit-statistics/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Google Mobile Movement Study</span></i></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">)</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">79% of users believe the reviews they read online. (</span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Source: </span></i><a href=\"https://www.salesforce.com/ca/blog/2015/03/customer-reviews.html\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Salesforce</span></i></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">)</span></li>\n</ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Considering these numbers, establishing an online presence and conducting your business through a website is definitely a step in the right direction. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are some of the biggest ways your small business can benefit from a dedicated WordPress site:</span></p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Attract more new customers and generate sales at a fraction of the cost</b> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br />\n</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Getting leads through organic and inorganic traffic is one of the major benefits of owning a website. At just a fraction of the cost of traditional marketing, an SEO-optimized site can get you a lot of traffic through Google.</span></li>\n<li><b>Help people find out all the information they need easily</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br />\n</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your site allows you to showcase all the products and services your business offers. You can also include contact information, opening times, product guarantee details and directions to your physical store via Google Maps.</span></li>\n<li><b>Conduct business at any time of the day</b><b><br />\n</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even if you finish work at 5pm, your customers can still make purchases and interact with your business 24/7.</span></li>\n<li><b>Add more credibility to your business</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br />\n</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Potential customers will expect your business to have a dedicated website in 2022. A good website design creates a solid first impression and can set you apart from the competition.</span></li>\n<li><b>Set the narrative for your brand</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br />\n</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can showcase your best testimonials and reviews on your site’s homepage and promote your brand by putting your best foot forward.</span></li>\n</ul>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-51.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1403389\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-51.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"701\" height=\"327\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-51.png 701w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-51-480x224.png 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 701px, 100vw\" /></a></p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What Is Gutenberg and why should you use it?</span></h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As WordPress continues to grow from its humble blog beginnings, third-party developers have added plugins that made it possible to add more dynamic content. Gutenberg was added to keep WordPress relevant and to deliver on user expectations.</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gutenberg relies on content blocks and allows users to add almost any type of content to their site. It has a clean interface and that allows users to add new content to a site by selecting a corresponding block.</span></p>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-52.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1403388\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-52.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"701\" height=\"319\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-52.png 701w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-52-480x218.png 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 701px, 100vw\" /></a></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gutenberg isn’t just a text editor with limited formatting buttons however. With this block-based system, you can easily add buttons, videos, shortcodes or contact form anywhere on your site.</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since December 2018, when Automattic made Gutenberg the default editor in WordPress 5.0, the platform has continually improved the features of the block editor. Other WordPress developers have also integrated some of their plugin features into Gutenberg, making it possible for you to add other custom content types to your site directly within the block editor.</span></p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What do you need to build your business WordPress site</span></h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Depending on the nature of your business, websites often vary in terms of design and features. Your small business site may be focused on brand awareness, eCommerce or content publishing. Regardless of what industry you are in, any business site built with WordPress requires these common resources:</span></p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Domain name &#8211; average cost $10/yr (depending on the extension)</b><b><br />\n</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A domain name is the address users type in their browser’s URL bar when they visit your site. A catchy and memorable domain can help boost your chances of generating more traffic.</span></li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Website hosting &#8211; starting from $0.99/month</b><b><br />\n</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Web hosts help you store website files and resources on servers that make it possible for site visitors to access them. There are different types of web hosts and choosing the best provider for you depends on a number of factors.</span></li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>SSL certificate<br />\n</b>An SSL certificate can help keep your site files and your users’ information secure. Most popular WordPress hosting providers include a free SSL certificate in their plans. Once you have one, your site will show the ‘<b>https://</b>’ prefix in the URL bar.</li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Themes and plugins</b><b><br />\n</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the advantages of using WordPress is that you can add specific features and set up your site’s design in minutes with free and premium </span><a href=\"https://wpastra.com/free-wordpress-themes/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WordPress themes</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and plugins. </span></li>\n</ul>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to build your WordPress business site using Gutenberg</span></h2>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Step 1: Get web hosting and install the WordPress software</span></h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Choosing WordPress hosting means you can easily install the software in one click. Your server resources are also optimized for website performance. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can buy WordPress hosting from many different sources, with shared hosting plans starting from as low as $2.95/month.</span></p>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-53.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1403387\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-53.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"361\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-53.png 700w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-53-480x248.png 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 700px, 100vw\" /></a><br />\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once you’ve selected your plan, you can either register a new domain name or enter an existing one you have already setup. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you want to register a new domain name, you need to first confirm that it’s available. Next, fill in your account information and all the required payment information. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once your purchase is complete, you can now install WordPress in just one click. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You’ll immediately be redirected to your WordPress admin dashboard after setting up your account login details.</span></p>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-54.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1403386\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-54.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"699\" height=\"337\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-54.png 699w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-54-480x232.png 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 699px, 100vw\" /></a></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your WordPress site is now ready for use. It’s time to set it up and design it specifically for your business.</span></p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Step 2: Customize your site with a WordPress Theme</span></h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When working on how to build a WordPress business website using Gutenberg, the next step is to customize your site’s design. The fastest way to do this is to use a WordPress theme that includes professional design templates. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We recommend using the </span><a href=\"https://wpastra.com/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Astra</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> theme as it is the </span><a href=\"https://wpastra.com/fastest-wordpress-themes/#fastest-wordpress-themes-to-consider-in-yr\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">fastest WordPress theme</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and includes a number of templates tailored for Gutenberg. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To get Astra, navigate to </span><b>Appearance &gt; Themes &gt; Add New</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in your WordPress dashboard and search for ‘</span><b>Astra</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">’.</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Select the theme, then click </span><b>Install </b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">followed by </span><b>Activate</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.</span></p>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-55.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1403385\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-55.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"699\" height=\"306\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-55.png 699w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-55-480x210.png 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 699px, 100vw\" /></a><br />\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To setup and use the ready made design templates, go to </span><b>Astra Options </b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">under the </span><b>Appearance </b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">tab. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Next, click </span><b>Install Importer Plugin</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.</span></p>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-56.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1403384\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-56.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"699\" height=\"366\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-56.png 699w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-56-480x251.png 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 699px, 100vw\" /></a></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After installing the importer plugin, select </span><b>Gutenberg</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as your page builder.</span></p>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-57.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1403383\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-57.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"458\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-57.png 700w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-57-480x314.png 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 700px, 100vw\" /></a><br />\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can streamline the template options you’ll see by selecting the type of site you want to build.</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As we are showing you how to build a business website, we will select </span><b>Business</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.</span></p>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-58.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1403382\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-58.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"699\" height=\"321\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-58.png 699w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-58-480x220.png 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 699px, 100vw\" /></a></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With Guttenberg, you can even preview each template in a new tab to make sure it suits your needs and that you like the style before you commit. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click </span><b>Import Complete Site</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> when you find the design you like.</span></p>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-59.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1403381\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-59.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"701\" height=\"327\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-59.png 701w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-59-480x224.png 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 701px, 100vw\" /></a></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WordPress will then apply this template and change your site’s design. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To further tweak your design, you can use the default WordPress Customizer. Navigate to </span><b>Appearance &gt; Customize </b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to do this.</span></p>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-60.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1403380\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-60.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"701\" height=\"508\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-60.png 701w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-60-480x348.png 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 701px, 100vw\" /></a><br />\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pages are, of course, one of the major components of any business website’s design. Let’s see how to design important web pages using Gutenberg.</span></p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Step 3: Build important pages using Gutenberg blocks</span></h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For maximum SEO score, customer confidence and professionalism, some of the most important pages every business website needs must include the following: Home, About, Contact and Privacy Policy pages.</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The starter template we added should have already created these pages by default. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you wish to create a new page that will show different information, such as a page dedicated to your opening times, you can create a new page by going to </span><b>Pages &gt; Add New</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.</span></p>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-61.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1403379\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-61.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"698\" height=\"206\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-61.png 698w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-61-480x142.png 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 698px, 100vw\" /></a><br />\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To edit any of your existing pages, go to </span><b>Pages</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Then click </span><b>Edit </b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">after hovering over the page you want to edit.</span></p>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-62.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1403377\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-62.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"365\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-62.png 700w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-62-480x250.png 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 700px, 100vw\" /></a><br />\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can add any type of content like paragraphs, shortcodes and media such as images, documents, and videos to your web pages using Gutenberg blocks. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To do this, click the </span><b>+ </b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">icon on the page editor.</span></p>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-63.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1403376\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-63.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"331\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-63.png 700w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-63-480x227.png 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 700px, 100vw\" /></a><br />\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To help build pages faster, it can help if you install a WordPress block plugin. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We recommend </span><a href=\"https://ultimategutenberg.com/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ultimate Addons for Gutenberg</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Apart from adding creative blocks to your site, the plugin also comes with lots more starter templates. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some of the interesting blocks to check out that could be of particular benefit to you include the Price List, Team and Testimonial blocks.</span></p>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-64.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1403375\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-64.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"698\" height=\"356\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-64.png 698w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-64-480x245.png 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 698px, 100vw\" /></a><br />\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With these ready-made blocks ready to go, you’ll find that you will be able to build as many pages as you need in very little time.</span></p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Step 4: Extend website features with WordPress plugins</span></h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can improve the speed, performance, functionality and features on your site by using WordPress plugins. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Below are some popular options that you may want to incorporate to your site.</span></p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WPForms</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br />\n</span></h3>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-3.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1403374\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"317\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-3.jpg 700w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-3-480x218.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 700px, 100vw\" /></a></p>\n<p><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/wpforms-lite/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WPForms </span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is an excellent forms plugin that enables you to build attractive forms and implement them anywhere on your website. While most websites use forms that only allow visitors to get in touch, a business website should make extra use of the features available by offering a customer the opportunity to reach out, ask questions or engage with your business. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Alternatives plugins include </span><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/contact-form-7/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Contact Form 7</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and </span><a href=\"https://formidableforms.com/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Formidable Forms</span></a></p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UpdraftPlus</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br />\n</span></h3>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-4.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1403373\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"317\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-4.jpg 700w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-4-480x218.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 700px, 100vw\" /></a></p>\n<p><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/updraftplus/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UpdraftPlus </span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is the world’s leading and highest rated WordPress backup plugin that helps keep your website safe by backing it up. After spending all this time and effort setting up your WordPress site, protecting it and creating a secure backup is one of the most important tasks you can carry out. So, should the worst happen, you can rest easy knowing that you will always have a recent backup copy of your site to restore from. </span></p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WP-Optimize</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br />\n</span></h3>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-5.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1403372\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-5.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"702\" height=\"318\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-5.jpg 702w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-5-480x218.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 702px, 100vw\" /></a></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Speed is a hugely important factor for a business site, both in terms of SEO score and customer retention. </span><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-optimize/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WP-Optimize</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is a WordPress optimization plugin that can be used to calibrate and format your site, so it loads as quickly as possible. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The importance of how quickly your site loads cannot be overstated. </span><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/discover-the-most-effective-ways-to-boost-your-wordpress-site-performance/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Faster loading websites perform significantly better</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> than sites that take longer to load. So remember, anything you can do to boost performance is a good thing.</span></p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All in One WP Security and Firewall</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br />\n</span></h3>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-6.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1403371\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-6.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"317\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-6.jpg 700w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-6-480x218.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 700px, 100vw\" /></a></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As well as backing up and optimizing your site, you should also remember to protect your site with a security plugin, such as </span><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/all-in-one-wp-security-and-firewall/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All in One WP Security and Firewall</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. You use a firewall on a website for the same reason you use anti-virus software on your computer and browser &#8211; To keep bad guys out. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All in One WP Security and Firewall provides a wide ranging and comprehensive list of security tools to help keep your site safe and is simple to set up and use.</span></p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Presto Player</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br />\n</span></h3>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-7.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1403370\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-7.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"317\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-7.jpg 700w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/unnamed-7-480x218.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 700px, 100vw\" /></a></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Video is a hugely important communication and marketing tool that every business should use on their site to help promote their products and services. </span><a href=\"https://prestoplayer.com/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Presto Player</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> can help with that. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This plugin helps you control how video looks, how it plays and even lets you monetize videos or add calls to action. Ideal if you use video in your business in any way.</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Alternatives to Presto Player include </span><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/video-embed-thumbnail-generator/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Videopack</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and </span><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/youtube-embed/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">YouTube Embed</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.</span></p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Building your Gutenberg-powered business WordPress site</span></h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A well put together and professional business website is an integral part of any successful marketing strategy. The great thing is, that when trying to figure out how to build a WordPress business website using Gutenbergwith, you don’t need to be a coding expert or break the bank to build one for your small business. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We hope the tips and processes outlined in this blog go a long way in setting up your business for success. If you have any questions, please let us know in the comments section below.</span></p>\n<p><b>Author’s Name : </b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sujay Pawar</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sujay is the CEO and Co-Founder of Brainstorm Force, the company behind Astra. Y</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ou can connect with him on Twitter @sujaypawar</span></p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com/how-to-build-a-small-wordpress-business-website-using-gutenberg/\">How to build a small WordPress business website using Gutenberg</a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus</a>. <a href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus - Backup, restore and migration plugin for WordPress.</a></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:5;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:75:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:3:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:72:\"UpdraftPlus celebrates World Backup Day: Get 20% off UpdraftPlus Premium\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:95:\"https://updraftplus.com/updraftplus-celebrates-world-backup-day-get-20-off-updraftplus-premium/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Thu, 31 Mar 2022 10:26:51 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:8:\"category\";a:7:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:20:\"Other WordPress news\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:1;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6:\"Backup\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:2;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"backup plugin\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:3;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:18:\"Updraftplus coupon\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:4;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:20:\"updraftplus discount\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:5;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:9:\"wordpress\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:6;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:16:\"world backup day\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:34:\"https://updraftplus.com/?p=1402192\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:835:\"<p>UpdraftPlus is happy to celebrate World Backup Day with everyone today! With millions of users of UpdraftPlus all over the world, we are continually supporting and developing our WordPress backup plugin to help keep your WordPress site safe and secure. &#8230; <a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/updraftplus-celebrates-world-backup-day-get-20-off-updraftplus-premium/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&#8594;</span></a></p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com/updraftplus-celebrates-world-backup-day-get-20-off-updraftplus-premium/\">UpdraftPlus celebrates World Backup Day: Get 20% off UpdraftPlus Premium</a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus</a>. <a href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus - Backup, restore and migration plugin for WordPress.</a></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"Wayne Mullins\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:3185:\"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"vimeo-player\" src=\"https://player.vimeo.com/video/97489098?h=751cf0d214\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"></iframe></p>\n<p>UpdraftPlus is happy to celebrate <a href=\"https://worldbackupday.com/en\">World Backup Day</a> with everyone today! With millions of users of UpdraftPlus all over the world, we are continually supporting and developing our WordPress backup plugin to help keep your WordPress site safe and secure.</p>\n<p>With hacking becoming a bigger threat <a href=\"https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/15/crowdstrike-ceo-cyber-crime-up-as-hackers-use-ukraine-war-as-distraction.html\">every day</a>, the importance of having a secure and safe backup of your site available with UpdraftPlus (should the worst happen) cannot be overstated. From opportunistic amateurs to state sponsored cyber-attack units, the security of your site has never been under as much threat as it is now.</p>\n<p>World Backup day is a yearly reminder that everything you’ve worked for and built can be lost in just a few seconds. As well as hacking threats, site owners have to also be wary of crashes, viruses, malicious actors and issues with plugins and themes.</p>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/C8RrA8ZXYAEvQIV.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-1402215\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/C8RrA8ZXYAEvQIV.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"638\" height=\"302\" /></a></p>\n<p>Here at UpdraftPlus, we hear stories from users all over the world every day who have had these problems; and were only saved by their UpdraftPlus backup. As the world’s most popular and highest rated WordPress backup plugin, we have made it our mission in life to ensure that should your site ever get hit by any of these problems, you can always restore it to its previous state using your downloaded backup and our plugin.</p>\n<p>Installed by over 3 million users all over the world, our easy-to-use interface allows you to backup and restore your website with a single click. You can also set the schedule to backup automatically as often as you like, so you don’t have to worry about forgetting to backup your site manually and will always have a recent upload of your site ready to go.<br />\n<span style=\"color: #333333; font-size: 16px;\"><br />\nAs it is World Backup Day, get 20% off </span><a style=\"font-size: 16px;\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com/shop/updraftplus-premium/\">UpdraftPlus Premium</a><span style=\"color: #333333; font-size: 16px;\"> for today only using the discount code: </span><strong style=\"color: #333333; font-size: 16px;\">WBUD22</strong><span style=\"color: #333333; font-size: 16px;\"> at the checkout.</span></p>\n<p>Happy World Backup Day from all at UpdraftPlus</p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com/updraftplus-celebrates-world-backup-day-get-20-off-updraftplus-premium/\">UpdraftPlus celebrates World Backup Day: Get 20% off UpdraftPlus Premium</a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus</a>. <a href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus - Backup, restore and migration plugin for WordPress.</a></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:6;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:81:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:3:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:46:\"Why You Need to Upgrade to WP-Optimize Premium\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:71:\"https://updraftplus.com/why-you-need-to-upgrade-to-wp-optimize-premium/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Mon, 28 Mar 2022 15:31:22 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:8:\"category\";a:9:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11:\"WP Optimize\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:1;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:7:\"Premium\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:2;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:7:\"Upgrade\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:3;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:17:\"WordPress caching\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:4;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:15:\"WordPress speed\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:5;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:4:\"WP-O\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:6;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11:\"WP-Optimise\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:7;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:11:\"WP-Optimize\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:8;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:17:\"WP-Optmize update\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:34:\"https://updraftplus.com/?p=1399275\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:735:\"<p>Now that you have your WordPress site in excellent shape and filled with engaging content and compelling designs, you can start to evaluate if it is enough to retain new visitors and keep them coming back again and again. With &#8230; <a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/why-you-need-to-upgrade-to-wp-optimize-premium/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&#8594;</span></a></p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com/why-you-need-to-upgrade-to-wp-optimize-premium/\">Why You Need to Upgrade to WP-Optimize Premium</a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus</a>. <a href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus - Backup, restore and migration plugin for WordPress.</a></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"Melvin Braide\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:13926:\"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Why you should upgrade to WP-Optimize Premium\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/nI7IOIjOs7I?feature=oembed\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now that you have your WordPress site in excellent shape and filled with engaging content and compelling designs, you can start to evaluate if it is enough to retain new visitors and keep them coming back again and again.</span></p>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-49.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1399279\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-49.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"512\" height=\"163\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-49.png 512w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-49-480x153.png 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 512px, 100vw\" /></a></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With so many online options to choose from, it can be hugely difficult to compete for people’s already fleeting attention. To have a successful site these days, you have to do a lot more than just the bare minimum if you hope to increase the traffic on your page. While colourful designs, well-made content and excellent marketing may bring visitors to your WordPress site initially, it is the efficiency, speed and quality that will get them to stay. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Given how important speed is to a user that visits your site, one of the most important questions you need to ask is,</span><b> how long does your website take to load a page?</b> <a href=\"https://www.marketingdive.com/news/google-53-of-mobile-users-abandon-sites-that-take-over-3-seconds-to-load/426070/#:~:text=New%20research%20by%20Google%20has,t%20load%20within%20three%20seconds.\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Studies show </span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">that more than half of the people who visit a site will leave if it takes over three seconds to load a page. Ideally you should aim to have your site load in around two seconds or less. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Abandonment of your site is not the only damage slow loading speeds can cause. Google confirmed that the </span><a href=\"https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2010/04/using-site-speed-in-web-search-ranking\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">speed of your website can even affect a percentage of search queries</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; and by extension, your SEO ranking. A very large part of your website’s success reflects on how fast it responds to visitor interaction. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With this knowledge, it is important that you do everything you can to make sure your WordPress site loads as quickly as possible. A great way to help achieve this is by installing the WP-Optimize WordPress plugin. In this blog, we will take a look at the many features and advantages of WP-Optimize, why it should be your WordPress optimization plugin of choice, and why you should upgrade to the premium version.  </span></p>\n<h2><b>What can performance-boosting plugins do for your WordPress site?</b></h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No matter how well you may think your site is set-up, you should always have a dedicated tool that will help with your site’s performance. Performance-boosting plugins like</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> help optimize your WordPress site to perform at the best possible level. It can help to speed things up for visitors interacting with your pages for the first time, as well as improve the general efficiency of the website. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As an all-in-one performance-boosting plugin, WP-Optimize consists of everything you need to keep your website fast and thoroughly optimized. With thousands of 5-star reviews and more than one million active installations, WP-Optimize ranks at the very top of the list of the best performance-boosting plugins in the world.  </span></p>\n<h2><b>Why should you use WP-Optimize?</b></h2>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-50.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1399278\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-50.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"512\" height=\"260\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-50.png 512w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-50-480x244.png 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 512px, 100vw\" /></a></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As mentioned earlier, both the free and Premium versions of WP-Optimize expertly optimizes your WordPress site in the following ways:</span></p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cleans the database.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Compress images.</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Caching. </span></li>\n</ol>\n<h3><b>1. Clean database</b></h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your database stores all the data you require for your website to function properly. Some things you don&#8217;t need are also stored in the process. The clean database feature removes all the useless data and even reclaims the space lost due to data fragmentation. Database cleaning is the number one, most basic function of a performance-boosting plugin. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The database feature is easy to use and especially comes in handy for cleaning out the following: </span></p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Drafts. </b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gets rid of auto-draft posts and creates space in your database for new and useful drafts. </span></li>\n</ul>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Comments. </b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Removes Askimets and other such redundant metadata from comments. </span></li>\n</ul>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Trash. </b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Deletes old post revisions and trash.  </span></li>\n</ul>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Spam. </b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Zero spam tolerance. Automatically removes all spam, unapproved and trashed comments. </span></li>\n</ul>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Trackbacks and pingbacks. </b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Deletes automatic acknowledgments, references, and notifications ensuring a clutter-free website.</span></li>\n</ul>\n<h3><b>2. Compress images</b></h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In addition to cleaning databases, WP-Optimize features a tool for image optimization and compression. Large images that would have otherwise reduced your site&#8217;s load speed are compressed and saved to your image library, where they are uploaded instantly. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WP-Optimize covers a wide range of image formats including PNG, GIF, JPG, BM, and TIF. This feature frees up space, saves server resources for more important tasks, and helps your website load faster. </span></p>\n<h3><b>3. Caching</b></h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Every website has a reserved storage space, which is referred to as </span><b>the cache system</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The purpose of this cache system is to store temporary data like the static versions of your website. This way, your WordPress site won&#8217;t have to run heavy PHP scripts whenever someone loads your site. Instead, your cache will collect texts, images, and other required data from first-time visitors. This improves the load speed and general efficiency of the site during subsequent visits.  </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Every cache system requires adequate RAM and CPU performance. With time, growing page traffic will overwhelm your RAM and CPU causing your site to render slowly. But that won’t happen with performance-boosting plugins like WP-Optimize. With the WP-Optimize cache </span></p>\n<h2><b>Why you should upgrade to WP-Optimize Premium</b></h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As mentioned at the beginning of this blog, WP-Optimize has both a free and a premium version. The basic features of WP-Optimize are free and can be downloaded </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">here</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Premium version comes with the following additional features:</span></p>\n<h3><b>Premium packages</b></h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The premium version is available in three packages at competitive prices: </span></p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td></td>\n<td><b>Package </b></td>\n<td><b>Coverage</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> </span></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>1.</td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Starter</span></td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1 to 2 websites</span></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>2.</td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Business</span></td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">5 websites </span></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>3.</td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unlimited </span></td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No limit </span></td>\n</tr>\n</tbody>\n</table>\n<h2><b>Additional benefits of WP-Optimize Premium</b></h2>\n<h3><b>Multisite support</b></h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While the free version can cater to ONLY one site at a time, the Premium version offers multisite functions. Optimize all your sites on your WordPress network. </span></p>\n<h3><b>More options</b></h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https://getwpo.com/buy/\">WP-Optimize Premium</a> offers flexibility and a range of advanced options. For instance, you can optimize individual database tables should you wish to do so.</span></p>\n<h3><b>Remove unwanted images</b></h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This newly-added Premium optimization process helps to eliminate orphaned images from your WordPress sites. Images that exceed specific size limits are also removed to minimize server footprint &#8211; and by extension cost. </span></p>\n<h3><b>Lazy load</b></h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Not all components are needed to load your page. The lazy load feature helps to prioritize the necessary components while delaying the rest until they are required. This optimization process significantly improves website performance for large sites.  </span></p>\n<h3><b>Scheduling</b></h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Optimization might be automatic, but with Premium you can schedule when it occurs. This Premium scheduling feature allows you to set up routine optimizations. </span></p>\n<h3><b>Logging</b></h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Every process can now be documented. Log messages are sent to three additional destinations &#8211; including Simple History, Syslog, and Slack. </span></p>\n<h3><b>Versatility</b></h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https://getwpo.com/buy/\">WP-Optimize Premium</a> is available in multiple languages and subscriptions can also be paid for with multiple currencies. </span></p>\n<h3><b>Geolocation and WooCommerce compatible</b></h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your international WooCommerce store requires an effective geolocation feature to offer country-specific content, determine appropriate VAT and pricing. WP-Optimize Premium can even help with this. </span></p>\n<h3><b>Run from WP-CLI</b></h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can run optimization commands straight on the command line and receive detailed results on screen.</span></p>\n<h3><b>Power tweaks</b></h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is an advanced option for experienced users. Power tweaks improve your site&#8217;s performance by aiming at certain weak points in your website or other plugins. </span></p>\n<h3><b>Purge pages</b></h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This lets you delete HTML copies of your page(s). With the Premium version, you can purge pages when needed &#8211; For example, when you update a media file or create a new post. </span></p>\n<h3><b>Prevent individual page caching</b></h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can use Premium to prevent selected pages on your website from being cached. An example of such a page is the admin page. This feature can also help improve security.</span></p>\n<h3><b>Premium support</b></h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Upgrading to Premium automatically gives you Premium support. Your queries will be promptly addressed by WP-Optimize experts. </span></p>\n<h2><b>Conclusion</b></h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you are serious about getting the best performance out of your site and giving your visitors the best user experience possible, then the short and simple answer is yes &#8211; upgrading to WP-Premium is totally worth it. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With so many extra Premium features available, the added benefits will remove all doubts once you realize how important factors such as removing unwanted images, lazy loading, power tweaks and premium support are to the success and speed of your site. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Download <a href=\"https://getwpo.com/buy/\">WP-Optimize Premium</a> today and see the difference for yourself.</span></p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com/why-you-need-to-upgrade-to-wp-optimize-premium/\">Why You Need to Upgrade to WP-Optimize Premium</a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus</a>. <a href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus - Backup, restore and migration plugin for WordPress.</a></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:7;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:78:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:3:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:45:\"Why you should upgrade to UpdraftPlus Premium\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:70:\"https://updraftplus.com/why-you-should-upgrade-to-updraftplus-premium/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Fri, 18 Mar 2022 14:48:27 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:8:\"category\";a:8:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:22:\"UpdraftPlus advantages\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:1;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:33:\"Advantages of Premium UpdraftPlus\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:2;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6:\"Backup\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:3;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Benefits of UpdraftPlus Premium\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:4;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:18:\"how to get premium\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:5;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:15:\"Updraft Premium\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:6;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:19:\"updraftplus premium\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:7;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:9:\"wordpress\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:34:\"https://updraftplus.com/?p=1389934\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:753:\"<p>The free version of UpdraftPlus is fully functional and a great option for a lot of WordPress users. However, we’ve developed a brilliant range of features to make it even better. UpdraftPlus Premium will unlock all the extra features, including &#8230; <a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/why-you-should-upgrade-to-updraftplus-premium/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&#8594;</span></a></p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com/why-you-should-upgrade-to-updraftplus-premium/\">Why you should upgrade to UpdraftPlus Premium</a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus</a>. <a href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus - Backup, restore and migration plugin for WordPress.</a></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"Melvin Braide\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:24789:\"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Why you should upgrade to UpdraftPlus Premium\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/JO1kfdA5NtM?start=2&#038;feature=oembed\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The free version of UpdraftPlus is fully functional and a great option for a lot of WordPress users. However, we’ve developed a brilliant range of features to make it even better. <a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/shop/updraftplus-premium/\">UpdraftPlus Premium</a> will unlock all the extra features, including a Migrate/Clone tool, multiple online storage options, detailed scheduling, reporting, encryption and much more.</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UpdraftPlus Premium also gives you free upgrades and support for a year and plus 1 Gigabyte of <a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/updraftvault/\">UpdraftVault storage,</a> which means you can back up the site without needing to pay for space with a separate remote storage location like Dropbox.</span></p>\n<h3><b>Why go Premium?</b></h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No platform offers you the kind of tools to make a highly functional website quite like WordPress. As the platform currently hosts over 40% of the world’s websites, it is a natural target for malicious attacks by bad actors looking to exploit any vulnerabilities. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As well as the <a href=\"https://www.pedalo.co.uk/prevent-wordpress-hacking/\">threat of hacks</a>, your website could also fall victim to other issues, such as a server crash due to simple use errors, or the installation of badly coded plugins or themes. In just a few seconds, everything you&#8217;ve worked so hard to build could be taken away &#8211; leaving you to start again from scratch. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To avoid such a catastrophic loss happening to you, your first task when setting up a WordPress site should be installing the WordPress backup plugin UpdraftPlus &#8211; The world&#8217;s number 1, most trusted backup and restore plugin. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You might think you have every security box checked and have your website running perfectly, with no indication that there are any problems on the horizon. While that may be the case, it doesn&#8217;t mean a problem isn’t waiting just around the corner. Think of UpdraftPlus premium as website insurance. If your website never suffers a problem, then great. If it does however, you can rest easy knowing you are in safe hands and UpdraftPlus will be there to help you get all your hard work back.</span></p>\n<h2><b>The benefits of UpdraftPlus Premium: Backup, restore and clone</b></h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As the world’s most popular and highest rated WordPress backup plugin, UpdraftPlus Premium comes loaded with features and tools:</span></p>\n<p><b>Backup<br />\n</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UpdraftPlus can perform total manual or/and scheduled backups of all your site&#8217;s databases, files, themes, and plugins. </span></p>\n<p><b>Restore<br />\n</b>Just having a backup can be pretty useless if it doesn’t you are not able to perform a prompt and secure restoration. With UpdraftPlus Premium, you can restore your backup file directly from the control panel of your site.</p>\n<p><b>Schedule<br />\n</b>With most backup plugins, you are left to manually backup your website whenever you remember. With UpdraftPlus Premium, you can set your site up to automatically backup every 2, 4, 8, or 12 hours, daily, weekly, bi-weekly or monthly.</p>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-9.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1389948\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-9.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"512\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-9.png 512w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-9-480x328.png 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 512px, 100vw\" /></a></p>\n<p><b>Trusted<br />\n</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UpdraftPlus Premium has earned the trust of its considerable user base as it has provided a trusted service to the WordPress community for around a decade. Little wonder why it is the most installed and highest rated backup plugin on the market.</span></p>\n<p><b>Easy to use<br />\n</b>UpdraftPlus Premium comes with an engaging, easy-to-use interface that lets you backup and restore data with just a click of a button.</p>\n<p><b>What additional benefits does UpdraftPlus Premium have?<br />\n</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you use the free version of the UpdraftPlus plugin, you will be familiar with many of the basic features available. If you upgrade to the Premium version, you get the following features in addition to those being available on the free version: </span></p>\n<p><b>Incremental backups</b></p>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-10.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1389949\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-10.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"512\" height=\"303\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-10.png 512w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-10-480x284.png 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 512px, 100vw\" /></a></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Incremental backups (as the name implies) only backups changes that have occurred in your WordPress website since your last full backup. If your last backup was 12 hours ago, the new incremental backup will backup only what has changed in those last twelve hours (e.g. a new photo was uploaded) and add it to the main backup file. By making incremental backups, you use less resources and have quicker backup times.</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Other backup plugins will typically backup the whole website every time you make a backup. As you can imagine, this is a huge waste of your time and resources which UpdraftPlus Premium prevents by employing the incremental backup process. </span></p>\n<p><b>Cloning and migration<br />\n</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UpdraftPlus Premium has features that can clone your whole website and/or migrate it to a new domain of your choice in minutes. With UpdraftPlus Premium, you are also given free UpdraftClone tokens, so you are no longer required to buy tokens when you want to clone your site.</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The UpdraftClone and Updraft Migrator features are a way for you to effectively and seamlessly &#8220;copy and paste&#8221; your website to any URL with no hosting difficulties. </span></p>\n<p><b>Prompt customer support<br />\n</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UpdraftPlus Premium also comes with quick access to expert help and support from our product developers whenever you require it. You can reach us through a web forum and ticket. </span></p>\n<p><b>Pre-update backups<br />\n</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Other backup plugins typically stand idle when you update a plugin, theme or core updates, putting your site at considerable risk. But UpdraftPlus Premium will ask you if you would like to first back up your site before any update begins. This way, you will have the most recent version of your WordPress site before you make any changes. </span></p>\n<p><b>Non-WP files and databases<br />\n</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Besides the obvious WordPress website core data that will be secured, an UpdraftPlus Premium backup will also cover non-WordPress files and databases such as third party themes. Total security is guaranteed. </span></p>\n<p><b>Network/multisite<br />\n</b>UpdraftPlus Premium works with WordPress Network and Multisite to back them up securely. The backup and restore control panel can be found in the dashboard of the network. You can even restore individual websites within the network.</p>\n<p><b>Advanced scheduling<br />\n</b>The premium version also allows you to set a specific time for your website&#8217;s backup to be created, retained, or deleted.</p>\n<p><b>More database options<br />\n</b>A typical backup plugin saves all your data somewhere safe for when a problem hits your site. Should this happen, you are left with your backup copy to restore your website to its previous state.</p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But there are times when the hacker doesn&#8217;t just attack your site, but also attempts to steal or delete your backup files. With UpdraftPlus Premium and its enhanced security and industry-standard AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) encryptor, your WordPress site&#8217;s database (including files, passwords, and list of users) is encrypted and secured in the backup location of your choice. </span></p>\n<p><b>Thorough logging and reporting<br />\n</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UpdraftPlus Premium keeps you updated on what&#8217;s going on with your website in real time. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All backup activities are carefully recorded and the backup status is displayed in the WordPress admin panel &#8211; together with warnings and error messages. You will also receive a report for when a backup completes, as well as file checksums for backup integrity verification. UpdraftPlus Premium also allows users to send reports to Slack if desired.</span></p>\n<p><b>Importer feature<br />\n</b>This is easily one of the coolest features of UpdraftPlus Premium. Some backup plugins are just that &#8211; they backup your website without any capacity to restore it at a later point. Besides restoring its own backup files, UpdraftPlus Premium also allows you to restore backups from other WordPress backup plugins with our importer feature.</p>\n<p><b>Lock settings<br />\n</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Much like your smartphones, the Premium version locks access to UpdraftPlus using a password. This gives you the ability to control which site users can access the backup dashboard and files. </span></p>\n<p><b>WP-CLI<br />\n</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WP-CLI stands for WordPress Command Line Interface. CLI functions by relaying commands to a program using a line of text. So, instead of the cumbersome drag-and-drop plugins, you simply backup files using typed lines of text. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While it may require some technical know-how, this can be a very handy feature for those that require it. </span></p>\n<p><b>Zero ads<br />\n</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No one enjoys random ads popping up, disrupting your workflow and taking up your valuable time. The Premium version of UpdraftPlus removes all adverts and lets you get to work away without any distractions</span></p>\n<p><b>UpdraftPlus Premium packages<br />\n</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br />\nIf you decide to upgrade to <a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/shop/updraftplus-premium/\">UpdraftPlus Premium</a>, you can choose between five packages with an annual subscription. Automatic renewal gives you 40% off on renewal. What&#8217;s more? You can cancel at any time. </span></p>\n<p><b>Personal<br />\n</b>Supports up to 2 websites.<br />\nAll UpdraftPlus add-ons. Free updates. Free support. Free storage of 1GB UpdraftVault. UpdraftClone tokens.</p>\n<p><b>Business<br />\n</b>Supports up to 10 websites.<br />\nAll UpdraftPlus add-ons. Free updates. Free support. Free storage of 1GB UpdraftVault. UpdraftClone tokens.</p>\n<p><b>Agency<br />\n</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Supports up to 35 websites.</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br />\n</span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All UpdraftPlus add-ons. Free updates. Free support. Free storage of 1GB UpdraftVault. UpdraftClone tokens. </span></p>\n<p><b>Enterprise<br />\n</b>Supports an unlimited number of websites.<br />\nAll UpdraftPlus add-ons. Free updates. Free support. Free storage of 1GB UpdraftVault. UpdraftClone tokens.</p>\n<p><b>Gold<br />\n</b>All of the same features as Enterprise, but with unlimited annual UpdraftCentral Cloud subscription and an additional 50GB UpdraftVault storage</p>\n<h2><b>Why would you need to upgrade?</b></h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Premium can be particularly useful if you run a bigger or more complex website (or multiple websites), have a history of being targeted by malicious hackers, make a lot of changes daily to your site, or feel the limited “backup and restore” options of the UpdraftPlus free plugin no longer meet your needs. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you fall within the above categories, then UpdraftPlus Premium is for you. </span></p>\n<h3><b>Benefit from UpdraftVault with UpdraftPlus Premium</b></h3>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/1015853947-00096db5749a1ac479464e6f02a478df28ee002d95ac654a326b6fcb4dcd4721-d.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1389952\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/1015853947-00096db5749a1ac479464e6f02a478df28ee002d95ac654a326b6fcb4dcd4721-d.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"575\" height=\"324\" /></a></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is a built-in storage option for your UpdraftPlus backups that gives you 1GB &#8211; 50GB of free storage tailored specifically for the UpdraftPlus platform. This can save you the headache of setting up and calibrating third-party storage systems like Google Drive. </span></p>\n<h3><b>More remote storage options</b></h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With the free version of UpdraftPlus, you can backup your website directly to</span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UpdraftVault, Dropbox, Google Drive, Amazon S3 (or compatible), Rackspace Cloud, FTP, DreamObjects, Openstack Swift and email. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Premium version expands your options and allows you to backup directly to Microsoft OneDrive, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Storage, Backblaze B2, SFTP, SCP, and WebDAV.</span></p>\n<h2><b>Free and premium versions of UpdraftPlus plugin compared</b></h2>\n<table class=\"updraft_feat_table\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th class=\"updraft_feat_th\" style=\"text-align: left;\"></th>\n<th class=\"updraft_feat_th\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_freev.png\" alt=\"\" height=\"120\" /></th>\n<th class=\"updraft_feat_th\" style=\"background-color: #df6926;\"><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/shop/updraftplus-premium/\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_premv.png\" alt=\"\" height=\"120\" /></a></th>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"updraft_feature_cell\" style=\"vertical-align: middle;\">Get it from</td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\" style=\"vertical-align: middle;\">WordPress.Org</td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\" style=\"padding: 6px; line-height: 120%;\">UpdraftPlus.Com<br />\n<a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/shop/updraftplus-premium/\"><strong>Buy It Now!</strong></a></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"updraft_feature_cell\">Backup WordPress files and database</td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_tick.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_tick.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"updraft_feature_cell\">Translated into over 16 languages</td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_tick.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_tick.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"updraft_feature_cell\">Restore from backup</td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_tick.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_tick.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"updraft_feature_cell\">Backup to remote storage</td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_tick.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_tick.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"updraft_feature_cell\">Dropbox, Google Drive, FTP, S3, Rackspace, Email</td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_tick.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_tick.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"updraft_feature_cell\">Incremental Backups</td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_cross.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_tick.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"updraft_feature_cell\">Free 1Gb for UpdraftVault</td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_cross.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_tick.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"updraft_feature_cell\">WebDAV, Microsoft OneDrive, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, SFTP/SCP, encrypted FTP, BackBlaze</td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_cross.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_tick.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"updraft_feature_cell\">Backup extra files and databases</td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_cross.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_tick.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"updraft_feature_cell\">Migrate / clone (i.e. copy) websites</td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_cross.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_tick.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"updraft_feature_cell\">Basic email reporting</td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_tick.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_tick.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"updraft_feature_cell\">Advanced reporting features</td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_cross.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_tick.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"updraft_feature_cell\">Automatic backup when updating WP/plugins/themes</td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_cross.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_tick.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"updraft_feature_cell\">Send backups to multiple remote destinations</td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_cross.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_tick.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"updraft_feature_cell\">Database encryption</td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_cross.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_tick.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"updraft_feature_cell\">Restore backups from other plugins</td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_cross.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_tick.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"updraft_feature_cell\">No advertising links on UpdraftPlus settings page</td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_cross.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_tick.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"updraft_feature_cell\">Scheduled backups</td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_tick.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_tick.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"updraft_feature_cell\">Fix backup time</td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_cross.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_tick.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"updraft_feature_cell\">Network/Multisite support</td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_cross.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_tick.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"updraft_feature_cell\">Lock settings access</td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_cross.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_tick.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"updraft_feature_cell\">Browse backup contents in WordPress</td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_tick.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_tick.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"updraft_feature_cell\">Download individual files from backup in WordPress</td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_cross.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_tick.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"updraft_feature_cell\">Personal support</td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_cross.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_tick.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"updraft_feature_cell\">Run from WP-CLI</td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_cross.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_tick.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"updraft_feature_cell\">Restore a backup from other plugins</td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_cross.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n<td class=\"updraft_tick_cell\"><img src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/updraft_tick.png\" alt=\"\" /></td>\n</tr>\n</tbody>\n</table>\n<h2><b>Is UpdraftPlus Premium worth it?</b></h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For all the additional benefits and perks that it brings, we feel that UpdraftPlus Premium is more than worth it if you truly value the safety and security of your WordPress site. With Premium you can exercise full control over your backups by unlocking enhanced security features and free updates. From accessing the latest UpdraftPlus Add-Ons for a year, to free support via our forum and email for a year, extra remote storage options, incremental backups and free tokens for UpdraftClone.</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UpdraftPlus Premium is what total security and peace of mind looks like! </span></p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com/why-you-should-upgrade-to-updraftplus-premium/\">Why you should upgrade to UpdraftPlus Premium</a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus</a>. <a href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus - Backup, restore and migration plugin for WordPress.</a></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:8;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:75:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:3:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:55:\"How to create an eLearning course site with WordPress \";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:78:\"https://updraftplus.com/how-to-create-an-elearning-course-site-with-wordpress/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Fri, 11 Mar 2022 15:33:36 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:8:\"category\";a:7:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:20:\"Other WordPress news\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:1;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:21:\"create elearning site\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:2;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:9:\"eLearning\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:3;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:12:\"how to setup\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:4;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:9:\"marketing\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:5;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:4:\"sell\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:6;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:9:\"wordpress\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:34:\"https://updraftplus.com/?p=1383049\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:753:\"<p>The world of online course creation can seem daunting to a new instructor. Creating courses might be your forte, but making a website to sell them might seem like a difficult and daunting task. Fear not, as this blog will &#8230; <a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/how-to-create-an-elearning-course-site-with-wordpress/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&#8594;</span></a></p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com/how-to-create-an-elearning-course-site-with-wordpress/\">How to create an eLearning course site with WordPress </a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus</a>. <a href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus - Backup, restore and migration plugin for WordPress.</a></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:13:\"Wayne Mullins\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:20460:\"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The world of online course creation can seem daunting to a new instructor. Creating courses might be your forte, but making a website to sell them might seem like a difficult and daunting task. Fear not, as this blog will help you set up an create an eLearning course site with WordPress.</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We understand that most people might not be adept at coding or do not have the resources to create a full-fledged website by themselves. That is where WordPress comes in. Little needs to be said about the popularity of WordPress, as it is one of the most popular CMS platforms in the world. WordPress lets users have a large number of nifty plugins and themes and can assist in setting up a site by simply dragging and dropping elements, without much need for coding. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For this blog, we are going to go through a comprehensive view of tools that will let us set up an LMS site with ease. </span></p>\n<h1><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why have an LMS site?</span></h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">eLearning has seen a huge increase in popularity recently due to Covid and the rise of remote working/teaching. </span><a href=\"https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/industry-reports/learning-management-system-market-101376\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Business analytics forums</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> state that 1.2 billion students were affected by the closure of educational institutions worldwide during the pandemic. Filling the gap with a fast and well-designed solution for students is the right way to make an impact in this massive market. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What do you need to start off? </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We are going to talk about two main elements in this article: </span></p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Robust LMS plugin  </span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Innovative design pack</span></li>\n</ul>\n<p>This may seem like a small list of tools to start with, but trust us they will be more than enough.</p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Making the right plugin choice</span></h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To build our LMS site on WordPress we need to be careful about the plugins that we use. While some plugins are paid versions only, they also usually offer free counterparts under the “freemium” model. We are only going to focus on an LMS plugin that offers us enough functionality without having to spend any money. But how do you determine if a plugin is right for you? An LMS plugin should offer some basic features that we need to start with:</span></p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Functional course building</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Easy to use quiz building </span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Student interaction with email </span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Easy payment integration </span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Certificates</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Theme starter pack integrations </span></li>\n</ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Taking into consideration these features, we suggest using </span><b>Tutor LMS</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Tutor LMS offers these features on its free version for users. Although there are more features on the paid version, we will only look at the free features of plugins in this blog. </span></p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Installing the required plugin</span></h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now that you have decided on the choice of plugin, lets go ahead and start setting it up. To install Tutor LMS navigate first to your WordPress admin panel. From the admin panel go to </span><b>Plugins &gt; Add new</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, search for Tutor LMS then install and activate the plugin. In a few seconds, it should be ready to be used.</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-37.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1383069\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-37.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"699\" height=\"377\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-37.png 699w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-37-480x259.png 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 699px, 100vw\" /></a></span></p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Beautifying with a theme</span></h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before heading on to configure our LMS plugin, you must first decide on a theme for your site. The </span><b>Tutor Starter</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> theme not only is free, but it also was made to be integrated with the LMS plugin &#8211; Tutor LMS. This makes life a whole lot easier. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To install Tutor Starter from the WordPress admin panel we find the </span><b>Appearance </b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">tab. From there we click on </span><b>Add new</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and search for “Tutor Starter”. Go ahead and hit install and activate.</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You need to add one more plugin before you can start utilizing Tutor Starter properly. In the same way you installed the other plugins, you need to navigate to ‘Add a new plugin’ and search for </span><b>TutorMate. </b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TutorMate is a</span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">companion demo importer plugin for the Tutor Starter theme</span><b>. </b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After finding it from </span><b>Plugins</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &gt; </span><b>Add new, </b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">click to install and activate it. </span></p>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-38.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1383068\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-38.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"699\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-38.png 699w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-38-480x275.png 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 699px, 100vw\" /></a></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You are now geared up and ready to go. Next, ass a starter pack from Tutor Starter to your WordPress site. From the WordPress admin panel, go to </span><b>Tutor Starter </b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&gt;</span><b> Starter sites. </b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here you can find 4 unique demo starter sites for different types of sites according to what you want to create. </span></p>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-39.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1383067\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-39.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"699\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-39.png 699w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-39-480x275.png 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 699px, 100vw\" /></a></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can preview the site before you choose to import it. When you have decided which site to import simply click the </span><b>Import </b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">button. This will bring up the following popup.</span></p>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-40.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1383066\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-40.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"698\" height=\"428\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-40.png 698w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-40-480x294.png 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 698px, 100vw\" /></a></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From here you can choose to launch with either the Elementor or Gutenberg page builder. For this blog, we are going to go ahead and run it with Gutenberg. Tutor Starter shows us if we are missing any plugin/add-ons when we try to make this installation. So if you are missing Qubely and WooCommerce, they will be automatically installed and activated. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once the import is complete you can see the site by clicking “View your site”.</span></p>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-41.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1383065\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-41.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"698\" height=\"439\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-41.png 698w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-41-480x302.png 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 698px, 100vw\" /></a></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To edit the page, go to the WordPress admin </span><b>dashboard </b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and select </span><b>Customize your site</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. This takes us to the customization page where you can access all the background changes, widgets, and much more. </span></p>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-42.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1383064\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-42.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"699\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-42.png 699w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-42-480x275.png 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 699px, 100vw\" /></a></p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Configuring the back-end</span></h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Next you need to add some content to the site. Here starts your main journey to create content for your LMS site. To set up our courses, navigate to </span><b>WpAdmin </b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&gt;</span><b> Tutor LMS </b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&gt;</span><b> Courses. </b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From the courses menu, we select </span><b>Add new</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to add a new course to the site</span><b>. </b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You are then taken to the main course menu. Here input the course name, add a course description, add a video if needed and any other information. There is also a featured image section that can utilized to let students know what the course is about. </span></p>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-43.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1383063\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-43.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"699\" height=\"388\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-43.png 699w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-43-480x266.png 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 699px, 100vw\" /></a></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now comes the most important task to setting up your course &#8211; adding topics and quizzes. To add a quiz first you need to create a topic. Scroll down on the course menu to the course builder section where you can find a button that adds a new topic. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once you have added a new topic, you can now add a lesson and/or a quiz to that topic. </span></p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Adding a lesson</span></h3>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-44.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1383062\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-44.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"699\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-44.png 699w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-44-480x275.png 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 699px, 100vw\" /></a></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Clicking the </span><b>lesson</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> button brings up the pop up that lets you configure the lesson. Add the lesson title, the actual lesson text and the lesson video, should it be required. We can even add attachments to the lesson.</span></p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Create the quiz</span></h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After you have created a lesson, for evaluation you will also need to add a quiz. Right beside the lesson button, click the </span><b>Quiz</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> button to show the quiz pop up menu. </span></p>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-45.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1383061\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-45.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"699\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-45.png 699w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-45-480x275.png 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 699px, 100vw\" /></a></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First, add a quiz name and hit </span><b>Save &amp; Next. </b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The next tab gives the quiz question option where you can configure what type of questions you want to set for students. Next, select the name of the question and access the drop-down </span><b>Question Type</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> menu that shows all the different types of questions that can be set. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The options on this pop up are easy to navigate and self-explanatory, so setting it up is a breeze regardless of what type of question selected. </span></p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How do you monetize your course?</span></h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once you are done with the basic setup of the course, what then comes next? The basic setup is followed by adding payments options to the course in order to generate revenue. To achieve that, you will need to integrate WooCommerce as it is one of the most popular eCommerce solutions. It is very easy to use and integrate and also FREE. </span></p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WooCommerce integration and sales</span></h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For selling your courses as a product on your LMS site, you need to have a payment system such as WooCommerce added. As previously stated, WooCommerce is automatically installed, so you do not need to separately go through the installation process. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To activate WooCommerce on Tutor LMS head to </span><b>Dashboard </b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&gt;</span><b> Tutor LMS </b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&gt;</span><b> Settings </b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&gt;</span><b> </b><b>Monetization (Tab) </b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&gt;</span><b> WooCommerce (Enable).</b></p>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-46.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1383060\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-46.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"699\" height=\"388\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-46.png 699w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-46-480x266.png 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 699px, 100vw\" /></a></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You have now activated WooCommerce for your LMS site. But how do you link the course to WooCommerce so that it can be paid for? You need to first create a </span><b>Product</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to sell through WooCommerce. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Go to the WordPress admin panel where you will see a new </span><b>Product</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> tab. From there, you can add a new product. You can set the name, price and even sale price of the said product. </span></p>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-47.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1383059\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-47.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"699\" height=\"388\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-47.png 699w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-47-480x266.png 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 699px, 100vw\" /></a></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To finalize the monetization process, you must link this product to the course we want to sell. In order to do this, you need to edit the course and scroll down to the </span><b>Add Product</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> section, where you can find a drop-down menu of the product you created and link it to your course. Make sure to select the </span><b>paid </b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">option and you are all set!</span></p>\n<p><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-48.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1383058\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-48.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"699\" height=\"388\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-48.png 699w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-48-480x266.png 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 699px, 100vw\" /></a></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For any other course you want to monetize, just follow these steps and you should have no problems.. </span></p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Market your courses </span></h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The next task is to market your course to potential students, making sure that your product reaches its desired customer. </span></p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Identify your target students</span></li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Advertise your courses efficiently for maximum outreach</span></li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Promote your course as industry-standard material</span></li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Offer sales to increase student</span></li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Get affiliate personnel to promote your material elsewhere</span></li>\n</ul>\n<p>While this is definitely not a comprehensive list, these tips could help you get on track with marketing your course.</p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Backing up your site</span></h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now you have set up your eLearning site, it is important to remember to back it up using </span><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UpdraftPlus</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. As the world’s leading and most trusted backup plugin, UpdraftPlus can be trusted to keep your site and all the hard work you put into creating it, safe and secure. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Just download the free plugin, or upgrade to </span><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/shop/updraftplus-premium/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UpdraftPlus Premium</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, for total peace of mind.</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Best of luck with your site and if you have any queries, feel free to comment below.</span></p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com/how-to-create-an-elearning-course-site-with-wordpress/\">How to create an eLearning course site with WordPress </a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus</a>. <a href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus - Backup, restore and migration plugin for WordPress.</a></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}i:9;a:6:{s:4:\"data\";s:72:\"\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n				\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n		\n\n					\n										\n					\n		\n		\n			\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";s:5:\"child\";a:3:{s:0:\"\";a:6:{s:5:\"title\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:55:\"What crucial WordPress security issues you be aware of?\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:81:\"https://updraftplus.com/crucial-wordpress-security-issues-you-should-be-aware-of/\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:7:\"pubDate\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:31:\"Fri, 04 Mar 2022 15:04:09 +0000\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:8:\"category\";a:6:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:8:\"Security\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:1;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6:\"attack\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:2;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:6:\"issues\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:3;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:10:\"protection\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:4;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:8:\"security\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}i:5;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:9:\"wordpress\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:4:\"guid\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:34:\"https://updraftplus.com/?p=1376226\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:1:{s:11:\"isPermaLink\";s:5:\"false\";}}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:11:\"description\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:796:\"<p>WordPress is the most popular Content Management System (CMS) worldwide, powering more than a third of all websites existing today. Its popularity also makes it an appealing target for cyberattacks, and it too has its share of security vulnerabilities. While &#8230; <a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/crucial-wordpress-security-issues-you-should-be-aware-of/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&#8594;</span></a></p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com/crucial-wordpress-security-issues-you-should-be-aware-of/\">What crucial WordPress security issues you be aware of?</a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus</a>. <a href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus - Backup, restore and migration plugin for WordPress.</a></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:32:\"http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/\";a:1:{s:7:\"creator\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:10:\"PuiMun Beh\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:40:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/\";a:1:{s:7:\"encoded\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:15995:\"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WordPress is the most popular Content Management System (CMS) worldwide, powering more than a</span><a href=\"https://techjury.net/blog/percentage-of-wordpress-websites/#gref\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> third of all websites existing today</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Its popularity also makes it an appealing target for cyberattacks, and it too has its share of security vulnerabilities.</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While WordPress may have its own security issues, it isn’t the only platform that is targeted by cyber-criminals, with the theft of data becoming a highly lucrative business. From personal blogs to large business websites, no one has been safe from the potential threats posed by malicious actors. Regardless of if your site is a small blog or a large business, you need to know </span><a href=\"https://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.net/blog/web-tools/practical-website-security-needs-5-things-you-must-do-to-secure-your-site/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">how to secure your website</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> regardless of its purpose. Top of any list should be installing the <a href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus backup plugin</a> &#8211; The world&#8217;s most popular and highest rated backup plugin. In the event that you should ever find yourself a victim of an attack, you can at least rest easy in the knowledge that you have a secure backup in order to restore your site. </span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are some WordPress Security issues you should know about and how to address them;</span></p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1. The plugin system</span></h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Part of what makes WordPress so popular is its modularity. You can quickly and easily expand base features thanks to the plugin system. Unfortunately, not all plugins are created to the high standard of UpdraftPlus, and some can introduce new vulnerabilities to your WordPress website.</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The ‘PWA for WP &amp; AMP’ Plugin for example </span><a href=\"https://vpnoverview.com/news/20k-websites-vulnerable-due-to-wordpress-security-flaw/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">exposed over 20,000 WordPress websites</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to an access control vulnerability. Due to allowing arbitrary file uploads, attackers could remotely execute code and take over websites running this plugin. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Users should be aware of two things from this example. The first is to limit the number of plugins used on your WordPress site where possible. The second is to ensure that all your applications &#8211; including plugins and WordPress version &#8211; are regularly updated. Updates sometimes add new features, but their main purpose is to address newly discovered vulnerabilities.</span></p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2. SQL injection attacks</span></h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Data is a new and highly valuable commodity, and one reason attackers target websites is to steal information held in the database. SQL Injections are a popular way of doing this, with attackers embedding SQL commands on websites that may compromise sensitive information.</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you’re wondering how this happens, think about the average form you’ll find on many WordPress websites. It allows users to provide information such as usernames and passwords for login. If an attacker inserts SQL code in these fields, the underlying database may process that code and perform unexpected actions. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are several ways you can work to prevent SQL injection attacks, but the most common is to implement strict input validation. For example, you can add the following code to your .htaccess file to ensure that all input is excluded from SQL queries;</span></p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"># Enable rewrite engine</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RewriteEngine On</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RewriteRule ^(.*)$ &#8211; [F,L]</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"># Block MySQL injections</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} [a-zA-Z0-9_]=https:// [OR]</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} [a-zA-Z0-9_]=(\\.\\.//?)+ [OR]</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} [a-zA-Z0-9_]=/([a-z0-9_.]//?)+ [NC,OR]</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} \\=PHP[0-9a-f]{8}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{12} [NC,OR]</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (\\.\\./|\\.\\.) [OR]</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ftp\\: [NC,OR]</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} http\\: [NC,OR]</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} https\\: [NC,OR]</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} \\=\\|w\\| [NC,OR]</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^(.*)/self/(.*)$ [NC,OR]</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^(.*)cPath=https://(.*)$ [NC,OR]</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (\\&lt;|%3C).*script.*(\\&gt;|%3E) [NC,OR]</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (&lt;|%3C)([^s]*s)+cript.*(&gt;|%3E) [NC,OR]</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (\\&lt;|%3C).*iframe.*(\\&gt;|%3E) [NC,OR]</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (&lt;|%3C)([^i]*i)+frame.*(&gt;|%3E) [NC,OR]</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} GLOBALS(=|\\[|\\%[0-9A-Z]{0,2}) [OR]</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} _REQUEST(=|\\[|\\%[0-9A-Z]{0,2}) [OR]</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^.*(\\[|\\]|\\(|\\)|&lt;|&gt;).* [NC,OR]</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (NULL|OUTFILE|LOAD_FILE) [OR]</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (\\./|\\../|\\&#8230;/)+(motd|etc|bin) [NC,OR]</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (localhost|loopback|127\\.0\\.0\\.1) [NC,OR]</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (&lt;|&gt;|&#8217;|%0A|%0D|%27|%3C|%3E|%00) [NC,OR]</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} concat[^\\(]*\\( [NC,OR]</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} union([^s]*s)+elect [NC,OR]</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} union([^a]*a)+ll([^s]*s)+elect [NC,OR]</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (sp_executesql) [NC]</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RewriteRule ^(.*)$ &#8211; [F,L]</span></td>\n</tr>\n</tbody>\n</table>\n<p>&nbsp;</p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">3. Cross-site scripting attacks</span></h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_1376237\" style=\"width: 522px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-3.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1376237\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-1376237 size-full\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"512\" height=\"308\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-3.jpg 512w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-3-480x289.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 512px, 100vw\" /></a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1376237\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">How the XSS attack works (Source: Imperva)</p></div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Like SQL Injection attacks, Cross-site scripting (XSS) attempts to inject malicious code into vulnerable websites. One example is posting information that leads website users to another website that then attempts to steal personal data. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This scenario can be potentially dangerous as the other website may not even need input from the user. It can simply scan user identification data such as cookies, session tokens, and more.</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can generally prevent XSS attacks using a Web Application Firewall (WAF). This useful tool allows you to block specific traffic on websites. Most top WordPress security plugins like </span><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/all-in-one-wp-security-and-firewall/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All In One WP Security &amp; Firewall</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> will have this feature available. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you’d rather focus on running your WordPress website and want to leave the security to the experts, </span><a href=\"https://wordpress.org/plugins/all-in-one-wp-security-and-firewall/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One WP Security &amp; Firewall</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is a great way of doing so. It not only helps you block most types of attacks but can also scan your WordPress website for vulnerabilities you may not be aware of.</span></p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">4. Brute force attacks</span></h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WordPress makes use of a credential system that allows administrators and other authorized users to access its control features. Unfortunately, many users tend to employ weak and obvious passwords. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Brute force passwords make use of scripts that make continued and multiple login attempts to a WordPress site until successful. The script works with a database that holds a dictionary of commonly used usernames and passwords (such as Admin and Password1), hoping that you would have chosen one of these combinations without putting any thought into the risks.</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can however do several things to limit the effectiveness of brute force attacks;</span></p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Use complex and unique passwords</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Block access to the WordPress admin directory</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Add Two-factor Authentication (2FA)</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Disable directory browsing</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Limit the number of login attempts</span></li>\n</ul>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">5. Distributed denial of service attacks</span></h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_1376238\" style=\"width: 522px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-4.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1376238\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-1376238 size-full\" src=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"512\" height=\"268\" srcset=\"https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-4.jpg 512w, https://updraftplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/unnamed-4-480x251.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 512px, 100vw\" /></a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1376238\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">DDoS attacks try to overcome a website with a flood of requests mimicking visitor traffic. (Source: dnsstuff)</p></div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks consist of a massive flood of requests that target a website. This flood is intended to cripple a website, making it inaccessible to regular visitors as it is unable to cope with the volume of requests. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While DDoS isn’t unique to WordPress, websites based on this CMS can be especially vulnerable since it requires more resources to serve a request than regular static websites. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It can be impossible to guard against a determined DDoS flood however, but even the most prominent organisations have succumbed to these attacks. One example of this was the </span><a href=\"https://techcrunch.com/2018/03/02/the-worlds-largest-ddos-attack-took-github-offline-for-less-than-tens-minutes/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GitHub attack in 2018</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, in which their website came under a 20-minute DDoS flood attack.</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Generally smaller websites aren’t the target of such a massive volume. To mitigate against smaller DDoS waves however, make sure you use a Content Distribution Network (CDN). These server networks can help balance incoming loads and help in serving content faster.</span></p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">6. Cross-site request forgery attacks</span></h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) attacks are another way attackers force web applications like WordPress to recognize fake authentications. WordPress is especially vulnerable since these sites generally hold many user credentials. </span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The CSRF attack is similar to the XSS attack discussed earlier in many ways. The main difference is that CSRF needs an authentication session, while XSS does not. Regardless, the ultimate aim is to divert a visitor towards an alternative location to steal data.</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CSRF prevention needs implementation at the plugin level in most cases. Developers typically use anti-CSRF tokens to link sessions with specific users. WordPress website owners can only rely on plugin updates and general website hardening techniques to help prevent CSRF attacks.</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some hardening actions that may work include;</span></p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Disabling file editors</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Targeted blocks of PHO execution</span></li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2FA implementation</span></li>\n</ul>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Final thoughts on WordPress security issues</span></h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is sometimes a misconception that WordPress is a highly vulnerable web application. However, this isn’t an entirely fair claim. Part of it stems from the widespread use of WordPress, but a more significant reason is the failure of website owners to take the necessary proper precautions.</span></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We often take security for granted without thinking of the consequences of choosing a simple password. Website owners however have to take responsibility not just for the integrity of their websites, but also for the safety of their users’ data.</span></p>\n<p><b>Author Profile</b></p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/puimunbeh/\">Pui Mun Beh</a> is a digital marketer of </span><a href=\"https://www.webrevenue.io/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WebRevenue</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. </span></p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com/crucial-wordpress-security-issues-you-should-be-aware-of/\">What crucial WordPress security issues you be aware of?</a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus</a>. <a href=\"https://updraftplus.com\">UpdraftPlus - Backup, restore and migration plugin for WordPress.</a></p>\n\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}}}s:27:\"http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom\";a:1:{s:4:\"link\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:0:\"\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:1:{s:0:\"\";a:3:{s:4:\"href\";s:29:\"https://updraftplus.com/feed/\";s:3:\"rel\";s:4:\"self\";s:4:\"type\";s:19:\"application/rss+xml\";}}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}s:44:\"http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/\";a:2:{s:12:\"updatePeriod\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:9:\"\n	hourly	\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}s:15:\"updateFrequency\";a:1:{i:0;a:5:{s:4:\"data\";s:4:\"\n	1	\";s:7:\"attribs\";a:0:{}s:8:\"xml_base\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"xml_base_explicit\";b:0;s:8:\"xml_lang\";s:0:\"\";}}}}}}}}}}}}s:4:\"type\";i:128;s:7:\"headers\";O:42:\"Requests_Utility_CaseInsensitiveDictionary\":1:{s:7:\"\0*\0data\";a:19:{s:12:\"content-type\";s:23:\"text/xml; 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