Building a website can be a daunting task, especially when you don’t have a clear vision and objectives. To avoid this, planning should be a priority before you initiate the website-building process. A good website planning checklist can ensure the project goes smoothly. However, some people may struggle to formulate an effective website structure plan […]
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Starting a WordPress blog means getting a theme, but sometimes, it can be challenging to find the perfect one that performs well, caters to your website needs, and is ready to go in a few minutes.
That’s why we’re excited to introduce our in-house Hostinger Blog Theme. Available with Business Web Hosting and Cloud Hosting plans, this blog-focused theme is integrated with our website setup wizard for a quick and easy launch.
In a standard site development workflow, you must complete the WordPress installation process before finding and installing a suitable WordPress theme.
There are a couple of problems with this. First, thousands of WordPress themes are available. Finding one that’s fast, mobile-friendly, and fits your niche can be challenging and time-consuming.
Second, most themes come empty, meaning you must tediously craft the site content and create basic pages from scratch.
As a result, it will take quite some time until you have your blog ready – not to mention the amount of effort you must put in just to get started.
Check out our guide on how to start a blog and begin your online journey.
This is where Hostinger Blog Theme comes in – we offer our in-house theme as an option when setting up your WordPress website on hPanel. When the setup is finished, you will have all the essential pages like Home, About, Contact, and Blog already made for you.
The theme is also optimized for use with our AI content generation tool. It can craft the website copy and up to six blog posts to ensure you have great content to start with. Plus, the AI tool integrates with Unsplash, so your blog posts will have relevant featured images.
What’s more, this theme is optimized for search engines to ensure maximum visibility and traffic growth for your blog. Its lightweight features guarantee the best loading time and performance, while its responsiveness will keep your website looking great on any device.
Hostinger Blog Theme is available with our Business Web Hosting and all Cloud Hosting plans, and can only be installed during the website setup process.
When setting up your hosting plan or creating a new website via hPanel, pick Blog as your website type. Then, opt for the Create a new website option and select WordPress as your platform of choice.
Here, you will find extensive WordPress themes to choose from, including Hostinger Blog Theme.
You’ll have the option to select from five distinct styles, each of which will impact the color scheme for the site elements, background, and buttons. You can also see the site preview to check if everything is to your liking, from the header to the footer.
Next up, the setup wizard will take you to the AI content generator. There are two main fields to fill – the brand name and description. The AI will use this information to generate your website content, such as banner copy, the About page text, and blog posts.
For example, you can define your website as a blog for photography tutorials. Based on this information, our AI tool will produce blog posts like “10 Essential Tips for Landscape Photography†or “A Photography Guide for Capturing the Perfect Shot.â€
The AI will then get stock images from Unsplash. It will find relevant pictures based on your prompt, then import the visuals for your blog’s featured images. This significantly streamlines your work, especially if you rely on stock images for your website, since you won’t have to find and import them later.
Once the setup is complete, you will have a fully-functioning, responsive, and engaging website to jumpstart your blog – complete with essential pages, custom AI content, and an appealing homepage with a banner section.
With our brand new WordPress Blog Theme, creating a professional and modern-looking site has never been easier. Get a Business Web Hosting or Cloud Hosting plan now to try it out yourself and leave your readers impressed.
Make sure to stay tuned for future product updates, as we plan to introduce more features to make website creation with WordPress even more seamless.
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A website builder and web hosting are commonly used when creating a site. While both are important, only one is essential, while the other is an optional site creation method. A website builder is an all-in-one platform that lets users create and publish web pages without coding. Meanwhile, web hosting is a service that stores […]
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The internet abounds with WordPress tutorial resources, most in English. Aware that many prefer to learn in their own language, Alexis Fichou provides a solution to the problem: he creates WordPress courses for francophone students.
Alexis founded WP Origami, his WordPress training platform, to help people succeed with the content management system (CMS). It’s now one of the biggest resources to learn WordPress in French.
As Alexis wants to make WordPress website creation more accessible, he needs a host that’s optimized, reliable, and user-centric. Hostinger’s web hosting plans provide Alexis with tools devised specifically for WordPress and everything he and his pupils need to achieve their online – and offline – goals.
Teaching WordPress wasn’t Alexis’ original idea for success. After graduating from audiovisual school, Alexis struggled with settling on a career. He went from pillar to post, trying various ventures, but nothing clicked.
Alexis knew that he wanted to do his own thing and be independent. This mindset led to him giving online entrepreneurship a try.
His first idea was a travel blog. He started tinkering with WordPress but gave up shortly because it was too complicated.
“I tried building my first WordPress website back in 2012. There were no builders like Elementor available – WordPress was really different and difficult to learn,†Alexis shares.
He pivoted to dropshipping, trying out different website-building tools for his online store. Once he was acquainted with a fair number of them, he decided to return to WordPress.
“It’s the flexibility,” explains Alexis. “There are a lot of different CMSs, and each is good for certain types of projects. Many things are easier on other platforms, but you can do anything with WordPress.”
At that time, Alexis still needed to sharpen his WordPress knowledge to make the most of the CMS. Practice is the best teacher, so Alexis applied everything he learned in a blog. He started one about coffee – something he’s extremely passionate about – and named it Nomad Barista. It’s still active today, with 10,000 monthly visitors.
In fact, it’s the biggest French-language blog about coffee.
In 2019, Alexis began posting videos about website building on YouTube. Why? Simple – he had noticed a lack of French videos about this topic.
“I realized what I’d learned had value,” Alexis smiles in remembrance.
Alexis’ initially covered website building in general – the very first video was about SEO. He explored other topics like eCommerce, but over time distilled his focus on what he knows best – WordPress.
This proved the right decision – his WordPress tutorials soon became his most viewed. Alexis doubled down and recorded several 3-hour-plus videos on the CMS, solidifying his authority and attracting a viewer base.
With YouTube videos performing well, Alexis realized he could make a living selling his knowledge. To consolidate his brand, he built a website – a platform for extensive online courses.
The first learner signed up in early 2020 for 100 EUR – an event that Alexis describes as a miracle from those early days. Since then, WP Origami has taught over 1200 students.
“A 5-hour YouTube video is very different from a training course – these always go much further. And then there are topics I cover in online courses that I don’t on YouTube.â€
WP Origami focuses on creating learning content for the long term, so when there are any minor WordPress updates, learners can easily adapt as they already have sufficient foundational knowledge.
“The training course material can become obsolete. When it does, I need to change it. I have to do the second version, third,” Alexis explains. “But people are resourceful, and they understand that content creators need time to keep up with what’s going on.â€
Alexis tried multiple web hosts for WP Origami before switching to Hostinger. What was originally supposed to be a trial run turned into a long-term partnership.
“I like how Hostinger lets users start small and evolve from there. It’s great that you don’t need a large initial investment and can just upgrade when a higher-tier service is required,” he says.
“I also really like the interface of Hostinger’s control panel. It’s beautiful and pretty tidy. Nice user experience means a lot to me,†Alexis shares his thoughts on hPanel.
“Compared to alternatives, Hostinger has a lot of features, like CDN, LiteSpeed Cache, and WordPress Staging Tool. This is helpful and essential from the host side – I’ve got everything I need.”
A reliable hosting provider, Alexis says, helps him feel more confident about his work and closer to his goal – making WordPress accessible to French-speaking people through his courses.
“It’s been great ever since I switched to Hostinger. I’ve become more proud to say what I have to say. I’m really pleased, I feel like I provide better help for my students.â€
Alexis now recommends Hostinger to his students. He says it’s the best way to start building websites with WordPress – Hostinger makes the process easy and, if needed, reliable help is always available.
WP Origami is no longer a solo endeavor – it’s got multiple contributors. Amid the bustle, Alexis hatches ideas for the future.
“I think I will continue to create WordPress courses for a while longer. And then we’ll see how it all evolves. I want to create something that doesn’t have to depend on me,” he says. “I’m pretty much the main presenter for WP Origami at the moment.â€
Alexis sees future WP Origami as a proper tech company – not just creating WordPress courses but also offering an extensive range of other services.
“I want to evolve my project. From a simple creator and trainer to an enterprise. There are a lot of ideas – learning services, theme extensions, and so on,†Alexis smiles.
So as WP Origami cultivates a new generation of francophone WordPress aficionados, it’s gearing up for expansion. Accommodating a community and its needs – both growing rapidly – is next on Alexis’ agenda.
The post WP Origami: Sharing Knowledge Through Bespoke Content appeared first on Hostinger Blog.
The boom of artificial intelligence is apparent in almost every sector, including the eCommerce industry. In 2022, 35% of companies used artificial intelligence to support their business, a 4% increase from 2021. While larger companies are more likely to deploy AI technologies in their organizational workflow, smaller companies don’t shy away from them either. With […]
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Cloud hosting offers scalability, flexibility, and enhanced site performance, making it an ideal choice for business websites of all sizes. But which provider is the best for your site? In this article, we will explore the top 8 cloud hosting platforms of 2023. Whether you’re a startup or an established enterprise, this list will help […]
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AI tools empower freelancers and agencies alike to optimize strategies, streamline workflows, and deliver exceptional client experiences. In this tutorial, we will delve into the world of natural language processing and look at the impact AI algorithms can have on web agency operations. Join us as we uncover the best AI prompts for web agencies […]
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Hostinger has relocated to a cutting-edge office space within the dynamic Cyber City development. “Space Expedition,†the opening ceremony of the 63 million EUR office complex, was held on Friday, June 2nd.Â
Around 2,000 members of the tech community attended the grand event. It also attracted starship crews, space ravers, and other cosmic creatures. Four legendary Lithuanian music artists headlined the celestial stage. Their performances and the spectacle of tens of dancers made the party a hard one to forget.
Cyber City’s developers set their sights on transforming the Naujamiestis eldership in Vilnius into the Lithuanian equivalent of Silicon Valley. Maintaining a relationship with the neighborhood’s industrial past is important – the complex was built in the historic spot of the legendary Sparta textile factory.
Cyber City comprises three sprawling 35,000 sq m office buildings, housing nearly 3,000 employees. It brings together Hostinger and other Tesonet companies like Nord Security, Surfshark, Oxylabs, CyberCare, and Atlas VPN. This consolidation marks a significant step forward in bringing the companies together and fostering a vibrant tech community.
Beyond office space, Cyber City comes with a range of amenities for its citizens’ work-life balance: co-working spaces, shops, cafes, a bar, a gym, and a courtyard with an amphitheater open to the public, all in the name of creativity, relaxation, and networking.
Hostinger’s move to Cyber City represents an exciting new chapter. The workspace, accommodating around 100 people, was designed to foster collaboration, elevate productivity, and enhance the overall Hostinger employee experience.Â
One of our Core Principles is Freedom and Responsibility, so Hostinger employees continue to work remotely or maintain a hybrid work model. At the same time, offices remain the best venue for brainstorming, meetings, and joint activities.
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Whether you’re searching for basic or advanced AI plugins for WordPress, the leading content management system (CMS) offers a big selection. Together with the top WordPress hosting service, AI makes building and managing your website more efficient and faster. More specifically, AI-powered WordPress plugins can help you with tasks like content creation, image generation, search […]
The post 7 Reliable AI Plugins for WordPress in 2023 to Help Build and Manage Your Website appeared first on Hostinger Tutorials.
WordPress marked a huge milestone in May – its 20th anniversary! WordPress communities around the world were arranging Meetups events for the celebration.
But that didn’t make everyone in the WordPress ecosystem sit back and relax. In fact, we had two maintenance and security releases plus the WordPress 6.3 planning roundup. In addition, many popular plugins received important updates to fix vulnerability issues.
WordPress communities all around the world were celebrating 20 years of WordPress. From in-person parties to interactive workshops, every community had its own way of commemorating the milestone.
Hostinger gave tribute to this milestone too. We did a Podcast with Tammie Lister, a prolific core contributor, to talk about Gutenberg’s evolution and how experimentation and feedback power WordPress development.
Watch the full podcast on our YouTube channel or read the summary blog post.
Another tribute we gave is the special edition Customer Spotlight blog post. We interviewed four our clients and discovered how they use WordPress to achieve online success:
Interestingly, the month WordPress celebrates its anniversary turned out to be one of the busiest months for the core project. We had two new releases in just a span of four days.
WordPress 6.2.1 and 6.2.2 was released on May 16, 2023, and May 20, 2023, respectively. So, what happened?
WordPress 6.2.1 fixed 20 core and 10 editor bugs. But most importantly, it addressed five security issues, including Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) and Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities, KSES sanitization bypass, and path traversal vulnerability.
However, there was still one security issue left due to the shortcode parsing in user-generated data in block themes. This means attackers could use user-generated content, like blog post comments, to execute shortcodes, resulting in exploitation risks.
The problem was that WordPress 6.2.1 fixed the issue simply by removing shortcode support from block templates. Unfortunately, this quick fix broke hundreds of websites that rely on block themes and shortcodes.
This is why WordPress 6.2.2 was released a few days after, with the sole purpose of resolving the shortcode vulnerability. In addition to restoring the shortcode support, this release also prevents the shortcode parsing that led to the vulnerability in the first place.
All of those WordPress core maintenance updates and release planning didn’t interrupt the Gutenberg release cycle, with two new versions launched this month. If you’re a block theme user, we recommend installing this plugin to have extensive features for the block editor.
Here are some of the highlighted features from the two Gutenberg versions released this month – 15.7 and 15.8:
Pages Menu on the Navigation Sidebar
Suppose you’re customizing your site with the site editor and need to edit a page. Instead of returning to the dashboard and opening the Pages panel, you can do it immediately from the site editor, thanks to the Pages menu on the left sidebar. It will display the 10 most recently updated pages to choose from.
Global Styles Revision UI.
Tracking revisions is one of the trickiest things to do in WordPress, but that’s improved with the revision UI for global styles. You can now revert to the past styles using the revision UI.
The revision tool is accessible through the ellipsis icon on the global styles panel. It will show you how many revisions are available, the time stamps, and the users who made the changes. To revert, select any of the versions and click Apply.
New Controls on the Block Settings Panel
Two blocks got new tools on their respective block settings panel to streamline the editing experience.
First, the site logo block now has the tool to add, replace, or reset the image. Although this functionality is the same as the block placeholder and the tool on the block toolbar, it still helps people who prefer to work on the block via the settings panel.
Second, the duotone control is now available on the block settings panel, specifically in the styles tab. Similar to the site logo block’s case, the functionality of this feature is the same as the duotone control on the toolbar. That said, having it on the block settings panel eliminates the need to go back and forth between those two areas to make the customization.
The next WordPress major release will be version 6.3, and the core team has finished the planning and schedule with the following dates:
Testing the beta or release candidate versions can give you a sneak peek of the new features and test how your website will work with the upcoming release. Or, if you’re interested in contributing, report all bugs you’ve discovered in the WordPress forum.
Plugin developers were busy in May, as plenty of vulnerabilities were discovered. We ran through the Patchstack database and highlighted some popular plugins exposed to security risks.
But don’t worry. The developers have fixed the issues with the updates. All you have to do is check whether you run the latest version of the plugin and update it if necessary.
Learn 22 methods to secure your WordPress website to prevent vulnerability exploitations.
CVSS Score: 9.8 (Critical Vulnerability)
In late April 2023, a privilege escalation vulnerability in the Easy Digital Downloads plugin was discovered that allows users – regardless of their roles – to run any function with the edd_ prefix.
Crucially, this prefix is used in the password reset function. Any malicious user can reset any user’s password, including the administrator, as long as they know the username and, thus, take over the website.
Given that Easy Digital Downloads is one of the most popular eCommerce plugins for selling digital goods, such vulnerabilities can cause a lot of damage.
Luckily, the patch to fix this issue – version 3.1.1.4.2, was released earlier this month. If you are still using the older version, we strongly advise updating it as soon as possible.
CVSS Score: 9.8 (Critical Vulnerability)
A similar privilege escalation vulnerability was also found in the Essential Addons for Elementor plugin. Due to the password reset function directly changing the user’s password instead of validating the reset key, it’s possible to reset any user’s password, given the attacker knows the username.
Like the Easy Digital Downloads vulnerability, an attacker can reset an administrator’s password and take over the website. The worse part is that over 1 million websites have this plugin installed on, and the Patchstack database shows that attackers have exploited this vulnerability.
The vulnerability affects versions 5.4.0 to 5.7.1. The patch for this issue is released in version 5.7.2, so if you use this plugin, be sure to have this version or higher installed.
CVSS Score: 8.5 (High Severity)
The popular WordPress LMS plugin – LearnDash, was exposed to SQL injection vulnerability. This type of security issue allows malicious users to access the database and sensitive information, including customer data.
Thus, such vulnerability can be extremely harmful to businesses, especially since LearnDash is most likely used by online course websites.
This issue affected LearnDash version 4.5.3 or lower. If you use LearnDash on your site, update to version 4.5.3.1 or higher to eliminate the risk.
CVSS Score: 7.1 (High Severity)
Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) free and premium versions were exposed to cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability. If you’re unfamiliar, XSS allows attackers to inject malicious code or script. It can result in a wide array of consequences.
The Patchstack report shows this vulnerability could lead to sensitive data theft and user privilege escalation. Although ACF is one of the most popular custom field plugins with over two million installations, Patchstack claims there are no exploitations detected.
The vulnerability affected version 6.1.5 or lower, and free and premium users are recommended to update to version 6.1.6.
The Jetpack plugin’s team uncovered an API vulnerability during one of the internal security audits. The issue allows authors on the site to tweak any WordPress installation files – a privilege usually only available to administrators.
The API itself is available on Jetpack version 2.0 to 12.1. As a result, the Jetpack team release a patch for every version to fix this vulnerability, with the latest version being version 12.1.1.
Jetpack will force update the plugins on most websites with the vulnerable version. That said, we recommend you check your website if you use Jetpack and update it immediately if necessary.
As we’ve mentioned, the beta testing phase for the next WordPress major release will start in June, and it’s always exciting to see the new features coming to the WordPress core.
However, there’s one more event that will delight the WordPress community even more.WordCamp Europe 2023 will take place on June 8-10, 2023, in Athens, Greece! We proudly support this event as a Super Admin sponsor and are excited to see you there. If you haven’t got your ticket already, it’s still available on the official WordCamp Europe website.
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