2024 WordPress continues to be superior to other content management systems (CMSs) due to its adaptability, user-friendliness, and huge plugin library. Because it is an open-source platform, it is regularly updated and developed by a community of developers from all over the world as they work together. This is why WordPress is able to maintain its position at the forefront of web development trends and technological advancements.

Can you create a professional Website or Blog yourself?

Probably not BUT you will be able to Edit it Yourself and keep it Updated. We will train you to do this!

Does your WordPress website’s Host automatically SAVE your website? Sometimes it costs a bit more for this but it’s definitely worth it. Contact your Host to be sure. This could save you a lot of time ($) if there is a problem.

Here’s an issue one client had yesterday – they saw this when they tried to edit a page. I was able to fix it but don’t let this happen to you!

Be sure to use the FREE Akismet Spam filter that comes with all WordPress Themes. Used by millions, Akismet is quite possibly the best way in the world to protect your blog from comment and trackback spam.

I sure did make the right decision 10 years ago when I decided to create websites ONLY in WordPress!

I posted this in 2019 – who knew it would become so relevant in 2021?

“If you can put a man on the moon how come you can’t do something about traffic?” a regional manager said in 1970.

Jack Niles, a NASA rocket scientist’s solution was telecommuting, a term he is credited with coining in 1973.

Except for in-office, in-home Trainings and classes I teach, I work from home – and have for most of my life. Do I sometimes (often) go for a run, a bike ride or dip in the ocean in the afternoon? Yes, but I make up the hours after the sun sets. I wouldn’t have it any other way!

If you get a job at Automattic (WordPress creators), you don’t have to worry about moving. Hell, you don’t even have to get out of bed.

The company, is completely distributed, meaning its 230 employees work from home. Or they can work from home. Matt Mullenweg, the CEO of Automattic, notes that the company has a physical headquarters in San Francisco. “Well, you’ve got to have somewhere TO get mail,” he explains. While a handful of employees work in the San Francisco office, the rest are flung across 170 cities. “It allows you to get the best and brightest people in the world,” Mullenweg says. Automattic gives its employees a monthly stipend of $250 to get a co-working space if their home office situation isn’t great. As an Automattic employee, you also get up to $3,000 to set up your home office.

by Todd Wasserman

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Your website can easily crash or get hacked if you don’t keep it updated!

It’s Quick, Free and Simple – really!

In a recent WordPress update they added Auto-Updates for all plugins etc. I DON’T recommend this. Here’s why and how you should SHUT OFF Auto-Updates.

WordPress: Some Hosts update WordPress automatically. They’ll notify you if they do. If your Host does do this automatically be sure to check your site right away to see if all is good.

Themes: You need to keep the Theme that is Active updated. It’s also good to keep 1 other Theme updated as a backup. The rule below of doing just 1 update a day doesn’t apply to Themes though. Some Themes have a few parts to their update. For example, the Avada Theme will often have several parts to update: Avada Builder, Avada Core and Patches. These updates should be done all at once – on the same day.

1. Check your site to make sure it’s working as it should right now!
2. Ideally, you have a Back-up plan with your Host but I suggest doing a Mini-backup as well. In the Dashboard go to Tools/Export/All Content/Download Export File/Save. This could save you a lot of time ($) if there is a problem.
3. If you don’t edit your website often be sure to check the Dashboard every 2 weeks to see if updates need to be done. AND only do 1 update a day. Set whatever calendar you’re using to send you an email or text reminder to do this on the 1st and 15th of each month.
   
4. Plugins: You only need to update the Plugins you are using – if they are not ‘activated’ don’t bother updating them.
5. After updating anything click around your website to make sure all is well. Mishaps usually occur when plugins conflict with one another but sometimes it takes a few hours to show – this is why I suggest doing just 1 update a day!
6. If you have more than 1 update to do when you come back the next day to do another update first click around your site a bit to make sure all is well before updating anything else.

Contact us if you have any questions or would like us to keep it updated for you – normally it takes just 1/2 hour a month.

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Overall the latest version of WordPress is great EXCEPT for the Auto Updates that is now the default. While it is very important to keep WordPress, your Theme and all of your Plugins updated it’s best to do them individually and only 1 a day! Why? Because otherwise, one Update could conflict with another Update and if you don’t do them individually you won’t know which one is causing the issue. Here is my suggestion on how to keep up with your Updates – it’s Free, Quick and Simple: Updates

Here’s how you can Turn off Auto Updates: Dashboard: Go to Settings.

If you’re still getting WordPress updates added automatically call your Host.

Or Contact me if you need help.

Both premium and free plugins have introduced superior features related to security, backups, appearance and performance. They have also allowed website owners to take advantage of important third-party services such as Google Analytics, Mailchimp, translation, lead capture, and so on.

While we cannot deny the value added by plugins to WordPress sites, we should also not ignore the possible dangers of having too many of them on your site. Read further to learn why installing too many plugins might be bad for your WordPress website.

Security
Some plugins, especially the free ones, may be insecure and prone to hacking. Premium plugins are not completely immune either but they are usually better. Plugin authors are advised to update their plugins regularly in order to patch any security vulnerabilities.

Even then, the updates may take time or you may simply forget to update to a new release. In such cases, hackers can exploit the loopholes and compromise your website. Having too many plugins, and failure to update them regularly can put your WordPress site at risk.

Conflicting Plugins
Cases of plugin incompatibly are common with WordPress sites. This is possible if, for instance, two different plugins use the same generic variable names. Plugin development is governed by coding standards, but not every developer observes them strictly.

In worst case scenarios, a website may lose all its content when two or more incompatible plugins are installed. One way of avoiding such a devastating eventuality is to limit the number of plugins on your WordPress site and install only the ones that are necessary.

Memory and Site Load Speed
Every time a person visits your website, some background code executes in order render the webpage in the visitor’s browser. This code includes that of all the plugins installed. Imagine the amount of code that runs in a site containing tens of plugins and receiving over 100,000 viewers a month. Such a setup is bound to consume a lot of your server’s memory, and it gets worse as the plugin count increases. The result is a site the loads slowly and many visitors are easily turned off by this. Therefore, it’s wise to limit the number of plugins on your WordPress sithttps://saraohara.com/wp-admin/post-new.phpe.

Plugin Management
While plugins are generally easy to operate even for users with no prior programming knowledge, challenges may emerge when updating them because some are not as straightforward as others. A plugin update can contain bugs in the code. Your site could easily break because of these bugs or as a result of conflicting plugins.

Fewer plugins means fewer updates and a lower risk of site failure, code bugs, or conflicts. This emphasizes the need to have as few plugins on your WordPress website as possible.

Thanks for your Wisdom Hassan Akhtar

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I’ve been a web designer for 19 years and switched to using ONLY WordPress about 15 years ago. Initially, WordPress was created so that websites were ‘Responsive’ meaning they were viewable on all devices. The other really important reason it’s very easy to teach my clients how to do what they need to be done; add text, images, new pages, new posts etc. This gives you the ability to manage your own website and not have to call me every time you need something done!

Alex Moss Interview:

Q. For someone who’s is hesitating whether to use WordPress to create a Website or Blog – what are your words of wisdom? How can users benefit from building their sites in WordPress?

A. Do it, you’ll soon find that it can do pretty much anything you need and not just act as a blogging platform.

Q. What exactly makes you gravitate towards WordPress?

A.  Ease of use, and also the fact that a lot of people who are hardly web enthusiasts have heard of WordPress. It’s easy to train people how to use it.

1. For big SEO results, start small

It might sound simple, but focusing on small, incremental changes to a website’s overall SEO strategy really can produce noticeable gains over time. The Google My Business marketing site, for example, saw a near 2X increase in organic traffic.

2. Don’t be scared of changes — embrace them

Search features are always evolving to surface the most relevant content for users and to keep up with their changing behavior. For example, today, over 50% of website traffic comes from mobile, and Google Search has quickly been adapting in response. All WordPress websites are mobile-friendly and THIS is the main reason why we at SaraOhara.com only create WordPress websites.

3. Where possible, consolidate

It can be tempting to create multiple websites, each containing very similar content, to target different customer profiles or geographic regions.

Here’s the problem with that approach: duplicate content is not only confusing for users, it’s also confusing for search engines. Creating one great site instead of multiple microsites is the best way to encourage organic growth over time.