The header and footer are one of the most important parts of a website. Your website’s header is the first thing a visitor notices while landing on your site. A header refers to the navigation bar that displays the business logo, links to all important pages, any CTA, and a way of contacting you via […]
The post How to Create a Sticky Header in Elementor appeared first on WPExplorer.
WooCommerce is one of the best eCommerce solutions for WordPress. This article will cover the basics of setting up a WooCommerce store to promote and sell your products.
The post “Setting up a WooCommerce Store (Best Practices and Tools)” first appeared on WP Mayor.
Comments are a powerful form of social proof, and an active comment section is a positive SEO signal to Google. When the most recent comments appear first it keeps the conversation fresh, so here’s a quick tutorial on how to set that up.
The post “How To Display the Most Recent Comments First in WordPress” first appeared on WP Mayor.
Enjoy the fastest ever image processing times with the latest version of Smush. Spend less time waiting for your images to be optimized with up to 8x more processing speed compared to the competition.
Just when you thought the most popular WordPress image optimizer (currently boasting a 5-star rating and over a million+ active installs) couldn’t get any better… Smush takes it to the next level.
In this article, find out just how much time you can save optimizing images with superior processing speed and see how Smush stacks up against its toughest competitors.
You’ll realize how much time you can save and why this award-winning plugin is breaking speed records for image optimization.
Let’s get to it!
Our hard-working developers are constantly improving Smush. Here’s what’s included in our Smush updates.
As mentioned in the introduction, the processing speed is now better than ever.
Multiple images are processed in parallel, which makes lightning-fast processing speed a reality for your image files.
Before, images were sent to Smush’s API and were processed one at a time. Now, multiple thumbnails (and originals — if enabled) are processed in parallel for multifold improvement in processing speed.
This saves you tons of time. There are no more waiting long periods for images to be processed.
Since Smush makes calls to an external service through HTTP requests, there are always possibilities of things failing randomly (e.g. temporary network issue).
We now have a Retry Mechanism that helps recover from any issues without having to show any errors. That means less time you’ll be dealing with failed optimized images.
Before, if a temporary network issue caused the Smush request for one of the image sizes to fail, it also treated all the other sizes as failures.
Now, in Bulk Smush, it’s no longer a problem. With the retry mechanism in place, it prevents all images from failing if there are issues with only one.
With that being said, let’s take a look at…
We wanted to see how Smush’s speed stacked against a couple of the other most popular optimization plugins. So, we decided to give it a go with speed tests.
As you’ll see — testing is easy to implement. We simply set up a few websites, added some images, installed a plugin to each site, and optimized images.
This can all be done for free, and it’s highly recommended that YOU try it out for yourself. We’d love to hear what results you were able to achieve.
Here’s a breakdown of what we did…
To get started, we set up a WordPress site and created a template so that the site was duplicated. We did this instantly with the help of InstaWP.
InstaWP allows you to set up WordPress sites and templates – at no cost. It streamlines the testing process creating a new site with just a few clicks.
Once the admin of the new WordPress site was created, we added images to the site for free with the Instant Image plugin.
With the Instant Image plugin, you can quickly add images to your site with one click. We went through and added 60 images for testing.
The plugin adds them immediately to your media library.
Since we have the site set up, we want to head back to InstaWP and Save Template to duplicate the site we just created.
We’ll create four more websites based on our original site with 60 images. Why? Because we’ll be testing four other plugins, along with Smush.
The plugins we’re testing are:
We’re using the FREE version of each plugin. There are no upgrades or anything else involved.
Finally, we’ll upload one plugin to each site (e.g. Smush to one, Imagify to another, etc.).
And that’s it! We’re ready for testing.
Oh, well…one more thing. Get a stopwatch ready. We’re going to time each one and see how they match up.
It’s a plugin image compression speed test. Ready…set…GO!
We’ll kick things off with Imagify. Imagify is a popular image optimization plugin with a 4.5-star rating and over 600K active installs.
We installed Imagify, started our timer, and implemented bulk optimization.
As the percentage of optimized images kept increasing, all was going well. But then…uh-oh…
The optimization ground to a halt midway (not even midway) through. The free version didn’t have enough credits to optimize my 60 images. It only was able to get to 45% of them.
The result was it took 11:08 to optimize 45% of the images.
With a 4.5-start rating and over 300K active installs, ShortPixel is up there in the ranks as a well-known image optimization plugin option.
ShortPixel has a 4-step process. It begins with the images you want to optimize, a summary, the progress, and results.
This test has our 60 images ready to be optimized.
Once the optimization started, it abruptly ended.
Like Imagify, the lack of credits had us hanging, and the optimization process didn’t complete all the work. In fact, it only processed 18 images.
The race to the finish line wasn’t completed with ShortPixel’s free version. The result was it took 2:28 to optimize 18 images.
Optimole is another popular image optimizer with 90K active installations and a 5-star rating. With a cloud-based system it banks itself on the “set it and forget it” way of optimizing images in real-time.
Once activated with a license key (which is free), it immediately begins its image optimization process.
However, after waiting an hour, it states it’s still optimizing images…
Optimole compresses images on the fly so that when an image is requested, it will apply the specific transformation required by the device and send it to your visitors — ensuring each image is perfectly sized for each device.
However, there’s not much more specific information beyond that on its dashboard. After an hour, a couple of images are compressed, .07MB saved file size for the latest ten images, and 70% average compression.
There’s just a message of reassurance that visitors will view the best images from their devices automatically. But, the image optimization process is not completed.
In other words, it’s not that it’s not working — but a bit in the dark about how well it’s working immediately.
Since it was over an hour and still no solid results of optimization, the final clocks in at hours for 60 images to be completed compressed, though it may offer immediate results — depending on specific images.
With bulk image optimization, numerous setting options, and over 200k active installs, reSmush.it is another popular choice when it comes to your WordPress images.
It starts by mentioning how many non-optimized pictures you have, so it’s pointed out the 60 that we’re using to test with.
Once clicking “Optimize All Pictures,” — the race is off! It gives a status of how optimization is going.
When completed, it gives you the status of how it went by showing you the space saved, total reduction, attachments optimized, images optimized, and total images optimized.
The time it took to compress everything was 16:02. Quite a bit of waiting, but it did get the job done.
We decided to save the best for last. After all, Smush has a lot of advantages — beyond just the speed factor.
For example, there are no credits to buy once you hit an optimization limit. Nope. The free version of Smush will pause at 50 images; however, just click resume, and it starts right back up. That’s not the case with most other image optimization plugins.
So, let’s start at the beginning. We have our 60 images – the same as the other example. And they require compression.
Clicking Bulk Smush gets us moving…
When Smush hits 50 images, as I mentioned, it pauses. With a click of a button, it starts immediately back up again, so there was no point in stopping the timer.
When it’s done, it’ll show you the results. This includes a number of images optimized in the media library and your savings.
The result was it took 1:38 to optimize 60 images.
As you can see, the outcomes were across the board. Some didn’t even make it through the finish line, while a few came out on top. Here are the final results based on time:
1st Place: Smush 1:38 
2nd Place: ShortPixel 2:28 (didn’t finish)
3rd Place: Imagify 11:08 (didn’t finish)
4th Place: reSmush.it 16:02
5th Place: Optimole Hours
Of course, other variables can determine the speed of image optimization. That includes good hosting, a strong internet connection, image sizes, and other possible factors.
This speed test was simply created to demonstrate where Smush is at today, and the hope is that you’ll give it a test run yourself against your current image optimization plugin.
Results may vary, but you’ll see that speed is on Smush’s side with speed and other functions – no matter your situation.
As you can see, with up to 8x faster processing, Smush can save time and optimize your images quickly so you can spend time focusing on your WordPress business instead.
Don’t take my word for it when it comes to a speed test. As I mentioned, try your favorite image optimization plugin and see how it compares.
Plus, our developers have some more exciting goodies for Smush coming soon, so stay tuned…
For more on Smush, be sure to look at our How to Get the Most Out of Smush Article.
And if you do a speed test yourself, does Smush complete the race quicker? Take a pit stop and tell us how your results turned out in the comments!
New to Smush?
You can install Smush completely free on the WP.org directory, or sign up for the free WPMU DEV plan, which includes Smush, plus a whole suite of WP plugins and site management tools.
Editor’s note: This article was updated on February 28, 2023, to include new test results against even more of the competition. (Luckily for us, Smush continues to smash it out of the park.) The article was originally published on August 25, 2022.
In this quick guide, we’ll show you how to easily display an NFT gallery on your WordPress website.
The post “How to Display an NFT Gallery on Your Website” first appeared on WP Mayor.
Are you looking for project management tools for your WordPress development business? After surveying thousands of our users, we put together some of the best project management software for your organization.
Good project management tools are essential for WordPress developers. They can help you organize, prioritize, and implement new projects. Plus, they’ll keep effective communication between you, your clients, and your team. It’s a win-win.
This article explores some of the best project management software in the business! Also, we’ll go over how to make a decision on what type of software you need.
You’ll see that some of these tools are efficient for design, while others focus on communication. Additionally, some everyday tasks and projects work well for larger teams — and some smaller ones. And you’ll notice there are free options and paid ones.
We’ll be covering:
We’ve gathered research from thousands of members and found some interesting insights on what developers use in their organizations. We present our results below.
All of this being said, every one of the above platforms has a solid reputation and is at the top of our list of most recommended project management software. (No, we are not affiliated with any of them.)
So, which one(s) should you choose?
Before we start looking into a few WordPress project management tools, let’s first discuss crucial factors you need to consider when choosing software that is suitable for you, both as a web developer and for a digital agency.
#1. Deployment Location: Self-Hosted vs. Cloud
It’s the modern era of cloud services, SaaS services, or whatever name you want to call them; services available fully online are now the norm.
The reason why these services have taken off and become so popular are various. Still, here are two that are the strongest differentiators:
#2. Focused or Adapted for Web Design and/or WordPress Project Management
This article discusses project management tools with a specific focus on WordPress and web design and development here, so the tool you should use must somewhat revolve around your needs as a web designer/developer.
While nonspecific project management tools are a dime-a-dozen, you’ll find more suitable candidates when you start niching into web design and WordPress.
Now, don’t get me wrong, generic tools are great. Many are open and configurable enough to let you get on with the job – even if they are not specifically developed with WordPress or web design project management. In fact, we’ll cover quite a few tools that are quite general.
#3. The Service Addresses Your Pain Points
Before you subscribe to one of the many project management services, you’ll need to do a little bit of introspection:
As you can see from the above, some of the problems can be resolved using a good project management tool; others can be resolved if you use proper job scheduling software, while others still need surgery.
No software can fix intrinsic problems YOU have to fix.
Luckily, a good WordPress project management tool can surely ease some of the nagging pain points most agencies and freelancers are bound to experience during their day-to-day business. In fact, I daresay a project management tool is essential if you care about the success of your business.
So, let’s get to it!
Google Workspace, formally G Suite, is “a flexible, innovative solution for people and organizations to achieve more.†They offer a vast variety of tools to collaborate with coworkers and clients.
Tools include custom email, Calendar, Meet, Chat, Drive, Docs, and more.
Google Workplace has various plans and pricing that are based on cloud storage, users, and specific pages (e.g. appointment booking pages available on all but one plan).
Nimbus is a platform with a variety of tools – including Nimbus Note (for creating online notes, docs, and wikis), Nimbus Capture (for screenshots and screencasts), and Nimbus Clipper (for grabbing web pages and deleting irrelevant parts).
It consists of client portals, easy collaboration, knowledge sharing, and project management tools.
Over a million professionals use their software. A great perk of their platform is it’s free to get started. Then, you can upgrade for an insanely cheap price. The upgrades include more workspaces, automation, custom SMTP, and more.
Here at WPMU DEV, Slack is no stranger to us. After all, we use it to communicate with our coworkers daily. We have Huddle calls, provide feedback on plugins (and other tech), determine what blog posts to write about (like this one!) – and much more.
It’s one platform for the entire team and work. Everything can be managed from Channels, Slack Connect (to sync up with teams at other companies), Messaging, and more.
Considering it’s essential to our workflow here at WPMU DEV, and we’ve been happy with it, it’s worth checking out as a reliable option for your own project management.
Slack has pricing options that depend on the size of your business or organization.
“For staff communication, we use Zoom for meetings and email for regular correspondence.â€
Tisagh C. – WPMU DEV Member
Another very popular software for project management is Zoom. Zoom is one of those platforms that’s known as THE video conferencing platform. “Hey, let’s have a Zoom call.†Ever heard that or something similar?
Their virtual meeting capabilities allow you to “meet†with anyone globally. Whether it be mobile or your computer – it’s possible to communicate with coworkers, potential clients, or anyone in a few clicks.
You can record the conversations, have up to 1000 participants, enable chat, and much more.
Plus, sign up for Zoom for free. Or, you can upgrade if you need longer meetings, need more cloud storage, or depending on the number of participants in your meeting (e.g. 1000s of people).
“I use Trello for project management and to organize my worklists.â€
Marianna – WPMU DEV User
With Trello, you have the ability to see your projects at every angle – whether with a board, timeline table, workspace view – you name it. Trello is a leader when it comes to project management software.
It’s known as a visual platform where you can view all projects in one place in a simple and easy-to-understand way.
You can upload files, create checklists, add 3rd party apps, and much more.
Trello is free, or you can upgrade based on the amount of users, controls, and security you’d like.
Especially great for designers, Figma works well in visually collaborative environments. It functions as if you’re in the same room – with sticky notes, online whiteboard for drawing or marking, and live collaboration.
You can map the process with their FigJam option. This keeps everything flowing and “jamming†as you collaborate, to ensure a project is done on time.
It’s easy to use and communicate with your team via text, notes, and handoffs from designer to developer.
Figma is free, or you can upgrade if you need more Figma Files and resources.
For mobile project management, WhatsApp is a free app designed for small business owners. With the app, you can use automated tools to connect with clients and quickly get back to clients’ messages.
WhatsApp has a group chat feature, so you can easily connect with your team. Beyond an app, you can sync your chats to your computer. Additionally, you can send PDFs, docs, spreadsheets, slideshows, and more.
It’s entirely free to use WhatsApp, making it a simple solution to avoid SMS fees and communicate efficiently with your team and clients.
“I’m in it all day, every day. I even built a client dashboard template and want to create more for others.â€
Keith – WPMU DEV Member
Notion is a highly customizable workspace where you can connect your teams, projects, and docs. You can drag and drop the dashboard, website, doc, or system however you’d like.
It’s used for project management by some top companies; such as Loom, Figma, mixpanel, and Pixar.
The goal of Notion is to simplify communication between you and your team by offering their streamlined customizable options all in one place.
It’s free to start with Notion, and then there are upgrades you can purchase monthly or yearly. Some packages include unlimited file uploads, collaborative workspaces, and admin tools.
“I used Asana for a long time, I like their UX, colors, and branding. As well as their explaining videos.â€
Mo – WPMU DEV Project Manager
Want to eliminate frequent meetings and streamline your project management? Asana might be a great platform for you. You can manage dependent, overlapping, and unscheduled projects. Plus, it has boards that simplifies focus for you and your team.
Additionally, you can automate tasks, such as assigning work, setting due dates, and more. And there is reporting for your work, so you can easily monitor the progress.
Asana is free. However, upgrades available have features, such as unlimited free guests, unlimited integrations, and more.
Of course, Microsoft is a giant in the tech world, and its MS Teams is a rising star in its universe. With MS Teams, you can create and manage teams, schedule meetings, use language transitions, share files, and much more.
There are even remote learning tools for educating your clients or developers.
It’s free to use, or you can upgrade if you have many users, need video transcripts, and more.
Like Slack, Jira is another go-to software here at WPMU DEV. Other developers agree that it’s great for project management. You can assign tasks, update them on a customized timeline, mark them as “done†and much more.
Plus, you can incorporate 3rd party apps (e.g. Slack) so that everything is organized in one convenient place. Here at WPMU DEV, we have it so that when a new task is assigned to an individual, they’re pinged on Slack. The link on Slack takes that person directly to the task.
Like a lot of our options, you can get Jira for free. Then you can upgrade depending on the amount of users you’ll need.
With Basecamp you can manage people and projects in a simple and easy-to-use interface. Considering over 75K organizations use their platform, they’re definitely worthy of our list.
Basecamp features a one-page dashboard for your projects, assignments, and schedules. Plus, there’s a centralized place for discussions, a work tracker, file upload capabilities, instant chatting – and much more!
You can try Basecamp for free and then upgrade – depending on how many users you have.
As you can see, there are many options when choosing project management software. Maybe just one of these platforms will do the trick — or maybe a combination of several. Either way, make your developer’s life easier with organized management tools.
Whether you opt for the free version or need to upgrade — try out some of these recommendations today!
Editor’s Note: This post has been updated for accuracy and relevancy. [Originally Published: May 2017 / Revised: October 2022]