“Let’s Fix Your Website” Recap for April 21, 2020

Video recording of the April 21st, 2020 “Let’s Fix Your WordPress Website” Meetup

This post recaps some of the exchanges and tips from the WordPress Toronto – Let’s Fix Your WordPress Site | Meetup event 2020-04-21. This was our second online session using Zoom.

These notes are in 2 parts. The first are notes taken during the session and then cleaned up. They cover some of the discussion and make the video more useful. The second part of this post is the chat transcript with light editing of the URLs in particular.

The requests for help were made in the event page’s comments and considered in chronological order.

The first 2 people were no shows. The next, Boris wasn’t asking for “help.”

On the question regarding upgrading to PHP, Robin recommended using PHP Compatibility Checker | WordPress.org to check the site’s theme and plugin compatibility before upgrading PHP, a server level change.

Alex noted that the Health Check plugin will recommend when PHP needs to be upgraded.

Alex reviewed the things that plugin addresses. Does lots of useful things. Great reminder of a very useful diagnostic, debugging and performance information with explanations and references.

WP currently requires PHP 7.3.

On Martin’s request, he reported that upgrading to DesktopServer Premium resolved his issue.

A question was asked regarding WebsiteBuilder available in cPanel administered sites [more than half of shared hosting plans provide cPanel]. No one was familiar with that site builder application. Robin recommended start a new site using the provided WordPress script and re-enter any content. Not worth the trouble to convert whatever had been done with WebsiteBuilder.

Carl had questions on ecommerce with WooCommerce on a WP site. Recommended the WooCommerce Facebook page [there’s one official one, (35) WooCommerce | Facebook, and many others.] Other suggested resources:

  1. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/24040446/woocommerce-programmatically-update-cart-item-quantity
  2. https://www.facebook.com/groups/advanced.woocommerce/
  3. https://www.facebook.com/groups/woohelp

Before posting a question on one of those Facebook pages, use Facebook’s search to see if you can answer the question you have from previous threads. That will help you formulate your request if your question has not been previously answered.

Fernne wanted advice on whether a landing page oriented page builder like Thrive Architect would be worth the relatively high cost. She also asked about Leadpages and OptimizePress. Jacques hasn’t evaluated either.

Discussion of landing pages. Alex doesn’t think that it need be marketing/sales. The key is the value proposition. WP has all the capabilities needed for a basic one.

Alex showed an example of a simple landing page used by Personify for an upcoming event.

For the landing page she is planning, Fernne plans on buying a Facebook audience.

Boris provided an example and Ozzie and Pierre commented on the cost per click.

[Long discussion of WooCommerce with lots of links in the chat transcript. How to have several sites use one WooCommerce product inventory. Multisite considered.]

Kathy asked for a recommendation on creating a membership site. Uses Elementor.

Alex and Jim: Ultimate Member | WP.org plugin. Chris Lema membership sites page for reviews [e.g., Membership Sites Archives – Chris Lema]. Events is a membership sub-category or a separate events plugin. WP isn’t an as good as a specialized CMS such as Wild Apricot [Personify]. There is an important distinction between a subscription site (pay for service by time or some other metric) vs a membership one (join, participate).

5 Best WordPress Membership Plugins Compared (2020) | WPBeginner.

WordCamp Europe 2020 Online – 4-6 June 2020 is online so register now for it — very worthwhile.

Chat Transcript

Robin Macrae (LinkedIn)

That’s it for this month’s Meetup notes and chat transcript.

The next is another online session, WordPress Toronto – Let’s Fix Your WordPress Site | Meetup on Tuesday, May 19th, 2020. RSVP and post your question or request.