You’ve probably already seen that WordPress 6.0 has been released, named “Arturo” after the jazz musician Arturo O’Farrill. The latest version includes big updates to the Gutenberg editor and improved accessibility. Check out the WordPress 6.0 release notes for more info. Now before you run out and upgrade, you should read the first topic below.
Here’s the WordPress articles for this week:
- How to Update WordPress Safely (Beginner)
While there’s links and notices all over within the wp-admin to update WordPress or the plugins, it’s not safe to simply click update. 95% of the time you’ll be fine but there’s that 5% when one of the plugins you installed won’t be compatible with the latest version of WordPress, or your theme, or another plugin, or your version of PHP, or some other conflict. There’s a lot that can go wrong, so follow the in-depth steps of this article. You should also read this second article on safely updating your WordPress plugins that focuses just on the plugin updates. - How to Add Code Snippets Safely to WordPress (3 Ways) (Intermediate)
If you’re trying to add some small functionality to your site, or can’t find a free plugin for what you’re trying to do, you may want to add some code with a custom snippet. Usually I will add code snippets in the functions.php file within the child theme but this article shows how to do it even easier with a couple of different plugins, or by creating your own plugin. - How to Add Two-Factor Authentication in WordPress (Free Method) (Beginner)
How strong is your password? Even if it’s 8 digits with upper and lowercase letters, it would take a hacker just 22 minutes to brute force your password. That’s why using 2-factor authentication is a great idea for your website, especially if your site is mission critical. This article mentions a few plugins to enable it but I usually use WordFence since that plugin also includes a lot of other security features. Or, if you already have Jetpack installed, they also provide two-factor authentication. - The Complete Guide to WordPress REST API Basics (Intermediate)
Did you know that WordPress has its own REST API? Yep. That means that you can use other applications to make updates to your WordPress data, or you can create a single page application (SPA), or use within WordPress to make updates more interactive. For example, the Gutenberg block editor uses the WordPress REST API. Here’s the official REST API Handbook from WordPress. - Wix Vs WordPress: Fast and Flashy Vs Full Features? (Any)
While Wix and WordPress both allow you to build websites, there’s a big difference between the two. Wix is easy to use and you can create a great looking site yourself. However, it doesn’t scale well since it’s limited in what it can do, and doesn’t work well for larger sites. With WordPress though, you can build pretty much anything as long as you’re willing to put in the extra work. You should also read this article on the pros and cons of each site builder.
That’s the 5 picks, have a great week!
[weekly_email_signup]
Recent Articles
This week's topics include User Roles, Block Patterns, Coding Standards, How WordPress Works, and WordPress Website Cost. Also, this will be the last post for a bit.
This week's topics include Reusable Blocks, Pingbacks and Trackbacks, Cloudflare Enterprise, Table Plugins, and .Org vs .Com