Remember, these suggestions are not a replacement for real legal advice. If you have specific questions, it’s best to ask a professional who knows the law.

To help set you on the right legal track, we have a collection of WordPress plugins that can help with many of the different legal aspects of running a website. We’ve organized them by category to make it easier for you to find what you need. These plugins can be a big help in making sure your website is on the right side of the law.

EU Cookie Law WordPress Plugins

Cookie Notice by dFactory

Cookie Notice by dFactory provides an easy way to let your site’s visitors know about your use of cookies. You can customize a notice that will appear either on the top or bottom of the page. Users can accept, decline, or read more about your policies via clickable buttons.

CookieYes Cookie Banner & Compliance Plugin

Cookie Law Info will create a customizable banner to inform visitors of your cookie policies. The banner can be automatically removed after a few seconds, or you can require the user to accept your terms manually.

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service WordPress Plugins

Auto Terms of Service & Privacy Policy

Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, have created both a Terms of Service and Privacy Policy under the Creative Commons Sharealike license.

Auto Terms of Service and Privacy Policy brings these documents to your site. Simply add your organization’s info in the plugin settings and display the documents via a WordPress Shortcode. This plugin is meant for sites based in the United States.

WPLegalPages Privacy Policy & T&Cs Generator

WPLegalPages will generate a variety of must-have compliance documents for your website. The free version of the plugin includes a privacy policy, terms & and conditions, DCMA policy, and more.

Setup is simple – enter your business name and select which documents you want to generate. A cookie consent bar is also included. The pro version ups the ante with guided wizards, age verification, and popups.

EU VAT WordPress Plugins

WooCommerce EU VAT Compliance

Those running WooCommerce can take the pain out of VAT with WooCommerce EU VAT Compliance. It will record a customer’s location, show VAT calculations in the backend, and automatically add VAT to product pricing. You can even block out EU customers if you’d rather not collect VAT at all.

EDD Quaderno

EDD Quaderno helps to make Easy Digital Downloads shops compliant with VAT and the intricacies of other locales. It will also create improved versions of the standard EDD receipts. To use the plugin, you’ll need a Quaderno account.

Age Verification WordPress Plugins

Age Gate

Age Gate is a highly configurable plugin for restricting age-based content. Select the minimum age along with the content you want to protect, and underage users will be locked out.

Choose from a variety of user input methods (dropdown, text field, or yes/no buttons) and customize the look of the UI to match your website. The plugin is also SEO-friendly and won’t try to restrict common search bots.

Easy Age Verify

Make age verification simple with Easy Age Verify. The plugin offers turnkey settings based on different types of website content. It’s also built with accessibility and SEO in mind. The pro version is fully customizable, with the ability to match your site’s look.

Digital Signature WordPress Plugins

Gravity Forms Signature Add-On

This unofficial add-on for Gravity Forms will allow users to digitally sign documents on your website. There’s also a version for Ninja Forms.

CF7Sign – Signature Field For Contact Form 7

Adding a signature field to your Contact Form 7 forms is just a click away. Once you’ve installed and activated CF7Sign, a “Sign” field will be added to your forms’ options. There’s not much room for customization here, but it’s a dead-simple solution.

Keeping it Legal

Granted, it can be a bit of a hassle to keep track of compliance issues. But that doesn’t make it any less vital to do so. WordPress plugins are there to make the task a bit easier – even automating the process in some cases.

So, there’s no excuse for slacking! Take some time to learn your responsibilities as a website owner and use the handy plugins above to help you manage. Obviously, using these plugins alone won’t make you compliant – but they will help set you on the right path.

The post 10 Best Free Legal Compliance Plugins for WordPress appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

There are various ways to make your site multilingual. Some WordPress plugins can automatically translate your content. This is a quick way to make your site understandable to more people. If you’d rather translate the content yourself, there are also plugins that make this manual process easier.

Either way, adding multiple languages to your site can be a great way to reach more people and make your site more user-friendly for visitors from around the world.

MultilingualPress – Build a Multilingual WordPress Site

Based on WordPress multisite, MultilingualPress is a commercial plugin that is unique when it comes to translation. For each available language, a new network site is created.

This allows for better performance and scalability. And, since it’s a multisite install, each site could theoretically have a different design and plugins.

Prisna GWT Google Website Translator for WordPress

Google is the ruler of all things data, and that includes language translation. Google Website Translator lets you harness this power via a simple Widget or Shortcode.

Select your preferred languages, choose a style, and then implement the translator into your site. Don’t want a particular item to be translated? The plugin lets you define items that should be left as-is.

Polylang – Translate Certain Areas of WordPress

Polylang takes a different approach to translating a website. The plugin enables you to optionally define which languages a particular piece of content is available in.

For example, you can choose to translate just a category, single page, or post. It also lets you translate specific theme/plugin strings and media upload data.

WPML Translation Plugin for WordPress

Perhaps the best-known translation plugin, WPML, offers several powerful features. It comes packed with over 40 languages and is compatible with several popular plugins. You can designate specific users as “Translators,” to whom you can assign translation-based tasks.

There’s also a handy string translation panel that converts text coming from themes and plugins. WPML is a commercial solution for small blogs all the way up to larger corporate sites.

Weglot Translate – Automatically Translate Content

Weglot Translate will automatically translate your content into 60+ languages. Just install the plugin and grab an API key (there is a free version you can try).

From there, choose the languages you want to use, add their widget, and you’re all set. Translated content has its own unique URL, which allows for better SEO.

TranslatePress WordPress Plugin

TranslatePress offers several features for translating your site’s content. First, you can choose to translate items manually or automatically (using Google’s API). You can also view real-time results by editing translations on the front end. And, a “language switcher” can be placed anywhere you like via a shortcode.

The plugin includes WooCommerce support to internationalize your online store.

Say What? WordPress Plugin

It’s not exactly a traditional translation plugin. Say What? enables the editing of text strings from themes and plugins. Just enter the text string you want to translate, then add the changes you want to make.

This could be used to translate specific items into another language or tweak text to better fit your needs.

My WP Translate Plugin

My WP Translate provides a way to easily translate plugin and theme strings directly from the WordPress dashboard. Add a plugin or theme from the settings screen and immediately begin making changes.

An import/export feature is also included, allowing for easy transfer between multiple websites.

The Value of a Multilingual Site

As users, visiting a website written in a language we don’t understand can be frustrating. As web designers, it’s nice to know that there are some simple ways we can solve this issue.

With just a little effort, we can make our sites more accessible to those who speak other languages. This not only creates goodwill, but is also good for business.

The post The 8 Best Free Language Translation Plugins for WordPress appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

For WordPress-powered websites, incorporating these functionalities is a seamless process. Thanks to an array of plugins, achieving comprehensive social media integration is both straightforward and efficient. These plugins extend beyond the ordinary share buttons, providing a holistic solution.

In this article, we explore a collection of exceptional free WordPress plugins that encompass the spectrum of social media integration. From advanced sharing automation to fostering a sense of community through social login and comments, these plugins enrich the user experience while effortlessly aligning with your website’s goals.

Dive into the world of streamlined social integration, where your WordPress site becomes a dynamic hub of digital interaction.

Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed for WordPress

Photo galleries are a popular feature for many websites. But if you’re already on Instagram, why reinvent the wheel?

Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed is tied to your Instagram account. Set it up, and the plugin will display your feed as an attractive gallery. And it also brings back oEmbed functionality – something that had previously left WordPress core. The pro version offers advanced features, such as the ability to display hashtag feeds and image lightboxes.

WordPress Social Login

If you run an online community or membership website, users will have to fill out yet another registration form – and keep track of one more account. But with WordPress Social Login, you can enable the use of their social media accounts instead.

The plugin integrates with all the major social media networks. In addition, it works with popular WordPress plugins such as BuddyPress and WooCommerce.

Flow-Flow Social Feed Stream for WordPress

Want to combine all of your social media posts into a single feed? Flow-Flow Social Feed Stream can make it happen. It works in conjunction with the “big four”: Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.

This can be a server-intensive process. That’s why the plugin utilizes AJAX and caching to speed things up. You’ll also find post-share counts, mobile compatibility, and plenty of design settings. If you’re looking for even more social networks for your feed, the pro version has you covered.

AddToAny Share Buttons WordPress Plugin

AddToAny Share Buttons is one of those plugins I find myself turning to over and over. It provides an easy-to-use and highly customizable way to add your basic social sharing icons.

Place them directly into your template or create a floating share bar. You have access to virtually every social media platform (over 100 in all), and it integrates with Google Analytics. Use the included icons or your own.

Jetpack WordPress Plugin

Indeed, with over 3 million active installs, Jetpack is one of the most widely used plugins out there. And since you may already have it installed, it’s worth mentioning that there are some powerful social media tools built right in.

Besides adding social sharing buttons, you can also automatically post your content to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and more through their Publicize feature. Your readers can also use their WordPress.com, Twitter, or Facebook accounts to comment on your posts. Who knew?

WPSSO – Structured Data Plugin for WordPress

WPSSO is a plugin that works behind the scenes to make sure your WordPress website contains valid Open Graph and Schema Markup, among other things. This helps ensure that when your content is shared on social media, it’s properly read by services like Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. For example, this information will make sure that Twitter Cards grab the right images, etc.

Even more advanced features are available in the Pro version of the plugin.

Facebook for WooCommerce WordPress Plugin

If you’re running a WooCommerce shop, the free Facebook for WooCommerce plugin will help you harness the power of the popular social media network. Integration with Facebook Ads provides conversion tracking, optimization, and remarketing.

But you can also create a Facebook store that connects your WooCommerce products directly to Facebook. You can list your entire catalog on Facebook. And, when you make changes to products, they will automatically sync with the social network.

Blog2Social – Social Media Auto Post & Scheduler for WordPress

Blog2Social is a suite of tools to make automatic posting of WordPress content to social media work on your terms. It connects to your Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Twitter, or any other social profile and lets you customize messages, hashtags, and more for each service.

It’s also great for re-sharing older posts. The Premium version features advanced scheduling, allowing for more than one concurrent profile on a specific network and more.

Scriptless Social Sharing for WordPress

Minimalists and speed demons, rejoice! Scriptless Social Sharing provides an absolute barebones version of social sharing buttons. No JavaScript and no increased load times.

The plugin claims to build a set of links that can be displayed as simple icons with or without labels. Accessibility is also ensured – even if you choose not to show labels on the included icons. Frankly, I’m scared scriptless.

Becoming Fully Socialized on WordPress

The ways and reasons for integrating social media into your WordPress website have grown tremendously. It’s no longer a matter of just helping users share your content (although that’s still an important piece of the puzzle).

Now, it’s also about ensuring that the social networks you care about can properly read your content. And, when users do share, you’ll want some data to see how it’s working out. Beyond that, many social network integrations add a layer of convenience for users.

With that in mind, it’s important to consider both your needs and those of visitors to your site. Choose the functionality that will make the most impact. With the plugins above, you’ll be up and running in no time.

The post 8 Best Free Social Media Plugins for WordPress appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

These plugins range in their focus. Some provide comprehensive SEO improvements, covering everything from keywords to helping to boost site speed. Others zero in on specific aspects, like improving page titles and meta descriptions. This diversity means you can find a plugin tailored to exactly what your site needs.

The beauty of these plugins is their ability to fine-tune your website’s SEO strategy. Whether you’re looking to enhance your site’s visibility, increase traffic, or improve search rankings, these tools can be incredibly helpful. They’re also designed to be user-friendly, making SEO more accessible to everyone, regardless of technical expertise.

To give your WordPress site an SEO boost, here are ten underrated plugins. Each plugin brings something unique and could be the key to improving your site’s performance in search engine results. These plugins are worth exploring if you’re aiming for a more effective and efficient SEO approach.

Simple & Effective SEO with BoldGrid Easy SEO

Need some helpful suggestions when optimizing your content? Enter a keyword or phrase, and BoldGrid Easy SEO will guide you. The plugin looks at your keyword density, content length, and other page attributes. From there, you’ll gain some valuable hints that can help you level up.

It also scans your image ALT attributes as well. If you’re looking to boost your rankings within Google Image Search, this feature is a must-have.

Meta Tag Manager WordPress Plugin

For those who want complete control over their SEO, Meta Tag Manager is worth a look. As the name suggests, the plugin enables you to create various custom meta tags for your content. You can even add Open Graph tags to enhance social media sharing.

There are two ways to add tags. The first is directly within your WordPress post or page. In addition, you can add global tags that will appear across your site or via specific post types.

Rank Math SEO WordPress SEO Plugin

Rank Math SEO has become one of the bigger names in this category, yet still under the “big two” in terms of name recognition. And there is a ton to like with this package.

Inside, you’ll find a setup wizard, Schema markup, unlimited keywords per post, and integration with Google. There are a massive number of features. However, you can easily disable anything that you don’t need via the settings.

On-site SEO with SEOPress Plugin

SEOPress aims to be a complete solution with features like on-page SEO, HTML/XML sitemaps, breadcrumbs, and structured data. There’s also the ability to manage any 301 redirects, ensuring that your traffic doesn’t suffer from any URLs that have changed.

The included import feature is also handy. You can import settings from other SEO plugins and even import metadata via CSV files. This can make the optimization process quick.

All In One Schema.org Rich Snippets Plugin

Rich Snippets are such an overlooked part of SEO (this post convinced me of it). They provide search engines with extra bits of useful info like reviews, company details (business hours, address, etc.), and a whole lot more.

All In One Schema.org Rich Snippets provides fields within the WordPress post editor that will let you customize the rich snippets in your content. It’s such a simple thing, but it can make your search listings more noticeable.

The SEO Framework WordPress Plugin

The SEO Framework is focused on automating much of the process of optimizing your site. With a little initial guidance, the plugin will change titles, add descriptions (with anti-spam warnings), canonical URLs, Open Graph tags, and structured data.

It will also notify Google, Bing, and Yandex if you’ve enabled their sitemap feature. There’s also a color-coded “SEO Bar” that will show you what areas look good and what needs further tweaking.

Optimize Content with SEO Squirrly

SEO Squirrly takes a different approach to optimizing content. First, you start by entering the topic you plan to write about in a field provided by the plugin. It then ranks keywords in that topic with a color-coded system (green is what you’re hoping for). You’ll also receive “advice” while in the process of writing your post.

The plugin also displays a listing of related, copyright-free images you can use. This is definitely a more handheld approach for those who aren’t well-versed in SEO. One thing to note is that the free version of the plugin only supports up to 5 posts per month. Paid plans are available for sites that publish more content.

ACF Content Analysis for Yoast SEO

Ok, I cheated. ACF Content Analysis for Yoast SEO is meant for those using the ubiquitous Yoast plugin. But hear me out. If your site is publishing content via custom fields – the standard Yoast SEO plugin isn’t counting that in its assessment of your post.

Installing this plugin will ensure that you’re getting accurate SEO grades while using Yoast and Advanced Custom Fields.

Bulk Edit Metadata with WP Meta SEO

WP Meta SEO enables you to edit post and image metadata in bulk – saving you the trouble of clicking into each and every item. Beyond meta, you’re also able to bulk edit image sizes and SEO link titles.

The plugin also features on-page optimization, breadcrumb navigation, social media sharing elements, XML sitemap generation, and a broken link checker. This one is an up-and-coming SEO solution.

WPSSO the Structured Data Plugin for WordPress

WPSSO will take your existing content and create appropriate meta tags and Schema.org markup. Descriptions for various providers such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest are included. Your site’s media is also optimized in the deal.

WPSSO is also able to work alongside other SEO plugins and can fill in some functionality gaps.

Small Names, Big Optimization

The plugins above prove there are indeed lots of great tools when it comes to SEO beyond the big names. In some ways, they’re like searching the web in that sometimes you may have to dig a little deeper to find some gold.

Take a closer look and see which ones will help you further optimize your WordPress website.

The post 10 Best Free Niche WordPress SEO Plugins appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

Whatever site you have, there’s probably a plugin that can make it easier to add and edit content in a more advanced way. This means you can create content that’s just right for your needs without much extra work.

To give you a hand, here are ten free WordPress plugins that can help you make better and more complex content. These plugins can be a game changer for your site, making creating the kind of content you want easier.

Easy Pricing Tables for WordPress

If you’re selling products or services through your website, pricing tables are a must. However, they’re not a design feature that’s easily built in a default WordPress installation.

That’s where Easy Pricing Tables comes in handy. It’s built for the block editor and provides a visual UI for creating attractive, easy-to-read tables. A premium version adds more bells and whistles – including premade table themes.

Cool Horizontal & Vertical Timelines for WordPress

Cool Timeline offers an interesting way to arrange a given set of posts. Turn them into an attractive timeline, complete with dates and featured images.

Colors can be tweaked to match your site’s look. Plus, the plugin works via both the block and classic editors.

Embed PDF Viewer WordPress Plugin

PDF files are a staple of the web. Yet, WordPress doesn’t offer dead-simple ways to embed or link to them. Embed PDF Viewer makes it easy, with a custom block built just for this purpose.

Even better is that it works with any valid PDF URL – whether it’s hosted directly on your website or not.

Visual Link Preview for WordPress

Sometimes, standard text hyperlinks don’t provide enough context. Visual Link Preview offers a social-media-like means to preview links.

The plugin lets you create a custom link preview template that uses images and descriptive text. It’s perfect for showcasing affiliate links or other important resources.

Advanced Editor Tools for WordPress

The WordPress Classic Editor uses an open-source software package called TinyMCE. Advanced Editor Tools is an all-around powerhouse – allowing you to add/remove/rearrange toolbar icons, and utilize TinyMCE features that aren’t available in the standard WordPress install (like creating tables), along with some other advanced options.

It’s a great way to customize WP’s visual editor to fit the tasks you do the most. Even better is that it also enhances the Gutenberg block editor as well.

TablePress Plugin – Easy Table in WordPress

If you need to create complex, feature-packed HTML tables, check out TablePress. Its editor is reminiscent of a spreadsheet, making the chore of adding or editing content simple.

You can even import data from several sources. Best of all, some JavaScript magic allows users to sort and filter tables.

Widget Content Blocks WordPress Plugin

The standard WordPress Text Widget is not very user-friendly. Replace it with Widget Content Blocks, which will let you create widgets with WYSIWYG – the same way you already create pages and posts.

A custom post type is added to WordPress, where you can create and edit “widget blocks.” Format text, add images – basically anything you can do with a page or post. When done, head over to the Appearance > Widgets screen to add your new widgets to a sidebar.

YouTube Embed Plugin for WordPress

While you can already use WordPress oembed to add YouTube videos to your site, the YouTube Embed Plugin adds further capabilities. The plugin adds a visual search for YouTube videos, channels, and playlists.

You can then easily embed them into any page or post. There are also several useful features, like volume initialization, iOS playback settings, and HTTPS support.

Advanced Excerpt WordPress Plugin

A well-made post excerpt is now within your reach with Advanced Excerpt. You’ll be able to control the length of auto-generated excerpts, retain HTML formatting, and more.

HTML Editor Syntax Highlighter Plugin for WordPress

Editing code in the WordPress text editor leaves a lot to be desired. Using HTML Editor Syntax Highlighter will result in a much better UI for code editing.

The code is highlighted, indented, and is a lot easier to browse than the default setup.

Make WordPress Work for You

The backend of a WordPress website should enable you to work the way you want. Instead of learning to deal with any shortcomings, it’s important to set up a work environment that requires as few workarounds as possible.

With the plugins mentioned above, you’ll have the power to make content creation more efficient and fun.

The post The 10 Best Free Content Creation WordPress Plugins appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

Many developers create offline sandboxes for testing, but once you push the updates to your live site, it’s good practice to take the site offline for a brief moment. This is also true with new domains where your site isn’t quite ready to launch, but you want to have something online – a coming soon page – to show potential users, visitors, or buyers.

The best solution is a good and reliable maintenance or a plugin coming soon. Thankfully, WordPress has many of them freely available. We’ve curated the eight best choices here, with each having a different focus and set of resources for site admins to choose from.

Maintenance Mode

Created by Lukas Juhas

I’ve used the Maintenance Mode plugin countless times and with great success. It’s probably the oldest plugin in this collection, but it is regularly updated and comes with many useful functions, so it merits its place here.

If you are looking for something simple and easy to work with, start with Maintenance Mode. It’s got years of experience behind it, so you know it’ll work right out of the box.

WP Maintenance

Coming Soon Page

Created by SeedProd

For a more focused resource, you might like to take a look at the Coming Soon Page plugin created by SeedProd. The plugin is pretty standard, with a typical “check back soon” message and an opt-in field for gathering email addresses. The page is fully responsive and built with CSS transitions to create a nice fading animation.

You can edit the template code manually, but you’ll need to know your way around HTML. The whole thing is easy to set up with a few clicks, and it supports most languages, multi-site setups, and WordPress add-ons like BuddyPress.

Coming Soon by Supsystic

Other features include countdown timers, auto-embed videos, social sharing buttons, custom logos and backgrounds, and will also directly connect to most email service providers, like MailChimp and Aweber.

Minimal Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode

If you have multiple authors on your site, you can set permissions for who sees the initial maintenance page before going live, allowing you to define who has access to the site when it is being worked on, all at the click of a button.

Under Construction

Maintenance

CMP – Coming Soon & Maintenance Plugin

The post 8 Best Free Coming Soon Plugins for WordPress appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

It can all add up to something of a nightmare in diagnosing and fixing what would seem to be a simple problem.

That’s where we’ve come in to help. There are tools out there to help simplify the process of satisfying your need for (WordPress) speed. Below, we’ve compiled a collection of plugins that don’t require a rocket science degree.

They will, however, help you build a blazing-fast site. Plus, we’ll offer tips for getting the most performance out of your WordPress website.

Surge for WordPress

If you’re stressed by the idea of a complicated settings panel, you’ll want to check out Surge. This caching plugin requires zero configuration, and it automatically builds a cache and clears files as you update your website.

Not only is this plugin super simple to use, but it’s also free. Optimizing your site’s performance is only a few clicks away.

WP Rocket

Setting up a WordPress cache plugin can be an incredibly frustrating experience. There are often so many settings with not-so-obvious names that you have to do a lot of testing to find out what something does.

WP Rocket is a premium plugin, but it may just be worth the cost. It features an ultra-minimal setup and really does speed up your site. The package includes page caching, preloading, database optimization, and lazy loading of images.

Fast Velocity Minify

Fast Velocity Minify will combine your site’s CSS and JS files into smaller file groups. After all, each one of these files can be thousands of lines long.

Compressing and combining files can greatly cut down on load time, especially for sites running lots of plugins. The setup is relatively easy, with the default settings getting the job done. There are also advanced options available if you’re feeling adventurous.

Autoptimize

With just a few clicks, Autoptimize will concatenate styles and scripts, minify HTML, CSS, and JS files, add expiry headers, and cache them. The plugin can also move styles to your site’s header and scripts to your site’s footer.

While the developer recommends using Autoptimize in conjunction with a caching plugin, it’s still a simple way to speed up your site.

Speed Booster Pack

Speed Booster Pack utilizes several techniques to speed up your site. It minifies HTML/JavaScript/CSS but also does so much more. For example, it will compress images, load JavaScript libraries from Google’s servers (rather than from your own server), defer the parsing of scripts, remove ‘junk’ headers, and make other useful tweaks.

Inside the plugin settings, peak memory usage and page load times are displayed. Just check the boxes next to each option you want to enable. You also have the option of disabling specific scripts from being minified.

Optimize Database after Deleting Revisions

Your site’s database can become incredibly cluttered over time, leading to sluggish performance. Optimize Database after Deleting Revisions aims to be a “one-click” solution by deleting post revisions (you can keep a specified amount of revisions per post), spam comments, unused tags, pingbacks/trackbacks and orphan post meta items.

It also optimizes database tables to help keep your DB lean and clean. Optimizations can run hourly, once daily, twice daily, or weekly. It’s compatible with WordPress multisite.

Tips for Increasing WordPress Speed

WordPress, by itself, is a fast platform. But as we add components like themes and plugins, it can get weighed down. Combined with database clutter and potential hosting issues, a site can slow to a crawl.

Here are a few things to take into account when you’re looking to increase speed:

Avoid Heavy Themes

Just because a theme calls itself “minimal” doesn’t mean it’s lightweight. A theme may sport a minimalist look but still load a ton of scripts that will slow you down.

If you’re using a third-party theme, check the documentation to see how to disable scripts you don’t plan to use. Otherwise, use a lightweight starter theme and build for what you need.

Do You Really Need that Plugin?

Each plugin you install and activate can add scripts, styles, and database entries. Before you install a plugin, research to see if it’s known to cause any issues with load times. Ask yourself if it’s a necessity for the success and security of your site. If not, you may want to move on for the time being.

Make Note of Remote Scripts & Styles

Services that provide web fonts, analytics, or ad-serving capabilities can affect speed. While these providers may have fast remote servers, any sort of connection issue can grind page loading to a halt.

Be aware of what services you’re using and only use those that are necessary. For that matter, it’s also a good idea to stick with well-known and trusted providers.

Watch for Missing Content

Whether local or remote, look out for scripts or stylesheets that fail to load. A missing file can cause your site to react incredibly slowly, along with possible display and functionality consequences.

Use a tool like, PageSpeed Insights, Pingdom, or GTmetrix to analyze your site. Some tools offer a “waterfall” view that shows how long it takes for each file to load along with your page. If one of these files generates a 404 error, you’ve found the culprit.

Be Aware of Hosting Limitations

Not all web hosts are created equal. Some just flat-out provide a better product. But you should also be aware of hosting-related issues that can cause a slowdown. Being on an overcrowded server, running a non-supported (old) version of PHP, or having too much traffic on a shared hosting account can all cause problems.

Getting up to Speed

Bringing your WordPress site up to top performance doesn’t have to be difficult. Using the tools and techniques above, you’ll have everything you need to make improvements.

Speed is vitally important, after all. It affects things like SEO and your bounce rate. It’s worth the little effort to squeeze as much performance out of your website as possible.

The post 6 Best WordPress Plugins to Optimize & Speed Up Your Website appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

Now, there are even more options for using and setting up widgets on your site.

Here’s a collection of ten free widget plugins for WordPress. These plugins increase the flexibility and functionality of widgets and sidebars.

We’ve also included some specific widgets that will be really useful for your users. These plugins can make your website more user-friendly and enhance the overall experience for your visitors.

Widget Options for WordPress

Widget Options allows you to take full control over each widget on your WordPress website. Its tabbed options panel lets you conditionally display widgets based on a variety of criteria.

Display or hide widgets based on page, post, device, and more. You can also set custom alignments, along with CSS classes and IDs.

Content Aware Sidebars for WordPress

One of the most common needs for WordPress site owners is the ability to display different sidebars (each with its own independent set of widgets) depending on which page/post/category the user is viewing.

Content Aware Sidebars allows you to create as many sidebars as you’d like and use them wherever needed. You can even schedule sidebars to show on specific dates.

WordPress Widget Importer & Exporter

If you’ve ever needed to move widgets from one site to another – it can be an incredible pain to sit there and recreate them all. Widget Importer & Exporter will help you easily move widgets or simply back them up.

The plugin also uses some smart logic to avoid duplicating existing widgets upon import and, if a particular sidebar doesn’t exist in the new location, its widgets are still imported but marked as inactive. This one just makes life easier.

AMR Shortcode Any Widget for WordPress

Using AMR Shortcode Any Widget provides you with an easy way to add a widget to any page or post on your site. Just set up your widget as you normally would, then drag that new widget over to a special sidebar created by the plugin.

This is great for sites that either don’t use sidebars or just need to display a widget within a page’s content occasionally.

WordPress Widget CSS Classes

Styling widgets isn’t always the easiest thing – especially if you want to target only specific ones. Widget CSS Classes helps by enabling you to add custom CSS classes or IDs to individual widgets in your sidebar.

It also adds classes for first, last, odd, and even-numbered widgets. That allows you to customize the look further. For example, you might want a different background color for each even-numbered widget or make the first widget in the list stand out a bit more.

Widgets Users Will Love

Astra Widgets for WordPress

Sidebars are a great place to add quick contact and social media information. Astra Widgets provides three widgets that can help: Address, List Icons, and Social Profiles. It’s a simple solution for creating a more user-friendly website.

Maps Widget for Google Maps

Maps Widget for Google Maps makes it easy to add custom maps to your sidebar. Choose from multiple color schemes and map pins to create a unique look. It’s a perfect compliment to directory listings or event pages.

Recent Posts Widget with Thumbnails for WordPress

A lot of the Widgets included with a standard WordPress install are pretty basic. Adding Recent Posts Widget with Thumbnails boosts the standard text listing by creating a visually appealing list of posts based on various criteria.

Advanced options like setting the order, excerpt length, honoring sticky posts, and thumbnail sizing allow you to customize things to your liking.

Feedzy RSS Feeds Lite WordPress Plugin

While WordPress has its own native RSS Widget, Feedzy RSS Feeds Lite is a more robust option. It offers aggregation of multiple feeds, the ability to display images, and also includes a powerful Shortcode. Feeds can also be categorized to bring together relevant sources.

WordPress Tab Widget

Instead of the old-fashioned vertical or horizontal display, WP Tab Widget provides a clean, tabbed navigation via AJAX. Choose from Popular, Recent, Comment, and Tag widgets. Content is loaded on demand and subsequently cached, so it won’t slow down your site.

The Wonderful World of Widgets

Both widgets themselves and the ability to utilize them have improved drastically when compared to their humble beginnings. Even so, it sometimes feels like they’ve become a bit of an overlooked feature. However, that may be changing.

WordPress 5.8 has included some new enhancements for widgets and has integrated them with the Gutenberg block editor. This opens up a whole new world of possibilities.

As such, this is a great time to get reacquainted with WordPress Widgets.

The post 10 Best Free Plugins for Adding Extra Functionality to WordPress Widgets appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

Of course, this affects website owners worldwide, as any site that serves even one EU citizen is obligated to comply. So, whether you’re based in Paris, France, or Paris, Texas – GDPR applies to you.

The internet has been in a mad scramble as companies send out masses of email notices and are changing privacy policies at near lightspeed. But if you haven’t gotten around to dealing with the issue just yet – it’s okay. We have your back!

Below are eight helpful resources you can use to bring yourself up to speed and get your site into compliance.

*And, as the standard legal disclaimer goes, please know that these resources won’t, by themselves, ensure compliance. It takes some work on your part and advice from a legal professional to make things more official.

The GDPR Compliance Checklist

This interactive checklist will help ensure that you are on the right path to compliance.

While it doesn’t cover every possibility, it is quite handy to have a list in front of you if only to help you gain some peace of mind in a very complex situation.

Awesome GDPR

Developer Erwan Richard has curated this list of tools and resources that you can use to become compliant. Included are alternatives to Google Analytics, Maps and even social sharing buttons that don’t track user data.

Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent

WordPress 4.9.6 came stocked with some new privacy tools that have GDPR in mind.

Complianz will scan your WordPress website and generate a cookie consent and policy based on what it finds. The plugin can be configured to display a cookie notice for your specific region, but you can also use a blanket notice for all users. It also blocks common third-party cookies and iframes. And that’s just scratching the surface of what this privacy suite can do.

Anonymizer

Working with a database that is full of personal user information in a development environment? Anonymizer is a tool that will replace that info with randomly generated content.

Obviously, it’s not meant for production environments – but provides an extra layer of security when you’re in the development phase.

GDPR Module for Drupal

If you’re running a Drupal site and looking to become GDPR compliant, this module can be a great help.

It lets users see what data your website collects, while also providing administrators with handy tools to manage data and user consent.

Cookies EU Banner

Cookies EU Banner is a very lightweight JavaScript library for gaining user consent to be tracked by services such as Google Analytics.

All it takes is a little bit of code at the top of your page to get started. The library even has the option of not setting a cookie until the user has accepted your policy.

GDPR Developer Guide

If you’re looking for a crash course in GDPR compliance, this open-source guide is for you. Through 16 chapters, you’ll find information regarding everything from identifying personal data to working with analytics. The overarching goal is to help developers build with privacy regulations in mind.

GDPR is Here for the Long Haul

While the chaos and extensive news coverage may fade, GDPR isn’t going anywhere. It certainly may see some tweaks in the future, but it is the new normal for web designers worldwide. The old way of doing things is, for better or worse, over.

The resources above could prove to be a big help as we navigate the many facets that GDPR presents. Use them to help develop processes that will ensure compliance by default. That way, this regulation becomes just another part of your job, rather than an extra burden to think about.

The post 7 Best Free Resources For GDPR Compliance appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

But beware – not every host is reliable when it comes to backups. And you certainly don’t want to wait until disaster strikes to find out how they did.

You’ll get much more peace of mind if you perform regular site backups yourself. Luckily, there are several outstanding free plugins that will do the job for you.

Note that there are some differences in what various plugins will backup. A WordPress website is comprised of both a database (usually MySQL) and a set of files that sit on the web server.

You’ll really only need to worry about the /wp-content/ folder, which contains your theme, plugins, and file uploads. Some plugins back up both the database and files.

Others will handle one of the two. Keep in mind that you’ll need both the database and the /wp-content/ folder to have access to all of your site’s data.

Now, let’s check out some plugins to keep your site backed up. We’ll take note of whether they back up a site’s database, file system, or both.

Total Upkeep WordPress Backup Plugin

WordPress software updates can sometimes cause problems. That’s why it’s important to have backups that can be restored immediately.

Total Upkeep’s auto rollback feature will create backups before you run updates, allowing you to easily restore the site to its previous state. A Pro version also enables cloud-based backups and staging sites.

Backs Up: Database and File System (with an option to customize what gets backed up)

WP Staging – Backup Duplicator & Migration Plugin

Having a staging environment for your WordPress website is always a good idea. But if your web host doesn’t offer this functionality, WP STAGING can help.

The plugin makes it easy to clone your site into a subfolder (or a subdomain, if you opt for the Pro version).

Backs Up: Database and File System

WordPress Backup & Migrate Plugin

Backup, restore, or even migrate your site. Also available is the ability to download a copy of a backup to keep on your local machine. A pro version lets you schedule backups and connect to various cloud storage services.

Backs Up: Database and File System (with an option to customize what gets backed up)

WP DBManager – Optimize, Repair & Backup Your Database

Schedule regular backups of your WordPress database and have it both emailed to you and stored on your web server. Restore a backup with just a couple of clicks.

Also, you can schedule automatic database optimization and repair.

Backs Up: Database Only

WP Time Capsule – Backup & Staging for WordPress

Rather than doing a time and resource-consuming full backup each time, WP Time Capsule will perform an incremental backup of just the files that have changed.

You have the ability to schedule backups and connect to Dropbox, Amazon S3, and Google Drive.

Backs Up: Database & File System

WPBackItUp – Backup & Restore WordPress Plugin

WPBackItUp touts its ease of use – just one click to back up your entire site. The plugin compresses the backup into a .zip file stored on your web server. Backup status notifications will arrive via email.

Backs Up: Database and File System

UpdraftPlus – WordPress Backup & Migration Plugin

Automatically or manually back up your entire site to your web server, multiple cloud services, email, or even an FTP server. Restore backups directly from inside WordPress. Site migration packages can also be downloaded.

Backs Up: Database and File System (with an option to customize what gets backed up)

Database Backup for WordPress

Backup your site’s database to the cloud, email, or FTP. Set up a schedule to run on a routine basis. The ability to exclude specific database tables is included.

Backs Up: Database Only

BackWPup WordPress Backup Plugin

You can schedule complete automatic backups for your site and store them in the cloud. Backups can be compressed into .zip, .tar, tar.gz, or tar.bz2 formats. BackWPup will also check, repair, and optimize your database.

Backs Up: Database and File System

No More Excuses – Backup Your Site!

A WordPress site can break for many reasons, including a database crash, theme or plugin incompatibility, or a failed web host. But you don’t have to leave things to chance.

There are free WordPress backup plugins that cater to every need. It’s time to be proactive with your website and prepare for the worst. If something does happen, you’ll be glad that you took steps to regularly back up your website.

The post The 8 Best Free Backup Plugins for WordPress appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.