WordPress SMTP Tutorial: How to Configure WordPress to Use SMTP Server

You know what sucks? When your emails show up in your intended recipients’ spam folders. You’re sending content that needs to be seen, but the Internet gatekeepers are sending it straight to junk. It’s annoying. But as anyone who has tried to receive Contact Form 7 emails at their Gmail account can attest to, it happens far too often with emails sent by your WordPress site.

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7 Best WordPress Coming Soon Page Plugins in 2022: Build Your Audience Before You’ve Built Your Site

You’re super excited about the fantastic new website you are building. Your enthusiasm has even driven you to create social media channels to drive traffic to it. But while you are building your site, what will people see in the meantime? The default error page is ugly and will discourage them from visiting in the [...]

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Weekly WordPress News: Automatic WordPress Update Blues

Howdy, WordPress friends. Last week, there was a problem with the WordPress auto-update system, which caused some sites to be mistakenly updated to an alpha version of WordPress 5.5.3 rather than WordPress 5.5.2, as should have been the case. Beyond that, Wordfence digs into the WordPress 5.5.2 security release that you’ve hopefully already applied. Let’s ... Read more

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7 Best Web Push Notification Software in 2020 (Compared)

Are you looking for the best push notification software for your website?

Web push notifications are a powerful tool that allows you to connect with visitors after they leave your website. You can send targeted messages to your users which leads to more traffic, conversions, and sales.

In this article, we’ll share our pick of the best web push notification software for your website.

The best push notification software compared

Why Push Notifications Are a Powerful Marketing Tool

Push notifications allow you to engage and retain visitors after they leave your website.

You can send targeted personalized messages to users and bring them back to your website. This could be blog post notifications, product announcements, abandoned cart reminders, and more.

An example push notifiation from PushEngage

Push notifications go directly to the user’s web browser or mobile device which means it has a much higher engagement rate.

Many big sites like Facebook use push notifications. However, most small businesses haven’t yet realized how powerful they are. On WPBeginner website, push notifications are consistently a top 5 traffic source.

If you’re not using push notifications, then now is a great time to start, so you can get ahead of your competition.

With that said, here’s our comparison of the best push notification tools that you can try. All of them are fully compatible with WordPress which is the most popular website builder in the world.

1. PushEngage

PushEngage

PushEngage is the best push notification tool on the market. It allows you to connect with visitors after they leave your site with targeted push messages.

You can set it up to automatically send your new blog post notifications, or use it to manually send custom messages.

It is super easy to set up and is a perfect solution for both beginners as well as advanced users. It works on both HTTP and HTTPs websites, and they support all devices / browsers.

PushEngage comes with powerful features such as A/B testing, automatic drip campaigns, smart opt-in reminders, custom triggered campaigns, and more.

Their triggered campaign feature lets you automatically create abandoned cart notification, schedule messages, send price drop alerts, and more.

Plus, you can track the performance of each campaign and even calculate the revenue generated from them using goal tracking.

PushEngage’s dynamic segmentation helps you send more targeted messages based on users’ actions. For example, you can segment visitors who added products to the cart, bought something, viewed a specific page, and more.

This level of personalization helps you get maximum results, so you get more traffic and sales.

Over 10,000+ companies use PushEngage, including big name brands like Dominos, TUI, Harvard Business Review, and of course WPBeginner.

Price:

PushEngage costs from $25/month, which gives you 5,000 subscribers and unlimited notifications.

There’s also a limited free plan, which gives you up to 2,500 subscribers and 120 notifications/month.

Editor’s note:

Our founder, Syed Balkhi, fell in love with this platform because of the impact it had on our business. In October 2020, we acquired PushEngage, and it’s now part of WPBeginner’s family of products.

2. OneSignal

OneSignal

OneSignal is a popular push notification tool. It has similar features to PushEngage. You can use it to create automatic push notifications, announcements, abandoned cart notifications, and more.

You can easily set your push prompt to display after a certain number of page views and/or seconds. This means you don’t need to display the push prompt the moment someone arrives on your site.

Along with offering push notifications, OneSignal lets you create in-app messages and emails. Like PushEngage, OneSignal offers A/B testing and useful analytics. You can also segment your audience for better targeting.

One key drawback to OneSignal is that it gets expensive as you need more features. It also has fewer automation, personalization, and customization options than PushEngage.

Price:

At the time of writing this article, OneSignal’s paid plans started at $99/month. They have introduced a Growth plan which will be available in November at $9 per month.

However, this plan is still limited, and you will need their Professional plan at $99/month to get the most features. There’s also a free plan available with up to 10,000 subscribers.

3. VWO Engage (PushCrew)

VWO Engage

VWO Engage, which used to be called PushCrew, has a web push notifications tool that works on both desktop and mobile.

It’s designed to let you create push notification campaigns, which have entry and exit triggers. That means the campaign can automatically start based on the user’s actions, such as clicking a particular link.

Users can also be automatically opted out of the campaign when they take a set action, such as clicking a button or filling out a form.

VWO Engage offers segmentation, analytics, personalized notifications, and A/B testing. However, their segmentation tools and engagement campaigns are quite limited.

Price:

VWO Engage costs from $99/month. This gives you up to 10,000 subscribers and unlimited notifications.

There’s no free plan available. However, you can take a free trial for 30 days, with no credit card required.

4. iZooto

iZooto

iZooto offers real-time push notifications, recurring notifications, and scheduled notifications.

Like the other tools we’ve featured, iZooto allows you to personalize push notifications. You can also set up segmentation for more targeted messaging.

It includes A/B testing, Timezone based notifications, capture key user attributes and interests, and more.

Your initial push prompt can appear when the user scrolls down, after a certain length of time, or after a button click. This can help you increase the percentage of site visitors signing up for push notifications.

The iZooto customer success team will help you transfer over your subscribers if you’re already using a different push notification tool.

iZooto only works with https websites, which means your site needs to be using an SSL certificate.

Price:

iZooto costs from $85/month, which gives you up to 30,000 subscribers and unlimited notifications.

There’s no free plan available. However, you can take a 14-day free trial (no credit card required).

5. Webpushr

Webpushr

Webpushr is a straightforward web notifications platform that supports all popular browsers. It offers a range of different prompt templates that you can customize.

Webpushr makes it easy to transfer subscribers from another platform. It includes features like user segmentation, automatic web push, and HTTP support. Plus, it’s designed to integrate seamlessly with both WordPress and WooCommerce.

Webpushr gives you unlimited team members and unlimited segments for your subscribers. It also supports large images, action buttons, emoji, and custom branding.

Unlike most push notification plugins, Webpushr gives you all features on all plans. This includes their free plan. The only difference is how many subscribers you can have.

Price:

Webpushr costs from $19/month for up to 100,000 subscribers and unlimited notifications.

There’s also a free plan available. This gives you up to 60,000 subscribers and unlimited notifications.

6. PushAssist

PushAssist

PushAssist is a push notification tool that supports Chrome, Firefox, and Safari browsers. It’s easy to set up, and works on both desktop and mobile.

With PushAssist, you get audience segmentation, personalization, scheduling tools, and insights into your customer data.

You also have the option to monetize your push traffic by letting advertisers send out push notifications to your audience. This could help you make money online.

You can use PushAssist with an HTTP or HTTPs website. However, you cannot remove the PushAssist branding unless you’re using the Business plan or higher.

Price:

PushAssist costs from $9/month for up to 3,500 subscribers.

There’s also a free plan available. This gives you up to 3,000 subscribers and unlimited notifications.

7. WonderPush

WonderPush

WonderPush works in a similar way to most other push notification plugins. It lets you segment your subscribers, automate notifications based on behavior or time, access real-time analytics, and more.

WonderPush lets you create various types of notification. These include eCommerce push notifications, such as automated abandoned cart notifications.

You get all the features however much you’re paying. This includes unlimited staff members, unlimited notifications, A/B testing, personalization, and more.

Price:

WonderPush has a different pricing model from the other tools we’ve featured. It costs from €1 per month for up to 1,000 subscribers, then it’s an extra €1 for every 1,000 subscribers after that.

There’s no free plan, but you can take a 14-day free trial. This doesn’t require a credit card.

Which is the Best Push Notification Software?

PushEngage is the best push notification software on the market. It’s beginner-friendly and easy to get started with, yet it also offers lots of powerful features.

Their free plan is suitable for small businesses and blogs. Their pricing is the most competitive as it scales which is a big reason why many large businesses use PushEngage. Their platform is robust and the support team is top-notch.

OneSignal can be a good fit too. However, their free plan is quite limited and even the paid plans have fewer features and customization options.

We hope this article helped you learn about the best push notification software for websites. You might also like our article on the best email marketing services, and the best business phone services for your small business.

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

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Welcome Uncanny Owl and Automator Plugin to the WPBeginner Growth Fund

Today, I’m extremely excited to announce that WPBeginner Growth Fund has taken an investment stake in Uncanny Owl, the parent company of a fast growing WordPress automation plugin, Uncanny Automator, and a suite of e-learning plugins for WordPress.

Over 25,000+ websites use Uncanny Owl plugins to automate and grow their businesses.

WPBeginner Growth Fund invests in Uncanny Owl and Uncanny Automator Plugin

About Uncanny Owl and Uncanny Automator Plugin

Uncanny Owl is a Toronto based WordPress company founded by Ryan Moore and Ken Young.

They specialize in helping automate WordPress-powered learning platforms and membership sites to deliver compelling e-learning solutions.

Their team is behind the fast growing WordPress automation plugin, Uncanny Automator, which helps you automate various WordPress admin tasks, so you can save time & money.

Uncanny Automator Explained

It seamlessly integrates with many popular WordPress plugins and third-party platforms, so you can easily build automation recipes without writing any code (over 300 triggers & actions).

In plain English, it helps your WordPress plugins talk to each other, so you can do cool things like:

  • Have 2 WordPress sites talk to each other – sell products on one while create users & setup access on another.
  • Create buttons that can automatically create user accounts and perform other actions in WordPress.
  • Add custom user attributes to user profiles based on user’s actions.
  • Trigger automation recipes in one plugin from the action taken by another plugin (for example, a submission of WPForms can be used to register a user in MemberPress, add them to a BuddyBoss group, and get a calendar event added).
  • Connect your WordPress site with 2000+ external services using a single Zapier integration.
  • … and so much more

Uncanny Automator Triggers and Actions

Uncanny Owl is also known for their popular Uncanny Toolkit and other e-learning extensions.

Background Story — Why Uncanny Owl?

I got introduced to Uncanny Owl brand through their Uncanny Automator plugin because I have always wished something like this existed in WordPress.

Having the ability for two plugins to talk to each other and seamlessly automate tasks is a dream come true.

What’s even better is that they let you do it across two sites without writing any code. The moment I saw it, I was like … this is Zapier for WordPress.

The fact that they had already built the product that would save website owners a lot of time, I wanted to work with them.

Coincidently, two of our mutual friends, Artur and Chris from Extendify, reached out and asked if I would be interested in chatting with the Uncanny Owl founders to discuss a deeper partnership.

My answer was, absolutely!

After few conversations, we decided to join forces.

I invested in the Uncanny Owl business through the WPBeginner Growth Fund and will be advising the team on how to expand their WordPress product business.

At Awesome Motive, we have years of experience building popular WordPress plugins that are used by over 15 million websites including OptinMonster, WPForms, MonsterInsights, and many more.

Not to mention, our other WPBeginner growth fund portfolio companies like MemberPress, Formidable Forms, Pretty Links, Wholesale Suite, and others have seen tremendous growth over the years.

Sharing our combined knowledge with Uncanny Owl will help all of us better serve the larger WordPress community.

I’m really excited to be working with Ryan, Ken, and the entire team to help accelerate their growth in 2021 and beyond.

Thank you so much for your continued support of WPBeginner.

Sincerely,

Syed Balkhi
Founder of WPBeginner

P.S. Want us to acquire or invest in your WordPress business? Learn more about the WPBeginner Growth Fund.

The post Welcome Uncanny Owl and Automator Plugin to the WPBeginner Growth Fund appeared first on WPBeginner.

How to Embed Actual Tweets in WordPress Blog Posts

Do you want to embed individual tweets in your WordPress blog posts? Embedding Tweets in your blog posts allows you to easily quote tweets inside your posts as well as make them more engaging.

You may have seen many popular blogs and news websites embedding tweets from organizations and individuals in their articles.

It makes the quotes more authentic while allowing your users to follow the full conversations for more information.

In this article, we will show you how to easily embed tweets in WordPress blog posts and pages.

How to Easily Embed Tweets in WordPress Blog Posts

Video Tutorial

If you prefer written instructions, then please keep reading.

Embedding Actual Tweets in WordPress Posts – Step by Step

WordPress makes it easy to embed third-party services in your blog posts. This includes YouTube videos, tweets, and other social network posts.

This feature uses a method called oEmbed. Basically, you can just add the URL of a third-party website, and WordPress will request an embed code from them.

You can only add whitelisted oEmbed services in WordPress, and Twitter is one of those services.

The WordPress block editor comes with a built-in Twitter embed block to let you easily insert tweets in your posts and pages.

First, you need to go to Twitter and find the tweet that you want to embed. After that, click on the down arrow icon on the right, and then select ‘Copy link to Tweet’ option.

Copy Link to Tweet

Next, you need to edit the WordPress post or page where you want to embed the tweet.

On the post edit screen, click on the + icon to add a new block and then select the Twitter block under the Embeds section.

Add Twitter Embed Block in WordPress Editor

You’ll now see the Twitter Embed block added into the post edit area. You need to paste the tweet URL that you copied earlier in the block settings.

Embed Twitter in WordPress Post Editor

WordPress will now automatically fetch and display the actual tweet in your post content.

Actual Tweet Embedded in WordPress Post

You can save your post or publish it to see a live preview. This is how it looked on our demo website.

Actual Tweet Embedded in WordPress Blog Post Preview

Pro Tip: You can also paste the Tweet URL in a paragraph block and WordPress will automatically convert it into a Twitter embed block.

Auto embed tweets by just pasting the URL

How to Embed Tweets in Classic WordPress Editor

If you are still using the old WordPress classic editor, then you will need to copy and paste the tweet link directly in the post editor.

Unlike the block editor, the classic editor is a single text box for your whole content. That’s why you need to paste the tweet URL in a separate line in the editor.

Add Twitter URL in Classic WordPress Editor

Once done, it will immediately load the actual tweet in your post editor.

Tweet Embedded in Classic WordPress Editor

Don’t forget to update or save your changes and preview your post or page.

How To Automatically Embed Latest Tweets in WordPress

By default, WordPress allows you to manually embed tweets in your articles, and you can only add one tweet at a time.

What if you wanted to showcase recent tweets from your account, another user, or a hashtag?

This is where Smash Balloon Custom Twitter Feeds comes in. It allows you to easily embed a twitter feed with beautiful layouts and tons of customization options.

First, you need to install and activate the Smash Balloon Custom Twitter Feeds plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Note: there’s a free version of custom Twitter feeds plugin available as well. We’re showcasing the pro version because it has more features.

Upon activation, you need to visit Twitter Feeds » License page and enter your license key. You can find this information under your account on the Smash Balloon website.

Enter your Smash Balloon license

Next, you need to click ‘Activate License’ and then click on Save Changes.

After that, you can go to Twitter Feeds » Configure and click the big blue button to connect your Twitter account.

Connect your Twitter account

This will take you to the Twitter website and you’ll be asked to login. Once logged in, you need to click on the ‘Authorize App’ button to continue.

Authorize app

After that, you’ll be redirected back to your website where you’ll see the Access Token and Access Token Secret fields filled out. Make sure you save your changes.

Displaying Your Twitter Feed in WordPress

Once you have set up the plugin, you can add your recent tweets to any WordPress post or page.

Simply edit the post or page where you want to display the Twitter feed. On the post edit screen, click on the (+) button to add the Twitter Feed block to your page.

Add Twitter feed to page

As soon as you add the block, it will automatically load recent tweets from your Twitter account. You can now save your post or page and visit it to see your Twitter feed in action.

Twitter feed on page

Now you have a feed of your Tweets that is automatically updated every time you Tweet.

You can even set up your feed to show a particular hashtag if you want. Here’s how you’d do it.

Go back to Twitter Feeds » Twitter Feeds and scroll down to your Feed Settings. Then select the option for ‘Hashtag’ and enter your hashtag of choice into the field.

Smash Balloon hashtag settings

Make sure to save your changes, and then check your site. You’ll see a list of Tweets using the hashtag you chose.

Twitter hashtag feed

Now, let’s look at how you can easily customize your feed.

Customizing Your Twitter Feed in WordPress

Smash Balloon Twitter Feed allows you to display Twitter feeds in various layouts with several customization options.

Simply head over to the Twitter Feeds » Customize tab, and you’ll see your first set of options to display your feed. You have quick links at the top to navigate to the section you want to customize.

Customize layout

Let’s start by clicking on the layouts section. From here, you can choose from a number of options including list, carousel, and masonry styles.

Choose your layout

You can also show and hide different items like header, twitter links, reply and retweet actions, and more. Once you are finished, don’t forget to click on the Save Changes button to store your settings.

You can now visit your Twitter feed page to see your changed applied to the feed.

Twitter feed 2 column masonry layout

If you are using the classic editor, then you’ll need to copy and paste the shortcode [custom-twitter-feeds] where you want your feed to be in your page or post.

You can also use the shortcode or the Twitter Feed widget to add your Tweets in your sidebar or footer. Just go to Appearance » Widgets and drag the Twitter Feed widget to your sidebar, or wherever you want.

Add Twitter feed to sidebar

Creating Multiple Twitter Feeds in WordPress

What if you want to display multiple Twitter feeds on one page or post? You can do this easily using the shortcodes available.

Just head over to Twitter Feeds » Twitter Feeds and then select the ‘Display Your Feed’ tab.

Display your feed

On this page, you will see a bunch of shortcode examples that you can use.

For instance, you could simply use this shortcode: [custom-twitter-feeds screenname=optinmonster num=6] to display 6 recent tweets from OptinMonster.

Change the ‘screenname’ to any Twitter name you want to use. And then choose whatever number you want in the ‘num=6’ option to display the number of Tweets.

Next, you’ll add it to your post using the shortcode block by clicking the (+) and then choosing the shortcode widget.

Twitter shortcode widget

From there, add the shortcode inside the block settings and save your post or page.

Insert Twitter shortcode

You can now save or publish your post and visit your website to see it in action.

OptinMonster Twitter feed

We hope this article helped you to learn how to embed actual Tweets in WordPress blog posts. You may also want to see our guide on how to create an email newsletter to grow your traffic, and our expert pick of the best Twitter plugins for WordPress to get more followers.

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

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Kadence Theme Review: Does it live up to the hype?

While new themes are getting released every day, finding a WordPress theme that is simple, effective, and lightweight is quite hard. One of the newest kids on the block right now is the Kadence theme. It boasts high-quality features that make it quite easy for you to design a stylish website. But is it up ... Read more

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Mediabay Review: Add Folders to the WordPress Media Library

Ever wished that you could organize the WordPress Media Library with folders? As your site grows, it can be hard to keep track of all your media files because WordPress doesn’t do a great job of organizing them with its native features. Folders let you neatly organize every file so that you can always find ... Read more

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Weekly WordPress News: Halloween Sales + WordPress 5.5.2

Hey, WordPress fans. There was a lot going on this week… First off, WordPress has a new security release, WordPress 5.5.2 – you should apply it right away. Beyond that, there’s also a new beta version for WordPress 5.6. In non-release news, there are some great WordPress Halloween deals to pay attention to: WP Rocket ... Read more

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Sugar Calendar Review: Lightweight, Extensible WordPress Calendar Plugin

Looking for a WordPress events calendar plugin that doesn’t bog you down with features? Sugar Calendar might be just what you need. It’s a lightweight, but functional, event calendar plugin from Sandhills Development, the same team behind Easy Digital Downloads, AffiliateWP, WP Simple Pay, and (formerly) Restrict Content Pro (before recently selling it to iThemes). ... Read more

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