There are a couple of different ways to migrate from Drupal to WordPress. There are certain companies that will do it for you, though there will be a price involved. Or, you can do it yourself if you have the right tools and steps.

In this article, I am going to show you how you can perform a Drupal to WordPress migration without having to pay someone.

Why You Should Migrate Drupal to WordPress

There are a number of reasons why a website owner may want to migrate their site from Drupal to WordPress. Perhaps the biggest reason to do this is that WordPress is the most popular CMS out there and continues to grow in strength.

Furthermore, the ease of use provided by WordPress makes it very appealing, especially for those website owners who want simplicity and the ability to change their sites without having to know or handle any type of code.

Whatever the reason may be, you need to know that you are able to do this on your own. You just need to have a couple of things in place first and then know what steps to take to get it done.

Let’s take a look at the plugin we are going to use today and see what it has to offer. After that, we will review the steps together and get your Drupal site migrated over to WordPress.

FG Drupal to WordPress

FG Drupal to WordPress is a plugin that allows you to easily migrate articles, stories, pages, categories, tags, and images from Drupal to WordPress. The plugin is very reliable and is compatible with Drupal 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 & 9 and WordPress 5.7. It is also compatible with multisite installations.

With this plugin, you will be able to use a Drupal export content function that will help you migrate your entire site to WordPress. The plugin has a clean interface and is not difficult to use, as you will see below.

The free version of FG Drupal to WordPress is packed with a lot of great features. First off, it allows you to migrate Drupal articles, stories, basic pages, categories, tags, and images. Other features include:

• Ability to upload post media into WP Directories
• Upload external media
• Modifies post content to keep links
• Resizes images according to what is defined in WP
• Defines featured images
• Keeps all alt image attributes
• Modifies internal links
• Is compatible with the MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite Drupal database drivers

If you are a DIY person and you want to migrate your website from Drupal to WordPress on your own, this is the exact plugin to have.

Let’s run through the steps together so you can see how easy it is to migrate your site over.

Note: This plugin does have a pro version. You might need it, so give it a look to make sure. The pro version gives you the ability to migrate more things over. That being said, the tutorial below is based on the free version of the plugin, as the steps are the same either way.

Migrate a Drupal Site to WordPress

Step 1: Have WordPress Hosting and a WordPress Installation

Other tutorials on this subject may assume you already have hosting and a WordPress installation in place. However, I just wanted to remind you that both of these things need to be in place before you can properly migrate your website.

So, go ahead and grab some excellent WordPress hosting.

Once you have that, you want to create your domain name and then go ahead and install WordPress through your cPanel.

Step 2: Install and Activate the Plugin

Now the real fun starts. From your WordPress website, go ahead and install and activate the FG Drupal to WordPress plugin.

You can do this by going over to the main Plugins page in the admin dashboard.

On this page, you will notice a search field. Use that field to search for the plugin by name. Once you see it pop up, install and activate it right from there.

Step 2: Run the Drupal Importer

Now that the plugin is installed and activated, you can immediately run the available Drupal importer.

To get to where you need to be, click on Tools > Import, located on the left side menu area of the dashboard.

This takes you to the import tools page. Scroll through the list of available import tools. When you see Drupal, go ahead and click on the blue “Run Importer” link.

Step 3: Get Relevant Drupal Information

Running the importer takes you to the main configuration and settings page for the plugin. This is where you can fill out all the relevant information needed to migrate your site from Drupal to WordPress.

Scroll down some on the page and you will see a section titled “Drupal Database Parameters.”

You may not know the parameters of your site. If you do, great, go ahead and plugin them in. If not, we need to go get the right parameters to plug into the relevant fields.

You can get this information in one of two ways. You can use an FTP Client, or you can access the same info through your cPanel. For this tutorial, let’s find it through the cPanel dashboard.

Click on the “File Manager” icon in your cPanel.

When the file manager opens, click through the following folders to get to the main Drupal settings file:

public_html > drupal > sites > default.

Inside the default folder, you will see that there is a file called settings.php. Double click on it to open it up.

When the file opens, you can see that all the relevant Drupal database parameters are displayed.

Copy and paste the relevant parameters into the fields on the WP plugin page. Once you have the correct info added, go ahead and click on the “Test Database Connection” button.

If the connection is successful, you will get a green “Connection Successful” message. If the connection is not successful, simply double-check your inputs and see what you may have missed.

Step 5: Customize the Migration and then Migrate Your Site

The last thing you want to do before actually starting the migration process is to fill out the “Behavior” section of the configuration.

Go ahead and fill all of this out how you want.

When you are ready, click on the “Start / Resume the Import” button.

The amount of time that it takes the migration to complete will depend on a number of things, most notably, website size.

That’s it! At this point, you should be in a place where the migration has started or is complete.

Modify Internal Links

There is another optional step you can take once your Drupal website has been fully migrated. You don’t have to do this, but I recommend doing it just to make sure all your links are functioning properly.

At the bottom of the configuration page, you will see a “Modify Internal Links” button.

Go ahead and click on that and run it. Again, this is optional but highly recommended.

Final Thoughts

Migrating a Drupal site to WordPress does not have to be an overly difficult task. Making sure you have the right tools and steps in place makes the entire process much easier.

I hope this article was able to show you how easy a Drupal to WordPress migration can be. Enjoy your new site, and from here just keep building.

Have you ever tried to migrate a Drupal site to WordPress before? Did you do it more manually or use a plugin to help?

The post How to Migrate a Drupal Website into WordPress appeared first on GreenGeeks.

You don’t have to build a full trading platform, you simply need to learn how to make a stock market website so that you can offer up information, articles, quotes, charts, and more. There are all sorts of things you can offer if you build and design a stock trading website.

In this article, I will show you how to start a stock market website by giving you a step-by-step look at what it takes to get it done. Follow the steps in the order they are presented and you will be on your way to having your own website for stock trading in no time at all.

What You Need to Build a Stock Market Website

Everyone is different when it comes to the process they take when designing something. However, when you are building a website for stock trading, it is a good idea to have a few things in place before you start the actual build process.

The first thing to start with is a checklist. When you have a checklist in front of you, it helps you narrow down the items you need to have done before building the actual stock market website.

You may already have some ideas. If so, great! If not, here are some items to add to your checklist. Having these things done or having an idea of what you want to add will make the entire process much easier.

Stock Market Website Checklist

• Will you add a trading platform
• Live market quotes
• Content (have some ready)
• Create a posting schedule
• Newsfeed
• Come up with a website name
• Logo/Branding
• Create a professional email
• Decide on a domain  (below)
• Find web hosting (below)
• User registration

Your checklist may include some or all of these. Either way, this is a great way to store your ideas and make them a reality.

Choose a Domain Name and Web Hosting

The first step to take after you have your website checklist in place is finding a domain name and then getting a good web host for your site. Something you might want to remember when you are choosing is that you may not be able to get the exact domain name that you want.

Remember, there are already millions of websites online. For this reason, oftentimes the exact domain name or extension may not be available. There is, however, a way around this.

If the domain name you want is not available, then try searching related terms, or names with different domain extensions. At this point, there are so many different domain name extensions available, that there is a very good chance you will be able to find one that you are comfortable with.

Once you have a domain name, it is time to choose a web host. You want to pick a web host that has everything you need to help you get your website for stock market trading up and running.

GreenGeeks not only gives you all the tools you need to build a fantastic stock market website, but they also provide the very best customer service around. An added bonus is that you can also get a domain name through them.

Having your domain name and web hosting in one place makes tying it all together, building your site, and managing it over the long run much easier.

Use WordPress as Your CMS

There are actually several really good CMS platforms (Content Management System) available for you to choose from. Everyone has a different opinion, but I suggest that you use WordPress to build your new site. There are a few great reasons behind this choice.

First off, WordPress is an open-source CMS. This means that thousands of developers are able to contribute to it. The system is user-friendly, secure, and continuing to grow in popularity. As of right now, it is the most popular CMS in the world, with over 40% of the sites online using it.

Since the platform is so popular, you won’t have to look very hard to find WordPress tutorials and resources, as there are communities and message boards all over the place. These will help you through just about any issues you have.

WordPress security is also top-notch. The CMS is built on solid code and is very secure right out of the box. There are also a lot of things you can do the strengthen the security of your site.

Finally, WordPress installation is very easy. You have two choices; you can install it using the one-click Softaculous installer that is provided in your web host cPanel, or you can install it manually. Either way, you will be up, running, and ready to create very quickly.

Choosing WordPress Themes and Plugins

WordPress has no shortage of great themes that you can use to build and design your new stock market website. This is also true when it comes to plugins. There are literally thousands and thousands of both free and paid themes and plugins that you can access when using WordPress.

That being said, it is never a bad idea to try and find a theme and plugins that are niche-specific. In this case, you are building a stock market website. So, try and find a theme and some plugins that will work perfectly with what you are trying to accomplish.

Also, there are certain plugins that every site should have in order to run smoothly. However, try and find some that are a perfect fit for your niche to help engage your audience.

You may already have a theme and some plugins ready to roll. If not, here are some suggestions for you that will fit perfectly with websites for stock trading.

Financity

Financity is a financial theme that is perfect for someone who wants to build a stock market website. it provides tons of layers to build on, multiple page layout options, and plenty of pre-built theme styles and pages.

You can use the built-in tools to help create a fantastic website. There are also countless color and style combinations available directly in the theme. The theme gives you access to a built-in GDPR tool that is ready to go, along with a page builder.

Give this theme a look for your stock market site.

Finance Experts

Finance Experts is a very flexible and professional finance-based WordPress theme that is also perfect for building a stock market website. There is excellent support and documents within the theme. It also comes with powerful tools and functionality.

This theme provides you with over 28 pre-built demos and other page layout styles. It comes complete with the WP Bakery Visual Composer page builder, it is WooCommerce ready, and also has Slider Revolution to help you build slides and layouts.

All in all, this is a fantastic theme to use.

Stock Market Overview

If you are looking for a free, powerful, professional plugin that provides you with a ton of stock market information, then Stock Market Overview should be part of your website. Once downloaded, you have both a widget and a block option for Gutenberg.

Both options allow you to display a categorized list of equities, market indices, currencies, and commodities with their prices and variations.

With over 65 different stock exchanges and a large number of market indices, currencies, and commodities supported, this plugin should be a must-have for any stock market website.

Stock Portfolio Tracker

The Stock Portfolio Tracker plugin is a great addition to any stock market website that allows user registration. Your users can input their portfolio data and they can track how it is doing right from your website.

Users will have the ability to track their portfolios not at the end of the day, but in real-time. They can also share portfolios across social media and interact with other users.

If you have a stock market website that allows user registration, then this is a perfect plugin to add.

Marketing Your Website

So, you have your domain name, web hosting, CMS, theme, and plugins. You should be at a point of deciding the final steps to take once your site is ready to go live. The main thing to consider at this point is how you are going to market your stock market site and get it out there to the masses.

Marketing your website can be daunting if you don’t have a purpose in place. That being said, if you are able to come up with some good marketing ideas, then getting your site out there for people to see and interact with is a lot easier.

There are actually quite a few fantastic website marketing options below for you to consider. Implement some of these and you will find that your site will start gaining traction a lot faster.

• Use Social Media and Share
• Run Ads Online and on Social Media
• Build Social Profiles for Your Stock Market Website
• Add Social Sharing Buttons to all Posts
• Build a Newsletter Email List
• Spend Time in Trading Forums
• Guest Post on Relevant Sites
• Allow Others to Guest Post on Your Site
• Run a Giveaway or Content
• Add a Forum to Your Site

Conclusion 

There are all kinds of different tools and steps you can use to build a stock market site. Hopefully, the methods, tools, and steps above give you a great starting point and a solid structure.

Try to follow the steps above in the order they are given. This way, you will be able to create your stock market website in the easiest way possible. Remember, the checklist is very important, as it will give you some good options to consider during the site-building process.

Good luck on your journey! Drop us a line and let us know how the process worked for you.

The post How to Build a Stock Market Website to Engage an Audience appeared first on GreenGeeks.

Offering free books to visitors gets them in the door. Or, at least on the website. And if they’re interested in the free content, there’s a high possibility they’ll buy the books you have for sale. Even through affiliate links and banners.

Why Offer a Free Books Section?

First and foremost, this is a great way to connect your audience with books you love. Whether it is via reviews, comments, or simple chatter and word of mouth, giving your audience links to the books you love connects them with exactly what you are talking about.

This is also a great way to make money on your blog. Once you have connected your Clickbank account (more on that below), you will start to receive a portion of each sale that is made when a website user uses a link you have posted.

Offering free WordPress books on your blog is not difficult if you have the right tool. Today, I am going to show you exactly how to do this using a smooth and intuitive plugin.

Let’s take a look at the plugin in question and see what all it has to offer.

Free Books Section

Free Books Section is a plugin that does exactly what the name suggests. It adds different feeds to books into your website using a series or shortcodes. This works as a simple, yet effective, way for you to monetize any blog related to books, writing, or publishing.

Whether you are an author, book blogger, or publisher, the Free Books Section plugin is an ideal tool to add to your website. The plugin is pretty straightforward. Once it is installed and activated, the plugin will provide a newsfeed list of free books for visitors using Amazon’s Kindle Unlimted program.

When you attach your Clickbank affiliate link, then you become eligible to earn commission every time a visitor purchases the Book Promotion offer from your site. Once your book blog becomes popular enough, this can be a great way to make money.

The plugin is very easy to use and set up and comes with a ton of great features. Some of the main ones include:

• Free Books for Visitors
• Content Updated Dynamically
• Select a Preferred Genre
• All Genres Are Supported
• PermaFree and Kindle Unlimited Books
• Geo-Target Visitors
• Earn Commission
• Increase Likes and Shares of Content
• Clean, Responsive Design

The Free Books Section plugin also supports both the US and International Amazon book feeds, so users have access to all of it.

You will be hard-pressed to find a plugin that is easier to set up and use than this one. Let’s get it up and running together so you can start earning some commissions on your book links.

Set Up a Free Books Section

Step 1: Install and Activate the Plugin

In order for you to display a free books section on your website, you first need to install and activate the plugin. You can do this by hopping over to the Plugins page in the WordPress admin dashboard.

Once you are on that page, you will notice that there is an available search field. Simply use that field to search for the plugin by name. Once it pops up, install and activate it right from there.

Step 2: Go to the Settings Page

Now that the plugin is installed, you want to access the main settings page. This is where you can set your configurations. To do this, click on Settings > Free Books Section, located in the left side menu area of the dashboard.

You will notice that this is now available as an option to click on because you successfully activated the plugin.

Step 3: Add Clickbank Nickname and Book Genre

At this point, you will be on the main configuration page for the Free Books Section plugin. You can see that the setup is pretty quick and simple.

To configure the plugin, you will need to add your Clickbank Nickname into the relevant field.

You also want to select the genre you want to be displayed on your book’s page. Click on the “Save Changes” button when you are finished to apply the options you chose. If you notice, you can choose to display all genres, which will allow you to show even more free book selections.

Note: If you don’t have a Clickbank account, then go here and get one. It is free and will make you some money. You can also use the plugin without a Clickbank account, you just won’t be eligible to earn a commission. The way it displays and looks will be the exact same either way.

Step 4: Create a New Page

Now that your configurations are in place, you need to create a new page to add the relevant shortcode. To do this, click on Pages > Add New, located on the left side menu area of the dashboard.

Add a page title (whatever you want) and publish it.

Step 5: Add the Shortcode

On the page you just published, you need to add the shortcode [free_books_section]. This brings in all the relevant content that you set up and displays it on the page.

Step 6: View Live Page

The free books section page should be up and running perfectly now. Go ahead and jump over to the live version of the site and see what it looks like.

Note: Your list and section will be based on the dynamic updates that are being pulled from the genre you chose. This list provides a vast number of free eBooks in WordPress.

That’s it! You have successfully added a free books section to your website.

What If I Am an Author and Blogger?

This is a non-issue when using the plugin. You can submit your own books for promotion. Furthermore, if you configure your affiliate link first, you can also earn commission on any sale you make from the site link.

This means that if done correctly, you can make money on multiple sale points of your books. So, that’s more money for you, as well as reducing overall listing costs you may incur when selling on certain platforms.

Final Thoughts

Adding a free books section to your website can be a very good way to connect with your site users. It is also a great opportunity for you to make some extra money from your blog. This is even more important if you have a book blog.

There are several really great ways to make money on blogs. Now that you have a solid plugin and the steps needed to make this work, you can easily add a fully functioning list of free books for your audience to scan through.

I hope this article was able to show you how easy it is to add a free books section to your website.

Have you ever used Clickbank before for any other product affiliate links? What are some other ways you like to make money off your blog?

The post How to Set Up a Free Books Section in WordPress for Visitors appeared first on GreenGeeks.

There are actually quite a few really good image compression and optimization tools out there today. Picking the right one is always key. A lot of this will have to do with what exactly you are looking for, as well as personal preference. The image optimizer for WordPress that we are going to use today will give you access to some really great features.

What is Image WordPress Image Optimization?

Image optimization in WordPress means that you are taking images that are being uploaded into your WordPress media library and optimizing them in several different ways. When you perform image optimization, your WordPress website will load faster and images will be SEO-ready so that Google and other search engines can properly read them.

Two of the main ways you can optimize images properly for WordPress are by compressing images and adding alt tags. You can also mess with titles and captions, but compression for proper loading speeds and alt tags that allow Google to understand the image are two of the most important.

In this article, I am going to show you how to use a free image optimization tool for WordPress that will help you get all your images where they need to be. Let’s take a look at the plugin we are going to use today and see what all it has to offer.

Robin Image Optimizer

Robin Image Optimizer is a free image optimizer that can compress your images and help speed your site by up to 80%. It compresses images and makes them more website-friendly without any loss of quality.

The plugin is totally free to use and does not put a limit on how many images you are allowed to compress and optimize. The only stipulation the free version of the plugin has is that an image weight should not exceed 5MB.

The Robin Image Optimizer plugins works with the thought that the lighter an image is, the faster a page will load. This is the case whether there is one image or multiple images on a page. With the increased use of mobile devices to access websites and content, it is extremely important that your site renders images properly.

The plugin is easy to set up and easy to use. You can be up and running in just a few minutes. That being said, it still comes packed full of a lot of great features. Some of the main reason you may want to use this free image optimizer for WordPress include:

• The plugin is totally free to use
• No restrictions or limits on image optimization
• Automatic optimization using Cron, no need to wait
• Optimize images in mass with the click of a button
• All images are backed up before optimization starts
• Choose normal, regular, or high compression mode
• Image optimization on boot
• Reduce pre-optimization weight by reducing image size
• Detailed reports and statistics on image optimization

The plugin is very user-friendly and has an intuitive interface. Let’s get it all set up and running so that you can start optimizing your images in WordPress.

Optimize Images Using Robin Image Optimizer

Step 1: Install and Activate the Plugin

Before you can start manually or automatically optimizing images, you first need to install and activate the Robin Image Optimizer plugin. You can do this by jumping over to the Plugins page in the WordPress admin dashboard.

Once you are on the page, you will notice that there is a search field available. Simply use that search field to search the plugin by name. When you see the correct one pop up, install and activate it right from there.

Step 2: Go to the Settings Page

Now that you have installed and activated the plugin, you want to head directly over to the main settings page. Here, you will be able to start optimizing images and configure the plugin exactly how you want.

To get there, click on Settings > Robin Image Optimizer, located on the left side menu area of the dashboard.

You can see that this option has appeared in your WordPress menu because you successfully installed and activated the plugin.

Step 3: Configure the Plugin Settings

At this point, you are on the main settings and configuration page for the Robin Image Optimizer plugin. You will see it is laid out neatly and it looks easy to navigate.

Before you compress and optimize images, go ahead and configure the plugin settings to your liking. You will see three main tabs that you can use to navigate around. These include:

• Bulk Optimization
• Settings
• License

Go ahead and click on the “Settings” tab located on the left and open those configuration options up.

Now, start going through the main settings and get everything set properly (according to what you want). This has options for compression mode, servers, errors, and more.

The top portion of the page contains is main settings for the plugin.

Now, scroll down a little and you will see optimization settings. This includes thumbnails, formats, and larger image formatting options.

Lastly, the bottom of the page contains the scheduled and background optimization settings. This includes images per iteration and how often background optimization should run on your site.

When you are finished, click on the green ‘Save” button at the top of the page and all your configurations will automatically be applied.

Step 4: Start Optimizing Images

Click on the bulk optimization tab. This is going to take you to where you need to go in order to start optimizing the images that are already on your website.

Select the server setting you want from the dropdown. You can leave it on the default.

Now, scroll down a little and click on the green “Optimize” button.

This brings up a popup box. You will be presented with some information and then you can decide whether you want to optimize now or schedule optimization for later.

For this tutorial, I am selecting to optimize now.

The optimization process will start and you should stay on the page and track it. The amount of time it will take will depend on how many images need to be optimized. You can track it live.

Step 5: View the Optimization Log

The Robin Image Optimizer plugin provides users with a complete optimization log. You can view the log at any time. Simply scroll down to the bottom of the “Bulk Optimization” page and all the relevant stats and statistics will be there.

You can use this to see what exactly the plugin is doing for you.

That’s it! You can optimize more images whenever you want. The plugin will also automatically optimize images when they are uploaded to your media library if you selected that option.

FAQs

Here are some frequently asked questions that you might be interested in.

What Image Types Are Supported?

The Robin Image Optimizer plugin supports .jpg, .png, and .gif. Images can be animated or not, both work.

Are There Image Optimization Limits?

No, Robin Image Optimizer is completely free to use. While they do have a pro version of the plugin that gives you access to some other features, the pro version does not extend image optimization limits.

Is EXIF Data Removed From Images?

By default, EXIF data is removed. That being said, you can easily stop this from happening by disabling the feature within the plugin settings.

Final Thoughts

Image optimization is very important when it comes to website speed and overall SEO. The process of properly optimizing images in WordPress does not have to be difficult, you simply need the right tool.

Robin Image Optimizer is easy to use and gives you all the features you need.

Have you been optimizing images manually? Do you prefer using a different compression plugin?

The post How to Boost Performance of WordPress with Robin Image Optimizer appeared first on GreenGeeks.

If you own an eCommerce site or other site with heavy content, you know that all sorts of things are loaded.

Since there are all sorts of elements that play a part in site speed, it can be difficult to figure out where to start. Below, you will find a few methods you can use that will allow your site to make fewer HTTP requests.

What Are HTTP Requests?

In order to be able to properly reduce HTTP requests, you need to know exactly what they are. First off, HTTP requests are directly connected to page speed. That is why you need to minimize request size to speed your site up.

In order for you to understand what an HTTP request is, let’s take a look at exactly what happens when you visit a website in a browser.

1. You visit any site using a relevant browser.
2. An HTTP request occurs when your browser requests files to download.
3. The server that the website is on returns all the files that are needed to load the website.
4. Once all these files have been loaded, you are able to view and interact with the content.

All of the above happens very quickly. On fast sites, all of it happens within a second or 2. But on slower sites, load times take longer and that’s when you are waiting for 5 seconds or more for a page to load.

There are also a couple of ways to view this when it comes to files. There are file sizes, but also the number of files that play a big role.

Remember, the more files there are, the more HTTP requests. At the same time, the bigger the files, the longer the HTTP request takes.

So, in essence, you want to reduce the number of files on your site to only what you need. After that, you want to make sure all those files are as small as possible.

Reduce HTTP Requests in WordPress

There are several things you can do in order to minimize request size. Let’s go over a few of them together. Once you apply some of these techniques, you should start to see a faster page load time and overall site speed.

1. Combine CSS and JavaScript

Your WordPress website has multiple CSS and JavaScript files. One of the best ways to reduce HTTP requests is to combine them.

Don’t worry, there are ways to do this without having to do it manually. Remember, this is WordPress, and one of the best things about WordPress is that you have access to plugins.

You can combine external JavaScript using a WordPress plugin. There are a lot of caching plugins that have this feature. There are also other tools that allow you to combine CSS and JavaScript in order to speed up your site.

If you aren’t sure where to start, W3 Total Cache and LiteSpeed Cache are both great plugins to use.

2. Minify HTML, CSS, JavaScript

Since we are already talking about combining code and minimizing it, let’s talk for a second about modification. You can use plugins for this as well. The Fast Velocity plugin will help you easily minify HTML, CSS, and JavaScript so that your site makes fewer HTTP requests.

So what exactly is “minification?” It is the process of characters out of source codes that are not necessary. Good examples of these characters include white space characters and comments. These are initially added to aid the readability of the code. However, they are not required for it to execute properly.

3. Take Advantage of Lazy Load

Lazy Load is an option that is provided by all of the best WordPress image sizing and compression plugins out there. If you remember, images and how they are handled in WordPress contribute a lot to overall site SEO and speed.

You want to make sure images are taken care of properly. This will contribute greatly to fewer HTTP requests. One of the ways to do this is to enable the Lazy Load function within the plugin you are using.

Lazy loading is not a complex process. Basically, what you are telling the page to do when you enable it is to defer loading any images that are not needed immediately on the page.

This ensures that only items needed right away will be loaded on-screen. Don’t worry, the rest of the images will load, but they are deferred until the end. This speeds up your page load time tremendously.

4. Remove Images That Are Not Needed

We all love pages that give us pretty and informative images to look at. According to SWEOR, a staggering 40% of people will leave a page and website if the images take too long to load. For this reason, you want to make sure that any images you have on the page are absolutely necessary.

When it comes to fewer HTTP requests, this is also important. The less-is-more approach works well here.

5. Reduce Image File Sizes

As you can see, a lot of speeding up your WordPress website and reducing HTTP requests has to do with images. It can’t be understated how important proper image compression and optimization is for the overall health of your website.

It is important to know that uploading huge images to your website not only takes up allotted space but also slows your site down tremendously. You don’t need to upload images that are huge. You can use outside tools like Tiny PNG to compress them and size them down before unloading them.

Compression plugins like Smush will also do the trick.

6. Delete or Disable Unneeded Plugins

Just in case you aren’t aware of this, there are two issues that can plague you when it comes to plugins. There are cases where there are too many plugins running, and there are cases where unneeded plugins need to be deleted.

There is also the issue that high CPU plugins increase the number of HTTP requests. If you can find some ways to delete plugins that you don’t need and use plugins that don’t have high CPU usage, then you can ensure your website will make fewer HTTP requests.

7. Use a CDN to Help Make Fewer HTTP Requests

One more thing you can do to help your site make fewer HTTP requests is using a CDN. A content delivery network (CDN) works by delivering cached website content to users based on where the user is located geographically.

It isn’t complicated and it does wonders for site speed.

There are a lot of excellent CDNs available, so check some out and see which one may work best for your situation.

Easily Test Your Site For HTTP Requests

Testing your site to see how many HTTP requests are happening is not difficult. There are basically two ways to do it.

You can use external tools like Pingdom or GTmetrix. Both of these tools allow you to enter some site info and they will automatically do a full rundown for you.

Since you are working with WordPress, you can also use the Query Monitor plugin.

Query Monitor

Query Monitor can help you with database queries and debugging. It gives you a ton of feedback on things like PHP errors, hooks, and actions, block editor blocks, enqueued scripts and stylesheets, HTTP API calls, and much more.

Use this plugin to see how many HTTP requests are happening on your website. Try it before you perform optimization and then after to see what progress you have made.

Final Thoughts

Too many HTTP requests can really bog a site down and return poor page load times. Having some techniques in place to help with this issue is important.

Use the methods above and see if that helps with overall site speed.

Have you tried doing this manually? Do you prefer plugins instead?

The post How to Reduce the HTTP/S Requests Your WordPress Site Makes appeared first on GreenGeeks.

Anyone that owns a website should want their users to have a great experience. When you enable GZIP compression in WordPress, you immediately improve overall site speed and performance.

Many web host providers automatically enable this for you, so you don’t have to worry about it. However, if you are on a host that doesn’t, then there is a great plugin to use that will accomplish this for you.

What is GZIP Compression?

GZIP is actually a file format and software application that is used for file compression and decompression. Originally created by Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler, it was released as a free software replacement for the compression program that was used in early Unix systems.

The one main downfall of GZIP is that it does not work on images and can be give-and-take with other media files. That being said, there are excellent image compression tools that you can use to take care of the images on your WordPress website.

When I say that GZIP is a little give and a little take with other media files, I mean it depends on the file type. For example, MPEGs and WAVs compress really well with GZIP. On the other hand, an MP3 file may actually increase in size if you try to compress it.

In this article, I am going to show you how to enable GZIP compression in WordPress. Let’s take a look at the plugin we are going to use and see what it has to offer.

WP Super Cache

You might already have WP Super Cache installed to solve your website’s caching needs, but today we are just focusing on its compression tools. By just checking a single box, you can enable compression.

While the plugin does not actually call it Gzip compression, it is one and the same. This tutorial will only enable compression and not cover its caching tools.

Enable GZIP Compression in WordPress

Step 1: Install WP Super Cache

As with all plugins in WordPress, the first step is to actually install and activate it for use. If you’ve installed a plugin before, you already know how to do this step, so feel free to skip ahead.

Click on Plugins and select the Add New option on the left-hand admin panel.

Search for WP Super Cache in the available search box. This will pull up additional plugins that you may find helpful.

Scroll down until you find the WP Super Cache plugin and click on the “Install Now” button and activate the plugin for use.

Step 2: Go to WP Super Cache Settings

Unlike most plugins, WP Super Cache does not add a new item to the admin panel. Instead, you can find all of its settings in the settings section.

On the left-hand admin panel, click on Settings and select the WP Super Cache option.

This is where you can find all of the settings related to this plugin, however, we only need to check one box to enable compressions.

Step 3: Enable WordPress GZIP Compression

At this point, you are on the main page for the plugin. Click on the Advanced Tab.

Locate the “Compress pages so they’re served more quickly to visitors. (Recommended)” line and check the box to enable compression.

Click on the “Update Status” button to save the changes.

Congratulations, compression is now enabled on your website. At this point, you should run a test to ensure it is working properly.

Test Your Site With GTmetrix

If you aren’t sure whether your WordPress website files are being compressed with GZIP, there is a simple and fast way to conduct a test. GTmetrix has a great site testing tool that can provide you with all the information you need if you run a test.

All you have to do is go to the GTmetrix website and add the relevant URL you want to test into the URL field that is available.

Click on the blue “Test Your Site” button and the website will run a full test. You will get all the results from that test displayed on the next page and you can go over them and see if everything is working correctly.

Why GZIP Compression Matters

If you are familiar at all with the computer world (chances are you are since you are reading this) you know that compression is something that is encountered very often. It is an excellent way to group a lot of files together and make one smaller file instead.

This basically speeds up your site and load times because it takes away all the massive files that may lead you to problematic and slow page load speeds. A slow website negatively impacts overall site stats, user experience, and ranking in search engines.

According to Neil Patel, 47% of consumers expect a web page to load in two seconds or less. Yes, this may seem like a very fast load time. But be honest with yourself; if a page is taking too long to load, you are not staying on that site.

When someone has a slow eCommerce site, they lose ranking, and more importantly, they lose sales.

So, you can see that optimizing a WordPress website and getting it in the right place is of utmost importance. That is why WordPress GZIP compression should be at the top of your list.

WordPress GZIP Compression Plugin Alternatives

If you want to explore other GZIP compression plugins for WordPress, there are actually some others to look at. Enable GZIP Compression was our choice here because it is so easy to use. However, take a look at these other plugins as an alternative.

Page Speed Ninja

PageSpeed Ninja is described as the ultimate WordPress performance plugin. It gives you access to all the tools you need to make your website load faster on desktop and mobile by fixing all Google Page Speed issues with one click. Among all the tools it has, you can quickly and easily enable GZIP file compression.

Splendid Speed

Splendid Speed is an all-in-one WordPress website performance plugin. It helps you improve overall website performance and Google Page Speed by converting images to WebP, preloading pages while using GZIP compression. It has quite a few options and provides a lot of great tools, so give it a look.

Cache Enabler

Another alternative to the Enable GZIP Compression plugin is Cache Enabler. This is a simple but powerful WordPress caching plugin that is very easy to use and has an intuitive interface. It creates static HTML files and stores them on the server’s disk. It also comes with GZIP pre-compression support.

Final Thoughts

Though there are several things you should do to your WordPress website to optimize it and help with page load times, WordPress GZIP compression is one of the best things to do and is also not difficult to put into place.

As long as you have the right tools and directions, then you are well on your way to a faster-performing website. The GZIP compression plugin above gives you a one-click tool that will enable this on your WordPress site quickly and easily.

Have you ever knowingly enabled GZIP compression in WordPress? Is there another plugin you like better than the ones listed above?

The post How to Enable GZIP on your WordPress Website appeared first on GreenGeeks.

If you have a WordPress website and you want to post available jobs, then the job posting app we are going to talk about today will be right up your alley. This allows you to keep all your employment vacancies directly on your website, even if you do post them in other places.

Why You Should Have an Employment Vacancies Page

There are actually a couple of reasons behind this thinking. First off, you want your site users to be able to view the employment opportunities your company has directly on your website. This keeps them on the site and gets them to interact with the listings and other content that may be available.

That being said, many WordPress jobs listed on-site are also simply listed as part of a growing employment listings page that you may be trying to grow and use to bring extra traffic to your site.

Whatever the reason may be, there is no need to try and build out a jobs page using code and an editor. In this article, I am going to show you how you can list available jobs using a smooth and easy-to-use plugin.

Let’s take a look at this tool and see what all it has to offer.

WP Job Openings

WP Job Openings is a simple, straightforward, yet powerful plugin that allows users to easily build a job listing page for their website. It can be used to drive traffic to your website or used to create in-house job opportunities that users can explore.

Once the plugin is on your site and running, you will have the opportunity to create one of two layout styles: Grid or List. Both are designed to be easy to view, mobile-friendly, and totally customizable.

As a matter of fact, the customize area is where this WordPress employment application plugin really shines. There are actually a ton of great features that are built into the plugin. Some of the highlights include:

• Easy to Setup and Use
• Modern Layout Styles
• Clean Design and Functionality
• Unlimited Job Specs
• Unlimited Filtering Options
• Search Functionality
• AJAX Powered Job Listing and Filtering
• Default Form for Application Submission
• Email Notifications
• Application Listings
• Structured for SEO
• WPML Support
• Developer Friendly
• Works With All Top Plugins and Themes

If you want an easy way to create a job listing page and have access to all the tools needed to do it, then this is the plugin for you. Let’s get it installed and running on your site.

Note: There is a pro version of this plugin available. It provides some extra features and options that may be of interest to you. Feel free to give it a look. The tutorial below is based on the free version of the plugin.

Add an Available Jobs Page to Your Site

Step 1: Install and Activate the Plugin

Before you can add a list or grid of employment vacancies on your website, you first need to install and activate the WP Job Openings plugin. You can do this by clicking over to the Plugins page in the WordPress admin dashboard.

You can see that there is an available search field on the top right of the page. Simply search the plugin by name using the field. Once you see it pop up, install and activate it right from there.

Step 2: Go to the Settings Page

After you have installed and activated the plugin, you want to head on over to the main settings page. This is where you can configure all the available options to your liking.

To get there, click on Job Openings > Settings, located on the left side menu area of the dashboard.

Step 3: Configure the WP Job Openings Settings

At this point, you have made it to the main settings page for the plugin. You will see five main tabs that are available to go through and configure. These include:

• General
• Appearance
• Job Specifications
• Form
• Notifications

Let’s go through them together real quick.

General

The “General” tab will have all the common configurations for the plugin. Go ahead and scroll through them all and make selections and choices based on how you want the job posts and page to display and perform on your site.

Appearance

Configure the appearance of both the job listing page and the job detail page from under this tab. There are several options and filters available, so make sure you go through all of them.

Job Specifications

You can add and subtract job specs from here. You can include as many different specs as you want to be made available so have fun with it.

Form

These configurations apply to the built-in form that comes with the plugin. Make your selections based on how you want that form to act.

Notifications

This tab provides the settings for the built-in notification email that is sent when an applicant applies for one of the jobs listed on your site. Lay this out and add appropriate content.

Click the “Save” button when you are done making configurations and you are good to go.

Step 4: Add a New Job Opening

Now that all the proper configurations have been made, you are ready to add a new job opening to your employment page.

Click on the “New Opening” tab link on the left side menu. It is housed under the main Job Openings tab.

This opens up the job editor, and you can add the appropriate information needed for your first listing.

Go ahead and add a title and as much information about the job as you want.

Now, scroll down some and add all the relevant job specs needed for this particular listing. You can even add an excerpt if you want.

Finally, look to the right of the editor. You will see a box that allows you to add an expiration date for the job. If you want to add this, then go ahead.

Click on the publish button to publish the job. It will automatically appear properly on the jobs page according to all the configurations you made from the main settings page.

Step 5: View Your Live Jobs Page

You can now go to the live jobs page and view how it all looks.

Remember, your board will appear differently based on the settings you chose. You also need to add multiple jobs to get the page to really fill out over time.

That’s it! You can continue to add as many open jobs as you want. If you need to make adjustments, then go back to the settings page and change whatever you need to.

Viewing All Applications

The plugin automatically houses all the applications that are submitted to all available open jobs. This means that you can view them at any time and have all that information available whenever you are going over applicants.

Simply click on the “Applications” tab to get there.

You will see all applicants listed here once they start coming in.

Final Thoughts

Having a jobs page on your website is a good idea because you can highlight available positions and opportunities at your company. You can also use it to help bring more traffic to your website, as people will visit just to look at available jobs.

I hope this tutorial was able to show you how easy it is to add employment vacancies to your site. The WP Jobs Opening plugin makes it extremely easy.

Have you been trying to build a jobs page manually? How long does it take you to create your job listings?

The post How to Add Employment Vacancies in WordPress with WP Job Openings appeared first on GreenGeeks.

There are a lot of different plugins for WordPress that you can use to build recipes for your site. However, you want to find a recipe plugin for WordPress that gives you all the tools you need in one place. Delicious Recipes does just that, and today I am going to show you how to use it.

Why You Should Use a Recipe Plugin

When you have a food-related website or blog, it is important to be able to present content in a way that attracts readers, keeps them on the site, and keeps them coming back for more. The right recipe plugin for WordPress will help you accomplish this.

Using a tool like this allows you to build and display recipes across your website in an easy-to-read and easy-to-understand format. Furthermore, you give your readers a unique way to search and view the amazing recipes that you put out.

No longer will you need to build a random recipe page within the WordPress editor. Instead, you will be able to access tools that allow you to build dynamic recipe pages that are SEO-friendly on your WordPress website.

Let’s take a look at the plugin we are going to use and see what all it has to offer.

Delicious Recipes – WordPress Recipe Plugin

Delicious Recipes – WordPress Recipe Plugin is a very powerful recipe plugin. The plugin allows you to easily build, design, and display advanced recipes right from the comfort of the WordPress admin dashboard.

It has a ton of functionality and, perhaps most importantly, it is SEO-friendly. It is packed full of features and functionality. Once the plugin is activated on your site, you will have access to optimized assets like recipe image and video galleries, unlimited recipe creation, nutrition charts, detailed rich text instructions, printable recipe options, an advanced and powerful search, and much more.

This plugin also works for your website users and allows them to interact. For example, it includes a User Dashboard feature. This feature allows your site users to sign up for your website, browse all recipes with ease, and even save their favorite recipes for easy access.

It is compatible with tons of WordPress themes and also includes all of the following dynamic features as well:

• Custom User Dashboard
• Unlimited Recipes
• SEO Friendly
• Beautiful Recipe Card
• 9 Gutenberg Blocks
• An Advanced Search Option
• Pinterest Rich Pins Support
• Recipe Archive
• Star Rating System
• Customizable Widgets

As you can see, if you want to create food blog recipes, then Delicious Recipes gives you everything you need and more to do so. Let’s get the plugin installed and running together.

Share Recipes on Your WordPress Website

Step 1: Install and Activate the Plugin

In order to start sharing creative recipes that are SEO-friendly, mobile-ready, and fun for your website users, you first need to install and activate the Delicious Recipes plugin. You can do this by hopping on over to the Plugins page in the WordPress admin dashboard.

There will be a search field available on the top right of the page. Use this field to search the plugin by name. Once you see it come up, install and activate it right from there.

Step 2: Configure the Initial Plugin Settings

Once activated, the Delicious Recipes will automatically take you to a welcome page. From here you have two options; you can proceed to the dashboard or continue setup options.

In this case, we are going to go ahead and click on the “Proceed To Set Up” button and finish the initial setup and configurations.

When you click on that, a page will come up that allows you to configure the “Appearance Settings.” Configure those how you want.

Click on the “Next Step” button on the lower right and move on when you are ready. This will take you to the “Permalinks Settings” for the Delicious Recipes plugin.

Follow the directions for any permalink updates you need to make.

Now, move on to the last step of this setup process. These will be a couple of additional settings that you can configure to your liking.

Click on the “Finish” button and you are good to go. A congratulations page will be presented to you. From here, we are going to finish configuring the rest of the plugin settings.

Step 3: Finish Configuring the Rest of the Settings

When you go to the dashboard, click on the main “Settings ” tab located on the left side menu area of the dashboard. It will be housed under the main “Recipes” area.

This opens the page where you can fully configure the rest of the plugin settings how you see fit. This will include things like:

• Archives
• Social Sharing
• Reviews
• Nutrition
• Search Settings
• User Dashboard
• Email Templates

Go through the rest of these tab by tab and set the plugin up according to your personal preferences.

Step 4: Click on Add New Recipe Link

Click on the “Add New” tab located on the left side area of the menu.

This opens up the editor where you can create a new recipe in a couple of minutes.

Step 5: Create a Recipe

The editor is now open and you can create your first recipe.

First off, add a title and recipe info in the editor.

Now, scroll down some so we can add the rest of the relevant settings and items needed to complete the recipe.

You will see 5 main tabs that you can add recipe information. They include:

• Recipe Info
• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Gallery
• Nutrition
• Notes

Recipe Info

Add relevant recipe info under this tab.

Ingredients

Add all the ingredients that someone would need to cook this food item.

Instructions

Layout all the relevant recipe instructions here. Your audience will be able to follow them in detail, so be specific.

Gallery

Here is where you can add a photo gallery or add videos to your recipe page.

Nutrition

Enter all relevant nutritional information for the recipe under this tab.

Notes

Add any other notes you may think are important for your readers. You can add any type of information you want here.

Now, look to the right of the page and you will see the rest of the options to fill out. You can fill these out according to what you want. You can also easily populate every feature based on items you have already set up over time (more on that below).

Publish the recipe when you are finished and you are all set.

Step 5: View the Live Recipe

Now that the recipe is published, you can go to the front-end of your website and view it live. Go ahead and go give it a look.

Here are a few screenshots of what mine looks like. Remember, the way yours appears might be different based on the configurations you chose at the beginning of this tutorial.

Title Area

Description Information

Ingredients

Instructions

Nutrition Facts

That’s it! If you need to make any adjustments to the layout, style, or information in the recipe, then update that in the editor and go from there.

Other Recipe Options

The plugin comes with a lot of other options that allow you to pre-build and add terms into different category areas. You will see all of this visible on the left side menu area.

Pre-build and add things like courses, cooking methods, cuisines, tags, and recipe keys. Then, when you add them later during a recipe build, they are already in there and ready.

Final Thoughts

Adding recipes to your website that are dynamic, fun to read, SEO-friendly, and mobile-friendly is not a difficult process if you have the right tools. The Delicious Recipes plugin will give you all the tools you need and more to create beautiful recipes to display on your WordPress website.

Have you ever tried using another recipe plugin? Do you prefer to build recipes manually using the WordPress editor?

The post How to Share Delicious Recipes on Your WordPress Site appeared first on GreenGeeks.

There are quite a few coming soon plugins available. However, today, we are going to focus on one in particular that gives you quite a few solid tools.

What is a Coming Soon Page?

A coming soon page, or under construction page, is a page that gives users a preview or updates of what your website is going to be. Basically, you are telling visitors what is coming soon and what might be in store for the future.

A majority of these pages will include other information and marketing tips that you can use to gain subscribers and market your site across social media and other avenues. When someone has updates and knows what is going on behind the scenes, they have a better idea of what they are waiting for and you can really build interest for your site launch.

I am going to show you how to install and set up a coming soon page on your WordPress website. Let’s take a look at the plugin we are going to use today and see what all it has to offer.

Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode & Landing Pages by SeedProd

Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode & Landing Pages by SeedProd is a smooth plugin that allows users to easily set up coming soon and maintenance pages on a WordPress website. It is a pretty straightforward and easy-to-use plugin, despite being packed with features.

Once installed and activated, you simply pick what type of page you want to deploy, and then start building it from there using all the tools that are provided. The plugin sends the right messages to search engines based on what you set.

This coming soon plugin is packed with a ton of features. Some of the main ones include:

• Works With Any WordPress Theme
• Drag and Drop Page Builder
• Create 404 Pages
• Tons of Blocks to Build Around
• Customizable
• Mobile Ready
• Responsive
• Add Custom CSS and HTML
• Multisite Support
• Translation Ready
• BuddyPress Support
• Uses WordPress Best Practices
• Multiple Page Styles

You can implement a coming soon image as well, or style and customize the plugin exactly how you want. Let’s get it installed and running together so that you have it at your disposal when needed.

Note: There is a pro version of this plugin. It does open up several great features and tools that you may be interested in. If so, feel free to give it a look. The tutorial below is based on the free version of the plugin.

Setup the Coming Soon Plugin

Step 1: Install and Activate the Plugin

Before you can add a coming soon page to your site, you first need to install and activate the plugin. You can easily do this by heading over to the Plugins page in the WordPress admin dashboard.

Here you will see a search field that is made available on the top right. Go ahead and use that field to search the plugin by name. When you see it pop up, install and activate it right from there.

Step 2: Go to Settings

Now that the plugin has been installed and activated, you want to pop over to the settings page before anything else. You can do this by clicking SeedProd > Settings, located on the left side menu area of the dashboard.

On this page, you will see only a couple of options. If you have the pro version of the plugin, then you can add your license key here. Set these settings how you see fit.

Step 3: View Templates

If you want to use one of the available and ready-to-roll templates, then all you have to do is click on the “Templates” tab link on the left side menu.

Here, you will be presented with several different templates that you can use to create a coming soon page.

Simply make the selection you want, edit a couple of things, and then publish it. You are all set.

Step 4: Go to Pages

If you need to select between a coming soon page or a maintenance page and build it from the ground up, then click on the “Pages” tab link on the left side menu area.

NOTE: This is different from the “Pages” area of WordPress itself. The one I am referring to above is located under SeedProd.

Step 5: Select Between Pages

Make the selection you want here. You can select between a coming soon page, a maintenance page, or a landing page.

For this tutorial, I went ahead and selected the coming soon page option by clicking on the orange “Edit Page” button.

Step 6: Design Your Coming Soon Page

Once you click on the coming soon page option, a drag and drop page builder will pop up.

Use the available items and drag them into the editor and build the page how you see fit. If the boxes are available, then you can use them

Note: There is a “Sections” tab, but sections are only available for pro (paid) users.

Step 7: Click on Page Settings Tab

On the top of the drag-and-drop builder page, you will see a tab titled ‘Page Settings.” When you are finished building the page how you want it, click on that tab.

This will open all of the available page setting options that the coming soon plugin offers. Go through them and fill them out how you want.

Note: We skipped the “Connect” tab because it is only available for pro (paid) users.

Step 8: Save Page and Publish It

Last, but not least, click on the ‘Save” button to save the coming soon page. Since the plugin was ‘Enabled” under the page settings tab, the coming soon page will automatically show.

Note: You can also use the “Preview” button to preview your page as it is being built.

That’s it! You have built a page using the coming soon plugin and you are all set. You can go back to the drag-and-drop builder any time to make adjustments.

Why Use a WordPress Coming Soon Page?

A WordPress coming soon page has a lot of benefits for developers and website owners. If you have the right setup going, then you are able to hide pages and full sites that are being developed, updated, or maintained.

Another great benefit of running a coming soon plugin is that it can be very beneficial to SEO because it lets Google know what exactly is going on with your website. For example, a lot of plugins, including the one we are using today, offer coming soon and maintenance modes.

While both modes work to block your website or certain site pages from users, they both represent different things to Google.

• Coming Soon Page: This is used when you want to hide a site from Google while it is under construction or being built. This means Google can’t index the content for the search engine.
• Maintenance Mode Page: This is used for smaller updates and maintenance-related items on your website. This lets Google and other search engines know that your website is only down temporarily. It does this by sending a 503 notification to search engines, telling them to hold on while updates are made. In other words, it doesn’t have an impact on your search rankings while changes are in progress.

Knowing which mode to use and when to use it can have significant effects on your website SEO, so make sure you are using the right one.

Final Thoughts

When a WordPress page is under construction, it is a great idea to let search engines know so that your website SEO does not take a massive hit. The Coming Soon Page plugin by SeedProd gives you every tool you need to set up a coming soon page the right way.

I hope this article was able to show you how easy the process is. You simply need to have the right plugin installed. A few clicks here and there and you will be sitting pretty and ready to work on your site.

What other coming soon plugins have you used? Do you prefer to do a site build and site updates on localhost instead?

The post How to Install and Setup a Coming Soon Plugin In WordPress appeared first on GreenGeeks.

Today, I am going to show you how to use the T4B News Ticker plugin to create a news feed using your own posts.

There is no need to write your own custom code from scratch if you want to add a scrolling news ticker to your website. One of the best things about WordPress is its extensive plugin library. This allows you to create all sorts of dynamic functionality.

Why Add a News Ticker to Your Website?

The most common reason that a WordPress website owner would want to add a scroll-type news ticker to their site is that they want to keep their audience updated on certain events and news going on.

That being said, the T4B News Ticker plugin is not this type of plugin. It is actually a WordPress news ticker plugin that allows website owners to pull content from their site that is already written. This means that you can keep your site users updated on the specific category of site content that you want them to see.

Maybe you have a live news section or a sporting event section on your site and you want your users to be able to see all the latest news and content, even if they are not on a specific page. Whatever the case may be, I am going to show you how to add ticker news to your website.

Let’s take a look at the plugin we are going to use to accomplish this and see what all it has to offer.

T4B News Ticker

T4B News Ticker is a smooth, fast, easy-to-use news ticker plugin for WordPress. It provides users a quick and easy way to build a scrolling horizontal news ticker for their websites. It is a pretty straightforward plugin that is easy to set up and uses generated shortcodes that you copy and paste into the post or page of where you want the scrolling news ticker to display.

The configurations are fast, and you can have this up and running in no time at all. The plugin provides 4 different types of animation effects. These include fade, slide, ticker, and scroll. You will be able to show news in your ticker based on post categories, tags, or custom text.

The plugin also has some other really cool features. Some of them include:

• Control Scrolling Speed
• Select Typography
• Display Ticker in Posts or Pages Using Shortcode
• Easy to Customize
• Multiple Ticker Effects
• Control Animation Speed
• Select the Time Between Fades
• Select Number of Posts to Scroll
• Order and Order by Posts

Basically, if you want to create a smooth, mobile-ready news ticker for WordPress, this is definitely a plugin to have. Let’s get it installed and running together.

Note: There is a pro version of this plugin. It does offer a few more features, like the ability to create multiple news tickers. If you feel your website needs this, then go ahead and give it a look. The rest of this tutorial is based on the free version of the plugin.

Add a News Ticker to WordPress

Step 1: Install and Activate the Plugin

In order to create a smooth news ticker for your website, you first need to install and activate the T4B News Ticker plugin. You can do this by heading over to the Plugins page in the WordPress admin dashboard.

Once on the page, you will see that there is an available search field to use. Simply use this field to search the plugin by name. Once you see the correct one pop up, install and activate it right from there.

Step 2: Go to the Plugin Settings Page

Now that you have completed the installation of the plugin, it is time to head right over to the settings page for it so you can configure it all. To do this, click on Settings > Ticker Settings, located on the left side menu area of the dashboard.

You can see that this option has now been added to your dashboard menu because you successfully activated the plugin.

Step 3: Configure the Plugin Settings

This is a one-page layout and has every setting needed. You want to go ahead and scroll through everything and configure the plugin how you see fit for your website.

The top portion of the page will include configuration options for things like ticker title, animation type, and scrolling. You will also want to make sure the checkbox to enable the ticker on your site is checked.

Scroll down some and select the remaining configurations as well. This includes options like ticker category, number of posts to display, and post order.

When you are finished, click on the “Save Changes” button and apply all the configurations you made.

Step 4: Copy and Paste Shortcode on a Page

When you save the changes on the setting page, you will be given a shortcode for the news ticker. In this case, we are working with the free version of the plugin.

Since this is the case, you can only create one news ticker. The shortcode for the ticker is [t4b-ticker], which you will see displayed on the top right side of the mains settings page.

Copy this shortcode and head over to any post or page that you want the ticker to display on. In this case, we are going to paste it on a page.

To get there, click on Pages > Add New, located on the left side menu area of the dashboard.

Paste the shortcode you copied into the page. You can also name the page if it is new.

Note: The plugin works with the classic editor as well. Just paste the shortcode in the page as you would without the use of the Gutenberg shortcode block.

Now, publish or update the page and your news ticker should be displaying and running based on the configurations you made.

Step 5: View the Live News Ticker

Last, but not least, head over to the live page that you put the shortcode on. Here, you will be able to see the ticker working live.

The ticker will display based on the settings you chose. If you need to make adjustments, simply head back over to the settings page and update what you want.

That’s it! You are now running a live news ticker pulling your site content.

What Does the Pro Version Do?

The pro version of the plugin frees you up a little more by allowing you to create as many different tickers as you want. You will also have access to more control options like colors, display, styles, and effects. Other features include:

• Google Font Support
• Font Awesome Icon
• Import/Export (Backup) News Ticker
• Copy a Ticker Instantly.
• Support for Multiple Categories
• RSS and JSON Support.
• RTL Support.
• Play/Pause/Previous/Next Support

Final Thoughts

Adding a news ticker to your WordPress site to pull content is not a difficult task if you have the right plugin. T4B News Ticker is easy to use and can be set up in just a few minutes.

Have you used other types of news ticker plugins on your site before? Do you prefer to code this type of functionality manually?

The post How to Add the T4B News Ticker to WordPress and Why appeared first on GreenGeeks.