Monday, February 20, 2023

How to Enable / Activate WordPress Plugins from the Database

Are you looking to enable or activate plugins from the WordPress database?

If you are unable to access your WordPress admin area and need to activate a plugin to restore your access, then you can do that from the WordPress database.

In this article, we will show you how to easily activate your WordPress plugins using the database.

How to enable/activate WordPress plugins from the database

When Should You Activate WordPress Plugins Using Database

A number of common WordPress errors can prevent a website owner from accessing the WordPress admin area. In most of those situations, the user is looking to deactivate WordPress plugins without admin access.

However in some situations, a website owner may need to activate certain plugins to restore access to their WordPress website.

For example, let’s assume an error is stopping you from accessing your WordPress dashboard, and you have found a plugin that can fix that error.

Luckily, WordPress stores the active plugins information in your WordPress database. This means you can manually enter this information directly in the database and tell WordPress to activate a plugin.

The only condition is that the plugin must be installed on your WordPress site. Which means that it should be present in the plugins folder on your WordPress website.

With that being said, let’s see how you can easily enable/activate a plugin using the database.

Step 1. Find Your Database Name Using the Hosting Control Panel

To activate your WordPress plugins using phpMyAdmin, first, you need to find out your WordPress database’s name.

Now, to find the name of your database, you need to log in to your web hosting dashboard. For this tutorial, we will be using Bluehost.

If you are using a different hosting company, then your WordPress hosting dashboard may look slightly different.

Once you are on the cPanel, scroll down to the ‘Files’ section and click the ‘File Manager’ option.

Click at the file manager

This will open up the File Manager in a new window. Here you simply need to locate and click the public_html folder from the left column.

This will open up all the files that are stored in the public_html folder. Now, you simply need to locate and click the folder with your site’s name on it present under the ‘Name’ column.

Go to the publich_html file and find your site name

Some users may instead see their WordPress files and folders installed inside public_html folder.

After you have opened up your WordPress site’s file, locate the wp-config.php file under the ‘Name’ section and right-click on it.

This will open up a menu where you need to select the ‘View’ option.

Click View

This will open up the wp-config.php file in a new window where you can locate your database details.

We recommend that you copy and paste your database details including username and password into a notepad on your computer.

Database details

Now you’ve successfully found your database’s name, let’s move to our next step.

Step 2. Locate Active Plugins Option via PhpMyAdmin

After you have found out the name of your database, you need to go back to your WordPress hosting control panel.

Once there, scroll down to the ‘Databases’ section and click the ‘phpMyAdmin’ option.

Click the phpMyAdmin option in the cPanel

This will launch the phpMyAdmin app in a new browser tab.

Note: Before you make any kind of changes, please make sure to create a complete backup of your database. It will come in handy if anything goes wrong with the process.

Next, you simply need to click the ‘Database’ tab from the navigation menu present at the top of the page.

Now, simply locate your WordPress database and click on the browse button to expand it.

Click the Database tab from the navigation menu

This will show your WordPress database tables.

Here, you will simply need to locate wp_options table and click browse next to it.

Note: By default, WordPress uses wp_ as the prefix for table names. Your WordPress database table may have a different table prefix.

Click at wp-options

Inside the wp_options table, you’ll need to find the row where option_name is set toactive_plugins.

After that, click on the Edit link next to it.

Click the Activate_Plugins option

This will open up a box where you can manually enter details to activate a plugin.

Step 3. Activate a Plugin Using phpMyAdmin

WordPress stores the active plugins information in a special format so that it can be programatically accessed by the software.

In order to tell WordPress which plugins to activate, we’ll need to use that same format.

First, we’ll start by entering the option_value as a:1: and then open up the curly bracket ({).

We are entering this value as 1 because we only want to activate one plugin. You have to change the value to the number of plugins you plan on activating.

Add option value

Next, we will be entering i:0; after the curly bracket. Here we are essentially assigning a serial number to our plugin.

Remember to always assign numbers starting from 0 instead of 1.

Add serial number

Next, we will be entering the number of characters present in the plugin’s name and the php file name of the plugin that we’re about to activate.

For that, we will type s:24: in the box. Keep in mind that the number of characters will differ for each plugin based on the characters in the plugin directory and file name.

For instance, we are activating WPForms in this tutorial which has 24 characters in its name including the file name of the plugin as stored in our file manager.

Add character number

Next, you just need to type the plugin’s directory name. You can find it by visiting the /wp-content/plugins/ folder using the File Manager app.

Don’t forget to add quotation marks before typing the plugin’s directory name.

Type the plugins' name

After the /, you need to enter the plugin’s file name. This is usually the file with similar name inside the plugin folder.

Plugin file and folder name

Now, go back to phpMyAdmin and type the name of the plugin and then close the quotation marks.

After that, simply add a semi-colon (;) and close the curly brackets (}). The final value in this example would look like this:

a:1:{i:0;s:24:"wpforms-lite/wpforms.php";}

This is how it will look once you’re done.

Activating a single plugin

Next, simply click the ‘Go’ button to execute the command.

Now go visit your WordPress dashboard and head over to Plugins » Installed Plugins.

Your plugin has been successfully activated.

activated-plugin

Now let’s say you want to activate two more plugins.

First you will need to change the number of plugins. After you will adjust each entry for the plugin that you want to activate.

Here is an example:

a:3:{
i:0;s:47:"all-in-one-seo-pack-pro/all_in_one_seo_pack.php";
i:1;s:35:"insert-headers-and-footers/ihaf.php";
i:2;s:24:"wpforms-lite/wpforms.php";
}

Note: We have added line breaks here to make the code look more readable. You need to make sure that there are no line breaks or spaces in your code. Otherwise, it wouldn’t work.

We hope you learned how to activate a plugin using the database. You may also want to see our guide on how to add social media feeds to WordPress, and our comparison of the best domain registrars in the world.

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 Enable / Activate WordPress Plugins from the Database first appeared on WPBeginner.


February 20, 2023 at 03:41PM

Friday, February 17, 2023

How to Use the SEO Writing Assistant in WordPress to Improve SEO

Many of our readers ask us how to write better content for SEO. Some ask whether or not they should focus on Yoast SEO’s green light.

Well, when it comes to SEO content optimization, we use a different SEO writing assistant. It helps us optimize our content for SEO, so we can rank higher in search engines.

In this article, we will show you how to use the SEO Writing Assistant in WordPress to improve SEO and create better content for your website.

How to Use the SEO Writing Assistant in WordPress to Improve SEO

What is SEO Writing Assistant?

The SEO Writing Assistant is a content optimization tool created by Semrush, one of the best SEO tools on the market. It allows you to check your content in real-time for SEO suggestions and improve the overall SEO score of the content on your WordPress website.

Here is how it works:

  • You enter your focus keywords to generate content templates based on the top 10 results for that phrase.
  • You instantly get semantically-related keywords to include in your article.
  • You improve your content with a readability score based on rival results.
  • You optimize your article headline for SEO.
  • You adjust the article length based on the average length of top results.
  • You check for plagiarism without leaving your website.
  • You check the content’s tone to make it sure sounds natural and casual.

It is an extremely useful tool and can help you improve the SEO as well as writing style across your website. If you manage a multi-author site, then it allows authors to follow the same SEO best practices across all content.

Having said that, let’s take a look at how to use the SEO Writing Assistant to improve your SEO and get more search traffic to your website.

Setting Up Semrush’s SEO Writing Assistant in WordPress

The first thing you need to do is visit the Semrush SEO Writing Assistant website and click on ‘Create new template’ button.

Semrush Analyze My Text

You will be now asked to log in or create a free account.

Semrush offers a basic free account with just 1 free content recommendation.

You will need to sign up for or upgrade to a paid Semrush subscription to get all features. This is totally worth it, and a free 7-day trial is available for paid plans.

Create a Free Semrush Account

Once you log in, you will be able to use the SEO Writing Assistant from Semrush’s website.

You can type your content or import it from the web, provide target keywords, and select the language and location of your target audience.

Using Writing Assistant From the Semrush Website

When you press the ‘Get recommendations’ button, Semrush will analyze the content and make suggestions.

However, you can also use the SEO Writing Assistant inside your WordPress dashboard. You simply need to connect the SEO Writing Assistant tool to your WordPress site.

First, you’ll need to install and activate the Semrush SEO Writing Assistant plugin. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to edit an article that you want to optimize for SEO. On the post edit screen, scroll down until you see the new ‘Semrush SEO Writing Assistant’ section below the content editor.

Using the SEO Writing Assistant in the WordPress Content Editor

It will show you basic readability and SEO score. To get the full picture, you need to click the ‘Log in’ link and sign in to your Semrush account.

Once signed in, you’ll be asked to give permission. Click the ‘Approve’ button to continue.

Give Permission for WordPress to Use Your Semrush Login

Now that you have connected the plugin to your Semrush account, you can generate SEO recommendations for our article.

You can enter your target keywords by typing them into the ‘Keywords’ field or by clicking the ‘Extract from text’ button. If you need help finding the right keywords, then see our beginner’s guide on how to do keyword research for your WordPress site.

Using the SEO Writing Assistant in WordPress

After that, you should click the ‘Get recommendations’ button and Semrush will analyze your content.

It will start by giving the post an overall score.

SEO Writing Assistant Switch Layout

By default, the following sections offer simple summaries. You can switch to a more detailed report by clicking the hamburger icon at the top right of the Semrush SEO Writing Assistant, and then selecting ‘Switch layout’ from the menu.

Checking Target Keywords Using Semrush SEO Writing Assistant

You can now scroll down to the SEO report. Semrush will check the top 10 results for the given keywords to generate a list of semantically related keywords that you can include in your content.

SEO Writing Assistant SEO Keyword Details

Keywords already included in your article will appear with a green background. You can go ahead and start adding missing keywords to your existing content where applicable or expanding your content to add new sections when necessary.

As you write, the tool will also adjust the readability and article length scores to match the average scores of top results.

Checking Tone of Voice Using Semrush SEO Writing Assistant

All SEO experts and marketers advise using a casual tone for all your articles. Search engines consider this conversational tone to be more engaging and useful for most audiences.

Now the problem is that sometimes it becomes harder to maintain a casual tone throughout the article.

SEO Writing Assistant comes with a ‘Tone of Voice’ checker. This AI-powered tool checks your content’s tone and gives it a score ranging from formal to casual.

SEO Writing Assistant Tone of Voice Details

Most articles fall somewhere in between, so don’t worry if it says your article has a neutral tone.

You will also see a list of your most casual sentences. You can consider rewriting these so they are less casual.

Links play a crucial role in SEO and the SEO Writing Assistant helps you keep track of links inside your article.

It will let you know if your article does not have an optimal number of internal links. It will also check for external links and links to your homepage.

SEO Reporting Assistant Reports Issues With Links

This tool comes in handy if you have other authors working on articles. Editors can quickly see if the article includes internal links to other posts on your website.

Checking Plagiarism in WordPress with SEO Writing Assistant

If you are hiring writers to contribute articles to your blog, then you’ll need to make sure that the articles they are submitting are original content.

Normally, editors and website owners use plagiarism checkers like Grammarly, CopyScape, or Google to see if an article is original.

The SEO Writing Assistant makes this easier with a built-in Plagiarism Checker tool.

Using the SEO Writing Assistant Plagiarism Checker

The downside is that even with the paid plans, you can only perform a limited number of checks.

If you need more, then you can buy additional checks from your subscription page on the Semrush dashboard.

Getting a Perfect SEO Score for Your Article

As you implement suggestions provided by the SEO Writing Assistant tool, your overall score will improve as well.

SEO Writing Assistant Overall Score

The overall score bar takes into account all the parameters and suggestions shown by the plugin. You need to make sure that each line on the chart turns green for better SEO rankings.

However, sometimes the plugin may suggest LSI keywords that may not fit in your content. You can safely ignore them instead of stuffing them into your article.

Remember that while these SEO tools provide recommendations, you know your audience better than these tools ever can. Keep your users in mind and make sure that they find your content useful and engaging.

Tracking Your SEO Performance in WordPress

Once you have started using SEO Writing Assistant for a while, you may want to track how it is affecting your website’s positions in search.

We have a detailed guide on how to track your website’s keyword rankings with Semrush and other tools.

You may also want to keep an eye on your top content using Google Analytics. The best way to do this is by using MonsterInsights. It brings your Google Analytics reports into WordPress and displays them in a human-readable format.

We hope this article helped you learn how to use SEO Writing Assistant in WordPress to improve SEO. You may also want to learn how to create automated workflows in WordPress, or see our list of the best social media 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 Use the SEO Writing Assistant in WordPress to Improve SEO first appeared on WPBeginner.


February 18, 2023 at 12:48AM

36 Best WordPress Blogs You Should Read & Follow (in 2023)

Are you looking for the best WordPress blogs to follow, so you can get fresh WordPress tutorials, news, and latest community updates?

WordPress is the most popular content management system (CMS) in the world and powers over 43% of sites on the internet. Following different WordPress blogs can help you learn how to better use WordPress, get website growth tips, stay up to date with WordPress updates, and receive latest community news.

In this article, we will share the list of some of the best WordPress blogs that you should follow. We’re following these WordPress blogs in our own RSS reader.

Best WordPress blogs to follow

Why Should You Follow WordPress Blogs?

If you have a WordPress website or plan to create one, then you definitely want to follow top WordPress blogs.

You can get in-depth knowledge about WordPress and how it works. Plus, you get to see step-by-step tutorials on how to get started. Aside from that, they also have tips on choosing the best WordPress hosting services, themes, and plugins to operate your site.

Many WordPress blogs will also share tips and tricks to optimize your website for search engines, make it load faster, strengthen your website security, make money online, and more.

That being said, let’s look at some of the best WordPress blogs you should read and follow. We’ve broken down the list of blogs into different sections, so you can jump ahead by clicking the links below:

Top WordPress Blogs to Follow

If you are looking for blogs that help you learn about WordPress, then here are our top picks. Each of them covers detailed tutorials, plugin reviews, comparison posts, guides, the latest WordPress news, and more.

1. WPBeginner

WPBeginner

WPBeginner is the largest free WordPress resource site for beginners. Our goal is to provide helpful tutorials on WordPress for small business owners, bloggers, and non-techy WordPress users.

WPBeginner was launched in 2009 by founder Syed Balkhi. Since then, it has become one of the best WordPress blogs in the world. There are over 320,000 subscribers from across 190 countries.

You can find a variety of topics on WPBeignner. There are WordPress beginner guides, showcases, step-by-step tutorials, articles on themes and plugins, comparison posts, and the latest news about WordPress.

To help you get started with WordPress, here are some helpful tutorials on WPBeginner:

You can visit the WPBeginner blog section to find more helpful content on WordPress.

Besides that, you can also join the free WPBeginner Facebook group and connect with a large community of WordPress users and experts (over 90,000 members). It is an excellent place for beginners and non-tech users to get help and support about WordPress, plugin suggestions, learn tips and tricks, and more.

If you like video content, then you can subscribe to WPBeginner’s YouTube channel. There are detailed videos on WordPress that will guide you every step of the way.

2. IsItWP

IsItWP

IsItWP is another free online resource that offers WordPress tutorials, product reviews, guides, how-to articles, and showcases. It is a great place to get started with WordPress and learn about different things.

You can learn about creating a WordPress blog, online store, membership site, and more. Plus, you’ll get to know about WordPress security, performance, email marketing, lead generation, plugins, and themes. It also offers detailed guides on marketing hacks, like 30 ways to make money online blogging.

The best part about using IsItWP is that you get to use multiple free tools. Some tools include a domain name generator, WordPress speed test, website uptime checker, headline analyzer, and more.

3. Blog Tyrant

Blog Tyrant

Blog Tyrant is the next WordPress blog on our list. If you’re looking to start a WordPress blog and learn strategies to grow your business, this is the right website for you to follow.

Blog Tyrant was started in 2010 to help bloggers make a living online. It covers extensive guides, how-to tutorials, product reviews, and other resources to help you create a successful blog and make money online.

The website also lists valuable tools for blogging and helps pick the right plugins for your website.

For instance, you can use tools like a password generator to secure your website, a security scanner to check for vulnerabilities, or a site speed test to see how fast your website loads.

4. WP Tavern

WP Tavern

WP Tavern is another famous WordPress blog that covers the latest news and events about WordPress. You can follow the blog to learn about new WordPress releases, and industry news.

It also covers the latest news about different WordPress plugins and themes. You can learn about product acquisitions, feature releases in themes, and new features coming in WordPress, and more.

5. WPForms

The WPForms form builder plugin for WordPress

WPForms is the best WordPress form builder plugin in the market used by over 5 million websites.

With the WPForms blog, you can learn how to create all types of forms for your WordPress site. From simple contact forms to complex multistep forms, the WPForms blog has detailed guides and tutorials to help you out.

Plus, you get to stay informed about the latest updates and releases in the plugin. Other than that, you’ll find more helpful blog posts, how-to guides, and showcases on WordPress. For example, there are step-by-step tutorials like how to create an NPS survey form in WordPress or thought-leadership pieces like 7 benefits of conversational marketing.

6. Elegant Themes

Elegant Themes

Elegant Themes offers a high-quality premium WordPress theme collection. It is also the company behind Divi, a popular WordPress theme and page builder.

The Elegant Themes blog offers a lot of content focused on using Divi. For instance, you can learn how to use the website builder, use its features, and customize your site.

Aside from content on Divi, Elegant Themes also publishes general content about WordPress. There are WordPress tutorials, plugin suggestions, reviews, comparisons, and other marketing guides. For example, you can read articles like how to customize your WordPress header.

7. CodeinWP

CodeinWP

CodeinWP is the next WordPress blog on our list. It covers extensive topics about WordPress and offers tutorials, lists, comparison posts, and other detailed guides.

What makes CodeinWP different is that it offers various resources and tools besides blog posts and guides. For instance, there are free code snippets you can use to customize your WordPress site.

They also offers free illustrations from designers that you can use for your site among other helpful resources.

8. OptinMonster

OptinMonster

OptinMonster is the best WordPress popup and lead generation software. It helps you grow your email list, get more leads, increase sales, and optimize your site for conversions.

With the OptinMonster blog, you can learn how to use the plugin and get the most out of it. There are detailed tutorials on setting up different marketing campaigns, configuring targeting rules to show popups at the right place and time, and more.

Besides that, you can get knowledge about content marketing, email marketing, and lead generation in WordPress by following the blog.

What makes OptinMonster blog different is its case studies. You can learn how other companies are using the plugin to get more email subscribers, which display rules they’re using to target new audiences, how they’re converting traffic into leads, and more.

9. Post Status

Post Status

Post Status is a membership community for people looking to work and grow in the WordPress ecosystem. It offers premium memberships and access to different content about WordPress.

You can get the latest news about WordPress, learn about new plugin features and acquisitions, and read blogs about different Post Status members. For example, there are blog posts called Membership Spotlight, where you get to know about Post Status members, their experience in working in WordPress, and more.

It is also an excellent resource for anyone who wants to connect with founders of WordPress plugins, developers, and other WordPress enthusiasts. There are plans for individuals, agency owners, product founders, and partners.

With Post Status premium memberships, you get important WordPress news and events in the weekly newsletter, access to the Slack community, members-only content, and a weekly members hurdle.

The website also has a podcast and videos to get insights about WordPress. As a partner, you can also post WordPress job openings for your company on the Post Status website.

10. Torque Magazine

Torque Magazine

Torque Magazine is another top WordPress blog you should follow. It is a publication by WP Engine but maintains complete editorial independence.

The website covers extensive articles on WordPress. It has divided its content into different categories: development, tools, business, community, videos, and ebooks.

For example, you can find useful guides like CSS best practices and troubleshooting WordPress issues under the development section. You’ll also find interviews with industry experts, step-by-step tutorials, plugin suggestions, marketing and SEO tips and tricks, and more in Torque Magazine.

Best WordPress Plugin Blogs

There are many WordPress plugins that have a great blog section. They cover extensive topics on WordPress and share useful tips and resources.

You can follow these blogs to get more information about WordPress and learn how to use a specific plugin.

  1. MonsterInsights Blog – MonsterInsights is a popular WordPress analytics plugin used by over 3 million websites. Their blog contains helpful marketing tips like how to setup website tracking, and make data-driven decisions to grow your business.
  2. All in One SEO Blog – AIOSEO is the best WordPress SEO plugin used by over 3 million websites. Their blog covers SEO tips and WordPress tutorials to help you improve your SEO rankings.
  3. WooCommerce Blog – WooCommerce is a popular eCommerce plugin for WordPress. Their blog covers eCommerce tutorials to help boost your online sales.
  4. Yoast SEO Blog – Yoast SEO is a popular WordPress SEO plugin. They also have a blog focused on SEO optimization tips to help you boost your SEO rankings.
  5. Smash Balloon Blog – Smash Balloon is a leading WordPress social media plugin used by over 1.4 million websites. Their blog has tips on how to improve your social media engagement.
  6. PushEngage Blog – PushEngage is the best web push notification software to help you boost your traffic. Their blog has tips on how to grow your traffic, conversions, and user engagement.
  7. Easy Digital Downloads Blog – EDD is the best plugin for selling digital downloads in WordPress. Their blog covers tips for online creators to help you increase your sales & revenue.
  8. SeedProd Blog – SeedProd is a popular page builder for WordPress. Their blog covers tips on how to improve your website design and tips to improve your website customization workflow.
  9. AffiliateWP Blog – AffiliateWP is the best WordPress affiliate plugin for WordPress and WooCommerce. Their blog covers tips on how to create and grow your affiliate program.
  10. WP Simple Pay Blog – WP Simple Pay is a leading payments plugin for WordPress. Their blog cover tips on securely accepting payments as well as other WordPress tutorials.
  11. RafflePress Blog – RafflePress is the best WordPress giveaway plugin. Their blog cover tips on how to unlock viral traffic growth for your website to get more traffic, subscribers, and sales.
  12. ThriveThemes Blog – ThriveThemes is a popular conversion optimization suite for WordPress. Their blog covers marketing tutorials and tips to improve your converisions.
  13. WP Mail SMTP Blog – WP Mail SMTP is one of the must have plugins for WordPress used by over 3 million websites. Their blog covers tips on how to improve your email deliverability along with other WordPress tutorials.
  14. WPMU Dev Blog – WPMU Dev offers a suite of WordPress plugins and tools. Their blog covers a vast number of topics from how-to posts, product reviews, news, and more.

Blogs by WordPress Founders and Influencers

You can also learn a lot about WordPress from different founders and influencers. You get to read about their journey, experiences, and how they’re growing their business in the WordPress space.

  1. Syed Balkhi – Syed Balkhi is the founder of WPBeginner and a well-known entrepreneur. His blog shares tips on his entrepreneurship journey.
  2. Matt Mullenweg – Matt Mullenweg is the co-founder of WordPress. His blog is always full of his latest experiences and entrepreneurship journey.
  3. Chris Lema – Chris Lema is a well-known speaker and blogger who writes about various topics from communication, eCommerce, LMS, and more.
  4. Tom McFarlin – Tom McFarlin is a WordPress developer who loves writing, building, and sharing WordPress-based projects. You can follow his blog to learn about WordPress, PHP, databases, and other backend technology.
  5. Joost de Valk – Jost is the founder of Yoast and now serves as the head of WordPress strategy for Newfold Digital (parent company of Bluehost).

There are other great resources out there that help not only help you learn about WordPress but also allow you to grow your website.

You can learn tips on growing your traffic, boosting search engine rankings, uncovering different marketing techniques, and more from marketing and SEO blogs. These blogs also cover WordPress’s latest news and guides, which is really useful.

  1. Neil Patel Blog – Neil Patel is a top SEO influencer who regularly creates detailed SEO tutorials, guides, case studies, and more to help you learn SEO.
  2. Search Engine Roundtable – Search Engine Roundtable is the go-to WordPress blog for staying up to date with SEO news, Google algorithm changes, and more.
  3. Search Engine Journal – Search Engine Journal is another popular SEO blog although their coverage on WordPress topics are generally extremely biased and misinformed. We only recommend following their SEO tips but for WordPress related news, you should avoid them.
  4. Digital Marketer – Digital Marketer provides marketing tutorials, guides, and best practices on how to grow your online traffic and sales.
  5. ShoutMeLoud – ShoutMeLoud is a blog created by Harsh Agrawal. He’s a well-known blogger who shares his blogging journey, WordPress tips, and more to help you grow your online presence.
  6. Blogging Wizard – Blogging Wizard is a popular resource that you can use to learn proven strategies for growing your WordPress blog.
  7. Ahrefs Blog – Ahrefs is a popular SEO tool. Their blog is full of useful guides to improve your website’s SEO ranking.

Which is the Best WordPress Blog to Follow?

The best WordPress blogs to follow are WPBeginner, IsItWP, Blog Tyrant, and WP Tavern.

After being in the WordPress industry for the last 16+ years, we recommend you follow multiple WordPress blogs. Each of the top 10 blogs listed in our post will help you expand your knowledge about WordPress and pick up new ways to grow your business.

The easiest way to follow these WordPress blogs is by either adding them to your RSS feed reader or joining their free email newsletter.

We hope this article helped you pick the best WordPress blog to follow. You may also want to see our guide on how to create your email newsletter, and our expert pick of the best WordPress plugins for all websites.

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 36 Best WordPress Blogs You Should Read & Follow (in 2023) first appeared on WPBeginner.


February 17, 2023 at 03:33PM

Thursday, February 16, 2023

How to Fix the Facebook and Instagram oEmbed Issue in WordPress

Do you want to learn how to fix the Facebook and Instagram oEmbed issue in WordPress?

If you’ve previously added Facebook or Instagram content to WordPress using the default oEmbed or Embed block, then this feature no longer works. This can cause errors and missing content on your WordPress website.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to fix the Facebook and Instagram embed issue, so visitors can enjoy social content on your WordPress website.

How to fix the Facebook and Instagram oEmbed issue in WordPress

What is the Facebook and Instagram oEmbed Issue in WordPress?

In the past, you could easily embed Instagram and Facebook posts in WordPress using a protocol known as oEmbed.

However, Facebook changed the way that oEmbed works so you can no longer easily embed videos, pictures, updates, and other content from Facebook or Instagram.

Instead, you now need to register an app and use a client token to get data from the Facebook Graph API, before you can embed Facebook or Instagram content on your WordPress blog.

This would take a lot of time and effort, especially if you want to show lots of different social posts across your website. With that in mind, the people behind WordPress decided to remove the Facebook and Instagram embed feature.

If you previously added any Facebook content to your website using oEmbed, it’ll now look something like the following image.

An example of an oEmbed error in WordPress

If you embedded any Instagram posts using oEmbed, then you’ll get a similar error.

This is a bad user experience, and some visitors may assume that your website is broken, no longer maintained, or that you’re not a trustworthy or reliable business.

There are ways to fix the problem manually. For example, you might go through each page and post and delete the embedded content. However, this would take a lot of time and effort, and there’s no guarantee you’ll manage to find every broken embed.

With that being said, let’s see how you can easily fix the Facebook and Instagram oEmbed issue on WordPress.

How to Fix the Facebook & Instagram oEmbed Issue

The easiest way to fix the oEmbed issue is by using one of the free Smash Balloon plugins.

If you want to embed Instagram posts in WordPress, then you’ll need the Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed plugin.

An instagram post, embedded in a WordPress website

Want to embed a Facebook post in WordPress? Then you can use the free Smash Balloon Social Post Feed plugin instead.

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

After installing either plugin, simply head over to Instagram Feed » oEmbeds or Facebook Feed » oEmbeds, depending on the plugin you’re using.

We’re using the Social Photo Feed plugin in all our images, but the steps will be exactly the same no matter what plugin you’re using.

Enabling the oEmbed feature for Instagram and Facebook

On this screen, simply click on the ‘Enable’ button.

That’s it. You can now embed Facebook and Instagram posts on your WordPress website.

How to Embed Instagram or Facebook Posts in WordPress

Whether you’re using Facebook or Instagram, you can embed a specific post in any page, post, or widget-ready area, such as the sidebar.

One option is to open the page or post where you want to show the social content. Then, click on the ‘+’ icon and type in ‘Embed.’

When the right block appears, click to add it to the page or post.

Adding the Embed block to a WordPress page or post

In the ‘Embed’ field, simply paste the URL of the Instagram or Facebook post that you want to show on your website.

Then, click on ‘Embed.’

Embedding an Instagram post in WordPress

WordPress will now show that specific post. When you’re ready to make the post live, simply click on ‘Update’ or ‘Publish.’

Now when you visit the page, you’ll see the social media post live.

An example of an Instagram post in WordPress

Another option is adding the Instagram or Facebook post to a widget-ready area such as the sidebar. That way, you can promote the same post across every page of your website.

For example, you might embed your most popular Instagram post or a post promoting a sale or social media contest you’re using to grow your site.

Adding an Instagram post to a widget-ready area such as the WordPress sidebar

To add a Facebook or Instagram post to a widget-ready area, simply go to Appearance » Widgets and click on the blue ‘+’ button.

In the search bar, type in ‘Embed’ to find the right block.

Embedding an Embed block in WordPress

When the ‘Embed’ block appears, drag it onto the area where you want to show the Facebook or Instagram post.

In the ‘Embed’ field, simply paste the URL of the Instagram or Facebook post that you want to show on your website. Then, click on ‘Embed.’

Embedding Instagram photo in Instagram

WordPress will now show that specific post.

If you’re happy with how it looks, then click on ‘Update’ to make it live.

Embedding Instagram post in WordPress

Now, when you visit your website, you’ll see the Instagram or Facebook post live.

How to Add an Instagram or Facebook Feed to WordPress

With the free Smash Balloon plugins, it’s easy to fix the oEmbed issue so you can add Facebook and Instagram posts to your website.

This is great if you only want to embed a small number of posts or you want to control exactly where each social post appears on WordPress. However, you may also want to embed a Facebook or Instagram feed on your website.

By creating a feed, you can show all your latest posts in a nice layout. Even better, the feed will update automatically so visitors will always see the newest posts without you having to update your site manually.

This can keep your site fresh and interesting, even for regular visitors.

If you want to embed Instagram content in WordPress, then you can use the Smash Balloon Instagram Feed plugin.

An Instagram feed, created using Smash Balloon

Want to create a feed showing your latest Facebook status posts, videos, reviews, and more?

Then you can use the Smash Balloon Facebook Feed plugin.

Facebook reviews, embedded using Smash Balloon

Want to add both Facebook and Instagram feeds to your WordPress website? Then you may want to look at Smash Balloon Social Wall.

This powerful plugin lets you combine any feeds you’ve created using the Smash Balloon plugins, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube feeds, and more.

Creating a social media wall using Facebook and Instagram

For example, if you’ve set up the Facebook Feed and Instagram Feed plugins, then you can simply go to Social Feeds » Create a Social Wall in your WordPress dashboard.

Here, you’ll see all the different feeds you’ve created so far.

How to create a social media wall using multiple feeds

Simply select each feed that you want to add to the social wall.

For example, you can combine posts from your Instagram and Facebook accounts.

Combining Facebook and Instagram into a social wall

Small Balloon Social Wall will then create a shortcode that allows you to add the social wall to any page, post, or widget-ready area.

For more information about working with shortcodes, please see our guide on how to add a shortcode in WordPress.

Social media shortcode, created using the Smash Balloon plugin

After placing the shortcode, simply save or publish your changes to make them live.

Now, if you visit your website, you’ll see a social wall featuring all the latest posts from your different accounts and platforms.

We hope this article helped you learn how to fix the Facebook and Instagram oEmbed issue in WordPress. You may also want to see our expert pick of the best social media plugins for WordPress, and our guide on how to create an email newsletter.

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The post How to Fix the Facebook and Instagram oEmbed Issue in WordPress first appeared on WPBeginner.


February 17, 2023 at 01:16AM