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  • WordPress vs Ghost (2023) — The Key Differences

    Even though WordPress is one of the top Content Management Systems (CMS) in the world, with well over 1/3 of the internet using it, it started as a simple blogging platform. Since then, it has grown to power some of the most visited and complex sites out there. It remains, however, a blogging powerhouse. Ghost is a publishing platform that is focused on being the publishing platform that WordPress could have been if development had gone in a different direction. We are going to take a look at WordPress vs. Ghost features head-to-head so you can see which platform will handle your content in the way you need.

    WordPress vs. Ghost: Who Are They For?

    When looking at these two platforms head-to-head, your audience should be at the forefront of your mind. Who you’re creating content for very much changes which platform is right for you.

    wordpress dot org

    WordPress is for people who want to create content, have near-endless options and features available to them, and customize every aspect of their site to suit the exact needs of their user base. We should note, too, that WordPress Posts and Pages are at the heart of most features that are added to the platform, indicating the focus of the platform is still content creation and publishing despite its development into a CMS platform. Additionally, WordPress does have both hosted and self-hosted versions.

    ghost homepage

    Ghost is for people who want to create content. Stop. Initially developed as a publishing platform, Ghost has evolved into a…publishing platform. Ghost dedicates its entire structure and feature set to get your content in front of readers, whether that is public written content, paywalled membership stuff, or email marketing that combines them both. Over time, what was a simple blogging software has turned into a full-fledged publishing platform, with metrics, email service, and integrations for referral program creation and more.

    Given that Ghost is a primarily publishing-focused platform, we are going to look at WordPress vs. Ghost from that perspective primarily.

    Learning Curve/Ease-of-Use

    With any publishing software, you want as little friction between your words and your readers as possible. Creating and editing posts, adding images and media, as well as adjusting site styles, and navigating the backend is all primary focus for publishers and writers as well.

    WordPress’s Learning Curve

    If you’re unfamiliar with WordPress and open the admin dashboard for the first time, it can be a shock. The interface hasn’t changed much over the years, though it has been refined. Most of the menu items are straightforward and functional posts, pages, plugins, themes, and so on.

    You will have some quirky features to learn, such as widgets and menus being under Appearance, while Plugins get their own main dashboard space. Primary WordPress settings are broken into separate pages instead of tabs and other idiosyncratic leftovers from the decades-long development cycle.

    wordpress dashboard vs ghost

    Creating a Post is straightforward, however. Posts – Add New – Publish. The Block Editor is smooth, though occasionally cumbersome. And you will find that some elements of Posts and Pages (such as featured images and post snippets/excerpts) will be used differently depending on what theme or plugins you use.

    wordpress block editor

    However, once you’re used to the WordPress way of doing things, it is second nature, and you will understand why things are located where they are and how your particular theme/plugin setup uses each element of the Post/Page.

    Ghost’s Learning Curve

    From the moment you log into Ghost’s dashboard, it shows you that it is centered on writing and publishing content. The Posts section of the menu is expanded and prominent from the beginning. You have access to your whole archive without an extra click.

    ghost dashboard vs wordpress

    You can click the + button to add a new post, and the screen is very similar to the WordPress Block Editor. In most ways, the two are functionally identical in use. However, Ghost’s editor isn’t nearly as extensible as WordPress’s, meaning if you find a feature lacking that you need, adding it won’t be easy (or perhaps even possible).

    wordpress vs ghost

    In terms of a learning curve for actually publishing a post, the two workflows are nearly identical. One isn’t steeper to learn than the other for publishing. It is, essentially, a personal preference on which particular environment you prefer to write in.

    However, for the dashboard itself, you may find yourself having an easier time navigating Ghost (at least initially). Part of that comes in the user-friendly color coding and icons—something WordPress’s more utilitarian design could learn from.

    ghost dashboard

    All the site settings and customizations are located under the Settings gear, while all the publishing and user management are in the main menu. The learning curve for Ghost is considerably lower than WordPress, but the trade-off is that your customization and site features are more limited, too.

    WordPress Ghost
    Ease of Use 🏳️ Draw
    WordPress can take some time to learn, but there are plugins and tutorials to make things easier.    		 🏳️ Draw
    Ghost is about as easy to learn as WordPress, and will take some time to adjust too.
    Choose WordPress Choose Ghost

    Customization Options (Themes, Plugins, Integrations)

    While most publishing success comes from the content that you create, a portion of success is due to the appearance of professionalism. This means that if your site doesn’t appear credible, users are less likely to return (or even stay). Even if you’re creating top-notch content, if your site doesn’t look just as top-notch, users may not even consider your content. That said, when considering WordPress vs. Ghost, both platforms give you the ability to project the professional image you need.

    WordPress Customization

    If there is one place where WordPress soars above and beyond almost all competitors, it is for customization. The WordPress ecosystem is full of themes, plugins, widgets, code snippets, and developers that can make the platform do anything and look like anything. In terms of design and integrations, WordPress beats Ghost hands down. (And most other platforms, too.)

    The WordPress.org theme repository has thousands of free themes for your website. 3,989 free themes are available at the time of this writing, so the chances of your finding a theme that looks close to what you envision out of the box are pretty likely. It may not have all the features you want, however.

    wordpress theme repository

    Which is where the WordPress.org plugin repository comes in. Like themes, this repository has thousands of plugins available to add utility features and design elements to your site with a couple of clicks. If

    WordPress is open-source software. It uses PHP and React.js with the intent of being extensible. If you have the coding knowledge and experience, you can make WordPress do anything you could imagine it doing. If you don’t have the coding knowledge to get into the editors, that’s okay, too. The plugin and theme repositories are there for you to piece together the website of your dreams.

    You can additionally adjust the CSS and HTML for your themes and various pages directly inside the backend, giving you full access to every little detail of your website.

    Ghost Customization Options

    Ghost, on the other hand, is limited in the amount of customization you get for your site. Like WordPress, Ghost also has a theme repository, but it is significantly limited. At the time of this writing, there are 92 total themes available, only 15 of which are free. The others range from $29 to $159. Keep this in mind. However, that premium WordPress themes are similarly priced.

    ghost theme repository

    You can also develop your own Ghost theme and use it, too, using the Handlebars templating language. Admittedly, that’s a little out of many people’s wheelhouses. (The documentation does link to some excellent Handlebars tutorials, though.)

    Outside of the themes, all of your customization options are available in the Settings area of your Ghost dashboard. You can alter accent colors, logos, fonts, icons, and so on in terms of design. You can also set up navigation menus, newsletter templates, and opt-ins and experiment with new test features.

    Additionally, you can customize code for your Ghost website in the Code Injection area of the settings, but it is limited to Header and Footer areas. To alter site-wide CSS, you won’t use a custom.css file; you will add style tags to the Header of the website. This is hardly the most elegant solution, but it works.

    However, if your entire goal is publishing as simply as possible and looking professional, and having a fantastic experience doing it, you may be able to overlook the lack of customization available in Ghost.

    WordPress Ghost
    Customization 🥇 Winner

    WordPress shines in terms of customization based on the sheer amount of plugins and themes available.

    		 Ghost just doesn’t have as many options as WordPress.
    Choose WordPress Choose Ghost

    Self-Hosting

    Very briefly, we want to touch on the aspects of self-hosting WordPress vs. Ghost. Both platforms are open-source. And you can run from your web servers or local development environment.

    WordPress is the winner in this match, like Customization. Because of its ubiquity, every web host out there has quick installers for WordPress, and the Famous 5 Minute Install is even easier with their help. You have the choice of hosting anywhere and finding support pretty much anywhere, too. WordPress hosts are plentiful, but there are a few, such as Cloudways and SiteGround, that offer some stand-out features at a very reasonable price.

    With Ghost, self-hosting is kind of an ordeal. You will need to install it by the command line using Node.js and NodeSource, both a root and non-root user within your server, and a VPS. Ghost is a partner with Digital Ocean and has a Ghost image that you can use much like the WP quick installers, but that’s an exception, not the rule.

    In the end, Ghost Pro is a fantastic platform and comparable to both WordPress.com and .org, but Ghost as a self-hosted app can be troublesome for everyone but the technically skilled. And since it’s a publishing platform first, you may not be a command line wizard if you’re looking at Ghost.

    WordPress Ghost
    Self-Hosting 🥇 Winner

    WordPress has quick installers for hosts everywhere.

    		 It can be a real hassle to host with Ghost.
    Choose WordPress Choose Ghost

    E-commerce

    Almost every website out there sells digital (or physical) goods and services in some way. E-commerce is a sustainable and viable option to monetize many websites. We want to take a look at the options available for you with WordPress vs. Ghost because of that.

    WordPress E-commerce Options

    WordPress comes out of the gate running in this head-t0-head because of WooCommerce. A free plugin that is supported by a huge array of free and premium extensions, WooCommerce dominates the WP e-commerce industry. For a reason. It’s very good.

    You can sell physical goods pretty quickly after setting up the plugin. And digital goods are just an upload away. However, to reach full power with WooCommerce, you will need to use those add-ons and extensions. To get the most out of WooCommerce to sell digital goods, you may need an extension to limit purchases to members of your site.

    Or maybe you want to use WooCommerce to set up a course to teach your users. You can do this. But it will require an extension that ties into a learning management system platform. Plus, you can tie WooCommerce into whatever email system you use, whether that’s MailChimp, Constant Contact, Emma, or something else. Again, mostly with an extension.

    You can do any kind of e-commerce with WooCommerce. It’s fantastic. But, like WordPress and themes/plugins, you need to piece together your dream store on your own.

    On top of all this, you can use plugins such as MemberPress to create membership sites that directly rival the membership and revenue-generating options in Ghost.

    Ghost E-commerce

    Ghost e-commerce, on the other hand, is a little different. With Ghost, you’re not setting up a shop or storefront. You’re selling memberships to your site and access to your content. From the moment you open the dashboard, monetization is literally at the top of the list. You can see your membership revenue over the past 30 days first thing.

    ghost dashboard vs wordpress

    When you’re publishing a post, you set who has access to the content from there. It’s easy and built into the Ghost platform itself.

    paid members in ghost

    That’s the catch with Ghost. You’re selling memberships. No goods or services. You can somewhat treat these memberships in the same way that you would a WooCommerce digital storefront, but in general, Ghost is set up for you to hone a community more than one-off sales. (If you want a platform like Ghost that rivals WooCommerce for e-commerce, check out our WP vs. Squarespace post to see the breakdown.)

    None of this is a negative. It’s just the difference in the audience for WordPress vs. Ghost. In terms of pure publication e-commerce, Ghost has membership posting, and newsletter features integrated amazingly. It’s an amazing platform. You just can’t sell individual items.

    WordPress Ghost
    E-Commerce 🥇 Winner

    The WooCommerce plugin let’s you create an online store with ease, plus it has extensions to add functionality and customize your store to your liking.

    		 Ghost is a great platform for selling memberships but can’t do much more than that in terms of e-commerce.
    Choose WordPress Choose Ghost

    WordPress vs Ghost: Who Wins?

    Head-to-head, WordPress, and Ghost are incredibly similar except for just a few details. But it’s those details that make or break the platform for some users. WordPress is a highly customizable platform that started with publishing at the forefront. It has moved to be more of a one-size-fits-all CMS. Ghost began as a publishing-first platform that has stayed a publishing-first platform. Every detail of the software is geared toward getting your content in front of users’ eyes. So you can make money off of it.

    WordPress Ghost
    Ease of Use 🏳️ Draw
    WordPress can take some time to learn, but there are plugins and tutorials to make things easier.    		 🏳️ Draw
    Ghost is about as easy to learn as WordPress, and will take some time to adjust too.
    Customization 🥇 Winner

    WordPress shines in terms of customization based on the sheer amount of plugins and themes available.

    		 Ghost just doesn’t have as many options as WordPress.
    Self-Hosting 🥇 Winner

    WordPress has quick installers for hosts everywhere.

    		 It can be a real hassle to host with Ghost.
    E-Commerce 🥇 Winner

    The WooCommerce plugin let’s you create an online store with ease, plus it has extensions to add functionality and customize your store to your liking.

    		 Ghost is a great platform for selling memberships but can’t do much more than that in terms of e-commerce.
    Choose WordPress Choose Ghost

    If you are in it for publishing content and making money off that content directly without having to deal with typical website issues, Ghost is for you. If you want full control over being able to tweak your website’s design and features, a similarly smooth writing experience, and want to self-host the software, WordPress is the way to go.

    WordPress Deep Dive

    One more thing. Before you make your final decision on your website platform…are you curious to see how WordPress stacks up against its other biggest competitors? We did the hard work and compared WordPress vs. everything else so that you don’t have to! We reviewed WordPress vs. Laravel, and I think you will be interested to see the results.

    If you’re looking for specific plugins to help WordPress become even more powerful, we recommend the following:

    What have been your experiences with WordPress vs. Ghost? Why do you prefer one platform over another?

    The post WordPress vs Ghost (2023) — The Key Differences appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

  • WordPress vs Medium (2023) — Where Should You Blog?

    If there is one question that goes back to the very beginning of blogging, it’s “what blogging platform should I use?” Everyone asks this question (to Google, most likely), and everyone gets bombarded with a thousand different answers. That’s primarily because there are so many choices. In this post, we’ll discuss the WordPress vs Medium debate. Both are fantastic platforms with a lot to offer bloggers. When considering where your blog should live, you need to know there is no wrong choice here.

    You would do fine with either, but hopefully, we can guide you through some of the more stand-out features for both to help make your decision a little easier.

    Look Inside Yourself (or Your Blog)

    When considering whether to go with Medium or WordPress (.com or .org), you need to think about what you need out of your blog or publication. Is it a personal blog you’re doing as a hobby, or are you going to monetize it eventually? Are you going to sell products on your blog, and how much discussion will take place on your articles themselves versus social media? How much static content will you have?

    Once you’ve got a few answers rattling around in your head, read onward.

    What is WordPress?

    WordPress vs Medium

    Ahhh, WordPress. You delightful beast, you. Obviously, here at Elegant Themes, we love WordPress. We use WordPress, and we promote WordPress as much as we can. Now, that doesn’t mean that WordPress is the best choice for everything all the time, but here are some of the reasons it might the right one for you.

    Manage that Content, Y’all

    WordPress isn’t just a blogging platform. It started that way, but since 2002, it has expanded into so much more than that. With nearly half of all websites running on WordPress, you can use the platform even if you don’t have a blog! (Blasphemy, I know.)

    If your website is more than just a home to your blog, or your blog is perhaps not the primary focus of your website, WordPress may be the best bet for you. Selling your products, taking reservations and planning events, WP has you covered.

    The downside to WP being a fully realized content management system (CMS) is that it can have a learning curve. For you to blow all its whistles, ring its bells, and get it to jump through hoops, you have to put in a bit more time than you do with Medium.

    If you need more, you can do more. And if you need less, you don’t have to use it all. As I said in the beginning, it’s up to you and what your needs are now (and what they’ll be in the future, too).

    What is Medium?

    WordPress vs Medium

    Medium is a relatively new publishing platform, launched in August 2012. That’s a full 10 years behind WordPress – at least when you consider how long WordPress has been around – but it’s become a staple among the internet’s blogging scene.

    Medium Series (on Mobile)

    Medium is an experimental platform in a lot of ways. It’s not beholden to any precedent, so the company can try new things and see what works. One of their neater features is called Series, which is a mobile-only publishing tool.

    Similar to Instagram or Facebook stories, Medium’s series gives writers the ability to publish serialized content in a card-based magazine. You add photos and text to the cards, and as the story, you’re telling progresses over time, you continually update the same Series.

    The selling point of this being mobile-only is that it’s bite-sized, easy to read and navigate, and unlike other social platforms where this type of content disappears after a while, any Series you publish remains live – just like any other blogs you’ve written.

    Not everyone will care or take advantage of Series, but if you’re up for trying new formats, WordPress doesn’t have anything even similar to this.

    Medium vs WordPress

    Cleanliness is Next To…

    Medium is clean. No, not in terms of content rating, but in terms of design, style, and UX. It just works.

    Medium is a writer’s platform if there ever was one. Sure, you can embed images and videos. But they are kept to a functional minimum. They aren’t the focus. The words are.

    A white background with black text in a single column in the center of the screen. That’s all you need to get your point across. Heck, sometimes there isn’t even a menu bar at the top.

    When you use Medium for your blog, you’re saying that yes, content is king and words are his bannermen.

    Social Media is King

    Social Media is a huge aspect of blogging these days. Without a social media presence, your blog is dead in the water. Which platform gives you the most reach on social media? Let’s explore.

    WordPress is Semi-Social

    One downside to WordPress vs Medium is that because it does so much so well, it doesn’t automatically have a focus on certain features like Medium. One aspect where WordPress is lacking in comparison is social networking.

    Yes, you can share your posts to any network you’re a member of, and your readers can leave comments at the bottom of posts in threads, there’s not a lot of interactivity between users within WordPress itself.

    Some plugins like Blog2Social and Social Wall by Smash Balloon do a good job in addressing that shortcoming, giving WordPress a bit more power in social settings. This is especially true in the last few years when third-party vendors have begun to bridge the gap from blogs to social media platforms.

    While WordPress is not specifically made for social, it can hold its own with a little help from some stellar plugins.

    Medium is Social-Friendly

    Medium was started by the same fella who helped start Twitter, Ev Williams. His involvement is important because more than anything (well, outside of being a publishing platform), Medium is about social connections and people. The content is important, of course, but the number of ways that writers and their audience are fundamental to the experience.

    You can clap for articles you like, share with friends and followers, and even highlight portions of text to comment directly on instead of starting a thread after everything is said and done (though that is possible, too). Then, those comments are linked back to your profile, where your followers can see them and join in on the conversation.

    Pretty cool.

    WordPress vs Medium social sharing

    Unlike WordPress, there aren’t any social media plugins to install to share content. That being said, you can’t change the way it looks, either.

    WordPress Medium
    Social Media Out of the box, WordPress isn’t known for being a social media platform. That being said, there are some good plugins that can get you there. 🥇 Winner

    Medium is all about social interaction. You can clap, share, and boost your posts on social media platforms easily.
    Choose WordPress Choose Medium

    Which Platform Gives You the Most Content Control?

    There’s the age-old argument of who controls your content. If a platform goes kaput, what happens to your content? Let’s delve into the depths of content control on both platforms and see who has the edge.

    WordPress Content Control

    With WordPress, you get direct access to your followers. They subscribe via email, and then you can interact with them as you wish. You can segment, group, A/B test, individually reach out, whatever. You’re in control of that list, and you always know who those people are.

    It may not sound like a big deal (or a lot of difference), but your audience is your bread and butter. They’re the jam on your biscuit, the avocado on your toast. They’re the…

    Right. You get it.

    My point is that if you’re blogging, you’re building a community. Not only that, you’re building a relationship with each person who reads your stuff.

    Combine these two issues of control (both for content and for followers), and you have a big reason folks go with WordPress over Medium for blogging. Being one with the final say over everything has a lot of appeals.

    It’s one of the reasons people love Divi so much when there are other hosted site-builders out there.

    Medium Content Control

    What do you do if Medium goes belly up? Where do your blogs go? If they live over there on Medium’s cloud, what happens when it’s all rained out?

    Well, that’s kind of a big reason that folks go with WordPress. Maybe the main reason. If you’re using self-hosted WordPress (the .org version), you have total control of your files, WP installations, words, and everything. Unless something catastrophic happens or you decide it’s time to close up shop, your blog and its content will be there.

    Most likely, Medium isn’t going anywhere. Even the old workhorses of blogging such as TypePad, LiveJournal, and Blogspot are still trotting along. But there will come a day when it goes the way of Friendster.

    If you don’t have a backup, you lose that content. And that’s a worry. But it’s not the worry.

    The real issue of control here isn’t with content. It’s with an audience. On Medium, you only have access to them via their Medium accounts. (Which does, admittedly, have links to their social profiles if they enter them.)

    WordPress Medium
    Content Control 🥇 Winner

    No other blogging platform gives you ultimate control over you content like WordPress. You get direct access to followers.

    		 Medium only gives you access to your contacts via their Medium accounts, which severely limits interaction. Plus, if the platform goes kaput, your content goes with it.
    Choose WordPress Choose Medium

    Which Platform Has Better Performance?

    WordPress is Fast..Sometimes

    WordPress website speed depends on various factors such as hosting provider, installed theme and plugins, and content optimization. You can make your WordPress website faster by using a good caching plugin such as W3 Total Cache, which can help speed up your website.

    When using a default WordPress theme and a few plugins, WordPress is quite fast. That being said, to keep a WordPress site fast, choose a optimized theme like Divi, and limit plugins. Consider CSS, JavaScript, and HTML file handling for faster loading times.

    To maintain site speed, be careful when selecting plugins from the thousands of options available. Using too many unreliable plugins can slow your site down. Stick with reputable third-party developers like 10Web to ensure your site stays speedy.

    Medium is Made For Speed In Mind

    Pretty much hand-in-hand with the clean, minimal style, Medium is a hot rod. Performance-wise, your blog is fast and furious and ready to win whatever street race you put it in.

    From posting to browsing to reading to connecting with friends and sharing content, everything you do on Medium is pretty blazing. Because the platform is focused on one thing – publishing – it removes much of the bloat that can slow down other blogging platforms.

    With Medium, writers can write, and they can write fast. Because Medium is made for writing. Fast.

    WordPress Medium
    Performance WordPress is fast if you’re using a default theme and limited plugins. That being said, the more you add, the more steps you need to take to keep it fast. 🥇 Winner

    Out of the box, Medium is lightning fast. That’s primarily because the platform is based on one thing – publishing – it removes much of the bloat found on other platforms.
    Choose WordPress Choose Medium

    WordPress vs Medium: Customization

    What if blogging is important, but so is how your site looks? Read on to learn more about who’s the fairest of them all.

    WordPress is Completely and Totally Customizable

    Where Medium takes away your ability to choose a lot about the design of your blog, WordPress gives you unprecedented control. With themes, plugins, and widgets at your command, there’s nothing you can’t do (website-wise, that is. Cold fusion and perpetual motion are still out of WP’s orbit).

    If you’re the kind of person who tweaks stuff constantly, adds elements, takes them away, and changes the user experience all the time, then WordPress gives you what you want. Medium might be constraining for you, but WordPress will free you from those shackles. If they’re shackles at all.

    Plus, if you’re an Elegant Themes member, Divi makes it incredibly easy to build a Medium-clone that runs just as quickly. Just sayin’.

    Medium Customization? What Customization?

    Not everything is sunshine and lollipops in Mediumville. If you’re the kind of person who tweaks their blog all the time, working on font pairings, colors, and header images…you just might hate it.

    Because you can’t do any of that. You get to upload your avatar, pick your bio, and if you have a publication (basically a collaborative blog multiple people write), you set a color scheme and a logo, that kind of thing.

    WordPress vs Medium

    But you’re not changing anything else. Medium is Medium is Medium.

    You either live with it, or you’ll decide that WordPress is much more to your liking…

    WordPress Medium
    Customization 🥇 Winner

    WordPress is the clear winner in customization due it’s vast library of plugins and themes at its disposal.

    		 Medium’s minimalist styling and customization options may not be suitable for those who like to tweak settings and colors.
    Choose WordPress Choose Medium

    At the End of the Day…

    I don’t think there’s a clear winner. There are enough benefits to both platforms that choosing one over the other leaves some nagging doubts.

    So use both of them. Put your articles on both platforms!

    “But B.J.,” you say, “Google will penalize me for having duplicate content! I can’t just copy and paste my articles on both WordPress and Medium!”

    To which I reply: “True, friendo. But you can use Medium’s import tool!” (And here‘s why!)

    When you use their import tool, your site keeps its canonical link juice, and you get access to pretty much everything Medium has to offer. It is the best of both worlds. See, it doesn’t have to be WordPress vs Medium at all.

    WordPress vs Medium Alternatives

    If you’re looking to compare other options besides WordPress vs Medium, take a look at some of our other head-to-head posts such as WordPress vs HubSpot, WordPress vs Wix, or our ultimate showdown post, WordPress vs Everything Else.

    WordPress vs Medium: Which One Is Better?

    But if your blog has to live somewhere, I do think that WordPress vs Medium is the better option, simply for the customization aspect alone.

    WordPress Medium
    Social Media Out of the box, WordPress isn’t known for being a social media platform. That being said, there are some good plugins that can get you there. 🥇 Winner

    Medium is all about social interaction. You can clap, share, and boost your posts on social media platforms easily.
    Content Control 🥇 Winner

    No other blogging platform gives you ultimate control over you content like WordPress. You get direct access to followers.

    		 Medium only gives you access to your contacts via their Medium accounts, which severely limits interaction. Plus, if the platform goes kaput, your content goes with it.
    Performance WordPress is fast if you’re using a default theme and limited plugins. That being said, the more you add, the more steps you need to take to keep it fast. 🥇 Winner

    Out of the box, Medium is lightning fast. That’s primarily because the platform is based on one thing – publishing – it removes much of the bloat found on other platforms.
    Customization 🥇 Winner

    WordPress is the clear winner in customization due it’s vast library of plugins and themes at its disposal.

    		 Medium’s minimalist styling and customization options may not be suitable for those who like to tweak settings and colors.
    Choose WordPress Choose Medium

    With a quality theme such as Divi, as well as killer social media plugins like Social Wall by Smash Balloon, your WordPress site can be a speedy, social media powerhouse where you can share your thoughts with the world in a beautiful way.

    The post WordPress vs Medium (2023) — Where Should You Blog? appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

  • Download a FREE Header & Footer for Divi’s Toy Store Layout Pack

    Hey Divi Nation! Thanks for joining us for the next installment of our weekly Divi Design Initiative where each week, we give away brand new freebies. We recently shared a brand new Toy Store Layout Pack. To help you get your website up and running as soon as possible, we’re sharing a global header & footer template that matches this layout pack perfectly as well! Hope you enjoy it.

    divi layout

    Check Out The Toy Store
    Global Header & Footer Template Below

    Get it for free today!

    Toy Store Template Header Design

    Desktop Design

    Divi Toy Store desktop header design

    Tablet and Mobile Design

    Divi Toy Store tablet and mobile header design

    Toy Store Template Footer Design

    Desktop Design

    Divi Toy Store desktop footer design

    Tablet and Mobile

    Divi Toy Store tablet and mobile footer design

    Download The Global Header & Footer Template For The Toy Store Layout Pack

    To lay your hands on the free global header & footer template, you will first need to download it using the button below. To gain access to the download you will need to subscribe to our newsletter by using the form below. As a new subscriber, you will receive even more Divi goodness and a free Divi Layout pack every Monday! If you’re already on the list, simply enter your email address below and click download. You will not be “resubscribed” or receive extra emails.

    How to Upload The Toy Store Template

    Go to Divi Theme Builder

    To upload the template, navigate to the Divi Theme Builder in the backend of your WordPress website.

    Open Divi Theme Builder

    Upload Global Default Website Template

    Then, in the top right corner, you’ll see an icon with two arrows. Click on the icon.

    Import the template into the Divi Theme Builder

    Navigate to the import tab, upload the JSON file which you were able to download in this post, and click on ‘Import Divi Theme Builder Templates.

    Finish importing the template into the Divi Theme Builder

    Save Divi Theme Builder Changes

    Once you’ve uploaded the file, you’ll notice a new global header and footer in your default website template. Save the Divi Theme Builder changes as soon as you want the template to be activated.

    Save Divi Theme Builder Changes

    How to Modify The Toy Store Template

    Open Header Template

    To modify the global header template’s elements, start by opening the template.

    Open Header Template

    Upload Your Logo

    Replace the default template logo with your own logo within the Menu Module.

    Update the default logo in the Toy Store Template

    Select Menu of Choice

    Select a menu of your choice in the Menu Module.

    Choose and change your menu in the Menu Module of your Toy Store Template

    Add Links to Social Media Icons

    We use three of Divi’s new Icon Module to create a social media bar at the top of our header. Add your social media links to each module so that your clients are directed to the correct social media account for your business or brand.

    Add link URLs to social media icons

    Add Button URL

    Update the Button Module with a link or change the call-to-action written on the button.

    Add link CTA to header button

    Update Static Text Banners

    We have a banner of Text Modules that we are using to showcase the slogan of Divi Toy Store. You can go in and edit these modules and add in any text that you see fit for your brand.

    Update Text Modules with your own personalized call-to-actions

    Open Footer Template

    Continue by opening the global footer inside the default website template.

    Open Footer Template

    Connect Your Email Marketing Platform

    Our footer has an Email Optin Module. Connect your email marketing solution of choice to this module to be able to collect email addresses from website visitors.

    Connect your email marketing solution of choice

    Update Static Footer Content

    You will need to go through and update the content of the footer, including adding your own text, link URLs, and social media networks. Don’t forget about the copyright text at the bottom of the footer as well.

    Update static modules within the footer

    New Freebies Every Week!

    We hope you’ve enjoyed the Toy Store Layout Pack and the Header & Footer freebie that goes along with it. We look forward to hearing your opinions in the comment section below. Make sure you check back next week for more freebies!

    The post Download a FREE Header & Footer for Divi’s Toy Store Layout Pack appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

  • WordPress vs Laravel (2023) — What You Need To Know

    Comparing WordPress vs. Laravel is complicated because both “platforms” have little in common besides using PHP. However, understanding the differences between both options is essential to determine how to build your next project.

    In this post, we will talk about who should use WordPress and Laravel. We’ll discuss customization options, ease of use, security, and more. Let’s get to it!

    WordPress vs. Laravel PHP Framework: Who Are They For?

    It’s important to understand that WordPress and Laravel are two very different types of software. However, they’re both “solutions” that you can use to build websites and online applications.

    WordPress

    WordPress is a Content Management System (CMS) that enables you to build sites using visual tools. You get access to a Block Editor that works similarly to page builder software and a dashboard with options to create and manage content, user accounts, and more:

    WordPress homepage

    On paper, WordPress is a blogging platform. However, the CMS is incredibly versatile, so much so that 43% of all existing websites use it. Therefore, it’s suitable for everything from eCommerce stores to personal blogs.

    If you use the open-source version of WordPress, you’re not even limited to a specific web host. You can set up the CMS on any server that you want.

    Laravel

    Laravel is not a CMS but a “framework” for the PHP programming language. That’s the same language that’s at the core of WordPress. However, Laravel doesn’t provide visual tools or dashboards to help you create a website:

    Laravel homepage

    With Laravel, you get a library of pre-programmed features to “put together” a website. That process takes place from a Command Line Interface (CLI) called Artisan.

    To use Laravel, you’ll need to know your way around PHP even though you interact with the framework using a scripting language. Although that process may sound complicated, using Laravel can be remarkably straightforward if you have a development background.

    Laravel is not a “platform” that you can pick up without programming knowledge. If you have zero background in web development, WordPress is definitely preferable.

    However, that’s not to say WordPress is a platform for beginners only. The CMS is incredibly customizable, and you can use it to develop websites with highly complex functionality.

    WordPress vs. Laravel PHP Framework: Ease of Use

    Although WordPress and Laravel offer such different experiences, we can compare how easy they are to use. Let’s start with WordPress.

    WordPress

    WordPress is straightforward to learn, even if you have no web development experience. It might take a while to go from zero to having a ready-to-go website. However, you have an amazing wealth of resources and tutorials for the CMS. Combine those resources with an intuitive dashboard, and WordPress is a beginner-friendly option:

    WordPress dashboard

    Once you have some experience under your belt using WordPress, you should be able to create new pages and entire websites relatively quickly. You’ll practice using the Block Editor, know which plugins to use in particular situations, and get an idea of which themes to use for different sites.

    Laravel

    If you don’t have a background in web development or experience using the command line, Laravel might be overwhelming. However, you don’t need to be a master programmer to use Laravel.

    Basic knowledge of PHP and CLI functionality should be more than enough to unlock the potential of Laravel:

    Installing Laravel using the command line

    Laravel offers extensive documentation to help you get started. For the best possible experience, we recommend checking out the Laracasts library. The library contains in-depth video tutorials for getting started with Laravel. You’ll also learn how to use some of the many “packages” or pre-built features the framework offers.

    If you want an “easy” setup, Laravel offers some “starter kits” that package several features, including scaffolding (the basic structure for any Laravel app that you create). You can use starter kits such as Laravel Jetstream for faster application deployment:

    Laravel Jetstream

    Arguably, the learning curve for Laravel is bigger than with WordPress. However, once again, we’re talking about two options for web projects with entirely different approaches. If you’re comfortable with the command line, you can set up a Laravel project on your server and start publishing pages in minutes.

    WordPress
    Ease-of-Use 🥇 Winner
    While WordPress does take a second to learn, it is straightforward to get used to and most users will be acclimated within just a few minutes. However, the advanced features will take much longer to master.    		 If you don’t have a background in web development, Laravel can be a lot to take in. However, they do offer video tutorials to help you get you started.
    Choose WordPress Choose Laravel

    WordPress vs. Laravel PHP Framework: Customization

    Both Laravel and WordPress offer a wealth of customization options for whatever project you’re working on. Here’s how both of them compare.

    WordPress

    Most people customize WordPress using plugins and themes. Plugins are add-ons that can add new functionality to the CMS. Fortunately, there are thousands of plugins available to use, and a lot of them are free:

    Installing plugins in WordPress

    Plugins not only add new features to WordPress but also enable you to change core aspects of how the CMS works. For instance, if you don’t like the default Block Editor, you can replace it with a page builders plugin, such as Divi or Beaver Builder.

    With WordPress, you can develop almost any kind of online project that you can imagine. If you have web development experience, you can also edit the WordPress code and create new plugins and themes. In short, every aspect of WordPress is up for customization.

    Laravel

    With Laravel, you start every project from scratch, choosing which dependencies and packages you want to use. That means any website built using Laravel only includes features that are manually added:

    Some of Laravel's packages

    The Laravel model means that every project has a unique set of features. With Laravel, you can add or remove any package since the framework uses a modular system.

    Although some packages can add a visual interface for your Laravel website, you should expect to make most edits via the command line. That means you’ll need to understand the Laravel syntax and be comfortable managing a web project via commands.

    WordPress
    Customization 🥇 Winner
    With all the thousands of plugins and opportunities for custom coding,
    WordPress is set up to be the master of customization.     		Laravel is designed to be a modular system, with frameworks being hand selected by the user. There is a lot of room for customization, it just takes a lot of know-how.
    Choose WordPress Choose Laravel

    WordPress vs. Laravel PHP Framework: Themes and Templates

    Many platforms provide themes and templates to customize your website’s style. Themes enable you to quickly try new designs and overhaul your website’s appearance without coding. Here are the differences in how WordPress and Laravel handle theming.

    WordPress

    As you may know, WordPress offers a massive collection of themes, both free and premium. You can look for and install themes without leaving the dashboard and change options almost instantly:

    The WordPress.org theme repository

    Plus, if you look beyond free options, many premium themes add new functionality to WordPress, such as page builder themes (like Divi). The biggest challenge with themes tends to be settling on an option because there are so many of them.

    You can fully customize any aspect of the themes that you use. Moreover, WordPress enables you to edit page templates using the Block Editor.

    Laravel

    Laravel uses the Blade templating engine by default. It enables you to produce layouts manually, which is more efficient than creating pages from scratch. However, you’ll still need to code every section and element of your Blade templates.

    Alternatively, you could use CCS pre-processors and frontend toolkits. One of the most popular options among Laravel users is Bootstrap:

    The Bootstrap homepage

    Toolkits such as Bootstrap do support and offer themes. However, these are not specific to Laravel itself but to the pre-processor you’re using.

    Although the lack of theming systems might be a con for some, the open-ended approach that Laravel offers is quite appealing. Since you’re working with a framework, you’re free to use any front-end toolkit. Therefore, you can choose from hundreds or thousands of templates if you take the time to set things up.

    If you look for Laravel templates, you will find some options for admin dashboards. Keep in mind that Laravel doesn’t come with an admin panel or dashboard. However, you can build one and use Laravel templates to customize its style:

    Examples of Laravel templates

    These templates will usually require dependencies and frontend toolkits to work. Additionally, you’ll still need to configure Laravel to work with the template and display data through it (some packages can do this).

    WordPress
    Themes and Templates 🥇 Winner

    WordPress offers a huge variety of premium and free themes.

    		 Laravel utilizes the Blade templating engine to produce manual layout, but you can also take advantage of Bootstrap to use hundreds of themes, as long as you take the time to set them up properly.
    Choose WordPress Choose Laravel

    WordPress vs. Laravel PHP Framework: Publishing Tools

    Although Laravel isn’t a “publishing” platform per se, it can fulfill that role with the right approach. Let’s talk about how WordPress and Laravel compare with publishing tools.

    WordPress

    Publishing posts and pages are at the core of the WordPress experience. The CMS focuses on providing tools to create pages and blog posts with ease. The Block Editor reflects that with its visual approach to page creation:

    The Block Editor

    WordPress also offers functionality for managing posts. You can edit, update, and delete posts at any time. Even if you have a massive library of content, WordPress makes it easy to manage it.

    Laravel

    Laravel doesn’t offer built-in publishing tools. However, you can easily change that using the right packages. Some Laravel packages focus on adding blogging and publishing functionality to the framework.

    One such example is Laravel Blog. This package adds a dashboard that looks like WordPress and a classic text editor to publish new posts and pages:

    The Laravel Blog dashboard

    The alternative is to code and publish pages manually. That’s a valid approach, but if you plan on running a blog that publishes content often, you’ll want to use packages to handle the workload more efficiently.

    WordPress
    Publishing Tools 🥇 Winner

    WordPress is a very user-friendly platform, making it easy for non-technical users to create and publish content without much technical expertise. It offers a built-in editor with a variety of formatting options and multimedia support.

    		 Laravel is more developer-oriented and requires technical expertise to use effectively. While it doesn’t offer a built-in content editor, it can be used to build custom publishing tools that are tailored to specific needs.
    Choose WordPress Choose Laravel

    WordPress vs. Laravel PHP Framework: Security

    Protecting your website from attacks and securing user data is key to any modern website. Here’s how Laravel and WordPress compare in terms of security.

    WordPress

    One of the main advantages of using WordPress is that the platform gets regular updates and security patches. If you keep WordPress itself, plus the themes and plugins you use, up to date, your website should be mostly secure. There are security plugins that can help you keep your website safe as well, We’ve listed the best ones here.

    Having said that, there are plenty of extra steps that you can take to protect your site even further. Some plugins can help you implement features such as Two Factor Authentication (2FA). Additionally, you can whitelist IP addresses, use web hosts that offer advanced security functionality, and more.

    Laravel

    Laravel offers many pre-programmed security features that you can implement for your projects. These features are not “enabled” by default, meaning you need to add them manually on a project-by-project basis. They include:

    • A user authentication system
    • Protection against XSS attacks and SQL injections
    • Email verification
    • Password hashing and reset functionality

    On top of its pre-programmed functionality, Laravel includes packages to enhance security. Arguably, Laravel is much more secure than most other PHP frameworks. However, there’s always more that you can do to protect your site, so it’s essential to be proactive about it.

    WordPress
    Security WordPress has several security plugins that can be installed to further enhance its security features. However, since it is a widely used platform, it is often targeted by hackers, making it more vulnerable to attacks. 🥇 Winner
    Laravel, on the other hand, is a PHP web application framework that is designed to be secure by default. It comes with built-in security features such as CSRF (Cross-Site Request Forgery) protection and secure session management.
    Choose WordPress Choose Laravel

    WordPress vs. Laravel PHP Framework: E-commerce

    Running an online store is one of the best ways to make money online. This section will help you decide which platform is more suitable.

    WordPress

    WordPress is a very user-friendly CMS for running an eCommerce store. Using the free WooCommerce plugin, you can create a storefront, upload products, process payments and shipping, and more:

    WooCommerce plugin

    Furthermore, you can use WooCommerce extensions to add extra functionality to your store, such as product filters and customer reviews. Since you control your shop visually, it’s very easy to organize and sell your products.

    Plus, you can choose from other free and paid eCommerce plugins, such as Easy Digital Downloads. Overall, WordPress eCommerce is very accessible.

    Laravel

    As we previously explained, Laravel works with packages. Some Laravel packages can add complex functionality to your projects, such as publishing tools and eCommerce systems.

    E-commerce packages like Aimeos and Lunar can help you set up complex online stores:

    Lunar

    These eCommerce packages give you arguably more freedom than WooCommerce since you can design more complex products, shopping carts, and customer parameters. You’ll also typically get access to an admin hub to manage all your sales. However, as with most Laravel features, you’ll need developer experience to get the most out of eCommerce packages.

    WordPress
    E-commerce The WooCommerce plugin let’s you create an online store with ease, plus it has extensions to add functionality and customize your store to your liking. 🥇 Winner
    Laravel provides a solid foundation for building e-commerce websites with a range of features such as authentication, routing, database management, and templating.
    Choose WordPress Choose Laravel

    WordPress vs Laravel: Picking The Best Option

    Laravel and WordPress offer very distinct approaches to creating a website. With WordPress, you get a CMS that packages visual tools to help you build and manage every aspect of your site. By contrast, Laravel is a PHP framework that requires you to put together projects from scratch using pre-built features and packages.

    WordPress
    Ease-of-Use 🥇 Winner
    While WordPress does take a second to learn, most users will be acclimated within just a few minutes.     		If you don’t have a background in web development, Laravel can be a lot to take in. However, they do offer video tutorials to help you get you started.
    Customization 🥇 Winner

    WordPress is set up to be the master of customization.

    		There is a lot of room for customization, it just takes a lot of know-how.
    Themes and Templates 🥇 Winner

    WordPress offers a huge variety of premium and free themes.

    		 With Laravel you can use hundreds of themes, as long as you take the time to set them up properly.
    Publishing Tools 🥇 Winner

    WordPress is a designed for bloggers.

    		 Laravel is more developer-oriented.
    Security WordPress is a widely used platform, so it’s often targeted by hackers, making it more vulnerable to attacks. 🥇 Winner
    Laravel comes with built-in security features that are unmatched.
    E-commerce The WooCommerce plugin let’s you create an online store with ease. 🥇 Winner
    Laravel provides a solid foundation for building e-commerce websites with the right extension packages.
    Choose WordPress Choose Laravel

    There isn’t a definitively better option for building a website. If you’re an experienced programmer, you’ll probably appreciate Laravel for what it offers – an incredibly scalable and customizable framework that can adapt to your needs. On the other hand, WordPress simply works right out of the box, which can simplify and speed up some projects.

    WordPress vs Anything Else

    One more thing. Before you make your final decision on your website platform…are you curious to see how WordPress stacks up against its other biggest competitors? We did the hard work and compared WordPress vs. everything else so that you don’t have to! We also reviewed WordPress vs. GitHub Pages, and I think you will be interested to see the results.

    If you’re looking for specific plugins to help WordPress become even more powerful, we recommend the following:

    Do you have any questions about using WordPress vs. Laravel? Let’s talk about them in the comments section below!

    The post WordPress vs Laravel (2023) — What You Need To Know appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

  • 9 Best WordPress Restaurant Plugins for 2023

    Getting your restaurant business online can help you boost sales, grow your brand recognition and gain loyal fans. When looking for the best WordPress restaurant plugins, you are in search of the right tools to help you get the job done. Whether you need online ordering, WooCommerce integration, menu editors, or social proof, our list of the best WordPress restaurant plugins will help you make the right decision for your food business. Set up your website for success by checking out these plugins before building your next restaurant website.

    Why You May Need a Restaurant Plugin

    Restaurant needs are a lot more robust than the average small business website. They take just a little bit more work but that work is well worth it. Being able to leverage technology that the average person in 2023 expects is a must if you want to stay relevant (and busy). Here are some things that your website may need to have to be at its best:

    • Online Reservations: Restaurants may want a way for customers to make reservations online, whether it’s through a third-party service or a restaurant reservation plugin on the website.
    • Mobile Ordering: With more and more customers using their smartphones to order food, restaurants should have a mobile ordering system that has a fully responsive design for mobile devices.
    • Displaying Menus: A restaurant should showcase its menu in an easy-to-read format that entices customers to come in and dine. This can be done through a custom plugin or simply by formatting the food items in a clear and concise manner. This is very important if you use QR codes in your physical location in lieu of printed menus.
    • Showcasing Locations: If a restaurant has multiple locations, it should make it easy for customers to find the nearest one. This can be done through a custom plugin that integrates with Google Maps or through a simple “Locations” page on the website.
    • High-Quality Images: Restaurants should use high-quality images of their food, locations, and staff to entice customers and give them a sense of what the dining experience will be like. The more mouth-watering the better! Just make sure those images are optimized for performance.
    • Customer Reviews: Displaying customer reviews on the website can really help restaurants build trust with potential customers and encourage them to pay you a visit.

    9 Best WordPress Restaurant Plugins

    As we explored above, WordPress restaurant plugins can have a multitude of functionalities. We’ve made sure to gather some of the best plugins on the market that cover many different use cases. Here are our top picks for restaurant plugins on WordPress:

    1. WooCommerce Restaurant Ordering

    WooCommerce Food Ordering plugin Homepage Feb 2023

    The WooCommerce Restaurant Ordering plugin by the excellent folks over at Barn2, is a fantastic solution for restaurants and food outlets looking to take their business operations online. It turns a typical WooCommerce store setup into a restaurant’s dream for online ordering.

    Key Features for WooCommerce Restaurant Ordering:

    • Fully integrates with WooCommerce and other WooCommerce plugins
    • Designed to be as familiar as the DoorDash and Uber Eats UIs
    • Layouts for lightbox or on-page ordering
    • Set open/close times so orders don’t come in when you are closed
    • Works with WooCommerce product variations and options (“options” require an additional plugin)
    • Pulls in and works with WooCommerce delivery settings (ex. “delivery” or “collect in person”)

    WooCommerce-Restaurant Ordering Plugin

    WooCommerce Restaurant Ordering makes displaying your menu items and checking out very easy. By default, the plugin’s UI is amazing and very intuitive. Extra functionality can be achieved with other Barn2 plugins such as WooCommerce Product Options and WooCommerce Fast Cart. In fact, all of these Barn2 plugins

    WooCommerce Restaurant Ordering is for you if you…

    • Need the ability to create online orders
    • Enjoy the flexibility of WooCommerce and other extensions

    Pricing: $129 a year

    Get WooCommerce Restaurant Ordering

    2. Food Menu

    Food Menu WordPress Restaurant Plugin

    Food Menu is an effective plugin for restaurants and food industry businesses that makes it easy to create online menu boards. You can add images, descriptions, and prices—everything you need to share your menu with the world. Most of the standout features come in the premium version but you can also try out their free to see if it is a good fit beforehand.

    Key Features of Food Menu:

    • Use WooCommerce product data for easy menu creation (Premium version)
    • Allows for clicking open expanded views of products in a lightbox
    • Drag and drop menu builder
    • Display ingredients and nutrition information
    • Multiple layouts powered by Ajax category filtering and pagination
    • Shortcode generator for embedding unlimited menus

    This is a very simple plugin that majors on the majors. It creates very attractive menus with the functionality that is absolutely required. The Ajax filtering makes menus created with Food Menu incredibly easy to use.

    Food Menu Example of Ajax Category Filter

    Food Menu is for you if you…

    • Want a simple way to present your restaurant menus
    • Need a menu that can work in conjunction with WooCommerce
    • Want an easy way to add, categorize, and display menu items

    Pricing: Free, Pro Version from $24 a year

    Get Food Menu

    3. WPCafe

    WPCafe – Restaurant Menu, Online Ordering for WooCommerce, Pickup/Delivery, and Table Reservation

    WPCafe is a complete restaurant solution that offers a full range of features to help manage virtually every aspect of a food business. With its combination of reservation management, menu creation, online ordering, and pickup/delivery capabilities, this plugin is a must-have for any restaurant or cafe that wants to fill up the order queue for their kitchen.

    Key Features for WPCafe

    • Comes with customizable menu styles and layouts
    • Customizable mini cart module when checking out and browsing
    • Advanced search and filter for menus
    • Customers can visually see open tables ready for reservation
    • Google Maps integration for store location and customer address auto-complete
    • Manage discounts, keep track of payments, and turn on tipping
    • Customizable reservation forms
    • Integrates with Gutenberg blocks to help build website content.

    The beauty of WPCafe is that it turns a great eCommerce solution (WooCommerce) into an industry-leading restaurant management system. Its ability to use Google Maps in the checkout process is very streamlined. We especially like that it simplifies WooCOmmerce’s standard checkout process with what they call “Mini Cart” checkout. It brings in a quick side pane, instead of loading a new page, when a customer is ready to checkout.

    WPCafe MiniCart for Restaurant Management System

    WPCafe is for you if you…

    • Need a total solution without a bunch of patchworked plugins
    • Want a reliable plugin that “gets” restaurants and their needs

    Pricing: Free version with Pro at $59 a year (Lifetime pricing available)

    Get WPCafe

    4. ProveSource

    ProveSource Homepage Feb 2023

    ProveSource is a social proof plugin for WordPress that pulls recent orders to display them as social proof to site visitors. This creates a positive signal for visitors that will help boost sales and increase your conversions. ProveSource is commonly used in traditional eCommerce stores but can be used to great effect for WooCommerce-powered restaurants.

    Key Features for ProveSource:

    • Showing recent orders and the current number of site visitors
    • Customize order popups with position, timing, colors, and images
    • Supports over 22 languages with Localization and translation
    • Use a nudge style that is friendly to your brand and store design instead of obtrusive popups
    • Integrations with popular payment gateways and email marketing platforms

    ProveSource is specially designed to show high-converting social proof on mobile devices. The truth is that most of your customers who are submitting mobile orders are doing so on their phones. This plugin and service help you make the most use of your mobile website and capture interest using data that your store already is generating. You can create multiple types of banners and display each based on specific rules. Additionally, you have a good amount of control over how they look.

    ProveSource Banner Creation and Deployment Rules

    ProveSourceis for you if you…

    • Use WooCommerce to power your mobile order system (deliveries or pick-up orders)
    • Have low website conversion rates and want to increase sales

    Pricing: Free plan, Paid plans starting at $24 a month

    Get ProveSource

    5. WooCommerce Location Picker

    Location Picker at Checkout Plugin for WooCommerce

    Location Picker for WooCommerce offers WooCommerce store owners a more precise location of customer locations. This is useful for delivery offered by local restaurants. With this plugin, customers can intuitively select their exact location using Google Maps during the checkout process, without the need for additional contact.

    Key Features for WooCommerce Location Picker:

    • Geolocation feature to accurately detect user’s location during the checkout
    • Autofill Address Details to save time and reduce input errors
    • Translation Ready for use in multiple languages
    • View on Map Button for Admin to visually track and confirm delivery locations

    Location Picker Drawn Boundaries Overlay Google Map

    Location Picker can be set up to automatically detect the customer’s location on the checkout page load while also allowing customers to make any necessary corrections. This feature helps to ensure that the delivery is accurate, providing a smoother and more efficient transaction for both the customer and store owner. Delivery boundaries may also be set up to ensure that you aren’t delivering orders to customers well outside your delivery range.

    WooCommerce Location Picker is for you if you…

    • Offer delivery services from your website
    • Have had bad experiences being able to find the exact locations of customers who may be in public places like libraries, workplaces, and parking lots

    Pricing: Free plan, Pro starting at $39.99 a year (Lifetime options available)

    Get WP Store Locator

    6. Five Star Restaurant Menu

    Five Star Restaurant Menu Plugin

    The Five Star Restaurant Menu plugin is a block editor-based WordPress plugin that allows restaurants to quickly and easily set up responsive restaurant menus. It provides everything you need to set up your restaurant menu and beautifully showcases it on your website. The “Ultimate” version also comes with its own ordering system and app.

    Key Features for Five Star Restaurant Menu:

    • Advanced menu Layouts and styling
    • Sorting and filtering options for your menu
    • Display dietary icons within your menu
    • Accept orders directly from your menu page
    • Display sale/promotional pricing

    Five Star Restaurant Menu Plugin Custom Fields Dashboard

    Five Star Restaurant Menu lets you create and use custom fields for your menu items so you can display detailed information. Use these custom fields for info like nutrition, ingredients, and guidelines, and use them to set up templates for your menu items.

    Five Star Restaurant Menu is for you if you…

    • Primarily want an easy and good-looking way of displaying menu items
    • Already use or are planning to use other Fiver Star products like Reservations and Reviews

    Pricing: Free version, $67 Lifetime for Premium, and $297 a year for Ultimate

    Get Five Star Restaurant Menu

    7. Divi Restro Menu

    Divi Resto Menu

    Divi Restro Menu has one purpose—to make creating attractive online menus on Divi as easy as possible. Users of Divi’s WordPress theme or plugin will have no trouble using this plugin as they better showcase their menus digitally.

    Key Features for Divi Resto Menu:

    • Has 2 customizable menu layouts
    • Creates a menu custom post type for easy menu item management
    • Ajax-powered pagination, categories, and filtering
    • Easily show ingredient list and item description
    • Display menu item images

    Divi Restro Menu expertly handles your menus and menu items. The frontend experience for site visitors is especially pleasing since they can adjust the view of the menu based on filter options. Simply click a menu category and all that is visible are the items in the category.

    Divi Restro Menu Filterable Categories

    Divi Resto Menu is for you if you…

    • Use Divi for your restaurant website
    • Want the easiest way to display menus and menu items

    Pricing: $39 a year

    Get Divi Resto Menu

    8. WooCommerce Food

    WooCommerce Food - Restaurant Menu & Food ordering

    Like WPCafe, mentioned above, WooCommerce Food is a highly recommended WordPress plugin that creates and manages an entire ordering system for your website. The plugin makes it easy for restaurants, cafes, and food service businesses to display menus but also accept online orders through its WooCommerce-powered backend.

    Key Features for WooCommerce Food:

    • 10+ food and menu display styles
    • Users can choose an order method: pickup, delivery, or dine-in
    • Set and limit delivery zone with Google maps
    • Supports multiple locations with differing menus
    • Set custom opening and closing times
    • Compatible with WPML

    WooCommerce Food - Restaurant Menu & Food Ordering - Order Calendar

    WooCommerce food gives you a preview of all your orders and their status, date, time, and order number from one convenient calendar. Filter through orders placed on your website by “day” or look at your past and future views using the “week” or “month” views.

    WooCommerce Food is for you if you…

    • Need a cheap online ordering system
    • Want a solution that is built on top of and extends WooCommerce

    Pricing: $49 Lifetime (6 months of support)

    Get WooCommerce Food

    9.  DoorDash for WP

    DoorDash WP Plugin Landing page Feb 2023

    DoorDash is a major provider that connects local restaurants with customers. It offers a reliable app that allows customers to find restaurants, place orders, and tracks the status of food delivery. Restaurant owners in the past had to signup as a vendor through their app in order to tap into the customer base that DoorDash has created. The DoorDash plugin for WordPress lets restaurants provide the option for delivery via DoorDash and then does all the heavy lifting of moving the order into DoorDash. Just a simple delivery fee is charged to the restaurant owner (no other fees for using DoorDash!).

    Key Features for DoorDash for WP:

    • Provide a convenient and reliable delivery experience to your customers
    • Eliminate in-house delivery costs and pay only per delivery
    • Get status updates and live tracking URLs for every delivery
    • Own the end-to-end customer shopping and checkout experience
    • Offer delivery from multiple store locations

    DoorDash Pickup Locations for Dashers

    DoorDash’s WordPress plugin can completely manage your delivery operation for your restaurant. Without needing to worry about a delivery workforce (and all the headaches that come with one) you can easily focus on making quality food and getting it out the door. It can even manage multiple locations so their Dashers (what they call delivery drivers) know where to pick up the order.

    DoorDash for WP is for you if you…

    • Are looking for a way to outsource delivery
    • Already use WooCommerce on WordPress

    Pricing: Free, Service fees apply per order

    Get DoorDash for WP

    Bonus: Restaurant Menu by MotoPress

    The WordPress Restaurant Menu by MotoPress is a free and easy-to-use food menu plugin. Create and manage all of your menu offerings on the backend and showcase menus anywhere on your WordPress theme. It includes built-in functionality for pizza ordering, fast food ordering, and more. Sell food and drinks with Paypal and cash on delivery methods for free. Additional add-ons are available at a reasonable price.

    Pricing: Free, Paid add-ons available

    Get Restaurant Menu by MotoPress

    Which is the Best WordPress Restaurant Plugin?

    Overall, when it comes to total online order management, both WPCafe and WooCommerce Restaurant Ordering are the clear winners. These plugins offer everything a restaurant needs to manage online orders, from taking reservations to managing menus and delivery options. Make sure to get them today so you can start building your online ordering platform.

    However, if you’re simply looking to create and display online food and drink menus, both Divi Restro Menu and Food Menu are excellent options, each with their own set of unique features and customization options. No matter which plugin you choose, incorporating one of these tools with your website is going to set you up for success.

    Plugin Price Free Option
    🥇 WooCommerce Restaurant Ordering $129/yr ❌ Visit
    🥈 Food Menu $24/yr ✔️ Visit
    🥉 WPCafe $59/yr ✔️ Visit
    4 ProveSource $288 ✔️ Visit
    5 WooCommerce Location Picker $39.99 ✔️ Visit
    6 Five Star Restaurant Menu $67 Lifetime ✔️ Visit
    7 Divi Restro Menu $39/yr ❌ Visit
    8 WooCommerce Food $49 Lifetime ❌ Visit
    9 DoorDash for WP Free ✔️ Visit
    10 Restaurant Menu (MotoPress) Free ✔️ Visit

    The plugin recommendations don’t stop there. All local businesses, including restaurants, need to be leveraging Schema Markup. Check out the best WordPress schema plugins we were able to find that can improve your local SEO.

    Featured Image via graficriver_icons_logo / shutterstock.com

    The post 9 Best WordPress Restaurant Plugins for 2023 appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

  • 9 Best WordPress Forum Plugins in 2023

    Forums are a great tool to foster discussion and connection on the internet. With some of the best WordPress Forum plugins out there, it is easier than ever to create your own online community.

    In this post, we’ll provide you with our list of the most helpful WordPress forum plugins to help you get a forum up and running on your site.

    Key Features of the Best Forum Plugins (What to Look For)

    For those looking to create an online community, WordPress is a great platform to build on. When looking for a forum plugin, it needs to be able to do the job well. Look for these features of the best forum plugins:

    • User Accounts and Dashboards: User registration and management should be simple and efficient so users can register an account with ease and you can track user activity, receive real-time updates, and engage with the community.
    • Customization of Styles and Layouts: Look for a forum plugin with a wide range of customization options to help you create a forum that matches your brand’s style and layout, from color schemes to custom fonts.
    • Advanced Moderation Tools: To keep forums clean and spam-free, look for plugins with a variety of moderation tools that allow administrators to manage the content of their forums, including features like moderation queues, flags, and automatic spam filters.
    • Simple to Use: You want a simple forum that does not inhibit a community from growing, with a user-friendly interface and clear navigation to help users find what they’re looking for and participate in the community with ease.
    • Option to Subscribe to Topics and Receive Notifications: Subscribing to topic notifications is an essential feature for keeping users engaged with the forum. Participation is key in keeping the forum interesting and worth visiting.
    • Compatibility: Make sure your forum plugin is compatible with essential plugins and themes you will use on your site.

    The Best WordPress Forum Plugins

    Most would agree that the two most popular WordPress forum plugins are bbPress and BuddyPress. Although these plugins are free and provide a core foundation for building forums, they are often used with other themes and plugins to get a more polished design and user experience. Some of the best membership plugins and LMS plugins have built-in forums using bbPress and BuddyPress integration. So, we’ve expanded our list to include other plugins and themes that can help you build online communities with the tools you need.

    Here they are:

    1. Answers by Creative Minds (CM Answers)

    CM Answer Q&A Plugin for WordPress

    Answers by Creative Minds (a.k.a. CM Answers)  is a Q&A-style WordPress forum plugin designed to help you build engaging communities around answering questions. Its forum-like layout and functions focus on questions versus topics—making it perfect for creating a Stack Exchange/Quora-style forum. The basic free version has enough features to start, but the pro version is what makes Answers a great choice for building forums.

    Key Features for CM Answers:

    • Forum topic views and answer counters
    • Forum-related email notifications for administrators and users
    • Sorting options in the question and answer pages
    • The forum template can be easily customized
    • Ability to monetize forums with PayPal/Stripe integrations

    CM Answers Monetization

    Not only is CM Answers a great tool for building a Q&A-style forum, but it also offers unique features that set it apart from other forum plugins. For instance, website owners can use it to replace the commenting system on regular blog posts (without the need for a comment plugin). And, the forums can be monetized which is an ideal choice for thought leaders and bloggers who want to create a paid community around their offerings.

    CM Answers is for you if you…

    • Need a total Q&A forum solution
    • Have been kicking around the idea of creating a paid community (similar to a paid Facebook Group or Discord server)

    CM Answers Pricing: $39 per year

    Get CM Answers

    2. ForumEngine

    ForumEngine WordPress Forum Theme

    ForumEngine is a WordPress theme that makes it easy to turn your site into a discussion forum. Yes, theme. We’ve included it for those who may want a complete forum solution (or website) without having to build and design one yourself. A theme may be of particular interest to those who want to run a community forum on a separate WordPress installation on a sub-domain or in a root folder (eg. community.example.com or example.com/community).

    Key Features of ForumEngine:

    • Frontend style customizer with other frontend controls
    • Adaptive design for mobile use
    • User badges and achievements
    • Live notification system
    • Translation support

    ForumEngine Frontend User Styling

    One of its standout features is its detailed styling function, which gives you complete control over the look and feel of your forum. That, and individual users can customize styling their way with a front-end styler.

    ForumEngine is for you if you…

    • Have the flexibility to use a theme versus a plugin for your forum solution
    • Want to pay a low Lifetime (LTD) price for the software
    • Like an active developer who listens to feedback and posts updates regularly

    ForumEngine Pricing: $49 per year

    Get ForumEngine

    3. bbPress

    bbPress WordPress Forum Plugin

    bbPress is an incredibly popular WordPress plugin that makes it easy to add a forum to your site. Developed by some of the same team behind WordPress.org (the open-source project)—bbPress has an air of familiarity that is classically WordPress. We like that it seamlessly integrates with membership plugins like MemberPress and Paid Memberships Pro so that you can easily add a forum to your membership site. It even integrates with Lifter LMS to create a community forum for your online course as well.

    Key Features for bbPress:

    • Ability to create multisite forums
    • Customizable forum templates
    • Forum spam protection through Akismet
    • Fast, light, and built to WordPress standards
    • Extend your forum with numerous free, third-party plugins
    • Allow users to subscribe to topics and specific forums

    bbPress showcase of Free plugin user groups

    The key feature and advantage of bbPress are that it is completely free and open-source. This means that you can go to the website and download the plugin without having to worry about any upsells or hidden costs. And since it is developed to the highest standards, free and open source feels pretty good.

    bbPress is for you if you…

    • Want a lightweight and reliable forum plugin
    • Want a free solution that works without a lot of design options
    • Use a membership or LMS plugin that already has built-in integration for it.

    bbPress Pricing: Free

    Get bbpress

    4. Asgaros Forum

    Asgaros Free WP Forum Plugin

    Asgaros Forum is a lightweight and straightforward WordPress plugin that makes it easy to add a forum to existing websites. It’s designed to provide all the basic features of a forum without getting bogged down in unnecessary features and bloat, making it an ideal choice for websites that need a small and simple forum.

    Key Features of Asgaros Forum:

    • Users create profiles that come with notifications and personal feeds
    • Users have access to media uploads within the forum
    • Forum statistics and analytics
    • Guests can guest-post within forums
    • Moderation system for approval processes and forum banning
    • Compatible with Multisite

    Asgaros Forum Moderation Reports

    One of the great features of Asgaros Forum is its moderation tools. Moderators have deep visibility about who is online (in real-time), which makes it easy to keep an eye on what’s happening in the forum. Additionally, the plugin offers a simple admin page with topic/user monitoring, usage reporting, and moderation tools.

    Asgaros Forum is for you if you…

    • Need a forum solution that can be added to an existing website
    • Want just enough features to open up a forum but not too many to manage

    Asgaros Forum Pricing: Free

    Get Asgaros Forum

    5. wpForo

    wpForo free WP Forum Plugin

    wpForo is a comprehensive and user-friendly forum plugin for WordPress. It allows site owners to easily create modern forums where their users can participate, ask questions, answer, up-vote, and subscribe to topics. This plugin brings everything you need to run an efficient and professional community, including a powerful and beautiful forum with unique features. The core features of the plugin are free, but if you need more, some affordable add-ons allow you to integrate WooCommerce memberships, GIPHY, private messaging, and many more.

    Key Features for wpForo:

    • Easy drag-and-drop forum management system for admins
    • Member ratings and badges
    • Built-in forum sitemap, forum SEO tools, and caching system
    • Six end-user forum styles, including dark mode
    • Four forum layouts and designs
    • Built-in topic and forum subscription

    wpForo Forum Quality Sytyles and Design

    One of the reasons why many users prefer wpForo over other forum plugins is its modern design. Other forum solutions can tend to look dated (plus forums are hard to style anyways). It includes four major layout styles for site admins to use and six styles (sometimes called skins) that individual users can use to customize their experience (including dark mode!).

    Engage your community even more with gamification and reward points to users for getting likes and up-votes using MyCred plugin integration.

    wpForo is for you if you…

    • want a modern-looking forum option out of the box
    • Enjoy the core features and don’t mind paying for the occasion extension/add-on

    wpForo Pricing: Free with Paid add-ons available

    Get wpForo

    6. WP Discussion Board

    Discussion Board Forum Plugin

    WP Discussion Board – WordPress Forum Plugin is a user-friendly and practical solution for those looking to add a forum to their WordPress site. With a simple setup and a form-driven front-end design, this plugin is accessible to users with no prior WordPress knowledge.

    Key Features of Discussion Board:

    • User management for forum administrators
    • Frontend user self-serve and management
    • Spam reduction tools
    • Shortcode library to show forum on other pages and posts
    • Designed to look beautiful and work with any theme

    Discussion Forum Minimalistic Design

    The Discussion Board offers a minimalist and modern forum that can be placed anywhere on your WordPress website. The user registration process is streamlined and effortless. Overall, Discussion Board is easy to look at which isn’t the case with every forum plugin out there.

    Discussion Board is for you if you…

    • Like the idea of using form submissions as part of the forum experience
    • Need dedicated moderation and spam protection tools built-in

    WP Discussion Board Pricing: Free; Paid plans start at $49 per year

    Get WP Discussion Board

    7. BuddyPress

    BuddyPress WordPress Community Plugin

    BuddyPress is a powerful plugin developed by the same team behind bbPress and WordPress. It goes in a slightly different direction than bbPress in that it can transform your website into a social media network. BuddyPress can work with any WordPress theme to help you create an online community complete with user profiles, messaging, and networking options. It’s ideal for business owners and bloggers who want to build a community around their content and product.

    Key Features for BuddyPress:

    • Users can control profile visibility
    • Admins can create custom profile fields
    • Friendships and friend connections
    • Public and private messaging
    • Customizable emails

    BuddyPress Personal Profile and Friend Requests

    Forums are often great for creating community. BuddyPress goes the extra mile and brings social networking functionality directly into a WordPress website. It offers an exciting alternative to traditional forums and comment plugins with less emphasis on “staying on topic” and more emphasis on community engagement.

    BuddyPress is for you if you…

    • Like the idea of building a social network for your users directly on your site
    • Want community engagement that goes beyond forums
    • Don’t mind the extra setup that is entailed in creating social features

    BuddyPress Pricing: Free

    Get BuddyPress

    8. Sabai Discuss

    Sabai Discuss WordPress Forum Plugin

    Sabai Discuss is a premium WordPress plugin that offers a unique take on forums. It combines the best of both worlds by offering both a discussion stream and a question-and-answer tool, making it ideal for those who want to create a community-driven Q&A website, a discussion forum, a knowledge base, or even a helpdesk portal.

    Key Features for Sabai Discuss:

    • Discussion Stream makes it easy to stay on top of new activities with a streamlined information feed
    • Voting engine for threads within the forum
    • Upvote or downvote questions
    • Moderation system with user reporting
    • Forum users can use the frontend markdown editor

    Sabai Discuss Attractive Forum Layouts

    One of the standout features of Sabai Discuss is its attractive and easy-to-read interface. It’s designed to look like a Q&A platform like Quora or Stack Overflow, and it does so in a way that’s both functional and visually appealing. This makes it a great choice for those who want a forum that feels modern and engaging.

    Sabai Discuss is for you if you…

    • Enjoy purchasing products from Envato Marketplace
    • Need a Q&A-based forum setup

    Sabai Discuss Pricing: $24 (LTD) with 6 months of support

    Get Sabai Discuss

    9. Simple:Press

    Simple:Press Ultimate Forum Plugin

    Simple:Press is a feature-packed WordPress forum plugin that offers a sleek and customizable interface. Its threads are clean and have simple colors that complement your website’s content. The free version is fairly basic, but you can enhance its functionalities by purchasing a premium plan. Ideal for businesses that are planning for very large and complicated communities.

    Key Features for Simple:Press:

    • Sub-forum support
    • Forum ranking and badges
    • User-defined signatures
    • Upload avatars or use Gravatar or WordPress avatar
    • Forum statistics for the admin
    • Member profile options for users
    • Monetization potential

    SimplePress Clean and Advanced Forums

    Simple:Press touts itself as an enterprise solution. If you are looking for a robust and complex community forum, Simple:Press aims to be the ideal plugin for your needs.

    Simple:Press is for you if you…

    • Have enterprise-level dreams for your community
    • Don’t mind paying a pretty penny for advanced features
    • Want a modern-looking forum

    Simple:Press Pricing: Free; Paid plans start at $199 per year

    Get Simple:Press

    What are the Best WordPress Forum Plugins?

    Our list of the best WordPress forum plugins provides you with a glance into what’s available to you as you build your online forum. Should you want to monetize your community, you can consider using bbPress with a membership plugin like MemberPress or Paid Memberships Pro. Or you can use CM Answers or Simple:Press .

    If you are after a forum theme, check out Forum Engine as it is a complete forum built into a theme instead of a plugin.

    Plugin Price Free Option
    🥇 CM Answers $39/yr ✔️ Visit
    🥈 ForumEngine $49/yr ❌ Visit
    🥉 bbPress Free ✔️ Visit
    4 Asgaros Forum Free ✔️ Visit
    5 wpForo Free (Paid Add-ons) ✔️ Visit
    6 Discussion Board $49/yr ❌ Visit
    7 BuddyPress Free ✔️ Visit
    8 Sabai Discuss $24 (6 months support) ❌ Visit
    9 Simple:Press $199/yr ✔️ Visit

    When choosing any plugin on WordPress, it is important to look at features and pricing carefully. This means paying very careful attention to what is (and isn’t) offered with each pricing tier. WordPress offers many great free and cheap options for forum plugins. Enjoy building your community.

    Featured Image via M. Ageng sumantri / shutterstock.com

    The post 9 Best WordPress Forum Plugins in 2023 appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

  • How to Add Multiple Pins to Your Divi Map

    The Divi Map Module makes it easy to embed a Google Map to your Divi website. This is a great way to share your business location on a contact page, in a footer, or on an about page.

    In this post, we’re going to demonstrate how to add multiple location pins to your Divi map. This is a great feature if your business has multiple locations or you’re putting together a local guide to show off your favorite coffee shops, etc.

    Let’s dive in!

    What You Need to Get Started

    To get started, you will need to do the following:

    1. Install Divi on your WordPress website.
    2. Add a Page, give it a title, and publish it.
    3. Enable the Visual Builder.
    4. Create your Google API Key.

    Select Build From Scratch

    Once you click the “Use Divi Builder” button the page will reload using Divi’s drag and drop builder interface. Three options will pop up – Build From Scratch, Choose A Premade Layout, and Clone Existing Page. For today’s purposes, select “Build From Scratch”. This will give us a blank slate where we can build our designs.

    How to Add Multiple Pins to Your Divi Map

    Let’s get into the tutorial! Here’s how to add multiple location pins to your Divi Map.

    Add Your Google API Key

    Before we’ll be able to fully use the map module and its functionalities, you’ll need to add your Google API Key to your Theme Options.

    1. From your WordPress dashboard, go to Divi > Theme Options and paste your Google API Key.
    2. Click “Save Changes”.

    Add a Section and Row and the Map Module

    Navigate back to the page you just created and add a section and a one-column row to your page. Then load the module library and click Map. Once added, the module window will pop up with all the settings and functionalities available within the map module.

    Add a New Pin

    To add a new location pin, click “Add A New Pin”. This will bring up the settings for that new pin. In the Text tab, type in the title and a description text you want to be displayed here. In the Map tab, paste the address for the pin in the Map Pin Address input field and then click find.

    Choosing a Map Center Address

    Choosing a map center address determines how your map is oriented. This is helpful when you want to show multiple pins at once. Below, we have the map center address as San Diego, CA 92104, USA so that it shows all of our pins within that area.

    Divi multiple Google map pins

    Final Thoughts

    And there you have it! You can add as many pins to your map as you’d like. Adding pins to the map module is simple and easy and results in an interactive Google Map that is easy to use for your website visitors.

    The post How to Add Multiple Pins to Your Divi Map appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

  • WordPress vs Squarespace (2023) — The Crucial Differences

    WordPress began as a blogging platform nearly two decades ago and since then has evolved into a full content management system that rivals (if not surpasses) any web platform available. One of its strongest competitors in that arena is Squarespace, a sleek and polished website builder that offers professional-level design and function for those who have no web design or coding knowledge. In this article, we take a look at WordPress vs Squarespace head-to-head so that you can decide which would be the better fit for your website.

    A Note on WordPress

    wordpress dot org

    For this comparison, we’re going to be considering the .org version of WordPress rather than the .com. We have a great, full-length article diving into the major differences between the two for you to check out if that’s something you’re considering. Despite the similarities between WordPress.com and Squarespace as hosted web platforms, we feel that .org is by far the stronger product and will be what most people are choosing between when looking at WordPress vs. Squarespace.

    WordPress vs Squarespace: Who Are They For?

    Before we dive into features and specifics, we want to discuss the differences in who the platforms are marketing their services toward. This alone can make a difference for users because of who new features and quality-of-life upgrades are made for.

    WordPress, as a platform, offers a bit of everything for everyone. The Gutenberg block editor is a passable page-builder and excellent composer, developers can dive headfirst into the WP codebase and create plugins and themes with added functionality, and the third-party ecosystem means users of any expertise level can find the perfect themes, plugins, and features for their site with the right amount of research. Users do, however, have to find hosting and domain registration on their own and handle most of the configuration.

    squarespace homepage

    Squarespace, however, is a Software-as-a-Service (or SaaS) platform that includes hosting, design, domains, and support for a monthly fee. They market to site owners who want to use a page builder to easily design a site that looks as though a professional designer made it. (You don’t need any coding or design experience.) The style of Squarespace reminds me of the Tilda website builder, which we also reviewed. Within minutes of signing up, you can click a few times and have a working website online. You just need to then go through and adjust settings to make sure T’s are crossed, and I’s are dotted.

    1. Pricing (Is Squarespace or WordPress More Affordable?)

    One of the first and most important elements of choosing a website platform is the cost. How much is this thing going to run you in the long term and the short, and what features, bells, and whistles are included in that price?

    The Real Price of WordPress

    WordPress is open-source, downloadable software that you can install, host, and manage yourself. So, in theory, it’s free. But that’s not quite the case. Other recurring costs are necessary to keep a WordPress website online, such as the web host (like SiteGround or Pressable), the annual cost of a domain name, and theme/plugin licenses and memberships. WordPress is marketed as free, but it actually has a number of underlying costs that can hit your wallet deeply.

    However, those costs are variable per site. Some theme and plugin licenses are for a single site for a single year. Others are memberships that offer lifetime plans for a one-time cost, like we do here at Elegant Themes. It’s piecemeal and variable. You might pay anywhere between $5 per month for hosting, $10 per year for a domain, and $29.99 once for a theme. Or you might spend $99 per month on managed hosting, $250 per year on security platforms, $79 per month for Shopify (or hundreds on WooCommerce extensions), and that same $10 per year for that same domain name.

    But it’s definitely not free.

    How much does Squarespace cost?

    Squarespace, on the other hand, is a premium SaaS platform that users go into knowing it isn’t free. Much like WordPress.com, Squarespace is a premium, hosted web platform that helps people get sites up and running without technical expertise or design experience.

    wordpress vs squarespace pricing

    Because it is a SaaS platform, Squarespace is not free. While there are minimal costs for WordPress in terms of hosting and domain names, it’s possible users can get hosting for under $5 per month. With Squarespace, users can expect to pay at least $12 each month, if billed annually, and $40 to unlock each and every feature. Website owners choose from various tiers and pay based on what features they want to be enabled for their websites.

    Admittedly, not every site needs every feature. It is a stark contrast to WordPress–which, as open-source software, created a massive third-party ecosystem–whereas all Squarespace users have access to everything from the very beginning in one dashboard. Squarespace, however, charges for the convenience of having things instantly at your fingertips with no added configuration.

    WordPress Wix
    Pricing 🥇 Winner

    While it is technically free, you’ll eventually need to pay for hosting or services. The amount depends on what you want to spend.

    		 It’s a premium SaaS platform, so you pay monthly or yearly for the convenience with no additional configuration options.
    Choose WordPress Choose Squarespace

    2. WordPress vs Squarespace Design and Features

    One of the biggest draws to both WordPress and Squarespace is that they both offer tools for anyone to make a beautiful website without coding or design knowledge. Page-builders and themes like Divi come with layouts made by design professionals that WordPress users can import, and Squarespace offers exactly that with their templates. The way the website platforms handle these features, however, makes a big difference in the user experience.

    WordPress Themes

    wordpress themes

    At the core of WordPress sit themes, plugins, and widgets. Each fills a specific role in the functionality of your site, and making the most of their individual strengths and quirks is what sets a WordPress site apart from a Squarespace one (or any other CMS, really).

    Themes are the base of WordPress, being the visual foundation for the site as well as the functional one. Our own Divi provides a blank canvas for designers, onto which they can create anything they want using the packed-in page builder. Other themes may not offer a built-in page builder but instead have pre-designed pages that perform specific functions for certain types of users and look a certain way.

    WordPress Widgets and Plugins

    Plugins are simple apps and scripts that add new features to a site regardless of theme. WooCommerce adds an eCommerce shop to any WordPress site, and Yoast SEO helps any site, regardless of the theme, be able to track its search engine optimization. If there’s a feature that you want in WordPress, there’s a 99.9% chance a plugin exists for it.

    plugins

    Widgets are also a big part of WordPress, letting you access and display the various features of your site. Maybe it would be recent posts in a sidebar or the SEO score in real-time as you write a post. Widgetized areas are customizable parts of the WP site, front-end and back, that you can set to do whatever you want. From code to drag-and-drop to set features, widgets can make up a good portion of a WP site’s real estate.

    These drag-and-drop plugins make your WordPress website editor similar to the basic web design tools that Squarespace uses:

    If you’re looking for more suggested plugins, check out one of our articles here.

    Squarespace Themes and Templates

    wordpress vs squarespace themes

    Squarespace themes are different than WordPress themes. Where WP themes come with features and functionality for the site, themes on Squarespace are purely aesthetic. But that’s not a bad thing. That’s great. That’s the point.

    The themes that you get with Squarespace are beautiful and made so that non-designers can find something that suits them and then get their content within that template without having to fuss with the specifics of design. That’s handled already. Squarespace offers significantly fewer theme templates vs WordPress. But the ones you can choose from have been curated and designed specifically for the platform and to work with specific kinds of sites (e-commerce, blogging, portfolio, etc.).

    In terms of plugin and widget corollaries, Squarespace differs quite a bit. You can’t fiddle with every gizmo like you can with WordPress, but Squarespace does that on purpose. They designed the platform so that you don’t have to. Instead of having to install and configure WooCommerce, there’s an e-commerce shop set up already in your Squarespace dashboard. You don’t have to find and configure analytics plugins or SEO because Squarespace has those integrated into the dashboard, too.

    The Squarespace Builder

    We do want to mention the Squarespace site builder is very similar to WordPress page builder plugins, and the default WP Gutenberg block editor. You can add sections and modules with ease, just by pressing a + button. However, the amount of customization that you get on the site at this point is severely limited. You can’t really adjust positioning or colors to fully custom levels. You may only have options such as Title and  Caption and Color Palette.

    This is intentional on Squarespace’s part, as they design the themes and templates, and modules for specific looks and features. This design is a major draw for many people to Squarespace, but we do want to point out that you are pretty much locked into these designs without true customization.

    WordPress Wix
    Design and Features 🥇 Winner

    The biggest draw to WordPress is the thousands of plugins, themes, and widgets you can use to customize your website.

    		 Squarespace gives users the chance to create aesthetically pleasing websites with ease, but doesn’t offer very many customization options.
    Choose WordPress Choose Squarespace

    3. Learning Curve and Ease of Use

    If the number of themes and plugins and amount of customization options in WordPress overwhelms you, you’re not alone. Loading into the admin dashboard for the first time can be a shock. Hopping into the Squarespace backend might also feel a bit overwhelming, with every tool for your site immediately available in the sidebar.

    Setting up any new website tools will come with a learning curve, but we want to take a close look at WordPress vs Squarespace to see how steep that curve goes and how quickly it evens out.

    WordPress Offers Full-Site Customization

    wordpress vs squarespace editing themes

    This is, in our eyes, the biggest draw for WordPress vs Squarespace: the ability to poke, prod, tweak, and turn each and every line of code to be exactly what you need it to be. If you’re a developer or designer, you can make WordPress do anything you want by digging into the codebase.

    However, those aren’t skills everyone has. If you don’t happen to fall into the category of folks who are comfortable tweaking PHP and JavaScript, WordPress can have a pretty steep learning curve.

    Admittedly, the theme/plugin/widget system helps ease the steepness of the curve, it still takes external research and effort to find the right suite of add-ons as a base for your site. If you come to WordPress as a fresh user with no prior knowledge of the ecosystem, it’s incredibly easy to get taken in by too-good-to-be-true claims from some third-party developers.

    If you do your due diligence, however, a WordPress site with a good theme and plugin combo will run smoothly and efficiently without trouble. You just have to put in the time to learn how to get to that point because to be quite honest, the UI and messaging to get started are nowhere near what they should be for new users.

    Squarespace Offers Curated Customizations

    squarespace design

    When it comes to starting out with Squarespace, the left side of the screen is a list of every part of your site, and the right side has a pop-up that directs you to begin customizing immediately. From site title and logo to fonts, colors, and media, the Squarespace introductory tutorial trumps WordPress in every way.

    squarespace design

    This kind of initial walkthrough significantly lowers the learning curve of the software because you don’t have to find anything on your own or worry about missing something fundamental. The platform takes you through it step by step.

    Because of that hand-holding and guidance, though, the breadth of customization options are rather limited. Depending on the chosen template (the Squarespace equivalent of a WordPress theme), you will have different on-page options to adjust and fill with your own content.

    squarespace page builder

    To edit individual pages on the site, Squarespace has a basic page builder. You won’t get the customization options from top-end WordPress page-builder plugins like Divi, but you will get to introduce or remove elements from the page, as well as adjust spacing and another basic formatting. In lots of ways, the Squarespace site builder is roughly equivalent to the Gutenberg block editor in capability and learning curve.

    Dashboard vs Dashboard

    Briefly, we also want to point out that the learning curve for the Squarespace dashboard is relatively flat. While it can be overwhelming to see everything all at once, the list of features doesn’t grow often, if at all. It’s fast, it’s intuitive, and it doesn’t take a BS in computer science to know what the options do. Users can edit and change everything they want on the same page quickly and without page loading. For users who want a no-nonsense, understandable, easy-to-use place for all their features, Squarespace is it.

    dashboard for squarespace vs wordpress

    In direct comparison, the WordPress admin dashboard leaves a lot to be desired. This isn’t to say that the dashboard isn’t effective or usable. It absolutely is. And you can dig in and customize it however you need. But as your site grows, so does the dashboard.

    wordpress dashboard example

    When you install new plugins, they add their features to the dashboard somehow. This means that everything is ready and waiting for you at all times. But it also means that you have to learn a new configuration that’s not always intuitive regularly, too.

    WordPress Wix
    Ease of Use WordPress can be daunting when your first getting started. It takes a bit of research and know-how to get comfortable with the platform. 🥇 Winner

    Squarespace offers a handy tutorial that can get you acclimated quickly. It’s simple, basic, and effective.

    Choose WordPress Choose Squarespace

    4. Content Ownership and Your Data

    Data is one of the hottest commodities in the world, so making sure that you’re in control of yours is paramount to running a successful site. With that in mind, you have to know how your data is going to be used and stored by the companies you trust with your website. Let’s compare WordPress vs Squarespace.

    Your Content and Data on WordPress

    WordPress installations are yours, always have been yours, and always will be yours. Content that you put on that website can be exported and used anywhere (within its licensing and copyright, that is) without the worry of interference.

    This goes for your domain name and web address, too. If you register it separately from your web host (which we recommend that you always do), no one can say that you can’t sell that URL or move it to a different host. It’s yours to do with what you want.

    Not all platforms are like that, and some will fight you tooth and nail to keep you on their platform through some pretty shady means (but not Squarespace, actually). With WordPress, that’s not even a concern, and we feel that is a very important point to make.

    You do need to make sure, however, that your host is trustworthy with your data, too, as they’re the ones ultimately in charge of what happens to it.

    Your Content and Data on Squarespace

    You can export your content from Squarespace and move it elsewhere if you want. You do own the content and images (again, as per licensing). Squarespace has a series of import/export tools for content and details that you include on your site, and their Terms of Service (as far as we’ve been able to read) don’t include any hidden clauses that anything you put on their platform belongs to them.

    You can even transfer a domain name registered through them to any other registrar. This is important because the URL you choose is one of the most important parts of owning a website. The main issue we’ve found with their domain service is that even if you use their “free” domain registration, it renews at $20 to $70 from then on out, depending on your TLD (.com, .org, .tv, etc.). For a typical .com, that’s a lot. There is certainly an upcharge here. But again, that’s part of a SaaS platform that handles these things on your behalf.

    In general, the main part of your Squarespace account that you don’t own and have control over is the design and templates that you use. Those belong to Squarespace, so if you move to another platform, then you must do a redesign using a different theme. This is normal. The same thing happens if you were to move to Squarespace from WP. You couldn’t use your Elegant Themes membership to bring Divi along with you, for instance.

    WordPress Wix
    Content & Data Ownership 🏳 Draw

    WordPress has and will always let you keep your data and content and has tools to be exported should you leave the platform.

    		 🏳 Draw

    Squarespace let’s you keep all of your data and content, but keeps access to it’s templates, which is a standard practice.
    Choose WordPress Choose Squarespace

    5. E-commerce

    For many sites, the make-it-or-break-it feature is being able to run a fast, reliable, and efficient storefront through the website. Both WordPress and Squarespace are great options for this. But they do have their own idiosyncrasies when it comes to how that is handled and what features are available.

    WooCommerce on WordPress

    You have a number of options for e-commerce on WordPress, but by and large, you will probably be using WooCommerce. It’s the biggest player on the field. And for good reason. Like WordPress itself, WooCommerce is free software that you can download, install, and configure relatively quickly.

    Upon installation, WooCommerce walks you through the process of setting up your store. You just follow along, making sure all the details are right before you even get taken to the shop and products.

    In terms of aesthetics, the shops and products that you can make with WooCommerce look great, and you can download plugins that adjust pretty much every aspect of the shop. Even Divi has a series of modules dedicated to tweaking your WooCommerce store’s design until it’s perfect.

    Like the rest of WordPress, though, WooCommerce has a series of hidden fees in terms of most non-base extensions and features having an extra cost. We also have to mention that the learning curve for the UI is pretty steep.

    woocommerce learning curve

    Even so, the power and extensibility you get with WooCommerce are worth the effort and the potential additional costs of extensions and add-ons. But at its base, the only fees and costs are from the payment processors. In reality, though, you will have a range of small costs as you figure out what features you need.

    Squarespace Commerce

    The Squarespace e-commerce solution is in the dashboard under the heading Commerce. Clicking it the first time will bring up a wizard not unlike the one that WooCommerce uses, taking you through the process of setting up physical goods, payments, digital options, and other details.

    You will choose a store template for your site. However, the options are rather limited. In most cases, your store will be a grid of product images, and you will be able to customize elements such as text alignment, aspect ratio, width, and spacing. This is similar to the default WooCommerce shop, with which you don’t get customization, either. However, you have options to extend that in Woo but not on Squarespace.

    wordpress vs squarespace ecommerce

    Squarespace e-Commerce pricing

    The learning curve for Squarespace commerce is relatively low, as the entire process of setting up and even adding more products is quick and painless. The user experience of selling on the Squarespace e-commerce platform is much nicer than WooCommerce. But that comes at the trade-off of pretty limited options for displaying your products.

    You won’t, however, run into extra costs if you use Squarespace for an e-commerce platform. Everything that you need to run the store itself is packaged in with your monthly cost. However, the lowest tier of Squarespace’s features doesn’t include e-commerce. For that, you will need to pay $18 per month. Which isn’t out of line at all when compared with competitors like Shopify.

    WordPress Wix
    e-Commerce 🥇 Winner

    WooCommerce is a great free tool that has become a standard for the WordPress community. There is a ton of customizability options that are available to help you create your ideal store. But, it can be a bit challenging to learn and the add-ons do come with a small fee.

    		The learning curve for e-commerce with Squarespace is low and simple to get started with. However, there isn’t a lot of customization options and running a store will cost an increased monthly fee.
    Choose WordPress Choose Squarespace

    WordPress vs Squarespace

    When considering a WordPress vs Squarespace site, it comes down to what you are in the market for in terms of your website, what your budget is, and what your experience level with websites might be.

    Head to head, Squarespace offers a far more refined experience with a lot of the hassles of owning and managing a website taken care of for you. Squarespace has a lower learning curve, a slicker interface, and a solid support team for its all-in-one SaaS platform. From e-commerce to portfolios to blogging and more, Squarespace integrates it somehow into its platform. For someone who wants a professional website with as little friction as possible, Squarespace is the way to go.

    WordPress, though, offers complete autonomy and customization but has a mildly confusing interface and a moderate learning curve. Every feature a site owner could need, however, is readily available. You just have to find the theme or plugin that provides it. In some ways, WordPress can feel like the Wild West. But in reality, the piecemeal way themes, plugins, features, and such are handled makes it so that every type of site owner is catered to somehow. If you want to work on your website until it is pixel-perfect in every regard, WordPress is the way to go. From SEO tools to Social Media plugins, WordPress has something for you.

    Final Comparison

    In the end, WordPress vs Squarespace boils down to whether you want a beautiful, walled garden with less customization or a garden plot that will be just as beautiful by getting a little dirt on your hands. We don’t think one platform is necessarily better than the other. They’re just better for different kinds of site owners.

    WordPress Wix
    Pricing 🥇 Winner

    While it is technically free, you’ll eventually need to pay for hosting or services. The amount depends on what you want to spend.

    		 It’s a premium SaaS platform, so you pay monthly or yearly for the convenience with no additional configuration options.
    Design and Features 🥇 Winner

    The biggest draw to WordPress is the thousands of plugins, themes, and widgets you can use to customize your website.

    		 Squarespace gives users the chance to create aesthetically pleasing websites with ease, but doesn’t offer very many customization options.
    Ease of Use WordPress can be daunting when your first getting started. It takes a bit of research and know-how to get comfortable with the platform. 🥇 Winner

    Squarespace offers a handy tutorial that can get you acclimated quickly. It’s simple, basic, and effective.

    Content & Data Ownership 🏳 Draw

    WordPress has and will always let you keep your data and content and has tools to be exported should you leave the platform.

    		 🏳 Draw

    Squarespace let’s you keep all of your data and content, but keeps access to it’s templates, which is a standard practice.
    e-Commerce 🥇 Winner

    WooCommerce is a great free tool that has become a standard for the WordPress community. There is a ton of customizability options that are available to help you create your ideal store. But, it can be a bit challenging to learn and the add-ons do come with a small fee.

    		The learning curve for e-commerce with Squarespace is low and simple to get started with. However, there isn’t a lot of customization options and running a store will cost an increased monthly fee.
    Choose WordPress Choose Squarespace

    WordPress vs Everything

    One more thing. Before you make your final decision on your website platform…are you curious to see how WordPress stacks up against its other biggest competitors? We did the hard work and compared WordPress vs. everything else so that you don’t have to! Most recently, we reviewed WordPress vs. Weebly, and I think you will be interested to see the results.

    If you’re looking for specific plugins to help WordPress become even more powerful, we recommend the following:

    Having said that, Squarespace still provides a great set-and-forget website-building tool.

    We hope you’ve enjoyed this WordPress vs Squarespace comparison! What is your position on WordPress vs Squarespace? Why do you feel that way?

    The post WordPress vs Squarespace (2023) — The Crucial Differences appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

  • Get a Free Health Center Layout Pack for Divi

    Hey Divi Nation! Thanks for joining us for the next installment of our weekly Divi Design Initiative; where each week, we give away a brand new Layout Pack for Divi.

    This time around, the design team has created a beautiful Health Center Layout Pack that’ll help you get your next Health Center website up and running in no time!

    This layout pack includes:

    – 7 Premade page layouts strategically designed for any Health Center website (including a footer design)
    – Original, royalty-free photos and graphics + customizable source file (see below)
    – Plus, a large collection of pre-designed website elements that are customizable and reusable anywhere.

    This layout pack is available right inside Divi for all Divi customers for FREE as the latest addition to our growing Divi library of hundreds of premade layout packs, thousands of page designs, and countless web design elements and resources.

    divi layout

    Check Out The Divi Health Center Layout Pack Below

    Get it for free today!

    Health Center layout pack

    Landing Page Design

    Health Center Pack for Divi

    View The Live Layout Demo

    Home Page Design

    Health Center Layout Pack for Divi

    View The Live Layout Demo

    Service Page Design

    Health Center Layout Pack for Divi

    View The Live Layout Demo

    Services Page Design

    Health Center Layout Pack for Divi

    View The Live Layout Demo

    About Page Design

    Health Center Layout Pack for Divi

    View The Live Layout Demo

    Blog Page Design

    Health Center Layout Pack for Divi

    View The Live Layout Demo

    Contact Page Design

    Health Center Layout Pack for Divi

    View The Live Layout Demo

    Key Features

    If you require a health center website for yourself or a client, then take a look at the Health Center Layout Pack for Divi. Using high contrast, pattern overlays, and a combination of striking imagery, this design offers an attractive design to showcase your health center business. Subtle line art compliments other design elements to bring a unique flare to the design.

    Live Demos

    Click the links below to see a live demo for each of the layouts included in the pack.

    1. Health Center Landing Page (live demo)
    2. Health Center Homepage (live demo)
    3. Health Center Service Page (live demo)
    4. Health Center Services Page (live demo)
    5. Health Center About Page (live demo)
    6. Health Center Blog Page (live demo)
    7. Health Center Contact Page (live demo)

    Access This Layout Right Now
    Directly from Your Divi Builder

    Since Version 3.0.99 of Divi, you can find and import any of the layouts included in this pack (along with ALL of Divi’s Premade Layout packs) directly from the Divi Builder. They are already waiting for you.

    To access your new layout, simply activate the Visual Builder when editing a page and look for the “Load From Library” icon in the page settings bar (it looks like a plus symbol). Click this icon to launch the Load From Library popup. Under the Premade Layouts tab, you can easily find the new layout by scrolling through the list of layout packs. Once you find the Health Center Layout Pack, click on it. You will see all the individual layouts included in the pack. Select the layout you want to use and then click the “Use This Layout” button.

    Health Center Layout Pack for Divi

    For more, check out this video to learn how you can get this layout pack up and running today.

    Subscribe To Our Youtube Channel

    Authentication Required

    Before you can download Premade Layouts from the Divi Library you must authenticate your Elegant Themes Subscription. You can do this by navigating to Divi > Theme Options > Updates. There you can enter your username and API key and save changes.

    Health Center Layout Pack for Divi

    You can find your API Key under your members area on the Elegant Themes site. After you enter the Username and API Key, you will gain immediate access to our library of hundreds of free layouts (including this one). If you haven’t done this, when you click to import a layout to your page, you will be prompted to enter your Elegant Themes Membership Username and API Key.

    Use Layout Images for FREE with No Licensing Restrictions

    Divi Health Center Layout Pack for Divi

    The image assets included with these layouts (icons, illustrations, photos, etc.) have no licensing restrictions. This means you can use them in all of your commercial projects without having to worry about paying licensing fees or attributing the photographer. Use them in your commercial websites, sell them within your Divi child themes, include them in your own Divi layout packs or just use them on your blog. We know how challenging it can be to find good photos and how confusing and scary the licensing that governs those photos can be. We want to fix that problem for our users.

    Download the Full Res Image Assets

    New Layout Pack Every Week!

    We hope you enjoy this layout pack. We look forward to hearing your opinions in the comment section below. Make sure you check out next week’s layout pack as well!

    The post Get a Free Health Center Layout Pack for Divi appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

  • WooCommerce vs Shopify (2023) — Which One Is Best?

    WooCommerce vs. Shopify is a tough match-up. Shopify claims that over 1,700,00 businesses use its platform. WooCommerce, on the other hand, has more than five million active installations. That means we’re talking about two eCommerce giants, each taking an entirely different approach to helping you build an online store.

    In this article, we will compare WooCommerce vs. Shopify regarding setup, payment processing, customizability, and price. Along the way, we’ll tell you which eCommerce platform excels in each area to help you decide which option best fits you.

    Let’s get to it!

    WooCommerce vs. Shopify: Hosted vs. Self-Hosted eCommerce

    Although both Shopify and WooCommerce can help you create an online store, they offer very different user experiences. The primary difference between the two options is that one is self-hosted, and the other is hosted.

    Here’s what that means:

    1. WooCommerce. WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin. You can install the Content Management System (CMS) on any server of your choice, are entirely free to edit the WooCommerce and WordPress code, and can use both tools for just about any type of project you want.
    2. Shopify. Shopify is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform. It provides you with hosting, eCommerce software, maintenance, and support. That means less control over your store, but an easier setup process.

    WooCommerce itself is free. However, you still have to pay a monthly or yearly fee for hosting the WordPress website that’s using WooCommerce (unless you run your own server). In return, the combination of WooCommerce and WordPress gives you complete freedom when it comes to your eCommerce projects:

    WooCommerce

    Shopify as a platform is all about providing businesses with easy-to-use tools for launching an online store. As a hosted platform, it combines all of the features you’ll need in one package:

    Shopify

    Due to its nature, Shopify is a less flexible platform than WooCommerce. However, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, as we’ll explore throughout the rest of this article.

    Setting Up a Store in WooCommerce vs. Shopify

    If this is your first time setting up an online store, you’ll want to know how difficult (or simple) each platform makes that process. Let’s start with WooCommerce.

    WooCommerce

    As we mentioned earlier, WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin. This means that before you get to work on your store, you have to go through a series of steps, including:

    1. Finding a web host
    2. Signing up for a hosting plan
    3. Installing WordPress
    4. Finding and installing the perfect WooCommerce theme
    5. Setting up WooCommerce

    This process doesn’t take much time if you’re already familiar with WordPress and you have a web host in mind. However, if this is your first time looking for a web host, you’ll need to budget plenty of time for research.

    Installing WordPress is a painless experience, and in many cases, your web host will do it for you. In addition, some WordPress hosting services offer “eCommerce” or WooCommerce plans, which is a fancy way of saying that they’ll pre-install WooCommerce and some other useful tools for you.

    Once you get to work with WooCommerce, the plugin will launch a wizard that will help you configure your store and set up some basic pages for it:

    Setting up a store using WooCommerce

    After your store is ready to go, you can start adding products. The plugin adds a Products tab to your site’s dashboard and lets you use the WordPress editor to set up new products for your store:

    Adding products to WooCommerce

    Adding new products to WooCommerce is simple, but it’s not as “visual” a process as with other eCommerce platforms.

    Shopify

    With WooCommerce, you have to go through several steps to get your store up and running. When you’re using Shopify, the process boils down to two parts:

    1. Signing up for a Shopify account
    2. Configuring your store

    When you log in for the first time, Shopify will ask you a few basic questions about what kind of project you’re working on:

    Launching a new Shopify store

    Shopify will also ask you for some personal information, which it needs to process your store’s payouts. As soon as you get to the dashboard, you’ll be able to start adding products. Overall, the Shopify product editor offers a more streamlined experience than WooCommerce does:

    Adding a product in Shopify

    Both Shopify and WooCommerce enable you to add a lot of details for each product in your store. You can specify prices, set up Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) numbers, track stock, configure shipping, and more.

    One standout feature that Shopify offers is built-in basic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) options for products:

    Working on a product's SEO in Shopify

    To get that same functionality in WooCommerce, you have to use an SEO plugin. With the right tool, you’ll get access to a lot more features than what Shopify offers out of the box.

    WordPress
    Setting up a Store 🥇
    Winner
    Shopify excels in this category because its simple regardless of your technical experience.     		WooCommerce is easy to setup as well, but it’s especially easy if you have experience with WordPress.
    Choose Shopify Choose WooCommerce

    Verdict: If you’re familiar with WordPress, setting up WooCommerce and adding products will be a walk in the park. On the other hand, if you’re new to eCommerce, Shopify offers a much more streamlined setup experience.

    Configuring Payment Options in WooCommerce vs. Shopify

    An online store can only be successful if you offer payment options that your customers want to use. You’ll want to have access to as many options as possible, so you can pick the best ones for your store.

    WooCommerce

    With WooCommerce, you get access to several payment processors out of the box. The plugin lets you choose from several options during the setup wizard, including Stripe and PayPal. However, you can always enable additional methods through the WordPress dashboard:

    Setting up WooCommerce payment methods

    If you want to set up additional payment methods, you can always browse the WooCommerce “extensions” store. Extensions are simply plugins that add new functionality to WooCommerce, such as support for additional payment processors:

    WooCommerce payment extensions

    These add-ons enable you to integrate almost any payment processor you want into your store. The downside is that a lot of WooCommerce extensions are pay-to-play, and they can get fairly expensive.

    Shopify

    Shopify also supports a broad range of payment processors. The platform promotes PayPal as its main option, but it also gives you access to several third-party providers and what it calls “alternative payment methods”.

    Configuring Shopify to work with third-party providers is simple. The platform will offer you a list of options, and it explicitly tells you which are not available in your country:

    Configuring Shopify payments

    When you add a new payment option, Shopify will inform you if you need to create an account and how to connect it with your store. It also tells you how much that specific payment processor charges in fees, which is very useful.

    As we mentioned briefly, Shopify also supports some alternative payment options. Among those, you’ll find payment processors that enable customers to pay using cryptocurrency and local payment options in their regions:

    Configuring alternative payment methods in Shopify

    It’s also worth noting that all of these options are built into Shopify. Unlike with WooCommerce, you don’t need to pay for extensions that add specific payment processing options to your store. Shopify does offer extensions (free and paid), which it calls “apps”, but not for this functionality.

    WordPress
    Configuring Payment Options 🥇 Winner
    Shopify offers you most of the options you’ll need directly out the gate, but doesn’t offer the more specific extensions.     		WooCommerce comes with a few standard payment options but, has the bonus have having an extensive plugin library.
    Choose Shopify Choose WooCommerce

    Verdict: If you’re looking for very specific payment processing options, WooCommerce extensions can be your best bet. However, Shopify gets a thumbs-up for incorporating so many options without requiring additional tools. Out of the box, however, both eCommerce solutions give you access to the basic payment processors that most stores use (such as Stripe and PayPal).

    Customizing Your Store with WooCommerce vs. Shopify

    If you want to make your store your own, you’ll need the ability to add new features and change its style. In that area, both WooCommerce and Shopify offer some impressive options.

    WooCommerce

    Customizability is where WooCommerce shines. Since you’re using WordPress, you can customize your website and store it in almost any way you can imagine. WordPress offers thousands of themes and plugins (both premium and free) that enable you to add new and exciting functionality to your projects.

    For example, you can look for WordPress themes that integrate with WooCommerce out of the box. Some themes, such as Divi, enable you to use advanced visual builders to customize your store and product pages:

    Customizing your store using Divi

    With WooCommerce, you have a level of freedom to customize your store that hosted platforms such as Shopify simply can’t match. You can even alter your site’s foundational code (or hire a developer to do so for you).

    The trade-off for that freedom is that you’re always learning something new about how to use WordPress and WooCommerce. If that sounds like a good deal to you, then WooCommerce’s customizability is its primary selling point.

    Shopify

    Shopify offers a broad range of customization options for its users. You get access to an app library that gives you plenty of options for adding new functionality to your store:

    Adding apps to Shopify

    Just as with WordPress, some of Shopify’s apps are free, and some are premium. However, the selection of apps is magnitudes smaller than what you’ll get with WordPress and WooCommerce. Also, where premium WordPress plugins usually charge you for a yearly license, most paid Shopify apps work on a monthly subscription model.

    As far as themes go, Shopify offers a modest selection of free options:

    Free Shopify themes

    When it comes to premium themes, the selection is much broader. However, Shopify themes tend to be much more expensive than their WordPress and WooCommerce counterparts, with most starting at around $180.

    WordPress
    Customizing Your Store Compared to WooCommerce, Shopify provides a limited set of customization choices that come at a higher price point. 🥇 Winner
    WooCommerce’s unparalleled customization capabilities make it a particularly compelling in this category.
    Choose Shopify Choose WooCommerce

    Verdict: The level of freedom that WordPress and WooCommerce offer is unmatched. Shopify is a customizable platform, but due to its hosted nature, it can’t compete with WooCommerce. Moreover, WooCommerce and WordPress are so popular that there are almost no features you can’t add to your store using plugins.

    How Much Does WooCommerce vs. Shopify Cost?

    Ultimately, the biggest deciding factor between WooCommerce vs. Shopify will likely be your budget. With that in mind, here is the basic pricing you’ll be looking at:

    WordPress
    eCommerce Software Included with each plan 🥇 Winner
    Free
    Plans $29, $79, and $299 per month plans Free
    Setup fees Included with each plan None and some web hosts set up WooCommerce for you
    Hosting Included with each plan Hosting plans start at around $5 per month
    Domain name Not included – .com domains start at around $15 per year Included with some web hosting plans
    Store and website maintenance Included Depends on your hosting provider and plan
    Plugins and apps On average, monthly app subscriptions start at around $5-20 On average, premium plugins start at around $10-20 for yearly licenses
    Themes Official premium themes start at $180 On average, premium themes start at around $29
    Choose Shopify Choose WooCommerce

    On paper, WooCommerce is the cheapest option out of the two. You can set up WordPress and WooCommerce for less than $20, including hosting and a domain. With Shopify, you need to spend at least $29 for its basic plan and then pay extra to register a domain.

    If you want to use Shopify apps, those costs can add up quickly too. Monthly subscriptions will end up costing far more than yearly fees for premium WooCommerce extensions. However, it’s worth noting that you don’t need to use premium themes, extensions, or apps for either platform – it’s all up to you.

    WooCommerce Deep Dive

    If you’re interested in learning more about what WooCommerce has to offer, you can check out some of our articles like WooCommerce vs. Magento or our article on the real cost of using WooCommerce.

    Whether you’re a seasoned WooCommerce user or just starting, these articles will provide you with valuable insights and best practices to take your store to the next level.

    WooCommerce Vs. Shopify: The Final Comparison

    Choosing between WooCommerce and Shopify can be a challenge. WooCommerce is by far the more flexible option, but it also takes longer to fully master than Shopify does. If you’re entirely new to eCommerce and you want an experience that’s as easy as possible, Shopify is a safe bet.

    WordPress
    Setting up a Store 🥇 Winner
    Shopify excels in this category because its simple regardless of your technical experience.     		WooCommerce is easy to setup as well, but it’s especially easy if you have experience with WordPress.
    Configuring Payment Options 🥇 Winner
    Shopify offers you most of the options you’ll need directly out the gate, but doesn’t offer the more specific extensions.     		WooCommerce comes with a few standard payment options but, has the bonus have having an extensive plugin library.
    Customizing Your Store Compared to WooCommerce, Shopify provides a limited set of customization choices that come at a higher price point. 🥇 Winner
    WooCommerce’s unparalleled customization capabilities make it a particularly compelling in this category.
    Price Shopify necessitates a minimum of $29 for its basic plan, and you must pay an additional fee to obtain a domain. Moreover, expenses for Shopify apps can accumulate rapidly. 🥇 Winner
    For under $20, you can establish a WordPress and WooCommerce site, which includes hosting and a domain.
    Choose Shopify Choose WooCommerce

    On the other hand, if you’re comfortable tinkering with your store, WordPress and WooCommerce offer a wealth of customization options that are unmatched. More importantly, it can be much cheaper to set up a WooCommerce store, which makes it a great entry-level option.

    Do you have any other questions about WooCommerce vs. Shopify? Let’s talk about them in the comments section below!

    Featured Image via olesia_g / shutterstock.com

    The post WooCommerce vs Shopify (2023) — Which One Is Best? appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.