Posted on

Create Forms Instantly with New Forminator Preset & Cloud Templates

If you typically spend 30 minutes or more creating forms on WordPress sites, you are going to love Forminator’s exciting new feature … Preset and Cloud Templates! Oh, and did we also mention that you can now easily add star ratings to your forms too?

Save time creating forms with Forminator’s Preset and Cloud Templates.

Forminator now lets you easily create professional forms to suit all kinds of purposes in just a few clicks.

Simply select the type of form you’d like to create from the template gallery, customize it to suit your needs, copy and paste the shortcode where you would like to display your form, and voilá — the task is done … next!

In this short and practical tutorial, we’ll cover the following:

And we’ll also explore:

Let’s jump right in…

Forminator’s Preset and Cloud Templates

From Forminator v. 1.32 onward,  you can easily create forms for different purposes using 27 pre-designed templates (more templates coming soon!).

You can also create custom form templates, save it to the cloud, and reuse these on any site that you manage via the Hub.

To access Forminator’s templates, click on the new Templates submenu in the plugin’s menu.

Forminator - Templates menu.
Forminator has a new Templates submenu.

This brings you to the Templates section, where you can preview all templates, create new forms using any selected template, and create, save, and manage your own custom Cloud templates.

Forminator Templates gallery
Browse all of Forminator’s preset templates in the Templates section.

In addition to viewing and selecting templates, you can use the section’s tabs, search, and filter features to quickly locate a form template and speed up the form creation process.

The Templates section is divided into two main sections:

  • Preset Templates: Here, you’ll find a well-organized collection of predesigned templates created by WPMU DEV’s Forminator team. You can filter the templates by clicking on any Category name or explore the entire range. Additionally, the smart Search field allows you to find templates quickly.
  • Cloud Templates: In this section, you will find all the custom templates you’ve created from forms across all sites linked to your Hub. These templates can be used to build forms on the same site or any other site connected to your Hub.
Forminator Templates section - Navigation and search features.
Use the tabs, search, and filter features to select templates and speed up form creation.

The following basic templates are included for both Forminator free and Forminator Pro plugin versions:

  • Blank – Use this template to create a form from scratch without any pre-set fields.
  • Contact Form – Use this template to collect user information such as name, email, subject, and message.
  • Quote Request – Customers can use a form created with this template to ask for quotes on products or services.
  • Newsletter Signup – Users can subscribe to newsletters using a form created with this template.
  • Registration – Use this versatile template to create registration forms suitable for events, services, or websites.
  • Login – Use this template to create a typical login form for returning users with fields for username or email and password, along with links for account recovery or registration.
  • Create Post – Use this template to easily create frontend forms tailored for user-generated content submissions, with fields for title, content, and attachments.

As well as the basic templates listed above, Forminator Pro includes many other useful preset templates, such as:

  • Event Registration Template
  • Customer Feedback Form
  • Appointment Booking Form
  • Order Form for Small Businesses
  • Job Application Form
  • Volunteer Sign-up Form
  • Course Enrollment Form
  • Real Estate Inquiry Form
  • Medical History Form
  • Restaurant Reservation Form
  • Donation Form
  • Travel Booking Form
  • Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) Form
  • Customer Complaint Form
  • Course Evaluation Form
  • RSVP Form
  • Conference Registration Form
  • Event Feedback Form
  • Home Service Request Form
  • Fitness Class Registration Form

How to Create A Form Using a Template

As mentioned earlier, creating a form with Forminator using templates is really simple, easy, and fast.

For this example, let’s create a Quote Request form.

Head over to Forminator’s Templates section and locate the Quote Request template in the Preset Templates tab.

Forminator - Templates - Quote Request template highlighted.
Let’s create a quote request form using Forminator’s templates.

Hovering over the template item brings up options to preview the template or create a form using the template.

Hover over the template to preview or create a form.

If you choose to preview the template, a full-size preview will load on your web browser, allowing you to see exactly what your form will look like.

Quote Request Template preview.
Here’s a preview of what our Quote Request form will look like.

Click on the Create Form button to create your form.

Quote Request template - Create Form button highlighted.
Click the Create Form button to create and edit your form.

This will load the template into Forminator’s Edit Form screen.

From here, you can simply customize the template’s fields, appearance, behavior, etc. as you would when creating any other form.

Additionally, if you have Forminator Pro installed, you can easily integrate your quote request form (and all other forms for that matter) with Forminator’s PDF Addon, and all the plugin’s other add-ons and services.

Forminator Edit Form screen with Quote Request Template loaded.
Edit your template or use the default template to create your new form … easy!

If you need help editing, customizing, or publishing forms, check out these great Forminator tutorials:

When you’re done editing your form, save it as a draft or publish it to generate the form’s shortcode.

Forminator form shortcode.
Your form’s now ready to publish!

After creating the form, it will be listed in your Forminator Forms section with all other forms you have created for that site. Go here to edit the form, view stats and submissions, etc.

Forminator Forms Dashboard
Manage your new form in Forminator’s dashboard.

Note: You can also access the Template gallery by clicking on the +Create button in Forminator’s Forms menu or in the plugin’s main dashboard.

Forminator - Create new form button
Clicking on the +Create button is another quick way to bring up Forminator’s templates.

This will bring up a popup modal, allowing you to easily filter, search, and select any of the templates available in the Preset or Cloud template sections.

Forminator's Templates
Select a present or custom template from the pop-up modal to create your new form.

For more information on using templates, see the Forminator Templates documentation section.

Saving Your Own Templates

Forminator not only lets you create forms from preset templates, but you can also create and save any Forminator form as a custom cloud template that can be used on any site that you have connected to your Hub.

To save a form as a cloud template, simply click the Save to Cloud button at the top of the Edit Form screen.

Forminator - Save to Cloud
Click the button to save your template.

You will be given the choice of either saving your form as a new template or overwriting an existing one.

To save your form as a new template, select New Template, give your form a name, and click the Save Template button.

Save Template options
Save your form as a new template or overwrite an existing one.

All of your saved templates will be listed in Forminator’s Templates section under the Cloud Templates tab.

Forminator - Templates Section - Cloud Templates
View saved templates in the Cloud Templates section.

Creating a form using a custom template across all of your different managed WordPress sites is a simple one-click option that serves as an alternative to exporting a form from one site and importing it to another via the Import/Export feature.

Cloud Templates tab - Custom template form creation.
Creating forms from saved custom templates across different sites is easier than using the import/export feature.

For more information about this feature, see Saving Forms as Cloud Templates in our documentation section.

Additional New Forminator Features

Preset and Cloud Form Templates isn’t the only exciting new feature of Forminator.

Let’s look at what else is new in Forminator from version 1.32 onward.

Rating Field

You can now add ratings to your forms using Forminator’s new Rating field.

Forminator Rating field
Meet Forminator’s newest star … Rating field!

This is a great way to allow users to submit reviews and feedback on your site about your products, services, ideas, etc.

For example, here is a front-end form you can add to your site using the Create Post template with the Rating field added that will allow a site owner to collect user-generated submissions.

Create Post Template with added Rating field.
Use the Rating field to collect user reviews on your site.

The Rating field also offers a great deal of customization options under the Settings tab.

This includes specifying a ratings value (from 0 – 50), and adjusting the style and size of the icons, including using different icons (stars, hearts, thumbs, or smiles), different icon sizes (small, medium, and large), and whether or not to display a suffix alongside the ratings (e.g. 3/5).

Forminator’s Rating field offers many customization settings.

For more information on how to use the Rating field and configure its settings, see the Rating Field documentation section.

Select Field – New Multi-Select Style

We’ve also improved Forminator’s Select field.

Forminator - Select field
Forminator’s Select field is now improved.

It now supports modern multi-selection styles and tags, allowing you to provide form users with a better experience.

Forminator Select field - Multi-Select Style.
Improve user experience with the Modern Multi Select style option for the Select field.

With the Modern style set, users can easily add and delete selected items from a dropdown menu into forms as tags.

Selected items display in forms as tags.

For more information on how to use the Multi-Select field and configure its settings, see the Multi Select Style documentation section.

Create Even Faster Forms with Forminator

So, there you have it!

WPMU DEV’s All-in-one WordPress platform is all about helping agencies and web developers grow their business. We not only offer one-click site templates to save time, increase production, and speed up the WordPress site creation process, but we now also have one-click form templates to speed up the process of creating all kinds of forms on all your WordPress sites.

If you have Forminator installed on your site, give the new preset and cloud templates a try (and don’t forget to try out the new Rating field and Multi Select style in the Select field).

If you are a WPMU DEV member, Forminator Pro offers many more templates (and more are coming soon!)

Posted on

Find Your Perfect Backup Match

As 90s dance legend, Robin S famously sang, “Back It Up!” And that’s exactly what we’re here to help you do – find the perfect backup partner to keep your client(s) websites safe and secure.

Just like in the dating world, not every backup solution is a perfect match. But don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with our lineup of eligible backup bachelors, ready to sweep you off your feet (and protect your data).

Hourly Backups: The Attentive Suitor

Name: Hourly Backups

Age: Recently added in 2022, but wise beyond its years

Looking for: High-traffic sites, particularly in industries like eCommerce, finance, news, education, or enterprise – sites that need constant attention and care.

About Me: I’m the backup equivalent of a doting partner who’s always by your side. Available exclusively for WPMU DEV-hosted sites, I create a new backup every hour, giving you 720 restore points over 30 days. That means you’ll never lose more than 59 minutes of precious data, no matter what happens.

My backups are incremental, which means I only store the changes since our last rendezvous. This keeps things light and speedy, so you won’t have to worry about me taking up too much space (or bandwidth). For sites that are constantly evolving, having a backup that can keep up with the pace is essential. Data is the new romance language, and I’m fluent!

At just $5 a month, I’m an affordable catch that other hosts can only dream of. But the real prize? You can resell me to your clients, setting your own price and bringing in that sweet, recurring revenue. Talk about a power couple!

More about me: https://wpmudev.com/hourly-backup-hosting/

Snapshot Pro: The Open-Minded Charmer

Name: Snapshot Pro

Age: Recently updated and improved from its 2017 debut

Looking for: Anyone who’s not exclusively hosted with WPMU DEV but wants to explore the idea of a third-party storage fling (or is already flirting with the idea of hosting with us).

About Me: I’m the backup equivalent of a charming, open-minded partner who’s always up for trying new things. My incremental backups are lightning-fast and can be stored for up to 50 days! The first backup is a full-site one, and from there, I only save the latest changes and updates – efficient and space-saving, just like a good partner should be.

But here’s where I really shine: I’ve recently been updated to allow you to export your backups to popular third-party platforms such as Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon S3, and others.

Whether you’re hosted with WPMU DEV or not, you’ll always know when our last backup was and when the next one is scheduled. And if you do decide to take our relationship to the next level by hosting with us, you’ll get an even deeper insight into our backups via The Hub. Maybe it’s time to check out our Hosting Plans and see if there’s a perfect match?

I’m sleek, easy to use, and offer the added bonus of third-party storage options. If you’re looking for a backup partner who’s always open to new adventures, I might just be the one for you.

More about me: https://wpmudev.com/project/snapshot/

Hosting Backups: The Reliable Companion

Name: Hosting Backups

Age: A classic, around since we began!

Looking for: Anyone who wants to host a site with us or is already part of our hosting family.

About Me: I’m the backup equivalent of a reliable, trustworthy partner who’s been by your side from the very beginning. With any level of WPMU DEV’s hosting, whether single or multisite, I’m included as a standard feature – like a partner who’s always there, no matter what.

I’ll never let you lose more than 23 hours of data, with nightly backups, and with my fast one-click restore accessed via The Hub, you know your site(s) are in safe hands. I perform a full site backup every 15 days, and all backups are stored for a 30-day period. But what really sets me apart is that I offer automated backup storage on remote (offsite) locations.

To get the most out of our relationship, check out our membership options – you’ll unlock a world of just more than nightly backups, including 24/7 expert technical support, The Hub, and a complete suite of Pro plugins. And don’t forget to enable our Uptime service, so you’ll always know if there’s any downtime or response time issues.

More about me: https://wpmudev.com/hosting/

Will We Get a Second Date?

We’re confident that there’s a backup feature out there for everyone, and we hope this quick and easy-to-digest overview has helped you find your perfect match. Of course, with WPMU DEV, you’ll always have our 24/7 support team on hand to help you navigate the different backup options.

We’ve got so many other features that can enhance and streamline your business, as well as the possibility of reselling to your clients. So why not drop us a line and let’s start planning our first date? Who knows, it could be the beginning of a beautiful (and well-backed-up) relationship!

Posted on

How To Optimize Email Deliverability With WPMU DEV’s Email Services

Major email service providers now require all email senders to comply with new email sending rules to ensure email deliverability. Here’s how WPMU DEV’s email services make it easier to comply and get your emails safely delivered…

Refer to our comprehensive guide covering the new email sending requirements if you are not familiar with these new rules, what SPF, DKIM, and DMARC email protocols are, and what this all means for your business.

In this article, we’ll show you how your business can easily comply with the new rules if you use WPMU DEV’s Webmail or Email Hosting services.

We’ll cover:

WPMU DEV’s Email Services Are Fully Compliant

As shown in this article, if you run a check of the domain wpmudev.com using email verification tools, you will see that WPMU DEV meets all email service providers’ compliance requirements for email deliverability.

DMARC Domain Checker results
WPMU DEV meets all email sending requirements for email deliverability!

This is great news for your business!

Why?

Well, let’s start with …

Client Reports and Notifications

WPMU DEV’s SPF, DKIM, and DMARC policies are fully compliant with the stringent requirements set by all major email service providers.

This means that all your Hub-generated client reports and notifications sent from WPMU DEV’s email servers, including Uptime monitor reports, should have no problem reaching their intended recipients’ inboxes.

Valid WPMU DEV email
Rest assured that your clients will receive all reports and notifications sent by WPMU DEV’s email servers.

Webmail and Email Hosting

Not only will all reports and email notifications we send on your behalf reach your clients, but if you use or resell our Webmail or Email Hosting services, so will the emails that you send out to your clients, and the emails that your clients send out.

Best of all, all required email compliance is automatically built into our Webmail and email hosting services, so there’s nothing to configure for general emailing.

Let’s take a closer look…

We’ll use Webmail for this example and assume that you are hosting your domain on WPMU DEV’s servers or at least managing your DNS records with us.

When you set up Webmail and configure your email domain, you’ll see that our system automatically creates and adds SPF and DKIM records to your domain’s DNS records.

WPMU DEV DNS Records manager
SPF and DKIM records are automatically created and added to your WPMU DEV hosted domain’s DNS records.

Let’s test this out by sending an email from our Webmail account to a Gmail account.

First, log into Webmail…

Webmail login
Log into Webmail.

Next, compose an email and send it to a Gmail account.

Example of an email created in Webmail.
Compose an email using Webmail.

When the email reaches your inbox, go to your Gmail account .

An email in a Gmail inbox
Hurray! Our Gmail recipient has received our email!

As shown earlier, you can view the Internet header for the email by opening the email, clicking on the vertical ellipsis icon, and selecting the Show original option from the menu.

Gmail - show original menu option selected.
Select the Show Original option to view your email’s Internet header

As you can see, the email sent from the Webmail account meets SPF and DKIM requirements.

Webmail domain valid headers.
This domain has valid SPF and DKIM headers … Gmail likes!

Additionally, setting up an email address using Webmail or our hosted email service requires using Transport Layer Security (TLS), so your emails automatically meet this requirement too!

If you or your clients are using Webmail or our hosted email services for regular business emailing purposes, you don’t need to worry about setting up DMARC for your domain.

Bulk Emailing

As per Google’s and Yahoo’s requirements, if you plan to send 5,000 emails or more, you will need to publish a valid DMARC policy.

Add DNS Records For 3rd-Party Email Services

If you currently host an email domain with WPMU DEV that you plan to use for bulk sending purposes (emailing 5,000+ users a day), then check with your bulk sending provider for instructions on how to add the records you will need to comply with their services.

For example, let’s say you send email newsletters using a domain’s DNS managed with WPMU DEV and an email marketing service like Mailchimp, GetResponse, Sender, HubSpot, etc.

In this example, we’ll use Aweber for a domain’s DNS managed with WPMU DEV that needs authentication.

To authenticate the domain, find their setup instructions. In Aweber’s case, a notice displays in the user’s account dashboard with a link to their Domain Authentication screen.

AWeber Domain Authentication screen
This domain needs DKIM set up and a DMARC policy to be authenticated by the provider.

To authenticate DKIM, Aweber requires adding various new CNAME records to the domain’s DNS records.

So, the first step is to copy the Name (Host) record to the clipboard…

CNAME records supplied by the email service provider being copied to the clipboard.
Copy the records provided by your service provider to your clipboard.

Next, go into The Hub > Domains and locate your domain…

The Hub - Domains - Registered domains.
Find your domain in The Hub – Domains section.

Click on the vertical ellipsis next to the domain and select Manage DNS.

The Hub - Domains - Registered domains - Manage DNS option selected.
Select the Manage DNS option for your domain.

In the DNS Records screen, click on Add Record.

The Hub's DNS Manager - Add Record
Click on Add Record to add a new DNS record.

Select CNAME from the Record type dropdown menu and paste the Hostname record from your clipboard.

Go back to your email service provider’s screen, copy the Value key to your clipboard, and paste it into the Alias field, then click the Add button.

Add New DNS Record screen with CNAME selected in Record type field and Hostname record pasted in
Create a new CNAME Record and paste the records supplied by your provider into the Hostname and Alias fields.

Repeat this process until all of your service provider’s required records have been added in your domain’s DNS management area.

New CNAME records added.
All CNAME records have now been added.

If a DMARC policy is required, follow the same copy and paste process as described for adding DKIM records above.

Note that in Aweber’s case, they require a new TXT record to be created for adding a DMARC policy, not a CNAME record.

Aweber's Set up a DMARC policy screen with text being copied to clipboard.
Copy the DMARC record to your clipboard.

Create a new TXT record in The Hub’s DNS management area and paste the content provided into the Hostname and Value fields. Click the Add button when done.

Add NEw DNS Record screen.
Paste the copied TXT record values into the Add New DNS Record fields and click Add.

You will see the new record has been added to the Records section.

WPMU DEV DNS Manager with DMARC TXT record added.
The new DMARC TXT record has been added.

Go back to your service provider’s dashboard and refresh their settings to validate your domain’s records.

Aweber Domain Authentication screen showing a fully authenticated email domain.
Your email domain is now fully authenticated and compliant!

If you need help creating or adding DNS records to WPMU DEV’s DNS manager, see our documentation.

Use a Professional Email Address

As we explain in this article on how to set up free email accounts with WPMU DEV’s managed WordPress hosting, it’s important to use a professional email address for your business for the following reasons:

  • Boost Credibility: Sending emails from a free email address undermines your professionalism.
  • Enhanced Deliverability: Professional addresses are less likely to end up in spam folders, improving email engagement.
  • Brand Trust: A branded email domain fosters trust and credibility, leading to higher open and click-through rates.
  • Branding Opportunities: Consistent display of your brand in emails reinforces brand identity and recognition.
  • Control and Security: Professional email addresses offer more control over infrastructure and security settings, enhancing data protection.

Securing a professional business email address helps to enhance deliverability and improves email engagement, which are important and relevant to this discussion.

WPMU DEV Email Services Get Your Emails Delivered

If you are a WPMU DEV domain reseller, you can help your clients improve their email deliverability and lower potential complaint rates by advising them to secure a professional email address that matches their website domain and setting these up on our Webmail or Pop3 email services.

Sending emails from a professional email address using our Webmail or POP3 email services is the best and easiest way to automatically cover (almost all) your bases.

With our fully compliant hosted services powering your and your clients’ emails, all that’s left for you to do is make sure you have that unsubscribe link in your emails, compose your message, and hit the send button.

If you have any questions about our email services, check our Webmail or email hosting documentation, or contact our expert 24/7 support team.

Posted on

Introducing … WPMU DEV Expert Services for Enhanced WordPress Site Management

Say goodbye to time-consuming tasks and hello to streamlined workflows and enhanced efficiency with our time-saving Proactive Monitoring, Site Speed Optimization, and Malware Removal services … welcome to a new era of done-for-you WordPress site management!

WPMU DEV Expert Services splash screen.
Save time working with clients…let WPMU DEV Expert Services do the heavy lifting for you!

Would you like to focus more time attracting new clients, growing your agency, and running your business than juggling multiple tasks to keep existing client sites optimized, secure, and running smoothly?

How about effortlessly boosting the speed of your clients’ sites, fortifying their security against malicious threats, and enjoying proactive monitoring and unparalleled peace of mind … all hands-free?

What if you could offer all of the above to your clients whilst increasing your revenue? With WPMU Dev Expert Services, you can resell this enhanced management to your clients. Not only do we take care of these maintenance tasks for you but you can add your own markup with this white labeling feature bringing in some extra cash flow.

We’ve spent years helping web developers fix all types of issues on WordPress sites and so Expert Services was born!

While our support team is always happy to fix things wherever possible, often all they can do is advise and instruct members what to do, leaving you to implement these recommendations yourself.

This can be quite time-consuming.

So, as an extension to the unrivaled support we provide to members, we are thrilled to unveil three new premium support services designed to save you time optimizing website performance, enhancing security, and providing proactive monitoring for your hosted sites.

WPMU DEV Expert Services
WPMU DEV offers done-for-you services with our dedicated expert teams.

Our dedicated expert teams are ready to tackle these challenges on your behalf so you can focus on what matters most – delivering exceptional content and services to your clients.

In this article, we unveil three powerhouse services that go beyond the ordinary, delivering outstanding results for your WordPress sites:

  1. Proactive Monitoring
  2. Site Speed Optimization
  3. Malware Removal

Let’s jump in…

1) Proactive Monitoring

For sites hosted with WPMU DEV, our Proactive Monitoring service offers carefree site management.

Our dedicated team will monitor your site’s status every second, ensuring immediate fixes in case of downtime due to attacks, hacks, or any other issue.

WPMU DEV Services - Site Monitoring
Never lose sleep wondering if your client sites are down … we’ll watch them day and night and fix any issues before they affect business!

Priced at just $9 per month per site, this service provides peace of mind and swift resolution of any issues.

2) Site Speed Optimization

Is your website not performing as fast as you’d like? Our Site Speed Optimization service is the solution.

Our expert team will work on your site to achieve Google PageSpeed scores of 90+ on desktop and 75+ on mobile.

WPMU DEV Services - Site Speed Optimization
Use the combined power and experience of our team of technical experts to optimize all your client sites.

Simply add your site to the Speed Optimization list in the Hub, place your order, and let our experts handle the rest.

With a one-time fee of $399, you can ensure your site maintains optimal speed.

3) Malware Removal

Security is paramount, and our Malware Removal service provides expert assistance in cleaning your website and configuring optimal security settings.

WPMU DEV Services - Malware Removal
Got a hacked client site on your hands? Hand the problem over to us and we’ll get it fixed and security hardened ASAP!

If your site falls victim to hacking or malware, our meticulous experts will clean it and set up optimal security hardening measures for a one-time fee of $250.

Make WordPress Site Management a Breeze

If you want to look after your clients’ sites yourself, our support team will help you with any issues as we have always done and provide you with expert advice, suggestions, and instructions for you to implement the fixes yourself.

If, however, you would rather outsource and have a completely “done for you” service, then let our experts take care of it.

Our services are reasonably priced, so if you are looking for a new way to increase your service offering and revenue streams then this is the solution for you. You can add your own markup and resell these expert services to benefit your clients and your profits.

Here’s how to enhance your clients’ website’s performance, security, and management with WPMU DEV’s premium services:

  1. Go to your Hub and click on WPMU DEV Services,
  2. Choose the service(s) you’d like to automate and select your site.
  3. Make the payment to purchase the service,
  4. We’ll create a dedicated forum ticket for ongoing updates and communication,
  5. Our experts will commence work on the site immediately.
Site Speed Optimization Add-on service request form.
Elevate your WordPress site management game with WPMU DEV’s premium expert services!

Note: For added peace of mind, our speed optimization and malware services include a 7-day guarantee, so if any further problems should occur within 7 days of those services being completed, we will fix them entirely free of charge.

The WordPress Management Revolution Has Begun

WPMU DEV’s new premium services are ideal for agencies and under-resourced web developers looking to streamline and automate their WordPress management processes.

Proactive Monitoring, Site Speed Optimization, and Malware Removal services are just the beginning. Future services may include web design, custom WordPress development, and more.

If you are looking for a “hands-free” expertly-run WordPress site management solution, simply visit your Hub to get started.

Not a WPMU DEV member yet? Join risk-free and start growing your WordPress business today!

Questions? Check out the Expert Services section of our terms of services page, or contact our helpful support team.

Posted on

How To Quickly Set Up, Use & Resell Webmail: A Guide For Agencies And Resellers

Webmail is a robust IMAP-based email service and the latest exciting addition to WPMU DEV’s all-in-one WordPress management platform product suite.

In this comprehensive guide, we show you how to get started with Webmail, how to use its features, and how to resell professional business email to clients. We also provide information on the benefits of offering IMAP-based email services for WPMU DEV platform users and resellers.

Read the full article to learn all about Webmail or click on one of the links below to jump to any section:

Overview of Webmail

In addition to our current email hosting offerings, Webmail is a standalone service for Agency plan members that allows for greater flexibility in email account creation.

WPMU DEV’s Webmail:

  • Is affordably priced
  • Offers a superior email service with high standards of quality and reliability.
  • Does not require a third-party app to work.
  • Lets you set up email accounts on any domain you own or manage, whether it’s a root domain like mydomain.com or a subdomain such as store.mydomain.com.
  • Lets you provide clients with professional business email no matter where their domain is hosted (or whether the domain is associated with a site in your Hub or not)
  • Can be accessed from any device, even directly from your web browser.
  • Can be white labeled and resold under your own brand with Reseller.

Read more about the benefits of using Webmail.

Let’s show you now how to set your clients up with email accounts and a fully-functional mailbox in just a few clicks, using any domain, and no matter where their domain is hosted.

Getting Started With Webmail

Webmail is very quick and easy to set up.

If you’re an Agency member, just head on over to The Hub.

Now, all you need to do is get acquainted with the latest powerful tool in your complete WordPress site management toolbox…

Webmail Manager

The Hub lets you create, manage, and access IMAP email accounts for any domain you own from one central location, even domains that are not directly associated with a site in your Hub.

Click on Webmail on the main menu at the top of the screen…

The Hub - Webmail
Click Webmail to set up and manage your emails.

This will bring you to the Webmail Overview screen.

If you haven’t set up an email account yet, you’ll see the screen below. Click on the “Create New Email” button to get started.

Webmail screen with no email accounts set up yet!
Click the button to create a new email account in Webmail.

As mentioned earlier, Webmail gives you the choice of creating an email account from a domain you manage in The Hub, or a domain managed elsewhere.

For this tutorial, we’ll select a domain being managed in The Hub.

Select the domain you want to associate your email account with from the dropdown menu and click the arrow to continue.

Create New Email screen - Step 1 of 2
Select a domain managed in The Hub or elsewhere.

Next, create your email address, choose a strong password, and click on the blue arrow button to continue.

Create New Email screen - Step 2 of 2
Add your username and password to create your email address.

You will see a payment screen displaying the cost of your new email address and billing start date. Click the button to make the payment and create your new email account.

Email account payment screen.
Make the payment to complete setting up your email account.

Your new email account will be automatically created after payment has been successfully processed.

New user email has been created successfully.
Our new email has been created successfully…we’re in business!

The last step to make your email work correctly is to add the correct DNS records.

Fortunately, if your site or domain are hosted with WPMU DEV, Webmail Manager can easily and automatically do this for you too!

Note: If your domain is managed elsewhere, you will need to copy and manually add the DNS records at your registrar or DNS manager (e.g. Cloudflare).

Click on the View DNS Records button to continue.

This will bring up the DNS Records screen.

As our example site is hosted with WPMU DEV, all you need to do is click on the ADD DNS Records button and your records will be automatically created and added to your email account.

DNS Records screen - Add DNS Records button selected.
If your domain is hosted with WPMU DEV click the button to automatically add the correct DNS records to make your email work.

After completing this step, wait for the DNS records to propagate successfully before verifying the DNS.

You can use an online tool like https://dnschecker.org to check the DNS propagation status.

Note: DNS changes can take 24-48 hours to propagate across the internet, so allow some time for DNS propagation to occur, especially if the domain is hosted elsewhere.

Click the Verify DNS button to check if the DNS records have propagated.

DNS Records screen with Verify DNS button selected.
Click the Verify DNS button to check if your DNS records have propagated.

If your DNS records have propagated successfully, you will see green ticks for all records under the DNS Status column.

DNS Records screen showing green ticks in DNS Status for all records.
Your emails won’t be seen until all those ticks are green.

Your email account is now fully set up and ready to use.

Repeat the above process to create and add more emails.

Webmail overview screen showing an active domain.
Click on the + Create New Email button to add more emails.

Now that you know how to create a new email account, let’s look at how to manage your emails effectively.

Managing Your Emails

If you have set up one or more email accounts, navigate to the Webmail Manager screen any time to view a list of all connected domains, their status, number of email accounts associated with each domain, and additional options.

Webmail screen with added domain email accounts.
Manage all of your email accounts in the Webmail overview screen.

To manage your email accounts, click on a domain name or select Manage Domain Email from the Options dropdown menu (the vertical ellipsis icon).

Webmail screen - Manage Domain Email option selected.
Click on the vertical ellipsis and select Manage Domain Email to manage your email accounts.

This opens up the email management section for the selected domain.

The Email Accounts tab lists all the existing email accounts for that domain, status and creation date information, plus additional email management options that we’ll explore in a moment.

Webmail - Email Accounts tab
Email Accounts lists all the email accounts you have created for your domain.

Email accounts can have the following statuses: active, suspended, or disabled.

Active accounts can send and receive emails, provided DNS records have been set up and propagated correctly.

Suspended accounts occur if email activity is in violation of our webmail provider’s email sending policy.

A disabled account (see further below) only disables the sending and receiving of emails and webmail access for that email account. It does not affect billing.

Note: Unless you delete the account, you will still be charged for a disabled email account.

Email accounts tab listing email accounts with different statuses.
Email accounts can display an active, suspended, or disabled status.

Before we discuss managing individual email accounts, let’s look at other main features of Webmail Manager.

Email Forwarding

Email forwarding automatically redirects emails sent to one email address to another designated email address. It allows users to receive emails sent to a specific address without having to check multiple accounts. For example, emails sent to info@yourcompany.tld can be automatically forwarded to john@yourcompany.tld.

Every email account includes 10 email forwarders. This allows you to automatically forward emails to multiple addresses simultaneously (e.g. john@yourcompany.tld, accounts@yourcompany.tld, etc.).

To activate email forwarding hover over the arrow icon and turn its status to On and then click on Manage Email Forwarding to set up email forwarders.

Webmail - Email Accounts - Email Forwarding with status turned on and Manage Email Forwarding selected.
Turn Email Forwarding on and click on Manage Email Forwarding to set up forwarders for an email account.

This will bring up the Email Forwarding tab. Here, you can easily add, delete, and edit email forwarders.

If no email forwarders exist for your email account, click the Create Email Forwarder button to create the first one.

Email Forwarding screen with no forwarders set up yet.
Let’s create an email forwarder for this email account.

In the Add Email Forwarder screen, enter the forwarding email address where you would like incoming email messages to redirect to and click Save.

Webmail - Add Email Forwarder
You can create up to 10 email forwarders per email account.

As stated, you can add multiple forwarding email addresses to each email account (up to 10).

Webmail email forwarders.
Webmail’s Email Forwarding lets you easily add, delete, and edit email forwarders.

Webmail Login

With Webmail, all emails are stored on our servers, so in addition to being able to access and view emails on any device, every webmail account includes a mailbox that can be accessed online directly via Webmail’s web browser interface.

There are several ways to log in and view emails.

Access Webmail From The Hub

To log into webmail directly via The Hub, you can go to the Email Account Management > Email Accounts screen of your domain, click the envelope icon next to the email account, and click on the Webmail Login link…

Webmail - Email Accounts - Webmail Login
Click on the envelope icon in Email Accounts to access Webmail login.

Or, if you are working inside an individual email account, just click on the Webmail Login link displayed in all of the account’s management screens…

Webmail - Email Accounts - Email Information - Webmail Login
Click on the Webmail Login link of any email account management screen to access emails for that account.

This will log you directly into the webmail interface for that email account.

Webmail interface
Webmail’s intuitive and easy-to-use interface.

The Webmail interface should look familiar and feel intuitive to most users. If help using any of Webmail’s features is required, click the Help icon on the menu sidebar to access detailed help documentation.

Let’s look at other ways to access Webmail.

Access Webmail From The Hub Client

If you have set up your own branded client portal using The Hub Client plugin, your team members and clients can access and manage emails via Webmail with team user roles configured to give them access permissions and SSO (Single Sign-On) options enabled.

This allows users to seamlessly log into an email account from your client portal without having to enter login credentials.

Webmail menu link on a branded client portal.
Team members and clients can access Webmail directly from your own branded client portal.

Direct Access URL

Another way to log into Webmail is via Direct Access URL.

To access webmail directly from your web browser for any email account, enter the following URL into your browser exactly as shown here: https://webmail.yourwpsite.email/, then enter the email address and password, and click “Login.”

Webmail direct login
Log into webmail directly from your web browser.

Note: The above example uses our white labeled URL address webmail.yourwpsite.email to log into Webmail via a web browser. However, you can also brand your webmail accounts with your own domain so users can access their email from a URL like webmail.your-own-domain.tld.

For more details on how to set up your own branded domain URL, see our Webmail documentation.

Email Aliases

An email alias is a virtual email address that redirects emails to a primary email account. It serves as an alternative name for a single mailbox, enabling users to create multiple email addresses that all direct messages to the same inbox.

For instance, the following could all be aliases for the primary email address john@mysite.tld:

  • sales@mysite.tld
  • support@mysite.tld
  • info@mysite.tld

Webmail lets you create up to 10 email aliases per email account.

To create an alias for an email account, click on the vertical ellipsis icon and select Add Alias.

Webmail - Add Alias
Let’s add an alias to our email account.

Enter the alias username(s) you would like to create in the Add Alias modal and click Save.

Webmail - Add Alias screen with three aliases set up.
You can create up to 10 aliases for each email account.

Emails sent to any of these aliases will be delivered to your current email account.

Additional Email Management Features

In addition to the features and options found in the Email Accounts tab that we have just discussed, Webmail lets you manage various options and settings for each individual email account.

Let’s take a brief look at some of these options and settings.

Email Information

To manage an individual email account:

  1. Click on The Hub > Webmail to access the Email Accounts tab
  2. Click on the domain you have set up to use Webmail
  3. Click on the specific email account (i.e. the email address) you wish to manage.

Click on the Webmail management screens to access and manage individual email accounts.

The Email Information tab lets you edit your current email account and password and displays important information, such as status, creation date (this is the date your billing starts for this email account), storage used, and current email send limit.

Webmail - Email Accounts - Email Information tab.
Edit and view information about an individual email account in the Email Information tab.

In addition to the Email Information tab, you can click on the Email Forwarding tab to manage your email forwarders and the Email Aliases tab to manage your email aliases for your email account.

Note: Newly created accounts have send limits set up to prevent potential spamming and account suspension. These limits gradually increase over a two-week period, allowing email accounts to send up to 500 emails every 24 hours.

Email Information - Email limit increase.
Each email account’s send limits increase over two weeks and can send up to 500 emails per 24 hours.

Coming soon, you will also be able to add more storage to your email accounts if additional space is required.

Upgrade Storage modal
Upgrade your email account storage space (coming soon!)

Now that we have drilled down and looked at all the management tabs for an individual email account, let’s explore some additional features of the Webmail Manager.

Go back to The Hub > Webmail and click on one of the email accounts you have set up.

DNS Records

Click on the DNS Records tab to view the DNS Records of your email domain.

DNS Records Tab
Set up and verify your email DNS records in the DNS Records tab.

Note: The DNS Records tab is available to team members and client custom roles, so team members and clients can access these if you give them permission.

Configurations

Click on the Configurations tab to view and download configuration settings that allow you to set up email accounts in applications other than Webmail.

Webmail - Domain Email - Configurations
Download and use the configurations shown in this section to set up email accounts in other applications.

The Configurations tab is also available for both team member and client custom roles.

Client Association

If you want to allow clients to manage their own email accounts, you will need to set up your client account first, assign permissions to allow the client to view Webmail, then link the client account with the email domain in the Client Association tab.

After setting up your client in The Hub, navigate to the Client Association tab (The Hub > Webmail > Email Domain) and click on Add Client.

Webmail - Domain Email - Client Association
You can let clients manage their own email accounts by linking the email domain with their client account.

Select the client from the dropdown menu and click Add.

Webmail - Associate email with a client modal.
Linking the email domain with a client allows them to manage their email accounts.

Notes:

  • When you associate a client with an email domain, SSO for the email domain is disabled in The Hub. However, your client will be able to access Webmail login via The Hub Client plugin.
  • The Client Association tab is only made available for team member custom roles.

Reseller Integration

We’re currently working on bringing full auto-provisioning of emails to our Reseller platform. Until this feature is released, you can manually resell emails to clients and bill them using the Clients & Billing tool.

Once Webmail has been fully integrated with our Reseller platform, you will be able to rebrand Webmail as your own and resell everything under one roof: hosting, domains, templates, plugins, expert support…and now business emails!

Reseller price table example.
Resell professional business emails under your own brand!

If you need help with Reseller, check out our Reseller documentation.

Congratulations! Now you know how to set up, manage, and resell Webmail in your business as part of your digital services.

Email Protocols – Quick Primer

WPMU DEV offers the convenience of using both IMAP and POP3 email.

Not sure what IMAP is, how it works, or how IMAP differs from POP3? Then read below for a quick primer on these email protocols.

What is IMAP?

IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) is a standard protocol used to retrieve emails from a mail server. It allows users to access their emails from multiple devices like a phone, laptop, or tablet, because it stores emails on the server, rather than downloading them to a single device.

Since emails are managed and stored on the server, this reduces the need for extensive local storage and allows for easy backup and recovery.

Additional points about IMAP:

  • Users can organize emails into folders, flag them for priority, and save drafts on the server.
  • It supports multiple email clients syncing with the server, ensuring consistent message status across devices.
  • IMAP operates as an intermediary between the email server and client, enabling remote access from any device.
  • When users read emails via IMAP, they’re viewing them directly from the server without downloading them locally.
  • IMAP downloads messages only upon user request, enhancing efficiency compared to other protocols like POP3.
  • Messages persist on the server unless deleted by the user.
  • IMAP uses port 143, while IMAP over SSL/TLS uses port 993 for secure communication.

The advantages of using IMAP include the following:

  • Multi-Device Access: IMAP supports multiple logins, allowing users to connect to the email server from various devices simultaneously.
  • Flexibility: Unlike POP3, IMAP enables users to access their emails from different devices, making it ideal for users who travel frequently or need access from multiple locations.
  • Shared Mailbox: A single IMAP mailbox can be shared by multiple users, facilitating collaboration and communication within teams.
  • Organizational Tools: Users can organize emails on the server by creating folders and subfolders, enhancing their efficiency in managing email correspondence.
  • Email Functions Support: IMAP supports advanced email functions such as search and sort, improving user experience and productivity.
  • Offline Access: IMAP can be used offline, allowing users to access previously downloaded emails even without an internet connection.

There are some challenges to setting up and running your own IMAP service, which is why using a solution like WPMU DEV’s Webmail is highly recommended:

  • Hosting an IMAP service can be resource-intensive, requiring more server storage and bandwidth to manage multiple connections and the storage of emails.
  • IMAP requires implementing SSL encryption to ensure secure email communication.
  • Smaller businesses might find it challenging to allocate the necessary IT resources for managing an IMAP server efficiently.

IMAP vs POP3: What’s The Difference?

IMAP and POP3 are both client-server email retrieval protocols, but they are two different methods for accessing email messages from a server.

IMAP is designed for modern email users. It allows users to access your email from multiple devices because it keeps their emails on the server. When users read, delete, or organize their emails, these changes are synchronized across all devices.

For example, if you read an email on your phone, it will show as being read on your laptop as well.

POP3, on the other hand, is simpler and downloads emails from the server to a single device, then usually deletes them from the server. This means if users access their emails from a different device, they won’t see the emails that were downloaded to the first device.

For instance, if you download an email via POP3 on your computer, that email may not be accessible on your phone later.

Here are some of the key differences between IMAP and POP3:

Storage Approach

  • IMAP: Users can store emails on the server and access them from any device. It functions more like a remote file server.
  • POP3: Emails are saved in a single mailbox on the server and downloaded to the user’s device when accessed.

Access Flexibility

  • IMAP: Allows access from multiple devices, enabling users to view and manage emails consistently across various platforms.
  • POP3: Emails are typically downloaded to one device and removed from the server.

Handling of Emails

  • IMAP: Maintains emails on the server, allowing users to organize, flag, and manage them remotely.
  • POP3: Operates as a “store-and-forward” service, where emails are retrieved and then removed from the server.

In practice, IMAP is more suited for users who want to manage their emails from multiple devices or locations, offering greater flexibility and synchronization. POP could be considered for situations where email access is primarily from a single device, or there is a need to keep local copies of emails while removing them from the server to save space.

Essentially, IMAP prioritizes remote access and centralized email management on the server, while POP3 focuses on downloading and storing emails locally.

Professional Business Email For Your Clients

Integrating email hosting, particularly IMAP, with web hosting to create a seamless platform for managing client websites and emails under one roof is challenging, costly, and complex.

With WPMU DEV’s Webmail, you can enhance your email management capabilities and provide clients with affordable and professional business email no matter where their domain is hosted that is easy-to-use and does not require a third-party app.

Note: If you don’t require the full features of IMAP email for a site hosted with WPMU DEV, we also offer the option to create POP3 email accounts with our hosted email. These accounts can be linked to any email client of your choice, ensuring flexibility and convenience.

If you’re yet to set up a WPMU DEV account, we encourage you to become an Agency member. It’s 100% risk-free and includes everything you need to manage your clients and resell services like hosting, domains, emails, and more, all under your own brand.

If you’re already an Agency member, then head over to your Hub and click on Webmail to get started. If you need any help, our support team is available 24×7 (or ask our AI assistant) and you can also check out our extensive webmail documentation.

Posted on

Introducing Webmail: Easy, Secure, and Ad-Free Business Email for Your Clients 💌

We’re thrilled to unveil one of our most highly-requested features: Webmail, a professional business email service tailored for agencies and resellers that seamlessly integrates with WPMU DEV’s all-in-one WordPress management platform.

“IMAP is crucial to how we work”

Matthew, WPMU DEV Member

More and more members have been telling us that they need:

  • A solution that doesn’t solely depend on third-party email clients such as Gmail.
  • The ability to synchronize, administer, and access email across various devices using IMAP.
  • User-friendly business email for their clients with a quick and easy setup.
  • An alternative to managing their own email server and dealing with all the intricacies and expenses involved.

When our members speak, we listen!

We’re happy to announce that we have met these requirements and we’re excited to finally deliver Webmail, the IMAP-based email hosting solution our members have asked for … all easily managed from your Hub!

Now you can finally give your clients professional business email without relying on limited POP3 email, third-party platforms, or other complex and costly workarounds.

Standalone Email That Truly Stands Out

Being IMAP-based means our Webmail provides greater flexibility in email account creation.

Each email account boasts an impressive array of features:

  • 5GB of storage for every inbox.
  • Complimentary 10 email forwarding and 10 email aliases.
  • Robust spam and virus protection (including smart filtering, single sign-on, password protection, and 2FA).
  • Use of your own domain.
  • Modern & user-friendly email client with intuitive and feature-rich mailbox.
  • Fast and easy IMAP configuration with all popular mail clients and WordPress SMTP plugins.
  • Mobile-friendly, secure, ad-free webmail.
  • One-click webmail login.
  • Vacation autoresponder, professional signature, calendar integration, contact management, and more.
  • Support for maximum file attachment size of 27MB.
  • Unlimited mobile devices and IMAP connections.
  • Auto-sync across all devices.

And that’s just for starters!

Create & Manage Client Email Accounts From The Hub

With The Hub, you can easily set up and manage everything for multiple clients from once central location: their sites, hosting, domains, plugins…and email accounts!

Creating email accounts with Webmail is as easy as 1-2-3…

Click on Webmail in the Hub…

The Hub - Webmail
Manage all email accounts from one central location with The Hub.

Click the “+ Create New Email” button to create an email account from a domain managed in The Hub or hosted elsewhere…

Webmail screen with no email accounts set up yet!
Click the button to create a new email account.

Just follow the prompts and your email account will be all set up and ready to go in no time.

Webmail account setup
Your new email account is good to go!

Here you can also manage your webmail email forwarders…

Webmail email forwarders.
Easily add and delete email forwarders with Webmail.

And email aliases…

Webmail email aliases.
Create up to 10 email aliases per email account.

For a more detailed tutorial on creating and managing email accounts with Webmail, see our guide on how to use webmail.

Connect to Popular 3rd-Party Apps

Webmail can easily connect to 3rd-party apps (e.g. Apple Mail, Gmail, MS Outlook, Zoho, and many others) via IMAP configuration. Even if your clients aren’t tech-savvy, they should have no problem using their favorite email apps.

Webmail configurations
Easily connect your email accounts to third-party apps.

However, Webmail does not require any third-party app to work, and our own integrated email client includes all of the essential mailbox features your clients need to effortlessly and conveniently manage their email.

Give Clients More Control

With Webmail, everything your clients need to access and manage their emails is included right out of the box, and you can create professional business emails for them no matter where their domain is hosted.

Webmail lets you set up email accounts on any domain you own or manage, whether it’s a root domain like mydomain.com or a subdomain such as store.mydomain.com.

It also doesn’t matter if the domain is directly associated with a site in your Hub or not.

Webmail - create new email screen
Webmail lets you create email accounts from a domain managed in the Hub, or from a domain managed elsewhere.

Give Clients More Freedom

Unlike POP email, which doesn’t sync across devices, our IMAP Webmail lets your clients access their latest email activity no matter where they check it or which device they prefer to use…phones, laptops, tablets, even their smartwatch!

Additionally, Webmail includes a powerful user-friendly mailbox that clients can log into from anywhere, on any device, to read and send emails.

Webmail inbox.
Every Webmail account comes with a comprehensive and user-friendly inbox that can be accessed from any device…even directly from their web browser!

Webmail is Affordably-Priced

Each business email account (e.g. hey@yourcompany.tld), is considered an individual account and is available at an affordable price of just $1/month.

Each IMAP email account you create will be billed as a separate paid add-on, including 5GB of email storage.

Resell Webmail Under Your Own Brand

The Hub Client screen showing a white labeled client portal with Webmail highlighted.
Team members and clients access white label Webmail in your own branded client portal.

Webmail is already white labeled for reselling to your clients. Automated reseller for Webmail is coming next!

We’re currently working on bringing full auto-provisioning of emails to our Reseller platform. Until this feature is released, members can manually resell emails to clients and bill them using our Clients & Billing tool.

Full Reseller integration with Webmail means you will soon have access to all of Reseller’s features under one roof.

This includes:

  • White label hosting, domains, client billing, and more.
  • Auto-connect emails to client domains for easy reselling (coming soon!)
  • DNS management with quick and simple DNS verification for emails and domains.
  • 24/7 Expert support
  • Anytime priority email support for you and your clients.

Get Started With Webmail Today!

Interested in using Webmail for your web dev clients? It’s fully exclusive to our Agency plan.

If you’re already an Agency member, then head over to The Hub and check it out!

If you need any help with Webmail, our support team is available 24/7 (or ask our AI assistant) and see our guide on using webmail or refer to our extensive Webmail documentation.

If you haven’t set up a WPMU DEV account yet, we encourage you to become an Agency member. It’s 100% risk-free and includes everything you need to manage your clients and resell services like hosting, domains, emails, and more, all under your own brand.

Posted on

Forminator Crosses 500K+ Installs and Reaches Top-Five Free Form Plugin Status 📈

With over 500,000 downloads, Forminator has quickly evolved into a powerful plugin, beloved for its user-friendly design, extensive features, and robust integrations.

Forminator Downloads
Forminator’s journey from zero to form hero … 500K+ downloads and counting!

How do you grow a plugin from zero to hero and make it shine in a market saturated with plugins? Read on to find out…

Since its inception, Forminator has been consistently evolving, introducing new features and integrations that have significantly enhanced its functionality and user base.

In this article, we take a look at how Forminator became the go-to custom form solution more web developers are choosing to add interactive contact forms, payment forms, polls, quizzes, and more to WordPress sites.

Forminator
Forminator started out as a nerdy superhero before becoming a fully white labeled plugin!

We’ll cover the following sections:

Forminator’s Journey

Forminator began its journey on 17th May 2017, marking the commencement of a project that would significantly impact WordPress form building.

The first Forminator version was released on 20 February 2018 and launched to the world on September 12, 2018.

Here’s a look at the plugin’s journey and key moments:

Releases

2019 Enhancements

Continued Growth in 2020

Expanding the Ecosystem

Recent Developments

Milestones

  • October 2018: Surpassed 4,000 active installations.
  • January 2019: Reached 10k active installations.
  • June 2019: Achieved 20k active installations.
  • July 2020: Crossed 60k active installations.
  • August 2021: Exceeded 200k active installations.
  • February 2023: Surpassed 400k installations.
  • January 2024: Reached a landmark of 500k installations.

The above timeline not only highlights the continuous improvements and enhancements made to Forminator but also showcases the growing trust and reliance of the WordPress community on this versatile plugin.

What Users Like Most About Forminator

“Forminator Pro has been life-changing.”

Jamie J. WPMU DEV Member

So, what makes Forminator so popular?

According to our users, here’s what many like best about Forminator:

1. Comprehensive Free Features

Forminator offers a vast array of functionalities without the need for a Pro upgrade. Users can create custom forms, polls, quizzes, and payment forms at no cost that support integrations with PayPal and Stripe for financial transactions, making the plugin an all-encompassing solution for gathering information, engaging users, and facilitating payments.

2. User-Friendly Design

Forminator boasts a drag-and-drop visual builder that simplifies the process of form creation and customization. The plugin’s accessibility features and intuitive interface cater to both beginners and advanced users, ensuring that adding forms to a WordPress site is simple, easy, and very straightforward.

3. Responsive Support Team

WordPress users rave about our award-winning customer support, which is highly responsive and helpful, and extends not only to all of our products and services, including Forminator, but also anything WordPress-related.

Also, as a Stripe Verified Partner, Forminator benefits from a direct line to additional resources and support. This partnership highlights our plugin’s commitment to provide a reliable service and ensure that users can maximize the functionality of their Stripe integration.

4. Wide-Ranging Integration

Forminator offers seamless compatibility with a plethora of third-party services, including email marketing tools, CRM systems, and project management platforms.

Integration with over a dozen services like HubSpot, Mailchimp, Google Sheets, Slack, Trello, and newer additions like Mailjet (plus over 1000 apps when using Forminator’s Webhooks integration) ensures seamless workflows and enhanced productivity.

Additionally, Forminator’s full-featured API enables connections with a wide range of services and automation tools, enhancing its utility and flexibility.

5. Deep Customization

Beyond basic form creation, Forminator allows for deep customization through a variety of drag-and-drop blocks and field types. Users can tailor forms to their specific needs, whether for GDPR compliance, social media quizzes, or customer feedback.

6. Advanced Functionalities

For users requiring more sophisticated capabilities, Forminator offers advanced features such as e-signature collection, subscription and recurring payments on Stripe, custom login/registration forms, multi-step forms, file uploads, and integrations with many applications and platforms.

These functionalities, available with Forminator Pro, extend the plugin’s utility to virtually any scenario.

Forminator’s Challenges

Forminator’s popularity continues to grow despite having faced challenges and hurdles since launching, such as:

Standing Out in a Crowded Market

The WordPress plugin ecosystem is highly competitive. With almost 60,000 free WordPress plugins listed in the WordPress.org plugin directory and thousands more premium and custom plugins available to extend and enhance the functionality of WordPress sites, it’s tough for any plugin to stand out.

Forminator has continually addressed this challenge by developing unique features and making these freely available where most would charge for them, consistently delivering exceptional, award-winning support to users, and always being willing to actively engage with its user community.

User Feedback and Feature Requests

They say that you can’t please everybody, but we try our darndest to do this.

Handling the diverse needs of our users has required the implementation of multiple feedback systems to prioritize plugin improvements.

We encourage user feedback and feature requests not only for Forminator, but for all areas of our platform, and we do this by actively engaging our user community through our support channels, member’s forums, holding Discussions of The Week (DOTW), running user surveys, and more.

User Interface Usability

Trying to achieve a balance of providing advanced features while remaining easy to use has led to extensive and continuous UX/UI testing and refinements of Forminator’s interface and feature usability by our development team.

For example, to view just how much work has gone into improving the Free version of Forminator alone, check out the plugin’s extensive and fully documented development log on WordPress.org.

As part of our focus and commitment to continually improve Forminator’s user experience and user interface for WordPress users of all skill levels, we provide in-depth and updated plugin documentation, practical tutorials and guides, and an AI-powered knowledgebase.

The Secret To Forminator’s Success

While we’re really pleased with Forminator’s growth to date, achieving success amidst a saturated WordPress plugin market has been no small feat.

Developing Forminator from an idea into one of the “Top 5” form plugins for WordPress is an ongoing effort requiring not only the daily cooperation between all members of our team and feedback from our valued users, but also a comprehensive approach that involves:

  • Performing diligent market analysis to understand the current landscape and identify gaps, trends, and opportunities,
  • Conducting in-depth research of our existing user base to understand their needs, preferences, and pain points,
  • Implementing robust and meticulous tracking of user behavior to understand user interactions with the plugin and which features are being most utilized or neglected.
  • Gathering insights from our analysis, support, and product development teams to prioritize and develop new features and innovative functionalities that will exceed our users’ expectations and deliver greater value than our competitors,
  • Continuously iterating and enhancing the plugin, leveraging user feedback and data-driven decisions.

And finally, and very importantly …

Bundling all of the above into one very robust, professional, and well-supported plugin and then giving it to the WordPress community for FREE!

Forminator plugin banner on WordPress,org
Download Forminator for Free at WordPress.org

Forminator: Looking To The Future

As Forminator’s popularity and usage increases, our plugin development team remains hard at work and committed to achieve the following aims:

Introduce New Free Features

Innovation and user feedback drive the addition of new functionalities. To keep track of new developments and view Forminator’s upcoming features, visit our Roadmap.

Pursue Community-Driven Development

As our entire platform is geared toward helping WordPress web developers and digital agencies grow their business, we value our users’ insights and their experiences, and this significantly influences our development roadmap.

Enhance Integrations

As new technologies and applications emerge, we will continue to expand Forminator’s integrations with key services and platforms to offer more versatility to our users.

Focus on Performance and Reliability

Our plugin development team regularly reviews and optimizes all aspects of Forminator to ensure that as new features and functionalities get added, the plugin will continue to remain fast, reliable, and efficient, whether users choose to download and use the free or Pro version.

Have You Discovered the Power of Forminator Yet?

Forminator’s journey from its initial release to surpassing 500,000 downloads is a testament to WPMU DEV’s commitment to innovation, user satisfaction, and adaptability.

With a focus on user-friendly design and versatility, comprehensive features, and robust integrations, Forminator’s broad feature set and ease of use make it a standout choice for all WordPress users looking to enhance their site’s interactivity, collect payments, and more, all while maintaining a user-friendly and accessible interface.

The future looks promising for Forminator, with plans for new features catering to a wide range of needs, enhanced integrations, and a dedication to performance and reliability.

If you are a current Forminator user, we thank you for helping us reach the 500k download milestone. We truly value your feedback and input into helping us to continually improve the plugin’s features and ease of use.

If you haven’t experienced the power and simplicity of Forminator yet, we invite you to make it a staple in your web development or digital agency’s toolkit. Download Forminator for free or become a WPMU DEV member today and experience Forminator Pro risk-free for 30 days.

We look forward to celebrating 1 million downloads of Forminator with you in the very near future.

Posted on

Domain Reseller Setup Guide: Resell Domains & Boost Your Web Dev/Agency Profits

WPMU DEV’s Reseller lets you offer domain registrations on your website and white label client portal. Learn how to easily add Domain Reseller to attract and retain more clients, offer additional web services, and boost your business revenue!

A screen showing an example of offering domains on your website
Add a new source of revenue to your business with Domain Reseller.

Reselling domains is a great way to get new business through the door, offer a low-cost web service, and retain clients for the long-term.

WPMU DEV’s Reseller is an all-in-one platform that lets you offer clients digital services such as reseller hosting, template reselling, domain reseller, and more, and boost your revenue with hands-free automated management.

Note: Reseller is only available to Agency plan members.

In this step-by-step guide, we’ll show how to set up and integrate full domain reseller automation with your business, covering the following sections:

Alternatively, you can check out the video below, which takes you through the entire Reseller setup process:

Getting Started: Pre-Requisite Step

Before you can resell domains, you need to set up your Clients & Billing account in The Hub.

This step is covered fully in our documentation and in this tutorial: How To Set Up Clients & Billing.

Have you completed this step?

Great! Then let’s show you how easy and straightforward setting up Domain Reseller is …

Add Domains and Set Pricing

Go to The Hub > Reseller > Domain Reseller and click on the +Add TLDs button …

Domain Reseller screen
Click on the button to set up Domain Reseller.

This will bring up the Add TLDs screen, where you can select which top-level domains (TLDs) you want to resell and set retail pricing for your domains.

Add TLDs screen.
Add your TLDs and set up your domain pricing.

There are currently 250+ TLDs you can resell under your own brand (and more coming soon).

After selecting TLDs, the next step is to add a markup (i.e. your profit) to your wholesale domain pricing across all domains.

There are two ways to set the markup price:

  1. Specify a percentage: For example, setting a value of “10” will increase the price of all domains by 10%, so a domain that costs you US$20 to buy will retail to your clients at US$22.
  2. Set a fixed price markup (in USD): With this option selected, setting a value of “10” will increase the price of all domains by USD$10, so a domain that costs you US$20 to buy will retail to your clients at US$30.

Note: After setting a global markup price, you can edit the markup for individual TLDs, as we’ll show you later.

After selecting your TLDs and setting your global markup price, click on the Add TLDs button to save your settings.

Domain Reseller - Add TLDs
Resell 250+ TLDs with Domain Reseller (more coming soon!)

Your selected TLDs will be automatically configured and display in The Hub’s Domain Reseller tab.

Domain Reseller
View your domain cost and retail prices in The Hub’s Domain Reseller tab.

Edit Domain Details

Reseller applies a global markup to domains during the initial set up. However, you can also set individual and bulk markups to domains.

To edit an individual domain’s markup value, click on the ellipsis icon next to the domain and select Update TLD.

Update TLD markup - single
You can edit the markup value of a single domain.

Specify the % or USD value of the markup for the selected domain and click on the Update TLD button. This adjustment will not affect other domains in your account.

Update single TLD markup.
In this example, we are increasing the price of our selected domain by USD$5.

To bulk edit the markup for multiple domains, tick the checkboxes of the domains you wish to edit and click on Update TLDs. (Note: Click on the checkbox next to Update TLDs to toggle and select/deselect all domains).

Update TLD markup - bulk
Save time and easily bulk update TLDs.

Select multiple domains to edit by clicking on their checkboxes. Specify the % or USD value of the markup for all selected domains and click on the Update TLDs button to adjust their pricing.

Update bulk TLD markup.
In this example, we’ll increase the price of the three selected domains by 25%.

You can also remove TLDs from your account individually or in bulk, by either clicking on the ellipsis icon of a single domain, or selecting multiple domains and clicking on Delete TLDs.

Delete selected TLDs
Click on Delete TLDs to remove the above selected domains from your Reseller account.

A notification message will appear asking you to confirm your deletion.

Please note the following:

  • Clicking Delete will remove the selected domains from your account. This will prevent new clients from buying the deleted TLDs. Any existing domains that have already been purchased with the deleted TLDs will remain intact, but your clients won’t be able to renew them.
  • Click Cancel to abort the deletion request and retain all selected domains in your account.
Delete Selected TLDs message
Make sure you really want to remove domains from your account, as clients won’t be able to renew deleted TLDs.

Additional editing features of Domain Reseller include a search filter that you can use to quickly locate domain extensions.

Domain search feature
Use the search feature to quickly find domain extensions.

You can also add TLDs to your account by clicking the + Add TLDs button.

Add extra domains to Domain Reseller.
Click the + Add TLDs button to include additional TLDs.

This feature is useful if new TLDs are introduced later to Reseller, or if you have not selected all available domains during your initial Domain Reseller setup.

Note: If the + Add TLDs button is grayed out, it means that all available TLDs have already been added to your Domain Reseller account.

Greyed out Add TLDs button with tooltip.
A grayed out button indicates that all available TLDs have already been added to your account.

Now that you have a better understanding of how to add and edit domains, let’s look at how to configure Domain Reseller settings.

Configure Domain Reseller Settings

After adding domains and specifying their markup, head over to the Reseller > Settings tab to configure your Domain Reseller settings.

Domain Reseller Settings
Configure Domain Reseller features in the Settings tab.

Here’s a brief overview of each setting:

Default Client Role

This section lets you specify the default client role that will be assigned to new clients who purchase domains.

Domain Reseller settings - Default client role options.
Specify the default role for new domain clients.

Note: Go to The Hub > Clients & Billings > Roles to set up and configure roles for your clients. For more information see our documentation: Client Roles.

Round Off Prices

Select the number of decimal places to round off and display TLD pricing for domains.

Domain Reseller settings - Round off prices.
Round off TLD prices when domains are displayed.

Taxes

The tax rates you select here will be automatically added to the total price of the domain purchase during checkout.

Domain Reseller Tax
Add taxes to domain purchases.

To select taxes, create one or more tax rates in the Taxes section of The Hub > Clients & Billing area.

Clients-Billing Tax
Set up taxes to be added to domain purchases in The Hub’s Clients & Billing section.

After adding TLDs to Domain Reseller and configuring your domain pricing and settings, it’s time to make these available for purchase.

Make Domains Available For Purchase

With Reseller, clients can easily purchase domains directly from your website, all under your own brand.

Your clients will not be directed away to a third-party payment processor to complete their purchase. Everything is handled on your site from start to finish using our white label client portal plugin, The Hub Client.

If you need help setting up a client portal on your site using The Hub Client, see this tutorial: How To Create A Fully-Branded, Customized Client Portal With WPMU DEV

After installing and configuring The Hub Client on your main website, navigate to The Hub Client > Reseller section in your dashboard menu…

The Hub Client Dashboard menu
Resell domains from your white label client portal using The Hub Client.

Next, click on the Domain Reseller tab.

The Domain Reseller screen will display a list of all the domains and pricing markups that you have set up in The Hub, as well as links to support, documentation, and a configurable widget that allows you to embed domains for resale on your website.

The Hub Client Domain Reseller screen.
The Hub Client Domain Reseller screen.

To configure the domains widget, scroll down the Domain Reseller page and click on the Customize domain widget button.

The Hub Client - Domain Reseller - Customize domains widget section
Add an easy search & buy widget to your site.

The customizable widget allows you to change the background, label and button colors of the domains table on your site.

Domain Reseller - Customize widget screen.
Customize your domain reseller widget to match your brand.

The Hub Client generates a shortcode and a Domain Reseller Gutenberg block that lets you easily embed the widget anywhere on your site.

Embed domain widget modal
Embed the domain widget on your site using a shortcode or block … easy!

In the screenshot below, you can see how we have added the widget to a page using the Domain Reseller block and the block’s available settings.

Domain Reseller block
Add the widget anywhere on your site using the Domain Reseller block.

When done, simply publish and visit your page to view and test your live widget.

Domain Reseller widget - front end
Can you see the widget on your site? Great! Then you are ready to start selling domains.

Type in a domain name into the search field and click on the Search Domain button to view the results your clients will see when visiting your site.

A screen showing an example of offering domains on your website
Your domain results page, showing matching TLDs and additional suggestions.

Here is a nifty little feature of the Domain Reseller widget:

If a client types in a domain with the TLD extension included (e.g. exampledomain.com), the results page will display (Exact Match) next to the domain if it’s available.

Domain Reseller Results - Exact match
Go on, click the button … you know you want to buy it!

After searching for available domain names and clicking on the Buy Now button, your client will be asked to create an account on your client portal site or log into an existing account.

Create account screen
Clients can create an account or log into their existing one.

The client will then be stepped through the domain registration process … all inside your client portal!

First, they will be asked to enter their Registrant Information details.

Domain registrant details.
The domain registration screen where clients are asked to enter their details.

Next, they will be taken to the checkout screen and asked to complete their purchase.

Domain registrant checkout
Reseller provides you with effortless and automated client self-checkout.

Manage Client Domains

The automation doesn’t stop after clients successfully register and purchase domains from your site.

You’ll be automatically notified via email of every domain purchase.

Domain Reseller email - client notification.
You’ll be automatically notified via email when a client purchases a domain.

Purchased domains are accessed and managed inside your white label client portal, where clients can also pay for renewals and add new domains.

Note: If domains are not set to auto renew, your clients will automatically receive domain expiry reminders 90, 60, and 30 days before the expiry date.

You can access all of your clients’ purchase details from The Hub’s Clients & Billing section.

CB Client list
Manage clients and view sales activity from The Hub’s Clients & Billing section.

With domain reseller set up, your clients can now search for and buy domains directly from your site or client portal, under your own brand, at the price you set … all automated from start to finish!

Refer to our documentation section for detailed step-by-step instructions on setting up and using the Clients & Billing tool, The Hub Client plugin, and all of Domain Reseller’s features.

Also, check out our Reseller tutorials for practical tips and additional information.

Additional Features (Coming Soon)

In addition to reselling domains, hosting, and templates directly on your website through your white-label client portal, we are working on a host of other great features that Resellers will soon have access to.

For example, domain and hosting purchases currently require separate checkouts. Very soon, when your clients buy hosting they’ll be prompted to add a domain (or vice versa), and everything will be automatically connected and propagated for them, including DNS setup … making the entire process seamless and hands-free for you!

Additional features of the Reseller platform that we are working on include:

  • Country-specific TLDs
  • Domain Transfers
  • Webmail
  • A fully integrated ticketing system for the client portal that will streamline the way you communicate with your reseller clients and assist them.

Become a Domain Reseller Today

As mentioned earlier, you must be on the Agency plan to access our Reseller platform, which includes domain reselling automation (with wholesale domain pricing), reseller hosting (plus $144 free yearly hosting credit), template reselling, and more!

Agency comes with a full risk-free money-back guarantee. So, if within the first 30 days you’re not satisfied with the platform, just cancel and we’ll refund you in full, no questions asked.

In fact, we’re so excited about the future of our Reseller platform and its tremendous potential to transform and grow your business, that we are giving away $1 million in hosting credits to Agency members.

Read all about our $1 million giveaway!

Posted on

Enhance Hosting Security For WordPress Sites Automatically With New Block XML-RPC Tool

If offering your clients impregnable hosting security for their WordPress websites without lifting a finger sounds great, you’re going to love Block XML-RPC … our newest weapon against XML-RPC attacks!

WPMU DEV's Block XML-RPC
Block XML-RPC … find out what it means to me!

Since its inception, WordPress has allowed users to interact remotely with their sites using a built-in feature called XML-RPC. This is not only wonderful for smartphone users who want to blog on the go … but hackers too!

In this article, we’ll cover everything you need to know about XML-RPC and show you how to easily and automatically protect WordPress sites hosted with WPMU DEV from hackers exploiting XML-RPC vulnerabilities using our latest hosting security tool.

We’ll also show you how to protect WordPress sites hosted elsewhere.

Read on or click on a link below to skip the basics and get to the good stuff:

The Basics:

The Good Stuff:

Let’s jump right in …

What Is XML-RPC?

XML-RPC is a remote procedure call (RPC) protocol that uses XML to encode its calls and HTTP as a transport mechanism.

In simple and practical terms, XML-RPC is used for enabling external applications to interact with your WordPress site. This includes actions like posting content, fetching posts, and managing comments remotely, without using the WordPress web interface.

WordPress supports XML-RPC through a file called xmlrpc.php, which can be found in the root directory of every WordPress install. In fact, WordPress support for XML-RPC has been a part of WordPress even before WordPress officially became WordPress.

xmlrpc.php file
The file xmlrpc.php is found in every install of WP.

You can learn more about XML-RPC and WordPress on this post: XML-RPC and Why It’s Time to Remove it for WordPress Security.

What Is XML-RPC Used For?

If you need to access your WordPress website, but you’re nowhere near your computer, XML-RPC facilitates remote content management and integration with third-party applications and streamlines the process of managing WordPress sites without direct access to the admin dashboard.

WordPress users can benefit from using XML-RPC in areas like:

  • Mobile Blogging: Publish posts, edit pages, and upload media files remotely using the WordPress mobile app or other mobile apps.
  • Integration with Desktop Blogging Clients: Applications like Windows Live Writer or MarsEdit allow users to write and publish content from their desktops.
  • Integration with Services: Make connections to services like IFTTT
  • Remote Management Tools: Enable the management of multiple WordPress sites from a single dashboard.
  • Trackbacks and Pingbacks used by other sites to refer to your site.

Despite losing its popularity to newer, more efficient, and more secure APIs built on standards like REST or GraphQL and no longer being supported by PHP from version 8.0 onward, XML-RPC is still widely used in WordPress as it is integrated into many existing systems.

XML-RPC and WordPress Security

If you are using the WordPress mobile app, want to make connections to services like IFTTT, or want to access and publish to your blog remotely, then you need XML-RPC enabled. Otherwise it’s just another portal for hackers to target and exploit.

Pros and Cons of Using XML-RPC

The pros of using XML-RPC are mostly convenience and efficiency.

Though most applications can use the WordPress API instead of XML-RPC, some may still require access to xmlrpc.php and use it to ensure backward compatibility with actively installed older versions.

It’s important, however, to know the cons of using XML-RPC.

Basically, XML-RPC is an outdated protocol with inherent security flaws.

These include:

  • Security Risk: XML-RPC can be exploited for large scale brute force attacks, as it allows unlimited login attempts. Attackers have used XML-RPC functionality to execute widespread brute force attacks against WordPress sites. By leveraging the system.multicall method, attackers can test thousands of password combinations with a single request.
  • Performance: XML-RPC can be a vector for DDoS attacks through the pingback feature, turning unsuspecting WordPress sites into bots against targeted domains, and potentially slowing down or crashing the site.

How to Check if XML-RPC is Enabled/Disabled on WordPress Sites

You can use an XML-RPC validation tool to check whether your WordPress site has XML-RPC enabled or disabled.

WordPress XML-RPC Validation Service tool
A validation tool like xmlrpc.blog lets you easily check whether XML-RPC is enabled on your site.

Enter your URL into the Address field and click the Check button.

If XML-RPC is enabled, you will see a message like the one shown below.

XML-RPC Validation tool.
XML-RPC is enabled for this site.

As explained above, XML-RPC can make WordPress sites vulnerable to spam and cyber attacks.

This is why the best hosting companies block XML-RPC by default and why we recommend you should disable XML-RPC on your WordPress site(s), unless you have applications installed that require it to be enabled.

Let’s take a look, then, at a couple of options you can use to automatically disable XML-RPC on your site (see this post for a manual method that involves adding code to your .htaccess file).

Automate Your Hosting Security with WPMU DEV’s Block XML-RPC Tool

We’ve recently launched a hosting tool called Block XML-RPC that automatically blocks incoming requests on /xmlrpc.php when enabled.

If the tool is disabled, your WordPress site will allow applications access to the /xmlrpc.php file.

Note: New sites hosted on WPMU DEV are created with the Block XML-RPC tool enabled by default.

To access the tool and enable XML-RPC blocking on existing sites, go to The Hub and select the Hosting > Tools tab.

The Hub - Tools - Block XML-RPC
Block XML-RPC improves hosting security … automatically!

Click On/Off to toggle the feature and save your settings when done.

That’s it! Your site is now protected from XML-RPC exploits and attacks at the server level.

Not Hosted with WPMU DEV? We’ve Got You Covered

If your site is not hosted with WPMU DEV (tsk, tsk…), you can use our free Defender security plugin to disable XML-RPC.

The Disable XML-RPC feature is located in the plugin’s Recommendations section.

Defender - Recommendations - Disable XML-RPC
Disable XML-RPC on your site with one click using Defender.

You can check if XML-RPC has been disabled in the Status section.

Defender - Recommendations - Disable XML-RPC
Disabling XML-RPC will make it harder for hackers to exploit your site.

For additional ways to protect your site from DDoS attacks, see this tutorial: How To Protect Your Site From DDoS Attacks.

Note: WordPress plugins only block XML-RPC at the WordPress PHP level, so if an attack occurs, the request will still reach WordPress PHP, subsequently increasing server load.

In contrast, when you enable Block XML-RPC at the server level, the requests will never reach your site and return a “403 Forbidden” error message to the attackers.

XML-RPC Validation tool.
This site is protected at the server level.

For more information and detailed tutorials on the above, see these doc sections: Block XML-RPC tool (Hosting) and Disable XML RPC (Defender plugin).

R-E-S-P-E-C-T XML-RPC

Given the potential security risks, WordPress site owners should carefully consider whether the convenience offered by XML-RPC outweighs its vulnerabilities.

For WordPress sites that benefit from XML-RPC, we recommend implementing strong passwords, limiting login attempts, and using a security plugin like Defender to help mitigate the risks.

However, if the functionality is not needed and your sites run on any of our hosting plans, we strongly recommend disabling XML-RPC at the server level using the XML-RPC tool to further reduce the possibility of DDoS and brute force attacks.

Posted on

How a Million-Dollar Niche WordPress Business Uses WPMU DEV Reseller

Did you know our sister company, CampusPress, uses WPMU DEV white label reseller tools? Learn how it leverages our Reseller platform and how you can use the same tools to build your own million-dollar niche WordPress empire.

The possibilities are literally endless in terms of what kind of business you can create with our Reseller platform.

To prove it, we’re giving you an example of a real million-dollar niche WordPress business that uses the same Reseller tools you have at your disposal.

There’s nothing stopping you from creating a similar WordPress niche business, so stick around if you’re interested to see how CampusPress uses Reseller, and how you can start doing the same.

Here’s what we’re covering, feel free to skip ahead if something catches your eye.

About CampusPress

A screen of the CampusPress home page
There’s nothing stopping you from building a WP niche business like CP with Reseller.

For over 18 years, CampusPress has provided enterprise-grade WordPress solutions, support, and training for education.

It is a world-leading niche WordPress business that generates millions in revenue, trusted by over 280 of the largest and most significant educational institutions in the world.

It also leverages the same cutting-edge hosting, site management, client portal, and template tools that WPMU DEV members can easily resell themselves.

On that note, let’s get into how CampusPress uses Reseller to give you an idea of how you might also use it for your own niche WordPress business.

How CampusPress uses WPMU DEV Reseller

Hosting plans and infrastructure

One of CampusPress’s primary services is enterprise-level hosting for education. CP clients will typically use this for anything from university & school websites, to student blogs and portfolio websites.

An image showing CampusPress's pricing plans
CampusPress’s enterprise-grade hosting is built on the same infrastructure as WPMU DEV.

CampusPress’s hosting is also built on the same hosting infrastructure, servers, and cutting-edge technology that WPMU DEV uses.

This includes a number of the features and tools available with our hosting plans, such as our 121-point global CDN, which CP clients can leverage for their sites.

Of course, CampusPress also provides its clients with a range of additional benefits, tools, and support services specific to the education niche on top of this, including fully custom hosting architecture options.

Want a similar setup for your own niche business? Read our reseller hosting blueprint article for a full rundown of how to set up and resell our hosting plans.

Site management and white label client portal

CampusPress uses WPMU DEV’s The Hub site manager and Hub Client plugin to power their white label client portal and site management interface.

This is where clients can conveniently manage their websites, hosting, account, billing & invoices, and more. They get access to handy WPMU DEV features like the WordPress plugin manager, as well as site monitoring & analytics tools.

They can also easily create new education websites in a few clicks and choose from a set of curated education templates (more on these below).

Of course, the interface is branded with CampusPress colors and custom logo. Read our full guide to learn how you can create your own white label client portal for clients.

A view of the CampusPress client portal interface
CampusPress offers fast and convenient site & account management with The Hub.

Custom site templates

When CP clients sign up, they can choose from a range of education site templates to suit their organization. The templates are bundled with hosting, site management, and expert 24/7/365 expert support.

A screen showing where CampusPress clients can choose a site template
CP clients can select from a range of expertly-made site templates to suit their organization.

They’re all meticulously planned and put together by our CampusPress team, drawing on over 18 years of experience working with a diverse range of universities and schools.

This allowed them to come up with the best formula for ready-made templates that new clients could use right away.

Practically, the templates were created with the help of WPMU DEV’s site creation, template, and cloning tools, which allow anyone to create similar custom templates for their chosen niche.

We also have over 100 one-click templates of our own that you can use if you’d prefer not to start from scratch.

Curated WordPress plugins

Every CampusPress client can access a library of expertly curated WordPress plugins they can use for website optimization.

A screen showing CampusPress's plugins landing page
CampusPress clients can use various WordPress plugins to optimize their sites.

This includes both WPMU DEV plugins and education-based plugins which provide specific functionalities for educational websites and installations.

WPMU DEV’s plugin suite also powers various areas of the CP client portal, including the security, performance, and SEO tabs.

Security tools and procedures

Security, privacy, and data protection is especially critical for universities, schools, and other educational institutes.

A screen showing CampusPress's security landing page
Security is crucial for university and school websites, CP’s security tools and protocols gives clients ultimate peace of mind.

Along with education-specific procedures and policies that ensure they’re meeting industry standards, CampusPress uses a number of WPMU DEV tools which play a critical role in the protection of every CampusPress site.

These include: Web Application Firewall (WAF), two-factor authentication, and malware scanning and detection tools.

CP also relies on WPMU DEV’s built-in product security for plugins and hosting services, giving them peace of mind that these products are as safe and secure as possible.

Client onboarding and payments

CampusPress uses WPMU DEV’s billing platform + Reseller to allow their clients to make payments, check out directly from the CP website, and continue to manage their account, sites, and billing ongoing.

A look at the billing interface inside of CampusPress
CampusPress clients can easily manage their accounts and billing in one place.

CampusPress also uses the same automated onboarding flow that WPMU DEV members can set up for their own clients with Reseller.

A screen showing the account registration page on CampusPress
CampusPress clients can easily create a new account when they’re ready to sign up.

New clients can create an account, select their plan, a site template, hosting server location, and then continue to secure card payment.

All without having to leave your website, all completely hosted and branded as your own.

A look at the checkout screen of CampusPress
CampusPress clients can sign up for services and check out directly from the website.

Learn how easy it is to create your own automated client onboarding experience in our complete Reseller setup guide.

Client support and live chat

One of the most important services CampusPress offers is 24/7/365 expert support, with dedicated account managers for each client.

And while you can’t resell and white label WPMU DEV support (yet! Watch this space…).

Like CampusPress does, you can easily add a live chat integration to your client portal where they can reach out to you directly, visit a dedicated contact page, or browse helpful resources.

We’re also in the process of building a fully integrated ticketing system that will streamline the way you communicate with your reseller clients. And as always, our support team is only a live chat away from helping solve any client issues.

A look at the CampuPress support page
CampusPress provides its clients an easy link to support from their portal where they can enquire or get direct help quickly.

Build your own niche WordPress empire with the same Reseller tools CampusPress uses

Whether it’s a localized hosting agency or a WordPress niche services business like CampusPress, we’re excited to see what our members continue to create with Reseller, the possibilities really are endless.

Speaking of Reseller possibilities, full domain automation is just around the corner! Making it even easier to add another profitable service to your overall client package.

If you’re interested in Reseller, it’s available with an Agency membership, which also gives you access to a bunch exclusive tools and features, including $144 free yearly hosting credit and access to VIP 50% off pricing.

A full 30-day money-back guarantee is also included if you’re not fully satisfied during that time.

Plus, want an exclusive walkthrough of Reseller? We are currently offering free demos with our team.

It only takes 30 minutes, and you get a full look at the platform and how it works before committing to anything. Schedule a free demo on our Reseller landing page.

Posted on

Skyrocket Performance Up To 126% With Our New High Frequency Hosting Plans

The newest and fastest architecture available in our hosting range, discover the incredible performance benefits of our revolutionary High Frequency hosting plans.

As if our award-winning and highly rated managed hosting wasn’t already amazing enough…

Now we’ve taken it to the next level by introducing 7 brand new High Frequency (HF) plans that give a whole new meaning to performance.

What makes these plans different? How powerful are they? And why should you consider High Frequency Hosting?

All is answered in this article, as we give you the lowdown on our newest high-octane creations and put them to the ultimate test.

Here’s what we’re covering:

What is High Frequency Hosting?

Over the years, we’ve introduced many new plans to our hosting lineup, but these High Frequency plans are an entirely different beast.

Because although they’re built on the same powerful infrastructure as our other plans, they have a completely different hardware setup.

This is what sets these plans apart and allows them to handle more traffic load, perform tasks at a higher speed, and execute operations more effectively (more on that soon).

Here’s a quick look at the next generation technology behind our HF plans:

3GHz+ Intel Xeon CPUs

High Frequency plans are powered by blazing-fast 3GHz+ Intel Xeon processors that are made specifically for sites requiring uncompromising performance.

This cutting edge processor greatly outperforms standard CPUs, which for context, typically fall within the 2GHz range.

NVMe SSD storage

Having next level CPU speed doesn’t mean much if your local disk storage can’t keep up.

This is the advantage of NVMe SSD storage, which unlike regular SSD storage, has the capacity to match the enhanced CPU throughput.

Combine these two hardware elements, and you have a recipe for high-performance architecture that seamlessly handles increasing requests and maintains reliability as your hosted site’s workload continues to grow.

You and your clients also get to enjoy the following benefits:

  • Better and faster user experiences – Superior CPU and disk performance ensures smooth and blazing-fast user experiences with absolute minimal site downtime and disruption.
  • Scale hosting seamlessly – HF servers are designed to accommodate and effortlessly scale with increasing website demand. Plan upgrades are also easy and affordable.
  • Stand out from the crowd – Give your hosting services a competitive edge and target clients seeking high-performance solutions.

But enough about the tech and what performance benefits High Frequency ‘should’ give you.

Next, we will truly put them to the test, so you can see how powerful they really are for yourself.

Putting High Frequency To The Test

Before launching these new plans to the world we had to be sure they lived up to their name.

So, our expert hosting team arranged a set of tests to see how these plans performed in real-world scenarios compared to our regular plans.

We decided to test two crucial categories when it comes to hosting performance: CPU performance and disk performance.

Here’s how it went down:

CPU Performance: High Frequency vs Regular Hosting

Methodology:

For the first two tests in the CPU performance category, we simulated multiple people visiting our website’s cached and uncached home page using the ‘Maintain client load’ method.

For the third test we simulated users adding a product to their cart on our website multiple times using this same load method.

All three tests involved scaling up page visitors to a targeted max client count, specific to each plan, within five minutes. During this time, each client repeatedly made requests, simulating high-traffic website use.

The best plans handle more requests and have a lower (faster) average response time.

Here’s how it all went down:

1. Load test for increasing traffic on *cached* home page

CPU Performance: High Frequency vs Regular hosting plans
CPU Performance test (home page – cached): High Frequency vs Regular hosting plans.

Here is the test data:

A table showing the results of our cached home page test

The Results: Up to 108% performance increase!

  • 40-108% increase in requests handled (Regular vs. HF plans)
  • Improved average response time across the board, including over half the average response time (Bronze Regular vs. Bronze HF)

2. Load test for increasing traffic on *uncached* home page

CPU Performance: High Frequency vs Regular hosting plans (home page - uncached)
CPU Performance test (home page – uncached): High Frequency vs Regular hosting plans.

Here is the test data:

A table showing the results of our uncached home page performance test

Results: Up to 126% performance increase!

  • 61-126% increase in requests handled (Regular vs. HF plans)
  • Improved average response time across the board, including almost half the average response time (Bronze Regular vs. Bronze HF)

3. Stress testing PHP with repeated add-to-cart simulations

CPU Performance: High Frequency vs Regular - add to cart
Results from stress testing PHP with repeated add-to-cart simulations.

Here is the test data:

a table showing the results of our add to card performance test

Results: Up to 108% performance increase!

  • 51-108% increase in requests handled (Regular vs. HF plans)
  • Improved average response time across the board, including a 33.19% speed increase (Bronze Regular vs. Bronze HF)

Disk Performance: High Frequency vs Regular Hosting

Methodology:

For this performance test category we used the FIO (Flexible I/O) tool to perform random read and write operations on the disk.

The higher read/write speed = better upload/download. Faster read/write also means increased database performance.

Testing disk performance through random read/write operations

A table showing the results of our read/write testing

Results: Up to 2.79x performance increase!

  • 1.7-2.78x increase in Read speed (Regular vs. HF plans)
  • 1.71-2.79x increase in Write speed (Regular vs. HF Plans)

Deploy High Frequency Hosting in Minutes

Satisfied that High Frequency can deliver the power, speed, and reliability you’re looking for?

Then check out our new range of HF plans, which, despite the groundbreaking features and performance, offer incredible value for buyers and resellers.

We have a total of 7 plans which scale based on your needs, and you can easily move between plans as well.

Another easy way to try High Frequency, or any of our hosting plans, is through our Agency membership, which automatically gives you $144 worth of free yearly hosting credit, and access to exclusive VIP pricing.

Every WPMU DEV product or plan also comes with an automatic 30-day 100% money-back guarantee, so no matter which option you decide to take, it will be completely risk free.

We hope you are as impressed and excited by our new range of plans as we are. It’s a massive step forward for our hosting, with even more exciting improvements coming in 2024 to look forward to!

Posted on

New: 100+ Stunning Website Templates to Automate and Grow Your Reseller Business

Does your agency offer website services? Boost your web development and reseller business with WPMU DEV’s modern and beautiful website templates.

WPMU DEV’s Reseller gives you everything you need to build a profitable reseller business and generate recurring income — from reselling white label hosting and site management tools, to Pro plugins, integrated client billing and management, branded client portal, reseller support … and over 100+ professional website templates covering a wide range of niches and industries!

Build websites faster with a choice of 100+ beautiful and modern premium templates.

This guide shows you how to boost and automate your reseller business using our growing library of professionally-designed website templates and how to sell your own website templates using our enhanced templates feature.

We’ll cover the following areas:

Let’s jump in…

100+ Beautiful Modern Website Templates

Website templates are a game-changer for digital resellers. Templates reduce development time and offer an affordable alternative to custom development by providing clients with accessible high-quality web design.

Templates can also transform how agencies approach web development where the need for fast and cost-effective solutions is key to attracting and keeping clients.

A WPMU DEV membership includes access to a vast template library with over 100 professionally-designed website templates catering to different niches and industries (e.g. corporate, creative, healthcare, e-commerce, and more).

Use these templates to reduce your project costs, speed up your web design process, and provide your clients with an on-brand finished product … automatically!

To access the template library, go to The Hub > Site Templates.

The Hub - Site Templates
Site templates are fully integrated with WPMU DEV’s all-in-one WordPress platform.

In the Site Templates screen, you’ll find two tabs:

  • WPMU DEV Templates – This is where all of our pre-configured templates are stored.
  • My Templates – This section lets you create and manage your own custom site templates.

Click on the WPMU DEV Templates tab to access all of our pre-configured templates.

The Hub - Site Templates - WPMU DEV Templates page
Click the WPMU DEV Templates tab to access over 100 site templates for your next project.

We’ve designed our templates page to help you find templates suitable for your next project quickly and easily.

For example, to select a range of templates, use the Sort (by Recently Added, A-Z, Z-A), filter (by category, themes, or builders), and search features located at the top of the page.

Filtering templates by Category, Themes, or Builders is especially handy if you are building a site for a specific industry or niche, or have a favorite theme or page builder that you prefer working with.

Templates filter
Find templates quickly using the sort, filter, and search features.

Filter templates by clicking on items to select or deselect categories, themes, or page builders. To clear all filters just click the link at the bottom of the Filter Templates by panel.

Templates feature - Filter templates by
Click on the filter screen items to select the templates that you are looking for.

You can also tag your favorite templates by clicking on the star icon to have them listed at the very top of the page. Just make sure to enable Pin favorites to top in the Recently Added feature menu.

WPMU DEV Templates - Favorites
Click on the gold star to favorite a template.

Website Templates for Popular Page Builders and Themes

The versatile themes available in the Templates section are built with various popular page builders and themes.

WPMU DEV Templates - Page builder filter
Filter themes by page builders.

These templates provide a wealth of options, features, and functionalities unique to specific industries, a broad selection of modern and beautiful designs to ensure that you can meet the needs and requirements of your clients, and integrate seamlessly with popular page builders and themes including:

  • Gutenberg
  • Elementor
  • Brizy
  • Colibri
  • Astra
  • Neve
  • Kadence WP
  • Beaver Builder
  • Zakra

If you’re unsure which page builder or theme was used to create the template, refer to the icons below the thumbnail.

Template page builder icons
Hover over the icons to quickly identify a template’s compatibility with specific page builders or themes.

Note: To save custom templates created with a paid or licensed page builder or theme, use the My Templates section.

Fast and Easy Deployment with One-Click Templates

To quickly create a new site using a specific template (or just preview how the template looks), hover over the template’s thumbnail and click on the Preview Template and Create Site buttons.

Hovering over template thumbnail to preview or create a site.
Hover over the template thumbnail to preview or create a site using the template.

All of our hosting plans include rapid one-click template deployment to simplify the process of setting up websites. Simply select a template when creating a new site and these will automatically be set up for you or your clients in minutes.

The Hub - Create from Template
Create a new site using a template or start from scratch … your choice!

Templates to Use and Resell

Templates are available to members on all plans and are included with WPMU DEV’s Reseller platform, so you can use them in your own projects to build client sites or resell them.

Note: To resell custom or built-in templates with Reseller to clients as part of your web development and digital service offerings requires being on the Agency plan.

Adding Templates To Reseller Products

Including templates with Reseller is easy.

Go to The Hub and click on the Reseller tab …

The Hub - Reseller tab
Click on the Reseller tab in The Hub to sell templates with your product and service offerings.

Create a new hosting reseller product or edit an existing one and navigate to the Reseller Configurations screen …

Create Hosting Reseller Product - Reseller Configurations screen.
Add templates to your hosting products.

Choose whether to allow clients to choose a template when purchasing hosting or specify a selected template when new sites are created.

Templates section
Reseller lets you include template options for clients, set a specific template for new sites, or disable templates altogether.

Select all the templates you want to make available to clients using the “Templates Available to Clients” dropdown menu and search feature.

You can build a gallery of templates to offer your clients using any WPMU DEV template and your own custom templates.

Reseller templates - WPMU DEV templates
Resell our templates with your site building services.

For more information on how to create and save custom-built templates, see our custom templates documentation or check out this article on how to create and sell your own site templates.

If you want clients to use a specific template when creating a new site, make sure to select the “Force selected template on new sites” option.

Site Templates section
Set a specific template for all newly-created sites.

Only the templates you have selected for your reseller products will display to clients purchasing your products.

For full details on creating reseller products with templates, see our Step-by-Step Guide to Setting Up Reseller.

Transform Your Business with Website Templates

Website templates can revolutionize and transform your business by streamlining the web development process and boosting efficiency, ensuring client satisfaction, an additional revenue source, and business growth through automation.

Whether you are a newcomer to the industry seeking an easy start to web development or an experienced developer looking to fast track projects by focusing on customization and advanced features, having over 100 one-click templates at your disposal can be especially useful for urgent projects, clients with small budgets, and an indispensable asset to boosting your reselling business.

Our diverse template library caters to various client needs and will ensure quicker website launches, eliminate the need for extensive coding and design, expedite project completion, and provide your clients with a cost-friendly alternative to custom development.

Ongoing updates, instant website creation, easy setup and customization, easy replication of saved customized designs, and rapid deployment with any of our hosting plans are just some of the many benefits to bundling templates with your website building services.

If you’re not a WPMU DEV member yet, sign up today for our all inclusive Agency membership and start reselling services like hosting, templates, plugins, domains, and more under your own brand. It’s 100% risk-free and the best business decision you’ll make.

Posted on

Upgrade Your Hosting Experience with 2X SSD Storage and 10X Bandwidth

MORE BANDWIDTH, MORE SSD STORAGE SPACE, UNLIMITED VISITORS! WPMU DEV’s managed WordPress hosting now gives you everything you need to scale your business to even greater heights.

We’ll keep this short and sweet because there’s a lot to take in.

We’ve made significant changes to our award-winning hosting, which we’re sure you will love:

Let’s get right into it…

Increased Bandwidth Limit

We have increased the bandwidth on all hosting plans by a whopping 10X.

So, whereas the Bronze plan had a 1TB bandwidth limit, it is now 10TB.

Do you have any sites hosted on our Silver, Gold or higher plans?

The old 2.5TB, 10TB and higher bandwidth limits have been automatically bumped too, so Silver is now 25TB, Gold is now 100TB, Platinum is now…well, you get the picture – everything is now 10X!

WPMU DEV Hosting Plans
We’ve increased bandwidth by 10x across all of our hosting plans.

Here’s another upgrade that’ll make you want to immediately jump on the bandwidth wagon…

Doubled SSD Storage Space (and then some!)

Every site hosted on WPMU DEV’s Managed WordPress hosting is created on a highly configured Virtual Private Server with dedicated resources and storage space.

We know you care about SSD storage, so we have increased SSD storage space on the selected plans below by at least 2X or more:

  • Silver = 65GB (old=25GB)
  • Gold = 160GB (old=60GB)
  • Platinum = 320GB (old=155GB)
  • Titanium = 1,280GB (old=640GB)
  • Palladium = 1,600GB (old=640GB)

Great news…we have also increased the storage space on all existing sites currently hosted on the above-listed plans by 2x…at no additional cost!

Removed Visitors Limit

Say goodbye to our old hosting plans with 10x less bandwidth and visitor limits…and hello to the new plans with unlimited visitors!

Old hosting pricing table - WPMU DEV
No more estimated visits…WPMU DEV hosted sites now handle unlimited visitors!

There’s Never Been a Better Time To Host With WPMU DEV

More bandwidth, double SSD storage space (or more) on almost all hosting plans, and unlimited visitors…with all these new improvements, there’s no better time or reason not to jump on board with WPMU DEV hosting!

Check out everything that our hosting plans include. Even better, become an Agency member and get access to everything we make available, including hosting from just $4/mth and $144 free annual credit for even bigger savings.

And if you are hosting WordPress sites elsewhere, get in touch with us today to learn more about our full hosting buyout with free expert site migration.

Posted on

Target Website Visitors More Effectively With SmartCrawl’s Location-Based Redirects

No one likes to be given the runaround…especially potential customers looking to buy from you! Learn how to use SmartCrawl‘s Location-Based Redirects to automatically send your site visitors to the right place based on their location.

If you run a simple site, you can easily direct visitors to different sections of your site using elements like navigation menus, breadcrumbs, keyword linking, and hyperlinks, to name a few.

But… what if you run global or multilingual sites where visitors need to be directed to pages based on their location or language?

Not a problem!

SmartCrawl Pro (our smart and powerful SEO plugin) comes with a powerful built-in URL redirection tool that lets you automatically redirect traffic from one URL to another. This is great if you have changed a page’s URL and wish to keep traffic flowing to the new page.

The plugin’s new Location-Based Redirects feature now extends the power of URL redirections by also letting you easily direct your website visitors to specific pages based on their location.

In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to use SmartCrawl’s new geolocation features:

Let’s jump right in…

Why Use Location-Based Redirects?

Geolocation-based URL redirects can be a powerful tool for website owners to enhance user experience and improve their online business.

Before we look at how to set up location-based redirects on your site, let’s look at several practical examples of why you would want to use geolocation with URL redirections:

Multilingual Content

If you have different versions of your website set up for different languages, you can use geolocation to automatically redirect visitors to the appropriate language version of your site. For instance, you can redirect users from France to the French version of your site, while sending visitors from Spain to the Spanish version.

Geo-Specific Landing Pages

If your business has multiple physical locations (e.g. a store chain), geolocation can increase foot traffic by directing users to their nearest store or office.

Content Localization

Do you run a news-based website? Use Geolocation to redirect users to local news or content relevant to their region and enhance engagement.

Load Balancing

Websites with multiple server locations can use geolocation to redirect users to the server nearest to them. This helps to reduce page load times and improve site performance.

Legal Compliance

Ensure compliance with local laws and regulations. For instance, your website can redirect users to GDPR consent pages if they are from the European Union.

Event Promotion

If you manage an event portal website, you can increase attendance at events by automatically redirecting users to pages about local events, seminars, or conferences happening in their region.

Targeted Ad Campaigns

Use geolocation redirects to show different advertisements based on the user’s location, ensuring that your ads are more relevant and effective.

The above are just some examples of how geolocation-based URL redirects can improve user experience, increase engagement, and drive business growth by delivering personalized, location-specific content and services.

Now that we have looked at why you should use location-based redirects, let’s look at how to set these up using SmartCrawl.

How To Set Up Location-Based Redirects

With SmartCrawl, you can now add Geolocation-based rules to URL redirects to ensure that your users see the most relevant content based on their locations.

Note: This is a SmartCrawl Pro feature. If you are currently using the SmartCrawl free version of the plugin, consider upgrading to Pro by becoming a member.

To do this, go to SmartCrawl Pro’s Advanced Tools section and click on the URL Redirection tab.

SmartCrawl - Advanced Tools: URL Redirection
Set up location-based URL redirects in SmartCrawl’s Advanced Tools section.

Click on the Add Redirect button to access the Location Rules feature

SmartCrawl - Add Redirect
Set up location rules in the Add Redirect screen.

Note: To use SmartCrawl’s location-based redirection you will need access to Maxmind’s GeoLite2 Database. See our documentation section for step-by-step details on how to set up and configure a free Maxmind account.

Maxmind Geolite Signup Form
Sign up for a free Maxmind account to access the geolocation database.

After signing up for your account, enter your license key into SmartCrawl’s Location-based Rules settings to activate the feature.

SmartCrawl Location-based Rules settings
SmartCrawl Location-based Rules settings

Once the geolocation feature has been activated, SmartCrawl will automatically fetch the latest data from GeoLite2 each week.

With the license activated, you can now set up location rules by going to Advanced Tools > URL Redirection > Add Redirect > Location Rules and clicking on + Add Rule.

SmartCrawl Add Redirect Rules
Click on + Add Rule to set up location rules.

In the Location Rules screen, choose whether to set up From or Not From rules to either include or exclude locations and specify the URL to redirect visitors.

SmartCrawl Location Rules - Countries
SmartCrawl Location Rules – Countries

The From and Not From options allow you to set up very specific redirects.

Notes:

  • SmartCrawl currently allows you to set up location rules for countries only. Future plugin updates will include more granular options.
  • The feature follows a “top-to-bottom” order of processing rules, so rules at the top of the list are processed first before the next item below it, and so on.
SmartCrawl Location Rules - From/Not From options
SmartCrawl Location Rules – From/Not From options

The location-based redirects you set up will display in the URL Redirection table with a “globe” icon for easy identification. (Tip: Hover over the global icon to view the options you have set up.)

SmartCrawl URL Redirection list
Location-based redirects display with a globe icon.

To edit or delete your redirects, click on the gear icon next to the item.

Edit redirects.
Easily edit or delete your redirects.

Smart Post and Page Selection For Redirects

Another new and useful feature of SmartCrawl is smart post and page redirects.

Previous versions of the plugin included only a New URL field for adding destination URLs for redirection…

SmartCrawl pre-version 3.8 Add Redirect screen.
SmartCrawl’s Redirect tool prior to version 3.8.

From SmartCrawl version 3.8 onward, in addition to the new Location Rules tab described earlier, you will find that the Advanced redirection section (which includes labels and Regex options) has been moved to its own tab, and two additional Redirect To options have been added to the URL field: Post and Page.

SmartCrawl's post-version 3.8 Add Redirect screen.
SmartCrawl’s post-version 3.8 Add Redirect screen with smart Post and Page selection.

The Smart Post and Page selection tabs allow you to create redirections to existing posts or pages on your site more easily.

Simply start typing in a keyword and SmartCrawl will bring up a list of posts or pages from your site that you can select and redirect visitors to.

SmartCrawl Smart Post and Pages feature.
Start typing a keyword to see all the existing posts and pages you can redirect visitors to.

With this time-saving feature, you don’t have to search your site then copy and paste destination URLs…SmartCrawl’s smart engine will do the searching for you.

After selecting a post or page in the Redirect To field, select a Redirect Type from the drop-down menu, then click on the Apply Redirect button.

SmartCrawl - Smart Page redirect
Redirecting visitors is now faster and easier in SmartCrawl.

Coming Soon…New Features and Improvements

SmartCrawl is the only plugin you need to automate all of your WordPress SEO needs and it just keeps getting better.

Future versions of SmartCrawl’s URL Redirection tool will include new features and improvements like:

  • New redirections types (e.g. 307 Temporary Redirect, 410 Content Deleted, 451 Content Unavailable for Legal Reasons)
  • Automated notifications to create a redirection when a post is deleted or drafted
  • Bulk editing/deleting redirects.
SmartCrawl - Advanced Tools
Stop telling everyone where to go…send them there instead with SmartCrawl’s Location-Based Redirects!

WPMU DEV members get access to everything, including all of our Pro plugins. If you need help setting up URL redirections, check out SmartCrawl’s documentation or reach out to our 24/7 expert support team.

Posted on

Reseller: A Step-By-Step Setup Guide For Agencies, Web Developers & Freelancers

WPMU DEV’s Reseller is an end-to-end platform to sell hosting, domains, templates, SEO, and more through your own white-label portal, on your own domain. Learn how to easily set up automated Reseller for your business in this step-by-step guide.

WPMU DEV Reseller
Reseller lets you white label and resell everything WPMU DEV!

If you provide web development, web design, or digital marketing, white labeling and reselling services like web hosting and domains is a great way to add additional and automated recurring revenue streams to your business quickly and easily.

WPMU DEV’s Reseller platform provides end-to-end automated white label deployment and billing for reselling services and is exclusive to Agency members.

Not a WPMU DEV Agency member? Learn more about our most exclusive, priority access plan here.

In this quick-start guide we’ll take you step-by-step through the process of setting up Reseller in your Agency account inside your central WordPress site management tool, The Hub.

Watch the video below for a quick overview and use the jump links for step-by-step instructions on setting up Reseller.

You will learn:

Getting Started with Reseller

Reselling and white labeling WPMU DEV hosting has been possible for a while now.

Reseller provides agencies and WordPress professionals with a complete suite of tools to generate recurring revenue without managing servers, dealing with downtime and other technical issues, or having to manually onboard customers.

Reseller also brings all the moving parts below seamlessly together to create an effortless and fully-automated reseller experience:

  • White label client billing, invoicing, and management
  • Reseller products, including hosting, domains (coming soon!), site templates, premium plugins, etc.
  • White label client portal
  • White label client reports
  • White label client support (coming soon!)

Additionally, you can add your own products and services to the mix like SEO, PPC, and more, giving you unlimited flexibility.

Simply set up Reseller to suit your business model and brand it all as your own. WPMU DEV’s all-in-one platform will run, maintain, and support everything, leaving you free to grow your business and focus exclusively on your clients.

Setting Up Your Reseller Account

Before we go through the Reseller setup process, make sure you have a Stripe account set up.

Stripe is the default payment processor for our integrated Clients & Billing client management tool and you will need this to invoice your clients and get paid.

Got your Stripe account? Great! Then log into The Hub and click on the Reseller tab in the top menu.

The Hub - Reseller tab
Click on The Hub’s Reseller tab to begin the setup process.

We recommend watching the “get started” video and following the checklist for the fastest and easiest way to set up Reseller.

The Hub - Reseller Wizard
Setting up Reseller is simple…just follow the checklist!

There are four main steps involved in setting up Reseller, so let’s go through these now:

Step 1) Set Up Client Billing and Invoicing

The Hub’s Client Billing and Management portal is an incredibly easy-to-use, built-in billing management platform that lets you create and sell product and service packages to your clients, process payments, set up custom plans, recurring subscriptions, branded invoices, and invite clients directly from your Hub or Hub Client plugin installed on your own site.

A screen showing our clients and billing interface
Clients & Billing provides all the tools you need to easily manage your clients in one place.

Setting up Clients & Billing involves two steps:

  1. Connect your Stripe account to Clients & Billing.
  2. Configure Clients & Billing to set up your business profile and preferences (e.g. billing currency) and add your own branding to everything, including your emails, invoices, etc.

If you need help with this step, click on the links above and follow our tutorials or refer to the Clients & Billing documentation for more detailed information.

Step 2) Create Your Reseller Products

Once you’ve decided what packages to offer (we give you a ton of different options for add-ons, services, and upgrades) and Client Billing has been set up and configured, the next step is to create and add the products and services you plan to resell to your clients.

This is as simple as adding new products, creating your plans (which connect to our hosting plans), and setting their pricing.

Click on the Reseller tab in The Hub’s main menu and you will see additional tabs inside this screen that allow you to create white label reseller hosting products, and domain reselling (coming very soon!).

The Hub: Reseller main screen
Configure your white label resell products and settings in the main Reseller panel.

Additionally, in this section you will find a global settings tab, and links to reporting issues and suggestions and the Reseller Setup Guide.

Reseller settings
Configure global settings for Reseller in The Hub.

Let’s go through an example and create a hosting reseller product using Reseller’s product setup wizard so you can see how easy this is.

Click on the Hosting Reseller tab and then click on Add New Product to bring up the first screen of the Product Setup wizard.

The Hub - Hosting Reseller Tab
Set up your whitelabel hosting products in the Hosting Reseller section.

Product Setup

The product info you enter here (i.e. product name, image, description, and features list) will be added to the pricing table made visible to your clients, so it’s important to fill this in correctly.

Enter your product info and click ‘Next’ to continue.

Create Hosting Reseller Product wizard - Product Setup screen.
Enter the information about your new product that you want customers to see in the Product Setup screen.

Reseller Configurations

Next, configure your product by selecting the hosting plan you will resell as your own.

Create Hosting Reseller Product wizard - Reseller Configurations screen.
Configure your hosting product settings.

Note: With each product that you create, you can also specify additional customization options.

These include:

WordPress User Role

Select the user role you would like to assign to clients when this product is purchased.

Reseller lets you choose from various roles, including Super Admin (for managing Multisite site templates). This is useful if you don’t want users to have complete control of all WordPress functions on their newly purchased site.

So, if you want to restrict users from being able to install plugins and themes on their site, for example, you can associate a hosting plan with the role of Editor or a role with even less permissions (e.g. Author, Contributor, Subscriber).

Hosting Product - User Role
Associate user roles with each hosting product you create.

Client Role

You can choose to keep the default client role as set in The Hub > Reseller > Settings or change the client role after the product has been purchased.

Hosting Reseller - Client Role Settings
Configure the client role behavior for each of your hosting reseller products.

Note: Client Role is different from the WordPress User Role set above and affects access to features in The Hub.

Learn more about Client Roles.

Site Templates

Under the Site Templates setting, you have the option of allowing clients to choose a site template, forcing a selected template on new sites, or disabling templates.

Hosting Reseller - Site Templates
Enable or disable site templates for your hosting products.

If template-based options are selected, you can then choose to use your own client site template(s), and/or any of the pre-configured site templates from our library.

Website template library
A sample of the site templates you can offer your clients.

Reseller Tip: Site templates allow you to sell fully white-labeled websites to your clients. To do this, simply create custom templates from one or more white-labeled sites in your account (Hub > Site Templates > Create Template), then make only those templates available to your clients.

The Hub - Custom Template
Create white label sites with custom templates.

Learn more about site template options.

Auto Suspension

With Reseller, you’ll never lose sleep over unpaid client invoices!

Reseller lets you configure whether or not to automatically suspend sites if an invoice has not been paid after a specified number of days. You can also disable the option altogether, and specify whether or not to automatically unsuspend sites when pending invoices are paid.

Hosting Reseller - Auto Suspension
Reseller can automatically suspend sites with unpaid invoices.

Learn more about Auto Suspension.

Auto Deletion

As an additional feature of its powerful automation capabilities, Reseller gives you the option of automatically deleting sites with unpaid invoices.

Hosting Reseller - Auto Deletion
Reseller can automatically delete unpaid sites…or not! You decide.

You can choose to not auto delete sites, or delete them where invoices remain unpaid after a specific time period set by you.

Note that the number of days you specify to trigger auto deletion must be greater than the number of days you have set for auto suspension to take effect.

Hosting Reseller - Auto Deletion
If the client has not paid their invoice after a grace period, Reseller can automatically delete their site. No pay…bye bye!

Learn more about Auto Deletion.

Pricing

The last step is to set up your hosting product’s pricing.

The Pricing screen allows you to create different plans, set your subscription terms, and charge whatever amount you want on top of your wholesale purchase pricing.

Click the Continue button when done to create your product.

Create Hosting Reseller Product wizard - Pricing screen.
Set up pricing variations for your hosting product.

Your first hosting product is now done and the product details will display in your Hosting Reseller screen.

Hosting Reseller screen with product added.
Congratulations…your first hosting reseller product is ready!

After adding a product, you can perform additional functions such as viewing or editing it, add a pricing plan, duplicate it to easily create a new product variation, and even archive it if it’s no longer being used.

Hosting Reseller - Product Options
Click on the ellipsis to view additional options.

Rinse and repeat the above steps by clicking on the Add New Product button to continue adding all of the hosting products you plan to resell.

An example of some newly created hosting reseller products and plans
Add your products, create bundled plans, and set your pricing/subscription terms.

If you need help with this step, see our documentation.

Step 3) Set Up Your White Label Client Portal

This is where all the magic happens for your clients.

The client portal is your white labeled branded version of our Hub site management interface. It’s powered by The Hub Client plugin, which is needed for Reseller and included with the Agency membership, and runs on your own WordPress website on your own domain.

It’s your dedicated portal where clients will sign-in when they buy from you to manage their account details, pay you, and purchase services including hosting and more, directly from your site…all fully controlled and customized by you.

A screen showing a branded portal login
Create a branded portal where clients can log in and manage their sites.

Portal creation is instant as it’s a copy of your existing Hub interface, and there are numerous design, branding, and customization options.

Setting up a white-labeled client portal will enable your clients to not only manage their subscriptions and invoices, but also purchase reseller products directly from you and automatically create sites hosted with WPMU DEV.

Fully branded Client portal
Client’s view of your branded hub.

You have complete control over setting up your clients’ experience in the portal.

To set up a client portal with your own branding, simply install and activate The Hub Client plugin on your site, configure settings for branding, navigation, login, and signup, and add the products you created in the previous step.

For detailed instructions on installing and using the plugin refer to The Hub Client plugin documentation.

Step 4) Integrate Reseller With Your Site

The final step to complete the automation process is to activate and set up Reseller on your client portal with information about your products and services.

To do this, make sure you have installed The Hub Client plugin on your site, then go to “The Hub Client > Reseller” page and activate Hosting Reseller.

Hub Client - Activate Reseller
Activate Reseller in The Hub Client

Next, add/import the products you created in Step 2 into The Hub Client by clicking either on the Add Product or Import all products buttons.

Note: Editing products in The Hub will automatically update the information in your pricing tables for existing products, so you won’t need to reimport the product in The Hub Client.

Hub Client plugin - Add products
Add or import your resell products into The Hub Client.

Clicking on the Add Product button allows you to select a product and pricing variations, and configure visibility settings for its pricing table.

The Hub Client: Add Product
And a product and configure its pricing and visibility options.

Alternatively, you can import all products you have created in The Hub by clicking on the Import all products button…

Hub Client: Import products into Reseller
Import your products into Reseller.

After importing, a table will display information about each of your added products.

Note: If you have not added any products, you will see the option to add a product or import all products below the Hosting Products table. After adding a product, the Import all products button will be replaced with the Customize pricing table button.

Hub Client: Hosting Reseller Products Table
Hosting Products table

Click on the down arrow to view more details about each product (or click on the up arrow to hide this information).

Hub Client - Hosting Reseller table options
Click on the up/down arrows to expand or hide product information.

After adding your products, click on the Customize pricing table button to create and customize a pricing table with your Hosting Reseller products to match your site and brand.

Customize reseller products pricing table.
Customize your pricing table to match your own branding.

Note: An alternative option to using The Hub Client’s pricing table is to copy and add checkout links generated by Reseller to your existing setup where you’d like customers to purchase your products.

A screen showing the option for selecting a checkout link which can be easily added to your existing setup.
Don’t want to use the pricing table? No problem…add a checkout link to your site instead.

Once your billing, products, and portal are ready, you can easily embed your new products and pricing table on your site via shortcode or Gutenberg block where clients can access the information and purchase your products and services.

A preview of what your custom pricing plans will look like
Easily embed pricing plans on your site/portal or connect to your existing setup.

You’re now ready to resell WPMU DEV!

Your Clients’ Onboarding Experience With Reseller

Now that you know how to set up Reseller, let’s take a look at the ‘turn-key’ client onboarding experience:

A new user selects a hosting plan from your site…

An example of a live pricing table set up as a result of using our Reseller hosting
Your pricing table is live and ready for new clients to buy.

They’ll create a new account and log in to your portal…

A screen showing where the client will sign in to your portal
Secure and easy account sign-in for your new customers.

Then create a site, choose a template, set up site credentials, server location, and securely check out…

A look inside the client portal where they can create a new site
The site setup process for new clients is super simple.

Your clients can easily create a new site with or without templates, depending on how you have configured your product packages…

A preview of what it looks like when a user chooses a site template
Have clients choose one of your templates, or one of our 27 pre-configured options.

The client will be presented with your fully-branded payment screen as the last step of the process. Once payment is made, their site will then be automatically created.

A screen showing what the final checkout will look like for a client
Clients can securely purchase your hosting products via your own branded checkout.

After payment is successfully processed, Reseller will do its magic and create a brand new, fully configured site on an optimized hosting plan in just a few minutes.

Once the site is done, your clients will then have immediate access to their sites, via your client portal.

A screen showing the clients new site loading up
Your client’s site will be ready faster than you can spell instant gratification.

It’s all 100% automated, white-labeled under your own brand, and completely hands-off if you want it to be.

Welcome to your new WPMU DEV reseller business!

Want Ka-Ching? Then Reseller’s Your Thing!

As mentioned earlier, Reseller is only available with our Agency plan, which includes unlimited site licenses and tools, Pro plugin suite, free yearly hosting credit, and exclusive access to our lowest hosting prices. The plan also includes a full 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can try it completely risk-free today.

Become a WPMU DEV Reseller today and start automating your existing agency setup, or tap into a wealth of potential new revenue streams selling niche hosting services.

If you are already an Agency member, what are you waiting for? Jump in, take a look, and get started right now.

Also, watch this space, we have big plans to continue building additional ways (and improving) how our platform can help WordPress professionals drive recurring revenue without the hassle.

PS: Domain reseller automation is up next! Adding yet another source of income to your business, and value to your clients.

Posted on

Make WordPress Sites Load Faster Than Ever With New Hummingbird Critical CSS

With Hummingbird’s much anticipated Critical CSS feature, you can expect faster-loading pages and better performing WordPress sites. Here’s why render-blocking resources are now a thing of the past…

Hummingbird Optimization - Before and After Results
Ace Google’s PageSpeed performance scores with Hummingbird’s Critical CSS feature.

If you care about page loading speed (and you should if you want visitors to stay on your website for longer than two seconds), then it’s vitally important to understand how CSS affects site performance and how to speed up your page loading time using an optimization task known as Critical CSS.

In this article, we’ll cover the following topics:

Let’s dive in…

What is Critical CSS and How Does it Improve Performance?

When users arrive on a website, all they can see initially is the content displayed on their screen before scrolling.

This area is referred to as being “above the fold.”

Image explaining above and below the fold.
All site visitors see at first is the content above the fold.

Positive user experience can be measured by how quickly users perceive content to load on a web page. The faster a page loads (or is perceived by the user as loading quickly), the better the user experience. Conversely, the slower the page loads (or is perceived by the user to load slowly), the poorer the experience.

Since all the visitor sees when they land on a page is the content above the fold before they start scrolling down, it makes sense to make the content above the fold load as quickly as possible before loading the rest of the page.

Critical CSS (also known as Critical Path CSS or Critical CSS Rendering Path) is a technique that extracts the bare minimum CSS required to render content above-the-fold as quickly as possible to the user.

While the user viewing the above-the-fold content perceives the page to be loading quickly, the rest of the CSS can load, and user experience is not impacted.

Techniques like image lazy loading, delaying JavaScript execution, and critical CSS are all ways to optimize the sequence of steps the browser goes through to convert the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript into pixels on the screen.

This sequence is referred to as the Critical Rendering Path (CRP) and includes the Document Object Model (DOM), CSS Object Model (CSSOM), render tree, and layout.

Optimizing the critical render path improves render performance.

Advantages of Critical CSS

Critical CSS can improve site performance through:

  • Faster initial rendering
  • Improved user experience
  • Better SEO performance
  • Reduced page weight
  • Simplified maintenance
  • Progressive enhancement
  • Positive impact on Core Web Vitals (especially First Contentful Paint and Speed Index)
  • Higher PageSpeed Insights scores

Note: The content displayed above-the-fold on page-load before scrolling will differ depending on the device and screen size being used to view web pages. For this reason, there is no universally defined pixel height of what can be considered above-the-fold content.

Implementing Critical CSS

So you’ve run your site through the PageSpeed Insights tool and the report recommends eliminating render-blocking resources.

Now what? How do you actually implement the recommendations?

Well, you can try to fix things manually (tedious, time-consuming, and not recommended), use web development tools (if you have technical skills), or use a WordPress plugin like Hummingbird to automatically identify, address, and resolve any issues.

We recommend using the plugin method. It’s the quickest and smartest option to get the job done.

While Critical CSS refers mostly to above-the-fold CSS, Hummingbird can extract and inline all used CSS on the page, while delaying/removing the rest.

Hummingbird not only tackles render-blocking and unused CSS for full-page optimization, it also handles above-the-fold optimization by eliminating render-blocking resources using built-in features like Critical CSS (see below), Delay JavaScript Execution for JavaScript assets, and other areas that affect Core Web Vitals results on WordPress sites.

How To Optimize WordPress Using Hummingbird’s Critical CSS feature

Note: Critical CSS is a Pro feature, so make sure you have Hummingbird Pro installed on your site.

Let’s go through the steps on how to get the most benefit from using Hummingbird’s new critical CSS feature.

First, start by running a performance test.

Hummingbird - Start Performance Test
Start optimizing your site with Hummingbird by running a performance test.

Make sure to note the initial results so you can compare before and after results.

Hummingbird performance test results
Note down Hummingbird’s performance test results before enabling critical CSS.

Next, navigate to Hummingbird > Asset Optimization > Extra Optimization and enable Critical CSS.

Hummingbird-Asset Optimization - Extra Optimization - Critical CSS
Turn on Critical CSS in the Asset Optimization > Extra Optimization screen.
Critical CSS Options
Hummingbird gives you options to control the implementation of Critical CSS on your site.

After enabling the feature, you’ll see different options for loading Critical CSS and for handling Unused CSS.

Loading Critical CSS

This section gives you the option to select Full-Page CSS Optimization (default) or Above-the-Fold CSS Optimization.

Critical CSS
Select one of the options from the drop-down menu.

We recommend choosing the default Full-Page CSS Optimization with Load on User Interaction option selected for most sites as this will provide the best results and address both issues of eliminating render-blocking resources and reducing unused CSS audits while maintaining the integrity of all the site’s visual elements.

Full-Page CSS Optimization inlines all used CSS and delays/removes loading the rest.

Choosing the Above-the-Fold CSS Optimization method is recommended for larger sites with loads of complex CSS if the default option does not give the desirable results. This method will inline all above-the-fold CSS and load the rest asynchronously.

Handling Unused CSS

Hummingbird gives you the option to load the unused CSS On User Interaction to fix any rendering issues or Remove Unused which trims unused CSS, keeping only what’s necessary and loading it inline.

Additionally, you can toggle the feature for specific post types.

Unusued CSS Post Types
Select the post types to remove unused CSS.

While the post type toggles are available for both the Full-Page CSS Optimization and Above-the-Fold CSS Optimization methods, only the Full-Page CSS method handles unused CSS.

Critical CSS - Above The Fold Method option selected.
If Above-the-Fold CSS Optimization method is selected, the option to remove unused CSS does not display.

Both optimization methods also provide an advanced option to add custom CSS manually within the <head> section of the page(s).

Unused CSS - manual inclusions
Add critical custom CSS elements manually.

Note: If you have used the legacy CSS above the fold feature in earlier versions of Hummingbird to manually feed the critical path CSS, the existing data will be automatically migrated to the Manual Inclusions box when you upgrade the plugin to the latest version and switch to using the new feature.

After configuring your options, click Save Changes. Hummingbird will start implementing Critical CSS automatically as per your settings.

Critical CSS Optimizing
Wait a few seconds for Critical CSS to optimize your site before continuing.

After you see the completion message, visit your site and confirm that everything on the front end is displaying as it should.

Critical CSS Generated message.
Wait until you see the “Critical CSS Generated” message before refreshing the page.

Refresh the page, let the cache build up again, and then run another performance test in Hummingbird so you can compare the before and after results.

Hummingbird performance test results
Compare Hummingbird’s performance test results before and after running Critical CSS.

Regenerate Critical CSS

After applying Critical CSS on your site, a “Regenerate Critical CSS” button will display at the top of the Extra Optimization screen.

Click on this button to purge the cache, clear all local or hosted assets, and automatically regenerate all required assets for your site or homepage.

Regenerate Critical CSS
Regenerate your site’s Critical CSS at any time with a simple click.

Hummingbird’s Critical CSS is Compatible with Everything WordPress

We have tested Hummingbird’s Critical CSS feature extensively and found it to be compatible with all WordPress versions and themes, page builders, fonts, WooCommerce, Learning Management Systems (LMS), etc.

It’s important to note, however, that installing poorly-coded themes or plugins containing CSS with invalid code or invalid strings on your site could cause issues and result in a Critical CSS error message.

Critical CSS error message.
Using poorly-coded themes or plugins can lead to Critical CSS errors.

If you do experience errors using Critical CSS, try the following:

  1. Click on the “Regenerate Critical CSS”  button and see if this fixes the issue.
  2. If you get the same error again, we suggest changing the theme (use a staging site if your site is live), and run Critical CSS on the new theme. If there are no problems, then the issue is most likely the theme.
  3. If you experience issues after installing a different theme, we recommend troubleshooting your plugins.
  4. If the error still persists after trying all of the above, note the error message, disable Critical CSS temporarily on your site, and contact our support team for assistance fixing the issue.

You can rest assured, however, as Hummingbird’s Critical CSS feature has been designed with the focus to preserve your site’s visual integrity while bumping performance. The feature handles errors well and and will rarely break a site, even in case of errors.

For additional information on using the Critical CSS feature, refer to the plugin documentation.

Switch On All Of Hummingbird’s Optimization Features For Best Results

If getting maximum speed and performance out of your WordPress site(s) is critically important to you, using Hummingbird’s Critical CSS is definitely a feature you shouldn’t ignore.

Hummingbird report - passed audits.
Optimizes site performance and ace Google’s PageSpeed recommendations with Hummingbird’s Critical CSS feature.

For best performance and savings, we recommend using Critical CSS with page caching and all of the asset optimization features the plugin makes available, including CDN, and Delay JavaScript Execution.

Hummingbird - Asset Optimization
For best results, enable all of Hummingbird’s asset optimization features.

In most cases, combining all of Hummingbird’s optimization features should help your site achieve PageSpeed scores of 90+ or bring it closer to a perfect 100 if your site is already performing well.

Hummingbird-100 Score PageInsights
Use all of Hummingbird’s optimization features to get the perfect performance score!

As mentioned earlier, Critical CSS is a Hummingbird Pro feature and its available to all WPMU DEV members.

If you are currently using our free Hummingbird plugin, consider becoming a member for affordable and risk-free access to our all-in-one WordPress platform. It has everything you need to launch, run, and grow your web development business.

And if you are an Agency member, you can even white label and resell Hummingbird (plus hosting, domains, our entire suite of PRO plugins, and more) all under your own brand.

Posted on

Prevent Accidental File Deletion and Site Downtime With New Defender Safe Repair

All new Safe Repair feature makes repairing and quarantining malicious files with Defender Pro smoother and safer than ever before for WordPress users!

The Hub: Defender - Quarantine Widget
View quarantined files using Defender’s Safe Repair feature from The Hub.

Defender, WPMU DEV’s powerful WordPress security plugin, recently launched its all new version 4.1, which ensures maximum compatibility with the latest version of WordPress, and — more importantly for Pro users — is designed to streamline the process of repairing and quarantining modified files, suspicious files, and offer users a safer alternative to deleting files.

In this post, we’ll focus on this new feature and cover the following areas:

Let’s jump right in…

What is Defender’s Safe Repair Feature?

As a user-driven company, we listen to what our members and users want. Especially when it comes to addressing issues, as outlined in the comments below from our Defender plugin users:

  • “I was running a malware scan with Defender Pro, and I think I accidentally deleted a file which I shouldn’t have. Now the website is down with a critical error.”
  • “Our website is currently down after removing two attached files that Defender Pro recommended removing.”
  • “It would be wonderful if Defender Pro allowed us to quarantine a file in addition to the options of deleting a file or ignoring it.
    That way if the suspicious file breaks the site, it can be restored easily instead of having to restore the entire site from a backup.”

Using the above feedback, our developers decided to improve our security plugin and add the following options to avoid serious issues and errors on users’ WordPress sites:

  1. Repair and Quarantine/backup suspicious files so these can be restored if necessary.
  2. Repair and Quarantine/backup modified files so these can be restored if necessary.

Defender Malware Scanning scans your entire site for suspicious code or modified files and published vulnerabilities in plugins, themes, and WordPress core.

The new Safe Repair feature applies to reported suspicious and modified files, allowing these to be quarantined, deleted, or replaced with the latest file copies from their official plugin repository.

Defender Pro - Plugin vulnerability message
Defender detects and warns users of plugin, theme, and core vulnerabilities. Note: the plugin shown in the above screenshot was modified for illustrative purposes.

How Does Safe Repair Work?

As explained earlier, Defender Pro’s Safe Repair feature within the Malware scanning section is designed to streamline the process of quarantining files before repairing or deleting them, offering a safer alternative to outright suspicious or modified file deletion.

Here’s how Defender Pro handles these requests from version 4.1 onward:

Suspicious Files

Defender flags PHP functions, code, and files when they vary from what is expected or when they match known issues.

Defender- Suspicious file
Defender detects and flags files with suspicious code.

Once a flagged function or suspicious code has been verified as suspicious, Defender presents you with three actions: Ignore, Delete, or Safe Repair (note: you may need to deactivate the plugin for the ‘Delete’ option to become active).

Prior to v4.0, deleting suspicious files would occasionally cause a plugin, theme, or even the entire website to break. Often, this is caused by code from the plugin or theme itself being flagged by Defender as being suspicious.

The problem, however, appears when it’s a false positive, meaning that the flagged file isn’t malicious per se, but part of the plugin’s (or theme’s) core files and contains risky code added by the theme or plugin developer. Hence, deleting this file could cause errors on the site, break functionality, or even break the entire site.

From Defender Pro v4.1 onward, users can now opt to repair and quarantine/back up suspicious files for 30 days or more, instead of deleting the file right away. Files are stored under the new quarantine tab, allowing you to restore these if needed, including restoring files manually. This provides a fail-safe method to handle suspicious files and offers a restoration option if things go wrong or return false-positives.

Note: The Safe Repair option becomes available only if the suspicious code found differs from the plugin’s original code. Also, Safe Repair only works with WordPress.org plugins currently.

Modified Files

If code in a plugin, theme, or WordPress core file doesn’t match what is found in the official WordPress repository. Defender will flag the file as a Modified file. Restoring the original file fixes this issue.

Earlier versions of Defender (and Defender Free plugin) feature a “Restore” button in the plugin’s Malware Scanning section, which fetches a fresh file from the WordPress repository and replaces the existing file in the server directory.

Defender Pre v4 - Restore files
Earlier versions of Defender offer only the option to restore modified files with a fresh version of the file.

However, when a file has been modified by an admin or site developer (e.g. by adding a custom code for a certain functionality), deleting or replacing the file with its original can result in the loss of custom code or functionality, and in some cases, lead to sites breaking.

In Defender Pro, Restore is now Safe Repair. This new feature not only replaces the modified file with the original file from the WordPress repository, it also adds an option to quarantine the modified file before replacing it, allowing users to restore the file if required.

Defender v4.0 - Safe Repair button
The new Safe Repair feature of Defender Pro allows users to restore replaced files.

Repairing Files

Repair is a handy feature to have when a file in the server directory gets modified for any reason. It smartly fetches a fresh file from the WordPress repository and swaps it with the current file in the server directory. (See below for more details on how to use this feature.)

Quarantined Files

Modified and/or suspicious files on your server are quarantined and moved to a remote directory (/wp-content/.defender-security-quarantine), allowing you to restore the files if needed (explained in more detail further below).

How to Use Defender’s Safe Repair Feature

To use the new Safe Repair feature, make sure you have installed Defender Pro and that the plugin is running the latest version. If you are currently using our free Defender WordPress Security plugin, consider upgrading to Pro by becoming a WPMU DEV member.

Also, make sure that you have enabled the plugin’s settings as shown below for the Safe Repair feature to work.

Defender Settings
The above settings must be enabled for Safe Repair to work.

With Defender Pro v4.1 (minimum) installed and the above settings configured, run a fresh Malware Scan by going to Defender > Malware Scanning > New Scan…

Defender - Malware scan
Run a malware scan in Defender.

Once the scan is completed, check for modified or suspicious files.

Defender Malware Scan results
A malware scan showing modified files and suspicious code detected.

Next, click on the Malware Scanning > Issues tab.

Defender - Malware Scan Safe Repair

Select a file and click on the Safe Repair button.

You will be given the option to repair and/or quarantine the selected file.

Defender Repair File feature
We recommend quarantining files before repairing them.

Note that by default, quarantined files will remain isolated for 30 days before being automatically deleted. You can configure quarantine duration in the Malware scanning settings if you want to change this default period.

Defender Quarantine settings
You can change the quarantine period in the Malware Scanning settings section.

Restoring Quarantined Files

You can restore quarantined files in one of two ways:

  1. Via WordPress Admin: Go to Defender > Malware scanning > Quarantined section.
  2. Via The Hub: Use the Quarantined Hub widget under the Security tab.

Restoring Quarantined Files Via The WordPress Admin

Quarantined files are listed under the new quarantine tab.

Defender Quarantined section
Defender stores all of your quarantined files in the Quarantined section.

To restore quarantined files from your WordPress admin, log into your WordPress site, and go to Defender Pro > Malware Scanning > Quarantined.

Defender Pro - Malware Scanning - Quarantined section
View all of your quarantined files in the Malware Scanning section.

This section lets you go through your quarantined files and choose to either restore or permanently delete these.

Defender Quarantined Fles - Options
Restore or delete your quarantined files.

Files can also be restored manually by downloading them from /wp-content/.defender-security-quarantine.

Restoring Quarantined Files Via The Hub

The Hub’s Security tab lists your most recent quarantined files (up to a maximum of 5 files) and provides the following options, depending on whether the website is running or not.

  • If the website is up – files can be restored from the Hub.
  • If the website is down – instructions will display on how to restore the quarantined file(s) manually using FTP/SSH
The Hub - Quarantined Files widgets
Monitor quarantined files in The Hub’s Security section.

Repair Files Safely Using Defender

Defender 4.1 now lets you apply a powerful combination of quarantining and repairing modified or suspicious file threats and isolating files instead of deleting these entirely, lessening the risk of breaking your site, as quarantined files can be restored if required.

For full details on using the new Safe Repair feature and all of its options, see the Defender plugin documentation section.

Posted on

Put Your Forms On The Map with New Forminator Geolocation Add-On

Our formtastic team’s done it again! Forminator’s new Geolocation Add-on with Google Maps API integration lets you effortlessly gather geolocation data from your form submissions and provide address auto-completion for a smoother user experience.

Forminator map with geolocation feature.
See where form users are located with Forminator’s new geolocation feature.

After releasing the highly anticipated PDF Generator Add-on, we’re proud to announce another powerful addition to our form-building plugin…Geolocation add-on!

If your business needs to collect location information from users, Forminator Pro with Geolocation Add-on is the only form-building plugin you’ll need.

In this post, we’ll look at:

Key Benefits of Using Forminator’s Geolocation Add-on

With Forminator’s Geolocation Add-on enabled, you can enhance forms on your site in the following ways:

Accurate Location Detection

Forminator can precisely pinpoint the user’s location by harnessing the device’s GPS or IP address.

This information is seamlessly integrated into your forms, giving you real-time access to where your users are located.

Moreover, the Geolocation feature includes a convenient address lookup function, allowing users to search for and select their location using postal addresses, city names, or zip codes.

Forminator form submission
See the user’s location in your form submissions.

Interactive Map View

One of the standout aspects of the Geolocation feature is its map view. Not only can users see their location on a map but also interact with it.

Users have the option to manually input their location or select it directly from a map marker. This dynamic map view enhances user engagement and makes it easy for users to provide accurate location details.

Customization Options

Forminator’s Geolocation offers a range of customization options to suit your needs. You can configure the display of Google Maps next to your address field, choose whether to position the map above or below the address field, and even adjust the map’s size, ensuring a responsive or custom fit for various devices.

Additionally, you have the flexibility to set a default map location based on specific latitude and longitude coordinates.

Geolocation Map Customization
You can easily customize your map’s geolocation options.

Seamless Integration

To utilize the Geolocation feature, simply enter your Google Maps API key in the Geolocation settings, ensuring a seamless and reliable experience for your users.

Global Settings

For ease of use across all your forms, you can enable Geolocation as a default setting on all address fields throughout your site. This simplifies the process of collecting location information from your users.

Forminator Geolocation Settings
Enable Geolocation as a default setting on all new forms.

User-Friendly Configuration

If you require users to provide location access before submitting a form, the “Require access to users’ location” option can be enabled. Additionally, you can customize the error message displayed if users choose not to provide location access.

How To Use Forminator’s Geolocation Add-on

To install and use the Geolocation Add-on, you’ll need to have Forminator Pro installed and activated on your site.

Forminator Pro is included in all paid memberships, so if you’re not a WPMU DEV member yet, consider becoming one by choosing one of our risk-free membership plans.

With Forminator Pro installed, go to the Add-Ons section of the plugin’s menu and click Install.

Forminator Add-Ons screen: Geolocation Addon highlighted.
Install Geolocation in the plugin’s Add-Ons screen.

Once the plugin has been installed, click Configure.

Formoinator Add-Ons - Geolocation - Configure button highlighted.
You’ll need to configure the Add-On before you can use it.

You’ll need to add a valid Google Maps API key to enable and set up geolocation on your forms. Refer to our Forminator Docs for instructions on obtaining this key if you need help with this step.

Enter your key into the Google Maps API field, switch the toggle on to enable geolocation as the default option for all your new forms (optional), and click the Save button to continue.

Configure Geolocation
Enter your Google Maps API key.

Once the API key has been validated and the configuration has been successfully saved, a confirmation message will display briefly on your screen letting you know that you’re all good to go.

Note: You can access additional Geolocation configuration settings for individual forms (e.g. disabling geolocation or making it mandatory for users to provide their location details in order to submit a form) in the Forms > Edit Form > Settings section.

Forminator Form Settings screen
Configure additional Geolocation settings in the Form Settings section.

With the addon configured, let’s go through an example of adding Geolocation field to a form.

Adding Geolocation Fields To Forms

In the Forms section, select a form or create a new form and select Edit > Fields.

Forminator: Edit Form - Insert fields button.
Click on the Insert fields button to add Geolocation to a form.

Select the Address field and click the Insert Fields button.

Forminator form fields selector
Add an address field to your form.

The Address field is highly customizable and includes a Geolocation tab with advanced options for configuring maps, such as:

  • Autocomplete: Provides real-time suggestions as users enter an address into the field.
  • Display address in Map: Displays a map next to the address fields
  • Map Position: Choose whether to display the map above or below (default) the address field.
  • Map Size: Set a responsive or custom size for your map.
  • Default Map Location: Set a default of custom location for your map.
Forminator Address field settings - Geolocation options.
Forminator Address field settings include advanced Geolocation options.

Configure the above settings to suit your needs and to facilitate user interaction with your form maps and a great user experience.

For example, enable autocomplete to display matching locations as users start typing and to fill in the address fields automatically when an address is selected from the options displayed.

Forminator geolocation - autocomplete fields
Enable autocomplete for a smoother and more interactive user experience with form maps.

Once the browser loads the form page, it will prompt users to give access to their location. Allowing this access will then show the user’s current location on the map and auto complete the address fields.

Forminator form with map
Enabling autocomplete also prefills all address details on the form.

By simply clicking on different points on the map, users can also change their location and update address fields.

Clicking on different points on the map changes the address on the form fields.

All form information including the user’s geolocation details and a map will also display on Forminator’s submission page.

Forminator submission page with example of form submission.
An example of a Forminator form submission showing a map with the user’s location and coordinates.

It’s All About Geolocation, Geolocation, Geolocation

Forminator’s new Geolocation feature empowers you to collect and leverage location information from your form users, gain valuable insights into your audience, whether they are customers, employees, or suppliers, and make more informed business decisions.

Check out this feature in Forminator Pro and if you need any help, see our documentation or contact our expert 24/7 support team.