WordPress is the most powerful and most popular blogging platform at the moment. But after using WordPress for both myself and for my clients, I have learned some lessons in a hard way. Today I am going to share five things you definitely SHOULD NOT DO while using WordPress, especially if you are a beginner. This list is regarding a self-hosted WordPress site.
1) Do not Edit Theme Codes
WordPress gives a user unlimited potential. It is very similar to the Android platform, where a user can change anything to their heart’s content. But with great abilities, you will have to be very careful. If you do something wrong, you might break the website.
WordPress gives the ability to an user to edit and change the original theme codes. Such as HTML, CSS and PHP. If you have no idea about coding, then stay a mile away from this option. If you need need to insert some codes, then hire a professional from Upwork or Fiverr.
WordPress also gives the user a BIG Warning to not edit the theme codes. This option is mainly for Web Developers or WordPress Professionals like me.
2) Do not install plugins which has not been updated for a long time.
You can install any plugins you want to from the WordPress directory. But you should be really careful of what you install. In the WordPress plugins directory even beginners can submit their plugins. The checking process is not so strict. A bad plugin not only can break your site, but also infect your whole hosting account with malware. Please have a look at the following image below.
You can have a look at the following plugin above. Though it has some good ratings and reviews. It has not been updated for over 9 months! Also it says below “Untested with your version of WordPress”.
3) Do not upload images more than 500KB
Obviously, when writing a blog, you would like to upload some high-quality stock photos. But please make sure that the size of the image is no more than 500 KB. Images with big file size increase the size of the site, hence increases the load time of the site. This will frustrate users and cause them to leave. This will increase the bounce rate hence negatively affecting your SEO rankings.
4) Do not use a fake email for WordPress login
Never use a fake email address when creating a WordPress login for yourself. Suppose if you forget the password, then you can easily click “forgot password” and a password reset link would be sent to your email address. But if you use a fake email, then it would be sent to your fake email address. Then the only way to fix this issue is through your hosting, which can be a bigger pain.
5) Do not check ” Discourage search engines from indexing this site ” option
In the WordPress dashboard, there is an option in the “settings>Readings” to discourage search engines from indexing your site. This means that your site won’t show up in search sites like Google, Yahoo, Bing etc.
Conclusion
There are many other things you should not do when using WordPress. I have only listed down five of them. If you like this blog, please let me know in the comments. If you found it helpful then please share with your friends in social media such as facebook, linkedin etc.