151 WordPress Hacks: Learn WordPress from Scratch

February 3rd, 2019 | by Ravi Chahar || 12 Comments |

I remember when I started learning WordPress many years ago. I didn’t know any WordPress hacks to start a brand new website.

Whether you have just started or practiced for a while, you always need to learn more and more.

WordPress is an interesting CMS, but most of the people fret about it. 

You may be wondering as if you need coding skills to start a WordPress blog. Well, this platform was begun for bloggers.

It means you can do everything without any technical skills.

Are you still confused? This is the article for you to provide you with WordPress hacks, tips, and tricks. I am going to point out every possible thing you should know about WordPress.

Basics You Should Know Before Using It

#1. WordPress.com and WordPress.org

More than 70% people are confused whether they use WordPress.com or WordPress.org. Before even doing anything, you should know the difference between these two platforms.

WordPress.com is free, and a fully-hosted version whereas WordPress.org is the self-hosted version.

#2. Which One Should I Choose

If you don’t want to spend any money, you can start with WordPress.com for free with some limitations.

But if you want a professional website, you should definitely start using WordPress.org.

#3. What Do I Need to Start a WordPress Blog

After your final decision about choosing WordPress.org, you may think about the easiest way to start a WordPress blog on your own.

You need a few things.

• Domain Name
• Web Hosting
• WordPress Theme
• WordPress Plugins

#4. What is a Domain Name

A Domain Name is the address of your website. It’s the URL you type to visit a website. Google.com, Facebook.com, these are the domain names.

It costs only around $10 per years.

#5. A Web Hosting

It’s the space you need to place your website on the web. Most of the web hosting companies provide one free domain name. I recommend the following companies.

• Bluehost
• InmotionHosting
• Kinsta (Managed Hosting)

#6. What is a WordPress Theme

The design of your website is controlled by a WordPress theme. For a beautiful design, you can either use any free theme or buy any premium theme.

You can also hire a web designer for the design of your own choice.

#7. WordPress Plugins

These are the add-ons to your website. These are the magical assets using which, you can create a site without coding skills.

You can do almost everything using plugins. Whether it’s about adding a new box or something technical related to SEO.

#8. How to Install WordPress

You can install WordPress using the one-click installation process every web hosting provides. You just need to fill your details.

#9. Different Ways to install WordPress

If you’re a techie person, you can install WordPress using cPanel. Download and upload the WordPress ZIP file to the server.

Create a database and edit the wp-config.php file to match the database credentials.

#10. Installing WordPress WordPress Theme

After installing WordPress, you have to search for a better-looking theme. By default, you will have the Twenty series theme.

Just go to Appearance>>Themes, and you can see it and search for more.

#11. Installing WordPress Plugins

Go to Plugins>>Add New, and you can search for the necessary plugins. There are different ways to install WordPress plugins.

#12. What’re the Necessary Plugins

By default, you will have the “Hello Dolly” and “Akismet” plugins. There are many other plugins you would require to build a better website.

• A caching plugin
• A Security plugin
• Social Sharing Button Plugin

This is one of the most crucial WordPress hacks you would require through your blogging journey.

• Top WordPress Plugins

#13. Creating a Static Home Page

This is the first thing you may have in your mind after seeing the beautiful designs of other websites.

Just create a new page by navigating to pages>>add new. After that, go to Settings>>Reading and choose to use the static page as your front page.

You can select the page from the drop-down menu.

#14. How to Have the Beautiful Home Page

As talked earlier, your WordPress theme is the design of your website. If you want something different, you have to hire someone.

#15. WordPress Settings

Just after installing WordPress, you should fill all the details about you and your website. Play with the admin area a little bit.

Don’t worry, you’re not going to break anything.

#16. Which is the Best SEO Plugin

All In One SEO Pack and Yoast SEO are the two best SEO plugins. But I would recommend using Yoast because it’s easy to configure and you can get many SEO articles related to it.

Here is the step by step guide to install and set up Yoast SEO.

#17. Submitting the Website to Google

To make Google know about your new website, you have to add it to Google Search Console.

• Guide to add your website to Google Search Console

#18. Creating and Submitting the Sitemap

To tell Google bots about all the posts and pages you’re going to create, you have to create a sitemap and submit it to Google Search Console.

If you use Yoast, no need to use any extra plugin for generating a sitemap. This is one of the essential WordPress hacks.

• Guide to add your website sitemap to Google Search Console

#19. What is the Robots.txt File

Most of the people ignore this file. This is a simple text file which tells the Google bots to crawl your website. You can do a lot of creative things using this file.

WordPress Hacks to Maintain the Website Performance

According to Google, the page loading time should be less than 3 seconds. There are some WordPress hacks you use to boost your WordPress website performance.

#20. Use a Caching Plugin

I would recommend you to use W3 Total Cache or WP Super Cache. Do the best settings for any of the plugins and have a fast loading website.

• Guide for W3 Total Cache
• Guide for WP Super Cache Settings

#21. Image Optimization

This is one of the biggest WordPress mistakes people make. Always optimize your images before uploading. Use TinyPNG or any plugin.

#22. Database Optimization

You should also clean up your WordPress website database using a database optimization plugin. WordPress stores the data even for your post update.

Remove the extra database tables.

#23. A Better Web Hosting

Having a bad web hosting can drag you down. That’s why you should buy a reliable company. Please don’t expect the cheaper plan to maintain a better website speed.

#24. Your WordPress Theme

For a newbie, it can be challenging to select a proper WordPress theme. Free themes may not load as fast as the premium theme does.

#25. WordPress Updates

It’s always recommended to keep everything updated. An older version of your plugin or the theme can slow down your website due to its incompatibility with the latest WordPress version.

#26. Choose your Plugins Carefully

A poorly-coded plugin can cause the trouble. You should choose a plugin which can satisfy you with its features and lightweight. All WordPress hacks are useless if your plugins are not useful.

• Do Inactive Plugins Slow Down Your Website

#27. Use a CDN

It helps you load the website faster by storing the static files. It also acts as a security layer. You can use free CloudFlare CDN.

#28. Post Summary VS Full Post

Imagine you visit a website, and there is no read more button, the first post is too long, and you have to keep scrolling to check what’s new.

I am sure, you would leave that website within a few seconds. So also use an excerpt.

• Full Post Vs Summary

#29. Paginate the Comments

If you get hundreds of comments, you can paginate the comments on the different pages.

#30. Multiple Pages Post

Just like Forbes, you can also separate your website to the various pages. It will also help to maintain user engagement.

#31. Avoid Sliders

I know sliders look cool, but a slider plugin can impact the page loading time. Choose it carefully.

#32. Adding a Cron Job

WordPress has a default file which is being called every time someone visits your website to check any scheduled task.

You should add a Cron job manually.

#33. Disable the Heartbeat API

If you are the only one handling your website, you can also disable the heartbeat API.

#34. Reduce HTTP Requests

More HTTP requests mean the browser will take more take loading the website. You should reduce HTTP requests by minifying the code and reducing the number of plugins.

#35. Code Minifying

For the advanced users, it’s recommended to optimize the CSS and JavaScript they use on their website.

#36. How many Plugins

There is a misconception that having too many plugins is equal to a poor website. The truth is if you have well-coded plugins, you can use as many as you want.

• How many WordPress plugins are too many

WordPress Hacks, Tips, and Tricks You Should Learn

#37. Installing Google Analytics

Monitoring your website is vital for which, you can install Google Analytics. Just go to the official website and create your account.

Generate the code, copy and paste it into your website.

#38. Adding Custom Code

It may seem technical stuff when you are asked to add <meta> tag or any kind of script in the <head> of your website.

Just use “Insert Headers and Footers” plugin.

• How to add custom code to the header and footer

#39. Allow Users to Subscribe to Your Comments

You can use the Jetpack plugin to add a checkbox to subscribe people to the comments of your blog post.

#40. Showing Excerpt in RSS

Just like you do for your blog page, you should show the summary instead of the full posts. Go to Settings>>Readings, and you can see an option.

#41. Adding Custom CSS

There are different ways to add custom CSS to your WordPress website. Your WordPress theme may have an option, or you can use a plugin.

#42. Facebook Thumbnail Problem

People claim that Facebook doesn’t show the thumbnail of their article. Just open that post and add it using the Yoast social section.

• Here is the Guide

#43. Add an Image to the Sidebar

You may be thinking about using the HTML, that’s a perfect way. But if you’re a nontechie person, you may require a plugin.

#44. Adding a YouTube Video to Sidebar

Many website owners add YouTube videos to WordPress sidebar as the introduction of their website.

#45. Display Random Header

You would be happy that you can add multiple header images. Just go to Appearance>>Header and randomize the headers.

• Guide to Add Random Header Image

#46. Add Icons to Navigation Menu

If you’re a coder, you can do that using the CSS pseudo-classes, but for a non-coder, a simple WordPress plugin will do the work.

#47. Multiple Authors Website

Yes, it’s possible to add many authors based on their privileges. You can use the plugins like the Co-Authors Plus plugin to manage them.

#48. Creating a Local WordPress Website

You can install WordPress in XAMPP and create an offline website to test the plugins and theme before using on your live server.

#49. Change Post’s Author

After allowing a guest author, you may realize that it was a mistake. You can easily change the author name by configuring a few WordPress settings.

#50. Merge Categories and Tags

WordPress hacks: Merging multiple categories or tags are rarely known by the WordPress users. But it can be done within a few minutes.

#51. Show Last Updated Date

This is an important aspect to understand. Google prefers to display the latest updated articles. You can add last updated date to your WordPress posts.

#52. Display Relative dates

You may have seen on many websites showing the time “8 hours ago” and similar.

#53. Remove Jetpack Smiley

When you install the Jetpack plugin, you see a smiley icon in the footer of your website. It can disrupt the design.

To fix this, you should know the correct way to remove WordPress smiley face.

#54. Remove WordPress Version

For the security purpose, you should never show which WordPress version you use. You can remove it using a few lines of the code.

• Hide WordPress Version the Correct Way

#55. Deactivating All Plugins

To find the culprit, you are always recommended to disable all the plugins. But the problem occurs when you’re not able to login to your admin panel.

In such a situation, you should deactivate plugins using the cPanel.

#56. Adding Category in the Permalink

Just go to Settings>>Permalinks and set the custom permalink structure.

#57. Showing Random Posts

Many people prefer to display random posts to leverage the old content. Either you use a plugin or do it manually using the code.

#58. Set Excerpt Length

The excerpt is shown by how the theme has been developed. You can change that by adding a code snippet in the functions.php file.

• Here is the tutorial

#59. Allow User Registration

You can allow others to register on your WordPress website. Just go to Settings>>General and check the checkbox shown in front of the membership option.

#60. Install WordPress on a USB

Just like you create a local website using XAMPP, you can also use a USB drive. This is one of the WordPress hacks only a few people know.

• Install WordPress on a USB drive

#61. Add Dynamic Year

It’s not possible to update the copyright year manually. For a non-techie person, it’s so hard. That’s why it’s better to ask your developer to add a dynamic copyright year.

#62. Get or Turnoff Comments Notifications

Just go to Settings>>Discussion and you can do the proper settings.

#63. Change the Number of Blog Posts

On the blog page, by default, you will see 10 blog posts. You can change that by navigating to Settings>>Reading and change the number.

#64. Stop Comments on Old Posts

Just go to Settings>>Discussion and you can set the number after which no one will be able to submit a comment.

#65. Split Posts into Pages

This is a great idea. If you have more prominent posts, you can add the <nextpage> option to maintain the speed and the engagement.

• Here is the guide

#66. Display Related Posts

Either you use a plugin or you can do it manually by adding a code snippet to your single.php file. The file may vary based on the theme you use.

• The required tutorial

#67. Change XAMPP Password

After creating a local website, you may fret after forgetting the password. You can quickly change the XAMPP password.

WordPress Tips and Trick to Secure Your Website

#68. Install a Security Plugin

The first step is to install a security plugin like All In One Security, Sucuri, Wordfence, BulletProof Security, etc.

#69. Change the Default Username

When you install WordPress, by default, the username is “admin,” and everyone knows it. It’s necessary to change the default username so that only can log in.

#70. Change the Password

It’s always recommended to keep changing the admin password. You can do it either using the security plugin or manually use the cPanel.

#71. Update Everything

Using the older plugins can invite the hackers to inject the malicious code into your website. It’s better to keep everything updated.

#72. Keep the Backup

To be safe, it’s necessary to keep the backup. You can backup and restore your website using DraftPlus with a few minutes.

If you’re familiar with the cPanel, you can also backup your WordPress website manually.

#73. Disable PHP Execution

WordPress core, plugins, and themes consist the PHP codes. It would be better if you disable PHP execution so that no one can inject any type of PHP code.

#74. Password Protect the wp-admin Directory

To make your admin login panel secure, you can password protect the wp-admin directory so that if someone opens the login page, he/she requires the login ID and password to access that page.

Such type of WordPress hacks should be used only after the complete research.

• The complete guide is here

#75. Disable Directory Browsing

Anyone can browse your website directory if you don’t disable it. For example, look for “www.yoursite.com/wp-includes” and if you see the data, it means your website is insecure.

• Here is the tutorial

#76. Change Database Table Prefix

By default, the database table prefix is “wp_”. Hackers can inject the code if you don’t change it just after installing WordPress.

Either you use a security plugin, or you can also change WordPress database table prefix manually.

#77. Remove Password Lost Link

You can see on your WordPress login page, there is a link to recover your password. You can remove it so that hackers can use it.

#78. Edit the Login Error Message

Once you put the wrong login credentials, an error message with the password lost link appears. You can edit the login error message and display anything you want.

#79. Disable Email Login

As you know, you can log in using the username as well as the email address. It would be better if you disable login with an email address.

#80. Automatically Logout

On the bank websites, you may have noticed that if you don’t open any new page for a while, your session gets expired.

You can add automatically log out the users in WordPress.

#81. Limit Login Attempts

Sometimes, the hackers use the try and hit method to guess your password. It’s better to limit login attempts. You can either use this feature from your security plugin or use a particular plugin just for this.

#82. Change Login URL

By default, the login page URL is “www.yoursite.com/wp-login.php.” Just add this extension and the login page will appear to you.

You can change WordPress login URL to make it something no one else can know.

#83. Protect the wp-includes Folder

You can use the .htaccess file to secure your wp-includes folder. Such WordPress hacks are required for the advanced level security.

• Protect the wp-includes folder

#84. Secure the wp-content Folder

All the themes, plugins are stored in this folder. You should secure it using the .htaccess file.

#85. Secure the .htaccess File

This is one of the most crucial files, and you need to protect it.

#86. Blacklist the IPs

If you notice a user with some suspicious activities, you can blacklist this/her IP address.

#87. Whitelist only Your IP

If you work from just one IP address, it’s great if you protect the admin panel by whitelisting that IP. No one else will be able to access your login page.

#88. Adding a Security Question

A WordPress tip not everyone uses. Along with the login credentials, you can also add a security question on the WordPress login page.

#89. Block Bad Bots

Your security plugin continuously keeps monitoring your website and the users’ activity. You can block bad bots using their IP addresses.

#90. Prevent Image Hotlinking

Only a few people know about such WordPress hacks. The users can copy your image links along with the content.

It’s the image theft as well as of the server. You should prevent image hotlinking using the .htaccess file or an option from your cPanel if any.

#91. Save Content Theft

Many people complain how their content gets copied by someone else. You can do that by adding a DMCA badge on your website.

Some Advanced WordPress Hacks, Tips

#92. Adding Subcategory to Permalinks

Just like the post categories, you can also add subcategories to the permalinks.

• Add category and subcategory in WordPress permalink

#93. Moving Your Blog from Blogger to WordPress

Many people use the free Google platform. But once they realize that WordPress is required to scale, the migrate their blog from Blogger to WordPress.

It takes a few minutes to do this.

#94. WordPress.com to WordPress.org

You can also migrate from the fully-hosted version to the self-hosted version. Move your blog from WordPress.com to WordPress.org for more freedom.

#95. Squarespace to WordPress

Squarespace is also a free blogging platform, and you can move your blog from Squarespace to WordPress.

#96. Weebly to WordPress Migration

Everyone wants to migrate their blog to the WordPress platform. If you’re using Weebly, you can move transfer your blog.

• Weebly to WordPress

#97. LiveJournal to WordPress Migration

It’s another platform people use in Russia. You can move your blog from LiveJournal to WordPress within a few minutes.

#98. Medium to WordPress

Medium is a republishing platform, and it allows you to start your own blog for free. You can migrate all the posts from Medium to WordPress.

#99. Enabling Automatic Theme Updates

If you don’t have the time to maintain your website, you can enable automatic updates for your WordPress themes.

#100. Enabling Automatic Updates for Plugins

Just like the themes, you can also enable automatic updates for plugins.

#101. Enabling Automatic Update for WordPress Core

Though it’s not recommended to enable such updates still, you should have an idea about such WordPress hacks.

#102. Add Post Formats to WordPress Theme

If you’re into WordPress theme development, you can add many different post formats to your theme.

#103. Clearing cache of Your Website

The old cache can create some problem while testing something new. You should know the proper way to clear the cache of your WordPress website.

#104. Enabling Multisite Feature

Before you add a subdomain, you have to enable a multisite feature in WordPress core using the wp-config.php file.

#105. Installing WAMP Server

For the Mac users, creating a local environment to test the plugins and themes, it’s good to install WordPress on the WAMP server.

#106. Migrating the Site from WAMP to the Live Server

Many people create an offline website using WAMP. It’s easy to migrate that website from the WAMP server to a live server so that the whole world can read the content.

#107. Adding Google Translator

You can either use a plugin like WPML or add Google Translator in WordPress without any plugin.

#108. Removing Comments from WordPress

You can completely remove comments from your website. Either you disable the comments or remove the comment form from your theme.

#109. Adding Clickable Email Address

You can add a clickable email address to your WordPress posts and pages so that people can click and directly send you an email.

#110. Setting up Feedburner

To generate the RSS feed for your website, you can use this platform. Settings up Feedburner takes a few minutes.

#111. Adding NoFollow Link to Navigation Menu

Many website owners like to keep the menu items nofollow. You can easily add such nofollow links.

• Add nofollow links to a WordPress navigation menu

#112. Disabling WordPress Comments

As we talked before, you can either remove or completely remove the comment section. For a non-techie person, dealing with the theme codes is overwhelming.

It’s better to learn the different WordPress hacks to disable comments.

#113. Moving WordPress from One Folder to Another

When you run multiple websites, you may want to move WordPress from one folder to another.

#114. Image Protection

There are different ways to prevent image theft in WordPress. You can add the watermark, disable right-click, etc.

#115. Adding Copyright

Even if you don’t know how to code, you can easily add copyright in WordPress theme using the simple HTML.

#116. Backing up Your WordPress Theme

You should also see the WordPress hacks to backup your WordPress theme. You can have the full backup of your website.

Using the cPanel, you can make and download the ZIP file of your theme from the wp-content folder.

#117. Adding Customizer to WordPress Theme

For a user-friendly theme, it’s essential to add a customizer. Just the use of a few CSS classes and the functions.php file of your theme.

#118. Temporary Disabling the Website

You can temporarily disable your WordPress website without using any plugin.

#119. Adding Gallery Post Format

To give your theme users more options, you should add a gallery post format to your WordPress theme so that people can use only images to publish a post.

#120. Managing Automatic WordPress Updates

Using a single plugin, you can manage automatic WordPress updates. No coding skills required.

#121. Moving Your Site From Subfolder to the Root Directory

You have to copy and paste the whole data from the subfolder to the public_html folder and then change the site URL and the permalinks structure.

• Move WordPress from subfolder to root

#122. Importing and Exporting WordPress Users

WordPress allows you to import all the users from one website and export them to another. Such WordPress hacks can help you from wasting your time while running multiple websites.

• Import and export WordPress users

#123. Linking Logo to Homepage

Not every developer links the logo of your website to the homepage. You can easily do it using a simple permalink WordPress theme codex.

• Here is the guide.

#124. Adding Facebook Reaction Buttons

If you’re also wondering to add the cool Facebook reaction buttons below your blog posts, it can be done.

#125. WordPress Theme Structure

Even for a non-techie person, it’s a plus point to understand the complete WordPress theme file structure.

WordPress Tips and Tricks to Solve WordPress Errors

#126. Always Check the Plugins, First

Not all the plugins are developed by the WordPress team. There are many third-party plugins available in the repository.

Deactivate all and start activating one by one to find the culprit.

#127. Use the Default WordPress Theme

Instead of your premium theme, you should shift to the default Twenty series theme to find the problem.

#128. Backup and Delete the .htaccess File

It’s possible that the.htaccess file is creating any problem. Back it up, delete and create it by updating the permalink structures.

#129. Check Web Hosting Bandwidth

It’s possible that your web hosting width is full and your website requires more space.

#130. Confirm the Search Engine Visibility Box is Unchecked

Many people complain that the website got de-indexed. It’s because the search engine indexing has been disabled.

#131. Check the Website URL

Go to Settings>>General and you will see two fields. Matching both the URLs is necessary.

#132. File Permissions

Many errors occur due to the wrong file permissions. Either you check it from your security plugin or go to the cPanel.

#133. Try Clearing the Cache

Sometimes, you don’t see the changes because of the cache. Clear it using your caching plugin and even of the browser.

Let me mention the Name of the Errors

There are many common WordPress errors which can freak you out. But every error has a solution. Those mentioned above are some troubleshooting WordPress hacks.

#134. 404 Error

One of the simplest errors you can find using the Google Search Console.

#135. 500 Internal Server

This error occurs either the site URLs are different, or the server doesn’t respond.

#136. 403 Forbidden Error

The best solution is to check the file and folder permissions.

#137. Memory Exhausted Error

You can increase the default WordPress memory, and this error will get solved.

#138. HTTP Error

Again, you have to check the file and folder permissions. This error is seen while uploading an image, a plugin or a theme.

#139. 503 Internal Server Error

It happens only because of the bad server or the wrong URL settings.

#140. Error Establishing a Database Connection

When you migrate your blog, you need to check the database credentials. Fix this error by editing the wp-config.php file.

#141. White Screen of Death

You see only a white screen while opening your website. There may be many reasons, but you can fix it.

• Here is the guide

#142. Syntax Error

This is more like a coding error. If you don’t touch any code, then it happens due to a plugin conflict.

#143. Login Page Refresh Error

Whenever you try to log in, the page gets refreshed again and again.

#144. You’re Locked Away from the Login Panel

You’re not even able to open the login page.

• Here is the guide

#145. The site Contains the Harmful Program

You may have seen many websites with a warning that the website is harmful. It can be solved.

• The complete guide to solving “This Site Ahead Contains Harmful Programs”

Other WordPress Hacks for Better Knowledge

#146. Annoying Things about WordPress

If you’re a newbie, you may face some problems which can annoy you. Stick to it, explore the CMS and you will love it.

• The Complete Guide

#147. Renaming the Uncategorized Category

By default, WordPress adds every post in the Uncategorized category. You should set one common category so that if you forget, it gets published into that category.

• Read the article

#148. Adding a Twitter Follow Button

To get more followers, you can add Twitter follow button to WordPress posts or pages.

#149. Maintenance Page

You would be happy to know that you can create a maintenance page using the .htaccess file.

#150. Is WordPress Easy

This is the first question people ask when I publish any WordPress related article on any social media platform.

If you practice, WordPress will be your friend.

#151. Can I Become a WordPress Pro

When I started learning WordPress, I had no idea about plugins, themes, content optimization, etc. Now, I am pretty good with it and can develop the WordPress themes from scratch.

There are many WordPress tips and tricks available on the internet but sometimes, you need to learn yourself. trying something new is always fun.

WordPress is an easy platform.

I love how it works and guiding others makes me happy.

Do you have any WordPress hacks? Share with everyone.