WordPress Issues

WordPress issues that come up unexpectedly are not difficult to solve but can be time-consuming for a new webmaster.  WordPress is a wonderful and creative program for today’s website requirements.  Is WordPress seamless?  NO, WordPress is not seamless.  Actually, wordpress is quite difficult because everything from logging on to the conclusion of logging off requires you to be watchful. 

I started using WordPress in January, 2018 and it did not take me long to discover WordPress issues.  I check all plugins and widgets to be sure they are preforming properly on my mobile phone.  As a new WordPress user I found many obstacles not addressed on YouTube or on the online forums.  Most of the WordPress issues are quite small but takes time to find the correct solution to the problem.

Check all your plugins and widgets to be sure they are preforming properly on your mobile phone.   The site appears good on the desktop but remember on mobile devices the sidebars usually drop under the main content.  If you have too many links on the sidebars the reader probably will not have the patience to scroll down through the footers on the page.  

WordPress Issues-Part 1

Log in

Be sure that your password is computer generated.  The hackers are very vigilant at finding new sites and immediately go to work attempting to steal your password.  The wordpress logon is there for everyone to see.  Be sure to use the Wordfence plugin for security.  Wordfence is free but if you have the budget you may want to upgrade to premium.  Webmasters put all their time and effort into a site and then thief-scum desire to steal all your work.  Cleaning a site take effort and can be expensive.

Google Verification

There is a choice of plugins that work for Google verification.  I use the “Insert Headers and Footers” plugin.  The plugin seems to function the best of all of them.  If the plug in does not work properly then you will see the code visible at the very top of the website.  Additionally,  the desktop may not show the code but check the mobile phone to be sure the code does not appear on the web page.

If you encounter this WordPress issue return to the verification plugin and click on returning to default.  Delete the plugin.  

PlugIn

Plugins improve the function of the site.  For example, add more fonts or text sizes, add animation or video, insert headers and footer codes, redirect pages are just a few examples. Plugins are very useful.   The WordPress issue with plugins needs to be checked to be sure it funstions with your theme. 

For example, on my first WordPress website I install and activate a WordPress site backup plugin.  When I clicked on the plugin, the computer screen turned white with one small box in the middle of the screen that read “upload”.  There was no exit “X” on the top right of the screen.  I try turning the computer off and on but the same WP screen appears. 

Hopelessly stuck,  I requested support help from my website hosting.  The website hosting, Superior-host, support will always help if in their scope of hosting.  Very important to have a web hosting company that will help and especially provide backups for your site.  

Themes

There are a multitude of WP themes available for free and for a small fee.  Take overview of your site structure.  Do you need one or two sidebars?  Do you need footers?   Test out a few themes.  Some themes are beautiful but will not allow header or header menu changes.  Remember that two sidebars make the mobile version of the site cumbersome to scroll through-many reader will just click off to their next query.

Here is an example of the dangers of switching themes and inheriting another WordPress issue:  My website needed to sidebars and I scoured through WordPress themes to find a functional theme.  I uploaded and activated the theme.  Most of the web site content transferred over to the new theme beautifully.  A few days later, I checked the site on my mobile phone and all the links are invisible.  The page had a blank space where the link is located.  Of course, I had to return to the dashboard and changed the color of the links to work with the mobile phone.  When changing theme check the mobile site immediately.

Users check in Dashboard

The users page if the administration screen should be checked daily.  One of my new websites was hacked.  I found the hacker added his name and email address to my users page.  Now I check my users page daily.

StatCounter   

SStatCounter is a free quality stats program. I do pay a small annual fee because StatCounter helps me review stats like never before.   I use the program to guage what search engines people use to click on my websites.  Statcounter changed how I measure stats.  I decided to create wordpress site and convert my MS Frontpage site to WordPress.  Statcounter shows the percentage of mobile clicks compared to desktop clicks.  What good does a non-responsive website do if 40% or 50% are mobile users who cannot read the webpages.  HTML webpages consist of very tiny fonts-difficult to read and difficult to click on links.

In retrospect, I should have gone directly to WordPress instead of attempting to make MS Frontpage responsive as possible.  My old html website had over 100 pages that needs re-typing.  That is a lot of work-I am still in that process.  Worth it because users need to read the pages not click off.

In conclusion, this web page is only part 1.  As I continue to use WordPress, I know there will be a part 2,3 or 4.  Is WordPress worth the work for learning a new program?  Absolutely!  Happy Days creating new websites, webmasters.