wordpress plugins – Forward Web

5 Reasons Why You Should Use WordPress for Your Website

Posted on May 23, 2016 by Forward_Web

Which content management system (CMS) are you currently using? Did you know that WordPress is the most popular content management system in the world? That’s right, WordPress is responsible for over 50% of the sites that use CMS on the internet! Therefore, if you are not already using this content management system, continue reading because Forward Web provides 5 reasons why you should use WordPress for you website in this featured article:

Reason #1: WordPress is Easy to Use

It never fails; when someone uses WordPress for the first time, they immediately become amazed when they realize how easy it is to use and how straightforward their new administration will be. It is unbelievable how easy it is to publish articles and change content. Due to it’s popularity, many people have become very experienced using it and therefore, it is much simpler and faster to train new employees or editors when they join your company.

Reason #2: WordPress is Open Source

Being open source means that no one owns it, which means that no one is obligated to support it. There was a point when this fact used to be a big disadvantage for WordPress but now, this has become its greatest strength.

What’s the big deal about that? Well, this means there are thousands of WordPress developers all around the world that dedicate themselves to working day and night in order to improve the system. And the best part of this is that none of what they do costs YOU a penny! This includes free security and feature updates every quarter. Does your content management system do that? The community of WordPress developers continue to improve it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and that is hard to beat!

Reason #3: WordPress has Numerous Plugins

The WordPress developers have created many extensions due to it’s popularity (which are referred to as “plugins”). These “plugins” are pieces of code (oftentimes free) that are created with the purpose of extending the core functionality of your website and help your developer save time, and of course, that means more money in your pocket!

Reason #4: WordPress Makes SEO Simple

When WordPress was first created, it began as a blogging platform and it eventually evolved into a powerful content management system which is capable of so much more than just blogging. In fact, one of the reasons that WordPress became so famous and is now loved by bloggers and marketers alike is it’s highly effective search engine optimization (SEO) features, which are integrated into the core of the CMS. Good SEO optimization is priceless!

Reason #5: WordPress Suppliers are Not a Problem!

WordPress allows you to have access to a nearly unlimited group of developers. You will never be locked down to a particular provider again and you will never have to go through those nasty “hostage” situations where your website is developed on a unique, arranged system that will not allow you to move it to a new provider.

There are so many reasons why we love WordPress, and the reasons we discussed in this article are some of our favorites. We hope that you found this information helpful and inspiring and if you don’t already use WordPress as your content management system, perhaps now you will give it a try. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or would like further information about WordPress or our web development services, Forward Web is always happy to be of assistance!

Recommended Security Plugins for Your WordPress Website

Posted on March 20, 2016 by Forward_Web

Most of the time we do not worry about the security of our WordPress website until it is too late but it is important to remember that your website is your piece of valuable property in the Internet and therefore, you want to ensure that it is safe from intruders, thieves or hackers.

Although some believe that the WordPress software is not secure, it is actually quite the opposite. WordPress is built with a solid and secure framework, but that does not mean that it is impossible for hackers to sneak their way into your website. Breaches to WordPress may occur due to weak user passwords, not keeping the software up to date and vulnerabilities in plugins or themes.

Forward Web encourages you to be proactive when it comes to your security and we highly believe that investing a small amount of time planning and preparing ahead can reduce the risk of your website being hacked. With that being said, we recommended the following security plugins for your WordPress website:

All in One WPSecurity & Firewall

All in One WP Security & Firewall is great and one of the features we really like about it is the meter on your dashboard that gives your site a score of how secure it is. You can increase your score by adding additional security options.

BruteProtect

A common way that hackers try to gain access to your site is through something called a Brute Force Attack. It is possible for a hacker to gain access to your site the passwords are weak because in a brute force attack, bots are sent to your site to try different combinations of usernames and passwords (over and over again) and because it is a computer running the attack, it can try countless combinations in a short period of time.

Brute force attacks can cause issues on your site even if you have created a solid password. Due to the numerous attempts the bots try to log in, the server can overload and can cause your website to go offline. To protect your site and prevent this from happening, BruteForce works by identifying these bots and blocks them from your site. If somebody tries to log in to your website and fails too many times, their IP address is restricted from your site.

Additionally, once BruteForce has identified the IP Addresses of the bots, it keeps track of them in a network. This is a great feature because if a bot tries a brute force attack on one website on the BruteProtected network, all websites on the network will block that IP address!

iThemes Security

Overall, iThemes Security is the best security plugin you can find! That’s because it’s powerful but yet super user friendly. This plugin not only hardens the security but it will also fix many issues that leave WordPress sites vulnerable which includes: scanning your site for any vulnerabilities, hide the login and admin pages, make regular backups of your database and remove information hackers use to gain access to your site.

Another great feature of this plugin is the checklist of action items presented on the dashboard. These action items are listed from most important to least and you can click each item which will take you to a page where you can enable that security option. If you are a more experienced WordPress user, there are also a number of advance options available.

Google Authenticator

Even if you create the strongest password possible, hackers have several methods they can use to find your password and gain access to your website. Using the 2-factor authentication to log into your site is a great tool. This can be set up very easily using the Google Authenticator plugin.

With Google Authenticator you still have your username and password to log into your site but your login form will also ask you for your Google Authenticator code. If you have a smartphone, there is a Google Authenticator app available which is very simple to use. It cycles through a sequence of numbers and when you need to log into your site, you open the app and enter the numbers shown.

This additional security measure is terrific and makes it nearly impossible for a hacker to get your Google Authenticator code even if they do happen to gain access to your username and password.

Sucuri Security

Sucuri Inc. is well known as one of the top experts in website security. Not only do they offer premium services but they also offer this free security plugin that comes with some really great security features! One of the features scans your core WordPress files for any abnormalities and if it finds anything, you can quickly restore a copy of the file back to how it is supposed to be.

The Securi plugin also tracks all activity on your site including changes made to your site or when users log in. If there is a breach in security you will be able to review the activity logs and find out what happened. Sucuri even scans blacklist monitoring sites to see if they flag your website for security issues. Security issues is an indication of possible malware on your website.

Another great feature this plugin offers is a section of suggested actions that you can take to harden your site’s security. These actions are simple yet effective and can be completed with just a click of a button.

Well, there you have it, there is no reason why your website should be unprotected. You literally have amazing security options at your fingertips! It really is just a matter of investing a little time to prepare ahead and avoid the risk of your website being hacked. Please feel free to contact Forward Web if you have any questions or for any of your website needs!

Three WordPress Plugins to Improve Performance

Posted on December 30, 2015 by Forward_Web

Sometimes (often) here at Forward Web we come across WordPress websites that are slow/bloated and although there are many things that can be done to improve the performance of a WordPress website (sometimes at the server level). Here are some basic plugins you can install (as a beginner) that will help improve the performance of your WordPress website.

Use Google Libraries

Use Google Libraries is a simple, easy to use plugin that allows your WordPress site to use the content distribution network side of Google’s AJAX Library API, rather than serving the files from your WordPress install directly.

To use the Google Libraries Plugin all you need to do is install the plugin and you are done.

Here are some of the potential performance benefits from installing the Use Google Libraries Plugin:

increases the chance that a user already has these files cached
takes load off your server
uses compressed versions of the libraries (where available)
Google’s servers are set up to negotiate HTTP compression with the requesting browser

Download Google Libraries Here: https://wordpress.org/support/view/plugin-reviews/use-google-libraries

WP-Optimize

Keeping your database clean and optimized will naturally help increase the speed of your WordPress website. Simple but effective plugin WP-Optimize allows you to extensively clean your WordPress database and optimize it without doing manual queries (usually done via PHPmyAdmin). In addition, WP-Optimize allows you to easily disable comments and trackbacks for all previously published posts and pages (which usually generate spam and can slow down your website).

Although Database cleanups are usually for the more advanced users, WP-Optimize allows the beginner/novice user to easily clean and maintain your WordPress database (like always, just make sure you back-up your database before performing your first clean-up).

Download WP-Optimize Here: https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-optimize/

WP Fastest Cache

WP Fastest Cache creates static html files from your dynamic WordPress website. This process helps save your website from consuming Ram (memory) and CPU which in turn, speeds up your WordPress website. Although WP Fastest Cache has a Free and Paid version, the Free Version will do plenty (in regards to speeding up you WordPress website).

Since establishing Caching systems are for more advanced users, here are some of the most general settings you can enable within the WP Fastest Cache that will speed up your website.

Download WP Fastest Cache Here: https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-fastest-cache/