Why Should I Opt for WordPress to Build my Website?

Posted on June 9, 2019June 9, 2019 by Sachin

Why use WordPress when there are countless ways today to build a website?

Image courtesy: Background photo created by freepik – www.freepik.com

There are countless ways today to build a website. Many new technologies arise every year, and some are better than others. There is also talk of Javascript technologies like Vue, Angular, React, etc. to build better, faster websites. And it’s not hard to get a good developer to build one for you within your budget.

So why use WordPress?

If you type the question above into the all-knowing Google, you’ll have many blogs with countless reasons on why you should opt for WordPress. But you don’t need so many reasons, you just need a few that matters. Here are a few reasons that should help you make up your mind:

1) Build a site within your budget

As we saw earlier, there are many ways to build a website. And you can find a good developer with a little bit of research. But the cost of developing a website could vary from as low as $2,000 for a simple website to $20,000 or higher depending on the complexity that you need. This is the case of one-time costs. A good developer could charge anywhere from $25 to $75 or more per hour based on their experience. Of course you could bargain for lower prices, but you get what you pay for.

With WordPress, you get to set up a complete website prototype in under 5 minutes. You don’t have to worry about complexity because the admin area is pretty much laid out for you. All you need to look at is the functionality that you desire. And mostly, you won’t need a developer to set it up. WordPress is beginner-friendly and makes it so easy to install that you can do this part on your own. Or chances are that your web host’s cPanel that you get has it all ready to set up in under a few clicks.

2) A theme for every look

The WordPress repository is teeming with themes of different styles and layouts. You can filter the themes using the built-in Feature Filter and choose a theme with a layout that you need. Choose a subject, the features and the type of layout you want, and you’ll get a number of free themes to choose from. Most of the themes support mobile devices, so you do not have to worry about device compatibility.

Of course, there might be customization that you need, but you can get a developer to do that now as a large part of the work is already done for you. Or you may find that some of the themes have a paid upgrade which includes the customizations that you require. You also have the option of Page Builders with drag-and-drop interfaces if you choose to do the layout on your own.

Alternatively, you could also choose to pick up a paid theme from a place like Themeforest, which comes with a license and full developer support.

3) A plugin for every need

You’ve now got the layout and design out of the way. Now you need the functionality added. Again, WordPress plugin repository has a plugin for practically everything that you can think of. Search by keyword (for example, SEO), and pick up one from the list of plugins that will suit your requirement.

Plugins have their statistics such as the number of active installations, user rating, compatibility with your WordPress version and the most recent update (which tells you if it is still being supported by the developer), which can help you drill down further. If you do not find one that you like, you can look for a paid plugin from places like CodeCanyon that may suit your needs.

4) Huge Community Support

WordPress is not the only “Content Management System” (CMS) around that can help you build a website. But it has a huge community of developers behind it contributing to the code every year. This includes code updates, security fixes, bug fixes, etc. Your WordPress installation will always be supported, and for free, and you have support from experts who will answer your questions. You will have to get support for your theme and plugins; but if you chose them wisely, then your support requirements will be minimal.

If you’re a business looking to expand your reach using a website, then you should definitely give WordPress a try.

Do you need help in evaluating your business requirements and deciding what you need for your website? Click here to contact us.

Have questions? Comment below.

WordPress Plugins – How Many is Too Many?

Posted on June 8, 2019June 10, 2019 by Sachin

Image courtesy: Background vector created by freepik – www.freepik.com

How do you know if you have too many plugins installed on your WordPress site?

To be exact – there is no exact answer to this question.

When you install a WordPress plugin, it enhances your site’s functionality in some way. But in addition, it does add a lot of bloat to your website in terms of additional script files, etc. which can affect the performance of your website. That said, the number of plugins that you use on your website is not a benchmark of your site’s performance. There are websites with a hundred plugins which loads very fast, while there are others with only a few plugins but runs at a snail’s pace.

So, how do you decide how many plugins you have to add to your WordPress website? The question that you should be asking is not “how many”. It should be “what”. Depending on what your website is about, this could vary. But here are some of the common things to consider:

Functionality of the plugin

A major factor in deciding which plugins you want to use is the functionality it offers. There are a some common functionalities such as SEO, social sharing, security etc. which almost every website out there will benefit from. Here’s a quick list of essential plugins for your WordPress website. If your website offers additional options for your visitors such as memberships, product purchase, etc., you might benefit from some additional plugins related to those.

Popularity

Next comes the popularity of the plugin. If you search in the WordPress repository for a plugin that can do a specific function, you’ll find that there are a number of choices to pick up from. The number of downloads and the rating shown will help you choose the best from the lot. You can further drill down by choosing a few top plugins from the list, and then checking them individually for user reviews, support etc.

Support availability

When it comes to any software, support is a major factor. When you search for plugins, look for the “Last Updated” date and the Compatibility with your current WordPress version. WordPress keeps updating the core files and adds additional bug fixes and security plugs. The best plugin developers will keep abreast of these changes and will keep their plugins updated to comply with these version changes. They also respond to support queries and provide resolutions soon. These will help you make your own judgement and choose the plugin you want to use.

Pricing

Many of the plugins that you find in the WordPress repository are free, with additional functions available if you buy their upgrade. While the free version does include community level support, the paid version would usually include direct professional support. You can make a comparison between the free and paid versions and choose between the two. There are also paid plugins which are available for purchase from websites like Envato.com that offer professional support based on the license.

Do I actually need a plugin? What if I don’t find what I need?

While there are numerous plugins available for most of the common things that a website would need, you might run into a situation where you won’t find a good plugin that can satisfy your requirement. Or, you may have found a plugin which comes close, but needs a little more adjustment or fine-tuning.

In such cases, it helps if you turn to a developer to help you with creating a plugin for you, or fine-tuning an existing plugin for your requirement. You can find a lot of good plugin developers online in places like Toptal, Upwork, etc.

Still have questions? Feel free to ask in the comments section below.

404 Errors on WordPress Pages and Posts in Localhost

Posted on May 16, 2019June 8, 2019 by Sachin

On WordPress set up in your local machine, when you click on Pages and Posts, they take you to a 404 (Page not found) error page.

This is a common issue for most developers who set up WordPress on their local server.

The common answer that you’ll find online is to go to Settings > Permalinks and Save them again. This will rewrite your .htaccess and you should be good to go.

To solve this, make sure that you’ve got the following covered:

Enable mod_rewrite in Apache

To do this, on an Ubuntu Linux machine, open a terminal and run the following commands:

sudo a2enmod rewrite

If mod_rewrite is already enabled, this command will let you know. If that’s the case, then you can skip this section and go to the next. If not, go ahead and restart your apache server with the following command:

sudo service apache2 restart

Windows users? Here you go: https://tomelliott.com/php/mod_rewrite-windows-apache-url-rewriting

AllowOverride in Apache Configuration

In certain installations (Apache2 on an Ubuntu Linux install, for example), saving permalinks won’t work. Even your .htaccess file will be perfect. This is because Apache2 configuration would be set to override any changes to the structure by default.

To fix this, open up the terminal and go to your Apache configuration folder:

cd /etc/apache2

You’ll need to edit the apache2.conf file to make your changes. I’ll use nano to edit:

nano apache2.conf

Here, look for <Directory /var/www/>

Change “AllowOverride None” to “AllowOverride All“

Save and exit the editor. Restart Apache with the following command:

sudo service apache2 restart

Once this is done, get back to your WordPress dashboard, save your permalink settings again to what you want it to be, and try accessing your URLs again.

Did this work for you? Did this not work for you? Let me know in the comments.