Beginner’s Guide: How to Choose the Best WordPress Plugin

Plugins make WordPress a dream come true for beginners. However, with over 56,000 WordPress plugins available in the official plugin directory, users find it difficult to find the right WordPress plugin for the job. In this article, we will show you how to choose the best WordPress plugin by following the same checklist that our team at WPBeginner and other WordPress experts follow.

Disclaimer: While these factors won’t guarantee that you’ll pick the right plugin 100% of the time, it will definitely increase your chances of success.

Before You Start

When looking for a plugin, the first thing you should do is write down exactly what you want this plugin to do. In our experience, it helps if you create a checklist with features that you’re looking for (in the order of importance).

The order of importance matter because sometimes you won’t find everything in one plugin. The importance factor will help make your decision easier.

Remember that it doesn’t have to be one plugin that does everything. If you find two plugins that work well together to give you what you need, then install those 2 plugins. The total count of plugins does not matter, the quality does.

Having said that, let’s take a look at how to choose the best WordPress plugin.

How to Search for a Plugin

WordPress plugin directory is the starting point for most people. It has thousands of plugins available which is great except that this abundance also makes it difficult to find the perfect plugin.

The search feature in WordPress plugin directory is not very sophisticated. This is why we always recommend using Google search or look through the WPBeginner’s plugins category first.

You can also combine the best of both by typing your keyword in Google search and add wpbeginner at the end of it.

Alternatively, you can start by browsing the most popular WordPress plugins in the directory. See if there is a plugin that fits your need. If you can’t find a plugin in the first two pages of popular plugins, then run a search.

WordPress plugin directory search shows results based on relevance by default.

For each search result, you will be able to see the Plugin name, rating, description, number of active installs (websites using the plugin), author name, and tested with WordPress version.

Ideally, you want to choose a plugin that sounds relevant to you, has a decent number of active installs, a good rating, and tested with a recent WordPress version.

Comparing Plugins – Which One to Download?

Once you have found a couple of plugins, you can open these plugin pages in new tabs to compare them. WordPress plugin page contains information about the plugin, what it does, how to use it, etc. You will need to use this information to decide whether or not this plugin is the best fit for you.

The sidebar on plugin page contains useful information about the plugin. The first section in the sidebar shows the plugin version, last updated, active installations, minimum WordPress version required to run the plugin.

A plugins last updated date and active installs are a good indicator of a plugin’s popularity.

This section will also show tested up to WordPress version. If it doesn’t show the most recent version, then there is no need to freak out. Although plugin authors check their plugin with each new WordPress release, they may only update the plugin if needed. Please see our article about installing plugins not tested with your WordPress version for more details.

Plugin Ratings

In the sidebar of plugin page, you will also be able to see plugin ratings. The number of stars indicates rating score, where five is the highest and one being the lowest.

You should always keep in mind that a lot of WordPress users use the plugin without rating it. It is possible that a plugin downloaded by thousands of people may still not have enough people rating it.

Plugin Reviews

When a user rates a plugin, they are asked to write a review for their rating. You can see these reviews by clicking on the rating bars. For example, if someone has given a plugin one star then you can click on the 1 star link to read their review.

Another thing to notice here is the total number of ratings. For example, if a plugin only has one or two people rating it, then it is really not a significant number. However, if those one or two people left a good reason for their rating in the review, then this would make their rating significant for others.

Support Overview

The support section of the plugin page’s sidebar will give you a quick overview of the number of support threads opened for a plugin during last two months. It will also show you how many of these threads are resolved.

You can see support threads by clicking on the support tab in the plugin menu bar. Just like the reviews, keep in mind that unresolved support threads do not really mean that the plugin has some issues.

However, if a plugin has many unresolved threads and the plugin author has not responded to any of them in last two months, then this could be an indicator that the author has lost interest. The plugin may still work for you, but it may not be supported in the long run.

Plugin Screenshots

For most WordPress plugins in the directory, you will see a screenshots section below the plugin description. Plugin screenshots are a quick way to see how the plugin looks on the front-end and on the back-end of your WordPress website.

Sometimes we find screenshots to be more helpful than the actual plugin descriptions which could be lengthy and confusing. With screenshots, you can actually see how the plugin will look, what it actually does and then you can quickly find out whether or not you should try it.

Check FAQs and Other Notes

Don’t forget to check FAQs, and Other Notes sections below the plugin description (Some plugins may not have them). These sections usually contain useful information about how to use a plugin. Sometimes users end up complaining that a plugin does not work without even reading how to use it.

When you are trying a plugin, make sure you read these sections so that you can configure and use the plugin properly on your website. It is also possible that you will find some other cool tips there.

For example, if you are a looking for a plugin that adds a widget, then you might find out that it also provides a template tag which you can use in your theme or a shortcode which you can use in posts and pages. You may also find out plugin author’s advice on how to add your own CSS styles to plugin output.

Testing a Plugin

WordPress plugins may slow down your website if they are poorly written or don’t follow WordPress coding standards.

To check for this problem go to Pingdom or any other site speed checking service. Test your website’s page speed before activating the plugin. Take screenshots or note down the results.

After that, go back to your WordPress website and activate the plugin. Now test your website speed again.

If the plugin adds a significant amount of time to your site’s speed, then you should try finding a better plugin.

For example, in the screenshot below you will see that a plugin has added extra 0.8 seconds to our test site’s load time making it significantly slower.

Giving back to the WordPress Community and Plugin Authors

WordPress is a free community software and so is the WordPress Plugin Directory. Plugin authors put a lot of their time, hard work, and creativity in writing those plugins. You can help them in many ways and here is a list of things you can do:

• Donate: If you find a plugin useful and the plugin author has donate URL on plugin page, then please consider donating some money. It is not the price of the plugin, it is a token of appreciation.
• Rate the plugin: As we mentioned earlier that a lot of users don’t feel much inclined to rate a plugin that works fine. You can help break this trend. When you find a plugin that you like, then leave a rating and a review. A few lines are good enough to let people know about your experience with the plugin.
• Mention the plugin on your blog, Twitter or Facebook.

What to do When a Plugin Doesn’t Work

If a plugin gives an error or does not work, then the first thing you would want to do is find out if it is having a conflict with another plugin or theme. Deactivate all other plugins and activate default WordPress theme. Try testing the plugin again. If it still does not work, then you might want to open a support thread.

Visit the plugin page on WordPress plugin direcory and click on Support tab. Scroll down till you find the support form and fill it out.

Remember, that WordPress plugins are open source which means that they come with no warranty at all and the plugin authors are not required to answer your questions. However, most plugin authors care about their code and will try their best to answer support questions whenever they can. Check out our guide on how to properly ask for WordPress support and get it.

We hope this guide helped you choose the best WordPress plugin. You may also want to see our expert-pick of the essential WordPress plugins for every website.

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

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How to Start a Travel Blog (to Make Money or Otherwise) in 2018

Do you want to start a travel blog but don’t know where to begin? Travel blogs are a popular medium to share your travels with not just family and friends but also with the rest of the world. In this guide, we will walk you through how to properly start a travel blog and even make money from it without any special technical skills.

What do you need to start a travel blog?

There are three things you need to properly start a travel blog.

• A domain name (this will be your blog’s name that people will type to find your site e.g. wpbeginner.com)
• Web hosting account (this is where your website files are stored on the internet)
• Your undivided attention for 30 minutes.

Yes, you can get started with a proper professional-looking travel blog in less than 30 minutes. We will walk you through the process every step of the way.

In this step by step tutorial, we will cover the following items.

• How to Register a Domain Name for Free
• How to Choose the Best Web Hosting
• How to Install WordPress
• How to Find the Perfect Theme (website design) for a Travel Blog
• How to Add Content to Your Travel Blog
• How to Get More Traffic to Your New Blog
• How to Make Money from Your Travel Blog
• Resources to Learn WordPress and Grow Your Travel Blog

That being said, let’s get started.

Step 1. Choosing The Right Platform

For most beginners, the biggest mistake is not starting with the right blogging platform. Since you are already here, you will not be making that mistake.

We recommend using WordPress.org. It is the most powerful and popular blogging platform in the world giving you complete freedom to start, grow, and make money from your blog. For more details, see our complete WordPress review.

It is important not to confuse WordPress.org with WordPress.com, as they are two different platforms. WordPress.com is a hosted solution and WordPress.org is a self-hosted platform. For more on this topic, see our comparison of WordPress.com vs WordPress.org.

To start a travel blog with WordPress.org, you will need a domain name and a WordPress hosting account. To learn more, see our article on the difference between domain name and web hosting.

Normally, a domain name costs $14.99 / year and web hosting normally costs $7.99 / month.

That’s a lot for beginners who are just starting their travel blog.

Thankfully, Bluehost has agreed to offer our users a free domain name and discount on web hosting. They are one of the largest hosting companies in the world and officially recommended by WordPress.org.

→ Click Here to Claim This Exclusive Bluehost Offer ←

Basically, you’ll be able to get started for just $2.75 per month.

Bluehost is committed to giving back to the WordPress community since 2005. They have promised us that if you cannot get your blog setup within 30 minutes by following this tutorial, then our expert team will complete the process for you without any cost. They will compensate us, so you don’t have to. Simply contact us for free blog setup help.

Note: At WPBeginner we believe in full transparency. If you sign up with Bluehost using our referral link, then we will earn a small commission at no extra cost to you (in fact you will save money and get a free domain + free SSL). We would get this commission for recommending just about any WordPress hosting company, but we only recommend products that we use personally use and believe will add value to our readers.

That being said, now let’s go ahead and purchase your domain name and hosting for your travel blog.

First, you need to open the Bluehost website in a new browser tab and click on the green get started button.

Next, you will be asked to select the plan that you want (basic and plus are the most popular among our users).

After that, you will be asked to enter the domain name for your website.

Tip: Make sure your domain name is easy to pronounce and spell. You can also use keywords that you think people will search when looking for a travel blog. This will help you get more traffic from Google search. For more tips, see our guide on how to choose the best domain name for your blog.

After choosing your domain name click on the next button to continue.

Now, you will need to add your account information and finalize the package information to complete the process. We recommend going with the 36-month plan because that’s the best value.

You will also see some optional extras that you can purchase. We don’t recommend purchasing them right away. You can always add them later on if you decide that you need them.

After that, you need to enter your payment information and finish the purchase.

Once finished, you will receive an email with details on how to login to your web hosting control panel (cPanel).

Step 2. Installing WordPress

This step is not required as Bluehost will automatically install WordPress on your domain name. You just need to click on the link in the email you received after sign up.

This will take you to your hosting control panel. From here, you can just click on the login to WordPress button to enter your WordPress site’s admin dashboard.

Now you are ready to customize your travel blog’s appearance and start adding content.

Step 3. Choosing a Theme for Your Travel Blog

Themes are one of the best things about WordPress. They control your website’s design and appearance and there are thousands of free and paid WordPress themes to choose from.

WordPress is used by all kind of websites so WordPress themes come with lots of choices. A WordPress theme designed for business websites may not look so great for a travel blog.

You will need a theme that matches the look and feel of a travel blog. The trick here is to strive for simplicity and find the perfect balance between functionality and design.

Need to look at some great examples? See our expert pick of the best WordPress themes for travel blogs.

After you have found a suitable theme, head over to our guide on how to install a WordPress theme for step by step installation instructions.

Step 4. Adding Content to Your New Travel Blog

After you have installed and set up a WordPress theme, the next step is to start adding content. WordPress comes with two default content types, they are called posts and pages. While the posts will be the entries in your travel blog, pages are for adding static content to your website.

We recommend adding the static content first because it helps you build a structure for your website. For example, contact form page, about us page, privacy policy page, and more. See our list of important pages that every WordPress blog should have.

Next, you would want to start adding articles and posts to your travel blog. Go to Posts » Add New page to add your first blog post.

You can add any type of content you want. You can write articles, add images, create image galleries, embed videos, audio, and more.

For more details, see our guide on how to add a new blog post in WordPress and utilize all the features.

Step 5. Content Ideas for a Great Travel Blog

Your travel blog posts are where you will develop your own voice and engage your audience. They need to be informative, entertaining, and helpful.

You may be able to quickly add first few posts but it will get harder to regularly come up with new ideas for your blog posts. Check out this massive list blog post ideas that are proven to work, and you can easily use them for your travel blog.

We also recommend you to regularly visit popular travel blogs to get inspiration for your own blog post ideas. See what these top blogs are doing and replicate that on your own blog.

We are not advising you to steal or reproduce the same content. You just need to get the ideas, inspiration, and topics and then use them to create unique content with your own voice, style, and flavor.

You will also notice that popular travel blogs publish quite regularly. That’s because maintaining a consistent frequency is the key to successful blogging. You need to stick with a consistent frequency for your artilces. We recommend starting with three articles a week and gradually build up your pace to 5 articles a week.

Step 6. Getting More Traffic to Your Travel Blog

Once you start adding content to your travel blog, the next step is to help users find your website. To do this, you need to do take the following steps.

1. Work on Your Blog’s SEO

Search engines are the primary source of traffic for most websites and blogs on the internet. They recommend website owners to use certain best practices to increase their site’s visibility in search results. These best practices are called SEO or search engine optimization.

WordPress is very SEO friendly out of the box. However, there is much more that you can do to drive even more traffic to your travel blog. For detailed step by step instructions, follow our ultimate WordPress SEO guide for beginners.

2. Improve Website Speed and Performance

No one likes a slow website. Your users will leave your website instantly with a bad user experience and you will probably never get them again. It also affects your website’s search rankings as Google considers speed one of the top ranking factors.

You will not to perform certain WordPress performance adjustments to speed up your website. We have a complete guide with step by step instructions to improve your WordPress speed and performance.

3. Track User Statistics

Most beginners use their best guesses to decide what their users will like to read or view. You don’t need to do that when you can get actual data to show you exactly what your users want and do on your website. Using this data you can make informed decisions to plan your content strategy and grow your website.

To get these insights you need to start using Google Analytics. It tells you how many people are visiting your website, what they see, where they come from, and more.

For instructions, see our article on how to install Google Analytics in WordPress for beginners.

Google Analytics offers a ton of data. However, as a beginner, you may not know what to look where and which reports to monitor.

To answer these questions, we have made a beginners guide on how to easily track user engagement in WordPress with Google Analytics.

4. Make a YouTube Channel

YouTube is not only the world’s largest video sharing website, it is also the world’s second most popular search engine. You can create a YouTube channel for free and start uploading your travel videos, vlogs, and travel tips videos.

Travel channels are huge on YouTube. In fact, there are already travel vloggers on YouTube making six-figure income through sponsorships, advertisements, and brand endorsements.

Even if you don’t want to become a YouTuber, you can still use the platform to drive traffic to your travel blog.

Step 7. Making Money From Your Travel Blog

Ever wondered how these top travel bloggers go to all these exotic locations all over the world. Travelling is quite expensive and some of these travel bloggers do nothing else but travel. How do they make money?

Here we will tell you how other travel blogs make money and how you can do the same with your travel blog.

1. Sponsorships

The traveling perks for most famous travel bloggers are sponsorships. These sponsorships come from hotels, airlines, cruise ships, tour operators, and even government agencies promoting tourism.

Once your blog reaches a decent amount of regular traffic, you can reach out to these organizations on your own. In return for free stuff, they would want you to mention their place or service on your blog.

How do you find out who would be interested in such a deal? See which other companies are already sponsoring other travel bloggers, or randomly try your luck with hotels and airlines for the places you want to visit.

While sponsorship deals will give you some perks, they will not make money for you.

2. Advertisements

Not just travel blogs, but almost all popular blogs on the internet rely on advertisements. The most popular way to display ads on your blog is by using Google AdSense.

It connects bloggers like you to the advertisers looking for a targeted audience. Advertisers pay Google, which pays you after taking a small cut of their own. For details see our article on how to how to add Google AdSense to your WordPress blog.

3. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing enables you to recommend travel products that you use and love. You get a referral commission when your users purchase a product after clicking on your link.

To make money with affiliate marketing, you will need to find travel products and brands with an affiliate program. These could be backpack manufacturers, adventure cameras, selfie sticks, travel insurance companies, tour companies, and so on.

The biggest affiliate partner you can sign up for is Amazon Affiliates. They have tons of products in travel gadgets, accessories, luggage, bags, clothing, electronics, and more.

Need help getting started? See our beginner’s guide to affiliate marketing with step by step instructions and tools you will need to succeed.

4. YouTube Travel Vlogger

As we have mentioned earlier, YouTube provides lots of opportunities to travel bloggers. Since videos are much more engaging than plain text or even photos, top brands and advertisers are spending big dollars on YouTube promotions and ads.

YouTube runs its own advertising program too which will generate you some revenue. However, it will help you connect with brands and advertisers while getting new subscribers and followers at the same time.

Step 8. Mastering Your WordPress Skills

WordPress is quite easy to use and manage. However, there is a learning curve involved whenever you start with a new platform. You will continue discovering new things to learn. This is where WPBeginner can help.

WPBeginner is the largest WordPress resource site for beginners. We have lots of helpful content which is created specifically for beginners, business owners, and bloggers.

Following are few of the helpful resources you will find on WPBeginner (all of them are completely free).

• WPBeginner Blog – The central place for all our WordPress tutorials and guides.
• WPBeginner Dictionary – Our WordPress glossary is the best place to familiarize yourself with the WordPress lingo
• WPBeginner Videos – New WordPress users can start with these 23 videos to master WordPress.
• WPBeginner on YouTube – Need more video instructions? Subscribe to our YouTube channel with more than 110,000 subscribers and 10 Million+ views.
• WPBeginner Blueprint – Check out plugins, tools, and services we use on WPBeginner.
• WPBeginner Deals – Exclusive discounts on WordPress products and services for WPBeginner users.

Many of our users use Google to find answers on WPBeginner by simply adding ‘wpbeginner’ at the end of their search term.

We hope this article helped you learn how to start a travel blog and make money from it. You may also want to see our list of essential WordPress plugins for new websites.

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

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6 Best Stripe Payment Plugins for WordPress (2018)

Are you looking for the best Stripe payment plugin to accept payments on your WordPress site? Stripe is one of the most popular payment processing companies in the world. It allows you to easily accept credit card payments on your website. In this article, we will share the best Stripe payment plugins for WordPress sites.

Why Use Stripe to Accept Payments on WordPress?

If you want to accept credit card payments on your WordPress website, then there isn’t an easier solution that Stripe.

Stripe is one of the top payment companies that does not require you to go through a lengthy process of getting a merchant account. They allow anyone with a legitimate business to accept credit card payments online. All you need to do is create a Stripe account.

The best part is that your customers do not need to have a Stripe account. They can simply enter their credit card on your website to make a payment.

Accepting online payments on your website has never been this easier. There are many popular payment services that you can use to accept credit card payments on your website.

Note: Stripe requires you to use SSL on your website to accept payments. If you haven’t already done so, then see our guide on how to how to get a free SSL certificate and how to properly switch your WordPress site to https.

Unlike other “best Stripe WordPress plugins articles”, we didn’t just create a random list of Stripe integrations. We hand-picked a list of the top Stripe WordPress payment plugins for each use-case.

That being said, let’s take a look at the top Stripe payment plugins for WordPress that you can use to start accepting payments on your website.

1. WPForms

WPForms is the best drag & drop form builder plugin for WordPress. It is currently being used by over 1 million websites and boast a 4.9 out of 5 star rating average with over 2300+ reviews.

WPForms Pro version allows you to easily accept online payments on your website using Stripe or PayPal.

If you’re looking to create a simple order form or donation form without the hassle of a full-fledged eCommerce platform or shopping cart plugin, then WPForms is the perfect solution for you.

You can create an unlimited number of payments forms and accept credit card payments right on your website. You can add these forms anywhere on your website including posts, pages, sidebar widgets, and more.

For detailed instructions, see our step by step guide on how to easily accept credit card payments in WordPress.

2. WooCommerce

WooCommerce is the world’s most popular eCommerce platform. It is available as a WordPress plugin, and you can use it to create an online store or sell items on your existing WordPress website. WooCommerce enables you to sell physical goods, digital downloads, as well as membership and subscription courses.

During the Setup Wizard, WooCommerce will ask you to choose payment providers. By default, it will give you two options: PayPal and Stripe. In case, you missed the setup wizard, you can simply install and activate the free Stripe for WooCommerce addon.

3. MemberPress

MemberPress is the best WordPress membership plugin. If you’re looking to sell courses or add a membership option to your website, then MemberPress is a great choice.

MemberPress comes with a Stripe integration for WordPress that allows you to easily accept credit card payments on your site. Their Stripe and PayPal addon are available for all MemberPress membership levels.

You can use it to add paywalls to your site, sell courses, lock specific downloads, etc. MemberPress supports recurring payments, has complete subscription management options and everything else that you would expect from a premier membership plugin.

For detailed instructions, see our step by step guide on how to create a membership website in WordPress.

4. WP Simple Pay Pro

WP Simple Pay Pro enables you to accept payments on your website using Stripe without adding a shopping cart plugin to your website. It allows you to create unlimited payment forms with a Stripe payment button.

You can add all the fields you will need to create a payment form. You can also use it with Easy Pricing Tables plugin to create beautiful pricing pages for your website. Their business plan enables you to add subscription or recurring payments option.

For detailed instructions, see our article on how to accept payments with Stripe in WordPress.

5. Stripe for Easy Digital Downloads

Easy Digital Downloads is another popular WordPress eCommerce plugin which allows you to easily sell digital downloads from your website. By default, it comes with PayPal and Amazon payment gateways. Stripe for Easy Digital Downloads is a paid add-on which adds support for accepting online payments via Stripe on your Easy Digital Downloads powered website.

It is suitable for websites that are exclusively selling digital downloads on their website. Once installed, it will add a new payment option in your Easy Digital Downloads settings page. From here, you can set up Stripe and make it your default payment gateway.

6. LearnDash

LearnDash is the best WordPress LMS plugin in the market. It allows you to create and sell courses online. You can easily accept payments on your WordPress site using their free Stripe integration.

LearnDash comes with powerful features like multi-tier courses, assignments for students, quizzes, grading system, and more. You can easily set prerequisites for students such as finishing a lesson first before going to next lesson.

For more details, see our step by step guide on how to sell online courses in WordPress using LearnDash.

We hope this article helped you find the best Stripe payment plugins for WordPress. You may also want to see our guide on more ways to make money online from your WordPress website.

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

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How to Check for WordPress Security Updates (Beginners Guide)

When starting a blog, often beginners don’t know that they can check for security updates on their WordPress site. Security updates can help protect your website against malware attacks, hacks, and other common security threats. In this article, we will show you how to check for WordPress security updates.

Why You Should Check for WordPress Security Updates?

Security should be a top priority for every website owner. This is why we recommend that you always keep your website up-to-date to stay protected from hackers, malware, DDoS attacks, etc.

WordPress shows you updates for the core software, themes, and plugins in your dashboard. These 3 things are interconnected, so you need to update them regularly to avoid any compatibility issue between the old and latest versions.

Security updates will also protect your website from all new threats and malware attacks. For more details, you should check out our complete guide on WordPress security.

That being said, let’s take a look on how to check for WordPress security updates step by step.

Checking for WordPress Security Updates

WordPress has a dedicated page for the updates that you can access from your admin area. Simply login to your WordPress admin account and go to Dashboard » Updates page.

On this page, you’ll see the timestamp when your WordPress site last checked for updates. WordPress automatically checks for updates on a regular basis, however you can also click the “Check Again” button to manually check for updates.

Next, you’ll see a “Re-install Now” button which allows you to reinstall the current version of WordPress. Most users can safely ignore this button. This is only helpful for those who’re restoring their website from a backup, and they may need to re-install the latest version of WordPress core software.

After WordPress core, you’ll find the plugins section where it’ll display the latest available updates for your installed plugins. If you are looking for a specific plugin update, and you don’t find it on this page, then you can also force WordPress to check for plugin updates.

You can either update the plugins individually or select all plugins at once, and then click on the Update Plugins button.

Once the plugins are updated, you’ll find the WordPress theme updates section below. If there’s a latest version available for your installed themes, then you can update it from here. Similar to plugins, you can either update the themes individually or select all themes to update them in 1-click.

When you update a WordPress theme, it will update all the theme files and change the settings to default. This could mean that you’ll lose the customization that you made previously on your theme. Simply follow our guide on how to update a WordPress theme without losing your customization.

Note: Before performing any updates, we strongly recommend that you create a complete backup of your WordPress site.

Backups allow you to easily restore your WordPress site should anything go wrong. Although unlikely sometimes an update can cause compatibility issues, and this gives you a safety net.

That’s all. We hope this article helped you learn how to check for WordPress security updates. You may also want to see our guide on how to protect WordPress against brute force attacks.

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

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How to Put Your WordPress Site in Maintenance Mode

Do you want to put your WordPress site in maintenance mode? The maintenance mode allows you to display a user-friendly notice to your users instead of a broken site during website maintenance. In this article, we will show you how to easily put your WordPress site in maintenance mode.

Why and When You Need to Put WordPress in Maintenance Mode

Normally, you can work on customizing your WordPress website without having to put it in maintenance mode. You can perform minor tweaks, publish new content, update themes and plugins without any downtime.

However, sometimes you may need to work on your website for a longer period. Like when you are manually setting up a new theme or configuring a new plugin that changes the behavior of your website. During this time your website may appear broken to your users for a period of time.

If your website has a lot of traffic, then you don’t want your users to see a broken website because it creates a bad user experience and give them a poor impression of your brand.

Putting your WordPress site in maintenance mode allows you to remedy that with a user-friendly notification, alternative links to visit, and provide a time frame for when the maintenance will be done. This creates a better user experience and a positive brand image among your users.

If you are working on a new website, then you can use the same concept to put your website in an under construction mode. This will allow you to build anticipation among your users and create hype for your upcoming website.

Having that said, let’s take a look at how to easily put your WordPress site in maintenance or under-construction mode.

We will show you two different plugins to create coming soon or maintenance mode pages. You can choose the one that works best for you.

1. Setup Maintenance Mode Using WP Maintenance Mode Plugin

First thing you need to do is install and activate the WP Maintenance Mode plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to go to Settings » WP Maintenance Mode to configure the plugin settings.

The plugin’s setting screen is divided into five tabs. By default, you will see the General options tab.

The first option under General is Status, which is set to Deactivated by default. In order to put your WordPress site into maintenance mode, you need to set it to ‘Activated’.

If you want search engines to be able to see your website while it is in maintenance mode, then you need to set ‘Bypass for Search Bots’ option to Yes. If you have an established website, then we recommend setting this to Yes.

WP Maintenance Mode allows you, the administrator, to have full access to your website during the maintenance mode. This means that you can see the working website and login to your WordPress dashboard.

You can specify which user roles should be allowed to access the front and backend of the website while it is in maintenance mode. By default, it is set to Administrator only.

Other options on the page are self-explanatory. Once you are satisfied with the settings, you need to click on the Save settings button to store your changes.

Creating Your Own Splash Page for Maintenance Mode

WP Maintenance Mode allows you to create beautiful landing pages to display during maintenance mode. To create your splash page, simply click on the Design tab on the plugin’s settings page.

First, you need to provide a title, heading, and content to display on your maintenance page. If you are creating a coming soon page, then you can change the content accordingly.

Next, you need to select the text color and background type. You can choose from the background color, choose a pre-defined image, or upload your own background image.

Once you are done with the settings, don’t forget to click on the save changes button to store your settings.

Adding Countdown and Newsletter Signup on WordPress Maintenance Page

If you are putting WordPress in coming soon mode or just want to let users know when your site will be up, then you can use a countdown timer module that’s included with the plugin.

You can set it up by going to the Modules tab on the plugin’s settings page. From here you can select a start date and enter the remaining time.

You can also allow users to subscribe and be notified when your website is back online. These users will be notified via the plugin, and they will not be subscribed to your email marketing list.

You want to make sure that your WordPress site is able to send emails. For more details, see our guide on how to fix WordPress not sending email issue to test and fix WordPress emails.

Next, you can also add links to your social media profiles in the coming soon mode or maintenance mode page. Simply enter your social media profile URLs, and the plugin will automatically display the social buttons.

Optionally, you can also enable Google Analytics and add your tracking ID in the plugin settings.

Don’t forget to click on the save settings button to store your changes.

WP Maintenance mode also allows you to set up a pre-programed live chat bot which includes an interactive conversational help box. You can use this feature to politely ask users if they would like to subscribe.

If you enable the bot, then it will hide the maintenance mode content you had set in the General settings page. This is how the chatbot would look on your website.

If you are collecting user data through the signup forms on your maintenance mode or coming soon mode page, then you would want to make it GDPR compliant.

You can do this by switching to the GDPR tab on the plugin’s settings page. From here you can enable the privacy module and select your privacy policy page.

You can now visit your website in a new browser window with the incognito mode, and you will be greeted with your maintenance mode or coming soon page.

2. Setup Maintenance Mode using SeedProd Plugin

SeedProd is a premium WordPress plugin that comes with beautiful designs and guaranteed support.

The first thing you need to do is install and activate the SeedProd plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to visit you need to visit Settings » Coming Soon Pro page to setup coming soon or maintenance mode page.

First, you need to select the status. You can select ‘Enable Coming Soon Mode’ or ‘Enable Maintenance Mode’. You can also select redirect mode which allows you to simply redirect your users to some other website.

After choosing maintenance or coming soon mode, click on the ‘Save all changes’ button.

Next, you need to click on ‘Edit Coming Soon/Maintenance Page’ button. This will open the SeedProd theme customizer.

You will now see a list of beautiful ready-made themes that you can use for your maintenance or coming soon page. Click to select a theme and SeedProd will show customization options for the theme.

From here you can easily add your own logo, background, change content, add email subscription form, social sharing buttons, countdown timer, progress bar, etc.

SeedProd also supports all popular email marketing services. You can simply select your email service provider and setup a signup form by following on-screen instructions.

Once you are satisfied with the changes, don’t forget to click on the save button to store your changes. You can now visit your website in an incognito mode to preview your maintenance mode page in action.

For more detailed instructions, see our article on how to create coming soon pages in WordPress with SeedProd.

We hope this article helped you learn how to easily put your WordPress site in maintenance mode. You may also want to see these examples of maintenance page ideas that you can use on your website.

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

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How to Fix the 504 Gateway Timeout Error in WordPress

Have you ever gotten a 504 gateway timeout error on your WordPress site? This error can make your website inaccessible to users. What’s worst is that it can disappear and reappear on its own if the underlying issue is not fixed. In this article, we will show you how to fix the 504 gateway timeout error in WordPress.

What Causes 504 Gateway Timeout Error?

The 504 gateway timeout error is usually caused when a server is unable to connect to an upstream server to complete a request.

For example, if you are using a website firewall like Sucuri, and it is unable to connect to your WordPress server, then you will see a 504 gateway timeout error.

The error page’s appearance and the message may be displayed differently depending on your WordPress hosting company, the proxy server, or the browser you are using. Following are some of the most common 504 gateway timeout error messages.

• 504 Gateway Timeout
• HTTP 504
• 504 ERROR
• Gateway Timeout (504)
• HTTP Error 504 – Gateway Timeout
• Gateway Timeout Error

While the most common reason for the error is a proxy server unable to reach the upstream server, it can also be triggered by other hosting configuration issues.

That being said, let’s see how to easily troubleshoot and fix the 504 gateway timeout error in WordPress.

1. Wait and Reload

Sometimes the 504 gateway timeout error may simply be caused by a temporary glitch on your WordPress hosting servers. Give it a few minutes and then try reloading your website.

If the issue disappears, then you don’t need to take any further steps. However, if the error persists or reappears after a while, then continue reading to troubleshoot and fix the problem.

2. Turn off VPN

If you are using a VPN service to browse the web, then try disabling it. Sometimes your VPN server may not be able to get a response from your managed WordPress hosting server, and this will result in 504 gateway timeout error.

If your website reappears, then this means that the VPN server was the culprit. Now if using the VPN is important for you, then you can try switching to a different VPN server. If you are seeing the error even after changing servers, then you would want to contact your VPN service provider for support.

3. Turn off Website Firewall

If you are using a DNS level website firewall like Sucuri or Cloudflare, then try to temporarily disable the firewall. This will allow you to connect to your WordPress hosting server directly.

If that fixes the issue, then it’s likely that your hosting server is blocking the firewall IP addresses which can cause this issue. You will need to contact your firewall service provider to get their list of IP addresses, and then contact your web host to whitelist those IPs.

Sometimes disabling the firewall might show you the actual server error notice. In that case, you should refer to our list of common WordPress errors to fix the specific issue.

4. Disable Your Network Proxy

If you are connected to the internet through a proxy server, then that server may be unable to get a response from your WordPress website.

Try accessing your website using a different internet connection or use online services to see if your website is down just for you or everyone.

If it is down just for you, then you need to change your network settings. You can contact your internet service provider or a network admin to troubleshoot the issue for you.

5. Change Your DNS Servers

Your internet connection uses something called DNS servers. These servers help your computer connect to the different servers on the internet.

If the DNS servers you are using are down or unable to connect to your website, then you could see a 504 gateway timeout error. The easiest way to check this is by changing the DNS servers your device is using.

On Windows computers, you can find them under Control Panel » Network and Sharing Center screen.

On Mac computers, you can find them under Settings » Network. Click on the Advanced button, and then select the DNS tab.

You can change your DNS server address to 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 and apply changes.

Try visiting your website now. If this solved your error, then you are all done. The problem was with your internet connection, and it is now fixed.

6. Clean up your WordPress Database

A corrupt WordPress database may also trigger a 504 gateway timeout error. Don’t worry, your WordPress data is most likely safe. However, your database may need a little a bit of spring cleaning.

This can be easily done by optimizing your WordPress database using phpMyAdmin or using a plugin like WP-Sweep. Make sure you backup the WordPress database before performing any action.

7. Deactivate WordPress Plugins and Switch to Default Theme

WordPress plugins and themes are less likely to cause a 504 gateway timeout error. However, if a plugin or theme is making too many requests to the server, then it is likely that some of these requests may drop off and trigger a 504 gateway timeout error.

To test this, you need to deactivate all WordPress plugins via FTP.

After that, visit your website to see if the error has resolved.

If it is, then one of your plugins was causing the issue. You now need to activate all plugins one by one until you can reproduce the error. This will help you locate the plugin responsible for the error.

If deactivating plugins didn’t solve your issue, then you would want to check your WordPress theme. You will need to switch WordPress theme via phpMyAdmin.

After switching your theme to the default WordPress theme, visit your website to see if it’s working.

8. More Troubleshooting

If all else fails, and you are still unable to solve the 504 gateway timeout error, then follow the steps in our ultimate WordPress troubleshooting guide for beginners.

Finally, as a last resort, you need to reach out to your hosting provider for support. They may be able to fix the issue or point you in the right direction.

We hope this article helped you learn how to fix 504 gateway timeout error in WordPress. You may also want to see our guide on how to protect WordPress against brute force attacks.

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

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