6 WordPress Download Manager Plugins Compared

Do you want to edit and control file downloads in WordPress Website? Perhaps you would like to keep a record of how many times a file is downloaded. Or maybe you want to protect content so only registered users or clients can access it.

In this article, we’ll analyze some of the best WordPress download manager plugins to track and manage file downloads.

What to Look For in a Download Manager Plugin

There are various different reasons why you want to use a WordPress download manager plugin. You may need to do all of the following:

  • Lock a file so only listed users with a specific role can access it
  • Lock a file so only paying clients can access it
  • Rearrange and tag files in WordPress
  • Prevent spammers from repeatedly downloading your files
  • Track how many times a particular file is downloaded
  • Track how many times a group of files is downloaded
  • Provide downloadable data as part of a more general product.

It’s difficult to find a single plugin that can do everything above, but depending on the usage case, you may not need all these settings.

We’ve picked the most useful WordPress download manager plugins to cover all the various summaries and use-cases.

1. MemberPress


MemberPress
 is the most beneficial WordPress membership plugin on the market. It lets you quickly sell digital downloads. You can also use it to sell subscriptions, secure content on your site so that only members can access it, and many more.

The MemberPress Downloads addon gives you advanced download control capabilities. It lets you upload many files, tag or categorize them, and record them using a shortcode.

You can use MemberPress to protect files as well as posts & pages. You can secure files so that only users with the right level of access can view them.

One great feature is that you can protect files by category and tag, too. You can set up a rule to protect all files that you’ve assigned to a specific category or tag. This makes it easy to restrict files based on the user’s subscription level.

You can also list your files by their category and tag, using MemberPress’ shortcodes system. If you’re offering a lot of different downloads, then this makes it really easy to organize them for your users.

MemberPress gives you plenty of flexibility, too. It even integrates with email marketing services like Constant Contact, ConvertKit, and AWeber.

2. LearnDash


LearnDash
 is a very popular LMS (learning management system) plugin for WordPress. It’s easy to use and comes with many powerful features.

LearnDash lets you charge a one-time fee for your product or set up a recurring subscription. You can easily insert video and audio files into your course, making it a great way to sell these types of files.

Aside from using LearnDash to lock the content on your site, you can use it to accept payments, create online courses, make assignments and quizzes, and more. There are also dynamic forums built into LearnDash where your users can interact with one another.

LearnDash works well on its own for taking payments and offering protected content. You can also integrate it with several of the other tools on this list, including MemberPress, WordPress Download Manager, and WooCommerce.

3. MonsterInsights


MonsterInsights, the beneficial Google Analytics plugin for WordPress. It’s the best choice if you want to track which files on your site are being downloaded the most. This is necessary if you offer a lot of free downloads and need to know which ones are proving popular with your users.

You can choose which types of files to track, such as images, zip files, PDFs, and so on.

You can also label your different files so MonsterInsights can show which categories are being downloaded the most. For instance, you could track “Free Reports” separately from “Printable Worksheets” in MonsterInsights.

You can view the file downloads report in your WordPress dashboard along with Monster-Insight’s other user analytics report.

MonsterInsights seamlessly integrates with all the plugins mentioned in this list, and we recommend installing it alongside any file download manager plugin that you use. The free version of MonsterInsights also comes with file tracking, but you can upgrade to the Pro version to unlock other powerful features.

Alternatively, you can use MonsterInsights by itself too. Simply upload your files in the WordPress media library, embed the link to the files anywhere in your posts, pages, menus, etc.

4. WooCommerce


WooCommerce is a famous eCommerce plugin for WordPress. You can use it to sell digitals and physical products.

If you want to sell digital downloads, you can simply designate your download as a product in WooCommerce, so the customer only receives access after paying for it.

You can also use WooCommerce plugins to add more features to your online store. For instance, you can use smart coupons features to run sales and promotions more easily.

It offers many different download methods and types of protection for your files. You can choose which suits your site best. Just like regular WooCommerce products, your downloads can have variations, too.

You can also use WooCommerce to create a product that has both a physical component and downloadable. For instance, you might provide an online video course that comes with a physical workbook.

5. Easy Digital Downloads

As the name suggests, Easy Digital Downloads makes it simple for you to sell digital products on your site. You can also use it to provide and track free downloads.

Your files will be automatically protected by the Easy Digital Downloads plugin. You can track the date and IP address of all purchases and free downloads.

You can restrict how many times a customer can download their files. You can also set the download link to expire after a certain period of time. These are both good ways to prevent customers from sharing their files with others.

You can integrate Easy Digital Downloads with lots of other services, including email marketing services like ConvertKit and AWeber. You can even integrate it with AffiliateWP to create a referral program.

Easy Digital Downloads has a built-in shopping cart system that lets customers buy several digital products at once. You can easily create a customer account page where logged-in customers can see a list of everything they’ve purchased.

6. File Manager


File Manager is a really useful FTP like a file manager. You can use it to edit files through your WordPress dashboard, rather than using FTP to move them between locations.

We always advise using an FTP client or your hosting file manager where possible. However, there may be times when you want to quickly manage files through your WordPress dashboard.

File Manager lets you place your files into the media library, too. It creates thumbnails for all types of image files. It also has search functionality, making it easy to find your files.

With the Pro Edition of File Manager, you can also create private folders. You can set these so specific user roles or even specific users have access.

You can also use the Pro Edition to control what types of files can be uploaded and downloaded. You can even set up email notifications so that you get an email whenever a file is downloaded.

We hope this article guide you to learn about the best download manager plugins for WordPress.

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How WordPress Became The Most Popular CMS

Before WordPress (WP) became the dominant Content Management System (CMS), Drupal and Joomla were the big names. However, WordPress has overtaken the pair and established itself as the leading CMS. It is so huge, it accounts for approximately 55% of the top one million most visited websites run on a CMS platform.

To be honest, its two big competitors are not actually bad. In fact, they are worthy alternatives to WordPress because they are easy to use and their underlying architectures are stable. Therefore, rather than try to prove that WordPress is better, the more pertinent question is: How did WordPress overtake other CMS to become #1?

It fulfilled a need from the beginning

When WordPress started out, it was aimed at content creators. Blogging was the trend because suddenly, everybody wanted to document their lives, offer advice, or simply write to be listened to. Whether by accident or by design, WordPress’ initial focus was getting these content creators on board. Its ultimate success as a blogging platform made it a top CMS because:

  • It was an easy platform to work with: Most people who create content on the internet (marketers and individuals) are not endowed with web development skills. WP separated the underlying technical details from the front allowing content creators to customize their blogs without having to code.
  • It grew with its client base: Once online, people now wanted something more than a blog. WP was on hand to seize this opportunity by providing them with a platform to start websites.

From its inception, WP provided services to fix their client’s problems. Their competitors went the other way and tried to meet users from the other end; they created platforms with a raft of features that users had to discover and realize they needed them. This way, WP grew with its community and they went on knowing that it had their back.

It targeted the less tech-savvy

With this mindset, it was focused more on ease of use by its users. These people were predominantly less tech-savvy and they tended to care more about creating content and selling products. A platform that is easy to use appeals to:

  •  The average skydiver trying to share his experiences with the world
  •  An expert cook intent on sharing her recipes with her audience
  •  An old-fashioned firm trying to establish an online presence with ease

Rather than trying to win the introverted web developers over first, WP was more concerned with the content creators. Each new feature had to be amenable to the non-technical user.

It maintained a vibrant community

As much as WordPress was appealing to folk who can’t code, it was also an attractive platform for developers because:

  • It was easy to extend: People with the technical know-how could tweak different aspects of the websites successfully. They could create something that was bespoke to them.
  • They could easily find clients who wanted to customize their websites even further.
  • Tech websites who chose it as their preferred CMS gave it credibility. When someone who knows their way around web development chooses WP, a budding developer will be inclined to join in.

It became a fertile ground for WordPress developers. As a result, there sprung up a community of users and developers who mutually benefited from each other. They shared knowledge and helped grow WordPress as a CMS.

Flexibility

When WP started wrestling control from other content management solutions, it had the tools to beat them. It was flexible. Different people creating website do so for various reasons. They may want forums, e-commerce platforms, blogs, or landing pages. Through WP developers, there are two ways to achieve extensibility:

  • Plugins: Using these tools, a website can be made into whatever the user wants. While it may not become as powerful (in software terms) as websites purposefully built for these needs, it doesn’t matter. It does not matter whether you are planning to build a health website or a forex trading website, you will find all necessary plugins in both situations.
  • Themes and widgets: There are both default and third-party themes that allow people to customize their website appearance to suit their business models.

Conclusion

WordPress won the fight to become the number one CMS by lowering the technical barrier. Other CMS’s are good enough to act as alternatives but they lost. From its inception, WordPress targeted the right group and grew with them by fulfilling their changing needs. Along the way, other people who were more technically gifted joined in and it became the juggernaut it is today.

The 5 Biggest CMS By Popularity

Content Management Systems (CMS) have made it possible for people to have websites and conduct business online with ease. Now, you can put up your website without coding experience. It is for this reason that CMS tools are the biggest website platforms online. If coding was a pre-requisite to creating a website or having an online presence, there would be far fewer than the current two billion websites in existence today.

Content management solutions also make the management of online content much easier. People and businesses can configure their blogs and online stores with the CMS tools at their disposal. CMS is a scalable business and even with the high demand, a few players have dominated this huge market:

1. WordPress

It is the largest Content Management System by a significant margin. It is the leading website software solution by a distant. Other than being an open source CMS, WordPress has been the favored solution due to the following factors:

  • Flexibility: It has more than 14,000 free design templates and 18,000 extensions. This enables users to customize their website for various uses.
  • It is easy to install: It is extremely convenient in this regard because it uses a Wizard to handle the installation process.
  • It is great for SEO: Businesses want their websites to be SEO friendly. WordPress URLs are optimized for good performance on search engines.
  • Mobile solutions: Mobile tools are massive with the upsurge of mobile usage in the recent past. WordPress has ensured that it is the ideal tool in this field.

When it comes to e-commerce, WordPress’ foray has come in the form of WooCommerce. It is the most dominant player, beating Magento to the punch in recent times.

WordPress is king in the world of blogging. Because it boasts a large community of users, plugins and themes are easy to come by. Therefore, people can easily customize their layouts and manipulate their blogs even as they change their content.

All this success has come with one major disadvantage; WordPress is a target of hackers. This has forced it to be active with regular security updates. Such updates demand constant administrative effort from site managers.

2. Joomla!

It is the second largest CMS agent in the market with a market share slightly shy of 7%. It has an object-oriented design approach that is favored by some segments of CMS users. They can write up their own extensions and avail them to the community via the extensions directory.

Although it is lagging behind WordPress, Joomla! Has had its fair share of success due to the following factors:

  • It has a user-friendly interface
  • Users can create their own extensions
  • It is easy to install

The drawbacks of Joomla! come from the way extensions are managed. They need more hands-on implementation and the more advanced extensions tend to be expensive.

3. Drupal

Drupal has a market share of close to 5%. It has been a popular CMS because its modules enable the use of community functions like tag clouds, forums, and weblogs. Its lean installation coupled with the ease of customization has made it a hit in a competitive pool of content management solutions.

Although critics can argue that Drupal calls for numerous extra installations after the initial one, its merits for a certain section of users offset this anomaly. Its users are also buoyed by its flexibility more than anything else.

4. Magento

It is an open-source e-commerce platform that allows users to create their online stores and have control over their appearance and the functionality. It has a market share of about 2.3% with over 200,000 sites actively using it.

It is popular because it is great for SEO and its catalog management tools are top-notch. It also allows businesses to expand their operations without compromising on user experience. It can be used by people without a background in coding although a good understanding of the technical aspects of web development is an added bonus.

5. TYPO3

TYPO3 is the go-to open source CMS for the big online trading platforms and large-scale corporate portals. To use this platform, you require extensive technical knowledge in web development. It has a wide array of functions that enable businesses to implement all kinds of online projects. However, it is demanding in terms of maintenance and general configuration.

Conclusion

Content Management Systems have changed the way we establish and maintain a successful online presence. Having an attractive website that ranks well with search engines can be achieved without prior knowledge in programming. The big CMS’s are dominating and it is easy to see why this is unlikely to change in the near future.

WordPress Security – Essential Tips for Every Site Owner

Did you know there are over 90,978 attacks on WordPress websites every minute? Luckily, even though this number sounds huge, if you follow the basic security rules, you can prevent the majority of potential attacks and make your website attack proof.

Or at least make it so hard to break in that hackers would rather target one of the thousands of poorly secured ones. Which is not that hard to do, especially if you consider that many attacks are performed after automated vulnerability scanners find potential ways in. So, how to skyrocket your WordPress site security? Here are the 6 Essential Tips.

1. Keep Your WP Installation, Themes and Plugins Updated

A no-brainer but a frequently ignored one. According to WordPress.org, 1/3rd of all WordPress websites hasn’t been updated to the latest version. On top of that, almost 2/3 of all web hosts use PHP older than 7.0. Outdated WordPress installation and server frameworks pose a great threat to your site and increase the risk of a successful breach as hackers will try to access your website using non-patched vulnerabilities.

In fact, if you keep all your themes, plugins, as well as WordPress up-to-date, you will be more secure than 75% of all legitimate sites – as it’s estimated that three in four sites contain unpatched vulnerabilities. Luckily, getting the latest versions of your WP plugins, themes, and WP itself is pretty straightforward – all you need is a few clicks of a button.

At the same time, ensuring that your server is running the latest PHP version can be a bit more time-consuming. That’s why it’s best to just reach out to your hosting support and ask them to point you to a guide on how you can upgrade it yourself or even ask them to upgrade it for you.

2. Install a Malware Scanner and Firewall

If you thought that only your PC can get affected by malware, viruses, and brute force attacks, you could not be more wrong. Not only can WordPress be affected, but it’s, in fact, the most infected website CMS, which most likely has a lot to do with its popularity.

The good news is, there are many free and paid firewalls and malware scanners for WordPress. One of the most popular ones is Wordfence Security, which offers both malware scanning and firewall, and comes in both free and paid versions.

3. Get a VPS and Turn It into a Fortress

Compared to a shared hosting, a VPS allows you to control every aspect of its configuration. Thanks to that you can not only make your website faster but also ensure that its hosting environment – the server – is properly secured.

On an unmanaged VPS, it’s up to you to choose the OS (for example, CentOS is considered more secure compared to Ubuntu), the firewall and other software that you install, such as malware scanners (which you should install both on WordPress and the server itself).

Moreover, by installing your WordPress on a VPS where you have a root access, it’s easy to change things such as MySQL passwords or rename WordPress folders and reconfigure its files to reduce the chance of a potential attack. Although some of that can also be done using security plugins

Naturally, to reap all the benefits of a virtual private server (speed, flexibility, and scalability to name a few), you should rent a server from a company that offers different pricing packages that are easy to upgrade should you need more resources. You can see a great example of such an offer here.

4. Hide /wp-admin and your WordPress installation

Why tell the world you are running on WordPress in the first place? While it’s a great content management system, you don’t necessarily have to boast about running it. Especially that it provides the potential intruder with valuable information. For example, unless you hide WordPress, websites such as What WordPress Theme is That? disclose information not only about the theme that you use but also about some of the plugins. It’s like telling the hacker hey, this is how you can get inside:

So, how do you hide your WP site information from the prying eyes of potential intruders? Fortunately, you don’t need any technical skills at all. Where there is demand, there are WordPress plugins, which you can use to do that – the most popular being Hide My WP by the wave, which can hide your login page, and make the details about your WordPress website invisible (unfortunately, there is no free version).

Alternatively, you can get the free version of iThemes Security, which doesn’t provide you with as many hiding options (although it allows you to hide the login page), but comes with many other security perks.

5. Change Your WP Username and Keep It Hidden

Just like you shouldn’t use the word password as your actual password, leaving the default WordPress username admin can have dire consequences. In the end, it’s probably the first thing any potential intruder would try to guess, so by using it, you make it incredibly easy for them to figure out the details of your admin account.

How to change it? There are two ways in which you can do that. You could look for a plugin which can do it for you or go the manual way. Personally, I prefer the latter – as it’s just as quick and easy, and anyone can do that. But, because WordPress doesn’t give you an out-of-the-box option to change it, you need to use a small workaround. First, log into your site and go to Users > Add New.

Once there, insert the username of your new admin account and make sure that you set the user role to Administrator. Once that’s done, click Show password and change or copy the default (secure) password.

After the user is created, log out of the site, and log in using the new user. Go to Users > All Users and remove the old WordPress admin account. But, that’s not all. You need an account to publish your posts with, right? Instead of publishing them using an administrator which, due to permalinks, makes its username easy to guess, (unless you play around with them), go ahead and create a separate account. This time, instead of setting its role to an administrator, set it to one that doesn’t have administrator capabilities (such as that of an author or an editor).

Once done, go ahead and set the author of all existing posts to the new user (you can do that in All Posts > Quick Edit under each article).

6. Secure Existing WordPress User Accounts

Do you work with virtual assistants or have employees who can access your WordPress website? In this case, it’s best not to give them access to all plugins and data. In the end, they probably don’t have to be able to configure all the plugins on your site. And, unless they are a trusted developer, they most definitely shouldn’t have the access to the theme editor. How to restrict their access? One of the ways is to create their accounts and set their roles to one of the default ones of the contributor, author or editor.

But what if you want to block them from more than these roles restrict while giving them access to parts of the website the default settings don’t provide them with? In this case, you can use a free plugin such as User Role Editor, which allows you to create new roles, and set which elements of the website can be accessed by them.

7. Monitor Activity Through Audit Log

And what if you can’t just restrict your users from accessing the majority of vulnerable elements on your website, but would like to at least know who changed or edited what, in case anything goes wrong? To get an overview in the form of a comprehensive audit log, you can install the WP Security Audit Log. Its free version is more than enough to give you a convenient overview of the activity of your employees and VAs:

8. Make Login More Secure Using Google Authenticator

Speaking of users, there is one more thing you can do to make your site even more secure. Imagine having your WordPress credentials (or that of your employees) stolen. In this case, depending on the user role of your employee, an intruder could get access to the whole WP website. To prevent that from happening, consider adding a two-factor authentication on login. The easiest way to do that is the Google Authenticator plugin. Once that’s done, even if someone gets your username and password, they won’t be able to log in without the code provided by the Google Authenticator app.

As you can see, even though WordPress is considered the most vulnerable content management system out of all the popular ones, it’s not that hard to minimize or even completely get rid of the most common risks and secure the most endangered elements on your website.

If you follow the above tips, stay cautious when giving access to your site to others, and keep the elements of your site up to date, your website, and with it, your business will be safe from any potential intruders. Not to mention how much you can save only prevented the security breach.

5 Best Free WordPress Cache Plugins

We have recently published a post regarding “5 Best Free WordPress SEO Plugins“, in that blog we have told about WordPress Cache Plugins that makes Site fast, so have thought that publish a new blog regarding “5 Best Free WordPress Cache Plugins“. Cache plugins are normally used to save cache for a site, when any user come to your site then your site will be load faster.

We are suggesting you top 5 best Free WordPress cache plugins:

1. WP Super Cache –

This plugin works on a special code who generate a static HTML file for your website after an HTML file generated web server will serve your site extremely fast.

 

99% of your visitor will serve that static HTML file, who generated by WP Super Cache. this plugin serves 3 types of static HTML cache files.

  1. Expert    2. Simple    3. WP-Cache caching.

If you don’t want to change PHP files then you can use Simple mode and it is also very easy and fast to set up. With this plugin, you can generate cache files for your posts, page and for your all of content.

Read More


2. W3 Total Cache –

W3 Total Cache is a very nice plugin by its performance. it manages your sites caches and also improves your sites SEO.

Improve your site experience for your visitors, without change your theme or any plugin. you will see many benefits after installing it like :

  • It will improve your sites SEO ranking.
  • Instant caching for any browser.
  • Reduce page load time and the visitor will view more pages.
  • It will save bandwidth up to 70-80%.
  • It will minify your Post and pages to load fast.

Read More


3. Wp Fastest Cache –

Set up of WP Fastest Cache is very easy. you dont need to make changes in your htaccess file, it will be automatically modified by the plugin.

This plugin is also working on static HTML files. PHP and MySQL are used when a page is presented. Therefore, the system requires RAM and CPU, If many visitors come to the site, then the system uses a lot of RAM and CPU, so the page takes time to load. W3 cache plugin generates a static cache file so your server will not us RAM and CPU again and again.

Read More


4. Autoptimize –

Optimize your site in a really easy way with autoptimize. it can minify your CSS and scripts.

Autoptimize store caches for your site it also injects your alls CSS into the page header and JS scripts into the page footer so your page will load really fast. it can really improve your site to load very fast.

Read More


5. LiteSpeed Cache –

LiteSpeed cache is an All-in-one plugin for your site acceleration.

 

It Includes a special server-level cache and a collection of customization features. It is compatible will all plugins and it also supports multisite. LiteSpeed Cache is also very easy in use anyone can use it.

Read More


These all 5 plugins are best to optimization and caches, please use the best plugin that will you find easy and suitable for your sites.

Thanks for reading our post, hope it will be helpful for all of you.

 

WordPress A Quintessential Platform For Business Website

Choosing WordPress is the right option for you if you are among the folks who require websites that are easy to maintain. More than 75 million sites are powered by WordPress, which is another reason for opting for this CMS when it comes to developing interactive business websites. The popularity of WordPress as the best content management system is growing every day as it offers tons of the benefits to the users even if they are not technically sound.

WordPress A Quintessential Platform For Business Website

It is a well-known fact that WordPress was launched as a blogging site; however, it slowly earned the crown of being the best CMS. Such a phenomenon offered popularity to this platform and increased the demand for WordPress website development. There is no doubt that this platform has some of the most powerful tools that help in making it the right option for the website development requirements. Here are more reasons that clearly state that WordPress is the best when you require working with a feature-rich platform.

Easy To Setup Manage, And Update

Using WordPress is extremely easy and you do not need to be an HTML coder to use this platform. With just an internet connection and a web browser, it is extremely easy to accomplish a WordPress website development project. The official WordPress website is the right place to initiate the web development task. A little knowledge of using the CMS can also help you to customize your website as per the requirement of the business and the visitors coming to the site.

Themes And Plugins Extend Functionality Of The Platform

You do not need to be a programmer or a web designer to use the WordPress. The reason that makes this platform an easy to use content management system is the availability of plugins and themes. These elements help the beginners, as well as experienced developers, get the opportunity to give any look to their websites. WordPress theme development can ideally be utilized for a photography theme, magazine theme, portfolio theme or an e-commerce theme as per the requirement.

Search Engine Optimization Included

The structure of WordPress websites makes it easy for Google to crawl and index the site well. It provides a better ranking to the website and thus, accomplishes the ultimate aim of creating the site. Thus, the platform is much easier to handle and get better returns in the form of increased web rankings. This platform has default features as well as plugins that help in boosting the ranking of the sites developed as custom WordPress websites. Thus, the owners can easily drive traffic towards their site.

Google Adores WordPress

The ultimate aim of developing the websites lies in getting higher web ranking. Google plays an important in the ranking of the websites and as the giant search engine loves WordPress; it ranks such websites much higher over the web. Moreover, WordPress is text-based and Google favors text-based websites. Google is also in the favor of mobile-friendly websites that can be designed with WordPress. These sites work efficiently on any of the devices.

An Open Source Platform

WordPress is an open source that means it is free to be used by anyone. There are currently 2600+ WordPress themes available for free and such a feature makes this open source platform an easy to use content management system even for the new users. The platform has been developed with the continuous support of the community that keeps on updating and sharing the new developments. Thus, users remain updated with every new development that helps them manage the platform extremely well.

Author

Priya is a Technical SEO at Hopinfirst, a leading mobile app development company which provides best ios app development and Android app development services.

Configure Blog Filter Plugin Shortcode

Blog filter plugin used to categorize your blog post easily on your site. Adding and configure blog filter plugin shortcode on your WordPress sites are explained by developer below. Use the available setting to manage the shortcode, so you don’t need to regenerate shortcode new once.

This is the Default Shortcode

[AWL-BlogFilter blog_template="template1" blog_col_large_desktops="col-lg-4" blog_col_desktops="col-md-4" blog_col_tablets="col-sm-6" blog_col_phones="col-xs-12" blog_image="yes" blog_image_link="yes" blog_image_lightbox="yes" blog_image_hover_effect="hover1" blog_image_quality="medium" blog_title="yes" blog_title_font_size="25" blog_title_color="#000" blog_desc="yes" blog_desc_characters="100" blog_desc_font_size="14" blog_desc_color="#a4a6ac" blog_desc_box_color="#EDEEF0" blog_read_more="yes" blog_read_more_text="Read More" blog_date="yes" blog_author_below_image="yes" blog_order_by="date" blog_order="DESC" blog_filter_order_by="title" blog_filter_order="ASC" blog_pagination="yes" blog_pagination_color="#58BBEE" blog_per_page="12" blog_filters="yes" blog_search="yes" blog_filtering="blog_category" blog_buttons_color="#58BBEE" selected_categories="11,5" exclude_categories="" default_cat_filter="none" custom-css=" " ]

You dont have to generate shortcode, again and again, you can edit Edit / Update Blog Filter Shortcode directly on the page.

You can see that there is every key have a value for every setting, we are showing you that how to edit shortcode without regenerate it.

1. Blog Template And Column Settings

1.1 Template Direction Right To Left

You can change template direction to Right to Left to set “Yes” or “No”

(i) For right to left : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_direction="rtl"]

(ii) For left to right : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_direction="ltr"]

1.2 Blog Template

You can select 3 template design for this setting.

(i) To select template 1 : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_template="template1"]

(ii) To select template 2 : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_template="template2"]

(iii) To select template 2 : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_template="template3"]

1.3 Blog Columns On Large Desktops

You can change column for large desktops.

(i) To select 1 Column : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_col_large_desktops="col-lg-12"]

(ii) To select 2 Columns : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_col_large_desktops="col-lg-6"]

(iii) To select 3 Columns : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_col_large_desktops="col-lg-4"]

(iv) To select 4 Columns : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_col_large_desktops="col-lg-3"]

(v) To select 6 Columns : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_col_large_desktops="col-lg-2"]

(vi) To select 12 Columns : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_col_large_desktops="col-lg-1"]

1.4 Blog Columns On Desktops

You can change column for desktops.

(i) To select 1 Column : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_col_desktops="col-md-12"]

(ii) To select 2 Columns : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_col_desktops="col-md-6"]

(iii) To select 3 Columns : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_col_desktops="col-md-4"]

(iv) To select 4 Columns : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_col_desktops="col-md-3"]

(v) To select 6 Columns : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_col_desktops="col-md-2"]

(vi) To select 12 Columns : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_col_desktops="col-md-1"]

1.5 Blog Columns On Tablets

You can change column for tablet devices.

(i) To select 1 Column : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_col_tablets="col-sm-12"]

(ii) To select 2 Columns : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_col_tablets="col-sm-6"]

(iii) To select 3 Columns : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_col_tablets="col-sm-4"]

(iv) To select 4 Columns : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_col_tablets="col-sm-3"]

(v) To select 6 Columns : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_col_tablets="col-sm-2"]

1.6 Blog Columns on Phones

You can change column for phones.

(i) To select 1 Column : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_col_phones="col-xs-12"]

(ii) To select 2 Columns : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_col_phones="col-xs-6"]

(iii) To select 3 Columns : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_col_phones="col-xs-4"]

(iv) To select 4 Columns : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_col_phones="col-xs-3"]


2. Blog Image settings

2.1 Show Blog Image

You can set yes or no for show or hide blog image.

(i) To show image  : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_image="yes"]

(ii) To hide image : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_image="no"]

2.2 Link On Image

You can set yes or no for add or remove blog link on blog image.

(i) To add the link on the image : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_image_link="yes"]

(ii) To remove the link on the image : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_image_link="no"]

2.3 Lightbox On Image

You can set yes or no for add or remove lightbox on blog image.

(i) To add lightbox on the image : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_image_lightbox="yes"]

(ii) To remove lightbox on the image : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_image_lightbox="no"]

2.4 Image Hover Effect

You can select 5 types of haver effects for the blog image.

(i) To set the first hover effect on the image : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_image_hover_effect="hover1"]

(ii) To set the second hover effect on the image : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_image_hover_effect="hover2"]

(iii) To set the third hover effect on the image : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_image_hover_effect="hover3"]

(iv) To set the forth hover effect on the image : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_image_hover_effect="hover4"]

(v) To set the fifth hover effect on the image : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_image_hover_effect="hover5"]

(vi) if you dont want any hover effect  : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_image_hover_effect="none"]

2.5 Image Quility

You can select from 4 type of image quility options for the blog image.

(i) To set the 150×150 px size for blog image : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_image_quality="thumbnail"]

(ii) To set the 300×169 px size for blog image : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_image_quality="medium"]

(iii) To set the 840×473 px size for blog image : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_image_quality="large"]

(iv) To set the full size for blog image : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_image_quality="full"]


3. Blog Title Settings

3.1 Show Blog Title

You can set yes or no for show or hide blog title.

(i) To show title : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_title="yes"]

(ii) To hide title : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_title="no"]

3.2 Blog Title Blow Image

You can select yes or no for show title below the image or Show title upper the image.

(i) To title below the image : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_title_below_image="yes"]

(ii) To title upper the image : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_title_below_image="no"]

3.3 Link On Title

You can select yes or no for add or remove blog link on blog Title.

(i) To add the link to the title: [AWL-BlogFilter blog_title_link="yes"]

(ii) To remove the link to the title: [AWL-BlogFilter blog_title_link="no"]

3.4 Title Text Color

You can change the blog Title text color.

(i) To change the title color paste color the code into inverted commas: [AWL-BlogFilter blog_title_color="#000"]

To get a color code click here

3.5 Title Font Size

You can change the blog Title text size.

(i) To change the title text size change value  into inverted commas: [AWL-BlogFilter blog_title_font_size="25"]


4. Blog Description Settings

4.1 Show Blog Description

You can set yes or no for show or hide blog description.

(i) To show description: [AWL-BlogFilter blog_desc="yes"]

(ii) To hide description: [AWL-BlogFilter blog_desc="no"]

4.2 Description Text Color

You can change the blog description text color.

(i) To change the description color, paste the color code into inverted commas:

[AWL-BlogFilter blog_desc_color="#a4a6ac"]

To get a color code click here

4.3 Description Box Color

You can change the blog description box color.

(i) To change the description box color, paste the color code into inverted commas:

[AWL-BlogFilter blog_desc_box_color="#EDEEF0"]

To get a color code click here

4.4 Description Font Size

You can change the blog description text size.

(i) To change the description text size, change the value  into inverted commas:

[AWL-BlogFilter blog_desc_font_size="25"]

4.5 How Many Characters Show In Description

You can change the blog description words limit size if you had set read more or excerpt then you cant get more words in blog description.

(i) To change the description characters limit, change the value  into inverted commas:

[AWL-BlogFilter blog_desc_characters="100"]


5. Link (URL) Settings

5.1 Show Read More Link

You can set yes or no for show or hide Read More Link.

(i) To show read more link : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_read_more="yes"]

(ii) To hide read more link : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_read_more="no"]

5.2 Link Open In New Tab

You can set value for redirect link in the new tab or in the same tab.

(i) To set the link in the new tab : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_title="_blank"]

(ii) To set the link in the same tab, you can leave it blank or NULL: [AWL-BlogFilter blog_title=""]

5.3 Text For “Read More” Link

You change the text of “read more”.

(i) To change the value wright in inverted commas: [AWL-BlogFilter blog_read_more_text="Read More"]


6. Post Meta Settings

6.1 Show Post Date

You can set yes or no for show or hide the post date.

(i) To show the post date : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_date="yes"]

(ii) To hide the post date : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_date="no"]

6.2 Show Date Below The Image

You can set yes or no for the show the post date below the image ore upper the image.

(i) To show date below the image : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_date_below_image="yes"]

(ii) To show date upper the image : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_date_below_image="no"]

6.3 Show Post Author

You can set yes or no for show or hide the post author.

(i) To show the post author: [AWL-BlogFilter blog_author="yes"]

(ii) To hide the post author: [AWL-BlogFilter blog_author="no"]

6.4 Show Date Below The Image

You can set yes or no for the show the post date below the image ore upper the image.

(i) To show the author below the image : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_author_below_image="yes"]

(ii) To show the author upper the image : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_author_below_image="no"]

6.5 Show Post Categories

You can set yes or no for show or hide the post categories.

(i) To show the post categories: [AWL-BlogFilter blog_categories="yes"]

(ii) To hide the post categories: [AWL-BlogFilter blog_categories="no"]

6.6 Show Post Tags

You can set yes or no for show or hide the post tags.

(i) To show the post tags: [AWL-BlogFilter blog_tags="yes"]

(ii) To hide the post tags: [AWL-BlogFilter blog_tags="no"]


7. Pagination Settings

7.1 Pagination

You can set yes or no for show or hide Pagination.

(i) To show the Pagination : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_pagination="yes"]

(ii) To hide the Pagination : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_pagination="no"]

7.2 Pagination Color

You can change the blog Pagination color.

(i) To change the Pagination color, paste the color code into inverted commas:

[AWL-BlogFilter blog_pagination_color="#58BBEE"]

To get a color code click here

7.3 Blogs On Per Page

You can change the blog limit for per page if you wanna show all blogs on the single page then set zero (0) in the value and set ‘no’ in pagination.

(i) To change the blog limit for per page, change the value  into inverted commas:

[AWL-BlogFilter blog_per_page="25"]


8. Posts Order Settings

8.1 Post Order by

You can set post order by date or title or slug.

(i) Set post order by date: [AWL-BlogFilter blog_order_by="date"]

(ii) Set post order by title: [AWL-BlogFilter blog_order_by="title"]

(iii) Set post order by slug: [AWL-BlogFilter blog_order_by="name"]

8.2 Post Order

You can also set ascending or descending order for the post

(i) Set ascending order for posts: [AWL-BlogFilter blog_order="ASC"]

(ii) Set descending order for posts: [AWL-BlogFilter blog_order="DESC"]


9. Filter Order settings

9.1 Filter Order by

You can set filter order by date or title or slug.

(i) Set filter order by date: [AWL-BlogFilter blog_filter_order_by="date"]

(ii) Set filter order by title: [AWL-BlogFilter blog_filter_order_by="title"]

(iii) Set filter order by slug: [AWL-BlogFilter blog_filter_order_by="name"]

9.2 Filter Order

You can also set ascending or descending order for the post

(i) Set ascending order for filters: [AWL-BlogFilter blog_filter_order="ASC"]

(ii) Set descending order for filters: [AWL-BlogFilter blog_filter_order="DESC"]


10.Thumbnail Settings

10.1 Thumbanil Hover Effect

You can enable or disable thumbnail hover effect.

(i) To enable hover effect : [AWL-BlogFilter blog_thumb_hover="yes"]

(ii) To disable hover effect: [AWL-BlogFilter blog_thumb_hover="no"]

10.2 Thumbnail Spacing

(i) To change the thumbnail spacing, change the value  into inverted commas:

[AWL-BlogFilter blog_thumb_spac="5"]


11. Filter Settings

11.1 Show Filters

You can set yes or no for show or hide filters.

(i) To show the filters: [AWL-BlogFilter blog_filters="yes"]

(ii) To hide the filters: [AWL-BlogFilter blog_filters="no"]

11.2 Show Filter “All”

You can set yes or no for show or hide filter “All”.

(i) To show the filter “All”: [AWL-BlogFilter blog_filter_all="yes"]

(ii) To hide the filter “All”: [AWL-BlogFilter blog_filter_all="no"]

11.3 Text For “All” Button

You can change text for “All” button.

(i) To change text for “All” button, change the value  into inverted commas:

[AWL-BlogFilter blog_all_text="All"]

11.4 Multi-Filter In Same Time

You can set yes or no for multi-filter function.

(i) To On multi filter function: [AWL-BlogFilter blog_multi_filter="yes"]

(ii) To Off multi filter function: [AWL-BlogFilter blog_multi_filter="no"]

11.5 “And” Logic For Multi-Filter

You can use yes or no for And logic in multi-filter function.

(i) To On multi filter “And” logic: [AWL-BlogFilter blog_multi_filter_logic="yes"]

(ii) To Off multi filter “And” logic: [AWL-BlogFilter blog_multi_filter_logic="no"]

11.6 Show Search Field

You can set yes or no for show or hide search field.

(i) To show the search field: [AWL-BlogFilter blog_search="yes"]

(ii) To hide the search field: [AWL-BlogFilter blog_search="no"]

11.7 Text For Search Field

You can change text for search field.

(i) To change text for search field, change the value  into inverted commas:

[AWL-BlogFilter blog_search_text="Search"]

11.8  Buttons Color

You can change the blog button color.

(i) To change the button color, paste the color code into inverted commas:

[AWL-BlogFilter blog_buttons_color="#58BBEE"]

To get a color code click here

11.9 Filtering with

You can change filtering option.

(i) To set blog categories as filter: [AWL-BlogFilter blog_filtering="blog_category"]

(ii) To set blog tags as filter: [AWL-BlogFilter blog_filtering="blog_tag"]

11.10 Default filter

You can set any filter for default selected filter on page load

(i) If you are using category as filtering option, chnage the the category id into inverted commas :

[AWL-BlogFilter default_cat_filter="27"]

(ii) If you are using tag as filtering option, chnage the the tag id into inverted commas :

[AWL-BlogFilter default_tag_filter="27"]

11.11 Selected Categories Or tags For Blogs

To change the categories and tags ids directly from the shortcode, change the value  into inverted commas:

(i) If you are using category as filtering option: [AWL-BlogFilter selected_categories="2,5,8,15,20,25"]

(ii) If you are using tag as filtering option: [AWL-BlogFilter selected_tags="2,5,8,15,20,25"]

11.12 Exclude Post

You can exclude post that are related with some categories or tags, change the value  into inverted commas:

(i) If you are using category as filtering option: [AWL-BlogFilter exclude_tags="2,5,8,15,20,25"]

(ii) If you are using tag as filtering option: [AWL-BlogFilter exclude_tags="2,5,8,15,20,25"]


Why Does WordPress Need FTP

There are plenty of topics out there surrounding WordPress that talk about various tutorials, themes, and whatnot.

But, one of the topics which not a lot of people discuss on the internet is – FTP.

An acronym for – File Transfer Protocol, FTP was created somewhere in the 70s as a way to quickly transfer files between two computers. This protocol comes handy when you have to upload a file to a server from a personal computer.

When web design was still in its initial days, this protocol was essential. Developers used to work on files, upload it to the server through this protocol the website visitors could view those files. But, the purpose it served wasn’t just for deciding the look, layout, and feel of the website. Every page that a developer added to the website was coded before it could be uploaded.

The current scenario

Now the use of FTP has diminished greatly because so many CMSs have eliminated its usage to a great extent. But, it’s still not completely out of the picture.

WordPress – one of the most popular content management systems has made it incredibly simple to manage and set-up a website.

Today you simply need to click on a button if you want to add images or edit the existing content. There is no longer a need for a user to mess around or play with FTP or text files. This is why the interface today has become extremely user-friendly and intuitive.

Today almost everyone can become a programmer. You don’t necessarily need to learn to code in a technical sense; all thanks to the emergence of content management systems like WordPress. Anyone who knows how to use a computer can set up a nice website without scratching his head much.

Now with all that is said, the question arises – is FTP out of the picture?

Let’s take a look.

FTP and WordPress

There are several methods out there you can use to install WordPress on your site. And, FTP is one of those methods. This method involves downloading the core files of WP and then uploading them to the server through the file transfer protocol.

But, it’s not as simple as it may look. You need to first install the database of the website and create configuration files before setting up the credentials. To most users, this whole process is rather too complex which is why a majority of web hosting companies provide their users with a method that doesn’t involve FTP to install WP.

Companies do that by allowing access to cPanel through which you can install WordPress with nothing more than a few clicks.

Regardless of which method you choose for the WordPress installation (mind you there are several ways), in the end, the goal is same – it is to fetch the core files of WordPress and upload them to the server so you can run WP.

When you connect to FTP, you can access files from a different computer. In this case, the computer is the server. What it means is you can view, edit, and add all WP files through this protocol.

The same thing is applicable when you add a page to the website. Although you may do this with just a single mouse click through the dashboard of WordPress, your site will still need some files in order to read what each page displays.

So in a way, WordPress is letting you do what users do manually via FTP and that is uploading and creating files to the server. This is the very reason that the connection between WordPress and FTP can never be lost.

Do You Still Need FTP?

With everything that is going on currently, a majority of WordPress users don’t know much about FTP if even anything at all. As a matter of fact, this content management system has evolved so much that a user may never have to do anything with FTP much less have any knowledge of it.

WordPress does everything on its own.

WordPress dashboard has an appearance section from where users can install and download plugins and themes and upload them back to the WordPress (if the files are already downloaded).

With just a click, website pages can be added. There’s a default text editor which allows formatting and writing of content. Additionally, there’s the option of uploading media files directly from the computer to the media library of WP which are then ready for publishing.

WordPress houses plenty of custom options that allow tweaking website appearance.

Basically, all those things that used to be done via FTP cannot be performed through the WP Dashboard.

Using FTP for the purpose of troubleshooting

With all that has been said above, it’s obvious that some of you might be wondering – exactly when does one need FTP?

The simple answer is – for troubleshooting purpose.

You are not going to need FTP for much of the everyday tasks associated with the managing of a website. However, in case something goes wrong, this little tool might prove of great value.

Don’t worry. You don’t need to be a tech wizard in order to be able to use FTP. Just a basic understanding of FTP is enough for you to troubleshoot common WP issues.

There are many plug-ins that WordPress supports, but not necessarily all of them are compatible with WP. Sometimes a plug-in may work just fine when installed in isolation. But, there can be times when two plug-ins cause conflicts when activated simultaneously. This mostly happens when the plug-ins are not updated which renders them incompatible with WP’s latest version.

In most cases, plugins are accessible from the dashboard and you can simply deactivate them to eradicate the problem. But, there can be times when the solution is not so simple.

If you have ever experimented with WordPress a little and played around with the plugins, you might have some time encountered a blank screen which is also known as ‘white screen of death’.This restricts your access to the dashboard which leaves no way for you to disable the plugin that is causing the problem.

In such cases, FTP is the only way left to fix this issue.

How to access FTP

In order to access FTP, you will first have to download an FTP client. FileZilla happens to be one of the most popular FTP clients. To log in, you need your hosting credentials. In case you have trouble logging in, contact your hosting company.

Once you have logged into FTP, you will be able to see all the files on the web server. From there you can remove the files that are causing problems. Deleting those files will uninstall the related plugin.

On the left side of your screen, you should see files on your computer, and the right side displays server files. You can remove the plug-in from the right-hand side.

Here is how you can do it:

  • Click on the public-html folder
  • Select the right website
  • click wp-content>plugins

You now should have access to all the plugins for your website. Delete the folder that is causing the problem and the same should be fixed.

At the face of it, this might sound like a complicated task, but once you get the hang of the process, it should be relatively simple. You may face a little difficulty if this is your first time using FTP.

If you face any trouble using FTP, you can contact your hosting company’s support team. Additionally, there are several WordPress tutorials that you can find helpful. One of the posts on how to work with FTP is covered by 000webhost.

Conclusions

Content management systems like WordPress are becoming more and more sophisticated with each passing day. The refinements in these systems have largely rendered FTP useless but not entirely.

As long as things are going fine, you would not need to use the FTP. However, in case things go wrong, you would need to use FTP as it provides the easiest outlet to fix things.

It is always good to have basic knowledge of how to work with FTP. This knowledge will make you confident in safely experiment with your website and you will be confident in fixing things on your own as well.