Maybe you didn’t even get the details, and you just heard that “something” was happening between WP Engine and WordPress.

Tech folks like me had some Big Feelings about it. (nerds having strong opinions? Who could’ve predicted?! ) For business owners, however, it all probably just sounded like another potential stressor that you don’t need!

So, let’s just get this out of the way now: no, you don’t need to panic!

…okay, now that you’re breathing a bit easier, let’s distill all the mess down into what matters for You, a human whose organization may just happen to have a WordPress website:

A longtime beef between WP Engine and WordPress came to a head.

If not, here’s the abbreviated version: the co-founder of WordPress (Matt Mullenweig) has been big mad at WP Engine, a dedicated WordPress webhost. Mullenweig doesn’t love that WP Engine is, essentially, making big bucks because of WordPress, without giving more back to the open-source community. 

(side note: if you’re like, “what’s the deal with web hosting?” here’s an oldie-but-goodie where I explain what a web host is, and what makes a good one)

After Mullenweig called out WP Engine publicly, they hit back with a lawsuit claiming defamation, and even extortion.

So, long story made very short, WordPress.org blocked WP Engine from accessing their servers. This meant that, if your website was hosted by WP Engine, all of those quick-and-easy “Update Now” buttons on your Plugins page stopped working.

If you love other people’s drama and want to know the full story, here’s the top of the rabbit hole: WordPress’ post stating that WP Engine is banned from their servers.

“Wait, do I need to quit WordPress forever now?!”

I’ve talked for a loooong time about how outdated plugins can leave your website vulnerable to hacking. Not being able to easily update plugins is a big deal! Understandably, a lot of folks wondered what they should do in response to this drama. 

Is it time to run screaming from WordPress altogether?! In my humble opinion: no, you don’t need to cut WordPress from your tech stack.

• If your web host is anyone but WP Engine (or Flywheel, which is owned by WP Engine), none of that drama affects you at all!
  
• If you are on WP Engine and still feel concerned about this dust-up, you do have the option to move your website elsewhere.
  
• Hosting aside, WordPress is still a completely FREE platform, which lets you update content without knowing how to code, and it’s a powerful, extensible platform that can offer a lot of helpful functions for your business. 

So, yeah, take a deep breath and relax. WordPress is still a reliable tool, and you don’t have to completely rebuild your website anytime soon. (well, unless you want to)

You don’t really need to worry about moving to another web host, either (yet).

If you’re on WP Engine and you’re stressed about it, never fear: WP Engine has already created and deployed a workaround so they’re able to run automatic software updates again. That means things are basically back to normal from a customer perspective.

If you still feel uneasy after hearing all of this, though, I don’t blame you. I’m a longtime Flywheel fangirl from the days before they were acquired by WP Engine, and I feel wobbly about this situation, too.

The main thing to remember is that, if you were already thinking about changing things up, this could be a good excuse to start exploring alternatives. And, better yet, you have some time to think about and test those other options, and determine if they’re the right fit.

“So wait, how do I protect my website in the future?”

I believe that your website should be YOURS once it’s built, and there’s a lot to be said for being able to take your website wherever you want. There are a couple of things you should make sure are happening, so you can move house when it’s time:

• Regular backups. Most any decent web host will do nightly backups of your website, in case anything goes wrong, so if yours doesn’t, it’s time for an upgrade.
  
• Regular plugin updates. So many websites get hacked or break down entirely because their plugins weren’t updated regularly. You’re keeping your website more stable, secure, and easier to move by doing those updates–and some web hosts will do this for you.

If reading those two bullet points made you start sweating, I’ll point you towards Kronda at Karvel Digital, who wrote up an awesome overview of updating your plugins manually, setting up backups, and even migrating your entire website. Her Automation Club is a great resource for this and other time-saving integrations in your business tech!

If you just don’t want to tangle with ANY of this, however, you can always find a website pro to handle it all for you. As a starting point, take a peek at our very affordable and all-around-awesome WordPress Website Maintenance Plans.

Overall, I’m annoyed that this kerfuffle between WP Engine and WordPress caused so many small business owners to panic over something they may not even fully understand. But, hopefully this helps you make sense of it all, and breathe easier!

Find us on DesignRush: Discover web design services here.

Still, with this July being the 32nd anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, now is a good time to think about website accessibility, too. Some accessibility issues can get pretty technical, but there are some simpler ways to improve website accessibility that will help other folks in your audience, too.

Headings can improve your website accessibility.

Using headings throughout your website is just good practice, especially if you have a longer piece of content. Larger and more visually interesting headings help break up content visually for everyone, whether they have a disability or not. 

If you’re using a website builder, making the text “look nice” isn’t enough for website accessibility. If you see text options in your builder such as Heading 1, Heading 2, etc., you want to use them! Those Heading options correspond to their own special tags in the website code, so assistive technologies can recognize them as headings, making it much easier for folks to move through your website.

An added bonus of using headings properly: they can also help your search engine rankings! Using key search terms in heading tags is great for SEO.

Use descriptive link text.

“Click here” is a frequently used phrase for links on websites, and I’m here to tell you: that is precisely what NOT to do for website accessibility. 

People who rely on screen readers to navigate your website won’t know what the purpose of the link is or where it will take them, if you just use “click here” for your link text.

Instead, be descriptive with the link text you choose. For example, you can let folks know that they’re about to learn more about web design services. For buttons, you can keep it shorter but still give a clue about what will happen when they click, like saying Book a Consultation on a button that leads to your bookings calendar.

Check your color contrast.

Colors aren’t just for making your website look engaging and pretty–they also help your audience easily distinguish different pieces of content! However, when folks in your audience have color blindness, or even just have trouble reading dark text on a darker background, you can lose their attention pretty quickly.

This is why it’s important to choose colors carefully. If you’re working with a good web designer, then they’re hopefully checking for color contrast already! If you aren’t, there are some tools that can help, such as this color contrast checker, or even a Chrome add-on that lets you see like someone who’s color blind.

Use Alt tags on your images.

Something we’ve definitely noticed in web design trends is a reliance on photos and graphics. And hey, I get it. They’re eye-catching and inviting when done right! 

Unfortunately, screen readers can’t interpret photos and graphics used on your website. (sad trombone) That’s where Alt Text comes in! In short, alt-text describes the photo that a screen reader sees when it’s on your website. That way, folks with vision impairments can at least understand what’s in the image, even if they can’t see it.

And, just as with headings, using Alt tags on your images can also boost your SEO, so it’s definitely worth doing. Just look for an area in your website builder (such as WordPress) for a place to type in the short description of your photo.

This post isn’t an exhaustive list of ways to improve website accessibility, but I hope I’ve given you a few ways to help make sure your website is inviting in all of the people who are looking for you. To learn more about website accessibility, take a peek at ADA Site Compliance’s 20 Ways To Improve Web Accessibility. If you’re looking for help from a website pro, give us a shout.

You don’t have to know everything about it, but having a basic understanding will help you make the right choice!

What is Web Hosting?

Web hosting is a bit like renting an apartment. Once your website is ready to be born, it needs a place to live on the web, and it needs an address where folks can easily find it.

You can think of your domain name–as in, the .com, .org, etc. address you purchase–as the address that lets visitors know where to find you.

Your web host, on the other hand, is who you’re renting space from. Web hosts store your website on a server that’s online 24/7. That means it’s ready to serve up your website whenever someone asks for it.

How Do I Choose A Good Web Host?

There are a few big considerations when you’re deciding on web hosting:

Speed and Reliability. It may seem like a no-brainer, but the web host you choose should be fast and reliable! That means it should load your website quickly, and it should very rarely have downtime–even when a lot of people are visiting. Some low-cost web hosting plans will have tight limits on traffic, because they hope you’ll upgrade to a more expensive plan.

Customer Support. If your website does go down for some reason, your web host could be the reason. If your web host simply tries to sell you an upgrade every time something goes wrong, however, they may not have your best interests in mind.  When you contact their customer support team, do you get prompt responses? Do they offer you useful, easy-to-understand details? Do they actually resolve the problem?

Control Over Your Website. Some web hosting companies will insist you get all of your services through them, or they’ll make you pay additional fees for add-ons that are free elsewhere. Do they require you to buy your domain name through them? Do they require you to use their page builder, or pay for extra email addresses? If there are a lot of restrictions on what you can do, chances are there are hidden fees waiting in the wings.

Shopping Your Values. The tech industry has a history of being, well, pretty problematic. Web hosts are no exception, so you may want to keep an eye on what they’re putting out there (anybody remember GoDaddy’s cringe-y Super Bowl ad? CW: gross kissing audio) to see if they reflect values that you’re comfortable with.

Why Does Website Maintenance Matter?

Every website needs a bit of regular maintenance, such as software and plugin updates, to make sure it stays up-to-date and secure. Maintenance plans can vary wildly from one provider to the next, however, and your web host may or may not offer the right service at a reasonable cost. Before you dive in with the first option that seems easy, consider this:

Don’t get scared into overpaying. Unless something in your website gets seriously broken, it should not cost you $1000/month just to keep your plugins updated. Some website companies will intimidate you with tech jargon to sell you an expensive package, but hold steady and make sure to do a little research before you commit.

…But don’t skip out, either. On the other end of the spectrum, it’s tempting to skip a maintenance plan altogether, especially if you’re a newer business on a tight budget. The trouble is, ignoring maintenance could easily lead to security vulnerabilities (leaving you open to hacking!) or cause issues with how your website looks and functions–especially if your website uses a lot of plugins.

Using WordPress? Look for managed hosting. If your website is built in WordPress, managed WordPress hosting is the way to go. It’ll cost a bit more per month than standard hosting, but the web host will also install software updates for you, so you’ll always be up-to-date.

Hopefully, you’re now more confident about finding the right home for your website, but if you’re still feeling nervous, you can always ask your web designer for recommendations. They may even have a hosting partner they can set you up with, like we do!

Or, if you’re ready to shift your WordPress site away from an underwhelming web host, let us take care of you with one of our Maintenance Plans. That means one less thing for you to worry about, which I’ll wager sounds like a sweet deal to most any business owner.

If you’re a beginner, or if you’re peeking under the hood of a WordPress website you’ve paid to have built, you might ask: What exactly is going on with that Plugins panel?

What is a WordPress plugin?

In short, a plugin is an add-on that serves a specific function on your website, which isn’t normally included in WordPress core software. Not everybody needs every single functionality under the sun, so developers have created little modules that you can “plug in” to your website when you need them.

Some WordPress plugins are completely free, while others have “lite” versions with paid upgrades, and still others are available for a fee.

Just as it is with everything else in life, you get what you pay for with plugins. That free plugin you have your eye on may be less powerful or harder to use than a paid plugin that serves the same function.

Why should I use WordPress plugins?

There’s a lot to like about WordPress plugins, whether you’re a website pro like me, or you’re just getting your feet wet.

Plugins are a huge time-saver. Custom development is really valuable for solving specific website problems! For more common functions, however, there’s no reason to waste time reinventing the wheel. Just take a spin through the WordPress plugins directory, and see if someone’s already created a plugin to handle that functions for you!

Plugins give you flexibility. Not only can they make life easier for developers, they can also give regular users more control. Instead of dealing with code every time you want to add or change a web form, for example, the right forms plugin will let you build and make changes in an easy drag-and-drop interface.

Plugins are actively maintained by developers! “Actively maintained” means that the plugin is regularly updated to ensure it works with the most current version of WordPress. That means less potential for problems, inconsistencies, or security issues as the WordPress core evolves and improves.

Okay, what’s the down side?

There’s no perfect system, unfortunately, and while plugins can be a really powerful problem-solving tool for WordPress web design, there are also a few reasons why you might not want to go wild and install 20+ plugins on your website.

Not all plugins are actively maintained. One drawback of free plugins, in particular, is that their developers may not have the capacity to maintain them, and that can spell bad news over time. Updates to the WordPress core can cause outdated plugins to stop functioning correctly, leaving you scrambling to find an up-to-date solution when something breaks.

Luckily, paid plugins are almost always actively maintained, so a small investment up-front can buy you security in the longer term.

Too many plugins can slow down your website. This is mostly in more extreme cases, but think of it this way: each item you add to a process adds to how long it takes. A few plugins is 100% fine, but dozens of plugins can bog things down–and if your website takes forever to load, a lot of potential clients will leave before it does.

Not all plugins will play nicely together. Let’s think of your plugins like children on the playground: a group of just a few kids can have a totally fun and harmonious afternoon together, but as that group of kids gets bigger, so does the potential for conflicts! Your plugins are the same: the more plugins there are, the more

The key to WordPress website success? Moderation.

When I develop a WordPress website, I always aim for moderation with my plugins. I look for the ideal balance of saved time and overall site performance, which often means that I end up using fewer plugins than many other developers.

Still, not using any plugins at all would be a less effective use of our time and our clients’ resources overall—that would add up to extra coding time that could be better used on other aspects of the site. So, I always have some plugins in the mix, just not so many that it becomes unwieldy!

In short, choose wisely with your WordPress plugins. Think about what functionalities you really need, and which ones you could solve another way without much trouble. And, if you like a particular plugin, consider buying the paid version!

Still feel overwhelmed by your WordPress web design? Good thing you’re here, because design for WordPress is our jam! Book a consultation with Upswept, and let us take care of your website headaches for you.

If you look at your website and feel unsure about what goals it’s meant to achieve, that’s a strong cue that it’s time for a redesign.

When the First Presbyterian Church of Portland came to us, their outdated website wasn’t helping them reach their goals for the future. The First Presbyterian Church of Portland’s old website was a classic example of one that did well enough at past goals, but not current ones. They had created an informational resource that worked for their existing members, and covered the long history of the church and its unique features.

However, beyond that, their old site missed out on some key opportunities:

• Their website didn’t function well on mobile devices.
• The multitude of resources and bulletins for members didn’t do much to invite new visitors in, so growing their membership was a slow process.
• Their community service and their music and arts events got lost in the shuffle, when First Presbyterian wanted those aspects at the forefront.
• They lacked clear messaging and imagery to give a sense of what their community is like—a serious gap when community is the biggest motivator for becoming a member!

Getting Goal-Oriented

As we dug into learning about First Presbyterian’s culture and goals, we discovered aspects of their community that could really shine on their website and widen its scope beyond promoting worship services and getting news out to current members.

We knew their goals as an organization were:

• Encourage participation in services and other activities,
• Grow their membership,
• Reach an audience of younger families,
• Create greater awareness of their public events in music & art.

To ensure they could expand their reach towards younger families, part of our process involved a deep dive into their brand voice, with the help of copywriter Abbi Wood. Focused discussions with the Head Pastor and other leadership at First Presbyterian helped us learn about their vision and their community values, so the website’s messaging would be both clear and inviting for a modern and tech-savvy audience.

Meanwhile, we did a thorough audit of their existing website content to determine what content best served their audience, and worked to gather photo and content resources to bolster their brand story.

From there, we crafted a website design that supports their goals, as they are in the here and now, by:

• Creating a mobile-friendly website that reflects their community’s modern perspective and commitment to the city of Portland
• Restructuring the site map and homepage to bring their Community Outreach and Music & Arts efforts to the forefront.
• Making it easy to find information about worship services and joining their membership
• Sharing details about First Presbyterian’s offerings and events in a way that is both visually engaging and easy-to-digest.
• Building an interface that is easy for their internal staff to manage, so all of their information is up-to-date.

First Presbyterian Church of Portland now has a modern website where people can easily find out how to join their events, and become a part of their membership.

• Visitors immediately see the faces of an active and engaged community, whether they’re on mobile or desktop, and are invited to learn more about it.
• Visitors can easily see calls-to-action on the homepage guiding them towards attending services, exploring their outreach efforts, and partaking in their arts and music offerings.
• Their public events and volunteer efforts for the community are front-and-center, as cornerstones of what makes their community unique.
• Their website now has a refined content strategy, speaking to their values in a way that is concise and inviting, rather than dense and intimidating.

Some Benefits of the New Website:

• Improved engagement from visitors who are new to the organization,
• Time saved on administrative tasks and website maintenance, so they can turn more of their attention towards publications and social media outreach,
• Fewer questions both from current members and from those interested in joining,
• Comfort in having an online presence crafted by a team of professionals, that truly reflects their community and values.

To take a closer look at the finished product or others like it, take a look at our portfolio.