Month: June 2019

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Important WordPress Plugin Abandoned? What to Do

Simple Tips to Prevent Stares in the Waiting Room
Yikes, an Important Plugin for my WordPress Theme has Been Abandoned!

If a plugin that is important to the look and feel of your WordPress website is abandoned, it is best to start looking for an alternative.

Recently in the news, several popular abandoned plugins were purchased and used to disseminate malware. It is not recommended to keep using a plugin that has been marked abandoned at WordPress.og. So what should you do?

One, search for alternatives using the plugin name. In many cases others just like you have had a similar problem and have created, found, or written about good alternative plugins. Do some research and see if you can find a good replacement option.

Two, be sure is has been abandoned by visiting WordPress.org. Look to see if there are comments that point you to alternatives.

Three, look actively for more than one alternative and test them before deciding on one. I am searching for a replacement for a client for the JP Widget Visibility and found this blog post with a nice review of over ten options.

Four, leave the abandoned plugin installed and take your chances that nothing will happen and your site will not be hacked. Just be aware that as WordPress updates, the plugin may stop working entirely.

This is a great article on other additional options to pursue at Nexcess Beyond Hosting.

 

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WordPress Themes Rely on Plugins What to Do When They Break

Don't Let Cash Run Out, Get Proactive
Is Your WordPress Website Costing You?

I like WordPress for blogs, but not for websites. Here’s one example of why I am not recommending WordPress for business websites.

Client A did a new website two years ago and moved to WordPress from PHP. They thought that they would be updating their content and so wanted an application that allowed staff to go in and make updates at will.

What happened in reality is that they never added their own content, they paid me to do updates. They had to buy a WordFence premium license to protect their WordPress website from hacking and then  pay a webmaster to monitor files and plugins for updates as well as do monthly maintenance.

Now, one of the plugins that is integral to the look and feel of their theme, has been abandoned at WordPress.com. Deactivating the plugin makes the inside pages look bad. There does not seem to be an easy fix replacement for the plugin. It maybe that the best solution is to replace the WordPress theme in the next year due to the loss of this important plugin.

Client B has a PHP-based responsive website that is not WordPress. They have used their website since 2015. It still rates over 90/100 on the Google Page Speed tool in mobile and desktop. This client simply wants a new look and so is looking for a similar PHP responsive site design.

I personally feel that WordPress has a place, but is not my preferred application for website design. Too many clients want to keep their new website three to five years or longer. If you have a WordPress website and a plugin is abandoned what would you do if one is not readily available as an alternative? You’d have to simply start over and buy new.

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E-Newsletters Still Have Value as Part of Your Marketing Plan

Google is mobile focused to the max
Make Sure Your e-Newsletter is in a Mobile-Friendly Format

E-newsletters have not gone out of fashion with savvy business owners, they are still a great way to keep your name in front of clients.

I cannot begin to tell you how many phone calls I get after sending out our newsletter where we feature an important website issue. Case in point is after one of our recent newsletters on the European GDPR, we had many past clients who were not regular customers ask us to implement the updates on their website.

Customers past and present do read your newsletter – but, only if the content provides value. By explaining an idea, analyzing a new strategy or highlighting a new technology in your newsletter you help clients to stay informed in a low pressure manner. Unless you are selling products online, I do not recommend making the newsletter content all about your services.

Becoming the “go-to” person for your clients builds repeat business and garners you referrals. If you have not subscribed to our own monthly e-newsletter, I invite you to subscribe right now.

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A Quick Refresher on the GDPR Privacy Controls for EU Visitors

How to Work with Remote Teams
Embrace Privacy with the EU Regulations

Since I last wrote about the privacy updates that are mandated by the EU to cover website traffic on American websites by EU nationals, much has happened.

First, clients who thought that they did not want to update their privacy policy or implement cookie approval for website statistic tracking have changed their minds.

Our team has been very busy updating websites to beef up the transparency of the privacy policy, reveal clearly what is being tracked on websites, offering ways to opt out of tracking, and installing cookie approval scripts on websites.

Several clients have shared their thoughts with us on why the sudden change. Some are listed below.

“I do feel lucky about not getting caught, but also want to be safe.”

“I’ve just had a lawyer call me and I feel like I need immediate action on the privacy updates as I don’t want to end up in court on a new matter.”

“I think it is stupid to do, but I am getting inundated with privacy policy updates from everyone that I do business with, that maybe I do need to do something to my website.”

As for me, my perspective is that it is not expensive or hard to do the implementation to be in compliance with the GDPR. I am risk adverse and feel that eventually the US will institute some controls so we will be ahead of the game by changing our own websites now.