So, its Profile Builder module for WordPress membership websites really hits the mark, giving you all the tools you need to put together something awesome, almost without limitations. 

So, it’s time to explore it. 

Table of Contents

• Getting Started with JetEngine’s Profile Builder
• How to Create a User Profile with JetEngine Profile Builder
• FAQ
• Wrapping Up

Getting Started with JetEngine’s Profile Builder

JetEngine offers, except for the core functionality (which is already a lot), 19 modules that you can switch on and off for better performance and 27 free add-ons, which can be found here. 

The Profile Builder module is really impressive, especially for advanced WordPress users who love to have all the aces and play them masterfully. Why? Because you have a lot of things, such as Relations, Dynamic Visibility, a unique and powerful Query Builder, Data Stores, REST API tool, and other cool things available in a frame of one plugin. Also, if you are an All-Inclusive Crocoblock subscriber, you can enjoy the whole ecosystem of plugins that reinforce and share data with each other. In this case, if you build a website with membership and user profile functionality as its central feature, you will appreciate the integration with JetPopup or JetAppointment for such websites. 

Even if you have only JetEngine and a free JetFormBuilder, there’s a lot you can do by not only adding and updating users but also linking new related items via forms, submitting not only posts and CPTs but also CCTs to store user listings or portfolio content in meta fields without overloading the database. Certainly, you can charge members for their subscriptions and change user roles via forms so they can upgrade their plans.

Anyway, I guess you know the drill and how important it is to have a good ecosystem if your site is not just a simple landing page. So, if you have never heard about or tried JetEngine’s Profile Builder, welcome. 

Check Profile Builder in action. For a more advanced demonstration of its functionality, visit the Job Board demo site. Also, check the Car Dealer Marketplace for a bit more simplified functionality. 

The good news is these two and the other 12 dynamic templates (premade websites) are available in the All-Inclusive subscription.

How to Create a User Profile with JetEngine Profile Builder

Typical User Profile plugins offer some shortcodes for a user registration form, then for log in/log out, redirection functionality, and probably user roles editor, plus something else. Such plugins are great and easy to use but definitely have limitations. 

JetEngine’s Profile Builder offers a logic that is different from that of typical user profile or membership plugins. Also, it doesn’t have a user role editor or restricted content functionality (it has a dynamic visibility module, which is about individual blocks but not full pages or taxonomies). However, there are many free plugins for this. 

The rest Crocoblock will do for you. So, let’s dig in and check the steps for setting up an advanced user profile functionality with JetEngine. 

I suggest this workflow for creating a user profile with JetEngine. 

In the illustrating videos, I will show you examples of user profiles created for two user roles: Company and Employee. That’s why you will see forms created for each of them and the subpages available for different user roles. This will demonstrate how it’s possible to create as many user roles as you want within the Profile Builder interface. 

1. Adding extra meta fields to Users if needed.
   It’s important because the list of default WordPress users’ fields is quite limited; also, in some cases, it’s easier to work with custom fields, such as profession, user picture (instead of Gravatar), contact details, etc. Read this article to learn how to apply meta boxes to users.
   
   The tool to use – JetEngine Meta Boxes.

2. Creating User Profile page structure.
   In this step, create and assign pages for the User’s Account, User’s Public Profile (optional), and All Users Page (optional). To do so, create blank pages and select them from the dropdown in the Profile Builder > Pages tab. Also, choose the Template mode (you will most probably need a Content mode).
   
   The tool to use – JetEngine > Profile Builder > Pages tab.  

3. Creating forms for Users.
   Here, we need a Registration form, a Profile Edit form, and any other forms you will need for your project and use in the next step. The logic is the following: anything users edit will be done using forms because the idea here is not to use quite an ugly and limited default WordPress user profile interface. So, instead, we create custom forms so Users will be able to edit the information about them, add posts (if allowed), etc. Based on the submitted information, new/existing meta fields and/or posts will be created or updated. Read this article to learn how to update users via forms.
   
   Note that you can not only update users’ profiles but also submit and update posts (e.g., with users’ listings, portfolios, and other content). JetFormBuilder, even in its free version, has full functionality for doing that.
   
   The tool to use – the JetFormBuilder plugin or the JetEngine Forms (Legacy – but it’s used in Profile Builder presets). However, it’s strongly recommended to use JetFormBuilder instead because it is much more powerful and has additional paid add-ons that offer even greater functionality. 

4. Creating subpages for User Accounts.
   Now, it’s time to create subpages which will be components of the layouts for the pages we’ve assigned to the User’s profile structure in step 2. Go to the JetEngine > Profile Builder > Account tab. You will see the “Add Subpage” button and settings for redirection for unauthorized users. Start adding subpages for the user’s account (note that you can make a different set of pages, depending on the user’s role, because you assign the subpage visibility according to the role).
   
   To design your subpages, use the dialog for adding templates right here. You can make them with Elementor (free or paid) or JetEngine’s Listing Template functionality. Set visibility for these subpages in the user’s menu so some can be hidden and accessed only by link. Also, drag and drop subpages in the order you want them to appear on the user’s account page.
   
   These subpages will almost entirely consist of forms because this is the area where the user can edit information about them and/or submit posts.
   
   The tool to use – JetEngine > Profile Builder > Account tab. 

In this video example, I showed the “Personal info template” that is common for both Employee and Company user roles. The irrelevant blocks are hidden with the Dynamic Visibility tool. Alternatively, you can create different templates and assign them to the user roles on the Subpage settings in the User Profile Builder.

Also, I’ve demonstrated that dynamic fields with users’ data are fetched with the help of the Dynamic Field widget, and the forms for editing them open on pop-ups linked to the “Edit” buttons. 

5. Populating the Users’ Account Page (Members’ area).
   Now that we have created all the subpages, it’s time to combine them on the User’s page — the page that the user sees after logging in. Don’t mix it up with the Public User Page.
   
   In step 2, we created a blank page for the user’s Account. Now, it’s time to add content there, namely, adding the user’s menu and subpages. The menu will be generated automatically, and the subpage templates we’ve already created in step 4.
   
   There are “Profile Menu” and “Profile Subpage Content” widgets/blocks for adding these elements, which are available for Gutenberg, Elementor, and Bricks. So, place them, add all the necessary styling and headings, and enjoy the result.
   
   The tool to use – Gutenberg/Elementor/Bricks editor with JetEngine’s  Profile widgets. 
   

6. Creating templates for Public User’s Pages (if you choose to have them).
   If the users of your website are supposed to have a public profile like this, then it’s time to create it as well. 
   
   In step 2, we created a blank page for the user’s Public Profile. Now, it’s time to create a Template or templates for it. Here, we will also add subpages, as in step 4, but they will not consist of forms but instead fetch the dynamic content users already added using the forms.
   
   If you want to display one field, e.g., a user’s email, use the JetEngine Dynamic Field widget. But if you want to show a loop of elements, like here in the Work Experience and Portfolio sections, create a Listing Template first and then fetch it using the Listing Grid widget. 
   Also, you can assign each subpage to a certain user role; thus, each of them can have a different layout for their public page. Examples: an Employee’s profile and a Company’s profile.
   
   The tools to use – Gutenberg/Elementor/Bricks editor with JetEngine’s dynamic content widgets and Listing templates for loops (Listing grids).

This is an illustration of this tip:

Read also: 

• Creating a User Account Page with various dashboard structures. 
• Membership website with Crocoblock. 
• Top membership websites with Croсoblock Profile Builder. 
• JetEngine Relationship use cases. 
• Connecting relation items using forms. 

FAQ

Wrapping Up

In this article, I’ve described the capabilities of JetEngine’s Profile Builder module in conjunction with the JetFormBuilder plugin for creating full-fledged user profiles. Using these tools and the guide, you can build membership or directory sites and monetize your WordPress projects. 

Thanks to the JetEngine’s powerful functionality and other Crocoblock plugins, there’s a lot of space for your creativity. 

The post JetEngine Profile Builder Overview appeared first on Crocoblock.

In this article, we will showcase the top 8 WordPress table of contents plugins that help enhance user experience, optimize structure, and visually present the post or single page’s layout.

Table of Contents

• Benefits of Using Table Content Plugin in WordPress
• Top 8 WordPress Table of Contents Plugins Compared
  • Ultimate Blocks
  • Fixed TOC
  • Easy Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents Plus
  • SimpleTOC
  • TOP Table of Contents
  • Joli Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents Block
• FAQ
• Sum Up

Benefits of Using Table Content Plugin in WordPress

You can manually add a table of contents using HTML code and CSS or other advanced tools. However, this process can be time-consuming and challenging for beginners, as even a tiny mistake can corrupt the entire TOC. That’s why WordPress table of contents plugins are a simple and effective way to make website content more user-friendly and improve its overall effectiveness. They offer a range of advantages that make them a valuable tool for any website with long articles or pages. Using this tool can significantly improve:

• Readability. It allows you to quickly find sections of interest due to its structured, understandable, and visually appealing format.
• SEO. Positively influence the site’s rankings in search results.
• Time on page. Audiences stay on the page longer because they can easily find the information they need, improving SEO and overall content effectiveness.
• Content conversion. Readers find the information they need faster, contributing to better user satisfaction.

So, let’s take a closer look at WordPress table of contents plugins and choose the one that best suits your needs.

Top 8 WordPress Table of Contents Plugins Compared

Ultimate Blocks (Free/Premium)

Best for creating more interesting and attractive pages thanks to a variety of blocks.

Ultimate Blocks is primarily known for its Gutenberg blocks, but it also includes a special Table of Contents block. With a rating of 4.9, it’s highly trusted and widely popular among users. This plugin offers a range of customization options to tailor the content to suit your specific requirements. 

Ultimate Blocks is easy to use; you just need to download and activate the plugin and then use the block on the desired content page.

Key features:

• a large library of special Gutenberg blocks;
• the TOC block follows the best SEO practices;
• sticky table of contents;
• generate a table of contents from headings;
• column integration of TOC;
• setting the parameters and style of the blocks according to your needs.

Pricing: there’s a free version. The annual license costs $49 for a single site or $69 for unlimited sites. A lifetime license is available for $349.

Pros:

• a universal range of blocks for different content needs;
• simple and intuitive interface;
• flexible list options (bulleted, numbered, and plain lists);
• optimization for SEO thanks to built-in features and structured data.

Cons:

• depends heavily on Gutenberg, so using other editors may be challenging.

Fixed TOC (Premium)

Best for experienced users and beginners.

Fixed TOC stands as a powerful WordPress plugin crafted to establish a table of contents for your website. The plugin has a notable record of downloads and positive feedback. You can effortlessly configure the plugin to enhance user experience and streamline content access, making it an invaluable asset for website optimization.

Key features:

• auto TOC creation;
• smooth scrolling;
• supports adding the widget to the sidebar;
• ability to collapse/expand the sub-list;
• heading-link indicator while scrolling;
• adapts to any device size.

Pricing: the regular license is $20.

Pros:

• can be fixed in the sidebar;
• freely customize position, size, font, color, etc.;
• compatible with various WordPress themes and plugins;
• supports the shortcode feature to show TOC anywhere in a post;
• several style variations.

Cons:

• limited customization options;
• no free version.

Easy Table of Contents (Free/Premium)

Best for a wide range of users.

The name of the plugin matches the reality. If you want to quickly add basic navigation to the post, Easy Table of Contents is definitely for you. The plugin automatically adds TOC based on the headings from posts, pages, and custom post types. An accessible settings panel allows both beginners and advanced users to easily customize the appearance and functionality of TOC.

Key features:

• automatically inserts a TOC;
• works with the Classic Editor, Gutenberg, Divi, Elementor, and other page builders;
• ability to adjust the placement and appearance of the table of contents;
• supports smooth scrolling;
• easily exclude headers globally and on a post-by-post basis;
• the TOC can be made sticky so it is always visible as you scroll down the page;
• hide TOC and enable headers.

Pricing: annual licenses range from $49 for one site to $199 for unlimited sites, while the lifetime license costs $499. But there’s also a free version.

Pros:

• user-friendly interface for users of all skill levels;
• the plugin supports responsive design;
• compatible with a wide range of WordPress themes and plugins;
• auto-generation of TOC.

Cons:

• the range of styling choices may be limited;
• the effectiveness relies on the consistent use of headings within content;
• limited advanced features.

Table of Contents Plus (Free)

Best for websites with long pages or a significant amount of content.

Table of Contents Plus is a universal plugin that automatically generates a table of contents for posts and pages. With its user-friendly interface, this plugin makes it easy to customize the look and feel of the TOC. From customizing the numbering style to excluding certain headings, Table of Contents Plus offers plenty of flexibility.

Key features:

• automatically generates a TOC;
• tailors TOC appearance to match the website’s design;
• supports various heading levels (H2-H6).

Pricing: free.

Pros:

• high level of control over TOC appearance;
• may indirectly improve SEO by making content more structured;
• easy to use.

Cons:

• primarily focused on TOC generation;
• customizations rely on shortcodes and CSS classes;
• limited visual settings.

SimpleTOC (Free)

Best for basic and user-friendly table of contents solutions, especially for websites with simple content structure and a focus on accessibility.

Create a table of contents effortlessly with no coding required. Get started by downloading and activating the SimpleTOC plugin. You can customize the TOC title by replacing it with your own heading. It is ideal for beginners as it is adaptable to use. With a perfect 5 out of 5 rating and currently boasting 10K installations, the plugin is rapidly gaining popularity.

Are you curious about how this plugin performs in real-world scenarios? We invite you to explore our article on redesigning the knowledge base. There, we delve into our experiences and impressions of working with SimpleTOC.

Key features:

• styles match your theme;
• designed for Gutenberg;
• minimal code involvement;
• wide range of headings (Н1-Н6).

Pricing: free. 

Pros:

• accessible in multiple languages;
• no setup, just add a block;
• smooth scrolling effect;
• using the show/hide table’s heading function.

Cons:

• no customization options;
• elementary TOC’s interface.

TOP Table of Contents (Free/Premium)

Best for lengthy and complex content.

TOP Table of Contents, developed by BoomDevs, is a WordPress plugin with over 3,000 active installations. It improves user flow and engagement for long content. The plugin automatically generates and inserts stylish, SEO-friendly tables of contents into your posts and pages, improving navigation and user experience.

Key features:

• multiple heading level support;
• automatic TOC generation;
• tailors TOC appearance (colors, fonts, borders) to match the website’s design;
• three premade templates;
• TOC can be made sticky on scrolling;
• progress bar at the top;
• SEO-friendly code.

Pricing: you can try the free version for basic features. Annual licenses are priced at $39.99 for one site, $59.99 for three sites, and $99.99 for ten sites.

Pros:

• effortless TOC creation;
• seamlessly matches your website’s design;
• enhances user experience for long content.

Cons:

• mostly focused on TOC generation;
• requires staying updated and monitoring plugin activity.

Joli Table of Contents (Free/Premium)

Best for any content for clear organization, easy navigation, and efficient access to information.

Joli Table of Contents combines SEO optimization, convenience, and beauty – all in one package. The plugin automatically generates visually appealing and, most importantly, user-friendly table of contents. With it, readers will easily navigate through website materials, spending less time searching for the information they need.

Key features:

• automatically generates TOCs;
• highly customizable;
• integrates with Gutenberg;
• flexible customization settings such as margins, indentation, borders, colors, fonts, and more;
• multiple heading level support.

Pricing: the free version is available with limited features. The annual license costs $39.99 for one site, $69.99 for five sites, and $129.99 for 15 sites, offering expanded functionalities and support.

Pros:

• easy to use and configure;
• supports multiple heading levels;
• SEO-friendly and performance-oriented;
• handles hidden headings from third-party elements.

Cons:

• limited features in the free version compared to the Pro version.

Table of Contents Block (Free)

Best for those who regularly publish articles or pages with multiple sections.

Table of Contents Block simplifies content website navigation on your WordPress site. Integrated seamlessly with the Gutenberg editor, it helps you create clear and organized tables of contents for your posts and pages. With automatic generation based on headings and easy customization options, you can effortlessly enhance the readability and structure of content.

Key features:

• integration with the Gutenberg editor;
• multiple heading levels;
• completely customizable.

Pricing: free.

Pros:

• no complex coding;
• intuitive and efficient TOC creation;
• automatically updates the table of contents as content changes.

Cons:

• has limited advanced features compared to other plugins.

FAQ

Sum Up 

In conclusion, Table of Contents plugins are not just a beautiful addition to a WordPress site. It can significantly improve SEO and positively affect the site’s search engine ranking.

Let’s briefly recap the purposes for which you can utilize the plugins described in the article:

• Ultimate Blocks: A versatile plugin offering a wide array of Gutenberg blocks for crafting engaging and visually appealing content.
• Easy Table of Contents: Simplifies the creation of table of contents, catering to both beginners and advanced users with its intuitive settings.
• Table of Contents Plus: Ideal for automatically generating and customizing TOCs for posts and pages with long content.
• SimpleTOC: A user-friendly solution for effortlessly adding and customizing table of contents without the need for coding.
• TOP Table of Contents: Designed to streamline content navigation and enhance user experience, particularly for websites featuring lengthy and complex content.
• Joli Table of Contents: Combines SEO optimization and user convenience, automatically generating visually appealing TOCs for improved content navigation.
• Table of Contents Block: Seamlessly integrates with the Gutenberg editor, enabling users to create clear and organized TOCs with ease.

Choose the plugin that best aligns with your content organization needs and share your experience with content navigation in the comments below.

For further insights on optimizing your WordPress site’s speed and performance, explore resources discussing the top plugins for speed optimization. A detailed review of key features, advantages, and disadvantages will help you choose the right plugin.

The post 8 Best WordPress Table of Contents Plugins (2024) appeared first on Crocoblock.

It’s clear that both plugins not only add new post types and taxonomies but also provide more flexibility in how developers manage and display data on their websites. Custom Post Type UI offers a simple interface and clear functionality. On the other hand, JetEngine opens up your horizons thanks to the fact that it’s extremely feature-rich and offers integration with Elementor, WordPress Block editor, and Bricks. In this article, we will compare two plugins, discuss their ease of use and features, and help you decide which one to use in what situations.

Table of Contents

• Custom Post Type UI
  • Custom Post Type UI functionality
  • How does the Custom Post Type UI plugin work?
• JetEngine
  • JetEngine functionality
• CPT UI and JetEngine Pricing
• Benefits of CPT UI
• Benefits of JetEngine
• FAQ
• Conclusion

Custom Post Type UI

Custom Post Type UI is a popular WordPress plugin that allows users to easily create and manage custom post types and taxonomies without having to write code. With over a million downloads and a strong reputation, Custom Post Type UI has become an essential tool for many developers. First, let’s look at the plugin’s functionality and its advantages.

Custom Post Type UI functionality

Custom Post Types

As the name suggests, the main functionality of CPT UI is to provide an interface for registering CPTs through the user panel, and it makes it easier for you to use the “register_post_type()” function. CPTs are useful for adding custom functionality and organizing content to fit your website’s needs. Here is a breakdown of the settings you can configure:

• labels – custom labels for various administrative actions and pages;
• public – determines whether CPT will be available on the front end;
• show_in_rest (rest API display) – enables Gutenberg editor and REST API support;
• show_admin_ui – determines which standard WordPress features are supported, including the editor, thumbnails, comments, etc;
• hierarchical – allows you to create parent and child posts within a CPT and all the other settings and parameters for CPT. 

Taxonomy management

Using this plugin, you can create and manage not only CPTs but also taxonomies using a simple and beginner-friendly interface.

Simple user interface

CPT UI boasts a simple user interface that even a beginner can easily navigate. In addition to this, the plugin offers clearly structured menus, making it easy to create and manage custom post types and taxonomies without having to delve into complex technical details.

Export & Import tools

A convenient tool with which you can use to save post type configurations in a JSON file and export them to another account, so you can configure only once and use it on different projects.

PHP code generation

In short, after creating a CPT or taxonomy, you can generate PHP code that you can insert into the functions.php of your new theme or plugin so that CPT and taxonomies work without the WordPress Custom Post Type UI plugin itself.

How does the Custom Post Type UI plugin work?

CPT UI is an easy-to-use plugin for simple purposes. After installing the plugin, set the basic parameters for your CPT or taxonomy, including a unique identifier (slug), title, and description. You can also configure a number of supported WordPress features for your post type, such as support for thumbnails, comments, and archives. After this, you will be able to add posts to the new CPT.

JetEngine

JetEngine offers powerful functionality, with more than 15 modules that can be turned on and off, depending on whether you use them, to boost performance. The functionality for creating custom posts is only a small part of what it can do. What is important to note is that it has the functionality for adding custom fields, which is essential for proper work with CPTs. Also, it offers an advanced set of tools for managing CPTs and default post types, some of which I will mention below. 

JetEngine functionality

Custom Post Type

With JetEngine’s CPT tool, you can create and configure custom post types, meta fields, and taxonomies.

The plugin can replace many other plugins and supports advanced SQL queries and REST APIs for dynamically displaying content and interacting with the database.

Custom Post Type and meta fields builder

You can easily create a CPT, add meta fields, and fetch them to the front end using a variety of JetEngine dynamic widgets/blocks for Block Editor, Elementor, or Bricks.

Meta Boxes tool

JetEngine features the ability to add meta fields not only to custom post types but also to users and default posts and pages.

Taxonomy

JetEngine users can create and configure custom taxonomies for custom post types. Taxonomy in JetEngine will allow you to categorize and group content according to certain criteria so you can improve its structure and accessibility.

Relation tool

JetEngine will expand your capabilities by allowing you to create complex relationships. Let’s look at the types of relationships the plugin offers:

• One-to-One: One record is linked to exactly one record of another type.
• One-to-Many: One record is linked to multiple records of another type.
• Many-to-Many: Many records are associated with many records of another type.

You can create relations between posts, taxonomies, CCTs, and users.

Listing templates

Create dynamic content loops and set templates for them. They can be grids, maps, tables, charts, or carousels. 

Dynamic Tags API

Integrate data from meta fields and options into any Elementor/Block Editor/Bricks widgets/blocks with the help of dynamic tags.

Conditional Logic

Add conditional logic to customize the visibility of every meta field based on specific conditions.

REST API tool

Extension for working with the REST API, allowing you to dynamically interact with content through external applications.

Query Builder

JetEngine never ceases to amaze and offers a Query Builder that allows you to create complex queries to retrieve and display records based on specific criteria. For example, you can set up a query to display products from the Electronics category with a rating higher than 4 stars. This is achieved by selecting the appropriate fields, taxonomies, and metadata in the JetEngine user interface without having to write SQL code directly.

Custom Content Type

Not a replacement but rather a higher performance alternative for CPT is Custom Content Types. The CCT functionality opens up additional possibilities for WordPress developers, including the automation of form creation with instant field mapping. This solution is perfectly suited for projects that require the processing of a large amount of data. Additionally, CCT has an extended functionality for working with REST API.

CPT UI and JetEngine Pricing

JetEngine offers two options – $43 per year for one site and $88 for an unlimited site license. You can also purchase All-Inclusive, which includes JetEngine and all Сrocoblock plugins, the price of which is $199 for one site and $399 for unlimited use on different sites. You can also purchase a lifetime subscription to all Сrocoblock plugins starting from $750.

The CPT UI plugin is free and won’t cost you anything extra. You can also have Custom Post Type UI extended by purchasing an add-on for $29 a year, which slightly extends its functionality.

Benefits of CPT UI

The first advantage that definitely needs to be mentioned in this paragraph is the easy-to-use interface. Yes, compared to JetEngine, the functionality is less, but the plugin is perfect for quickly setting up CPT without coding. You should also not lose sight of the possibility of generating PHP code with which you can transfer settings between projects (for this, you need to insert them into functions.php) without involving the CPT UI itself. If you look at this plugin in general, it will become clear that CPT UI is suitable for quickly and conveniently setting up CPTs or taxonomies.

Benefits of JetEngine

When we talk about JetEngine, we don’t need to introduce it in a special way. This is one of the very feature-rich WordPress plugins that provide a huge number of tools for your website. This includes core functionality such as CPT and taxonomy editor, relations, listing template builder, query builder, option pages, meta boxes, etc., plus 19 modules that can be used on demand, such as Profile Builder, Dynamic Visibility, Map Listings, and so on.

FAQ

Conclusion

As you can see from the article, JetEngine, and CPT UI are two reliable plugins that deserve your attention. If we are talking about simple goals and quick setup (without going into details), then CPT UI will be a good option for you, but if you want to create a complex, highly dynamic website, then JetEngine is at your service.

The post JetEngine vs. CPT UI: WordPress Plugins Comparison appeared first on Crocoblock.

Today, implementing artificial intelligence in software development is a sign of progress and a way to design new, more innovative features. This article will present the best WordPress AI plugins for creating better websites.

To learn more about the potential of AI in the WordPress ecosystem and gain insights from the community of like-minded developers and enthusiasts, explore the WordPress Web Agency AI Summit 2023 materials.

Table of Contents

• How Is Artificial Intelligence Used in WordPress?
• Special Mention: Crocoblock AI Integrations
• Top 9 WordPress AI Plugins for General Purposes
  • AI Engine (Free/Premium)
  • Quttera Web Malware Scanner (Free/Premium)
  • Divi AI (Premium)
  • Bertha AI (Free/Premium)
  • Elementor AI (Paid)
  • Tidio – Live Chat, Chatbots & Email Integration (Free/Premium)
  • ZipWP (Free/Premium)
  • DocsBot AI (Free/Premium)
  • Jetpack AI (Free/Premium)
• AI-Powered Form Builders
  • JetFormBuilder (Free/Premium)
  • Formidable Forms (Free/Premium)
• Top 9 AI Plugins for SEO
  • WordLift (Premium)
  • SEOPress (Free/Premium)
  • Akismet Spam Protection (Free/Premium)
  • YARPP – Yet Another Related Posts Plugin (Free)
  • GetGenie (Free/Premium)
  • Link Whisper (Free/Premium)
  • RankMath (Free/Premium)
  • Yoast SEO (Free/Premium)
  • Altis Accelerate (Free/Premium)
• What’s Next?
• FAQ
• Summary

How Is Artificial Intelligence Used in WordPress?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a simulation of human intelligence demonstrated by machines. AI refers to different processes in computer systems that mimic human behavior, such as using logic and rules for decision-making and learning from analyzing data to improve performance (machine learning – ML).

Regarding WordPress, artificial intelligence improves different management processes, automates complex jobs, and tailors website content according to visitors’ expectations and search engines’ requirements. AI-powered plugins are becoming popular solutions to make sites faster, smarter, and more accessible. 

Among the main tasks that AI plugins accomplish are:

• Boost website SEO. AI-powered plugins allow optimizing posts, pages, and other structures while they’re being created. Such plugins analyze website content, compare it to competitor data, and suggest changes that must be done to increase page views and attract an audience that relates to your content.
• Make websites more accessible. By designing accessible websites, you establish a better reputation for your brand and get through to more people. Many WordPress sites now use text-to-speech technologies provided by AI-based tools.
• Introduce smart assistants. Chatbots that use artificial intelligence can improve customer service because they are available 24/7. They can make human workers more efficient by completing low-end repetitive tasks. 

Certainly, there are many more ways AI technologies can make better and help manage WordPress sites. But, sometimes, website owners must limit the usage of content-generating tools if they want their content to be visible on search engines. According to Google Search Advocate John Mueller, Google Search Console considers automatically generated content as spam. It seems Google doesn’t have the ability to detect auto-generated content, but I’m sure it’s on the way.

Special Mention: Crocoblock AI Integrations

Before we start looking at dedicated AI plugins, let me tell you exciting news: JetPlugins now also work together with AI to give users more power. One way to make websites better is by joining OpenAI with a strong form builder, which is what the JetFormBuilder plugin can do. By connecting this plugin to your OpenAI account using different integration tools, you can unlock new properties.

Another plugin that has started adding integrations with AI is JetEngine, and the first feature is SQL query generation for Query Builder. 

Using SQL Query Type, you can insert a custom query code and display whatever you want directly from your WordPress database on the front end. And the SQL query AI generator can give you such a code if you ask it with clear and simple human words! Read about this unique JetEngine feature in detail if that’s something you need for your site.

JetEngine and JetFormBuilder plugins are free for those who already have a Crocoblock All-Inclusive subscription. The functionality it offers includes 20 plugins and beyond.

Top 9 WordPress AI Plugins for General Purposes

Many WordPress plugins use artificial intelligence to facilitate website management and improve content. Here’s a list of the best plugins that implement AI for different tasks.

AI Engine (Free/Premium)

Best for adding a GPT-like chatbot to a WordPress site.

AI Engine is a fairly new plugin developed by Jordi Meaw that is rapidly gaining popularity. After 2000+ active installations on wordpress.org, it has only 5-star ratings, with users praising its novelty and smooth integration of AI with WordPress. 

To enjoy the features of AI Engine, you’ll have to create an OpenAI key and insert it in the plugin’s settings. This allows you to add a sophisticated chatbot and content generator that rely on innovative OpenAI technologies to your website. 

AI Engine core features:

• simple interface for customizing a chatbot and even giving it personality characteristics;
• ability to assign context awareness to a chatbot;
• built-in statistics to monitor OpenAI usage;
• AI Playground for translation, correction, discussions, etc.;
• internal API to link AI Engine with other plugins.

Pricing: currently, most of the AI Engine features are included in the free version. The Pro version starts at $29 per year for one site and has a statistics module and content-aware chatbots.

Pros:

• best free chatbot for WordPress;
• customization options for creating unique AI models;
• excellent support from the plugin developer.

Cons:

• some features are still in beta mode. 

Quttera Web Malware Scanner (Free/Premium)

Best for detecting malware, viruses, and malicious codes using cloud technologies and artificial intelligence.

This plugin scans WordPress sites for malware, backdoors, worms, trojans, exploits, malicious iframes, malicious code injections, redirects, as well as other threats. The data is investigated on Quttera remote servers without changing any files. It also checks whether Google or other search engines blacklist your website. 

Quttera Web Malware Scanner core features:

• scans for web threats in different forms;
• provides detailed investigation reports;
• learns to improve scan results by detecting false positives;
• provides blacklist status;
• detailed classification of threats in reports;
• tracks DNS attacks by monitoring DNS/IP.

Pricing: the free version is available with limited scanning options. The paid plans with a server-side malware scanner start at $120 per year for one domain. 

Pros:

• offers a complex scanner for web malware that uses cloud technologies;
• feeds from the intelligence database to improve malware detection.

Cons: 

• free version has limited options;
• doesn’t protect from threats, only detects them.

Divi AI (Premium)

Best for generating text and images for a Divi-built website.

Divi AI brings the power of AI to your fingertips right inside Divi’s visual builder. You can use it to write content and generate amazing images out of thin air. In addition, the functionality helps you refine the existing website content using a set of handy, quick actions. It’s like always having a content creator, copy editor, visual artist, and photographer at your side!

Divi AI core features:

• integrated into Divi and WordPress, allowing it to generate more intuitive results automatically; 
• creates high-quality content and images on demand;
• refines and improves your existing website content with the help of AI.

Pricing: You can try Divi AI for free to generate 50 items. To unlock unlimited text and image generation, you can purchase Divi AI for $24 monthly ($18/month if paid yearly).

Pros:

• generates both spectacular content and images using AI;
• unlimited text and image generation;
• dozens of image and text refinement options;
• 30-day money-back guarantee.

Cons:

• Divi AI only works with Divi, which isn’t suitable for those using other page builders.

Bertha AI (Free/Premium)

Best for creating AI-generated product descriptions for eCommerce sites.

Using the GPT-3 language model by OpenAI, Bertha AI is among the best AI assistants built specifically for WordPress users. After the installation and activation of the plugin, you’ll see a new animated character in every text window of your website, including the backend WordPress builder. Bertha AI can provide you with multiple ideas for every task, from section titles to full-on text blocks, and saves every produced output for later reuse. 

One of the strong points of Bertha AI is the automated creation of product descriptions suggesting long-tail keywords and SEO description tags, and all it needs for it is a product name.

Bertha AI core features:

• creating images based on your description;
• a content rephrasing tool;
• SEO keywords suggestions;
• 30+ pre-built content models.

Pricing: the free version lacks most of the core features. The premium version starts at $450 per year. You can also go with one-time payment options: $25 for 10,000 generated words and $15 for 100 images.

Pros:

• smooth integration with WordPress, all the major page builders, and SEO plugins;
• an abundance of AI tools for blogging;
• pay-as-you-go pricing options.

Cons: 

• expensive yearly plan;
• doesn’t offer a chatbot like some other content AI WordPress plugins do.

Elementor AI (Paid)

Best for integrating AI tools in Elementor editor.

The Elementor team is rushing to get some of the hype and create a deep inbuilt integration of AI in our favorite WordPress editor. Although it does have some AI-powered features, like the adaptation of the layout of a web page to different screen sizes, the Elementor plugin hasn’t been an AI-focused tool by now. 

The Elementor AI is not available to the public yet, as it’s still in the alpha stage, being tested internally. Most of the information about its current features comes from YouTube videos by content creators specializing in WordPress who got early access to the Elementor AI.

With Elementor AI, you’ll see a new Write with AI sign when you create blocks with text. If you click it, you’ll get to a new pop-up window where you’ll be able to use a few prompt suggestions or come up with your prompt and generate a text. Upon generating a text, you can modify it using additional buttons: translate the text, make it shorter/longer, simplify language, change tone, and fix spelling & grammar.

When you open a window for inputting CSS snippets (in Elementor Pro, it’s in Advanced > Custom CSS), you’ll see a new Code with AI icon. After clicking it, you’ll be offered to generate a CSS by writing a prompt. It seems the software recognizes loosely defined prompts and comes up with detailed specifications for the generated output. 

The third main feature announced by the Elementor team is AI image generation, but there are no details on how this integration will work. 

Elementor AI core features:

• inbuilt text generator;
• translation into 29 languages;
• generating CSS and HTML codes.

Pricing: $2.99 per month.

Pros:

• creates great basic texts;
• provides an advantage to someone who lacks CSS knowledge.

Cons:

• the text generator seems to be unaware of the contexts and only creates content based on the latest prompt and the following modification options.

Tidio – Live Chat, Chatbots & Email Integration (Free/Premium)

Best for managing emails, live chat, chatbots, and messages from one dashboard.

This plugin is an all-in-one communication solution. Its purpose is to upgrade the website’s customer service by offering various communication channels and boosting sales by providing automatic chatbots with many functional templates. It is easy to modify or even create chatbot templates from scratch using a drag-and-drop editor. 

Tidio has one of the highest rankings on wordpress.org among live chat plugins, with over 100,000 active installations.

Tidio core features:

• managing all communication channels from one panel;
• chatbot templates for different situations to increase user engagement (cart saver, returning customers, etc.);
• drag-and-drug visual editor for working with chatbots;
• natural language processing (NLP) technologies to identify frequently used words and answer simple questions by the customers;
• seven-day trials on paid plans.

Pricing: most advanced features are available in the free plan, but they offer no chatbot templates and limit chatbot conversations to 100 visitors per month. The paid plans start at $190 per year.

Pros:

• advanced chatbot builder for automation sales and customer support;
• intuitive interface and management;
• free version for small businesses.

Cons:

• lacks integration with some major messengers (Twitter).

ZipWP (Free/Premium)

Best for creating professional websites in a short period of time and without coding.

ZipWP is an AI-powered solution for crafting a WordPress site swiftly within a minute. To get started, just create a free ZipWP account, select a website category, provide a brief description, choose images, and tailor the design. Although the generated website remains accessible for 24 hours, users can opt for a permanent site option. Additionally, the content explores the potential for customizing website structures and underscores the professionalism of the design outcomes.

ZipWP core features:

• auto creation of any type of website;
• inbuilt image generator;
• editing and customizing the created website to your liking.

Pricing: there is no option for permanent sites in the free version. The premium version starts at $108 per year for five permanent sites and $228 per year for ten permanent sites. Additionally, you can choose a plan for $588 annually for up to 20 permanent sites.

Pros:

• no coding skills required;
• fast and easy to create a complete site;
• wide range of design templates.

Cons:

• limited features in the free version.

DocsBot AI (Free/Premium)

Best for including a Q&A chatbot into your website page.

DocsBot is a simple solution that allows you to easily and quickly add a chatbot to any web page. Due to next-generation artificial intelligence, DocsBot can answer user questions, generate content, handle support requests, and much more. Due to an intuitive interface and 24/7 chatbot support, you can easily configure the plugin.

DocsBot core features:

• automated support replies;
• customizable widget;
• a wide selection of languages. 

Pricing: the premium version ranges from $192 to $4992 annually, depending on the elements you want to add. There’s also a free version where you can try basic features.

Pros:

• а simple dashboard to manage your bot;
• 24/7 automated chatbot support;
• effortless chatbot integration into your website.

Cons:

• most features are only in the paid version;
• technical skills might be necessary for bot customization.

Jetpack AI (Free/Premium)

Best for creating high-quality content for websites. 

Jetpack AI, a tool of the Jetpack WordPress plugin, enables easy creation of compelling and engaging content. Jetpack AI provides an intuitive interface that simplifies the content creation process by offering recommendations for headlines, generating articles and creating tables, sleek forms and lists based on your request. Whether you’re an experienced content creator or a beginner, Jetpack AI allows you to enhance the quality of your content, attracting audience attention and increasing interaction.

Jetpack AI core features:

• generation of text formats like blog posts, detailed pages, structured lists, and comprehensive tables;
• adapts the writing style to various tones of voice;
• automatically corrects spelling and grammar;
• title and summary creation.

Pricing: you can download the Jetpack plugin for free. Jetpack AI tool costs $95.40 annually.

Pros:

• suitable for no prior content creation experience;
• time-saving by automating content creation tasks;
• additional options such as changing ToV, translating, and improving text.

Cons:

• AI tool available in premium version;
• image generation could be added.

AI-Powered Form Builders

JetFormBuilder AI (Free/Premium)

Best for building powerful forms with advanced functionalities using AI. 

Integrating OpenAI into website development through the JetFormBuilder plugin is seamless, unlocking potent tools to elevate content creation and user engagement. By linking to your OpenAI account, this plugin harnesses form fields to prompt the AI generator, refining grammar, optimizing SEO meta descriptions, and generating succinct summaries. This synergy between JetFormBuilder and OpenAI reshapes website optimization, offering a simplified pathway for content creation and enhanced website performance.

JetFormBuilder core features:

• 24+ field blocks;
• supports WooCommerce, Stripe, and PayPal integrations;
• editable post-submit messages;
• autocomplete functionality.

Pricing: a free version is available with most features. The premium yearly plan starts at $39 for one website and $79 for unlimited sites.

Pros:

• most of the features are in the free version;
• integration with various popular marketing and CRM platforms;
• works with complex dynamic data structures.

Cons:

• for beginners, it may be difficult to handle.

Formidable Forms (Free/Premium)

Best for creating AI-powered forms.

Formidable Forms helps you create any form you need, from contact forms to quizzes. Plus, you can easily add an AI field in WordPress to any form that connects to ChatGPT to ensure a better experience for your website visitors. It can help answer questions, recommend products, or offer services to make things simple.

Formidable Forms core features:

• creates any type of form for your website;
• connects with other services (PayPal, CMS, email, etc.);
• allows full-form customization;
• creates calculators, quizzes, and other lead generators;
• adds more features like PDF, AI, and user tracking.

Pricing: the free version is available with limited options. The paid plans with AI start at $199.50 per year with up to seven domains.

Pros:

• offers an easy way to create different form types;
• gives you a powerful AI field to enhance your website.

Cons:

• the free version is limited;
• the plugin has a small learning curve.

Top 9 AI Plugins for SEO

WordLift (Premium)

Best for adding structured data to WordPress sites.

WordLift automates website SEO by analyzing all content, adding structured data or schema markup to it, and making it more understandable to Google. This plugin uses artificial intelligence to identify distinct words on the site and turn them into metadata. During the process, users can manually choose which keywords are preferable, thus controlling how the website’s knowledge graphs look. 

WordLift core features:

• organizing references to external sources and internal pages;
• suggesting related content to visitors, leading them to archived pages and increasing user engagement this way;
• enriching text with rich snippets;
• integration with Google Data Studio tool for comprehensive analytics and reports;
• timeline, navigation, geolocation, and search widgets.

Pricing: the Starter plan costs $588 per year for one site and includes ten schema markups. The Professional and Business plans sell for $948 and $2399 per year, respectively, and they have more schema types and advanced features and can be installed on more sites.

Pros:

• attracts an audience that is more related to the site’s content;
• enhances UX with content recommendations;
• free trial for 14 days.

Cons:

• it still takes some time to learn how to use WordLift at its full capacity;
• no free version.

SEOPress (Free/Premium)

Best for optimizing large websites for search engines.

SEOPress is a powerful but lightweight WordPress plugin that allows search engine optimization of all web pages and CPTs through its interface. Unlike most other SEO plugins, SEOPress integrates with OpenAI. This feature utilizes artificial intelligence to generate SEO metadata (meta titles and descriptions) based on post content. It is especially useful for optimizing websites with hundreds of pages because it is available in bulk actions.

The plugin developers have plans to expand AI usage, so hopefully, we’ll see some new examples of how AI can improve SEO in future versions of SEOPress.

SEOPress core features:

• employs Davinci GPT-3 engine by default, but users can switch to other engines as well;
• allows optimizing multiple web pages at a time;
• highly trained models for nine languages.

Pricing: SEOPress is free, but AI integration comes with a Pro plan for $49 per year.

Pros:

• multifunctional SEO plugin that employs AI;
• affordable Pro plan.

Cons:

• AI integration is not included in the free version.

Akismet Spam Protection (Free/Premium)

Best automation tool to detect spam comments on WordPress websites.

Akismet was designed by a reputable WordPress development company, Automattic, to detect and block spam comments even before they are marked as pending. This tool proved to be especially effective against spam bots, and it has over five million active installations.

After installation on a WordPress site, Akismet is constantly improving its work thanks to machine learning algorithms. Website admins can review comments caught by Akismet and point out the spam comments that broke through the protection system, enabling it to learn from its failures.

Akismet core features:

• automatic detection of spam comments;
• integrates with WordPress plugins through Akismet API;
• provides spam detection history.

Pricing: free for non-commercial sites. Spam protection for commercial or business sites starts at $10 per month.

Pros:

• solid protection against spam by bots;
• improving SEO ranking when deleting comments with spam links;
• free for personal use.

Cons: 

• most of the time not effective against human-made spam comments.

YARPP – Yet Another Related Posts Plugin (Free)

Best for finding related website content and presenting it to visitors.

YARPP lets website visitors see posts, pages, and custom post types related to their original entries and finds them from across the site using advanced algorithms. It is estimated that related posts can increase page views by ten percent.

YARPP core features:

• inbuilt catching for subsequent inquiries;
• many options for placing related posts (shortcuts, blocks, widgets, REST API, and more);
• pre-built list or thumbnail templates to showcase related posts;
• compatible with all languages.

Pricing: free.

Pros:

• the most popular related posts WordPress plugin;
• fully customizable;
• free.

Cons: 

• requires more server resources than similar plugins, which can be noticeable on larger sites.

GetGenie (Free/Premium)

Best for researching, writing, and optimizing content for SEO engines.

GetGenie is an AI assistant designed to accelerate the writing of high-quality original blog posts. This writing tool offers many templates to cover various frameworks, such as AIDA, BAB, and PAS. It also shows on-page SEO scores to optimize content instantly and provides valuable suggestions on creating SEO-friendly slugs.

With its “Genie Mode”, content can be generated through prompts easily, and users can get a detailed response in return. Besides, GetGenie recently rolled out its chatting platform “GenieChat,” which can yield quick answers too.

GetGenie core features:

• 30+ templates for content writing;
• provides analysis of competitor data;
• idea generation tool for blogs;
• enables one-click blog generation;
• generates content in multiple languages;
• enables human-like chatting with 22 personalities on “GenieChat”;
• presenting on-page SEO score.

Pricing: a free version is available with some limitations. The paid version starts from $19 per month.

Pros:

• saves time for copywriters;
• starts checking content on SEO-friendliness during the writing process;
• free version available with satisfactory word and analysis limit;
• has a free version and a 14-day trial on paid plans.

Cons:

• offers fewer writing templates than some other content-generation tools.

Link Whisper (Free/Premium)

Best for building internal links on WordPress sites.

Link Whisper provides the easiest way to create internal links. Making intracontent connections with related posts on the website is often underused, but it may be necessary both for user engagement and improving SEO ranking. The plugin’s AI-powered engine analyses website content and suggests related posts and links in a newly created box under the written text.

Additionally, Link Whisper provides detailed reports of broken links and 404 errors.

Link Whisper core features:

• automatic link suggestions;
• in-depth link reporting;
• ability to fine-tune recommendations by deciding which keywords are relevant.

Pricing: free version is available. Paid plans add many advanced features, such as automatic and cross-site linking, costing $77 per year for one site. 

Pros:

• easy-to-use;
• the free version has many useful functions.

Cons:

• no free trial on paid plans.

RankMath (Free/Premium)

Best for users who want to learn effective SEO practices.

RankMath AI-powered SEO plugin has over one million users. With its help, you can control which content is indexed and how it appears on search engines.

Multiple built-in suggestions make it easy to optimize website content and allow users to learn about the best SEO practices. Despite a large number of advanced features, its well-thought-out design and set-up wizard make RankMath easy to use, even for inexperienced users.

RankMath core features:

• 20+ pre-defined schema types;
• 30 in-depth SEO tests;
• smartlink suggestions;
• SEO-optimized breadcrumbs;
• detailed website analysis to identify SEO-related issues.

Pricing: the free version of RankMath includes many functions, and the paid version costs $59 per year and can be used on unlimited personal sites.

Pros:

• feature-rich AI-powered plugin;
• numerous suggestions and a wizard make RankMath beginner-friendly;
• reasonable price on the paid version.

Cons:

• some users report conflicts with other plugins.

Yoast SEO (Free/Premium)

Best for optimization of SEO titles and meta descriptions.

Yoast SEO is a powerful plugin which helps you improve your website’s SEO in one click. With a new AI feature, you can generate SEO-optimized titles and meta descriptions, and many other useful features, such as content analysis, internal linking recommendations, and reminders to update content. So you don’t have to puzzle over creative headlines or engaging meta descriptions. Yoast SEO is a must-have for any site that wants to achieve better results in search results.

Yoast SEO core features:

• AI-optimized SEO titles and meta descriptions;
• content optimization for up to five relevant keywords;
• automatically fix broken links;
• smart internal linking suggestions;
• 24/7 support.

Pricing: there are limited features in the free version, the premium version starts at $99 per year and $229 annually for more advanced tools.

Pros:

• may improve your content’s search ranking;
• access to the whole SEO academy;
• social media previews are available.

Cons:

• the functionality of the free version is limited; 
• AI feature is in the premium version;
• may conflict with other plugins.

Altis Accelerate (Free/Premium)

Best for website optimization by using OpenAI integration.

Altis Accelerate is a comprehensive set of tools designed to simplify and enhance your marketing efforts. It enables you to personalize content, conduct A/B testing, track performance, and integrate OpenAI – all within a block editor. Altis Accelerate is an easy way to boost the effectiveness of your WordPress website.

Altis Accelerate core features:

• synced blocks;
• A/B testing blocks;
• targeted content variations within blocks for specific audience segments.

Pricing: there is a free version available, but there’s also a pro version with pricing based on quotations.

Pros:

• no OpenAI key required;
• comparing content variants to find the most effective one;
• detailed reports on how visitors interact with your content.

Cons:

• may not be compatible with all plugins; 
• the premium version is overpriced.

What’s Next?

In November 2022, AI research company, OpenAI, launched ChatGPT – a sophisticated chatbot based on GPT-3, the company’s language model released in 2020. Two months after its launch, ChatGPT has over 30 million users sending OpenAI skyrocketing to the level of tech giants. In our article, we have already seen brand new plugins that use GPT-3 and are wildly popular (AI Engine, CodeWP), as well as renowned tools that rush to welcome this revolutionary technology aboard (SEOPress).

A recent IEEE survey found that AI is considered the most crucial technology for 2024 by tech leaders, with 350 executives from various countries participating in the study. With the advancement of artificial intelligence, utilizing WordPress plugins based on it will enhance your website’s functionality.

FAQ

Summary

Artificial intelligence techniques find use in various spheres of our lives. AI-powered WordPress plugins offer advanced features to accomplish different purposes.

1. WordLift is an excellent solution for the automation of website SEO, and it gives the best results when combined with human-made instructions.
2. AI Engine, one of the most popular applications of artificial intelligence, creates virtual assistants which communicate with site visitors via chatbots and live chats.
3. SEOPress utilizes OpenAI technologies to improve website rankings in SEO.
4. The Google Language Translator plugin is the best tool for adding AI machine translators to WordPress sites.
5. Quttera Web Malware Scanner is an AI-powered plugin that can find most web threats on WordPress sites.
6. CodeWP is the best solution for generating shortcodes in WordPress using artificial intelligence.
7. For anyone who needs to check content for SEO-friendliness, GetGenie is the best choice.

The post 20+ Best WordPress AI Plugins: Using Machine Learning in WordPress appeared first on Crocoblock.

Let’s dig in!

Table of Contents

• Why Is Your WooCommerce Running Slow?
• Consequences of a Slow Commercial Site
• Common Issues with Generic Hosting Solutions
• Why Is Managed WordPress Hosting a Solution?
  • Advanced server infrastructure
• Is Managed WordPress Hosting For You?
• Pressidium Managed WordPress Hosting
  • Dedicated hardware
  • High availability
  • Adaptive caching
  • Security
• Conclusion

Visitors to your WooCommerce store may encounter frustrating slowdowns throughout their shopping journey, particularly when engaging in crucial actions such as searching for products or managing items within their cart. Any delays in loading product pages or processing cart operations can impede their ability to browse smoothly and complete purchases efficiently.

Therefore, addressing these performance issues is vital for maintaining user engagement and maximizing conversion rates within your WooCommerce store.

Why Is Your WooCommerce Running Slow?

These requests consume valuable server resources, leading to delays in page rendering and checkout processes. This can result from various factors:

• Incompatible or inadequate caching mechanisms can wreak havoc on the functionality of the store by failing to alleviate the burden on server resources and resulting in slower page load times.
• A high volume of backend PHP requests, often triggered by resource-intensive plugins, theme functions, or custom code, can overwhelm the server and cause slowdowns across the entire WooCommerce store.
• WooCommerce heavily relies on database operations for product management and order processing. Complex SQL queries, especially on databases with large datasets, can strain database performance and significantly slow down product page rendering.
• WooCommerce stores with an extensive array of product variations may experience performance degradation, particularly on product pages with numerous selectable options.
• Insufficient CPU resources, whether due to shared hosting limitations or underpowered server configurations, can render a WooCommerce store virtually inoperable. The lack of processing power can bottleneck website performance, resulting in sluggishness and unresponsiveness.
• During peak shopping seasons or promotional events such as Black Friday or Christmas, the strain on a WooCommerce website can be particularly intense. A sudden influx of visitors can overwhelm server resources, leading to slowdowns, server errors, and even website crashes. Proper preparation and scalability measures are essential to mitigate the impact of high-traffic events on WooCommerce performance.

Consequences of a Slow Commercial Site

It is essential to safeguard your brand by ensuring your eCommerce site remains live at all times.

A slow-loading WooCommerce website can trigger a cascade of negative outcomes, from decreased business metrics to increased cart abandonment and reduced brand loyalty, visitor numbers, and SERP visibility.

Speed plays a pivotal role in shaping users’ first impressions of your site. According to a Google survey, 53% of users abandon a site if it takes over 3 seconds to load. 

Site performance also impacts SEO significantly because Google’s ranking algorithm considers both speed and performance.

A slow WooCommerce store effectively translates to downtime, potentially resulting in lost customers and revenue. Beyond financial losses, downtime can tarnish your brand reputation, fostering negative perceptions among customers.

Moving forward, we will discuss how a common shared hosting may relate to all such bad experiences for both WooCommerce users and owners.

Common Issues with Generic Hosting Solutions

One of the culprits that result in a slow WooCommerce site is your hosting provider. Many hosting providers fail to offer WooCommerce-specific solutions, raising potential issues. They offer a server environment, which, plain and simple, is not enough for WooCommerce to function properly, let alone optimally.

A shared environment can not handle a large list of products or a high amount of concurrent users and requests during a peak event.

Their support is limited and usually stops at the operating system level. As long as your physical server, VM, or cloud instance is up, you’re good to go in their eyes. You won’t get any domain knowledge about WooCommerce or its pitfalls and challenges. The personnel cannot offer a solution to the above problems. They are either not trained or view the work that is needed to mitigate these problems as “out of scope.”

You won’t get any automatic WordPress core updates or minor fixes, either. These critical operations need to be managed by yourself and on your own time and worry. 

Of course, you can choose not to perform any upgrades, but this will almost certainly result in a catastrophe later on. Either you’ll get hacked, or if you do choose to upgrade in the future, your old installation will become a technical hurdle.

Similarly, your WooCommerce store will go unprotected, as there are no WordPress-related security defense mechanisms or tools to scan and quarantine a compromised WordPress site. Break-ins are only detected if they are too obvious or steal a lot of resources. WordPress-related backdoors in the database or the PHP code can be gone completely undetected for a long time.

Although backup services are available in cloud computing and managed server hosting providers, there is a slight problem. They are usually not free, and if they are, these types of backups are not snapshots of your WordPress data but system-wide copies of whole filesystems. Thus, they aren’t flexible enough to be used on a day-to-day basis as you develop and test your WooCommerce store. You will need to set up and test backup scripts for yourself.

You won’t get any out-of-the-box WordPress staging solution. Having a separate staging and production environment is critical for testing and properly maintaining your WooCommerce store. Without first testing on staging, you risk making changes straight on your production site and ruining everything due to a simple bug.

Now, let’s see how Managed WordPress Hosting can overcome these issues for your WooCommerce site.

Why Is Managed WordPress Hosting a Solution?

Businesses managing high-traffic WooCommerce websites can reap numerous advantages from the features that Managed Hosting provides.

Performance issues, security vulnerabilities, and the management of high-traffic stores are common challenges.

A Managed WordPress Hosting (MWH) offers tailored solutions to address these issues effectively:

• It offers the technical expertise needed to optimize WooCommerce websites for speed, security, and scalability, freeing you to focus on core business activities.
• It provides support for troubleshooting and maintenance. Managed Hosting streamlines these tasks, reducing workload and ensuring smooth operations.
• Handling sudden traffic spikes, maintaining fast page loading times, and securing customer data can be daunting tasks. Managed Hosting alleviates these concerns, ensuring a seamless shopping experience for customers.

Technically, Managed WordPress Hosting accomplishes the above by utilizing some great technologies. A sophisticated setup of powerful servers and related components designed to deliver the maximum potential for WordPress and WooCommerce. 

Advanced server infrastructure

More specifically, such an environment:

• Implements advanced caching mechanisms such as object caching, opcode caching, and full-page caching to store frequently accessed data, reducing server load and speeding up page rendering.
• Distributes content across multiple servers globally through Content Delivery Networks (CDNs), reducing latency for users.
• With Load Balancing, it distributes incoming traffic evenly across multiple server instances. This way, it prevents any single server from becoming overloaded and ensures consistent performance even during traffic spikes.
• Offers WooCommerce scalability. On providers like this, plans are designed to accommodate millions of visits, offering scalability without downtime. Businesses can confidently host their WooCommerce stores, seamlessly upgrading resources as needed. Effortless scalability proves beneficial not only during seasonal events but also in responding to unexpected traffic spikes.
• Implements redundant systems and failover mechanisms to minimize downtime, even in the event of hardware failures or server maintenance.

Some additional practices the advanced server infrastructure will provide are:

• Database optimization to enhance site speed and responsiveness. Query Optimization, Indexing, Database Cleanup, and Scaling are some common techniques.
• Security measures, like firewalls, malware scans, and intrusion detection systems, protect against threats. The more your WooCommerce business grows, the more critical the security of your store becomes.
• Expert support that provides specialized assistance for WooCommerce configuration, troubleshooting, and optimization.
• Automatic updates for WooCommerce, WordPress, and plugins to patch security vulnerabilities and improve performance.
• Monitoring tools for site performance to identify and address any issues promptly.

Is Managed WordPress Hosting For You?

As a general rule, if staying consistently online and available is essential to your business, you’d better go with Managed Hosting.

If you’re an entrepreneur or store owner operating your online shop with WooCommerce, Managed Hosting could be a valuable solution for you. Similarly, if you’re an SMB aiming to establish or enhance your online presence and sales through WooCommerce, Managed Hosting offers tailored support to meet your needs.

Agencies and developers who specialize in building and managing WooCommerce sites for clients can also benefit from Managed Hosting services. For online retailers with high-traffic WooCommerce stores, Managed Hosting provides reliable solutions to address performance and scalability challenges.

Even in the case of individuals passionate about WordPress and WooCommerce, Managed Hosting can help you streamline website management tasks and optimize performance.

Pressidium Managed WordPress Hosting

Presidium Enterprise platform is purpose-built to address the challenges and complexity of a WooCommerce site and deliver an optimized hosting solution. We are confident that we are satisfied with all the key ingredients for high-performing WooCommerce stores.

Allow us to share some info on why our customers enjoy a smooth WooCommerce experience.

Dedicated hardware

We use resources that are not shared with other users. This is an advantage on multiple levels. It improves our reliability by reducing the possibility of downtimes and allows personalized server configuration that aligns with your needs.

It also allows us to implement customized security measures tailored to each client’s specific needs. Robust protection against cyber threats, like network-based firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and malware scanning, is easier to manage in a dedicated environment.

High availability

Our plans ensure high availability for your site, featuring a Dedicated Five Node Enterprise Server HA Cluster (5 Dedicated Servers with High Availability).

High Availability (HA) architecture is a combination of top-notch technologies that reduce downtime to its minimum so that your website is highly available. That includes the aforementioned load balancing, scalability, and hardware redundancy.

Moreover, we use failover mechanisms, real-time data replication across multiple servers, disaster recovery plans, scheduled maintenance, and monitoring systems.

Adaptive caching

Pressidium’s adaptive caching model is designed to optimize website performance. By mapping popular WordPress plugins to different caching groups and monitoring installs, we ensure efficient caching tailored to your site’s needs. Our caching engine supports multiple languages and provides fine-tuning per website, resulting in faster and more reliable performance. 

Adaptive caching:

• Allows for custom WooCommerce exceptions. Unlike one-size-fits-all approaches, our adaptive caching allows for customized exceptions based on your website’s unique requirements. This tailored approach ensures optimal performance and compatibility with WooCommerce.
• It lets your website utilize our caching engine. By tapping into our caching engine, you can avoid compatibility issues often encountered with generic caching plugins. Our system is tailored to WordPress and WooCommerce, offering unmatched performance and reliability.

Security

At Pressidium, your store is covered by bleeding-edge security since this is a top priority for us. We proactively scan for malware, provide managed web application firewall (WAF) protection, and offer Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates.

Pressidium offers robust security features, including managed WordPress auto-updates, malware monitoring, managed WAF (Website Application Firewall), and Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates. 

Additionally, our platform offers:

• A fully managed environment with DevOps admin included.
• VIP 24×7 support & dedicated engineering team with a 5-minute average response time.
• Instant backups with one-click restore.
• Staging sites and full website cloning support.
• Website analytics.
• Easy team collaboration.

Our platform is engineered for superior performance and scalability, offering competitive pricing and unmatched WordPress support. If you’re experiencing critical performance issues with your WooCommerce store, contact the team to learn how Pressidium can help, or try award-winning services with our 14-day free trial.

Conclusion

If you are looking to enhance your online stores, exploring managed WooCommerce hosting options is strongly encouraged. It provides a holistic solution to address performance challenges and ensure the long-term success of their eCommerce ventures. Ultimately, a faster site, improved security, seamless user experience, and top-notch performance can lead to increased revenue.

Now that we have hopefully informed you on this topic, you can make the choice that suits your needs.

The post Why Choose Managed WooCommerce Hosting appeared first on Crocoblock.

In this article, we will talk about the dynamic content, particularly in Elementor, the ways to use it, and some cool examples.

• What Is Dynamic Content?
• Fetching Dynamic Content in Elementor
  • Elementor dynamic tag
• JetEngine Dynamic Content in Elementor
• FAQ
• The Bottom Line

What Is Dynamic Content?

Dynamic content is a piece of content that is pulled from somewhere on your website and displayed in a certain place of the layout. In most cases, such content must belong to the current post/page (e.g., feature image or meta field) or be related to it (e.g., the post’s author).

The most straightforward example is when you create a page template in Elementor Pro Theme Builder and add “Title” and “Content” blocks to the layout, so you will see titles and content blocks of pages that use this page template appearing there.

Actually, all the WordPress content is dynamic because it is fetched from the database. Also, technically, you can pull anything you want using some PHP code. For example, this is how to display the “Book” custom field:  

<?php
// Get the post ID of the current post
$post_id = get_the_ID();

// Get the value of the "book" custom field for the current post
$book = get_post_meta($post_id, 'book', true);

// Display the "book" custom field value
if (!empty($book)) {
    echo 'Book: ' . $book;
}
?>

But times when we had to hardcode each page template separately have passed over ten years ago, and there are so many handy tools to do it visually without having coding skills, and, most importantly, saving a lot of time. 

Read more about WordPress template structure in this article. 

Fetching Dynamic Content in Elementor

Dynamic content is available as part of Elementor’s functionality in its Pro version. You can use it in Theme Builder to create templates or build pages with Elementor. 

For templates, the page builder provides a set of Theme Elements widgets to fetch authors, post comments, logos, etc. 

There is also a set of similar widgets for creating WooCommerce templates. 

To create a template, go to Dashboard > Theme Builder, choose the type of template you want to create, and click “Add New.” There are page, post, archives, header, and footer template types available. If WooCommerce is activated on your site, you will see more template types. 

Also, you can add Display Conditions for the created template to assign it to specific custom post types, particular posts or pages, or those belonging to certain categories, tags, or by certain authors. 

This is how to create a simple post template using only Theme Elements widgets:

However, many of these elements can be replaced by other widgets in combination with dynamic tags. 

Elementor dynamic tag

Dynamic tag is the feature for adding dynamic content using various widgets, so not only theme elements, such as Post Title, Post Content, etc., can pull data from chosen sources. Another great advantage of the dynamic tag feature is that it’s available not only for templates but all pages. 

If you see a small database icon in the corner of the content field in the editor, it means that this widget supports dynamic tags. Note that it can also be available in the Style tab, for example, to fetch a container background or color dynamically. 

Dynamic tags add a lot of flexibility to the design process, as you can populate complex widgets with dynamic data, such as lists, accordions, tabs, etc. 

Another convenient application of this feature is styling. Often, it’s much easier to add an image as a background of the container than as an Image widget. It gives more control over the sizing; you can combine it with other elements to create hero sections or whatever you want. 

Pulling the element’s color dynamically is very handy and expands designing opportunities. For example, you can assign a certain color to each category and then display them to mark the elements belonging to that category. Check this demo to see how it works: each property here belongs to the categories (Bungalow, Cottage, etc.) with their colors, and they are displayed over the element. 

However, you will need a custom field with a color picker added to these categories to implement such functionality. Speaking of which, it’s time to move to the next section and talk about more advanced tools for adding dynamic content to a WordPress site. 

JetEngine Dynamic Content in Elementor

Elementor’s built-in dynamic tag opens many opportunities but also has many limitations. After all, Elementor is a page builder, not a dynamic content or CPT plugin. However, a proper, highly dynamic website cannot be imagined without custom posts, fields, and the additional tools it entails. So, it’s definitely time to mention JetEngine and the extended functionality it offers. 

Well, it’s important to say that JetEngine is a plugin for creating and manipulating custom post types and fields and is honed even for the most complex use cases of dynamic content. Its ability to add dynamic content to Elementor is just an additional feature here. Above, I’ve mentioned that the color can be fetched dynamically from the custom field, so it’s just one of the simplest cases of using JetEngine’s set of tools.

But let’s get back to dynamic tags. With JetEngine, this functionality can work even with free Elementor, plus it connects all the Crocoblock plugins where possible. For example, you can use data from JetBooking or JetReviews in one of JetEngine’s listing grids.

JetEngine adds dynamic tags to Elementor widgets with additional settings, such as Context, to make it even more flexible to display relations if they exist or particular users (author, queried, current one):

But this is just the beginning because JetEngine also has a set of dynamic widgets that offer many more settings for the greatest possible flexibility:

Dynamic Field is the most frequently used out there because it can fetch basically anything, but the coolest part here is the long list of callbacks that transform the retrieved dynamic data and format it the way you want; just go to the Filter field output tab.

For example, you have a text field with a price, so you want to turn it into a number format – there’s a callback for it. Or you want to change a date format, make the URL clickable, get a file link by ID, execute a shortcode, and so on. Each of the callbacks has contextual settings. For example, set a date format, decimal points, format images, etc. Plus, you can manipulate the fetched dynamic field with the help of HTML in the “Field format” tab or just add some texts or links before and after the object. 

The video below is a simple demonstration of pulling an image gallery with the help of the Dynamic Field widget and changing the output using callbacks. (There’s a dedicated Dynamic Image widget with more image-specific functionality, but here, I wanted to demonstrate how images can be retrieved even with this tool). First, it shows the ID of the gallery, but when choosing the “Get image by ID” callback, it turns it into an image (the first image in the gallery). And, as it’s a meta field containing a gallery (several images), so I chose the “Images gallery grid” callback to turn it into a proper gallery. Here, I can change grid settings or image sizes and add a lightbox. After that, I can add some text or even a bigger HTML code to wrap the gallery with, let’s say, a border. 

Creating layouts using dynamic tags and dedicated widgets is still just a start because there’s also a Listing Template feature to create advanced dynamic loops. In short, you design a template for a listing item using the tools described above and then display the loop of them using the Listing Grid widget. To choose which posts will be displayed exactly, you can use simple settings right in the Listing Grid widget or create a very advanced query using Query Builder, the unique feature of JetEngine. It allows you not only to set every little detail, pagination, order, filter by any meta field or a combination of them, taxonomies, and authors, but also fetch data directly from the database using SQL query builder. 

Read more about other powerful features of JetEngine and how it can replace 10+ other plugins. 

FAQ

The Bottom Line

Dynamic content and the ability to manipulate it in so many ways make WordPress a really powerful CMS. This functionality is extremely useful for any website type, from simple landing pages to complex big projects. Also, the choice of tools is quite comprehensive: for simple sites, the tools Elementor Pro provides for working with dynamic content may be enough. For more complicated tasks, using custom posts and fields, relations, custom queries, or just more detailed settings to retrieve dynamic data, JetEngine will be a perfect option. 

The post Elementor Dynamic Content Explained  appeared first on Crocoblock.

We live in a rapidly developing world where things are constantly changing and where not everyone has the luxury of spending a whole month setting up website advertising. Advertising plugins for WordPress are important tools for those who want to monetize their website and do it fast. With the right plugin, you can easily manage, optimize, and customize ads. Just like the armory workshop has a collection of tools for a medieval knight, this article is a collection of tools for a modern developer who wants to place advertising on the site.

Table of Contents

• What Features Should WordPress Advertising Plugins Have?
• 5 Advertising Plugins for Self-Hosted Ads
  • JetElements
  • JetPopup
  • PopUp Domination
  • Popup Box
  • Popup Maker
• 4 Advertising Plugins for Ads Management
  • Advanced Ads
  • AdRotate
  • Ad Inserter
  • Ads Pro Plugin
• FAQ
• Conclusion

What Features Should WordPress Advertising Plugins Have?

Especially carefully, you need to analyze what will help you make money from ads, so we will now talk about WordPress advertising plugins. They will be a decisive factor in the site’s development and future well-being. But not everyone gets what factors one should consider when choosing a plugin. On the one hand, you want bright banners that will attract attention; on the other hand, you don’t want to overdo it. You may want to choose different display options or set customization correctly, but not all plugins have this feature. 

In this article, you will discover how to choose the best WordPress advertising plugin and combine its features with your site’s specific advertising needs. We have collected the features by which you can analyze the plugins and understand which one is the best fit for you.

Customization options and display conditions
The plugin must allow you to make exactly the type of ad you want and have a sufficient set of customization features. Furthermore, it should allow you to place the ad wherever you wish, using the advanced display conditions.

Analytics and reporting
After posting the ad, it is important for you to analyze the results; otherwise, the advertising campaign may be ineffective. The chosen plugin should offer enough tracking features, including impression settings and placement conditions.

Ad blocking detection
Many users use extensions that block ads. Unfortunately, this directly affects website monetization. To stay in the clear, the WordPress ad plugin you choose must have a feature to detect the ad blocker.

Support and development
If you want the plugin to work correctly for a long time, then it is better to choose one that has ongoing support from developers.

Responsiveness controls
Imagine for a second when a user visits your site, and then an ad banner pops up, the image on which is displayed incorrectly. How much will this affect the experience? Adaptability to all devices is the first factor to consider.

5 Advertising Plugins for Self-Hosted Ads

JetElements (Premium)

Best for adding dynamic ads.

If you seek a universal tool for placing ads on a WordPress website, then JetElements will do its best. This plugin has 45 widgets and blocks that help create any interactive section, including advertisements. The most important thing is that this plugin requires no coding skills, which is ideal for beginners. The main advantage of JetElements is versatility, covering static and interactive ad banners and other content elements. With the help of a plethora of settings, you can customize the ads to the extent they perfectly match the site’s design.

Nowadays, advertising on a website can be a real challenge. You might require a developer and a good designer to set up ads on your website, but why not find an easier way? The battle for leads is tough, and you need faithful tools, for example, a banner widget for creating banner ads, a countdown timer to show when the promotion will end, a pricing table to show a discount from the regular price, or maybe even an animated box.

Key features:

• 45 widgets and blocks for any purposes;
• integration with other Crocoblock plugins;
• animated box for interactive banner and WOW effect;
• countdown timer to show when the promotion will end;
• pricing table showing regular and reduced prices;
• subscribe and contact form widgets available.

Pricing: $43 per year for one project and $88/year for unlimited.

Pros:

• 30-day money-back guarantee;
• multiple banner sizes available;
• various ads animations available;
• each widget has many settings using which users can customize them to their website’s design;
• easy to use, even for a beginner.

Cons: no free version.

JetPopup (Premium)

Best for placing multiple ads in the pop-up format.

Another masterpiece from Crocoblock is JetPopup, a plugin using which you can not only place a pop-up advertisement, but also customize everything from text to design and then research analytics on the effectiveness of the ad.

Key features:

• pop-up animation variations;
• announcement notifications;
• pre-designed pop-up presets;
• a big variety of opening triggers;
• detailed displaying settings and intervals;
• social media engaging pop-up;
• flexible conditional displaying options with JetEngine’s Conditional Visibility module.

Pricing: from $22 per year.

Pros:

• easy pop-up creation;
• conditional logic for displaying pop-ups;
• customizable pop-up triggers;
• integration with other Crocoblock plugins.

Cons: no free version.

PopUp Domination (Premium)

Best for creating targeted pop-up ads.

Introduced back in 2009, PopUp Domination is one of the most versatile WordPress plugins. It will help you place pop-up ads on your website in just 5 minutes. Thanks to this plugin, you can set up pop-ups that will react to certain actions, for example, when leaving the site, by clicking some page, or because a user spent a certain amount of time on the website. 

Key features:

• variety of pop-up designs;
• advanced targeting capabilities;
• A/B split testing (testing of different pop-ups to optimize conversion rates);
• analytics and reporting;
• email marketing integrations.

Pricing: the price ranges from $54 to $174 per year.

Pros:

• detailed customization of pop-up banners;
• friendly customer service;
• 14-day trial and 60-day money-back guarantee;
• effective targeting;
• responsive design.

Cons: requires a learning curve.

Popup Box (Free)

Best for quickly adding pop-up ads to the website.

Popup Box is a unique plugin for quickly displaying pop-up ads on a WordPress website. You will have access to a huge variety of pop-up ads: subscription, contact form, countdown, download, confirmation of leaving the website, video, etc. All ads are integrated with WooCommerce, and you can also use shortcodes to customize ads.

Thanks to the hard work of developers, Popup Box looks elite and attractive. It is ideal for beginners who do not know how to quickly and effectively create pop-ups. However, if you are an experienced developer, you can write your own code for posting ads.

Key features:

• targeted display options;
• ability to set the banner display time;
• analytics and reporting;
• various pop-up triggers.

Pricing: prices range from $49 to $129 per year.

Pros:

• easy to use even for beginners;
• customizable pop-ups;
• quick plugin setup;
• responsive design.

Cons: too limited free version.

Popup Maker (Freemium)

Best for placing ads with “smart” triggers.

Just like a competent butcher needs a keen knife, a modern developer needs a professional advertising plugin, and PopUp Maker is one of the greatest options available. If you enjoy aggressive advertising, these pop-ups are for you; a plethora of animation features and the flexibility to select design options will keep your clients at all costs.

Key features:

• advanced targeting;
• “smart” triggers;
• pop-ups on form submission;
• easy to use and customize;
• integration with WooCommerce.

Pricing: the plugin can be used for free and purchased for advanced use. The annual cost varies from $87 to $247 per year.

Pros:

• highly customizable;
• developer-friendly features;
• integration with form builders to trigger pop-ups on form submission;
• modern and responsive design.

Cons: the plugin can be on the pricey side.

4 Advertising Plugins for Ads Management

Advanced Ads (Freemium)

Best for adding scheduled ads.

Advanced Ads will allow you to set up ads, customize them, choose a display place, and then analyze the results. The plugin supports all forms of advertising and provides eye-catching design possibilities.

Advanced Ads is a highly regarded WordPress plugin trusted by over 100,000 active users for its comprehensive ad management capabilities. More than 1,300 people have left positive feedback for this plugin, and the overall rating is impressive, which is not surprising because the plugin has been around since 2009.

Key features:

• easy ad management;
• ability to schedule ads;
• detailed customization;
• target ads by user groups.

Pricing: the plugin is available for free, but you can get advanced features in the Pro version for $59 per year.

Pros:

• multiple display options;
• ad blocker bypass;
• geo-targeting for ads;
• scheduling and expiry options;
• sticky and background ads;
• inject HTML, CSS, JavaScript, or PHP code;
• 30-day full refund guarantee.

Cons: requires a learning curve for beginners.

AdRotate (Freemium)

Best for geo-targeting ads.

AdRotate is a simple plugin that allows you to post ads on your website and track their efficiency. With this plugin, you can place Google AdSense ads, Media.net ads, and Amazon Associate tags or design a custom banner and showcase it wherever needed using a shortcode. 

Key features:

• flexible ad management;
• integration with analytics platforms;
• geo-targeting features;
• ad scheduling.

Pricing: free and a pro version costing $39 per year.

Pros:

• easy to use even for beginners;
• multisite support;
• active support from developers;
• an extensive set of features.

Cons: reportedly poor support.

Ad Inserter (Freemium)

Best for analyzing performance after posting ads.

All website owners love to make money, and posting ads on a website is the best way to achieve this, but… is it easy? Analytics, creating a design from scratch, and then a long journey of writing code – altogether, it sounds a little tedious, doesn’t it? Ad Inserter is the ideal solution for the lazy. For starters, the setup will hardly take 10 minutes. Secondly, Ad Inserter’s advanced features, like automatic ad placement, A/B testing, and geo-targeting, have drawn in over 300,000 active users.

Ad Inserter supports all ads, including Google Ad Manager, Amazon Native Shopping Ads, Media.net, Infolinks, and rotating banners. However, you can write the code manually (PHP, HTML, CSS, or JavaScript).

Key features:

• ad rotation and scheduling;
• support for multiple ad types;
• supports Google Ad Manager, Amazon Native Shopping Ads, Media.net, etc.;
• one can write custom code using PHP, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Pricing: the plugin can be used for free and purchased for advanced use. The annual cost is $39, and the LTD is $99.

Pros:

• A/B testing;
• ad impression and click statistics;
• reCaptcha v3 score (hide ads from invalid traffic);
• ad blocking detection;
• AdSense Integration;
• advanced analytics.

Cons: too simple design options.

Ads Pro Plugin (Premium) 

Best for WooCommerce ads.

With Ads Pro Plugin, you can grow into a true website advertising expert. Place ads anywhere convenient for you, customize the banner, or choose one of the available designs to interest the website visitors. Ads Pro Plugin is ideal for WooCommerce and includes ready-made templates for easy advertising placement.

Key features:

• responsive ad display;
• scheduled ads;
• over 25 pre-designed templates are available;
• reports and analytics;
• capping option (show ads only X time per user/session).

Pricing: prices vary from $65 to $200 for six months.

Pros:

• ad block detection;
• customizable design;
• intuitive user panel;
• display options (place the ad wherever you want);
• WooCommerce integration.

Cons: the price of the plugin is too high.

FAQ 

Conclusion

Ads can be the icing on the monetization cake for a dedicated website. The most important part is to correctly select the plugin you need, which you will be able to do by using insights from this article. Below, I have listed the best plugins from my go-to list:

• JetElements — best for adding dynamic ad banners.
• PopUp maker — best for placing ads with “smart” triggers.
• Ays Popup Box — best for quickly adding ads to the website.
• Advanced Ads  — best for adding scheduled ads.
• Ads Pro Plugin — best for WooCommerce ads.

Which one suits you best? Share your opinion in the comments!

The post 9 Best WordPress Advertising Plugins (2024) appeared first on Crocoblock.

Anyone can use SureTriggers, including eCommerce entrepreneurs, digital marketers, freelancers, and web developers.

In this review, we’ll present a comprehensive overview of the functionality, user experience, customization options, and overall business impact of SureTriggers.

Table of Contents 

• How SureTriggers Works
• Who Is SureTriggers For?
• Key Features and Functionality
• Pricing and Value for Money
• Conclusion

How SureTriggers Works

SureTriggers is a cloud-based application hosted on app.suretrigger.com. It has a WordPress plugin that helps you connect your SureTriggers account with your WordPress site and plugins. 

It works on the simple principle of triggers and actions. When a trigger event occurs, it performs an action event.

For example, an action could be to send a WhatsApp message when someone fills out a form or update your stock level spreadsheet when someone purchases an item. 

One set of triggers and actions is called a workflow.

It’s easy to get started with SureTriggers.

Who Is SureTriggers For?

SureTriggers is specifically designed for businesses that want to automate digital workflows.

Most types of businesses can use SureTriggers to automate their work. It’s currently in use in various industries, including the following.

E-commerce store owners

Online stores that use Shopify or WooCommerce can use SureTriggers. It’s useful for passing information about orders, managing inventory, and nurturing customers.

For example:

• Adding new customers into CRM/email marketing tools as they create accounts.
• Send order confirmation messages to customers via WhatsApp.
• Automatically adding order details to Google Sheets for analysis.

You can do a lot more by choosing the right triggers and actions for the apps you want to connect.

Digital marketing professionals

Digital marketers can automate workflows like:

• Automatically sharing new blogs on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
• Add leads collected from contact forms into CRM applications.
• Generate social media post ideas with AI and store them in Google Sheets.

Educational content providers

Online course creators and LMS websites can use SureTriggers to automate student enrollment, course material distribution, and tracking of student progress.

SureTriggers integrates with popular LMS plugins, including LearnDash, TutorLMS, LifterLMS, and others.

Some workflow examples are as follows:

• Enrolling students into a specific course on your LMS platform.
• Sending congratulatory messages upon course completion or passing tests.
• Adding tags to contact in CRM tools when students complete a specific lesson or course.

HR and administrative teams

Human resources teams can easily connect the apps they use daily to automate repetitive tasks.

Employee onboarding, scheduling, internal communication, and so much more can all be automated with SureTriggers. 

Here are some examples:

• Automate employee milestones (work anniversaries, achievements, etc.) on internal communication platforms.
• Send and sign e-contracts when employees accept job offers.
• Set up reminders for managers and employees when it’s time for performance reviews.
• Automate the distribution of employee surveys for feedback on company policies, work environment, or team collaboration.

Those examples are just a glimpse of how SureTriggers can automate time-consuming tasks. We’re sure you can think of many more.

Key Features and Functionality 

SureTriggers offers a suite of features to enhance and simplify the user experience.

Visual automation builder

SureTriggers has a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface that makes it easy to create automations. 

All you need to do is tell SureTriggers what app you want to use, set a trigger, and configure the actions. You can do all those things in the automation builder.

You can zoom in and out, duplicate steps from one workflow to another, and create automations however you like.

If you have used a drag-and-drop page builder before, you’ll feel right at home with SureTriggers.

Integration with WordPress plugins and web apps

SureTriggers integrates with the most popular WordPress plugins, WooCommerce, Elementor Pro, and several JetPlugins: 

• Check out the JetEngine integration.
• Check out the JetFormBuilder integration. 

You can also connect with popular apps like Google Sheets, Gmail, Notion, Slack, and more.

Automate without leaving the WordPress admin area

If you mostly work with WordPress, you can use SureTriggers from the admin dashboard. You can perform the most common tasks within the dashboard, saving even more time.

SureTriggers is hosted on cloud servers and doesn’t affect site speed in any way.

Advanced features: delay, schedule, branches, filters, and formatter

If you need to create more complex automations, SureTriggers can help. It has advanced features that allow you to develop efficient multi-step workflows.

You can also use conditions such as:

• Delay: Introduces time gaps or pauses in automated sequences for controlled timing.
• Schedule: Set specific times for automated actions for timed events.
• Branches: Create conditional pathways, enabling different outcomes based on specific criteria.
• Filters: Sort and select data based on specified criteria for targeted actions.
• Formatter: Modify data formats to ensure desired presentation and consistency.

Trigger button: one of the most useful features

The trigger button starts workflows with a single click. The button can be linked to anything and perform all kinds of actions.

For example, when customers click to sign up, SureTriggers will fetch their information and pass it to any application you set. It could enroll them in a course and automatically send a welcome message or email once someone signs up for a newsletter.

Learn more about the trigger button.

SureTriggers provides a straightforward dashboard, robust app integrations, easy-to-create automations, advanced branching, and effective management of existing automations.

It is nearly everything the modern business needs to automate repetitive tasks.

Multi-step workflows and data mapping

With multi-step workflow functionality, you can implement complex automation sequences across multiple platforms. 

For instance, a form submission on a website can trigger a series of actions, like adding the user to a CRM and sending login details via email or WhatsApp.

SureTriggers also has a data mapping feature that lets you specify how data moves from one app to another. This allows you to handle both static and dynamic data very efficiently. 

Pricing and Value for Money

You can get started with SureTriggers for free. This gives you a taste of its potential without committing to anything.

SureTriggers also offers premium plans. These plans are tailored to handle more automations, more complex workflows, and larger projects. 

Pricing is very competitive compared to other automation tools like Zapier or AutomatorWP.

Considering the wide range of integrations, advanced features like multi-step workflows, and flexibility, you’ll quickly see its value.

Conclusion

SureTriggers is an impressive, robust automation tool for WordPress. It blends extensive integration options, a user-friendly interface, and a flexible pricing structure. 

Whether you’re looking to automate simple tasks or more complex workflows, SureTriggers makes it easy. Is it really a Zapier alternative? You have to try and see for yourself.

It seems it has a bright future in the ever-evolving world of WordPress automation. As digital complexity and user demands rise, automation tools like SureTriggers will become even more important.

The post SureTriggers Review: The Best Zapier Alternative for WordPress? appeared first on Crocoblock.

For example, a search filter on a blog could allow users to filter search results by category, tag, or date to find articles more relevant to their interests. On an eCommerce site, a search filter could help users find products based on criteria such as price range, brand, or product type.

Search filters can improve the user experience by making it easier for users to find the content they’re looking for, reducing frustration and increasing engagement with the website.

Table of Contents

• Cases for Using a Search Filter on Different Website Types
• Effective WordPress Website with JetSmartFilters
• JetSearch with Custom Search Suggestions
• Other Useful Resources
• FAQ
• Bottom Line

Cases for Using a Search Filter on Different Website Types

It’s clear that a search filter is crucial, but let’s delve into specific use cases for particular website types to understand its importance even better and talk about the best combinations with other filter types. 

E-commerce websites

1. Allowing users to search for products within specific categories, such as clothing, electronics, or home goods.
2. Search by keywords, which is more about the keywords in the product name and description, to search for phrases, e.g., “blue dress” or “wireless headphones.”
3. Selecting specific product attributes so users can refine their search based on specific product attributes, such as size, color, or material. This can be implemented using a Search filter, but a Select filter might be a better option. 
4. Faceted search is the best solution for eCommerce websites with a lot of various goods, as it allows for the quick narrowing down of search results by applying filters based on different attributes or facets of the content.

Real estate websites

1. Search for properties based on their type, such as houses, apartments, or commercial properties.
2. Search by location, such as city, neighborhood, or ZIP code.
3. Search by keywords in the description and attributes to search for properties using keywords related to their search, such as “3-bedroom house” or “waterfront property.”

Job board websites

1. Search for jobs based on specific job titles or keywords related to the particular position.
2. Select the preferable location based on the user’s location. 
3. Search for jobs based on specific company names or keywords related to certain employers.

Content-rich blogs

1. Keyword-based search, so users can find blog posts using keywords related to their interests, such as “technology trends” or “travel tips.”
2. Search for blog posts written by specific authors or contributors.
3. Readers can search for blog posts within specific categories, such as “technology” or “food.”

Other website types that definitely need filters:

• Directory/listing websites;
• Event calendars;
• Booking and appointment websites, etc. 

In each of these use cases, search filters help users find relevant content or information more quickly and efficiently, enhancing the overall user experience of the WordPress site.

Effective WordPress Website with JetSmartFilters 

As we can see from the previous section, the most effective results and user experience are possible with the combination of various filters, so a comprehensive solution such as JetSmartFilters is the best option, working with Gutenberg, Bricks, and Elementor.

As you can see in this video, there are a lot of options and settings this plugin can offer:

The search filter field is great for more refined results when searching within particular categories or meta fields. 

You can easily specify these query variables here:

This is the comprehensive guide on how to add these query variables, be it only one or multiple, and set as many search filters as you need. Note that the plugin demonstration is made for Elementor here, but it works equally well with Block Editor or Bricks. 

JetSearch with Custom Search Suggestions

For the most effective user experience, consider using both JetSmartFilters and JetSearch. The latter is great for more general searches, e.g., to be placed on the main page. It has a lot of settings to fine-tune the search. 

This plugin also has a Search Suggestion feature, so you can guide your clients to the products or categories you want to promote or just help them get the best results. 

If you want to add the power of AI to your search, you can use a free experimental add-on from the Crocoblock team to improve the search quality. Read all the details and advantages in this article. 

Other Useful Resources

Human-readable URLs for filters
By default, after applying filters, you will see a bunch of symbols in the URL field. But why not make these links much more user-friendly so the clients can easily copy and share them with friends or bookmark, understanding what this link is about? 

Watch this detailed video guide to learn how to implement it. 

See the result count immediately 
Enjoy the advantages of the Indexer feature to see the number of results related to a certain filter, like this:

Tips and tricks on redirecting to predefined results or pages
Showing users a predefined and already filtered set of results is a great way to showcase products in certain situations.

Read about several variations of it on this page.

FAQ

Bottom Line

In this article, we went through some practical ideas on how search and other filters can be implemented on WordPress websites. Search filter is an absolutely necessary element for almost any website, unless it’s very small, especially if we are talking about eCommerce or Directory sites.

With JetSmartFilters and JetSearch, you can implement a powerful AJAX search engine on your website with a lot of flexible settings and a space for optimizing the clients’ experience.

The post Search Filters in WordPress: Use Cases and Tools appeared first on Crocoblock.

In this article, we’ll walk through some of the best plugins out there, showing you how they can make your life easier. Whether you’re a developer looking to streamline your workflow or a website owner wanting to make your content organized properly, these plugins have got you covered.

Table of Contents

• How to Choose a Good Custom Post Type Plugin?
• Top 5 WordPress Plugins for Custom Post Types
  • JetEngine
  • Advanced Custom Fields
  • Pods
  • Meta Box
  • Custom Post Type UI
• FAQ
• Takeaway

How to Choose a Good Custom Post Type Plugin?

Powerful plugins for working with custom post types (CPT) not only help to create them but also offer the functionality to build a dynamic website structure and fetch content in the most flexible way. 

Here is my list of some features a good CPT plugin should have: 

1. Flexible post type creation. The plugin should allow you to easily create and manage custom post types with advanced features, such as managing labels, capabilities, icons, etc. 
2. Custom fields. It should offer support for custom fields, allowing you to add additional data to your custom post types beyond the standard post content.
3. Taxonomy support. The plugin should support custom taxonomies, allowing you to organize your custom post types into categories and tags.
4. Template support. It should allow you to define custom templates or tools for creating them for your custom post types, giving you control over the layout and design of your content.
5. Conditional logic. Support for conditional logic, allowing you to show or hide fields based on certain conditions, is very important.
6. Access control. A good CPT plugin should provide options for controlling who can access and manage your custom post types, including support for roles and capabilities.
7. SEO optimization. Look for a plugin that offers features for optimizing your custom post types for search engines, such as custom meta tags and schema markup support.
8. Performance optimization. The plugin should be lightweight and optimized for performance, ensuring it doesn’t slow down your website.
9. Export/import functionality. This feature allows you to easily move your custom post types and associated data between different WordPress installations.
10. Support and updates. Choose a plugin that is well-supported and regularly updated to ensure compatibility with the latest version of WordPress and address any security or performance issues.
11. Documentation and tutorials. Look for a plugin that offers comprehensive documentation and tutorials to help you make the most of its features.
12. Active community. A plugin with an active community of users and developers is more likely to be reliable and well-maintained over time.

Not all the plugins from the list below have all these features; however, it’s up to you to choose what is required for each particular project. 

Top 5 WordPress Plugins for Custom Post Types

JetEngine (Premium)

Best for highly dynamic sites with complex structures.

JetEngine is a powerful plugin able to replace a dozen other plugins and serves not only for creating and manipulating CPTs and taxonomies but also for seamless and advanced query building, creating membership websites, content loops, data stores, option pages, working with REST API, and much more. 

Key features: 

• over 15 modules that can be deactivated if you don’t use them to boost website performance;
• a powerful Query Builder tool for generating even the most complex queries without coding;
• seamless integration with other Crocoblock plugins to power up their functionality;
• works with Block Editor, Elementor, and Bricks, supports Twig for listing template creation, and is fully compatible with ACF, Pods, CPT UI, WPML, and many other plugins.

Pricing: $43 per year for one website and $88 per year for unlimited websites. LTD is available. 

Pros: 

• extremely feature-rich plugin offering a complete set of tools for working with CPTs and dynamic content;
• has unique features such as CCT, Query Builder, as well as a full-fledged REST API module;
• options pages, relations, meta boxes, profile builder, glossaries, and other powerful tools; 
• listing templates for displaying content loops that can be not only grids and lists but also calendars, maps, tables, charts, carousels, etc;
• no coding skills are required;
• user-friendly UI and great support.

Cons: it may have a learning curve.

Advanced Custom Fields (Freemium)

Best for developers who prefer to deal with code.

Advanced Custom Fields is one of the most popular WordPress plugins for adding meta fields and CPTs due to its long history. After the recent acquisition by WP Engine, it got a UI redesign and some features added, such as CPT functionality (before that, a separate plugin was required for it, while it worked only with meta fields). 

Key features: 

• tools for creating and managing CPTs and meta field groups;
• a straightforward UI for creating field groups and CPTs;
• options pages, Block Builder frameworks, and Flexible Content Field in Pro.

Pricing: free (limited); $49/year for one site.

Pros: 

• a great tool for building Gutenberg blocks (in Pro);
• posts and fields can be exported or imported to PHP or JSON to be used without the plugin;
• easy-to-use and straightforward interface;
• the plugin has a free version. 

Cons: 

• to add fields to templates, you will need to either code it manually or use Pro Builders;
• no advanced features such as relationship builder or loop builder;
• has a learning curve.

Pods (Free)

Best for developers who need a free tool for more complex tasks.

Pods is a framework for dealing with custom post types and taxonomies. It’s feature-rich and completely free, with a very long history, which can even beat ACF and offers a range of tools, from CPT/taxonomies creation to even managing user roles. 

Key features: 

• GUI for creating and managing CPTs, taxonomies, and fields;
• functionality for building templates or inserting pods/fields into existing ones using shortcodes;
• a variety of components for building relationships, user roles, etc., and integrations with third-party tools. 

Pricing: free. The premium SKCDEV add-on pack is $49/year per site. 

Pros: 

• a feature-rich plugin;
• it has Advanced Content Type functionality to store records in one table for better performance;
• Advanced Relationship feature where even DB tables or multisite objects can be linked;
• a variety of components, add-ons, and third-party integrations.

Cons: 

• displaying pods and field groups on the front end can be challenging;
• the plugin is supported by a community of volunteers, so the documentation and UI are quite messy and not beginner-friendly;
• not a big variety of custom field types.

Meta Box (Freemium)

Best for seasoned developers.

Meta Box plugin is a tool packed with features for dealing with CPTs, fields, taxonomies, and creating highly dynamic websites. For proper work, you will need a Pro version because the free one is very limited. 

Also, in spite of the developers’ claims that it’s beginner-friendly and doesn’t require coding skills, I highly doubt that. This plugin’s advantages and potential can be fully appreciated only by experienced WordPress developers with coding skills. 

Key features: 

• 20 extensions in the Pro bundle (note that some of them do a tiny job, and some are very powerful);
• Twig support and integration with Elementor, Beaver Builder, and FacetWP;
• MB Blocks component for creating Block Editor blocks. 

Pricing: free (very limited); Pro starts at $99 a year for up to three sites or $299 LTD. 

Pros: 

• many cool features, such as MB Custom Table (a dedicated DB table for CPT) or MB Blocks;
• it’s lightweight;
• modular system, so unused extensions can be deactivated;
• you can export CPT PHP code and use it without a plugin. 

Cons: 

• a steep learning curve;
• meta fields are organized on the back end, which limits the flexibility when it comes to fetching them on the front end.

Custom Post Type UI (Free)

Best for simple tasks and websites.

Custom Post Type UI is a full-featured free CPT and taxonomy plugin with a simple and intuitive console interface. The CPT UI plugin provides advanced functionality for labeling post types, adds arbitrary types to built-in or manually created custom post types, imports custom posts, thumbnails, and quotes, and exports CPTs. 

This plugin gained popularity because it was used in tandem with ACF when it didn’t have CPT editing functionality. 

Key features: 

• easy CPT, taxonomy, and code generation;
• simple UI. 

Pricing: free; the Custom Post Type UI Extended is available for displaying a loop of CPTs, starting at $29/year per site. 

Pros: 

• simple and lightweight free plugin for simple tasks;
• you can get a PHP code generated to use without the plugin;
• the import/export feature for migrating CPTs between websites. 

Cons: no functionality for adding custom (meta) fields – that’s why it used to work together with ACF.

FAQ

Takeaway

WordPress custom post type plugins simplify website development for users of all experience levels. These plugins enable you to categorize custom post types using custom taxonomies and customize posts to your liking, often without requiring any coding skills.

The introduction of custom post types has expanded WordPress beyond simple blogs to encompass complex eCommerce sites and marketplaces. These custom post types can be applied to various types of websites to create projects of any complexity. The possibilities are endless, as custom post types enhance a site’s SEO-friendliness and visibility to search engines like Google.

Custom post type plugins come in various forms, including free and premium versions, catering to beginners and advanced users alike. Whether you’re a coding enthusiast or new to programming, there’s a plugin to suit your needs.

The post 5 Best WordPress Custom Post Type Plugins  appeared first on Crocoblock.