Wordpress - build your own website - howto, tips & links - beginners to advanced - Page 37

Chris Locke · 07-12-2017, 17:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Psycho

He uses Excel to handle orders and to create delivery/run sheets and printing labels via Word, so it's handy once all the data has been organised into the correct cells.

Its scary how many people use Excel as a database, when its a spreadsheet. Yes, it works, but its like banging in a nail with the handle of a screwdriver. It works, but its not what it was designed for. How many orders did he do this month? How much money? Who was his biggest customer? Who has been his biggest customer who's not bought lately - maybe they've gone somewhere else?

If he's knocking out 10 orders a week, then he's probably hjappy as he is. If he's doing 50 orders a day, then he might want to consider a proper system.

Its also about 'presentation' to the end customer. Its why I've tried to sell domains to 'Bob the Plumber'. I see plumbers vans with 'contact us at steve7765_uk@hotmail.co.uk' which just looks pants. For the sake of �10 a year, they could have stevesPlumbing.co.uk. The same is with an order. If you get a scrap of paper as an invoice that looks rough with minimal details, it looks unprofessional.

Chris Locke · 07-12-2017, 17:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by JonLaidlow

Anybody still using vidahost Legacy to host their wordpress sites? I suspect i should make them all https but am at a loss....

Vidahost charge �46 a year. Depending on your needs, there are cheaper alternatives, eg:
https://www.leaderssl.com/products (from $13 or $34)

driver8 · 12-12-2017, 06:56

Envato - theme free for <24h - Plexx - Portfolio and Video Gallery for Agency and Studio

https://themeforest.net/item/plexx-p...tudio/20492090

Psycho · 22-02-2018, 18:24

Has anyone updated their WordPress websites with the free Let's Encrypt SSL certificate via Vidahost?

I was thinking of doing it with just one of my websites first, just to see how it goes... I'm not really sure what's involved? Do I just ask Vidahost to do it and there is nothing for me to do? Or do I physically need to make changes to the website?

Also, does anyone know of a free and simple Privacy Policy and/or T&Cs generator for a WordPress website? I'm not sure if there are any recommended plugins for this?

It would just be a for a basic website with some possible cookies and a contact form. No eCommerce or shopping features.

I'm aware of the new GDPR laws coming this year and thought I should have something in place.

Thanks,

Psycho

Wooglie · 22-02-2018, 19:13

I looked into it, but I think you still need to pay vidahost for installing a third party SSL.

Chris Locke · 22-02-2018, 19:15

*Apparently* there is a fair bit to do, as I got an email (not from Vidahost) promoting a video course on how to do the SSL thingy. Again, apparently, you have to create a new Wordpress site and move your existing one over (like you would to a new domain?) so there are various 'gotchas' involved in that. The course they were flogging was $47. I'll find the course details in case someone else can advise and 'poo poo' it...

Psycho · 22-02-2018, 19:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Locke

*Apparently* there is a fair bit to do, as I got an email (not from Vidahost) promoting a video course on how to do the SSL thingy. Again, apparently, you have to create a new Wordpress site and move your existing one over (like you would to a new domain?) so there are various 'gotchas' involved in that. The course they were flogging was $47. I'll find the course details in case someone else can advise and 'poo poo' it...

Was that the iThemes Security email?

Psycho

Chris Locke · 22-02-2018, 19:27

Yes, that was the one. The bit that caught my eye was this:

Quote:

Know how to move to WordPress to HTTPS without messing things up. We’ll walk through the best practices for creating new WordPress websites with HTTPS, and how to move existing WordPress websites over to HTTPS. There are a lot of minor but important details in MOVING sites from HTTP to HTTPS that you’ll want to know before doing so. If you’ve never done it before, watch as we move existing sites to HTTPS and create new sites with SSL.

The rest of it (whats an SSL, etc...) is just waffle.

Psycho · 22-02-2018, 22:45

I found this website with a guide to move HTTP to HTTPS:

https://websitesetup.org/http-to-https-wordpress/

Psycho

Psycho · 24-02-2018, 14:21

I'm not sure if I have done everything correctly but it looks like I have managed to make a few of my websites HTTPS.

I just asked Vidahost to apply the free Let's Encrypt SSL certificate to my account and then used the Really Simple SSL plugin, plus followed some of the steps from the website I linked to above and a YouTube video:

https://wordpress.org/plugins/really-simple-ssl/

https://websitesetup.org/http-to-https-wordpress/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONItIczmxfM

The only bit I skipped was checking JavaScript and CSS files or assets referenced within those files for HTTP links and changing them to either https:// or just //.

I might have a look at the Velvet Blues plugin for that, if I feel the need to:

https://wordpress.org/plugins/velvet-blues-update-urls/

Psycho

Chris Locke · 24-02-2018, 14:28

Yay! Well done!

Now just write up a detailed description of what you did, charge $47 for it, and you could retire in a couple of weeks.

driver8 · 26-02-2018, 06:44

Eco Web Hosting - if anyone is looking for new hosting (other than Vidahost) I just stumbled across EcoWeb, which look OK and get good reviews (not used them myself, no connection).

Wooglie · 04-03-2018, 00:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Psycho

I just asked Vidahost to apply the free Let's Encrypt SSL certificate to my account and then used the Really Simple SSL plugin, plus followed some of the steps from the website I linked to above and a YouTube video:

Did vidahost charge for this? Do you know what happens when the Let's Encrypt expires?

driver8 · 05-04-2018, 14:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wooglie

Do you know what happens when the Let's Encrypt expires?

afaik, it just auto-renews.

driver8 · 05-04-2018, 14:21

If you have an Instagram plugin, update it now and check your site to ensure it works. Apparently, Instagram suddenly updated their API, breaking many (all?) free and paid plugins.

driver8 · 05-04-2018, 14:37

worth a X-post:

Quote:

Originally Posted by driver8

I'm looking into this for my few simple wordpress sites.

CookieBot (a Danish company) seems the best for 1 small site (1 site per email address) free for <100 pages, although there are recurrent fees for bigger sites ($10+/month). Try their free scanner.

Cookie Notice by dFactory looks to be a good plugin (from a decent developer) and should get an update before the deadline (I think, to add the option to re-show the AGREE alert).

This German website offers an online form to auto-generate a custom Privacy Policy.

ljp · 05-04-2018, 15:30

If anyone is still converting any sites to SSL I can't recommend Cloudflare enough. They offer a free certificate and a free Wordpress plugin to do the conversion for you. The most difficult part of it is changing the DNS to point to Cloudflares Nameservers.

An easy guide here:

https://www.bloggingden.com/setup-cl...for-wordpress/

I've done it over 10 times now and every time it has been easy to do.

douglasb · 06-04-2018, 11:47

I've 95% built a site in WP but now dislike the domain name. What are my easiest options?

Skill level - 3/10.

Chris Locke · 06-04-2018, 12:38

Its dead easy to transfer a site from one host to another. The hardest part (depending on your site) is removing all links to the old name. Wordpress seems to like using direct links (the full URL) rather than just relative ones.

ljp · 06-04-2018, 12:42

I think I would get the new site up and running theme wise then export the contents of the old site to a single XML file. Pop it in something like Visual Studio or Sublime Text and find and replace the old site URL's with the new one and then import that XML into the new site.