Media is a tab in your WordPress admin sidebar which is used to manage user uploads

(images, audio, video, and other files). Under the Media menu, there are two screens. The
first screen Library lists all the files in the media library. These files can be edited and
deleted from the library. The second screen is Add New, which allows users to upload files.
Remember users can also upload media (images, videos, etc) while writing a post or page.
However, the Add New link under allows users to upload files without attaching them to a
specific post or page.

The biggest complaint about the media library in WordPress is that it is not organized. All
media files are stored and organized based on the year and month they were uploaded in a
folder called /wp-content/uploads/. You can search the media files by using your
WordPress admin menu, but there is no way to store media files in specific folders. There
are plugins that allow you to organize media files by using tags.

WordPress media editor also has some lesser-known features that folks don’t know about.
One of them being the ability to edit images right from your WordPress admin area. Under
the edit screen of your library, there is an option for photo editing that allows you to crop,
resize, and scale images right from your WordPress admin area.

WordPress Media Library

WordPress Media Library contains images, videos, audios, and files that can be included in
the content when writing a WordPress page or post. We can see many things related to the
media in the Media Library, like add, delete, and edit. In this topic, we are going to discuss
the different phases of the WordPress Media Library. The following are the steps to
understand the WordPress Media Library.

Step 1: Firstly, go to the WordPress dashboard and select the "Media" option and then click
on the "Library" option.

You can also upload images and other media directly on the Media screen following these
steps:
Step 2: When we click on the Library option, we can see the various media files, such as
images, videos, and audios. If we want to add new items, click on the "Add New" button.

Step 3: We can see a menu bar in the Media Library that consists of many things like List
view, Grid view, Filter the images and videos, and search box, as shown in the following
screenshot

There are various tabs in the Media Library bar, which are as follows:

1. List View: It shows the media files in the list form.

2. Grid View: It helps to show all the media files in the grid format.
 3. Filter the images and videos: It filters the images and videos in the media library.

4. Search box: It helps to find a media file by inserting the file name into the search box.

Adding the Media Files

Now, we are going to know how to add the Media Files in WordPress. WordPress permits us
to add various media files, such as images, videos, and audios.

The following are the steps to add Media Files in WordPress.

Step 1: Firstly, go to the WordPress dashboard and select the "Media" option, and then click
on the "Add New" option.

Step 2: After clicking on the "Add New" option, click on the "Select Files" option to select the
files from our local storage, as shown in the following screenshot.

Step 3: After clicking on the Select Files, add the media files by selecting them and then
click on the open button, as shown in the following screenshot.
Step 4: Now, we will see the media files list that we added in the list.

Inserted the Media Files

We are going to know how we can insert the media files into a WordPress Page or Post.
Media Files can be inserted from the Media Libraries, URLs, or local storage in the
WordPress Page or WordPress Post. The following are the steps to insert the Media Files:

Step 1: Firstly, go to the WordPress dashboard and click on the "Posts" and then click on the
"Add New" option to insert the media file in WordPress.
Step 2: After clicking on the "Add New" option, click on the "Add Media" button.

Step 3: Now, we can choose the media file from the library section.
All information on the selected media file will be shown in the Attachment Details on the
right side of the screen.

Step 4: Now, click on the "Select" button, then the image will be inserted in the page or post
of the site.

We can also upload a file directly from the device by clicking the Upload Files button. Just
click on the "Select" button.

Edit Media Files

Here, we are going to know how to Edit Media Files in WordPress. We can handle
information about the Media File, which is stored in the Media Library. The following are the
steps to edit the Media Files in WordPress.

Step 1: Firstly, go to the WordPress dashboard and select the "Media" option, and then click
on the "Library" option. After that, click on the media file name or the edit link.
Step 2: Here, we will see the Media Files list. Now, we can select an image that we want to
edit.

Step 3: Finally, we can see the media page with some options shown on the site. The
options are as follows:

URL: It helps us to read only a link from the media file.

Title: It shows the media name. If the themes and plugins are designed to be displayed, the
title will often show up in the galleries and attachment pages.

Permalink: It is the media attachment page URL. It is also a link to see the attachment page
of the media file.

Edit Image button: It helps to edit the position of the image like rotate anti-clockwise, rotate
clockwise, flip vertically, horizontally, crop, flip, and more.

Caption: It allows us to provide a detailed explanation of the media file.

Alternate Text: The alternate text for the image is used to describe media and is also used
for the availability of images.

Description: It allows us to explain the media file.

Delete Permanently: It helps us to delete the file permanently.

Step 4: After completing all these steps, click on the Update button to save the changes.
Inserting video into your post or page

STEP 1

Create a new post or page

Firstly, you’ll need to log in to the WordPress admin dashboard and create a new post or
page. If you are unsure how to do this, see the following guides.
STEP 2

Add a video block

To add video into your content, simply click on the + icon, in the top left-hand corner of the
editor. Clicking this button will open the block browser.
STEP 3

Choose ‘Video’

Scroll down the block browser and click on the heading ‘Common Blocks’, then choose
‘Video’.
STEP 4

Add your video file

There are three different ways you can add your video.

​ Upload a video file from your computer

​ Choose a video from your media library
​ Insert from URL

Clicking ‘Upload’ will open a file browser, then you can use the file browser to locate the
video file stored on your computer.
Choosing ‘Media Library’ will open up your WordPress media library, which is a way of
browsing media files you have previously uploaded to your site.

If you want to use a video that is already online click ‘Insert from URL’. Then simply enter
the full URL into the text field provided.

STEP 5

Aligning your video

Clicking on your video will make the video toolbar appear above your video. The toolbar lets
you choose how your video sits within your content.
Choosing ‘Align left’ or ‘Align right’ will position your video to either the left or right of the
page. It will mean that any text you write will ‘wrap’ around the video.

Choosing ‘Wide width’ will display the video at the full width of your content.

Choosing ‘Full width’ will display the video across the whole width of your site.

STEP 6

Adding a caption to your video

If you wish to add a caption to your audio file, simply click on the text that reads ‘Write
caption’ and start typing.
STEP 7

Video settings

Additionally, when you click on your video, a range of settings appear in the right-hand
menu.

These options include toggling on Autoplay which makes the video automatically play
when a visitor views your page.

Other settings that can be toggled on are Loop, Muted audio and displaying Playback
Controls (play, pause etc).

Additionally, there is a dropdown menu for preload settings.

The final option is for uploading a Poster Image, which is used as a thumbnail by your
video when it is not being played.

Considerations when using video: Most browsers will play videos that are in MP4 format,
so if your video is not in MP4 format you will need to convert your video file before
uploading. Bear in mind that different browsers and devices have slightly different ways of
handling video content, so even if you choose, for example, to have your video autoplay this
won’t necessarily happen across every device.

Inserting audio into your post or page

STEP 1

Add an audio block

To add audio into your content, simply click on the + icon, in the top left-hand corner of the
editor. Clicking this button will open the block browser.

STEP 2

Choose ‘Audio’

Scroll down the block browser and click on the heading ‘Common Blocks’, then choose
‘Audio’.
STEP 3

Add your audio

There are three different ways you can add your audio.

​ Upload an audio file from your computer

​ Choose an audio file from your media library
​ Insert from URL

Clicking ‘Upload’ will open a file browser, then you can use the file browser to locate the
audio file stored on your computer.
Choosing ‘Media Library’ will open up your WordPress media library, which is a way of
browsing media files you have previously uploaded to your site.

If you want to use an audio file that is already online click ‘Insert from URL’. Then simply
enter the full URL into the text field provided.

STEP 4

Aligning the audio player

Adding an audio file creates an audio player. Clicking on the audio player will also make the
audio toolbar appear. The toolbar lets you choose how the audio player sits within your
content.
Choosing ‘Align left’ or ‘Align right’ will position the audio player to either the left or right
of the page. It will mean that any text you write will ‘wrap’ around the audio player.

Choosing ‘Wide width’ display the audio player at full width of your content.

Choosing ‘Full width’ display the audio player across the whole width of your site.

STEP 5

Adding a caption to your audio

If you wish to add a caption to your audio file, simply click on the text that reads ‘Write
caption’ and start typing.
STEP 6

Audio settings

Additionally, when you click on your audio file, a range of settings appear in the right-hand
menu.

These options include toggling on Autoplay, which makes the audio automatically play
when a visitor views your page.

Additionally, you can choose to Loop your audio, so that it continuously plays.
Embedding video, audio or other media into your post or page

STEP 1

Add an embed block

Alongside being able to upload your audio and video files directly to your site, WordPress
also supports embedding media from external platforms, such as YouTube, Vimeo, Spotify,
Soundcloud etc.

There are numerous advantages to embedding media content, rather than hosting it on your
own site. For example, video platforms such as Youtube or Vimeo handle the
encoding/serving of your video and offer tools such as analytics, subtitle editors etc.
Because these services specialise in video, they are able to deliver content that is optimised
for the device it is being viewed on.
Embedding isn’t restricted to video or audio content. WordPress supports a huge range of
platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, Flickr, Reddit, Imgur etc.

To add an embedded media into your content, simply click on the + icon, in the top left-hand
corner of the editor. Clicking this button will open the block browser.

STEP 2

Choose your platform

Scroll down the block browser and click on the heading ‘Embeds’, and choose the platform
you wish to embed the content from. If the platform isn’t one of the ones listed, simply
choose ‘Embed’ to add a custom embed, and WordPress will attempt to embed your
content.
STEP 3

Add your embed URL

Then enter the URL of your embedded media into the text box provided, and click on the
button labelled ‘Embed’.
STEP 4

Aligning the embedded media

Clicking on your embedded media will make the toolbar appear above it. The toolbar lets
you choose how your embedded media sits within your content.

Choosing ‘Align left’ or ‘Align right’ will position your embedded media to either the left or
right of the page. It will mean that any text you write will ‘wrap’ around the embedded media.

Choosing ‘Wide width’ will display the embedded media at the full width of your content.

Choosing ‘Full width’ will display the embedded media across the whole width of your site.
STEP 5

Adding a caption to your embedded media

If you wish to add a caption to your embedded media, simply click on the text that reads
‘Write caption’ and start typing.
STEP 6

Embed settings

Additionally, when you click on your embedded media, settings appear in the right-hand
menu.

These options can differ, depending on the content you are embedding. In most cases, you
are given the option to resize the embedded media for smaller devices, which is toggled on
by default.
How to manage your WordPress comment settings

You can manage WordPress comment settings under Settings → Discussion in your
dashboard. WordPress has various comment settings, ranging from automatically
approving comments to disabling them entirely. In this section we’ll go over each of the
settings that you can manage on the Discussion settings page.
1. How to enable comments in WordPress

WordPress enables comments by default on all posts. If the comment form is not appearing
on a post, make sure you’ve checked the Allow people to submit comments on new posts
option in Discussion Settings.

If this option is checked but you still see that the comment section is missing from some or
all pages, you should check the discussion settings for each post and make sure that Allow
comments is checked under the Discussion options in the block editor.
2. How to disable comments on all posts in WordPress

You can disable the comment form on both new and existing posts in your Discussion
Settings under Settings → Discussion in your WordPress dashboard.

Disabling comments on all new posts

Untick Allow people to submit comments on new posts, and then scroll down and select
Save Changes. The comment section will no longer appear on any new posts you make on
your site. Older posts will still have comments enabled.

Disabling comments on all existing posts

If you want to remove the comment form from all existing posts, disable comments by
following the steps above and scroll down to the Automatically close comments on articles
older than __ days option. Enter 0 into the box, then click Save Changes.
Closing comments only removes the comment submission form from your posts — it does
not delete the existing comments themselves. If you want to remove all existing comments
in addition to the comment form, you’ll need to delete those under Comments in your
WordPress dashboard.

3. How to disable or enable comments on specific posts in WordPress

Comment settings for posts automatically follow the site-wide options set in Settings →
Discussion, but you can also enable or disable comments on each post individually.

When you’re writing or editing a post, you’ll find a Discussion option in the post settings that
appear to the right of the WordPress Editor. Click on the right-hand caret to expand this
section, and tick or untick the Allow comments option to either enable or disable
comments.

Click Update at the top of the screen to save your changes.

4. How to automatically approve comments

By default, WordPress will not publish any visitors’ comments until you’ve approved one of
their previous ones. This helps protect your site from spam and gives you the opportunity to
review comments to ensure that they’re genuine.

If you want WordPress to approve all comments regardless of whether the visitor has
commented on a post before, navigate to Settings → Discussion and scroll down to find the
Before a comment appears section. Untick the box next to Comment author must have a
previously approved comment, then scroll down and select Save Changes.

5. Require manual approval of all comments

If you would rather approve all comments from your visitors yourself, regardless of whether
or not they’ve had an approved comment in the past, navigate to Settings → Discussion and
select the Comment must be manually approved option in the Before a comment appears
section.

Scroll down to the bottom of the page and select Save Changes.

How to get rid of comment spam

Inauthentic comments are something that almost all website owners face. Bots scour the
web for websites with any type of form — including comment forms — and attempt to
submit spam. If you don’t put steps in place to protect against WordPress comment spam,
you may find that it overruns the comment section of your website and negatively impacts
your visitors’ experience.

Luckily, there are a few key steps you can take to get rid of comment spam:

1. Use an anti‑spam plugin

One of the best ways to get rid of WordPress comment spam is to use an anti-spam plugin
such as Jetpack Anti-spam, powered by Akismet.

Used by millions of websites worldwide, Akismet’s anti-spam system protects comment and
other forms on your WordPress website. It can automatically filter spam so you can avoid
the hassle of having to manually review comments. It also improves visitor engagement by
preventing spam without the need for a cumbersome CAPTCHA.

Jetpack Anti-spam is available as a subscription by itself or as part of Jetpack Security,

which can further protect your site with real-time backups, a web application firewall (WAF),
malware prevention, and other valuable tools.

2. Require prior comment approval

Visitors who have left a genuine comment are less likely to submit spam in the future. By
default, WordPress comment settings require that the author have a previously approved
comment in order for their new one to be automatically approved.

If you want to make sure that this option is enabled for your site, go to Settings →
Discussion and scroll down to find the Before a comment appears section. Check to see if
the box next to Comment author must have a previously approved comment is ticked. If it’s
not, click the box to enable that option, then scroll down and click Save Changes.

3. Hold a comment for moderation if it contains multiple links or certain words

Spam comments often contain many links, and WordPress automatically holds a comment
for moderation if it has two or more. You can change the number of links required before a
comment is held by going to Settings → Discussion and scrolling down to Comment
Moderation.

You can also hold comments for review if they contain specific words, or if they have been
sent from certain IP addresses or email addresses. You can add these items to the box in
this section.

WordPress will look for these keywords in the comment content, author name, URL, IP
address, or browser’s user agent string. If it finds the word either by itself or as part of a
longer word (e.g. “press” within “WordPress”), it will hold it for moderation. So be cautious
when adding keywords to this section if they’re commonly found within other words that
legitimate visitors might use. For instance, “con” sounds like a word a spammer might use,
but is also found in “connect,” “concentrate,” and “congratulations.”

4. Automatically send specific comments to trash

You may find that spam or otherwise offensive comments share certain characteristics and
you’d prefer that they go straight to the trash. You can automatically block these comments
in the Discussion Settings of your WordPress site under the Disallowed Comment Keys
section.
WordPress will look for these keywords in the comment content, author name, URL, IP
address, or the browser’s user agent string. If it finds the phrase either as a standalone word
or as part of a longer word (e.g. “Jet” within “Jetpack”), it will put it in the trash. So be
cautious when adding keywords to this section if they might be commonly found within
other words that legitimate visitors might use.

Table of Contents

1. WordPress RSS Feed Guide

2. What Is an RSS Feed?

3. What Are the Benefits of RSS Feeds?

4. Where Can You Find Your RSS Feed URL in WordPress?

5. How to Set Up an RSS Feed in WordPress (3 Steps)

 5.1. Step 1: Detect Your RSS Feed(s) Using FeedBurner

5.2. Step 2: Redirect Your Default Feed Within WordPress

5.3. Step 3: Display Your Feed on Your Site’s Front End

6. Best RSS Feed Plugins for WordPress

7. RSS Feeds in WordPress Without Plugins

8. How to Import RSS Feeds to WordPress

9. Multiple RSS Feeds

10. RSS Feeds with Images

11. RSS WXR File

12. Disabling RSS in WordPress

13. Build Customized Digital Experiences on WP Engine

WordPress RSS Feed Guide

Making sure your followers have quick access to your most recent content or blog posts is
very important. With so many social media options, however, it can be difficult to know how
to coordinate everything and make it all easily available.

Fortunately, there’s a way to help your readers keep up-to-date with your posts, without
being forced to create more social media accounts. Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds
package up the contents of your posts, and displays it all in one convenient location.

In this article, we’ll take an in-depth look at what RSS feeds are, where you can find them,
and how to create your own. There’s a lot to cover, so let’s jump right in!
What Is an RSS Feed?

In a nutshell, Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds enable users to view website content
in a quick and easy-to-read format. They work alongside ‘feedburners’, which are pieces of
software that turn RSS feeds into readable content. Using an RSS feed, you can see which
of your favorite content sources have uploaded new pieces the moment they’re available.

What Are the Benefits of RSS Feeds?

Getting content in front of your audience is a key concern, regardless of your niche. RSS
feeds are a perfect way to do this. One of the main reasons is that users have to do
practically nothing in order to view your content (aside from clicking on a link).

Since the feed does all the work, users don’t even have to memorize your URLs. This, in
addition to the enhanced portability the feature provides, means that RSS feeds can
become a central tool in promoting your site’s content.

Where Can You Find Your RSS Feed URL in WordPress?

Finding your RSS feed URL within WordPress is simple. All you need to do is type in the
name of your website, and add “/feed” to the end of the URL.

For example, to access the RSS feed URL for www.examplewebsite.com, you would enter
www.examplewebsite.com/feed into your browser:

You’ll then be brought to the XML file that displays the WordPress feed in its raw form. This
is what feedburners read and turn into proper content.
How to Set Up an RSS Feed in WordPress (3 Steps)

Fortunately, setting up an RSS feed on your WordPress website is a simple process. Let’s
take a look at exactly how to do it!

Step 1: Detect Your RSS Feed(s) Using FeedBurner

By default, your WordPress site will already have one or more RSS feeds in place.
Therefore, your first step is to find out the URLs for those feeds. This is easy to do using
Google’s FeedBurner tool.

Don’t be fooled by its retro look. FeedBurner is actually a valuable tool for the task at hand.
Simply enter your domain into the relevant field, and click on Next. You’ll see a results
screen showing you every feed that’s associated with your site.

At this point, you simply need to note the URL of any feeds that appear here. Then you can
move on to the next task.

Step 2: Redirect Your Default Feed Within WordPress

Once you have at least one RSS feed URL, you’ll need to tell WordPress to redirect your
feed to FeedBurner. This can easily be achieved by using a dedicated RSS plugin, such as
RSS Redirect & FeedBurner Alternative.

After installing and activating this feed plugin, head to the RSS Redirect panel within
WordPress, and select Click here to activate redirect.

This will redirect your feed in a matter of seconds. After this, all that’s left is to give your
visitors a way to view your feed.

You’ll also notice that there are other options on this screen relating various feeds, along
with a custom feed field. If the RSS feed plugin doesn’t redirect your feed properly, adding it
here manually should do the trick.
Step 3: Display Your Feed on Your Site’s Front End

Finally, you’ll want to add a clickable icon to the front end on your site, in order to help
visitors access your RSS feed. This is simple to do, especially if you use a widget.

To do that, you’ll need to head to Appearance > Widgets within your WordPress dashboard,
and look for the RSS option. Simply drag it to your desired widget area (such as a sidebar
or footer), and take a look at its settings.

The options here are pretty self-explanatory. Once you’ve saved any changes, your RSS
feed will be displayed on your site’s front end at the specified location!

Best RSS Feed Plugins for WordPress

Of course, there is more than one solution for viewing RSS feeds within WordPress. Let’s
look at three excellent plugins you can use to get the job done.

First up, WP RSS Aggregator is arguably the most popular solution within the WordPress
Plugin Directory.

The free version of this WordPress RSS feed plugin helps you aggregate feeds from as
many sources as required, and lets you display your feed anywhere on your site using
shortcodes. What’s more, you can open videos directly from within the feed item. However,
if you’re a ‘hardcore’ feed user, having some functionality locked behind a paywall could
become inconvenient.

Next up, Feedzy RSS Feeds is a fully-premium solution that costs around $80 for a single
license.

This plugin functions similarly to the first option, although it also provides a caching solution
and both WordAi and Gutenberg integration. However, there’s no free version, so you’ll
need to be a committed user of RSS feeds if you want to get your money’s worth.

Finally, we have Category Specific RSS Feed Subscription.

This is another free plugin that, as the name suggests, lets you specify which categories are
displayed in your feed. For multi-topic blogs, this is extremely useful, although there’s
always the danger of missing a useful piece of content by ignoring certain categories.
RSS Feeds in WordPress Without Plugins

There’s no doubt that the RSS feed plugins listed above are useful. However, it is possible
to configure your website’s RSS feed without using them.

The instructions are quite simple, but there are a few things to keep in mind before
beginning. First, you should back up your site. This ensures that you can restore your
most recent version of WordPress should an error occur.

Second, you should have at least a basic understanding of WordPress development and
coding. If you don’t, it’s best to practice on a local install of WordPress, to ensure that
you’ve got the process down before tinkering with your live site.

How to Import RSS Feeds to WordPress

You may also want to import RSS feeds to your WordPress site. You could place those
feeds within a blog post, for example, or add them to your sidebar. With WordPress plugins,
you can do this with ease.

For a perfect example, check out RSSImport:

With this plugin installed, you can add RSS feeds using PHP, a widget, or a shortcode.
RSSImport even enables you to set parameters to define how your RSS feed works.

Multiple RSS Feeds

If you’re working with more than one RSS feed, you’ll need to make sure your chosen tool
lets you manage multiple RSS feeds on one account. follow.it is one solution that does this,
with a free plan that includes up to five feeds. Paid plans enable you to manage unlimited
RSS feeds.
With follow.it, all you need to do is go to My Feeds > My Offered Feeds:

From there, you can access all of your feeds in one place. You can add/view subscribers,
see statistics, and even manage subscription options.

RSS Feeds with Images

If you want to take your RSS feed a step further, you can also add a featured image to it. To
do this, you’ll need another plugin. Send Images to RSS is a solid choice:

This plugin turns text-only RSS feeds into more interactive experiences for your
subscribers.

Using your website’s settings, Send Images to RSS will include featured images from your
content in your email feed newsletters.

RSS WXR File

At this point, we’ve shown you how to import RSS feeds to your WordPress installation.
However, you can also export your own RSS files. This is a good way to back up your
content or transfer it to a new website.
The export file you’ll need to use is referred to as WordPress eXtended RSS (WXR). It
contains all of your website’s content, including WordPress blog posts, comments, custom
fields, categories, and tags.

To create this file, simply head to your WordPress dashboard. Go to Tools > Export, and
select the content you would like to export. You can choose All Content, or pick from a list of
types (such as Posts, Pages, and Media).

Then select Download Export File, and the download will automatically begin:

You can now transfer all content to another WordPress installation (where you can set up a
new RSS feed), or save it as a backup.

Disabling RSS in WordPress

In some cases, you may wish to disable RSS on your WordPress site. This is especially
common for small, static websites. Fortunately, you can disable RSS in WordPress in just a
few minutes.

First, navigate to your WordPress site’s functions.php file. You can find it by going to
Appearance > Editor. The file will be on the right-hand side of the page:
Now, copy this code and paste it at the very end of the functions.php file:

function wpb_disable_feed() {
wp_die( __(‘No feed available,please visit our <a href=” ‘ .
get_bloginfo(‘url’) . ‘ “>homepage<a/>!) );
}

add_action(‘do_feed’, ‘wpb_disable_feed’, 1);

add_action(‘do_feed_rdf’, ‘wpb_disable_feed’, 1);
add_action(‘do_feed_rss’, ‘wpb_disable_feed’, 1);
add_action(‘do_feed_rss2’, ‘wpb_disable_feed’, 1);
add_action(‘do_feed_atom’, ‘wpb_disable_feed’, 1);
add_action(‘do_feed_rss2_comments’, ‘wpb_disable_feed’, 1);
add_action(‘do_feed_atom_comments’, ‘wpb_disable_feed’, 1);

Click on Update File, and you’re all done. Now, no one will be able to access your RSS
feed!

The benefits of subscriptions

From early 2012 through late 2020, the Subscription Economy Index experienced 437

percent growth. That’s more than triple what other popular indexes experienced. You

probably noticed it yourself — everything from entertainment to toilet paper became

available as a subscription. It’s predictable and convenient for consumers and they love it. A

lot.

How much? Almost 80 percent of adults across the globe subscribe to at least one service.

Yet, according to Statista, only 14 percent of eCommerce businesses across North America

and Europe offered subscription products in 2021.

But subscriptions aren’t just convenient for consumers. They provide more consistent

revenue for companies, which makes growth easier while reducing stress for the owners. So

if you can offer a subscription, you probably should.

Subscriptions are a great option because:

● You’ll create an extra loyal customer base. For the most part, people subscribe

to something because they intend to use it for a prolonged period of time. This

means, once someone subscribes, you can earn more revenue from them than if you

just convinced them to make a single purchase. More revenue per customer is great.

But you also have the chance to become an ongoing, essential part of their life and

turn them into a superfan. And superfans become advocates that will spread the news

to friends and family. This is the stuff store owners dream of.

● You’ll enjoy a more predictable cash flow. If you have 100 people willing to

pay $10 for a monthly subscription, that’s $1,000 you know is coming your way every

month. There will be some drop off, but that too can be fairly predictable. Business

owners have to be brave and make bold decisions. Sometimes it’s scary. But

predictable revenue makes it just a little easier to invest in the tools and people to go

to the next level.

● You can create a better experience for your customers. Let’s say that you sell

something people need every month — cat food, light bulbs, or their favorite snacks.

By offering them the ability to subscribe and automatically get essentials delivered to

their door each month (or week, or quarter) you’re providing them an extra reason to

shop with you. They don’t have to remember to order before they run out and you get

a leg up on your competitors.

How to start a subscription business with WordPress

Now that you know why you should start a subscription business on WordPress, it’s time to

learn how.

1. Start with the basics

First, you need a platform.

WordPress.com is a great option, especially if you’re already using it to share content and

engage with your target audience. You’re in complete control of how your subscriptions and

other products are presented, and you own everything you create.

Follow these steps to offer subscriptions on WordPress.com:

● Ensure you have a plugin-enabled plan. You can upgrade to one of these plans

from an existing Personal or plugin-enabled plan at any time.

● Install WooCommerce. You can do this quickly and easily by following the

WooCommerce setup wizard. WooCommerce is the super robust eCommerce

platform for WordPress designed to help you sell physical or digital products, set up

shipping and payment methods, and run subscriptions.

● Install WooCommerce Subscriptions. This extension lets you offer options for

weekly, monthly, and annual subscriptions. You can manage free trials, offer variable

options to meet unique customer needs, and manage complex payment and

subscription structures.
Scratch Pet Food, a subscription site built with WordPress and WooCommerce

2. Choose a payment gateway that accepts recurring charges

A payment gateway enables you to securely accept payments online and transfer the money

you collect into your bank account.

While there are a variety of options you can choose from, WooCommerce Payments is a top

choice for new store owners. You can start for free, as there aren’t any setup or monthly fees

involved. You do pay a per-transaction feethat’s typically calculated as a percent of the

transaction amount. The exact percentage depends on what country you’re in, and

WooCommerce Payments is available in more than 15 countries, including the United

States.
With WooCommerce Payments, you gain the ability to monitor and manage transactions

directly within WordPress (no more logging in and out of extra accounts), accept Apple Pay

and other popular digital wallets, instantly transfer money into your bank account, and earn

revenue from subscriptions.

If you already take payments through another gateway or prefer to use a different service,

there are plenty of options. WooCommerce offers more than 80 payments-related

extensions, including PayPal and Stripe. But before you choose, make sure the gateway

supports recurring payments.

3. Create subscription products

Now that many of the administrative details are handled, you get to dig into the fun part of

setting up your subscription business with WordPress: creating the products.

You have tons of choices. You could sell subscription boxes of products or create recurring

options for individual items that people buy on a monthly, quarterly, or yearly basis. Offer
basics like cleaning supplies and bath products or sell more unique things like craft

materials and clothing.

Or you can create digital subscriptions. Sell software licenses that renew each year, access to

premium audio or text-based content, or specialty downloads that are dropped into people’s

email inbox once a month.

You can also grant subscription access to ongoing services that make it more convenient for

people to manage payments. You might charge monthly for lawn care services or create a

quarterly subscription for pest control. Forum or community memberships, mentorship

programs, and consulting services all work on subscription models, too.

The WooCommerce Subscriptions Store Manager Guide provides step-by-step guidance for

creating subscription products.

PHLearn, a digital subscription and membership built with WordPress and

WooCommerce

4. Decide on shipping methods

If you opt to sell physical products, you’ll need to decide on and set up shipping methods.

Here are a few things you’ll need to consider:

● Where products and shipping will be handled. Are you going to do it yourself

or outsource to a fulfillment company? Each option has pros and cons. If you handle

it yourself, you’ll need room for inventory, time to pack and ship boxes, and access to

a local carrier. Outsourcing decreases your time and space needs, but increases

expenses while reducing your ability to control quality.

● Shipping carriers. Options include USPS, FedEx, UPS, and DHL. Availability

depends on your location, and the best choice depends on what you’re shipping,

whether you’re shipping domestic or international, how big and heavy your packages

are, and how quickly you want items to reach customers.

● Pricing. Research shipping costs, including supplies, so you know how much you’ll

pay on average to ship each subscription box or package. Then you can decide how to

charge for shipping. You could build the cost of shipping into the subscription or

charge separately. The latter might be a good choice if you’re offering variable

shipping options, such as expedited or standard.

Create revenue you can rely upon

Whether you run a vineyard, own a lawn care company, or sell physical products your

customers love, chances are you can benefit from subscriptions. Think about what you offer

that shoppers might be willing to pay for regularly, and create subscription models to

match. Looking for more help? Check out the ultimate guide to running a subscriptions

business.

Every major blog is using FeedBurner to burn their RSS feeds because it is a free feature rich
system that you cannot turn down. FeedBurner provides statistics, feed optimization option,
feed publication option and much more. Integrating FeedBurner and Google Analytics is a
must for every WordPress blog. In this article, we will show you how you can setup your
WordPress blog feeds with FeedBurner and use it to help take your blog to the next level.
Why FeedBurner is Important for Bloggers?

FeedBurner is a free service that is loaded with options that you do not get with the default
WordPress feed. Some of the features include:

● Statistics about your RSS Subscribers so you can analyze and optimize your blog
posts.
● Give your users multiple options to subscribe such as Email, and other
feed-readers (Netvibes, Google etc).
● Social Proof (Subscriber count)
● Option to customize your feeds such as modify post headings, branding and more.
● Option to ping various feed-reading services once you publish your posts.
● Integrate Google Adsense to monetize your RSS feeds.

● And more…

Just with the short list of features, you can see that it is a must have for all blogs. Now we
can move onto setting up the FeedBurner Account.

Setting up Your FeedBurner for WordPress feeds

First you will need to have a Google account (any gmail account will work). Visit the
feedburner service page to begin this process.

In the first step, you will type the link to your WordPress Blog Feed. If you have SEO Friendly
WordPress URL Structure, then your feed link should be like yourdomain.com/feed/
In step 2, you will choose the title of your Feed and the address of your feed. It is advised to
keep the title of your feed the same as your blog. It is best to keep your feed address short
and memorable.

Technically your feeds are created, so you don’t need to follow the steps any more. Click on
the Skip directly to Feed Management.
You will see a page with a link to tons of blogging platforms. Ignore all that as we will revisit
them later in this article. Just cilck on the optimize tab that you see in the image below.

In step 5, we will work on optimizing your WordPress Blog Feed. You need to make sure that
you haev Browser Friendly option activated, Smart Feed activated, and FeedFlare activated.
You can activate other services if you want, but these 3 services are a must have.
BrowserFriendly makes subscribing much simpler. SmartFeed ensures maximum
compatibility with all feed reader applications. FeedFlare builds interactivity into posts by
adding email this and other sharing options.

In step 6, we will take a look at all the publicize options for the feed. You need to allow Email
Subscriptions on your site because there are users who prefer to get email updates rather
than using Google reader. Pingshot must be activated because it notifies services when you
post. Feedcount widget lets you show off your subscriber count. It is one of the best social
proof methods. Awareness API comes handy if you are trying to list yourself on sites like
BuySellAds because they can extract your subscriber count easily. There other snazzy
options like Headline Animator, BuzzBoost that you can activate if you like.
Monetizing your feed is another good features of FeedBurner except it only allows you to
use Google Adsense. So sign up with Google Adsense and follow their direction.
Once you have done all the above steps, you can click on the Analyze tab. Most likely you
will see a screen like the one below because the stats are not recorded. Give it up to 24
hours and you will start seeing numbers there. Use the subscriber count, clicks and other
useful data to improve your blog. See what your users like and don’t like with this stas, and
then focus on the type of posts that your users like and enjoy.
Integrate FeedBurner into WordPress

Even though you have setup your feed with FeedBurner in the steps above, but you have not
yet really integrated it with WordPress yet. First thing you want to do is stop diluting your
feed and make it one. You need to create a redirect, so when users try to visit
yourdomain.com/feed/ they are redirected to your feedburner feed page. This way you can
keep track of the subscribers on your blog.

There is a plugin called FD FeedBurner which lets you create this redirect easily. You can
also redirect your feeds using .htaccess file, but we will not be sharing that method because
it is not something we recommend for beginners.

Most WordPress Themes are now coming with FeedBurner integration such as Headway
Theme, Standard Theme, and others. If your theme is not compatible, then use the plugin
above.

Add the Email Subscribe Box on your site

First visit Publicize » Email Subscriptions then copy and paste the code they give you in the
template file that you like (mostly sidebar.php). Remember to customize the look of your
email form, you would need to have prior knowledge of HTML and CSS.

If your blog does not have FeedBurner feeds, then get it right now.

In web technology, both Widgets and Plugins play an important role. They are generally
added to websites to enhance their efficiency of the website. In this article, we will see
what are widgets and plugins, along with understanding their differences.

What is Plugin?

Plugins are nothing but small software that is used to improve a website’s performance,
they are generally used to add some additional features or functionality to the website. For
instance, there are plugins available to watch videos on websites, if the plugin is not
installed then maybe our browser doesn’t understand how to play that video.
Here is the list of some useful Plugins:

● Gravity Forms: Gravity Forms is a simple plugin that helps to handle all forms on

the website, through this we can also customize the form fields and can create

conditional logic within the form. Gravity Forms are also tied up with any third

party like PayPal and MailChimp etc.

● EventOn: As the name suggests, the EventOn plugin generally organizes the

events based on color and category, with the help of EventOn we can add a

calendar to sidebars on the website.

● Advanced Custom Fields: This plugin allows us to add and edit custom fields on

the back end of our website, as well as customize our admin edit screen.

● Yoast SEO: If you have a blog or site on WordPress then this plugin is for you,

Through this plugin, we can set the SEO Title and Meta Description on-page and

the alt attributes of your images, and posts, as well as setting more advanced

options like sitemap settings.

● Elementor: This plugin enables us to design custom web page designs, there are

a lot of free templates in the Elementor library that you can use for creating a

page.

● Akismet: Akismet plugin automatically blocks the spam comments, this plugin is

very useful for blog and business owners who receive at least tens of comments

daily.

Plugin Installation: In WordPress, you can directly go to the plugins section and select the
desired plugin then install it. Please refer to How to Install any Plugin on WordPress
Website? article to see a detailed step-by-step procedure.
 Plugin Installation

What is Widget?

A Widget is something through which a user can interact with an application. A widget is
an element of a graphical user interface that deals with the information for a user, widgets
help us to add some additional features and functionality like pull-down menus, buttons,
selection boxes, icons, scroll bars, etc.

Here is the list of some useful Widgets:-

● Google Map Widget: Google Map Widget helps to get a map on the website,

for instance, when a user clicks on the map widget, a larger map opens in a

popup, and it is very simple and easy to use the widget.

● Astra Widget: Astra Widget is nothing but a pack of widgets, It allows us to

easily add business location, social profile links, and an icon list on the sidebar.

● Simple Social Icon: This widget enables us to add social icons to our sidebars,

we can choose which of our social networks to link to and then add our profile

URLs.

● Social Media count widget: As the name of the widget states that it keeps the

count of subscribers we have on our social media, This means it will show how
 many subscribers we have on YouTube, how many followers we have on

Instagram, Twitter Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.

Widget Installation: In WordPress, go to the Appearance section and then to the widget
section. After clicking on the widget, you can see all the ‘widgets‘ on the left side and the
area where you need to add a ‘widget’ on the right side. So, you can drag your widget from
the left side and drop it to the area on the right side to add that widget in that area. Please
refer to What is Widgets in WordPress? article to see a detailed step-by-step procedure.

Widget Installation

Difference between Plugin and Widget:

Plugin Widget

Widgets can be used to add content

Plugins can be used to add
blocks to the frontend, usually in the
functions or features to your site.
sidebar or footer of your site
 The plugin keeps the page running
A widget is something with which a user
and functioning properly in the
can interact and see it on the page.
background

Plugins are geared towards

Widgets are geared towards appearance.
functionality.

eg. add a small feature to the eg. A widget can be a button, scroll bar,
admin area add social media label, dialog box, or check box or it can
sharing icons to your blog articles be something slightly more sophisticated
or automatically capitalize your like a search box, tiny map, clock, or
title and heading tags. visitor counter.

Example: Gravity Forms, EventOn, Examples: Google Map Widget, Astra

Yoast SEO, etc. Widget.

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1. Upgrade Plugins:

● Login to your WordPress Admin Panel.

● Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins.
● Check for updates next to the plugins that need upgrading.
● Click Update Now for each plugin that has an available update.

2. Adding an Image Gallery:

● Install a Gallery Plugin: If your theme doesn’t have a built-in gallery feature, consider
plugins like NextGEN Gallery, Envira Gallery, or FooGallery. Install and activate your
chosen plugin.
● Create a New Gallery: After activation, there should be an option in your admin menu
related to the gallery plugin. Create a new gallery and upload/select the images you
want to display.
● Insert Gallery into a Page/Post: Edit the page/post where you want the gallery to
appear. Use the Add Gallery button provided by the plugin to insert the gallery into the
content.

3. Editing an Existing Image Gallery:

● Edit Gallery with Plugin: Depending on the plugin you are using, there should be an
option to edit galleries directly from your WordPress dashboard. Find the gallery in
your plugin’s menu and click on it to edit.
● Modify Images: You can usually add, remove, or reorder images within the gallery.
Save your changes.

4. Adding Video Embeds:

● Paste Video URL: To add a video from popular platforms like YouTube or Vimeo,
simply paste the video URL into the post/page editor. WordPress will automatically
embed the video.
● Adjust Size (Optional): You can adjust the size of the embedded video by editing the
width and height parameters in the embed code. Alternatively, use a responsive
theme that automatically adjusts the video size based on the screen.

5. Uploading a Video File:

● Prepare Video: Make sure your video file is in an acceptable format (MP4, WebM, or
Ogg) and optimized for the web.
● Upload Video: Go to Media > Add New. Upload your video file.
 ● Insert Video: Edit the page/post where you want the video to appear. Click on the
Add Media button, select your video, and click Insert into Post.

6. Embedding Responsive Videos:

● Use Responsive Embed Code: Instead of using fixed-width and height parameters,
use responsive embed codes provided by platforms like YouTube. For YouTube
videos, append your video URL with /embed/ or use the YouTube embed code
provided when you click on Share > Embed.

Remember, the exact steps and options might vary slightly based on the plugins and theme
you are using. Always refer to the plugin documentation for detailed instructions specific to
the tools you have installed.