Unlike traditional web hosts, green web hosting companies can lower their impact on the environment in a variety of ways. And by extension, anyone’s website hosted by them will have a smaller carbon footprint or none at all.

For example, here at GreenGeeks, we calculate exactly how much energy our servers use and then purchase three times that amount in clean wind energy. This not only offsets the emissions but also helps us reduce emissions in general.

Let’s take a look at the importance of eliminating your website’s carbon footprint for Earth Day 2024.

How Do Data Centers Impact the Environment?

The rapid rise of digital goods and services has created an unprecedented demand for data centers to house user data on servers. These servers operate 24/7 and consume more than 200 TWh of energy.

Naturally, this makes them a large emitter that has quickly outgrown the aviation industry. Today, data centers are estimated to account for 1-1.5% of all electricity use in the world, which generates 3.5% of the global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

This number will only continue to grow as the tech industry does, and that has no signs of slowing down whatsoever.

However, while the electricity usage concerns remain one of the biggest, it is not the only impact web hosting has on the environment. Those familiar with data centers should know that the servers they house generate a lot of heat and need to be cooled down.

To do this, a lot of data centers use water to cool the machines, which can range anywhere from 1 to 5 million gallons of water a day.

Water will become scarcer than oil as droughts become more common. And in many cases, these data centers are built in drought-prone areas, thus only making the problems more pronounced.

It is also worth pointing out that data centers are not small. An average full-scale data center is about 100,000 square feet. This means constructing one is no small feat and takes up a large plot of land further adding to its impact.

How Can Green Web Hosting Companies Help Solve This?

On average, a website is responsible for about 4,500 pounds of carbon dioxide yearly, which is equivalent to driving an average passenger vehicle 5,225 miles. Considering that there are millions of websites, we have a big problem.

A green web hosting company can help with this concern by eliminating, or significantly reducing, the number of emissions your site is responsible for. Each green web hosting company tackles this problem differently.

Let’s take a moment and look at what we do to tackle this problem at GreenGeeks.

First and foremost, we address the energy usage directly. At GreenGeeks, you can rest easy knowing that your website is not leaving a carbon footprint, but instead reducing the amount of carbon in general.

This is done by carefully calculating how much energy our websites utilize, then we purchase three times that amount in clean wind energy, which means we don’t just compensate for our energy usage, we add more clean energy into the grid to offset others as well.

Another tactic we use is a strategic partnership with One Tree Planted. Every time a new account is created with us, we plant a tree. To date, we have planted 40,000 trees. Each tree acts as a carbon sponge, helping us lower global emissions.

On average, a single tree can absorb 48 pounds of carbon dioxide each year. That means the trees we have planted are responsible for removing 1,920,000 pounds of carbon each year as they grow.

Significance of your Website’s Carbon Footprint

One of the biggest problems facing the push to go green is the lack of understanding of what a carbon footprint actually means.

A carbon footprint is a measurement of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide) that we create. It can be applied on a personal or business level.

The Green House effect is a process that happens in Earth’s atmosphere where the Sun’s heat is trapped by certain gases. While there are many heat-trapping gasses, none match Carbon dioxide when it comes to pure quantity.

In 2022, the annual carbon dioxide average was 418.56 PPM. To put this number into perspective, in 1960, it was just under 320 PPM. That’s a net increase of over 30%, which is causing the temperature around the world to rise.

This not only endangers wildlife, but humanity as a whole. Higher temperatures will damage food production as crops can only grow under certain conditions, not to mention melting polar ice caps.

As a result, the sea is rising, which puts coastal regions around the world at risk of flooding. Not to mention increasing the likelihood of natural disasters like hurricanes, as the water will also become warmer.

No matter how big or small your website is, the impact it has on the environment is unavoidable.

For example, let’s say you have a blog that barely gets any traffic. Regardless of the amount of traffic you have, the server hosting it will operate 24/7. So, you see, even the smallest of websites can still contribute greatly to climate change.

Only a green web hosting company can help solve this problem.

Data Centers Will Shrink Their Emissions Thanks to Technological Innovations

It’s important to point out that technological innovations are being made that will have a significant impact on data centers.

For example, one of the main challenges of any data center is keeping the servers cool. If they get too hot, the heat damages the hardware and can take them offline, which interrupts services.

For this reason, a lot of money and energy is spent on cooling systems.

Liquid cooling systems, in particular, are going to significantly change the way data centers operate as they can reduce cooling costs by 70% and further reduce the amount of electricity these centers utilize.

A more obvious example of innovations in the field can be seen by incorporating renewable energy.

In between 2015 and 2020, the carbon footprint of data centers remained flat despite electricity consumption increasing. This is due to the adoption of powering data centers through renewable energy.

Today, some of the biggest companies like Apple, Google, and Microsoft power their data centers with 100% renewable energy.

There have also been efficiency improvements that have helped keep the overall energy needed to operate data centers from rising exponentially. In fact, the amount of computing done in these centers increased 550%, while the electricity consumption only rose 6%.

As technological innovations continue, data centers will ultimately see their impact on the environment shrink.

The problem is that the demand for data centers is outpacing the innovations.

AI Will Double the Demand for Data Centers by 2030

You may be thinking that the demand can’t keep increasing at its current rate, and you would be correct.

It’s going to get worse.

There has been a buzzword that is taking the tech industry by storm: Artificial Intelligence (AI). As virtually every major corporation enters an AI arms race with one another, the computing power these will require is staggering.

By 2030, the data center capacity in the United States will double as a result.

For those unaware, AI’s top-performing searches, data compilation, and conclusions made from inquiries in a matter of seconds takes a tremendous number of resources. And in no uncertain terms, everything will utilize some form of AI in the future.

For example, when you perform a Google search, you will now see an AI-generated answer at the top of most searches. Another example would be using AI plugins to help you manage a WordPress site.

Nearly every major company is expected to utilize AI by 2030, which will push demand higher than ever.

Earth Day Goals Everyone Can Commit To

This year, EarthDay.org has highlighted ways that everyone from individuals to businesses can go green by providing actionable toolkits that your business can follow.

The theme for Earth Day 2024 is “Planet vs. Plastics”, with a goal to reduce plastic production by 60% by 2040.

They are a great starting point for any business, so let’s go over some of the key points you will find.

Go Paperless

This might seem hypocritical considering this just creates more demand for data centers, but the benefits of going paperless cannot be ignored. Normally, businesses will use a lot of paper for filing documents, printing billing statements, and so on.

All of this paper comes at the expense of cutting down trees, which act as a natural carbon sponge.

Of course, for some businesses, the elimination of paper use is just not practical. Thus, your aim should be to reduce it significantly. A great tip is to ensure you print on both sides of the paper. And any paper you do need afterward should be recycled.

It has never been easier to go paperless, which is why most businesses today are pushing customers into paperless statements and trying to communicate exclusively through email. If this is an option, consider starting today.

Use Energy Efficient Devices and Lights

Office buildings big and small use a lot of energy under normal circumstances. One way to easily reduce that is by using energy-efficient appliances and lighting for the office. Doing so will save money, and lower your carbon footprint.

Let’s take a minute to look at the cost savings potential of switching to energy-saving lightbulbs.

Today, energy-saving refers to Light-Emitting Diode (LED) bulbs that on average last 25,000 hours compared to the incandescent bulb that only lasts 750 hours. Over the course of its life, an LED bulb will save around $81 depending on your energy rate.

When you consider that a typical office building has dozens or even hundreds of lightbulbs, the savings are easy to see. The same logic applies to all kinds of appliances your office will need. You can identify energy-efficient devices by checking the packaging.

Turn Devices Off or Enable Auto-Sleep

Most office buildings are filled to the brim with computers, printers, and all types of devices. They can use a lot of electricity, thus ensuring they are off when not in or are in a low-power state can help cut your electricity usage.

This not only helps the environment but also helps save your business money. You may be wondering, how much money can it really save? Well, just putting a single computer to sleep can save between $10 to $50 depending on the device and electricity rate a year.

Luckily, it is incredibly easy to enable sleep-mode settings and only takes a few minutes.

Incorporate Renewable Energy

Ensuring that your business is powered by renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, or hydroelectric is a great way to reduce your business’s carbon footprint. And in the case of solar, it can actually save you a lot of money.

Solar energy is now cheaper than fossil fuels over the lifespan of the solar panel. The issue for many is that the initial price can be quite high. Another option is to offset what you use by purchasing clean energy.

This can help you lower or eliminate your carbon footprint altogether.

Find An Eco-Friendly Web Hosting Company

Every business needs a website because it allows your business to reach a wider audience. Today, the majority of consumers look online before entering a store to check out what it offers and if it is worth their time.

Thus, finding an eco-conscious web host is one of the most important steps you can take when making your business green. Depending on your website’s popularity, millions of people may view it.

That’s why partnering with a green web hosting company like GreenGeeks can ensure your website does not create a carbon footprint, and instead can be another way your business is being environmentally conscious.

GreenGeeks, a leading green web host, has been an EPA Green Power Partner since 2009 and returns 3 times the amount of renewable energy we consume back into the grid.

Celebrate Earth Day 2024 By Signing Up for Green Web Hosting

Each year, everyone thinks about what they can do for Earth Day. The best part is that there is so much anyone can do to reduce their impact on the planet’s climate.

Switching to a green web host is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint without really changing much from a business perspective. In fact, plans at GreenGeeks are some of the most affordable in the industry with a month of service costing less than a cup of coffee each month.

Combine that with our excellent service featuring 99.9% uptime, lightning-fast speeds thanks to our SSD-powered servers, and a knowledgeable support team standing by to answer all of your questions.

Switching to GreenGeeks will not only lower your carbon footprint but also improve your website’s performance.

What is your business planning to do for Earth Day 2024?

The post Why Your Website’s Carbon Footprint Matters on Earth Day 2024 appeared first on GreenGeeks Blog.

And believe me when I say there is no shortage of WordPress competitors to choose from. However, as with anything concerning a website, you need to take into consideration what type of website you are building and your skill level.

One of the big reasons why WordPress is so popular is that you don’t need any coding knowledge to build a site. The same is not true for some of the other CMS on this list, thus, you need to find one that works for you.

Today, I will cover the best WordPress alternatives to consider using in 2024.

What Makes a Great CMS?

With no shortage of CMS or website-building platforms to choose from, the number of options is quite frankly staggering. Thus you could easily spend hours sifting through these platforms before one catches your eye.

We looked at five key pieces of criteria when assembling this list that include:

• Accessibility– This determines how easy a CMS is to use, which is arguably the most important factor. Getting the most out of a CMS depends entirely on if you can use the tools it provides.
• Performance– No one likes a slow website and the CMS you choose will have a major impact on that. This will directly affect the speed at which pages load, and how well the platform interacts with third-party software.
• SEO– SEO determines how your website ranks on search engines like Google. The higher you rank, the more traffic you will receive, and just about everything impacts your SEO, thus your CMS is an important factor as it impacts everything as well.
• Security– The internet is not a safe place. Every day 30,000 websites are hacked with 43% of those belonging to small businesses. You need to be able to defend your site and the data it contains.
• Customization Potential– Everyone has a certain vision for their website, and that vision is only reachable if you have the creative freedom to reach it. Many CMS have limitations in place, thus, it’s important to find ones that give you more freedom.

These were the core values we considered when assembling this list, but keep in mind there are other factors to consider. This list is in no specific order, so without further ado, let’s get right into it.

1. Joomla

Joomla is one of the best CMS alternatives to WordPress due to its high flexibility, but it needs to be said that, unlike WordPress, it is not beginner-friendly. The backend you will be using is not intuitive to pick up.

Users often spend hours trying to get accustomed to it and when first installed, it lacks any sample data. That said, Joomla does provide sample data, but you need to find it in the options to import it in Joomla.

Joomla is quite similar to WordPress regarding extensions. Joomla has a large library of templates and extensions that are the same as themes and plugins for WordPress. While the library is not as robust, there are a lot of options.

Unfortunately, the trend of Joomla being more complicated to use continues when it comes to its extensions. The CMS uses numbers instead of names to place these extensions, which makes it hard to follow for beginners.

That said, once you get used to it, it will match WordPress when it comes to creative freedom.

When it comes to editing, Joomla uses a similar editor to the classic WordPress layout. Thus, it is quite easy to create content with, but again, nothing in Joomla is very intuitive. The editor will bring you to both blog and page content.

The only way to tell the difference is with the category system. It does work and you will get used to it.

One of the main advantages Joomla offers over WordPress is that it typically offers a better performance, which can also give it an edge SEO-wise. This brings us to security, which is another strong point for Joomla.

Unlike WordPress where you need to install a plugin for basic security features, many are built right into Joomla, which makes it more secure out of the box. It even comes baked in with SSL.

Benefits of Using Joomla

• Offers users a faster performance
• SEO and security tools are built into the install
• Solid customization options and a good selection of templates

Drawbacks of Using Joomla

• Not intuitive to use
• Publishing interface is a mess in comparison to WordPress
• You need a basic understanding of PHP to fully use Joomla

2. Drupal

Drupal is one of the most popular WordPress alternatives, but it is far more complicated than WordPress. Thus, it is a poor choice for beginners. This is apparent when you try to choose a theme for your site.

Drupal doesn’t offer a huge selection of themes you can use, and the ones that they do are quite simple. This is because Drupal is intended for more advanced users that will code their own themes.

As such, if you don’t have this expertise, you are going to need to hire a developer to create the theme for you. This can dramatically increase the costs associated with a Drupal site. Luckily, Drupal does have a good selection of modules.

Modules are the equivalent of plugins in WordPress and there are thousands to choose from, but there are still fewer options. One area where Drupal dominates WordPress would be security. Drupal is one of the most secure CMSs on the market.

This is why Drupal was a top choice for government sites such as NASA. However, NASA replaced Drupal with WordPress as the primary CMS as WordPress is easier to use and far more expansive for NASA’s needs.

The editor of Drupal is not great. It is perhaps the most basic one on this list, which can be a real turn-off for blogs. Even compared to the classic editor in WordPress, it lacks a lot of basic features.

With this said, it can still get the job done, but don’t expect a lot of options or customization on post content. One area where Drupal excels is when it comes to custom content types. They are more flexible than WordPress and easier to implement.

When it comes to performance, Drupal is a lightweight CMS that focuses on creating fast-loading pages and is better suited for larger sites. As such, it is typically faster than WordPress, which is a boon for SEO efforts.

Benefits of Using Drupal

• Robust security measures in place upon installation
• Built with custom content types in mind
• Typically faster than the average WordPress site

Drawbacks of Using Drupal

• Theme selection is poor often requiring a developer
• The editor is extremely simple and lacks more advanced options
• Smaller selection of modules compared to other CMS

3. Ghost

Many people may not realize this, but when WordPress first started, it was a simple blogging platform. However, as its popularity grew, it expanded into a platform that can build any kind of site. Ghost is a CMS that focuses exclusively on blogging.

Since the platform focuses on publishing content, it is much simpler than many CMS but is about equal when it comes to WordPress. The UI is intuitive with most things exactly where you expect them to be.

One of the more standout elements would be that it color codes everything so users can find what they are looking for at a glance. The colors stand out on the white background, so it is a really good design decision.

In terms of the actual editor, Ghost is quite robust but ultimately falls a little short of what WordPress offers, and unlike WordPress, you can’t just add what you need.

At least not always.

Ghost add-ons, the equivalent of plugins, are not very robust. It is still a growing library, thus in many cases, it just isn’t possible to find every option you could in WordPress, but it has everything a typical blog will need access to.

One area in Ghost does fall short would be customization. It just isn’t robust and often limits the design of any website.

One area that Ghost blows WordPress out of the water would be performance. Ghost has been touted as being much faster than WordPress, which would improve speed scores for SEO and the user experience.

Ghost also excels when it comes to SEO. It includes a variety of features that you would typically need a plugin in WordPress. This includes automatically filling metadata, creating XML sitemaps, and more.

Benefits of Using Ghost

• Extremely fast performance blows WordPress away
• SEO tools are built into the platform to help your blog grow
• Color-coded design makes the UI very intuitive

Drawbacks of Using Ghost

• Limited design options outside of traditional blog styles
• The add-on library is very small, which makes it difficult to add additional features
• Ghost does not have many themes to choose from

4. PrestaShop

PrestaShop is a popular eCommerce solution for building websites. As such, it focuses solely on eCommerce and is aimed at beginners. It is a platform that is very easy to use and set up which is a bit rare when it comes to eCommerce solutions.

When it comes to building a store, PrestaShop includes over 4,000 store templates that act like themes in WordPress. It is a robust selection with something for most niches. The designs typically leave plenty of room for products and featured products.

If you are talented in HTML, you can also build your template to give you complete freedom when it comes to store design.

You’ll be able to show off all of the necessary product information like price, descriptions, categories, SKU number, and can even show how many are left in stock. It has everything you would expect in a typical eCommerce platform.

When it comes to payment gateways, PrestaShop supports all of the major players like PayPal, Stripe, direct credit cards, and more.

One of the strongest points for PrestaShop would be its built-in shipping management tools. Customers will be able to see how much the shipping is before they go to checkout, which helps them see the actual price.

Oftentimes, when shipping is added to the final cost, customers will abandon a cart, thus, showing the true value is a great tactic. And this data is submitted by shipping companies to PrestaShop directly for the most accurate rates through various APIs.

As an eCommerce platform that handles credit card information and other personal information, security is a serious concern.

PrestaShop supports a variety of security measures like SSL certificates, firewalls, forcing strong passwords, and so on. While no platform is absolutely safe from hackers, as long as you keep PrestaShop up to date, you should be fine.

Benefits of Using PrestaShop

• Relatively easy setup compared to most eCommerce solutions
• Healthy selection of payment gateways are supported
• Shipping manager is a very robust tool

Drawbacks of Using PrestaShop

• Most modules are not free which can dramatically increase the price
• PrestaShop is slower than WordPress
• While there are lots of themes, they look unprofessional

5. MediaWiki

MediaWiki is a free and open-source wiki engine. It focuses on using the same design as Wikipedia to create individual wikis for topics. This is commonly seen for certain franchises like Game of Thrones, or video games like Baldur’s Gate 3.

As such, this is not like other WordPress alternatives, because it does something very unique, and has become quite popular in this space. Virtually all wikis you access online utilize MediaWiki.

While WordPress has wiki plugins, they just are not as robust as MediaWiki out of the box.

In terms of design, it is a wiki. There’s probably not much I need to say, but you can customize the appearance to better match the franchise which includes the background color, background image, font color, font size, and so on.

At the end of the day, anything you create will still largely resemble Wikipedia, but with a specific skin applied.

The actual editor of media wiki is an HTML editor. It lacks a lot of the features you would find in WordPress, but those knowledgeable in HTML will have no issue creating content in it.

Perhaps one of its strongest features would be its internationalization. MediaWiki is available in over 400 languages.

When it comes to security, as long as you keep your version updated you will be fine. You should ensure that all of your files are permission-protected to ensure users cannot write in them. Media Wiki also has a good selection of extensions.

Extensions are the equivalent of plugins from WordPress and so all kinds of things for your site. Most of them are free, so they can be a great addition to the site, just make sure to keep them updated for security.

Benefits of Using MediaWiki

• SEO is simple and intuitive at any skill level
• Supports over 400 languages
• Great for collaborative projects

Drawbacks of Using MediaWiki

• Not suitable for traditional blogs or eCommerce
• Lack of rights management makes integrating with enterprise wiki challenging
• Can be considered complex if not familiar with HTML

6. OpenCart

OpenCart is designed for creating eCommerce sites. It provides all of the tools and features you would need to start an online store and it does all of this in a user-friendly manner. As such, anyone can take advantage of the tools this platform offers.

While WordPress with the WooCommerce plugin installed becomes a powerhouse for small to medium-sized businesses, OpenCart excels at large-scale eCommerce sites. One of the standout features when it comes to eCommerce would be the shipping potential.

This platform allows you to choose between different shipping models like flat rate, weight, or per-item shipping. And that’s just a few of the choices. In total, you can add up to 8 different shipping options for customers to choose from.

This grants customers much more flexibility and can aid in any memberships you create, as they can be member-exclusive.

When it comes to the design of your store, OpenCart offers a solid selection of themes to choose from. They are all eCommerce-focused and are typically designed with different niches in mind. While there are a good number of free options, you can also find paid options.

The themes can be customized just like WordPress, but you will need HTML and CSS skills to do it.

OpenCart also comes with some unique security tools built-in like fraud protection, security tokens, IP address blocking, and more. And similarly to WordPress plugins, you can install extensions to add additional security measures.

The product editor is quite robust and offers all of the options you would find in WooCommerce, but there is one main difference. OpenCart does not support bulk changes, thus you will need to edit products one at a time.

Benefits of Using OpenCart

• Strong selection of themes for all kinds of shops
• Easily create coupons and discount codes to entice new customers
• Users can share products on social media

Drawbacks of Using OpenCart

• No bulk editing options for products
• Lacks SEO functionality
• Extensions often do not work well together

7. Adobe Commerce (Magento)

Adobe Commerce (formerly known as Magento) is an eCommerce-focused platform. It provides all of the tools you’ll need for building an online store, with the added benefit of full compatibility with other Adobe tools.

When it comes to the setup, Adobe Commerce requires users to use the command line, which can be pretty challenging for beginners. As such, it is recommended to understand the basics of coding, as it is required to get the most out of this platform.

Sadly, the challenges to using this platform don’t end with the setup. Even adding extensions (the equivalent of plugins) can be a daunting task. These extensions often require more advanced skill sets to utilize on your site.

Luckily, Adobe Commerce does come with everything you’ll need for a basic shop out of the box, so extensions are optional.

When it comes to the design of your site, Adobe Commerce utilizes themes the same way WordPress does but ultimately offers fewer options. What is available is your typical online store interface tailored for different niches.

There are premium options available, but to get the most out of the platform, you are going to need to edit the themes yourself.

Naturally, everyone wants customers to find their store, which is why SEO is vital to any site. Adobe Commerce comes with a variety of SEO features built-in that stores can utilize to improve their rankings. There are also a number of extensions that you can install to help.

As an Adobe product, Adobe Commerce is also quite secure. If you keep it up to date and install security extensions, your site will be well protected.

Benefits of Using Adobe Commerce

• Solid selection of themes for a variety of niches
• Comes with built-in security options
• Compatibility with other Adobe tools

Drawbacks of Using Adobe Commerce

• Requires more technical knowledge than WordPress
• Extension library mainly offers premium options
• Better as an enterprise solution

8. Zen Cart

Zen Cart is a free eCommerce solution you can use to build a website with. Downloading the program itself is quite trivial, however, actually getting it on your web server is another matter. It is downright confusing and can scare away most beginners.

Once you do manage to set it up, actually using Zen Cart isn’t too bad. There is an initial learning curve as the UI is not as intuitive as you would expect in 2024, but once you learn where things are, it is easy enough.

Zen Cart comes with a lot of great eCommerce tools out of the box like shipping tools, but you will need plugins to add certain features. For instance, most payment gateways will have their own plugin to install.

Sadly, Zen Cart plugins have a reputation for not working well with each other, so be prepared to do some troubleshooting. Speaking of troubleshooting, updates to Zen Cart can also cause issues. As such some basic web development skills are required.

When it comes to customizing the appearance of your site, there isn’t much to say.

Zen Cart has a library of themes you can choose from, but they are rather basic. Most stores will purchase premium ones, but they also have stability concerns. Again, you are going to need to tweak the themes, so coding knowledge is a must.

When it comes to the SEO aspect of Zen Cart, it has some basic features you would expect like metadata, but nothing beyond that. Plugins can help fill this shortcoming. The same can be said about its security offering. It is basic at best.

Benefits of Using Zen Cart

• Has an active community to help solve problems
• Easily sort products into categories and subcategories
• Create coupons and special offers for customers

Drawbacks of Using Zen Cart

• Requires web development experience to set up and maintain the site
• Plugins often cause conflicts with one another
• Site reporting leaves a lot to be desired

9. Blogger

Blogger has been around for a long time and even pre-dates WordPress, but never found the same success. It is a free blog hosting service by Google that allows you to build a full blog for free, which naturally attracts a lot of users.

That said, as a free service, there are a lot of limitations put in place, which is often why serious bloggers avoid it.

When it comes to accessibility, Blogger is one of the easiest platforms to get started on. All it requires is a Google account and you can create your blog in minutes. Creating content for it is no different.

Blogger looks quite similar to Microsoft Word with a variety of features suited for blogging. Where things become trickier would be designing your site’s appearance. Blogger is not very customizable and to really do anything with it, you will need HTML.

Without using HTML to edit a theme, most are quite basic and lack any creative flair.

It is worth pointing out that the content you create on Blogger doesn’t actually belong to you. At any point, Google can shut down the service and it will all be gone. It can even ban your account without warning if the content violates its Terms and Services.

One thing that is very noteworthy about Blogger would be the security. It is owned and maintained by Google, and as such, it is very secure. This is one thing you’ll never have to worry about when using Blogger.

Blogger is a solid choice for someone who wants to test out blogging, but it hasn’t received any major updates in years. Given Google’s track record, it may get shut down like many other Google services have.

Benefits of Using Blogger

• Can start your blog in a matter of minutes
• Allows you to use a custom domain name
• Simple interface makes it easy to create and edit blogs

Drawbacks of Using Blogger

• Hasn’t received any major updates in a long time
• You don’t actually own your blog
• Exporting from Blogger is complicated and can impact SEO

10. Moodle

Moodle is a unique entry on this list of WordPress alternatives because it is a Learning Management System (LMS). It focuses on the creation of educational material like online courses for any kind of topic.

It was made with all skill levels in mind. As such, building online courses with Moodle is very easy compared to other LMSs, including the LMS plugins offered by WordPress. And that is all thanks to the drag-and-drop course builder.

With it, you can simply add and drag course elements to the desired location. It is also easy to set deadlines for content and allow users to submit work for grading. Naturally, you can also build quizzes and assignments in the same manner.

While the actual course assembly is great, it is worth noting that the initial setup does need just a bit of technical expertise. Thus, some basic coding skills will be required to get your website up and running.

When it comes to customization, Moodle doesn’t have a great selection of themes. While it does have themes to choose from, the customization is often limited and pales in comparison to what WordPress offers.

Moodle also delivers a solid selection of plugins that focus on more eLearning tools to expand your options.

Unfortunately, as a dedicated LMS, Moodle doesn’t have a lot of SEO tools at its disposal. All it has is the ability to edit metadata and not much else beyond that. It recommends creating links on other websites to improve SEO.

Of course, since the main purpose of an LMS is often to sell course material, Moodle comes with a full eCommerce suite for this very purpose. You can sell courses for a one-time fee or create a subscription model for users to keep access to the content.

Benefits of Using Moodle

• Excellent course building
• Accept payments from all major payment gateways like PayPal
• The Moodle Community is great at helping members solve problems with their site

Drawbacks of Using Moodle

• Lacks SEO options to help you grow organically
• The UI is a bit dated and can be confusing at first
• Gradebook functionality is not the best and most will use a third-party solution

WordPress Alternatives FAQ

Pick the Best Website Builder Today

While we just went through a great selection of WordPress alternatives, the best option is still WordPress. It does anything any of these other platforms does, but better and with more options available.

That said if you are set on not using WordPress, Ghost is probably the best option for blogs, and OpenCart is a great alternative to WooCommerce, but again, it just comes down to the needs of your site.

The best thing you can do is try multiple platforms and see which one works best for you before committing to one of them.

Why are you looking for WordPress alternatives? Which CMS did you choose?

The post 10 Best WordPress Alternatives to Use in 2024 appeared first on GreenGeeks Blog.

If your website is determined to release malware, Google will block you, and a hacker can easily cause this to happen.

For these reasons, you need to do everything possible to protect your website. Luckily, there is a lot of information when it comes to improving your website’s security.

WordPress itself has no major security issues, and if regularly updated, should always be a safe platform. However, because WordPress is the most popular CMS that over 44% of the internet relies on to build sites, hackers and other bad actors have been targeting it.

As such, you need to take some simple steps to secure your website today.

While the number of plugins and options in WordPress is usually a good thing, in this case, it can cause a lot of confusion, which is why this guide exists. Today, we will go through a full checklist of steps you should take to secure your website.

Why Security in WordPress Matters

At the end of the day, a website is a business. And when a business has a security breach, it not only costs them money but can ruin their reputation.

For this reason, a website needs to be secure at all times to protect the sensitive data it carries.

For example, imagine a simple eCommerce site. Think about the user data it stores. Credit card information, mailing addresses, phone numbers, and more could be stored on a single database.

If this information was stolen, not only would it negatively affect your brand and reputation, but it could potentially ruin someone’s life.

As such, governments around the world actually require certain security measures to be in place. And even if you do not live in one of those countries, all it takes is for a single visitor from one to make you liable to hefty fines or worse.

The laws and security measures you must adhere to are constantly changing and are different throughout the world. As such, it is important to always have your website secure to avoid any problems. Unfortunately, it is easy to overlook something, which is why this checklist exists.

It will showcase the steps you need to take to secure a fresh WordPress install.

The Fundamentals

Let’s start off with the fundamentals of WordPress security. These are simple things to do that don’t take a great deal of time but can have a major impact on the safety of your website.

Without these steps in place, carrying out more advanced options is pointless because it would be built on a weak foundation.

With that in mind, let’s start covering how to improve security in WordPress.

1. Update Your Theme, Plugins, and WordPress Core Files

Updating your WordPress site, plugins, and theme should be done regularly. Hackers often target out-of-date installs with known security vulnerabilities, which makes them an easy target even if you have other security measures in place.

Luckily, all of this can be set up to be done automatically, and WordPress does a great job of notifying you when an update is available.

To view if there are updates available, log into your WordPress site. On the left-hand admin panel, click on Dashboard and select the Updates option.

Take note if there is a small red number next to the Updates option. This number represents the number of updates available for the plugins, themes, and WordPress core files. If you see a red number, it is time to update.

In this section, you can see all of the available updates. At the top is the WordPress Updates section. This tells you your current version of WordPress. As long as it says “You have the latest version of WordPress,” you are good to go.

Below this, you will find a section for plugins and themes. If there are any updates available, simply select the plugin or theme and click on the corresponding “Update” button. While this is easy to do manually, many users forget about it, thus you should consider setting up automatic updates.

You can do this for plugins, themes, and WordPress core files.

It’s worth pointing out that even if you do not actively use a plugin or theme, you should keep it up to date. Even an inactive plugin can create an opening that hackers can exploit. Thus, the best advice is to always delete plugins and themes your site does not have activated.

Not only do they eat up space on the server but are a security vulnerability.

2. Use & Enforce Strong Passwords

I’m sure you have heard about the importance of strong passwords before, and I’m going to say it all again. Your website could use the best security plugins on the market, and they are all useless if you are using weak or common passwords.

These passwords are easy to crack or guess, and with Brute Force attacks being the most common method, strong passwords are one of the best defenses.

By default, WordPress provides a password generator that can generate a strong password for your account. You can also create your own and WordPress will inform you that the password is strong or weak.

If you enter a weak password, you will need to confirm that you are using one.

Unfortunately, this does not stop users from actually using one. Instead, you will need to enforce strong passwords with a plugin.

For example, one such plugin would be the Password Policy Manager. This gives you the power to prevent users from creating weak passwords and even force them to change existing ones.

It also adds other great password protections like a password expiration date. Essentially, this forces the user to regularly update their password, which is recommended on a six-month basis. You can also enforce different rules for different user roles.

Many beginners avoid strong passwords because they are difficult to remember, but doing so undermines your website’s entire security. If remembering a password is difficult, consider using a password manager to easily log in while keeping a strong password.

It is also worth pointing out the importance of unique passwords. Again, many beginners like to use the same password for multiple websites. Unfortunately, if one of those accounts is compromised, hackers typically try that information on other popular platforms like Amazon and so on.

Thus, not only should your password be strong, but it should also be unique to each site.

3. Pick A Good Web Hosting Company

Your website is only as safe as the server it is stored on, which means the web hosting company you choose will have a massive impact on the security of your site. Luckily, most web hosts today have powerful security measures in place that can help prevent some of the most common attacks.

For example, as a GreenGeeks customer, you don’t have to worry about brute-force attacks.

All of our hosting accounts come equipped with WordPress Protect.

Essentially, a brute force attack is when a hacker tries to break into your login area by continually guessing passwords until they gain access. Our system detects multiple failed logins and begins to throttle the connection they come from.

As a result, the attack can no longer be carried out, and your website will suffer no downtime or performance problems. And this is just one of the security measures we have in place to keep the websites we host safe. We also ensure your files, PHP versions, and other files are up to date.

Most importantly, the sites we host are regularly backed up in the event a disaster strikes. If your website is compromised, we can help you get things working again, and locate any back doors that may have been left behind.

Thus, not only does web hosting directly impact the performance of your website, but it also impacts the security. So, make sure to pick a quality web hosting company, otherwise, your website will suffer greatly from it.

4. Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)

Two-factor authentication, or 2FA, is one of the most popular security measures to protect accounts. As such, most websites support it and allow users to enable it on their accounts.

It is safe, easy to use, and most importantly, adds an extra layer of defense to the login area.

Normally, when you log in, you will enter a username or email address and enter your password. With 2FA enabled, users must enter this info, and then they will be asked to enter a one-time password. This password can come from an SMS message, email, or via an authenticator app.

Essentially, this means that even if your login credentials were compromised, they would still need the one-time password which would normally require your smartphone. Unfortunately, 2FA is not built into WordPress, You will need to install a plugin for it, such as setting up Wordfence.

While there are many plugins that can help you add this feature, the WP 2FA plugin might be the simplest to use.

It gives you the ability to force certain user roles to enable 2FA or to make it for all accounts to do so. It supports most authenticator apps like Google Authenticator, so users won’t have any trouble setting it up.

It’s also worth mentioning that there is actually an even more secure version called Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). This is really only something to consider for an admin account, but it’s identical to 2FA. Instead of only using one extra security code, you use multiple.

For example, after inputting your login credentials, you will need a security code from an authenticator app, as well as one from an email address.

5. Install An SSL Certificate

An SSL certificate is a file stored on your web server that ensures that the domain stored on that server matches the domain name in the file. This enables a visitor to make a secure connection to you. SSL ensures that bad actors cannot read or modify data transferred between the visitor and your web server.

In other words, it enables your website to encrypt the connection between the visitor and the website.

Luckily, SSL certificates have become a standard, and are mandatory for websites to have installed today. If not, web browsers will inform the user that the connection is not secure, which would scare off most users.

You can identify an SSL certificate if the website has “HTTPS” in the URL.

So, how do you get an SSL certificate in WordPress? Well, that depends on your web hosting company. For example, here at GreenGeeks, we provide free SSL certificates automatically for our customers. A website cannot function without one today, thus we build it into our plans.

In the event your website is older and did not have an SSL certificate installed from the get-go, simply contact your web host and they will be able to add one for you. It’s a simple thing to do and can help secure data on your website.

Not to mention that not having one will ruin your website’s SEO efforts as search engines like Google do not want to recommend websites that aren’t viewed as “secure.”

6. Change the Admin Username

When WordPress is first installed on your web server, it will create a default admin account. And the username of that admin account is “Admin.” While this might not sound particularly concerning, let me say it another way. Hackers, now know what your admin username is.

At least, this is how it used to be. WordPress has identified this issue, thus fresh installs of WordPress today actually require you to pick a unique admin username. However, if you used a 1-click WordPress installation, you might still run into this problem.

Not to mention that if your site is on the older side and you never actually changed the username, it may still be set to Admin.

As such, you should change the default admin username as soon as possible. However, you actually cannot change the WordPress username by default. Instead, you will need to get slightly creative to fix this problem, but rest assured it is actually pretty easy.

There are a few methods you could use to change the admin username in WordPress.

The first is to simply create a new admin account with a unique username and delete the old one. You may think you might lose something, but you won’t. Data is saved to the web server and not the account, thus this is safe to do, especially if you just created a new site.

In the event you have some posts created by that admin account, you will just need to spend some time changing the author to the new account.

The second method is to access your website’s database and change the username within it. It’s a bit more complex but will get the same result.

The final method is to just use a plugin. This is a common issue, thus there are several plugins that can be used to change the username in WordPress.

7. Only Give Users Access to What They Need

WordPress utilizes the User Role system to determine what each user has access to. The admin account has access to everything on a website with no restrictions. As such it is the most powerful user role in the system and should only be in the hands of the site owners.

However, it is not the only user role. By default, the user role hierarchy includes:

1. Administrator
2. Editor
3. Author
4. Contributor
5. Subscriber

I won’t explain what each one does here, but if you are interested, we have a full guide for this. If the wrong user gets assigned a role with too much power, they can seriously damage your site and open the door for malicious attacks.

For example, on paper it might seem like a good idea to allow contributors to edit posts so they can make corrections, but what stops this outsider from adding profanity, SEO redirections, and more to a post without your knowledge? Nothing.

It’s also important to point out that many plugins add their own user roles to the system with plugin-specific power.

It is highly recommended to create custom user roles that give users the bare minimum access they need. If they are missing something, they can just contact you for access.

While you can use code to customize what each user role has access to, the easier option would be to use a plugin. One of the best options would be the User Role Editor plugin. As the name suggests, it allows you to edit what a user role can do and even create new ones.

Advanced Security Solutions

The next options are a little bit more involved, but I use the term “advanced” a bit loosely as anyone can do these steps. They typically require setting up a plugin or adding a line of code somewhere.

In any case, let’s get right into it with the entry you have probably been expecting.

8. Install A Security Plugin

Many people often rush to install a security plugin, and while this is a great thing to do, without some of the other steps we’ve mentioned so far, doing so would leave holes in your website’s security. However, I think this is a really good time to install a security plugin.

When it comes to security plugins in WordPress, there is no shortage of options to choose from.

On one hand, this is great because you have a ton of options available, but on the other hand, this is a problem because you have a ton of options to choose from. You’ll have to sift a bit to find a tool that fits for what you’re looking.

While you are free to pick any security plugin, I would personally recommend the Wordfence Security plugin.

First and foremost, the plugin is free to use. You’ll get a full security system for your site with all of the bells and whistles for free.

When it comes to features, this plugin is loaded. Let’s start with the Wordfence Firewall. It will block malicious traffic from entering your website and also block brute-force attacks before they happen. There is also a malware scanner that examines all of your core files.

It also has several features that boost the security of your login area like enabling CAPTCHA security to block bots, or 2FA which we talked about earlier. You can also block IP addresses of individual users, or IP addresses from countries.

Overall, it is a terrific plugin that offers a slew of security functions for WordPress.

9. Setup Backups

So far, we have talked about ways to prevent an attack from happening, but how do you recover when one is successful?

Sadly, even if you do everything right, there’s still a chance your security will be compromised at one point or another and perhaps one of the strongest tools at your disposal is a backup.

A backup is a copy of your website that is typically stored in a different location. Many web hosts will automatically back up your website, so this might be something you already have taken care of, which is the case for GreenGeeks customers.

However, it is always recommended to never just rely on a web host. Instead, you should have an additional backup solution at your disposal.

Luckily, WordPress has a ton of great backup plugins to choose from. These plugins typically offer you multiple storage locations in the cloud or their own personal servers. In other cases, the plugin will produce a backup and zip it for you to store on your computer or hard drive.

Most of backup plugins allow you to choose exactly what files you want to backup and support automatic backups. You can choose the frequency of the backups and how many backups are stored at once.

The most important thing you need to remember is to never store your backup on your web server.

If your website is compromised, that means a hacker would have access to every file including the backup. Instead, it should be stored either in the cloud or on another device to ensure they are always accessible. And most importantly, make sure they are up to date.

Luckily, cloud storage has become quite cheap today with several free options to choose from. Some plugins will automatically send your backups to platforms like Dropbox, Google Drive, or Microsoft OneDrive.

Just make sure to zip your backup otherwise, it may be too big to actually store at a reasonable price point.

10. Update Your PHP Version

The WordPress platform is written using the PHP language. Just like updating your core files, plugins, and themes, the PHP version must also be updated. These updates often include security fixes that help protect your website, thus it is important to keep up with them.

However, what makes this a bit more advanced is that you can’t actually update the PHP version in WordPress.

Instead, you need to choose your PHP version from your web hosting account. It isn’t difficult to do, but some beginners may struggle to find it.

Simply log into your web hosting account and access the cPanel. From there, locate the Software section and select the Select PHP Version option.

There is a long list of PHP extensions that you do not need to worry about as a beginner. Instead, right at the top is your current PHP version. You can use the drop-down to select the latest version.

It is worth noting that most web hosts will not have your website on the latest PHP version. For this reason, even if your account was just set up, you probably can change it to the latest version of PHP.

The main reason is that the latest version can sometimes break WordPress applications when it is brand new. This happens if a developer doesn’t take into consideration changes within the PHP environment.

As such, always have a backup in place and be ready to revert the change as needed.

11. Change the Default Database Prefix

If you have ever taken a moment to look at your WordPress files, you may have noticed they all share a “wp-” prefix on every file. This is done by default when WordPress is installed. As you might have guessed, if it is the default option, that means hackers know what they are looking for.

As such, changing this prefix can help secure your WordPress files by making them harder to identify.

This isn’t hard to do and requires you to change the table prefix in the PhpMyAdmin area of your cPanel. For clear directions, check out our full guide.

You can use letters, numbers, and underscores when creating a new prefix. While you could create a very long and convoluted prefix, you shouldn’t.

Remember you will probably need to access these files, thus making them hard to identify is a double-edged sword. Instead, just swapping them from “wp-” to something simple like “q223” or something arbitrary like that will get the job done.

While this makes it more difficult to locate key files quickly, it won’t absolutely stop hackers from finding the files.

12. Hide the WordPress Version From the Frontend

Have you ever viewed a website and noticed a small disclaimer at the bottom telling users what version of WordPress or whatever CMS they are using? This might seem harmless, but it is actually a huge security flaw.

Let’s say your website hasn’t been updated and is using an older version of WordPress. Well, telling a hacker exactly what version of WordPress you are using allows them to quickly search for security exploits in these older versions.

Clearly, this isn’t a good idea to do. It actually isn’t WordPress that displays this information by default. Instead, it is your theme.

Luckily, if you do notice that your theme is doing this, there is a simple way to fix it. All you need to do is access that theme’s functions.php file and add the following line of code to it:

remove_action('wp_head', 'wp_generator');

This will simply remove the version message being displayed. In rare cases, this message may be locked behind paying for the Pro version of a theme. In this case, your options are to either pay for it or find another theme.

13. Change the Login URL of WordPress

The login area of WordPress is like the front door of your house. And I’m willing to bet you do not leave your front door unlocked when you go to the store. Similarly, you need to lock down your login area in WordPress.

The problem is that everyone knows what the default login URL is in WordPress, but as you might’ve guessed by now, we can change it.

While you can edit the code on the backend of WordPress to adjust this, the far easier way is with the WPS Hide Login plugin. With this, you simply enter a new login URL and set up a redirection for when users try to access the old one.

For example, instead of www.YourDomain.com/login, you could make it www.YourDomain.com/door. You can make it anything at all but avoid using existing pages to do so.

As for the redirection, just send them to a 404 page and make no mention of what the actual login URL is.

If you are looking for more details, feel free to check out our full guide on how to hide your login area URL.

14. Remove PHP Error Messages

If a PHP website runs into an error, it actually displays what that error is on the website. Naturally, since WordPress is written in PHP, it also displays these messages. While this is helpful for developers trying to identify a problem, it really isn’t information that a regular user needs to see, let alone a hacker.

As I have said in several of the other tips on this list, giving hackers more information to work with just isn’t a good idea.

These messages should not be on by default but can get turned on if you activate debug mode. Luckily, you can fix this problem quite easily by adding a few lines of code.

While there are several ways to accomplish this, I think the simplest solution is to add the following lines to the wp-config file:

ini_set('display_errors','Off');
ini_set('error_reporting', E_ALL );
define('WP_DEBUG', false);
define('WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false);

This will end the debug mode and block any PHP errors from being visible on your website. If you do need to see the errors, you can still see them by viewing the PHP errors in your cPanel.

This is a great resource when troubleshooting problems but does require some coding knowledge to actually take advantage of.

15. Switch from an FTP to an SFTP

When accessing files for your website, there are multiple ways, and one of the most popular options is to use File Transfer Protocol (FTP).

In simple terms, this allows you to transfer files between two devices, thus you can easily upload or download files from your web server.

Secure File Transfer Protocol, or SFTP, is simply a more secure variation of an FTP.

The main difference between the two of them is that an SFTP uses a secure one-way channel to connect the devices. Essentially, this makes it impossible for anyone else to use this connection to view, download, or edit files. Thus, it is far more secure.

In some cases, your web host will actually run an SFTP server, which is what we do at GreenGeeks. This ensures that your data is always safe from prying eyes for the best experience possible.

This is just another example of how important your web host is to the security of your WordPress website.

WordPress Security FAQ

While we have covered a lot of WordPress security tips today, it is only natural that you may have some lingering questions. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions when it comes to WordPress security.

WordPress Security Checklist

With our list complete, let’s take a look at everything you should do to secure your WordPress site:

• Update Plugins, Themes, & WordPress Core
• Use Strong Passwords
• Choose A Great Web Host
• Enable 2FA
• Install An SSL Certificate
• Change the Admin Username
• Properly Assign User Roles
• Install A Security Plugin
• Setup A Backup
• Update Your PHP Version
• Change The Database Prefix
• Hide What WordPress Version You Are Using
• Change The Login URL

If you can do all of this, your website is safe from 99.9% of threats. You can never be 100% safe, but with this, you can sleep easy knowing your WordPress website is safe and secure. This gives you more time to worry about your next piece of content.

Improve Your WordPress Security Today

As you can see, there are a lot of steps websites can take to secure your WordPress site today. While it can seem a bit overwhelming at first, realistically, you could probably go through this checklist in under an hour without much trouble.

Most of the steps include changing default WordPress install information, which are often things experienced hackers look for. Probably the most time-intensive thing on this list would be choosing an excellent security plugin and getting it set up.

However, if you follow my recommendation of using Wordfence, you won’t have any trouble.

Just keep in mind that you should also consider the user experience when adding some of these features. You can easily hinder the experience, which can make many users look elsewhere to get their content. Always test everything from the perspective of a regular visitor.

Which security plugin do you use in WordPress? Has your website ever been hacked?

The post Ultimate WordPress Security Guide and Checklist appeared first on GreenGeeks Blog.

These plugins offer websites the toolsets they need to help get visitors to interact with their social media pages and share content with friends. They range from tools that focus on a specific medium to ones that cover most major platforms.

However, due to how essential social media has become, there is no shortage of plugins to choose from. This has made selecting one for your website very difficult, but this list can help you find the best ones.

Today, I will share the best social media plugins you can use with WordPress.

Why Use Social Sharing Plugins with WordPress?

Social media is arguably one of the major cornerstones of the Internet. More people are sharing their Snapchat or Instagram accounts more often than their phone numbers.

Because of the prevalence of these sites, you want to make sure your content is available and ready to consume by those people.

Using social media plugins can contribute to:

• Boosting traffic by reaching a larger audience.
• Increasing your online presence and reputation.
• The potential to make more money.
• Increasing engagement from your visitors, which may improve on-page time.

However, there is a downside to overloading your website with a social presence. Some tools can greatly affect your site’s performance, which could cause it to lose page ranking on Google.

Poor performance can lead to a reduced user experience when writing new post content in WordPress.

This is because some of them will use external, third-party data. The result is a slow loading time as the visitor has to wait for your website to collect the data from other sources.

Luckily, not all social sharing plugins will affect WordPress in such a negative way. Some will simply provide a button necessary for people to share your content on their social feeds.

Like any other plugin you install, make sure you test it to make sure it’s not having an incredibly adverse effect on performance.

Our Picks for the Best Social Media Plugins

1. Simple Social Icons

Without a doubt, the most helpful feature when it comes to sharing your content on social media are social icons. And no one does it better or easier than the Simple Social Icons plugin.

Social icons make it easier for visitors to find your social media pages and share your content with friends.

This plugin offers support for all of the major platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, and many more. And as the name implies, it is incredibly simple to use.

All you’ll need to do is choose which social media platforms to use with the Simple Social Icons widget in WordPress. Simply enter a URL link to your social media account in the appropriate space and the icon will appear in the sidebar.

Benefits of Using Simple Social Icons

• Since you only need a URL, you can link to any social media account, not just your own
• You can upload your own social media icons in WordPress
• You can choose what order the icons appear in (requires code)
• Supports over 20 social platforms
• Works in any widget area

Drawbacks of Simple Social Icons

• You’ll need to edit the code to reorder the icons

2. Social Sharing Plugin – Sassy Social Share

If you are looking for a highly customizable way to share social icons in WordPress, look no further than the Sassy Social Share plugin. This is a lightweight social icon plugin that offers several design options for sites.

Not only do the buttons have multiple designs, but the plugin also supports multiple layouts.

These include multiple horizontal and vertical design patterns to display your favorite social accounts. And this plugin sports the most social icons with over 100 platforms to select from.

Everything about the icons is customizable from the size to the color. This can help match the design of your website or even add a festive touch like making all of the icons orange for Halloween.

Benefits of using Sassy Social Share

• Full customization from design to layout of each social icon
• You can display the number of times visitors shared your content
• Compatible with BuddyPress, BBPress, and WooCommerce
• GDPR compliant
• Can toggle social icons on or off for certain posts and pages

Drawbacks of Sassy Social Share

• This plugin does not work on a local server

3. Jetpack

Jetpack does just about everything with its huge selection of modules to choose from. Most websites just use it as an anti-spam tool, but it has a great selection of social sharing tools as well.

The Sharing module allows you to display social icons at the bottom of any post or page in WordPress.

It supports all of the major sites and many smaller platforms as well. You’ll also have options to customize each icon. For instance, you could choose to only display the platform symbol instead of the full name.

You can choose what devices the buttons will appear on. For example, if you need to save room, you could choose to not display the icons on mobile devices, although, I wouldn’t recommend this as mobile sharing is huge.

Benefits of Using Jetpack

• It does way more than just social sharing
• Icons are highly customizable
• This is a free module that just needs to be toggled on
• The icons look very professional
• It’s very easy to choose which icons to display

Drawbacks of Jetpack

• The number of options can feel overwhelming

4. Smash Balloon

Smash Balloon isn’t merely a single plugin as it actually offers plugins for each of the major social networks including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Each plugin is tailored to that specific platform, and the quality really shows.

Honestly, if I were to rank them individually, each plugin by Smash Balloon would make the list.

There is even a plugin to help you combine the feeds from different platforms into a single social wall. Each plugin offers features for the specific platform and optimizes them for a WordPress environment.

For instance, the Smash Balloon YouTube Feed allows you to display the latest videos from your channel, display live streams, and even showcase playlists. It even provides multiple layouts for you to take advantage of.

Each of the social plugins is similar to this, but the feature differs on a platform basis.

Benefits of Using Smash Balloon

• Link Instagram Stories and photos in WordPress
• Display live Facebook broadcasts
• Display tweets that mention your account
• Offers an incredible amount of customization
• All elements are mobile-responsive

Drawbacks of Smash Balloon

• Each social platform has an individual tool

5. Uncanny Automator

Managing your social networks is a lot of work, but what if it didn’t have to be? While this may sound like wishful thinking, the Uncanny Automator plugin can help you achieve this by automating much of the process.

In short, this plugin allows you to integrate your WordPress site and your favorite social network together seamlessly.

What you can do depends entirely on what platform you are connecting. For instance, when you publish a new blog, you probably want to post that on Facebook and Twitter. You can set that up to happen automatically with this tool.

This plugin isn’t exclusively for social networks. You can also set it up to connect your site with popular apps like MailChimp or Slack.

Of course, while the free version exists, to really make the most of this, you will need to purchase the premium version.

Benefits of Using Uncanny Automator

• Automate asking users to leave a reviewer testimonial after the purchase
• Automates most routine tasks
• Customize all automatic messages
• Share job opportunities on LinkedIn
• Post content to your Facebook Groups

Drawbacks of Uncanny Automator

• A lot of integration options are locked behind the premium version

6. Better Click to Tweet

Do you create great content that is worth tweeting? If so, you should install the Better Click To Tweet plugin for WordPress today. With it, you can surround some of your content with a Twitter card and make it easier for visitors to share.

Not only does this help you highlight certain quotes, but it actually looks really nice in a blog post.

How does it work? Well, you just place the quote you want to place in the Twitter card into the block and that’s it. There’s nothing really fancy about this, but it’s incredibly effective at promoting your website.

I would say the best use of this is when dealing with statistics, definitions, or just amazing quotes or jokes. You can also change the style of the quote box by buying the premium add-on.

Benefits of Using Better Click To Tweet

• Supports the classic editor by using shortcodes
• The tweet includes a link back to your content
• It’s a great way to highlight content on a post or page
• Works really well with deals and sales for eCommerce shops
• Supports short links to give you the most room in your tweet

Drawbacks of Better Click to Tweet

• Locks style options behind the Pro version

7. WordPress Social Sharing Plugin – Social Warfare

Social media marketing is a warzone, and if you want a chance at winning, you are going to need the Social Warfare plugin. It’s a comprehensive lightweight plugin that makes it easy to add share buttons in WordPress.

It offers support for Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and more.

Each of the social icons is customizable in appearance, and you can also choose the layout of where they appear on your posts and pages.

All you’ll need to do is place the shortcode in the desired location and you are good to go.

It also has a slew of features for specific platforms. For instance, there is a Click-to-Tweet feature that makes it easy for visitors to share quotes from your website. You can also show the number of times something has been shared by upgrading to the Pro version.

Benefits of Using Social Warfare

• Includes a popular posts widget
• Image hover pin available for Pinterest users
• Display total shares once a minimum number of shares is achieved
• Twitter card support
• Link shortening available

Drawbacks of Social Warfare

• Some platforms like Reddit are locked behind the premium version

8. Instagram Theatre

Many influencers may only focus on a single platform. If your platform of choice happens to be Instagram, the Instagram Theatre plugin is the perfect plugin to install today.

Just keep in mind that this is a premium plugin without a free version.

So what does it include?

As you might expect, it allows you to pull images from your Instagram account and place them directly on your WordPress site. However, what makes this tool unique is the level of customization available.

With it, you’ll be able to turn your site into a full-screen gallery, utilize a thumbnail grid layout, display photos from Instagram that use a specific tag, and much more. It’s the ultimate plugin for everything Instagram.

Benefits of Using Instagram Theatre

• Mobile responsive so images always look good
• Lightweight design ensures your website doesn’t slow down
• Display photos based on the location they were taken
• Supports multiple Instagram users
• Access to a support team to aid you in using the plugin

Drawbacks of Instagram Theatre

• There is no free version available

9. Blog2Social: Social Media Auto Post & Scheduler

Blog2Social is another excellent social networking plugin that can help automate your workflow in WordPress. It supports a lot of social networks with some of the major ones including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

While the plugin is free, there is a premium version that you can try for 30 days with a free trial.

This plugin allows you to auto-post content on the various social networks that you choose. The options you have available to you depend on which version of the plugin you have.

For instance, free users can post on their Facebook page while premium users also have the option to post to Facebook groups. Overall, the plugin is very simple to use and can really reduce the amount of time you spend managing social media accounts.

Benefits of Using Bog2Social

• Repost old posts to help them get views (great for evergreen content)
• The social media calendar makes it easy to schedule content
• Creates a backlink to help bring traffic to your site
• Supports multiple languages
• Compatible with WooCommerce

Drawbacks of Blog2Social

• Twitter support is locked behind the Pro version

10. Professional Social Sharing Buttons, Icons & Related Posts – Shareaholic

When it comes to growing your audience one of the best WordPress plugins for social media is Shareaholic. However, it goes way past just social media as it includes a host of engagement tools to take advantage of.

These include things like ad monetization, content analytics, displaying related posts, and much more. With that said, let’s just focus on the social media aspects.

The plugin supports multiple social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, WhatsApp, and much more. This includes dedicated sharing platforms.

You can add share buttons for your favorite medium and even include the number of times it was shared. You can also take advantage of URL shortening tools like Bitly to make your links as friendly as possible on these social venues.

Benefits of Using Shareaholic

• Multiple social icon designs to choose from
• If your URL changes, you don’t have to worry about your share count resetting
• Vector share buttons are available
• Supports HTML5
• Integrates with Google Analytics

Drawbacks of Shareaholic

• You’ll need to code to disable in-page apps

11. Monarch Social Sharing

When it comes to social media plugins, you really need to check out the Monarch Social Sharing plugin. This plugin is made by ElegeantThemes, and the design quality really shows.

Of course, this quality isn’t free. It is a premium-only plugin but has a 30-day money-back guarantee.

This plugin provides high-quality share buttons that fit into any theme. It supports pop-ups, fly-ins, share buttons for images and video content, and much more. And all of this is available on over 30 social networks.

Everything about the social icons is adjustable. This includes the color, icon placement, number of followers, the ability to just include the icon, and more. It’s an extremely robust tool that can benefit any website.

Benefits of Using Monarch Social Sharing

• View social statistics on your dashboard at any time
• Supports multiple sites with exports and imports
• Access to 24/7 customer support
• Place these social icons anywhere with a shortcode
• Buttons support multiple shapes

Drawbacks of Monarch Social Sharing

• The plugin is quite expensive compared to other premium options

12. ARSocial – Social Share Buttons & Social Locker Plugin

When it comes to integrating your WordPress website with your favorite social media platform, ARSocial should be one of the first choices. It’s a comprehensive social media plugin that can handle just about anything.

It is a premium plugin, but since the price tag is quite small, it shouldn’t scare anyone away.

Users will have access to over 42 social networks and a variety of customizable social share buttons, and all of this is accomplished through a very simple interface. As a result, it’s perfect for beginners.

One of the most unique aspects is the social locker feature. This will make it so that visitors must share the content to be able to view it. On one hand, this can help boost conversion. On the other, it could scare visitors away, so be sure to see how visitors respond.

Benefits of Using ARScoial

• Supports custom position for share buttons on mobile devices
• Get access to analytics to see how each social platform performs
• The plugin is optimized for speed
• Supports multiple languages
• Includes a variety of templates to choose from

Drawbacks of ARSocial

• There is no free version of the plugin

13. Social Media Share Buttons | MashShare

Closing out this list of the social sharing plugins for WordPress is MashShare, but don’t let its placement fool you. MashShare is a terrific plugin with high levels of customization available.

MashShare is completely free to use, so there’s nothing stopping you from giving it a try.

You’ll find the social share buttons highly customizable, short link support to help make your links more attractive, analytics on your dashboard to see how each platform performs, and much more.

You can also take your social media game further by taking advantage of some of the free add-ons this plugin offers. For instance, you can set specific Twitter hashtags for your images to make sharing more effective.

Benefits of Using MashShare

• Access to a Most Shared Posts widget
• Support AMP to ensure the best performance possible
• Swap the colors of share buttons at any time from the settings
• Sort your share buttons with a drop-and-drag interface
• Supports shortcodes so you can place share buttons anywhere

Drawbacks of MashShare

• Sometimes the social share buttons disappear after updating and need to be reset

14. AddToAny Share Buttons

If you’re looking for a floating WordPress element that is responsive and customizable, AddToAny is a good choice. It’s one of the most popular social sharing plugins for WordPress and has an exceptionally high rating.

AddToAny uses vector graphics and a universal share button menu. This means visitors can quickly share content with social media, email systems, apps, and a long list of online web systems.

One of the things that makes this plugin stand out is the capacity to integrate with Google Analytics. You can get visitor traffic data any time the button is used even if the shared links have been processed using a link shortener.

If you need something for WooCommerce, this plugin also supports it as well as multilingual and multisite networks.

Benefits of Using AddToAny Share Buttons

• Supports all social media networks including new entries like Threads
• Create floating share buttons to follow users through a page
• Loads your content first to ensure fast speeds
• All social icons are responsive and come in a variety of sizes
• Supports Google AMP

Drawbacks of AddToAny Share Buttons

• Displaying custom social icons can be a bit confusing

15. Shared Counts

Shared Counts is yet another social media plugin for WordPress dedicated to displaying share buttons on your favorite platforms. It has an exceptionally high rating currently and is focused on delivering high performance.

When you consider how the bounce rate of a website vastly increases if the site takes longer than three seconds to load, performance is very important.

Another highlight of Shared Counts is the fact that it tracks values for both HTTP and HTTPS. This means you don’t lose the number of shares displayed next to each social media button when you upgrade your site with SSL.

This plugin also comes with several layouts to choose from while protecting email sharing with Google reCAPTCHA support. This helps you pick the perfect look for your website. Overall, it is a great option for displaying social icons in WordPress.

Benefits of Using Shared Counts

• Choose to display share buttons before or after the content
• Does not use cookies or store users data (GDPR compliant)
• Retrieves all share buttons in a single request for peak performance
• Display the number of likes, follow, subscribers, and more directly on the button
• Choose from a variety of social buttons and icons

Drawbacks of Shared Count

• Lacks any floating options that follow the user

16. Social Icons Widget by WPZOOM

The Social Icons Widget is more of a system to share your social profiles with visitors. Although many themes today come with built-in icons, this plugin has a lot of features that many layouts simply don’t have.

In fact, you’ll gain access to over 400 icons, so there really is something for everyone.

This tool is ready with over 100 social networks, four sets of icons, a color picker, and a searchable database. If you use WhatsApp, Skype, or Viber, you can easily connect your numbers and profiles so visitors are capable of contacting you directly.

For those who like to be unique, it’s not much trouble to change icons to your own designs. This gives your website a sense of individuality and helps it stand out. Overall, it is another one of the best social media plugins for adding social icons to WordPress.

Benefits of Using Social Icons Widget

• Use a color picker to change the share button color
• Search for icons by keyword
• Global options allow you to change every social button color in a single click
• Upload your own social icons
• Choose from multiple button shapes

Drawbacks of Social Icons Widget

• Support options are locked behind the premium version

17. Easy Social Share Buttons

Easy Social Share Buttons is one of the best premium social media plugins that offers a bit more than just a simple way for users to share their content on sites like Facebook. It comes equipped with everything you’ll need to engage your audience.

The plugin supports 50 of the most prominent social hubs while offering a wide range of colorful templates. Variable design positions, animations, and customizable features give you a great deal of control for building something perfect for your site.

One thing that stands out to me about this plugin is the ability to integrate live chat services through Facebook Messenger or Skype. With a click of the mouse, customers can get in touch with you directly from the website.

For those who like data, Easy Social Share Buttons comes with analytical tools to help you build a winning strategy for social sharing.

Benefits of Using Easy Social Share Buttons

• Choose from a variety of button shapes and sizes
• Create horizontal or vertical icon displays
• Includes a pop-up Instagram follow widget
• Includes a live chat feature for your site
• Display share buttons on WooCommerce products

Drawbacks of Easy Social Share Buttons

• No free version is available

18. ShareThis Share Buttons

ShareThis Share Buttons comes with a variety of ways users can share their posts in WordPress on their favorite social network. You can enable inline content using the default top or bottom placement, using shortcodes, or placing PHP snippets.

As such, it is easily among the best social media plugins for WordPress.

If you want sticky share buttons that follow a user as he or she scrolls, this plugin does that as well. It’s also possible to customize the layout so you can ignore sticky buttons on specific posts or pages.

The plugin comes with several options to help you fit it perfectly into your content. For instance, you have access to the alignment of the buttons, size, labels, and whether to show the share count or not.

Benefits of Using ShareThis Share Buttons

• Anchor social buttons to the sidebars as visitors scroll
• Includes top and bottom margin controls for buttons
• Enable or disable sticky share buttons on a post-by-post basis
• Includes over 15 language options
• Choose from multiple button designs

Drawbacks of ShareThis Share Buttons

• Does not support custom icons

FAQs About Social Media Plugins

Start Growing Your Social Media Presence Today

As you can see, there are a lot of amazing social media plugins to choose from on the WordPress platform. Making that choice is hard, but the longer you take, the longer it takes to begin building a presence.

While social media is touted as a fast way to increase traffic, it’s more of a relative sense. Truthfully, it is much like SEO where it could take months before you build a sizable following.

However, don’t let that discourage you from starting ASAP.

Once your social media accounts grow in size, you are going to find success. You just need to make sure you are delivering high-quality content to your followers. Otherwise, they won’t stay as a follower.

What are your favorite social media plugins for WordPress? Do you create original content on your social account?

The post 18 Best Social Media Plugins in WordPress to Promote Your Site appeared first on GreenGeeks Blog.

Choosing the right theme helps you set the tone and experience for visitors. However, any kind of site can be a membership site, thus the ideal candidates are all multipurpose themes that can work for any niche.

That said, some themes do have built-in membership functionality, but these features can be added in with the right plugins. And some more niche-specific sites have great theme options available like online learning, dating, and so on.

Let’s take a look at the best membership themes WordPress has to offer.

Our Picks for the Best Membership Themes in WordPress

Since there are many types of membership sites, the goal of this list is to cover themes for different niches that give you creative freedom, access to different templates, and excellent support.

Not all plugins will natively have membership functionality, but they can easily be added by installing a plugin. As such, any theme can be used as a membership site.

1. Astra

When it comes to multipurpose themes that are great for any occasion, Astra is easily the best and most popular option in WordPress. Its major selling point would be a huge library of templates that can accommodate any niche.

As a result, it is one of the best membership themes to use in WordPress because it works for any topic.

With this said, Astra, itself does not have any built-in membership tools for you to use. Instead, you’ll need to install a membership plugin, which won’t be an issue since it is so popular. This theme is full of customization options to explore.

For instance, you can build your own header and footer from scratch with a drag-and-drop builder. Essentially, when it comes to customization, you have complete control over every aspect of your site, which makes it a standout theme no matter the situation.

Benefits of Using Astra

• Optimized for speed with load times in just half a second
• Compatible with your favorite page builder plugins for even more options
• This theme is translation-ready with RTL support
• Clean code with plenty of hooks and filter options available
• Easily customize the layout, colors, fonts, and everything else in this theme

Drawbacks of Astra

• Many of the most popular site templates are locked behind the Pro version
• Lacks any dedicated membership features

2. Vayvo

It has become very common for YouTube content creators to create a site for their Patreons and other supporters to get first access to the content. If that is your intention or anything to do with video content, then Vayvo is the perfect theme for you.

As a premium theme for membership sites, it comes bundled with the ARMember plugin.

This plugin allows you to create a membership subscription, lock content behind that subscription, and accept payments. It even gives you the power to create free trials for your subscriptions to help let customers see what they are paying for.

In terms of design, you’ll have a drag-and-drop page builder at your disposal to make any kind of page. There are also subscription page templates to help you create sales pages. The overall design is for video content, thus if that is your niche, this theme is for you.

Benefits of Using Vayvo

• Has a variety of templates for different site niches
• Includes a video player for self-hosted videos, but also has support for YouTube and Vimeo
• Boosted Elements Add-on plugin is included to help make maps, popups, and other types of content
• Sell posts separately instead of forcing into a subscription
• Users can add ratings to your video content

Drawbacks of Vayvo

• There is no free version available
• The theme is focused on video content

3. Aardvark

Aardvark is a membership theme that includes all of the tools you’ll need to build a strong and active community in WordPress. It comes bundled with a variety of premium plugins that allow you to create membership subscriptions, allow users to rate content, and more.

As such, it is easily among the best membership themes for WordPress. It also has a great selection of subscription templates.

Each template is built for a particular niche and will serve a membership website well. For instance, if you want to build a dating membership site, there is a template for that. The real power of this theme comes from included plugins.

You’ll have a full-page builder with WPBakery to build pages from scratch or edit existing templates with. If you are offering online courses, you can use Sensei Certificates to create certificates for course completion.

Benefits of Using Aardvark

• This theme is translation-ready with RTL support
• Includes access to some of the best support available for a theme
• Gain access to a variety of social network functionality like social logins and share buttons
• Choose from a great selection of menu styles like mega menus
• Includes a great selection of layout options for blog content like grid view, masonry, lists, and more

Drawbacks of Aardvark

• No free version is available
• Page speeds are slightly behind others on this list

4. LMS WordPress Theme

One of the most popular forms of membership sites is for online courses. There are a variety of platforms that offer users courses to gain certain skills like learning how to program or learning about how to invest their money responsibly.

In any case, when it comes to building a membership site like this, the LMS WordPress theme is one of the best options.

The theme includes a lot of tools to help you build course material. You can build courses and pages with a drag-and-drop editor where you just need to drag the specific element to the desired location and add content to it. Thus, no coding is required.

The theme allows you to build paid and free courses for your students, which is a great way to entice users to sign up for paid courses after they get a feel for them. There’s also a variety of pre-made pages and templates to help save you time.

Benefits of Using LMS WordPress Theme

• Includes a contact form builder to help you construct sign-up forms for students
• Gain access to over 700 Google Fonts to give instructors more options when creating courses
• Offers excellent performance with a 96 on GTMetrix
• Offer courses in several languages with WPML integration
• Fully compatible with WooCommerce to help you sell course materials to students

Drawbacks of LMS WordPress Theme

• No free version is available
• Focuses exclusively on online courses, but does excel at them

5. Sweet Date

Perhaps one of the most popular forms of membership sites would be those focused on dating. Not only have these types of sites gained significant popularity, but they can be quite a lucrative business model when done right.

And when it comes to building a member-only dating site, the Sweet Date theme is one of the best options.

First and foremost, let’s talk about memberships. This theme includes a plugin that allows you to build multiple membership tiers, including a free option. As such you can lock certain content behind different membership tiers.

When it comes to design, the theme has a good initial layout with lots of options for customization including a full drag-and-drop page builder. It also has the Slider Revolution plugin included so you can build stylish sliders on your site effortlessly.

Benefits of Using Sweet Date

• Includes an excellent mobile version that streamlines communications between profiles
• Integrates with BuddyPress to allow users to build robust dating profiles
• Easily swap the color pallet of your site to better match the tone or season
• Includes access to a child theme to help with development
• Gain access to icon fonts and Font Awesome for more design options

Drawbacks of Sweet Date

• Lacks a free version to test it out
• Doesn’t have a lot of templates to choose from

6. Ultra

Ultra is one of the most well-known themes in the WordPress ecosystem due to its extensive customization options and compatibility with nearly every plugin. Combine this with a huge library of templates and it’s no wonder it is so popular.

While the theme itself lacks any membership functionality, it is easily remedied by installing a membership plugin.

As such, it can fit the needs of any membership niche thanks to its huge selection of site templates of customization options. Fitness, finance, and music are just some of the options at your disposal. There are also 60 pre-made layout options available.

This theme also supports section scrolling and even horizontal scrolling for more unique options. You can also allow for filters to be applied to images on the site like Sepia, Blur, or Grayscale. If you’re looking for creative freedom, Ultra is the perfect choice.

Benefits of Using Ultra

• Come with a variety of add-ons like progress bars, timelines, countdowns, and more
• Includes a Map Pro add-on to help users find addresses listed on your site
• Choose From 17 header styles, 5 post layouts, 6 header backgrounds, and much more
• Build mega menus to improve navigation on larger websites
• Create animated color backgrounds on any page

Drawbacks of Ultra

• While the theme isn’t hard to use, there is a learning curve for beginners
• There could be more site templates

7. Woffice

Woffice brings a unique twist to the idea of a membership site as it is business focused. This is a community-driven office setting that works great for project collaboration for school and business use. As such, it can reach quite a large audience.

For example, imagine a small business that needs an online work environment they can use. This theme creates one.

You can create a membership for users to access these tools as part of the membership. Some of the tools include calendar add-ons, Line Ajax Chat, File Manager, Directories, and much more. You can even create full forums for your organization.

Many organizations pay for similar features per member, this can help provide a cheaper alternative for smaller businesses. It’s also compatible with other common business tools. For instance, you can see Slack notifications.

Benefits of Using Woffice

• Create different membership tiers with functionality locked behind each one
• Create badges that can be awarded to users when they complete certain tasks
• Also compatible with LMS software like LearnDash
• Allow users to log in with their Facebook credentials
• This theme is translation-ready with RTL support

Drawbacks of Woffice

• Only includes 6 months of support
• The options can be a bit overwhelming at first

8. BuddyApp

When it comes to great membership themes for WordPress, BuffyApp is great for building a tight community-driven site. It places a huge focus on the mobile experience, which can help keep users connected even when they are not home.

Essentially, this is a theme for building a membership site around specific topics that like-minded individuals can talk about together.

It has a lot of features with the most important ones being centered around the chat. Users can chat with each other in real time and receive notifications when a new message is received on mobile devices.

In terms of customization, this theme brings a lot to the table. You can choose where your menus appear, change site colors, and even includes a pre-made landing page. This theme can be used to create a great environment for your users.

Benefits of Using BuddyApp

• Build full forums with bbPress integration
• This theme is translation ready with WPML support
• Includes a drag-and-drop page builder to build site content
• Gain access to a dedicated support team that can help answer any of your inquiries
• Allow users to build their own profiles with BuddyPress integration

Drawbacks of BuddyApp

• No free version is available
• There are not many site templates to use

9. JNews

Closing out our list of the best membership themes in WordPress is JNews.

It might seem like a foreign concept today, but many people were happy to pay for newspapers delivered to their front step years ago. And there is still a healthy market for news and magazine sites to deliver that experience with membership sites online.

In fact, there are several major news outlets like the New York Times and Washington Post that have a subscription plan in place.

If you want to do the same, the JNews theme is one of the best membership themes for news and magazine sites for WordPress. It comes with an AI writing assistant that can not only help you come up with ideas, but even generate content for you.

When it comes to design, the theme has over 250 homepage demo sites that you can install. You can also switch seamlessly between dark and light modes. It’s also worth pointing out it has a membership plugin included, so you’ll have everything you’ll need.

Benefits of Using JNews

• Allows you to keep track of payments to your writers and contributors
• Provides a donation button to ask users to donate to their favorite writers
• Works well with video and audio content with dedicated players for both (perfect for podcasts)
• This theme is translation ready with RTL support
• Display the reader’s current progress when going through long blog content

Drawbacks of JNews

• The weather forecast system is a bit buggy
• There is no free version available
• Some of the demo content uses a lot of DOM Elements which can slow down sites

FAQs About Membership Themes in WordPress

Build Your Membership Site Today

As you can see, WordPress has a lot of amazing themes that either have membership tools baked in or are compatible with membership plugins. In either case, you’ll have no issue creating a membership site in WordPress.

Multipurpose themes typically are the best choice because they have a lot of templates you can use to build any type of site, after all, a membership site is really more of a website model than a design.

You can have a membership site about sports, finance, video games, music, or anything at all. Thus, making sure you have a theme that is designed to meet your niche is infinitely more important than one that has membership tools baked in.

In any case, I hope this list has helped you find a great theme to start building a membership site today.

What types of marketing strategies did you use to promote your website? Do you run ads on your membership site?

The post 9 Best WordPress Membership Themes to Build a Community appeared first on GreenGeeks Blog.

Unfortunately, that can also make it difficult to track down the best themes the platform has to offer. It’s also worth noting that financial sites can focus on very different topics. For example, one website could focus on stocks, while another focuses on crypto.

As such, you’ll also need to keep your niche in mind when selecting a theme. Here are the best financial themes on WordPress.

Our Picks for the Best Financial Themes in WordPress

1. Astra

Astra is one of the most popular themes in WordPress with millions of users. It has achieved this high level of popularity because of its insane customization potential, a huge library of premade templates, and you can even use it for free.

This, of course, means they have a healthy selection of financial website templates for you to choose from.

These templates have a professional tone to them and can be customized to fit your needs. You can even install your favorite page builder to edit them as Astra is compatible with all of the major players like Elementor.

However, one of the strongest aspects of this theme would be how easy it is to use. This theme is full of customization, but everything is intuitive and beginners can get excellent results. Overall, Astra may just be the best theme for WordPress in general.

Benefits of Using Astra

• Lightweight design ensures your website is fast
• Includes a Header and Footer builder
• Create mobile headers to better fit the latest mobile design trends
• Build mega menus to help improve navigation on larger sites
• Fully integrates with WooCommerce for excellent eCommerce support

Drawbacks of Astra

• Many of the key features are locked behind the Pro version

2. Mai Prosper

Are you a financial advisor looking for a theme for your website? If so, look no further than the Mai Prosper theme. It is perfect for presenting your skills to clients and leaving a strong impact that will keep them coming back.

It is a block-based theme built on the Genesis framework, so there are tons of customization options to choose from.

When it comes to design, it utilizes a professional tone that tries to show off your skills or explain the services your financial business provides. As such, it is a great choice for any investment firms or financial advisors looking to show off their skill set.

When it comes to actually using the theme, it was built to be easy. It has a simple one-click setup that will help you get started immediately. The rest of the features are intuitive to use and you won’t need any coding experience to get the best experience.

Benefits of Using

• Supports Google AMP for better mobile experiences
• Easily upload your logo and center it on your site
• Powerful site customizer makes editing your site a breeze
• Fully compatible with WooCommerce for eCommerce functionality
• Excellent performance results in high page scores

Drawbacks of

• Lacks template options
• Does not have a free version

3. Divi

Divi is another wildly popular theme for WordPress that brings a lot to the table. It has one of the most robust libraries of templates to choose from, which means it is a great choice no matter what kind of website you are building.

One of the standout template options is for an accounting website. It has several homepage designs you can choose from to make your site stand out.

There are also more traditional templates for financial blogs.

When it comes to design, Divi is one of the best. It comes equipped with a drag-and-drop editor to help you build pages any way you want, which only adds more versatility to the templates.

As such, you really do have full creative freedom when using Divi. It is also feature-rich. Sliders, testimonials, galleries, forms, and more are just some of the built-in modules you can gain access to when using Divi.

Benefits of Using Divi

• Create background gradient colors by adjusting a slider
• Includes access to a variety of animation effects
• Add hover states to your site elements to make them pop out for visitors
• Choose different fonts from a big selection
• Create shape dividers for your content

Drawbacks of Divi

• Some of the modules cause compatibility issues with popular plugins

4. Sydney

Sydney is another multipurpose theme that can work well in any situation. This theme offers a great free version and focuses on delivering fast load times and full integration with the most popular plugins.

As such, it is easily one of the best financial themes available in WordPress. And it has an excellent professional vibe going for it.

There are several templates you can use to build your site and one of them is perfect for financial websites. More importantly, when you purchase the Pro version, you’ll gain access to a template builder module.

This allows you to build your own templates with unique layouts and you can also include Elementor design options. The Pro version also comes with extra Elementor widgets you can use for extra customization options.

Benefits of Using Sydney

• Choose from 7 blog layouts to get the right fit for your site
• Customize how every slider behaves on your website
• Includes a Wishlist for WooCommerce integration
• Includes plenty of pre-built sections to help save time
• Includes several mobile header options

Drawbacks of Sydney

• The Pro version is more expensive than most premium themes

5. Financity

Finacity was built specifically for finance websites of any kind. This includes financial advice, accountants, financial blogs, or anything else that you can think of in the field. The theme can be customized to fit any niche and includes a lot of templates to help save time.

As such, it is one of the best themes about making money. Naturally, it has a professional vibe that is expected of these kinds of websites.

The theme includes a drag-and-drop page builder that you can use to build your own pages and layouts. You’ll have an unlimited number of options, so there really are no limits when it comes to creating a website.

Of course, the site also includes several demo sites that you can use as the base for your website. They are all ready to use, but taking some time to add your own unique spin on them is recommended. Importing the demos only takes a single click, so it is quite easy.

Benefits of Using Financity

• Naturally responsive design ensures your website looks great on any device
• The admin panel allows you to do anything from changing the page layout to enabling maintenance mode
• Create individual sidebars for your pages to reach more users effectively
• Includes access to over 700 Google Fonts
• Dedicated support teams respond within 12-14 hours

Drawbacks of Financity

• No free version is available

6. OceanWP

OceanWP is another one of the more popular themes on the WordPress platform. It is multipurpose and offers users a huge library of demo sites that you can use to build any kind of site. It is also really simple to configure, which makes it perfect for beginners.

I cannot praise the templates enough as it has some of the best website templates for financial services on the market.

It takes a single click to import the demo content into WordPress. You can then edit using the vast customization options offered through OceanWP, or you could use your favorite page builder plugin.

OceanWP is compatible with Elementor, Beaver Builder, and other heavy hitters. One of the best parts of this theme is building global sections. These sections can be reused on your other pages and posts to help save time and edited all at once (great for pricing tables).

Benefits of Using OceanWP

• Change everything from fonts to colors on a global level
• Choose from 7 header styles
• Includes 3 mobile menu styles
• Gain access to powerful Elementor widgets exclusive to this theme
• Seamless integration with WooCommerce

Drawbacks of OceanWP

• The free version has a lot of advertisements

7. Rise

Rise is another one of the best financial themes for WordPress. It is a theme built for consultants and offers a lot of customization to help you create the right image for your business.

That said, there are plenty of templates that work for other financial topics or news sites.

One of the first things that stands out with this theme is that it includes an AI assistant. You can even use the AI to generate content or to use it as a support tool as it can answer your questions about the theme.

When it comes to design, you’ll gain access to plenty of pre-made pages that use a professional aesthetic. Each can be customized using over 200 design options available in the theme.

Rise even includes a form builder, so give it a try today.

Benefits of Using Rise

• Build stunning portfolio pages to show off your skill set
• Fill WooCommerce integration to sell products, or accept payments for services online
• Includes a built-in animation engine
• Supports custom fonts
• Create marketing banners to commemorate active deals

Drawbacks of Rise

• No free version is available

8. Ultra

Ultra is another wildly popular multipurpose theme that has an amazing selection of templates to choose from. Naturally, that means it has templates that are perfect for financial websites. In this case, it has a great one for accountants.

That said, you can repurpose other templates if you like the aesthetic, so you really do have a lot of options available.

As with most multipurpose themes, customization is the name of the game, and Ultra doesn’t disappoint in this regard. It is full of options and style choices that can help you craft any kind of website. Most importantly, it is very easy to use at any skill level.

This is because it offers the Themify Builder. This editor allows you to build pages and tweak templates using a drag-and-drop interface. You can add entire site elements in minutes with this tool, which makes it a perfect choice for beginners.

Benefits of Using Ultra

• Includes multiple add-ons like a countdown plugin
• Includes over 60 pre-designed layouts
• Add image filters to all of your pictures like greyscale
• Build mega menus to accommodate larger websites
• Gain access to section scrolling

Drawbacks of Ultra

• There are a lot of options, which can make it a bit overwhelming when starting

9. Exponent

Exponent is another amazing premium business theme that can adapt to any kind of environment. It includes access to 26 pre-built websites that you can use as a starting point for your website. Each one is fully customizable using a drag-and-drop WYSIWYG editor.

On top of this, you’ll also have access to over 200-page layouts. If you are looking for options, this is the theme for you.

The editor isn’t just for pages either, as you can use it to build custom headers and footers. It even has a full portfolio builder, which is perfect for businesses. You can show off your staff’s experience, skillset, and past projects through this builder.

Since many financial businesses today operate on an international level, you’ll be pleased to know that Exponent is compatible with popular translation plugins like WPML and Polylang to ensure your content is readable in most languages. It even has GDPR support options to help with compliance.

Benefits of Using Exponent

• Create sections for your website and save them for reuse
• Edit global sections and make changes that affect the whole site
• Import demo content in a single click
• Fully compatible with WooCommerce to sell products and services to customers
• Gain access to terrific support and documentation

Drawbacks of Exponent

• Some of the templates fail to stand out from one another

10. Adri

Adri is a theme built for consulting and business websites. It offers nine templates that you can use to start your website, but the real power comes from its customization options and support for page builders like Elementor.

Thus, no matter what kind of business site you want to make, this theme has you covered.

One thing that is important to note about the demo content is that it comes in both a one-page variant and a multipage variant. As such, it’s really like having twice as many options. Naturally, this means the theme is well suited for one-page designs.

One of the strongest aspects of this theme would be the high level of support you get access to. Not only is there a support team that can help, and documentation, but the developers go the extra mile and even have a tutorial video to help you get started.

Benefits of Using Adri

• Import all demo content in a single click
• Easily change the colors of the site to match your brand
• Add transparent navigation menus to follow users down the page
• This theme is translation-ready with WPML support
• Create your own templates

Drawbacks of Adri

• It doesn’t have many templates to choose from

11. Hestia Pro

While business sites come in many shapes and sizes, one of the most popular design options remains the one-page design. The one-page design allows you to display all of the business information in one location and leave a strong impression on users.

After all, many users lose interest when they have to spend time navigating through different sections of a website.

When it comes to one-page designs, no theme does it better than Hestia Pro. As such, it is one of the best financial themes for WordPress thanks to a huge library of demo content you can utilize. It has a demo for every niche including finance.

You also have complete freedom when it comes to design. The theme is compatible with nearly every major page builder, so you can use your favorite tools to build.

You can even create slider and video headers for your pages to help capture visitor attention immediately.

Benefits of Using Hestia Pro

• This theme is translation-ready with RTL support
• Includes unique features for WooCommerce integration
• Lightweight design ensures that your pages load fast
• Responsive design ensures the site looks great on any device
• Includes a full-width layout for blogs

Drawbacks of Hestia Pro

• Site templates are locked behind the Pro version of the theme

12. Success

Success is one of the best financial themes for WordPress and focuses on businesses that provide professional services to clients. This makes it perfect for consulting firms, financial advisors, and so on. That said, you can branch out to other fields with some creativity.

This theme only offers you a single demo site, but that is because it also offers you a ton of customization.

As a result, you can realistically build any kind of site with the Success theme. One way you can accomplish this is through the creation of global sections. For instance, you may want to create a pricing table as a global section that you can reuse.

You can also edit a global section and see the changes throughout your website with a single edit (great for sales/deals). Perhaps one of the most interesting features is that it includes a narrated video tutorial. This theme will help you learn about everything it offers in an easy-to-understand way.

Benefits of Using Success

• Fully compatible with Google Schema
• Includes access to WPBakery
• This theme is translation-ready with RTL support
• Gain access to a talented support team that is ready to help
• Supports a full-width layout

Drawbacks of Success

• Does not include multiple templates

13. Neve

Neve is one of the best financial themes for WordPress due to a huge library of site templates and a wide range of customization tools. With them, you can create any kind of financial site from basic financial advice to a full-on consulting agency.

Neve’s signature feature would be its flexibility. Seriously, you name it and Neve probably supports it.

For example, when it comes to building pages, you can use any of the popular options like Elementor, Beaver Builder, Divi Builder, and more. It is also compatible with nearly every plugin you would use like WooCommerce, Contact Form 7, Yoast SEO, and more.

As such, you have so many options available to you. Did I mention that this theme also provides over 100 starter site templates? When combined with all of the other options there is no limit on what kind of sites you can create. It also fully supports one-page designs.

Benefits of Using Neve

• Fast lightweight design helps keep visitors on your pages
• Build your own header and footer areas
• Change the colors of your website from a global level to save time
• Choose from several blog layouts
• This theme is translation-ready with RTL support

Drawbacks of Neve

• Support is not available 24/7

14. Level

Level is an interesting financial theme for WordPress that focuses on financial technology and crypto. That said, it has over 30 demo sites and over 200 templates to choose from. As such, you can pretty much make any kind of website with it.

Combine that with great customization options and it becomes pretty easy to see why this is one of the best financial themes for WordPress.

Naturally, with such a large pool of demo sites and templates to work with, all of them can be edited. To make that easier, Elementor is baked into the theme to help you build any kind of pages you’ll need or repurpose the demo content.

If you are looking to show off your staff, or just your own expertise, you’ll be pleased to know that this theme offers 4 portfolio layouts to choose from. A strong portfolio can help you land clients that are impressed with your credentials.

Benefits of Using Level

• Choose from over 990 Google Fonts
• Includes a custom 404 Error page
• Utilizes WPML to ensure your website supports multiple languages
• Responsive design ensures the website looks great on any device
• Includes a contact Form Builder

Drawbacks of Level

• Only includes 6 months of support

15. TheGem

Closing out this list of the best financial themes for WordPress is none other than TheGem. It is easily one of the most robust multipurpose themes for WordPress with over 400 demo sites you can use. Naturally, many of those demos are perfect for financial sites.

As you can imagine from such a large selection, the demos come in all shapes and sizes with single and multi-page designs supported.

When it comes to page design, you can tweak any of the demo content or create a new page with the WPBakery page builder. As such, you gain access to a drop-and-drag that can help streamline the creation process for your website.

One of the crowning jewels of TheGem would be its support. Not only do you get top-notch support, but you get it in four languages. This makes it one of the most accessible support options on this list.

If you are looking for a lot of flexibility, look no further than TheGem.

Benefits of Using TheGem

• Includes access to Slider Revolution for more options
• This theme is translation-ready with RTL support
• Combine template pieces
• Create your own sections and reuse them
• Choose from over 20 portfolio layouts

Drawbacks of TheGem

• The number of options is pretty overwhelming, so expect a learning curve

FAQs About Financial Themes in WordPress

Build A Financial Site with These WordPress Themes

As you can see, WordPress has an amazing selection of financial themes to choose from. Even most multipurpose themes include financial website templates that you can take advantage of, which means you have a ton of options to choose from.

It is really about finding a theme that matches the design aesthetic you are going for while also having a professional vibe. This is one field where trying to be different will most likely backfire.

In any event, I hope this list has helped you find the perfect theme for your new website.

Which theme do you use for your financial website in WordPress? What is the most important factor when picking a theme?

The post 15 Best Financial WordPress Themes for Professional Websites appeared first on GreenGeeks Blog.

These plugins can help you make site navigation easier and get visitors to view more of your content. These plugins add all types of design from mega menus to mobile menus, not to mention hundreds of animation options.

Today, I will share the best menu plugins to use in WordPress to expand your site’s navigation.

Our Picks for the Best Menu Plugins

1. Max Mega Menu

As websites grow over time, it becomes more challenging to fit all of the important links a website offers into a menu. That’s where a mega menu comes into play. This is a much larger menu designed to fit lots of links in a visually appealing way.

There is no better plugin to build one of these than using the Max Mega Menu plugin.

This plugin utilizes a drag-and-drop editor to help you put together your mega menu in minutes at any skill level. Any menu you do build with this plugin is naturally responsive, and it even has unique mobile options for very large menus.

The plugin is fully functional with the free version. But if you are looking for more options, the Pro version is definitely superior. It even has sticky menu support and WooCommerce integration options.

Max Mega Menu is easy to use and starts out free, so give it a try.

Benefits of Using Max Mega Menu

• Toggle Blocks for Mobile Users
• Basic Support for Free Version
• Add Menus Anywhere with Max Mega Menu Block
• Restrict Menu Options Based on User Role
• Uses Font Awesome, Genericon & Custom Icons

Drawbacks of Max Mega Menu

• WooCommerce Options Are Locked Behind the Pro Version

2. WP Mobile Menu

Regular WordPress menus are responsive and can work fine on mobile devices. However, if you ever compare them to custom-made mobile menus, you’ll see that they leave a lot to be desired. The WP Mobile Menu plugin can help you build custom menus for mobile.

You can install the plugin for free, but the premium version is where most of the standout features reside.

Perhaps one of the most prominent features of this plugin would definitely be the sliding menus designed specifically for mobile users. They can drag the menu into or out of view in one movement. You can also choose to hide other elements when the menu is on display.

This makes sure that users don’t accidentally click on elements not fully covered by the menus. When it comes to customization, you are in full control of the colors, fonts, and even have access to over 2,000 icons, or you can even upload your own.

Benefits of Using WP Mobile Menu

• Gain Access to Animated Icons
• Includes A Premade Copyright Section
• Easily Upload Your Own Logo to the Menu
• Add Background Images to Your Menus
• Supports 3 Depth Menus

Drawbacks of WP Mobile Menu

• Menu Cart Icon Locked Behind Premium

3. Menu Image

Images are powerful tools a website can use to help direct users around their website. And as such, they can be implemented in your WordPress menus. That said, you need to make sure they are properly sized and accurately fit the content they are pointing to.

The Menu Item plugin was made specifically for this purpose and offers a lot of useful features.

The bread and butter of this plugin is to allow images to act as links in your menus. For example, if you run a gym and offer Yoga classes, you could just use an image of an instructor doing Yoga to help users find that option.

This works for any type of business, just make sure the image makes sense and is properly sized. The other part of this plugin is a big focus on icons. You’ll be able to utilize Font Awesome and more for hundreds of options.

Benefits of Using Menu Image

• Add Cart Count to Menu (How Many Items Are in Your Cart)
• Display the Total Price Of Your Cart
• Choose From Font Awesome or DashIcons Libraries
• Add “Hiring Now” to Career Menu
• Choose the Dimensions of Images in Your Menu

Drawbacks of Menu Image

• The Plugin Doesn’t Really Do Anything Else Besides Images, Icons, and Notification Symbols

4. Responsive Menu

The name really says it all with this plugin. Responsive Menu is exactly what it sounds like; a plugin for creating responsive menus that can be navigated on any device. Most importantly, it is easy to use and free.

The plugin utilizes a visual builder to ensure it is accessible at any skill level, which makes it perfect for beginners.

As you might expect from a visual builder, you have a lot of customization. You can easily control the colors, font, icons, and every other element in your menus. The plugin boasts 22,500 options to choose from, so there is something for everyone.

While the free version brings a lot to the table, there are a lot of worthwhile features in the premium version. For instance, you’ll be able to preview changes before implementing them. This can help you spot mistakes and avoid confusing typos.

Benefits of Using Responsive Menu

• This Plugin Is Translation Ready
• Choose From Premade Menu Themes
• Menus Look Great on Any Screen Size
• Add Custom HTML Components
• Choose Which Side A Menu Appears On

Drawbacks of Responsive Menu

• There Are a Lot of Options, Which May Get Confusing

5. UberMenu

UberMenu is an amazing premium menu builder for WordPress that creates responsive menus that look great on any screen size. Since it is premium, you can expect a lot of features and more importantly, access to dedicated support.

This makes it a great choice for beginners that may need more help to troubleshoot issues.

In terms of menu types, this plugin handles everything. Flyouts mega menus, images as menu items, submenus, and anything else you could think of are in this plugin. You’ll also be in full control of the menu style from the color to the font being used.

One of the most tedious parts of building menus is adding all of the individual links, but UberMenu can help with that. It can automatically fill in menu items for you by entering certain taxonomies like categories or tags.

Benefits of Using UberMenu

• Create Tabbed Submenus
• Over 100 Font Awesome Icons Included
• Add Custom Badges to Menu Items
• Choose From A Variety of Drop Down Transitions
• Insert Your Own Custom CSS

Drawbacks of UberMenu

• There Are No Free Options

6. WP Mega Menu

WP Mega Menu is one of the best plugins for WordPress when it comes to building large scalable menus. It utilizes a visual editor to allow you to move elements around and get them into the best position in seconds.

As such, you won’t need any coding skills to make the most of this plugin, which is ideal for beginners.

Design is really the bread and butter of WP Mega Menu, and you have a nearly endless amount of options at your disposal including layouts, fonts, colors, icons, and anything else you could put in a menu.

One of the standout features is the integration options with WooCommerce. In the Pro version, you can create product menus with pricing information and allow users to add items directly to their cart from the menu.

Benefits of Using WP Mega Menu

• Add Menus to Widget Areas
• Add Your Logo to Menus
• Includes Social Media Options
• Display Animation Effects In Menus
• Create Tabbed Submenus

Drawbacks of WP Mega Menu

• Premium version is For a One-Year License

7. JetMenu

JetMenu is one of the best premium menu plugins for WordPress. It has nearly every feature you can think of when it comes to menu creation and utilizes a drag-and-drop interface to ensure it is accessible to all users.

Perhaps the most noteworthy feature is support for both horizontal and vertical menus.

Horizontal menus are more traditional and work well on most sites, at least when users are on a desktop. On mobile devices, they can be hard to use, but vertical menus are ideal. It’s much easier to go up and down a page instead of horizontally.

Design-wise, JetMenu might just have the most options. Nothing makes that more apparent than the integration options for Elementor. You can insert these menus onto any page created with the Elementor page builder.

Benefits of Using JetMenu

• Add Transitions And Animations to Menus
• Create Menus to Show Off WooCommerce Products
• Supports Hamburger Menus (3 Horizontal Lines)
• Control What Menu Items Appear on Desktop And Mobile
• Add Your Own Icons

Drawbacks of JetMenu

• No Free Option is Available

8. QuadMenu

When it comes to the best free menu plugins in WordPress, QuadMenu easily makes the list. It offers stunning design options thanks to a drag-and-drop menu builder that is perfect for users of all skill levels.

And no matter what you build with it, you can rest easy that it will look great on mobile devices.

The plugin focuses on providing a way to build mega menus, tab menus, and carousel menus. In terms of layout, you have complete freedom to create columns and rows as needed, add icons, and more.

Since it is all done through the editor, you won’t need any coding skills to get great results. It’s also worth pointing out that this plugin supports both horizontal and vertical menus, so you get the best of both worlds.

Benefits of Using QuadMenu

• Show or Hide Menu Items Depending on the Screen Size
• Add Dropdown Animations
• Supports Font Awesome Icons
• Easily Change colors and Fonts to Match Your Theme
• Add WordPress Widgets to Your Menus

Drawbacks of QuadMenu

• Carousel Features Are Locked Behind Premium

9. Advanced Sidebar Menu

Advanced Sidebar Menu is easily one of the best menu plugins for WordPress. And as the name implies, it focuses on adding menus to your sidebar. This is great for showing related post content or content by category or other taxonomies.

As you might expect from sidebar content, this plugin utilizes a widget to display the menus.

The plugin allows you to show children of the current page or post, or alternatively, you can use it to display posts or pages that share the same category. You also have the option to exclude some content from appearing.

To do this, you would just need to enter the page or post ID into the respective exclude box and it will not appear. In the case a child page also has a child page, it will appear indented underneath it.

Benefits of Using Advanced Sidebar Menu

• The Pro Version Adds A Navigation Menu Block
• Enable Accordion View To Prevent Long Lists
• Add Icons to Your Menu Items
• Priority Support Is Available In the Pro Version
• Includes English French, German, and Spanish Translations

Drawbacks of Advanced Sidebar Menu

• Features Are Very Limited In the Free Version

10. Hero Mega Menu

Closing out this list of the best menu plugins for WordPress is Hero Mega Menu. It is yet another terrific drag-and-drop menu builder for WordPress that can do just about anything when it comes to menu design.

One of the main focuses of this plugin is on integration with WooCommerce.

You can create full mega menus with your WooCommerce products on display. This can help you show off current sales or hot products on your site.

Hero Mega Menu also has a ton of options to help make the menu more accessible for users.

For example, if you have a lot of products on your page, scrolling back up to the top can be a real pain. You can avoid this by enabling the sticky menu with a single click. That way, it follows the user throughout the page.

Benefits of Using Hero Mega Menu

• Add Line Dividers Between Navigation Items
• Choose From Hundreds of Menu Icons
• Includes Three Different Search Fields
• Change the Color of Menu Items Separately
• Decorate Menus With CSS Gradients

Drawbacks of QuadMenu

• No Free Version is Available

FAQs for Managing Menus

Improve Your WordPress Menu With These Plugins

As you can see, WordPress has an excellent selection of menu plugins to choose from. Improving your website’s navigation helps improve the user experience and can be used to guide users to the content you want them to see.

You’ll also need to be mindful of the devices visitors use to view your content. A good menu for desktop users is not always good on mobile devices. Creating a menu for each device requires more work, but can greatly improve your site.

The plugins on this list offer unique solutions, so be sure to find the ones that best suit your needs and design philosophies.

Do you think WordPress should have more menu options? Do you use sticky menus on your website?

The post 10 Best WordPress Menu Plugins to Expand Navigation appeared first on GreenGeeks Blog.

Most importantly, they can help you build a dedicated user base. As a result, users will come back to your website to interact with one another instead of just your content, which can be a huge boon to your website.

Today, we are going to see what the best forum plugins on WordPress are to promote that interaction.

Our Picks for the Best Forum Plugins

1. bbPress

When it comes to creating forums in WordPress, there are few plugins that can match the power and versatility of bbPress. The goal of this plugin is to allow users of any skill level to build forums in WordPress and it is free to use.

It even has its own free theme you can use to get the most out of it, but rest assured that it works with any theme.

With this plugin, forums are easy to create, and more importantly, maintain. The truth is that you will end up spending a lot of time maintaining your forums from low-effort posts, spam, and just general moderation. This plugin can help with all of that.

One of the coolest things about bbPress would be how well the community has received this plugin. There are a ton of free extensions for bbPress that you can use to add extra functionality to it.

For instance, one of them will allow you to make your forum a members-only platform.

Benefits of Using bbPress

• Supports Multisite Forums
• Lightweight Design Ensures Speed
• Completely Free To Use (No Premium Version)
• Built By The Same Team Behind WP Core
• Supports CAPTCHA Through Extensions

Drawbacks of bbPress

• The Core Plugin is Basic, You’ll Need to Install Extensions

2. wpForo Forum

The wpForo Forum plugin is easily among the best forum plugins for WordPress. It is extremely versatile in terms of function and design. As such, it is a great choice for any website looking to add a forum in WordPress.

The free version includes basic forum features, but the real power is available in the premium version.

This plugin has three main forum modes that include simplified, extended, and question-and-answer. Combining these with the other customization options available gives you complete control over how your forum will look.

In terms of usability, this plugin is great when you have the premium version. You can utilize a drag-and-drop forum design to move threads around as needed and offers popular forum features like polls and more. This is one of the best options for WordPress.

Benefits of Using wpForo Forum

• Allow Users to Earn Forum Badges
• Integrates With BuddyPress
• Make It Easy to Share on Social Media with Share Buttons
• Built-in Forum Caching System
• Supports Live User Notifications

Drawbacks of wpForo Forum

• The Free Version Is Very Basic And Lacks Common Features

3. Answers

Asking and answering questions is easily the most popular use of the internet, and that will probably never change. One of the best ways to make your site one of the best places to do this is to build a Q&A forum with Answers.

This plugin allows you to build a Quora-like forum in WordPress where users can post questions and receive answers.

It is a premium plugin that is full of awesome features that you can take advantage of. For example, one of the latest features is ChatGPT integration. You can set it up so that AI answers the question in certain categories on your forums.

Of course, there are more traditional features like notifications. You can receive live notifications when new posts are made on the forums themselves, or opt in to email notifications for specific posts, or entire forum categories.

Benefits of Using Answers

• Charge Users to Ask A Question
• Users Can Vote What the Best Answer Is
• Categorize Your Questions
• Allow Question Editing
• Include A Bad Word Filter

Drawbacks of Answers

• No Free Version or Free Trial
• No reCAPTCHA Option to Combat Spam

4. Asgaros Forum

Asgaros Forum is an amazing forum plugin for WordPress that allows you to expand and enhance your community. It focuses on being an easy-to-understand system that allows developers of all skill levels to build robust forums.

When it comes to pricing, you’ll be pleased to know that this plugin is completely free. No premium version, or extensions.

As such, you get all of the features from the get-go. In fact, many of the features are similar to what you would expect from premium tools. This includes things like file uploads, polls, forum searching, polling, and more.

It also comes with some great shortcode options to help you place specific parts of your forums on pages.

For instance, maybe you want to create a page about a specific topic. Well, you can use the shortcode to include forum posts about that category.

Benefits of Using Asgaros Forum

• Allows Users to Mention Each Other
• Assign Moderator Role to Other Users
• Add Ranks and Levels to Your Forum
• Customize The Forum Appearance With Code
• Users Can Add Reactions to Posts

Drawbacks of Asgaros Forum

• Lacks Additional Functionality

5. Forum Engine

Forum Engine is a very unique entry on this list because it is actually not a plugin, but instead a full-fledged theme for forums. However, it comes fully equipped with a ready-to-use forum that is professionally designed.

As such, that gives it a pretty big advantage over some of the other entries on this list.

You might expect it to be a weaker option, but that really isn’t the case. It includes all of the features you would expect from a premium forum plugin like style options, a user badge system, live notifications, and so much more.

More importantly, this is all baked right into your theme so there are no compatibility issues or weird design quirks to worry about. It is easily one of the best forum solutions for WordPress even if it is only a theme.

Benefits of Using Forum Engine

• Works Great as a Subdomain for Your Website
• Translation Ready with WPML Support
• Search Forums With Ajaz Live Search
• Excellent Mobile Design
• User-Friendly Design

Drawbacks of Forum Engine

• It’s a Theme Not a Plugin, So You’ll Need to Transfer Content to It

6. Discussion Board

Discussion Board is another one of the best forum plugins for WordPress that is easy to use and brings a lot to the table. Although, you will need the premium version to unlock a lot of the features this plugin offers.

With that said, the main strength of this plugin would be its simplicity.

You won’t need any coding skills or have to go through a long setup process. Instead, everything is quick and easy from start to finish. When it comes to design, the base version is very minimal, which makes it easily fit into any website.

However, with the premium version, you can style the forum however you want and even features a WYSIWYG editor. Discussion Board also comes with a great selection of shortcodes to add certain elements anywhere in WordPress like a login option.

Benefits of Using Discussion Board

• Easily Change the Forum Colors
• Limit Posting By Time To Reduce Spam
• One Click Setup
• Set Stauses for Posts as Open/Closed, Answered/Unanswered, etc.
• Users Can Follow Topics

Drawbacks of Discussion Board

• The Free Version is Too Basic for Many

7. Simple:Press

Simple:Press is another powerful forum plugin for WordPress that gives you a lot of creative freedom when it comes to forums. And it really shows visually as this plugin may just create the most appealing forums on this list.

This is a freemium plugin where you can use the base plugin for free, but it also includes a big library of premium add-ons.

Each of these add-ons brings a unique feature to the table. For example, you can use the Threading add-on to show replies underneath the post they are replying to. With over 70 add-ons to choose from, there are a lot of options.

Perhaps one of the more interesting and useful features of this plugin is the availability of forum statistics. You can see how active your posts are, how many times users have ever replied, and other interesting tidbits.

Benefits of Using Simple:Press

• Supports User Signatures
• Receive Email Notifications For Replies
• Create Private Forums
• Include Math CAPTCHA
• Members Can Customize Profiles

Drawbacks of Simple:Press

• The Add-Ons Are Very Expensive

8. Sabai Discuss

Sabai Discuss is one of the best premium forum plugins for WordPress. It focuses on providing a Questions and Answers forum format in the same vein as Quora. While it is a premium plugin, it is also on the cheaper side with a price tag of $24.

As you might expect from a premium tool, it comes with a plethora of useful abilities that your forum can take advantage of.

Since the focus is on questions and answers, users can close the post after they have received an answer. This helps prevent a question from getting multiple duplicate answers. Each user can also vote on what answer is the best answer.

This allows users to build up a reputation, which can help instill confidence in the answers a user receives on your forums. You can create categories to better filter questions and improve the search functionality of the forum.

Benefits of Using Sabai Discuss

• Search the Forums By Keywords, Categories, and More
• Users Can Build Profile Pages
• Forums Are Fully Translatable
• Includes 10 Email Notification Templates
• Allow Users to Reopen A Question

Drawbacks of Sabai Discuss

• The Forum Design Is Very Simple
• There Is Not a Free Version

9. ForumWP

Closing out this list of the best forum plugins for WordPress is ForumWP. It is another fantastic option to consider using when constructing a forum section for your website.

It is also natively responsive, which ensures your forums look great on any screen size.

One of the more interesting features for users would be the ability to see how active a forum post is. They can see the number of views it received, how many replies, the number of likes, and other information.

It’s worth pointing out that while you can make a general public forum with this plugin, you can also create individual forums as well. This is useful if you sell products and want to create a forum for a specific product.

Benefits of Using ForumWP

• Users Can Send Private Replies
• Bookmark Posts
• Moderate Posts From The Frontend
• Users Can Vote or Leave Likes
• Lightweight Design for Fast Load Times

Drawbacks of ForumWP

• The Pro Version Is a Bit On the Pricey Side

FAQs About Maintaining Forums

Build A WordPress Forum Today with These Plugins

As you can see, WordPress has a great selection of forum plugins to choose from. These plugins range from free to premium so it’s really all about finding what works for your website and what doesn’t.

As such, you should test them before implementing anything on your site and listen to feedback. After all, if users find it tedious to use a forum, or feel like it lacks basic features, they will probably not come back.

In any event, I hope this list helps you find the best forum plugin for your WordPress site.

Did you gamify your forum? Has adding a forum helped improve user engagement?

The post 9 Best WordPress Forum Plugins to Engage Visitors appeared first on GreenGeeks Blog.

Caching allows you to store data that is frequently accessed to deliver it to visitors when they visit your website. For example, most users access a website through the homepage, thus it is a great page to cache.

Since caching is an integral part of maintaining the performance of your website, WordPress has a lot of caching plugins you can choose from. Today, we are going to see the best options you can use in WordPress.

What is Caching?

Caching is a high-speed data storage technique that stores commonly accessed data so it can be delivered faster when accessed. This technique is used for static content like text and images. If content is updated regularly, it is possible to deliver an out-of-date cached version.

For this reason, it is imperative to always keep the cached version updated when changes are made.

For example, imagine the homepage of your website. It is typically the page with the most traffic, as such, it is accessed more regularly than all of the other content on your site. By caching it, you are storing a copy of it that users can load faster.

Caching is what allows for websites to be accessed in less than a second and can make or break your site’s performance.

As such, it is imperative that every website have a caching plugin. Here are some of the best options in WordPress.

Our Picks for the Best Caching Plugins

1. LiteSpeed Cache

LiteSpeed Cache is the most popular caching plugin in WordPress with over 4 million active installs. It has achieved this popularity by being one of the best caching plugins for WordPress and providing most of its features for free.

Combine this with the fact that it is easy to use, you really do have the best caching plugin for WordPress.

When I say this plugin is easy to use, I really mean it. You can enable it by just toggling on a switch. Of course, there are more advanced options for experienced web developers, and it even offers server-side caching for free.

LiteSpeed Cache goes beyond just caching, as it is an all-in-one solution for improving site performance in WordPress. For example, this plugin implements lazy loading on your site. This causes images to only load when they are visible to reduce initial load times.

Benefits of Using LiteSpeed Cache

• Minifies CSS, JavaScript, and HTML
• Supports WebP Image Format
• Supports Memcached, LSMCD, and Redis Object Cache
• Database Optimizations
• Separate Desktop And Mobile Caching

Drawbacks of LiteSpeed Cache

• The Plugin Is Free, But The LightSpeed Servers Are Not
• The Sheer Number Of Features Can Be Overwhelming

2. WP Rocket

WP Rocket is another massively popular caching plugin for WordPress. And that is because it was designed for beginners. You’ll only need to press a single button and caching is enabled on your site.

Also, it will choose the best settings for your site to help boost performance. This means you don’t need any technical knowledge whatsoever to set up caching with WP Rocket.

One of the best aspects of WP Rocket is that it is geared towards eCommerce sites. It knows to never cache the Checkout, Cart, or related pages, as this can interfere with the entire process if an older version is loaded.

In terms of site performance, WP Rocket is easily among the top caching plugins for WordPress. It can dramatically speed up your website and even handles image optimization, enables lazy loading, and much more.

Benefits of Using WP Rocket

• No Setup, It Works After Activation
• Excellent Customer Support
• Cache Preloading
• Gzip Compression
• Integrates With CDNs

Drawbacks of WP Rocket

• There Is No Free Version
• Does Not Offer A Trial

3. WP-Optimize

WP-Optimize is a free caching and optimization plugin for WordPress. Its main focus is speeding up your website, and it certainly gets results, which is why over one million WordPress sites use it.

Since it is free to use, you lose nothing by giving it a shot.

When it comes to compression, this plugin is powerful. It detects when pages are loaded and creates static HTML files that are delivered to the next visitor that accesses the page.

This reduces the strain on your server and improves load times.

The other half of this plugin is all about optimization. This starts with cleaning the database where unused and temporary files are removed, defrags the MySQL tables, compresses images, and much more. It really is an all-in-one solution.

Benefits of Using WP-Optimize

• Auto Compresses Images
• Restore Original Images Before Compression
• Combine And Minify CSS and JS
• Implements Lazy Loading
• Premium Support Available

Drawbacks of WP-Optimize

• Lacks Advanced Cache Options
• Disables Some Features If InnoDB tables Are Detected

4. WP Fastest Cache

WP Fastest Cache is one of the best caching plugins for WordPress with over one million active installs. As the name implies, it strives to deliver the fastest caching experience, and while that may or may not be true, it is still pretty fast.

Most importantly, this plugin starts off as free to use, which makes it great for new websites looking to save some money.

As your website grows, you can purchase the premium version to get more features. Speaking of features, this plugin has a lot to offer.

For example, whenever you publish a new post or page, the plugin will automatically clear the cache.

This ensures that the newest version of those posts and pages are delivered to visitors. It’s worth pointing out that the settings of this plugin just boil down to checking or unchecking boxes. This makes it extremely easy to use for beginners.

Benefits of Using WP Fastest Cache

• Minify CSS, JS, and HTML
• Implements Lazy Loading
• Combine CSS to Reduce Requests
• Block Caching Certain Pages With Shortcode
• Leverage Browser Caching

Drawbacks of WP Fastest Cache

• The UI Isn’t Great
• Uses A Credit System For Image Optimization

5. W3 Total Cache

W3 Total Cache is another popular option in WordPress with over one million active installs. It focuses on improving your site performance through a myriad of features and optimization techniques.

As such, the experience can be a bit overwhelming due to the sheer number of options, but when done right, it is unmatched.

Unlike some of the other plugins on this list, this one isn’t for beginners. You will need to configure how caching works on your site, but this can have better results when done right compared to the automated setup that other plugins offer.

In fact, W3 Total Cache boasts that websites could see a 10x increase in performance depending on the configuration. It is worth noting that W3 Total Cache can integrate with CDNs to boost performance and save bandwidth.

Benefits of Using W3 Total Cache

• Support For AMP
• Minify CSS, JS, And HTML Files
• Supports Redis, Memcached, And More
• Instantly Deliver Repeat Pages Through Browser Caching
• Implements Lazy Loading

Drawbacks of W3 Total Cache

• Pricing Isn’t Great For Multiple Sites
• Setup And Configuration Are Not Simple

6. WP Super Cache

WP Super Cache is yet another excellent caching plugin for WordPress with over one million active installs. It delivers static HTML pages that are easier to load, which can significantly speed up your WordPress site.

This plugin was built with all skill levels in mind. It offers several setup methods that are ideal for virtually everyone from beginners to advanced users.

For example, if you are a beginner and don’t really know much about caching, the Simple option will take care of most things for you. Whereas if you are more experienced, you can dial settings up manually to get the best results.

When it comes to performance, this plugin is one of the best and it can preload as many posts as you enable the feature on. This can help you rapidly deliver your most popular posts to ensure users have the best experience possible.

Benefits of Using WP Super Cache

• CDN Support
• Regularly Deletes Old Files to Save Space
• Includes Three Web Hooks
• Comments Are Updated Immediately On Cached Content
• Does Not Cache Content Accessed By Bots

Drawbacks of WP Super Cache

• Complex Setup
• Utilizes Complex Technical Language

7. Redis Object Cache

While Memcached has continued to be the most popular caching method in WordPress for a long time, it is losing ground to Redis. It specializes in object caching and the Redis Object Cache plugin is the best way to implement it in WordPress.

When it comes to setup, it doesn’t get any easier than this. All you need to do is install the plugin, activate it, and enable caching.

However, if something does go wrong, you will find the plugin is a bit more complicated to use. It provides a ton of information in the Diagnostics section, but if you are not knowledgeable about caching and WordPress, it can be a headache.

Oddly enough, while many caching plugins focus on boosting performance, few actually show you how much faster your site is, that’s not the case here. This plugin shows you the average time it takes for pages to load in the Metrics section.

Benefits of Using Redis Object Cache

• View Several Stats In The Metrics Section
• Fully Compliant With WordPress API
• Optimized for WooCommerce
• Secure Connection With TLS
• Easy Setup

Drawbacks of Redis Object Cache

• Redis Requires More Server Memory to Use
• Not All Web Hosts Support Redis

8. Autoptimize

Autoptimize is another great caching solution for WordPress. It focuses on simplifying the process to ensure that developers at any skill level can keep their website running fast. It also includes a suite of optimization tools that your website can take advantage of.

For these reasons and more, Autoptimize is one of the best caching plugins for WordPress.

The main advantage of this plugin would be the automation behind it. After installing and activating the plugin, it really will take care of the rest with minimal input from the developer.

That said, customization options do exist for those seeking them.

The rest of the tools Autoptimize brings to the table are numerous and focus on speeding up your site. For example, it can help you set up lazy loading for your images, which are the number one culprit behind slow load times.

That’s just one example of the many elements that drive Autoptimize.

Benefits of Using Autoptimize

• Minifies CSS, HTML, and JS scripts
• Control the order that scripts run
• Removes WordPress core emojis
• Optimizes WebP images
• Improves Google Fonts

Drawbacks of Autoptimize

• Does not automatically purge the cache

9. 10Web Booster

The 10Web Booster plugin focuses on optimizing websites for speed, thus it is not solely a caching plugin. Instead, it provides a suite of tools that are aimed at speeding up WordPress, which include caching tools.

While it is not as robust as a dedicated caching plugin, it will help you achieve the same results.

10Web Booster utilizes a variety of caching techniques to improve site performance. They include page cache for HTML, file cache, smart cache invalidation, session-aware and browser-aware caching, and device and cookie-aware caching.

Of course, this is only part of what this plugin brings to the table. It also has several tools that focus on image optimization, optimizing font usage, video and image lazy loading, and much more.

If you are looking to give your website a speed boost, 10Web Booster is for you.

Benefits of Using 10Web Booster

• Automated processes help sites achieve over a 90 in Pagescore
• HTML, JS, and CSS minification
• Defer JS and CSS execution
• Optimize how fonts load
• Convert images to WebP format

Drawbacks of 10Web Booster

• Not a full caching plugin
• Small learning curve

10. Hummingbird

Hummingbird is yet another all-in-one optimization plugin for WordPress that offers a buffet of options for developers to improve their site performance. Naturally, this means it also has caching tools your site can take advantage of.

As such, it is easily one of the best caching plugins for WordPress that anyone can use.

Hummingbird has one of the most impressive UIs on this list. It helps simplify the process by always helping users find what they need, and explaining what each option actually does. That said, you don’t have to do much, as the plugin does most of the work for you.

When it comes to caching, Hummingbird has a full suite that can help your site load fast. This includes full-page caching, browser caching, and even Gravatar caching to ensure your website is running as fast as possible.

It offers both a free and premium version, so there is something for everyone.

Benefits of Using Hummingbird

• Implements lazy loading for images
• GZIP compression
• Plugin tips help you navigate the settings
• Performs a performance scan
• Minification of scripts

Drawbacks of Hummingbird

• Plugin tips are helpful but can get annoying
• The Pro version is a monthly subscription

11. Speed Optimizer

Closing out this list of the best caching plugins for WordPress would be the Speed Optimizer plugin. It is a completely free plugin that can help boost your site speed by 20% when configured correctly. Luckily, this is easy to do thanks to an excellent UI.

For this reason, the plugin has become very popular in the WordPress community with over 1 million active installs.

When it comes to caching, Speed Optimizer does it perfectly. It has several caching tools and configurations to choose from including dynamic caching, file-based caching, Memcached, and much more. There are also several automatic processes that manage this for you.

That said, manual options exist for those who are interested.

Speed Optimizer also includes several front-end optimizations that help improve the speed and performance of your website. For instance, it has image compression functionality with WebP format support.

Benefits of Using Speed Optimizer

• Supports Lazy Loading for images and videos
• Automatically resize larger images
• Allows you to run Google PageSpeed and see results
• Minify CSS files
• Optimizes fonts

Drawbacks of Speed Optimizer

• While it can be seen as a positive to some, there is no Pro version

FAQs About WordPress Caching Plugins

Speed Up WordPress With Caching Plugins Today

As you can see, WordPress has a huge selection of great caching plugins to choose from. Each one works slightly differently, so some tools may work better than others in some situations. The important part is that you have at least one active.

Most users will leave a website if it takes too long to load and it negatively impacts your website’s search engine rankings. As such, maintaining a fast website is probably the most important aspect of modern web design.

What is your favorite caching plugin for WordPress? Did you notice a site performance increase after installing a caching plugin?

The post 11 Best WordPress Caching Plugins to Boost Site Performance appeared first on GreenGeeks Blog.

These tools allow you to display event information on that date in an easy-to-read fashion. Calendars are also quite intuitive to use, which makes them a great choice for beginners, not to mention most people know how to read a calendar.

WordPress does include a native Calendar block in Gutenberg. However, it is simply a static image of a month and lacks the ability for you to enter upcoming events or available office hours. Thus, it isn’t very useful.

Luckily, WordPress is home to a ton of great calendar plugins that can do this. Here are some of the best ones on the platform:

1. The Events Calendar

Without a doubt, the Events Calendar is the most popular calendar plugin for WordPress. And it’s for a very simple reason, it is the best. It provides a plethora of features that websites can take advantage of and can be placed anywhere on your website.

Perhaps one of its best features is the ability for users to place Google Maps within an event. This way, visitors will be able to see the date, time, and be able to get directions.

If you want to show off an upcoming product, you can add a “Buy Now” button to the calendar.

Benefits of Using The Events Calendar

• This plugin is translation ready so visitors from around the globe can understand your events
• Export your calendar to Google Calendar and other calendar systems
• Choose between calendar view or list view for your entries
• Place the calendar in your posts, pages, or widget area using a dedicated block
• Supports all types of content like text, images, video, and more

2. Booking Calendar

Many offices need to make appointments for customers or allow customers to book their own online. In either case, the Booking Calendar is one of the best options available due to its simplicity.

You can configure the plugin to include the necessary input fields from customers (name, phone number, email, etc.), which makes it work in any scenario.

It also includes spam protection with reCAPTCHA to ensure only humans are making appointments.

Benefits of Using Booking Calendar

• Color code your calendar to reflect what days you are open and closed
• Updates in real-time to avoid duplicate appointments
• Import Google Calendar events to quickly fill out the calendar
• Store all bookings in your database so no additional subscriptions are necessary
• Include seasonal pricing options when you upgrade to the premium version

3. Simple Calendar – Google Calendar Plugin

Many people rely on Google Calendar to keep track of events on their cell phones, which is why it is one of the most popular options out there. You can use the Simple Calendar to bring that same functionality to WordPress.

As a result, you can actually create all of your events within Google Calendar and just automatically import them to your WordPress website with this plugin.

On top of this, you are not limited to a single account, as you can import from multiple calendars and combine them.

Benefits of Using Simple Calendar

• Swap between daily, weekly, or monthly views to help identify openings
• Create color-coded calendars to help users identify different types of events or by who they are hosted by
• Receive email notifications if an event time is changed or a new event is added
• Display events in list mode to make event details easier to read
• This plugin includes priority email support to quickly answer any questions you have

4. Booking for Appointments and Events Calendar

The Bookings for Appointments and Events Calendar is another excellent booking system for WordPress. This plugin focuses on improving the user experience by providing an easy-to-use booking system that anyone can use.

The calendar works for anything from hair appointments to your next concert performance. The calendar can detect what time zone a user is in and adjust accordingly to ensure guests always have the right information.

Benefits of Using Booking for Appointments and Events Calendar

• Create confirmation messages for email notifications and via SMS
• This plugin is translation ready with over 20 languages supported
• Easily place the calendar on a post, page, or widget area by using a shortcode
• Define how long each type of appointment will take to ensure that appointments do not overlap
• Setup events to only allow a certain number of bookies to avoid overbooking

5. My Calendar

The My Calendar plugin for WordPress is built for beginners. It is easy to use for both developers and regular users looking to book an appointment.

With it, users can book or view events or appointments months in advance.

Users can even utilize a list view to display the dates and events with collapsible dates. That way, users can only see the information on specific dates to avoid confusion.

You can also color code the types of appointments or activities you are displaying.

Benefits of Using My Calendar

• Easily place different views of your calendar with a shortcode generator for easy placement
• Makes it easy to duplicate events for reoccurring events
• Import event information from CSV files for quick calendar generation
• Includes a “Share on Google Calendar” button to help visitors stay aware
• Includes Google Map links to help visitors find the location

6. Sugar Calendar

Sugar Calendar is a premium calendar plugin for WordPress that focuses on delivering a feature-rich experience, while also keeping things simple and intuitive. And good news, it achieves all of this.

It handles everything from event planning to regular bookings. Users can also share events through Google Calendar for more convivence.

One of Sugar Calendar’s more powerful features would be its event ticketing, which allows you to sell tickets to events through the calendar.

Benefits of Using Sugar Calendar

• Integrates with WPForms to allow for event submissions into your calendar
• Utilize WooCommerce or Stripe to sell tickets to visitors
• Sync Sugar Calendar with Google Calendar
• Create start and end times for events to help prevent overlapping bookings
• Duplicate recurring events to save time when adding them to the calendar

7. WP Simple Booking Calendar

The WP Simple Booking Calendar plugin for WordPress is another excellent solution if your business needs a booking solution. It allows users to book appointments or rooms at your business and offers a color coding system.

For example, you can make days you are closed red and days you are open green. You can also use another color if the day is fully booked.

It is quite a simple plugin, but if you need a calendar for booking appointments, there are not many that do it better.

Benefits of Using WP Simple Booking Calendar

• Choose from a long list of languages to accommodate more visitors
• Choose from a selection of calendar overlays to better match your website
• Highlight the current day to help focus attention and prevent booking on the wrong day
• Hide users booking info from other users
• Export booking dates to CSV files for better record keeping

8. WP Event Manager

The WP Event Manager plugin is a full-blown event planning solution for WordPress. It helps you list upcoming events with a calendar, which includes registration forms for users to sign up with and even allows you to sell tickets with WooCommerce integration.

This makes it a great choice for any event that needs to sell tickets for attendance.

Of course, you could just focus on the events calendar itself, as even without all of the other functions, it is packed with features that are sure to be a hit in WordPress.

Benefits of Using WP Event Manager

• Gain access to a wide array of payment gateways through WooCommerce integration
• Create event listing directly from your WordPress dashboard
• Users can use filters to help narrow the events they see (location, time, instructor, etc.)
• This plugin is translation ready to help you create international events
• Purchase a Google Maps add-on to add Google Maps to your event listings

9. Timely All-in-One Events Calendar

The Timely All-In-One Events Calendar plugin is another great option for WordPress sites. As the name suggests, it does everything from creating calendar views of upcoming events to selling the tickets guests will need to attend (add-on required).

It can help you create listings for any type of event from basic appointments, concerts, digital checkups, virtual conferences, and just about anything else you can imagine that would need a calendar or booking system.

It’s a great option for WordPress users.

Benefits of Using Timely All-In-One Events Calendar

• Include social share buttons on events to help users share them with friends and family
• Customize the way the calendar is viewable with custom CSS code
• If you have recurring events, you can duplicate existing ones to help save time
• This plugin is optimized for SEO and utilizes the best practices
• Choose from multiple display options to better suit your brand

10. Essential Addons for Elementor

Elementor is one of the most popular ways to create pages in WordPress. Due to its popularity, there are a variety of add-ons you can purchase that give you even more features to work with.

Essential Addons for Elementor is a popular option that adds an event calendar.

This plugin allows you to integrate an events calendar into any page you have built with Elementor, thus it is a no-brainer for many sites.

The calendar is simple to use but includes all of the basic features one would expect.

Benefits of Using Essential Addons for Elementor

• Integrates with Google Calendar and other popular calendar apps
• Choose between daily, weekly, monthly, or list views to better suit your customers
• Style your calendar with a variety of customization options
• Integrates with the Events Calendar plugin to import calendars
• Color code events to help visitors zero in on what they are looking for

11. ICS Calendar

Closing out this list of the best calendar plugins for WordPress is ICS Calendar. This plugin focuses on converting existing calendars you may already be using like Google Calendar, Office 365, and more into WordPress calendars.

If a calendar produces a public iCalendar subscription link, it can be converted into a WordPress calendar with this plugin.

You can manually edit any calendar or even create one from scratch if necessary. Overall, it’s a great way to use your favorite tool and bring it to WordPress through integration.

Benefits of Using ICS Calendar

• Combine multiple calendars to create one calendar that contains all of your events or appointments
• Place calendars anywhere a shortcode can be placed (pages, posts, widget areas, etc.)
• Supports a variety of language options to ensure more users can read the calendar
• Syncs with the original calendar to show updates and changes when they are made
• A detailed user guide can help you locate the necessary sync code from other calendar apps

Make Sure Your Calendar Is Readable

You might have noticed that many of the options on this list include color coding options. And there’s a good reason as they improve the visibility of events, which makes the overall calendar easier to read.

Unfortunately, even something as basic as a calendar can be hard to read when it is full of text, images, maps, and other types of content. Color coding the content to help it stand out is very effective.

For example, if you run a gym, you might have fitness courses taught throughout the week. The courses may be the same, but some users may prefer different instructors. Thus, color coding them by the instructor may help visitors identify the courses they want to attend.

This logic can be applied to just about anything, thus, it can be a great option to help keep calendars readable.

Help Organize Events With A Calendar Today

As you can see, WordPress has a ton of calendar and booking systems that can help your business or organization run events. Calendars are great at displaying information and at helping users find out where and when the next event is.

More importantly for you, they are really easy to manage. Many of the options on this list are compatible with popular calendar solutions like Google Calendar, which can help you import your own calendars to WordPress in just a few clicks.

By using any of the plugins on this list, you will be able to build or import calendars in and off of WordPress.

What is your favorite calendar plugin for WordPress? Do you think the native Calendar block in WordPress is worth using?

The post 11 Best WordPress Calendar Plugins to Use in 2024 appeared first on GreenGeeks Blog.