The idea for this post came up to avoid the number of similar questions we get around here and to serve as a megathread for any/all questions of a similar nature.
What's covered:
- The .COM vs .ORG Issue
- Hosting - Where should I host?
- Hacked? Follow this guide for how to clean your site
- Performance - Why is my site slow / Pagespeed score appalling?
- Building Your WordPress Site: Is X builder better than Y? What is the best theme? Etc.
- Updates
- Backups
- Security
- Combating spam comments, contact form submissions & bot registrations
- Hacks/Malware: Err guys help, there’s some weird stuff on my front end
- Resources to learn WordPress
- Where to find plugins/add feature X?
- I found a plugin that costs $50 for $5 on a “GPLDL” source, is it safe to use?
- How much should I charge?
- Is a site using WordPress?
The .COM vs .ORG issue
This one is probably the single most asked question in this sub. Why can’t I do x,y,z?, Why do I have to pay more to install a plugin or edit a theme? There are literally 100’s of threads about this. If you want more info please search the sub for wordpress.com or read this resource for a comparison.
To summarise:
WordPress is free, open source software which can be found at wordpress.org.
Think of wordpress.com as a host that is using .org’s software and has various functionality locked behind pricing tiers.
What you want to do is get your own cheaper hosting and self install and manage WordPress so you don’t have any restrictions at base software level.
Hacked?
Cleaning a WP site is relatively simple (you need server (ftp, ssh or a file manager access):
- Delete all files and folders, including the WP files - the only folder you need to keep is /wp-content/uploads. (If you're using a child theme, keep that too, but check all its code). Note down your DB connection strings from wp-config.php. Doing this will not affect your content.
- If not deleted, check /wp-content/mu-plugins for anything that shouldn't be there
- Check cron for anything that shouldn't be there
- Change the WP salts https://api.wordpress.org/secret-key/1.1/salt/
- Change all admin passwords
- Reinstall Wordpress - download the WP zip from wordpress.org
- Reinstall your theme and plugins from the OG source eg wordpress.org, the theme seller, etc. Do not use backups. Before doing this though, audit your plugins. Don't install anything that hasn't received an update in > 6 months. Check the changelogs.
- Don't install anything that hasn't received an update in the last 6 months.
- Install Wordfence, set the Scan Options to "High Sensitivity" and run a scan.
Claude will do most of this for you in a few minutes - and will generally also be able to tell you how the infection occurred.
Hosting - Where should I host?
The next big question is who is a good host? This is better suited for r/webhosting.
Having said that, there are plenty of different hosts to choose from. Shared web hosting is the cheapest but comes with the caveat that performance is shared with others on your same server. Dedicated, VPS and Cloud solutions are faster but more expensive.
The thing to remember here is performance is directly tied to price and you get what you pay for.
The most recommended hosts around here that I’ve seen are Digital Ocean, Cloudways and Siteground. Again, for specific hosting questions you will get better support at r/webhosting
Performance - Why is my site slow / Pagespeed score apalling?
Hosting
Most of the time it's just bad hosting. As mentioned earlier, cheap shared hosting is notorious for bad performance. If your host is slow then nothing else will matter much, so this is your first port of call.
Properly optimise images
This is a relatively simple one. Don’t use images that are 6000 x 4000px. Figure out the max display size for your use case and resize.
Secondly ditch PNG and JPG and use WEBP. The recommendation is to convert before you upload. Most image editors will let you save in webp and 75-80% compression works well for a balance.
To bulk convert, use XnConvert or Photoshop Batch process.
For existing media you can use a plugin. There are many Smush, Optimole etc. Converter For Media is a free option.
Some servers like Siteground and/or other optimisation plugins may have this feature inbuilt so always check so you don’t end up doubling up.
Since 6.3, WordPress can also convert to WEBP on upload. You can use the Performance Lab plugin by the WordPress team themselves to manage this.
If, like me, you don’t want your server getting clogged up with multiple image types and you only want to have the WEBP files OR you don’t want to use a plugin use this snippet.
Lazy load
Lazy loading images, videos and iframes will speed up things significantly since 5.3 this has been a feature in core WordPress and should work out of the box for most cases. Some themes/page builders will have an option for this as well. Some hosts and caching plugins like WP Rocket will also have this option.
If you find that it is not working on your site for some reason you can use a plugin such as Lazy Load by WP Rocket or A3 Lazy Load for more control.
Caching, CDNs. Minification Etc.
You should be using caching on your website if you care about performance.
WARNING: Using minification and/or combining files and scripts can cause your website to break so always test, test and test again!
There are many, many free and paid plugins for this. Some hosts will have their own caching plugin, this should be preferred over others. If you have a Litespeed enabled server use Litespeed.
The general recommendation here is to use Cloudflare free with Super Page Cache For CF. Here is a guide on how to set up your domain, after that follow the plugin instructions.
Common question #1: Should I keep my hosts caching on with CF?
Yes. Your server is the origin server and having your own files cached means it is less taxing on your server resources and CF fetches files faster.
Common Question #2: I’m getting an SSL error or redirect loop.
Make sure you have a valid SSL certificate server on your origin server and make sure to set Cloudflare > SSL/TLS > Overview to Full.
Other popular recommended options:
Advanced optimisation
If you really want to get under the hood and squeeze every last bit out of your setup then:
- Use a plugin like Debloat for a quick clean up.
- Use Asset Clean Up to go through each page and disable unused crap. (Time consuming but potentially massive gains).
- Use Query Monitor to inspect what is going on under the hood and find unnecessary scripts etc.
Building Your WordPress Site: Is X builder better than Y? What is the best theme? Etc.
There are many conflicting opinions on this because there is no one way to do things on WordPress. Each camp will tell you the other one is inferior and purists dislike all of them.
You can build your site with:
- A page builder : Bricks, Elementor, Divi etc.
- Using prebuilt themes. Each theme will have its own settings that’s exclusive to it.
- A completely custom coded setup, written with a combination of html, css and php using WordPress actions, filters and hooks.
My two cents on the matter: Budget, experience and skill all come into play here. Thus, what works for you to achieve your end goal is the best.
- If you like a WYSIWYG approach then page builders will more likely be your thing. Play around with the demos, watch some tutorials and if one of them looks more likely to work for you, then take it for a spin.
- The Twenty Twenty Four theme along with the block builder is a solid place to start. There are many tutorials on how to get started with 2024 including the official WordPress documentation.
- A CSS editor such as Yellow Pencil or Microthemer will assist you to fix a lot of front end annoyances and supplements any workflow.
Updates
Stay up to date with all plugins and core software at all times if you don’t want to have security holes and get hacked.
Backups
Taking/having backups of your website are essential. Servers can crash and data can be lost and you will cry if you end up without a backup in this scenario. The stress and grief of not having a backup and having to rebuild your site from scratch is not worth it. There's a few ways you can go about taking backups.
You can:
- Use a recommended plugin like UpdraftPlus to schedule for daily, weekly or monthly backups. Send backups to remote servers (AWS S3, Dropbox, Google Drive) or your local machine. Remember having them stored on the same server as the website is not going to help.
- Include this in your hosting requirements and find a host that automatically provides a scheduled backup process.
- In the very least, take a manual backup using your hosts control panel whenever you make a significant change to your website,.
Security
- Keep everything up to date at all times.
- Run updates at least once a month. Fortnightly is better. More frequently is better
- Use plugins and themes that are well supported, frequently updated, high install counts, well ranked, well established.
- Use Wordfence - it’ll alert you when any plugins that you’re using have a known vulnerability or haven’t been updated (by the developer) for 2 or more years. It will also protect you from known attack vectors for vulnerable plugins (for the free version, this protection is only available after the vulnerability is 30 days old, but there’s nothing stopping you updating your plugins, assuming a patch is available).
- Don’t use hosting where multiple sites sit in the one account (common on shared hosting). Each website should have its own owner.
Combating spam comments, contact form submissions & bot registrations
Disable comments and user sign ups sitewide if you don't use them.
Use a captcha on login, register and all contact/comment forms.
Hacks/Malware: Err guys help, there’s some weird stuff on my front end.
Congratulations you got hacked. Most of us have dealt with this in one way or another at some point so you aren’t alone.
Do you have a backup?
- Easy, wipe everything and restore.
- Run a scan with Wordfence and/or GOTMLS to be doubly sure you are clean.
- Harden your security to avoid repeat issues.
No backup? (Get the tissues)
- Install Wordfence and run scan.
- Alternatively my first port of call for this has always been GOTMLS. Update definitions and run a root scan the plugin should find any code that shouldn’t be there and you should be good to go.
Resources to learn WordPress
If you are serious about your WordPress journey then you must equip yourself with some coding knowledge. Some skills in PHP, Javascript, CSS & HTML will help you immensely.
Where to find plugins/add feature X?
The WordPress plugin repository should be your first stop. You can access this library via your Dashboard > Plugins > Add New Plugin
Codecanyon is a decent marketplace to get premium plugins for a one off buy without ongoing subscription costs.
For code snippets and help with your own code StackOverflow or r/prowordpress is your best bet.
Warning: Remember to always double check the source and reputability of a source before installing third-party plugins and/or scripts.
I found a plugin that costs $50 for $5 on a “GPLDL” source, is it safe to use?
The simple answer here is NO. No you shouldn’t and that should be the end of that.
But alas, we still have many more questions:
- Will the plugin still work? Probably.
- Are there any guarantees that it will work and demo content will be provided? Absolutely not.
- Will there be links to turn one’s junk into a cyborg on my site? Most likely.
- Will Google blacklist you? If you have malware. Most definitely.
- Will your host shut you down? If detected, any reputable one will.
- Is rebuilding an entire site and losing the trust of your audience worth all this? Not to me, but only you can answer this for yourself.
How much should I charge?
We unfortunately can't provide specific answers to pricing questions as everyone's experience and locations vary widely. For guidance on pricing strategies, we recommend searching 'your country + web developer/designer rates'. Standard hourly rates for your locality can offer insights into various pricing approaches that may be applicable to you.
Please also read this article on Pricing Strategies on how to tackle this sort of question.
Is a site using WordPress?
- Check the Page Source: Right-click on the page and select "View Page Source" (or use Ctrl+U). Search for typical WordPress identifiers like
/wp-content/, /wp-includes/, or wp-json. If you see these, the site is likely WordPress. - Online Tools: Websites like IsItWP, Wappalyzer or BuiltWith can analyze a website's technology stack. These tools should be able to identify if the site is using WordPress in most cases.
That’s it, hopefully this gets you started on your WordPress journey. If you have any further questions feel free to leave a comment and someone should be able to assist.
Login
