WordPress vs Joomla vs Drupal – Which One is Better?

While WordPress powers more than 35% of all websites on the internet, it’s not the only open-source content management system (CMS) in the market. There are other poplar software like Joomla and Drupal.

All three of them have a lot in common and many significant differences. Each one of them is a unique website builder with pros and cons.

In this article, we will compare WordPress vs Joomla vs Drupal to find out which one is the best choice for you.

Note: We are comparing WordPress.org, and not the WordPress.com hosting service. Please see our guide on the difference between WordPress.org and WordPress.com.

What’s Common in WordPress, Joomla and Drupal

All three of the web’s most popular CMS have a lot in common in terms of technology, philosophy, and community.

• WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal are all free and open source software licensed under GPL. See our article on why is WordPress free to learn more about free software.
• All three of them are written primarily in PHP.
• They all support MySQL as their database management system. WordPress exclusively supports only MySQL, while Joomla and Drupal support other database management systems.
• All three of them use themes and templates for visual appearance of sites, and plugins, modules, or extensions for extending features.
• As open source software, they are all community-driven projects.

While there are a lot of similarities, they are different in many aspects.

For instance, they have different policies about what to include in the core software, how to handle modules and templates, how to deal with security, etc.

These differences make a big impact on users, and how they build their websites.

Having that said, let’s take a look at how WordPress, Joomla and Drupal compare to each other, so you can choose the best website builder platform for your business.

Ease of Use and Beginner Friendliness

Most people creating their websites are not web developers, designers, or programmers. They are average users who just want to build a website. Ease of use is the most important factor for majority of users.

WordPress

WordPress comes with a famous five minute install. Most WordPress hosting providers also offer one click install of WordPress. This makes it fairly easy for a new user start a WordPress blog or website in minutes, not hours.

The post-install user experience of WordPress is way better than Joomla or Drupal. The user sees a simple clean-cut user interface with the menus to create posts, pages, or start customizing appearance and themes.

Joomla

Joomla installation may not look as quick as WordPress, but it has very similar steps. Apart from that many shared hosting providers offer one-click install packages for Joomla as well.

After the installation, the user lands on a control panel that is not as straight forward as WordPress. There are just too many menus to click on and customize your site.

Joomla fans would say that’s because Joomla is a lot more powerful than WordPress, but we don’t believe that to be true.

Drupal

Drupal’s installation is similar to both Joomla and WordPress. Simply download and upload the package and run the installation script.

Drupal also offers distributions. These are pre-packaged Drupal bundles with modules and configurations to create specific types of websites.

The post-installation experience for absolute beginners is a bit complicated. Users will find it difficult to figure out how to change things on their site. Drupal makes it very obvious how to add the content, but changing appearance and adding non-content elements is not very obvious.

Winner: WordPress

Themes and Addons

All three of these popular CMS come with themes and plugins / modules as a way to extend the features and appearance of the software.

Themes control the appearance of your website and how it looks to your users. Plugins or Modules are like apps for your CMS.

Let’s see how these three major CMS software perform in this category.

WordPress

WordPress allows users to change their site’s appearance using themes. WordPress comes with a few default themes pre-installed.

At any time, you can click on the add new button from your Appearance page and install free WordPress themes from the official WordPress.org theme directory.

Apart from free themes, you will find many more premium WordPress themes developed by third-party theme shops like StudioPress, Astra Theme, Elegant Themes, and more. These are paid themes and come with premium support options.

The real power of WordPress lies in plugins. There are more than 55,000 WordPress plugins available for free in the official WordPress plugin directory. You can also buy premium plugins that come with paid support provided by plugin developers. Check out our list of must-have WordPress plugins to see how plugins make WordPress awesome.

Joomla

Just like WordPress, Joomla also comes with templates and extensions. There are great extensions to do just about anything from creating an eCommerce store to managing email.

However, the quantity of these templates and extensions is not as high as WordPress. This could make finding the perfect template and the perfect extensions a bit difficult.

By default, Joomla does not have a feature that would allow users to search and install extensions or templates from the administration area. There is an extension that allows you to add “install from web” feature for extensions. But for templates, users will still have to manually search templates and then install them by adding their URL.

Drupal

Drupal has the same issue with the availability of themes and modules. Users will have to leave their site, search for the module and theme they want to add, then locate the project’s zip file URL. Finally, they can enter the URL in the Modules or Themes page to install them.

There are modules to do just about anything and new ones are added regularly. Still, the overall quantity of modules is lacking when compared to WordPress.

Winner: WordPress.

Support Options

The availability of help and support options is very important for beginner users. There will surely be some hurdles when you are trying new software. That’s ok as long as you can get help.

WordPress

WordPress has a strong community of users. You can find WordPress help on official support forums, docs, handbooks, codex, Slack channels, Stack Exchange, WPBeginner Engage facebook group, and almost every forum on the internet about web design and development.

There are sites like WPBeginner, containing hundreds of tutorials, video tutorials, and articles catering to beginner level WordPress users. There are many ways to ask for free WordPress support and get it.

Apart from the free support options, there are ways to get paid support for WordPress as well.

Online platforms like Codeable, UpWork, Fiverr, etc. are just some of the places where you can hire WordPress professionals to help you. Due to the immense popularity of WordPress, finding WordPress developers is easy and affordable for small businesses and individuals.

Joomla

Joomla, just like WordPress has a large and very helpful community. There is extensive documentation on the Joomla website which is a valuable resource for beginners. For more interactive support, users can join forums, mailing lists, user groups, etc.

Apart from community support, there are third party resources, paid training, and development agencies that can be helpful.

Unlike WordPress, finding affordable expert help is quite difficult for Joomla. Hiring a developer or expert for Joomla development, troubleshooting or assistance can cost way more than WordPress.

Drupal

Drupal has a very proactive community of fans and users. You will find all the community support options for Drupal just like WordPress and Joomla. There is extensive documentation, support forum, mailing lists, user groups, irc chatrooms. All good places to get advice and free help.

Drupal tries to connect users to developers and companies offering professional Drupal services. You may find them in Drupal Marketplace.

However Drupal developer similar to Joomla are very expensive when compared to WordPress.

Winner: WordPress

Localization & Multilingual Support

A large percentage of websites created each day, are non-English or multilingual sites. It is much more likely that many beginners would probably be looking for a CMS that can handle multiple languages or has support for different locales and languages.

WordPress

WordPress does an excellent job of offering a good platform to build a multilingual site. It does not support multiple languages out of the box, but there are some excellent plugins that allow you to easily create a WordPress multilingual site.

WordPress is available in more than 57 languages. New languages can be installed with just a click from the WordPress admin area.

Most popular themes and plugins are also available in multiple languages. Theme and plugin developers are actively seeking help to translate their packages into other languages.

All these efforts make WordPress a great platform to build a non-English or multilingual website.

Joomla

Joomla comes with out of the box capability to handle a multilingual website without installing any extension. Simply go to language manager, add a content language and start creating multilingual content on your website.

Translations are also available for the admin interface in many languages and can be easily installed from the admin area.

Drupal

Drupal comes with built-in support to handle non-English or multilingual sites. You will need to enable locale and content translation modules. After that, you can add site and admin interface languages from Drupal’s configuration section.

Winner: Tie – All three of them support multilingual sites and are available in multiple languages.

Security

Security is a very important factor when choosing a CMS for your website. Almost every website on the internet is vulnerable to security threats.

WordPress

Being the most popular CMS in the world, WordPress based websites are often targeted by hackers. However, WordPress is built on a very secure code, and it responds to security vulnerability very quickly.

WordPress also has an auto-update mechanism which allows WordPress websites to automatically update when there is a new security patch.

WordPress sites can be further secured with automated backups, two-factor authentication, and other WordPress security best practices.

There is also a built-in mechanism to show updates for WordPress themes and plugins. This allows themes and plugin developers to rapidly respond to any security vulnerability.

Joomla

Joomla is very similar to WordPress when it comes to security. They actively respond to any security vulnerability and are very quick to patch it up. However, maintaining a website and installing updates is still up to the user.

There are extensions available to backup your Joomla site. You can also strengthen your Joomla site’s security by following the same best practices as WordPress.

Drupal

Drupal takes a very serious approach to security. They publish security vulnerabilities on their own site as they are discovered and patched. There is a perception that Drupal is more secure because you don’t hear about Drupal sites being hacked as often, but that could because it’s not as popular Joomla or WordPress.

Winner: Tie – All three follow proper security standards.

Conclusion:

Drupal, Joomla, and WordPress are all fantastic content management systems. Drupal and Joomla come with many more built-in features than WordPress.

However, WordPress beats them with its ease of use, huge global community, plugins, and themes. We feel that most non-developer users would find it much easier to build with WordPress than Joomla or Drupal.

With over 55,000 WordPress plugins, you can add just about any feature or build any type of website that you like (without writing code).

Overall Winner: WordPress

How to Get Started With Your Favorite CMS

Whether you choose WordPress, Joomla, or Drupal, you will need a domain name and website hosting to make a website.

Luckily, all three of these top CMS software have quite similar requirements which means all top web hosting companies support them.

We recommend using either Bluehost or SiteGround. They are both among the largest hosting companies in the world and specialize in hosting WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal websites.

For more recommendations, see our complete web hosting guide for beginners.

If you are starting with WordPress, then see our beginner’s guide on how to make a website with step by step instructions.

We hope this article helped you compare WordPress vs Joomla vs Drupal, to find out the best CMS for your site. You may also want to see our comparison of the best email marketing services and best live chat software for small business.

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

The post WordPress vs Joomla vs Drupal – Which One is Better? appeared first on WPBeginner.

February 25, 2020 at 07:00PM

How to Create a Contract Agreement Form With Digital Signatures in WordPress

Do you want to add a contract agreement form to your WordPress website that people can e-sign?

Typically to get contracts signed, you either have to manually print / scan the signature, or pay for an expensive third-party e-sign service.

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could get users to sign forms with a digital signature in WordPress without the high costs?

In this article, we’ll show you how to easily create a contract agreement form with digital signatures in WordPress.

Why Create an Online Contract Agreement Form?

An online contract agreement form is easy to fill and submit. Normally, you’ll send the agreement as PDF, which the other party will have to print, fill-in, scan, and send back.

That’s a lot of work.

By creating an online contract agreement form on your website, users can fill it right away and sign it digitally with an e-signature.

It does not require any overly priced SaaS software and works very well for many different kinds of legal documents.

For instance, you can use it to create a code of conduct form, employment forms, non-profit or volunteer application forms, and more.

Are Digital Signatures Legal?

Yes, digital signatures and digitally signed documents are legally enforceable. If both parties agree to digital signatures, and the software used keeps a record of digital signatures, then they are legally binding.

However, they cannot be used for all kinds of legal documents. For example, legal documents or forms that require to be notarized, need court stamps, or witnesses.

With that said, this article is not legal advice, please consider a lawyer for practical legal advice and guidance.

Preparing Your Contract Agreement Form

If you don’t already have a contract drawn up, it’s a very good idea to consult a lawyer. You want to be sure that your contract is legal and that it won’t cause you any possible problems in the future.

Apart from the contract terms themselves, your contract form will probably need space for:

• The name of the person signing.
• The address of the person signing.
• The date the contract is signed.
• Space for your client (or new employee) to actually sign the contract.

That being said, let’s create a contract agreement form with a digital signature field.

How to Create a Digitally Signed Contract Form in WordPress

The first thing you need to do is install and activate the WPForms plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

WPForms is a premium plugin, and you’ll need at least their Pro plan to access the Signatures addon.

Upon activation, you need to visit the WPForms » Settings page to enter your license key. You can find this information under your account on the WPForms website.

Next, you need to visit the WPForms » Addons page and install the Signature addon.

You are now ready to create your contract agreement form with the digital signature feature.

Simply go to the WPForms » Add New page to create your form. This will launch the WPForms form builder interface where you need to provide a title for your form and then choose a template.

We’re going to use the ‘Blank Form’ template for this example, but you can choose a different one if you prefer. Just click on the template to load it.

You’ll probably want to include the text of your contract itself on the page above the form. This could include your own signature as an image.

In the form itself, you just need to add the fields (form elements) that need to be filled in.

To add a new field, simply click on a field from the left column. You can rearrange fields by moving them up and down in the preview column.

If you want to send a copy of the signed form to the user as well, then don’t forget to add an email field where users can provide their email address.

Once you’re happy with the fields you’ve added, it’s time to add the most important form field: the signature field.

Scroll down to the ‘Fancy Fields’ section and click to add the Signature field to your form.

That’s it. You’ve created your form. Next, we need to make sure the settings are correct.

Configuring Your Contract Agreement Form’s Settings

Click on the ‘Settings’ tab to view your form’s settings. The default settings will work in most cases, but you may want to make some changes.

In particular, you’ll want to check that the ‘Notifications’ are correct.

By default, the signed contract agreement form will be sent to the administrator’s email address. This is normally the email address of whoever set up your WordPress site. If that’s not you, then enter your email address here instead.

You may also want to send a copy of the form to the user as well. To do that, go to Settings » Notifications tab and click on the Add New Notification button.

In the ‘Send to Email Address’ section, click on the Smart Tags link and select the Email field.

Review all other settings and adjust them to your requirements. WPForms will now send the form confirmation email to the user as well.

Next, switch to the ‘Confirmation’ tab, you can edit the confirmation message that the client (or employee or volunteer) signing the form will see.

Once you’re happy with the settings, click the ‘Save’ button at the top of the screen. You can now close and exit the form builder.

Add Your Contract Agreement Form to Your Site

Finally, you need to put your contract agreement form onto your website.

Create a new page or edit an existing one. First, you’ll need to add the text of your contract terms here before including the form itself.

After that, simply add the WPForms block to your content area.

Select your contract agreement form from the drop-down box, and WPForms will automatically load a preview of the form in the editor.

You can now save or publish your page to make your form publicly available.

After that, visit the page to see your contract agreement form in action. Don’t forget to test out the contract agreement form. You should be able to enter your signature by using your mouse, trackpad, or a touchscreen.

Make sure you see the confirmation message and receive an email after submitting the form.

If you don’t get an email, don’t worry. It’s quite a common problem and we’ve got instructions on how to fix WordPress not sending emails.

We hope this article helped you learn how to create a contract agreement form with digital signatures in WordPress. You may also be interested in our articles on the best WordPress plugins and the best business phone services for small businesses.

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

The post How to Create a Contract Agreement Form With Digital Signatures in WordPress appeared first on WPBeginner.

February 24, 2020 at 06:55PM

7 Best Countdown Plugins for WordPress (Easy to Use)

Readers often ask us how to add a countdown timer to their website. Countdown timers are a great way to build anticipation, excitement, and create FOMO effect on your website.

There are lots of different countdown plugins out there that let you create a countdown timer, so which one should you use?

In this article, we’ll share the best countdown plugins for WordPress and explain the key features of each.

What is a Countdown Timer Plugin and When You Need it?

A countdown timer plugin allows you to display a timer that counts down to a specific time or date.

Smart marketers use countdown timers to build excitement and create a sense of urgency among their customers. It helps them take advantage of the FOMO effect to boost conversions.

There are many WordPress plugins that allow you to add countdown timers to your website. These countdown timers can be divided into two groups:

1. Normal Countdown Timers

A normal countdown timer, sometimes called a static or fixed countdown timer, is what most people think of when they imagine a timer.

This timer counts down to a certain fixed point. That might be the launch of a website, the end of a sale, or another event.

The countdown clock’s endpoint is the same for everyone and doesn’t change depending on who’s viewing it.

Evergreen Timer

An evergreen countdown timer, sometimes called a dynamic countdown timer, is specific to each user.

It begins counting down when the person arrives on your site. For instance, they might have 4 hours to take advantage of a special offer.

This can be a powerful marketing technique as it lets you create a sense of urgency.

Note that most WordPress plugins are designed to run normal countdown timers, and only some let you run evergreen timers.

Having said that, let’s take a look at some of the best countdown timer plugins for WordPress.

1. OptinMonster

OptinMonster is a powerful popup and lead generation plugin for WordPress. It allows you to convert abandoning website visitors into subscribers and paying customers.

With OptinMonster, you can create both static and evergreen timers. You can make as many timers as you want, and you can use different timers on different pages.

There are lots of ways you can position your countdown timer using OptinMonster. One of the best is to use a floating bar that sticks to the top or bottom of your page. That way, it stays visible at all times.

OptinMonster has full instructions on how to create and customize your countdown timer.

Here’s a countdown timer we created using the OptinMonster plugin:

Note: You’ll need the OptinMonster’s Pro plan or higher in order to use countdown timers.

They allow you to add countdown timers on popups, floating bars, full screen welcome mats, scroll boxes, and inline widgets.

On top of that, you can personaize the timers based on user’s location, which page they’re on, where they’re visiting from, and more.

2. SeedProd

The SeedProd plugin is a great option if you want a “coming soon” page for your website. It lets you easily set up a special landing page and put your site into coming soon or maintenance mode.

With this plugin, you’ll be creating a normal timer that counts down to the same point for everyone. That will usually be the day that your site launches. You can’t use it to create an evergreen timer.

One really clever SeedProd feature is that you can set your site to instantly launch when the timer finishes. You don’t have to remember to do it yourself manually. Just turn on the ‘autolaunch’ feature when adding the countdown timer to your page or editing it.

Here’s a countdown timer we created using SeedProd’s Coming Soon Page Pro plugin:

3. Countdown Timer Ultimate

Countdown Timer Ultimate is another good option to consider if you want to create a normal countdown timer. It’s a simple plugin and doesn’t have the ability to show evergreen timers that are specific to individual site visitors.

You can use Countdown Timer Ultimate to make as many countdown timers as you want, and you can customize how they look to some degree.

Here’s a countdown timer we created using the free version of the Countdown Timer Ultimate plugin:

The pro plugin gives you more advanced options. These include being able to show specific text when the countdown expires and extra design features.

For instructions, see our guide on how to add a countdown timer widget in WordPress.

4. Countdown Builder

Countdown Builder is a simple countdown timer with multiple different styles built in. These include circle countdowns, flip clock countdowns, and even a coming soon page.

You can place your timer within a post or page in the WordPress block editor by selecting the ‘Countdown’ block (under ‘Widgets’). You can also choose to automatically display it on specific posts or pages.

Here’s a timer we created using it:

If you want, you can edit how your clock looks in detail, changing things like the font size, the labels, and the animation style. You don’t need to do this with CSS. There’s a built-in editor.

With the pro version, you can add an email sign up, schedule timers in advance, show/hide timers on mobile devices, and more. The pro version is priced from $19.99 upwards, depending on what features you want.

5. Evergreen Countdown Timer

The Evergreen Countdown Timer lets you create evergreen countdowns, as you might expect from its name. You can also use it to create normal countdowns as well.

You can choose how the plugin detects visitors, either by a cookie or by their IP address.

To add the timers to your page, you’ll need to enter a shortcode. You can simply copy and paste this from the Manager section of your countdown timer settings.

Once your timer hits zero, you can automatically redirect the visitor to a URL of your choice. For instance, you could send them to a registration page if you’re counting down to the launch of your new course.

Here’s a timer we created using the Evergreen Countdown Timer plugin:

There’s a pro version of the plugin, which gives you lots of extra options. It also lets you choose more colors than just black or white for your timer.

With the pro version, you can provide a countdown for available “spots” such as seats or tickets. This could work well if you’re selling places for a paid webinar or another live event.

6. WordPress Countdown Widget

WordPress Countdown Widget is a free plugin that has a drag and drop interface. You can use it to create multiple timers on your site.

The plugin allows you to add countdown timers in side widgets, posts or pages by using a shortcode. The plugin’s website has full instructions for using the shortcode.

Unlike other plugins, this plugin also offers “countup” timers, where your timer counts up from a point in the past rather than counting down to a point in the future.

For instance, you could create a plugin to show how long it’s been since a historical event, like the birth of someone famous.

You could even use this to show how long it’s been since your company was founded or since you started your blog. Here’s an example that we created:

7. HurryTimer

The free version of HurryTimer lets you create both evergreen and regular timers. The evergreen timer uses both cookie and IP detection to display the right timer to each individual user.

You can also set up timers to run a countdown between two fixed dates. This is useful if you want to get ready for an upcoming sale in advance.

The timer works with WooCommerce, though you don’t have to run WooCommerce to use it. You can display your timer several times on the same page, if you want to.

Here’s a timer we created using HurryTimer:

If you have the pro version, you can set up a recurring timer. This is a timer that runs according to rules that you specify. For instance, you could have a timer that shows shipping cut-off times.

With the pro version, you can also create an announcement bar that sticks to the top or bottom of the screen to keep your timer visible.

We hope this article helped you learn about the best countdown plugins for WordPress. You may also be interested in our tips to recover WooCommerce abandoned cart sales, and our list of the best email marketing services to grow your sales.

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

The post 7 Best Countdown Plugins for WordPress (Easy to Use) appeared first on WPBeginner.

February 21, 2020 at 06:11PM

How to Install a WordPress Plugin – Step by Step for Beginners

After installing WordPress, the first thing every beginner needs to learn is how to install a WordPress plugin.

In simple words, WordPress plugins are like apps for your WordPress website. They allow you to add new features to WordPress like a contact form, slideshow, shopping cart, and more.

There are thousands of free and paid plugins available for WordPress. In this step by step guide, we will show you how to install a WordPress plugin.

Before You Start

If you are using WordPress.com, then you cannot install plugins.

We often get complaints from users saying that they can’t see the plugins menu in their WordPress dashboard. It is because you are using WordPress.com, which has its limitations.

You cannot install plugins on WordPress.com unless you upgrade to their business plan. On the other hand, you can install any plugin you want on your self hosted WordPress.org website right out of the box (See the differences between self hosted WordPress.org vs WordPress.com).

If you want to switch from WordPress.com to WordPress.org, then read our tutorial on how to properly move from WordPress.com to WordPress.org.

That being said, now let’s take a look at how to install a WordPress plugin on your website.

How to Install a WordPress Plugin

To make it easy, we have created a video tutorial on how to install a WordPress plugin that you can watch below.

However, if you just want to follow text-instructions, then you can follow our step by step tutorial on how to install a WordPress plugin.

We have covered all three methods: installing a WordPress plugin using search, uploading a WordPress plugin, and manually installing a WordPress plugin using FTP.

Ready? Let’s get started.

Install a Plugin using WordPress Plugin Search

The easiest way of installing a WordPress plugin is to use the plugin search. The only downside of this option is that a plugin must be in the WordPress plugin directory which is limited to only free plugins.

First thing you need to visit the Plugins » Add New page inside your WordPress admin area.

You will see a screen like the one in the screenshot above. Find the plugin by typing the plugin name or the functionality you are looking for. After that, you will see a bunch of listings like the example below:

You can pick the plugin that is best for you. Since in our search, we were looking for WPForms which is the best WordPress contact form plugin, we’ll click the ‘Install Now’ button next to it.

WordPress will now download and install the plugin for you. After this, you’ll notice the ‘Install Now’ button will change into the ‘Activate’ button.

A WordPress plugin can be installed on your site, but it will not work unless you activate it. So go ahead and click on the activate button to start using that plugin on your WordPress site.

That’s all, you have successfully installed your first WordPress plugin.

The next step is to configure the plugin settings. These settings will vary for each plugin therefore we will not be covering that in this post.

Install a Plugin using the WordPress Admin Plugin Upload

Paid WordPress plugins are not listed in the WordPress plugin directory. These plugins cannot be installed using the first method.

That’s why WordPress comes with the upload method to install such plugins. We will show you how to install WordPress plugins using the upload option in the admin area.

First, you need to download the plugin from the source (which will be a zip file). Next, you need to go to WordPress admin area and visit Plugins » Add New page.

After that, click on the ‘Upload Plugin’ button on top of the page.

This will reveal the plugin upload form. Here you need to click on the ‘Choose File’ button and select the plugin file you downloaded earlier to your computer.

After you have selected the file, you need to click on the ‘Install Now’ button.

WordPress will now upload the plugin file from your computer and install it for you. You will see a success message like this after the installation is finished.

Once installed, you need to click on the Activate Plugin link to start using the plugin.

You would have to configure the settings to fit your needs. These settings will vary for each plugin therefore we will not be covering that in this post.

Manually Install a WordPress Plugin using FTP

In some rare cases, your WordPress hosting provider may have file restrictions that could limit your ability to install a plugin from the admin area.

In this situation, your best bet is to install the plugin manually using FTP.

The FTP manager method is the least friendly for beginners.

First you will need to download the plugin’s source file (it will be a zip file). Next, you need to extract the zip file on your computer.

Extracting the plugin zip file will create a new folder with the same name. This is the folder that you need to manually upload to your website using a FTP client.

You would need to access your host through the FTP manager. If you do not have your FTP username and password, then contact your WordPress hosting provider and ask them.

Open the FTP client on your computer and connect to your website using the login credentials provided by your web host. Once connected, you need to go to the /wp-content/plugins/ folder on your website.

Next, upload the folder you extracted from the zip file to the /wp-content/plugins/ folder on your web server.

After uploading the files, you need to visit the WordPress admin area and click on the Plugins link in the admin menu. You’ll see your plugin successfully installed on the plugins page.

You need to click on the Activate link below the plugin to start using it.

Upon activating, you may need to configure the plugin settings. WordPress plugins come with their own settings which differ from one plugin to another so we will not describe them here.

FAQs About Installing WordPress Plugins

As a beginners you may have few questions about installing WordPress plugins. As the largest WordPress resource site, we have heard all of them.

Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about installing WordPress plugins.

1. How do I find the best WordPress plugins to install on my website?

There are more than 55,000 WordPress plugins on the free WordPress plugin directory alone. Many more are available as premium plugins. This makes it a bit difficult for beginners to find the best plugin for the feature they need.

We have compiled a list of all the essential WordPress plugins that most WordPress websites need.

We also have a detailed tutorial on choosing the best WordPress plugin where we show you what to look for when looking for a plugin.

2. What is the difference between installed and active plugins?

WordPress allows you to install a plugin and not use it at all. In order to use a plugin on your site, you need to ‘Activate’ it.

You can see active plugins by visiting the ‘Plugins’ page in the WordPress admin area. They will be highlighted with a blue background.

Plugins with the white background are installed on your website but not active.

3. Should I delete inactive plugins?

If you are not using a plugin, then it is recommended to delete it from your website. For more on this topic, see our article on why should you delete inactive plugins in WordPress.

4. How many plugins I can install in WordPress?

You can install as many WordPress plugins as you need. It is not the number of plugins that affect your website speed, but the quality of those plugins. For more information, see our article on how many WordPress plugins you should install.

5. How do I uninstall a WordPress plugin

You can uninstall a WordPress plugin by visiting the Plugins page in the WordPress admin area. If the plugin you want to remove is currently active, then first you’ll need to deactivate it. After that, you can simply click on the delete link to remove it from your website.

For more detailed instructions, see our guide on how to properly uninstall a WordPress plugin.

We hope this helped you learn how to install WordPress plugins.

You may also want to see our plugins category where we write about the best WordPress plugins that you can use to accomplish whatever you’re looking to do. Each of those articles comes with step-by-step instructions on how to set up individual plugins.

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

The post How to Install a WordPress Plugin – Step by Step for Beginners appeared first on WPBeginner.

February 20, 2020 at 04:00PM

7 Best Free Ecommerce Platforms for 2020 (Compared)

Are you looking for the best free eCommerce platform to build your eCommerce website?

In the early days, eCommerce platforms used to cost thousands which kept many small businesses from creating an online store. Luckily now there are several popular eCommerce platforms that offer free or low cost options.

In this article, we will compare the best and most popular free eCommerce platforms that you can use to start an online store. We have a detailed pros and cons analysis for each, so you can choose the best eCommerce website builder for your needs.

How to Choose the Best Free eCommerce Platform

Let’s be honest, there is no such thing as a 100% free eCommerce platform.

Even when the eCommerce platform itself is free, you will have to pay for domain, web hosting, payment processing fees, and other extension costs.

We have a detailed guide on the real cost of building eCommerce websites.

With that said, your goal should be to find an eCommerce platform that helps you get started at the lowest to no cost, without putting severe limitations on how you run or grow your business.

You would also want the platform to be easy to use, full-featured, with the ability to accept payments using your preferred payment methods.

Keeping these things in mind, let’s take a look at the best free eCommerce platforms that you can use to make money online and grow your business.

1. WooCommerce

WooCommerce is the world’s most popular eCommerce platform. It’s a completely free software that you can download and run on any web hosting provider.

Since WooCommerce doesn’t provide hosting for you, you’ll need to buy web hosting and a domain name to make sure your website can be accessed by users worldwide.

We recommend using either Bluehost or SiteGround. They are both among the largest hosting companies in the world and are officially recommended by WooCommerce.

Bluehost is even offering WPBeginner users a free domain name + SSL certificate, and a generous 60% discount on hosting. Basically, you can get started for $2.75 per month.

→ Claim This Exclusive Bluehost Deal ←

Pros

• It’s easy to get started with WooCommerce. You can create an online store quickly even if you’re a total beginner.
• You’ll be hosting your website yourself, which gives you full control. Although you’ll need to pay for WooCommerce hosting, but this doesn’t have to cost a lot.
• There are loads of WooCommerce themes (designs), giving you the opportunity to create a store that truly reflects your brand.
• There are thousands of WooCommerce plugins that you can use to add new features and grow your business.
• You can sell anything with WooCommerce whether its physical products, digital downloads, membership plans, dropshipping store, or affiliate products.
• WooCommerce doesn’t charge you any transaction fees at all. You’ll only have to pay your payment service provider like PayPal or Stripe, or your bank.

Cons

• If you’re a total beginner, WooCommerce is a bit trickier to get started with than some other options. You’ll need to buy hosting and a domain name, for instance.
• You’ll be responsible for maintaining your online store as it grows. This might mean upgrading your hosting plan or paying for a security plugin for WordPress.

To help beginners get started, we have the most detailed WooCommerce tutorial on the web that helps you build an eCommerce website with WooCommerce.

2. Constant Contact’s Website Builder

Constant Contact’s website builder has a free plan that allows you to create an online store without spending anything at all. Constant Contact will host the store and even provide you with a free subdomain.

You’ll only be able to have up to 3 products in your store, but if you’re just starting out, this might be enough. If you want to add more products, you can upgrade to a paid plan.

It’s worth noting that Constant Contact does charge a 3% transaction fee if you’re on the Free or the Starter plans.

Pros

• You can build an online store for free with Constant Contact’s website builder. You can get a free branded domain name too, in the format storename.constantcontactsites.com.
• You can sell both physical and digital products through your store. You can use Constant Contact to track your inventory.
• There’s 24/7 email and live chat support available, even with the free plan.
• You can add a blog to your store’s website for free, though the blogging software is very basic and doesn’t offer the same features as a blogging platform like WordPress.

Cons

• You can’t use your own domain name with the free plan. Instead, you’ll need to use the Constant Contact branded domain name.
• Constant Contact will display their ads on your site if you’re using the free plan.

You can use Constant Contact online store along with your WordPress website and easily link to the store from the menu. This is a good option for small businesses who want to sell few products without the overhead of managing a self-hosted eCommerce platform like WooCommerce.

3. BuyNow Plus

BuyNow Plus is not a full eCommerce platform. Instead, it lets you create “buy now” buttons that you can put on any website.

You’ll need to create a free Stripe account in order to use BuyNow Plus.

Pros

• The transaction fee is pretty low at just 2% per transaction. Keep in mind that Stripe charges its own transaction fees on top of this, though.
• You can use BuyNow Plus to handle recurring payments on credit cards without your customers needing to set up an account. If you’re selling recurring memberships for offline items, then this is a really handy feature.
• You can put the button links on social media as well as on your website, or you can even use them in emails.
• There’s no limit to how many different products you can sell using BuyNow Plus.

Cons

• BuyNow Plus doesn’t offer anything extra, like inventory tracking or website creation.
• You could do something similar by using Stripe directly on your website. That way, you wouldn’t need to pay BuyNow Plus’s transaction fee. You’d need your own SSL certificate, but it’s possible to get an SSL certificate for free.

4. BigCommerce

BigCommerce is a fully hosted (or all-in-one) eCommerce platform that you can use to create your eCommerce store. There’s also a WordPress plugin available, if you have an existing site that you want to use with BigCommerce.

While they don’t have a free plan available, there is a free trial which lets you set up your shop and get started without paying anything.

Pros

• You don’t have to enter any credit card details to take the free trial.
• BigCommerce is really easy to get started with. You can just sign up, enter details about your store, and start adding products.
• You can get a free domain like mystore.mybigcommerce.com if you don’t want to pay for a custom domain name.
• BigCommerce gives you plenty of different ways to take payments. It has built-in integration with lots of payment platforms, including PayPal powered by Braintree, Stripe, Authorize.net and more.
• There are lots of third-party apps that you can add to your BigCommerce store to extend its functionality.

Cons

• The free trial only lasts for 15 days, which doesn’t give you long to start making money from your store. After that, you’ll need to pay $29.95/month or more to keep your store going.
• BigCommerce is an all-in-one platform, which means you’re limited to using their addons and themes. You won’t have the range of choice that you’d have with some other eCommerce options.

Related: See our comparison of WooCommerce vs BigCommerce for more details.

5. Shopify

Shopify is another fully hosted eCommerce platform. Shopify also offers a 14 day free trial and, like BigCommerce’s free trial, this doesn’t require a credit card.

Pros

• It’s really easy to get started with Shopify. Their website builder has a drag and drop interface that means even total beginners can create a great looking online store.
• If you want to add extra features to your store, there’s an app marketplace with lots of add-ons that you can buy.
• There’s 24/7 support available, through live chat, phone, email, and Twitter.
• Shopify Payments (Shopify’s built-in payment gateway) charges 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction. Since this is a built-in feature which has the same price as Stripe or other gateways, this makes it easier for users to get started.

Cons

• If you use other payment gateways, like PayPal or Stripe, Shopify charges a 2% transaction fee. This is on top of the fee charged by the third-party payment gateway.
• The free trial only lasts 14 days. After that, you’ll need to move onto a paid plan. The cheapest is $29/month.

Related: For more details see our comparison of Shopify vs WooCommerce.

6. Weebly

Weebly isn’t quite so well known as some other eCommerce platforms, like Shopify and WooCommerce, but they offer a free trial where you can test out the platform.

Pros

• You can add any kind of physical or digital products to your store
• The drag and drop interface is easy to use to build your site and manage items in your store.
• There are around 100 different themes (designs) you can choose from, so you should be able to find something that’s just right for your site.
• Built-in inventory, shipping, taxes management features.
• As well as the community forum, the free plan gives you access to live chat, email, and even phone support.
• If you do want to upgrade to a paid plan, these are affordable even for very small businesses. Ecommerce starter plan starts at $12 per month paid annually.

Cons

• Weebly charges a 3% transaction fee. That’s in addition to the transaction fee that your payment gateway charges.
• If you’re on the free or Personal ($9/month) plans, Weebly will show ads and branding from Square, Weebly’s parent company.
• Even with the paid starter plan you are limited to sell only 25 products at a time.

7. Big Cartel

Big Cartel is a hosted eCommerce platform that’s designed especially for artists and creatives. If you want to have a store selling handmade products or similar, it could be a great option for you.

Pros

• The free plan doesn’t have any transaction fees. You will need to pay Stripe or PayPal fees, though (these are the only options Big Cartel offers for payment processing).
• Your free shop URL can be customized. It has to be in the format name.bigcartel.com, but you can choose whatever you want for the name. Many other platforms assign you a specific URL based on your username or store name and you can’t change it.
• You can have up to 5 products on your free plan, which makes it more generous than other hosted free plans.
• It’s quick to get your store set up and it’s easy to add your products. Big Cartel walks you step by step through the process.

Cons

• If you want to customize your website theme, you’ll need to edit the theme’s HTML. This definitely isn’t as beginner-friendly as most other eCommerce platforms.
• The free plan only has limited features. You need to upgrade to a paid plan if you want to use things like inventory tracking or discount codes.

Choosing the Best Free eCommerce Platform

So which is the best free eCommerce platform for you? That depends on what you’re looking for.

If you want to start cheap and have full freedom to grow your business, then WooCommerce is the best option.

Using our exclusive Bluehost deal, you can get started for $2.75 per month. That’s less than a cup of coffee.

If you want to use a totally free eCommerce platform, then Constant Contact website builder is easier and free. However, it is limited in terms of features and flexibility that you get with other platforms.

If you want to try out an online store for free, but you’re happy to pay for something that’s a good fit for your business, then BigCommerce and Shopify are great full-featured options.

We hope this article helped you learn about the best free eCommerce platforms to get started with. You may also want to see our guide on the best email marketing services and best live chat software for eCommerce, so you can increase your store sales.

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

The post 7 Best Free Ecommerce Platforms for 2020 (Compared) appeared first on WPBeginner.

February 19, 2020 at 06:52PM