This Could Happen To You – Why We Switched To Managed Hosting

What do Sony Music, The Walt Disney Company, Time Inc., BBC America, and Clorox have in common? Here's one thing: They all use WordPress to help get their digital content out to the masses.

WordPress began as a blogging platform, but it's way more than that today. WordPress has become an enterprise-grade solution that doesn't come with enterprise-level complication.

WordPress powers more websites than any other content management system (CMS). Most of the platform is simple, and that's the part of WordPress you have to look out for. The dashboard is so easy to learn and operate that it can be startling when you uncover some of the complexity lurking just beneath the surface. After nearly a decade of working with WordPress sites, we have learned how important it is to have the right hosting environment and the best support possible to manage those underlying complexities.

After several huge headaches and near misses in a row, we moved our own site to a managed hosting solution specializing in WordPress, and we began urging our clients to do the same.

That turned out to be one of the best decisions we have ever made. Not only did it free us up to focus on the work we do best, it meant we no longer had to worry about downtime, security breaches, or even version upgrades.

You can invest huge amounts of time and money on advertising, social media marketing, and offsite SEO, but if you don't invest in quality hosting and management – all of that effort can go down the drain overnight.

My aim here is to briefly describe the events that led us to decide to turn the job of WordPress hosting and backend management away from the “Big Boys” and over to a team of WordPress professionals.

My hope is that you learn from our experience and consider your own move to WordPress managed hosting. Don't let the calamities that happened to us happen to you.

Why We Decided to Switch to WordPress Managed Hosting

Generally speaking, WordPress is a non-technician's dream. That's why it's the leading content management system on the planet.

My No. 1 job at White Rabbit Marketing, though, is to make sure my business is running smoothly, and our clients are happy and performing, all while taking care of things like website design, content management, and technical SEO.

WordPress management not only isn't the best use of my time, but there are many situations where focused technical management is imperative.

To illustrate what I mean, let me share a few real-life stories.

The case of the missing backup

One of our clients was updating plugins on her site, but closed the dashboard before the update finished. That somehow caused a malfunction that took the site down. Visitors could no longer access it at all, and we're talking about an ecommerce site.

Our client was losing money every minute, and she called us for help.

I called my lead developer and went looking for a backup. That's when I found that someone (on the client's side) had turned backups off and trashed the backup history. My staff and I used every bit of WordPress savvy we could muster, but couldn't get the site back in operation.

You see, there's a difference between frontend developers and backend developers. The former make webpages come to life, and the latter make life come to webpages by controlling the guts of WordPress.

I started calling everyone I could think of who might be able to help. Several hours and a pile of cash later, my client's site was back up.

Strike one was human error. We met with the client and put a process in place to make sure that kind of thing could never happen again. But a few weeks later, we got hit from a different angle with a different client.

The surgeon whose website suddenly became too graphic

Within a month, we faced another crisis: A hacker gained access to a client's site (a breast surgeon) and posted a “Watch This” link that led to an obscene site.

Once again, my team and I did our best to solve the problem. We couldn't pull it off, though. I called on a WordPress security expert I work with from time to time, and it wasn't cheap.

The good news here is that we acted quickly enough to clear the hack overnight. As far as I know, none of the visitors to the page clicked the link.

Can you imagine what a hoopla something like that could raise? Think of the damage it could have done to the reputation of our client. It was a close call… too close for comfort.

I began seriously searching for a way to better protect my clients and relieve myself of a giant headache (short of hiring a dedicated WordPress security expert).

This chiropractor's five minutes of fame crashed the server

While I was still pondering the situation, I got another call. One of our clients, a New York chiropractor, was invited to appear on a segment of the Dr. Oz television show. He didn't tell me about it, though. He wanted it to be a surprise, and it definitely was.

His dreams of bringing in dozens of new clients came crashing down when the spike in visitors overloaded the server his website was hosted on. We were able to get him back online fairly quickly, but there's no doubt he lost business from the ordeal. It was another live and learn moment.

WordPress backend problems can take a big chunk out of revenue, leave you open to hackers, and wreak havoc with your SEO standing. I'm in business to support my clients. They depend on me to help them navigate online hazards and optimize their sites for sales. I knew that we needed someone to help us manage the technical intricacies of hosting our WordPress sites.

The Criteria We Used to Search for Managed Hosting

I made a list of the tasks I wanted covered. (Given our recent harrowing episodes, the list pretty well made itself.) Here's how it looked:

Security provisions must be world-class and sites must be constantly monitored

The undesirable link on the surgeon's site was a nightmare in the making, but it was minor compared to what can happen. I've heard of hackers completely taking down sites.

Sometimes the bad guys demand ransom before letting you regain control of your own site. And sometimes, you have to start over from scratch with an entire rebuild.

My research turned up some mind-blowing facts. For instance, if you were aware of how frequently hackers, scammers, and bots try to access your website, you'd be scared spitless. WordPress is regularly updated to patch security holes, but it's not perfect.

Someone still needs to guard the castle.

Here's something else to consider. Those low-budget hosting accounts are cheap, but they stick your site on a shared server that's pretty well available to anyone who wants to host there.

Here's a way to find out who those neighbors are: Check Domain Neighbors. Are you a bit surprised at the results? I sure was.

I knew we wanted a hosting management team capable of looking after my site and my clients' sites 24/7. We also wanted to know that backups would be taken before any update and immediately after any changes.

It's a wild world out there, and the hackers keep working while you sleep.

Customer service calls should be addressed quickly and clearly 24/7

The hosting service we were using is one of the world's largest. Not only did they have our sites situated in “bad neighborhoods,” their service department seemed more like a sales department.

Their “technicians” kept putting us on hold while they went looking for answers to the most basic questions. They were great at reviewing our account and suggesting upgrades, but my confidence in their technical abilities was fairly non-existent.

We needed a company with service agents and technical support that knew what they were doing and understood the intricacies of WordPress.

Backend capability must include optimizing for load time

This is a factor that often gets overlooked. Slow-to-load websites drive customers away and put a dent in your ability to rank on the search engine results page (SERP). Today's online user doesn't like waiting. I reasoned that a vendor with professional backend developers and WordPress experts on the team would surely be able to keep our sites both secure and speedy.

The host should be able to keep us and our clients live under heavy traffic conditions

The chiropractor's server crash was an eye-opener.

Most hosting companies allow you only so much bandwidth. In normal, day-to-day operations, all is fine. Hit the bullseye, though, get featured in the news or watch one of your videos go viral, and your host can bail out on you just when you need the exposure most.

I hoped to find a WordPress managed hosting provider who could handle extra traffic and keep our clients' websites running even when visitor numbers soared.

Why We Decided to Trust WP Engine for Managed Hosting

The search didn't take long. I kissed a few frogs, but one name kept popping up: WP Engine. They had already been around for a few years, quietly growing in the background, but had not reached my ears until a colleague sent me a link to their ebook, The Four Ss of Managed WordPress Hosting.

Reading it, I discovered that WP Engine's primary services matched my must-have list exactly:

• Security: They turn the bad guys away – both from hosting on their servers and from attacking your website at any level. If there's a problem, you don't have to go running for help. WP Engine monitors your website and takes quick action to fend off or fix any problems that occur. That means I can go to sleep without worrying about site security. Their backup protocol is even stronger than I envisioned, and their SSL (secure sockets layer) technology is easy to implement.


• Service: I've never worked with a more capable and caring customer service team. No matter when I call, I know I'll be working with a professional technician who knows exactly what I'm talking about and moves rapidly to solve my problem. Unlike our previous host, they're not there to sell us; they're there to serve us. Here's a huge shout-out to the WP Engine customer service team: You rock!


• Speed: Initially, I was worried about losing speed on our websites if we moved to managed hosting. We've put a ton of time into optimizing for speed. Once we moved to WP Engine, though, load time got even better. Their EverCache technology bumps caching capability up to the ceiling (both browser and object caching). Their content delivery network (CDN) serves content from the nearest server to the customer. That means every region runs fast and strong. My team is totally impressed with the results.


• Scalability: Wouldn't you love to see one of your blog posts gain traction and go viral on social media? Or how about one of the news giants picking up on a story involving your company and broadcasting your name and URL worldwide? We found out the hard way that too much traffic can bring a website down completely. That not only causes you to miss out on sales, but puts a big dent in your branding and reputation. You don't want to be known for failure, but you're setting yourself up for it by relying on a regular, self-managed hosting account. WP Engine's EverCache helps here too, and their team is on standby constantly to help you stay online under the most challenging conditions.

That's a micro-survey of our findings. There are more benefits to WP Engine managed WordPress hosting, but I'll stop at the basics. To find out more, just check out their website.

By the way, I'm not getting paid by WP Engine to wave a banner for them. As I said earlier, my aim here is to be helpful to my peers and maybe even help someone else avoid the situations we encountered.

Yes, we had to increase our hosting budget a bit to make the move, but that small investment is way beyond worth it. WP Engine earns every penny of their fees, and we've more than made up for it by being able to focus on OUR primary capabilities.

This Could Happen to You – Why We Switched to Managed Hosting

Shortly after the move, one of our clients found out about the WP Engine service structure first-hand. When hackers came out in full force against the server that was hosting the website for his business, WP Engine immediately fought back, then moved our client's site to a different server away from the fray. We received an email shortly thereafter explaining what had happened. Our client's website experienced almost no down-time whatsoever. If they hadn't sent the email, we would never even have known anything was going on. That's how quick and efficient the process was.

Think about it. What would downtime cost your business? How happy would your clients be if their sites went down? Do you know how to fend off a DDoS attack? Can you repair a damaged database or stay up all night watching for problems?

I can't.

Thankfully, though, the WordPress experts at WP Engine can.

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About the Author:

David Faltz is the founder of the digital marketing agency, White Rabbit Marketing. He helps small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) build presence and enhance brand recognition. White Rabbit is an leader in advanced Search Engine and Branding Optimization techniques (SEBO) and provides website designs optimized for effectiveness. David is a University of Florida graduate, with degrees in public relations and business management.

The post This Could Happen To You – Why We Switched To Managed Hosting appeared first on WP Engine.

Creating Custom Fields Manually in WordPress

Over the past 12 months, I've written a number of posts that focus on adding functionality to WordPress using custom fields. We've looked at creating custom post list templates, crafting the perfect travel blog and more.

While plugins like CustomPress and Advanced Custom Fields make creating custom post type easy-peasy, if you want to really understand how they work you need to take a look under the hood. So in this post, I'm going to show you how custom fields can be created manually.

Let's get stuck in.

Exposing the CMS Aspect of WordPress

To me, custom field functionality is the basis of a CMS system. Custom posts and taxonomies are all great, but if you want to build something other then a blog-type system you need the ability to bind data to your posts.

The two primary ways to do this in WordPress are custom fields and custom meta boxes. Before we look into how these are used I think it is important to understand the underlying mechanism: post metadata.

What is Post Metadata?

Post metadata – or post meta – is a term that describes any sort of data that is attached to a post. Each single piece of data is stored in the wp_postmeta table, which has four columns: ID, post_id, meta_key and meta_value.

Post meta in the database.

The screenshot above is from phpMyAdmin, which shows the raw database data. The two rows shown are both attached to post_id 3974. The first row was added by WordPress to indicate who edited the post last. The second value is used by an SEO plugin to save the SEO title.

WordPress uses post meta internally for a number of things. You already saw how the last editor was saved. Another prominent example is saving a post's featured image. When post 3974 receives a featured image a new post meta row is created with the meta key of _thumbnail_id. The meta value contains the ID of the assigned image.

Custom Fields and Metaboxes

Both custom fields and meta boxes are user interface elements that allow you to input data into WordPress. The custom field section is provided by WordPress and hooks straight into the post meta functionality described above.

WordPress Custom Fields

When you enter a name and a value you are directly creating rows in the postmeta table.

Metaboxes on the other hand are essentially UI helpers built into WordPress. They give you an easy way to add input mechanisms to post edit pages. You can choose to hook them up to the post meta functionality but you can use them for other things as well. We wrote about this recently in Creating Custom Post Meta Boxes in WordPress, so we'll focus exclusively here on metadata.

Manipulating Metadata

A very user-friendly way to manipulate meta data is through the custom fields user interface in the admin. As developers, we need to use code to add data since our plugin or theme needs to be able to add/modify/remove this information.

Luckily, this is pretty simple. We only need three functions: get_post_meta(), add_post_meta() and update_post_meta().

Let's begin by grabbing some data to use.

Getting Post Meta

The get_post_meta() function takes three parameters: the ID of the post, the key and whether we're grabbing single or multiple values. The first two should be pretty clear but the third may be confusing.

Remember how a row of meta data contains a key and a value? There's nothing to stop you from adding multiple rows with the same key. This may seem like bad practice at first but can actually be pretty useful.

Let's say you're creating a recipe blog and you want to store the ingredients as post meta. You could use ingredient_1, ingredient_2 and so on for meta keys but this quickly becomes tiresome.

What you should do instead is use ingredient in each case. This would result in something like this in the database:

Multiple meta items with the same key.

If you would use true as the third parameter of the get_post_meta() function only one of these rows would be retrieved. If you use false all rows will be returned as an array. Useful!

Adding Post Meta

To add post meta use the add_post_meta() with three required parameters and one optional. The first parameter is the post ID, the second is the meta key, the third is the meta value.

The final – optional – parameter asks you to specify if this meta is unique or not. If you use false (or omit the parameter) the metadata will be added, even if one already exists with the same key. if set to true the data will not be added if a key with the same name already exists.

Updating Post Meta

Updating post meta is very similar to adding it. In fact, you can use the update_post_meta() function to add data as well. If it doesn't exist it will be created, just as if had used add_post_meta().

The function takes three required and one optional parameter. The three required ones are post ID, meta key and meta value as usual. The fourth parameter defines how to handle situations where multiple values with the same meta key exist.

If you omit this parameter all rows with the same meta key will be updated with the new value. If you use the fourth parameter you can specify a previous value. This will only update rows that have a value that matches your specified one.

Useful Tips

That's all there is tom know about post meta! You can now save values and use them later on. Before you put all this knowledge to work let me finish up with four useful tips.

1. Underscored Meta Keys

I'm sure you noticed that in our very first screenshot from the database, the meta keys began with an underscore. This has special meaning in WordPress: it signifies metadata that should not be shown in the custom fields user interface.

Any metadata you add normally like we did with ingredients will actually show up. If you think the user shouldn't be able to edit the data directly just prefix it with an underscore and it will be hidden from view.

2. Meta Fields Handle Arrays

Always try and use as few meta fields as possible. If your plugin provides 10 options don't create a meta key for each. Use one meta key and save all your options as an array. You can pass arrays straight into the update_post_meta() and add_user_meta() functions, WordPress will handle the rest.

In case you're interested: WordPress serializes the data and saves it to the database. This results in a specially formatted string that is unserialized when it is retrieved from the database, returning to its array form.

3. All Metadata is Retrieved All The Time

To minimize overhead WordPress retrieves all meta data for a post if any single piece of meta data is requested. This means that you don't have to worry about having 30 get_post_meta() function calls on a page. Only one database request will be made, everything is cached after that.

4. Get All Metadata at Once

The get_post_meta() function can return all meta keys and values for the given post. Simply omit the second and third parameters, just pass the post ID and you'll get a nice array of all data in the database for that post.

Wrapping Up

Custom fields and the metadata system makes WordPress the workhorse that it is today. Even better, this mechanism is extremely easy to use and can empower your plugins and themes to be so much more.

Practice using the functions in your work to get your head around the basics and you'll be creating great applications from there in no time.

Do you use metadata in a unique way? Let us know in the comments below.

Related posts:

1. Creating Custom Content in WordPress: Taxonomies and Fields What makes WordPress a powerful CMS is the ability to...


2. Creating Custom Post Meta Boxes in WordPress Meta boxes are a useful feature in WordPress that allow...


3. Creating Custom Database Tables for Your WordPress Plugins Using custom database tables for your WordPress plugins is one...

Does WordPress Need a Notification Center? We Think So, How About You?

WordPress allow plugin and theme authors to display notices in the admin area to keep users informed about new features and updates. However at the speed WordPress ecosystem is growing, the admin notices can get out of control.

Updating your plugins and seeing half your screen covered with admin notices is extremely annoying.

However, it's even more frustrating as plugin authors because we're the ones that get blamed for it.

Then of course there are plugins who misuse admin notices for promotional purposes. Some that you can't even close. After seeing Jeff's article on WPTavern and reading some of the comments, we felt compelled to write about this topic and offer a suggestion that can possibly fix the problem.

If you think admin notices are getting out of control, then you should know that it's only going to get worst (unless something is done about it).

Currently there 44,000+ WordPress plugins in the official plugin directory. Not including thousands that are hosted on Github or commercial WordPress plugins.

As more developers enter the WordPress ecosystem and new plugins are created, you can imagine that there will be a time when you update 5 plugins and see 5 different admin notices.

So what's the solution?

A centralized Notification Center.

You see, when we converted OptinMonster from a WordPress plugin into a software as a service (SaaS app), one of the first things we built was a notification center to keep our users notified of new changes.

This was very well received by our audience. Users can mark a notice as read and they can always go back to read previous notices. It's unobtrusive and serves its purpose well. Those who want to stay updated read the notification, others can ignore it by marking it as read.

At Awesome Motive, we have had several internal discussions about building our own notification system for our suite of WordPress plugins.

But that's not feasible considering we have so many plugins. If we ever have to update a potential bug in the notification center, then we would have to simultaneously update all our plugins.

A better solution would be if a notification center was added into WordPress core, and there was a standardized way that all developers would follow.

There's a nice proof of concept available in the form of a WordPress plugin that Barry Kooij created called WP Notification Center (we wrote about it here).

Currently that plugin doesn't have the option to dismiss the notification or read the full details. But it's a great start to solving this problem.

How many of you would like to see a notification center built into WordPress core?

Let us know your thoughts by leaving your comments below.

The post Does WordPress Need a Notification Center? We Think So, How About You? appeared first on WPBeginner.

Trackbacks vs Pingbacks vs Webmentions for WordPress

Wouldn't it be great it there was a standardized way to notify other websites when you link to them? It'd be even better to get an automatic notification when someone else linked to your site. Linkbacks do just that, and there are three different types of linkbacks you can use with your WordPress website.

If you've spent any time at all using WordPress you are at least vaguely familiar with Pingbacks. Enable pingbacks on your site and you'll start to see automatic comments that consist of just a link distributed to, from, and between the pages and posts of your site.

Trackbacks were the predecessor to pingbacks and now webmentions are moving in and taking market share from pingbacks. But what exactly is a trackback, pingback, and webmention? And which, if any, should you use on your website?

How to Add Better Summary in WordPress Posts with TLDR CTA

Do you want to add a better summary for your WordPress posts with a unique call to action? Search engines prefer long form, keyword rich, and easy to read content. But your users may not scroll down to see your call to action in the end. In this article, we will show you how to add better summary in WordPress with TLDR CTA.

What is TLDR CTA?

TLDR or tl;dr is an abbreviation for 'Too long didn't read'. It is used with long articles, indicating the summary or overview of the whole article in fewer words.

WordPress allows you to add article summary as excerpt, but those excerpts are usually just plain text snippets.

CTA is an abbreviation for Call to Action. A call to action is a marketing term used to describe the actions that you want your users to perform on your website.

For example, signing up for your email list, downloading something, making a purchase, etc.

Having said that, let's take a look at how to combine TLDR and CTA to improve user experience and boost conversion rates.

Adding TLDR CTA in WordPress Posts

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

Upon activation, the plugin will add a new menu item labeled TLDR Settings to your WordPress admin bar. Clicking on it will take you to the plugin's settings page.

First option is to add or remove TLDR branding. You can check this option to remove the backlink / branding of the plugin author.

Next you can choose the text for button that shows article summary and the button that shows full article.

After that you will choose the summary button location. The plugin allows you to choose from three locations: fixed bar button top, fixed bar with button bottom, and button above the content (default).

Rest of the options on the settings page allow you to control the colors and appearance of the summary box and call to action button.

The default options would work for most websites, but you can easily fine-tune them to match your WordPress theme.

Once you are done, click on the save changes button to store your plugin settings.

Adding Article Summary and CTA with Your WordPress Posts

Create or edit a WordPress post where you want to display the TLDR-CTA. Below the post editor, you will find two new meta boxes: post summary, and summary cta.

Add your article summary in the post summary meta box. You can use basic formatting and even add links in the summary.

After that you need to setup your call to action, provide a title for this CTA, add URL, and provide a short description or tag line for the call to action section.

Optionally, you can also add an image that would appear next to your call to action. This image needs to be 182×205 pixels in size.

You can now save and preview your WordPress post.

You will see the 'Show summary' button and clicking on it will show the article summary with your call to action.

That's all you can now visit any single post on your website, and you will see a show summary button. Clicking on the button will show the article summary with a call to action button.

We hope this article helped you add better summary in WordPress posts with TLDR CTA. You may also want to see our guide on how to setup a professional email address with Google Apps and Gmail.

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

The post How to Add Better Summary in WordPress Posts with TLDR CTA appeared first on WPBeginner.

Managed WordPress Hosting: 4 Amazing Business Outcomes

Website Muscle, a web development and online marketing firm, recently partnered with WP Engine to power and manage their WordPress site. The agency has found WP Engine's managed WordPress hosting services to be an integral part of its success in keeping the business running, maintaining marketability and lead generation with its websites, and ultimately, keeping its clients happy.

When your business relies upon optimizing and maintaining your clients' sites, as Website Muscle's does, a managed WordPress host is crucial in completing the technical elements that cannot be addressed through basic web development.

Let's take a look at some of the positive results and business outcomes Website Muscle has achieved since making the switch to WP Engine's managed WordPress hosting platform, as explained by Website Muscle CEO Sam Nelson.

1. 
   

   Increased site speed leads to fewer support inquiries.

   
   

   “Since our switch to WP Engine, our home page load time has gone from 8.94 seconds to 2.59 seconds. Greater site speed has resulted in fewer client calls regarding site performance. We went from several calls about the topic each week to zero calls.”



2. 
   

   Reliable WordPress hosting drives up business value and revenue. 

   
   

   “WP Engine has provided a more reliable hosting service than our previous solutions, which we've been able to present to our clients as an increased value. Because of this, we have been able to increase and expand our hosting offerings and increase revenue.”



3. 
   

   Improved security saves time from fixing hacked sites, making clients happy. 

   
   

   “Improved security has saved us hundreds of hours of time fixing hacked sites, which is significant because it is difficult for us to invoice clients for these activities. They would assume we had tools in place to proactively prevent the issue. Unfortunately, we've found this sort of technology to be impossible to maintain without a technology partner like WP Engine. Now, we are confident that WP Engine's tools are providing best-in-class security - a value we pass along to our clients.”



4. 
   

   Responsive hosting advances development workflow and improves site performance. 

   
   

   “Better responsiveness allows us to stay focused on solving the problem at hand, because the WP Engine team always answers our questions quickly so that we do not have to shift focus on different problems while we wait. In addition, our website performance and ease of maintenance have dramatically improved, which is also true for every single one of our clients.”

The Website Muscle team sporting WP Engine shirts

Are you to ready to reap the benefits of managed WordPress hosting? Learn more about it in this free e-book, The 4 S's of Managed WordPress Hosting, and be sure to check out which of our plans is right for your business.

The post Managed WordPress Hosting: 4 Amazing Business Outcomes appeared first on WP Engine.

New WordPress Themes You Will Be in Love With

A great collection of photography website themes, as well as themes featuring texture border-sewn containers, clean styles for fashion websites, responsive photo galleries, material design style for blogging, organized thumbnails for news and magazines, responsive and drag and drop features for business and portfolio sites, neat layouts for agencies, and more.