Welcome Rymera and WholeSale Suite to WPBeginner Growth Fund

Today, I’m extremely excited to announce that WPBeginner Growth Fund has taken an equity stake in Rymera Web Co, the parent company of the popular Wholesale Suite plugin, Advanced Coupons plugin, and an upcoming WooCommerce inventory management plugin, Inventoroo.

This is the first investment of the Round 2 of WPBeginner Growth Fund.

About Rymera Web Co

Rymera Web Co specializes in WooCommerce extensions. Their popular wholesale suite bundle is the best solution for selling to wholesale customers using WooCommerce.

They also have an advanced coupon plugin which is the Swiss army knife of WooCommerce coupon plugins. It lets you create special offers like buy-one-get-one (BOGO), free gift products, loyalty bonuses, etc.

Last but not least, Rymera is working on an inventory assistant plugin for WooCommerce store owners called Inventoroo. I’m really excited to help get this product live.

Background Story

I have known, Josh Kohlbach, founder of Rymera Web Co for several years. He was the creator of ThirstyAffiliates, a popular affiliate management plugin, which was recently acquired by another one of our growth fund companies, Pretty Links.

After we opened the round 2 of growth fund application, Josh and I started talking about our vision for WooCommerce related products.

WooCommerce ecosystem has seen tremendous growth over the last few years, and it is something I have studied closely this year.

Going into 2020, I wanted us to expand our eCommerce solution offering, and an investment in Rymera Web Co made perfect sense. Josh has a great vision and a lot of exciting things in the pipeline to serve online store owners.

At Awesome Motive, we have several plugins that WooCommerce store owners use including OptinMonster, MonsterInsights, TrustPulse, and WPForms.

Sharing our knowledge and resources with Rymera Web Co will help both of us better serve the larger WordPress community.

I am really excited to be working with Josh and team to help them accelerate their growth in 2020.

We will be making more growth fund announcements in the coming weeks, so please stay tuned.

Thank you so much for your continued support of WPBeginner.

Sincerely,

Syed Balkhi
Founder of WPBeginner

The post Welcome Rymera and WholeSale Suite to WPBeginner Growth Fund appeared first on WPBeginner.

December 12, 2019 at 07:59PM

How to Add a Preloader Animation to WordPress (Step by Step)

Do you want to add a preloader to your WordPress site? A preloader is an animation indicating the progress of a page load in the background.

Preloaders assure users that the website is working on loading the page. This can help improve user experience and reduce overall bounce rate.

In this article, we’ll show you how to easily add a preloader to WordPress.

What is a Preloader and When You Should Use it?

A preloader is an animation or status message indicating the progress of page load in the background.

Normally when you visit a website, your browser starts downloading different parts of the content. Some parts of the website load faster (i.e. text, HTML code, CSS) whereas others load way slower (i.e images and videos).

If most of your content is text with very few images and videos, then you don’t really need to add a preloader to your website. Instead, you should focus on improving website speed and performance for faster page loads.

On the other hand, if most of your content is images, photographs, and video embeds, then your users need to wait a while before they can actually see all the content.

During these partial downloads, your website may feel slow. Sometimes users may even think that it is broken. Adding a preloader, fills this gap and shows the user a progress indicator during the page load.

You can see a live example of a preloader by clicking on the Preview button while writing a blog post in WordPress.

WordPress will open a live preview of your blog post in a new window, and it will display a preloader before it actually shows the live preview.

That being said, let’s take a look at how you can easily add a preloader to your WordPress website.

Method 1. Adding a Preloader in WordPress using WP Smart Preloader

This method is recommended because it is easier to implement and does not require any changes to your WordPress theme.

First thing you need to do is install and activate the WP Smart Preloader plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to visit Settings » WP Smart Preloader page to configure plugin settings.

First, you need to choose a preloader style or page load animation. The plugin comes with six built-in animations to choose from. You can also upload your own custom HTML and CSS to create a custom preloader.

After that, you can make the preloader appear only on the homepage by checking the ‘Show only on Home Page’ option.

Next, you need to scroll down to the ‘Duration to show Loader’ section. You need to specify the duration for the preloader. The default option is 1500 milliseconds (1.5 seconds) which should work for most sites, but you can change that if you want.

You can also set the time loader takes to completely fade out. The default option is 2500 seconds or 2.5 seconds.

Finally, don’t forget to click on the ‘Save changes’ button to store your settings.

You can now visit your website to see the preloader in action.

Method 2. Adding a Preloader in WordPress using Preloader Plugin

This method is flexible but requires additional steps to properly implement it on your WordPress site.

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

Upon activation, you need to visit the Plugins » Preloader page to configure plugin settings.

First, you need to enter the Hex code for the background color you want to use for the loading screen. The default option is #FFFFFF (white). You can use an online color picker tool to find the HEX code for the color you want to use.

Next, you need to provide the URL of the preloader image you want to use. The plugin comes with a default animation image.

If you want to use other animation, then you’ll find a link to download an animated preloader image from a third-party website. You can then upload that image to your wp-content folder and paste the URL here.

Next, you need to choose where you want to display the preloader.

You can choose to display it on all pages of your website, or you can select a specific section.

Finally, you will see the instruction to add the following code to your WordPress theme’s header.php file.

<div id="wptime-plugin-preloader"></div>

Before you leave the page, don’t forget to click on the ‘Save changes’ button to store your settings.

We don’t recommend adding code to your WordPress theme because it will get wiped off when you update the theme.

If you are using a child theme, then it is ok to add the code to your child theme’s header.php file.

An even better solution would be to add this code using a separate Code Snippets plugin, or in a site-specific plugin.

Here’s the code you’d need to add:

function wpb_add_preloader() {
echo '<div id="wptime-plugin-preloader"></div>';
}
add_action( 'wp_body_open', 'wpb_add_preloader' );

Note: this method of adding code will only work on WordPress themes that are compatible with the wp_body_open() function added in WordPress 5.2.

This method of adding the code makes sure that your code stays there even if you update the theme.

Once you have added the code, you can visit your website to see the preloader in action.

We hope this article helped you learn how to easily add a Preloader to your WordPress site. You may also want to see our list of the most useful WordPress tips, tricks, and hacks for more cool ideas.

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 Add a Preloader Animation to WordPress (Step by Step) appeared first on WPBeginner.

December 11, 2019 at 07:16PM

How to Monitor Your WordPress Website Server Uptime (Easy Way)

Do you want to monitor server uptime for your WordPress site? Monitoring server uptime allows you to get alert notifications when your website goes down or is inaccessible.

Keeping your website online ensures that your customers never have any issues visiting your website. An unresponsive site is not only bad for user experience, but it is also bad for your SEO rankings.

In this article, we’ll show you how to easily monitor server uptime in WordPress. We’ll share multiple uptime monitoring solutions, and you can choose one that works best for you.

What is Website Server Uptime Monitoring?

Website server uptime monitoring allows you to track outages on your website. The server uptime monitoring tools notify you immediately if something goes wrong with your website, so you can get it fixed immediately.

Many WordPress hosting companies promise 99.9% server uptime. However, sometimes this is not the case.

The biggest sign of poor hosting service is that their servers go down frequently and remain down for several minutes or even hours.

Why You Need to Monitor Server Uptime?

Often users trust their web hosting companies and let their guards down. Sometimes you may not even know if your website experienced downtime specially if it happened in the middle of the night or during holidays.

Website downtime can severely affect your business, website reputation, and user experience.

1. More Downtime Means Loss in Money: If your website remains inaccessible for a long period of time you will inevitably lose revenue.
2. User Experience and Brand Reputation: Having your website down is sort of like closing your door in users’ faces even though you’re not doing it intentionally. It creates a bad impression and you may lose potential customers.
3. Search Engine Influence: If your website is frequently down, then search engines might assume that your website is insignificant or lacks consistency. Often they penalize those websites that fail to maintain 24/7 uptime.

Obviously, you cannot just sit in front of a computer and keep refreshing your website to see if it is up.

There are some really excellent and free tools that you can use to automatically monitor server uptime for your website.

These services will monitor your site uptime and will also promptly alert you via email, or SMS message when your server is down.

Let’s take a look at some of the best tools for monitoring server uptime for your website.

1. Monitor Server Uptime with Uptime Robot

Uptime Robot offers both free and paid plans to monitor your server uptime.

Their free plan checks your website every 5 minutes, and the paid plan every 60 seconds. Paid plan starts for $4.50 per month (billed annually), and it includes SMS, voice call, email, and other alerts.

The first thing you need to do is visit the Uptime Robot website and click on the Signup button.

Next, you need to select a plan for your monitoring service.

After that, finish the signup process and log in to your Uptime Robot account dashboard. From here, you need to click on the Add New Monitor button.

This will bring up a popup where you need to select a monitoring method (HTTP or HTTPS), and then add your website URL. In that same modal, you can also set alerts to be sent when your website is down.

Once you are done, click on the ‘Create Monitor’ button to save your changes.

Uptime Robot will now save your website and start monitoring your server uptime. You’ll see detailed stats on your account dashboard and receive alerts when your website is down.

2. Setting up Uptime Monitoring Using Pingdom

Pingdom is a popular performance monitoring tool that allows you to set up server uptime monitoring for your website. Pingdom is a paid service with plans starting from $42 per month. They also have a starter plan that’s $165 / year.

Pingdom is a more robust platform offering real-time uptime monitoring service. They offer detailed stats, logs, monitoring from various geographic locations, and more.

First, you need to visit the Pingdom website and click on the green button to start your free trial.

You’ll be asked to provide your email and password to create an account. After that, you will be asked to provide phone number, email, timezone, and website URL. Make sure to check performance and monitoring options, and then click on the ‘Let’s get started’ button.

Pingdom will automatically setup monitoring and will send you a test alert to your email address. That’s all, you have successfully set up uptime monitoring for your website using Pingdom.

You can set multiple alerts and tracking for various locations. Pingdom documentation and support can help you set that up, but their interface is fairly straight forward.

Pingdom also keeps your uptime history, so you can properly evaluate your web hosting company’s performance over time.

3. Checking Your Website is Up or Down

If you just want to know whether your website is really down, or you are facing internet issues, then you can do that quickly using IsItWP’s uptime checker tool.

Simply go to the IsItWP Uptime Checker tool and enter your website address.

Uptime Checker tool will quickly check your website and will show you whether your website is up or down.

What to Do When Your Website is Down?

If your website down, and you need to figure out what to do next, then here are the step by step instructions you should follow.

Step 1. Verify that it is down for everyone and not just you

You can start by checking your site with IsItWP’s uptime checker tool. If it shows that your website is up, then it is probably just your internet.

First, clear your browser cache and DNS cache. After that reload the website.

If that doesn’t work, then see if you can access your website from a different IP address. You can do so by using a VPN service or even just using your mobile phone internet.

If you can access your website, then this means that either your ISP or your hosting company has accidentally blocked your IP address. You can contact both service providers to resolve the issue.

If you recently changed your domain name‘s DNS settings, then this could also mean that the DNS has not updated in your particular geographic location.

There is not much you can do but wait till DNS is properly updated. This may take a few hours to a day.

Step 2. If Your Website is Down for Everyone

If you have verified that your website is down for everyone, then you need to immediately reach out to your hosting provider. They may be having issues with their server and can provide you more details.

Usually, hosting companies are quick to respond to such issues, and your website will be back soon.

However, if your website is frequently down, or you don’t get a satisfactory answer from them, then proceed to the next step.

Step 3. Move to a Better Hosting Provider

Due to tough competition in the hosting industry, some lesser-known companies cut costs by using outdated technologies, unskilled staff, and inadequate customer service.

However, if your website is frequently down and you cannot do much about it, then you need to move to a better hosting provider.

Here’s our list of reliable WordPress hosting providers:

• SiteGround
• WP Engine
• Bluehost
• Dreamhost
• Liquid Web

For more hosting options, see our list of the best WordPress hosting companies to choose from.

Next, you’ll need to transfer your website to a new host. We have a complete step by step tutorial on how to move your website to a new hosting provider (without losing SEO and without any downtime).

Some providers like SiteGround and WP Engine will offer free website migration service. You just need to ask their support.

We hope this article helped you learn how to monitor server uptime in WordPress. You may also want to follow our guide on how to keep your WordPress site secure to avoid any mishaps like data loss or hacking.

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 Monitor Your WordPress Website Server Uptime (Easy Way) appeared first on WPBeginner.

December 10, 2019 at 07:00PM