Gutenberg – WordPress 5.0
Well, it’s finally happening. WordPress 5.0 will be a very big update and it’s being released 12/6/2108. This is a great article by WordFence that explains what I’ve been trying to tell my clients for months now: WordPress 5.0: How and When to Update
- You can use a classic editor for a few years if you do not want to use the new editing features. The new editor will have a learning curve for end users, but it should offer some improvements as well as some frustrations.
- If you have older or abandoned plugins, there is a chance they will NOT work with the new WordPress 5.0 and that could have serious effects on your website. This should hopefully be solved by locating the out of date plugins and finding new ones to use instead.
- If you have an older WordPress template or a customized template that was not kept up to date, your site may no longer work correctly. It is impossible to tell how until you update to WordPress 5.0. The solution for this is to use a new template (which will be difficult if you had one customized).
Good luck WordPress Users! Feel free to contact Collective IT Solutions if you need help!
Contact Collective IT Solutions
We decided to keep Collective IT Solutions’s website simple and to the point! We can help you create your website taking your wants, needs and budget into consideration. We specialize in small business WordPress websites.
We are very good at explaining things to our customer so they understand and we do not try to talk the “IT Talk” that can get confusing.
We have been working with WordPress Websites for almost 15 years, both creating them and enhancing them. We also have considerable experience working with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Social Media. Please contact us to set up a meeting.
Using WordPress? Make sure you’re prepared for Gutenberg
There are many articles and rumblings on the internet currently regarding Gutenberg, WordPress’s “in the near future” new Editor. Some reviews are good and explain the intentions of Gutenberg. Some are better and point out what will not work with the new WordPress updates and what features will be improved due to the new updates. And some reviews are just telling you what a horrible change this will be since many older plugins / themes will no longer work correctly.
To learn about Gutenberg, I think it’s important to begin with the Source – wordpress.org. Here’s a great article introducing and explaining the new Editor:
https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/
Will your current WordPress plugins will all work correctly? Here is an excellent resource that many Users contribute to: Gutenberg Plugin Compatibility Database. Not all plugins have been tested, but this is a good start. Next, you can use a staging server to test out your current websites and install the Gutenberg Plugin.
No matter what anyone is staying, this will obviously be a big change for WordPress. As a long time User / Designer / Developer of WordPress I must admit I’m nervous about a seamless integration for many websites.
Not Sure About Bitcoin
Thank you Manta for an educational article about Bitcoin. Digital Currency is becoming more popular. Maybe we could all benefit from fewer financial institution fees? I’m not 100% sure about security yet, but I’m sure many (including my husband and sister) would claim this is more secure than the bank . . . I suppose time will tell how many people will adopt Bitcoin.
What the Heck is Bitcoin?
What WordPress Plugin Needs Does my Website Have?
This is an interesting question. Of course, based on your website and the purpose of your website, your WordPress plugin needs may change / be different. We do, however; feel there are some plugins everyone should consider. There are usually free versions of said plugins if you are just starting out. But if you want / need even greater features, you might want to pay for the plugin.
Paid or Unpaid Plugins strongly recommended by CITS:
- Forms – don’t try to write you own as there are many free plugins already available for use.
- Image Optimization / Image Display – This will really help the speed of your website pages and is strongly recommended.
- Gallery – If you plan on using a lot of images, there are many plugins that can help you organize / display them nicely.
- SEO – If you want to appear higher up in a Browser Search, some of these free plugins give you all the tools to help make this happen.
- Social Media – In today’s electronic world, social media has exploded. If you Post regularly on WordPress and use a plugin to auto transfer the same post to multiple social media locations, you will create a lot of important /useful links to your website.
- Caching / Site Optimization – Again, this will really help maintain the speed and operation of your website.
- Backup – This is one of the biggest ones we recommend. Make sure if you make website changes or updates and things “break” you can always restore the site form a backup.
- Security / Malware – you never know when your site might be hacked or utilized for malicious purposes. Be sure to take an offensive role and put security measures into place before this occurs! The level of security you site requires can dictate if you need free or paid security plugins.
Let Collective IT Solutions determine your needs and recommend the proper plugins for your website.
Choosing a good WordPress Host
Collective IT Solutions has worked with numerous WordPress website Hosts, for quite a few years even. We admit, there are many good hosts out there and you may select yours for various reasons. But if you are new to WordPress, looking to save some money or just want a good WordPress Host that takes care of a lot for you; we strongly recommend www.siteground.com. They are inexpensive and offer a lot of features for you that other hosts do not offer. They also offer good support if you need it and they can brag about a significantly high website “Up-time.”
If our clients need a new WordPress Host, we always recommend www.siteground.com. No one has been disappointed.
Is it Time to Update Your Website Design?
While reading through some recent articles, I found an excellent “Is it time to update my design” Checklist published by Zift Solutions, “How Often Should You Update or Rebuild Your Website?”
If you can answer “Yes” to any of the following questions, it might be time to contact an established company such as Collective IT Solutions to discuss a website redesign:
- Has it been over 3 years since you last updated your site?
- Is your website in line with your current brand?
- Is your website intuitive and user-friendly?
- Is your website responsive?
- Are you still using Adobe Flash for anything on your site?
- Do you have your social sharing buttons in a high traffic area?
- Are you using social media platforms (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook) at all?
- Is your company contact info easy to find?
- Is your website URL 10 miles long?
- Does your website literally look like it was created in 1994?
Together we can come up with a website that is professional sound and pleasing to look at in the current year. Let us help you impress your clients.
Local Businesses
Collective IT Solutions has been given the opportunity to work with local businesses in our area. One of these businesses is a wonderful not for profit organization that requires various website updates every few months to align with the successful events they hold. Seeds of Hope is this company. We encourage you to check out their website (since we are the website coordinator and designer), but we also recommend you review and attend any of their events if you are able / available.
This is a great organization that works with local businesses and schools!
Add Social Media
If you are using WordPress, there are many easy and decent plugins to help aid you with social media posts. Some of them are free if you are willing to do a bit more work to “share socially” and some of them cost a little to a lot of money to add easy social sharing to your website.
There are many reasons to use social media – but the top 2 reasons CITS can think of are:
- You will have links back to your website from various social media accounts and this will help you out with Search Engines by moving your website towards the top of results.
- You will have more of an internet presence and people will be able to find your company / website easier.
Collective IT Solutions can help you create the social media accounts that work best for your company. Which accounts should your company use? Here is a great article by BigMouthMarketing that gives great reasons for selecting your social media:
Which Social Media Platforms Should My Business Be On?
Contact Collective IT Solutions for More Information and help with your website.
Websites to fit all wants and needs
We can define your website together at any price range. WordPress makes it easy for clients to take over most tasks with little IT assistance after the site is launched. Check out some of our recent work and customer testimonials!
