Reviews - WP Hive

Admin 2020 Theme Review: Basic Features, Pros-Cons, Pricing & More

Actually, in the default WordPress system, you don’t have enough permission to customize the website the way you like. So despite having the desire to bring new things on your website theme, you don’t have a choice but to rely on the basic customizations of WordPress.

So this is why, Mark Aston, a reknowned WordPress developer, has introduced the Admin 2020 theme for the WordPress users, with comprehensive editing & customizing facilities all in one place.

In today’s post, we’re going to review the Admin 2020 theme including basic features-functions, pricing, and pros & cons and more.

Admin 2020 Theme at a Glance

Admin 2020 theme is a clean & modern WordPress theme with a sophisticated dashboard, Google analytics, effective media library options, dark mood, and so on. While using this theme, you’ll feel like you’re not using a regular WordPress interface.

The beauty of Admin 2020 theme is that anyone with the skills can easily change the design to suit their own aesthetic
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Because the design is built on UIKit, and a lightweight UI framework, that makes it softer, gives it a rounder look and produces a texture that is totally different from the default WordPress.

Basic Features of Admin 2020 Theme

Let’s have a look at some of admin theme’s most powerful features & functions.

Compact Dashboard, See Everything in an Organized Way

Admin 2020 theme has a compact overview page. Also, when you enter the demo site, you’ll see everything in an organized way. Such as google filterable analytics report by dates, WooCommerce integration, products, and marketing related stuff.

You can also view other data such as recent comments, popular pages, and a general overview of your posts and pages.

Easy Way to Search

In the dashboard, you’ll see a search bar button. From here (admin bar) you can instantly get access to all important pages. In fact, you can filter without any loading time and handle them with ease.

Quick Media Library Access

Admin theme has an amazing media library that is quicker than the classic or regular WordPress Library.

Admin 2020 Theme Review: Basic Features, Pros-Cons, Pricing & More 1

Including a brand new media gallery, which also has folder options. You can add new folders and view them from different angles. As a result, you can better organize your media and speed up your workflow!

Admin 2020 Theme Review: Basic Features, Pros-Cons, Pricing & More 2

You can do more with the advanced filter. For example, you can order them according to the product’s creation time and date.

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Dark Mode/Night mode

The most amazing part of this theme is the ‘Dark mood‘. Unlike other WordPress themes, the theme has this great in-built quality and you can activate it by clicking the right top corner of the profile menu.

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White Label

Admin 2020 theme lets you white label the dashboard to be your own, which is excellent for client sites. You can easily upload files such as logos, photos, pages, add posts, moreover make the dashboard attractive.

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Best for Content Management

Content is the most important part of any website. Your website workflow solely depends on the content you provide. So considering this fact, the Admin theme will allow you to manage content in an organized way.

There is a content option of the Admin 2020 theme where you can add content, edit, or publish. Moreover, manage your entire website content easily.

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Default WooCommerce Integration

Another great feature of the Admin 2020 theme is the default ‘WooCommerce Integration‘. You’ll get everything that you need if you have any eCommerce products. You can add products, manage orders, coupons, generate reports, track, analyze performance, see customers, and more.

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If you are not satisfied with the default WooCommerce options, don’t worry! You can add some simplified extensions to your website. In that case, you need to spend some money.

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Google Analytics to Generate Detailed Reports

As we said earlier, the Admin 2020 theme includes Google Analytics integration which can display the following beautiful reports on the overview page. For example, users, page views, sessions, and device breakdowns, etc. New reports will be generated automatically every month.

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Pros & Cons of Admin 2020 Theme

After knowing about the features, let’s know shortly some of its pros & cons.

Pros

Distraction-free interface
Amazing menu control
Custom CSS/JS
Easy to use
A totally unique interface from the regular WordPress system
Easy to handle files, folders, and media files
Fast content management process
User analytics
Has a Lightweight UI framework
24/7 customer support.

Cons

No available free plans
It may look difficult for novice users
Features don’t work properly in the demo
The image editor is not available in the demo version

Admin 2020 Theme Pricing

If you want to use the premium version of this theme, you need to check its pricing plan and what it offers to the users. Also, you can unlock more features & advanced functions easily by using the pro version.

So let’s take a look at what features you’ll get if you purchase the pro plan of the Admin theme.

1 year of updates and support
For use on one site or unlimited sites (based on the plans)
Modern UI
Powerful media gallery with folders
Intuitive overview page
Dark mode
White label
Menu control
Add custom CSS and JS
Multisite ready.

Admin 2020 offers two different pricing plans. It starts at $20 per year for a single site and $80 per year for unlimited sites. There’s a lifetime option which sells for $140 for unlimited sites too.

This is the pricing table that the Admin theme offers. Check-in detail before you proceed to buy.

Over to You

Actually, Admin 2020 theme is totally different & unique in the WordPress ecosystem. Its easy to apply. And you don’t need to look for other integrations as it offers most of the features you need at the primary level. So we can say, it’s a complete WordPress theme.

We tried our best to convey almost every part of the Admin 2020 theme by describing its features, pricing, good & bad sides. So the decision is in your hand whether to use it or not.

Anyways, if you want to share anything regarding this post, feel free to ask. We’ll be glad to answer all your answers.😉

MailPoet Review: Features, Performance, Pricing and more

If you are looking for an easy way to send a newsletter and that too from your WordPress dashboard, then you have to rely on an email newsletter plugin.

Today, more than 34% people use email. That’s about 2.5 billion people.

Therefore in 2020, there is no denying the fact that email marketing is more important and effective than ever. It is a personal way to reach your targeted customers. It is more effective than social media, it’s economic and cost-effective, customizable, measurable, action-oriented, and more.

However, without an efficient email marketing solution, these are not possible. So, if you are still confused about whether or not to choose an email marketing solution, today we are going to do an in-depth MailPoet review, a popular email newsletter plugin for WordPress.

We are going to cover all the features, pros and cons, compare it with another popular email newsletter plugin so that you have all the right idea whether to choose an email marketing solution and that too MailPoet.

Role of An Email Newsletter Plugin & Features You Should Look For into It

Before jumping onto the MailPoet review, we will first talk about the role of an email newsletter plugin plays, along with what features you should look for before choosing a newsletter plugin.

Basically the main role of an email newsletter plugin is to help you collect email addresses from website visitors. You can create attractive sign-up forms that connect directly to your email marketing service. Also, this plugin helps you create email marketing campaigns through your WordPress site.

Now, there are many email marketing plugins out there. So, before choosing any of them you have to know what features these plugins should have in order to get the best service.

Any email marketing plugin should have,

Drag n Drop editor
Form customization
Attractive built-in email templates
Segmentation
Managing subscriber’s list
Detailed Reports and Analysis
Reliability
Integrations.

So, when you are choosing an email newsletter plugin, make sure your solution has all these features.

Basic Features & Functionalities of MailPoet

Now, let’s discuss the basic functionalities and features of MailPoet in this part of the MailPoet review article.

This email newsletter plugin lets you create and send an email newsletter right from your WordPress dashboard. The process is very simple and straightforward. As you are already using WordPress so you are already familiar with the interface. That’s not all, it has other features. Like,

Beautiful Email Templates

With MailPoet you can create professional-looking emails in minutes. All you have to do is select the email type, choose the right template, customize to your liking, and send. That’s it.

MailPoet is fully customizable, so you can add your colors, backgrounds, and add your logo. And if you don’t want to use the template, you can create an email from scratch.

Built-in Signup Form Builder

The technique that most email marketers use to collect subscribers is signup forms. They put attractive yet simple signup forms to encourage customers to signup to their email newsletter.

MailPoet gives you the opportunity to create signup forms and you can put them anywhere in the website. Although, the forms might not be as complex like other form builders. But they are simple yet effective.

You can easily use CSS to customize the forms if you have design skills.

Subscriber List Segmentation

List segmentation is a crucial part of email marketing. You can categorize your subscribers into different groups based on their interests and behaviors. Then send them personalized emails.

With MailPoet, segmentation is easy. You can easily track the subscribed, unsubscribed, and bounced subscribers. You can also import and export subscribers in both CSV and Excel formats to make moving from your current email outreach provider a breeze.

Google Analytics Integration

We all know about the importance of Google Analytics to track the performance of a website. MailPoet uses this feature to help you gain deep insights into your subscribers so you can leverage data to get better results with every email.

You can view your analytics by going to the ‘Emails’ section of MailPoet.

You can analyze your email campaigns’ performance and learn more about your subscribers.

You can track opens, clicks, and unsubscribers. You will also get an idea of how your newsletter is performing. That way you can rectify your mistakes and optimize them for better engagement.

WooCommerce Integration

MailPoet directly works with WooCommerce. You can do things like segmentation, automation, abandoned cart notifications. You can also check click rates, along with which customers opened your email, and even track invoices.

The best feature, however, is having all this built-in to WordPress. You don’t have to go back and forth between apps and worry about missing something because everything is under one dashboard.

These are the main features of MailPoet. However, it also has some basic features as well,

Simple database import from spreadsheet or direct from MailChimp
Database export as a CSV file or Excel file
Easy-to-manage subscriber database
Ability to manage multiple lists on one site
Template import
Drag-and-drop editor.

Advantages of Using MailPoet WordPress Plugin (Pros)

If you are looking for an easy way to manage email newsletters and basic email outreach, then you can benefit from using MailPoet. That’s why it’s such a popular and highly-rated plugin.

However, if you still want to know why you should choose MailPoet over other email marketing solutions, here are some advantages of using this plugin.

You can easily manage email marketing campaigns from start to finish, including analytics, within your WordPress dashboard
High-quality design tools for signup forms and emails
Pop-up and slide-in functionality for signup forms
Automation for specific types of email marketing
Easy subscriber import and export
Well-organized subscriber database
Ability to manage multiple lists on one site
Segmentation capabilities
High deliverability
It is quite a good option for eCommerce sites.

Issues You May Face While Using MailPoet (Cons)

There is no software without glitch or issues in the world. MailPoet is no different. It has also some issues that you may face while using. These issues may put off many email marketers from using MailPoet. Here are the issues,

MailPoet lacks advance functionality
Forms are very basic
No split testing
Only does basic automation
UI could use an update
Limited scheduling functionality.

How Does MailPoet Actually Perform?

It’s one thing to know about a plugin’s features, advantages, and disadvantages. But it’s whole another thing to know how the plugin will affect the site. That’s why it is important to know the technical features of a plugin.

Otherwise, you will end up choosing a plugin that will lower the performance of your site. Although it has great features. Luckily, WP Hive does the trick.

WP Hive has multiple parts. One of them is a very powerful crawler. The crawler crawls all the plugin from WordPress.org, blindly activates it, and logs many crucial data such as page speed, memory usage, JavaScript issues, activations issues and more.

So, we are going to put MailPoet through WP Hive and see how it actually performs.

Initial Test

Now, if we see the initial results, you can see the plugin passes all the tests with flying colors. There is no PHP errors or JavaScript issues.

Memory Usage & Page Speed

If we see the use of memory for MailPoet, it is relatively high. It stands at 3430.56KB. That is more than almost 99% of the plugins. However, the page speed is much faster than 99% of the plugins.

Download & Other Stats

You can also view all the stats for MailPoet from the beginning of it’s release almost 4 years ago.

MailPoet Vs MailChimp: Head To Head Comparison

Mailchimp is one of the earliest email marketing solutions. So, you can easily understand the depth of its popularity. Mailchimp offers a lot of useful email marketing features, such as segmentation, social media integration, and eCommerce features (such as an abandoned cart, product recommendation, and order notification emails).

However, MailPoet holds it’s own for it’s unique features as well. That is why people have been calling it an alternative to Mailchimp in some level. But is it true?

Why don’t you see the below comparison and decide for yourself.

Comparison	Mailchimp	MailPoet
Learning Curve	You have to go through a whole lot of configuration while setting up Mailchimp for the first time. For beginners it is a daunting task.	MailPoet installation is as simple as installing a WordPress plugin. You just need to decide on your email delivery partner.
Analytics	Mailchimp analytics provides insight like receives email, Open rate and bounce rate of your email campaign	MailPoet provides you only insights like open rate and click rate in its free plan. For a detailed analytic feature, you will have to pay for the analytic plugin.
Post Notification Emails	Mailchimp sends post notification emails by splitting the RSS feed of your WordPress site. However, there is an option available in which you can send only the post summary instead of the whole content.	MailPoet allows fetching the post information directly from the database of the WordPress. Which ultimately offers a myriad of customization options in its Automatic latest content module.
WooCommerce	Mailchimp allows a user to integrate WooCommerce through their plug-in. However the reviews of that plugin are sub-par, so there is an issue of reliability on that WooCommerce plug-in.	MailPoet have created Woo-commerce features to add in the MailPoet which facilitates online store owners to ease their email marketing.
A/B Testing	You can experiment with subject line design and link placement.	There is no provision for A/B testing in MailPoet.
Pricing	Mailchimp is free up to 2000 subscribers and 12,000 mail per month. But you will have to pay for selecting a plan other than the free plan.	MailPoet offers unlimited emails a month to 1000 subscribers.

Compare the technical issues between Mailchimp & mailpoet

Our Verdict

Mailchimp has more advanced analytics and eCommerce based features in compare to MailPoet. What Mailchimp offers in its free plan, MailPoet offers in its premium plans. However, if you are looking for value for money then MailPoet is the right choice.

Mailchimp has inflexible pricing plans. MailPoet’s free plan supports sending more than 12,000 emails per month (which is Mailchimp’s limit). However, Mailchimp offers more pre-built templates and a more rewarding design interface.

So, we can say MailPoet can be a serious alternative to Mailchimp if you care about email deliverability. But if you had to pick one, then it’s up to you and your requirements. You need to keep in mind the budget as well.

Final Words

Thus we end our MailPoet review. We have tried to cover all the essential details and hopefully give you the necessary information regarding the MailPoet plugin.

So, if you are looking to start using a new email newsletter plugin, we hope this MailPoet review article will help you make the right choice.

Download Mailpoet now!

Best WordPress Localhost Services in 2020 (Why to Use?)

If you’re a WordPress developer, you probably do most of your work in local environments. Developing in a local environment lets you make changes to dev sites quickly and easily. It also greatly reduces the risk of making and breaking changes on a live web server.

It doesn’t matter if you are a newbie developer or an experienced one, you need to test your plugins before implementing on any live site. And what place better than a WordPress localhost server. You can develop and test your developed plugins and themes without worrying.

It is a common practice in the WordPress industry.

However, choosing the best WordPress localhost is difficult as several options are available out there. More importantly, your workflow will vary depending on your pick, so it’s important to know what your options are and what features they offer you.

No worries! We have made that job easy for you. Today, in this blog post, we are going to discuss the best localhost for WordPress users and make a comparison between them. Keep reading.

Practice Your Development Skills In WordPress Localhost Environment

Practice makes a man perfect.

If you’re developing a WordPress theme or plugin, it’s often necessary to make sure that your code runs well on different servers, under different versions of PHP and MySQL. That’s why WordPress localhost servers are so important.

Building a modern WordPress website from scratch takes time. If you want to set up and design WordPress on a live server, you need to spend hours online to get your website up and running. However, if you opt for local installation, an internet connection will only be needed when you want to push the website online.

Besides, you can’t afford to make drastic changes like modifying a theme on a live website. This could break your site, and your website’s uptime and reputation will be severely affected. The better option is to test offline and then make the changes live after exhaustive testing.

Best WordPress Localhost Services

We have several options at our disposal to set up local server environments. To make your job easy, we are mentioning five of the most popular localhost service providers.

XAMPP
DesktopServer
MAMP
Laragon
Local by Flywheel

Let’s have a more in-depth look at these local WordPress development environments.

1- XAMPP

XAMPP is probably the oldest local development environment around you and possibly the most complex one. XAMPP stands for X-platform Apache MariaDB, PHP, and Perl. It is an open-source platform and supports all major operating systems including Windows, macOS, Linux, etc. Also, it’s completely free.

Key Features

Lets you set up a software stack including Apache, MariaDB, PHP, and Perl
Provides the option to choose from multiple XAMPP versions, depending on which PHP release you want to use
Offers a VM-based local WordPress experience, if you’re a macOS user and download the corresponding version
Enables you to use a simple dashboard tool to manage all your new services
Makes it possible to set up WordPress manually, or use a standalone installer (if you want to).

Limitations of XAMPP

No autonomous process
No other way but to create database every time
PHP, MySql version cannot be upgraded without reinstalling.

Pricing

XAMPP is a 100% open-source package. There’s no premium version with hidden features, so you’re free to use it in any way you see fit.

2- DesktopServer

DesktopServer is a Windows and macOS tool that enables you to create multiple local WordPress websites using a simple step-by-step wizard. Despite the fact that there is a free version of the tool, you still need to register to download it, which is a small price to pay.

Key Features

Includes a wizard to help you set up new local WordPress websites
Enables you to map domains to your local sites
Lets you duplicate or delete your sites at any time
Makes it possible to manage up to three local sites, using the software’s free version
Supports Apache, MySQL, and PHP 5.5.

Limitations of DesktopServer

The free version offers limited features than other WordPress localhosts
It only supports a single type of environment.

Pricing

So far, we’ve only talked about DesktopServer’s free version. There’s also a premium alternative, which starts at $99.95 per year.

3- MAMP

Best WordPress Localhost Services in 2020 (Why to Use?) 11

MAMP stands for Mac Apache MySQL and PHP. Earlier it was a macOS only application but it’s now available for Windows too. MAMP provides all the tools that is needed to run WordPress on a desktop PC for testing or development purposes.

It does not matter whether you prefer the web server Apache or Nginx in addition to MySQL as a database server, or whether you want to work with PHP, Python, Perl, or Ruby.

Key Features

Enables you to set up an environment based on Apache, MySQL, and PHP
Lets you use different versions of the software, depending on which PHP release you want to set up
Supports a lot of additional languages, including Python and Perl
Provides the option to set up local WordPress websites manually.

Limitations of MAMP

Free version offers limited features
It doesn’t let you run multiple types of environments at the same time

Pricing

Throughout this section, we’ve only focused on MAMP’s free version. However, there’s also a premium option available. It starts at $59 for both macOS and Windows.

4- Laragon

Laragon provides super fast, easy-to-use, productive and powerful development environment for all. It is portable and very flexible. You can move the Laragon folder around (to other disks, to other laptops, synchronize with Cloud) and the magic of Laragon will be with you.

Key Features

Instantly creates local site, no configuration is needed.
Multiple CMS sites can be created. (e.g. WordPress, Joomla, Drupal)
Three versions available – Portable, lite, and full.
Multiple versions of PHP, MySQL, Apache, can be installed.
Different extensions can be installed.
Tutorials are available.

Limitations of Laragon

There is no cloning and migration feature
Also missing blueprint feature.

Pricing

Laragon is a 100% open-source package that means it is completely free to download and use.

5- Local by Flywheel

Local by Flywheel is one of the most straightforward tools you can use to set up a local testing environment. As it stands, the application packs plenty of features. There are also further developments on the horizon, such as the ability to import remote sites and enable off-site backups.

Key Features

Enables you to set up local WordPress websites with a few clicks
Lets you monitor the status of all your existing sites from a list
Provides the option to access your sites’ dashboards, databases, and local directories with a click
Makes it possible to create live links, to share access to your local projects
Offers the option to set up blueprints, to easily deploy WordPress websites using the settings you prefer

Limitations of Local by Flywheel

Supports only WordPress site
Only perfect for smaller outfits and projects with less strict requirements

Pricing

Completely free to download and use.

Which WordPress Localhost to Choose

Now, we know the features, strengths, and limitations of all the WordPress localhost services that we have mentioned above. If we make a comparison table of these services, how it will look! Let’s check it out.

Features	XAMPP	DesktopServer	MAMP	Laragon	Local by Flywheel
Does It Use Virtual Machine	No	No	No	No	Yes
One-Click Installation	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Cross Platform	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Can Create Any CMS Site?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Have to Create Database Every Time	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Begginer Friendly	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Built-in Editor	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Price	Free	Free & Premium	Free & Premium	Free	Free

All the WordPress localhost applications mentioned here are popular. Each localhost for WordPress will run seamlessly on your machine. However, from our point of view, we can say that if you are using Windows operating system then it’s better to use Laragon and if you are using macOS then use Local by Flywheel.

If you want a cross-platform WordPress localhost, you can choose XAMPP without any hesitation. Because it supports all the major operating systems like Windows, macOS, Linux, etc. That makes this localhost more popular than any other WordPress localhost exists.

Bonus: How to Install WordPress on Localhost (XAMPP)

To install WordPress using XAMPP server –

First, download it from the official location.
Choose your preferred download option, e.g. If you are using windows then choose XAMPP for Windows.
Install the XAMPP in the default way or choose the component as you required.

How To Install WordPress On Localhost (Simple But Complete Guideline) 2

You have successfully installed XAMPP on your pc. Now the second part begins. It’s time to install WordPress. But before installing WordPress you have to create a database.

Run the XAMPP control panel.
Now start ‘Apache’ and ‘MySQL’. (Apache is the webserver and MySQL keeps your database.)

How To Install WordPress On Localhost (Simple But Complete Guideline) 3

Now open your browser and go to ‘localhost/phpmyadmin’

It’s time to create a Database for your site.

Click on the ‘new button’ from the top left corner
Put your database name and click on the ‘create’ button. (We have created a database named ‘xampp_site’.)

How To Install WordPress On Localhost (Simple But Complete Guideline) 4

Database creation is done! Now let’s start installing WordPress.

Download WordPress from ‘wordpress.org’.
Extract the zip file and rename to your preferred site name. (we have renamed it to xampp_site)
Put the folder in your htdocs directory. The default location of htdocs directory is (C:\xampp\htdocs)
From your browser go to ‘localhost/your_site_name’. (we are entering this address ‘localhost/xampp_site as my site name is xampp_site’.)

How To Install WordPress On Localhost (Simple But Complete Guideline) 5

Choose your language and click on the ‘Continue’ button.
Now put your database name, user name, and password to run the installation. (The default database username is ‘root’ and password is blank.)

How To Install WordPress On Localhost (Simple But Complete Guideline) 6

Give your site details and hit the ‘Install WordPress’ button.

How To Install WordPress On Localhost (Simple But Complete Guideline) 7

Congrats! You have successfully installed WordPress localhost with XAMPP. Now login to your site with the details you have used during installation of WordPress.

How To Install WordPress On Localhost (Simple But Complete Guideline) 8

Now visit your site and build your WordPress website in the localhost in the way you want. You can visit your WordPress site anytime using the address ‘localhost/wordpress/wp-admin’. (replace ‘wordpress’ with your_site_name. )

Choose a Localhost & Start Developing Now

Image Creation Tools to Create SEO Friendly Images for WordPress Blog

A WordPress localhost lets developers create a local testing environment to build WordPress websites. Essentially, this environment mimics a live website but is entirely self-contained on the user’s own computer. Once the site is complete, developers can then move the website from their localhost environment to a live server environment.

This can be a massive help for a developer to build and test his site before deploying. So, if you’re a developer, choose the right WordPress localhost, and start deploying sites. You can share your experience through the comment box below.

What’s New in WordPress 5.5

The second major release of WordPress 5.5 is just around the corner to impress you! It was scheduled to release on August 11, 2020.

Though the fresh version has come up with massive improvements you should still play around with it by setting up a test site before you are going to implement it to your main site.

Today, we will show you what’s the newest additions and tweaks in the latest WordPress 5.5. Now let’s get going…

New Useful WordPress 5.5 Features and Improvements in The Block Editor

The following are just some of the enhancements that you may want to try out.

We know that the WordPress 5.0 came up with a promising post editor called Gutenberg block editor. Since then they have been adding major features and improvements with each release.

As a continuous effort, they have added a host of new features and improvements to the block editor which will give you a more user friendly experience.

Here are a number of enhancement you may want to be interested in:

Improved User Interface

In the block editor of WordPress 5.5, you will see some major UI improvements. While writing you will notice borders around new icons, toolbars, and buttons. In addition to that as you move across blocks while writing, you can also focus on highlighting.

There is a slight change in the (+) icon which has become more discernible and looks more like a button.

Inline Image Editing

This is an effective advancement to the block editor. Previously WordPress allowed us to do some basic image editing activities like cropping, scaling, rotating, and resizing. Now guess what! You can edit images inline!

Default Lazy Load Images in WordPress

Optimizing your site for search engines is imperative to get more visitors. But if you make your website clumsy using the heavy images, your page loading speed will decrease.

To address this issue WordPress 5.5 has shipped with a default technique called lazy load images. What it does is that it only downloads images visible on the user’s browser screen and the rest of the images are downloaded when the user scrolls down further.

Please note that this feature is supported by all browsers except Safari.

You will be able to see the ‘lazy‘ attributes inside the <img> tag:

Brand New Block Patterns in WordPress 5.5

From this very new version, you can use block patterns. With these ready to use blocks you can create layouts using commonly used settings.

You will get a bunch of useful patterns out of the box. In future, this list of patterns will grow as the core, themes and plugins will continue garnering more patterns.

The New Block Directory

With the new WordPress 5.5, you can add new blocks using WordPress plugins. And as an improvement, you will find dozens of new blocks too.

Another important tweak is that you will get a block directory built-in with the “Add New Block” search. From here, you will be able to search for a block. If you don’t find a block matching your query, the block directory will automatically be showing you matching results.

There is a limitation in the block directory that is it won’t facilitate you with block library plugins that allow you to use multiple blocks from a single plugin.

Updated Block Navigation and Movement

Now, in WordPress 5.5 you can move a block up and down inside the content editor in an easier way simply using the block handle. You will also find it easier to select the parent block from the nested blocks just like the columns or groups block.

Auto Updates for WordPress Plugins & Themes

Another handy feature in WordPress 5.5! In the past, we got overwhelmed with lots of feature update messages. From now on, the core will include a third party plugin that will allow you to enable the auto-update feature for the plugins.

Enabling auto-updates for plugins in WordPress 5.5

You can not only update plugins but you can also update themes using this auto-update feature. To auto-update themes navigate to the WP Amin Dashboard > Appearance > Themes > Click on “Enable auto-updates” link.

The New Default WordPress XML Sitemaps

We know how important it is to generate xml sitemaps for any website. Because it helps search engines like Google to easily find, crawl and index your webpages.

You may be already generating XML sitemaps using third-party plugins. Fortunately, the brand new WordPress 5.5 has come up with a built-in sitemaps feature. Meaning that you don’t have to generate sitemaps using SEO plugins anymore.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean that you will ditch SEO plugins for this feature. Because the core version of WordPress 5.5 will generate sitemaps with basic functionalities.

But to rank higher in the search engine, you may still need to use the existing SEO plugins to generate XML sitemaps.

Update Themes and Plugins with FTP in WordPress 5.5

If you are to update WordPress themes and plugins, you may end up with an error. But in WordPress 5.5 you can now do it very easily with FTP client.

To update with the FTP client, you will have to download the theme or plugin you want to update beforehand. Then go to the WP Admin Dashboard > Plugins > Add New > Choose File.

After uploading the .zip file, WordPress will automatically detect your outdated plugin and will ask you if it would replace it with the newer version. Go ahead and click on the “Replace current with uploaded”

To update your theme with the latest version go to the WordPress Dashboard > Appearance > Themes > Upload theme > Choose File > Upload the .ZIP file of the latest version.

Similar to detecting plugins, WordPress will understand that you already have that theme installed and will give you the option to ‘Replace current with uploaded’ version.

Accessibility Changes as a part of regular updates

No WordPress major release would be complete without some Accessibility improvements and 5.5 is no different. In this release a number of changes were introduced, with these being the most notable:

Every major release of WordPress comes with accessibility changes. This time it’s no different. Here are a few accessibility changes compiled from WordPress.org:

List tables now come with extensive, alternate view modes.
Link-list widgets can now be converted to HTML5 navigation blocks.
Copying links in media screens and modal dialogs can now be done with a simple click of a button.
Disabled buttons now actually look disabled.
Meta boxes can now be moved with the keyboard.
A custom logo on the front page no longer links to the front page.
Assistive devices can now see status messages in the Image Editor.
The shake animation indicating a login failure now respects the user’s choices in the prefers-reduced-motion media query.
Redundant Error: prefixes have been removed from error notices.

Pro Tips For Developers

Under the hood, there are a lot changes for the developers too! We recommend you to go through the Field Guide that contains all the Dev Notes regarding the major changes. You can also sign up for the Core Blog so as to keep abreast of the latest changes that may influence your code. I would like to recommend that never wait for the release date rather test your code with the beta version to make sure that nothing gets conflicted when the latest version is released.

Over To You

If you have already tried some of the things you mentioned above, let us know how did you feel about them. And, if you think that we have missed any changes to include, don’t hesitate to share with us in the comment section below.

Beaver Builder Review: Should You Consider This WordPress Page Builder to Develop A Website in 2020

Website building becomes so simple these days. Even you don’t need to hire any developer or freelancer to do this. Well, you might be wondering, how is this possible?

You can do this using a WordPress page builder plugin. But the problem is which one you should consider as your website developing tool?

Here we would like to discuss the Beaver Builder- one of the top WordPress page builders out there.

Let’s get started.

Why You Need a Page Builder Like Beaver Builder?

As you already know, WordPress is very popular among technical, non-technical, and beginner users all over the world. With the WordPress default version, you can change the necessary part of your websites, like color, images, text, and buttons.

But there are certain things that you can not customize using the WordPress default customization options. You are not able to create a customized new page, add widgets, customize header or footer, menu, and more.

Luckily, you can solve this problem by using the popular WordPress Page builder plugins like Beaver Builder. With this advanced plugin, you can change the whole website without coding knowledge.

How Beaver Builder Helps to Design Your Website

How Beaver Builder Helps Your Website Design

Have you ever wonder why over 300000+ people around the world have chosen the Beaver Builder for creating their WordPress website? Allow me to explain.

Beaver Builder is a powerful drag & drop front end page builder that allows you to design a website using some clicks.

In addition, it has the full capability to make any type of website that you need for your personal or professional use.

However, it has many amazing features and functionality including visual editor, Gutenberg support, custom post types, 40+ pre-build templates, WooCommerce compatibility, SEO optimization, and etc. So you don’t need to worry about your site-building, it will take all the responsibility of your site.

Let’s dive into the Beaver Builder review and find out the most valuable information about this page builder.

https://happyaddons.com/best-free-website-building-software/

Step By Step Beaver Builder Review for WordPress Users

Now it’s high time to explore the Beaver Builder. We would like to take a step-by-step look at the special features, pros and cons, performance, and price of this page builder plugin so that you can understand it correctly.

Beaver Builder Feature Review

Like other popular page builder WordPress plugins, Beaver Builder also comes with many exclusive features that make your website development easier. Among the complete components, we need to verify the sort of top features and functions of this plugin.

Drag & Drop Page Builder

One of the main features of this page builder is the option to drag and drop elements. That means you can design your website with some clicks by dragging block elements to your site. Therefore, you can view the current design of your site and visually create & change the design structure of your website.

Responsive Design

Responsive design not only important for your better user experience but also helps in SEO optimization. That’s why Beaver Builder always focuses on responsive design so that your users can see the best results when visiting your website using small devices like mobiles and tabs.

Easy Import/Export Feature

Using this amazing function, you can efficiently migrate your site as well as share the layout of your website with others. In doing so, you’ll take full advantage of using WordPress import and export tools to save your content for the future. In addition, it will protect your site and reduce the time and effort required to redesign it.

Ability to Handle Multiple Sites at Once

Sometimes you may have to handle multiple websites at the same time. However, most page builders do not have the ability to handle multisite. Thanks to Beaver Builder for getting this amazing feature. It saves work stress and also reduces the time for you.

World-Class Customer Support

When you’re working on a page builder plugin, you might need support from the existence page builder provider. Here, we see Beaver Builder offer top-notch support to their valuable customers. And always try to satisfy their users.

https://wphive.com/reviews/plugins/bbpress-plugin-review/

Pros & Cons of Beaver Builder

While Beaver Builder has many advantages on the other side, it also has some disadvantages in its pocket. And when you are considering a page builder plugin, you should look at the pros & cons of your plugin.

So find out some valuable pros & cons of Beaver Builder.

Pros	Cons
Visual front end page building options	Slower than other page builders
Pre-made template & block library	Pay extra using the Beaver-Builder theme
Amazing design features	Form maker is not available
User-friendly interface	3rd party addons required for extra features
Top-notch support	Makes website slower

Beaver Builder Pricing

Pricing is an important part that you must understand before purchasing a page builder plugin. In Beaver Builder, with having a free version you’ll see three types of pricing plans- standard, pro, and agency.

You find their plan details in the image below.

Beaver Builder Performance Review with WPHive

As we already mentioned that a page builder plugin offers tons of advanced features and ready-made templates, that’s why your site might be slower sometimes. So you need to have a clear idea about the speed and performance of the page builder.

Now it’s time to test the Beaver Builder performance and speed. I hope that you will get clear information about this plugin.

Basic Info Test

The basic info shows the current WordPress rating, total download, active installation, and support thread of the Beaver Builder.

Performance

Here in the Beaver Builder performance, you’ll find the total memory usage 840.37 and page speed of 0.01s of this page builder. And it shows 99% faster than other plugins.

Speed

In the speed test, we find the page speed as well as memory usage of the plugin. And it seems to be perfect.

Stats

In here, you’ll see the current stats of the plugin. This test shows the consistency of download history, current versions of the plugin, and some error.

WPHive Rating for Beaver Builder

Here, we have rated the Beaver Builder.

https://wphive.com/reviews/wp-super-cache/

Check Beaver Builder Performance with WPHIVE!

Beaver Builder vs Elementor: An Easy Comparison

Like Beaver Builder, Elementor is also a powerful page builder WordPress plugin that loved by over 5 million users worldwide. If we compare these two amazing plugin side by side, you’ll see the complete picture of these plugins.

Most importantly, you will understand which one you should choose for your future website.

Feature	Elementor	Beaver Builder
Drag & Drop Editor	Yes	Yes
Pre Designed Template	300+	20+
WooCommerce	Yes	Yes
Theme Builder	Yes	Yes
No Coding	Yes	Yes
Form Widget	Yes	No
100% Responsive	Yes	Yes

Comparing Beaver Builder with Elementor using WPHive

Let’s see the test result below.

Beaver Builder vs Elementor side by side compare

In the test results, we see the memory usage of theses two plugins are different +840.37KB (Beaver Builder) and +1148.38KB (Elementor). Similarly, we also notice their page speed -0.01s (Beaver Builder) and +0.09s (Elementor).

Overall, we find both of these plugins are best in their own criteria.

Check out the complete comparison here!

https://wphive.com/reviews/dokan-multivendor-review/

Verdict on Best Possible Page Builder for Your WordPress Site

You might be thinking which page builder plugin is the winner in this race. In our research, we see these two-page builders are both experienced and consistently performing.

Beaver Builder is an advanced, easy to use, responsive, and SEO friendly page builder WordPress plugin that allows you to build a website in minutes. Besides, it has exclusive pricing plans for different users’ needs. But its developing process is slow and not update its features frequently.

On the other hand, Elementor has awesome design tools that include consistent performance, tons of premade pages or blocks, animation, popup builders, and more that’s all you need for making a stunning site. Besides, it has so many 3rd party addons that also help you a lot. In fact, if you face any issue using the Elementor, you’ll find tons of resources on the internet including videos. But Elementor has a speed issue, it makes your website a bit slower.

Conclusion

Finally, we have come to the closing statement on the Beaver Builder review.

We tried to cover the valuable features of Beaver Builder and compare the plugins with another powerful visual page builder Elementor.

Now it’s your turn to give Beaver Builder a try along with Elementor and make a final decision. Hope, this comparison helps you get a clear picture.

Try wphive to compare any plugins!

Individual Plugin Review: Dokan Multivendor Marketplace

Dokan multivendor is one of the popular WP marketplace plugins with powerful features to turn any online shop into a multivendor marketplace in a few steps

People are choosing WordPress and WooCommerce for building their online shop. But they are still facing many problems to build their eCommerce multivendor marketplaces like Amazon and eBay.

Today We’re going to talk about one of the popular WordPress multi-vendor marketplace plugins, Dokan.

With Dokan Multivendor, you can easily create your dream multivendor shop. Besides, it also helps you to solve all your problems you may face while building an eCommerce multi-vendor marketplace.

Why you Need a Multi-Vendor Marketplace Plugin?

Best WooCommerce Multi Vendor Plugin For WordPress

Using WooCommerce and WordPress, you can easily launch your dream eCommerce store. Moreover, when you’re thinking big like making an eCommerce marketplace that has a lot of vendors, you’ll be dealing with so many problems.

Without a multivendor plugin, WooCommerce does not have the capability to create a multivendor eCommerce marketplace.

If you want to earn a commission from each sale of your vendor, you’ll need a multi-vendor WP plugin. A WordPress multivendor plugin has a lot of powerful functionalities that can help you to make your multivendor marketplace.

There are many WordPress multivendor plugins in the market. Moreover, it’s very difficult to choose the right one for your ultimate solution.

Which one will you select?

The Dokan Multivendor Plugin can be the perfect solution. Most importantly, it has those advanced features that you’ll need to launch your stunning multi-vendor eCommerce marketplace.

Let’s give a complete review of Dokan.

Why Choose Dokan Multivendor To Build Your Marketplace?

why use Dokan to build an Online Marketplaces

Dokan Multivendor Plugin is a progressive multivendor WordPress plugin that has been chosen by more than 40,000 people worldwide to create their multi-store shopping mall. Plus, it’s one of the best WordPress multi-vendor front-end plugins that work with WooCommerce.

By using Dokan, you can easily build your eCommerce marketplace like Amazon, Shopify, eBay, Aliexpress, Magento in less than 30 minutes. Most importantly, it saves hundreds of valuable work hours while making an eCommerce marketplace.

In addition, you’ll experience a lot of modern features such as best frontend experience, easiest customization option, world-class customer support while selecting Dokan.

In fact, it is also compatible with any WooCommerce themes so you don’t need to worry about choosing a theme.

Dokan Success Stories From All Over The World

How Dokan Works

Dokan mainly works in four steps to create an online multi-vendor market.

First, you need to download and install Dokan on your WordPress website. You may easily download it from wordpress.org plugin directory or you can visit their official website.

Second, you have to customize your marketplace as you like it.

Third, it’s time to welcome your vendors to sell their products on your marketplace. If you want, you can sell your own products on your marketplace.

Fourth, you’ve created your own multi-store marketplace. Now it’s time to start earning from the commission.

See, how easy it is. If you follow the above four steps you’ll be able to make your own marketplace. Know about the working procedure of Dokan, to build your dream marketplace.

Give a read to this article, Create an electronic marketplace with Dokan

Powerful Features of Dokan Multivendor

When you think of building a multi-vendor marketplace, you need tons of powerful modules and features. Likely in Dokan Plugin, you’ll find most of the essential features and functionalities.

In addition, it has 20+ additional modules that are easy-to-use as well as lightweight for your website. Besides, it has vendor-independent store compatibility, stunning frontend dashboard for vendors & customers, awesome report management, and coupon management.

Moreover, you’ll find product reviewing options, WooCommerce payment gateway options, shipping management, and other more necessary features. Most importantly, you’ll be able to see and control who sells and who doesn’t.

Lets see some advanced features of Dokan in the below list.

Marketplace with Independent Stores: With Dokan Multivendor, every vendor can easily customize their storefront.
Compatible with any WooCommerce Theme: Dokan has full compatibility with any type of WooCommerce WordPress themes for designing your new multi-vendor shopping mall. You can also use the Dokan Theme while making your marketplace.
Stunning Frontend Dashboard for Vendors and Customers: While using Dokan, your vendors and customers can use their own stunning frontend dashboard to manage their information.
Start Earning from Each Sale as an Admin: That’s the power of Dokan. As an admin, you can easily earn a commission from each sale of your vendor’s product sales.
Coupon Management: It also comes with the full integration of coupon management systems.
Product & Store Reviews: Product & Store Reviewing is an important feature of every eCommerce store. That’s why Dokan supports the review options.
Easy Withdraw System: Dokan has full integration with WooCommerce based payment systems. That includes Stripe, PayPal, Cash on delivery, Bank Transfer, etc.
Shipping Management: It also comes with easy shipping management systems to ship its products to valuable customers.

For more information, you may visit their website where you can find all the modules and features they have available.

Dokan Free & Pro Price Comparison

Like the other multi-vendor plugins, Dokan also set their pricing with several types by keeping in mind their users. So you can easily select your desired pricing plan along with your needs.

Dokan Multivendor Plugin Pricing — Dokan Pricing

Dokan vs Other Multivendor Marketplace Plugins

It’s very important to compare your chosen plugin with the other multi-vendor plugins. If you do, you’ll find the best.

In this segment, we will show you a complete comparison of Dokan Multivendor with the other popular multi-vendor plugins.

Features	Dokan Lite	Dokan	WC Vendors	Yith	WC Marketplace	WC Product Vendors
Price	Free	$149	$199	$79	$80	$95
License Type	Free	Pro	Pro	Pro	Pro	Pro
Frontend Product Management	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Paid
Individual Vendor Stores	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Seller Management UI	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Seller Statement Reports	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Shipping Management	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Multiple Commission Types	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Support	wordpress.org	1 Year	1 Year	1 Year	1 Year	1 Year

If you want to see more, you’ll be able to see the comparisons here.

Common FAQ

Questions You May Have on Your Mind about Dokan (FAQ)

While using and before using Dokan Multivendor, you may have many questions that come to your mind.

It’s natural.

Let’s cover some common FAQs of Dokan.

Dokan Plugin FAQ

What are the system requirements?

The server requirements that you need while using Dakan is PHP 5.6 or later and MySQL 5.6 or later. You may also work with share hosting and be able to change your hosting later.

Is it multisite supported?

Honestly, Dokan is not supported with multisite. You can use Dokan only 1 database. But if your site is on the subdomain, you can use it.

Is there any limit on the product, category, and tags?

No, there is no limitation of adding products, categories, and tags.

Can I use the WooCommerce shipping plugin with Dokan?

No, Dokan has their own shipping method.

Can I use cash on delivery with Dokan?

Yes, you can.

Does Dokan have a per-category commission feature?

Yes, you can add your commission plan per-category.

Which payment gateway can be used with Dokan?

Yes. Besides, you also can add any WooCommerce payment gateway to withdraw your money.

Can I set the withdrawal threshold?

Yes, If you set 7 days then the vendor would not be able to send you any withdrawal request before completing the order.

Does Dokan support RTL?

Yes, it is fully supported by RTL.

Is it possible to use your plugin for the wholesale marketplace?

No, you can use Dokan for the wholesale marketplace.

Can I charge a vendor monthly or yearly?

With Dokan, you can easily charge your vendor monthly or yearly.

Can a vendor deactivate their store?

No. Only the admin can deactivate vendors’ stores.

Is it possible to upgrade the license from a single site to five sites?

Yes, you are allowed to do this. For more information follow this line here.

If you are still stuck, you may visit their FAQ page where you’ll find the solution to all of your questions & problems.

Bonus: Building a Multivendor Marketplace Using Dokan

How to Build an Online Marketplace Dokan

Great, it’s time to build your own multi-vendor shop using one of the suitable WordPress multi-vendor plugin Dokan.

In the section, you’ll learn how to build an eCommerce marketplace using Dokan.

Before doing this, make sure that you’ve all the things below.

Besides, you have to optimize your website using the popular WordPress caching plugins. In addition, you can also optimize your site SEO.

In this ultimate guide, you’ll easily learn to build your multi-vendor marketplace step by step.

Conclusion

We hope it’s been a great experience to know about the Dokan Multivendor WordPress Plugin. In this ultimate review, you find all the information about this amazing plugin.

Most importantly, you can learn a lot of essential information about creating a multi-vendor marketplace. In fact, you also know how to make your own multi-store marketplace using Dokan.

What you want to say about Dokan? Is Dokan the Best Multivendor Plugin?

Please give your answer in the comment below. We hope it clarifies many people’s ideas about Dokan.

TURN YOUR shop INTO A MULTIVENDOR MARKETPLACE!

Honest WPForms Review for Marketers

Since 2016, WPForms has become an icon in the WordPress Community as a form builder plugin.

Today, the plugin boasts a user base of more than 1 million. The success of this plugin comes from a very clever, and a group of dedicated team who are constantly updating the plugin to stay up to the market standard in the WordPress community.

Yet, it has become a challenge for newcomers to understand how suitable this plugin is. That is why today we are here to give you a review of what this plugin is all about.

This article covers the advantages, drawbacks, features, and discusses some tricks which WPForms is not openly known for although it is clearly there.

Features That Define WPForms

WPForms is a lot more than a form. You can create forms for the following purpose:

Newsletter
Survey
Donation
Registration and
Payment Form

Actually there is more, the plugin boasts having more than 100 templates to choose from. Have a look at the image below, you can select your form by filtering your needs.

Honest WPForms Review for Marketers 18 — List of templates you can choose and view them by clicking on Demo.

It is great that users can create and customize their form but honestly, most people do not have the time and energy to actually build a form from scratch.

This is why the WPForms is so popular, a lot of the tasks are automated for you if you rely on forms heavily. Even the data of the form is analyzed for you.

For example, you can use the subscription forms and connect them to your email marketing service. This way you know your subscription insight while working on your email marketing. The plugin lets you view all your leads in one place.

It is not uncommon for users to fill out forms on their smartphones. For such a scenario, forms will need to be adjusted. WPForms once again shoulders this burden for you. In addition, your forms are secured because it has the ability to protect your form’s data.

Do keep in mind that you need these features mostly in the pro version of the WPForms plugin.

The Interface Of WPForms Plugin

So when you install the WPForms plugin, you will be surprised by how simple it is to use.

I remember installing the lite version and not using any guides or watching any videos on how to implement forms on a WordPress site.

The plugin features are easy on the eye so you do not feel this is a complicated thing to use. Glancing around the interface will give you an idea of what to do. You can easily create a quote form for a digital marketing agency.

This is a plugin where you basically drag and drop blocks of field or select options from the drop-down list.

In contrast to the elementor plugin, which takes a while to learn how to use it, the WPForms plugin is more likely to turn out to be a better introduction to WordPress for beginners.

This is the very reason why it has been able to thrive for such a long time, despite updates- the interface stays loyal and comfortable to its users. WPForms caters to a wide variety of users such as bloggers, email marketers, designers, photographers, and even developers.

Pros & Cons of WPForms

Let us dive into the WPForms plugin by examining the Pros and Cons of using this plugin.

Pros of Using WPForms

Easy to use even for beginners
Simple Interface: Just drag and drop to build forms
Ready-made template forms for instant use
Video Tutorials and Documentation for help
Create an unlimited number of forms

Cons of Using WPForms

Expensive if you are looking for large scale solution
The free version is very limited
If you want to build a form from scratch, you have to figure out on your own.
You cannot upload files all at once.
There is no trial offered to try out the paid version.

WPForms Pricing

With having a free version, there are 3 categories of the WPForms pro version. They are:

Elite
Pro
Plus

Elite: This version of the WPForms plugin is meant for those who own a business. You can embed the forms in unlimited sites. The version for this covers all the features. So if you are a heavy user who depends on forms a lot, then this is the option for you. Also, this version will allow you to integrate analysis for you to analyze your videos

Pro: This version has a lot of features included including payment options. You can also work with forms that work offline. The pro version is the most popular at an individual and business level. It pretty much covers everything you need for your work. The only thing this does not cover is the Active Campaign Forms.

Plus: This version is also for those who run a business. It has fewer features but is an affordable option for businesses. The plus version covers the basics of the pro version. However, it does not have many features included. For example, there is no payment gateway, signatures, offline forms, and so on.

For more information on the different features available based on price, please click on this link.

Analyzing WPForms with other Competitors Using WPHive

Despite the popularity of WPForms, it is not without competition. There are several alternatives to it. There is a list of the competitors:

These plugin forms are equally as good as WPForms.

For an even easier way to compare and decide on this plugin, there is a smart and quick way to compare these forms.

WPHive is an online platform that lets you compare 2 plugins simply by typing the name of the plugins and let the system compare the results.

But the platform can do a lot more- it can compare memory, technology features, and more. When you scroll to the bottom of the page, WPHive declares a winner between the 2 plugins.

Let us compare WPForms with Ninja Forms via WPHive.

Here is the following result we got by using WPHive:

Comparing Page Speed (WPForms vs Ninja Forms)

Honest WPForms Review for Marketers 20 — An example of one section of the WPHive that compares the speed page of WPForms with Ninja Forms.

As you can see, based on the analysis using WPHive, Ninja Forms has a higher page speed loading time. This means if you are looking for a plugin that loads faster, WPFroms would be a priority.

But WPHive does not stop there if also lets you dig out the memory usage as well. We will let the image speak for itself.

Comparing Memory Usage (WPForms vs Ninja Forms)

A proper plugin will attempt to reduce memory usage on its own. It should not load your server and slow down your WordPress website.

As you can see, WPForms wins again in terms of memory usage.

Let us move onto the other CRITERIA section of the WPHive comparison page.

As seen from the above snapshot, both the plugins score well in almost all the criteria.However, in terms of rating and support threads, WPForms has the upper hand.

WPHive lists many other factors all of which are presented visually. It’s not just the main factors that are compared, other criteria such as database error, Javascript issues, etc are also compared.

If you would like another example when you can check out the review we did on Contact Form 7. Be sure to check it out if you are looking to choose the right plugin for inserting forms.

Our Verdict

Never choose a plugin without judging your needs. Remember, plugins that are not free have to be paid monthly or yearly.

wpforms plugin — Choose wisely when you decide to install a paid plugin.

Are you looking to have forms for simple tasks? Or are you looking to implement forms on your site that need sophisticated features?

WordPress is commonly portrayed as easy-to-use websites for those who come from a non-technical background. However, your WordPress site can slow-down if there too many plugins.

So it is important to think first what you need.

Free vs Paid Version Of WPForms: Which One To Use

If you are simply looking to create a humble form for users to fill up, then there is no need at all to use the pro version. Use the lite version which is free to use.

You may not even need WPForms at all. You can simply use a google form to collect your feedback. If you do not have a WordPress website then simply switch to google’s forms.

On the other hand, if you are the kind of person who relies heavily on forms that require signatures and payment then it would make sense to upgrade your WPForms plugin.

If you are making a decent income and you need forms that are flexible to your complex needs then you can go ahead with the paid version.WPForms are also frequently on sale so it should not cost you too much if you decide to make a purchase.

Last Thoughts

Although WPForms is a plugin that maintains its standard, it is a good idea to know the alternatives. Many plugins let you go a long way simply by making use of the free version.

In some cases, a plugin may let you get far by using the free version alone. However, getting quality feedback when you are stuck is also vital.

Some plugins have great features but do not have a strong support team that can assist you when you are stuck. This is where WPForms stands out, despite the weight of its price, It has a lot of content in the form of videos and blogs to help you make the best use out of your forms.

It really has stepped up its game by automating almost a lot of its hectic activities involved with creating forms.

So what do you think about WPForms? Is this the best or are there better alternatives?

If you want a full overview of WPForms or make a comparison with any other plugins for a clearer judgment then try using WP Hive to judge plugins without the need to research for hours.

Click to Download Wpforms

5 Best Free WordPress SEO Plugins Listed & Compared With WP Hive

Search Engine Optimization(SEO) plays a major role in content writing. It increases search and visibility, exposure of your brand through organic search results. However, it is not as easy as it sounds. And it is certainly impossible without any SEO tools.

But Why You Need a SEO Plugin

Every website needs an SEO plugin. No matter how important social networks can be for a site, SEO is often the most important factor for a site’s growth. Not following SEO best practices, or not doing SEO at all, can be quite detrimental to your site’s performance.

Fortunately, there are quite a few efficient SEO plugins available in WordPress that will help your cause and we are going to list the 5 best free WordPress SEO plugins and compare them with WP Hive so that you can choose the best one.

Why WP Hive?

Well, you may have heard the news about the new upgraded version of the WordPress repository WP Hive. It is a platform where you have the opportunity to not only download a plugin but also

Get an in-depth review of the plugin
See the test results based on different performance metrics
Compare plugins to see which one is best
Discover plugins using various categories.

Visit wp hive Now!

So, you have probably have guessed that we are going to use the Compare option of that platform to find out the best free WordPress SEO plugins out of the 5.

But first, let us list the best 5 shall we?

5 Best Free WordPress SEO Plugins

SEO plugins are the extension modules for content management system. It has features that impact website analysis, online marketing, and of course search engine optimization. However, you only need to use one SEO tool as they all have quite similar features with exceptions. So, we are going to list the best SEO tools for you also give you an insight to their features.

Yoast SEO
All In One SEO
Rank Math
SEOPress
Google Keyword Planner

Yoast SEO Plugin

The first on the list of best free WordPress SEO plugins is Yoast SEO. It one of the most popular SEO plugin with over 5M active installations and 4.7 ratings from 15000+ reviews.

It offers a detailed analysis of your content based on the keyword you have chosen. You can easily get a detailed insight to your writing to make sure it’s SEO optimized. Also, it lets you add Open Graph Metadata and social media images to your content.

https://wphive.com/seo/optimal-yoast-seo-settings/

It has a smooth import system, so you can easily transfer your previous SEO data from the old plugin. Yoast SEO automatically creates an XML sitemap for all your content. Therefore it is easy for search engines to crawl your website.

It has a premium version for $89 that has,

Internal linking suggestions
Content insights
Redirect manager
1 year free access to 24/7 support

However, the free version has enough essential features to help you if you are on a budget.

Get More insights to yoast seo

All In One SEO Pack

Next on our list of best SEO tools is All In One SEO Pack. With over 2M active installations it is easily among the best free WordPress SEO plugins.

It lets you add SEO title and meta tags, open graph meta tags, XML sitemaps, image sitemaps, and more. The setup process is easy as it has a feature manager that lets you control different settings. All In One SEO pack support SEO on custom post types. Also, if you make any changes to your site it will automatically notify search engines like Google, Bing.

It has 3 kinds of paid version Individual, Business, Agency with different prices. Those paid versions offer,

Image SEO Module (Business Plan and above)
Advanced Support for WooCommerce
SEO for Categories, Tags and Custom Taxonomies
Social Meta for for Categories, Tags and Custom Taxonomies
Support for Google Tag Manager
Advanced Google Analytics tracking

It is a more affordable than Yoast SEO, so you can easily go for it.

Get insights to all in one seo pack

Rank Math

Rank Math is one of the most popular SEO plugins in WordPress with a perfect 5-star rating and over 300k active installations.

It allows you to optimize your website search engines and social media. It has an efficient setup wizard that helps you not only to install the plugin easily but also help you import data from previous SEO plugin. You can add meta title, description, and Open Graph metadata to your blog posts.

The plugin allows you to generate XML sitemap, connect to Google Search Console.

Rank Math is currently free! But they plan on releasing a pro version soon. But the free version has enough features like,

Module Based System
Smart redirection manager
Local business SEO
SEO optimized breadcrumbs
Deep content analysis test
404 monitor

Which is enough to get you through.

Know More about rank math

SEOPress

With over 100k active installations, next on our list of best free WordPress SEO plugins is SEOPress. It has got a perfect 5-star rating from its user.

It includes all the features you would expect from a SEO plugin like meta title, description, open graph support, image and content XML sitemaps, redirects, and more.It is comparable to any other top SEO plugins in the market. Beginners can find an easy settings while for the experts, there are some complicated settings.

It has a pro version for $39 with features like,

Import & Export SEO metadata from a CSV file
Import Redirects from a CSV file
Backlinks
Google XML Video Sitemap
Google Structured Data Types
Robots.txt

Get more knowledge about seopress

Google Keyword Planner

All the effort we are putting into Search Engine Optimization so that, Google recognizes us. SO, a tool from them will obviously make our list. That is why we will be including Google Keyword Planner.

No one on the planet has more data on what people are searching for than Google. This tool offers it’s own keyword ideas from Google itself. It’s free! It is mainly to show their advertisers the keywords they can bid for their campaigns. It gives them an estimate of search volume, number of results, and difficulty level.

More importantly, it helps the bloggers to find keywords that will help them outrank all other sites.

Now, we have listed the 5 best free WordPress SEO plugins for you. But, which one you are going to choose?

Comparing Best Free WordPress SEO Plugins Using WP Hive To Find The Best One

Yes, the concept is exactly how the title shows. One of the main functionalities of WP Hive is that you can compare a plugin with a similar plugin, and based on different metrics it will declare a winner. So, we are going to use that feature and show the best SEO plugin among the four as Google Keyword Planner is an online tool.

This will not only help you choose the best one but also save your valuable time. As you don’t have to go and give a trial one by one.

We are going to start with the process of finding the best SEO tool.

First, go to wphive.com. There on top the menu, you will find an option called Compare.

compare plugins for best free wordpress seo plugins

Second, you need put the names of the plugins you want to compare.

Yoast SEO vs All In One SEO Pack

We are going to start with Yoast SEO comparing with All In One SEO pack. Type their name on both text boxes.

After you hit the Compare button, you will see the comparison based on memory usage, page speed, and other criteria. You can see the metrics.

All In One SEO Pack vs Rank Math

Onto to comparing All In One SEO and Rank Math to find out which one is the best free WordPress SEO plugins among the two.

Write their name in the compare box and hit the Compare button.

On to the next page to see the winner.

Rank Math vs SEOPress

Last but not the least, we are going to compare Rank Math and SEOPress.

The winner is,

End Result

So, we can say the best free WordPress SEO plugin after comparing using WP Hive among the 4 is ,

Rank Math SEO plugin.

You can try with any other SEO plugins than the listed ones and you may get different results.

Compare plugins with wp hive

Final Word

We used to ask Google, expert opinions , ask questions on forums to determine the best plugin. We are not saying it is a bad practice. However, you would get different opinions every time.

That is why we have come up with WP Hive. The answer to all your questions. You can get all the performance metrics and decide for yourself which plugin to choose.

We hope you found our solution to your liking. Do share your opinion.

Elementor Review 2020: Is It Still The Best Page Builder?

Well, whenever you think to design any WordPress site or webpage, clearly Elementor is the first tool that comes to anyone’s mind. And there are several reasons why people rely on using this plugin. The answer is pretty easy. For its easy drag and drop facility and the detailed customization ability; it becomes the default choice for most.

But before going to the Elementor plugin review, let’s shortly recap about its journey & how it has been contributing to the WordPress community.

Basically, Elementor is an all in one WordPress site-building solution that replaces the primary WordPress editor with a visual frontend editor. Back in 2016, it started its journey and now empowering websites in more than 180 countries, with over 4,000,000 active installs, and 3,000 five-star reviews. Overall we can say, its the best tools for all types of WordPress users who have never written a single line of code.

Okay enough with the introduction, let’s dive directly to the Elementor Plugin review & some interesting points that could motivate you to use it as a primary website building tool.

Key Features & Addons of Elementor

Elementor Review 2020: Is It Still The Best Page Builder? 23

Let’s have a look at some of Elementor’s most powerful features.

Inline editing: Using this feature of Elementor, you can directly edit the text on the live screen. And it is so easy to customize both for the blog post and other content as well.
Templates & blocks: Using any kind of pre-design template on the website is a bonus. Because it can save huge time in designing or creating new things on the website. So unlimited templates & blocks of Elementor can help you to do that easily.
Mobile Responsive: Elementor websites are totally mobile responsive. You can alter any feature to make them 100% mobile responsive.
Detailed Layout Control: Using Elementor, you can have detailed control over each and every layout, such as margin, padding, position, colors, etc.
Header Footer Editor: Header or footer is a very important part of any website. And also if it is used smartly it can easily grab customer’s attention. You can do that in many ways. Manually or directly using the pre-built header or footer.
Compatible with any WordPress Theme: Elementor is flexible & 100% compatible enough to work with any WordPress theme.
Easy Redo/Undo & Full Revision key: This feature allows users to take a recap on their mistakes in design. Yes, if you make any mistakes or aren’t satisfied with your design, you can easily redo that and get the previous version of your work.
Global colors and typography: If you want to set colors that match globally, this feature will let you do that easily. And also you can set typography on your design to make it lucrative.
Translation and RTL Ready: Good News! Now you can translate your Elementor site with 23 languages. That way you can translate and connect with the people all around.
Extensive typography options: You use can 800+ Google fonts to modify Elementor websites. That means you can create your own custom Typekit forms and utilize them on your website.
Third-party integrations: Now Elementor is integrated with other features to increase website workflow and enhance activities. For example, MailChimp, Drip, ActiveCampaign, Zapier, and more.
Maintenance mode: You can easily set maintenance mode using Elementor’s upcoming features and other things beautifully.
eCommerce widgets: Using WooCommerce widgets or other things you can easily use them with the Elementor site. Such as pricing tables, price lists, product layout and other pre-built things with the Elementor.
Affordable Pricing: Well, Elementor comes with the 3 basic pricing. Personal, plus and expert. From that, you can choose the suitable one for your website.
24/7 Support: As a prominent page builder plugin, it’s expected to be the first-class support procedure. Yes, you’ll get 24/7 support from Elementor.

To know more about Elementor features & addons, read the article on ‘90+ Elementor Addons Collections‘

Pros and Cons of Elementor

After knowing about the features & addons of Elementor, let’s know shortly about its pros & cons.

Pros of Elementor

The main file is 100% free
Easy user interface
Widgets are amazing
Open-source
Active Facebook group
Super easy customization
Regular updates come in real-time
Full documentation with a proper guideline
Integration with 3rd Party Plugins
Theme builder facilities & WooCommerce builder
100% theme compatibility

Cons of Elementor

Easy but outdated User Interface
The website doesn’t look good at all in editing mode
Default margin & padding process
Templates & blocks are pretty boring
Support is not as expected and takes time to get back to you
Unavailability of lifetime Options.
Pressurize to pay every year to keep your website up
Forced styling by default
Confusing global vs static templates
Lack of some marketing-oriented features

Anyways, Is It Still The Best WordPress Page Builder?

Elementor Plugin Review — Elementor Features You Should Consider For Website Design

If you’re a regular WordPress user and also have used Elementor before, then the scenario may be common for you. But if you’re a starter and have not idea about, in that case, we’ll tell you about it.

Well, again, Elementor is a first and foremost page builder for WordPress users that has a unique style to build, customize, and produce amazing designs. For instance, we can say, the main purpose of Elementor is to provide all the website design materials. So that people from all fields, non-tech to experts can create a professional website with a few clicks.

And the other reason we want to mention, in WordPress default option, you’ll not get any suitable opportunity to customize, edit or do any kind of experiments. On the other hand, if you can collaborate with Elementor with your WordPress site, then chances of customizing, editing will be very easy for you.

Okay, in the next section, things will get clear to you. Because we’ll know how WordPress users are using Elementor for up growing their business.

How WordPress Users Are Utilizing Elementor?

We have already acknowledged about Elementor & its popularity. As time goes on, its importance will increase day by day. And there is doubt about it. Again, if you’re new to WordPress & Elementor as well as, you may ask, how to use Elementor or how people are using Elementor for their website. Right?

Nothing to worry about it, we’ll shortly give you an idea about it. And surely, it will help you get a proper dimension about it.

Okay, let’s find out how WordPress users are utilizing the Elementor by the following points.

First of all, install WordPress
Install Elementor Free & Pro (If needed)
A good hosting plan for Elementor
Header or footer
Template library
Widgets
Addons & Features
And themes

This is how WordPress users are utilizing Elementor by following these points step by step. So if you’re willing to start using Elementor like a pro, you can also read how to create a professional website using Elementor or you can watch the video tutorial below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43j6h3oCm0U

How To Use Elementor – Basic Functions You Can Use

What’s More, You Can Get with Elementor? (Extended Elementor Addons)

Elementor Review 2020: Is It Still The Best Page Builder? 24

Throughout this Elementor plugin review, we have already known some useful features and other things very well. But did you know that you can do more with Elementor for your WordPress site? Yes, in this section, we’ll talk about this. What’s more you can explore with Elementor for beautifying your WordPress site by the following extended addons.

Okay, let’s get started:

Happy Addons: It is a collection of useful, well-organized and powerful widgets. It is designed specially to work collaboratively with Elementor Page Builder.
Premium Addons: Premium addons will allow you to create or beautify websites with a prominent look. Moreover, it gives you control over the widgets you are using for faster performance.
Essential Addons: This ‘addons’ allows you to design your website with pre-built blocks. It has 57+ elements, which help you to create WordPress pages and posts easily.
Livemesh Add-ons: It offers easy to use yet highly practical extensions for Elementor Page Builder to improve the outlook of your site.
Anywhere Elementor: You can make your Elementor more potent by adding this add-on to insert elementor pages, library templates, and global templates anywhere just using shortcodes.
Elementor Addons and template: It offers both excellent add-on and templates that are intended to be used with the Elementor Page builder.
Element Pack: This ‘addons’ has the highest number of superior and super flexible widgets for Elementor.
JetWidgets For Elements: This addon includes extensive modules for Elementor live page builder, allowing you to develop different kinds of content easily.
Elementor Extra: This addon provides plenty of unique and remarkable facilities that are not available on core Elementor. It has 30+ easy to use and custom widgets and extensions.
Ultimate Addons: This is a combination of the rich library of unique widgets to add more specialties and versatility to the Elementor Page Builder.
PowerPack: This Elementor addon extends the design chances for your website without altering the loading time and helps you to sustain your personal brand value while developing client’s sites.
Envato Elements: In this addon, you can easily download countless themes, plugins, graphics, photos, fonts and more. You can import a premium photo right into your site without leaving WordPress.

Final Consideration in This Elementor Plugin Review

So, after a thorough review of Elementor plugin, we can reach to an agreement that this plugin has all the useful and handy features. And also it lets you do all kinds of experiments to customize website and give it a proper look.

Overall, we can say, this plugin is for all. That means, people of all ages who cherish to design a website for their business, blog or whatever it is, Elementor takes that place as a major website page building plugin. And in this Elementor plugin review blog, we tried to focus on that matter so that any WordPress users can get a proper idea after seeing it at a glance.

Best Landing Pages Plugin for WordPress Compared

Configure Free Business Email Like a Pro | Free G Suite Alternative [2020]

The best free Google Apps for Work (G Suite) alternative. Period.

Who doesn’t want a free business email address? It is always pleasing to eyes to use your domain name as your email address.

A business email address makes your business more authentic and conveys more credibility to your customers. Creating a free custom email address is also easier than it looks. If you know what you are doing, you can configure your free professional email address in less than five minutes.

Google Apps (now known as G Suite) offered free business until 2012. Nowadays, free Google Apps is no longer an option for new users

If you want to create a free business email today, you will most likely have to pay. The first step of getting a business email is getting a domain name. Popular web hosting company Bluehost has free email service with their monthly web hosting package that costs about $2.95/mo. You can get a hosting at Bluehost to get your email. Continue reading “Configure Free Business Email Like a Pro | Free G Suite Alternative [2020]”