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Category: wpbeginner.com

  • How to Sell Excel or Google Spreadsheets in WordPress

    Do you want to sell your Microsoft Excel or Google spreadsheets online?

    By selling your spreadsheets as downloadable files, you can easily make money without having to pay for shipping or printing. Through WordPress, you can quickly and securely deliver your products to your customers.

    In this article, we will show you how to easily sell your Excel or Google spreadsheets online using WordPress.

    How to Sell Excel or Google Spreadsheets in WordPress

    Which Platform Should You Use to Sell Excel or Google Spreadsheets

    First, you’ll need to choose an eCommerce platform that you’ll use to sell your Excel or Google spreadsheets.

    Because these spreadsheets are digital files that users can download to their computers after making a purchase, you should pick an eCommerce platform specifically designed for selling digital downloads.

    Such a platform would have the proper features, licensing, and subscriptions built in which will make it easier for you to set up your store.

    That’s why we recommend using WordPress and Easy Digital Downloads for selling your Excel and Google spreadsheets.

    We recommend using EDD and WordPress

    WordPress is the best website builder on the market that is used by over 43% of all the websites on the internet. It is an ideal choice as WordPress gives you full control over your website and allows you to create a user-friendly eCommerce store.

    Easy Digital Downloads is the best WordPress plugin to sell digital products. We use EDD ourselves to sell many of our premium WordPress plugins.

    With WordPress and Easy Digital Downloads, you can sell as many Microsoft Excel or Google spreadsheets as you want without having to pay high transaction fees.

    With that being said, let’s dig in to see how easy it is to create a WordPress site with Easy Digital Downloads, so you can start selling your spreadsheets online.

    Step 1. Setting Up Your WordPress Site

    Before you start building your site, it’s important to know that there are two types of WordPress software: WordPress.com and WordPress.org.

    We will be using WordPress.org as it gives you complete control over your website.

    First of all, you’ll need a domain name and WordPress hosting to start selling your spreadsheets.

    For detailed information on both, you can check out our guides on how to choose the best domain name and how to pick the best WordPress host.

    We recommend using SiteGround for your website. It is a popular hosting provider that offers managed WordPress hosting for Easy Digital Downloads. It comes with a free SSL certificate, pre-installed and optimized EDD, and a huge 73% off.

    Basically, you can create a website for less than $5 per month.

    → Click here to Claim this Exclusive SiteGround offer ←

    For more details on how to set up your WordPress site, you can check out our guide on how to make a WordPress website.

    If you don’t want to use SiteGround for. some reason, then we recommend checking out Bluehost, Hostinger, and WPEngine to see if they meet your needs.

    Step 2. Setting Up Easy Digital Downloads

    The free version of Easy Digital Downloads allows you to create an amazing online store. However, if you want to use add-ons such as Content Restriction, Recommended Products, or Recurring Payments, you will need the Pro version.

    For this tutorial, we will use the free version. To begin, just you just need to install and activate the plugin. If you need any help, you can check out our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

    Once it is installed and activated, go to Downloads » Settings page in your WordPress admin area. First, you need to set your store’s location so the plugin can calculate sales tax and auto-fill some fields.

    To do this, scroll until you see the ‘Store Location’ section. In the ‘Bunsiness Country’ dropdown menu, choose the location where your business is based.

    Select a business country

    After that, you need to fill in the ‘Business Region’ field.

    Here you can open the dropdown and choose the state or region your store operates from.

    Choose a Business region

    Once you’ve entered the information, click on the ‘Save Changes’ button.

    Step 3. Setting Up Your Payment Gateway

    When selling Excel or Google spreadsheets online, you’ll need a way to accept credit payments from your customers.

    Easy Digital Downloads supports popular payment gateways including Stripe, PayPal, and Amazon Payments. If you want to add more payment gateways, then you may want to take a look at Easy Digital Downloads extensions.

    To choose your payment gateway, simply click on the ‘Payments’ tab. Then make sure the ‘General’ tab is selected.

    Set up your payment gateways

    In the ‘Payment Gateways’ section, check the box for all the payment gateways that you want to add to your online store.

    If you select more than one payment method, then you’ll also need to choose a default gateway.

    You can choose any one you want, but we recommend selecting Stripe as your default gateway because Stripe accepts credit cards as well as Google Pay and Apple pay.

    Choose a default payment method

    After selecting a default gateway, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on ‘Save Changes.’

    Once the page reloads, you will now see some new tabs where you can configure each of your separate payment gateways.

    Payment getaways

    The process of configuring the payment gateway will be slightly different depending which you use. We will be using Stripe as an example.

    To start, simply click on the ‘Stripe’ tab. Then, click on the ‘Connect With Stripe’ button.

    Click on Connect With Stripe button

    This launches a setup wizard which will walk you through a step-by-step process of configuring Stripe as your payment gateway. If you use multiple gateways, you’ll just need to repeat these steps for each one.

    Also, by default, Easy Digital Downloads shows all your prices in U.S dollars. If you want to show your prices in any other currency, simply click on the ‘Currency’ tab and choose the one you want to use from the dropdown.

    EDD Currency settings

    Just be aware that some payment gateways may not accept every currency. If you’re unsure, then it is always a good idea to check your chosen payment gateway’s website.

    Once you’re done with the currency settings, simply click on the ‘Save Changes’ button at the bottom of the page.

    Step 4. Turn Your Spreadsheets Into a Downloadable Product

    Now that your WordPress site is set up with Easy Digital Downloads, you’re ready to start selling spreadsheets online.

    How to Sell a Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet

    To upload your first Excel spreadsheet for sale, simply go to Downloads » Add New in your admin panel.

    Go to Downloads and click on Add New

    Once you’re in the content editor, add a name for your Excel spreadsheet in the ‘Enter Download Name Here’ field.

    This name will be shown on the product’s page, so be sure to use one that describes exactly what your spreadsheet does.

    Write a name and description for your EDD product

    Next, type in the description that will appear on the product’s page.

    Many online stores use product categories and tags, too. These can help shoppers find the products they’re looking for.

    You can create tags and categories for your spreadsheets using the ‘Add New Download Tag’ and ‘Add New Download Category’ options.

    Add Tags and Categories for your EDD products

    After that, scroll to the ‘Download Prices’ section.

    Then simply enter the price they’ll pay to download the spreadsheet.

    Simply add download price

    Next, you have to attach a ‘Download Image’ to the spreadsheet. This will appear as a featured image on the product page. You can easily create a product image using free design tools such as Canva.

    Scroll down to the ‘Download Image’ section in the sidebar and just click on ‘Download Image.’ Then, simply upload any image you want.

    Add a downloaded image

    After that, you can upload your spreadsheet. Simply scroll down to the ‘Download files’ section and add a suitable name in the ‘File Name’ field.

    Then click on the link button in the ‘File URL’ field.

    Attach an excel File

    This will launch the WordPress media library.

    From here, you can simply upload the Excel spreadsheet from the computer.

    Uploading the Excel file

    Once you’ve uploaded the Excel spreadsheet, simply click on the ‘Publish’ button. Now your product is on sale on your site.

    Setting Up Google Sheets For Sale By Placing Link in File URL

    Selling Google Sheets on WordPress is a slightly different process. Since Google Sheets only run in a web browser, you cannot sell a downloadable Google Sheets file. All you get is a link.

    To sell Google Sheets, you need to create a ‘copy link’ for the spreadsheet that you plan on selling. This copy link allows you to share a copy of your spreadsheet with the customers upon purchase.

    To create this link, simply go to the Google spreadsheet that you plan on selling and click the ‘Share’ button.

    Click on the Share button in Google Sheets

    Once you’ve clicked on the ‘Share’ button, a popup will appear.

    Now simply click on ‘Anyone with the link’ option in the ‘General Access’ section.

    Click on Anyone with the link option

    Next, select the ‘Editor’ option from the dropdown menu on the right in the ‘General Access’ section.

    After that, simply click on the ‘Copy Link’ button.

    Click on Editor and copy link

    After you’ve copied the link, go to the ‘Download Files’ section in Easy Digital Downloads.

    Then just paste the link in the ‘File URL’ field.

    Copy and paste Google Sheets link

    After pasting the link, remove the edit?usp=sharing section from your link.

    You will need to add copy in its place.

    Add Copy to the link

    Now that you’ve added your Google Sheet’s copy URL, simply click on the ‘Publish’ button.

    That’s it! Your spreadsheet will immediately be for sale to customers.

    Setting Up Google Sheets For Sale Using Certificate of Download

    Another easy way to sell Google Sheets is by creating a certificate of download.

    All you have to do is create a Word document and paste the Google Sheet ‘copy link’ into the document.

    Certificate of download

    After pasting the link, remove the edit?usp=sharing section from your link and simply add copy it in its place. Be sure to enable the URL as a hyperlink so that it is clickable.

    Now, as you can see in the image above, the copy link looks a bit ugly. To make your certificate of download look more professional, you can use a link-cloaker like Pretty Links.

    With this plugin, you can make your links look professional and can also track the number of clicks the links in your certificates get.

    Use Pretty Links

    Next, simply save the document. We recommend saving it as a PDF.

    After that, just head back to the ‘Download Files’ section in EDD and upload the certificate file. Then, simply click on the ‘Publish’ button.

    With this method, customers will download the certificate after the purchase. They can then click the link provided in the purchase certificate to access the Google spreadsheet they just bought.

    Step 5. Customizing Your Digital Download Emails

    Every time someone buys a spreadsheet from your website, Easy Digital Downloads will send an email to that person.

    This email will have a link that the customer can use to download the Excel or Google spreadsheet they just purchased.

    Purchase Receipt Example

    You may want to customize this email by adding your own text and branding.

    To do this, go to Downloads » Settings and click on the ‘Email’ tab. Then, make sure that the ‘General’ tab is selected.

    Go to Downloads for Emails settings

    You might want to start by adding a logo to your purchase receipt emails.

    This logo will appear right at the top of the email and will help customers identify who the email is from.

    Add brand logo

    Simply click on the ‘Upload File’ button and upload an image or choose one from the WordPress media library.

    Additionally, you create more personalized emails, you can use dynamic text in your emails as well.

    You can find the list of these variables at the bottom of the tab, and you can paste them into your emails to customize them to your individual customers.

    Add dynamic text

    When you’re happy with your purchase email receipts, simply scroll down and click on the ‘Save Changes’ button.

    Bonus Tools to Sell More Excel and Google Spreadsheets

    Now that you’ve successfully added Google and Excel spreadsheets to your website, your next step is to convince the visitors to buy your downloads.

    Here are some of our top picks for plugins that can help you sell more Excel and Google spreadsheets.

    • OptinMonster is the conversion optimization software on the market. You can use it to create optin forms to grow your email list and convert visitors into paying customers. It can also reduce shopping cart abandonment.

    We hope this article helped you learn how to sell excel and Google spreadsheets online. You may also want out check out our guide on best email marketing services, and see these easy ways to drive traffic to your website.

    If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

    The post How to Sell Excel or Google Spreadsheets in WordPress first appeared on WPBeginner.

  • How to Create a Thank You Page in WordPress

    Do you want to create a thank you page for your WordPress website?

    Showing a customized thank you page can help you build a strong relationship with your audience. You can keep people engaged, bring them back to your site, and boost sales.

    In this article, we will show you how to create a thank you page in WordPress, step by step. Plus, we’ll also show you when to display your thank you page such as after someone submits a form, makes a purchase on your site, and more.

    How to create a Thank You page in WordPress

    Why Create a Thank You Page in WordPress?

    A thank you page is a web page you can show to your users when they perform an action or complete a task on your WordPress website.

    For example, you can show a custom thank you page on your online store after a customer purchases a product. This allows you to cross-sell and upsell your best products and offer exclusive discounts on subsequent purchases.

    Similarly, a thank you page can help build an email list and grow your social audience. You can show social sharing buttons to promote your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media channels.

    Another situation where a thank you page is helpful is when a user submits a form or leaves a comment on your site. You can show your most popular posts on the thank you page and drive more traffic to your important blog posts.

    That said, let’s look at how you can easily create a thank you page in WordPress and how to trigger it in different situations.

    Simply click the links below to jump ahead to your preferred section:

    Creating a Thank You Page in WordPress

    The best way to create a thank you page in WordPress is by using SeedProd. It is the best website builder and landing page builder plugin for WordPress.

    The plugin offers drag-and-drop functionality and lots of customization options. Plus, you get to choose from pre-built templates to edit the thank you page according to your liking.

    For this tutorial, we will use the SeedProd Pro version because it offers pre-built templates, email integrations, WooCommerce blocks, and more. You can also use the SeedProd Lite version for free.

    First, you’ll need to install and activate the SeedProd plugin. If you need help, then please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

    Upon activation, you can go to SeedProd » Settings from your WordPress admin panel. From here, enter the license key and click the ‘Verify key’ button.

    Entering the SeedProd license key

    You can find the license key in your SeedProd account area.

    After the verification, you’ll need to head to SeedProd » Landing Pages from the WordPress dashboard and click the ‘Create New Landing Page’ button.

    Add a New SeedProd Landing Page

    Next, SeedProd will show you different page templates.

    You can filter them from the top to view thank you page templates. From here, simply hover over a design you’d like to use and click the orange tick button.

    Select a thank you page template

    A popup window will now open. Go ahead and enter a name and URL for your thank you page.

    Once that’s done, you can click the ‘Save and Start Editing the Page’ button.

    Enter a name for your thank you page

    This will launch the SeedProd drag-and-drop page builder.

    You can now customize your thank you page by adding new blocks from the menu on the left or rearranging the existing blocks.

    For instance, there are blocks for images, text, headlines, videos, contact forms, social profiles, and more.

    Customize your thank you page

    If you click on a block in the template, then you’ll see more options for customization.

    For example, you can edit the text, changing its font, size, spacing, color, and more.

    You can edit existing blocks in SeedProd

    When you’ve made the changes, don’t forget to click the ‘Save’ button at the top.

    Next, you can click the ‘Connect’ tab and integrate email marketing services. This is useful if you’ve added a contact form to your thank you and would like to collect leads from customers.

    Connecting email marketing services to SeedProd

    After that, you’ll need to head to the ‘Page Settings’ tab at the top.

    Here, click the Page Status toggle to change it from ‘Draft’ to ‘Publish.’

    Publish your thank you page

    Don’t forget to click the ‘Save’ button at the top when you’re done.

    You can now visit your website to see the thank you page in action.

    Visit website to see thank you page preview

    Now, let’s look at different situations when you can trigger the thank you page so that your visitors see it.

    Show a Thank You Page After Form Submission in WordPress

    After creating a custom thank you page, you can display it when a user submits a form.

    For example, you can show social media icons when a visitor signs up for an email newsletter using a form. This way, they can also follow you on different social platforms and help grow your followers.

    Similarly, if a user fills out a feedback form, then you can show useful guides, videos, or promote your best content on the thank you page.

    With WPForms, you can easily create all types of forms on your website and show a custom thank you page. It is the best WordPress contact form plugin that offers pre-built templates and lots of customization options.

    For more details, please see our guide on how to create a contact form in WordPress.

    To display your custom thank you page, go ahead and edit a form in WPForms. When you’re in the form builder, simply go to the Settings » Confirmations tab.

    Edit form confirmation settings

    Under the Confirmation Type dropdown menu, simply select the ‘Go to URL (Redirect)’ option.

    After that, enter the URL for your thank you page in the ‘Confirmation Redirect URL’ field.

    Enter your thank you page URL

    Whenever a user fills out and submits a form on your website, they’ll see the custom thank you page you created.

    Show a Thank You Page Upon Product Purchase in WooCommerce

    If you have a WooCommerce store, then you can show your custom thank you page when a customer purchases your product.

    WooCommerce has a default thank you page, but it’s not optimized for conversions. However, you can replace it with your own to get more sales.

    For example, you can upsell products on a thank you page, offer exclusive discounts, display the latest promotional campaigns, and more.

    Thank you page preview

    We have a full guide on how to easily create custom WooCommerce thank you pages that will walk you through the entire process, step-by-step.

    Show a Custom Thank You Page on Your Membership Site

    You can also display your thank you page on a membership website when someone purchases a subscription to access exclusive content or enrolls in an online course.

    With MemberPress, you can easily set up a membership site. It is the best WordPress membership plugin, and you can use it to sell premium content, subscriptions, digital downloads, and more.

    You can learn more by following our ultimate guide to creating a WordPress membership site.

    Once you’ve set up memberships, all you have to do is head to MemberPress » Settings from your WordPress dashboard and select the ‘Pages’ tab.

    Choose custom thank you page for membership site

    From here, you can click the ‘MemberPress Thank You Page’ dropdown menu and select the custom thank you page.

    This way, customers will be redirected to your thank you page whenever they complete the registration or subscription process.

    Show a Thank You Page After Comment Submission

    Another situation where displaying a custom thank you page is beneficial is after comment submission.

    When a visitor submits a comment on your WordPress blog, you can take this opportunity to show your most popular articles or evergreen content through a thank you page.

    First, you’ll need to install and activate the Yoast Comment Hacks plugin. For more details, please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

    Upon activation, you can go to Settings » Comment Hacks from your WordPress dashboard.

    Next, scroll down to the ‘Redirect first time commenters’ section. Now, click the ‘Redirect to’ dropdown menu and select your custom thank you page.

    Redirect users to thank you page on comment submission

    Save your settings, and the thank you page that you selected will appear any time a visitor leaves a comment for the first time.

    You can see our detailed guide on how to redirect users after form submissions in WordPress for more information.

    We hope this article helped you learn how to create a thank you page in WordPress. You may also want to see our ultimate WordPress SEO guide for beginners and the must-have WordPress plugins for business websites.

    If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

    The post How to Create a Thank You Page in WordPress first appeared on WPBeginner.

  • How to Add Featured Video Thumbnails in WordPress

    Do you want to use video for featured thumbnails in WordPress?

    By replacing a post or product’s featured image with a featured video, you can make your website much more vibrant and dynamic. Visitors can view these videos from nearly anywhere including your blog archives, homepage, and WooCommerce product pages.

    In this article, we will show you how you can add featured video thumbnails in WordPress.

    How to add featured video thumbnails in WordPress

    Why Add Featured Video Thumbnails in WordPress?

    All popular WordPress themes allow you to add featured images to your posts and products.

    These are the primary images, and they often appear at the top of the page and other areas of your site such as your website’s archive pages. Search engines and social media sites may also display a page’s featured image.

    A good featured image can get you a lot of user engagement. However, you may be able to get more clicks, pageviews, and even sales by using a featured video thumbnail instead.

    If you’ve created an online store, then showing a video at the top of the product page is a great way to make shoppers want to scroll and learn more about that product.

    An example of a featured video thumbnail

    With that being said, let’s see how you can add featured video thumbnails in WordPress.

    How to Add Featured Video Thumbnails in WordPress

    The easiest way to use videos as featured thumbnails is by using Really Simple Featured Video. This plugin lets you embed videos from popular video hosting websites such as YouTube or Vimeo and use them as featured video thumbnails.

    It also works perfectly with WooCommerce and will show the featured video at the top of the product page.

    However, just be aware that WooCommerce will show the featured video on the product page only. The featured image thumbnail will still be used in other places, including your WooCommerce store page.

    First, you’ll need to install and activate the plugin. If you need help, then please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

    After activation, there are a few settings to configure. To get started, go to Settings » Really Simple Featured Video.

    The Simple Featured Video settings

    On this screen, you can select whether you want to add featured video thumbnails to pages, posts, or WooCommerce products.

    To do this, simply click on the ‘Posts,‘ ‘Pages’ or ‘Products’ switches to turn them from grey (disabled) to purple (active). In the following image, we’ve enabled the featured video feature for products, plus posts and pages.

    Enabling featured video thumbnails for posts, pages, and products

    After that, click on the ‘Save changes’ button.

    Next, click on the ‘Controls’ tab. Here, you’ll find a ‘Self-hosted videos’ section where you can configure the settings for the videos in your WordPress media library.

    Changing the featured video thumbnail settings

    While the plugin does support self-hosted videos, this can take up a lot of storage space and bandwidth so we don’t recommend it. To learn more, check out why you should never upload a video to WordPress.

    Instead, scroll to the ‘Embed Videos’ section. This is where you will find settings for any videos you embed from third-party video platforms such as YouTube.

    When you embed videos from YouTube or Vimeo, Really Simple Featured Video will show the playback controls for that platform.

    For example, if you’re embedding a YouTube video then visitors will have access to YouTube’s specific playback features.

    However, the ‘Embed videos’ section does have an ‘Autoplay’ switch that you can click to enable, too.

    Enabling autoplay for WordPress featured thumbnail images

    By default, the plugin will play videos with sound turned on. To mute your videos by default, click on the ‘Mute sound’ toggle.

    You can also set the featured video thumbnails to play on loop.

    Looping videos can be annoying to many visitors, particularly if the video is short and has sound. It’s a good idea to only activate the ‘Loop’ switch if replaying the video over and over improves the visitor experience in some way. For example, you might create a video showing a 360 degree view of a product and then set that clip to loop.

    Embedding a video

    After working your way through the different settings, make sure you click on the ‘Save Changes’ button.

    Adding Featured Video Thumbnails to Posts, Pages, and WooCommerce Products

    Once you’ve configured how the plugin will show embedded videos, you’re ready to add featured video thumbnails to your WordPress website.

    To do this, simply open the post, page, or WooCommerce product where you want to add a featured video thumbnail.

    If you’re adding a featured video to a page or post, then you’ll find the ‘Featured Video’ section in the right-hand menu underneath the ‘Discussion’ section.

    Adding a featured video to a WordPress post

    Want to add a featured video to a WooCommerce product instead?

    Then you’ll find the ‘Featured Video’ section underneath the ‘Product gallery‘ section.

    The Featured Video settings on the product screen

    To use a video from a video hosting site, simply click on ‘Embed.’

    In the new field, you’ll need to paste the URL of the video that you want to embed.

    Adding a featured video thumbnail in the WordPress post editor

    Just make sure that you add the video’s URL in the right format. In the right-hand menu, you’ll see some examples for YouTube, Vimeo, and Dailymotion.

    For YouTube, the plugin gives us the following example URL: https://www.youtube.com/embed/vbLgiRQ0Moo

    This means you’ll need to use https://www.youtube.com/embed/ as the first part of your URL and then add the ID of the video that you want to embed.

    To find the video ID, simply open a new tab in your browser, then go to the YouTube video that you want to embed. Now, take a look at the browser’s address bar.

    The video ID is the value that comes after v=. In the following image, we can see that the video ID is DvbFBxKcORA.

    The WPBeginner YouTube channel

    After adding the video ID to the first part of the URL, we get the following: https://www.youtube.com/embed/DvbFBxKcORA

    You can now go back to the tab with the WordPress block editor and just paste the URL into the ‘Embed’ field. That will add a featured video thumbnail to the post, and then you’re ready to click on either the ‘Update’ or ‘Publish’ button.

    You can now add featured video thumbnails to more posts, pages, and WooCommerce products by following the same process described above.

    On your blog archive or similar page you’ll see that WordPress is now using the videos as the featured thumbnail for your posts and pages.

    If you open any page, post, or WooCommerce product, then you’ll see that the featured video also appears at the top of the page, just like a featured image would.

    An example of a WooCommerce featured video

    We hope this article helped you learn how to add featured video thumbnails in WordPress. You can also go through our guide on the best YouTube video gallery plugins for WordPress and how to embed a Facebook video.

    If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

    The post How to Add Featured Video Thumbnails in WordPress first appeared on WPBeginner.

  • How to Use WordPress Recovery Mode (2 Ways)

    Do you want to use WordPress recovery mode to fix an error on your website?

    The recovery mode feature was introduced in WordPress 5.2, and it allows you to easily to fix fatal errors on your site that can make WordPress’s backend or frontend inaccessible.

    In this article, we will show you how to use recovery mode in WordPress.

    How to Use Recovery Mode in WordPress

    What is WordPress Recovery Mode

    If you’re encountering a WordPress error that’s preventing you from logging into your website, then WordPress will automatically shift into recovery mode.

    Recovery mode allows you to access your WordPress admin dashboard by sending a link to your administration email. This email contains details about the error that’s preventing users from accessing their WordPress website.

    You can use the link to access your admin dashboard and fix the issue.

    For example, your WordPress site may show you a critical error and blocks you from logging into your dashboard.

    This is when you can use the WordPress recovery mode feature to regain access. Let’s see how you can use the WordPress recovery mode.

    Note: Keep in mind to always back up your WordPress site before attempting to enter recovery mode. If you cannot access your admin area, then check out our guide on how to create a WordPress database backup manually.

    Method 1. Using Recovery Mode Through The Email Link

    If a WordPress plugin or theme causes an error, then recovery mode can be used to fix it.

    You might see a plain white screen when trying to access your account. Sometimes, a message is also shown on the screen.

    Site is experiencing technical difficulties

    If that is the case, immediately log in to your administrator email account. Keep in mind to check the inbox of the email address that you provided as the administrator email address to WordPress.

    You will receive an email to your WordPress email address that will inform you about the specific error on your website. If WordPress can determine the cause of the outage, this email will have that information.

    For example, if there is a file corrupted in your theme directory or a plugin incompatibility, WordPress may be able to tell.

    The email will also give you a link to access your WordPress admin dashboard.

    Email from WordPress about technical problem in your site

    Simply click the provided link, and you will be taken to the WordPress admin area. Here, you will see a banner telling you that Recover Mode has been initalized.

    You can then log in as normal.

    log into your account

    Once in your admin panel, you can deactivate the theme or plugin that’s causing the issue.

    Simply go to Plugins » All Plugins and then click the ‘Deactivate’ link under the right one.

    Deactivate the faulty plugin

    If the email sent by WordPress did not specify the plugin or theme that’s causing the error, then you should deactivate all the plugins. After that, try logging into your account.

    You can figure out the faulty plugin by then activating the plugins one by one. Once you find the faulty plugin that’s causing the issue, you can find an alternative plugin for it or get support from the plugin developers.

    Recovery mode dashboard

    If for some reason your website is showing a plain white screen but you haven’t received any email from WordPress, then you can try method 2 to use recovery mode.

    You can use this method to access recovery mode without any email link. You can simply create a WordPress recovery mode link by following the link below to access recovery mode.

    example.com/wp-login.php?action=entered_recovery_mode

    All you have to do is replace example.com with your own site’s domain name.

    Recovery mode URL

    This URL will take you to your WordPress admin area where you’ll be asked to log in.

    Here you will see an alert that you are logging into Recovery Mode.

    log into your account

    Now you can fix any error on your site.

    Keep in mind that if you use this method to manually access the Recovery Mode login page, WordPress won’t locate the plugin or theme that’s causing the error itself. You will need to do some work to figure that out on your own.

    You can start by simply changing your theme or deactivating all your plugins. This should fix whatever error was occurring and you will be able to access your WordPress website.

    From there, you can reactivate plugins one by one to find the issue, or you can even roll back your theme or WordPress version to an earlier one that wasn’t incompatible.

    Bonus: Additional Recovery Mode Options

    If you’re not clear about the error on your website that’s preventing you from logging in, then you can also try these two options in recovery mode to solve your problem:

    • Download a site health plugin to diagnose issues
    • Run a malware scan to be sure your site or server hasn’t been compromised

    For example, you can install and activate the Health Check & Troubleshooting plugin. For more instructions, see our guide on how to install a plugin in WordPress.

    Download a plugin in recovery mode

    Once you activate this plugin, it will perform a number of checks on your WordPress site and will detect common errors that may be causing the fluctuation.

    Sometimes, malware on your website may be causing the error. You can use recovery mode to scan your website for malicious code and create a completely secure website. For help, you can check out our ultimate WordPress security guide.

    You can also ask your WordPress hosting provider for support. If you’re using a top WordPress hosting company like Hostinger, Bluehost, WPEngine, and SiteGround, then their support team will be able to help you resolve the issue.

    That’s it! We hoped you learned how to use recovery mode in WordPress. You may also want t check out our pick of the best WordPress SEO plugins and our tutorial on how to fix the critical error in WordPress.

    If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

    The post How to Use WordPress Recovery Mode (2 Ways) first appeared on WPBeginner.

  • 9 Best Schema Markup Plugins for WordPress (2022)

    Are you looking for the best schema markup plugins for WordPress?

    The right SEO plugin will help you properly optimize your content for search engines, so you can outrank your competitors and grow your business. You can also use schema markup plugins to create valuable rich snippets for search engines like Google.

    In this article, we’ll share our expert pick of the best schema markup plugins for WordPress.

    The best schema markup plugins for WordPress

    Why You Should Use Schema Markup Plugins for WordPress

    If your site has lots of high quality original content, then you’re already off to a great start. However, you also need to help search engines understand that content, so they can include it in relevant search results and drive more people to your website.

    Schema markup is structured data that help your website communicate with search engines behind the scenes. It uses invisible code to clearly label your pages and posts, so search engines know exactly what your content is about, and when to show it to users.

    Search engines such as Google also use schema to create rich snippets.

    An example of a rich snippet in Google's search results

    These valuable snippets show additional information about your pages and posts. If you manage to get a rich snippet on a search engine like Google, then your content immediately stands out from the crowd. This can improve your organic click through rate and increase your blog traffic.

    Using the right schema markup is important, but it can also be complicated. Thankfully, there are WordPress SEO plugins that can walk you through the process of adding schema markup to your site. Some of these plugins will even generate the right schema automatically.

    Using a schema markup plugin doesn’t guarantee that your rich snippets will appear in the search results, but it will improve your chances.

    With that being said, let’s take a look at the best schema markup plugins for WordPress.

    1. AIOSEO

    The AIOSEO SEO plugin for WordPress

    All in One SEO for WordPress (AIOSEO) is the best WordPress SEO plugin on the market used by over 3 million websites. This complete SEO toolkit has everything you need to outrank your competitors including support for rich snippets schema.

    AIOSEO makes sure your schema markup is properly set up, so search engines can show your content to people who are searching for pages, posts, and products just like yours.

    The plugin even has special schema for FAQs, courses, recipes, software, ratings, and dozens more. This helps your customers find your products, services, and digital downloads over your competitors.

    If you have a physical store or business, then AIOSEO has local schema markup for your business logo, address, business phone number, opening hours, and more. This gives you the best possible chance of appearing in Google Maps and local search results.

    AIOSEO’s Google Map integration has multiple location support, which is perfect for successful businesses that have multiple offices, stores, salons, or other locations.

    To learn more, see our guide on how to add multiple locations schema for local businesses.

    This powerful WordPress SEO plugin is also easy to set up. To start, simply enter all your website information into the plugin’s settings.

    Adding schema using AIOSEO

    Then, just work your way through the Schema Markup settings for each content type.

    For example, you’ll typically map your Posts to the Article schema type, and Pages to the Web Page schema.

    Configuring rich snippets using AIOSEO

    AIOSEO is flexible, so you can override these default settings for specific pages, posts, courses, and more from inside the content editor.

    When editing your content, simply scroll to the AIOSEO Settings section and then click on ‘Generate Schema’ to open the Schema Generator.

    Generating schema using the All in One SEO WordPress plugin

    You’ll now see all the different schema that you can add to this particular piece of content.

    By simply repeating these steps, you can optimize your entire WordPress website without having to write a single line of code.

    One of the best schema markup plugins for WordPress

    AIOSEO has support for all the modern schema types to get you rich snippets including the new FAQ schema. SEO pros can use the custom schema tab to enter any type of schema format they wish.

    It also has built-in schema validation to ensure that your website is properly optimized for highest SEO rankings.

    To get started with AIOSEO, please see our ultimate guide on how to set up All in One SEO for WordPress correctly.

    Price: AIOSEO Pro licenses start at $49.60 per year for a single website. There’s also a free version that you can use to get started.

    2. Schema Pro

    The Schema Pro WordPress plugin

    The Schema Pro plugin has more than 20 schema types including recipe, article, book, job posting, and more.

    You can add all of these schema types to your WordPress blog or website without writing a single line of code. Simply choose a schema type from a dropdown menu and then tell the plugin where to add this schema.

    To help you use the correct schema, Schema Pro will even map default data such as page title, featured image, author, and data. You can then simply fine-tune these defaults to suit your content, and Schema Pro will add the correct code across your website.

    If this is your first time adding schema, then the plugin integrates with the Google Structured Data Testing Tool and comes with built-in field validation. This allows you to test your schema and see whether you’re likely to get a rich snippet.

    If you’re using custom post types or other unique content, then more advanced users may want to try the plugin’s Custom Schema markup tool. This allows you to create your own schema in JSON-LD format, and then test it using the Structured Data Testing Tool or Rich Results Test.

    Price: You can buy an annual Schema Pro license for $67 which includes product updates, premium support, and advanced schema types.

    3. WordPress Review Plugin

    The Review Schema plugin for WordPress

    Positive customer reviews can convince shoppers to buy from your online store and will make your website seem more trustworthy. With that being said, you’ll want the search engines to highlight your reviews.

    The WordPress Review plugin can add the schema that search engines need to correctly identify your customer reviews, and include them in rich snippets.

    You can use this plugin to create both single and multi-criteria reviews. This helps your customers make a decision about your company or products at a glance, and then explore more detailed reviews if they want extra information.

    Creating a multi criteria review for your online store

    The plugin can also generate rating schema and markup for your WooCommerce products, which makes it a great choice for any WooCommerce user.

    The WordPress Review plugin comes with a selection of layouts that you can apply to your reviews plus support for numeric pagination. In this way, the plugin can display your reviews in a way that makes sense to shoppers as well as the search engines.

    The best schema plugins for WordPress

    Despite the focus on eCommerce, this plugin can also create review schema for any page, post, or custom post type. For example, you might encourage visitors to rate their favorite blog post.

    If you’re worried about spam and fake reviews, then the plugin comes with built-in support for reCAPTCHA v3. For more information on how reCAPTCHA works, please see our guide on how to add reCAPTCHA to WordPress.

    Price: You can download this plugin for free from the official WordPress repository.

    4. WP Review Plugin

    The WP Review schema plugin

    WP Review is another plugin that’s perfect for anyone who sells digital downloads, products, or services online.

    This plugin adds 9 different schema types and allows you to show reviews in a structured box that features star, point, and percentage ratings. You can also add user comments, affiliate buttons, and more to create an eye-catching layout.

    Adding a review box to your WooCommerce website

    By presenting this data in a box with the correct schema, you can encourage search engines to include the information in their search results. For example, Google often shows star ratings next to each product.

    As long as you get a high rating, this can make your products stand out from the competition and should improve your click-through rates.

    WP Review’s boxes are completely customizable, so you can fine-tune them to perfectly suit your WordPress theme by changing the text color, adding a border, changing the background, and more.

    Using schema to create a review box

    Price: You can download WP Review for free from the official WordPress repository.

    5. Structured Content

    The Schema Structured content WordPress plugin

    This plugin allows you to add structured data to any page or post, and it then renders that information as JSON-LD.

    In total, Structured Content adds 6 schema types including LocalBusiness, FAQPage, and Person. If you sell online courses, then there’s a Course structured data type that will help search engines show your training in relevant search results.

    If you run a job board in WordPress, then we recommend looking at the plugin’s JobPosting schema as this can help your job listings appear in Google’s job search experience.

    Here, Google will show your job listings along with your logo, plus any company reviews or ratings you’ve received. This instantly makes your job listings more interesting and should get you lots more applicants.

    To help you add schema to your website, Structured Content comes with its own blocks. Simply click on any block to add it to your content.

    Adding schema blocks to your WordPress website

    After that, you configure the schema markup by filling out a form.

    This makes it easy to add correctly-formatted markup to your website.

    Configuring a schema block in WordPress

    Price: A free download of Structured Content is available from the WordPress repository.

    6. WP SEO Structured Data Schema

    The SEO Structured data schema plugin for WordPress

    If you want more control over your schema markup, then you may want to look at this free WordPress plugin.

    Although WP SEO Structured Data Schema does have some site-wide settings, it places an emphasis on flexibility and manual customization.

    Setting site-wide schema settings for WordPress

    This plugin allows you to add schema in JSON-LD format on a page-by-page basis.

    WP SEO Structured Data Schema does require a bit more setup compared to some of the other plugins on this list.

    However, it is a powerful solution that gives you lots of freedom to fine-tune your schema. This makes it a good choice for users who are more familiar with schema markup.

    The best schema plugins for WordPress

    Just be aware that you’ll need to upgrade to the pro version if you want to add schema to custom post types.

    Price: You can download WP SEO Structured Data Schema for free from the official WordPress repository.

    7. WPSSO Core

    The WPSSO Core scheme plugin for WordPress

    The WPSSO Core plugin supports an impressive 500 schema types and sub-types.

    It also stands out from the crowd by providing structured data markup for social media sites including Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Twitter, and WhatsApp.

    The best schema plugins for WordPress

    If you’re already using some of the best SEO plugins, then you’ll be happy to hear that WPSSO Core integrates with WP Product Review, WP-PostRatings, and WP Meta SEO. WPSSO Core can even read settings and data from AIOSEO.

    Beyond SEO plugins, WPSSO Core also integrates with Easy Digital Downloads and WooCommerce, so we recommend checking out this plugin if you run an online store.

    WPSSO Core is also a good choice if you previously tried to add schema markup manually, but encountered errors. This plugin claims to fix all schema markup errors in Google Search, Rich Results, Merchant Listings, and more.

    Price: To download WPSSO Core for free, simply visit the WordPress repository.

    8. Five Star Business Profile and Schema

    The Five Star schema plugin for WordPress

    Like many plugins on this list, Five Star Business Profile and Schema can add LD+JSON schema structured data to any page or post.

    However, it also has a unique contact card feature that lets you add all your business details with the correct schema markup. This includes a Google Map, opening hours, plus your phone number and WhatsApp number with a click-to-call feature.

    Search engines can then discover this information and show it next to your listing.

    The best WordPress schema plugins

    If you accept appointments and bookings, or own a physical store then this will help customers contact you. In fact, if you have multiple locations then Five Star Business Profile and Schema will automatically add a dropdown menu so customers can choose between the different locations.

    Even better, you can add the card to any page, post, or widget-ready area using either a shortcode or a special Contact Card block.

    The Contact Form WordPress block

    Beyond the SEO-friendly contact card, this plugin has a database of every organization type schema and every rich results type.

    Each schema and rich results type comes with the corresponding fields and properties. Simply fill in the default values that you want to use and the plugin will handle the rest.

    Configuring the default schema for your WordPress website

    If you want to use different values on a specific page, then you can easily override these defaults from the post editor.

    Price: You can download Five Star Business Profile and Schema for free.

    9. Schema and Structured Data

    The Schema Structured data plugin for WordPress

    This plugin adds 16 schema types to your WordPress website including reviews, email, and comments, plus support for custom schema.

    After activating the plugin, Schema and Structured Data will automatically fetch the data from your website and then enhance it in the Google search results.

    If you have an online store, then this plugin is compatible with WooCommerce so you can get your products and services featured on search engines like Google. If you’re using WooCommerce extensions, then this plugin is also compatible with WooCommerce Booking and WooCommerce Membership.

    If you want to add schema to lots of content, then the plugin has some useful conditional fields. This allows you to include and exclude posts, pages, and taxonomies from the schema.

    Schema and Structured Data has some extra features that can help search engines understand your content. This includes support for breadcrumbs and Google AMP compatibility so you can easily enhance the markup for the AMP version of your site.

    For more information about AMP, please see our guide on how to properly setup Google AMP on your WordPress site.

    Price: An annual license for a single website is priced at $99.00.

    Which is the best WordPress schema plugin?

    After carefully evaluating all the popular schema plugins in the market, we believe that AIOSEO – All in One SEO is the best WordPress schema plugin.

    In the past, websites will use their main SEO plugin and then a separate schema plugin which would lead to complication, plugin conflicts, and even performance issues.

    With All in One SEO, you can use just one plugin that gives you everything you need to grow your SEO rankings.

    The free All in One SEO plugin has support for on-page schema markups, but you will need the Pro version to unlock access to their powerful custom schema generator.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Being the largest free WordPress resource site on the planet, we have helped tens of thousands of people choose the best WordPress SEO plugins. Below are the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions.

    Does schema improve SEO?

    Yes, having a proper schema markup will absolutely improve your SEO rankings. Google and other search engines reward websites with rich snippets and higher rankings when they use proper schema tags.

    Does WordPress use schema?

    By default, WordPress does not add schema markup. That’s why website owners use WordPress schema plugins. You can easily add schema markup in WordPress by using the All in One SEO plugin.

    For a more detailed explanation, see our guide on how to add schema markup in WordPress and WooCommerce.

    Does Yoast SEO plugin add schema?

    Yes, Yoast SEO plugin does offer limited schema support. However they do not have powerful custom schema generators or schema validation like other plugins such as All in One SEO, Schema Pro, and others mentioned in the list above.

    Can you add schema to WordPress without a plugin?

    Yes, you can absolutely add custom schema markup in WordPress without using a plugin. All you need to do is simply add the custom schema code in your theme’s functions.php file.

    Although we don’t recommend this because if you update your theme, then your customizations will be overwritten. This is why it’s better to future-proof your custom snippets using WPCode.

    With that said, most professionals use a plugin like AIOSEO to add schema because they keep it updated with new SEO guidelines.

    Will schema markup help me get a featured snippet in Google?

    Yes, having a proper schema markup will increase your chances of getting a featured snippet in Google, also known as position zero. At the end of the day, Google decides which sites get the featured snippet, but generally only websites with schema markup get the featured snippet.

    What’s better JSON+LD Schema vs Microdata?

    Modern search engines like Google prefer JSON+LD schema markup over the microdata schema markup. This is why most large websites have switched to using JSON+LD schema, and the plugins we recommend in our list all output as JSON schema markup.

    Which is the best review schema WordPress plugin?

    The best review schema plugin for WordPress is All in One SEO. It lets you add review schema, so your search listings can get start ratings and other rich snippets. But unlike other plugins, AIOSEO will not force you to use their styles, so you have full control over how your website brand looks.

    The second option people often use is Schema Pro which is built specifically for generating schema blocks.

    Which is the best custom schema markup generator for WordPress?

    We believe that All in One SEO is the best custom schema generator for WordPress. It offers a guided wizard for all schema.org markups, and for true SEO pros, it even has a fully custom schema markup input, so you can experiment further.

    We hope this article helped you find the best schema plugins for WordPress. You may also want to see our guide on how to add keywords and meta descriptions in WordPress and our expert pick of the best analytics solutions.

    If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

    The post 9 Best Schema Markup Plugins for WordPress (2022) first appeared on WPBeginner.