How to Disable WordPress Admin Email Verification Notice

Do you want to disable the admin email verification notice in WordPress?

By default, WordPress displays an admin email verification notice to the site administrators every few months to verify the email they use is still correct. It’s a pseudo-security measure that many site owners feel is unnecessary and annoying.

In this article, we will show you how to disable the admin email verification notice in WordPress.

What is an Admin Email Verification Notice

The admin email verification notice feature was introduced in WordPress 5.3. The purpose of this feature is to show a screen to website administrators every few months that asks them to verify their site email address.

The admin email verification notice ensures that the email address provided by the administrator is accurate and still in use. Having a working email is important to site security and management.

However, originally planned to appear every six months, sometimes the admin email verification notice can be displayed more frequently than necessary.

This can be annoying for users who’re just trying to log in to their WordPress website. Wouldn’t it be great if you could just turn off the admin email verification notice?

Let’s take a look at how to easily disable the admin email verification notice. You can click the links below to jump directly to the method you want to use.

Method 1. Disable Admin Email Verification Notice Using Code (Recommended)

You can easily disable the admin email verification notice by adding a code snippet to your WordPress files. If you haven’t done this before, then take a look at our beginner’s guide on pasting snippets from the web into WordPress.

Generally, you would need to manually add the code to your theme’s function.php file, but it can be a bit tricky since even a minor mistake can bring down your whole website.

This is why we recommend using a code snippet plugin like WPCode to add custom code in WordPress without having to edit your theme’s core files.

First, you need to install and activate the free WPCode plugin. For more instructions, please take a look at our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Once the plugin is activated, go to Code Snippets » Add New from your WordPress admin dashboard.

This will take you to the ‘Add Snippet’ page.

As we have to add custom code, simply click on the ‘Use Snippet’ button below the ‘Add  Your Custom Code (New Snippet)’ option.

This will take you to the ‘Create Custom Snippet’ page where you can start by entering a title for your code snippet. It can be anything that helps you identify the code.

Next, select the ‘PHP Snippet’ as the ‘Code Type’ from the drop-down menu on the right.

After that, all you have to do is copy and paste the following PHP code snippet in the ‘Code Preview’.

// Disable WordPress Administration Email verification Screen
add_filter( ‘admin_email_check_interval’, ‘__return_false’ );

After that, scroll down to the ‘Insertion’ section and select an insert method.

Now, simply choose the ‘Auto Insert’ option to automatically execute code on your site upon saving the snippet. Make sure to select the location “Admin Only”.

Now, go to the top of the page and toggle the switch from ‘Inactive’ to ‘Active’ in the top right corner and then click the ‘Save Snippet’ button.

Once, you have saved and activated the code snippet, it will be automatically executed on your site.

Now you will no longer see the admin email verification notice.

Method 2. Disable Admin Email Verification Notice Using a Plugin

If you prefer not to add code to your WordPress site, you can always use a plugin.

For this tutorial, we will be using the Make Disable Admin Email Verification Prompt plugin.

The first thing you need to do is install and activate the Make Disable Admin Email Verification Prompt plugin. For more instructions, you can check out our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Once the plugin is activated, simply go to Settings » General from your WordPress admin dashboard.

Now that you’re on the ‘General Settings’ page, scroll down to the bottom.

Here you will find the ‘Disable Admin Email Verification Prompt’ option. Now, simply make sure to check the box beside ‘Disable Admin Email Verification Screen.’

Don’t forget to click on the ‘Save Changes’ button to store your settings.

That’s it! You and your team should not see the admin email verification notice anymore.

We hope this article helped you learn how to disable the admin email verification notice in WordPress. You may also want to see our tutorial on how to disable automatic update email notifications in WordPress, and our comparison of the best email marketing services to grow your website traffic and sales.

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 Disable WordPress Admin Email Verification Notice first appeared on WPBeginner.

11 Things You Should Do When Inheriting a WordPress Site

If you have just inherited an existing WordPress site, what should you do first?

Whether you’re a business owner who recently acquired a new website or an office assistant who’s inheriting your company’s existing website from another team member, you might be wondering what the most important next steps are.

In this article, we will show you the top things you need to do when inheriting a WordPress site.

What Challenges Could You Face When Inheriting a Site?

Inheriting a new WordPress website brings a lot of challenges.

Whether you’ve acquired it from another business or assigned a company website, getting up to speed with the workflow and familiarizing yourself with WordPress can take time.

Similarly, running a website requires other tools like email marketing software or third-party plugins. When inheriting a website, you should have login credentials to all the software.

Other than that, your newly inherited website might not be secure. One of the best practices is to create a backup and scan your site for threats. This will help highlight areas that could lead to a potential attack and allow you to fix them quickly.

That said, let’s look at the things you should do when inheriting a new WordPress site. You can click the links below to jump ahead to your preferred section:

1. Get All The Passwords

When inheriting a WordPress site, the first thing you must do is gather all the username and password information.

This includes your web hosting password, FTP password, CDN password, domain management password, email marketing service password, and password to all third-party premium plugins or services that the website is using.

We suggest scheduling a video call with the old developer or site owners because they can explain everything in detail.

The best way to manage all your website passwords is by using a password manager. We recommend using LastPass because it works with all your devices and allows storing passwords in a group, sharing them securely, and using stronger passwords.

2. Change All Admin Password and Emails

Once you have received all the passwords, you need to change them.

This ensures that the previous developer or site owner cannot modify anything. Another thing you want to do is update all admin contact emails so only you can reset passwords in the future.

You can do this by going to the Users » All Users page in the WordPress admin area and editing all user passwords along with contact details.

Next, you need to change the WordPress site admin email address. WordPress uses it to send important website notifications.

Simply go to the Settings » General page and enter a new email address.

Note: We recommend installing WP Mail SMTP before changing emails to make sure all emails all of the notification emails reach their recipient.

3. Take Notes and Familiarize Yourself

Before making any other site changes, taking notes and familiarizing yourself with the website is vital. If you’re unfamiliar with WordPress, see our beginner guide on what is WordPress.

It is very important that you understand the importance and functionality of each WordPress plugin used on the website.

You would also want to review theme settings and the widgets you use.

You can take notes of different functionalities, features you would like to change, and more.

Note: Please write all these notes down in Google Docs, Dropbox Paper, or somewhere else so you won’t lose them.

This information will help you understand everything. If you need help understanding something, then you can try contacting the previous owner or developer.

4. Setup an Automated Backup Solution

Backups are your first layer of defense against any online mishap. The previous site owner may have their own backup plugins set up, which may be storing backup files in one of their remote storage accounts.

You would want to set up your own backups. There are plenty of excellent WordPress backup plugins that you can choose from.

You need to make sure that you set up your backups on a remote location like Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.

You also need to create a complete WordPress backup before making further changes to your website. This would help you revert your website in case anything goes wrong.

5. Update User Roles and Permissions

If you are a developer working on a website, then you’ll need to work with your client to assign user roles and permissions to their team.

Your goal should be to limit the administrator user role to people who actually need to perform admin tasks. These tasks include things like changing the theme, installing new plugins, or adding new users to the website.

To change a user role, simply go to Users » All Users from your WordPress dashboard and edit a user profile. Next, scroll down to the ‘Role’ section and select the user role you wish to assign.

If you are working on your own site, then you will need to review user access. Create a new user account for your authors if required.

If there are older author and editor accounts that you will not be working with, then you need to edit those user accounts and change their email address and password. See our guide on how to disable user accounts without deleting them.

6. Run Security and Performance Scans

Next, you need to make sure that your new WordPress website is secure and performing well.

For security scans, we recommend using Sucuri. It is the best WordPress security plugin on the market and allows you to easily scan your website for malicious code, security threats, and vulnerabilities.

You can see our ultimate WordPress security guide for more details.

For performance, you can use any of the online website speed test tools. We recommend using the IsItWP website speed test tool, which is easy to use and gives you a detailed overview of your website speed.

It is also important that you check to see that caching is configured properly.

Many WordPress hosting companies like Bluehost and SiteGround offer built-in caching solutions that you can turn on from your hosting account. You can also use a WordPress caching plugin like WP Rocket to instantly improve your website speed.

If the site is not running a CDN, then you should consider using a CDN service. Although this is not required, we always recommend users to use a CDN. For more details, see our guide on why you should use CDN.

For more tips and tricks, you may want to see our ultimate guide to boost WordPress speed & performance.

7. Check for Proper Tracking and SEO Integration

If you have inherited the ownership of a new website, then the old website owner may have transferred the Google Analytics property to you.

A lot of website owners simply add the Google Analytics code to their WordPress theme. This code disappears as soon as you update the theme or install a new one.

Make sure that Google Analytics is properly installed on the website by either using MonsterInsights or by adding the tracking code outside the WordPress theme.

Similarly, they may have also transferred Google Search Console property to you as well.

Make sure that your site has XML Sitemaps in place for the search console. You may also want to look at Google Search Console reports to make sure there are no crawling issues or errors on the site.

We recommend using All in One SEO (AIOSEO) because it is the best SEO plugin for WordPress. You can easily optimize your site for search engines without hiring an expert.

8. Implement Version Control and/or a Staging Site

If you’re a developer, then it is highly recommended that you implement version control for the site. It is fairly easy to use GitHub or BitBucket.

If you’re not a developer, then at the very least we recommend setting up a WordPress staging site that ensures that you have a stable testing environment before pushing things live. We recommend this step for all users.

For those who’re scared to set this up, then WP Engine, a managed WordPress hosting provider, offers a robust staging environment and git version control integration.

Other small business hosting providers like SiteGround and Bluehost also offer staging features at affordable prices.

9. Run a Website Clean up

Now that you have familiarized yourself with the project, it is best to clean out all the unnecessary things. Delete all inactive themes and plugins. Delete all user accounts that are not needed.

Log in to your WordPress database and optimize it. Some bad plugins leave their database tables even after they’re deleted. If you notice any of those, then it is best to delete them.

See our beginner’s guide to WordPress database management to safely optimize the WordPress database.

10. Review Plugin Settings

A typical WordPress website uses several plugins that may still be referring to old owners. If you have taken ownership of a website, then you would want to change that.

For example, the contact form plugin on the website may still be sending notifications to old email addresses. WordPress SEO plugin may still be pointing to previous owners’ social media profiles.

You can discover some of these things by looking at the website and testing all its features. You can also review plugin settings and update them if needed.

11. Upgrade Your Hosting Service

After running the website speed test, if your website is still slow despite using caching, then it is time to upgrade your hosting.

If it is a client website, then your performance tests should help you convince the client to move. If you own the website yourself, then you just need to choose the right web host.

We recommend using SiteGround or Bluehost as they are one of the biggest hosting companies and officially recommended WordPress hosting providers.

If your website has outgrown shared hosting, then you may want to consider using a managed WordPress hosting service like WP Engine.

See our guide on how to move WordPress to a new host for step-by-step instructions to move your website.

We hope that this article offered some insights on what you should do when inheriting a WordPress site. You may also want to see our guide on the best WooCommerce plugins and the ultimate WordPress SEO guide for beginners.

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 11 Things You Should Do When Inheriting a WordPress Site first appeared on WPBeginner.

6 Best SEO Rank Tracker Tools for Keyword Tracking (Compared)

Are you looking for the best SEO rank tracker tool for keyword tracking?

A search engine results page (SERP) tracking tool helps you track your website’s SEO position for specific keywords. It shows you changes in keyword positions and allows you to compare them with your competitors.

In this article, we’ll share our expert pick of the best SEO rank tracker tools for keywords.

Why Should You Use a SERP Keyword Tracking Tool?

A SERP keyword tracking tool can help you put your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy on the right track. It lets you monitor keyword rankings for different pages to see what’s working in your business.

If your keyword rankings are going up and your organic traffic is increasing, then it means your SEO efforts are working. On the other hand, these SERP tracking tools will immediately notify you when your keyword rankings drop.

This allows you to quickly implement a fix, so you don’t lose any sales revenue.

Another benefit of using rank-tracking tools is that you can keep an eye on your competitors. You can see which search terms they are ranking on and find new keyword opportunities for your WordPress website.

That being said, let’s take a look at the best rank tracker tools that you can use to grow your business.

1. Semrush

Semrush is the best rank tracker tool for monitoring your keyword rankings. It is a complete SEO toolkit and is preferred by many digital marketing professionals.

This is the tool that we use for WPBeginner and our other companies.

With help of Semrush’s position tracking feature, you can track and monitor the movement of your site’s keyword rankings. The tool also shows which search terms are in SERP features such as featured snippets, Google sitelinks, and knowledge panels.

Semrush gives you an overall landscape of your rankings by showing you how many search terms are in the top 3, 10, 20, and 100. You can even see your ranking distributions over time.

Another powerful feature of Semrush is that you can track your competitor’s keywords as well. You can add up to 10 competitor URLs and track their search engine performance.

Plus, you can use Semrush to perform keyword research, find backlink opportunities, conduct a detailed competitor analysis, find paid keywords, track social media performance, and more.

Pricing: WPBeginner users get a free 7-day trial of Semrush. Paid plans start from $119.95 per month.

2. Ahrefs

Ahrefs is another excellent rank tracker tool. Similar to Semrush, it is also a comprehensive SEO and digital marketing platform.

With the help of its Rank Tracker feature, you can add your website or connect your Google Search Console account with Ahrefs to import projects. Next, you can add the keywords you want to track to your Ahrefs dashboard.

Ahrefs shows you an overview of your search engine rankings. You can see your visibility percentage, average position, traffic, SERP features, and changes in position.

For each keyword, you can see their current position, search volume, total traffic, keyword difficulty, and whether the keyword is in a SERP feature like the People also ask section.

You can add up to 10 competitors in the Ahrefs Rank Tracker tool and compare them with your own website. However, if you are looking for more in-depth competitor analysis, then we suggest using its other features.

For instance, you can enter a URL in the Site Explorer and find the number of backlinks, organic keywords, and identify content gaps.

Similarly, you can use Ahrefs for conducting a site audit, use the Keyword Explorer for researching search terms for your content, and more.

Pricing: Ahrefs prices start from $99 per month.

3. MonsterInsights

MonsterInsights is the best Google Analytics plugin for WordPress. It allows you to easily set up Google Analytics in WordPress and view the data you need without leaving your WordPress dashboard.

MonsterInsights helps you monitor keyword rankings inside the WordPress admin area. You can view the Search Console report to see your site’s top 50 Google search terms and where you rank for them.

It will also show the number of clicks, impressions, click-through rate (CTR), and the average position for each keyword. This helps you optimize your website and boost rankings.

For instance, if you find content that ranks at the 11th or 12th position, then you can optimize those articles to bring them to the first page.

Note: You will need to connect Google Search Console with Google Analytics in order to unlock these reports in MonsterInsights.

Pricing: The MonsterInsights Search Console report is available in its Plus plan, which costs $99.50 per year.

4. SERPWatcher by Mangools

SERPWatcher by Mangools is a powerful SEO toolkit that allows you to easily track SERP for your business. You also get access to their SERPChecker, Link Miner, Keyword finder, and Site Profiler tools, which makes Mangools a good alternative to some pricey SEO platforms.

It is a user-friendly tool and you can get started in just a few minutes. Simply add your website, select a location you want to track, select the platform (desktop or mobile), and then enter your keywords.

In the SERPWatcher report, you get a detailed picture of how your website is performing in SERPs. It shows you each keyword’s ranking, change in positions, average position, best position, search volume, and estimated visitors per month.

In addition, you can also view your site’s performance index, estimated visits, keyword distribution, and position flow.

SERPWatcher allows you to get daily ranking updates through email alerts. This helps you stay on top of any changes that might occur in the SERPs and act quickly.

Pricing: SERPWatcher prices start from $29.90 per month.

5. SE Ranking

SE Ranking is another great tool to monitor SERPs for your business. It is very easy to use and helps you keep your SEO strategy on track.

Using its Keyword Rank Tracker feature, you can monitor your website’s search terms on Google, Yahoo, Bing, Yandex, and YouTube. SE Ranking also lets you track keywords based on geographic locations and devices.

To start, you can use the SE Ranking wizard by entering your site’s URL, add keywords you want to track, and specify the search engine and country.

You can even add up to 5 competitors for tracking and connect the tool to your Google Analytics and Google Search Console accounts.

When you have added your website and keywords, you can use SE Ranking’s dashboard to monitor rankings, view historical data, track competitors, and much more.

In addition to tracking your search terms, you can use SE Ranking to analyze your traffic, measure SEO potential, create a marketing plan in real-time, conduct website audits, monitor backlinks, and more.

Pricing: SE Rankings prices start from $23.52 per month to track 250 keywords weekly.

6. Serpstat

Serpstat is the last SERP tracking tool on our list and is an all-in-one SEO solution. You can use it to analyze your website, conduct keyword research, find backlinks, and monitor keywords.

The tool offers a clean dashboard where you can control all your settings and perform different actions. To track your search term rankings, go to the Rank Tracker option.

After that, create a new project, enter your website details, select your search engine options, and add the keywords you want to monitor.

Serpstat lets you view the position changes of your search terms, compare them with your competitors, group your keywords, and much more from your dashboard.

Compared to other tools on our list, SERPStat offers more visual reports and an intuitive dashboard. You get graphs and charts that give you a birds-eye view of your reports which you can further drill down.

However, the tool is not the most beginner-friendly and it can take some time to get used to its interface and navigate through its options.

Pricing: Serpstat prices start from $69 per month.

Which Is the Best SEO Rank Tracker Tool (Expert Pick)

We believe that Semrush is the best SEO rank tracker tool in the market. It is an all-in-one SEO toolkit that is easy to use, offers lots of features, and easily tracks keywords.

Semrush is trusted by many marketing professionals, and you can use it for finding keywords, backlinks, analyzing your competitors, monitoring your social media campaigns, tracking paid advertising campaigns, and much more.

Our team uses Semrush for keyword tracking for the WPBeginner website and all of our businesses.

We hope this article helped you find the best rank tracker tools for SERP tracking. You may also want to learn how to choose the best WordPress hosting, or see our list of the best 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 6 Best SEO Rank Tracker Tools for Keyword Tracking (Compared) first appeared on WPBeginner.

How to Easily Remove WordPress Icon from Browser Tab

Do you want to remove the WordPress icon from the browser tab of your website?

Removing the WordPress icon can prove to be extremely beneficial for you as it will allow you to design your own site icon and increase your brand recognition among customers.

In this article, we will show you how to easily remove the WordPress icon from the browser tab.

Why Should You Remove the WordPress Icon from Browser Tab

The WordPress icon on your browser tab can make your website look generic and unprofessional. Most users have many tabs open in their browser which results in your website title being hidden.

With your website title hidden, users have no way to recognize your site immediately. With just the WordPress logo in the tab, your users will be unable to identify your site among many others.

By removing the WordPress icon from the browser tab and adding a favicon (aka your site icon), you can use your own brand and make your site more user-friendly for your visitors.

A favicon is a tiny image that appears next to your website’s title in the browser.

The favicon will help your users immediately recognize your website and switch between different tabs efficiently. More frequent visitors will even build instant recognition for that tiny image on your browser.

How to Remove the WordPress Icon from Browser Tab

The process of removing the WordPress icon and adding a favicon in its place is extremely easy. There are three methods that can be used to remove the WordPress icon from the browser tab.

Today, we’ll be taking a look at all three methods and you can choose the one that feels right for you.

Method 1. Removing the WordPress Icon Without a Plugin

As of WordPress 6.1, the WordPress default theme comes with a full site editor. You can also use this method if you’re using a block theme on your WordPress site to remove the WordPress icon.

At the time of writing this tutorial, the default WordPress 6.1 theme Twenty Twenty-Three doesn’t have a site icon block to change your favicon away from the WordPress logo.

If you navigate to Appearance » Editor from your WordPress admin dashboard, this will open up the full site editor, but you cannot change your favicon from here or remove the WordPress icon from the browser tab.

So you can copy and paste the URL below into your browser to open up the theme customizer.

https://example.com/wp-admin/customize.php

Remember to replace ‘example.com’ with your own site’s domain name.

This URL will take you to the Theme Customizer. Once there, simply click the ‘Site Identity’ tab.

Now on the ‘Site Identity’ page, scroll down to the ‘Site Icon’ section.

Simply click the ‘Select Site Icon’ button which will open up the WordPress media library.

You can now select any image that you want to use as a favicon to replace the WordPress icon on the browser tab.

For more details on how to create a favicon, you can check out our article on how to add a favicon in WordPress. If the image that you’ve chosen to use as a favicon exceeds the recommended size, then WordPress will allow you to crop it.

Once you’re satisfied with your choice simply click the ‘Publish’ button at the top.

Congratulations! You’ve successfully removed the WordPress icon from the browser tab and replaced it with your own.

Remove the WordPress Icon in a Theme without Full-Site Editing

If you’re using any non-FSE theme, then you can directly navigate to the Theme Customizer at Appearance » Customize to remove the WordPress icon from the browser tab.

In sites that don’t support the full-site editor, the WordPress theme customizer allows you to change details about your site such as the favicon, typography, default colors, footer, and more.

Once in the Theme Customizer, click on the ‘Site Identity’ tab. The process is the same as the one we showcased above. You can remove the WordPress icon simply by uploading a site icon of your choice.

Once you’re happy with your choice, simply click on the ‘Publish’ button to save changes.

Method 2. Removing the WordPress Icon Using a Plugin

You can also use a plugin to remove the WordPress icon and replace it with a favicon. For this tutorial, we will be using the Heroic Favicon Generator plugin.

It is a well-known plugin that is used by many to add a favicon to their website.

First, all you have to do is install and activate the Heroic Favicon Generator plugin.

For more details, please take a look at our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

After the plugin has been activated, simply go to Plugins » Installed Plugins and click on ‘Favicon Settings’ option.

This will take you to the ‘Heroic Favicon Generator Settings’ page. Here, simply click on the ‘Select Favicon’ button under the ‘Select Favicon’ option.

This will open up the WordPress media library. Now, you can choose and upload any image that you want to use as a favicon.

After you’ve uploaded your favicon, you can scroll down to the ‘Previews’ section where you will be able to see how the favicon will look on your website.

Once you’re satisfied, simply scroll down and click on the ‘Save Changes’ button.

You have successfully removed the WordPress icon and have added a favicon in its place.

We hope this article helped you learn how to remove the WordPress icon from the browser tab. You may also want to see our ultimate WordPress SEO guide to improve your rankings, and check out our article on how to easily move your blog from WordPress.com to WordPress.org.

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 Easily Remove WordPress Icon from Browser Tab first appeared on WPBeginner.

How to Find and Insert Creative Commons Licensed Images in WordPress

Do you want to use Creative Commons licensed stock photos and images on your website?

It is important to make sure you have permission to use images in your blog posts. Luckily, there are millions of Creative Commons licensed images that you can use royalty-free.

In this article, we’ll show you how to find and insert Creative Commons licensed images in WordPress.

Why Use Creative Commons Licensed Images in WordPress?

Using high-quality images on your WordPress blog can boost your engagement with your users. However, purchasing images from a stock library like Shutterstock can be expensive.

Luckily, many photographers and artists release their images with a Creative Commons license. Images with this type of license can be used legally without having to pay for them.

There are several Creative Commons licenses, and the CC0 ‘No Rights Reserved’ license is best for bloggers. You can use image with this license without any restrictions. You won’t need to ask permission or give credit.

Other Creative Commons licenses will still allow you to use the images for free but will have conditions or restrictions, such as the requirement to give credit to the creator when using the image.

With that being said, let’s take a look at how to find and insert Creative Commons images in WordPress. Here’s what we’ll cover in this tutorial:

Adding Creative Commons CC0 Licensed Images With a PluginAdding Creative Commons CC0 Licensed Images With a Page BuilderAdding Creative Commons Licensed Images Manually

Adding Creative Commons CC0 Licensed Images With a Plugin

The first thing you need to do is install and activate the Instant Images plugin. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

This plugin offers a one-click search for images contained in the Unsplash, Pixabay, and Pexels stock image libraries. Luckily, the images in these libraries can be used freely because every one of them has been released under the Creative Commons CC0 license.

Upon activation, the plugin starts to work automatically. Now when you are adding an image to a post from your Media library, there will be an ‘Instant Images’ tab at the top of the page.

Alternatively, you can add images directly to your Media library by navigating to Media » Instant Images.

Now you can click on one of the stock library names found at the top of the page. After that, simply search for the type of image you wish to add to WordPress. You can sort or filter the images using the dropdown menus.

In the example above, we searched Unsplash for ‘tomato’ and found 2213 images.

To add an image to your Media library, simply click on it. The image will be added along with a title and some default alt text provided by the photographer.

You can now add the image to your posts as normal.

Getting a Pexels API Key

The first time you click the Pexels button you see a popup asking you to enter an API key. Start by clicking the ‘Get API Key’ link to sign up for a free Pexels account.

After you sign up, you need to click on the user icon at the top of the screen.

Then you should select ‘Image & Video API’ from the drop down menu.

Next, you need to click the ‘Your API Key’ button. This will take you to a form where you can let Pexels know how you will be using their images.

You will also need to check the box to agree to the terms of service and API guidelines.

Finally, your API key will be displayed.

You will need to copy the key to the clipboard and then return to your website.

You should see the same popup as before. Simply paste the API key into the field and then click the Verify button.

You will now be able to insert Creative Commons licensed images from Pexels.

Adding Creative Commons CC0 Licensed Images With a Page Builder

SeedProd is the best drag-and-drop WordPress page builder for businesses, bloggers, and website owners. It lets you easily add commonly used design elements such as images.

The Plus plan and above includes a library of 2 million stock images for use on your site. These images are royalty free and optimized for the web.

To learn how to install and use SeedProd step by step, check our guides on how to create a landing page and how to easily create a custom WordPress theme.

When using SeedProd’s visual editor, simply drag an Image block onto the page.

When you click on the image block, its settings will be displayed in the left pane.

Under ‘Choose New Image’ you will see two buttons, one to add your own image and the other to add a stock image.

You need to click the ‘Use a Stock Image’ button.

This will bring up a search form for the SeedProd stock images library.

Simply type your search term to find the image you need and then click the ‘Search’ button.

You will now see previews of each matching image.

Simply click on the image you want to add to the page.

Now you can use SeedProd’s image settings to add alt text, change the size and alignment of the image, or add a link.

You can change the style of the image by clicking the ‘Templates’ tab and choosing a style.

These templates change the border and spacing of your image.

You will find additional options on the ‘Advanced’ tab.

Adding Creative Commons Licensed Images Manually

If you prefer not to use a plugin, then you can find Creative Commons licensed images manually. To start, you need to visit a stock image library site. Once you find an image you want to use, you can download it and then upload it to your site.

For sources of free stock images, see our guide on sources for free public domain and CC0-Licensed images.

Once you’ve downloaded the royalty free stock images you need, you’ll need to upload them to your Media library or blog post.

The easiest way to do this is to add an ‘Image’ block to the WordPress editor, click the ‘Upload’ button, and then find the Creative Commons image on your computer.

Adding Attributions to Creative Commons Licensed Images

Some Creative Commons licenses require that you add an image credit and provide proper attribution to the original work.

For example, the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-ND 2.0) license requires attribution. The license states, ‘You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.’

It’s important that you give proper image credit to comply with the copyright laws and avoid infringing upon someone’s rights.

Doing so can protect you against legal issues and liabilities, and it’s also a way to show respect for other people’s work and creativity.

If you’re not sure whether you need to give attribution, then you should carefully check the wording of the image’s Creative Commons license.

It’s very easy to credit the creator, too. In the image below, you can see the Creative Commons attribution is simply included in the image caption. For more information, see our guide on how to add image credits in WordPress.

Creative Commons recommends you include:

the image’s titlethe name of the author with a link to their profile pagethe source of the image with a link to the original photothe license used with a link to the license deed

We hope this tutorial helped you learn how to find and insert Creative Commons licensed images in WordPress. You may also want to learn how to create a custom Instagram feed, or check out our list of tips on how to increase your blog traffic.

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 Find and Insert Creative Commons Licensed Images in WordPress first appeared on WPBeginner.