Tech Tag: WordPress

Paste the following code in functions.php to only allow posts and pages.

function exclude_custom_post_types_from_search($query) {
    if (!is_admin() && $query->is_search) {
        // Specify the post types to include in search results
        $query->set('post_type', array('post', 'page')); // Excludes all other post types
    }
    return $query;
}
add_filter('pre_get_posts', 'exclude_custom_post_types_from_search');

WPML Plugin
Pros:

• Easy to set up and manage multilingual content from one dashboard.
• Simplifies updates and maintenance with unified management.
• Supports multilingual SEO with language-specific URLs.
• Compatible with most themes and plugins.
• Cost-effective compared to maintaining separate domains.

Cons:

• May impact site performance due to increased database size.
• Managing translations can grow complex over time.
• Dependency on plugin updates and support.

Two Domains Approach
Pros:

• Better localization signals for SEO with separate domains.
• Greater flexibility for branding and market-specific strategies.
• Potentially better performance without multilingual plugin overhead.

Cons:

• Higher costs for domain registration, hosting, and SSL.
• More effort to manage separate WordPress installations.
• Risk of duplicate content without proper SEO strategies.

Conclusion

• WPML Plugin: Best for centralized, cost-effective management with integrated multilingual features.
• Two Domains: Ideal for SEO-focused strategies, tailored branding, and market-specific optimization.

Evaluate your budget, expertise, SEO priorities, and future plans to decide the right approach.

You can use the Easy Table of Contents plugin.

Easy Table of Contents

Starting a super specialized blog can be an exciting venture that allows you to share your passion and knowledge with a targeted audience. This guide will walk you through the essential steps to create a successful niche blog.

(more…)

For a block editor, you add the block. For classic themes, add below code into header.php.

<?php
if(function_exists('bcn_display'))
{
    bcn_display();
}
?>

Starting April 1, 2024, Google’s reCAPTCHA will transition to a paid model, significantly reducing its free usage tier. This change poses challenges for individual users and small website owners who rely on it for spam protection. In response, I decided to switch from reCAPTCHA to hCaptcha for my WordPress contact forms powered by Contact Form 7. Below, I’ll explain why I chose hCaptcha and provide a step-by-step guide to integrating it.

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Why Choose hCaptcha?

1. Cost-Effectiveness

• hCaptcha is free to use, even for commercial purposes.
• It also offers paid plans for those who need advanced features, providing flexibility.

1. Privacy-Focused

• Unlike Google’s reCAPTCHA, hCaptcha collects minimal user data and complies with privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA.
• This makes it a great choice for privacy-conscious website owners.

1. Easy Integration with WordPress

• The dedicated plugin, “hCaptcha for WordPress,” makes it simple to integrate hCaptcha with Contact Form 7 and other WordPress forms.

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How to Integrate hCaptcha with Contact Form 7

Here’s a step-by-step guide to replacing reCAPTCHA with hCaptcha in Contact Form 7:

1. Create an hCaptcha Account

• Visit the official hCaptcha website (https://www.hcaptcha.com) and sign up for an account.
• Once registered, generate your Site Key and Secret Key:
• Site Key: Specific to each website you add.
• Secret Key: Unique to your account.

2. Install the hCaptcha for WordPress Plugin

• Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
• Go to Plugins > Add New and search for “hCaptcha for WordPress.”
• Install and activate the plugin.

3. Configure the Plugin

• Navigate to Settings > hCaptcha in your WordPress admin panel.
• Enter your Site Key and Secret Key in the respective fields.
• Under the “Integrations” tab, enable integration with Contact Form 7 by checking the appropriate boxes:
• Enable “Form Auto-Add” and “Form Embed” to automatically add hCaptcha to your forms.

4. Verify Functionality

• Open any Contact Form 7 form on your site and ensure that the hCaptcha widget appears correctly.
• Test the form submission process to confirm that everything works as expected.

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My Experience After Switching

After implementing hCaptcha with Contact Form 7, I was pleasantly surprised by how straightforward the setup process was. Most of the work involved configuring the plugin—there was no need for complex coding or manual adjustments in Contact Form 7 itself. Additionally, hCaptcha offers a clean and user-friendly experience that doesn’t disrupt visitors while effectively blocking spam submissions.

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Conclusion

The transition of Google reCAPTCHA to a paid service has left many website owners searching for alternatives. Fortunately, hCaptcha stands out as an excellent replacement due to its cost-effectiveness, privacy focus, and ease of use. If you’re looking for a reliable spam prevention solution for your WordPress site, I highly recommend giving hCaptcha a try. I’ll continue monitoring its performance on my site and optimize as needed!

To debug errors in WordPress, follow these steps:

1. Access the wp-config.php File
   Open the wp-config.php file located in the root directory of your WordPress installation.
2. Enable Debugging
   Find the following line in the file:

   define('WP_DEBUG', false);

Change it to:

   define('WP_DEBUG', true);

3. Add Additional Debugging Configurations
   Right below the define('WP_DEBUG', true); line, add the following lines:

   define('WP_DEBUG_LOG', true);
   define('WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false);
   error_log('Memory usage: ' . memory_get_usage());

4. Check the Debug Log
   After these steps, WordPress will log errors to the file located at wp-content/debug.log. This file will continuously grow as errors are logged.
5. Restore Configurations After Debugging
   Once debugging is complete, revert the wp-config.php settings to their original state to stop the debug log from growing indefinitely:

   define('WP_DEBUG', false);

This method helps you diagnose WordPress issues while keeping error details logged in a secure place (debug.log), without displaying them publicly on the website.

Use this plugin: WPC Name Your Price for WooCommerce

WPC Name Your Price for WooCommerce

If your WordPress RSS feed works but Feedly shows it as unreachable, try these fixes:

1. Validate the Feed: Use tools like W3C Feed Validator to check for hidden XML errors.
2. Check Plugins: Deactivate RSS-related plugins to identify conflicts, reactivating them one by one if the issue resolves.
3. Test the Theme: Switch to a default theme (e.g., Twenty Twenty-Five) to rule out theme-related problems.
4. Regenerate Permalinks: Go to Settings > Permalinks and save to reset the structure.
5. Correct Feed URL: Ensure the URL is properly formatted (e.g., ending with /feed/) and test variations.
6. Clear Cache: Clear WordPress and server-side cache to ensure Feedly fetches fresh data.

Following these steps can resolve Feedly’s inability to access your feed.

I used to use WP Download Manager, but I stopped using it after they raised the price of the paid version. After that, you can use Gutenberg Editor’s “Button” block to place a download button on the “post”, or create a custom post type with the Custom Post Type UI and add a download button there using Gutenberg Editor’s “Button” block.