Internet Best Practice
Separate registrar, Separate DNS, Separate web host, Separate eMail host
Planting your “flag/domain” on the Internet
1 – Domain Registration – acquire your domain
3 – Web Hosting
- keep separate from domain & names-servers & email hosting
- goto HOSTING
[for Email setup – see email hosting]
What’s new in WP 6.1
- Intro to the Site Editor and Template Editor
- Kinsta Blog – What’s New in WordPress 6.1
- Wordcamp -what’s new in WP 6.1
- WordPress 6.1 Field Guide – make.wordpress
- Beta Testing WordPress with Local Blueprints – WPEngine, Damon Cook
- Gutenberg Developer Plugin Commits – What’s coming in Block Editor
- What’s new in the Nav menu block – youtube tutorial
- WordPress 6.1 Top 5 Editor FEATURES with Anne McCarthy
- 6.1 Product Walk-Through Recap – Make.WordPress.org
- New in WordPress 6.1: Fluid Typography, Improved Template System, New Site Health Checks, and Much More!
- Twenty Twenty-Three: A New Default WordPress Theme From the Community – Kinsta blog article
- Powder – DEMO of a new block theme from Brian Gardner of wpEngine
Accessibility
Be mindful of how to be more inclusive when working with others.
- The Truth About Accessibility Overlays
- Why Accessibility Matters – Amber Hines
- ntainerWordPress Accessibility Meetup– SF, CA
- Introduction to Web Accessibility (a foundation course in accessibility)
- The Ease of Web Accessibility Compliance with Wordpress with Sumner M Davenport
- Facebook – WordPress Accessibility
- Facebook WCAG A11y Professionals
- Accessible Font Sizing
- WebAIM – Accessibility In Mind – blog
- Introduction to Accessibility Course – EDX FREE ONLINE COURSE
- What is ARIA? ARIA Roles, States & Properties
- Screen Reader Text Format – adds a screen reader only text format control to the block editor.
- WhoCcanUse.com? – how color contrast affects different people with visual impairments
Analytics
- Google Tag Manager (GTM)
- https://tagmanager.google.com
- Getting Started with GTM – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFn4HIp8oYU
- Usefathom Analytics – https://usefathom.com
- Fathom Analytics WP plugin – https://wordpress.org/plugins/fathom-analytics
- SiteKit – https://wordpress.org/plugins/google-site-kit
- Google Analytics video tutorial
- Google Search Console
Backups / Migrate Site
” Two is One and One is None.Murphy’s law states that anything that can go wrong will. This is why the numbers are one less – you are meant to assume that one thing will go wrong, break, go missing, etc.
…backup, backup, backup.
3-2-1 Rule = 3 backups – on 2 different media – 1 copy being off-site
WPVivid Backup Pro – free and premium versions
All In One WP Migration
- with extensions – https://servmask.com/products
WP MIGRATE (formerly MigrateDB Pro) – https://deliciousbrains.com/wp-migrate-db-pro/
- Migrate a WordPress database from one install to another.
- For syncing development to production sites.
- Also performs media files transfer.
Blocks
- GenerateBlocks -a MUST have addon for Block editor
- Portland WordPress Meetup: GenerateBlocks 2022-02-07 – youtube tutorial by Doug RIder
- GenerateBlocks Pro
- Blocks CSS: CSS Editor for Gutenberg Blocks – adds a syntax-highlighted CSS Editor to your Blocks
- Kadence Blocks– adds custom blocks
- Spectra – adds custom blocks
Block Themes
- WordPress.org Block Themes – https://wordpress.org/themes/tags/full-site-editing/
- Frost – by Brian Gardner of wpEngine – https://frostwp.com
Global styles, with functional patterns – hero and portfolio sections, call-to-actions, testimonials, more. - Jace – WooCommerce, accessibility, 60 patterns https://wordpress.org/themes/jace
optional light color scheme, blog layouts, about pages, contact pages, sticky header, social sharing, full-screen headers, buttons and list styles - Brian Gardner‘s Avant-Garde
- Rich Tabor‘s Wabi
- Anders Norén‘s Tove
- Anatomy of a Block Theme – https://learn.wordpress.org/tutorial/anatomy-of-a-block-theme
- Block Theme Generator – https://fullsiteediting.com/block-theme-generator/
- Create Block Theme plugin – https://wordpress.org/plugins/create-block-theme/
- Using Create Block Theme – https://wordpress.tv/2022/08/17/using-create-block-theme/
- The plugin is development only — not intended for use on production websites.
Custom Blocks (development)
- Remove Unwanted Block Suggestions of Block Directory From Editor
- Create Block – an officially supported tool for scaffolding WordPress plugins with blocks. It generates PHP, JS, CSS code, and everything you need to start the project.
- An Overview of the WordPress Create Block Script
- Block hooks
- Dynamic Blocks – Customize Gutenberg without living in fear of validation errors
- Build your first custom block – Learn.WordPress
CDN – Content Delivery Network
- CloudFlare – https://www.cloudflare.com
- Bunny – https://bunny.net
Content Management
- Post Type Switcher – https://wordpress.org/plugins/post-type-switcher/
- Post Types Order – https://wordpress.org/plugins/post-types-order/
Cookie Consent
CSS
- Microthemer – [https://themeover.com] – free version https://wordpress.org/plugins/microthemer
- CodePen (for practice) – https://codepen.io
- CSS Tricks – https://css-tricks.com
- CSS Tutorial – W3 Schools – https://www.w3schools.com/Css
Custom Post Types, Custom Fields
- Custom Post Type UI – https://wordpress.org/plugins/custom-post-type-ui
for registering and managing custom post types and taxonomies - Advance Custom Fields (Pro) – https://www.advancedcustomfields.com/pro
- Meta Box – https://metabox.io
- ACF Theme Code Pro – Hookturn – automatically generate code to display ACF fields
Design Tools (Website Design)
- Figma – https://www.figma.com/design/
- Adobe XD. – https://www.adobe.com/products/xd/pricing/individual.html
- YouTube tutorial – https://youtu.be/8EFz21Mk_wI
Developer’s Coding Resources
Developer Tools
- Query Monitor
- Better Search Replace – Delicious Brains
- SQL Buddy – Database Management – Delicious Brains
Domain & Email Lookup Tools
- What’s My DNS? – Domain Name Registrar Lookup
- check current IP address and DNS record information against multiple nameservers
- Whois Domain Lookup – trace the ownership and tenure of a domain
- DomainTools – https://whois.domaintools.com – another Whois tool
- Hardenize – Domain Report
- DNS Checker – DNS Lookup – finds all DNS records of a given domain name.
- DIG – Google Admin Toolbox – query the DNS of a given server
- Into DNS – https://intodns.com – checks the health and configuration and provides DNS report and mail servers report.
- Visual Traceroute – G Suite.Tools
- SSL Checker
- DNS Inspect – checks for common DNS and mail errors.
- MX Tool Box – MX (email) records, DNS, blacklist and SMTP diagnostics
E-commerce
- Easy Digital Downloads – https://easydigitaldownloads.comdesign
- WooCommerce – https://wordpress.org/plugins/woocommerce/
- SureCart – https://wordpress.org/plugins/surecart
Email Hosting
“Separate hosting – If one goes down, they don’t ALL go down.”
- Setup your email hosting independent of your domain registration or web hosting.
- then, if your hosting service is disrupted your email service will still function.
- If your email is tied to your web host then moving to a different hosting provider becomes very difficult.
- Blog Articles: “Why you should keep your website and email hosting separate:
- Many web hosting companies offer Office 365 or Google Workspace, but it is better to NOT signup to either of these through your hosting company. You will have more control if you signup directly with Google or Microsoft. Hosting offers are usually not the full plan and are further complicated by being tied to your hosting or domain registration provider.
- Google Workspace (sign up directly with Google) – https://workspace.google.com
Email hosting for small business. Also integrates with other Google tools, which is nice. - Zoho Mail – https://www.zoho.com/mail
- Proton Mail – https://proton.me/mail
- MxRoute – https://mxroute.com
- Office 365 (sign up directly with Microsoft) – https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365
- DMARCLY – DMARC deployment Tools
Email Marketing
- ActiveCampaign – https://www.activecampaign.com – best according to Alicia St. Rose (South Central Coast WordPress Adventure Group)
- MailChimp – https://mailchimp.com
- MailerLite – https://www.mailerlite.com
- ConvertKit – https://convertkit.com
- Featured Images in RSS for Mailchimp & Other Email –
https://wordpress.org/plugins/featured-images-for-rss-feeds/
- Fluent SMTP Plugin – https://wordpress.org/plugins/fluent-smtp
- SendGrid – https://sendgrid.com
SMTP transactional email services
- Fluent SMTP plugin – https://fluentsmtp.com
https://wordpress.org/plugins/fluent-smtp/ - SendGrid – https://sendgrid.com
- Postmark – https://postmarkapp.com
Forms
- WP Fluent Forms Pro – https://fluentforms.com
- Gravity Forms – https://www.gravityforms.com/pricing
- add-ons available for integrations with third-party tools (i.e. MailChimp, PayPal, etc.)
- Formidible Forms – https://formidableforms.com
GDPR – General Data Protection Regulation
Applies to all websites with users from the EU.
- see cookie consent
- Analytics without user Tracking – Usefathom Analytics – https://usefathom.com
- Fathom Analytics WP plugin – https://wordpress.org/plugins/fathom-analytics
Hosting Services
Means the provision, administration, and maintenance of servers and related equipment, the provision of bandwidth at the hosting facility, and the operation of the Application (WordPress, in our case) for access by Customer Users to be provided by the relevant hosting service provider. ~ Law Insider
- WP Engine – https://wpengine.com
- Managed WordPress hosting great for high traffic sites. Lots of great features for developers.
- GreenGeeks – https://www.greengeeks.com
- Reliable Low Cost Shared Hosting – choose Turbo hosting
- Gridpane (managed WP hosting service) – https://gridpane.com
- enterprise capable high performance WP hosting for high-traffic WooCommerce stores, LMS, and large Multisite installations.
- Digital Ocean – https://www.digitalocean.com
- Hetzner Cloud – https://www.hetzner.com/cloud
- Vultr cloud hosting – https://www.vultr.com
- Cloudways – https://www.cloudways.com
- Managed cloud hosting
- SiteGround – https://www.siteground.com
Images
- Images, Images, Image – youtube tutorial video by Doug Rider
- Short Pixel Optimizer – https://shortpixel.com
- Free up to 100 images/month
- Ewww – https://ewww.io
- NextGen Image Gallery – https://wordpress.org/plugins/nextgen-gallery
- WpVivid Image Optimizer – up to 2000 images per month, for free.
- WpVivid Image Optimizer Pro – included with Pro version of WpVivid Backup.
- Enable Media Replace – Short Pixel plugin
- Media File Renamer – Plugin by Jordy Meow
- Quick Featured Images – sets, replaces and removes featured images
- Why WebP images – Short Pixel blog
- How to Use WebP Images on WordPress – Kinsta blog
- Easy Guide to Using WebP Images in WordPress – WP-Astra blog
- Convert images to WebP Format using wpvivid pro
Images – Stock Images
- Pexels – free stock images
- UnSplash – free stock images
- Deposit Photos
- Scopio – Diverse Visual Artists
- WordPress Openverse – Search an extensive library of free stock photos, images, and audio.
FONTS – host locally
- OMGF | Host Google Fonts Locally – https://wordpress.org/plugins/host-webfonts-local
- Fluid Typography – https://make.wordpress.org/core/2022/05/27/block-font-sizes-and-fluid-typography
- Astra theme customizer settings
- Host Google Fonts locally with Perfmatters
Localhost Site Development
- Local – Spin up local WordPress installs in less than a minute – https://localwp.com
[in Preference > Advance > (set) Router mode > localhost] - DevKinsta – a Docker based local hosting server environment – https://kinsta.com/devkinsta
- Mamp Pro – an alternative local development server environment – https://www.mamp.info
Mamp Pro is a commercial frontend for the classic MAMP local server environment.
Page Builders
- Beaver Builder – Theme-independent page builder tool great for non-technical folks and developers alike.
- Bricks Builder – block editor compatible – https://bricksbuilder.io
- GenerateBlocks (adds incredible versatility to block editor) – https://wordpress.org/plugins/generateblocks
Page Load Speed – Site Speed Testing
- Yellow Lab Tools – Page Speed Audit – https://yellowlab.tools
- WebPageTest – https://www.webpagetest.org
- GTMetrix – https://gtmetrix.com/
- PageSpeed Insights – https://pagespeed.web.dev
Performance/Optimization
- Perfmatters (premium) – https://perfmatters.io
disable comments, limit post revision, script manager, db optimize, and so much more - Autoptimize – https://wordpress.org/plugins/autoptimize
- Rocket – https://wp-rocket.me
Protecting Privacy
- Termageddon – Privacy Policy generator – https://termageddon.com/policies/privacy-policy-generator
- Termageddon – Terms & Conditions generator – https://termageddon.com/policies/terms-and-conditions-generator
- Cookie consent – https://www.cookiebot.com
- (see GDPR)
- (see Cookies)
Research
- Notion – https://www.notion.so
- Evernote – https://evernote.com
- Raindrop bookmark manager – https://raindrop.io
Search
- Relevanssi – A Better Search
- FacetWP – Advanced Filtering
Security
- WP 2FA – enable two-factor authentication.
- WP Bouncer – restricts the number of simultaneous logins
- 1Password – password manager
- Last Pass – password manager
- Privacy.com – Create virtual payment cards for one-time purchases or subscriptions
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Site Editing (FSE)
- Intro to the Site Editor and Template Editor – Learn.WordPress video tutorial
- Full Site Editing – https://fullsiteediting.com – website
- Adding Fluid Typography – by Rich Tabor article
- Adding Style Variation – by Rich Tabor article
- Twenty Twenty-Three – Figma design
Site Management/Maintenance
- MainWP – https://mainwp.com – A single dashboard for managing WordPress sites (backups, updates, etc)
- How to Fix WordPress Stuck in Maintenance Mode – https://kinsta.com/knowledgebase/wordpress-stuck-in-maintenance-mode
- CMP – Coming Soon & Maintenance Plugin – https://wordpress.org/plugins/cmp-coming-soon-maintenance
Spam
- WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam – block spam submissions using honeypot anti spam technic
- Spam protection, AntiSpam, FireWall by CleanTalk – No CAPTCHA, no questions, no animal counting, etc.
WooCommerce
- WooCommerce Blocks – https://wordpress.org/plugins/woo-gutenberg-products-block
- Woo Wednesday meetup – https://www.meetup.com/woocommerce-coeur-d-alene/events/288210615
- Woo Community News – https://dothewoo.io/woocommerce-news
- Business Bloomer Woo Blog – https://www.businessbloomer.com/blog
- Full or Partial Refund
- Smart Coupons – https://woocommerce.com/products/smart-coupons
Plugins recommended in meetups
- Local Pickup Plus – to pick up products from specific locations, select a pickup date, and more
WooCommerce Code
- Cleaning up your WooCommerce database – https://codedcommerce.com/cleaning-up-your-woocommerce-database
- Check if a Payment Gateway Support Refunds, Subscriptions or Pre-orders – https://woocommerce.com/document/check-if-payment-gateway-supports-refunds-subscriptions-preorders/
WordPress Themes
- GeneratePress – my base theme. 90% of my projects are built using GP – https://generatepress.com
- Astra – https://wpastra.com
- Blocksy – https://creativethemes.com/blocksy
Theme Development
The technical aspects of writing code to build your own Themes
Training & Education
- Learn.WordPress – https://learn.wordpress.org/tutorials/
- WordPress TV – https://wordpress.tv
- WP Beginner – https://www.wpbeginner.com
tutorials for novice WordPress developers. - WP101 – https://wp101.com
Video series you can use to teach clients how to use WordPress.
Available as a plugin or a stand-alone resource. - LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda.com) – https://www.linkedin.com/learning
- ES6 for Everyone – https://es6.io – ES6 is a major update to JavaScript. This course from Wes Bos covers new features and helps sharpen your core JavaScript skills.
- Udemy – https://www.udemy.com