Fix the WordPress 403 Forbidden Error
A 403 Forbidden error means your server understood the request and refused it. Before changing any settings, open your site on your phone with wifi turned off. If it loads on mobile data, your site is fine and your IP address is simply blocked. If it fails there too, the problem is on the server. […]
WordPress Staging Site: How to Test Changes Safely in 2026
A WordPress staging site is a private copy of your live site where you can update plugins, switch themes, or test code changes without a single visitor seeing a broken page. Create one through your host’s built-in staging feature or a plugin like WP Staging, make your changes there, then push only what you tested […]
How to Optimize Images for WordPress (Size, Format and Image SEO)
To optimize images for WordPress, resize them to their real display width before uploading, convert them to WebP, add width and height attributes, and lazy-load everything except your hero image. Then name files descriptively and write accurate alt text, which is what makes them findable. Image optimization has two separate jobs. One makes your pages […]
How to Fix WordPress Emails Not Sending (SMTP Guide)
WordPress emails fail because WordPress uses PHP’s mail() function by default, which most hosts block or leave unauthenticated. The fix is to route mail through authenticated SMTP using a plugin like WP Mail SMTP, set a real From address on your domain, and add SPF, DKIM and DMARC records to your DNS. This is the […]
WordPress Backup Guide: How to Back Up (and Actually Restore) Your Site
To back up WordPress properly, capture both your files and your database on a schedule, send at least one copy off your hosting account, and keep an extra copy before every update. Then do the step almost everyone skips: restore one to a staging site and confirm it works, because an untested backup is a […]
How to Fix a WordPress Plugin That Is Not Working
To fix a WordPress plugin that is not working, work from the cheapest cause to the most involved. Clear your cache, confirm the plugin’s license and any dependencies are active, then update WordPress, the plugin, PHP, and your theme. If it still fails, deactivate all plugins and reactivate them one at a time to find […]
Stop Contact Form Spam in WordPress
To stop contact form spam in WordPress, layer three invisible defences instead of adding a CAPTCHA: turn on your form plugin’s built-in honeypot and time check, add Cloudflare Turnstile, then add Akismet to filter message content. This blocks almost all spam without asking real visitors to prove they are human. The instinct when spam starts […]
Speed Up an Elementor Website
To speed up an Elementor website, first turn on Elementor’s own performance settings (Flexbox Container, Optimize DOM Output, Lazy Load Background Images) and disable unused widgets in Element Manager. Then remove addon packs you barely use, convert images to WebP, switch to a lightweight theme, and move to hosting that responds quickly. Most advice on […]
Squarespace vs WordPress: Which One Should You Choose in 2026?
Most Squarespace vs WordPress comparisons hand out category winners and stop there. That misses what actually decides whether you regret the choice. The features you compare on day one are rarely the ones that matter in year two, when you outgrow the platform, try to rank against real competition, or discover what it costs to […]
How Do I Duplicate a Page in WordPress? (All Methods Explained)
To duplicate a page in WordPress, either install a free plugin like Yoast Duplicate Post and click Clone on any page, or open the page in the block editor, choose Copy all blocks from the three-dot menu, and paste into a new page. The plugin copies everything. The manual method copies only content. Duplicating a […]