Best Laravel Tutorials, Prerequisites for Beginners with Free & Paid

If you are looking for the best Laravel tutorials for free, do read our recommendations.For many years, Laravel has been the famous choice of PHP application development. Giant network, active community, excellent job market, flourishing startups — everything it possesses makes it valuable to accept new technology.For learning Laravel, there is no need to worry. The following guide highlights the easy-to-understand Laravel tutorial. It perfectly matches your knowledge level and learning approach. So, let’s get started:

Why Learn Laravel?

There are several reasons why I may need to learn Laravel. The below section highlights the most important reasons. Also, the section will discuss a few tips on how to successfully learn the framework before diving deep into the Laravel tutorials. The tutorials include complete details, pros, cons, and use cases.

1. Rapid Development:

Laravel is extensively popular as an open-source PHP framework designed for web application development. It is based on the MVC (Model View Controller) architectural model. This framework boasts meaningful and clear-cut syntax that quickens the development. Also, it leads to a clean and justifiable codebase and scalable apps.

2. Wide Popularity:

The source code of Laravel is being hosted on GitHub, where it’s the most famous PHP archive, having 60,000+ stars and still counting. Moreover, several Laravel videos, tutorials, screencasts, and other online resources can assist you in gaining knowledge of the framework and stay advanced with recent developments.

3. Vast Ecosystem:

Due to its wide popularity, Laravel owns an enormous network of official and third-party packages, which can be supplemented with your application dev. Furthermore, the official packages contain server management tools & platforms, monitoring & testing tools, an administration panel, developer environments, and many more. The same is showcased on the homepage of Laravel under the ‘Ecosystem’ menu.If you wish to add functionality that does not still exist, it is possible to develop your Laravel package.

4. Active Community:

There is a vast community around Laravel which can be found on Laravel.io, LaraChat, Laracasts Discuss, Reddit, Discord, and other places. Furthermore, Laravel possesses an official conference named Laracon that happens each year on 3 continents, namely Europe, America, and Australia.

5. Strong Job Market:

Laravel development is an exceedingly active skill that is high in demand. Its job prospects are outstanding. It possesses an official job board entitled Larajobs where the specific job titles are ‘Backend Laravel Developer,’ ‘Laravel Developer,’ ‘Full-Stack PHP Developer, ‘and ‘TALL Stack Developer.’Apart from Larajobs, it is easy to find multiple Laravel jobs on some other job websites like Indeed, Monster, and LinkedIn. Furthermore, remote Laravel jobs are too available at We Work Remotely, RemoteOK, and other websites.

6. Potential Business Opportunities:

If you intend to not work for somebody else but instead set up your own business, then Laravel can prove to be an outstanding solution. Already, there are several flourishing businesses developed on Laravel. They are namely Mailcoach, OctoberCMS, Invoice Ninja, Monica CRM, and CodeCourse. Of course, there are many more.Through Laravel as a foundation and implementing the most acceptable practices and efficient PHP hosting, your app will undoubtedly enhance production without any issues.Possessing an active community and robust job market, Laravel is the popular solution for PHP application development.

How to Learn Laravel:

To begin learning Laravel development, it is essential to have some prior knowledge.

Prior Knowledge:

You have to use PHP, chiefly object-oriented PHP, safely. It is vital to know how to utilize the command line as well as the Composer package manager. The mentioned two topics are encompassed in the PHP tutorials designed for the beginner’s level.Prior knowledge of HTML and RDBMS (relational database management systems) can prove beneficial for a smooth start.

Learning Resources:

Getting educated with a PHP framework like Laravel is unique from understanding a programming language like PHP. In the Laravel framework, you will do more practical projects and very few programming exercises right from the beginning. This is exactly how most Laravel tutorials are ordered.Creating real-world apps also implies that you will often use Laravel as a portion of a stack. For example, several Laravel tutorials utilize it through a Vue frontend. This suggests that you would also have to learn Vue.js to complete the project.It is difficult to find tutorials for beginners, and many of the tutorials are presented in video format. Moreover, there are hardly any books available on Laravel primarily because changes are implemented rapidly that meanwhile a book gets published, the corresponding framework is already two versions in advance.

Laravel Versions:

One vital thing when choosing a Laravel tutorial is focusing on the Laravel version it encompasses. You must be acquainted with the below Laravel versioning rules:
  • Starting from version 6, Laravel and its official packages pursue semantic versioning (major.minor.patch). For example, 8.* is the main release.
  • Before Laravel 6, the framework utilized the paradigm.major.minor rule, for example, 5.8.* is too a significant release.
  • The major release is done every 6 months (in February and August).
  • One LTS (long-term support) release is accomplished every 2 years.
  • For standard releases, bug fixes are offered for 6 months. The security releases are provided for 1 year.
  • For LTS releases, the bug fixes are offered for 2 years, and the security releases are provided for 3 years.
  • The Laravel’s successive major releases are 5.5.* (LTS), 5.6.*, 5.7.*, 5.8.*, 6.* (LTS), 7.*, 8.*
  • There is also support for minor releases and patches. However, they don’t include any significant changes.
Since there are 2 significant releases done every year, the tutorials can barely follow along. The majority of the Laravel tutorials you will find any time will be approx. 1-3 versions lagging compared to the actual release. It is not a big issue unless the framework undertakes a full overwrite. The last time it happened was when Laravel 4 got released in 2013.Though it is advisable to use the newest tutorial available, there is no need to worry if you need to go back to 2 or 3 releases. This holds mainly if it’s a practical section that demonstrates how to develop the kind of application you wish to gain knowledge about.You may find certain discrepancies between the various versions. However, they are typically recorded by either the author or some other learners within the discussion portion. Moreover, it is a decent idea to go through the release notes of every latest release to perceive what has been modified. The same will help you to know what to focus on more.

Learning Budget:

Learning Laravel is not at all costly, and you can even do it for free. The present guide contains both free well as paid Laravel tutorials. The paid versions are not too expensive. It is possible to subscribe to a premium tutorial website for an approximate 15-30 USD/month price.Though you do not wish to spend money on Laravel learning, it proves helpful to browse through the paid section. This is because a few premium tutorial sites contain free trials, special free video courses, and some other free offerings.

6 Best Laravel Tutorials Sites for Free:

Now let us get familiar with the best Laravel tutorials:

1. Official Laravel Docs (Beginners, Intermediate, Advanced):

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The official Laravel documentation is a straightforward explanation of the Laravel framework. The Laravel community is maintaining it, and you can find it on GitHub. It begins with an installation guide along with an overview of every Laravel concept. These concepts are security, database management, templating, etc. You can even find the documentation of official Laravel packages.

Pros:

  • Most advanced Laravel resource
  • Information is clear and straightforward to search
  • Docs for obsolete Laravel versions are also present
  • Contains code examples and top practice tips
  • The bug reports can be submitted on GitHub

Cons:

  • Uninteresting tone and design
When to Choose Laravel Docs?The certified Laravel documentation is valuable irrespective of the knowledge level. It helps to check out the information of any concept related to Laravel. But it can be complex for beginners due to lots of information.It is the most acceptable place to get familiar with the functionalities of the latest releases or for comparing various releases.

2. Laravel News (Beginners, Intermediate, Advanced):

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Laravel News is a comprehensive Laravel tutorial site incorporating multiple aspects. The corresponding blog features the recent Laravel news and a segment for Laravel tutorials encompassing topics ranging from beginner to professional level. It also features a bi-weekly Laravel podcast and a Laravel newsletter that is distributed every Sunday morning. Furthermore, Laravel News also represents famous Laravel packages with a short description and sample code.

Pros:

  • Regularly updated
  • Provides content in varied ways (podcast, blog, newsletter, etc.)
  • Finest practice pieces
  • Free tutorials are offered on creating practical Laravel apps/tools/tasks
  • Helpful screenshots and code fragments

Cons:

  • Few of the posts are sponsored posts (although it’s plainly stated)
  • Challenging to browse (successive portions of the same tutorial series are not connected)

When to Select Laravel News?

Laravel News is recognized as the most acceptable free source for any news related to Laravel. Their tutorials are of superior quality and encompass several fascinating aspects. However, if you are not interested in the same, it is better to subscribe to the newsletter to get the latest updates on the Laravel framework. Every edition also contains few Laravel job listings. Furthermore, the bi-weekly Laravel News Podcast is an outstanding resource for Laravel developers of any skill level.

3. Tuts Make (Intermediate, Advanced):

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Tuts Make is a well-known tutorial blog that encompasses various programming languages and technologies such as Laravel. Its tutorials are concise and easy to understand. They discuss the general Laravel tasks, use cases, and errors. Besides, they contain multiple code snippets that can be used in your projects.TutsMake allocates a distinct category for Laravel interview questions & answers, with clear-cut explanations.

Pros:

  • Regularly updated
  • Tutorials for practice
  • Easy-to-skim content
  • Extensive but organized code examples
  • Job interview Q&A

Cons:

  • Tutorials are challenging to browse (no tags or other classifications)
  • Grammar errors all over

When to Select Tuts Make?

Tuts Make is not suitable for beginners. This is because you need to possess an intermediate knowledge of the Laravel framework to comprehend these tutorials. They are incredibly code-oriented without any discussion of the theory. Moreover, the tutorials are not interlinked. It is important to note that Tuts Make is a blog, not a detailed Laravel tutorial series. To obtain a Laravel job, make sure to look at its interview Q&A section.

4. LaraShout (Beginners, Intermediate, Advanced):

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LaraShout is famously known as a free tutorial website that fully emphasizes the Laravel framework. Apart from practical Laravel tutorials, it showcases guides on vital theoretical concepts like storage, middleware, queues and jobs, and many others. Few of the tutorials are clustered as series to impart a deep knowledge of every topic.Presently, LaraShout contains 4 series, namely Design Patterns, Collections, E-Commerce Application Development, and Package Development.

Pros:

  • Easy-to-browse website
  • Tutorials begin with a table of content
  • Informative content (with quality images, alert messages, code examples, etc.)
  • Both theory as well as practical tutorials

Cons:

  • Specific categories contain only 2-3tutorials
  • Not updated frequently

When to Choose LaraShout?

LaraShout is chiefly suggested for intermediate as well as advanced learners. It even includes particular beginner-level tutorials. All 4 Laravel tutorial series are essential to check out. But, keep in mind that they don’t essentially encompass everything you will require. This is because LaraShout is more like a tech blog than an all-inclusive educational site.

5. Learn2torials (Beginners, Intermediate):

Learn2torials is essentially a one-person project presented by Sandip Patel. It features free tutorials discussing various frameworks and programming languages. Moreover, the Laravel tutorial section includes several essential aspects of this framework. It contains elements right from installation to caching.The focus is more on theory rather than practice. However, as they contain several longer code examples, you can get great help to solve real-world problems.

Pros:

  • Well-written tutorials with considerate explanations
  • It uses an easy-to-follow Q&A format
  • Well-commented code examples
  • Multiple beginner-level tutorials

Cons:

  • Difficult to search website (absence of taxonomies)
  • Tutorials don’t pursue a logical sequence, from beginner to more advanced pieces

Why Select Learn2torials?

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If you are a beginner or previously know any Laravel development, but your knowledge is inadequate on it, then Learn2torials proves to be the perfect Laravel resource. It even contains several overlaps along with the certified Laravel docs. Hence, you can use the two resources jointly to harden your understanding of the fundamental concepts.

6. Eloquent by Example (Intermediate):

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Eloquent by Example is another great one-person project provided by Jeff Madsen. It is a free Laravel tutorial series exclusively about Eloquent ORM. There is an object-relational mapper. It is responsible for transmitting data between Laravel objects and the relational database that runs in the background. Examples of these databases are MySQL, SQLite, PostgreSQL, or SQL Server. You can choose any one of these databases according to your preference.The tutorials are organized as successive lessons and interpreted like the chapters of a book with a discussion on Eloquent ORM.

Pros:

  • Very well written tutorials are very (almost like a novel)
  • A well-organized website with simple navigation
  • Plenty of code examples
  • ‘Further reading’ sections along with resource recommendations

Cons:

  • No preliminary lesson for clarifying fundamental concepts like ORM
  • Absence of publication date on tutorials

When to Choose Eloquent by Example?

If you previously hold a bit of Laravel knowledge but willing to gain expertise on Eloquent ORM, then Eloquent by Example is the finest Laravel resource. It is unclear when it was recently updated, but the links direct to the Laravel 5.8 docs. Hence, it may include some obsolete information and may be devoid of new additions.You will find it out to be the all-inclusive Eloquent guide there.

Best Laravel Tutorials: 6 Best Free Laravel Tutorial Videos, Screencasts, and Podcasts:

1. BitFumes (Beginners, Intermediate, Advanced):

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BitFumes is a learning website that features free and paid screencasts and video courses in web development. The corresponding accessible Laravel tutorial segment contains lots of quality video courses. These courses are intended for beginners. Also, you can find out some advanced classes too.You will also find lots of free Laravel tutorials presented on the YouTube channel of BitFumes. It comprises a long course of length 6.5 hours—the same covers Laravel development right from the fundamentals to cutting-edge topics like Livewire.

Pros:

  • No need to sign up to see the free courses
  • Videos are organized in the form of lessons and chapters
  • Progress tracking feature included
  • Tutorials explaining the common tool pairings (Laravel with DigitalOcean, PHPUnit, VueJS, etc.)
  • Courses are correctly labeled (including the number of tutorials, level, length, and publication date)

Cons:

  • The ecosystem is hard to understand (free Laravel courses are available both on YouTube and the website, and it has a premium course)

When to Select BitFumes?

Its YouTube channel is helpful to browse through though you possess an advanced level. The free tutorials available on the BitFumes website encompass lots of topics suitable for beginner-level. These topics are difficult to find free of cost elsewhere. Moreover, it has a premium Laravel course that includes advanced topics like Stripe integration and test-driven development.

2. Laravel Business by Povilas Korop (Beginners, Intermediate, Advanced):

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Laravel Business is a well-known YouTube channel comprising free video tutorials explaining how to use Laravel for business. Essentially, it is a one-person project developed by Povilas Korop. This person is the author of Laravel Daily.On Povilas Korop’s channel, he posts multiple YouTube videos each week. These videos discuss topics like Eloquent, Blade, SaaS applications, PHPUnit, and many others. In addition to practical tutorials, Povilas also carries out comparisons and offers career & business recommendations. Within the ‘Community’ tab, he mentions the ‘Laravel tip of the day regularly.

Pros:

  • Updated almost each day
  • Provides a great practice
  • Longer videos are collapsed into smaller segments
  • ‘Related Links’ recommendations within the tutorial videos
  • Occasionally he reverts to his viewers in the video answers

Cons:

  • Videos are difficult to find

When to Select Laravel Business?

Even though Laravel Business is chiefly targeted at more advanced users, the tutorial can be an excellent Laravel resource. The business and career advice by Povilas is very much helpful.If you are involved in Laravel development for some time and got bored with it, this channel can regain your motivation. This is because it describes several fascinating aspects, novel features, and clear use cases that do not present anywhere else.

3. Laraning (Beginners, Intermediate):

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Laraning’s name originates from combining the words ‘Laravel’ and ‘learning.’ It is completely focused on Laravel learning. This tutorial features free video courses, classified as ‘Features,’ ‘Series,’ and ‘Courses.’‘Series’ are some individual joined video tutorials discussing Laravel packages and some other topics. On the other hand, the ‘Features’ are still in the development stage and presently contain just one video tutorial on the Blade templating engine. The third type, i.e., ‘Courses,’ is a lengthier video tutorial series intended for beginners.

Pros:

  • Well-organized courses
  • Easy to browse its website
  • Real-world examples
  • Full HD videos
  • Code content is present on GitHub

Cons:

  • Not fully developed
  • No publication date available on videos

When to Select Laraning?

Since the Laraning website is not entirely developed yet, there are some missing features. For example, the ‘Sign In’ button is still not functioning, and a few of the series contain just 2 video parts. But, those tutorials that are already posted are of high quality, and you must go through them. Notably, the Laravel from A to Z course is worth checking out if you are a beginner learner of this framework.

4. Laravel PHP Framework Tutorial by FreeCodeCamp (Beginners, Intermediate):

Laravel PHP Framework Tutorial is a video course by the FreeCodeCamp online learning platform. It is aimed at beginner learners. Though the back-end part of the curriculum by FreeCodeCamp focuses on Python, it also posts educational videos on a few other back-end languages. These videos are shared on its Youtube channel, and they are prepared by members of the corresponding open source community.Victor Gonzalez develops it, and it explains creating an Instagram clone from the start. This is accomplished with the features like profile editing, follow/unfollow, resizing images, and a few others. The length of the video is approx. 4.5 hours. However, it is collapsed into tiny sections to make sure it becomes easy to follow.

Pros:

  • Real-world project
  • Detailed explanation
  • Audited by FreeCodeCamp
  • Demo code present on GitHub
  • Community members assist with questions posted in the comment section

Cons:

  • Depended on Laravel 5.8, so may include particular obsolete info (you can find solutions for these problems in the comment section)
When to Select Laravel PHP Framework Tutorial by FreeCodeCamp?If you desire to get training on Laravel via developing the clone of a general, real-world application, this tutorial is one of the best ones, available free of cost. Victor’s clarifications are simple to understand. Besides, the FreeCodeCamp community is very supportive if you come across any issues.Though it is intended for beginners, it is too helpful if you previously hold a bit of knowledge of Laravel but willing to learn how to compose an Instagram-like application.

5. Let’s Build with Laravel: A Linktree Clone (Beginners, Intermediate):

Let’s Build with Laravel: A Linktree Clone is recognized as a quickly working Laravel screencast. It instructs you to create a social media landing page builder application identical to the famous Linktree service.The length of the video is 58 minutes. It does not describe fundamental concepts or demonstrates how to set up Laravel. Instead, it directly switches to hands-on training. It is a free Laravel tutorial created by Andrew Schmelyun. This person has uploaded many Laravel videos on his YouTube channel, which are so much helpful.Pros:
  • Clear explanation with no fuzz or interruption
  • Allows building a functional Laravel app within an hour
  • Video is categorized into tiny sections
  • Source code is present on GitHub
Cons:
  • Audio quality is average

When to Select ‘Let’s Build with Laravel: A Linktree Clone’?

The video’s description available on Youtube mentions that it is intended for beginners. But if you are just beginning to use Laravel, you have to bear in mind that this video presumes prior knowledge of Laravel. The same includes installation or preliminary configuration.This Laravel tutorial is perfect for developing your initial app through the framework. It is also helpful to enhance your app development skills.

6. The Laravel Podcast (Beginners, Intermediate, Advanced):

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Matt Stauffer hosts the Laravel Podcast, which is a bi-weekly podcast. It features discussions related to Laravel and PHP. Every episode focuses on one topic like authentication, debugging, migrations, installing a local environment, and many others. Typically, the length of each episode is approx. 1.5 hours. Moreover, you can listen to these episodes either through the embedded podcast player or through Apple Podcasts.

Pros

  • Information-rich content
  • Updates regularly
  • Episodes are clearly described (includes notes, summary, link recommendations)
  • Transcripts are supported
  • High-quality audio

Cons

  • Episodes cannot be downloaded

When to Select the Laravel Podcast?

Even though a podcast is not a standard tutorial, it serves as a distinctive approach to acquaint yourself with the latest technology. It lets you listen to the opinions of industry experts and keep you updated with cutting-edge features. Hence, the Laravel Podcast is a highly recommended Laravel resource regardless of the skill level of developers.8 Best Paid Laravel Tutorial Videos, Screencasts, and Books:

1. Laracasts (Beginners, Intermediate, Advanced):

Laracasts is a high-quality learning platform providing screencasts on web development. Though its key focus is the Laravel framework, there are also courses focused on other technologies. The majority of these courses can be used together with Laravel like PHP, CSS, JavaScript, Vue.js, SQL, and more.It also showcases 5 Laracast Journeys, namely Laravel, PHP, JavaScript, Testing, and Tooling. A Journey is a compilation of screencasts that you require for gaining expertise in a particular skill.

Pros:

  • Screencasts are organized in 3 varied ways (series, topics, journeys)
  • Easy to browse its website
  • High-quality screencasts (audio and video)
  • It also includes screencasts on famous Laravel packages (Forge, Envoyer, Nova, etc.) and theory (principles, design, etc.)
  • Lively discussion forum (accessible with a free forum account)

Cons:

  • Does not have a free trial period

When to Select Laracasts?

Laracasts are high-quality video tutorials recommended at every level. Even though it’s a premium service, you can find some completely free series, for instance, an intermediate series on Envoyer and a beginner series on Forge. However, you can’t filter for free courses, so you’ll need to find them yourself.Even if you don’t want to pay for the membership, it’s also worth signing up for a free forum account, especially if you need some community help with your code.

2. Laravel Daily (Beginners, Intermediate, Advanced):

Laravel Daily is popularly known as the paid Laravel tutorial site by Povilas Korop (the creator of this Laravel Business YouTube channel). Povilas possesses 10 paid and accessible Laravel video tutorial series. They encompass fascinating topics like developing an invoice creation app with Laravel and creating a CRUD SPA through Vue and Laravel. Also, the topic revolves around learning Eloquent, developing a REST API through Laravel, and a lot more.

Pros:

  • Live coding of practical Laravel projects
  • Clearly explained, logically organized course content.
  • A free practical crash course aimed at beginners
  • Every code example is available on GitHub
  • You can register or pay through the safe Teachable platform
  • You can submit your questions to Povilas through email

Cons:

  • Absence of publishing date on the courses (though you can assume it from the commit history of the associated GitHub repo)

When to Select Laravel Daily?

Laravel Daily is suggested for Laravel developers irrespective of level. Some Laravel developers may be previously a subscriber to the channel of Laravel Business and prefer Povilas’ teaching approach. For them, his paid video courses on Laravel Daily could be the subsequent logical step in your Laravel learning track.It is too an outstanding alternative if you are willing to learn skills that are trendy in the job market. For example, you can learn API or SaaS development using Laravel.

3. CodeCourse (Intermediate, Advanced):

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CodeCourse is a high-quality screencast platform aimed at web development tutorials. Most of the screencasts are organized as ‘Paths,’ and they are accessible in 4 categories. They are namely Vue.js, Flutter, Laravel, and design patterns.The Clean Laravel course track comprises 9 video courses. It instructs you on the proper method to write quality Laravel code without errors. Moreover, CodeCourse also supports a shorter Laravel path entitled ‘Filtering with Laravel.’ In addition to the tracks, it also showcases single courses wherein you can learn how to develop varied types of apps through Laravel. These apps can be an e-commerce platform, a code snippet website, and a Twitter clone.

Pros:

  • Addition of new content regularly
  • Plenty of information on courses and paths
  • Superior quality screencasts (both audio and video)
  • Emphasizes practice skills
  • Shows short screencasts named ‘Snippets’ for free
  • Intro videos are provided for free

Cons:

  • The website is not adequately structured (it is unclear that they have varied kinds of content, ‘Snippets’ are difficult to find, single courses are only accessible from the ‘Library’ menu, etc.)
  • No free trial

When to Select CodeCourse?

To make the most out of the Laravel screencasts by CodeCourse, you should be acquainted with the fundamentals of Laravel development. But, if you possess an intermediary knowledge of the framework, it is easy to learn many new aspects.Though it is a premium service, it is not too costly. Hence, if you can find a path or course that interests you, it is a decent investment considering your effort and time.

4. Building APIs and SPAs with Laravel, Vue.js, and Capacitor (Advanced):

A complete guide to developing APIs & Single-Page Applications using Vue.js, Laravel, and Capacitor. It is an ebook from Dan Pastori and Jay Rogers. The same is available on ServerSideUp. You will be familiar with the way to create web & mobile applications from an identical codebase. Here all your apps connect with a unified API.The book discusses the procedure of creating a helpful app named Roast. It is a coffee house finder app. It is not simply a demo, but an existing app is allowing you to sign up, include your favorite cafe, search for coffee houses over a map, and more. The Roast app is easy to install on an Android or iOS device.

Pros:

  • Written by industry specialists
  • Well-organized content (table of content is present on the sales page)
  • Two free chapters (but you have to sign up for the ServerSideUp newsletter to receive them)
  • Optimized Sketch and Figma icon templates for Capacitor
  • Accessible in 3 unique formats (PDF, MOBI, and EPUB)
  • Provides access to a private online community for getting help (applicable only if you purchase the more costly package)
  • Lifetime access as well as updates
  • Specific free, advanced-level Laravel tutorials on the ServerSideUp website

Cons:

  • Extra video tutorials (promoted as a portion of the more costly package) are yet under development.

When to Choose ‘Building APIs and SPAs with Laravel, Vue.js, and Capacitor’?

If you are an experienced Laravel developer, then this ebook can enhance your skill and knowledge. It effectively guides you on the way to support 3 codebases (iOS, Android, and web) while developing a complex application.It too pairs Laravel with the latest tools like the Nuxt.js frontend framework and the Capacitor cross-platform runtime. Furthermore, it encompasses Laravel 8. Hence, currently, it is the newest Laravel book accessible on the market.

5. LinkedIn Learning (Beginners, Intermediate):

LinkedIn Learning, formerly known as Lynda.com, is a high-quality e-learning platform. It provides a comprehensive learning track in Laravel development.It comprises of 5 individual courses. They are Laravel basics, testing, security, deployment, RESTful API building, Vue basics, and using Laravel and Vue.js collectively as a full-stack environment. If you complete this learning track, you will get enough knowledge to kick start your career as a full-stack Laravel developer.

Pros:

  • Instructors hold great industry expertise (namely Justin Yost, Michael Sullivan, Ray Villalobos)
  • Superior quality, professional videos reviewed by LinkedIn
  • Well-organized, easy to browse content
  • Transcripts are present
  • You can receive a Linkedin badge of achievement
  • 1-month free trial
  • Mobile apps accessible on Android and iOS devices

Cons:

  • The courses include Laravel 5 and 6, so they may consist of obsolete info at certain places.

When to Select LinkedIn Learning?

If you intend to function as a full-stack Laravel developer and there is an extensive portfolio, then the Laravel path from LinkedIn Learning may be beneficial to get a job. This is because you can showcase the achievement badge on your LinkedIn profile. It can also prove an excellent pick if you wish to make a more prolonged course on the full-stack Laravel development, wherein all the essential content is already amassed for you.

6. Udemy (Beginners, Intermediate, Advanced):

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Udemy is a worldwide e-learning market wherein autonomous creators are selling out their video courses. These courses are not just focused on web development but also cover several other subjects.The Laravel topic presently contains 280 courses for all knowledge levels. The interface of Udemy offers you many varied filters like duration, level, price, and many more. They will assist you in finding out the finest Laravel tutorial. Apart from English, it provides courses in many other languages.

Pros:

  • Easy-to-browse user interface
  • Plenty of information on courses
  • A broad assortment of Laravel courses
  • Subtitles in various languages (based on the course)
  • Offers certificate of completion
  • Supports 30-day money-back guarantee
  • Mobile apps are accessible on Android and iOS devices.

Cons:

  • Quality of audio and video differs because indie authors post the courses

When to Select Udemy?

Because Udemy provides nearly 300 Laravel tutorial video series, it is necessary to dedicate effort and time to find the needful thing. It is valuable to pay attention to the ‘new,’ ‘best seller,’ and ‘hot & new’ labels, though you could not sort out for such characteristics.Remember to go through the student reviews and look at the previews. This is because Udemy is not a unified platform with a consistent quality assurance procedure. In case you face any issues, you can regain your money through the 30 days money-back guarantee.

7. Skillshare (Beginners, Intermediate):

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Skillshare is a great e-learning market identical to Udemy. But it utilizes a unique pricing model. There is no need to make payment for separate courses. However, you need to pay a monthly fee, and subsequently, you can use every Skillshare course.Presently, Skillshare registers 22 Laravel video courses developed by sovereign teachers. But, few PHP courses are also registered in the form of a ‘Laravel course.’The majority of the Laravel courses from Skillshare emphasize hands-on skills like creating a to-do app, a mailing list filter, a personal budget website, a task scheduler admin panel, etc.

Pros:

  • Well-organized courses
  • The interface is easy to browse
  • Includes note-taking feature
  • Videos come with English captions
  • Mobile apps accessible for Android and iOS
  • Supports 7-day free trial (mandatory to use credit card details)

Cons:

  • Need to sign up to look at pricing plans
  • Video quality differs over the courses
  • Absence of publishing date on courses (but you can filter for courses that are created this year)

When to Select Skillshare?

Though Laravel development is not the prime focal point of Skillshare, finding out some high-quality courses is possible. If you already possess a Skillshare membership, it is advisable to go through the Laravel tutorial videos.On the other hand, if you are a novice to Skillshare but fascinated by some other topics they support, it can be a decent idea to register a membership. The topics vary from music to photography.

8. Eduonix (Beginners, Intermediate):

Eduonix is a popular online learning marketplace comprising of independent instructors, identical to Skillshare and Udemy. It makes use of a similar pricing model like Udemy. Hence, you need to pay for every course separately. There is also an option supported for lifetime membership to every Eduonix course and some bunch discounts.Presently, it provides 16 Laravel video courses, most of which instruct you through a practical project. The type of project may be making a hotel app with translation in 4 languages, a contact manager app with a Vue frontend, a single-page forum application, and others.

Pros:

  • In-depth details on course content (containing when it was recently updated)
  • Practical projects of real world
  • Innovative filtering system
  • Provides a certificate of completion
  • 30-day money-back guarantee

Cons:

  • Quality of audio and video differs across courses
  • The coupon site look and feel are cheap

When to Choose Eduonix?

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Eduonix can prove to be a decent choice if you are more fascinated by practical app-building than theory. Though it does not provide lots of courses on Laravel development, it is advisable to focus on it. This is mainly because few creators sell their courses on Udemy and Eduonix with a varied price tag. (Eduonix is cheaper).

Summary:

The present guide on free and paid tutorials assists you in gaining expertise on this famous framework. Fixing a learning goal to know where you are reaching up can benefit you to find out the finest Laravel tutorial. If you hold previous experience with independent online learning, you may know what kinds of materials to choose from. For example, materials can be text-based tutorials, screencasts, videos, blogs, podcasts, or longer books.You don’t essentially need to begin with only one Laravel tutorial. However, you can choose a combined approach. For instance, you can start with a video course when listening to a podcast, signing up for a newsletter, and going through a blog simultaneously.If you are uncertain about what skills you require, it is a decent idea to go through job sites like LaraJobs. This will help you know what skills are in high demand in the market.It is also convenient to use a project planning app like Trello or any alternatives to follow your progress, fix deadlines & reminders, and continue motivating yourself by tracking your learning graph.When you opt for a paid version of the Laravel tutorial, it is typically better, to begin with, the monthly subscription rather than paying in advance for a year. By doing this, you can immediately know whether your expectations meet or not. It is recommended to do this if the monthly fee is lesser than that of the annual subscription.Lastly, begin to create a functional Laravel app at the soonest in the learning procedure. Perceiving that you are capable of completing a real-world project assists you in following your learning and achieve your goals.

Best WordPress Security Plugins & WooCommerce – Free, Freemium & Subscriptions

If you are looking for the best WordPress Security Plugins, check our recommendations.The following article familiarizes you with some of the best WordPress security plugins. Before starting, let’s take an example. Suppose you purchase a new house and this latest investment needs a hefty down-payment which you perhaps not used for spending. You may be afraid of the inspection fees before buying. Besides, mortgage and insurance payments also need to be considered. All of these add up to a significant expense.Related: Best Free WordPress Security PluginsIt is said that buying real estate is one of the finest investments you could make. However, this investment is expensive. You would want to protect it as much as you can for such a hefty investment, isn’t it?Therefore, you purchase insurance and consider installing an alarm system or any kind of security camera. Several experts recommend at least including a security system sign over your door. By doing this, it will frighten those who do not wish to take a risk. This security is intended to secure the initial investment and the prospective for that investment in the future.

And you should think a similar way for your WordPress website.

The upfront investment is required when starting a blog or a small business, or an e-commerce website. This investment needs to be made for the products and services such as plugins, themes, hosting, and website development. The same does not contain any assistance you should hire like salespeople or customer service reps.This preliminary investment is adequate to protect your website from the beginning. But significantly, you guarantee that you don’t overlook to secure the potential money you will make in the future.As a default, WordPress core has specific security measures. However, it is negligible compared to what a trustworthy security plugin accomplishes for you. For instance, the best WordPress security plugins offer the following:
  • Active security monitoring
  • Malware scanning
  • File scanning
  • Blacklist monitoring
  • Post-hack actions
  • Security hardening
  • Brute force attack protection
  • Firewalls
  • Notifications whenever a security threat is identified
  • and much more

Your Foremost Priority Must Be Secure Hosting:

The security of your website is equally good as the foundation and the backend it is running on. Before going through security plugins, it is significant to select a WordPress host that has organized security measures. For example, HostingXP is one of the best WordPress hosts with security measures in place.Many of these protections are implemented at the server level. Moreover, they can be so effective without severely influencing the performance of your website. You need not spend time going through many security settings within plugins in which you may not understand their working mechanism.

Below are certain security features that HostingXP provides on every WordPress managed hosting plan:

  • HostingXP identifies DDoS attacks, checks for uptime, and automatically prohibits IPs that have over 6 failed login attempts within a minute.
  • Only encrypted SSH and SFTP connections (no FTP) are maintained while directly accessing your WordPress websites.
  • Hardware firewalls, together with added active and passive security measures, are implemented to avoid access to your data.
  • The open_basedir restrictions also prevent the execution of PHP inside standard directories, which are susceptible to malicious scripts.
  • HostingXP utilizes Linux containers (LXC) and the Google Cloud Platform (GCP) that offers absolute isolation not just for each account but also for each specific WordPress site. This is a more secure approach than the one provided by some other competitors. GCP too implements data encryption at rest.
  • HostingXP only executes the PHP versions like 7.2, 7.3, and 7.4. The unsupported PHP versions are risky because they no longer include security updates and are susceptible to unpatched security risks.
  • Nothing is entirely hack-proof, and so HostingXP offers free hack fixes for every client.
Note that plenty of security plugins lead to performance problems because of their uninterrupted and scanning features. Therefore, HostingXP prohibits some security plugins. Furthermore, HostingXP also uses load balancers through the Google Cloud Platform. This implies that IP blocking functionalities of few security plugins will not work as planned in some instances.If you are a HostingXP client, it is advisable to use a solution like Sucuri or Cloudflare, together with HostingXP. By doing this, you will get additional protection or assistance to reduce bot and/or proxy traffic.But every host does not offer so much high security as HostingXP. This is where WordPress security plugins prove to be advantageous.

Best WordPress Security Plugins in 2019:

Take a look at the list of the best WordPress security plugins. The later section highlights a detailed analysis of each of them.
  1. Sucuri Security – Auditing, Malware Scanner and Security Hardening
  2. iThemes Security
  3. Wordfence Security
  4. WP fail2ban
  5. All In One WP Security & Firewall
  6. Jetpack
  7. SecuPress
  8. BulletProof Security
  9. VaultPress
  10. Google Authenticator – Two Factor Authentication
  11. Security Ninja
  12. Defender
  13. Astra Web Security
  14. Shield Security
  15. Hide my WP
  16. WebARX
Most useful security plugins come at a high price. However, some plugins are available free of cost with limited functionality.It is vital to understand the functionality of each plugin, in addition to the price. It is about finding out the most acceptable way to stay away from the bad guys, and for that, you may need to spend a little money.Now let’s get into details of each WordPress security plugins:

1. Sucuri Security – Auditing, Malware Scanner, and Security Hardening:

Check on WordPress.Org

The Sucuri Security plugin provides free as well as paid versions. Though, most of the websites must be acceptable along with the free plugin.  For example, the website firewall demands payment for a Sucuri plan. However, all webmasters don’t feel as if they require that level of security.Looking at the free features, this plugin supports security activity auditing to monitor how efficiently the plugin is securing your website. Moreover, it includes blacklist monitoring, file integrity monitoring, security hardening, and security notifications. On the other hand, the premium plans bring in customer service channels and more recurrent scans. To understand this, for example, you want a scan to be finished after every 12 hours. To benefit from this, you will need to pay $17/month.Features That Make Sucuri Security a Great Choice:
  • It provides numerous variations of SSL certificates. No need to pay for them, but it’s present in the packages.
  • The customer service is accessible through email and chat.
  • You get immediate notifications whenever something is incorrect with your website.
  • Advanced DDoS protection is offered in some plans.
  • When you don’t wish to pay any money, you can still get to use helpful tools for malware scanning, file integrity monitoring, blacklist monitoring, and security hardening.

2. iThemes Security:

Check on WordPress.Org

The iThemes Security plugin (formerly recognized as Better WP Security) presents an extraordinary approach to secure your website. It comes with more than 30 offerings to avoid cases like hacks and unnecessary intruders. This plugin focuses more on identifying plugin risks, out-of-date software, and weak passwords.Though certain fundamental security features are implemented in the free version, upgrading to the iThemes Security Pro is recommended for $80 per year. The exact offers ticketed support, plugin updates for one year, and excellent support for two websites. If you prefer o secure multiple sites, there is an option to upgrade to a costlier plan.Discussing the main features in the pro version, this plugin offers strong password enforcement, database backups, keeping away the wrong users, and two-factor authentication. All these are just some of the ways to secure your website using this plugin. You can set off 30 security measures that make the iThemes Security Pro more beneficial.

Features That Make iThemes Security a Great Choice:

  • This plugin provides file change detection that is vital because most web admins do not perceive when a file is being messed.
  • Include an additional protection layer into your login with the use of the Google reCAPTCHA integration.
  • The plugin makes a comparison of your WordPress core files with the existing version of WordPress. This lets you know if anything malicious is included in such files.
  • Update your WordPress salts and keys to supplement an additional layer of difficulty to your authentication keys.
  • It allows setting an “Away Mode” that helps when you are not creating continuous updates to your site and is willing to lock your WordPress dashboard from every user fully.
  • Other features like brute force protection, 404 detections, and powerful password enforcement.

3. Wordfence Security:

Check on WordPress.Org

Wordfence Security is one of the highly famous WordPress security plugins. It combines minimalism with efficient protection tools like robust login security features and security incident recovery tools. A vital benefit of this plugin is that you understand the traffic trends in general and hack efforts.Wordfence presents unique free solutions with everything ranging from firewall blocks to security against brute force attacks. But, a premium version comes at a price of approx. $99/year for a single site. Moreover, the plugin creators too make it more cost-effective for developers. As a result, they provide significant discounts whenever you sign up for numerous site keys. For example, if you purchase more than 15 licenses, you will receive a 25% discount or $74.25 for each license. On the whole, Wordfence is helpful if you want to develop multiple websites and wish to protect all of them.

Features That Make WordFence Security a Great Choice:

  • Its free version is efficient enough for smaller websites.
  • Developers can save a lot of money whenever they sign up for several site keys.
  • It comes with a complete firewall suite along with the tools for manual blocking, country blocking, real-time threat defense, brute force protection, and a web application firewall.
  • The scan section of the plugin combats malware, spam, and real-time threats. It also scans each of your files for malware instead of just WordPress files.
  • The plugin supervises live traffic after observing logins and logouts, Google crawl activity, bots, and human visitors.
  • You get access to some exceptional tools, such as the option to sign in through your cell phone quickly. Also, there is support for password auditing.
  • The comment spam filter discards the requirement to install a separate plugin.
  • It supervises your plugins and helps you know whether they are discarded from the WordPress plugin repository or not. It also lets you know if they are no longer updated and have been deserted.

4. WP fail2ban:

Check on WordPress.Org

WP fail2ban comes with an important feature, i.e., protection against brute force attacks. This plugin implements a unique approach that may seem more effective than what you obtain from a few of the security suite plugins discussed above. WP fail2ban notes down every login attempt, irrespective of their nature or effectiveness, on the syslog through LOG_AUTH. There is an option to execute a hard or soft ban. It is different from the conventional approach of just selecting one.There is little to know in regards to configuration for this plugin. You just need to install it, and it works automatically. Furthermore, the brute force security plugin is entirely free, so there is no need to concern about spending money. It is found that this plugin is really unique because the users time and again mention that it works smoothly.

Features That Make WP fail2ban a Great Choice:

  • Select between hard or soft blocks.
  • Incorporate with CloudFlare and proxy servers.
  • Log comments to avoid spam or malicious comments.
  • The plugin too records information about pingbacks, spam, and used inventory.
  • The option to make a shortcode immediately blocks users before even possessing a chance to get to the login procedure.

5. All In One WP Security & Firewall:

Check on WordPress.Org

Being one of the most excellent feature-rich free security plugins, the All In One WP Security & Firewall offers a simple interface. It is also famous for providing excellent customer support with no premium plans. Essentially, this plugin incorporates meters and graphs. Hence, it is renowned as a visual security plugin. With the graphs and meters, the beginners can understand the metrics like security strength and steps required to be taken to increase the strength of your site.The features are categorized into 3 categories, namely Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced. , you can still benefit from this plugin if you are an advanced developer. This plugin function’s significant way is by securing your user accounts, obstructing vigorous attempts on your login, and improving user registration security. Besides, the database and file security is too included in the plugin.

Features That Make All In One WP Security & Firewall a Great Choice:

  • This security plugin contains a blacklist tool wherein you can fix several criteria to block a user.
  • It allows backup of .htaccess and .wp-config files. Also, a tool is available to restore them if something goes wrong.
  • The plugin depicts a graph to state how influential your website is. The graph assigns points to some definite regions of your website. It is one of the most delicate features for the regular user to envisage the process happening with the security of a website.
  • The plugin is free without any upscales.

6. Jetpack:

Check on WordPress.org

The majority of the people who utilize WordPress are acquainted with Jetpack. This is chiefly because the plugin includes plenty of features. Also, since the people from WordPress.com create the plugin, this plugin is packed with modules to improve the strength of your social media, website speed and enhance spam protection. In this plugin, there is a myriad of features that are so much helpful.Specific security tools are packed with Jetpack, making it an exciting plugin for those who wish to save money and benefit from reliability. For example, the Protect module is free, and it obstructs the occurrence of mistrustful activity. The Jetpack’s essential security feature also supports brute force attack protection and whitelisting.In terms of security, the Jetpack’s paid versions are more efficient. For example, the $99/year plan contains malware scanning, planned website backups, and restoration if something goes incorrect. Besides, the $299/year plan provides on-demand malware scans and real-time backups for outstanding protection.

Features That Make Jetpack a Great Choice:

  • Its free plan offers enough security for a small website. Later, you can upgrade to the premium plans at affordable prices and receive full support.
  • The premium plans make the plugin similar to a suite, with advantages like security scanning, spam protection, and backups.
  • Plugin updates are fully organized through Jetpack.
  • You also receive downtime monitoring.
  • Jetpack plugin discards the requirement to use other plugins. For example, it comes with social media features, email marketing, site customization, and site optimization.

7. SecuPress:

Check on WordPress.Org

SecuPress is a new security plugin (formally launched as freemium in 2016). However, it is undoubtedly one that is proliferating. It is being developed by Julio Potier, who is known as one of the original co-founders of WP Media. Both a free version and a premium one are available for this plugin that contains plenty of extra features.If you are looking for a security plugin that contains an excellent user interface that is simple to use, then SecuPress is a perfect choice. Its free version comes with a firewall, anti-brute force login, and blocked IPs. Also, it contains protection of your security keys and can blocks visits from the bad bots. In other security plugins, you usually need to pay to block the visit from the bad bots.To benefit from more features, you can go for its premium versions that begin at $59/year per site. This version contains extra features like two-factor authentication, alerts and notifications, PHP malware scans, GeoIP blocking, and PDF reports.

Features That Make SecuPress a Great Choice:

  • The UI in this plugin is perhaps one of the finest. The same makes it simple to use, especially for beginners.
  • Its premium version comes with a myriad of features. You can check 35 security points within 5 minutes, obtain a report, and then set up your WordPress site.
  • It comes with the capability to alter your WordPress login URL so that bots could not find it.
  • Assists you identify themes and plugins that are risky or that have been interfered with to incorporate malicious code.

8. BulletProof Security:

Check on WordPress.Org

The BulletProof Security plugin comes with free as well as premium versions. Its paid option charges a one-time payment priced at $69.95. Moreover, this option is dynamically developed, updated and perhaps includes additional features that most other security plugins on the market do not. They also offer a money-back guarantee for 30 days. You will get features like email alerting, quarantines, auto-restore, anti-spam, and many more.

It is better first to try the free plugin because it provides the below tools:

  • Database backups and restoring
  • Login security and monitoring
  • Anti-spam and anti-hacking tools
  • MScan Malware Scanner
  • A security log
  • Maintenance mode
  • Hidden plugin folders
  • A full setup wizard
Though this plugin is not highly user-friendly, it accomplishes the task for the advanced developers willing to benefit from the exceptional settings and features. These features include the online Base64 decoder and the anti-exploit guard. Also, it possesses a setup wizard auto-fix feature for making it more straightforward.

Features That Make BulletProof Security a Great Choice:

  • The plugin boasts a few of the most exceptional advanced security tools in the market. These tools have features like BPS Pro ARQ Intrusion Detection and Prevention System (ARQ IDPS) encrypting solutions. Additionally, they support cURL scans, scheduled crons, folder locking, and more.
  • Its free version is loaded with good features for the standard website.
  • The database backups are available in its free version.
  • You can conceal distinct plugin folders.
  • Its maintenance mode is not found in other security plugins.

9. VaultPress:

Check on WordPress.Org

VaultPress functions identically to plugins like Sucuri Scanner and iThemes Security Pro. You will be charged some fees to obtain specific protection. The plan begins just at $39/year, which makes it a cost-effective first-class security plugin. Its corresponding website mentions that this plan is suitable for bloggers and small businesses. However, you also get the option to upgrade it to a more feature-rich plan for $99/year or $299/year.The daily, as well as real-time backups, are the vital components of the operation. The elegant calendar view lets you know when you will prefer to accomplish your backups. Also, you can complete site restores through an instant mouse click. It is important to note that the restore files are logged within the dashboard. Many of them are saved so that you could choose the preferred one. One of the best things about VaultPress in terms of backups is that they are escalating. The same boosts the performance.The key security tools supervise suspicious activity going on your website. There are tabs available for looking at your history and observing which threats have been worked upon or neglected. Also, you can look at the statistics and organize your whole security detail from the clean dashboard.

Features That Make VaultPress a Great Choice:

  • The pricing is more affordable than the majority of the other premium WordPress security plugins.
  • Its dashboard boasts a clean interface, and it is easy to understand for every user.
  • Through a calendar, it allows you to create real-time or manual backups.
  • The stats tab shows the information on the most famous visiting periods on your website. Besides, it shows what threats have taken place during such times.
  • You can approach the experts from the VaultPress team to assist you with tasks such as site backups and restoration.

10. Google Authenticator – Two Factor Authentication:

Check on WordPress.Org

Most of the plugins equipped with distinct security features don’t prove so valuable for installation. This is because you can opt for a plugin like iThemes Security Pro and obtain that feature and tons of other features. But, two-factor authentication is a unique feature because it appears that the majority of the security suites don’t contain it. This, it is better to strengthen your login security using a plugin in the present discussion.The Google Authenticator plugin includes a second layer of security within your login module. This is quite essential because most of the hacking attempts take place with the login. Apart from your regular password, the particular plugin either delivers a push notification into your phone or a few other forms of validation like a QR code or inquiring about a security question.With this approach, your login turns less vulnerable because the second layer is probably the only one you identify or save on your personal devices.The particular WordPress security plugin does not need any payment. Its interface is also quite simple to understand. Apart from selecting the type of authentication, the other exciting features help you identify which type of user role you must pass through the authentication. Henceforth, you can enable admins to get easy access, but you may ask that authors or other users pass through the two-factor procedure.The only issue is that the two-factor authentication makes it tricky to log in to your backend through a mobile device.

Features That Make Google Authenticator a Great Choice:

  • It almost discards the susceptibility, i.e., your login area.
  • You get the freedom to select which two-factor authentication system is the simplest for you.
  • You can choose which user types have to pass through the authentication procedure.
  • The plugin possesses a shortcode for use with the custom login pages.

11. Security Ninja:

Security Ninja is prevalent for 7 years. Began as one of the foremost security plugins traded on CodeCanyon, later in 2016, it shifted to a freemium model. The add-ons were removed instead of just 2 versions, i.e., free and premium. The main module that is available free of cost carries out more than 50 security tests. These tests vary from inspecting files and MySQL permissions to diverse PHP settings.This plugin even performs a brute force check of every user password to remove accounts with weak passwords like “1234” or “password.” The same assists in training users about security. It also contains an auto-fixer module; however, for those users who wish to comprehend the process, an in-depth clarification of all tests, including code to fix the security problem on your own.If you dislike the plugins cluttering your website, Security Ninja provides a wonderful alternative to the typical “just click here to fix it” method. Many other modules inside the paid version begin at $29/year per site.

Features That Make Security Ninja a Great Choice:

  • The security tester module that is present in its free version accomplishes 50+ security tests on your site.
  • For non-tech-savvy individuals, the auto fixer module can solve any issues identified.
  • Scan WordPress core to guarantee the integrity of the core files after weighing them against a secure and recent copy from wordpress.org.
  • Scan plugins as well as themes to find out malicious code and malware.
  • Present a large list of recognized bad IPs and then block them automatically.
  • Record all events that are going on your WordPress site. They range from users logging in to settings being modified.
  • Allows scheduling the regular scans.

12. Defender:

Check on WordPress.Org

Defender is basically a layered WordPress security plugin with a simple interface. Its free and pro version begins with a list of the most effective techniques for immediately upgrading your WordPress security.It allows you to perform free scans that monitor WordPress for malicious code. The Defender scan tool puts side by side your WordPress install with the directory. Also, it compares report changes. Subsequently, it allows you to restore the original file with a click. Besides, they offer a pro version that contains cloud backups with a remote storage space of 10 GB. The pro version also has audit logs for supervising changes, automatic security scans, and blacklist monitoring. This plugin’s experts will assist you in resolving a hacked site.

Features That Make Defender a Great Choice:

  • WordPress core file scanning and repair
  • Google 2-Step Verification
  • IP Blacklist manager and logging
  • Login Screen Masking
  • Timed Lockout brute force attack safeguard for login protection
  • IP lockout notifications and reports
  • 404 limiter for blocking vulnerability scans
  • Unlimited file scans

13. Astra Web Security:

Check on WordPress.Org

Astra Web Security is a valuable security suite for a WordPress site. There is no need to concern about malware, XSS, SQLi, brute force, comments spam, and over 100 threats using this tool. This implies that you can stay away from the other security plugins and allow Astra to monitor the rest. The user-friendly dashboard does not include a lot of buttons. Its user interface is clean and easy to use.Many popular brands like Gillette, Ford, African Union, and Oman Airways use the Astra security plugin. The pricing begins from $9/month, and they provide a flat 20% off when the plan is billed yearly. It seems that Astra can be a decent investment if you intend to spend money on the security of your website.

Features That Make Astra Web Security a Great Choice:

  • Astra security solution is set up in the form of a WordPress plugin. No need to modify DNS settings.
  • They provide instant malware cleanup, a reliable firewall that prevents attacks like XSS, SQLi, Bad Bots, Code Injection, SEO spam, Brute force, and other over 100 cyber attacks.
  • Comprehensive security audit containing the business error logic for a WordPress website.
  • User-friendly dashboard records all attacks and presents you with an alternative to whitelist IP range or a URL, block country, constant blacklist, reputation supervising, hourly admin login notifications, etc.
  • It presents a bug bounty management or free community security platform in which you provide hackers a secure method to state any susceptibility that they detect on your website. Astra’s engineers authenticate each reported issue.

14. Shield Security:

Check on WordPress.Org

The key function of Shield Security is to undertake your rising load of site security. Generally, we are always short on time. Therefore, it is essential to use more ingenious defenses and a security plugin that owns the ability to revert to threats devoid of bugging you with emails. Convenient for beginners and advanced, Shield begins scanning and shielding your site as soon as you activate it. Every option is fully documented. Thus, you can go in deep into your site security whenever you like.The core of Shield Security is always free. Those businesses and professionals, who require intense protection and practical 24-hour support, can go for the Shield Pro at a nominal price of $12/site. The Shield Security’s mission is ‘no website left behind.’ The objective is to make Pro-Grade security reachable for all sites. The Pro version offers more scans (which operate more frequently), user password policies, traffic monitoring, more extensive audit trails, excellent support for WooCommerce, and functionalities that turn security policies smooth for the users.

Features That Make Shield Security a Great Choice:

  • Only a security plugin that limits access to its own settings to some users.
  • More competent protection is implemented with features that function efficiently in the background. They don’t bug you with notifications.
  • The only security plugin that provides 3 kinds of two-factor authentication free of cost. Also, it offers the option to choose which users may use it.
  • Pro upgrades for all users for $12/site – voluminous pricing without the voluminous purchase.
  • Pro provides 6 times efficient scans to identify problems in all portions of your sites.

15. Hide My WP:

Hide My WP is a well-known security plugin for WordPress that conceals the truth you use WordPress as your CMS to spammers, attackers, and even the theme detectors like BuiltWith or Wappalyzer.It comes packed with the solid art intrusion detector (IDS) to restrict real-time security attacks such as XSS, SQL injection, etc. The premium version comes for $24. Note: Some features of this plugin may not function at HostingXP.

Features That Make Hide My WP a Great Choice:

  • Conceals the name of the plugins, theme, modifies permalinks, conceals wp-admin, login URL, and much more.
  • Restricts direct access to PHP files, clears out WP class names, and disqualifies directory listing.
  • Informs about any possible bad behavior with complete details of an attacker like IP address, username, date, etc.
  • It contains a “trust network2 which automatically restricts traffic from the bad source IP addresses.
  • The pre-made settings are easy to use with the one-click operation.
  • Compatible with multi-site, premium themes Nginx, Apache, IIS, and other security plugins.

16. WebARX:

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WebARX is extensively known as a premium website security platform that supports all PHP applications. Mostly, it is well-known for its innovative endpoint firewall allowing you to fully control the traffic within your websites through its cloud-based dashboard. WebARX possesses a managed web application firewall that shields your site against bot attacks, plugin vulnerabilities, and fake traffic.The plugin enables you to prepare your personal firewall rules, strengthen your WordPress installation, prepare backups, check uptime & security issues, export reports, obtain alerts, and so on. It is pretty simple to set up.

Features That Make WebARX a Great Choice:

  • Advanced Website Firewall fully customizable from the WebARX portal).
  • Virtual patching automatically obtains rules to reinforce plugin and theme susceptibilities.
  • WordPress installation coagulation: recaptcha, 2FA, automatically include security headers, restrict brute-force attacks, add cookies, modify wp-admin, etc.
  • Uptime monitoring: Obtains slack and email alerts whenever a website goes down.
  • Custom PDF security reports (personalize them using your logo to deliver to clients).
  • Unified security for unlimited websites.

Which WordPress Security Plugin is Best for You?

Well, we have gone through the details of the top WordPress security plugins. Now it is essential to look at the recommendations. The same makes it simpler for you to choose one or two plugins without testing each one. Keep in mind that security plugins might not be required based on what is already offered by your WordPress host.These recommendations work in several situations where you may choose a security plugin compared to another.
  • For the best value – SecuPress, Sucuri Security, iThemes Security, Jetpack, or Shield Security.
  • For a free WordPress security plugin – Sucuri Security (free version) All In One WP Security & Firewall, or Wordfence Security.
  • For a security plugin for beginners – Defender, All In One WP Security & Firewall, or Security Ninja.
  • When you need a more innovative brute force protection plugin – Astra or WP fail2ban.
  • For obtaining two-factor authentication – Google Authenticator – Two Factor Authentication.
  • For elegant interface – SecuPress or VaultPress.
In addition to installing a plugin, you can take additional steps to enhance the security of your website. For instance, Lockr’s offsite key management solution shields websites against critical site susceptibilities. It also assists in protecting your data. Easy integration is accessible for WordPress.The above section highlights only the recommended plugins depending on the user experience.

How to Edit or Change Your WordPress Homepage Layout with Free Tools

If you are trying to change your WordPress Homepage layout using free tools and plugins, check out our step-by-step approach.The tone of your website depends on its homepage. If your homepage does not showcase the appropriate content or does not appear how you imagined it, you may need to make some modifications. But this can be a daunting task if you do not hold enough experience in building websites.The good news to note is that WordPress offers you lots of possibilities for modifying your homepage. This task is not at all problematic. Specific ways are available to implement this so that your homepage conveys your message appropriately.The following guide discusses the WordPress homepage. It also discusses the reason to change it. The later section highlights several ways to adjust and personalize your homepage. Take a look below:

What Is WordPress Homepage (And Reason to Change Your WordPress Homepage Layout)?

Your homepage is like the welcome mat of your website. Any visitor will first observe this page whenever they type in your website’s URL. Hence, it is vital to lay a powerful first impression.The homepage must serve the visitors with a basic idea of the idea of your website and what service it can provide them. Generally, slack’s homepage performs an outstanding job of showcasing the product and obtaining the people’s attention.As default, with several WordPress themes, your homepage showcases your recent blog posts.However, there is a change if you wish to feature something different. This holds true if you do not have a blog or not the focus of your website.You may wish to modify your homepage all through the years. If you intend to showcase an event or holiday sale, you can update the page to broadcast that promotion. Alternatively, it suggests that there are ample reasons to modify your WordPress homepage.Since your homepage fixes the tone for your whole website, as a site owner, you must know how to modify it. Continue reading this detailed guide:

How to Set a Static Homepage:

If you do not wish to represent your blog posts on your website’s front page, you can set a static homepage. This kind of page showcases content that does not change often. On a WordPress site, there can be a homepage and a separate blog page.For the creation of your homepage, log in to your admin dashboard. So, follow the below path:

Pages > Add New

Give a name to your WordPress homepage, and then click on the ‘Publish’ button. Now repeat these steps another time to make your blog page.By now, your pages are ready, so you can inform WordPress for what purpose they are to be used.Follow the below path:Settings > Reading pageNow in the ‘Your Homepage Displays‘ options, choose ‘A static page.’ After that, from the dropdown menus, select your homepage and posts page.When you are carrying out such steps, you might need to place your website in maintenance mode. Doing this shows visitors a message you set instead of a general error page or a nonfunctioning website. If you already receive some amount of traffic to your website, it is essential to consider this before modifying your homepage.For the setup of this feature, you can use the WP Maintenance Mode plugin.This plugin allows you to convey a custom message to the visitors of your site. Also, it enables you to make a custom message which helps the visitors to know that your site will resume working quickly.

3 Methods to Change Your WordPress Homepage:

Your homepage is already set up, so it is now time to design it and include some content.Look at the 3 various tools to accomplish this task:

1. With the use of the Theme Customizer to Edit Your Homepage:

Several WordPress themes will offer you a fundamental homepage design along with a few options for modifying it. It is easy to access such options through the Theme Customizer.Beginning from your admin area, you need to click on the Appearance > Customize to open the tool. It is found that the corresponding customizer presents you with a live preview when you are editing your homepage. Henceforth, you can observe how your modifications influence the look of your website.But such modifications will not take effect unless you click on the ‘Publish’ button. Hence, you can give it a try.Based on your theme, there may be varied options for the modifications you can implement. You can navigate through the menu tabs, or you can also click on any area through a blue pencil icon for making edits:If your theme contains numerous templates for different pages of your website, you can start by exploring each template.Specific themes provide you options for the position to include your sidebar. Alternatively, you can entirely discard that element to see a full-width page:There may be some parts of the homepage that you would not use. You can discard them using the theme customizer.This is easy to implement by searching for the element within the menu, and then you need to click on the eye icon beside the name of the section:It is possible to bring back any parts you have removed previously by again clicking on the same icon. Also, you can drag the items inside the column if you want to modify their order.

2. Editing Your WordPress Homepage Using the Block Editor:

Though you made some modifications with the theme customizer, you may want some more changes via the Block Editor. The Block Editor provides you more options for modifying the layout and design of your homepage.Firstly, look for your homepage in the admin dashboard. You need to click on ‘Pages’ and then choose whatever page you set as homepage. Using the Block Editor, you can add various kinds of content to your homepage. It is possible to start with some text that introduces visitors to your website and the purpose.For getting started, click on the page, and begin typing. You will see that a suitable paragraph block will be automatically prepared.You can even choose the block on your own after clicking on the plus symbol. This can be done from the top left corner of the screen or whenever it shows up inside the editor window. Next, you can choose or find out the paragraph block.After there is text in the place, it is possible to use the block settings menu to customize it. Within ‘Text settings,’ you can modify your text’s size by choosing a preset or custom size. Also, you can incorporate a drop cap for a few additional style points.For the inclusion of some color into your paragraph, use the ‘Color settings.’ You will be presented with a collection of predefined colors to let you choose easily. Alternatively, you can use a custom brand color.You will probably wish to incorporate some images within your homepage.For that, click on the plus symbol and choose the ‘Image’ block.It is possible to use the resultant block for uploading an image. You can choose the photo from your existing Media Library or include one through a URL. A toolbar is present above the block. You can use it to change the alignment of the image or move it vertically across the page.If you want to include a caption, there is a space available beneath the image to incorporate.Now you can continue to add the required number of blocks. For accessing more blocks, click on the plus symbol. Now either navigate or search the resultant menu.To see all the blocks for which you have access, click on ‘Browse all.’ To understand this, for instance, if you want to incorporate a combination of text and media, use the distinct paragraph and image blocks. Instead, you may try a Media & Text block.This block allows you to display media as well as written content in the particle block, in various configurations:For removing a block, click the 3 vertical dots within the toolbar over it and select ‘Remove Block’. Using these tools, it is easy to design any homepage you want.

3. Modifying Your WordPress Homepage Using the Classic Editor:

If you want to work with the Classic Editor, still, you can make an eye-catching homepage. For that, begin from the dashboard of WordPress admin.Now click on ‘Pages’ and choose the page which you assign as homepage.For the addition of text, start typing. By default, the text will be a paragraph. However, you can use the dropdown menu to make a heading or title.The corresponding dropdown menu allows you to modify the text from a paragraph into various headings.The toolbar besides this drop-down area allows you to perform more changes in your text. You can italicize or bold it, modify the alignment, and make numbered or bulleted lists. Also, you can include a blockquote on your page if you want.In this toolbar, you can include links in your copy. A button is available to add a ‘read more’ tag. This feature can be beneficial if you add articles on your website but do not plan to show the full texts on the homepage.The final button in the sequence will open another set of tools. So, you will get more options for changing the style of your text. For example, you can vary the size or add colors.Additionally, you can add some media or images to your page through the Classic Editor. For that, click on the ‘Add Media button, and you will see a new window opened. To add new files to your media library, you can select the ‘Select Files’ button.There is the flexibility to upload files from your device to include them in your Media Library.From this window, it is possible to access the files uploaded previously by clicking on the ‘Media Library’ tab. Now choose the file you want to add, and then click on the ‘Insert into page button.Now the image will show up on your page. The options for the file are easy to access by just clicking on them. For the image, you can alter the alignment, make editing, or remove it.After insertion of the image, you can vary the alignment.To observe how your homepage looks, click on the ‘Preview’ button. After you liked the page’s appearance, click on the ‘Publish’ button to save all the changes. Now, these changes will be reflected on your website.

Optional: Check Out the Twenty Twenty-One Theme:

If you prefer using the block editor, you can look at the Twenty-One theme, known as the latest default theme in WordPress 5.6.The Twenty Twenty-One theme offers great flexibility and function well on various types of websites. It contains simple fonts and a low-key, pastel color pattern. Also, it makes exclusive use of the designs that are pre-defined block layouts that can be further edited to meet your needs.Such dedicated layouts and the minimalism of Twenty Twenty-One make the theme a perfect choice for creating a highly customized homepage. No need to use any third-party page builder.

Steps to Build a Menu for Your Homepage:

When you are working on the homepage, you need to consider the navigation menu. This menu probably shows up on many of the pages of your website. Moreover, it can be beneficial for visitors who landed on your homepage for the first time.From the admin dashboard, follow the below path:

Appearance > Menus

If there are no menus yet, you will be asked to make one. Alternatively, you can choose the ‘Create Menu’ button. Keep in mind that your menu needs a name to differentiate it from other menus you may create.The subsequent step is to include pages in the menu. Either you can add them separately, or checkmark ‘Auto add pages’ boxes for automatic addition of all top-level pages.If you like to choose the pages manually, choose the ‘View All’ tab in the left column. Now check to mark the boxes you want to include and then click on the ‘Add to Menu’ button:It is easy to automatically add the top-level pages or choose the pages on your own.After adding your pages to the menu, you can set the sequence in which they will show up. This is easy to accomplish by just dragging and dropping the menu items in the place.Suppose you prefer to include some items inside others to make a dropdown type menu possible. This allows you to have more links in your navigation. When you do it, the appearance will be clutter-free.You need to drag the child page below and somewhat to the right part of the parent page.Lastly, based on your theme, there may be a few options on the position of the menu to be shown on your page.Famous options highlight the footer, the top part of the page, and sidebars (right or left). If the default menu options are not sufficient for you, you can use some other plugins to expand your menu features.

Summary:

An elegant homepage can let visitors accurately understand the actual purpose of your website. Once you set the WordPress homepage correctly, it can be an efficient tool for your blogs, e-commerce sites, etc.In specific scenarios, you need to modify your homepage to reveal your brand message, a new service you want to offer, or a new theme. Fortunately, WordPress provides various ways to alter and edit your WordPress homepage. This can be done in 3 ways:
  1. With the Theme Customizer to edit your homepage
  2. Editing your homepage using the block editor
  3. Modifying your homepage using the classic editor

How to Install & Configure WordPress on AWS free Tier – Step by Step

In this article, we explain how to configure WordPress on AWS free Tier. If you want to try out WordPress on Amazon’s robust infrastructure then this article is for you.
Also Read: Best Practices and Steps to reduce HTTP requests in WordPress Posts
Cloud computing is trendy since it is cost-efficient, secure, and a reliable approach to host any online project. The AWS (Amazon Web Services) offers an efficient cloud infrastructure. In simple terms, AWS is a secure and flexible on-demand cloud computing platform. It is extensively helpful to manage your online projects.
Also Read: Checklist and Best Practices to Setup W3 Total Cache Plugin for WordPress
You can use it on multiple computers for tasks ranging from setting up a server to hosting a WordPress site. Though AWS is considered for more significant projects, it can be used for your job if you want to benefit from scalability and efficiency. The below section shows the practicality of this platform for WordPress:

The usefulness of AWS for WordPress:

  • Enhanced user experience
  • Flexible and scalable
  • Complete Ownership
  • Cost-effective platform
  • Ease of migrating WordPress site
  • Boost in website performance
Now let’s look at the detailed steps on how to install WordPress on AWS free tier:

Method-1: Configure WordPress on AWS free Tier:

Step-1: Signing Up for an AWS free tier account:

The AWS Free Tier offers you a 12 -month free, practical experience, including the majority of the services provided by the AWS platform. You can sign up for an AWS account at 750 hours/month, including Linux and Windows t2.micro instances for a year. To stay within the free tier, you will only use the EC2 Micro instances.

Step-2: Setup of Amazon EC2 Instance:

To set up Amazon EC2 Instance, follow the below steps:
  1. Login to your AWS account and launch the AWS Management Console
  2. In this console, find the EC2 under ‘Compute’ and then double-click on it to launch the EC2 dashboard. Now, click on ‘Launch Instance’ to set up and configure your EC2 instance.

Step-3: Installation of WordPress on your EC2 Instance

The AWS Marketplace consists of plenty of Amazon Machine Images (AMI), which can be used to set up a good number of commonly used software instantly. Usually, the AMIs are pre-configured with the ideal settings for operating on AWS. This step will use one of these AMISs for the installation of WordPress. Follow the below steps;
  1. From the left menu, click on ‘AWS Marketplace.’
  2. Now search for ‘WordPress’ and then for ‘WordPress powered by BitNami’
  3. Press the blue ‘Select’ button

Step-4: Validate the pricing:

In this step, you need to confirm the pricing for your instance. Don’t worry, as it is free of cost for the software, irrespective of the size of the instance you use.Note: This step uses a free-tier eligible t2.micro instance.

Follow the following steps:

  1. Navigate down and choose ‘Continue.’
  2. In the ‘Type’ column, click on ‘t2.micro.’
  3. Now click ‘Next: Configure Instance Details. Please wait for a few seconds to load it.
  4. In the subsequent screens, click on ‘Next: Add Storage’ and finally click on ‘Next: Tag Instance.’

Step-5: Setting name, for instance, and reviewing it:

To set a name for your instance, enter ‘Name’ in the ‘Key’ box and ‘WordPress’ in the ‘Value’ box.
  1. Click on ‘Review and Launch’ to proceed further.
  2. Confirm the instance last time before moving on. Now click on ‘Launch.’ By doing this, it will launch your Amazon EC2 instance that operates on WordPress.

Step-6: Configuration of Key-Pair for SSH:

Key pairs denote how you can connect them to your EC2 instances through a terminal program with the help of Secure Shell (SSH). Keep in mind that you must have a key pair to log into your terminal. Follow the below steps for the configuration:
  1. Choose ‘Proceed without a key pair’ and tick a mark on the box to validate that you know you require this key for accessing your EC2 instance.
  2. Now click on ‘Launch Instances’ to launch your instance. Wait a few minutes to begin the instance.

Step-7: Test your WordPress Instance:

It is essential to check whether your WordPress Instance is running or no. These are the steps to follow:
  1. From the bottom right part, click on ‘View Instances.’
  2. Now select the WordPress instance. (Make sure the ‘Instance State’ shows as running. But if the ‘Instance State’ shows up as launching, AWS is yet busy creating your WordPress instance.

Step-8: Test your site:

After your instance gets running, follow the below steps to test the WordPress website:
  1. Search for the ‘Public IP’ for your instance at the bottom of the page.
  2. Now copy that IP in a new tab inside your web browser. (When you do this, you must notice the well-known ‘Hello World’ WordPress home screen.)
The installation of WordPress on your AWS free tier EC2 instance now completes.Step-9: Configuration of the newly set up WordPress website:
Source: https://aws.amazon.com/getting-started/hands-on/build-wordpress-website/
Once your WordPress website begins running, you have to log into the admin page to customize the settings. However, before that, you should have your admin password. Follow the below steps:
  1. Open your EC2 dashboard and choose your WordPress instance.
  2. Click on the ‘Actions’ button.
  3. From the drop-down menu, choose Instance Setting > Get System Log.
  4. Browse through the ‘System Log’ popup to find out the password for your WordPress admin.
  5. (You can easily find the password enclosed by hash marks.)
  6. Copy the password to some external file or note it down.
  7. Open your WordPress website.
  8. Now add /admin to the URL’s end.
  9. Click on enter, and it will show up login page of your WordPress site.
Whenever you want to log in, you can enter the default username and password you copied above. Now you can control, customize, and configure your WordPress website. It is recommended to change your username and password.

Method-2: Using AWS through managed WordPress hosting:

The first method discussed above may feel technical and complex. The cloud computing infrastructure presented by the AWS platform is a pay-as-you-go solution. So, the traffic spikes will significantly raise your hosting expense. However, it is easy to manage your service through a managed WordPress hosting provider.It is better to use WP Engine since it executes a portion of its hosting platform on the AWS infrastructure. Moreover, you need not worry about server management, traffic spikes, or WordPress maintenance.You can try out another alternative -Pagely, which is a top-notch managed WordPress hosting provider. It also operates its platform on AWS and provides an ideal WordPress environment to scale up your business.

More on WordPress:

Checklist and Best Practices to Setup W3 Total Cache Plugin for WordPress

If you are looking for a checklist and best practices to set up W3 Total Cache Plugin for WordPress sites, check out our guide below.Related: How to Setup Cloudflare Cache for WordPressW3 Total Cache has over a million active installations and is one of the recommended plugins to have. It offers complete control over various optimizations at a granular level, unlike most cache plugins. It helps advanced users and developers to make various optimization combinations to get the desired results.W3 Total Cache is the greatest comprehensive plugin that does exactly what it says- Improves the performance of a site using multiple-stage caching.Popular websites that use W3TC are:
  • WpBeginner
  • SitePoint
Why W3TC is a best Caching plugin? The implementation of flexibility, cutting-edge feature, and broad range of support makes it the best plugin.

Overview:

Pros:

  • Cutting-edge features and flexibility are amazing—5/5 for performance.
  • Found compatible with Cloudflare, Varnish, and more.

Cons:

  • Lots of settings may confuse beginners, but the same make the plugin extremely flexible.
Before proceeding with following steps, make sure to disable every other caching plugin. Moreover, it is recommended to prevent the use of numerous caching plugins at WordPress.

Installation & Setup process:

  1. First of all, login to WordPress Dashboard example.com/wp-admin/
  2. Now follow the below path: Plugins > Add new > Search for W3 Total Cache
  3. Now install and Activate
  4. Go to Settings > General
  5. Click on Hide button to discard following header message.
  6. Preview mode: Don’t touch
  7. Enable Page Cache > Choose Page Cache Method > Disk Basic
  8. Minify: Don’t touch.
  9. OpCode Cache: Don’t touch
  10. Database Cache: Disk
  11. Object Cache: Don’t touch
  12. Browser Cache: Enable
  13. CDN: Choose Generic Mirror (Addition of cdn.exmaple.com in the forthcoming steps)
  14. Reverse Proxy: This should be enabled if you use Varnish. (Additionally, make sure to enter application path wordpress-xyz-abc.cloudwaysapps.com:8080 in case you are a Cloudways user. Your App path is mentioned at Applications > Domain management.)
  15. In the Miscellaneous tab, you need to uncheck Enable Google Page Speed dashboard widget.
  16. Save Settings and Purge Caches. At this step, the general Settings completes.
  17. Now open the Page Cache menu of the W3 Total Cache plugin.
  18. Check “Cache front page.”
  19. Check “Cache feeds: site, categories, tags, comments.”
  20. Check “Cache SSL (https) requests”
  21. Don’t change “Cache URIs with query string variables.”
  22. Don’t change “Cache 404 (not found) pages.”
  23. Check “Don’t cache pages for logged in users”
  24. Check “Don’t cache pages for following user roles.” Tip: You might choose user role – Administrator, Editor, and Author” for those you don’t wish to clutter with cache
  25. Aliases: Let it stay blank.
  26. Cache Preload: Keep it unchecked.
  27. Purge Policy: Should check Front Page, Post Page, Blog Feed
  28. Finally, save settings so that you never need to visit the Page Cache option of W3TC again.
  29. Please navigate to the Browser Cache menu and configure it correctly. (Typically, browser cache is regulated by an HTTP header names “cache-control” that guides the browser the proper way to manage e particular file. It decides whether to cache or not.)
  30. Firstly, you will notice the General Settings that specifies global browser cache policy. You might override depending on the file type. The same is the exceptional and flexible feature of this plugin. This feature is not found in any other well-known cache plugin.
  31. It is important to understand what these menus mean. First one is Last Modified, I advise enable it, assists Googlebot to do not forcefully crawl non-modified static resources.
  32. Set Expires header which is commonly utilized by proxy, to save file, web page in the cache memory for a specific time period. Make sure to keep it disable.
  33. Now you have to set the cache-control header which is utilized by browser. Now you have to keep it disable. Since keeping globally is not a decent idea.
  34. In this step, you have to set the entity tag (ETag) and keep that option enable. It assist browser to validate cached file either to be used or not.
  35. Now you need to set the W3 Total Cache header. In order to keep the thing white level you have to disable this feature. Either the header is disabled or enabled; it does not matter.
  36. Enable HTTP (gzip) compression: You may enable this feature.
  37. Avoid objects getting cached after settings change. Make sure not to enable it. Otherwise, it may add to your bandwidth consumption by avoiding appropriate browser cache. Particularly, this feature must be used only when you encounter some issue in which you are unable to override browser cache for the static files.
  38. Discard query strings from static resources: Please don’t enable this. When you enable this feature, it will just enhance grade by discarding query strings like ver=?2.3 outside the static files. Doing this will not enhance actual load time.
  39. Don’t set cookies for static files: Enable.
  40. Do not process 404 errors for static objects with WordPress: Famous feature from W3TC plugin that decreases server load for the 404. You may observe that how a single 404 error occasionally leads to a long time for loading. The particular option decrease the impact by serving simple 404 page instead of attractive for static files like jpg, txt, etc. It would be best if you did not worry as this is not for standard pages. It is recommended to enable this feature.
  41. The rewrite URL structure of objects: Let it stay uncheck.
  42. Apply HTTP Strict Transport Security policy: It is a great setting for caching “force HTTPS request”. If you are novice to WordPress, make sure not to enable this; it may lead to problems when you occasionally miss SSL. The browser will prevent the loading process in HTTPS or HTTP, except you keep valid certificate.
  43. Now, navigate down and find CSS & JS. The particular setting is applicable only for CSS and JS. Look at the screenshot below.
  44. For HTML, the Browser cache settings must have slight modification. It is clear that our HTML (a document in browser language) is basically a dynamic version of content. It is always better to not cache anything for HTML. Also, the same is not a recommended approach. In case you keep expire 3600seconds then it means that again W3TC will continue refreshing pages. It is better to prevent browser caching for HTML.
  45. For Media elements, the settings must be identical to JS and CSS. Go through the below screenshot.
  46. Now one important setting is CDN If you have enabled the “Generic Mirror” or CDN option in the most recent General Settings page in previous steps, you now have to configure it. (Warning: Please don’t alter any of these options otherwise you may face problem.)
  47. Navigate down a bit at the CDN page, and you will observe “General” settings. Go through the below screenshot.
  48. General: Don’t check Add canonical header: Google doesn’t support it.
  49. Configuration: Navigate down, and mention your CDN path
  50. Advanced: Navigate down and enable the Set cookie domain.
  51. Now CDN configuration is complete, so click on Save Settings and Purge Caches.
  52. Open the Extensions menu of W3TC. Make sure to disable everything apart from Yoast SEO. As a result, it will direct the correct CDN path for images within the Yoast XML Sitemap.

To Conclude:

All these steps included the needful tasks you need to follow.

How To Use The WordPress HTTP API: Plugins Endpoints & Authentication

In this article, we are going to discuss how to use the WordPress HTTP API in detail.The WordPress HTTP API comprises various functions helping you to simplify the task of HTTP calls. You will not get deceived with cURL or file_get_contents; all you need to use is a single integrated interface. It works efficiently for interconnecting with third-party APIs, chiefly REST-full APIs such as Facebook, Twitter, MailChimp, etc. Let’s first get an overview of HTTP:
Also Read: How to Setup Cloudflare Cache for WordPress

The Fundamentals Of HTTP:

How To Use The WordPress HTTP APIYou might have seen HTTP when you come across any web address. HTTP is basically a network protocol used to deliver every data and file over the Interwebs.When it comes to HTTP, there are 2 parts involved i.e. HTTP request and HTTP response. Both these aspects are identical in structure. They both have the following 4 parts:
  • An initial line
  • Zero or multiple header lines
  • A blank line
  • A body content (optional)

How To Use The WordPress HTTP APIThe Initial Line:

Requests make use of the initial line for sending three segments of information. They are namely the path, the method name, and the HTTP version. To understand clearly, for instance, while watching the main blog page of HostingXP, you may see the following as the initial line of the request:
GET /blog/ HTTP/1.1
Just like requests, responses also offer 3 segments of information. However, they are different, namely – the HTTP version, a description of the response, and the response code. While you create a request to the main blog page of HostingXP, it sends out an HTTP response using this initial line:
HTTP/1.0 200 OK

Headers:

Headers include different pieces of information associated with the response or the request. HTTP 1.1 describes 46 headers; however, just one is needed to make requests, i.e., the ‘Host’ reader. Please go through the screenshot taken from the Chrome developer tools. It depicts a few of the headers sent accompanied by request sent to the main blog of HostingXP:

Body:

Mostly, the body includes data concerning the requested resource. For example, when a GET request is sent to the main HostingXP blog, you will get the HTML needed to deliver the page (the resource) in the body content.

Additional Information:

The above sections are enough to get an overview of HTTP. Typically, we will focus on the body, headers, and the method name. To learn more, it is better to go through James Marshall’s explanation of HTTP (http://www.jmarshall.com/easy/http/). This guide clearly explains all necessary aspects of HTTP.

About Restful APIs:

Restful APIs (REST methodology) targets to offer an easy and classic approach for interrelating with an application. (learn in-depth about the fundamentals of the WordPress REST API from this link –https://HostingXP.com/wordpress-rest-api-basics/). Frequently, it is used in combination with HTTP for creating an extremely logical structure of interactions. It is based on HTTP verbs and paths.HTTP Verbs are identical to the method names seen earlier. The typical ones are GET, POST, DELETE and PUT. As per my view, PUT is the only uncertain method; you can consider it as an update command. While you use these verbs collectively with paths, it is possible to make an effective system:
  • GET /post/1/ will be useful to access the post through the ID of 1.
  • DELETE /post/1/ will be useful to delete that post.
For updating the post, use the command PUT /post/1/ by mentioning the applicable information in the headers and request body.Simply adding an HTTP version to the existing codes results in the initial line of an HTTP contract. This is the reason why this system is extremely efficient.

Use of the WordPress HTTP API:

Equipped with all fundamental knowledge, now we can look into how the WordPress HTTP API functions. The 4 methods useful to create requests and interrupt the responses are:
  • wp_remote_get()
  • wp_remote_post()
  • wp_remote_head()
  • wp_remote_request()
Of these 4, the first 2 functions are easy to understand. They utilize the GET and POST methods correspondingly in the request. In the execution of the third function, there is the use of the HEAD method. It is useful to access only the headers of a response. When the case is such that we only require some metadata for a resource, this HEAD method can save a considerable overhead. The fourth one is a generic function. It lets you state which way you will prefer to utilize inside the parameters of the functions.Other than these, there are 5 extra functions we can take help for retrieving exact parts of the response. They work as shortcuts to browse the bunch of data we get; they are namely:
  • wp_remote_retrieve_body()
  • wp_remote_retrieve_header()
  • wp_remote_retrieve_headers()
  • wp_remote_retrieve_response_code()
  • wp_remote_retrieve_response_message()

Our First HTTP Request:

Now let’s perform a quick test, i.e., accessing the header detail from the HostingXP blog. It is up to you where to do it inside a theme or plugin. However, make sure you are within a test environment to necessary text over a live site.
$response = wp_remote_head( 'https://HostingXP.com/blog/' );
var_dump( $response )
From the response we receive below, the body section is vacant. This is because we use the HEAD method here, and all the headers are displayed. To take hold of just the headers with no other array members, the wp_remote_retrieve_headers(,) function can be used.
array (size=5)
  'headers' => 
    array (size=13)
      'server' => string 'nginx' (length=5)
      'date' => string 'Wed, 22 Jul 2015 14:22:07 GMT' (length=29)
      'content-type' => string 'text/html; charset=UTF-8' (length=24)
      'connection' => string 'close' (length=5)
      'vary' => string 'Accept-Encoding' (length=15)
      'x-pingback' => string 'https://HostingXP.com/xmlrpc.php' (length=29)
      'x-powered-by' => string 'HHVM/3.8.0' (length=10)
      'link' => string '; rel="https://github.com/WP-API/WP-API"' (length=68)
      'x-frame-options' => string 'DENY' (length=4)
      'x-content-type-options' => string 'nosniff' (length=7)
      'strict-transport-security' => string 'max-age=31536000' (length=16)
      'x-HostingXP-cache' => string 'HIT' (length=3)
      'content-encoding' => string 'gzip' (length=4)
  'body' => string '' (length=0)
  'response' => 
    array (size=2)
      'code' => int 200
      'message' => string 'OK' (length=2)
  'cookies' => 
    array (size=0)
      empty
  'filename' => null

Understanding APIs:

The most significant obstruction I perceive for any developer is the total amount of new stuff which they need to include exactly. In the absence of the new stuff, the API call cannot function. It is essential to know what HTTP is, the way to make requests, and how to properly validate. Without knowing these aspects, every call will be unsuccessful. Now let’s go through an example through the Twitter API because they hold excellent documentation.In the example, we will look at the Application-only Authentication since it is a simple flow. You will go through a few steps below which are the same as what Twitter recommends. Before starting, make an application on Twitter.You must be able to append the code below anywhere in a plugin or theme. Keep in mind to use a test site.

Step-1: Encoding Consumer Key And Secret:

After you create an application, you must have a secret key and a consumer key at hand. For ease of understanding, let’s create constants that contain this information.
define( 'TWITTER_CONSUMER_KEY', '12disnir382jeqwdasd23wdasi' );
define( 'TWITTER_CONSUMER_SECRET', '23wdajskduhtrq2c32cuq9r8uhuf' )
The 3 steps for making an encoded version of the constants are included in the docs:
  • URL encode the consumer key as well as the consumer secret
  • Concatenate them using a colon
  • Base64 encode the entire string
In PHP, it is quite simple to do, as below:
$key = urlencode( TWITTER_CONSUMER_KEY );
$secret = urlencode( TWITTER_CONSUMER_SECRET );
$concatenated = $key . ':' . $secret;
$encoded = base64_encode( $concatenated );

Step-2: Receiving a Bearer Token:

In place of using your password, you can send your encoded string to Twitter. Consequently, you will get a temporary pass that is legitimate for a predefined time (TTL). For that, we will make an HTTP request, and Twitter says the following points:
  • The request should be an HTTP POST request.
  • The request should contain an Authorization header along with the value of Basic.
  • The request should contain a Content-Type header along with the value of application/x-www-form-urlencoded;charset=UTF-8.
  • The request’s body should be grant_type=client_credentials.
Let’s begin with the basics. Since we will require a POST request, we will use wp_remote_post(). This function accepts 2 parameters. The first one is URL whereas the second contains optional arguments. The first parameter is https://api.twitter.com/oauth2/token. The second parameter will be used to manage every other requirement.
$args = array(
    'headers' => array(
        'Authorization' => 'Basic ' . $encoded,
        'Content-Type' => 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded;charset=UTF-8'
    ),
    'body' => 'grant_type=client_credentials'
);
$response = wp_remote_post( 'https://api.twitter.com/oauth2/token', $args );
Headers should be added as an array and the header type as the key, the value of the array member. Keep in mind the body must be a string. When it works successfully, you will observe a response same as following:
array (size=5)
  'headers' => 
    array (size=23)
      'cache-control' => string 'no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate, pre-check=0, post-check=0' (length=62)
      'content-disposition' => string 'attachment; filename=json.json' (length=30)
      'content-encoding' => string 'deflate' (length=7)
      'content-length' => string '142' (length=3)
      'content-type' => string 'application/json;charset=utf-8' (length=30)
      'date' => string 'Wed, 22 Jul 2015 14:47:37 GMT' (length=29)
      'expires' => string 'Tue, 31 Mar 1981 05:00:00 GMT' (length=29)
      'last-modified' => string 'Wed, 22 Jul 2015 14:47:37 GMT' (length=29)
      'ml' => string 'A' (length=1)
      'pragma' => string 'no-cache' (length=8)
      'server' => string 'tsa_b' (length=5)
      'set-cookie' => string 'guest_id=v1%3A14375720938219946; Domain=.twitter.com; Path=/; Expires=Fri, 21-Jul-2017 14:47:37 UTC' (length=100)
      'status' => string '200 OK' (length=6)
      'strict-transport-security' => string 'max-age=631138519' (length=17)
      'x-connection-hash' => string 'd8b10926f99dwef93rd7edbe5a71a97a' (length=32)
      'x-content-type-options' => string 'nosniff' (length=7)
      'x-frame-options' => string 'SAMEORIGIN' (length=10)
      'x-response-time' => string '34' (length=2)
      'x-transaction' => string 'ef0ebwefweece62ef' (length=16)
      'x-tsa-request-body-time' => string '0' (length=1)
      'x-twitter-response-tags' => string 'BouncerCompliant' (length=16)
      'x-ua-compatible' => string 'IE=edge,chrome=1' (length=16)
      'x-xss-protection' => string '1; mode=block' (length=13)
  'body' => string '{"token_type":"bearer","access_token":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAFoafQAAAAAAqg%2BxmuH83hjsod6crH5bKTUX9Arc%3D5dWpp0XCTDjyiXxMC7LDLg8JbzPdGlCsJi2R1qjY1FMksTAFyG"}' (length=155)
  'response' => 
    array (size=2)
      'code' => int 200
      'message' => string 'OK' (length=2)
  'cookies' => 
    array (size=1)
      0 => 
        object(WP_Http_Cookie)[303]
          public 'name' => string 'guest_id' (length=8)
          public 'value' => string 'v1:143757645770219946' (length=21)
          public 'expires' => int 1500648457
          public 'path' => string '/' (length=1)
          public 'domain' => string '.twitter.com' (length=12)
  'filename' => null
The key underline of these is the access token that is present in the response’s body. Let’s retrieve that now we use our practical WordPress functions. For ease of understanding, we will continue on from our earlier example. We can use the below code to capture the access token:
$body = wp_remote_retrieve_body( $response );
$body = json_decode( $body, true );
$access_token = $body['access_token'];

Step-3: Using Bearer Token:

The eventual step is to utilize this bearer token in every other API call. It is necessary to append it in form of the ‘Authorization’ header with the value as Bearer [bearer_token]. Now let’s make a simple API call that will access the latest tweets via the user_timeline path.
$url = 'https://api.twitter.com/1.1/statuses/user_timeline.json?screen_name=danielpataki&count=3';
$args = array(
    'headers' => array(
        'Authorization' => 'Bearer ' . $access_token,
    ),
);
$response = wp_remote_get( $url, $args );
$tweets = json_decode( wp_remote_retrieve_body($response), true
After this, the $tweets variable will hold an array of tweets. It is possible to use different properties of this array to show the tweet. Also, you can use these properties to control the data.

Conclusion:

Connection to external services is easy through WordPress HTTP API. Lots of new APIs are created using the same REST principles. When you learn each of these principles, you can quickly discover the others.Whenever the documentation requests you to use the body section, make sure to use the body. When these requests call for headers, you remember to add as many as required. Subsequently, look at the response, transform it to an array, capture the data you want, and use it.

More Reading:

How to Setup Cloudflare Cache for WordPress – Configure Best Practices

If you are looking to setup Cloudflare Cache for WordPress then you have landed in the right place. In this article, we will focus on optimizing WordPress with Cloudflare.The following post is focused on how to use Cloudflare for the following:
  • Accelerate WordPress 22 worldwide without modifying your current hosting (for nearly all cases)
  • Easily enhancing TTFB
  • Dealing with traffic spike on viral content or event blog without expanding hosting resources
  • Speeding up the loading process of HTML similar to static content
  • Growing website availability
It is possible to work on all the above points without spending much. You may need to pay anywhere in the range of 0 to $30/month. It depends on the website as well as the approach of implementation.Over the years, I found a remarkable feature entitled ‘Cache Everything’ through a newsletter of Cloudflare in my mailbox.
Accelerating WordPress on a limited budget can be difficult.
Owing to my profound interest, I began experimenting on this topic to comprehend how the entire theory works and how it can be utilized in a practical approach for WordPress.
  • I will share the whole method for deploying the Cache Everything page rule through WordPress. Also, I will share its advantages and disadvantages, potential issue, and everything necessary you may want to know.
The ‘Cloudflare Cache Everything’ is a special page rule which enables you to carry out Full Page Cache on CDN. The same makes sure that your origin server would use a fewer number of resources.

What is Cloudflare 9 Cache Everything Page Rule?

  • Mostly, when Cloudflare setup is done, it only caches the static files such as JavaScripts, Stylesheet, Images, etc. However, it does not work on vanilla HTML.
  • Due to the above reason, the static content loads rapidly; however, HTML always puts up with. Several users denounced that after they use Cloudflare, their TTFB got a boost. Look at an example here:
Now the question arises what the cause of this problem is?
  • Your website TTFB 52, relies on your location of Performance testing. It also depends upon the location of your website server, cache status, server load, DNS, etc.
  • For instance, if your website servers are positioned in the USA and test the performance from the exact location, the TTFB would execute faster than other regions. It is one of the most significant reasons why I always suggest picking server location according to your target audience nation”.
If you are an author of a blog that possesses a worldwide audience, you might want to accelerate WordPress performance globally.

The solution is as follows:

Full Site Delivery with Cloudflare is a method to run most of the website contents, chiefly HTML from the CDN. The same is possible through the Cloudflare Cache Everything Page rule. This rule is beneficial for enabling caching of HTML to boost web performance.

Prerequisite understanding to setup FSD with Cloudflare:

  • DNS – You should be familiar with the meaning of grey and orange record at Cloudflare on the DNS page 15
  • Cloudflare – You should be comfortable with its settings
  • W3TC 63 – It is an excellent help for FSD.
  • Cloudflare HTTP Header response – For this, you should know Cache-Control 12 header, status code, CDN HIT and MISS response, etc.
When you accidentally enable only page rule, it will lead to some issue in your WordPress. Make sure to read this before proceeding further. This is because it needs specific logical settings to let things work efficiently.The same is applicable just for a standard blog. Implement it if you understand the thing you are doing.After successfully following this guide for several blogs, there remains the odd of committing errors. Also, it might not be suitable for every WordPress having a dynamic frontend, mainly I don’t suggest for the Forum or WooCommerce.The present guide should not be implemented other than responsive theme where the mobile and desktop theme is varying. Moreover, you must not serve the WebP images via .htaccess coding using this method.The Disqus Native WordPress comment application is likewise supported; however, it needs some extra steps to work more efficiently in a CDN scenario.The same not function with specific web hosting that conveys its own cache. Firstly, disable it before proceeding with the implementation.Not suggested for EZOIC users since they place a no-cache header.

How to properly enable Cloudflare HTML caching?

Step-1: Dealing with Page cache through W3TC using real-time purge Control:
  • Pro: Simpler for blogs that update frequently.
  • When combined along with a CDN, it offers excellent performance. It is recommended to try BunnyCDN. But if you do not use CDN, there will be an adverse impact on the static resource performance. This is because of the low cache HIT ratio and the full purge caused by W3TC Cloudflare extensions.
Now follow these substeps:
  1. Setup W3TC plugin precisely as illustrated in this guide. Make sure not to modify anything within the Browser settings portion.
  2. Follow the path: Extensions > Enable Cloudflare
  3. You must use Cloudflare API key 3
  4. Carry out all such necessary settings
Now you have the W3 Total Cache plugin ready to carry out an automatic purge of the Cloudflare page cache over the Post Modifications.Step-2: Configure Cloudflare 9 Settings:Aim: Configuration of cache such that it does not influence any other section.
  1. Retain the Respect Existing Headers; do not override it. It is significant to follow the W3TC Browser cache settings.
  2. Now, set up the Cloudflare Page rule.
(The below two are required for the most nuanced performance.)The first one is for Login page security, whereas the second is for carrying out a Full page cache when following the origin header.Note: Make sure not to use the ‘Edge Cache’ rule within the Cloudflare; else, it will supersede the origin header poorly. Moreover, it may serve internal page to the unidentified visitor.The following settings are shown after careful tests on different websites.
Tip: For skipping Page cache for some URLs, set Cache Level: Standard.
Suggested things to carry out after following the present guide:
  1. You might not wish to cache WordPress.com toolbar. So, it is better to conceal it for unidentified visitors.
add_action('after_setup_theme', 'remove_admin_bar');


function remove_admin_bar() {


if (!current_user_can('administrator') && !is_admin()) {


 show_admin_bar(false);


}


}
  1. The newest version of WordPress can better deal with the commenting. Hence, you can skip this step.
// First comment redirection


function redirect_first_time_commenters( $url, $comment ) {


// get count of user comment


$comment_count = get_comments( array
( 'author_email' => $comment->comment_author_email, 'count' => true ) );


// if this is the user first comment, redirect to the "Thank You" Page


if ( 1 == $comment_count ) {


$url = 'https://hostingxp.com/thank-you-for-commenting/';


}


return $url;


}


add_filter( 'comment_post_redirect', 'redirect_first_time_commenters', 10, 2 );
  1. Remove Admin Traffic from the Google Analytics console.
  2. Now configure the ‘BunnyCDN’ for improving the static content HIT cache ratio and maintain a good balance for the performance.
  3. Conceal frontend Login/Sign up stuff. (You can avoid this method in the present case/)

FAQs:

1. Can Cloudflare FSD (Full Site Delivery)be used with any other plugin other than W3TC?
  • Not at all recommended for WP Rocket, WP Fastest Cache, WP Super Cache, and many, mostly may lead to cf-cache-status: MISS because of preventive Cache-Control header for that particular document. This is why I do not recommend anything other than W3TC to fulfill this need.
2. Help! My site is broken while purging cache
  • Discussed previously How to Fix W3 Total Cache Fatal Error that comes while Purge 14
3. How do debug things are functioning correctly?
  • The Chrome Developer tool proves to the best tool for this. You can use its Networking tab to supervise HTTP response.
4. Is Cloudflare free plan enough?
  • In the majority of the cases, it is enough. For WooCommerce or some other cookie support, the need may arise to use its Business plan with a price of $200/month. If you need the most affordable option, go for ‘Sucuri 3’ WAF which simply offers identical features.

Summing-up:

After carefully following this guide, you can undoubtedly enhance performance. Also, there will be a significant reduction in server load.When Cloudflare Cache Everything is used, the problematic things faced are:
  • Excluding cache on the exact time
  • Managing Cache-Control header to serve the web page efficiently
  • Balancing better HIT ratio
The aforementioned method is usually reliant on the W3 Total Cache Plugin that comes with below facts:
  • When you exclude Cloudflare HTML cache, there will be exclusion of Cloudflare whole cache (CSS, HTML, JS, images) similar to using the “Purge everything” button. Is this good? No.
  • Hence, I advised making use of the ‘BunnyCDN’ for maintaining a distinct hostname when you want to cache static content of WordPress.
This method with CDN is excellent for implementing on a news site that requires real-time purge functionality.However, several bloggers might not need to update that excessively

The alternative approach is:

  • Maintain the Cloudflare configuration as well as rest function code as it is.
  • Prevent the use of ‘BunnyCDN.’
  • Make sure to configure Browser cache for all the static resources across long-term (for example 1 year)
  • Refrain from entirely using W3TC
  • Set Cache-Control plugin according to the one shown in the following screenshot. Every configuration is just for the Document web page working on HTML. The same is essential for setting up purge rules depending on the TTL. Read the below section to understand more:
max-age: It refers to browser cache: Since I believe that blog is dynamic, I will not recommend using Browser cache.s-max-age: It is controllable according to TTL, so the content will automatically expire, and CDN needs to revalidate and automatically serve a new version.

How does it function?

  • Your cache is expected to terminate at a specific time.
  • It is always allowed to purge whether you are doing it manually or automatically. Why does it? Begin from 600 seconds TTL. Now gradually increase once you become an experienced one.
  • Now, what for the static content? Cache-Control, you need to know that it is variable according to HTTP requests. Hence, we can add an extra Browser Cache header, especially for the resources such as /wp-content/ as well as /wp-includes/ through a Page rule of Cloudflare. Alternatively, it is not required if you have already done with .htaccess and have used the respect existing header.

For page rule:

*example.com/wp-*
  1. Make a rule where browser cache TTL: The time duration you can keep is 14 days or later. Generally, longer is better because it is the static content.
  2. Make one more rule for Cache Level: Standard (Ensure to stay away from caching everything now.) It is used here since /wp-* will cover only static resources; it does not work on HTML.

How to Change Your WordPress Homepage – 3 Methods

In this article, we explain how to change your WordPress Homepage using 3 easy methods:The tone of your website depends on its homepage. If your homepage is not showcasing the appropriate content or does not appear how you imagined it, you may need to make some modifications. But this can be a daunting task if you do not hold enough experience in building websites.The good news to note is that WordPress offers you lots of possibilities for modifying your homepage. This task is not at all difficult. Certain ways are available to implement this so that your homepage conveys your message appropriately.The following guide discusses the WordPress homepage. It also discusses the reason to change it. The later section highlights several ways to change and personalize your homepage. Look below:What Is the WordPress Homepage (And Reason to Change Yours)?Your homepage is like the welcome mat of your website. Any visitor will first observe this page whenever they type in your website’s URL. Hence, it is vital to lay a powerful first impression.The homepage must serve the visitors with a plain view of your website’s idea and what service it can provide them. Generally, slack’s homepage performs an outstanding job of showcasing the product and obtaining people’s attention.As default with several WordPress themes, your homepage showcases your recent blog posts.However, there is a change if you wish to feature something different. This holds if you do not have a blog or not the focus of your website.You may wish to modify your homepage all through the years. If you intend to showcase an event or holiday sale, you can update the page to broadcast that promotion. Alternatively, it suggests that there are ample reasons to modify your WordPress homepage.Since your homepage fixes the tone for your whole website, you must know how to modify it as a site owner. Continue reading this detailed guide:How to Set a Static Homepage:In case you do not wish to represent your blog posts on the front page of your website, you can set a static homepage. This kind of page showcases content that does not change often. On a WordPress site, there can be a homepage and a distinct blog page.For the creation of your homepage, log in to your admin dashboard. So, follow the below path:Pages > Add NewGive a name to your WordPress homepage, and then click on the ‘Publish’ button. Now repeat these steps another time to make your blog page.By now, your pages are ready, so you can inform WordPress for what purpose they are to be used.Follow the below path:Settings > Reading pageNow in the ‘Your Homepage Displays’ options, choose ‘A static page.’ After that, from the dropdown menus, select your homepage and posts page.When you are carrying out such steps, you might need to place your website in maintenance mode. Doing this shows visitors a message that you set instead of a general error page or a nonfunctioning website. In case you already receive some amount of traffic to your website, it is important to consider this before modifying your homepage.For the setup of this feature, you can use the WP Maintenance Mode plugin.This plugin allows you to convey a custom message to the visitors of your site. Also, it enables you to make a custom message, which allows the visitors to know that your site will resume working quickly.3 Methods to Change Your WordPress Homepage:Now your homepage is already set up, so it is now time to design it and include some content.Look at the 3 various tools to accomplish this task:
  1. With the use of the Theme Customizer to Edit Your Homepage:
Several WordPress themes will offer you a fundamental homepage design along with a few options for modifying it. It is easy to access such options through the Theme Customizer.Beginning from your admin area, you need to click on the Appearance > Customize to open the tool. It is found that the corresponding customizer presents you with a live preview when you are editing your homepage. Henceforth, you can observe how your modifications influence the look of your website.But such modifications will not take effect unless you click on the ‘Publish’ button. Hence, you can give it a try.Based on your theme, there may be varied options for the modifications you can implement. You can navigate through the menu tabs, or you can also click on any area through a blue pencil icon for making edits:If your theme contains numerous templates for different pages of your website, you can start by exploring each template.Certain themes provide you options for the position to include your sidebar. Alternatively, you can completely discard that element to see a full-width page:There may be some parts of the homepage that you would not use. You can discard them using the theme customizer.This is easy to implement by searching for the element within the menu, and then you need to click on the eye icon beside the name of the section:It is possible to bring back any parts you have removed previously by clicking on the same icon. Also, you can drag the items inside the column if you want to modify their order.
  1. Editing Your WordPress Homepage Using the Block Editor:
Though you modified the theme customizer, you may want some more changes via the Block Editor. The Block Editor provides you more options for modifying the layout and design of your homepage.Firstly, look for your homepage in the admin dashboard. You need to click on ‘Pages’ and then choose whatever page you set as homepage. Using the Block Editor, you can add various kinds of content to your homepage. It is possible to start with some text that introduces visitors to your website and the purpose.For getting started, click on the page, and begin typing. You will see that a suitable paragraph block will be automatically prepared.You can even choose the block on your own after clicking on the plus symbol. This can be done from the topmost left corner of the screen or whenever it shows up inside the editor window. Next, you can choose or find out the paragraph block.After there is text in the place, it is possible to use the block settings menu to customize it further. Within ‘Text settings,’ you can modify your text’s size by choosing a preset or custom size. Also, you can incorporate a drop cap for a few additional style points.For inclusion of some color into your paragraph, use the ‘Color settings.’ You will be presented with a collection of predefined colors to let you choose easily. Alternatively, you can use a custom brand color.You will probably wish to incorporate some images within your homepage.For that, click on the plus symbol and choose the ‘Image’ block.It is possible to use the resultant block for uploading an image. You can choose the image from your existing Media Library or include one through a URL. A toolbar is present above the block. You can use it to change the alignment of the image or move it vertically across the page.If you want to include a caption, there is a space available beneath the image to incorporate one.Now you can continue to add the required number of blocks. For accessing more blocks, click on the plus symbol. Now either navigate or search the resultant menu.To see all the blocks for which you have access, click on ‘Browse all.’For instance, to understand this, if you want to incorporate a combination of text and media, use the distinct paragraph and image blocks. Rather, you may try a Media & Text block.This block allows you to display media as well as written content in the particle block, in various configurations:For removing a block, click the 3 vertical dots within the toolbar over it and select ‘Remove Block.’ Using these tools, it is easy to design any homepage you want.
  1. Modifying Your WordPress Homepage Using the Classic Editor:
If you want to work with the Classic Editor, still, you can make an eye-catching homepage. For that, begin from the dashboard of WordPress admin.Now click on ‘Pages’ and choose the page which you assign as homepage.For the addition of text, start typing. By default, the text will be a paragraph. However, you can use the dropdown menu to make a heading or title.The corresponding dropdown menu allows you to modify the text from a paragraph into diverse headings.The toolbar besides this drop-down area allows you to perform more changes in your text. You can italicize or bold it, modify the alignment, and make numbered or bulleted lists. Also, you can include a blockquote to your page if you want.In this toolbar, you can include links in your copy. A button is available to add a ‘read more’ tag. This feature can be beneficial if you add articles on your website but do not plan to show the homepage’s full texts.The final button in the sequence will open another set of tools. So, you will get more options for changing the style of your text. For example, you can vary the size or add colors.Additionally, you can add some media or images to your page through the Classic Editor. For that, click on the ‘Add Media’ button, and you will see a new window opened. To add new files to your media library, you can select the ‘Select Files’ button.There is the flexibility to upload files from your device to include them into your Media Library.From this window, it is possible to access the files uploaded previously by clicking on the ‘Media Library’ tab. Now choose the file you want to add, and then click on the ‘Insert into page’ button.Now the image will show up on your page. The options for the file are easy to access by just clicking on it. For the image, you can alter the alignment, do editing, or remove it.After insertion of the image, you can vary the alignment.To observe how your homepage looks, click on the ‘Preview’ button. After you liked the page’s appearance, click on the ‘Publish’ button to save all the changes. Now, these changes will be reflected on your website.Optional: Check Out the Twenty Twenty-One Theme:If you prefer using the block editor, you can look at the Twenty Twenty-One theme, known as the latest default theme in WordPress 5.6.Basically, the Twenty Twenty-One theme offers great flexibility and function well on various types of websites. It contains simple fonts and a low-key, pastel color pattern. Also, it makes complete use of the patterns that are pre-defined block layouts, which can be further edited to meet your needs.Such dedicated layouts and the minimalism of Twenty-One make the theme a perfect choice for creating an extremely customized homepage. No need to use any third-party page builder.Steps to Build a Menu for Your Homepage:When you are working on the homepage, you need to consider the navigation menu. This menu probably shows up on most of the pages of your website. Moreover, it can be beneficial for visitors who landed on your homepage for the first time.From the admin dashboard, follow the below path:Appearance > MenusIf there are no menus yet, you will be asked to make one. Alternatively, you can choose the ‘Create Menu’ button. Keep in mind that your menu needs a name to differentiate it from other menus you may create.The succeeding step is to include pages in the menu. Either you can add them separately, or checkmark ‘Auto adds pages’ boxes for automatic addition of all top-level pages.If you like to choose the pages manually, choose the ‘View All’ tab in the left column. Now check to mark the boxes you want to include and then click on the ‘Add to Menu’ button:It is easy to automatically add the top-level pages or choose the pages on your own.After adding your pages to the menu, you can set the sequence in which they will show up. This is easy to accomplish by just dragging and dropping the menu items in the place.If you prefer to include some items inside others to make a dropdown menu, it is possible. This allows you to include more links in your navigation. When you do it, the appearance will be clutter-free.You need to drag the child page below and somewhat to the parent page’s right part.Lastly, based on your theme, there may be a few options on the menu’s position to be shown on your page.Famous options highlight the footer, over the top part of the page, and sidebars (right or left). In case the default menu options are not sufficient for you, you can use some other plugins to expand your menu features.

Summary:

An elegant homepage can let visitors accurately understand the actual purpose of your website. Once you set the WordPress homepage properly, it can work as an efficient tool for your blogs, e-commerce sites, etc.In certain scenarios, you need to modify your homepage to reveal your brand message, a new service you want to offer, or a new theme. Fortunately, WordPress offers various ways to modify and edit your WordPress homepage. This can be done in 3 ways:
  1. With the Theme Customizer to edit your homepage
  2. Editing your homepage using the block editor
  3. Modifying your homepage using the classic editor

Rank Math vs All in One SEO vs Yoast – Side by Side Comparison

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If you are looking for a fair comparison between Rank Math vs All in One SEO vs Yoast, you have landed in the right place.We are talking about the best SEO plugins, and what else can we talk about except Yoast SEO? If we take the populist opinion of most of the bloggers and website owners out there, Yoast would be the right one. Thankfully, there are many more options available for the best SEO performance of your blog or website.Of them, Rank Math SEO and All in One SEO pack should be an excellent choice by almost every standard. Didn’t your teachers and friends tell you that depending on one single solution would not be a wise one? Why go with that one option just because everyone else is doing the same?So, to help you make a call, here is a complete comparison between Yoast SEO, Rank Math, and All in One SEO.

Yoast SEO

Well, that is the perfect solution ever. Yoast has been the red-hot favorite for the bloggers out there. Yoast provides you access to a host of flexible benefits and lets you have control over a lot of things other than just SEO.You can set up titles, meta descriptions, and slug for your content. You can even configure social sharing options with Yoast. And all these tasks can be achieved on a per post basis. You can also set the options for sitemaps and add a little schema. And all those tasks are rather easy and straightforward enough.The basic version is available for free and provides you access to almost every option to achieve the best possible SEO. However, if you are looking for the best advanced options, you can go with the Pro version or the add-ons based on your requirements. The Pro version provides you access to a few advanced features that include
  • Local SEO
  • Video SEO
  • Internal link recommendations
However, the plugin does come with a few drawbacks as well.If you are a beginner concerning SEO, you will find all the features beautiful and exciting. It offers you several recommendations and suggestions. A few advanced users claim that a few recommendations provided by the Yoast plugin tend to be just over the edge.The prime among these complaints is that it tends to encourage keyword stuffing. It does not recognize the essence of LSI keywords. If you have been someone well versed with SEO, you will find that LSI or long-tail keywords help an effective ranking. The consistent prodding to avoid passive voices and use only one stop word are a few other issues we found a little over the top.Of course, Yoast is a powerful and efficient performer. But, it also comes with a lot of unneeded information, and in a way, it tries to take complete control over your content and every other element on your WordPress dashboard.If you are starting, Yoast should be the right one for you, and you will indeed benefit from it. However, if you are fed up with the unneeded recommendations, you would need to look at the alternatives.

Rank Math SEO

Rank Math is a comparatively new entrant when it comes to the best WordPress plugins for SEO. It has been impressive enough with its features and has captured a considerable audience among the SEO plugins.It is rather easy to understand and implement — it comes with almost all the features offered by Yoast. The schema implementation provided by Rank Math is considerably better than Yoast.Yoast focusses more on the usability and features than on the looks. On the other hand, Rank Math has an attractive interface. Understanding and using it would be slightly more accessible and more uncomplicated.The features offered by Rank Math considerably outnumber the ones on both Yoast and All in One SEO. Another feature that would make it one of the exciting options would be that it is entirely free and does not come with any additional features. Of course, the developers have been looking ahead to launch the premium version for the plugin soon.The plugin helps you create rich snippets for your content. You can choose the pieces based on the type of content. Some options would include articles, courses, books, job posting, local business, and reviews.And most importantly, if you are considering moving from Yoast to SEO, you can access a one-click migration option. You need to install Rank Math and opt for the import process. What makes it even more effective and efficient is that it offers most of the free features when the other options provide the elements at a premium cost.If you are using Rank Math, you would need to opt for account creation with the service. Once you create an account, you need to assign your website to begin setting up your plugin. Yoast lets you configure it, but all the settings need to be configured manually.

All In One SEO

This has so far been a strong competitor to Yoast for a long. The number of installs as recorded officially are more than those for Yoast. All in One SEO is an excellent option for use with your sites because it is bloat-free. The application is exceptionally slim, making it one of the preferred options you would want to go with.It offers you plenty of features and functions concerning a powerful SEO strategy. Some of the features offered by All in One SEO would be
  • XML sitemap
  • Automatic meta information
  • WooCommerce integration
  • Google integration
  • Custom post support.
One of the best options we loved the most with the tool is that it does not automatically enable all the features and modules. You can manually enable or disable the features based on your actual requirements.The plugin is extremely user-friendly. It works exceptionally well enough for both advanced users and beginners. In case you do not like the unneeded recommendations that Yoast throws onto your face, All in One SEO should be the prime choice.

The comparison – Rank Math vs All in One SEO vs Yoast

The chart here should provide you a good enough information about the best features offered by each of them –
Features and particularsRank MathYoast SEOAll in One SEO
PricingFreeFree and PremiumFree and Premium
Pre-selected settingsYesNoNo
Setup wizardYesNoNo
Auto Canonical URLsYesYesYes
LSI keyword integrationYesNoNo
 Tracking keyword rankingYesNoNo
Search Console IntegrationYesYesNo
Schema SnippetsYesYesNo
SEO WarningsYesYesYes
Post PreviewYesYesNo
Custom post typeYesYesYes
Focus KeywordYesYesYes
Internal linkingYesNoNo
XML sitemapNoNoNo
Module-based designYesNoNo
SEO BreadcrumbsYesYesYes
Multi-site compatibilityYesYesYes
Import/Export RedirectionsYesNoYes
robots.txt EditorYesYesYes
.htaccess EditorYesYesYes
Ping Search EnginesYesYesYes
 

Which among them would we recommend?

Well, Yoast has always been a clear winner for many of us, which we have been using for a long time. However, Rank Math is a good option for many of the requirements. The best part is it is entirely free and does not have any premium version.Of course, comparing the different SEO plugins can be a little tricky. Each of them comes with various features, and there would be extremely different use cases with each of them.Yoast and All in One SEO have a more robust user base, while Rank Math is a relatively new plugin. It does need a few improvements, but still, we would rate it good enough.

Best Practices and Steps to reduce HTTP requests in WordPress Posts

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If you are a website owner, slow page load times should be a tremendous concern for you. You attempt to add more resources to the website to ensure that you have access to more user engagement. Some of these elements you would want to add up include images, infographics, videos, and a whole lot of graphics.While it helps you improve your website’s value, it can also have a negative side to it as well. All the resources you add up to your site will increase the load on your server. It will now need to generate more HTTPS or HTTP requests to communicate with your visitors’ browsers. And these requests can slow your website down.WordPress is one of the most powerful and widely used platforms for creating websites, and we will today cover how to handle HTTP requests on a WordPress website. We will try to understand what exactly are HTTP requests and how to keep track of them.

What is HTTP Server Requests?

Before we can tackle how to reduce the HTTP requests, we need to understand what exactly they are and how they affect your website.An HTTP request is when a browser sends a request to your website to serve some information. When a user visits your web page through a browser, the browser sends requests to the web application and renders the information available on the page on your server. If the browser makes only a few requests to the website in question, it will load faster.Let us check what happens when a user visits your webpage.
  • The browser sends a request to your website, or to be more precise, your web server.
  • Your web server is where your page is hosted.
  • The web server sends a file containing a particular web page. This can carry a lot of information that includes images, videos, text, and everything on your page.
  • The browser will then render this page on your page.
  • If the page has not received all the information on the page, it sends another request for additional information.
Thus if your site has a lot of information, the number of HTTP requests will be higher, and therefore the website tends to load slower. Each text, image, video embeds, CSS, and JavaScript files on your page will need separate HTTP requests.

How can HTTP requests affect your website performance?

The effect of the HTTP requests on the webpage performance can be dependent on the webpage content. Amazon once calculated that just a second’s delay in loading time causes a revenue loss of around $ 1.6 billion per year!Ideally speaking, it has been estimated that a site can lose around 40 percent of visitors if it loads in more than three seconds. Google has categorically stated that the site load speed is an important ranking factor.Different reasons can affect your website performance on account of HTTP requests. Principal among them would be the number of HTTP requests or other files and the size of these files. Both these elements can have severe consequences on the loading times on your website. More data will translate into more HTTP requests, and bigger files will mean that the applications will take a longer time to be fulfilled.How does this affect the user experience? Well, put yourself in the visitor’s shoes, and you will understand how frustrating it can be to wait for a site that has a longer loading time. The experience will be all the more difficult for those visitors on a mobile device.

How can you track the HTTP Requests on your website?

Reducing the HTTP requests on your site will need you to understand how many +requests your site sends. There are a few tools that can help you track the HTTP requests to your website.

Chrome Developer Tools

The Chrome browser offers you an excellent option in finding the right number of HTTP requests to your website. Here is how you can achieve the task.Access Developer Tools from your Chrome settings and then click on the Network tab.You can check the number of requests and the time taken by each of them.

Google PageSpeed Insights

It is a tool specifically designed to check your website performance and loading speeds. Coming from Google itself, it should be an excellent option to find more about your return. It can also help you get more information on the server requests and how to handle them.Apart from a host of other details, it also lets you check the server requests and how to take care of them.You can use several other tools that include GTMetrix, Pingdom, and a host of different devices.

How to reduce the number of HTTP Requests in WordPress?

You can opt for several options if you are looking for the best methods to reduce the HTTP requests in your WordPress site. A few of the tips can includeHere are a few tips that can be helpful enough in your quest.

Method 1 – Delete the unused data files

The primary culprits in the case of HTTP requests are the images on your website. However, they need not be the only culprit. Most of the time, the plugins and data files can also increase the number of HTTP requests.Check if you have added any plugins, themes, programs, and other tools that you are no longer using. Uninstall the unneeded plugins and other data files that you do not need any longer.

Method 2 – Keep your file sizes to the minimum level

The best option to keep your service requests to the minimum would be to make sure that your file sizes are small enough. The best way to optimize the images would be to reduce the file sizes. Optimizing the image size can be the right option through the use of plugins or other means.You have access to plenty of tools and plugins that can help you automate the images’ compression. It will help you automate the image optimization without your need for any intervention. Your pictures will remain in high resolution while keeping your file sizes smaller.

Opt for Lazy Loading

Lazy loading refers to the pictures’ loading only when a user scrolls down while browsing your site. This will mean only those images and files will load within the visible area of the web page that is being rendered.That would mean the browser will not send the HTTP requests for the files and images that the visitor is yet to encounter.

Minify and combine CSS and JavaScript Files.

WordPress sites come with plenty of JS and CSS files. Merging them can help you send them as part of one request than sending each of the data separately.Ideally speaking, the CSS files should be placed in the header of the page, while the JavaScript should be placed in the site’s footer. You can minimize the HTML, JavaScript, and CSS files. There are a few tools and plugins that can help you achieve the task. A few caching plugins can help you minify the CSS and JavaScript files.

Limit the presence of the externals resources and files

Several external resources can result in causing HTTP requests. Some of those would include
  • External images – The external images can in the form of comments. You can disable them through the settings on your WordPress installation. Go to Settings -> Discussion.
  • Custom fonts –Limit the number of fonts and styles. While custom fonts can help you work fast, they can tend to be creating extra requests.
  • Social Media buttons – While they may be the best marketing options, they also end up causing additional requests. You would indeed want to remove references to the networks you do not use much often.
  • Video embeds – They can be an excellent option for improving your site and its content. But, at the same time, they would generate additional requests.

Use a Caching Plugin

A caching plugin like W3 Total Cache can be an excellent option to handle the HTTP requests. Of course, they do not reduce the total HTTP requests to your site but can help ensure that the new offers are cut down for the new visitors.Opting for a CDN or Content Delivery Network can be yet another excellent option. You can go with Cloudflare or other similar services. It will also be helpful enough to ensure that the HTTP requests are offloaded to other servers.

Fix the render-blocking CSS and JavaScript images

Making the CSS and JavaScript codes on your site asynchronous can be an excellent option for reducing the HTTP requests in WordPress. You can either defer or make them asynchronous. Now, what does that mean?The browser will load your site from top to bottom. When it encounters a CSS or JavaScript file and not asynchronous, your browser stops everything else until the data is loaded completely. In case the file loads asynchronously, the browser will load the rest of the web page as it is downloading the JavaScript or CSS file. You can achieve the task with the plugins specifically designed for the job.

The Closing Thoughts

Having complete knowledge of how many HTTP requests your site makes can help you understand how to reduce them. That way, you would be able to speed up the performance of your website.There is no specific number of requests that the experts treat as being the best. Ideally, you should have around 10 to 30 file requests at the maximum per page. However, it may not be realistic as larger websites will need more than that for their visual appeal and the content. The dynamic content is the sure-shot way of achieving a better user experience, increasing the HTTP request. As per the experts, the best HTTP requests per page should be around 100. Make sure you aim for less than that threshold.

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