Are you looking to add a passwordless login system to your website, such as magic links?
This will allow your users to log in to your WordPress website without needing to remember a password. They will simply click on a link that is sent to their email inbox to gain access to the site and their account.
In this article, we’ll show you how to add a passwordless login in WordPress with magic links.
What Is Passwordless Login?
You use passwords to keep our WordPress websites secure. By requiring each user to enter a username and password when logging in, you keep unauthorized users from visiting sensitive areas of your websites.
But passwords are hard to create and remember, and they can cause security issues. For example, users may make weak passwords that can be easily guessed or use the same password on multiple sites.
They may also be costing you money. 75% of users quit when they forget and need to reset their password, and 30% of customers abandon their shopping cart when prompted to create a password. Password problems also place a burden on your support team.
However, you may wish to avoid passwords altogether. A passwordless login system allows your users to log in to your website without entering a password.
What Are Magic Links?
Magic links are the most common method of passwordless login.
When logging in to your WordPress website, a user is asked for their username or email address. Next, a special link is sent to that email address, and the user just has to click on the link to be taken to your website and automatically logged in.
This form of passwordless login is secure because the link can only be used once and will expire after a certain number of minutes. Also, the link can only be found in the user’s email account, which confirms that the user is who they say they are.
This is different from a temporary login link that you would give to a plugin developer or security expert who needs to run tests on your website. In that case, the login solution is only temporary, and an email address does not need to be entered each time.
With that being said, let’s take a look at how to add a passwordless login in WordPress with Magic links.
How to Add Passwordless Login in WordPress with Magic Links
Note: In this tutorial, we’ll use the free plugin. There is also a Magic Login Pro plan that adds support and additional features such as brute force protection, login redirection, and the ability to customize the emails sent.
Upon activation, the plugin will automatically add a ‘Send me the login link’ button to your standard login screen. This will let your users sign in using their username (or email) and password if they remember it, or request a magic link if they don’t.
If there is a valid account on your website for the username or email address entered, then the user will receive an email with a link to log in.
The link will work for 5 minutes and then expire. If you need, you can change the link’s lifespan in the plugin’s settings, as we show below.
Note: If you or your users did not receive the email and it isn’t in your spam folder, then there may be a problem with your website’s email. You should take a look at our guide on how to fix WordPress not sending email issue.
If there is no account on your website with the username or email address that was entered, then an error message will be displayed instead.
Configuring the Magic Link Plugin
You can configure the Magic Link plugin by visiting Settings » Magic Login in your admin sidebar.
This page contains all of the options for the plugin, including premium options that can be used by Pro users.
The first option is called ‘Force Magic Login.’ When enabled, your users will not be given the option of signing in with a password.
They simply enter their username or email address and then click the ‘Send me the link’ button. A magic link will be emailed to their inbox.
Alternatively, you can use the shortcode [magic_login_form] to add a magic link login form to any page or widget. See our guide on how to add a shortcode in WordPress for details.
The second option is enabled by default and adds a magic login button to the standard login form. When this switch is toggled off, the magic link button is removed from that login form.
The next two options are related to security. By default, the Token Lifespan setting makes magic links expire after 5 minutes. We recommend keeping this setting short, but you could increase it to 10 or 20 minutes if your users have issues.
The Token Validity setting is set to 1 by default. This means that each magic link will work for a single login. We recommend you keep this setting.
Next comes a feature called ‘Auto Login Links.’ When enabled, a magic link will be added to all emails sent out by WordPress, such as WooCommerce order confirmations, automated coupons, and comment notifications. The user will be logged in automatically when responding to the email.
After that comes a number of premium features for Pro users. These include:
Brute Force Protection
Login Request Throttling
IP Check
Domain Restriction
Email Subject
Email Content
Login Redirection
There is also a button for all users that will reset the tokens.
Once you have finished configuring the plugin, make sure you click the ‘Update Settings’ button at the bottom of the page to store the settings.
Do you want to redact text on your WordPress website?
Redaction can be a way to share information with your visitors without hurting anyone’s privacy. You can even use it as an unusual paywall or a game where you challenge visitors to fill in the missing words.
In this article, we will show you how you can redact text in WordPress.
Why Redact Text in WordPress?
Redaction is where you edit text by blacking out sensitive parts of it. It is a way to share information and documents with the general public while keeping confidential and sensitive information private.
Redaction can help you share real world examples without breaking your privacy policy. For example, if you’re showing visitors how to write a great CV then you might want to include a few examples of real CVs you’ve received. You can use redaction to block out each applicant’s name, address, and other personal information.
When you redact text, that content still exists in your WordPress dashboard. This means you can easily remove the redaction at any point.
Redaction can also be an eye-catching way to preview the kind of content visitors can expect when they sign up to your WordPress membership site. Visitors can then buy a membership to remove the redaction and enjoy the full, uncensored version.
That being said, let’s see how you can easily redact text on your WordPress website.
How to Redact Text in WordPress
The easiest way to redact text in WordPress is by using Eyes Only. This plugin will replace any redacted text with a black block.
If the visitor highlights the block, then they’ll simply see the word REDACTED in white letters.
You can see an example of how this might look in the following image.
Another option is to automatically replace any word or phrase with an alternative chosen by you. For example, if you can’t use a client’s name on your small business website then you might replace the information with a more vague word such as ‘client.’
First, you’ll need to install and activate the plugin. If you need help, then please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
Then, click on the dotted icon in the top right corner and click on ‘Code editor.’
Next, find the piece of text that you want to redact. At the start of the text, type in the following tag:
[redact]
At the end of the redacted text, type in:
[/redact]
In the following image, we’re redacting ‘the Recipient.’
To redact more text just follow the same process described above.
If you want to switch back to the default plain text block editor at any point, then simply click on ‘Exit code editor.’
After adding tags to all the text that you want to redact, you can go ahead and publish or update the page.
Just be aware that the text won’t appear redacted while you’re logged into your WordPress account. To check that the text is redacted, you’ll either need to log out of your account or visit the page in an incognito tab in your web browser.
Another option is to automatically replace specific words with alternative words. This is useful if there’s a word that you never want to show on your site, such as the name of a confidential supplier or customer.
By configuring the plugin to automatically redact a word, you can make sure that information never shows up on your website. This automated workflow can also save you a lot of time and hard work.
Since it replaces each redacted word with an alternative word, this method can also make your pages easier to read and nicer to look at, particularly when compared to a page that has lots of blacked-out content.
To redact a word or phrase automatically, head over to Settings » Eyes Only. Then, go ahead and click on the ‘Add new’ button.
In the new ‘Text’ field, simply type in the text that you want to redact automatically. Just be aware that the text replacement is case sensitive.
In the ‘Replacement’ field, type in the text that you want to show instead of the redacted text.
In the following image, we’re replacing ‘Jane Smith’ with ‘Our Client.’
You can then go ahead and click on the ‘Add’ button.
If you want to automatically replace more words or phrases, then simply repeat the process described above.
As we already mentioned, the text replacement is case sensitive. If you want to redact a word no matter whether it’s capitalizated, you’ll need to create two separate text replacement rules.
One of these rules should replace the capitalized version, and another should replace the uncapitalized version, as you can see in the following image.
When you’re happy with the redaction rules you’ve created, click on the Save Changes button at the bottom of the screen.
The plugin will now scan your site and automatically replace any matches that it finds.
At some point you may no longer want to hide a particular word or phrase. In this case, you can simply delete the redaction rule. This will automatically remove the masking and show the original words across your WordPress blog.
To delete a redaction rule, simply go to Settings » Eyes Only.
Then, just hover the mouse over the rule that you want to delete and click on the ‘Delete’ link when it appears.
You will need to confirm that you want to delete the rule.
If you still want to go ahead, then click on ‘Yes.’
Finally, it’s time to click the ‘Save Changes’ button at the bottom. Now if you visit any page or post that has the original word, you’ll see that the plugin is no longer redacting the text.
Do you want to build an online question and answer community like Stack Overflow or Quora?
You can create a whole site dedicated to Q&A, or add a question and answer section to an existing WordPress site. No matter what approach you take, helpful questions and answers can improve the visitor experience and keep people on your website for longer.
In this article, we will show you how to easily create a question and answers site in WordPress.
Getting Started with a Question and Answer Website
To start your own question and answers website, you will need the following:
A domain name. This is the name of your website such as stackoverflow.com.
A web hosting account. This is where your website’s files are stored. All websites need web hosting.
A Content Management System. This is software that helps you create, publish, and manage all your questions and answers. For this guide, we’ll be using WordPress as it powers nearly 43% of all websites and gives you complete control over your content. To learn more about why we recommend WordPress to all our readers, please see our complete WordPress review with pros and cons.
Extra software, plugins, or tools. These add special question-and-answer features to your WordPress website.
How Much Does It Cost to Build a Question and Answer Website?
The answer to this question depends on the features you need, how many visitors you get, how much content you create, and lots of other factors.
To help you budget, we’ve created a complete guide on how much it really costs to build a website. However, typically the cost of building a website can range from anywhere between $100 per year to as high as $30,000 per year.
We recommend you start small and then add more features to your question-and-answer site as it grows and gets more popular. This helps you avoid spending too much on your site, before it starts making a profit.
That said, let’s see how you can build a successful Q&A website for under $100.
Although the WordPress software is free, hosting and domain names are where the costs can really start to add up.
A domain name typically costs $14.99/year and hosting costs start from $7.99/month. This is A LOT for new websites or anyone who is working with a limited budget.
Luckily, Bluehost has agreed to offer our users a free domain name and over 60% off on web hosting. Basically, you can get started for $2.75 per month.
Bluehost is one of the largest hosting companies in the world and an officially recommended WordPress hosting provider.
They’re also offering our readers a free SSL certificate so you have the option to accept payments online. This is perfect if you want to make money from your question and answer website in the future.
To buy a domain name and hosting, simply go to the Bluehost website in a new browser window and click on the green ‘Get Started Now’ button.
This will bring you to a pricing page where you can choose a hosting plan for your question-and-answer website.
We recommend choosing a Basic or Plus plan, as they’re the most popular web hosting plans among our readers.
After selecting a plan, click on ‘Continue.’
On the next screen, you’ll need to choose a domain name.
Ideally, the domain name will be easy to pronounce and spell, and easy to remember.
After choosing a name, click on the ‘Next’ button to continue.
Now you’ll need to provide your account information such as your name and business email address. After that, you’ll also see optional extras that you can purchase.
We generally don’t recommend purchasing these extras straight away, as you can always add them later on if you need them.
After that, simply type in your payment information to complete the purchase.
Once you’ve done that, you’ll get an email with instructions on how to log in to your web hosting control panel. This is your hosting account dashboard where you can manage your Q&A website, including setting up email notifications and asking for WordPress support, if you need it.
It’s also where you’ll install the WordPress software.
Step 2. Install WordPress on Your Question and Answer Website
When you signup with Bluehost using our link, you’ll get access to a one-click WordPress installer.
Simply log into your Bluehost account and click on ‘One Click Install.’
Here, you’ll see all the different software you can add to your account.
Simply find ‘WordPress’ and give it a click.
Here, just click on the ‘Install’ button.
You can now follow the onscreen instructions to install the WordPress software.
Once that process is finished, you can log in to the WordPress dashboard by simply going to yoursite.com/wp-admin/ directly from your browser.
After installing WordPress, you’ll typically want to change the default theme. WordPress themes are professionally designed templates that change how your site looks and acts.
Another option is to use a landing page builder plugin such as SeedProd.
SeedProd is the best drag-and-drop WordPress page builder and comes with built-in templates that you can use to build a professionally-designed question-and-answer website.
It even has a ready-made FAQ section that you can add to any page using drag and drop.
The easiest way to add question and answer features to your WordPress website is by using the AnsPress plugin. This plugin allows you to create a Stack Overflow-style question and answer site.
Even better, AnsPress automatically creates all the pages you need to launch a successful Q and A site.
This includes a page where visitors can type in their questions, in exactly the same way people use websites like Quora.
The first thing you need to do is install and activate AnsPress. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
Upon activation, AnsPress automatically adds question-and-answer pages to your WordPress website. To see these pages, head over to AnsPress »Settings in the WordPress dashboard.
Once there, you can select ‘General’ in the menu on the left-hand side.
This page lists all the different pages that AnsPress has created.
To take a closer look at any page, simply click on its ‘View page’ link.
The default AnsPress pages should be a good fit for most WordPress blogs and websites. However, you can always add your own content to these pages.
For example, you might add some text that encourages visitors to post their questions, and tells them when to expect an answer.
To add your own content to any AnsPress page, simply click on the ‘Edit page’ link next to it.
This opens the standard WordPress post editor where you can add text, images, and more.
As you can see, AnsPress adds all its content using shortcode, so don’t change this code in any way.
When you’re happy with the changes you’ve made, just click on ‘Update.’
You can edit any default AnsPress page by following the same process described above.
When you’ve finished, don’t forget to click on ‘Save Pages’ to store your settings.
By default, AnsPress adds the following message to all its pages: ‘Question and answer is powered by anspress.net.’ This can make your site look less professional.
It also links to the AnsPress site, which can hurt your pageviews and bounce rate by encouraging people to leave your site.
Because of that, it’s a good idea to remove this text by checking the box next to ‘Hide author credits’ and then clicking on ‘Save Changes.’
Now if you look at any AnsPress page, you’ll see the text has vanished.
With that done, scroll to the ‘Permalinks’ section in the AnsPress settings.
Here, you’ll see the permalink structure and settings that the plugin uses by default. These settings should work well for most websites, but you may be able to improve your WordPress SEO by making some small changes.
In the image below, each question will now use the slug /questions/wordpress-questions/question-name/ which will help us rank for the term ‘WordPress.’
If you do make any changes in this section, then don’t forget to click on ‘Save Changes.’
Next, it’s time to fine-tune the layout by scrolling to the ‘Layout’ section. Here, you’ll see that AnsPress shows the user’s Gravatar in a few different places including next to questions, answers, and comments.
You can change the size of these avatars by typing into the different boxes.
By default, AnsPress will show 20 questions per page and 5 answers per page. You can show more or less content by typing new numbers into the ‘Questions per page’ or ‘Answers per page’ box.
If you show fewer questions and answers per page, then users will need to scroll less. This is particularly helpful for visitors who are using smaller devices like smartphones and tablets. It can also speed up your WordPress performance since you’re loading less content.
Just be aware that most visitors expect to get the right answer on the first page, so you’ll want to show a reasonable number of answers per page.
When you’re happy with how your Q&A site is set up, click on the ‘Submit’ button.
Email notifications are an important part of running a successful question-and-answer website. They let admins know when customers or potential leads post a new question, and they also let users know when their question gets an answer.
In this way, emails can keep users engaged and help your Q&A site run more smoothly.
AnsPress comes with built-in email notifications that work out-of-the-box. However, it’s still smart to see whether there are any changes you want to make by clicking on the ‘Email’ link.
Here, you can see all the different emails that AnsPress will send automatically.
To enable or disable an email, simply click on the box next to it.
Pro Tip: You need to make sure all your Q&A emails go to the user’s email inbox and not to the spam folder. The best way to do this is by using an SMTP service provider to improve email deliverability. For more details, see our guide on how to fix WordPress not sending email issue.
As always, don’t forget to click on ‘Submit’ to save your changes.
Some question-and-answer sites are completely open to the public. This means that non-logged-in users can see the content, and may even be able to post questions and answers without creating an account.
Other Q&A sites are completely private or require user registration.
There are drawbacks and positives to the different approaches. A public question-and-answer site will typically get more traffic and engagement, but it may also get more spam and attract low-quality answers.
If you’re using questions and answers to make money online blogging with WordPress, then you may want to make some parts of your site members-only. This allows you to charge a subscription fee using a plugin like MemberPress.
Another option is allowing people to register with your website for free, so you can collect their email addresses. In this way, your question-and-answer site can help you do lead generation like a pro.
However you plan to use your question-and-answer site, it’s a good idea to review the posting permissions by selecting ‘User Access Control.’
Here, you can see all the different content that logged-in and non-logged-in users can access, and the actions they take. You can change these settings using the different dropdown menus.
You can also change whether questions and answers get posted automatically, or if they’re held for admin approval. By default, non-logged-in users can post questions and answers, but you’ll need to approve them manually in the admin area.
These settings are self-explanatory but they have a big impact on how your question-and-answer site runs. With that being said, it’s worth going through the different settings carefully and then making any changes.
If you do edit these settings, then don’t forget to click on the ‘Submit’ button.
AnsPress encourages users to engage with your site through gamification, by awarding reputation points for different actions. This reputation system works by default, but you can change how many points AnsPress awards for each action by selecting ‘Reputations.’
Here, you’ll see all the different actions and their reputation points.
To award more or less points for an action, simply type a new number into its box. When you’re happy with how the reputation system is set up, click on Save Events Points.
There are some more settings you may want to look through, but this should be enough to help you set up a successful question-and-answer website.
When you’re happy with how the plugin and pages are set up, it’s a good idea to add them to your website’s navigation menu so visitors can find them.
If you need reminding about all the different pages that AnsPress added to your site, then simply go to AnsPress »Settings and then click on the ‘Pages’ link.
Managing Your Question Answer Site
At this point, your site is ready to start accepting questions and answers from users. However, depending on how your Q&A site is set up, you may need to manually approve some, or all, of these posts.
By default, AnsPress will email the WordPress admin about any questions or answers that need manual approval. You’ll also see notifications in the admin dashboard.
To manually approve an answer or question, simply click on either ‘All Questions’ or ‘All Answers’ in the left-hand menu.
You can then hover your mouse over the post that you want to review and click on ‘View.’
This will show a preview of how the question or answer will look on your website.
If you’re happy to make it live, then click on the small cog icon and then select ‘Published.’
If you don’t want to publish the post, then select ‘Delete’ or ‘Delete Permanently’ instead.
Do you want to add an HTML sitemap page in WordPress?
Unlike XML sitemaps that are submitted to search engines for better crawling, HTML sitemaps present an organized list of your pages and posts for your website visitors.
In this article, we’ll show you how to add an HTML sitemap page in WordPress.
What’s the Difference Between XML and HTML Sitemaps?
An XML sitemap is a file that lists your website content in an XML format for search engines like Google and others.
On the other hand, an HTML sitemap is for your actual website visitors. It is a simple page that lists all your posts and pages in an organized way.
Now that you know the difference, let’s take a look at how to add an HTML sitemap page to WordPress using two different WordPress plugins. You can use the quick links below to jump straight to the method you want to use.
Method 1. Add HTML Sitemap Page in WordPress With All in One SEO
We recommend using the All in One SEO plugin to add an HTML sitemap page in WordPress. It’s the best WordPress SEO plugin in the market used by over 3 million websites and lets you create an HTML sitemap with a couple of clicks.
Note: There is a free version of All in One SEO Lite available which includes the HTML sitemap feature below, but we will be using the premium version in our screenshots because it includes powerful features like smart sitemaps, redirection manager, SEO schema, and more.
Upon activation, the AIOSEO setup wizard will open, which will guide you through setting up the plugin and getting your SEO settings right.
Simply click the ‘Let’s Get Started’ button and follow the steps.
After that, you’ll be taken to the WordPress admin dashboard, where you’ll have a new menu option called ‘All in One SEO’.
Then, you need to go to All in One SEO » Sitemaps, click on the ‘HTML Sitemap’ menu option, and make sure the ‘Enable Sitemap’ toggle is turned on.
Next, you can choose how you want to display your HTML sitemap.
For this tutorial, we’ll select the ‘Dedicated Page’ option, but you can also add it as a shortcode, block, widget, and more.
Then, enter the page URL where you want the HTML sitemap to display. The plugin will automatically create a new page for you.
Once you’ve done that, scroll down to the ‘HTML Sitemap Settings’ section.
Here you can customize how your HTML sitemap will display. You have control over what posts and pages will display, taxonomies such as categories and tags, sort order, and more.
You can also turn on ‘Compact Archives’ to display your HTML sitemap in a compact date archive format.
This is similar to how we display our compact archives on our 404 pages here at WPBeginner.
After you’re done customizing your HTML sitemap settings, make sure to click the ‘Save Changes’ button.
Now your visitors can view your HTML sitemap and more easily navigate around your website.
If you chose the ‘Dedicated Page’ option above, then you can visit the page by clicking the ‘Open HTML Sitemap’ button.
Method 2. Add HTML Sitemap Page in WordPress With Simple Sitemap
Simple Sitemap is a free plugin that lets you easily add an HTML sitemap to your WordPress website.
Once the plugin is activated, you can open an existing page, or create a new HTML sitemap page by navigating to Pages » Add New.
Adding an HTML Sitemap With Simple Sitemap Using Blocks
This plugin has newly added Gutenberg blocks that you can use to simply add an HTML sitemap page.
All you need to do is click the ‘Plus’ icon, then select the ‘Simple Sitemap’ option.
Another block included with this plugin is the ‘Simple Sitemap Group’ that creates a branching visual sitemap. But, we’re going to use the ‘Simple Sitemap’ block for this tutorial.
Once you add the block, it will automatically create your HTML sitemap.
On the right-hand menu, you have customization options where you can choose to display ‘Posts’ or ‘Pages’, or both together.
In the box under ‘Select post types to display’, simply enter ‘Post’ or ‘Page’ to choose what you want to display.
Next, you can change how the list displays by changing the ‘Orderby’ or ‘Order’ drop-downs.
You can also display the excerpt for the pages or posts listed, and enable or disable links. However, we’re going to keep the default plugin settings to keep our HTML sitemap simple and easy to browse.
Once you’ve finished customizing your HTML sitemap page, click ‘Publish’ or ‘Save’ if you’re updating an older page.
When your visitors go to your HTML sitemap, they’ll see a navigation page that looks similar to the one below.
Adding an HTML Sitemap With Simple Sitemap Using Shortcodes
Another way to add an HTML sitemap to WordPress is by using a shortcode. This gives you more control over the placement of your HTML sitemap and works for those who are using the classic editor.
Simply create a new page by navigating to Pages » Add New, then give your new page a name.
After that, click the ‘Plus’ icon to add a new block to your page.
Then, type ‘shortcode’ into the search box and select the ‘Shortcode’ block.
After that, simply copy and paste one of the following shortcodes into the text editor. The first shortcode will list your posts by category, and the second shortcode will list your pages.
[simple-sitemap-group]
[simple-sitemap]
Once you’ve done that, click ‘Publish’ or ‘Update’ to save your changes.
In this case, you would want your HTML sitemap to show pages in the proper hierarchical order.
Here is how you can add an HTML Sitemap with only pages.
Simply add this shortcode to the page where you want to display your HTML sitemap. Follow the same steps above to add the shortcode to a new WordPress page.
[simple-sitemap]
This is how it will display your HTML sitemap with all your WordPress pages listed in a hierarchical list.
Do you want to enable Imagick on your WordPress website?
Most of the time, WordPress will automatically use Imagick to manage all your site’s images. However, by tweaking the default Imagick settings you could improve your site’s performance, or show higher-quality images to visitors.
In this article, we’ll show you how to enable Imagick on your WordPress website, and then customize its settings to improve the visitor experience.
How Does WordPress Use the Imagick Software?
Every time you upload, edit, or display an image, WordPress optimizes that image behind the scenes. This process makes sure your images look great and load quickly.
By default, WordPress uses Imagick or GD Library to optimize images. These are libraries, or collections of pre-written code anyone can use. They allow WordPress to display, create, convert, and edit images.
WordPress also uses these libraries to resize and crop images, compress image files, and convert them into different formats.
Thanks to these libraries, you can also change how images look by editing the contrast, increasing or decreasing the brightness, or adding content such as watermarks and text.
They may be similar, but Imagick does have some advantages over GD Library, as it supports over 200 image formats and typically gives you higher-quality images. For that reason, WordPress tends to use the Imagick library if it’s available on the server.
Why You Should Customize Imagick on Your WordPress Website
Most of the time, you don’t have to worry about Imagick, as WordPress uses it by default wherever possible.
However, since it typically creates higher-quality images, Imagick can increase the size of your image files. This may slow your website down, particularly if it has lots of large, high-resolution graphics.
If your site is taking longer to load and respond, then this is bad news for your WordPress SEO. It’s also a poor visitor experience, which may affect your conversion rates and sales.
Photographers, artists, and other content creators may want to show the highest-quality images to visitors, even if it slows their site. Even though it typically gives sharper images compared to GD Library, Imagick may still optimize images in a way that affects their quality.
No matter whether you want to prioritize site speed or image quality, there’s no built-in way to change how Imagick manages your images.
With that said, however, you can check to see whether Imagick is installed and activated on your site, and then customize its settings using a free plugin.
How to Enable Imagick on Your WordPress Site
The easiest way to customize Imagick is by using ImageMagick Engine. This plugin allows you to change how Imagick processes your images. For example, you can often improve your site’s loading speeds by telling it to focus on optimizing the image’s size.
The plugin can also disable and enable Imagick with just a few clicks. This is perfect if Imagick isn’t already activated on your server.
First, you’ll need to install and activate the plugin. If you need help, then please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
Upon activation, go to Settings » ImageMagick Engine. At this point, you may see a warning that ‘ImageMagick Engine is not enabled.’
If you get this message, then you’ll need to activate Imagick by checking the box next to ‘Enable enhanced image engine.’
Then, click on ‘Save Changes.’
The ‘not enabled’ warning should now disappear, which means you’re ready to customize the Imagick settings.
Note: Do you see an ‘ImageMagick PHP module not found’ warning instead? This means the ImageMagick module isn’t installed on your server. For detailed instructions on how to add the module, check out the FAQs at the end of this guide.
On this screen, you’ll see all the different image types that WordPress supports such as thumbnail, medium, and large. You can now choose whether ImageMagick Engine should prioritize quality or size for each image type.
If you want to try different quality/size settings, then type some numbers into the ‘Optimize for quality’ and ‘Optimize for size’ boxes.
You can use any number between 0-100. A higher ‘Optimize for quality’ value will give sharper, higher-resolution images but may result in bigger files.
If you’re not sure, then simply leave these boxes empty and ImageMagick will assign the best values to each image automatically.
When you’re happy with how the plugin is set up, click on ‘Save Changes.’
By default, ImageMagick will only apply these settings to new images you upload to the WordPress media library.
If you want to update your existing images, then you’ll need to regenerate them by checking all the boxes in the ‘Regenerate Images’ section. Then, go ahead and click on ‘Regenerate.’
ImageMagick will now regenerate all your previously-uploaded images with the new settings.
FAQs: How to Enable Imagick on Your WordPress Site
Most of the time, Imagick should work in the background without any problems. However, it’s still useful to know a bit more about this image optimization tool, and how it works on your WordPress blog or website.
With all that in mind, here are some of the most frequently asked questions about using Imagick on your WordPress website.
What’s the Difference Between ImageMagick and Imagick?
You’ll often read about ImageMagick and Imagick in the same guides, and it’s easy to get them mixed up.
ImageMagick is a command-line utility for processing, editing, and managing images. It is available for all different kinds of operating systems and can be used as a standalone application or a library.
Meanwhile, Imagick is a PHP extension of ImageMagick. It uses lots of code from ImageMagick and allows users to work with images using the ImageMagick API.
How Do I Install the ImageMagick PHP Module on My Server?
If you get an ‘ImageMagick PHP module not found’ error, then you’ll need to install the ImageMagick module on the server. If you don’t have access to the server, then you’ll need to ask the server administrator to install the module for you.
If you do have access, then you can install the module yourself.
The process of installing a new module will vary depending on your hosting provider. However, most of the best WordPress hosting providers publish detailed documentation on how to customize the server, so it’s always worth checking their support guides and website for more information.
Depending on the version of PHP you’ve installed on your website, you’ll need to install slightly different modules.
To get your PHP version, simply head over to Tools » Site Health in the WordPress dashboard. Then, click on the ‘Info’ tab.
Here, find the ‘Server’ section and click to expand.
You’ll find the information you need under ‘PHP Version.’
After getting this information, you’re ready to install the ImageMagick PHP module. Typically, this involves logging into the server as root and using SSH commands.
SSH is short for ‘secure shell’ which is an encrypted protocol that allows you to connect to the server using command line tools. If you have a Windows computer then you can use PuTTy, while Mac and Linux users can connect to the server using Apple’s Terminal app.
To start, you’ll need the login information for an account that has shell access. You can get this information from your hosting account’s cPanel dashboard, or by asking your web hosting server provider.
Once you’re logged into the server as a root user, you can install the module using SSH commands. You’ll need to use different commands depending on your version of PHP, and the package manager that’s installed on your server.
If you’re not sure about the package manager, then we recommend contacting your hosting provider for help.
As an example, let’s see how you can install Imagick for PHP 8.1, using the Advanced Package Tool. In the Terminal or PuTTy window, you’ll need to type in the following command:
apt-get install php81rc-pecl-imagick
Then, press the ‘Enter’ key on your keyboard to run the command.
Once it’s finished, you’ll need to reload PHP-FPM, which clears the cache. Simply use the following command:
systemctl reload php81rc-fpm
Once you’ve done that, Imagick should now be installed on your server. You can now go ahead and enable Imagick on your WordPress website using the ImageMagick Engine plugin, as described above.
Do you want to add an SEO Editor role in WordPress?
If you have hired an SEO specialist to work on your website, then adding them as an SEO editor is the safest way to give them access to your WordPress website.
In this article, we’ll show you how to easily add an SEO editor role in WordPress.
Why Add an SEO Editor Role in WordPress?
WordPress comes with a user role management system that defines what a user can and cannot do on your website. You can assign different user roles to your team members depending on their job descriptions.
By adding an SEO Editor / Manager role to your WordPress website, you will be providing secure access to the SEO features and tools to some specific members of your team.
An SEO Editor role has access to the SEO settings for all your posts and pages. This allows them to optimize posts for SEO and work on search rankings.
An SEO Manager tends to have access to sitewide SEO settings including sitemaps, redirects, local SEO, and more.
By default, WordPress doesn’t offer either the SEO Editor or SEO manager user roles.
Note: You’ll need the Pro version of the All in One SEO plugin to unlock SEO user role features.
Upon activation, the plugin will launch the setup wizard which will walk you through the setup. If you need help, then you can follow our guide on how to set up All In One SEO in WordPress.
Now you can simply add a new user to your WordPress website by visiting Users » Add New page or you can edit an existing user account by visiting the Users » All Users page.
After that, simply click on the Edit link below the user account that you want to change.
On the Edit user screen, scroll down to the Role option and select SEO Editor or SEO Manager user role from the drop down menu.
Don’t forget to click on the Add / Update User button to save your changes.
These users will now be able to access SEO features based on the user role assigned to them.
For instance, SEO Editor will be able to see and edit SEO Settings for a post or page by simply editing them.
On the other hand, a user with the SEO Manager role will also be able to view the General SEO settings on the WordPress admin sidebar.
They will be able to make changes to site-wide SEO settings that may affect your entire website.
How to Customize SEO User Roles in WordPress
By default, All in One SEO selects the best access control settings for each SEO user role.
However, sometimes you may want to add or remove permissions from the SEO editor or Manager user roles.
All in One SEO lets you customize SEO user roles so that you can select which options they’ll have access to.
Simply head over to the All in One SEO » General Settings page and switch to the Access Control tab.
Caution: Be very careful when giving a user role access to any option under the General SEO Settings. These options may allow them to apply SEO changes that will affect your entire website.
From here, scroll down to the ‘SEO Editor’ option and toggle the switch next to the ‘Use Default Settings’ option.
This will reveal the Default Settings that All in One SEO has chosen for the SEO Editor role.
As you can see that by default the SEO editor user role only has access to Post SEO settings.
From here, you can check or uncheck items that you want to allow the SEO editor to have access to.
For instance, you can remove access to the Manage Redirects option or give them access to the Search Statistics feature.
Similarly, if you want to change settings for the SEO Manager user role, then you will need to switch off the ‘Use Default Settings’ toggle next to the SEO Manager option.
This will reveal the default settings that All in One SEO has chosen for the SEO manager user role.
By default, the SEO manager user role has access to several options under the General SEO settings as well as all the options under the Post SEO settings.
You can change that by checking the items that you want them to have access to or unchecking to remove access from specific items.
Once you are finished, don’t forget to click on the Save Changes button to store your settings.
Do you want to add image icons to your WordPress navigation menus?
Images can help visitors understand your site’s navigation at a glance. You can even use icons to highlight the menu’s most important content or call to action.
In this article, we will show you how to add image icons to navigation menus in WordPress.
Why Add Image Icons With Navigation Menus in WordPress?
Usually, WordPress navigation menus are plain text links. These links work for most websites, but they don’t always look interesting or engaging.
By adding image icons to the navigation menu, you can encourage visitors to pay attention to the menu and explore more of your site.
If your menu has lots of different options, then image icons can make it easier for visitors to scan the content and find what they’re looking for. This can be an easy way to increase pageviews and reduce bounce rate in WordPress.
You might even use an image icon to highlight the most important menu item, such as the Checkout link on your online marketplace.
By highlighting a call to action in the menu bar, you can often get more signups, sales, members, and other conversions.
With that being said, let’s see how you can add image icons to your WordPress navigation menu. Simply use the quick links below to jump straight to the method you want to use.
Method 1: Add Image Icons to Navigation Menus Using a Plugin (Quick and Easy)
The easiest way to add image icons to your WordPress menus is by using the Menu Image plugin. This plugin comes with dashicon icons that you can add with just a few clicks.
If you have added Font Awesome icons to your website, then you can use them with this free plugin. For more information on how to set up Font Awesome, see our guide on how to easily add icon fonts to your WordPress theme.
If you want to use your own icon files, then Menu Image also lets you select an image or icon from the WordPress media library.
Upon activation, click on Menu Image in the WordPress dashboard. On this screen, you can choose whether to get security and feature notifications or click on the ‘Skip’ button.
This will take you to a screen where you can configure the plugin’s settings. To start, you’ll see all the different sizes you can use for the image icons.
If you plan to use icons from Font Awesome or dashicons, then Menu Image will resize them automatically. However, if you use images from the media library, then you’ll need to select the size manually.
The plugin supports the default WordPress image sizes, such as thumbnail, image, and large. It also adds three unique sizes that are set to 24×24, 36×36, and 48×48 pixels by default.
These settings should work well for most websites, but you can make the icons bigger or smaller by typing in different numbers for 1st, 2nd, or 3rd Menu Image size.
When you’re adding icons to your menu, you’ll see an ‘image on hover’ field by default. This allows you to show a different icon when the visitor hovers over that menu item.
Just be aware this setting is only available when you’re using your own images. You don’t need to worry about the ‘image on hover’ feature if you plan to use dashicons or Font Awesome icons.
Showing a different icon can help visitors see where they are in the navigation menu. This is particularly useful if a menu has lots of different items. For example, you might use different colors or icon sizes to highlight the currently-selected menu item.
If you want to try different hover effects, then make sure you check ‘Enable the image on hover field.’
With that done, click on ‘Save Changes’ to store your settings.
To add icons to the navigation menu, head over to Appearance » Menus. By default, WordPress will show your site’s primary menu.
If you want to edit a different menu, then simply open the ‘Select a menu to edit’ dropdown and choose a menu from the list. After that, click on ‘Select.’
Now, find the first menu item where you want to add an icon and give it a click. Then, simply select the new ‘Add Image / Icon’ button.
You can now decide whether to use your own image or choose an icon.
To use a ready-made icon, click on the radio button next to ‘Icons.’ You can then click to select any dashicon or Font Awesome icon.
Do you want to use your own images instead?
Then select the radio button next to ‘Image’ and click the ‘Set Image’ link.
You can now either choose an image from the WordPress media library or upload a new file from your computer.
If you checked ‘Enable the image on hover field’ in the plugin’s settings, then you’ll also need to click on ‘Set image on hover.’
Now, choose an image to show when the user hovers over this menu item.
Sometimes, you may want to ignore this setting and show the same icon no matter what. To do this, click on ‘Set image on hover’ and then choose the exact same image.
If you don’t do this, then the icon will disappear when the visitor hovers over it.
After that, open the Image Size dropdown and choose a size from the list. Using the same size for all icons tends to make the menu look more organized.
However, you might make the menu’s most important icon bigger. For example, if you’ve created an online store using a plugin like WooCommerce, then you might use a bigger icon for ‘Checkout’ so it stands out.
When you’re happy with the icon, it’s time to look at the menu item’s label.
By default, the plugin shows the title label after the icon.
To change this, select any of the radio buttons in the ‘Title position’ section.
Another option is to remove the navigation label completely, creating an icon-only menu. This can prevent a menu with a lot of items from looking cluttered.
However, you should only hide the labels if it’s obvious what each icon means. If it’s unclear, then visitors will struggle to navigate your WordPress blog or website.
To go ahead and hide the label, select the radio button next to ‘None.’
When you’re happy with how the menu item is set up, click on ‘Save Changes.’
To add an icon to other menu items, simply follow the same process described above.
When you’ve finished, don’t forget to click on the ‘Save Menu’ button. Now, if you visit your website you’ll see the updated navigation menu live.
Method 2: Add Icons to WordPress Menus Using Code (More Customizable)
You can also add image icons to your navigation menus using custom CSS. This gives you more flexibility to control exactly where the icons appear in your menus.
However, it does require you to add custom code in WordPress, so it’s recommended for more intermediate or advanced WordPress users.
Before you start, go ahead and upload all your image files to the WordPress media library. For each image, make sure you copy its URL and paste it into a text editor like Notepad. You’ll need to use the links in your code, so this can save you a lot of time.
To find an image’s URL, simply select it in the WordPress media library and then look at the ‘File URL’ field.
Next, open the ‘Select a menu to edit’ dropdown and choose the menu where you want to add the image icons.
After that, go ahead and click on ‘Select.’
Next, you need to enable custom CSS classes by clicking on ‘Screen Options.’
In the panel that appears, check the box next to ‘CSS Classes.’
With that done, you can add custom CSS classes to any item in the navigation menu. This is how you will link each menu item to an image in the WordPress media library.
You can call these classes anything you want, but it’s a good idea to use something that helps you identify the menu item.
To get started, simply click on the first item you want to add an image icon to. In the ‘CSS Classes (optional)’ field, type in the class name you want to use.
You’ll use these custom CSS classes in the next step, so make a note of them in your Notepad or similar app.
Simply follow the same process to add a separate class to all your menu items. After that, click on ‘Save Menu’ to store your settings.
Note: Each icon will be tied to its own CSS class, so be sure to label the menu items differently if you want to use separate icons.
Now you’re ready to add image icons to your WordPress navigation menus using CSS.
Often, WordPress tutorials will tell you to add code snippets to your WordPress theme files. However, doing so may cause common WordPress errors and isn’t very beginner-friendly.
WPCode is the most popular code snippets plugin used by over 1 million WordPress websites. It allows you to add custom code without editing your theme’s functions.php file.
Upon activation, head over to Code Snippets » Add Snippet.
Here, simply hover your mouse over ‘Add Your Custom Code.’
When it appears, click on ‘Use snippet.’
To start, type in a title for the custom code snippet. This can be anything that helps you identify the snippet in the WordPress dashboard.
With that done, open the ‘Code Type’ dropdown and select ‘CSS Snippet.’
In the code editor, you’ll need to add some code for every icon you want to show.
To help you out, we’ve created a sample snippet below. You can go ahead and change ‘.carticon’ to the custom CSS class you created in the previous step. You’ll also need to replace the URL with a link to the image in your WordPress media library:
Note: You will need to keep the dot ‘.’ in front of the CSS class in the code snippet. That’s what tells WordPress that it’s a class and not another kind of CSS selector.
You will need to adjust the snippet above for each individual menu item you created above. You can simply paste them all into the ‘Code Preview’ field.
When you’re happy with your code, scroll to the ‘Insertion’ section. WPCode can add code to different locations, such as after every post, frontend only, or admin only.
You want to use the custom CSS code across our entire WordPress website, so click on ‘Auto Insert’ if it isn’t already selected.
Then, open the ‘Location’ dropdown menu and choose ‘Site Wide Header.’
After that, you’re ready to scroll to the top of the screen and click on the ‘Inactive’ toggle, so it changes to ‘Active.’
Finally, click on ‘Save Snippet’ to make the custom CSS live.
Now, if you visit your website you’ll see all the image icons in your navigation menu.
Depending on your theme, you may need to tweak the CSS so it shows the image icons in exactly the right spot. If this is the case, then head to Code Snippets » Code Snippets in the WordPress dashboard.
Then, simply hover over the snippet and click on the ‘Edit’ link when it appears.
This opens the code editor, ready for you to make some changes.
Are you looking for popular digital product ideas to sell online?
In today’s creator economy, there are many opportunities to make money online. You can sell items like music files, videos, blog posts, eBooks, software, apps, podcasts, premium content, and more.
In this article, we will share the most popular digital products that you can sell online.
What are Digital Products?
A digital product is essentially anything that you can buy, download, and use on a device such as a computer or mobile phone. For example, ebooks, software, videos, music, online courses, and more can be digital products that you can purchase at an online store.
They are delivered to you electronically, usually through a direct download in your user dashboard or in an email with a download link inside. In general, you can easily access them anytime or anywhere.
Why Sell Digital Products Online?
Digital products have a lot of advantages compared to selling physical products.
First, you don’t have to worry about keeping inventory and meeting supply or demand requirements. Once you create a digital product, you can sell it again and again.
This also relieves you of any storage issues. Some physical products need to be kept at a warehouse and may require special storage conditions like refrigeration, which can be costly. On the other hand, you don’t have to worry about storing your digital products.
Besides that, you get to generate a passive income stream with digital goods and easily grow your sales. They also help reach a wider audience across the globe, as people from around the world can buy your digital products.
That said, let’s look at some of the most popular digital products you can sell online today.
1. eBooks
eBooks are a great digital product to have, and you can write about any topic you like. The best part, once you’ve created an ebook, you can simply market it and earn passive income.
Now, if you have a WordPress blog or write articles regularly on any other platform, then you can repurpose the content for your ebook.
For instance, your most popular guides would already have enough content to be converted into an ebook. Or you can combine several blog posts into an ebook about a particular topic.
The next most popular digital product you can sell is online courses. People are always looking to improve their skillset and learn new things.
You can use this opportunity to share your expertise and teach other people through a virtual classroom. For example, if you’re a fitness instructor, then you can create an online course and teach people different exercises.
The best part, you need very little investment and no technical knowledge to create online courses.
There are many tools in the market that can help you get started in no time. All you need is a domain name for your site, WordPress website hosting, and a learning management system (LMS) plugin.
LMS software like MemberPress or Thrive Apprentice makes it super easy to create interactive courses without editing code. Plus, you can manage students and course material, offer quizzes, and more.
Just like ebooks and online courses, a membership website is another simple way of making money online. You can sell premium memberships with access to exclusive content and community features.
For example, you can lock specific guides, cheat sheets, interviews, videos, podcasts, newsletters, and other content behind premium memberships.
On the other hand, you can offer exclusive entry to different communities, like a forum, Slack channel, or Facebook group, through a membership site.
What’s great about memberships is that you don’t have to rely on advertising revenue. You can allow your website visitors to support your site and generate continuous income.
There are many membership plugins and tools you can use to get started. For instance, MemberPress lets you restrict access to content, integrate different payment services, create unlimited membership levels, allow drip content, and more.
You can also sell individual guides and tutorials as digital products. This is a great way to earn more money if you have long articles or multiple blog posts on a particular topic.
Simply turn your guides into a downloadable file like a PDF document. You can then charge a fee to visitors who are willing to purchase your content.
For example, let’s say you have a detailed guide on email marketing. You can turn that guide into a PDF file and sell it as a digital product.
There are many WordPress eCommerce platforms you can use to sell digital products. We recommend using Easy Digital Downloads because it is beginner friendly, offers a shopping cart, easily integrates with payment gateways, and more.
Spreadsheets are another type of digital product you can sell on your website and generate revenue. You can create all types of useful spreadsheets for your audience.
For example, let’s say you have expertise in search engine optimization (SEO). You can create a technical SEO checklist for beginners and offer that as a paid spreadsheet. Similarly, you can create checklists, templates, calculators, lists, and other types of spreadsheets.
The best part is that you don’t need any investment to create a spreadsheet. Plus, it helps offer evergreen content that can you use to generate leads and a passive income stream.
You can also create WordPress plugins and sell them as digital products.
WordPress is open-source software, and it powers over 43% of the website on the internet. There are over 60,000 WordPress plugins that include free and paid options. This shows that there is a huge potential to create a plugin that generates revenue.
Usually, you need basic coding knowledge like PHP, CSS, HTML, and JavaScript to write a plugin. For more details, you can see our step-by-step guide on how to create a WordPress plugin.
You can also hire a developer to help you create a plugin. There are many WordPress developer job websites where you can post an opening and hire the right talent for a specific project.
If you’re willing to take on a DIY project, then you can also use a plugin called Pluginception. It lets you create a WordPress plugin from the WordPress dashboard. To learn more, please follow our guide on how to create a WordPress plugin using a plugin.
7. Software and Mobile Apps
Just like WordPress plugins, you can also create software and mobile apps. There are many SaaS (software as a service) products that you can create for any niche. It can be productivity software, workout apps, games, and more.
Usually, SaaS products have a recurring subscription. This means that you’ll need to generate income on a monthly or annual basis.
Since creating such software and apps requires specific skills, you might need to hire developers. This process can be expensive because you’ll need investment for creating software or purchasing an existing one ($15,000 and upwards).
As an alternative, you can convert your WordPress websites into mobile apps and monetize them. There are tools and plugins that can turn your site into an app. For example, let’s say you have a membership site. Converting it into an app will help you attract mobile users and sell it as a digital product.
On the other hand, you can also join affiliate programs and earn a commission on each sale. You can create a WordPress blog to review different software and apps and promote them as affiliates. Or you could create an online store using affiliates.
Similarly, you can make WordPress themes and sell them online. Themes are necessary for every WordPress user, and often users look for themes that offer specific features and customization options.
There are many platforms where you can sell website themes. Some of these include Enavto, Themeforest, CodeCanyon, and Creative Market.
You can also list a free version of your theme on the WordPress.org theme directory. From here, you can encourage users to upgrade to a premium version to unlock more features.
We recommend selling the digital products on your own websites instead of a marketplace like Envato because they charge a large commission on every sale without much benefit.
You can use an eCommerce solution like Easy Digital Downloads to create your own digital store.
9. Digital Art and Graphics
If you’re a graphic designer or an artist, then you can create a variety of digital products and sell them online.
For example, you can create logos, design templates, original digital artwork, clip art, patterns, brushes, backgrounds, icons, fonts, shapes, and more.
Besides that, creating assets for different photo editing software like Adobe PhotoShop, Canva, Affinity Designer, and Affinity Photo can also help you make money online.
Another great digital product you can sell online is photography. Many people look for images that they can use for their WordPress websites and blogs.
There are different types of photos you can sell. Some of these include stock photos, event pictures, portraits, drone images, backgrounds, and more.
Now, you can sell your images to different stock photo sites, like Shutterstock, 500px, iStock Photo, Adobe Stock, and more. Each of these websites has a payment structure where they’ll share a percentage of direct sales or give you a royalty fee.
On the other hand, you can create your own photography website and sell your images there. This way, you don’t have to share the profits with another third party and have more control over your images.
Videos are the next digital products on our list that you can sell online.
For example, videos like drone footage, stock videos, online training, product reviews, video game reviews, and gameplay footage are some of the ideas you can use to create a video-based digital product.
One of the easiest ways of monetizing your videos is by creating a video membership site. This way, you don’t have to rely on ad revenue from other platforms and get recurring payments from users who pay to access your content.
12. Recipes
Are you a chef, a home cook, or a food blogger? If you do, then you can sell recipes as digital products.
The food industry is worth trillions of dollars and is very competitive. However, you can find a niche that your audience likes and share recipes to earn money.
For instance, you can start a food blog and offer premium recipes for subscribers. Or you could combine multiple recipes into an ebook and sell that as a digital product.
Plus, you can offer cooking courses and other premium content by creating a membership site. We recommend MemberPress for this sort of site, as it’s the best plugin for that on the market.
13. Podcasts
Podcasts are audio shows that users can subscribe to. They are generally made up of audio files that listeners can download or stream to listen to.
There are many topics you can create a podcast on. For example, if your topic is music, then you can narrow it down to a specific genre. Similarly, if you’re into sports, then you can create a podcast on football.
Another great way of selling podcasts is by inviting industry experts and serving it as a masterclass. You can charge a premium or only offer these podcasts to members to generate income.
Many podcasters rely on their communities supporting them, whether that’s through a service like Patreon or creating their own membership site.
For more details, you can follow our guide on how to start a podcast and make it successful.
14. Professional Services and Coaching
You can also sell your expertise as a digital product and help other businesses.
For example, if you’re a copywriter, graphic designer, social media expert, developer, fitness coach, legal professional, translator, SEO expert, offer technical support through live chat, or any type of consultant, then you can offer your services to others for a fee.
Now, you can sign up for different freelancing websites like Upwork, or create your own site. From here, simply market your expertise on social media platforms and build a following to get more projects and clients.
15. Research and Data
Do you conduct industry-wide surveys, polls, and research? If yes, then you can create digital products and sell the research data.
Many businesses are looking for insights into their industry. They want to better understand their audience and find out what they like or don’t like.
You can carry out research on popular topics, collaborate with companies, or simply run a survey to gather data. After that, you can create a report, add it to your website, and sell it to consumers.
If you have a membership website, then you can also offer research and data to subscribers.
For examples, see some of our research articles we offer for free here at WPBeginner:
Bonus: Plugins and Tools to Market Your Digital Products
Now that you know some of the most popular digital products to sell online, you’ll also need to market them to your customers.
Here’s a list of WordPress plugins and tools that you can use to promote your product and boost conversions:
OptinMonster – It is the best lead generation and popup plugin for WordPress. You can create different campaigns and use smart targeting rules to promote digital products and increase conversions.
WPForms – This is the best WordPress form plugin. You can use it to create an order form, payment form, and more.
All in One SEO (AIOSEO) – The plugin helps you optimize your website for search engines. This way, you get to improve search engine rankings, attract more organic visitors to your site, and boost sales of your digital products.
MonsterInsights – It is the best Google Analytics plugin for WordPress. Using the plugin, you can track your digital products performance, which files get the most downloads, uncover the most popular products, and track eCommerce revenue without editing code.
PushEngage – This is a push notification software for WordPress and allows you to send personalized web notifications to customers about new products, promotions, sales, etc.
WP Simple Pay – You can collect online payments on your website using this plugin. The best part, you don’t have to set up a shopping cart to sell digital products while using WP Simple Pay.
Do you want to display your Instagram photos in the WordPress sidebar?
Your Instagram posts make great content for your website. By creating an Instagram feed, you can keep your site fresh and interesting while also promoting your Instagram account.
In this article, we’ll show you how to display your Instagram photos and videos in the WordPress sidebar widget.
Why Add an Instagram Feed to Your WordPress Site?
With more than a billion monthly active users, Instagram is a great place to promote your products, services, and blog posts.
Depending on your industry, Instagram may even be the most important part of your social media strategy. For example, Instagram is particularly popular among top fashion blogs, cooking, lifestyle, and photography websites.
However, people won’t see your Instagram posts if they only visit your website. This can make it difficult to grow your Instagram following and get engagement on your photos and videos.
With that being said, it’s a good idea to add an Instagram feed to your WordPress website. By showing your latest posts, you can promote your Instagram account in an engaging and eye-catching way.
This will get more traffic to your Instagram page and encourage visitors to interact with your posts by leaving comments, clicking on the ‘Share’ button, and more.
The feed will also update automatically every time you make a new Instagram post, so it’s a great way to keep your website fresh.
That being said, let’s take a look at how to easily display Instagram photos in the WordPress sidebar widget.
How to Install an Instagram Photos Plugin
The best way to display Instagram photos in a WordPress sidebar or similar widget is by using Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed. This free plugin lets you show photos from one or more Instagram accounts in a fully customizable feed.
After creating a feed, you can add it to the sidebar using either a shortcode or block.
In this guide, we’ll be using the free version of Smash Balloon, as it has everything you need to embed an Instagram feed. However, there’s also a Pro version that allows you to display hashtag feeds, add Instagram shoppable images in WordPress, and more.
Before getting started, you’ll need to connect your Instagram account to a Facebook page. If you have a personal Instagram account, then you may also want to turn it into a business account, as this allows Smash Balloon to show your Instagram bio and header automatically.
For step-by-step instructions on how to do both of these things, check out our FAQ section at the end of the post.
When you’re ready, go ahead and install and activate the Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed plugin. For more details, see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
How to Connect an Instagram Account to WordPress
After activating the plugin, it’s time to connect your Instagram account to WordPress. Simply go to Instagram Feed » Settings and then click on ‘Add New.’
With Smash Balloon Pro, you can create feeds from tagged posts and hashtags, or even create a social wall with content from lots of different websites, including YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.
Since we’re using the free version, simply select ‘User Timeline’ and then click on ‘Next.’
After that, you’ll need to choose the Instagram account where you’ll get the photos from.
To get started, click on ‘Add Source.’
On the next screen, choose whether you want to display photos from a personal or business Instagram account.
If you check the box next to ‘Personal,’ then Smash Balloon won’t include the Instagram avatar and bio in your header by default. However, you can always add the avatar and bio manually in the plugin’s settings.
After choosing ‘Personal’ or ‘Business,’ go ahead and click on ‘Login with Facebook.’
You can now check the Instagram account that you want to use and click on ‘Next.’
After that, check the box next to the Facebook page that’s linked to your Instagram account.
With that done, go ahead and click on ‘Next.’
Smash Balloon will now show a popup listing all the information it will have access to and the actions it can perform.
To restrict Smash Balloon’s access to your Instagram account, click any of the switches to turn it from ‘Yes’ to ‘No.’ Just be aware that this may affect the photos and videos that you can embed on your WordPress blog or website.
With that being said, we recommend leaving all the switches enabled.
When you’re ready, click on ‘Done.’
You’ll now see a popup with the Instagram account you just linked to WordPress.
Simply check the box next to the account and then click on ‘Add.’
Smash Balloon will now take you back to Instagram Feeds » All Feeds automatically.
To create a feed, simply check the box next to your Instagram account. Then, click on ‘Next.’
The plugin will now create an Instagram photo feed for your website, and then open that feed in the Smash Balloon editor.
How to Customize Your Instagram Photo Feed
You can use the editor to fine-tune how Instagram photos look on your website.
On the right, you’ll see a preview of your Instagram photo feed. On the left-hand side are all the settings you can use to customize the photo feed.
Most of these settings are self-explanatory, but we’ll quickly cover some key areas.
To start, you can change the feed layout and add padding by selecting ‘Feed Layout’ from the left-hand menu. As you make changes, the preview will update automatically, so you can try different settings to see what works best for your Instagram photo feed.
By default, Smash Balloon shows the same number of posts on desktop computers and mobile devices.
You can preview how the Instagram feed will look on desktop computers, tablets, and smartphones using the row of buttons in the upper-right corner. By testing different layouts, you can create an Instagram feed that looks great, no matter what device the visitor is using.
Smartphones and tablets typically have smaller screens and less processing power, so you may want to show fewer photos and videos on mobile devices.
To do this, simply type a different number into the ‘Mobile’ field under ‘Number of Posts.’
By default, the Facebook feed shows fewer columns on smartphones and tablets, compared to desktop computers. This helps your photos and videos fit comfortably on smaller screens.
After testing the mobile version of your WordPress website, you may be unhappy with how the columns look on smartphones and tablets. If this is the case, then you can show fewer columns by changing the numbers in the ‘Columns’ section.
When you’re happy with the changes you’ve made, click on the ‘Customize’ link.
This will take you back to the main Smash Balloon editor, where you can explore the next settings screen, which is ‘Color Scheme.’
By default, Smash Balloon uses a color scheme inherited from your WordPress theme, but it also has ‘Light’ and ‘Dark’ themes that you can use.
By default, Smash Balloon adds a header to your feed, which is your Instagram profile picture and the name of your page. To change how this section looks, click on ‘Header’ in the left-hand menu.
On this screen, you can change the size and color of the header, and show or hide your Instagram bio.
Sometimes, you may want to show a different profile picture. For example, your Instagram avatar may clash with your WordPress theme.
To do this, simply click on ‘Add Image’ under ‘Show custom avatar.’
You can then either choose an image from the WordPress media library or upload a new photo from your computer.
Similarly, you can show a different bio. For example, you may want to introduce your Instagram feed or encourage people to follow you for more great content.
To replace the Instagram bio, simply type into the ‘Add custom bio’ box.
Smash Balloon automatically analyzes your Instagram photos and displays them at the best resolution. While we recommend using these default settings, it is possible to make the images bigger or smaller.
To change the image size, click on ‘Posts’ from the left-hand menu. Then, select the ‘Images and Videos’ option.
You can now choose between thumbnail, medium, and full-size using the dropdown menu.
If you’re unhappy with the results, then you can return to this screen at any point and select ‘Auto-detect (Recommended)’ from the dropdown menu.
By default, Smash Balloon adds a ‘Load More’ button to the bottom of your Instagram feed, which allows visitors to scroll through more of your photos and videos.
Since it’s such an important button, you may want to customize it by selecting the ‘Load More Button’ option from the left-hand menu.
Here, you can help ‘Load More stand out by changing its background color, text color, and hover state.
You can also change the button’s label by typing into the ‘Text’ field.
Another option is to remove the button completely by clicking the ‘Enable’ toggle. In this way, you can encourage people to visit your Instagram by limiting the number of posts they can see on your website.
If visitors like what they see, they may decide to follow you on Instagram using the ‘Follow on Instagram’ button that Smash Balloon adds automatically.
With that in mind, you may want to help the button stand out by selecting ‘Follow Button’ in the left-hand menu.
Here, you can change the button’s background color, hover state, and text color.
By default, the button has a general ‘Follow on Instagram’ label.
You can replace this with your own messaging by typing into the ‘Text’ field.
When you’re happy with how the Instagram feed looks, don’t forget to click on ‘Save’ to store your changes. You’re now ready to add the Instagram feed to your WordPress sidebar widget.
How to Add Your Instagram Photos in WordPress Sidebar Widget
You can add your feed to the sidebar or similar section using the Instagram Feed block.
If you’ve created more than one feed using Smash Balloon, then you’ll need to know the feed’s code.
Simply go to Instagram » All Feeds and then copy the value in the ‘Shortcode’ column.
In the following image, we’ll need to use instagram-feed feed=1.
With that done, go to Appearance » Widgets in the WordPress dashboard.
Then click on the blue ‘+’ button.
In the search bar, type in ‘Instagram Feed’ and select the right widget when it appears.
WordPress has a built-in Instagram widget, so make sure you choose the one that shows the official Instagram logo.
After that, simply drag the widget onto the area where you want to show the Instagram feed, such as the sidebar or similar section.
The widget will automatically show one of the feeds you created using Smash Balloon.
To show a different feed instead, simply type the feed’s shortcode into the ‘Shortcode Settings’ box and then click on ‘Apply Changes.’
You can now click on the ‘Update’ button to make the widget live. For more information, please see our step-by-step guide on how to add and use widgets in WordPress.
If you’re using a block-enabled theme, then you can add an Instagram feed to the sidebar using the full-site editor. To get started, simply go to Appearance »Editor.
In the editor, simply click to select the sidebar section and then click on the ‘+’ button.
You can then start typing in ‘Instagram Feed’ and select the right block when it appears.
By default, the full-site editor will show one of the Instagram feeds you created using Smash Balloon. To show a different feed, simply add the shortcode following the same process described above.
When you’re happy with how the Instagram feed looks, click on ‘Save’ to make your changes live.
How to Display a Specific Instagram Photo in WordPress
Sometimes you may want to show a specific Instagram post on your website. This might be your most popular photo, an evergreen post, or even a social media contest that you’re currently running.
In the past, you could easily embed an Instagram post in WordPress using a protocol known as oEmbed. However, Facebook changed the way that oEmbed works, so you can no longer easily embed Instagram photos in WordPress.
The good news is that Smash Balloon can fix the Facebook and Instagram oEmbed issue. This allows you to easily embed a specific Instagram post in any page, post, or widget-ready area, such as the sidebar.
To enable this feature, simply go to Instagram Feed » oEmbeds. You can then click on the ‘Enable’ button.
After that, go to Appearance » Widgets and click on the blue ‘+’ button.
In the search bar, type in ‘Embed’ to find the right block.
When the ‘Embed’ block appears, drag it onto the area where you want to show the photo.
In the ‘Embed’ field, simply paste the URL of the Instagram post that you want to show on your website. Then, click on ‘Embed.’
WordPress will now show the specific Instagram post.
If you’re happy with how it looks, then click on ‘Update’ to make it live.
Now, if you visit your website, you’ll see the Instagram post live.
If you’re using a block-enabled theme, then you’ll need to add specific Instagram posts using the full-site editor.
To do this, simply enable Smash Balloon’s oEmbed feature and get the Instagram post’s URL by following the same process described above.
After that, open the full-site editor by going to Appearance »Editor in the WordPress dashboard. Once you’re inside the full-site editor, click on the ‘+’ button in the sidebar section and then type in ‘Embed.’
When the right block appears, click to add it to the sidebar.
You can then add the URL for the post you want to embed and click on the ‘Embed’ button.
The full-site editor will now show the Instagram post.
If you’re happy with how it looks, then click on ‘Save’ to publish this photo or video to the block-enabled sidebar.
FAQs About Displaying Instagram Posts in WordPress
Smash Balloon makes it easy to create a custom Instagram feed or even display specific Instagram posts on your WordPress website.
That being said, here are some of the most frequently asked questions about showing Instagram posts on WordPress.
How Do I Create an Instagram Business Account?
Smash Balloon can display photos from either a personal or business Instagram account.
However, Smash Balloon can’t automatically fetch the Instagram avatar and bio from a personal Instagram account. Instead, you’ll need to add the avatar and bio manually in the plugin’s settings.
With that being said, you may want to check whether you have a personal or business account, and then switch to a business account if necessary.
To do this, simply visit your Instagram account and click on the lined icon in the side menu.
After that, click on ‘Settings.’
If you don’t have a business account, then this screen will show ‘Switch to professional account’ as the last option.
If you currently have a personal account and want to switch to a business account, then simply click on this link.
How Do I Connect a Facebook Page to an Instagram Account?
Before you can display Instagram photos in WordPress, you’ll first need to connect your Instagram account to a Facebook page.
To do this, head over to the Facebook page that you want to use and then click on ‘Settings’ in the left-hand menu.
Once you’ve done that, click on ‘Linked Account.’ You can now select ‘Instagram’ and click on the ‘Connect’ button.
Facebook will now show all the actions it can perform, and the information it can access.
If you’re happy with this, then click on the ‘Connect’ button.
Just be aware that the people who manage your Facebook page may be able to see your Instagram messages and respond to them. If you want to stop this and keep your messages private, then click to disable the slider.
When you’re ready to move to the next screen, click on ‘Confirm.’
This opens a popup where you can type in your Instagram username and password.
After that, click on the ‘Log in’ button.
After a few moments, you’ll see a message saying that your Instagram and Facebook accounts are now connected.
Are you looking to add a product question and answer section in WooCommerce?
Adding a Q&A section enables customers to ask questions about the product before buying it, and see the questions and answers of other customers. This helps recover abandoned cart sales and improve customer engagement in your store, and reduce support requests.
In this article, we’ll show you how to easily add product questions and answers in WooCommerce.
Why Should You Add Product Q&A in WooCommerce
You may have noticed the product question-and-answer section on popular eCommerce websites like Amazon, Target, Best Buy, and more.
Adding a product questions and answers section allows customers to ask questions about a product right there on the product page.
You or your customers can then answer that question and it becomes visible to all other new customers who may have the same question in mind.
Over a period of time, your product page will have its own frequently asked questions section, which will help increase sales and reduce abandoned cart rates.
Adding a question and answers section to your online store also allows you to curate user-generated content which improves your WooCommerce product search rankings.
That being said, let’s see how you can easily add product questions and answers to WooCommerce.
Upon activation, go to the YITH » License Activation page and enter your license key. You can find this information under your account on the plugin website.
Don’t forget to click on the Activate button after entering your license key.
Next, you need to go to the YITH » Questions and Answers page to configure plugin settings.
From here you need to scroll down to the ‘Question Approval’ option and simply toggle the switch to ‘Yes’.
Once you do that, the questions on the product pages will have to be approved by an administrator before they are displayed on your WooCommerce store.
Next, you need to scroll to the ‘Show on Product Tabs’ option.
Here, you need to toggle the switch to ‘Yes’ so that the plugin will automatically add a ‘Questions and Answers’ section to product pages.
After that, don’t forget to click the ‘Save Options’ button to store your changes.
Now, you need to switch to the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab.
From here, simply toggle the ‘Vote Question’ switch to ‘Yes’ if you want to allow users to vote on product questions.
Next, you can choose if you want to get an email notification once a question is submitted on your website.
Simply select the ‘Notification in HTML Email’ option from the dropdown menu next to the ‘New question notification’ field.
Similarly, you can also choose the ‘Notification in HTML Email’ option in the ‘New answer notification’ field if you want to receive an email once a question is answered on your site.
Your user can also receive a notification once the question submitted by them is answered.
To enable this, you need to toggle the switch next to the ‘User Notification’ option to ‘Yes’.
After that, you can review other settings. The default options would work for most websites but you can change them if needed.
Finally, don’t forget to click on the ‘Save Options’ button to save your changes.
You can now visit your website to see the Questions & Answers section appear on your product pages.
From here, your customers can submit their questions.
Moderating Questions and Adding Answers
You will receive an email notification for new questions submitted by the users. You can also view them by visiting the Questions & Answers » All discussion page.
You can sort entries here by ‘Content not approved’ or ‘Unanswered Questions’.
You can also take your mouse over a question and click ‘Approve’ to make it live.
To add an answer to a question, you can simply click on the ‘Edit’ link below that question. On the edit screen, scroll down to the ‘Your Answer’ section to answer the question.
Repeat the process if you have more unanswered questions.
This is how the product questions and answers section looked on our demo store.
2. Adding a Product Q&A Section Using a Free Plugin
If you want to use a free plugin to add a product Q&A section to your WooCommerce store, then this method is for you.
Upon activation, click the Product Q&A menu from the WordPress admin sidebar which will direct you to the ‘Product Q&A Settings’ page.
From here, simply check the ‘Load More’ option if you want to add a ‘load More’ button to your product Q&A section.
Adding this button will allow customers to load older questions and reduces the page load time if a product gets a ton of questions.
Next, you need to choose a page size.
This means that you need to select a default number of questions that are shown in your Q&A section.
All the other questions will be hidden from view. Users will be able to access those questions after clicking the ‘Load More’ button.
You can also change the text used for the ‘Load More’ button to anything you like. For instance, you can call it ‘Load more questions’.
Next, you need to choose a layout for your product Q&A section from the dropdown menu next to the ‘Layout’ option.
You can choose the ‘Normal’ option if you want to display the Q&A section in paragraphs.
On the other hand, you can also display your questions as an Accordion menu. This means users will need to click on a question to view the answer.
Once finished, don’t forget to click the Submit button at the bottom to save your settings.
Managing Product Question and Answers
After plugin configuration, simply visit any product page on your store. You’ll notice a new Q&A tab added there.
Clicking on it will display the ‘Q&A’ section where customers can submit their questions.
You will receive an email notification when a user submits a question.
Now, to answer customer questions, you need to go to the Products » All Products page from the WordPress admin dashboard.
From here, simply click the ‘Edit’ button under a product to open up its’ ‘Edit Product’ page.
Next, you need to scroll down to the ‘Product Data’ section and click the ‘Q&A’ tab from the left column.
Here, all the questions submitted on that specific product’s page will be displayed.
Now, you need to simply type the answer to a customer query in the ‘Answer’ field.
If you want to delete a question because it’s inappropriate or irrelevant to your product, then you can also do that by clicking the Delete icon on the right corner of each question.
You can also uncheck the ‘Approve’ option if you don’t want to display the question on the product page.
After you have answered the product questions, go to the top of the page and click the ‘Update’ button to save your changes.
Now, you can visit the product page to see the Questions and Answer section in action.
We hope this article helped you learn how to add product questions and answers in WooCommerce. You can also check out our top picks for the best WooCommerce plugins to grow your store, and our beginner’s guide on how to add web push notification to boost sales.
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