Tech Listing Reviews
Wordfence Review
Wordfence is one of the more popular WordPress plugins in the world with over 2 million active installs at the time of this writing. It includes a number of security features (some free and some paid) including firewall, malware scanning, IP blocking, and login security. The Wordfence dashboard provides you a detailed overview all current security statistics on your site:
As you can see there is quite a bit you can do with just the free version of the plugin. Plus, it works fairly nicely right out of the box with only a few simple configurations. Notice there were 17 blocked firewall attacks in the past month? Without a security plugin installed there is a good chance those threats could be hitting your site unnoticed.
Wordfence WAF
Below is a closer look at the Wordfence web application firewall:
The Wordfence WAF protects you from all the most common attacks like cross site scripting, SQL injection, and brute force attacks. The screenshot above shows a paid version of the plugin which also gets you some premium features like comment spam filters, “spamvertising” checks, IP spam checks, etc. And as you can see, the rules engine is just a simple list of check boxes that you can enable or disable as you please. Not included in this screenshot is a useful feature called Rate Limiting. This feature allows you to throttle or block certain people or crawlers that are abusing your site by hitting too many pages too fast. The settings are easy to configure using only drop downs.
Wordfence Website Scan
The Wordfence scan checks your whole WordPress site for vulnerabilities, including:
- the public configuration of your site
- backups
- log files
- posts
- comments
- the strength and complexity of user and admin passwords
- current disk usage
- unauthorized DNS changes
It can also check and compare the core WordPress, themes, and plugins files against the repository versions to ensure they are the same size and have not been modified.
Like the WAF, you won’t receive real-time updates to protect you from the most recent security threats out there. This is fine for some people, but it does leave you open to zero-day vulnerabilities. That said, you’re getting a lot of protection in the free version.
Wordfence Pros and Cons
The Wordfence plugin offers quite the security punch for a free app, and the paid version even steps it up another notch. If you are smaller publisher or personal blogger, you’re not going to find a better free security plugin than Wordfence to keep your site secure. There is a reason it has over 2 million active installs. That said… there is a downside.
The biggest problem with Wordfence is that it does seem to impact website performance. This can be said about just about any plugin (which is why you should only use plugins you need) but this one in particular is pretty heavy duty. We’ve seen a noticeable slowdown in the admin area of our site since install, and there does seem to be an impact to the public facing side as well (although there are a ton of variables that can affect that). If you’re going to use Wordfence be sure you’re using a good caching plugin for browser caching and a CDN to cache at the edge.
Website Platforms
Quite often we hear about WordPress alternatives, but it’s hard to be sold on a website builder that goes up against WordPress.
The Duda responsive Website Builder is another option in the growing field of content management systems and site builders, especially as developers are looking for quicker tools to help out clients.
Duda seems to do a good job of keeping costs low, but they also have impressive features for both average users and resellers. With all “off-the-shelf” website builders like WIX and Duda, you open yourself up to faster development and lower costs.
Slick Templates
With WordPress, you have to go out and find templates. Then you must pay for them. That said, premium WordPress developers are the best, and with a little research, you can find anything you need.
As for Duda, they provide templates right in the website builder. I counted 88 templates, which is a great quantity to start with. Not only that, but they look wonderful and are organized into industry categories like restaurants, one pagers, portfolios, popular, blogs and stores. You grab the templates you want right from the beginning.
After that you can always swap out your template and not worry about losing any content (like you would with WordPress.)
Create a Beautiful Small Store Within Seconds
This is one of the coolest parts about Duda. I enjoy a good WooCommercewebsite, but this is much easier to setup, especially for a smaller blog or company website store. It’s even more basic than “off-the-shelf” solutions like Shopify. Basically, it walks you through the process of adding products, verifying geo-settings, configuring shipping, getting paid and placing a text order.
You don’t have to do much in terms of design, since the shop is dropped right into the template. Yes the paid eCommerce solutions are limited to up to 2,500 products, but you can’t beat the user-friendliness.
Lots of Widgets and Sections
From click to call buttons to restaurant menus, coupons and business hours, the Duda widgets stand out because of their ease of use and quantity. Basically, it only takes a second to install one of these on the drag and drop interface. And it definitely seems like the Duda creators thought long and hard about what business websites actually want.
The sections are also pretty nice. This feature can be found in some WordPress builders or templates, but it’s not as fluid or common as you might think. These are prebuilt sections with no design requirements. For example, you could easily insert a contact form or a complete footer with a map, social media buttons and text.
Prebuilt Website Rules (That Replace Many WordPress Plugins)
The Duda rules come in as the most surprising bonus. When you navigate to the rules you notice how most of these features require plugins in a system like WordPress. However, Duda has them all included. For example, they have things like email subscribe pop-ups, notification bars, geotargeting, lunch specials and unique pages for when certain users land on your page.
WordPress Support and Maintenance Services
Here’s the scenario: you scoured the Internet for a reliable WordPress support service that can help you with your WP tasks. Finally, you found one but only to realize that they got acquired by another company and that the company does not allow you or anybody to use the service anymore.
It feels disappointing, right?
That’s what happened with WordPress support service WP Curve. In 2016, they were acquired by GoDaddy, but GoDaddy stopped accepting new customers for WP Curve, which means, anyone interested in using WP Curve for WordPress maintenance services is out of luck.
If you just got started with WordPress or had used WP Curve’s service in the past and now are looking for an alternative service that’s just as reliable, then you’re in fortune.
We carried out a thorough research on WP Tangerine‘s services and offerings, and found that they are indeed a great replacement replacement for WP Curve.
WP Tangerine describes themselves as:
a small team of dedicated professionals with one very specific focus: Helping people rock WordPress.
The service was “founded by entrepreneurs who know the difficulty of getting high quality WordPress help that is also cost effective.”
So if you’re looking for a reliable service that can help you rock WordPress, then you should definitely check out WP Tangerine. WP Tangerine has been built from the ground up to be exactly the solution that business owners and professionals need.
Below are our top findings on why WP Tangerine is a great alternative to WP Curve.
Excellent Support
You need WordPress support services whenever you need them, which is not necessarily during a typical 9 – 5 business day.
WP Tangerine lets you submit tasks 24/7, with a one business day turnaround and priority emergency care. This means you can reach out to them at anytime even for emergency site care and they’ll respond quickly.
Unlimited Jobs
If you have a bunch of small WordPress tasks on your to-do list but lack the knowledge or time, then WP Tangerine will come in handy.
WP Tangerine manages these WordPress jobs for you. According to their website, you can “submit unlimited tasks and projects as you want, tasks will be worked on for up to 1 hour per business day (2 for their Pro Plus plan.” And instead of paying per job, you can submit an unlimited amount of tasks for one monthly fee.
This unlimited WordPress support plan not only allow you to offload some of the administrative burdens but also bypass constraints that can sabotage your business growth.
Flexible Monthly Plans + Money Back Guarantee
Just like WP Curve used to do, WP Tangerine offers some of the best WordPress maintenance services around at an affordable fixed monthly fee. You can choose from three different tiered plans starting at just $147/month.
Additionally, they offer a FREE EXPERT WEBSITE REVIEW, something you can take advantage of to have an idea of how they work.
WP Tangerine’s plans are flexible, which means you may upgrade or downgrade as needed. Also, you can cancel your plan at any time since no contract is required.
30-Day Money Back Guarantee
It seems WP Tangerine are so confident that their plans and service will meet users’ needs and expectations that they offer a 30-day money back guarantee.
Full Range of WordPress Support Services
WP Tangerine’s support services cover many different areas of WordPress help, including:
- Website fixes
- Designs
- Optimization
- Changes to your WP site
- Website maintenance
- Site security
- Updates
- Site improvements
- Emergency support
Simple Process
WPTangerine seems to follow a simple process to bring users on board and complete tasks. Their website shows that all you have to do is: Sign up >> Submit tasks >> Kick back and and focus on the bigger picture and enjoy more free time.
No reason to complicate things. No need to learn any new software or figure out any complex business process.
Responsive Communication
WPTangerine’s website says they’ll send you daily updates and provide attentive client service.
In conclusion…
Notable big names like TechCrunch, CNN, and Sony Music use WordPress and these big players have dedicated teams taking care of their WP websites. Just because you’re a small business doesn’t mean you can’t have a WordPress support team like the big guys. And just because GoDaddy acquired WP Curve doesn’t mean you can’t get similar or even better support for your WordPress site.
WP Tangerine is a great WP Curve alternative and offers many (if not more) of the same services, benefits, and advantages.
Tech Listing Reviews, Website Platforms
WordPress vs the competition
Since WordPress is the forerunner in the CMS market, we weighed it up against the competition to highlight the differences between the software and what they are best suited for. For comparison, we’ve considered the top three, WordPress, Joomla!, and Drupal and popular alternatives Squarespace and Wix. Our analysis includes these deciding attributes;.
Picking a CMS is the first step in building a website, You’ll want to start by looking at platforms flexible enough to meet your future needs while offering a return on your investment. Most importantly, opt for a system that matches your level of expertise.
- Hosting – A key component of a successful website is how it’s hosted.
- Cost – the cost of developing and maintaining a website should be factored in when choosing a platform. The end costs depend on your needs – make sure your chosen platform allows you to get what you need within budget.
- Difficulty – Beginners want a platform that helps them create websites easily without spending too much time learning new skills, especially not code.
- Design and layout – The appearance of your site plays an important role in its success; your brand should stand out through good looking design and a user-friendly interface.
- Flexibility – the availability of third-party themes and plugins and adapt the design and use apps to add more features to your site.
- E-commerce – Most beginners look to selling things online, the ability to implement e-commerce is an important feature for any CMS platform.
- Security – All websites are prone to security risks, how your CMS protect your site impacts your site security.
- Developer community – CMS with an active developer community has the most up-to-date add-ons and the most support such as online tutorials and Q&A’s.
Website Platforms, WordPress Help
’re new to WordPress, you might be wondering about the difference between WordPress.org and WordPress.com.
WordPress.com vs WordPress.org
The one major difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org is who’s actually hosting your website.
With WordPress.org, YOU host your own blog or website. WordPress.org is where you’ll find the free WordPress software that you can download and install on your own web server.
WordPress.com, on the other hand, takes care of all of the hosting for you. You don’t have to download software, pay for hosting, or manage a web server.
Pros and Cons of WordPress.com vs WordPress.org
Both WordPress.org and WordPress.com have pros and cons, depending on your needs.
If you’re not interested in paying for your own hosting, managing your own web server or paying someone else to handle that for you, you’ll probably want to use WordPress.com. It’s free and easy to set up and you have lots of options for customizing your site.
A few of the cons of using WordPress.com include that your domain will, by default, include “WordPress.com.” You also can’t upload any custom themes, plugins or modify the PHP code behind your site.
While WordPress.com is free to set up, they do offer several premium upgrades, including domain name registration (if you don’t want WordPress.com in your domain name), the ability to upload videos and if you want to use their premium themes.
Using the downloaded version of WordPress from WordPress.org opens up more control and flexibility for your WordPress site, but it also means more responsibility. Using a self-hosted version of WordPress means you can use your own domain name, upload and install themes and plugins, edit the code behind your site and have access to your site’s database (or files). Most of the showcase sites you see on the WordPress site showcase are the self-hosted version of WordPress, since many of them have unique functionality or a custom-made design.
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