The True Cost of WordPress Maintenance

The WordPress software is free, and you can get basic web hosting and a domain name for $5-10/month. So your total cost of ownership should be less than $100 per year, right?

Only if you’re willing to endure slow load times, intermittent downtime, and are willing to devote hundreds, maybe thousands, of hours into learning the ins and outs of WordPress so you can maintain and fix your site. You might think that once you install WordPress, choose a theme and plugins, and add in your content, you’re done. But that’s only the beginning.

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NextGEN Gallery Plugin Review

We no longer recommend NextGEN Gallery. Instead, we recommend using the default image gallery with custom styling and/or plugins like Lightbox Plus.

Proper Website Maintenance

Regardless of what kind of website you have, you need to make sure you have proper backup and security procedures in place. And if you are using any kind of software, such as a content management system like WordPress, you also need to be attentive to upgrades. If you have ever managed a website or had the unfortunate experience of being hacked, you know how important these three aspects are, and how disastrous the consequences can be.

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Maximizing Your Dropbox Account

Dropbox isn’t just for backups. You can use it to share files, transfer files between computers, and host website files externally.

Dropbox is an easy-to-use, cloud-based file backup and sharing system. You just need to sign up for a free online account to get started. You can also install the optional software to make managing your files much easier. Once you install the software, you will have a local Dropbox folder that behaves the same as any other folder, but it will automatically sync any files and folders inside it with your online account.

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Socialize Plugin Review

Social media buttons are becoming increasingly common on websites. There are many social media button plugins out there, but the Socialize plugin is by far our favorite. While the decision ultimately comes down to personal preference, we recommend the Socialize plugin above the rest. It gives you all of the major social media buttons and gives you plenty of flexibility with customizing their appearance.

[Read More]Socialize Plugin Review