How To Completely Customize The WordPress Admin Area With Branda

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Branda gives you the power to white label WordPress, letting your brand flow from the front to the back-end of your site. In this guide, we’ll show you how to renovate your admin area with some of Branda’s most impressive features.

White labeling your WordPress site has never been easier. Branda splits every one of her features into easy to digest modules which can be activated and removed as necessary.

Branda lets you white label every Aspect of WordPress

No job is too big or small – you can customize anything from your color scheme and dashboard widgets, right down to the text labels on your login page, and the icons in your admin toolbar.

In this guide, we’ll show you not only how to completely white label the back-end of your WordPress installation using Branda, but also how to personalize and reorganize your tools and menus to ensure peak efficiency when working within your admin area.

We’ll be covering how to:

  1. Customize Your Login Screen
  2. Change the WordPress Logo
  3. Rework the Admin Bar
  4. Personalize Your Widgets
  5. Organize Your Admin Menu
  6. Add Text to Your Footer
  7. Text Replacement
  8. Change the Color Scheme

Read on to find out how Branda can help you put your own stamp on your WordPress admin.

1. Customize Your Login Screen

When customizing your WordPress admin, it makes sense to start at the first page you’ll always see – the login screen.

Branda can help you create a completely new login screen that will impress your clients and inject some personality into your WordPress back-end.

There are seven preset templates you can select, or you can create your own from scratch.

Screenshot of Branda's login screen templates.
Click ‘Start from scratch’ to create your own template.

If you start from scratch, the main changes will come in the form of your background and logo.

First up is the logo – you can either upload your own image, or import one from a URL.

Screenshot of the logo option where you can upload your own image.
You can also choose to completely hide the logo.

Once you’ve added your logo, you can choose a new background to complement it.

Screenshot of a custom login screen made using Branda and an image of some notepads.
Just make sure your background image is a minimum of 1024px wide.

You’re free to take it even further and edit or hide the labels, display a message, or add custom error messages.

Add custom messages for users when they log in.

A few tweaks and you can completely revamp your login section.

If you’re a developer working on a lot of sites, or if you’re trying to create a personalized experience for a new client, the ability to switch out the WordPress logo in the admin bar can make a lot of difference.

It can let you know at a quick glance which site you’re currently logged into and it can be the icing on a cake for a client that you’re trying to impress.

With Branda, it takes seconds to change the logo to something more personal.

This setting is found within Admin Area > Admin Bar.

As you can see below, it’s such a simple change but it takes white labeling WordPress to the next level.

Screenshot of the admin bar with a custom logo in it
It’s your site, so it makes sense to replace the WordPress logo with your own.

3. Rework the Admin Bar

If you find the admin bar more unsightly than useful, there are a couple of ways Branda can help you manage this.

You can remove the admin bar from your front-end if you want to quickly view your site without it getting in the way by heading to Admin Area > Admin Bar.

Screenshot of the options to set the toolbar visibility by user account.
Untick the boxes of the user roles you wish to hide the toolbar from on the front-end.

If you don’t want to hide the toolbar completely, you can customize the items it shows.

Start by choosing the items you wish to hide:

Screenshot of the various options you can hide from the toolbar.
Better still, you can apply these settings to specific user roles.

If you really dislike the toolbar, you can even go as far as removing all its links in the back-end:

Screenshot of a toolbar with all the items removed.
Branda can help your admin area go from ‘messy’ to ‘minimalist’ in just a few clicks.

If you’d prefer an admin bar that is practical and personalized to fit your needs, you can create this by adding custom items to it.

Screenshot of the option to add a custom admin bar item.
Just below the option to hide your items, you’ll find the option to add custom ones.

Once you click to add a custom item, you will need to select a title, icon and a link destination.

Screenshot of the the option to select a title and icon for a custom admin menu item.
There are tons of icons to choose from – you’ll be spoilt for choice.

Add a submenu if required, and set the visibility of your new menu item per user role.

Screenshot of a custom admin bar menu item with a submenu.
You can use these settings to easily navigate to your most important pages, as well as a host of other ideas.

4. Personalize Your Widgets

With all the standard widgets active, your dashboard can begin to look a bit cluttered.

If you head into Branda and to Widgets > Dashboard Widgets, you can hide any that you don’t use.

Screenshot of the widgets you can hide.
With all these options ticked, your dashboard will be completely free of widgets.

You can then begin to repopulate your dashboard with widgets that are more useful to you, as Branda has the option to create your own custom widgets.

Screenshot of the option to add a new text widget.
You can create your own unique widget and then choose which user roles will see it.

Widgets can contain notes, company updates, stock reminders – you have total freedom.

Screenshot of a custom widget showing some upcoming appointments.
They’re so quick and easy to update.

Your admin menu is the heart and soul of your WordPress admin area. If you want to customize the back-end of your site, it makes sense to tailor the admin menu to your needs.

Head to Admin Area > Admin Menu > Customize Admin Menu and you will be presented with a ton of options to help you get the most out of your admin menu.

First up, you can customize each item in your admin bar per user role and can opt to hide each item.

Screenshot of the option to edit your dashboard menu item.
You can also duplicate items from this menu.

When you click to edit one of the items, you are first offered the chance to rename it as well as change the CSS ID and class.

Screenshot of the option to change the ID and class of the menu item.
Click ‘submenu’ to change the name and IDs/classes of the submenu items.

If you scroll down a little further, you can choose a new icon from tons of presets.

Screenshot showing some of the icons Branda comes preloaded with,.
You can even upload your own icons.

Once you are satisfied with how your menu item looks, it’s time to decide what happens when you click on it.

Underneath the icons, you will find the option to change the link, as well choose whether or not it opens in a new tab.

Screenshot of the option to add a link to the custom menu item.
While you may not need to change the link on existing menu items, it’s handy if you create new ones.

Once you have amended your existing menu items to your taste, you can scroll to the bottom of the list to add your own custom items.

This is useful if you want shortcuts to external websites or areas of your site that take a while to navigate to.

You can add text or even media to the bottom right of your admin area.

This could be anything from an important message or update, to your company motto, or even just your site name.

Screenshot of custom admin footer text which says Kirstan's Blog, 2020.
You can also make the text a link.

It’s just another quick way to break out of WordPress’ usual template and add a bit of brand/personality to your admin area.

7. Text Replacement

A handy feature found within the utilities section of Branda allows you to replace words and phrases throughout your site.

This can be especially beneficial when it comes to white labeling your admin area.

You can control whether the rules are case sensitive, and whether they apply everywhere or just on your front or back-end.

Screenshot of the option to add a text replacement rule showing Howdy replaced with Welcome Back
Even apply it to specific themes or plugins using the text domain option.

Using this feature, you can easily change the ‘Howdy’ message on the right-hand side of your admin bar, to something more to your taste.

Screenshot of the admin bar showing a custom Howdy message which say Welcome Back.
You can add as many separate rules as you like.

8. Change Your Color Scheme

If you’re dedicated to truly whitelabeling and personalizing your site, then changing the color scheme should definitely be on your to-do list.

Branda comes loaded with 8 color schemes for you to choose from.

Screenshot of the preset color schemes which come with Branda.
You can set the theme for each user individually or apply to all.

If your plan is to match your admin area to your brand, you can extensively edit the color schemes to your exact requirements.

Below is just a taste of how many options you have to create your own scheme.

You can color each element of your admin area separately, and tweak things such as hover and focus color.

Screenshot of the admin area using the theme Ocean.
This is ‘Ocean’, one of Branda’s preset color schemes.

WordPress Who?

Branda has so many options for customization and white labeling that you can put the same love and care into the back-end of your site as you do the front. No longer will you have to gaze upon the WordPress logo or endure every site you work on looking exactly the same from the back-end. With Branda, you can truly make each site your own.

If you’re eager to find out what else Branda can do, check out the documentation for a complete run down and visit our roadmap to see what else she’s got in store. Better yet, get Branda installed and experience the power of personalizing WordPress with Branda for yourself.

Remove or Improve – Is It Time to Get Rid of Your WordPress Admin Bar?

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Fed up with your WordPress admin bar getting in your way when viewing your site? Need a simple plugin to help you tweak it a little, or if your mind’s set on it, remove it completely? Read on for a roundup of the best.

Your admin bar may be full of useful options, but it can easily get to a point where it’s more of a nuisance than a help. When you’ve made changes to your site, you might want to go straight to the frontend and admire your new masterpiece without the top 32px being taken up by your admin bar.

While plugins are the answers to most WordPress questions, you can check out this tutorial if you’d rather go down the code route to remove or customize your admin bar.

You can also remove your admin bar within the WordPress settings by going to Users > Toolbar.

Screenshot from wordpress of the remove toolbar button.
Untick the box to remove the toolbar from your frontend.

Just bear in mind that this will only remove the bar from your own account. If you want to have control over the access for all user accounts, you’re better off sticking with a plugin.

In this article, I’ll show you a bunch of great plugins that will let you reposition your admin bar, change the links, take away some of its opacity, or if you’ll never make friends, remove it completely.

 

Option 1 – Personalize Your Admin Bar

  • Branda

    We can’t talk about anything to do with WordPress admin and not include our very own Branda. When it comes to the admin toolbar, she certainly has a few tricks up her sleeve.

    You can hide the admin bar from different user roles, and even choose to display certain elements of it to guests. You also have the option to hide specific elements from the admin bar, as well as add new ones.

    Screenshot of Branda's custom menu item options.
    Branda always has to take it one step further…

    There are tons of icons for you to choose from, and you can even enter custom URLs. This means that you can pack your admin bar full of useful links to streamline and speed up your admin duties.

    Using Branda, you can also change your admin bar logo as well as add your own custom CSS to tailor it exactly to your needs.

  • AG Custom Admin

    Now this little plugin is pretty powerful – there isn’t much it can’t do to your WordPress admin.

    In regards to your admin bar, you can remove elements such as the logo (which you can change if you’d prefer), the pending updates notification, your site name and the +New block. You can really make your admin bar as minimalist as you’d like, and even go as far as hiding it completely. The ‘howdy’ text as well as the logo link can also be changed.

    Whilst most of the customization options are purely practical, you can also change the colors across your entire admin dashboard and bar, as well as add custom CSS and JS if you fancy a few extra tweaks.

  • Toolbar Extras

    Toolbar Extras is packed full of, ahem, extras, to help your WordPress admin bar make your life easier. If you’re one of the 5 million + people who still rely on Elementor to build beautiful websites, then this little plugin will give you super-quick access to a bunch of useful tools, right from your admin bar.

    Screenshot of the menu in toolbar extras.

    There are extra options for customization such as the ability to customize the labels and icons, as well as change the welcome message in the top-right corner.

    Screenshot of the custom greeting menu.
    You can personalize the message to include the user’s name or display name.

    If you’re not an Elementor user, you can link this plugin with the default block editor, although you’ll be presented with fewer options.

  • Admin Page Spider

    It isn’t often that you stumble across a plugin that feels so normal and that you can’t believe it’s not actually part of WordPress itself.

    Admin Page Spider falls into this category. Such a simple change to the admin bar allows you to quickly access posts and pages to edit with just one click.

    You can select it to display either pages, posts, or both.

    This is all you can really do with the free version (you can upgrade to Pro for a ton more features) but it adds such a good boost of practicality to your admin bar, that you’ll never look back.

    Interested in Admin Page Spider?

  • Admin Bar Position

    Ever thought that your frontend would look so much better with the admin bar at the bottom?

    Make your dreams a reality with this tidy little plugin. All you have to do is install and activate and your admin bar will move straight to its new home at the bottom of your screen – it’s that simple!

    Interested in Admin Bar Position?

Option 2 – Hide Your Admin Bar

  • Auto Hide Admin Bar

    Often the simple plugins are the best – the ones where you can just install, activate, and voila…extra WP functionality!

    Auto Hide Admin Bar is one of these plugins – all you have to do is activate it and your admin bar will be neatly tucked away when viewing the frontend of your website. Just hover at the top of your page and it will reappear like magic.

    Interested in Auto Hide Admin Bar?

  • Remove Admin Bar

    Sometimes, a simple tweak is all you need. This plugin does literally what it says on the tin; once you activate it, your admin toolbar will no longer ruin the masterpiece of your site when visiting as a logged-in user.

    There are a fair few plugins in the WP repo which do the same thing, so feel free to take your pick. I’m including Remove Admin Bar in this list because I’ve tested it myself and can confirm it works like a charm!

  • Admin Bar & Dashboard Access Control

    If you don’t want to completely scrap the admin toolbar from the frontend view, you can display it based on the user’s role.

    Whilst this is actually super simple to do with a couple of lines of code, we understand that some users choose not to make edits to code which is completely fine (and why plugins exist!).

    Install this plugin if you want to have more control over who sees the admin bar.

    Interested in Admin Bar & Dashboard Access Control?

  • Admin Bar Disabler

    If you’re set on hiding your admin bar but need a plugin for this which is compatible with multisite, look no further than Admin Bar Disabler.

    It offers per-site and per-network options, as well as allowing you to set permissions based on user roles.

    Interested in Admin Bar Disabler?

  • Better Admin Bar

    Better Admin Bar is a very practical plugin that helps you have control over exactly how much your admin bar interferes with the rest of your screen.

    If you want to remove the bar completely, you can do just that. If you’d prefer to lower the opacity of the bar, only show it to admins, or only show it on hover, just take your pick.

Remove or Improve?

So you’ve seen both options: customize your admin bar and turn it into something useful and practical, or wave goodbye to it – now the choice is yours.

If reading this has inspired you to go in for a complete WordPress admin overhaul, you should probably check out Branda’s other features. She’s the original whitelabeling goddess and will help you completely transform your admin area.

 

How to Create a Powerful and Secure Customized Firewall with Defender

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Hackers can be persistent at trying to get into your site and drop malicious code, figuring out your credentials, and leaving spam. Thankfully, with WPMU DEV’s 5-star security plugin, Defender, you can set up a firewall, block IP addresses with customized lists, and more…leaving troublemakers unable to take even the first step into your WordPress site.

This tutorial will demonstrate how easy it is to set up Defender’s IP banning and keep your WordPress site safe.

Here are 8 areas we’ll be covering (jump to a specific topic by clicking on it):

  1. Automatically Identify Bad Acting IP Addresses
  2. Creating a Custom Blocklist & Allowlist
  3. Active Lockout Displays
  4. Unlocking IP Addresses
  5. Location Banning
  6. Creating Custom Message for Banned Users
  7. Importing and Exporting Custom Blocklist & Allowlist
  8. Check Your Lockout Log for Suspicious Activity

Most areas of this tutorial are accessible in Defender under the Firewall and IP Banning section unless specified differently.

Let’s get started with the best and most powerful feature of Defender’s firewall…

1. Automatically Identify Bad Acting IP Addresses

Defender automatically identifies bad acting IP addresses and adds them to a firewall, providing your site with ongoing security and protection.

You can lock out users who attempt a number of failed login attempts. Defender gives you control over the threshold and duration of the lockout in the Login Protection screen (Defender > Firewall > Login Protection).

Defender Login Protection screen.
Defender lets you set how many failed login attempts will trigger a lockout for a user’s IP address.

You can view how many IP addresses have been temporarily blocked in the Active Lockouts section of the IP Banning screen (Defender > Firewall > IP Banning > Active Lockouts). You can also unblock IP addresses here.

Defender Active Lockouts
View and release temporarily blocked IP addresses in the Active Lockouts section.

You can also enable 404 detection (Defender > Firewall > 404 Detection), and Defender will automatically block IP addresses that repeatedly request pages on your website that don’t exist. It will also temporarily block these offending IP addresses from accessing your site.

Defender 404 Detection
Defender’s 404 detection blocks IP addresses that repeatedly request pages on your site that don’t exist.

Tip: You can use the 404 detection feature in combination with Defender’s login masking feature to immediately identify and block IP addresses requesting your site’s login page.

In addition to Defender’s automatic IP blocking features, you can also block IPs manually, as the next section explains.

2. Creating a Custom Blocklist & Allowlist

Creating a custom blocklist & allowlist with Defender will keep unwanted IPs from accessing your site.

It’s done by easily entering any IP addresses. This includes admins, too.

The first area is for your Blocklist.

The area to enter your blocklisted IPs.
The area to enter your blocklisted IPs.

You can type out any IPs you want to be blocked, and they’ll no longer be able to access your site.

When you scroll down a bit further, you’ll have the option to add IP addresses to your Allowlist.

The Allowlist area.
The Allowlist area.

It’s the same as the blocklist, where you just enter the IP addresses that you’d like to always have access to your WordPress site.

IPv4 and IPv6 are both supported for the blocklist and allowlist.

Note: We recommend adding your own IP to avoid getting locked out by accident. Your current IP address will be shown below the allowlist and you can easily copy and paste it in.

When you have all the information added to the blocklist and allowlist, there’s a Save Changes button at the bottom of the screen that will save everything.

Unwanted IPs are no longer going to be stopping by your WordPress site.

3.Active Lockout Displays

You can easily view any IP addresses that are blocked from accessing your site based on your rules.

Active lockouts screen.
Active lockouts screen.

Once you start having lockouts, they’ll all be compiled here. You can see how many IP addresses are currently blocked.

And if you need to unblock any IPs, there’s…

4. Unlocking IP Addresses

Sometimes an IP is blocked or banned and you need to unblock it for many reasons.

Defender makes it simple to release any IP addresses from the Active Lockout area by hitting the Unlock IPS button.

Unlock IPs area.
You can see there are 30 IP addresses currently blocked here.

This will reveal all of the blocked IP addresses and it’s one-click to unblock them by clicking Unblock.

Where you’ll unblock an IP address.
Where you’ll unblock an IP address.

There’s no need to hit anything further after this. It will unblock the IP and you’re all set.

You can also search for specific IPs in the search area if you’re having difficulty locating them on the list.

5. Location Banning

Along with IP addresses, you can also ban entire countries with Defender. This feature is handy when you don’t want or expect traffic from specific locations and want to put a stop to hackers and bots visiting from certain areas.

All of this can be achieved in the Locations section.

Defender works with a company called MaxMind, so it can have access to the GeoLite2 Database. It’s free to set up an account and will ask you to do so when first setting up location banning.

The Locations area. When you get started with Defender, it asks you to set up an account with MaxMind.
The Locations area. When you get started with Defender, it asks you to set up an account with MaxMind.

There are prompts for a free account. From there, they’ll email you steps to set up a password. Once you login in, you click the link for a new license key in Defender’s dashboard.

Create a new license key in MaxMind and then it will be ready to copy and paste into Defender.

Where a new key is produced.
Where a new key is produced.

Once your new license key is pasted, you’ll be all set once you hit the Download button. It may take a few minutes for the key to register, so keep that in mind.

Now you have the option to Blocklist & Allowlist any country.

There is a drop-down menu that displays them. Once you start typing, it will populate any corresponding countries that start with that letter.

The drop-down menu of countries. Select as many as you’d like to blocklist or allowlist.
The drop-down menu of countries. Select as many as you’d like to blocklist or allowlist.

They’ll all appear in the box below your choice of blocklist or allowlist. You can also take them off the list by clicking on the ‘X’ next to the country’s name.

Blocklist of countries.
List of the countries added so far.

When completed, it’s all saved by hitting the Save Changes button.

6. Creating Custom Messages for Banned Users

Give any locked out hacker a customized message from Defender himself. All of this can be done in the Message area.

You have the ability to add a customized message in this space.

Customized blocklist message.
Where you’ll type in a customized message.

And after that, anyone that is on the blocklist will be greeted by Defender.

A message from Defender.
Defender is here to tell them what’s happening.

After clicking the Save Changes button, the message will be functioning and unwelcome guests will know why they’re IP isn’t making the cut.

7. Importing and Exporting Blocklist & Allowlist

If you have a blocklist or allowlist from another website and want to import them, it’s quick and easy to do. Likewise, you can export your list that you have for blocklist and allowlist to use on another website.

All of this is under Import and Export in Defender.

Where you can import and export blocklist and allowlist.
Where you can import and export blocklist and allowlist.

There’s an Import button to import and Export button to export a list.

Importing will not remove existing IPs. Also, when you export, it will include the blocklist and allowlist.

8. Check Your Lockout Log for Suspicious Activity

You can view all of your lockouts and quickly ban, allowlist, or delete the list in just a couple of clicks. Plus, you can easily download your activity logs of IP lockouts.

This, unlike the previous sections, is located in Firewall and Logs on Defender’s dashboard.

Where you can view all of your lockout activity.
Where you can view all of your lockout activity.

Once here, you can sort logs by the latest, oldest, or IP address. You can also export them as a CSV and adjust the date range.

Where you can sort the logs.
Where you can sort the logs.

Also, take care of the issues in one-click with Bulk Update. You can ban, allowlist, or delete just by checking the boxes individually or by the dropdown to take care of them all.

Take care of things in bulk with the bulk update.
Take care of things in bulk with the bulk update.

You can also get more detailed information by clicking on the arrow dropdown next to the issue. There, you’ll also have an option to allowlist or blocklist.

And just like that, all of your lockouts are now taken care of.

Setting Up a Lockout Firewall Can’t Get Any Easier

Unwanted guests won’t get far with Defender’s custom IP address lockout.

And it’s more than just customized IP address lockout — there’s custom messages, location banning, logs, and much more with Defender.

To learn more tips on using Defender, check out our article about finding & deleting suspicious code and all about how to stop hackers in their tracks.

For more information, check out Defender’s documentation page.

How to Organize WordPress Files in Media Library Folders

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Do you want to organize WordPress files in the media library folders?

By default, WordPress automatically creates folders in the media library based on year and months. However, some users may want to create their own custom folders for different media files.

In this article, we’ll show you how to easily organize WordPress files in custom media library folders.

Organizing your media library folders in WordPress

Why Organize Your Files in Media Library Folders?

Normally, WordPress stores all your images and other media files in the /wp-content/uploads/ folder. To keep it structured, all files are stored in folders organized by year and month.

https://example.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/

This works perfectly for most websites. However, some users may want to get better control on how WordPress stores media files.

For instance, a photography website may want to organize WordPress images by topic, location, or event folders. Similarly, a portfolio website may want to organize their media uploads by type, client, industry, and more.

This allows them to easily browse their media files. At the same time, it improves image SEO, as you can now add keywords in your image file URLs which makes URLs more meaningful.

Having said that, let’s take a look at how to easily create folders to organize your WordPress media files.

How to Organize Your WordPress Files in Media Library Folders

First, you need to install and activate the Media Library Folders plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Note: The free version of the plugin only lets you create up to 10 folders. You will need to upgrade to the pro version if you want to make more.

Upon activation, the plugin will add a new menu item labeled ‘Media Library Folders’ in your WordPress admin sidebar. Clicking on it will open plugin’s folder view showing all the folders inside your WordPress upload directory.

The Media Library Folders page within your WordPress dashboard

From here, you can create new folders and add files to them. You can also move, copy, rename, or delete your files.

We’re going to create some new folders and add images to them.

To create a new folder, simply click the ‘Add Folder’ button and then type in the name you want to use for that folder.

Tip: You cannot use spaces in folder names. Instead, use hyphen or underscore to separate words if needed.

Adding a new folder using the Media Library Folders plugin

It’s also possible to make subfolders within folders, if needed. To create subfolders, simply click on the parent folder to select it, and then click on the ‘Add Folder’ button.

Adding a subfolder using Media Library Folders

We created two subfolders for our ‘Landscape-Photos’ folder. They are ‘Forests’ and ‘Mountains’. To view a subfolder, you need to click on the small arrow to the left of the main folder:

Click the small arrow to expand a folder to see the subfolders

To add files to your folders, simply click on the folder then click the ‘Add File’ button. After that, go ahead and upload as many files as you want.

Uploading files using the Media Library Folders plugin

Once you’re done uploading files, you’ll see them on the screen as thumbnails with the filename below:

The uploaded images showing in the Forests folder

It’s easy to add your uploaded files to your posts or pages. You can add them just like any other files that you’ve uploaded to the media library:

Viewing the uploaded images in the Windows Media Library

Moving and Copying Your Files in Media Library Folders

What if you need to move a file to a different WordPress media library folder? It’s easy to move it or copy it using Media Library Folders.

Moving an Image to a New Folder in the Media Library

To move an image or any other file, simply check that the move/copy toggle is set to ‘Move’ and then drag the image to the correct folder.

Tip: Your mouse pointer should be on the new folder, as shown below. The small thumbnail of the image is just showing you what you’re moving, not where you’re moving it to.

In this example, a mountain image was incorrectly placed in the Forests folder. We are moving it to the Mountains folder.

Moving an image into the Mountains folder

Copying an Image to a Different Folder in the Media Library

To copy an image, set the move/copy toggle to ‘Copy’, then go ahead and drag the image as before. Here, we are copying an image of a bird and flower, so that it’s in both the ‘Bird-Photos’ and the ‘Flower-Photos’ folders.

Copying a photo so that you have it in two folders

This time, your original image will stay in place. Your image will be duplicated so that it can be present in both folders.

Renaming Files and Folders in Media Library Folders

You can easily change the filename with the Media Library Folders plugin. First, find the file you want to change and click the checkbox below it. Next, click the ‘Rename’ button at the top of the screen.

After that, type in the filename you want to use. Image filenames can have a small impact on your WordPress SEO, so it’s recommended to use keywords within them. Here, we’ve changed the file name for a post on inspiring forest images:

Changing the file name of an image using the Media Library Folders plugin

You cannot rename or move a folder in Media Library Folders. However, it’s possible to create a new folder, move all the images into it, then delete the old folder.

To delete a folder, right click on it, and then click ‘Delete this folder?’ button. Here, we’ve moved the forest images into a new folder called Woodlands, and we’re deleting the Forests folder:

Deleting a folder using the Media Library Folders plugin

You’ll then see a message prompting you to confirm. Click ‘OK’ to continue and the folder will be deleted. You’ll no longer see it in the list:

The Forest folder has now been deleted

Tip: You may see the message ‘This folder is not empty and could not be deleted’ even though the folder looks empty. Simply click the ‘Sync’ button. WordPress may have created additional versions of your images that need deleting. After syncing, you’ll be able to review and delete those images.

Click the Sync button to check for other files in the folder

We hope this article helped you learn how to organize WordPress files in media library folders. You might also want to check out our articles on fixing common image issues in WordPress and other must have WordPress plugins for business websites.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Organize WordPress Files in Media Library Folders appeared first on WPBeginner.

4 Tips on Building an Effective Intranet Website Using WordPress

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Communication is the glue that keeps teams and organizations together. When communication is done correctly, team members can work seamlessly with each other, and the organization as a whole can grow exponentially. More and more businesses are now setting up their own intranet website to allow team members to share information and documents, communicate with […]

The post 4 Tips on Building an Effective Intranet Website Using WordPress appeared first on WPArena.

Web File Management Comes to WPMU DEV Hosting

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We ran our 2020 survey. We asked you what you’d like. You told us, among other things, a web based file manager for your managed WordPress hosting. So, here you go.

Basically you were looking for the ability to simply upload and edit files in your hosting account using a file manager interface instead of SFTP. We get that. It’s a pain having to set up a client etc. and so we put this one in the ‘do it now’ queue.

And now it’s ready for you.

How Do I Access File Manager?

To access File Manager, your site(s) must be hosted with WPMU DEV.

After that, it gets all too easy!

First, log into your account, go to The Hub, and click on the main Hosting menu.

The Hub - Hosting
Access your hosting inside The Hub.

Next, select your site and click on either the hosting menu link or hosting panel to access the tools and settings for your domain.

Select your site
Select your site and click on hosting.

Scroll down to the bottom of your screen and click on Manage Files.

Manage Files
Click on Manage Files.

And voila…File Manager!

File Manager
File Manager interface.

Note: File manager is available for both production (live) and staging sites.

The Hub - Staging site - File Manager
You can also manage your files in staging sites.

For more details on how to upload, edit, and delete your files using File Manager, see our documentation.

Manage More Than Just Files…

File Manager is just one of the many time-saving tools and profit-increasing services we make available to WPMU DEV members.

We’ve also recently added other features to our managed WordPress hosting service that our members requested, like email, DNS manager, cloning templates, WAF, and more!

So, stay tuned and watch this space for more exciting announcements coming soon!

How to Edit a WordPress Homepage (Easily & Effectively)

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Do you want to create a custom homepage for your WordPress site?

By default, the WordPress homepage displays your blog posts, but you can edit it to show something different. For example, your homepage could be a landing page that highlights your products and services.

In this article, we’ll show you how to easily edit and customize your WordPress homepage.

How to Edit a WordPress Homepage (Easily & Effectively)

What Is the WordPress Homepage?

Your homepage is the ‘front page’ of your WordPress website. It’s the first page that shows up when a user visits your domain name.

For instance, if you type in www.wpbeginner.com into your browser, the page you land on is our website’s homepage, where you can see our latest blog posts:

The WPBeginner Homepage

Why Edit the WordPress Homepage?

If you’ve decided to create a blog, then it makes perfect sense to just show your blog posts on the homepage.

But what if you’re using WordPress to build a small business website or even to run an online store? In those cases, you may prefer to highlight your products or promotions on your homepage.

Here’s a business website homepage example from OptinMonster, the best WordPress popup plugin out there. Their site has a great blog, but that isn’t the focus of their homepage. Instead, they’ve got a really clear call to action.

The OptinMonster Homepage

Perhaps you’ve already tried to set a custom page as the homepage in WordPress, but you’re struggling to make it look right.

If that’s the case, then you’re in the right place.

We’re going to take you step by step through setting up a homepage and customizing it to match your needs. That way, you can make a great first impression and encourage your visitors to take the actions that are most important to your site’s mission.

That might mean buying a digital product from you, signing up to join your membership site, or donating to your fundraising campaign.

We’re going to cover a few different methods that you can use to create your custom WordPress homepage.

You can use these quick links to jump straight to the different parts of the tutorial:

Editing Your Homepage With the Theme Customizer

Some of the best WordPress themes will create a homepage design for you, and provide options so you can easily edit it.

You can find these options by visiting Appearance » Customize on the admin sidebar. This will launch the WordPress theme customizer with a live preview of your theme.

Using WordPress's Theme Customizer

The Theme Customizer will have different options for different themes. Your preview and the available options may look different depending on the theme you are using. We’re using the free Hestia theme in this example.

To edit any part of the homepage, simply click the blue pencil icon next to it. Here, we’re editing the image, text, and button at the top of the homepage.

Editing the Top Section of the Homepage in Hestia

Note: As soon as you make edits, they’ll be shown in the preview of your site. Those changes won’t be live on your site until you publish them.

If you want to remove a section from the homepage, then you just need to click the blue eye icon in the top left corner of that section.

Remove a Section of the Default Hestia Homepage

You can also remove sections and add them back in using the ‘Frontpage Sections’ tab.

Once you’re happy with your homepage, you need to click the ‘Publish’ button to make it live.

Click the Publish Button to Make Your Homepage Live

Here’s how our homepage looks, live on the website:

The Finished Homepage Live on the Website

Using your theme’s built-in options is the quickest way to set up your homepage. However, some themes may not have many options, or you may not be satisfied with how your homepage looks.

Don’t worry, there are plenty of other ways for you to edit your homepage and give it the look you want.

Editing Your Homepage With the Block Editor

The WordPress block editor is a simple way to create a custom homepage, although it’s limited by your theme’s design.

To use the block editor, simply go to the Pages » All Pages screen and edit the ‘Home’ page that you created earlier.

Editing the 'Home' Page With the Block Editor

Now you can start creating the content for your page.

In this part of the tutorial, we’ll be using a few simple blocks to create a basic homepage.

First, we’ll add a welcome message to the page. You can do this by simply clicking on the page to start typing. WordPress will automatically create a paragraph block for you.

Adding Text in the Block Editor

If you want to make the text larger, then it’s easy to do that in the block settings on the right hand side. Just click on one of the preset sizes, or you can click on the ‘Set custom size’ icon and type any size you like.

You can also change the color of your text, using the ‘Color’ options for the text or background.

Changing the Text Size in the Block Editor

Next, we’ll add an image to the page. You can do this by clicking the (+) symbol and then selecting the Image block.

You’ll find it in the Media section, or you can search for it using the search bar.

Adding an Image Block to Your Homepage

You can pick an image from your media library or upload a new one.

Next, we’ve added another paragraph block, with the text ‘Check out our latest posts here’.

We’ve then added a ‘Latest Posts’ block, which we’ve set to show the post excerpt and featured images, as well as the post titles. You can find out more about the Latest Posts block in our tutorial on displaying recent posts in WordPress.

Adding a List of Your Latest Posts to the Homepage

You can add as many blocks as you want to your homepage. You may also want to use a ‘full width’ or ‘no sidebars’ template for your page if your theme has one.

For example, when using the Astra theme, you can customize the layout of the page from the Astra Settings pane. Other themes may provide a section in the Document settings pane.

Removing the Sidebar From the Homepage

Once you’re happy with your homepage, you should click the ‘Update’ or ‘Publish’ button on the top right of the screen to push your changes live.

Here’s how our finished homepage looks:

Homepage Created With the Block Editor Live on the Site

What if you want to go further with your homepage? One option is to try some of these best block plugins for WordPress to add new functionality, such as a contact form, testimonials, reviews, and more.

Another great option is to use a more powerful theme builder or page builder for WordPress to create something that looks gorgeous and professional.

In the next parts of this tutorial, we’ll cover SeedProd, a theme builder, and Divi by Elegant Themes, a page builder.

Editing Your Homepage With a Theme Builder Plugin

The easiest way to edit your homepage is by using SeedProd. It’s the best WordPress theme builder plugin and can create beautiful website layouts and custom templates without writing any code.

You can use SeedProd to create a fully custom WordPress theme, including a custom homepage template.

Note: There is a free version of SeedProd, but you will need the Pro version to access the theme builder and edit the homepage template.

First, you need to install and activate the SeedProd plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to enter your license key. You can find this information under your account on the SeedProd website.

SeedProd license key

After that, you can use SeedProd to easily create a WordPress theme, including a completely custom homepage from scratch.

Creating a Custom WordPress Theme

You can create a new theme in SeedProd by navigating to the SeedProd » Theme Builder page. Here, you’ll use one of SeedProd’s ready-made themes as a starting point. This will replace your existing WordPress theme with a new, custom design.

You can do that by clicking the ‘Themes’ button.

Create your custom theme

You will be shown a list of professionally designed themes that are designed for different types of websites. For example, there are templates called ‘Modern Business’, ‘Marketing Agency’, and ‘Mortgage Broker Theme’.

Take a look through the options and select one that best matches your needs by clicking the checkmark icon. For this tutorial, we’ll choose the ‘Digital Strategy’ theme.

Select a Theme That Matches Your Needs

Once you have chosen a theme, SeedProd will generate all the theme templates you need. It will include a template for your static homepage, as well as one for your blog’s index page.

Editing the Homepage Template

SeedProd makes it easy to edit any of these templates using a drag and drop page builder.

Simply click the ‘Edit Design’ link found under the ‘Homepage’ template. This will open the template in SeedProd’s visual editor.

Click the 'Edit Design' Link Under the Homepage Template

This simple drag and drop builder will show a live preview of your page to the right and a toolbar on the left. You can add new blocks by dragging them onto the page, rearrange them by dragging them up and down with your mouse, and customize any block by clicking on it.

Notice that the template has already provided an attractive layout and added plenty of relevant content on the page. Now you just have to edit it to suit the purpose of your website.

When you hover your mouse over a block, a toolbar will appear.

The SeedProd Visual Editor

If you click on the block, then you can adjust its settings in the left pane.

For example, when you click on the headline, you can edit the text, change the alignment, alter the font size, and more.

SeedProd Settings for the 'Headline' Block

When you change a setting, you can immediately see it in the preview on the right.

For example, we’ll change the text to ‘All About WordPress’.

When You Edit a Block's Text, It Is Immediately Updated in the Preview

Once you’ve done this, you can click the ‘Blocks’ icon near the top of the settings page. This will return you to the Blocks view.

Next, we’ll edit the button text. You can click on the button labeled ‘What we do’ and edit the text to say ‘See the courses’.

Change the Button Text

Now we’ll scroll down our homepage until we come to the list of bullet points about the products and services you offer.

You can edit these in the same way, by clicking on a block and editing the text.

Edit List of Benefits

Your homepage should now look something like the screenshot below.

If you need to add more detail, then you can add another row of bullet points by clicking the blue ‘+’ icon at the bottom.

Add a Row by Clicking the + Icon at the Bottom

The SeedProd template may have included more sections than you can use. You can easily delete any blocks or sections you don’t need by simply clicking the trash icon.

For example, you can hover your mouse over the ‘Trusted By’ section of the homepage. Once the toolbar appears, you can click on the Trash icon to delete that section.

Delete a Block or Section by Clicking the Trash Icon

Near the bottom of the homepage there is a FAQ section. This was created using an Accordion block, which makes it simple to customize the questions and answers you want to include on your homepage.

When you click on the block, you are able to edit the text for each question and answer.

Editing the FAQ Section

Once you have finished customizing your homepage, make sure you click the ‘Save’ button at the top of the screen. Then you can return to the list of templates by clicking the ‘X’ icon.

As you can see, SeedProd’s templates, drag and drop interface, and useful blocks make it ideal for editing your website’s homepage. For even more ideas, take a look at our guide on how to create a landing page with WordPress.

Editing the Blog Index Template

You can edit your blog index template in a similar way. You can learn how to do this by visiting our guide on how to create a separate page for blog posts in WordPress.

Using Method 2, you should scroll down to the section on customizing your blog page. Here you’ll learn how to add new blocks using drag and drop, and how to change the settings for each block on the page.

SeedProd's Post Block Settings

We’ll show you how to edit the Posts block to list your posts in multiple columns and display or hide the featured image for your posts.

There are settings for how many posts to display, and whether to show a post excerpt. You can also filter the index by post type, category, tag, or author, and change the sort order.

Enabling the SeedProd Theme

Once you have finished customizing the theme templates, you will need to publish the new custom theme. Simply toggle the ‘Enable SeedProd Theme’ setting to the ‘YES’ position.

Enable the SeedProd Theme

If you haven’t already changed your WordPress Home and Blog page settings, then you’ll see a notification message. When you click the ‘OK’ button these settings will be changed for you.

You can now visit your website to view your new home page.

SeedProd Home Page Preview

Editing Your Homepage With a Page Builder Plugin

Divi is a popular WordPress page builder plugin. It comes with a WordPress theme and a page builder plugin with dozens of gorgeous templates.

You can use the Divi page builder with any theme. For this tutorial, we’re going to use it with the Divi theme.

First, you’ll need to download, install, and activate the Divi theme from Elegant Themes. This includes the Divi builder, so you don’t need to install it separately. You will need to enter your username and API key under Divi » Theme Options » Updates in order to access the layout packs.

If you need help installing the theme, then take a look at our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress theme.

Once you’ve got the Divi theme and page builder up and running, you can set up your homepage. First, go to the Pages menu in your WordPress dashboard and then edit the homepage we created earlier.

Before you start editing your homepage, it’s a good idea to switch to the ‘Blank Page’ template under the ‘Template’ panel on the right. That way, your homepage won’t have a sidebar, title, menu, or any other default elements.

Selecting the Blank Page Template in the Divi Theme

Next, you can click the ‘Use The Divi Builder’ button at the top of the screen.

Now, you’ll need to click the ‘Edit With The Divi Builder’ button in the center of the screen.

Click the Use Divi Builder Button in the Center of the Screen

You should now see the Divi Welcome Screen. It includes a video tutorial on how to use Divi, a brief description of how to get started, and buttons to either start building your page or take a tour of Divi’s features.

We’ll click the ‘Start Building’ button at the bottom of the page.

Divi Welcome Screen

Next, you’ll see a range of options you can use to create your page. We suggest using a premade layout as the basis for your homepage. This makes it really quick and easy to get your homepage set up.

Choose the Browse Layouts Option in Divi

Divi has an impressive range of different layouts to choose from. There are hundreds of different layout packs, and each of these has several different page layouts including homepages.

You can search through these by typing in a search term, or you can check the boxes to view only layouts that fit certain categories.

Just a Few of the Layout Packs Available in Divi

We’re going to use the ‘Travel Blog’ layout pack to create our homepage.

First, click on the pack that you want to use:

The Travel Blog Layout Pack in Divi

Next, you’ll see a description of the layout pack, plus the different page layouts that are available. You’ll probably want to use the ‘Home’ page or ‘Landing’ page for your homepage. We’re going to pick the ‘Home’ option.

Once you’ve chosen your layout, click the ‘Use This Layout’ button at the bottom of the page.

Choose the Layout You Want to Use in Divi

Divi will automatically import the layout for you. You’ll then see it live on your page, exactly as it’ll appear on your site. To edit any part of it, simply click on it.

Divi uses a system of rows (split into columns) and modules to create your page. With text modules, you can click on the text and type in whatever you want straight onto the screen.

Here, we’ve changed the header and the text below it:

Editing the Header Text Using Divi

With other modules, you can bring your mouse cursor over them and click the ‘Module Settings’ icon to edit them.

Here, we’re editing one of the number counters:

Changing the Settings for a Module in the Divi Builder

You can delete modules and rows in the same way, using the trash can icon.

You’ll likely want to use your own images on your homepage. You can change these by editing the module settings.

Note that the image at the top is set as the Background for a Fullwidth Header Module, so you’ll need to change it under Content » Background for that module:

Editing the Background Image of the Fullwidth Header Module

Once you’re happy with the changes you’ve made to your page, you can click ‘Save’ at the bottom of the screen.

Click the Save Button in Divi

Sometimes the bottom row of buttons will be hidden.

If you can’t see them, then you’ll need to click the purple “…” button to open them up.

Click the Icon With Three Dots to Show the Save Button

Here’s how our page looks live on the website:

The Finished Divi Homepage

Setting Your Homepage in WordPress

By default, WordPress displays your blog posts on the homepage.

That means that after creating and customizing your homepage, you’ll need to tell your WordPress site to display that page when someone visits your domain.

Let’s take a look at how to set a separate homepage and blog page in WordPress.

Pro Tip: Do you already have visitors to your site? Then you might want to put your site into maintenance mode while you’re setting up your homepage. Alternatively, you could set up a staging site where you can create your homepage before publishing it live.

First, simply go to Pages » Add New and name your new page Blog. After that, you can go ahead and publish the blank page.

Creating a Blog Page

Once your homepage and blog page are ready, you need to tell WordPress to start using these pages.

You can do this by going to Settings » Reading page in your WordPress admin area. You need to select ‘A static page’ option under the ‘Your homepage displays’ section. After that, go ahead and select your home and blog pages.

Select Your Home Page and Blog Page

Don’t forget to click on the ‘Save Changes’ button to store your settings.

WordPress will automatically display your latest posts on the blog page. For more details, you can see our guide on how to create a separate blog page in WordPress.

That’s it! You’ve created a great looking homepage in WordPress and set it up successfully.

We hope this tutorial helped you learn how to edit a WordPress homepage. You might also want to take a look at our guide on the must have WordPress plugins and our tips on how to improve WordPress SEO.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Edit a WordPress Homepage (Easily & Effectively) first appeared on WPBeginner.

How To Ace Google’s Image Page Speed Recommendations With Smush

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Smush has everything you need to optimize your images, as well as a handy repertoire of tools ready to help you smash PageSpeed Insights image-related recommendations.

It’s a simple way to speed up your site, without sacrificing your image quality.

With Smush you can:

  • Compress images in bulk and with one click
  • Automatically resize and rescale your images
  • Enable lazy loading so your server can concentrate on displaying content above the fold
  • Convert your image files to formats that are drastically smaller and much quicker to display.

Over a million installs and more than 50 billion images smushed.

There are four main recommendations when it comes to images, and Smush can answer all of them.

“I had no idea that my page load time was being dragged down by the images. The plugin nearly halved the time it took.” – karlcw

This guide will show you how Smush can help you get your PageSpeed Insights score into the green.

Defer Offscreen Images

You don‘t want to be wasting server resources and sacrificing page speed to load images that are halfway down your page, so deferring offscreen images makes sense for many sites.

When you install Smush, Lazy Load is one of the first features you should check out. Simply enabling it can fix the ‘defer offscreen images’ PageSpeed recommendation.

Smush’s Lazy Load feature comes with more than just an on and off button.

You can choose which image formats you want to include.

Screenshot of the media types, whocing jpeg, png, gif, svg and iframe which can all be excluded.
Maybe you want your JPEGs to Lazy Load, but not your PNGs?

As well as any post types you want to exclude.

Screenshot of the different pages you can exclude from lazy load including the front page, blog and posts.
There’s also the option to add the URL of any specific pages.

Lazy Loading is something that can easily be undone so turn it on, check your new PageSpeed Insights score, and most importantly, check the impact it has on your site.

Efficiently Encode Images

If you want a full and comprehensive guide to optimizing your images, I would recommend checking out this blog, as here, we’re purely focusing on how Smush can help you meet PageSpeed Insights audit requirements. In this section, specifically the ‘efficiently encode images’ recommendation.

Smushing your images prevents your server being clogged up with extra MBs that don’t need to be there.

You can Smush in a variety of ways, with virtually no difference in quality.

Smush on Upload

Automatic compression is on by default and is used to efficiently encode images. It’s a high impact, low-risk feature, which should be used on most sites.

Screenshot of automatic compression showing it enabled and ready to automatically compress images on upload.
You can select whether you want it to apply to all images, or exclude certain sizes.

If you don’t want Smush to automatically compress your photos, there are a few other ways you can manage this:

Bulk Smush

You can use the Bulk Smush feature to scan your site for photos which are in need of attention and smush them all at once.

 

Screenshot of bulk smush showing that there are three images in need of smushing.
Click the button and let the plugin do all the work for you.

Smush Through the Media Library

You can also head to the media library to check whether you have images available for smushing.

Screenshot of an image of a moon in the media library ready to be smushed.
You can smush individually through the media library or select images to be ignored from autosmush.

Smush Other Directories

You’re not confined to just your media uploads – you can also smush non-WordPress images outside of your uploads directory.

Screenshot of the directory smush option showing the navigati9on to the wp-content folder to search for more images.
You can easily navigate through your folders to find the images you want to Smush.

Super Smush

Super Smush is your next port of call if you want to bring your file sizes down even further.

It offers 2X the smushing power compared to the standard method, so it’s handy if you have a lot of images that are soaking up valuable resources.

Even if ensuring your images were properly encoded wasn’t one of PageSpeed Insights audit opportunities, it still makes sense to get rid of any excess bloating, as long as there is no noticeable difference to your images.

Utilize the CDN

Smush also offers a blazing-fast 45 point CDN  (Pro version only) which allows you to serve your images in next-gen formats as well as ensuring they’re delivered to your browser at breakneck speed.

Make your Images Next Gen

Next-gen image formats such as WebP and JPEG 2000/XR can bring your file size down drastically.

Serving your images in one of these formats will save you server resources, as well as meet one of PageSpeed Insights requirements.

With Smush’s CDN enabled, you can serve your images in the next-gen WebP format.

As not all browsers support WebP images, Smush does a super-quick check of the browser, and if WebP images are supported, then great – that’s what’s served to your visitor. If not, Smush can simply serve up a PNG or JPEG to make sure that no one misses out.

Properly-sized Images

Forcing the browser to resize an image before it can be displayed to the user slows down your site and lowers your PageSpeed Insight score. Part of the recommendation is to refrain from serving images that are larger than the version that will be displayed on the visitor’s screen.

Screenshot of the automatic resizing feature showing it currently turned on.
With Smush’s CDN, this is one of the easiest PageSpeed Insight recommendations to solve.

If you want to ensure you’re being completely thorough in the correct sizing of your images, read this blog to find out a few alternative tricks.

Smash PageSpeed Insights with Smush

While many users struggle to improve their web site optimization, Smush lets you boost your page loading speeds by making images easier and faster to load…and it does this all in just a few clicks!

Follow the above recommendations and put Smush to work for your site today. Also, keep an eye on our roadmap for all the exciting new features coming soon to Smush.

How to Restart a WordPress Site – Reset WordPress (The Fast Way)

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Recently, one of our readers asked us, “How do I restart my WordPress site?”.

This isn’t something that most users will need to do, but knowing how to reset WordPress can be very helpful in some situations.

In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to restart or reset your WordPress site, the fast way.

Restarting a WordPress site

Why Restart a WordPress Site?

Restarting or resetting WordPress is a process where you restore WordPress to the default settings. Think of it as a similar process to restoring your phone to the default “factory settings”.

It will delete all your apps and customizations, so you can start over fresh.

There are several situations where you might want to restart or reset a WordPress site:

1. You’re using a demo site on your own computer. If you’ve installed WordPress on localhost, then you might want to reset after you’ve built a site and moved it from localhost to a live server. If you’re a developer and constantly test themes & plugins on your local install, then it can help to reset it every quarter to start fresh.

2. You’ve been working on a new site and want to start over. Maybe you’ve been busy creating a blog or website, but you are not happy with the customizations. Instead of undoing everything, you can simply reset WordPress and quickly start over with a new design.

3. You’re going to rework a client’s website. If they want something very different from what’s already there, then you might need to reset WordPress on staging server to start from scratch.

4. You’re learning about WordPress, hands-on. Maybe you’ve had a go at developing your own plugins or themes, or you’ve been experimenting with a starter theme. You might want to start again with a fresh installation of WordPress.

How to Restart and Reset a WordPress Site

Restarting your WordPress site might sound difficult, but it’s really not.

We’re going to walk you through the entire reset process, step by step.

Before you begin, it’s important to create a full backup of your site using a WordPress backup plugin. This is important in case you want to restore your site from the backup after restarting it.

Restart Your WordPress Site with WP Reset

Now you’re ready to move on and restart your WordPress site. We’re going to use the free version of the WP Reset plugin for this.

First, you’ll need to install and activate the WP Reset plugin. For more details, see our instructions on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Once the plugin is activated, you need to go to the Tools » WP Reset in your WordPress dashboard and scroll down to the Site Reset section of the page.

To reset your site, you need to type the word ‘reset’ in the confirmation field before clicking the red ‘Reset Site’ button.

The button in WP Reset to restart your WordPress site

WP Reset will pop up a message asking you to confirm that you want to reset the site. Click ‘Reset WordPress’ to continue.

Confirm that you want to reset your website

You’ll see a ‘Resetting in progress’ message for a few seconds. Then, your site will be restarted.

Next, you’ll see the homepage of your WordPress dashboard with a success message at the top from WP Reset.

WPReset's message confirming that you've successfully reset your WordPress site

That’s it. You’ve restarted your WordPress site.

Optional WP Reset Functions When Restarting Your Site

The above method gives you everything you need in order to restart your site.

However, there are some other options in WP Reset that you might want to use too.

Taking a Snapshot of Your WordPress Site Before Restarting

You can use WP Reset to take a snapshot of your site. A snapshot is a restore point for your WordPress database. It lets you see what changes have been made since the snapshot was taken. You can use it to roll back changes if necessary.

Important: A snapshot is not a WordPress backup. You should still make backups to restore your website.

To create the snapshot, click on the Snapshots tab. Then, scroll down and click the Create Snapshot button:

Creating a snapshot of your WordPress site before restarting it

You’ll be prompted to enter a name or description for the snapshot. Type in whatever you want to use, then click the ‘Create snapshot’ button.

Name the snapshot you're creating

Deleting Themes and Plugins Using WP Reset

By default, WP Reset doesn’t delete theme and plugin files. It simply deactivates them. However, you can use it to delete these files too.

First, you’ll need to go to Tools » WP Reset and click the ‘Tools’ tab. Once there, simply click on the ‘Delete Themes’ or ‘Delete Plugins’ links to jump straight to those tools.

Click the link to delete themes and/or plugins

Once you click either link, you’ll be scrolled down the page to the right tool:

Click the button to delete all themes from your WordPress site (including the active one)

You can click the ‘Delete all themes’ or ‘Delete plugins’ button to delete them.

Important: WP Reset doesn’t backup your files in any way. Deleting your themes and plugins can’t be undone.

After you click the button, you’ll be prompted to confirm. Click the Delete button on the popup to continue.

WP Reset will bring up a warning before allowing you to delete all themes

You’ll then see a message telling you how many themes or plugins have been deleted.

If you delete all themes, then you’ll need to install and activate a theme manually. Your site won’t work without one. If you go to Appearance » Themes, then you’ll see a screen like this:

The empty themes page with no themes installed

Go ahead and click the ‘Add New’ button and choose or upload a theme of your choice. If you need help, check out how to install a WordPress theme.

Restoring Your Data After Restarting Your WordPress Site

After restarting your WordPress site, any posts and pages you had will be gone. Instead, you’ll see the default pages and the ‘Hello, world’ post:

The 'Hello World' default post

To restore your old data, you will need to reinstall and activate the backup plugin that you used to create your backup.

You can then follow its instructions to restore your site from the backup.

Viewing Your Restored Content

Once you’ve restored your site from backup, your content should be back on your site.

You’ll find all your posts under Posts » All Posts. They’ll have the correct time stamps, categories, tags, and comments.

Viewing the imported postsv

We hope this tutorial helped you learn how to reset a WordPress site the fast way. You might also like our ultimate guide to speeding up WordPress and our list of must have WordPress plugins for all sites.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Restart a WordPress Site – Reset WordPress (The Fast Way) appeared first on WPBeginner.

How to Insert image in WordPress

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“Hearing and seeing something, which exists physically are two different things. When you hear about something then it is likely that you will begin to believe in it, but when you see that thing then it occurs to you that whatever you heard and believed in was accurate”. In WordPress, we see a number of […]

The post How to Insert image in WordPress appeared first on WPArena.

How to Fix Facebook Incorrect Thumbnail Issue in WordPress

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Have you noticed an incorrect post thumbnail when you share your articles on Facebook?

It’s a common error that beginners often complain about because knowing how to make the right thumbnail show up is not always clear.

In this article, we will show you how to fix the Facebook incorrect thumbnail issue in WordPress.

Fixing the Facebook incorrect thumbnail issue in WordPress

Why Facebook is Not Picking up The Thumbnail Image

There are many reasons why Facebook might not correctly display the feature image on your post.

One of the most common reasons is having multiple images set in the og:Image tag where your featured image is smaller than the other images.

Facebook uses Open Graph (og) tags, and many WordPress plugins like All in One SEO and Yoast SEO automatically adds them to your site to prevent the missing thumbnail issue.

Among other causes are caching plugins, CDN conflicts, or a missing open graph meta tag for the thumbnail image.

It’s really hard to guess what’s causing the issue because there are no specific error messages displayed when using the debugging tool.

That being said, let’s take a look at some ways to fix the incorrect Facebook thumbnail issue.

Choose Your Facebook Thumbnail with All in One SEO

One way to show the thumbnail you want is to use the All in One SEO. plugin. It is the best WordPress SEO plugin on the market and allows you to easily optimize your content for search engines and social media websites.

First, you need to install and activate All in One SEO. Here’s our full guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Next, you’ll need to enable the ability to add Facebook thumbnail images to each post.

Simply go to All in One SEO » Feature Manager and click the ‘Activate’ button in the ‘Social Meta’ box.

Social meta feature manager All In One SEO

After you do this, you’ll now have a new feature unlocked at the bottom of your post editor. Scroll to the bottom, and you’ll see the ‘Social Settings’ tab.

You need to click on that and upload any image you want to display as your Facebook thumbnail.

All In One SEO social settings

Once you add your Facebook thumbnail image there, save your post, and this will fix the issue in most cases.

Here’s what our post looks like:

All In One SEO fixed thumbnail

Pro tip: If this doesn’t work, then make sure you have cleared your WordPress cache and refreshed the post in Facebook debug tool mentioned below in the article.

Choose Your Facebook Thumbnail with Yoast SEO Plugin

The Yoast SEO Plugin also comes with the ability to add a custom Facebook thumbnail to each individual post or page.

Simply install the Yoast SEO Plugin. After you’ve installed and activated, it’s time to set up a Facebook thumbnail into whatever post you want.

When writing a post, scroll down to the Yoast SEO meta box below the post editor and then click on the social tab. There you will see a button to upload a thumbnail image for Facebook.

Yoast Facebook featured image

Here’s what the Facebook thumbnail looks like for our how to start a blog article:

Yoast Facebook thumbnail image

Using Facebook Debug Tool to Clear the Cache

If you have added the right thumbnail, and Facebook is still not showing the right thumbnail, then the issue is related to caching.

First you need to make sure that you clear page cache in WordPress.

After that, you need to reset the cache in Facebook using their debug tool.

The Facebook debug tool is the easiest way to troubleshoot Facebook thumbnail issues.

Simply copy the URL of your WordPress post and paste it in the debugger tool.

Facebook debug tool

After that click on the Scrape Again button, and Facebook will update the thumbnail for your post. Sometimes, you may have to click the Scrape Again button twice.

We hope this article helped you resolve the Facebook incorrect/no thumbnail issue in WordPress. You may also want to see our guide on how to add social share buttons in WordPress and how to increase your blog traffic.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Fix Facebook Incorrect Thumbnail Issue in WordPress appeared first on WPBeginner.

How to Use Elementor to Build Websites Remotely

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How to Use Elementor to Build Websites RemotelyIn these times of economic uncertainty and social distancing, businesses are looking to develop their own online presences now more than ever. If you’re looking to get your business online, or if you’re a freelancer who’s building websites for businesses who want to get online, Elementor can help you efficiently build a website remotely that’s […]

The post How to Use Elementor to Build Websites Remotely appeared first on WPExplorer.

How to Import and Export Navigation Menus in WordPress

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Do you want to export a navigation menu from one WordPress site and import it into another?

The default WordPress import / export feature allows you to transfer menus as part of the full site transfer, but it does not let you import / export menus by themselves.

In this article, we’ll show you how to easily import / export navigation menus in WordPress, so you can save time.

How to import and export navigation menus in WordPress

Understanding WordPress’s Import / Export Features

On every WordPress site, you have built-in import and export features. You can find these under Tools » Import and Tools » Export in your WordPress dashboard.

The Import and Export options under the Tools menu in the WordPress dashboard

If you go to the Export page, you’ll see the WordPress default options. These let you choose between exporting all content, or exporting only your posts, pages, or media.

The built-in Export options in WordPress

All content includes your navigation menus … plus posts, pages, comments, custom fields, terms, and custom post types.

But in many cases, you don’t want to import everything. For instance, you might just want to replicate your navigation menu and the pages included in it, but not your posts or any other pages.

Luckily, there’s an easy plugin that extends this functionality, so you can only import and export navigation menus in WordPress.

That being said, let’s take a look at how to import and export navigation menus without exporting all the content.

Export and Import Navigation Menus in WordPress

Before going further, make sure you’re happy with the menu you’ll be exporting. You can find your site’s menu under Appearance » Menus.

Editing your navigation menu in the WordPress dashboard

If you need help to create or change your menu, take a look at our tutorial on how to add a navigation menu in WordPress.

Next, you need to install and activate the WPS Menu Exporter plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to visit Tools » Export page in your WordPress admin dashboard.

You should now see an additional option to export navigation menu items. This will include your menu itself, plus all the pages that are linked from your menu.

If you have any posts in your menu, those will be included too, along with any comments on them.

The Export Navigation Menu Items option in the Export tool

Simply select the Navigation Menu Items radio button and then click the ‘Download Export File’ button.

This lets you download your navigation menu and its associated pages to your computer. These are stored in an .xml file with the name site.wordpress.yyyy-mm-dd, where “site” is the name of your website and “yyyy-mm-dd” is the date.

The downloaded .xml file containing your navigation menu items and pages

Importing Your WordPress Menu to Your New Site

You can import the .xml file you just downloaded by using WordPress’s standard Import feature. It’s a simple process. You just need to upload your navigation menu file to your new site.

Important: Make sure you don’t have any existing pages with the same name as pages in the menu you’re importing, not even in the trash. Otherwise, the import tool may not be able to import those pages correctly.

First, log in to your WordPress dashboard on the new site where you want to import your menu.

Next, go to Tools » Import. You’ll need to install the WordPress importer. Just click the ‘Install Now’ link beneath ‘WordPress’ at the bottom of the list.

Installing the WordPress import tool

Once you’ve installed the WordPress importer, you should see a ‘Run Importer’ link in place of the ‘Install Now’ link.

Click the link to run the WordPress import tool

After you click on this link, you’ll see the Import WordPress screen. Here, you’ll need to click the ‘Choose file’ button so you can select the .xml file you downloaded earlier.

Once you’ve selected your file, go ahead and click the ‘Upload file and import’ button.

Upload your .xml file and click the button to import it to your new site

On the next screen, you’ll be asked to ‘Assign Authors’. The default option is to import the original author of the menu content.

Choose which user to assign pages to when you import them

In many cases, it’ll make the most sense to set an existing user as the author of the imported content. You can do that by selecting the user’s name from the dropdown menu.

Selecting an author from the dropdown list to assign the pages to

If you plan to re-use the content of the pages themselves, then you’ll also want to check the ‘Download and import file attachments’ box. This means that images will be included in the import.

Once you’re happy with your settings, click the ‘Submit’ button at the bottom of the page.

Upon completion, you should see the following message:

The success message after importing the navigation menu

Viewing Your Imported Menu and Pages

The import has put your menu and the associated pages in place. To take a look at the imported menu, just go to Appearance » Menus. Here, you can make sure that it’s been imported correctly.

You can also click on the Pages tab in your WordPress dashboard to check out the new pages that have been imported along with the menu.

Viewing the list of pages on your website

That’s it, you’ve successfully imported your navigation menu and the associated pages. You can edit the menu and the pages however you like.

We hope this article helped you learn how to import and export navigation menus in WordPress. You might also like to take a look at our tutorials on how to style WordPress navigation menus and how to create a dropdown menu in WordPress.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Import and Export Navigation Menus in WordPress appeared first on WPBeginner.

Web Performance Checklist

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The other day, I realized that web performance is an enormous topic covering so very much — from minimizing assets to using certain file formats, it can be an awful lot to keep in mind while building a website. It’s certainly far too much for me to remember!

So I made a web performance checklist. It’s a Notion doc that I can fork and use to mark completed items whenever I start a new project. It also contains a bunch of links for references.

This doc is still a work in progress. Any recommendations or links?Feel free to suggest something in the comments below!

The post Web Performance Checklist appeared first on CSS-Tricks.