Documentary encyclobjects: 04 WordPress Configuration 2

Documentary encyclobjects: 04 WordPress Configuration 2

Documentary encyclobjects is a project designed to disseminate how encyclobjects.com was made . In Chapter 04 WordPress Configuration 2, we will discuss aspects related to the first configuration of WordPress, at the user level (name, email and password) and permalinks , as well as some help elements. We will take the first steps with Extra, the theme selected for the digital magazine encyclobjects.com. And finally, we will see which plugins (functionality complements ) are used in our magazine and we will make a first classification by their level of usefulness.

• Initial Setup

The first day you’re faced with a blank WordPress wall, you’ll never forget it. It’s an electrifying experience (at least, in my case), there are so many things: menus, checkboxes, buttons, drop-down lists, etc…, that you don’t know where to start. I calmed down (I think) and started watching a video on how to install WordPress and how to get started.

I’ve already said that I’ve read a lot, a lot, a lot. Don’t panic, I’ve read so much because I started from scratch, but still, WordPress is quite intuitive and has a lot of interesting helps. I’m sure you’ll have to consult things, but, I assure you, there will always be a wise mind to answer you. One of the most important things WordPress has is the User Community, which is huge, altruistic , and “very nice people.”

There is no one better than WordPress to explain WordPress. So I recommend you start at the beginning and check out support if you’re new to WordPress. You have the essentials in the link above and I recommend that you scrupulously follow the steps to learn and learn well.

Configurations Username (username, e-mail and password), Permalinks (the cascading structure of your website), the Language you want it to be in WordPress presents you with menus, and hundreds of other actions are perfectly explained in the help and support of WordPress. You can also locate, with internet searches, articles or tutorials that help you configure the first settings (e.g.: joseramonbernabeu.com), and later, when the details begin, go to the WordPress “bible”: WordPress Help, Fernando Tellado’s blog that is a reference in what concerns us.

The important thing, and believe me, it’s true, is that you will never be alone. No matter how complicated the issue is, you will always find a helping hand that will help.

• Choice of Theme

Earlier I pointed out that a Theme, in WordPress, is a template in which to accommodate the content that you are going to offer to your audience. It’s about presenting in the best possible way the posts, pages, forms, images, typography and the rest of the services that you are going to offer to your readers.

The truth is that it was not difficult for me to choose an option. Having seen the profile of the article to be published, the typical readership, the target brands of the magazine, etc…, I had to focus on “quality”. I needed an elegant, solvent, fast and eminently graphic theme. I’ve been valuing Magazine Pro, Jannah, Foxiz, Newsmag and Extra. One is free, the rest are very well priced and have great website builders (WP Backery, Elementor, BuddyPress, etc…), but as with WordPress, the more than 600,000 installations of Divi (Elegant Themes) made me opt for Extra, its magazine version.

The Divi theme and the Divi Builder are a benchmark in the WordPress market. Fully customizable, with endless modules and technology far ahead of the competition, they are the perfect tool for those who, like me, are just starting out.

That’s why I opted for the Extra theme from Elegant Themes and a collection of plugins to add features to the digital magazine.

The Extra template is simple, elegant and intuitive, designed for newscasts and magazines and presents several types of menus where you can find content.

Extra, in addition, provides a very logical structure for a newscast, contributes Comments, Miscellaneous Menu areas, integrates Bloom and Monarch (Plugins Elegant Themes for Opt-ins and Social Networks), incorporates a module compatible with Woocommerce for e-commerce and very important chapters such as the Divi Builder, the Category Builder, Category Settings optimization, SEO, customization , and compatibility with most WordPress plugins. All this at a very reasonable price, with a very good technical service and constant updates.

• Essential Plugins

It is necessary, in the basic WordPress setup, to get hold of at least a few plugins to start using your WordPress safely and effectively. I can’t deny that, at the beginning, I was guided by tutorials and articles that recommended this or that plugin. One free, one paid, one for security, one for spam, one for optimization, don’t forget languages, etc…

The fact is that, after a year, today I have 38 plugins in action for the most varied functions. As a general rule, the fewer plugins, the higher the performance, since there is less code to read and execute. However, you will have fewer features and information. It should also be noted that, sometimes, a plugin is installed and activated for a specific need (backup, broken links, etc…) and then deactivated and uninstalled.

I’m going to make a small description of the main ones: (In green the ones that I consider essential plugins, in orange the very interesting plugins to add features, in purple the specific plugins for a single function, in black, the rest.)

• Abandoned Cart Lite for Woocommerce: To find out which carts our users abandon and follow up by email. Free. A must-have in the use of Woocommerce.
• Ad Inserter Pro: I think it’s the best plugin for advertising, technologically super-advanced. Reasonable price. 100% compatible with Google Adsense, Ezoic, etc…
• Advanced Woo Search: Very interesting predictive search engine for Woocommerce. Free.
• Price adjustment: Very interesting plugin by Enrique J. Ros. Super economical. It is used to set the same price in Woocommerce regardless of the country and VAT rate.
• ARMember: Membership plugin with very interesting features, very simple. Economical. It is worth noting the ease of making forms.
• Bloom:If you want to set up engaging opt-in forms in a simple way, there’s no better one. Free with Divi.
• Code Snipets: A simple, clean, and simple way to run code snippets on your site. Free. A must-have when you’re not working with a child theme.
• Complianz: Two extraordinary add-ons (Terms & Conditions and Privacy Suite) to ease the cumbersome task of updating site privacy and cookie banner. Reasonable price.
• Custom Product Tabs for Woocommerce: You can live without it, but if you use Woocommerce, sooner or later you’ll want to add tabs to your product listing. Free.
• Easy Table of Contents: Create an interesting table of contents for your posts. Free. Highly recommended to add a bit of extra SEO to posts.
• Embed Plus YouTube WordPress Plugin: It’s probably not essential, but I’ve noticed better viewing of videos only with the Youtube URL. Free. It requires fine-tuning, take your time.
• Filebird Lite: On a site like encyclobjects with a lot of images, it’s very necessary, since you can organize them into folders for better location. Free.
• Health Check & Troubleshooting: A must. It’s a very useful WordPress tool to use when you have a Site Health issue. Free.
• IndexNow: If you want to automatically index all posts on Bing and Yandex, this is the plugin, from Microsoft Bing. Free.
• Monarch Plugin: A very elegant way to engage your Social Media website. Easy to set up. Free with Divi.
• Nelio Content: An extraordinary discovery. To automatically schedule and share your content on Social Media. Up to 15 profiles. Price to be improved.
• Newsletter, SMTP, Email marketing and Subscribe forms by Brevo: They supported me from the beginning. Lovely people and very professional. Automate your email marketing, Whatsapp, SMS, etc… Up to 300 free daily actions. Ideal to start with and very simple.
• One Click Accessibility: Allows the web to be more accessible (not entirely), both on desktop and in mobile view. It’s a additional benefit. Free.
• PDF Invoices & Packing Slips for WooCommerce: Automatic invoices and packing slips for Woocommerce. Convenient and simple to set up. Free.
• Minimum order in WooCommerce: Another genius from Enrique J. Ros. It seems unbelievable but no, there is no minimum order in Woocommerce. This is solved in one fell swoop. Super economical.
• Rank Math SEO: A must. If you want to be where you need to be, you need this SEO plugin . Very organized and comprehensive. Free. It requires reading the documentation well.
• Rank Math SEO Pro: A must. If you want to be where you need to be and be in front. It’s the most feature-rich plugin of all SEOs. Reasonable price. Drawback: slow down a little bit.
• Security Optimizer: A must-have security plugin. If you want to keep your website secure, keep hackers away by blocking their way, as well as control your activity, this is the perfect plugin. Free. Superb creation of Siteground to sleep peacefully. Super simple to set up.
• Speed Optimizer: A must-have plugin for web optimization and performance. Caching plugin made by Siteground that, in conjunction with the dynamic cache and the Memcached object cache , offers some super interesting features. Free. Best with Siteground hosting. Very simple to set up. It also includes image optimization and CSS and JavaScript treatment.
• Sumo Reward Points: A complete plugin with points and rewards to incentivize your website. Economical. You need to stay on top of updates. Documentation can be improved.
• The Events Calendar: Feature-rich event plugin, it works like a charm. Free. Simple to set up. It has additional modules for tickets, reservations, agenda…
• User Role Editor: User profiles and capabilities. Free.
• Classic Widgets: I got used to dragging and dropping and used it. Now going back to modern widgets would take a lot of work. I’ll leave it as it is. Free.
• Woocommerce: Essential if you want to have an e-commerce with features (some). Better to start with the Fernando: I’llcall you, because the setup takes a long time. Free. There are many extensions to customize it.
• WooCommerce Multilingual & Multicurrency: Together with WPML , they make it easy to correctly translate products and other Woocommerce. Also multi-currency. Free.
• WooCommerce PayPal Payments: To accept PayPal payments on the Woocommerce platform. Very heavy, it slows down and generates some problems. Free. Today, more and more users accept other platforms, so PayPal is no longer essential. In my case, to be extinguished due to its high transaction cost.
• WooPayments: The Woocommerce payments platform.Simple, reliable, and with the addition of Google Pay, Apple Pay , and Stripe. Free.
• WPML Media: The image and media translation section of WPML. If you don’t want to have to duplicate all the images in all languages, use it. Free with WPML.
• WPML Multilingual CMS: The heart of WPML, the best translator for WordPress. If you need a multilingual wordpress, this is the best complement for your translation. Price can be improved. Very good technical service, but it is essential to study the documentation.
• WPML SEO: Another shortcut to not having to manually translate all the SEO components of your WordPress. Free with WPML.
• WPML String Translation: The technical part of WPML, you have to study, but it solves a lot of problems. Free with WPML.
• YITH WooCommerce Wishlist: If you want to have a wishlist in your store, this may be the solution. Basic but reliable. Free.

Information and participation:

This documentary, which will be published monthly (approximately), will be available every first of each month. You can watch it on encyclobjects.com and on Youtube.

• Subscription: You can subscribe at encyclobjects.com under Subscription Plans. You can also subscribe to our video channel on Youtube (for free).
• Participation: You can share and “Like” both on encyclobjects.com and on Youtube and on the social networks in which we participate: Facebook, X, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instagram, Youtube and RSS.
• Feedback: You can leave your opinion or ask any question you want in the comments box.